Intimidated, beaten, killed: the cost of defying Mugabe
Chris McGreal in
Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe
Saturday January 26, 2002
The Guardian
Themba
G lives in a "killer house". The 28-year-old father of three small
children
fled his home in Magunje shortly before Christmas when a fellow
opposition
activist, Milton Chambati, was dragged out of a bar in the small
town and had
his throat slit and his head hacked off.
Themba G was beaten with axes and
iron bars and left for dead days earlier.
He feared that Robert Mugabe's
thugs might be back to finish the job so he
made for the sprawling township
of Chitungwiza, eight miles south of Harare.
Nowhere is the government more
loathed. There he was taken to a "safe
house".
The building is one of
hundreds across the country used by the opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) and human rights groups to shelter
targets of the ruling
Zanu-PF's brutal campaign to cling to power in the
presidential elections on
March 9 and 10. Some provide a haven for women who
have been raped by
so-called war veterans, others take in families burned
from their
homes.
But in the Alice in Wonderland world of Zimbabwe's politics, the
government
and state media describe safe houses as "killer houses", and
allege that
they are funded by the British government to hide murderers and
hit squads
recruited to disrupt the election.
"In Magunje, they are
still harassing my family to find out where I am,"
said the quietly spoken
Themba G. "The only contact I have with them is
through the phone. I cannot
go back there, they would kill me.
"I am the one who was almost killed by
those men who cut a man's throat in
the street with everyone watching, this
government says I am the one who is
beating and murdering. The newspapers and
the television say it, too."
Violence and propaganda have intertwined to
turn abducted MDC activists into
kidnappers on the front of the morning
papers. Opposition supporters beaten
nearly to a pulp by the president's men
are charged with assault and accused
with disrupting the election in the
state press. The dead are rarely
mentioned at all if they happen to have been
murdered by members of the
ruling Zanu-PF.
One recent front page in
the Harare Herald - after anthrax was allegedly
sent to Zimbabwe's
information minister, Jonathan Moyo - is typical of the
daily fare: MDC
terror mounts/Party linked to anthrax mail/Ex-Rhodesians
involved.
The
next day, the government admitted there had been no anthrax.
The violence
and vast misinformation campaign are but two of an array of
strategies
employed by Mr Mugabe and his party in an attempt to keep an ever
more
popular opposition at bay. According to a Gallup poll in November,
fewer than
one in four Zimbabweans want Mr Mugabe to remain as president.
In
response, Zanu-PF is pushing through draconian laws which all but
ban
political gatherings, free speech and the right to strike. Parliament
has
stripped hundreds of thousands of people of their vote, and is making
it
difficult for many more to cast their ballots against Mr
Mugabe.
There is growing evidence of padded electoral rolls and attempts
to permit
the president's supporters to vote more than once. Teachers and
other public
employees have been purged from their jobs for supporting the
opposition,
and entire villages threatened with vengeance if they do not back
Mr Mugabe
at the ballot box.
And then there is the land. The
occupation by war veterans of white-owned
farms allows the government to buy
support with land, and to ensure that
more than a million farmworkers and
their families fell under Zanu-PF's
control or were deprived of the right to
vote.
If all else fails, Zimbabwe's military chiefs have threatened a
coup to keep
Zanu-PF in power. The police have already made their loyalties
clear as they
stand idly by while Mr Mugabe's opponents are beaten and
murdered.
It might be thought that in such circumstances, the MDC faced
little chance
of victory. But the opposition says Mr Mugabe is so unpopular
that he cannot
intimidate the voters or rig the election on a sufficient
scale to overcome
the will of the people. Nonetheless, he is trying very hard
and there are
still six weeks until the polls.
Three opposition
supporters have been murdered this week and the body of a
fourth who
disappeared last month was found buried on a farm belonging to
the state
security minister, Nicholas Goche, according to Harare's
independent Daily
News. Altogether, 13 MDC supporters have been killed over
the past six
weeks.
