Thank you Charlie & Cactus
Found the solution. The php-mapi file was not quite compatiable.
I did the following on 2 different systems and both are now fine.
rpm -e --nodeps php-mapi
yum install --enablerepo=smecontribs php53-mapi
Both systems based on SME8B7 with the following php & zarafa files
php-imap-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
php-pear-HTTP-Request-1.4.2-1.el5.centos
php-mysql-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
e-smith-php-2.2.0-6.el5.sme
php-pear-Net-DIME-1.0.1-1.el5
php-xml-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
php-pear-Log-1.12.7-1.el5
php-mbstring-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
php-pear-XML-Parser-1.2.8-1.el5
php-pear-Services-Weather-1.4.2-1.fc6
php-pear-Cache-1.5.5-0.1.RC4.fc6.1
php53-mapi-7.0.4-1.el5
php-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
php-pear-File-1.2.2-1.el5.centos
php-pear-Mail-Mime-1.4.0-1.el5.centos
php-pdo-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
php53-common-5.3.3-1.el5_7.5
php-pear-Net-URL-1.0.15-1.el5.centos
php-pear-HTTP-1.4.0-7.el5
php-pear-Net-FTP-1.3.4-1.el5
php-gd-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
php-pear-Net-SMTP-1.2.10-1.el5.centos
php-devel-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
php-pear-DB-1.7.13-1.el5.centos
php-pear-MDB2-2.4.1-2.el5.centos
php-pear-Date-1.4.7-2.el5.centos
php-pear-1.4.9-8.el5
php-pear-Auth-SASL-1.0.2-4.el5.centos
php-jpgraph-1.19-1.2.el5.rf
php-ldap-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
php-cli-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.3
php-pear-XML-Serializer-0.20.0-1.el5
php-pear-XML-Util-1.1.4-3.el5
php-pear-SOAP-0.11.0-2.el5
php-pear-Mail-1.1.14-1.el5.centos
php-pear-Net-Socket-1.0.8-1.el5.centos
php53-soap-5.3.3-1.el5_7.5
boost-zarafa-1.35-2
zarafa-monitor-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-libarchiver-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-ical-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-webaccess-mobile-7.0.3-30515
zarafa-libs-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-webaccess-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-spooler-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-gateway-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-client-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-common-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-indexer-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-server-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-dev-7.0.4-31235
smeserver-zarafa-0.9.0-53.el4.sme
zarafa-utils-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-licensed-7.0.4-31235
zarafa-dagent-7.0.4-31235
So I would suggest for any new install of zarafa the the zcp tar.gz file is expanded, then installed, run rpm -e --nodeps php-mapi and finally yum install --enablerepo=smecontribs php53-mapi rpm. Performance of Zarafa has also improved along with all features are functional.