The Zimbabwe Situation

Crossing the border from Zimbabwe to South Africa is a hazardous journey, but rocketing numbers of people are braving rapids, crocodiles and watchful border guards as they flee the economic and political crisis in their homeland in search of a better life.

The container truck grinds down the gears as it gets into position in the heavy vehicles queue. A pregnant woman climbs out of the passenger door and after some hurried instructions from the bearded driver approaches the security guard at Zimbabwe's Beitbridge border post, the gateway to neighbouring South Africa.

After passing him a folded bundle of Zimbabwean notes, the woman takes her stamped gate pass and goes past the queues to the final exit, where a baby-faced soldier and a sombre-looking police support unit trooper wave the woman through without checking the gate pass or demanding a passport.

The same procedure takes place at the first South African security checkpoint. The woman crosses the immigration offices courtyard past the queues of incoming travellers and, having paid another security guard manning the exit R10 [about US $1.80], she ignores a group of police officers and proceeds to the waiting point, when the truck soon picks her up.

Her two children, concealed under the heavy tarpaulin covering the load, have also entered South Africa.

This is one of the many ways in which Zimbabweans desperate to jump the border beat ever-tightening South African security.

While this woman found getting through the gate relatively easy on the morning of 28 December 2005, many more were feigning sleep as they lay on the lawn of a Beitbridge service station popularly known as the 'last stop', waiting for the sun to set and a better future in an unknown land famous for the high number of guns on the street.

The Last Stop

Newly arrived migrants from all over Zimbabwe meet with the latest deportees at this service station to wait for nightfall, when they slip across the Limpopo and breach the razor-sharp, three-tiered security fence on the South African side.

When IRIN arrived at the 'last stop', over 300 prospective border-jumpers - almost half them repeat offenders - were basking in the scorching temperature. Most said leaving Zimbabwe was the only way out of the worsening socio-economic crisis, but the high cost of applying for a visa to South Africa made most of them resort to crossing illegally.

"To apply for a South African visa one needs one thousand Rand [about $165] in cash. Most of us have never worked anywhere and do not have relatives in South Africa - even those with relatives and friends working there cannot get the money because they are poorly paid," commented one.

"With the state of the economy worsening daily in Zimbabwe, I find braving the crocodiles of the Limpopo and taking chances with the South African security services a better option. If I succeed, I go straight to Johannesburg [South Africa's biggest commercial city]; if I get caught and deported, I come back here, take a rest and make several other attempts," said Siduduzile Ndlovu, 27, a mother of two.

While she hoped for a better future, possibly employed as a domestic worker, her companion, Debra Masomere, pregnant and travelling with her child and young brother, had few expectations. They had left Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, on 26 December and crossed the Limpopo twice, only to be nabbed and sent back. She weighed the grim reality of the crocodiles, being swept away by the flooded Limpopo and dodging the omnipresent soldiers, who do not take bribes anymore.

"I do not know what to expect in Johannesburg. I have never been there and I do not have any relatives elsewhere in South Africa. The problems at home are forcing me to leave this hard way, and I can only hope for a new life in South Africa. I hope to register these children and the unborn one for social grants," she explained.

"Some friends told me I could get them new South African birth certificates if I get money enough to bribe officials at the Department of Home Affairs, but first I have to cross the river and make my way to Musina [in South Africa's Limpopo province] on foot. I will only try to plan for Johannesburg as soon as I confirm that I am on my way there by reaching Polokwane [about halfway to Johannesburg]," said Masomere.

Better Life for the Kids

Some of the women said they were going to join husbands and relatives in Johannesburg. Most said they hoped to return to Zimbabwe when the political and economic situation had improved, but were smuggling their children into South Africa in time for the opening of schools because of high fees and dropping educational standards at home.

"At this point Zimbabwe is not a place to let children grow up in - it is not normal," said a father of two boys, aged 2 and 4, who refused to be named.

"My hope is to get my children South African citizenship, and place them in schools there. Lowered as the educational standards here are, we all realise that education has become expensive enough to be accessible only to the privileged few. I crossed the Limpopo yesterday with the boys, but got arrested and deported. I will go back again today because South Africa still offers a lot of hope."

Police officers at Beitbridge Police Station said it was alarming to see that most of the over 50,000 illegal migrants deported from South Africa between December 2005 and the first week of January 2006 were women and children.

"Women have become the majority in deliveries to the station. We handle nearly 400 border-jumpers every day. Although we are supposed to fine them Zim $25,000 [US 25 cents] for breaching a section of the Immigration Act [by entering another country without appropriate travel documents], most of them are so poor they do not have money. So we just screen them for wanted criminals and let them go, although we know that they wait for another chance to cross again, and they do," said a senior immigration detective with Zimbabwe's Criminal Investigation Department.

He said most of them usually succeeded in crossing at the second or third attempt, because the lure of South Africa encouraged them to take the same risks repeatedly. IRIN also learnt from the police that 'border guides' had set up lucrative businesses helping people to cross the frontier and making it impossible for security agencies to stop the hordes.

"The so-called border guides are local boys who claim to know every point where one can cross without the triple risk of being swept away, eaten by crocodiles or spotted by an army patrol while crossing the river," said the detective.

"They then take these people to openings in the border fences. They rip the fences apart to make many cleverly concealed gaps. By studying the South African daily security patrol pattern from high points on the Zimbabwean side, they get to know which openings to use at what time. This way, many border jumpers slip through," he explained.

Some of the 'border guides' confirmed that they charged each illegal migrant R50 [about $8] to lead them across the river to a pre-arranged pick-up point for transport, but did not see this as exorbitant compared to the price transport owners charged.

"We accept that these people have not worked and may not have any money, but if they can get R1,000 [$165] to pay the fee for a journey to Johannesburg without papers, they surely can pay R50 [$8] to cross a flooded river," said a guide who called himself Jeff-Jeff.

"You should not forget the great risk we take in leading these people through the security patrols and armed guards in private, wildlife-infested farms at night. The fee is much more reasonable when rated against the benefits of a new life in Johannesburg."

There is little doubt the exodus will increase in 2006, and deportees will be sent home in even larger numbers.

One response is a reception and support centre being built by the International Organisation for Migration in Beitbridge. When opened in February, it will provide stranded deportees with food, clothing and bus fares to enable them to return to their homes. Whether they remain there is another matter.
Source: AND

Zanu PF Mandarins In War Of Words

US says UN should bar rights abusers from new body

ABC News

Reuters
Jan 11, 2006 — By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador John Bolton warned U.N. members
on Wednesday that allowing countries that had committed gross human rights
abuses to serve on a new rights council would mock the legitimacy of the
United Nations itself.
Bolton, speaking at a closed meeting, presented several proposals on how to
create the new council that would replace the discredited Geneva-based Human
Rights Commission, known for giving seats to such countries as Sudan and
Zimbabwe who then make deals to block resolutions against various offenders.