The ruling party's newly revived and trained youth militia is
responsible
for much of the violence and several of the killings. It has
thrown up
roadblocks around the country at which people are routinely dragged
off
buses and out of cars to demands for their Zanu-PF membership cards.
Those
who do not have them are at best forced to dance and sing Zanu-PF
songs. The
unlucky ones are tied to trees and beaten, or disappear
altogether.
Frequently Mr Mugabe's supporters confiscate the identity
cards of those
they suspect of backing the opposition, instantly depriving
them of the
means to vote.
The escalating violence and intimidation
clearly worries some in the ruling
party. Last week its national political
commissar, Elliot Manyika, told
hundreds of Zanu-PF youths that it was
harming their election campaign.
"You do not win the people's support by
beating them up or demanding
membership cards. We do not want to tarnish the
image of the party," he
said.
But the violence goes
on.
Reginald Matchaba-Hove, chairman of the Zimbabwe election support
network,
an independent organisation that used to work closely with the
government's
electoral commission but is now excluded, says the pattern of
violence is
similar to that which preceded the parliamentary elections in
June 2000. But
he does not believe it will discourage voters.
"The
violence in 2000 was unprecedented in an election in Zimbabwe, yet we
had the
highest turnout in our history and the opposition came from nowhere
to being
very close to winning," he said.
In the meantime swathes of the country
are no-go areas for MDC campaigners.
"Our means of campaigning in those
areas has become very limited," said
Tendai Biti, an MDC leader. "We tell our
supporters in the cities: 'You must
write letters to your rural homes, you
must telephone and tell them, if you
feel brave you can go there and talk to
people'. But we cannot campaign
under our banners. If we have rallies, people
will come and when they leave
they are attacked and raped. You have to say it
is better to have that
person voting than dead or in hospital."
Even
where there is not overt violence, there is plenty of intimidation.
"In
certain rural areas, intimidation comes through the chiefs and headmen,"
said
Mr Matchaba-Hove. "People are fairly clear that the vote is secret, but
there
is the question of collective punishment. The government's supporters
say:
"If your village votes against us we will know and we will sort you
out, and
war can come to your village," he said.
One of the government's tactics
is to double register those settled on the
seized farms - once at their old
home and again on the new land.
While Mr Mugabe is keen to get out the
rural vote, his party wants to keep
the overwhelmingly hostile urban
population away from the ballot box.
Both Zanu-PF and the opposition
believe that the large numbers of first-time
voters - young men and women
born after independence 22 years ago - will
have an important impact on the
outcome of the election, and that the bulk
of their support will go to the
opposition. New electoral laws make it
difficult for young people to register
to vote. Those in urban areas need to
produce proof of residence, such as an
electricity bill or bank account. Few
have such things, as they either live
with their parents or rent a room
elsewhere.
The state-owned Herald
newspaper has even been encouraging young people to
emigrate to Britain by
telling them that with the bar on deportations of
Zimbabweans from the UK
until after the election, they can go and get jobs
in London, or Harare North
as it is now known.
Legislation also bars Zimbabweans overseas from
voting. It removed about
500,000 people - one in 10 potential voters - from
the voters roll.
Yet Mr Mugabe still faces an uphill task. The combined
opposition vote in
the parliamentary elections came out 77,000 ballots ahead
of the government.
And the president's popularity has sunk even deeper since
then amid 103%
inflation, soaring unemployment and food
shortages.
"The challenge for us is to get out the vote in the millions,"
said Mr Biti.
"The higher the numbers the bigger the fraud he has to pull
off. The
violence won't change how our supporters' vote. The only thing that
matters
is that they do vote."
Dear Family and Friends,
Standing in line at the supermarket this week I was
intrigued by the woman in front of me who was buying 36 bottles of
spring/mineral water. I smiled at her and asked if she was travelling far. No,
she replied, it is for the government meeting in the hotel over the road. Her
bill for Z$1860.00 was to ensure pure water for our leaders while their subjects
have nothing to eat. A few months ago I wrote a
letter called 'You may not grow food' explaining how war veterans were
preventing farmers from planting any crops saying that the land was now theirs.
