Three more ZANU PF MPs named in MDC’s roll of shame

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
7 April 2010

A ZANU PF deputy minister, Hubert Nyanhongo, was on Wednesday named in the
MDC’s roll of shame as one of the masterminds of the political violence
during the 2008 elections.

Nyanhongo, ZANU PF’s MP for Harare South and the deputy Minister of Energy
and Power Development, is alleged to have led a group of party youths that
included Tedious Maruta, Chimbi, Edmore Kanyama and Gwenambira who attacked
Brian Mamhova, an MDC Harare council candidate and his family, on 6th June
2008.

The latest edition of the weekly MDC newsletter, Changing Times, said
Mamhova escaped unhurt when ZANU PF youths petrol-bombed his house, but his
wife Pamela Pasvani and their six year-old son Mashoko both died.

Also on the roll of shame is Biggie Joel Matiza, the ZANU PF MP for Murehwa
South in Mashonaland East, who allegedly sponsored all ZANU PF militia bases
set up in Murehwa West and South. Matiza is an architect by profession and a
former deputy minister for Rural Housing and Amenities.

‘He was present when hundreds of MDC supporters were assaulted at St Peters
Mission, Mukarakate. He supplied ZANU PF youths at the bases with food and
money. The ZANU PF thugs killed MDC activists, Edward Pfukwa on June 17 and
Moses Nyada on June 19, 2008,’ the MDC said.

Matiza is also well known for accompanying the gun-totting former Health
Minister, David Parirenyatwa, to a meeting at Musama business centre in
Murehwa two years ago, threatening MDC supporters with death if they ‘revote’
MDC in the presidential re-run.

Yet another addition to the MDC’s roll of shame is the Muzarabani North MP,
Luke Mushore, who is said to have led a group of party youths who destroyed
MDC activist Prisca Mutizwa’s home, in May 2008.

‘He also sponsored and assigned ZANU PF youths to go around villages
assaulting MDC activists and destroying their homes. The youths also
murdered MDC activist Ratidzayi Dzenga on 1 April 2008,’ the MDC newsletter
said.

Solomon Chikohwero, the militant leader of the MDC Veterans Activist
Association and himself a torture victim at the hands of state security
agents said it was high time perpetrators of violence were brought to
justice.

‘A lot of people have committed unspeakable crimes under the cover of ZANU
PF. ZANU PF is an institution well known for its bad policies, it is an
institution that sends its supporters to rape, torture and murder opponents
and yet it cannot be arrested. The only way to put ZANU PF in the dock is to
vote them out of power and those that are committing crimes under the party
banner should be named and shamed and brought to justice,’ Chikohwero said.

Two weeks the MDC-T said it was supporting the fight for justice for victims
of the 2008 election violence and demanding the prosecution of people who
committed acts of rape, murder and torture. The MDC has already named four
sitting ZANU PF parliamentarians and a losing parliamentary candidate in the
first of the series of disclosures of perpetrators of political violence.
Those already named and shamed are ZANU PF legislators Herbert Paul
Mazikani, Luke Mushore, Newton Kachepa and Bright Matonga, who were all
involved in incidents where several MDC activists lost their lives.

In the three months between the March 29th vote and the June 27th runoff
election in 2008 ZANU PF militias, under the guidance of 200 senior army
officers, set about battering the MDC. Many hundreds died, tens of thousands
were tortured and hundreds of thousands were displaced.

There is much concern that this wave of brutality as re-emerged in 2010. The
latest report is from the volatile district of Muzarabani. The organization
the Restoration of Human Rights, said it is disturbed at reports that
Virginia Charunda, a daughter of the herdsman of a village, together with
Mai Chirozva, a member of ZANU PF, were last week taken in for interrogation
over the disturbances that saw 50 people fleeing their homes to escape
threats of terror.

ROHR said in a statement on Wednesday there is suspicion the two might have
tipped off MDC party supporters of the imminent danger that awaited them.
This was after a ZANU PF meeting on the 26th March at Hoya business centre,
in which resolutions were passed for youths to be hired from Chivenga
village to beat up MDC supporters.

‘Information given by the MDC district chairman for Muzarabani, Freddie
Motonhodze, is that the whereabouts and status of the detainees is still to
be ascertained by community members after they were mysteriously taken by
the police in the company of Sergeant Kapeta, member of CIO Yahwe and
Assistant Inspector for Muzarabani, Majojo on unspecified charges,’ ROHR
said.

 

Zuma’s credibility in jeopardy over Zim crisis

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
07 April 2010

South African President Jacob Zuma’s credibility is said to be taking a
serious blow over his handling of Zimbabwe’s political crisis, as critics
warn that the future of South Africa is also at stake.

S'Thembiso Msomi, Political Editor for South Africa’s The Times newspaper,
wrote in an editorial this week that Zuma’s credibility is being ‘eroded’,
warning that he is on the same path as his predecessor Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki’s
policy of quiet diplomacy and his ‘softly-softly’ handling of Robert Mugabe
saw him lose all credibility as an effective mediator in Zimbabwe’s crisis.
It was hoped that Zuma, who at the time that Mbeki was being pushed out of
office was highly critical of Mugabe, would take a strong stance as the new
mediator. But he has instead followed a path of appeasement, putting more
energy into lobbying for the targeted sanctions against ZANU PF to be
lifted, than forcing the party to share power with the MDC.

Msomi wrote that Zuma and the ANC have a worrying ‘schizophrenic’ approach
to his Zimbabwean counterpart, a ‘disorder’ demonstrated by the recent ANC
Youth League visit to Zimbabwe. Youth League leader Julius Malema was quoted
as saying about five months ago that Mugabe ‘must step down’ because “we
need a new president in Zim.” But during his visit this weekend Malema
changed his tune: “We salute President Mugabe for standing firm against
imperialists. The reason why they want him to go is because he has started
attending to the real issues.”

Wearing a Mugabe t-shirt, Malema then went on to denounce Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC as allies of the ‘imperialists’. Malema had
previously said he refused to meet with the MDC because they “were not
involved in the struggle,” despite 28 year old Malema himself not being
involved in his own country’s political struggle.

“Such statements, coming from the leader of the ANC’s youth wing, can hardly
enhance Zuma’s image as an honest broker in the conflict between Mugabe and
Tsvangirai,” Msomi wrote.

At the same time, South Africa’s main opposition has this week lashed out at
Zuma for placing “both his country’s national interest and South African
interests abroad in jeopardy.” The Democratic Alliance (DA), which has been
critical of Zuma’s handling of the Zimbabwe crisis, said Zuma is making no
progress as the regional mediator in the political crisis in Zimbabwe. The
DA’s parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, said that by refusing to take a
tough stance with Mugabe on policies like land reform and indigensation,
Zuma has “opened the door for such dangerous discussions to be initiated in
South Africa - with potentially devastating long term economic
repercussions.”