"The current situation is untenable and must not be allowed to continue,"
Bolton said, according to a copy of his written text. "Membership on the
Commission by some of the world's most notorious human rights abusers mocks
the legitimacy of the Commission and the United Nations itself."
World leaders at a U.N. summit in September agreed to replace the Geneva
commission with a new council as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has
suggested. But they left nearly all details to the General Assembly, which
still has deep differences in the debate that began on Wednesday.
South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, one of the key negotiators for the
new council, was optimistic and said "there is beginning to be movement" on
the size of the council and how members should be chosen.
Bolton spelled out U.S. terms for the new rights council but did not repeat
earlier comments that the five Security Council powers — the United States,
Britain, France, Russia and China — should automatically get seats. If the
United States make this a key condition, diplomats said, the reform would be
derailed.
"At this stage all are talking about them serving one or two terms and then
leaving," Kumalo said. "They are not talking at all about permanent seats."
Still in dispute are the size of the new council, its mandates mandate, and
how members should be elected.
On size, Bolton said the United States wanted no more than 30 members.
Kumalo said most members want at least 38 seats and many advocated the
number stay at 53 nations.

Big mouth could land Chunga in trouble

Naples Zoo curator to track endangered species in Africa

By Mary Wozniak
mwozniak@news-press.com
Originally posted on January 12, 2006

The Naples Zoo is kicking off a year of firsts by sending its animal curator to the Africa to take part in an animal conservation project.

Conrad Schmitt will leave for Zimbabwe on Tuesday for three weeks of tracking endangered carnivores, including cheetah, leopards and brown hyenas.

"It's an awesome opportunity," said David Tetzlaff, zoo director.

The Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens on Goodlette-Frank Road has made education about animal conservation a part of its programs, since it was founded by Lawrence "Jungle Larry" Tetzlaff, in the 1950s.

The zoo also has supported conservation projects in Africa and elsewhere by sending money, David Tetzlaff said. But this is the first time that a staff member is participating in such an effort.

"In this day and age, zoos are the conduit between people and the wild," Tetzlaff said.

This trip is a way of bringing that home to people and demonstrate how zoos play a vital role in animal conservation, he said.

Schmitt will be part of a three-man team, including Chris Pfefferkorn, general curator at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, and Alan Sironen from the Cleveland (Ohio) Zoo.

All the zoos are accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.

The team will go to isolated regions in two national parks in Zimbabwe, including the expansive Hwange National Park, and trap animals using bait and cages.

The animals will be immobilized and radio collars attached. Then the animals will be released and a GPS will track the radio signals from their collars so their movements can be mapped, Schmitt said.

The purpose is to take a census of the animals, monitor their range and behavior, and see how they are surviving in the wild, Schmitt said.

The project, started by Pfefferkorn in 2001, is called the Matabeleland Leopard and Cheetah Project.

"My role is just to help Chris collect data," Schmitt said.

The project works with the Chipangali Wildlife Trust and information is provided to Zimbabwe's national park system to help officials make wildlife management decisions.

"Their wildlife has not been well documented over the last 10 to 12 years with the unrest going on," Schmitt said. "They need to get numbers, so they can make some recommendations on how to handle things."

This includes where to build or not to build, or where to expand or not to expand, he said.

Schmitt is paying for his own trip to Zimbabwe because the opportunity came up suddenly and the zoo had no money in its 2006 budget for the project, Tetzlaff said.

This will be Schmitt's sixth trip to Africa and fourth time in Zimbabwe. Earlier trips included a convention on the international trade of endangered species, with 132 countries participating.

He also was partnered with Sironen in the importation of three East African black rhinos from South Africa to the United States.

Schmitt also led a couple of tour groups to Africa. And that is probably in the future for the Naples Zoo, Tetzlaff said — African safaris led by either himself or Schmitt.

Also on the horizon is a new sign on Goodlette-Frank Road for the zoo, to replace the 1920s-era sign damaged by Hurricane Wilma, and recently torn down at the corner of U.S. 41 and Fleischmann Road.

An internationally known zoo design firm also has been hired to design a new animal exhibit, Tetzlaff said.

He won't reveal what the exhibit will be, and he won't even announce the name of the design company until February.

But the zoo is now a nonprofit entity as of October 2005, and a major fundraising effort will be started for the new exhibit, which is expected to cost in the six-to-seven figure range, Tetzlaff said.

Senior Released After Stint in Zimbabwean Prison

Amar C. Bakshi '06 says he was held on espionage charges for five days

Published On Tuesday, January 10, 2006 5:57 PM

By DANIEL J. HEMEL and NDIDI N. MENKITI

Crimson Staff Writers

Zimbabwean officials detained Amar C. Bakshi ‘06 on espionage charges late
last month after he visited the African country to conduct thesis research
on political propaganda, the Leverett House senior said.

The increasingly autocratic regime of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
held the student for five days inside a cell that "reeked of feces," Bakshi
said.

Bakshi, who hails from Washington D.C., said he boarded a British Airways
jet to return to the United States on Dec. 30, but Zimbabwean authorities
called him off the plane and would not let him leave the country.

Bakshi said that members of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organization
accused him of "spying and sabotage" and told him his Harvard connections
were "just a cover."

According to Bakshi, Zimbabwean authorities threatened him by saying, "No
one will know if you’re here....No one will know if you’re not here."

But Bakshi managed to place a cell phone call from a bathroom stall to the
Leverett House assistant senior tutor, Judy Murciano-Goroff.

He said Murciano-Goroff worked with U.S. embassy officials and Zimbabwean
contacts to secure his release.

Murciano-Goroff did not return several phone calls and e-mails seeking
comment over the past two days. A spokeswoman for the State Department’s
Bureau of Consular Affairs, Angela Aggeler, said that federal law bars her
from releasing information on individual American citizens.

A Zimbabwean embassy official in Washington initially called Bakshi’s story
"very, very, very untrue," but he later declined to confirm or deny Bakshi’s
account.

Bakshi said that Zimbabwean officers first threw him into a solitary cell
and then moved him into a larger facility with 120 other detainees. He said
the prisoners were not allowed to wear shoes, go outside, or use a proper
restroom.

Although Bakshi said that officials from the United States embassy in Harare
brought him meals, he said the other detainees only received food every one
or two days. He said that some of the other detainees had been held for over
a week.

Bakshi’s parents, both of whom are doctors, were celebrating New Year’s in
New York when they received a call from the U.S. embassy informing them that
their son had been jailed in Zimbabwe.

"It was obviously very frightening," his mother, Gita Chopra Bakshi, said in
a phone interview. "My reaction was...my God, what have they done to him?"

She said she and her husband flew to the Zimbabwean capital of Harare and,
along with prominent Zimbabwean attorney Eric Matinenga, helped secure their
son’s release.

Matinenga is also the lawyer for Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.