The fruits of their labours are now clear for us all to see. There is almost no
maize meal in Zimbabwe now. I phoned our local distributor and visited all the
supermarkets and wholesalers in Marondera this week to be told there is no maize
meal and they did not know when they would next get a delivery. This is a
desperate situation which the government is attempting to resolve by seizing all
maize stocks still being held by farmers. These stocks were being held back by
farmers to feed their employees and their livestock. Thousands more lives have
now been put at risk and the implications for the livestock producers
and consumers in the coming months is diabolical - eggs, milk, cheese, chicken,
beef, pork, lamb etc etc. To make matters worse it has not rained for over 3
weeks in most parts of the country so the few crops in the ground are in a dire
condition. Last night even the state run ZBC carried reports on the condition of
our crops. Trying to explain why there was so little maize growing and why crops
planted by the newly resettled farmers was in such a bad way they said:
"Tillage power was inadequate.... water conservation practices were not adhered
to ... army worm is rife because the settlers cannot afford pesticides...it is a
disturbing situation..." Speaking to agronomists the ZBC reported that crops in
parts of Mashonaland East and Central and Manicaland would recover if rains came
in the next week but would have greatly reduced yields. In the Midlands and
Matabeleland though, the agronomists said that many crops had "passed the
permanent wilting stage." ZBC call this a 'disturbing situation', I would say it
is gross political negligence. Aid agencies have received the first deliveries
of food aid but the World Food Programme are already warning they may have to
leave if the violence is not controlled. The Financial Gazette reports that
relief workers with Christian Care were this week subjected to violent attacks
by a gang of ruling party youths after not being able to produce Zanu pf
membership cards. It is now unsafe to travel without a ruling party membership
card and in an area near here this week a funeral procession was stopped at an
unofficial road block. All the mourners were made to disembark and militants
ordered that the coffin be opened saying they were looking for hidden weapons.
It seems that nothing is sacred in Zimbabwe anymore.
The Access to Information Bill has still not been
heard in the house, having been postponed three days in a row when the
parliamentary legal committee continued to say they were not ready to present
it. This has again given us another week of newspapers - when you can get them.
The Daily News is completely unobtainable in at least a dozen towns now and in
some places it is dangerous to be seen with it. Copies are secretly guarded and
produced from under skirts and inside trouser legs in many areas making us
wonder why we even need an access to information bill. Our independent
journalists all deserve world recognition for their work and incredible bravery
because when you do find a paper the news is absolutely damning. So too is the
nightly 3 hour broadcast from radio Africa on short wave 6145 which has become
almost our last life line. Hardly a night goes by now when I don't sit with
tears in my eyes listening to the horrors being related by people all over
Zimbabwe.
There are only 41 days now until our elections and
with no sign of a single election observer yet I wonder if it won't be peace
keepers we will end up asking for. I am going to close with a quote from a
friend's piece in this week's Financial Gazette in the hope that it may prick a
few consciences: " You have children too and if you love your children the way I
love mine you would be in the forefront of fighting for a just and democratic
society." I apologise for so few letters answered this week and thank you all
for your messages of support. Please do have a
look at http://africantears.netfirms.com for
other reports and information. With love, cathy
Land: Mugabe's Dictatorship Ploy
Weekly Trust
(Kaduna)
OPINION
January 25, 2002
Posted to the web January 25,
2002
Dr Tajudeen Abdulraheem
My entire secondary school years
and first year as a university
undergraduate coincided with rise, rise and
the thumping fall of Field
marshal Idi Amin as the life president, conqueror
of the British Empire,
former life chairman of the OAU and now refugee in
Saudi Arabia.
