Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe should be hauled before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to explain the "tragic situation" in his country, Cope presidential candidate Mvume Dandala said on Tuesday.

"There must be ways by which the rest of humanity can ask questions. I believe the ICC is one of those instruments that can be used," Dandala told reporters in Kliptown, Soweto.

"Given the tragic situation in Zimbabwe I personally feel that if President Mugabe was taken to the international court... he would be given a chance to actually explain himself."

Dandala said this was his personal view and that the Congress of the People was still in the process of clarifying its position on several policy issues.

Cope Gauteng premier candidate Lyndall Shope-Mafole later said that Dandala's views on Mugabe were "consistent, in fact, with the policies of the Congress of the People".

Zimbabwe is currently in the throes of a political and economic crisis which has caused instability, severe food shortages and thousands of cholera deaths.

Sapa