The DA official added that Zuma must not allow Mugabe to participate in
future elections, which are being heralded as the only way forward for the
country’s crumbling unity government. Trollip compared Mugabe’s continued
grip on power to a ‘cancerous tumour’ that needs to be ‘expunged’ from the
Zimbabwean body politic.

“The only solution is to cut him out, thereby removing the influence of the
tyrannical regime he represents, and creating the opportunity for change to
flood the country he has controlled for three decades,” Trollip said.

 

ANC calls Malema to order

http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=36598

Eyewitness News | 14 Minutes Ago

Julius Malema has been muzzled.

The controversial ANC Youth League leader met President Jacob Zuma and ANC
Secretary General Gwede Mantashe in Pretoria on Tuesday night, where he was
instructed to stop singing the words "Shoot the Boer".

Malema has defied court rulings, barring him from singing the song.

At the weekend, he sang "Shoot the Boer" while addressing crowds of Zanu-PF
supporters in Zimbabwe.

Malema's meeting with the president and the ANC's secretary general means
the controversial ANC Youth League leader will have to watch what he says.

He is not allowed to sing "Shoot the Boer" and cannot make any statements
about murdered AWB leader Eugene Terre'Blanche.

Mantashe said following Tuesday night's meeting, Malema will be restrained
by the ANC and the youth league from making inflammatory comments.

The ANC secretary general said while he is not Malema's protector, the youth
league leader causes irritation and the problem needs to be isolated and
solved.

He also said the ANC will have to meet to discuss a range of struggle songs
and whether they are relevant today.

Presidency denies muzzling Malema

http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za

Imraan Karolia | 12 Hours Ago

The presidency on Wednesday denied muzzling ANC Youth League leader Julius
Malema.

This despite, ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe's statement on a Kyknet
talk show on Tuesday night and in the Beeld newspaper on Wednesday morning
that he spoke to Malema on Tuesday and ordered him to stop referring to the
lyrics "shoot the boer".

Mantashe has also been quoted as saying Malema has been told to stop making
statements about murdered AWB leader Eugene Terre'Blanche.

Presidency's Zizi Kodwa said as far as he was concerned there was no
discussion with the youth league firebrand.

"That meeting never took place between any of the three people. Malema is
not even in Gauteng, so any reports that he met the president and the
secretary general are baseless and false," said Kodwa.

The producer of the Freek Robinson show on Kyknet has confirmed to
Eyewitness News that Mantashe told the show several times that he had spoken
to Malema on Tuesday about the matter.

 

Zuma's call for calm reflects concern over young firebrand

http://www.ft.com/

By Richard Lapper in Johannesburg

Published: April 7 2010 03:00 | Last updated: April 7 2010 03:00

For all Nelson Mandela's enthusiastic promotion of the rainbow nation over
the years, fears of racial polarisation are never far below the surface of
South African society.

Those anxieties have come to the fore in the past few days, after the brutal
murder of the white supremacist leader, Eugene Terre'Blanche. On Sunday, in
a sign of just how concerned the government was about the signals the
killing could send just weeks before the start of the World Cup, President
Jacob Zuma addressed the nation to "urge calm".

Yet this does not appear to be a country on the edge of a race war. Mr
Terre'Blanche might have been a menacing national leader in the early 1990s,
but he was much diminished. His party - the Afrikaner Resistance Movement or
AWB - is tiny, and revoked its calls for revenge attacks almost as soon as
it had made them on Sunday.

Rather, the commotion owes much to events far from Mr Terre'Blanche's farm
and in particular to the controversy around Julius Malema, the firebrand
leader of the governing African National Congress Youth League. Since
winning its presidency just under two years ago, the 29-year-old has gone
out of his way to court headlines. He has been a fierce advocate of mine
nationalisation, clashing with party elders. He has defended the right of
black leaders to become rich, threatening journalists who have investigated
allegations he has become hugely wealthy via government tenders.

Last month, he started publicly singing "Kill the Boer", an anti-apartheid
resistance anthem. Two weeks ago, a high court judge ruled the song
unconstitutional but Mr Malema says he will ignore the decision and last
weekend, while he was in Zimbabwe, expressing admiration for President
Robert Mugabe's violent land redistribution policies, he sang it again.

Among black youth, Mr Malema is a popular figure. He may have struggled to
matriculate at school and may be regarded as a bit of a buffoon by the
multiracial metropolitan elite and most whites, but his simplistic
radicalism tends to go down well among a social group frustrated by limited
job opportunities and a growing wealth gap.

"He thumbs his nose up at authority figures and white people and that is
very important," says Anthony Butler, who teaches politics at Witwatersrand
university in Johannesburg.

What's more, Mr Malema has influence within the ANC and is well placed to
play a role in growing factional fighting.

Since April last year, as the alliance that backed Mr Zuma has come under
strain, Mr Malema has been supported by a group of powerful black
businessmen who have benefited from black economic empowerment, the policy
aimed at reversing the economic injustices of apartheid. The Youth League -
with the implicit backing of these senior figures - has challenged the
influence within the ANC of the Communist party.

ANC grandees are confident about their ability to manage Mr Malema's
excesses. They are apt to forgive his extremism as a product of youthful
idealism. The "Kill the Boer" anthem is purely symbolic, they say.
Nationalising the mines is not - nor likely to be - an ANC or government
policy, they insist.

All this means Mr Malema's populism is less of a danger than it might
appear. Unlike some extremists - Venezuela's Hugo Chávez (who came to power
in competition with a decaying social democracy) comes to mind - Mr Malema
is politically contained. He has no future outside the ANC, which controls
access to spoils and jobs for him and his supporters.

However, by keeping Mr Malema and his comrades inside the movement, the ANC
risks undermining both its image - in particular internationally - and its
effectiveness. This suggests the gap between the political elite and the
mainly poor voters who elect it will only grow.

So far - as one bank economist has said - "clever people are betting that
the centre will hold". But the danger is that Mr Malema's approach
eventually will weaken democracy, potentially putting social peace at risk.

Police question journalists

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Zimbabwe Alert Update
Wednesday, 07 April 2010 14:49
Feluna Nleya and Jennifer Dube reporters with the privately owned Standard
weekly were on 31 April 2010 questioned by police from the Law and Order
Section for exposing an alleged massive land scandal involving the Minister
of Local Government Ignatius Chombo and businessperson Philip Chiyangwa.