Bakshi, a joint social studies and visual and environmental studies
concentrator, had traveled to Zimbabwe over the summer to conduct interviews
with Mugabe’s current spokesman, George Charamba, who is the permanent
secretary of the Information Ministry. Bakshi also spoke to Charamba’s
predecessor, Jonathan Moyo, who was expelled from Mugabe’s ruling party
early last year.

Harvard College halted funding for student travel to Zimbabwe in 2004 but
lifted that restriction this past October. Nonetheless, Bakshi used his own
means to pay for the trip.

Even after his arrest, Bakshi said he does not believe Harvard should
restrict student travel to Zimbabwe. "It’s a matter of your own personal
maturity," Bakshi said, though he recommended that the University compile a
list of contacts for students in the region.

"For me, it was not a miserable experience," Bakshi said of his detention.
"I met the most inspiring people."

Cabot House applied mathematics and economics concentrator Proud Dzambukira
‘07, a Zimbabwe native, was in Cambridge when he received a text message
from Bakshi on the first night of his detention.

"This was the first time that someone that I know directly was detained in
this manner," Dzambukira wrote in an e-mail. "One of the things that
surprised me was that a student clearly doing academic work would attract
this kind of scrutiny," he added.

According to Amnesty International’s 2005 report on Zimbabwe, the country’s
police and intelligence forces "were implicated in numerous cases of
torture, assault, and ill-treatment." The report said that "victims were
primarily members of the political opposition and those perceived as
critical of the government."

Bakshi recalled that one boy who was detained alongside him said, "Make sure
when you write up your thesis, make sure that you write about us, about all
the good things." But, the boy added, "Be sure to tell them how horrific
this is too."

A press officer for the Zimbabwean embassy in Washington, Wilbert
Gwashavanhu, said of Baskshi’s account, "This is created. This is very,
very, very untrue."

After reading an article about Bakshi’s arrest on the website of the
Zimbabwe Standard newspaper, Gwashavanhu said, "An article like this one is
quite damaging."

Asked again, though, whether Bakshi’s story was accurate, Gwashavanhu
replied, "I am an official at the embassy in the U.S. reading this on the
Internet. Do you think I’m competent to answer this question?"

"We can’t conclusively say that the charge is not true because we haven’t—I
didn’t have any official communication," he said.

Gwashavanhu referred further questions to Charamba, the Information Ministry
chief whom Bakshi interviewed for his thesis. But Gwashavanhu declined to
provide contact information for Charamba.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Ndidi N. Menkiti can be reached at menkiti@fas.harvard.edu.
Zimbabwean officials detained Amar C. Bakshi ‘06 on espionage charges late
last month after he visited the African country to conduct thesis research
on political propaganda, the Leverett House senior said.

The increasingly autocratic regime of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
held the student for five days inside a cell that "reeked of feces," Bakshi
said.

Bakshi, who hails from Washington D.C., said he boarded a British Airways
jet to return to the United States on Dec. 30, but Zimbabwean authorities
called him off the plane and would not let him leave the country.

Bakshi said that members of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organization
accused him of "spying and sabotage" and told him his Harvard connections
were "just a cover."

According to Bakshi, Zimbabwean authorities threatened him by saying, "No
one will know if you’re here....No one will know if you’re not here."

But Bakshi managed to place a cell phone call from a bathroom stall to the
Leverett House assistant senior tutor, Judy Murciano-Goroff.

He said Murciano-Goroff worked with U.S. embassy officials and Zimbabwean
contacts to secure his release.

Murciano-Goroff did not return several phone calls and e-mails seeking
comment over the past two days. A spokeswoman for the State Department’s
Bureau of Consular Affairs, Angela Aggeler, said that federal law bars her
from releasing information on individual American citizens.

A Zimbabwean embassy official in Washington initially called Bakshi’s story
"very, very, very untrue," but he later declined to confirm or deny Bakshi’s
account.

Bakshi said that Zimbabwean officers first threw him into a solitary cell
and then moved him into a larger facility with 120 other detainees. He said
the prisoners were not allowed to wear shoes, go outside, or use a proper
restroom.

Although Bakshi said that officials from the United States embassy in Harare
brought him meals, he said the other detainees only received food every one
or two days. He said that some of the other detainees had been held for over
a week.

Bakshi’s parents, both of whom are doctors, were celebrating New Year’s in
New York when they received a call from the U.S. embassy informing them that
their son had been jailed in Zimbabwe.

"It was obviously very frightening," his mother, Gita Chopra Bakshi, said in
a phone interview. "My reaction was...my God, what have they done to him?"

She said she and her husband flew to the Zimbabwean capital of Harare and,
along with prominent Zimbabwean attorney Eric Matinenga, helped secure their
son’s release.

Matinenga is also the lawyer for Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.

Bakshi, a joint social studies and visual and environmental studies
concentrator, had traveled to Zimbabwe over the summer to conduct interviews
with Mugabe’s current spokesman, George Charamba, who is the permanent
secretary of the Information Ministry. Bakshi also spoke to Charamba’s
predecessor, Jonathan Moyo, who was expelled from Mugabe’s ruling party
early last year.

Harvard College halted funding for student travel to Zimbabwe in 2004 but
lifted that restriction this past October. Nonetheless, Bakshi used his own
means to pay for the trip.

Even after his arrest, Bakshi said he does not believe Harvard should
restrict student travel to Zimbabwe. "It’s a matter of your own personal
maturity," Bakshi said, though he recommended that the University compile a
list of contacts for students in the region.

"For me, it was not a miserable experience," Bakshi said of his detention.
"I met the most inspiring people."

Cabot House applied mathematics and economics concentrator Proud Dzambukira
‘07, a Zimbabwe native, was in Cambridge when he received a text message
from Bakshi on the first night of his detention.

"This was the first time that someone that I know directly was detained in
this manner," Dzambukira wrote in an e-mail. "One of the things that
surprised me was that a student clearly doing academic work would attract
this kind of scrutiny," he added.

According to Amnesty International’s 2005 report on Zimbabwe, the country’s
police and intelligence forces "were implicated in numerous cases of
torture, assault, and ill-treatment." The report said that "victims were
primarily members of the political opposition and those perceived as
critical of the government."

Bakshi recalled that one boy who was detained alongside him said, "Make sure
when you write up your thesis, make sure that you write about us, about all
the good things." But, the boy added, "Be sure to tell them how horrific
this is too."

A press officer for the Zimbabwean embassy in Washington, Wilbert
Gwashavanhu, said of Baskshi’s account, "This is created. This is very,
very, very untrue."

After reading an article about Bakshi’s arrest on the website of the
Zimbabwe Standard newspaper, Gwashavanhu said, "An article like this one is
quite damaging."

Asked again, though, whether Bakshi’s story was accurate, Gwashavanhu
replied, "I am an official at the embassy in the U.S. reading this on the
Internet. Do you think I’m competent to answer this question?"

"We can’t conclusively say that the charge is not true because we haven’t—I
didn’t have any official communication," he said.