Thanks to a South African published magazine in those
pre-internet and
pre-email days, DRUM, that kept us (even kids in a school in
a remote place
like Funtua in north Western Nigeria) abreast of the life and
amusing times
of the buffoon known as 'Big Daddy of Twenty Children, Idi Amin
Dada!'
When Idi Amin expelled the Asians, we were joyous, believing he
was
returning 'Africa to Africans.' All his antics against European residents
of
Uganda at that time were to us demonstration of his Pan
Africanist
commitments, 'the strong African leader' ready to 'teach the
Europeans a
lesson' that Africa and Africans should not be taken for granted
anymore.
The icing on the cake was when Idi Amin got Europeans to carry him
on a
hammock and forced the then British foreign secretary and later
prime
minister, Jim Callaghan, to kneel down for him by a clever ploy of
receiving
him in a hut constructed for the occasion!
These were
powerful Pan Africanist symbolisms. Black people and Africans are
so used to
the indignities of white people lording it over them whether
through slavery
or colonialism that it became a welcome reversal of roles to
see 'one of us'
humiliating them. Every contrary report about Idi Amin was
treated as
'imperialist,' 'anti African' Bazungu propaganda. Arriving at the
university
in 1978 and getting into contact with a number of Ugandan victims
of Idi Amin
like Prof. Barongo, Prof. Arthur Gakwandi and Okello Oculi did
little to
change our views of Idi Amin, as a leader 'dealing with
white
people.'
All evidence of Idi Amin's atrocities against fellow
black Africans was
dismissed as propaganda or exaggeration. When films,
documentaries or media
reports about Amin's regime came out, many Africans
found them incredible
and chose not to believe them. Even more than two
decades after Idi's exit,
some people still do not believe that he did most
of the things reported at
the time. Films may have been produced for dramatic
effect but the substance
of many of the events were true and there are many
Ugandans who can testify
to them today.
The situation in Zimbabwe
today bears similarities, in the defensive
approach of many Africans to it,
to the Idi Amin experience. Mugabe's
deliberate choice of land reform as an
emotive issue to prolong his rule and
obliterate his political opponents has
put many Africans in a great dilemma.
To oppose him is to oppose African
nationalism and the popular Pan
Africanist demand of 'Africa for the
Africans' or the socialist 'land to the
tillers.'
A Zimbabwean comrade
of mine who is not sympathetic to Mugabe in any way
expressed this dilemma to
me when he wrote to me stating "I do not care how
Mugabe goes about it, but
we want our land back." Many Zimbabweans and
Africans and even more of our
people in the diaspora share this view.
We should care about the means as
much as the goals. It is a very wrong view
and extremely dangerous. It means
the end justifies the means. Revolutionary
it may sound but it is a blank
cheque for dictatorship and wholesale
endorsement of Mugabe. The current
targets may be white Zimbabweans. but who
are the majority of the people who
have died in the past two years?
There are so many Africans in the
diaspora who are so fundamentalist about
the land issue even though most of
them will never return to Africa after we
reclaim these lands. They enjoy
their European and American citizenship
while demanding that Africa must be
kept pure of all other races. Even when
they travel to the 'homeland' they
come with their non-African passports,
sometimes as guests of governments
that are oppressing fellow Africans.
I do understand their reaction based
upon their experience of racism and
exclusion in Europe and America but I do
not accept their collaboration with
leaders and governments that are
inflicting pain and destruction on their
peoples.
It cannot be true
that everybody who is opposing Mugabe today is a traitor,
agent of settlers,
a front for British neo-colonialism or enemy of African
liberation. Mugabe
and ZANU have held absolute power in that country since
independence in 1980,
and therefore cannot continue to blame history for
their failures and
misgovernment. And if they do that, history must include
the last 22 years
that they have been in power.
Mugabe should not be judged only on his
stance against whites even if that
one too is purely opportunistic but on his
record as an absolute ruler for
more than two decades. Whites are not his
only victims. Indeed he did worse
against the people of Matabele land in the
1980s until he forced ZAPU into a
one-party state.