Detective Inspector Muchada and another officer only named as Kutiwa visited
the Standard offices where they also spoke to its editor Nevanji Madanhire
and Zimind Publishers group editor-in-chief Vincent Kahiya. This followed
publication of the story in the weekly's edition of 28 March to 3 April 2010
which revealed that a special Harare council committee investigating the
allocation of land had recommended that Chiyangwa should be arrested for
alleged corruption.

The story was based on a 54-page report titled: Special Investigations
Committees report on City of Harare's Land Sales, Leases and Exchanges from
the period October 2004  to December 2009. Nleya and Dube were asked to
reveal their sources during the questioning which lasted about an hour.

MISA-Zimbabwe's National Director Nhlanhla Ngwenga condemned these acts as a
betrayal of the government's sincerity in instituting media reforms as well
as  commitment to promote and protect media freedom. "It vindicates our
position that the only way out is an overhaul of the media legislation."

The Co-ordinator of the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) Andrew
Moyse also said given the fact that the reports were based on a legal
council investigation, there was no basis for harassing the journalists.

Background

On 30 March 2010 police questioned freelance journalist Stanley Gama
following publication of a related story in the Zimbabwean edition of  The
Sunday Times  which is published in South Africa. The harassment of the
journalists comes hard on the heels of statements by the Minister of Media,
Information and Publicity Webster Shamu that harassment of journalists
should stop.

Govt will not go ahead with indigenisation law - Mlangu

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Staff Reporter
Wednesday, 07 April 2010 13:30

HARARE - The Deputy Minister of Youth and Economic Empowerment Thamusanqa
Mlangu (Pictured) has said that his boss in the ministry, Savious
Kasukuwere, is just posturing with the newly gazetted indigenisation law and
that the government is seriously considering revising the controversial law.

"Already Zanu (PF) is in campaign mood after they failed to sell the issue
of  so-called sanctions to the masses. They have brought about the
indigenization law where stakeholders were not consulted, and Zanu (PF) is
preparing another chaotic invasion of companies as they did with the farms,"
said Mlangu.
"Stakeholders were not consulted when the law was passed and that was like
putting the cart before the horse. As a ministry we are considering starting
afresh altogether and Minister Kasukuwere has kept his doors open,
consulting with relevant stakeholders," said Mlangu.
There was widespread condemnation of the law that stipulates that foreign
owned companies should cede 51 % of their shares to indigenous black
Zimbabweans, and the ministry, according to Mlangu, does not want to repeat
the land 'reform' error that was done in a chaotic manner and only benefited
a few people, most of them with links to Zanu (PF).
"We are not going repeat the land reform errors. We have learnt a lesson
from history, chances are that the act will be reversed. It affects the
whole country and we will look at reviewing the whole thing so that
indigenisation will benefit all Zimbabweans and not just a few individuals.
We are not going to stick to the racist law that scares investors that the
country badly needs," said Mlangu.
Kasukuwere has been adamant that there is no going back on the law, but
Mlangu said the minister was just posturing as he was currently consulting
widely with interested parties on how best to implement the legislation.
"We are totally in support of empowerment - but it should be broad-based and
empower people at the grassroots. The masses should own the resources not
just a few individuals," he said.

ZINASU treasurer dumped at lake Kyle

http://nehandaradio.com/

 April 7, 2010 at 10:29 am

The ZINASU Treasurer General, Zivanai Muzorodzi who was abducted in Masvingo
on the 1st of April 2010 by suspected state agents was later dumped at Lake
Kyle, 20 kilometres from Masvingo town. The abduction came after he led a
demonstration by students in the province on the 29th of March 2010.

State agents in civilian clothing arrived at his house at around 7pm and
asked if he could accompany them as they had a couple of questions they
wanted to ask him. Cde Muzorodzi refused and one of the agents physically
forced him from the house into a car which had no number plates.

While driving into town, one of the abductors interrogated Muzorodzi on the
reasons why the students were mixing student issues with national politics.
He was also asked about the whereabouts of Aleck Tabe, the ZINASU Secretary
for Legal Affairs who was also part of the organisers of the demonstration.
The ZINASU Treasurer did not divulge any information to them and that is
when they started beating him all over his body with a wooden sticks and
baton sticks for close to 2 hours.

They drove and dumped him at Lake Kyle and left him for dead. Before they
left, they warned him from interfering with national politics and threatened
him with death if ever they hear that he organises again programmes that
castigate ZANU Pf. He was later rescued by two men who had come for fishing
at the lake.

ZINASU strongly castigates the increase in the number of cases of student
victimizations by state apparatus. They are intimidating, harassing and
assaulting dissenting voices in colleges with the aim of silencing them.
ZINASU is complying data on all the cases of student victimization since the
beginning of the year and will present it to the Prime Minister, Mr. Morgan
Tsvangirai at a meeting to be scheduled with him this week.

Statement issued by the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)

MDC sets Brussels tour date to campaign for sanctions removal

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
07 April 2010

Despite the lack of progress in the unity government the MDC led by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is set to travel to Europe later this month, to
campaign for the removal of targeted sanctions still in place on Robert
Mugabe and his inner circle.

The lack of political progress has been cited by both the European Union
(EU) and the United States as the key reason behind extending the targeted
measures, a step taken by both earlier this year. But an MDC delegation,
reportedly to be led by Tsvangirai, is now set to travel to Brussels, the
home of the EU commission, to plead for the sanctions to be lifted - the MDC's
latest concession to ZANU PF.

According to the MDC's weekly Changing Times newsletter, Tsvangirai will
lead a delegation to Brussels on April 21 to persuade the 27 member EU to
"lift the restrictive measures imposed on ZANU PF officials over electoral
theft and rights abuses." The MDC said the sanctions issue is one of the
remaining outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that
has not yet been resolved at the latest round of talks. The party wrote in
its newsletter that "ZANU PF has used the targeted sanctions issue as a
bargaining chip," acknowledging that it has been backed into a corner in an
attempt to move the talks forward.

ZANU PF has insisted repeatedly that it would not implement the GPA until
the targeted measures were lifted, despite 'progress' being lauded in the
latest round of talks. ZANU PF insists that the sanctions are to blame for
the country's economic collapse, and equally blames the MDC for the measures
being in place. Their rallying call that the measures must be lifted has
also been echoed by South African President Jacob Zuma, the regional
facilitator in Zimbabwe's political crisis. Zuma has been actively lobbying
for the sanctions to be lifted, which observers and critics have said has
been detrimental to his reputation. He has also not once condemned ongoing
violence and political persecution that has been the backdrop to the
sanctions debate, proving how effective a smokescreen the sanctions issue
has been for ZANU PF.