Gwashavanhu referred further questions to Charamba, the Information Ministry
chief whom Bakshi interviewed for his thesis. But Gwashavanhu declined to
provide contact information for Charamba.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Ndidi N. Menkiti can be reached at menkiti@fas.harvard.edu.

Trio arrested over cheque scam

Z$500 million collected from Warriors’ match disappears

Wed 11 January 2006

HARARE – At least Z$500 million collected from the gates during the Warriors friendly international match against Zambia last month is said to have disappeared without trace after some members of the committee allegedly seized the cash.

Zimbabwe played Zambia at the National Sports Stadium on December 31 last year.

The disappearance of the funds has angered the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) officials who expected to collect the money to cover costs incurred to host the Zambians.

ZimOnline has gathered that the now all powerful fund-raising committee made up of ruling ZANU PF officials and its apologists bulldozed their way to the chief cashiers' office at the National Sports Stadium and demanded the money from hapless cashiers.

The money was then transferred to a local hotel where it was locked up in one of the rooms where a member of the fund raising committee is staying.

Said a senior Zifa official: "These people are using their political muscle to push their way through everything at Zifa. They have failed to account for the $500 million collected from the gates during the match against Zambia and we don't know if we are ever going to recover the money.

"We suspect some dirty games are being employed. Under normal circumstances, the money was supposed to be in Zifa coffers but the fund raising committee demanded it.

"Each time Zifa tries to make inquiries, the officials are threatened. They are even refusing to give us a statement."

Contacted for comment last night, Henrieta Rushwaya, a spokesperson for the fund-raising committee refuted the charges insisting everything was above board.

"We did not get any cash from the National Sports Stadium. Maybe there is someone at Zifa who wanted to handle the money. What we simply did was provide the logistics for the match and also to make sure the money was accounted for," she said.

Relations between the fund-raising committee and Zifa have been strained with Zifa accusing the controversial committee of hijacking football. - ZimOnline

'Inflation To Reach 900% In 2006'

Thursday, January 12 2006 @ 12:03 AM GMT
Contributed by: correspondent

Zimbabwe's crisis wrecked economy, hit by an unprecedented slump last year, faces even worse dislocation in 2006, according to a forecast by Standard Chartered, the country's leading bank. The bank's business trends analysis issued on Tuesday warned of another "challenging year", with gross domestic product predicted to drop by at least another 5,5 percent, inflation set to rise to 900 percent and the currency set to plummet nearly 200 percent to the US dollar. There would also be "intense pressure for substantial exchange rate adjustment" this year.

The bank's prediction made clear that the sharp fall in agriculture, after a six year-long government-backed campaign of often violent invasions of white-owned commercial farms and continuing disruptions of farming operations, was the major contributor to economic decline. It said the crisis would be worsened by the likely slowdown in the global economy, weakening of commodity prices and a predicted four percent rise in world fuel prices. Most agricultural harvests would be lower in 2006.

"Between them, reduced agricultural, mining and manufacturing output, faster inflation, a deepening domestic debt trap and severe foreign currency and savings constraints point to at least as large a fall in real GDP in Zimbabwe during 2006 as in 2005," said the bulletin. Earnings from tobacco, the country's top hard currency earner, will drop this year to US350-million, 12 percent down on 2005.
The crop size has been forecast to fall to 180 000 tons, 24 percent down on last year's crop. Most agricultural harvests would be lower in 2006, said the bank, with "a marked reduction" in plantings of maize, the national staple. Value added in agriculture would fall at least 10 percent, eroding GDP by about 1,75 percent.

Mining output, which dropped seven percent in the first half of 2005, would go on falling by at least another five percent. Gold, the second biggest export commodity, had little chance of recovery against the flat world price, and scant new investment was in sight. It said the balance of payments situation was 'bleak.' Manufacturing's accelerating slump was forecast to worsen, pushed by the absence of new investment and construction activity, the drop in farming and severe foreign currency shortages.

Earnings from tourism collapsed by 60 percent in 2005, and the industry was "bracing itself for another trying year", said the bank. Fifty-six tourist enterprises shut down last year, and another 100 would follow by the second quarter this year.
Employment slid four percent with the loss of 55 000 jobs last year, and another 100 000 jobs would be lost this year. Inflation reached 502 percent last year, and the bank estimated that at best inflation could average 900 percent in 2006. However, the bulletin warned that the government's hopes to cut inflation by cutting spending faced almost impossible pressure from currency devaluation, foreign currency-driven shortages, wage awards and rapid monetary growth.

The same factors would drive interest rates above 600 percent, and a renewed surge in inflation and bank rates could be expected from the expected loosening of interest rates. It said the balance of payments situation was "bleak", with exports expected to decline further after a 10 percent fall in the first half of 2005. Imports dropped 12,5 percent in the same period last year, but probably would flatten out as they reached their "irreducible minimum".

ZIMBABWE: Year in Review 2005 - Hard for all, worse expected

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

HARARE, 12 January (IRIN) - The enduring symbol of Zimbabwe's economic woes is the queue. A patient line of grim-faced people interminably waiting to get their hands on the most basic of everyday items summed up 2005.

At the beginning of the year it was fuel. The forex-starved government could not afford to import all of the US $700 million a year the country needed. Motorists became accustomed to parking their cars in lines that snaked blocks away from the filling stations - sometimes for days.

That all changed when fuel importation was fully deregulated in August and anybody with enough forex could bring in supplies. Hawkers set up shop on the pavement outside the offices of the state-owned National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, the corruption-tainted former monopoly.

The tools of the trade - a funnel and a five to 10 litre container - became hard to find in shops because they were all in the hands of the small-scale businessmen who gathered conspiratorially at intersections and traffic lights.

The problem for motorists was the price of fuel. Service stations and traders charge Zim $100,000 (US $1.20) a litre, while a high school teacher with a degree and 20 years in the profession earned a net salary of around Zim $3 million (US $38) - the equivalent of just 30 litres.

But the majority of Zimbabweans rely on public transport and the ubiquitous 16-seat HiAce taxi. A crackdown by the police in June on mini-bus operators, demanding proof that foreign currency rules had not been infringed in purchasing the vehicles, resulted in owners parking their taxis rather than risk them being impounded.

The transport crisis meant commuters returned home from work late in the evening and began their day at the crack of dawn. Streams of pedestrians opted to save on transport fares by walking, or cycling, one of the many belt-tightening measures Zimbabweans resorted to.

The orderly queue has become a particularly Zimbabwean response to persistent shortages. Whenever items like the staple maize meal or other basics like soap, cooking oil and sanitary pads appeared on the shelves, they quickly disappeared after cell phone-enabled citizens spread the word.

The government blamed the shortages on hoarding and speculation. And while some bought in bulk to turn a profit, others snapped up whatever appeared in the shops as a prudent response to scarcity.

At the end of the year, inflation had hit 585 percent. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) said the cost of buying groceries increased almost 10-fold in 2005. It estimated by December a family of six required an equivalent of US $208 a month - far more than most people earn.

