Scores of South African based Zimbabweans, who had travelled by bus to vote in the elections on Wednesday, were left stranded at the border, after officials impounded at least six coaches.

The cross border coaches were stopped in the early hours of Wednesday morning at Beitbridge by members of the Zimbabwe police force, who alleged that the buses were ferrying 'illegal' immigrants.

It is understood that when some passengers tried to explain that they were travelling to vote, they were accused of 'interfering with police investigations'.

It was not clear by the end of Wednesday if the buses had been released, but it seemed certain that the Zimbabwean nationals on board would miss the opportunity to cast their ballots during the election.

Thousands of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have returned home in the run up to Wednesday's election, after the right to vote in their resident countries was denied them by the government.

This is in spite of a successful court application filed at the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, which ordered the Zim government to allow the postal vote for Zimbabweans in the Diaspora.

Human Rights Advocate Gabriel Shumba, who also heads the South Africa based Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, said the impounding of the buses was a "disappointment" on a day that is already 'bittersweet' for the Diaspora.

"What we were told when the government defied the court order is that we should try to go back and vote anyway. Unfortunately not everyone can do this, and even when they do, it seems the practice on the ground is to deny this," Shumba said.

He added: "So there is a mood of skepticism that this vote will bring change. We don't think this election will be credible, legitimate, free and fair."