Political commentator Professor John Makumbe said the MDC is embarking on an
'exercise of futility', explaining that the party has no influence to
persuade Europe to drop the targeted sanctions. He said it was 'unfortunate'
that they have been backed into a corner and 'hoodwinked' by ZANU PF, and
warned that "the more concessions they make, the weaker they become as a
party."

"Their strategy seems to be to run along with ZANU PF and to buy time so
that the constitution can be reformed and for elections to be called,"
Makumbe said, adding: "it is very sad that they are appeasing ZANU PF in
this way."

A report on the talks meanwhile was set to be presented to Zuma on
Wednesday, with his facilitation team due back in Zimbabwe this week to
carry on 'assisting' Zimbabwe's political negotiators. No details of the
report have been made clear, but the MDC's newsletter says only six issues
are still outstanding from their original list of 27. Those outstanding
still include the sanctions issue and the most critical issues of the
unilateral appointments of Johannes Tomana and Gideon Gono. Observers are
now questioning what 'progress' was in fact made by President Zuma when he
bartered a so called 'road map' with ZANU PF and the MDC towards real
progress, when these key issues remain unresolved.

Mugabe has also said that the closure of the 'pirate' radio stations is an
outstanding GPA issue.

We await a visit from an MDC delegation with anticipation.

Councillor fears arrest for land scam report

http://www.thedailynewszw.com/?p=28633

April 7, 2010

By Raymond Maingire

HARARE - Harare's Councillor Warship Dumba fears arrest following a report
he produced last week implicating controversial business tycoon Phillip
Chiyangwa as having benefited in a land scam involving corrupt authorities
from the embattled local authority.

Suspected police officers from the notorious Harare Law and Order division
on Wednesday visited Dumba's house in the morning looking for him.

"Police came looking for me at my house but I was not there," Dumba told The
Daily News Wednesday.

"They are said to have been driving a white Defender vehicle without any
number plates. They were attended to by my wife and did not identify
themselves. I do not know who they are and what they wanted me for."

He suspected this could have been linked to a story published in Wednesday's
Herald newspaper in which Chiyangwa is said to have filed a report of
defamation against the city council.

The report was allegedly made at Borrowdale Police Station last Thursday.

Dumba, councilor for Harare's Ward 17 in Mount Pleasant, chaired the city's
land sales, leases and exchanges committee, which produced the report
covering the period October 2004 to December 2009.

In the report, Chiyangwa, a Zanu-PF loyalist, is said to have corruptly
acquired over 17 hectares of prime land in Harare's plush Borrowdale,
Helensvale, Glen Lorne suburbs.

The land costs $15 per square mitre.

Chiyangwa is said to have connived with Psychology Chivanga, Director of
Urban Planning and Finance Director Cosmas Zvikaramba to get the land.

The acquisition was allegedly done through his companies Kilma Investments
and Pinnacle Holdings without following laid-down council procedures.

The report further recommended that those implicated must be arrested and
land should be repossessed.

Local Government and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo was also
implicated in the scam

Chiyangwa, who denies any wrongdoing, has publicly boasted he owns a fifth
of Harare.

Chiyangwa wants Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda and members of a special
council committee charged with criminal defamation arising from media
reports.

He also accused Masunda and the committee of leaking to the media a report
containing the allegations with the "malicious intention of harming his
reputation and his businesses".

Masunda, who denies leaking the report to the media, is adamant his report
is accurate adding that he was prepared to face Chiyangwa's challenge.

Police last week also summoned for questioning freelance journalist Stanley
Gama over a story he published in a weekly newspaper on the matter.

Journalists from the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper have also been
questioned in what observers describe as the selective application of the
law by Zimbabwe's partisan police force.

MP charged with murder after accident

http://www.thedailynewszw.com/?p=28630

April 7, 2010

By Owen Chikari

MASVINGO - Bikita West MDC legislator Heya Shoko is facing a murder charge
after he allegedly fatally knocked down a nine-year-old child while driving
a car along the Nyika- Zaka highway.

Shoko, who beat Zanu-PF's Elias Musakwa by eight votes in the 2008
harmonised election, was driving a white Isuzu truck belonging to Ernest
Mudavanhu, the MDC MP for Zaka North.

Police in Masvingo on Wednesday confirmed that Shoko was facing a murder
charge, instead of culpable homicide.

"We have already finished our investigations and have since forwarded the
record to the Attorney-General for prosecution," said a police officer
investigating the case, who requested anonymity.

"We charged him with murder because our investigations have revealed that he
was negligent and could have avoided the death of the child had he
maintained a proper lookout."

However, a legal expert said it was unusual for a person to be charged with
murder arising from a traffic accident unless intention to kill had been
fully established.

Police say that the MDC legislator failed to stop when the child emerged
from a blind rise. The child was knocked down and died on the spot.

It also emerged Wednesday that the parents of the deceased child were now
demanding compensation from the MP.

"We are demanding six head of cattle and US$3000 from the MP," said a family
relative who refused to be named.

"The MP helped us with funeral expenses. But to us, it was not enough since
this involves the death of a human being."

Masvingo police spokesman Assistant Inspector Prosper Mugauri said they
would still press the murder charge against Shoko even if he paid
compensation to the family.

"We will not drop the charge even if he pays compensation," said Mugauri.
"An out- -of-court of settlement is done on minor cases and not where human
life has been lost."

Zimbabwe's Death Penalty Under Scrutiny

http://news.radiovop.com

07/04/2010 05:45:00

Harare, April 07, 2010 - The death penalty is under scrutiny in Zimbabwe
courts following an application by a self-confessed murderer who is
challenging the constituitionality of the practise.

According to the state-owned Herald, Shepherd Mazango, sentenced to death in
terms of Section 337 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, has taken
his challenge to the Supreme Court. He has described hanging as "horrendous,
barbaric, inhuman, brutal and uncivilised".

"God knows when I am going to be executed. I am anxious about this everyday.
It is traumatising," he said.

Through his lawyer, Mr Innocent Maja of Maja and Associates - under
instruction from International Bridges to Justice - Mazango, argues that the
imposition of the death penalty offends provisions of Zimbabwe's
Constitution.

"Punishment should be humane and should accord with human rights standards.
I still hold rights irrespective of the fact that I have been convicted of
murder.

"The cruelty of the death penalty is also shown by the mere fact that it
does not only rob me of the right to life but has the effect of robbing me
all other rights guaranteed by the Constitution," he argued.

Mazango says the last execution was carried out in 2004 and there are 50
inmates on death row, some of whom have been there for 13 years.

"Among us are George Manyonga who has spent 13 years awaiting execution,
James Dube and Bright Gwashinga who have spent 10 and five years
respectively, awaiting execution.

"This has caused severe trauma on the inmates that some of them are losing
their mind.

"Worse still, to think that I can spend 13 years before execution like my
colleague George Manyonga crushes me," he further argued.

