Plans to launch a private television station via a South African parastatal in Zimbabwe have been met with resistance from the government's press authorities, which on Friday said it is a "pirate station".

The station, known as 1st TV, originally said it was set to go on air early Friday evening, using the broadcast frequencies vacated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). But by 8:00 p.m. local time, viewers still got nothing on the channel.

If on air, 1st TV will compete with the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and has the potential to affect the general elections on July 31, observers say.

Secretary for Media, Information and Publicity George Charamba, who is also President Robert Mugabe's spokesman, told state media on Friday that the government would take measures to derail 1st TV, which he describes as a "pirate station".

"We are not very sure if the South African government is aware of what its parastatal is doing to hurt Zimbabwean interests. We will pursue diplomatic channels," Charamba said.

He added that launching a pirate station violates the spirit of an agreement that lays the foundation of Zimbabwe's power-sharing government in 2009.

The timing of the launch can not but raises suspicion, as in less than two weeks' time, the country is to hold crucial elections. One of the private station's senior managers, SkyNews/ ITV staffer Andrew Chadwick, is a former publicity aide to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai will contest Mugabe in the presidential race, the third time in a decade, and he has been calling for reforms in the media sector to break the monopoly of pro-Mugabe ZBC.

A statement from the station to the media earlier in the week said it would provide "impartial, factual news to the people of Zimbabwe as well as broadcasting popular soap operas and comedies. "