Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has advised President Emmerson Mnangagwa to put the interest of the people first.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York Mbeki said Mnangagwa must do what is in the interest of Zimbabweans not his personal interest.

“The leaders of Zimbabwe must act as leaders, what is in the best interest of Zimbabwe? That is how I would have approached it,”he said.

President Mbeki added that the SADC report said that the election didn’t represent the will of the people.

Mbeki likened Zimbabwe’s recent elections to those of 2008 whose conditions, forced a five year Government of National Unity (GNU).