Mazango said the cells were small, dirty, and had poor ventilation.

"The few blankets that are there are tattered and I am usually cold the
whole night. There is no toilet in the cell.

"I use a five-litre container that is kept in my room the whole day and
night.

"I am in solitary confinement for 23 hours. I am not allowed any
entertainment and I am not allowed to read anything in the cell, even a
newspaper.

"I am out of touch with the world so much so that I do not know what day it
is, what time it is and what is happening on the outside world.

"I am advised that there were amendments to the Constitution that were made
in 1990 and 1993 with the effect that a death sentence cannot be suspended
only by virtue of it contravening Section 15 of the Constitution.

"These amendments should be struck off the Constitution on the basis that
they have the effect of taking away the right not to life and the right not
to be subjected to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment and punishment.

"The amendments fly in the face of the essential features doctrine," he
argued.

He also claims that he was convicted of murder because he could not afford a
lawyer and gave statements without appreciating the essential elements of
the crime.

"I verily believe that the imposition of the death penalty is an arbitrary
deprivation of life in contravention of Section 12 of the Zimbabwean
Constitution.

"Life is sacrosanct and should not be taken away even when a person is
convicted of murder. "The 'justice' of 'an eye for an eye and 'a tooth for a
tooth' is not acceptable in a democratic society and offends human rights as
shown above.

"On the premises of the above, I believe that I have set out a case for the
relief sought. Accordingly, I humbly pray for an order in terms of the
draft," said Mazango.

The State is cited as the respondent.

Mazango was convicted of murder with actual intent for killing a Marondera
farmer.

Facts are that on September 6, 2002, Mazango and his two accomplices, met
the unsuspecting farmer at a service station and told him that they were
selling affordable fertilizer.

The victim became interested and they made him drive to Karimazondo Farm.

They ordered him to park his vehicle and led him into a bush where he was
supposed to see the fertilizer, while Mazango walked behind him.

"I picked up a log. I used it to strike him on the head and he fell on the
ground.

"I continued assaulting him with the same log till it broke. I then picked
some stones, which I used to strike him on the head.

"I took his Z$3 000, shoes, trousers and vehicle keys and went home,"
Mazango told the court during trial.
 

Mayors' Spouses to Surrender Vehicles

http://www.herald.co.zw/

7 April 2010

Harare - Spouses of mayors and chairpersons who have received vehicles from
local authorities should surrender them and councils should desist from such
actions as they amount to abuse of public funds.

Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo on Monday said any vehicles given
in such a manner should be reallocated to employees under skills retention
schemes.

"Those vehicles should go back to administration. That is plain
irresponsible," he said.

Minister Chombo said Government appreciated the purchase of vehicles for
mayors but not for their spouses.

Harare has bought a 4x4 Isuzu twin-cab for Mayoress Mrs Fikile Masunda.

Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda said his deputy, councillor Emmanuel Chiroto, would
also use the vehicle as would guests of the city.

However, Minister Chombo said none of Zimbabwe's mayors were executive and
hence did not need constant use of cars.

"Their vehicles are meant to carry them to and from home when they attend
mayoral functions. They are not to be used on a daily basis. When the mayor
is not on official business, he should use his personal vehicle," said
Minister Chombo.

Councillorship and ceremonial mayorship are not full time jobs and office
holders are expected to be gainfully employed elsewhere.

Minister Chombo said mayors and chairpersons' spouses could always use their
husbands' or wives' official vehicles to attend council functions.

Vehicles bought for spouses come with drivers and aides at council's
expense.

"It is abuse of taxpayers' money. It is very unusual that the wife of a
mayor is bought a vehicle from ratepayers' money," he said.

Farmers apply for SADC contempt order against Zimbabwe govt

http://www.apanews.net/

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) A group of Zimbabwean commercial farmers has applied
to the Namibia-based SADC Tribunal for a declaration that Zimbabwe was in
contempt of court for ignoring the tribunal's ruling in a legal challenge
against Harare mounted by the counry's white farmers unceremonoiusly evicted
from their farms to make way for landless blacks, APA learnt here Wednesday.

The farmers are also seeking an order directing the annual summit of the
15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) to take action on
Zimbabwe's failure to uphold the tribunal's orders.

The SADC court ruled in favour of 78 white Zimbabwean farmers who had
challenged the seizure of their farms under Harare's land reform programme
which started in 2000.

The court concurred with the farmers' assertion that the land reforms
violated the treaty that led to the formation of SADC which commits members
States to enact laws that do not discriminate citizens on the basis of race,
colour, gender or religion.

The Harare regime has, however, refused to abide by the tribunal's ruling,
insisting that the regional court was not yet fully constituted since the
protocol formalising its establishment has not been ratified by two-thirds
of SADC member States.

The farmers and the tribunal, however, insisted that Zimbabwe was bound by
the court's ruling since the country was a signatory to the SADC Treaty
which binds all member States to decisions of the organisation's
institutions.

Under the SADC Treaty, the tribunal cannot enforce its orders against a
member State. Only the summit of heads of state and government can enforce
the regional court's orders in the event of non-compliance.

The tribunal found Zimbabwe in contempt of court in July 2008 and referred
its findings to the 2009 SADC summit "for appropriate action" but the issue
was never discussed at last year's meeting in South Africa.

The 2010 SADC summit will be held in the Democratic Republic of Congo in
August or September.

JN/nm/APA
2010-04-07

Zimbabwe Indigenization Minister Rejects Zimplats Offer of 10% Stake for Blacks

http://www1.voanews.com/

Mining industry sources said Kasukuwere was expected to meet with Zimplats
executives and representatives of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, whose
similar 10-percent proposal he brushed off last week

Gibbs Dube | Washington 06 April 2010

Zimbabwean Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has dismissed an offer
from Zimbabwe Platinum Mines or Zimplats to set aside 10 percent of shares
for black Zimbabweans, saying he would rather do away with all foreign-owned
mining firms than accept anything less than a 51 percent stake.

Kasukuwere, who recently visited Zimplats operations in Chegutu, Mashonaland
West, dismissed the proposal made by the company as "crazy, retrogressive
and unacceptable," according to news reports.

Kasukuwere charged that Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and
Energy "is scared to visit all these foreign-owned mines in order to find
out their shareholding structures and the manner in which they are serving
surrounding communities." The committee has been probing suspected
irregularities in diamond mining in Marange district, eastern Zimbabwe.

Mining industry sources said Kasukuwere was expected to meet with Zimplats
executives and representatives of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, whose
similar 10-percent proposal he brushed off last week.

Political economist Rejoice Ngwenya told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube
that the minister's outbursts do not take into account the needs of
Zimbabweans.