"People have cut down on food, they eat one basic meal a day and that's mainly vegetables - I don't know how Zimbabweans have made it this far," commented economist Dennis Nikisi.

Takesure Matarire, a 40-year-old security guard, earns just US $15 a month in a country where health care and education is not free. "I will have to withdraw my two children from school," he confessed. "What I am earning is not even enough to feed them and I have no other option."

In 2005 Zimbabwe was ranked among the world's worst performing economies by the World Economic Forum. Its report cited the continued deterioration of the institutional climate, including the disappearance of property rights and corruption of the rule of law. The government insisted it faced sanctions by western nations over its controversial fast-track land reform programme.

With an unemployment rate estimated at 80 percent, the informal sector acted as a lifeline for Zimbabweans and the real engine of the economy. The government seemed to turn a blind eye to the mushrooming parallel market that took over Zimbabwe's formerly ordered city precincts, flouting byelaws, but providing an income for those with entrepreneurial flair.

Then in May the government launched Operation Murambatsvina ('Clean Out Garbage') - known colloquially as "the tsunami". It was officially aimed at rooting out the blackmarket and criminals, but quickly expanded to encompass unapproved housing owned or rented by the poor, with armed police deployed to enforce eviction orders and government officials insisting that the victims return to their rural home areas.

The opposition condemned the blitz as a deliberate attempt to dismantle their urban support base, and intimidate anyone contemplating taking to the streets to protest plummeting standards of living.

But some analysts noted the crackdown on the blackmarket served as a wrap on the knuckles for some elements within the ruling party after a bruising leadership wrangle, and Murambatsvina also stung the radical war veterans, many of whose members were among the displaced.

According to a report by UN Special Envoy Anna Tabaijuka, 700,000 people were directly affected by the operation, their houses bulldozed and livelihoods destroyed, and called on those responsible to be held to account. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan described it as "a catastrophic injustice" to Zimbabwe's poorest citizens "carried out with disquieting indifference to human suffering".

Since Murambatsvina the informal sector has cautiously returned to life, and some of those evicted have made their way back to the ruins of their former homes. The illegal forex market that the government tried so hard to strangle is now almost accepted.

Instead of trying to maintain an artificial rate - at the start of the year 1 US dollar to Zim $6,000 - the official rate is now Zim $90,000, almost at par with the informal market's Zim $95,000 to $100,000. Through deregulation the government hopes the blackmarket will bottom out and prices stabilise.

Nelson Moyo (not his real name), a 36-year-old police officer, supplements his salary by running an illegal stall that sells soap, sugar and toothpaste. When he can, he crosses into neighbouring Botswana to buy supplies, and bribes customs officials at the border to waive import duties.

"I know I should be an example of a custodian of the law, but I also have to survive," Moyo explained.

Along with the urban poor, rural Zimbabweans - the bulk of the population - struggled through 2005. And there is every indication things will worsen this year.

In December the UN launched a US $276 million appeal, warning that at least three million people would require food aid as only an estimated 600,000 mt of maize had been harvested, compared to a national requirement of 1.8 million mt. Aid workers have noted numbers in need could climb to five million out of a population of 12 million.

Zimbabwe's fast-track land reform programme of 2000 helped precipitate the country's economic crisis, slashing forex-earning agro-commercial production and throwing hundreds of thousands out of work.

In 2005 the new farmers who had hoped to benefit from land redistribution were still struggling with red tape on bank loans, lack of extension services, and scarce seed, fertiliser and fuel.

The inability of many of them to afford to pay the minimum wage for farm workers deprived them of labour during the critical planting season, and experts have predicted that Zimbabwe will face yet another disasterous harvest this season.

[ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at Mail@IRINnews.org.

IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 895-1900
Fax: +27 11 784-6759
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark, ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. For more information, go to: http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.]

U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the humanitarian community

ZIMBABWE: Year in brief 2005: A chronology of key events

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

JOHANNESBURG, 12 January (IRIN) - Over the course of 2005 the Zimbabwean government strengthened its political grip with landslide victories in parliamentary and senate elections, and a split in the main opposition party. However, the country's humanitarian and economic crisis deepened, with worse expected in 2006.

17 January: Zimbabwean opposition parties and civic groups warn that unless the voters' roll is reviewed by an independent body, the credibility of the 31 March legislative elections could be called into question.

31 January: Humanitarian workers express concern about the food security situation. The US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network earlier in the month said 5.8 million Zimbabweans - almost half the population - were in need of food aid.

2 February: A 15 member delegation from the Congress of South African Trade Unions, on a fact-finding mission ahead of the elections, is barred from entering Zimbabwe.

9 February: Three Zimbabweans jailed for selling state secrets to South Africa are convicted of breaching Zimbabwe's Official Secrets Act, and sentenced to between five and six years in prison.

14 February: The government announces it will reduce the number of local election monitors and bar teams from the European Union from observing the March poll.

18 February: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) gives Zimbabwe another chance to prove its commitment to fiscal discipline and meet its debt repayment obligations.

20 February: The architect of Zimbabwe's tough media laws, Jonathan Moyo, is sacked as information minister for his role in organising resistance to President Robert Mugabe's succession plans.

2 March: The government announces that it may soon de-register at least 30 NGOs for failing to provide details of donor funding. The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Paul Mangwana, says funds meant for rural development may have been redirected into supporting "anti-government activities".

17 March: The UN Children's Fund appeals to donors to look beyond politics in Zimbabwe. It says one in five Zimbabwean children are orphans; a child dies every 15 minutes due to HIV/AIDS; and 160,000 children will experience the death of a parent in 2005.

2 April: The ruling ZANU-PF election victory is condemned as a sham by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). ZANU-PF wins 78 of the 120 contested seats, while the MDC slumps to 41 - down from the 58 seats it captured in 2000 in its maiden election. Jonathan Moyo wins as an independent candidate.

12 April: A survey in 10 districts across Zimbabwe reveals alarmingly high levels of malnutrition among children. Official statistics shows stunting or chronic malnutrition levels as high as 47 percent among children aged from six months to 59 months on commercial farms.

14 May: Sixty-two alleged mercenaries, jailed by Zimbabwean authorities for violating immigration, aviation, security and firearms regulations, are deported to South Africa. The 62 were arrested in March 2004 after their plane made a stop-over in Harare allegedly en-route to Equatorial Guinea.

19 May 2005: Reserve bank governor Gideon Gono devalues the Zimbabwean dollar by 31 percent against the US dollar from Zim $6,200 to Zim $9,000. Zimbabwe's flourishing parallel market rate is Zim $18,000 to US $1.

23 May: First reports of the government's controversial Operation Murambatsvina (a Shona word for "clean-out the garbage") emerge. Human rights activists condemn the police for their heavy-handed crackdown on the informal sector.

30 May 2005: Thousands of Harare residents flee the capital after armed police continue demolishing illegal dwellings and traders' stalls. President Mugabe endorses the crackdown.

