Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro, a top aide of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, on Tuesday launched a powerful attack on Thabo Mbeki and questioned if the South African president was sober when he claimed there was no crisis in Zimbabwe.

In a stinging rebuke of Mbeki's widely criticized 'quiet diplomacy' towards Robert Mugabe, Mukonoweshuro said his statement that all was well in the country bore the 'hallmarks of a drunkard'.

Mbeki met Mugabe in Harare on Saturday on his way to the regional summit in Lusaka, Zambia to discuss the post-election situation. He surprised the world when he said 'There is no crisis in Zimbabwe' - urging people to wait for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to announce the results.

'The question everyone should be asking now is--was Mbeki sober when he made that statement? The man has literally spent his presidential term trying to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe and all of a sudden he says there is no crisis. To me that sounds like a man who was heavily intoxicated,' Mukonoweshuro said.

The newly elected MDC MP for Gutu South, who is also the party's secretary for International Affairs, said Mbeki consistently fails to deal with the crisis.