"If the government closes down all these mining companies, many people will
have no source of income and apart from that it won't benefit anyone,"
Ngwenya said. VOA was unable to reach Kasukuwere to confirm the reports or
seek a response to his critics.

Meanwhile, the government is reported to be planning a database for
indigenous Zimbabwean who want to acquire shares in various foreign-owned
companies under the indigenization program.

State media quoted Kasukuwere as saying companies will identify indigenous
business partners through the database to be established by his ministry.

UK firm owes Zim construction giant £1.5m

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Own Correspondent Wednesday 07 April 2010

HARARE - Construction group Murray and Roberts (M&R) Zimbabwe has instituted
legal action against an unnamed British company to recover £1.5 million owed
after they were sub-contracted to build the multi-million-pound new British
embassy complex in Harare.

Despite making a £10 million profit from the project, the main contractor is
still to settle the outstanding amount owed to the local construction group,
M&R said in its latest report.

"As at the last financial year end an amount of £1 500 000 was outstanding
and has not been paid to date by the main contractor," M&R chairman Paddy
Zhanda said in his report accompanying the groups half year results.

"Murray and Roberts Construction Zimbabwe has discharged all its obligations
on the project as per the contract and the agreed final account and is now
taking the necessary legal procedures to recover the outstanding amount."

Zhanda said the project was "practically completed and handed over in March
last year, at an agreed value of £16 100 000".

According to the British Foreign Office, the unnamed main contractor was
awarded the tender at an initial cost of £17 million but completed the
embassy complex at a total cost of £27 million.

M&R had been sub-contracted at an agreed cost of £16.1 million and completed
the complex in March last year. - ZimOnline

Water rationing returns to Byo

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Pindai Dube
Wednesday, 07 April 2010 13:33

BULAWAYO - Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is to re-introduce water rationing
next week as the city faces another critical water shortage.

The council had relaxed water rationing in early 2009 after the city
received significant rains which saw most supply dams overflowing.
Howeve,r speaking to The Zimbabwean on Monday, Mayor Patrick Thaba-Moyo said
the water situation was now critical and the council had been forced to
decommission two supply dams.
"The situation is now critical and we are going re-introduce water rationing
next week. Although we had a very good rainy season there were insignificant
inflows in our supply dams.
"We are also going to decommission two of our five supply dams - Umzingwane
and Inyakuni dams which received 16, 27 and 9, 47 percent respectively,"
said Thaba- Moyo.
The decommissioning would leave three dams on the supply line - Insiza, and
Lower and Upper Ncema. Bulawayo needs about 135 000 cubic meters of water
daily.
Thaba-Moyo said their "hopes are lying on the inclusive government that has
promised funds to connect Mtshabezi-Umzingwane water pipeline project to the
city to end perennial water problems".
The previous Zanu (PF) government  has been blamed for turning a blind eye
to the water crisis after a Chinese company awarded the tender to construct
a pipeline linking the idle Mtshabezi Dam to the city abandoned the project
two years  ago due to non-payment.
Another option which has been on the cards for over a century is the
Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (MZWP) which requires a staggering US$1,
2 billion. The inclusive government promised to search for funds for the
project only after an audit has been done.

US Report Notes Some Progress on Human Rights in Zimbabwe, Calls for More

http://www1.voanews.com

A report on human rights in Zimbabwe in 2009 prepared by the U.S. Department
of State found some improvement over conditions in the 2008 election year,
but said progress on media freedom has lagged under the unity government

Thomas Chiripasi, Ntungamili Nkomo and Jonga Kandemiiri | Washington 06
April 2010

The U.S. government has called on Zimbabwe's unity government to promote
respect for human rights in the country, identifying media freedoms as one
area where there has been less progress over the past 13 months than might
have been hoped for, and warning of a rise in trafficking in persons through
Zimbabwe.

Presenting a report on human rights in Zimbabwe for 2009 compiled by the
U.S. State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S.
Embassy Second Secretary Amanda Porter said Harare needs to do more to
ensure respect for human rights - though there has been some progress in
this regard.

"I would say that the human rights situation in Zimbabwe is improving over
2008 but there are still areas where Zimbabwe can make improvements. In
particular, I would say media freedoms, licensing of new media outlets is an
area where we have expected to see improvement in 2009 but didn't
necessarily see as much as we would have hoped for."

Porter said the rights report indicated a need for Harare to step up
monitoring of trafficking in persons through Zimbabwe as a way station on
the way from East Africa to South Africa, though it can be difficult to
distinguish such traffic which frequently manifests itself in arrests for
illegal border crossing, for example.

Programs Manager Pedzisai Ruhanya of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition told
VOA Studio 7 reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that the unity government should give
a high priority to the prosecution of human rights violators or perpetrators
of political violence.

Elsewhere, Parliament's Committee on Home Affairs said proposals to amend
the much-maligned Public Order and Security Act do not go far enough and
leave too much room for police to violate civil rights.

The committee that "the powers currently reposed in the police should be
reviewed and generally curtailed." The panel added that proposals from
members of the public should be reflected in the reform legislation.

Mutare Central lawmaker Innocent Gonese, author of the pending legislation,
told VOA Studio 7 reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that the committee also wanted
police to be obliged to justify their use of force.

Zimbabwean authorities "institutionalised trade in blood diamonds"

Illustration NRC Handelsblad Published: 7 April 2010 08:44 | Changed: 7 April 2010 18:21

The Mozambican town of Vila de Manica is thriving thanks to the trade in illegal Zimbabwean diamonds.

By our correspondent in Vila de Manica

• Feature - Sanctions against Zimbabwe may be helping Mugabe

Taxis waiting by the busy border crossing between Zimbabwe and Mozambique are not meant for ordinary passengers. Their burly drivers try to tempt anyone who sets foot on Mozambique's territory here to drive with them to the town of Vila de Manica, some 20 kilometres away. "Free of charge, of course," said one of the drivers on a recent Saturday morning. "That is, if you have brought something for us," he added, leaning on the hood of his Toyota Corolla, held together by pieces of tape.

"Something" referred to uncut rough diamonds. Anyone who has smuggled those across the border can get a free ride to traders in Manica. The fare will be paid by the Indians, West Africans and, especially, Lebanese who have set up shop there. Seven days a week, mainly in the early morning hours, they sit in front of their villas, waiting for trade, the driver explained. "I'll take you to Jesus," he said as he got behind the wheel and let the engine roar.

Area sealed

Signs from buyers looking for "gemstones" soon appeared next to the Beira-bound highway. The driver made a right turn onto a bumpy dirt road that led to a huge, but empty, swimming pool surrounded by the merchants' villas.

