President Morgan Tsvangirai today met the civic society, business and church organisations in Bulawayo to discuss matters affecting Zimbabwe's second largest city. He reaffirmed government's commitment to resuscitating industry and averting starvation, in the region.

The President said the MDC was committed to ensuring that the people's views in the constitution draft especially on devolution will be respected adding that the coming elections must be free and fair.

At the courts, trial of the 29 MDC activists was yesterday postponed indefinitely by High Court judge, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu who cited expiry of the trial period of the case as the reason for the postponement.

Before the adjournment, the State's seventh witness, Yeukai Dehwe, another police officer had taken to the stand but could not give an account of how the late Inspector Mutedza had died as she claimed to have been sitted in the police vehicle parked metres away and did not see what happened.

To date, all the seven State witnesses have given inconsistent statements on how the late police officer died.

The MDC is convinced that the arrest of the 29 is politically motivated persecution meant to cow its supporters. The accused have been in remand prison since their indictment for trial in March this year.