From News24 (SA), 30 August

Zim kids scrape living from dump

Mbare - "This place is my life, my home, my workplace and my larder," said Mishek, a frail 10-year-old, as he pointed to a huge pile of rubbish on the outskirts of Mbare, one of the poorest suburbs of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. To earn his living, the boy has to plunge into the stinking morass every day, looking for food or for junk that he can sell for recycling. "Here, the people are poor, they don't throw much away," the boy said. His afternoon's scavenging had turned up half a tomato, the remains of a can of food, some stale bread, pieces of scrap and tyres. Every Sunday, Mishek and his seven-year-old sister Rusape leave the shack which serves as their home on the edge of the dump and head for Mbare's major market, the Musika. Amid the roar of diesel engines from the nearby bus station and the shouts of the market sellers, the children try to sell scrap and old tyres for a few Zimbabwean dollars. "The scrap always finds takers," said Mishek. "The handymen can always find a use for it."

In the days of white-ruled Rhodesia, when Harare was still known as Salisbury, Mbare was called Harare Township. But since independence in 1980, Mbare has remained the poorest neighbourhood in the capital, overcrowded, filthy and infested by criminals. Mishek set up home on the dump when his mother, who was bringing him up alone, died of Aids. "No one helped us," he said. "Our family was too poor, the social workers have too many children to help and no money." Zimbabwe has being going through an unprecedented economic crisis for the past two years, with 25 percent of the people living below the poverty line, unemployment at 50 percent and 60 percent inflation. The state is cash-strapped and can no longer finance basic social services, such as hospitals, help for the growing numbers of homeless people, Aids victims and orphans. The situation is particularly critical in the poor townships such as Mbare.

Dunmore Makuvaza, new parliamentarian for the area, was elected on a ticket of the opposition MDC. "The neighbourhood is dangerously overpopulated. Every house is surrounded by 10 shacks threatening to collapse, a lot of people do not even have a roof over their heads and live in desperate hygiene conditions," said Makuvaza, who was born in Mbare and spent his pre-parliamentary career there as a trade union activist. "We know that more and more children do not go to school, prostitute themselves or do degrading work because of the economic crisis or Aids, which has made a million orphans out of a total population of 12 million," he said. "We know all this, but what can we do without money?" Makuvaza asked. Jim Fangai, of the agency for the homeless Streets Ahead, said that humanitarian asociations were "submerged by the situation" in view of the increase in the numbers of street children over the past two years. "We just cannot count them because we find new ones every day," Fangi said. On the dump, Mishek is training up his sister to her future career as a sifter of rubbish. "It is better than being a prostitute," he says.

From The Daily News, 29 August

MDC councillors head key Bulawayo city committees

Bulawayo - The MDC took a giant step to controlling the city of Bulawayo when two of its councillors were elected to head key committees of the city at a council meeting yesterday evening. Alderman Mike Parira-Mpofu and Matson Hlalo were elected unopposed to head the audit and procurement committees respectively, with the third, Charles Mpofu, becoming Hlalo's deputy. The acting executive mayor of Bulawayo, Councillor David Ndlovu was re-elected deputy mayor after beating Thmsanga Magonya by five votes. Ndlovu polled 13 votes to Magonya's eight. The town clerk could not be accessed to give official figures of the votes polled by each contestant.

Parira-Mpofu took over the reigns from Mike Batandi. Council sources attributed this to the division among the Zanu PF councillors who were not sure of their chances against MDC members who have grown powerful as a result of the wrangle. The sources also said that the MDC councillors together with Independents had resolved to vote for Ndlovu at a caucus on Sunday. Ndlovu had become unpopular within Zanu PF for his middle of the road stance when approaching council issues. One MDC councillor said after the meeting: "We voted for the better devil."

From News24 (SA), 30 August

Zim farmers vow to stay on land

Harare - Economic hardship may threaten to shut them down, and politics to throw them off the land, but white Zimbabwe farmers at this year's premier agricultural show vowed on Monday to stay put. "People (farmers) generally are not going to just throw in the towel," said Bill Francis, a Zimbabwe tobacco farmer and cattle rancher. Exhibition halls at the usually vibrant Zimbabwe annual agricultural show were sparse on Monday, and attendance below capacity. The number of exhibitors has dropped from 420 last year to 350 this year, according to organisers. "I, like a lot of other people, am here to stay," said cattle farmer Jane Deary from Mutorashanga, about 80 kilometres north of Harare. She said many other farmers she knew were too depressed to attend the show this year, or too nervous to leave their farms unattended. "The turn-out is dismal," said Les Mallett, chairman of the cattle section at the show. "But the competition is still strong. It's fierce," he added. "Disturbances on the farms have made people reluctant to leave home," he said.

Livestock pens were virtually empty on Monday morning, and Mallett said dairy and beef livestock on show were down by 50 percent and 40 percent respectively. Zimbabwe's national cattle herd of about 5.4 million cattle is in decline as cattle farmers send breeding stock for slaughter to alleviate cash flow problems, said an official. "People are off-loading cattle (for slaughter). There is no confidence in the farming industry," said Tim Reynolds, chairman of the Cattle Producers Association. "(But) The resilience of farmers is incredible," commented Reynolds. An agricultural implements dealer told AFP his company had only sold four tractors this year to a single customer. "I can't foresee selling a hell of a lot more this year," he said, adding "It's now wait and see."

The subdued start to the opening of what is considered a showpiece to Zimbabwe's economic mainstay - agriculture - might be a hint of things to come, said Francis. Zimbabwe's 4 500 white commercial farmers - many of them producers of tobacco, the country's top foreign currency earner - have since February been targeted for militant land invasions spearheaded by Zimbabwe's liberation war veterans. Over 1 600 properties have been invaded and occupied by the veterans and supporters of President Robert Mugabe, pressing for urgent land reform. White farmers in Zimbabwe own up to 70 percent of prime farming land, but make a significant contribution to the agriculturally dependent economy. Tobacco alone contributes 12 percent of gross domestic product, and makes up 34 percent of the country's exports. Francis said he was of the opinion that Zimbabwe's white farmers had been "unfairly victimised and racially attacked". At least four white farmers and three black farm workers were among the 34 people killed in the violence in months in the run-up to June parliamentary elections, which were accompanied by farm invasions. The annual showcase is traditionally inaugurated by a foreign head of state, but this year, Vice President Joseph Msika is to open the show.