31 May 2005: Aid agencies warn that government's cleanup operation could worsen food shortages.

1 June: Mugabe tells visiting UN Special Envoy to Southern Africa, James Morris, that the country needs food aid. Mugabe had earlier rejected the need for general feeding programmes saying the country was expecting a bumper harvest.

9-10 June: Opposition and civil society groups hold an unsuccessful two-day stay away to protest Operation Murambatsvina.

14 June: Reports emerge that around 190,000 homes have been destroyed in the operation.

26 June-8 July: UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, Anna Tibaijuka, visits Zimbabwe to assess the impact of the cleanup campaign.

27 June: Miloon Kothari, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing with the UN Commission on Human Rights describes the failure of African leaders to protest the forced eviction of informal settlers as "distressing".

8 July: An African Union envoy leaves Zimbabwe without completing his mission to evaluate the impact of Operation Murambatsvina. The official Herald newspaper reports the envoy's mission had been "unprocedural", as diplomatic protocol had not been followed.

15 July: Reports emerge that Zimbabwe is seeking a massive loan from South Africa to offset chronic food, fuel and electricity shortages. South Africa demands economic and political reforms.

22 July: Anna Tibaijuka's report condemns government's programme of forced evictions and estimates 700,000 people were left homeless and 2.4 million affected by the operation. The report calls for those responsible to be held accountable.

22 July: Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono announces that service stations can sell fuel in hard currency from 1 August. Almost all sectors of the economy have been hit by a forex shortage.

2 August: Treason charges against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai are dropped.

11 August: A report by the Washington-based Centre for Global Development says Zimbabwe's economy had contracted to 1953 levels.

16 August: Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa scraps duty on maize and wheat imports, and announces that the state-owned Grain Marketing Board would no longer enjoy a monopoly. Observers say the measure an acknowledgment that Harare is unable to import sufficient maize to offset shortages.

18 August: The Central Statistical Office reports that it has recorded the highest ever increase in prices in July. The price of goods and services in Zimbabwe rose by at least 47 percent in that month.

22 August: The UN country team in Zimbabwe asks for unrestricted access to people affected by Operation Murambatsvina.

29 August: The government refuses to endorse a US $30 million emergency appeal to provide food and medicine for 300,000 Zimbabweans hardest hit by the cleanup campaign. It says the UN's response to the country's current socioeconomic challenges is inappropriate and misguided.

30 August: Parliament approves sweeping constitutional amendments which removes a landowner's right to appeal expropriation and can restrict movement of Zimbabweans in the name of national security. The draft amendment bill also seeks to reconstitute parliament as a bicameral legislature, introducing a 66-seat senate.

1 September: Zimbabwe pays off US $120 million of the US $295 million owed to the IMF. The authorities say the funds had been sourced from exporters and holders of free funds.

9 September: The IMF grants Zimbabwe a six-month temporary reprieve, but says the country must implement broader economic reforms to avoid expulsion.

13 October: First reports of divisions within the opposition MDC over participation in the senate elections scheduled for 26 November emerge. Tsvangirai publicly disagrees with the party's spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi and its national council.

20 October: Reserve bank governor Gideon Gonon calls for an immediate end to a recent wave of farm invasions, warning that any further steps towards forced expropriation would seriously undermine efforts towards economic recovery.

24 October: Divisions in the MDC deepen when at least 27 members ignore an order by Tsvangirai not to register for the senate election.

1 November: UN Secretary-General expresses concern over the government's rejection of help to those affected by Operation Murambatsvina, particularly in terms of shelter needs. The government maintains there is "no humanitarian crisis".

17 November: The government does an about-turn and says it is willing to accept UN assistance to house people affected by the cleanup campaign. Subject to funding, the UN is to construct 2,500 housing units during the first phase of the programme, which intends to build 20,000 units at a total cost of US $18 million.

24 November: MDC's pro-senate faction led by vice-president Gibson Sibanda suspends Tsvangirai, claiming a disciplinary committee found him guilty of violating the party's constitution by issuing a call to boycott the poll.

28 November: ZANU-PF wins 43 of the 50 directly-elected seats, while MDC bags seven. Out of the remaining 16 seats, six are nominations by the president and 10 got to traditional chiefs.

1 December: The UN launches a US $276 million appeal and warns at least three million people will need food aid as only an estimated 600,000 mt of maize had been harvested, compared to a national requirement of 1.8 million mt.

1 December: A pro-Tsvangirai national council meeting revokes his suspension and "disassociates" itself from the pro-senate faction, as the crisis in the opposition continues.

3-7 December: UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland visits Zimbabwe and meets with Mugabe. At the end of his mission he criticises the "disastrous" eviction campaign, and describes it as "wholly irrational in all of its aspects".

8 December: Zimbabwe becomes the first southern African country to register a decline in HIV prevalence. The rate among pregnant women declined from 26 percent in 2002 to 21 percent in 2004.

9 December: A High Court dismisses an application by the MDC 'rebel' faction seeking to remove Tsvangirai as leader of the party.

13 December: A South African spy arrested in 2004 for running an espionage ring in Zimbabwe is deported back to South Africa.

15 December: Police and officials from the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe raid the country's only private radio station, Voice of the People, and arrest three of its reporters for working without accreditation for an unlicensed station.

20 December: The Government criticises a model house built by the UN for those made homeless by Operation Murambatsvina.

21 December: The UN Resident Coordinator Agostinho Zacarias expresses surprise at the government's comments since the model was a joint effort by the Zimbabwean government and the UN.
[ENDS]

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IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 895-1900
Fax: +27 11 784-6759
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark, ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. For more information, go to: http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.]

U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the humanitarian community

ZIMBABWE: Heralding new economic dawn premature, say analysts

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

JOHANNESBURG, 12 January (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's economy is unlikely to recover in 2006, despite reports of a new deal between government, business and labour aimed at improving prospects for stability.

While the official Herald newspaper reported that the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) - comprising representatives of government, business and labour - had reached an agreement on a Price and Incomes Stabilisation Protocol, both labour and business officials denied an accord.

Among the targets the TNF reportedly agreed to was a commitment by the government to reduce inflation, currently running at 585 percent, to 80 percent by the end of the year. Another was that the budget deficit be cut to less than five percent of GDP.

Economist Dennis Nikisi told IRIN these targets would be unattainable. Reducing the deficit and reining in inflation was not possible "when the government's domestic borrowing is at $14 trillion [US $15 billion). How are they going to redeem that as soon as those [treasury] bills mature? It's going to push a lot of money into the economy, resulting in additional monetary growth and inflation that is not going to go down", Nikisi said.

He added that government entered into its deregulation strategy with the hope that "prices will find a disciplined level and bottom out".

"They [government] felt that if we let go of the reins [in terms of price controls on goods and fuel imports] ... there will come a time when resistance creeps in and demand will lessen and things will stabilise. But because of the endemic shortages [of fuel, basic commodities etc] inflation is not bottoming out, it's only getting worse," Nikisi explained.

