FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Mr Zhuwao said Mr Mugabe and his wife, Grace, are "ready to die for what is correct" rather than step down. Speaking from a secret location in South Africa, Mr Zhuwao said the African leader had hardly slept since the military took over but his health was otherwise "good". The ailing 93-year-old who has ruled the former British colony for 37 years effectively saw his power slip through his fingers after a military coup earlier this week. Since the events earlier this week support for Mr Mugabe quickly evaporated with mass demonstrations on the streets calling for him to step down while the country’s ruling ZANU-PF party is expected to dismiss Mr Mugabe and reinstate the Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

EPA/Getty Thousands took to the streets of Harare to call for Robert Mugabe (L) to step down

Grace Mugabe is also expected to be ousted as the head of the ZANU-PF Women's League. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of capital Harare singing, dancing and hugging soldiers in an outpouring of elation at Mr Mugabe's demise, while others marched towards his residence. There was speculation earlier today that Mr Mugabe had fled his lavish 'Blue Roof' compound in a motorcade, despite being under house arrest but this has now been denied. On the streets of Harare people marched side by side while members of the military rode armed tanks.

Zimbabwe mass protest: Protestors demand Mugabe resigns Sat, November 18, 2017 The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) has taken over the control of the running of the country with Robert Mugabe Play slideshow EPA 1 of 23 Zimbabwe military take over

Nigel Mukwena, a 24-year-old student of political science at the University of Zimbabwe, said: “Mugabe must go, and his goons must leave. We have been victimized by Mugabe for too long.” Frank Mutsindikwa, 34, holding aloft the Zimbabwean flag, told Reuters: “These are tears of joy. I’ve been waiting all my life for this day.” Brezhnev Malaba, assistant editor of The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, tweeted in the early hours of the march: “There are decades in which nothing happens; and then, suddenly, there are days in which whole decades happen. Zimbabwe is at that moment. Astonishing scenes here in Harare.” For a dwindling number Mr Mugabe remains a totemic figure of the struggle to throw off the previous colonial rule but for many he also became reviled as a dictator known to resort to violence as a way to keep power and running a once prosperous economy into the ground.

Reuters Protestors on the streets of Harare, the capital of ZImbabwe

Robert Mugabe and Grace are ready to die for what is correct Patrick Zhuwao, the nephew of Robert Mugabe

Political sources and intelligence documents seen by Reuters said Mr Mugabe's exit was likely to pave the way for an interim unity government led by Mr Mnangagwa, a life-long Mugabe aide and former security chief known as "The Crocodile". Stabilising the free-falling economy will be the number one priority, the documents said. The United States, a long-time Mugabe critic, said it was looking forward to a "new era" in Zimbabwe, while President Ian Khama of neighbouring Botswana said Mr Mugabe had no diplomatic support in the region and should resign at once.

Getty Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe earlier this month