Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Botswana have said they will not recognise President Robert Mugabe as the president of Zimbabwe.
The countries took the stand before the end of the African Union�s two-day summit at Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt on Wednesday, adding that Nigeria and others were likely to have drawn the ire of Mugabe die-hards in their plenary.
But Reuters reported on Wednesday that their views were not in keeping with AU�s tradition, which is characterised by consensus.
The AU has suggested a government of national unity as a way of resolving the crisis. However both Mugabe and opposition leader, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai, have rejected the suggestion.
Meanwhile, the South African government said it was satisfied with the summit outcome.
�As a member country, we are a part of that resolution,� Mbeki�s spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said.
�We wil continue to work with the Zimbabweans and we are convinced the challenges of Zimbabwe will be resolved.�
However, he declined to put a time-frame on it.
Mugabe appeared less satisfied with the outcome and the closing session during which he came in for heavy criticism.
He and his entourage of bodyguards stormed out of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit centre some 30 minutes before the two-day meeting came to a close, missing the traditional group photo.
A number of countries, SADC nations among them, had harshly condemned the actions of his party in recent weeks.
In a surprise move, Botswana broke ranks with the SADC negotiation team by telling the AU that they must refuse to recognise Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe.
During the closed door session, Vice-President Mompati Merafhe said for all the reasons outlined in the recent reports of the observer missions of SADC, the AU and the Pan African Parliament, �the elections do not confer legitimacy on the government of President Mugabe.