Inflation could peak at 1,000 percent in 2006, he warned.

Zimbabwe needed sustainable sources of foreign currency, and the support of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. "I don't see Zimbabwe managing to have sustainable supplies of fuel and many other raw materials [in short supply] without that," Nikisi added.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) chief executive Farai Zizhou also told IRIN the deficit and inflation targets reported in the Herald were not achievable this year. He added that the TNF would meet again on 19 January to discuss recommendations from its technical committee on the matter, but no agreement had been reached as yet.

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions General-Secretary Wellington Chibebe said the Herald article was surprising as labour had understood government to be resistant to many of the recommendations in the proposed Price and Incomes Stabilisation Protocol.

Zizhou noted that Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono is expected to make a policy statement in the next week or so. "This will be instructive as he will outline what weapons he intends to employ to fight inflation. Part of the reason we have high inflation is due to the central bank's effort to raise money for food imports through the release of a mixture of treasury bills on the market," Zizhou noted. "A choice had to be made between high inflation and starvation."

[ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at Mail@IRINnews.org.

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Tel: +27 11 895-1900
Fax: +27 11 784-6759
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark, ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. For more information, go to: http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.]

U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the humanitarian community

Crisis Group analyst discusses Zimbabwe's future after Mugabe

JAG Job Opportunities dated 12 January 2006

JOB OPPORTUNITIES: Updated January 12, 2006

Please send any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG Job Opportunities; jag@mango.zw

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Ad inserted 12 January 2006

Wanted - Lady with accounting background, computer literate with Excel
and Word.

Pleasant office environment in Willowvale

Negotiable package and fuel allowance.

Please reply to 091-208566 or 011-207084 or email hyena@zol.co.zw.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

CHILDMINDER WANTED

Looking for a brilliant child minder to help with our 2-year-old
daughter. If anyone is leaving and needs to place their child minder
please get hold of us. Accommodation offered.

Brenda Pattenden

091326755

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

Position - OFFICE ASSISTANT

Duties Include - assisting with computer input, keeping CD1's up-to-date,
assisting with banking, general office duties - a varied job.

Type Of Person - friendly, out-going, able to work with the minimum of
supervision, loyal, confidential.

Please could CVs be emailed to the Export Manager at rene@zimflower.co.zw

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

Wanted Senior Bookkeeper

The Company: Well-established, small and dynamic, growing, multi-faceted
organisation based in the Northern Suburbs of Harare.

The Role: All accounting data capture. Production of monthly trial
balance sheets and management accounts. Cash management, statutory
returns,
VAT administration and other day-to-day office duties.

The Person: Experienced bookkeeper who is self motivated, responsible and
reliable. Willing to grow with the Company they must be ready to tackle
new and varied tasks as they arise delivering work accurately, on time
and in full. Own transport essential. Knowledge of Pastel an advantage.

The Rewards: Negotiable salary for the right person.

Part of a small but busy and motivated team.

Please contact Tanera Bouchet on 04 494540 or
Tanera.bouchet@rutland.co.zw

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Ad inserted 11 January 2006

WANTED - Office Assistant

The Company - well-established, small, dynamic, fresh flower marketing
agent based at the Harare International Airport.

The Role - To assist in a very busy office with computer data capture,
day-to-day office duties - a varied job.

The Person - loyal, honest, reliable, must be able to work with a minimum
of supervision. Own transport essential - company will assist with
fuel. To start asap.

The Rewards - right salary offered to the right person.

Please send CVs to: rene@zimflower.co.zw

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Ad inserted 11 January 2006

I am a man aged 26 years and I wish to apply for any suitable vacancy. I
am a holder of BSC Honours Degree Economics with an upper second class.
Please contact me on the following email address for curriculum vitae:
stefanzombe@yahoo.com

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Ad inserted 11 January 2006

Bookkeeper required for small but busy business based in the Avenues.
Applicant should be qualified up to trial balance, debt collecting, petty
cash, etc some admin work and also have hands-on involvement. Varied
position in relaxed office with good salary offered to the right person.
To start immediately. Phone Lorraine Thomas on 733113/5, 792365 or
707245 or cell 091 263172.

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Ad inserted 11 January 2006

Full Day Bookkeeper required to work in Msasa. Competitive package on
offer.

Please contact Marina or Dale on 446520, 091 261 629, 011 206 794.

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Ad inserted 14/12/05

WANTED

Couple to caretake house and assist with supervision of small
horticultural business. 18 km outside Harare with good security.

Please phone 011 208568 or 335458

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Ad inserted 05 January 2006

Wanted:

A mature couple to help on a ranch that does tourism activities, teaching
students local and foreign, accommodation, catering, hunting, all
livestock types, meat processing, organic permaculture gardening,
bookkeeping and computers. The ranch is in Matetsi Zimbabwe, so couple
needs to be Zimbabwean. Nice house and US$ related salary. Email;
ranch@africaonline.co.zw with CV no images text only.

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Ad inserted 14/12/05

WANTED

Small business requires switched on / part time lady to take on all
computer work, plus wages for a labour force of 20 Could be mornings or
afternoons.

Please phone 011 208568 or 335458

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MOZAMBIQUE:

Ad inserted 05 January 2006

I own a Beach Resort in Xai Xai, Mozambique.

I want to employ a couple to act as assistant managers to the current
couple employed, skills to include F&B, maintenance, housekeeping and GM
skills.

Housing and work permit and eventual residence supplied, salary average,
great prospects to become shareholders in the resort.

Urgent, thanks.

Regards

Gary Wilson

Cell +258-823046880
Office: +258-21-306018/9
Fax: +258-21-326965

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MOZAMBIQUE:

Ad inserted 05 January 2006

Wanted: Bush Manager - Mozambique based

Forestry and environmental tourism operation in northern Sofala Province
seeks bush manager as part of a team managing 2 forest concessions, 2
tourism camps, 2 sawmills and a factory.

Should be self-motivated, industrious, able to work alone and live in
remote areas. Owing to nature of work the candidate should have good
technical sense. Suit an ex-Farmer experienced in running low-skilled
teams, overseeing maintenance of machinery and equipment and "doing
whatever is necessary to get the job done"!

The candidate should be prepared to reside in Mozambique full time, with
the majority of time spent in bush. Fully legal residence and work
permits will be provided.

Package in US$ with vehicle & accommodation in bush.

Portuguese not essential at the start but the successful candidate would
have to learn to communicate in the language.

Basic computer literacy an advantage.

Couples considered - a part time position also available in the company
tourism operation for spouse if interested.

Start - 1 April 2006.

Package to be negotiated

Please email tct.dalmann@teledata.mz or fax +258 23 30 21 61 for an
application form.

For additional company information see www.dalmann.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

ZAMBIA:

Ad inserted 13/12/05

A family owned farm/factory Requires Operations Manager in a small sugar
plantation / Factory. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience
in growing sugar cane, harvest and haulage, as well as hands on
experience in factory operation of a vacuum pan system with small boiler
and turbine.