"Jesus, that's me," said a smiling, elderly man with an impressive scar on his forehead. "I got that nickname because I pay so well." Jesus said he was a Lebanese, but declined to give his real name. He became somewhat less friendly when he understood the reason for the visit. "Why would you write about diamonds," he grumbled. "There is no bigger lie than that of diamonds. We can't live without oil or water, but diamonds are not good for anything. So what are we even talking about?"

We are talking about the transformation of a sleepy Mozambican town that is thriving thanks to the trade in illegal diamonds from neighbouring Zimbabwe. The stones come from the Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe. In 2006, the government cancelled the lease of the British-Zimbabwean owned African Consolidated Resources company, the initial operator of the 26-square-kilometre large diamond fields. Thousands of Zimbabweans soon flocked to the east to try their luck. But in 2008, soon after president Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai sealed a political deal, the army and police took control of Marange. They randomly shot diamond panners. At least 300 were killed, according to a report by the New York based lobby group Human Rights Watch. The area has been sealed ever since.

Kimberley In 2003, an international certificate for rough diamonds, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, was established by the UN. "While the KP was set up to prevent rebel movements from using the trade to fund civil war," said Avi Krawitz of the diamond trading network Rapaport. "It has failed to prevent rogue states from manipulating the system for their own gain." The organisation behind the Kimberley scheme is investigating whether Zimbabwe is abiding by its rules, but the country has already said it will ignore the results of the investigation. Even if the other Kimberley members decide to expel it, it will still continue to sell diamonds without the certificate that says the stones are not used to finance rebels or mined through forced labour.

Driving from Mutare to Marange has been made impossible by army and police roadblocks. According to human-rights activist Farai Maguwu, the armed forces and the senior politicians have taken control of the diamond business. "They have institutionalised the illegal trade," he said.

Everyone is involved

Maguwu was a teacher before he started investigating the cross-border diamond trade between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. In his sparsely furnished office in Mutare, he explained how practically every soldier in the area was in some way involved in the diamond industry. "And this is still accompanied by massive human rights violations," he said.

The Zimbabwean government has granted concessions to two South African companies to help the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation exploit the fields. The companies have little mining experience. The Reclamation Group from Johannesburg became big in the trade of scrap metaland is now involved in the Zimbabwean diamond trade through an offshore construction in Mauritius. The new partners are "old friends" of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, said Maguwu. " Syndicates operate with the involvement of all authorities, on both the Zimbabwean and the Mozambican side. The police, border guards, tax officers; everyone is paid 100 US dollars and they are all happy."

Maguwu calls the Marange stones 'blood diamonds', because the local population is being put to work to mine them. "Forced labour," he said. They are taken through the mountains or just across the border crossing to buyers such as Jesus.

'Spoiling it again'

Vila de Manica is booming. Restaurants and bars are doing good business, virtually everything is for sale on its market and the population has at least tripled. House keepers, prostitutes and guards who speak English are in particular high demand. Just like the diamonds, most workers are from Zimbabwe rather than Portuguese-speaking Mozambique.

After Jesus had finished raging about "the lie of the diamond", some pride shone through. He was born and raised in Sierra Leone, he said. He worked in the West African diamond business until journalists and aid organisations started calling his wares 'blood diamonds'. The revenues were said to support rebel movements. Jesus was shattered by the allegations. "These poor Africans and I are trying to make a living," he said. "And diamonds happen to be what I know best."

From Sierra Leone he moved to the Congolese capital Kinshasa and then to Mozambique in 2008. He loves it here, but was not sure how much longer he would stay. "International media and these so-called human rights activists are spoiling it again. Now that president Mugabe knows that we are bringing his diamonds to the world markets, he has taken charge and there is less left for us."

Trading is less lucrative, one of his neighbours concurred. This 22-year-old fellow Lebanese was working out on a fitness machine in his dark living room. "In the beginning, the Zimbabwean boys would offer us coffee cups full of stones," he said. "And they were happy if we gave them a meal, a pair of jeans or a bag of flour in return. These days, they know exactly what their trade is worth and won't settle for anything less than stacks of dollar bills. It is not as much fun as it used to be, I must say." The man refused to give his name or any information on the value of the diamonds he traded. Soon his guard made it clear the interview was over and threatened to call the local police.

Nobody can identify them

Jesus had already mentioned he considered the local authorities his best friends. "They know what we have done to develop this town. When the market burned down, we gave the mayor 50,000 dollars to rebuild it."

Vila de Manica is just a stop on the way out of Africa for the rough diamonds. The traders said they ship them abroad from the airstrip in Chimoio or the port of Beira. According to Human Rights Watch, the stones are then taken to Dubai, India and Lebanon. Jesus and the others boasted that they brought the stones straight to Antwerp. "Forget Lebanon," Jesus said. "Diamonds are sold in Antwerp and nowhere else."

Once they are cut, "nobody can identify where they came from," said Andrew Cranswick of the British-Zimbabwean African Consolidated Resources, the company that is desperately trying to regain the rights to the Marange diamond fields through several legal procedures. The country could be the world's second or third diamond producer, said Cranswick. A clean, regulated industry could yield billions for the empty treasury, but now very few profit from it.

North Korea to camp in Zimbabwe

http://news.bbc.co.uk

Wednesday, 7 April 2010 16:09 UK

North Korea will train in Zimbabwe before heading to South Africa for this
year's World Cup in June.

The southern African country approached five countries playing in the global
tournament to set up their training bases in the country.

But Zimbabwe's tourism minister Walter Mzembi said only North Korea has
confirmed it will come.

England and the United States were among the countries asked to visit in the
build-up to the tournament.

Mzembi said Australia and five-time World Cup winner Brazil were also
approached in a bid to boost Zimbabwe's tourism industry but they are yet to
respond.

The North Korean team is expected in Zimbabwe at the end of May but no
specific dates were given.

North Korea last appeared at the World Cup in 1966.

Bridging the knowledge gap: Political economy of mining

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Mutumwa Mawere Wednesday 07 April 2010

OPINION: After 54 years of independence, many African countries remain among
the least developed and yet paradoxically are richly endowed with mineral
wealth.

How could God be so unfair to Africans? Why place minerals in the geology
where black Africans are in the majority and yet alienate the natives from
the exploration, exploitation, beneficiation and distribution process of
minerals?

It is important to pause and reflect on the political aspects of the African
economy.

In particular, we have no choice but to locate the impact of party politics
on the formulation and implementation of policy or on economic development.

The nexus between party politics and business in the African context has to
be critically examined as the existence or otherwise of a connection between
the two variables is useful in that it allows for a better analysis of the
character of the state which in turn helps explain key economic policies
like indigenisation and economic empowerment and the manner in which they
have been implemented or manipulated for political expediency in various
African states.