It is so sad that a
leader who started so promisingly and so loved has now
become the problem for
his own people and not part of the solution anymore.
At 77, who is he fooling
about another liberation war? He may look fit
physically, but is he mentally
and emotionally? Africans must be consistent
in calling a spade a spade no
matter who the joke is on.
Daily News - Leader Page
Cold war diplomacy haunts
Zimbabwe
1/26/02 9:10:00 AM (GMT +2)
DURING the dark days
of the Cold War, African diplomacy was childishly
simple. A country was
either pro-West or pro-East.
Very few countries could expect to
receive aid from either bloc in equal
measure. If the country was pro-West,
then neither the Soviet Union nor the
People's Republic of China could be
expected to provide it with as much as
the United States, Britain or West
Germany. And vice versa.
Today, international relations have been so
transformed that enlightened
self-interest must be the guiding principle of a
country's foreign policy.
But not so in Zimbabwe, apparently. There is in
reality no Eastern bloc to
speak of today, but the government of President
Mugabe continues to conduct
its foreign policy as if there
was.
Mugabe's attacks on the West over his disastrous land reform
programme smack
of Cold War politics. It's as if he expects Russia and the
People's Republic
to bolster his attacks with their own fire against their
ideological
"enemy".
But both countries, recognising the death of the
Cold War with the fall of
the Berlin Wall, tend to react with studied
nonchalance to such
fulminations.
The land issue may initially have
been confined to Britain and Zimbabwe, but
the government internationalised
it with the land conference in 1998,
attended by the British and many other
countries Zimbabwe hoped to persuade
to fund the programme.
Moreover,
after the murder and mayhem of 2000, triggered by the government's
defiance
of the rule of law as so-called war veterans pillaged commercial
farms,
killing, maiming and raping, the issue attracted world attention.
Since
then the world spotlight has been focused on Zanu PF's every
political
move.
Its record of brutality against its opponents, its
uncouth handling of the
judiciary, its persecution of the independent Press
and its preference of
violence in solving all problems outraged many
countries.
Most of these countries, including those in the European
Union, were
previously well-disposed towards Zimbabwe, being ready to provide
economic
aid and encourage investment by their nationals because of the
well-balanced
political and economic policies of the
government.
Today, most of them share the alarm of many Zimbabweans at
what Zanu PF has
done and continues to do to their country.
This is
the point Mugabe and his party refuse to acknowledge in their
dealings with
foreign countries and institutions critical of their
present
policies.
Many Zimbabweans showed some of this disgust during
the referendum and the
election in 2000. The truth is that Zanu PF's mandate
to govern with the
free will of the people has been challenged.
The
countries which criticise Mugabe's policies, including Britain, are
not
necessarily motivated by a desire to recolonise the country. They
are
basically reflecting the concerns of many Zimbabweans at this tragic turn
of
events.
These are Zimbabweans whose relatives have been killed by
war veterans, Zanu
PF supporters and the youth brigade.
They love
their country and would like it to be returned to them as it was
shortly
after 1980 - a dynamic, promising, non-racial democracy with an
economy with
the potential to compete with the best in Africa.
It was then a country
newly-freed from the scourge of colonialism, its
people walking tall in
dignity and freedom.
Today, most of them are frightened of their own
children, in their green
uniforms and the coarse behaviour of bullies. Some
are frightened of their
own government, of their own soldiers and their own
police force, because
they have dared to speak out against the
government.
What the foreign countries are saying to Mugabe is simple:
even if the land
reform programme is necessary, you don't have to kill your
own people, deny
them the right to make their own free choice in a free and
fair election.
The Cold War is dead.
Long live the Global
Village.
Daily News
Tsvangirai wins voters' roll case
1/26/02 9:14:56 AM
(GMT +2)
By Pedzisai Ruhanya
MORGAN Tsvangirai, the MDC
president, yesterday won a landmark case when
High Court judge, Justice Rita
Makarau, ordered Tobaiwa Mudede, the
Registrar-General, to allow people to
vote anywhere in the country and not
necessarily in their constituencies as
decreed by the government.
