As president Robert Mugabe prepares to be sworn in for his fifth term tomorrow, South Africa is pressing him to form a government of national unity including his rival, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai.
However, the prospect of reconciliation received a blow yesterday when the 78-year-old autocrat enacted draconian legislation giving him sweeping powers over the media.
The new law came as European Union leaders meeting in Barcelona considered imposing tougher sanctions on Mr Mugabe and his close supporters.
According to local reports, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is pushing for a unity government to calm the storm of international criticism sparked by last weekend's presidential poll.
European countries, the US and the Commonwealth have condemned the election as a violent fraud. Germany announced yesterday it was cutting off all aid to Zimbabwe.
The will of the people of Zimbabwe prevailed in the presidential elections, Mr Mbeki claimed yesterday. He is scrambling desperately for a solution to the escalating crisis in Zimbabwe.
But, like several other African leaders, he has declined to join in Western criticism of the controversial poll. He sits on a three-man Commonwealth committee that could decide to suspend Mr Mugabe as early as next Tuesday.
The embattled president enacted the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act yesterday. The new law allows him to muzzle journalists, shut down local newspapers and prevent publication of cabinet proceedings. Breaches are punishable by up to two years in jail.
"It is a clear assault on freedom of the press in direct response to our coverage of Mugabe's rigging and trail of violence," said the editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, Mr Iden Wetherell.
Zimbabwe's Information Minister, Mr Jonathan Moyo, an increasingly powerful figure who has developed a combative relationship with the press, will enforce the law.
There are fears that the measure marks the start of a campaign of attrition against political opponents, journalists and civic groups.
"This is just the start," said Mr Wetherell. "But we not be cowed. We will stand up for our rights and tell it as it is." There was widespread scepticism that Mr Mugabe would propose a crisis government at his inauguration tomorrow, or that Mr Tsvangirai could accept one.
"Forgot the South Africans. They talk of an African renaissance then tell us to unite over fraud and lies," said Mr Brian Kagoro, co-ordinator of the Crisis in Zimbabwe committee.
Mr Mbeki will meet Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and the Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, in London next Tuesday to consider punishing Mr Mugabe.
They will discuss a scathing report by the Commonwealth observer team which concluded the election was marred by state-sponsored violence and voter disenfranchisement, and had been conducted in a "climate of fear".
Possible punishments include imposing trade sanctions or suspending Zimbabwe from the 54-member Commonwealth.
The effect of any punishment would be largely symbolic. However, it could affect Zimbabwe's ability to attract international aid as it faces into its biggest food crisis in a generation.
AP reports from Harare:
Political killings returned to Zimbabwe yesterday as officials prepared for celebrations to mark Mr Mugabe's inauguration. His supporters were reported to have murdered two people and a human rights agency said there had been sharp rise in political violence.
A security guard, named only as Darlington, was beaten to death on a farm in the Marondera area, 50 miles east of Harare, and his white employer, Mr John Rutherford, was admitted to hospital after being beaten with a pick handle.
Mr Steve Pratt, local administrator for the Commercial Farmers' Union, said: "He was accused by ruling party youths squatting on his farm of having told his workers he would burn the squatters' houses down after the elections. While he was getting beaten, there was a security guard there who had already been severely assaulted and was having difficulty standing."