It must be accepted that a significant outcome of some of the economic
policies pursued by post-colonial African regimes has been the accumulation
and concentration of wealth derived from economic rents and rent-seeking
activities.

The nature of the post-colonial African story suggests that a strong
association must necessarily exist between politics, policy development and
implementation, the concept of rent and related concepts of rent seeking.

The colonial regime exposed the strong association between politics and
business that has proved to be difficult to eliminate.

The post-colonial political class was by virtue of the colonial project
alienated from accessing resource rents from mineral commodities and,
therefore, the most politically expedient route has had to be the
institutionalization of the association between political patronage and
access to resources through policies like indigenization, nationalisation
and citizen economic empowerment.

The role of political parties in the decolonisation process cannot be denied
and yet their role in the post-colonial transformation has proved to be
controversial not only because there is no consensus on how rents should be
allocated and who should benefit from God given resources like land, water
and minerals but the business class has largely abdicated from its
responsibility to be part of the negotiation on what kind of Africa we
should have.

The colonial business class, though closely associated with state actors,
was more organised and integrated into the political economy.

The critical economic decision makers in Africa are remotely connected to
the political processes that shape economic policies.

Revenues from mineral resources represent an important source of revenue for
many African states and, therefore, strategies to access this wealth are
important to governments.

Such strategies range from direct participation in mining activity by means
of state-owned companies to more indirect methods such as taxes levied on
mining activity.

Various versions of public/private sector configurations exist in the mining
sector ranging from direct participation, market-led and sustainability
models.

Direct participation experiments have so far failed to produce the kind of
outcomes anticipated and yet even market-led solutions have also not
impacted positively on poverty reduction strategies.

Mining activities are associated with social and environmental costs that
have to be taken into account and that compel us to think of sustainable
business models.

South Africa is a key African pivot state and the manner in which it has
chosen to pursue its development agenda has implications for the rest of the
continent.

In South Africa, mineral rights are now vested in the state and anyone who
wishes to access such resources has to apply for a license.

The license system has already proved to be a convenient source of economic
rents for the new political class.

Established companies are compelled to convert existing rights into new
order rights and therein lay the catch.  It is not automatic that a company
can convert old order rights into new order rights.

The nationalisation of mineral rights has opened a new window for rent
collection.

Stories are abound of well connected individuals being allocated new order
rights on the back of knowledge that such rights carry high economic value
to the company denied access.

Through connections, individuals have managed to leverage their personal
wealth in a manner that has encouraged many political players to look at
mining as a convenient and easy road to wealth accumulation.

All you need is to fall into the class of historically disadvantaged person
and with a few connections; it has been proved that one can ride the
opportunity ladder with an elevator rather than on the rough side of the
mountain.

Last Friday, Julius Malema, president of the ANC Youth League visited
Zimbabwe as a guest of ZANU PF.

Malema is acutely aware that Zimbabwe has the kind of mineral resources that
South African mining houses want and yet they have been concerned about the
implications of indigenization laws on mining investment.

In the context of South Africa, the black economic empowerment laws have
been embraced and accepted by the same mining houses that are opposed to the
Zimbabwean approach to economic power distribution.

Some may argue that what is good for South Africa must be good for the rest
of the continent including Zimbabwe.

Malema by associating himself with the party that holds the power to
selectively apply the laws and to put into place the same kind of
institutional mechanism that has proved financially rewarding to the
well-connected, he will no doubt be the bridge at a cost for South African
companies who are scared of engaging ZANU PF directly on empowerment issues.

After 16 years of democracy, BEE has produced its own graduates while the
majority of the population remains outside the formal economic system. BEE
can be rewarding and can be used against anyone who chooses to challenge the
system.

It was not surprising that Malema had this to say during his visit: "We hear
you are now going straight to the mines. That's what we are going to be
doing in South Africa. We want the mines. They have been exploiting our
minerals for a long time. Now it's our turn to also enjoy from these
minerals. They are so bright, they are colorful, we refer to them as white
people, maybe their color came as a result of exploiting our minerals and
perhaps if some of us can get opportunities in these minerals we can develop
some nice color like them."

It is significant that only five months ago, Malema said Mugabe should go.
What conceivably could have led to Malema's change of heart? Could it be his
links to companies that see potential in Zimbabwe's rich mineral resources
but have no access to the people who control the indigenization agenda in
Zimbabwe?

Malema knows where the power to make the kind of decisions that mining
companies expect in Zimbabwe lies.

It could not have been a mistake that his itinerary included Zimplats and
not Rio Tinto, for example.

Zimplats is owned and controlled by Implala Platinum, a South African based
mining company that has embraced BEE and would not have a problem in Malema
being an intermediary for an acceptable transaction in Zimbabwe.

It is common knowledge that South African based companies are now exploiting
Zimbabwe's diamonds.

With Malema in the equation, it is not unthinkable to see him collecting
rents in Zimbabwean transaction in as much as his colleagues in ANC are
collecting in the name of BEE.

All that is required is for Mugabe to see Malema in a different light and
his just ended visit has managed to position him as an advisor on mining
issues as well as a convenient political weapon in the domestic political
equation.

Malema has thrown his weight with ZANU PF and he is smart enough to know
what many may not know.

If ever, he were convinced that MDC was a factor in the future of Zimbabwe,
he would have chosen a different itinerary and language.

Clearly his intelligence has told him that it is safe to align with the ZANU
PF because that is where he perceives the power to be.

It is common cause that resource rents from mineral commodities have
contributed to economic growth, the allocation of rents, in various forms,
to promote "social" objectives has been important in securing legitimacy and
support for the government, rents have also been created by the government
to encourage industrialization and to bolster investments.

However, in a confused political climate, rents can be allocated
inefficiently as a result of political patronage.

It is never too late to pause and think critically about what kind of
values, beliefs and principles are required to lift Africa up. Political
hypocrisy and prostitution can distort and retard economic progress.

Companies that wish to do business in Africa and have embraced BEE may live
to regret the hypocrisy on the question of economic empowerment as it is
rolled out in the rest of the continent starting with Zimbabwe.

The beneficiaries of South African BEE policies may very well be the toxic
pills in the quest for a just and equitable Africa.

Malema has opened the door to a new conversation on empowerment and the
response has to be considered and informed by history; performance,
financing and other risks associated with any economic development
enterprise. - ZimOnline

Constitution Watch 3/2010 of 7th April [List of Rapporteurs for Outreach Teams]

CONSTITUTION WATCH 3/2010

[7^th April 2010]

Training of Rapporteurs for the Outreach Teams

Thursday 8^th and Friday 9^th April

List of Rapporteurs for the Outreach Teams

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied