South Africa and the European Union (EU) said on Friday that the outcome of the upcoming elections in Zimbabwe should "clearly reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe."

"We urged the three parties to the Global Political Agreement to undertake all the necessary measures to create and ensure a conducive environment for the holding of peaceful, credible, free and fair elections, in order to reach an outcome that clearly reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe," said a joint communique issued at the end of the two-day 6th South Africa-EU summit held in Pretoria.

At the summit, the two sides exchanged views on Zimbabwe and the forthcoming elections scheduled for July 31.

"We welcomed the adoption of the new constitution and strongly supported the continued engagement of SADC (Southern African Development Community) and the AU (African Union), including through electoral observation, which is essential to ensuring a transparent, peaceful and credible outcome," the communique said.

It said South Africa and EU also welcome the outcomes of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC heads of state and government held in Maputo on June 15, 2013 and its recommendations regarding media reform, upholding the rule of law, the role of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee, the validity of electoral regulations and the deployment of SADC observers.

The summit opened on Thursday with the theme "Job Creation Through Inward Investment."

Also on Friday, South Africa's chief envoy on Zimbabwe's political crisis Lindiwe Zulu reportedly said the Zimbabwean elections face challenges.

"The process has got challenges, we can't deny that because we've seen what info has been coming out during the special vote," said Zulu, who heads the mediation process.

But the AU said free and fair elections in Zimbabwe are possible.

"According to our observers on the ground, we believe that it is possible to have free and fair elections in Zimbabwe," said Aisha Abdullahi, AU commissioner for political affairs on Zimbabwe.