MBARE - The people of Mbare are busy now smashing up the slabs and foundations of the cottages whose walls were destroyed earlier. They have to dig deep holes to bury the rubble. People say, this is because Kofi Annan is coming, and he is not supposed to see the destruction.

Some huge holes will have to be dug to hide all the debris and rubble, at present lining the outer fringes of the township, left over from the destruction of more or less half the living quarters of the Mbare people.

People not complying with these orders from the City of Harare are fined one million dollars each.

Murambatsvina (Operation “Doing away with the filth”, or Murambavanhu, as many prefer to say, “Operation “Doing away with the people” ) is not over because there are still homeless people staying in the open. Those who asked for transport to their rural homes are being assisted by a church programme. But will they be able to survive when they get there?

Murambatsvina is not over because self-employed traders and artisans are still barred from resuming their income-generating activities. They are starving. Once the new school term starts in September many jobless, homeless parents will not be able to pay the school fees for their children which have gone up steeply recently. There will be more children out of school.

Murambatsvina will not be over for a long time because the effects will be felt for a long time.

Meanwhile, in Durban the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference last week released an urgent appeal for a relief operation in response to the food crisis in Zimbabwe.

“Deeply touched by the enormous suffering of our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe who are experiencing serious food shortages and lack of basic services, we appeal to all the Catholics in Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland to generously respond to the relief operation campaign in favour of the people of Zimbabwe,” said the Catholic Bishops at the end of their plenary assembly held in Mariannhill.

“We call on the members of the Church and the people of goodwill to donate blankets, food and medicines to the relief operation campaign. May the campaign receive the same support and spirit of self-giving which inspired so many people to give generously to the Tsunami disaster victims.

“Particularly we would like to keep in mind the hundreds of thousands of people who have been rendered homeless by “Operation Remove the Filth” and deprived of the means of livelihood by “Operation Clean Up”, who now live in appalling conditions in transit camps.

“We call upon you, our people, to pray earnestly for a more just government in Zimbabwe - a government which will be committed to the wellbeing and human rights of all its citizens.

“The donations and humanitarian aid for the relief operation campaign will be distributed to the needy people through the network of the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe, in collaboration with the South African Council of Churches (SACC).”