Experience in workshop management / machinery repair and computer
literacy will be an added advantage. A degree in Agriculture or
Engineering will give additional advantage.

The right candidate should be energetic and willing to stay in rural
Zambia and be prepared to work with a large work force.

A attractive salary and profit sharing scheme awaits the right candidate.

Reply to:

vedad@zamnet.zm or P.O. Box 50566, Lusaka, Zambia

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EMPLOYMENT SOUGHT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ad inserted 11 January 2006

Retiree with extensive management experience in the Agri Chemicals and
Veterinary Supplies industries seeks a full or part time position. The
applicant has qualifications in the Animal Science field, is versatile
and has a wide range of experience and interests in Agriculture and
related industries as well as Wildlife. He is fully computer competent
and has experience in public multi media communications.

The applicant would consider any full or part time position in the above
or associated fields.

Contact: Mike Duncan on phone numbers 04 885236 or cell 091 535737 or e
mail at carmiked@zol.co.zw or carmike@mango.zw

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ad inserted 04 January 2006

YOUNG MAN OF 27 YEARS TRAINED AS A QUANTITY SURVEYING TECHNICIAN LOOKING
FOR EMPLOYMENT. PLEASE CONTACT HIM ON 091 386 665 OR
wendelljamu@yahoo.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ad inserted 14/12/05

I am available for temporary work on an "as and when needed" basis.
Starting 18 December 05 to January 15 06

Administration/typing/secretarial/general office work.

Contact: Naomi - 011618595

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the latest listings of accommodation available for farmers, contact
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw (updated 12 January 2006)

JAG Open Letters Forum No. 405 dated 12 January 2006

Zimbabwe’s opposition party splits

“It’s self-evident that we have parallel parties now,” he told the FT. “The issue is which of the two groups is the lawful and legal MDC.”
Mr Ncube’s dissident faction appointed MP Gibson Sibanda as its acting president at the weekend, and plans to elect a new president at a congress in late February. In tacit acknowledgement that there are now two parties, some of its members are now calling it the “Pro-Democracy MDC”.
Morgan Tsvangirai, who still claims to be MDC president and retains mass support in urban areas across Zimbabwe, plans to hold his own national congress on March 18-19.
Formerly one of Africa’s best-organised opposition parties, the MDC has split over tactical issues and claims by Mr Tsvangirai’s opponents that he has condoned violence and ignored the will of party members. Mr Tsvangirai has rejected the claims.
The fracture has strengthened the hand of Mr Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF party, which is under fire at home and abroad for mass evictions and a failing economy. Inflation reached 585 per cent in December, believed to be the world’s highest.
The MDC’s divisions became public last October when the party’s national executive narrowly voted to contest elections to a newly created senate.
Mr Tsvangirai vetoed the motion, arguing that the new body aimed to consolidate Mr Mugabe’s powers and was a sham. The dissident faction went ahead and put up candidates for the November poll, only to win a small number of seats on a very low turnout.
Dissident party members also criticised Mr Tsvangirai for his leadership style, including a reliance on an unelected “kitchen cabinet” that took decisions without consulting elected party officials. The dissident faction claims Mr Tsvangirai scuppered an investigation into allegations that he deployed youth activists to beat up dissident party members, comparing him with Robert Mugabe, the country’s autocratic president.
“We have been calling him Mugabe Junior,” Mr Ncube said yesterday. Mr Tsvangirai could not be reached for comment.
Since nearly winning a majority in parliament five years ago, the MDC has seen its influence wane. Sympathetic critics say it has failed to capitalise on Mr Mugabe’s unpopularity. The opposition has seen its representation in parliament fall over a series of elections that it, and some independent observers, claimed were rigged. The MDC also failed to exploit the discontent caused by the government’s mass evictions campaign in mid-2005 in which 700,000 people lost their homes.
A senior adviser to Mr Tsvangirai last night shrugged off Mr Ncube’s remarks, saying the so-called Pro-Democracy faction knew it had nowhere to go unless it joined Zanu-PF. “Already some of the Ncube group, fearful of losing their seats in parliament are seeking to change sides and rejoin us,” he claimed. Mr Tsvangirai and the main body of the MDC were focusing on their core business, which was opposing the government, not faction fighting, he said.

It’s time for SA to act on Zimbabwe, says Cosatu

The Star

You can’t continue to sit by idly, trade union federation warns
January 12, 2006

By Basildon Peta

The Congress of South African Trade Unions says the government cannot continue to “sit idly by” while the economic and political situation in Zimbabwe continues to rapidly deteriorate.

It has also warned that the African Union’s peer review mechanism will never be taken seriously unless leaders act on serial human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

Cosatu’s warning yesterday followed a raid by armed police on the offices of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).

Police seized documents after accusing trade union leaders of illegally dealing in foreign currency

Swaziland ‘another country that threatens the AU’s credibility’

.

ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo said President Robert Mugabe’s government was desperate to find an excuse to de-register the federation or alternatively take over the labour movement after it failed to impose puppet leaders last year.

The raid came barely a week after the government deployed one of its officials to probe ZCTU leaders over allegations of financial impropriety.

The government has since fired Matombo from his full-time job at one of its telecommunications parastatals.

Plans to replace him at the ZCTU with a government sympathiser failed last year, and pro-government officials who rebelled against Matombo and ZCTU secretary-general Wellington Chibebe, at the instigation of the government, were expelled from the union grouping.

Matombo believes the government will stop at nothing in its endeavours to imperil the ZCTU, the largest civic group which for long has been a thorn in Mugabe’s flesh.

Cosatu agrees with Matombo that the “real aim (of the Zimbabwean government) was to find a pretext to attack the labour movement after the government failed to impose puppet leaders on the ZCTU last year”.

“This is a view confirmed by a senior police officer, quoted in the media, who said the raid had been ordered by ‘high office’ and that it was ‘part of a plan to destabilise the entire labour union’.”

Cosatu said the raid took place at a time when Zimbabwe was facing a full-blown economic and political catastrophe, with inflation soaring to 585%.

It noted that the economy was in freefall, unemployment and inflation were rocketing, more and more desperate workers were emigrating as the only hope of finding work, while the living standards of those remaining were reaching mass starvation levels.

At the same time, government attacks on human rights, civil society and trade unions continued relentlessly.

Cosatu said it was thus reiterating its view that SA could not sit idly by as the situation deteriorated. Zimbabwe’s total collapse would seriously affect SA and other Southern African Development Community countries.

“The situation in Zimbabwe, as in Swaziland, whose even more undemocratic regime has been arresting its chief opposition leaders, threatens the whole basis of the AU’s African peer review mechanism and its commitment to human rights,” said Cosatu.

“If the continent’s democratic governments remain silent on these two states which contemptuously flout the standards of good governance to which all Africans aspire, the AU initiative will never be taken seriously.”

Cosatu added it would intensify its campaign of solidarity with the ZCTU. – Independent Foreign Service

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