As talks between Zimbabwe’s ruling party and the opposition resumed in South Africa this week, a leading cleric has warned that Zimbabwe’s political and economic situation has reached "life-threatening proportions.”

Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, who has emerged as one of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s most vocal critics, has said that regional political intervention is urgently needed. He says there is almost no fuel in the country, and every day people must search for a loaf of bread.

According to a report by the Angola Press, the archbishop accused President Robert Mugabe’s government of not taking responsibility for the deepening crisis.