A British-based international aid agency has warned that starving Zimbabwean citizens can be expected to start crossing the South African border within the next few weeks.

Mr Brendan Paddy, a spokesperson for the "Save the Children" organisation said this week that, unless there was a major intervention, including the movement of significant food supplies, thousands of Zimbabweans would head for South Africa.

A reliable news source in Zimbabwe has quoted Paddy as saying the mass exodus could begin sooner than anticipated. With border fences in a state of disrepair, and many Zimbabweans socially and economically linked to communities south of the border, the migration seemed inevitable, the report added.

The organisation warned that emergency plans now needed to be initiated in Limpopo Province and other neighbouring areas, to cope with "this huge population movement".

No immediate response could be obtained from the Limpopo provincial government.