Opposition MDC legislator and former Finance Minister Tendai Biti has assured Chief Executive Officers attending a CEO Africa Roundtable summit in Victoria Falls that a lot of things are happening behind closed doors with regards to the Zimbabwean crisis which he said is now a burden to other regional countries.

“I think that a lot of things are happening behind closed doors, that I can assure you, within SADC. I think that you should not be misled by prima facie appearances of condonation by the leadership of SADC,” said Biti.

“You must also remember that SADC member states have been bearing a lot of weight arising from Zimbabwe’s failure. You have a situation where you have three million Zimbabweans in South Africa as we speak, to a larger extent that South Africa has been subsidising Zimbabwe as we speak.”

Biti said the regional economy was suffering as a result of the presence of Zimbabweans fleeing a crisis at home.

He said countries such as South Africa were now faced with a strain on their social services as a result of Zimbabwean immigrants in that country.

“I think that out of their own selfish interests, they (SADC leaders) will move (to act) on Zimbabwe because the crisis is putting a premium on their country. South Africa has been doddering on a 1% gross domestic product (GDP) growth and I think after solving the Zimbabwean situation, South Africa’s economy could grow to about 2 or 3% of its GDP,” he said.