She said Mudede must compile a common
voters' roll for the March
presidential election.
Tsvangirai had taken
President Mugabe, Mudede and two Cabinet ministers to
court, challenging the
constitutionality of the registration process and the
order to have people
vote in their constituencies.
Makarau said: "In order to comply with
section 28 (2) of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe, for the presidential election
scheduled for 9 and 10 March 2002,
Mudede shall ensure that there is in place
a common roll.
"The common roll referred to shall contain the names and
such other
information as may be necessary, of all persons who have attained
the age of
18, are citizens of Zimbabwe, since 1985, have been regarded by a
written
law to be permanent residents in Zimbabwe and who meet the
residential
requirements of any particular constituency or have satisfied him
that for
reasons related to place, origin, political affiliation or
otherwise, it is
appropriate they be registered in a constituency in which
they do not
reside."
She said that Mudede should restore to the
voters' roll of any constituency,
all voters who, on or before 18 January
2002, were refused to be on that
roll who may have lost or renounced their
citizenship of Zimbabwe, but who
since 1985 have been regarded by written law
to be permanently resident in
Zimbabwe.
Makarau said: "Mudede shall
make adequate and reasonable administrative
arrangements for all voters
registered on the common roll who will not be in
their constituencies on the
polling days, to exercise their vote."
Makarau's ruling comes at a time
when the country is being rocked by
political violence spearheaded by Zanu PF
vigilantes and militias from the
Border Gezi training centre in Mount Darwin.
Many people have been displaced
from their constituencies as a
result.
During the hearing last week, Makarau ruled that Mudede was in
contempt of
court after he closed the voter registration process in an
apparent flagrant
violation of Justice Charles Hungwe's ruling that he should
not terminate
the process until the court hears Tsvangirai's case.
It
remains to be seen whether Mudede will comply with this latest
judgment.
The other respondents in the matter were John Nkomo, the
Minister of Home
Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, the Minister of Justice, Legal
and Parliamentary
Affairs, Andrew Chigovera, the Attorney-General, the
Electoral Supervisory
Commission, and Pikirayi Deketeke, the Editor of The
Herald, a government
newspaper.
In arriving at her decision, Makarau
said in terms of the Constitution, the
President of Zimbabwe should be
elected by voters on the common roll.
"Therefore in my opinion, all those
who are on the common roll have the
right to vote for the
President.
"There are no further requirements necessary for one to exercise
their right
to vote other than to show that one is on the common roll.
"If
the intention of the Legislature were to impose any further
qualifications,
it would have specifically made that provision in
the
Constitution.
"As such, I am reluctant to add residential
qualification to that right. It
is, therefore, my finding that the law
provides that all voters registered
on the common roll are entitled to vote
and Mudede has to put in place the
administrative machinery to give effect to
that law," Makarau ruled.
Makarau said that in her view, the Electoral
Act does recognise that it
cannot abrogate what was in effect a
constitutional right and has made
provisions for voters who would be
legitimately away from their
constituencies on polling dates to
vote.
"Mudede is obliged to give effect to the constitutional right of
voters by
putting in place an administrative machinery that will enable all
voters who
are not within their constituencies on polling dates, to cast
their votes,"
she ruled.
Tsvangirai yesterday hailed the ruling,
saying: "This judgment is historic
and we welcome it. Its effect is to ensure
that all Zimbabweans who are
constitutionally eligible to vote take part in
this make-or-break election.
"We trust that all political parties
contesting this crucial election will
naturally welcome the judgment as it
seeks to grant full suffrage to all
Zimbabweans to elect their next
President."
Harare. January 25, 2002
Zimbabwe’s cycle of
starvation
The food shortage was caused by the sharp fall in the maize
harvest last
year, initially because of poor rains but compounded by the farm
occupations
under Mugabe’s fast-track land redistribution
plan
CHRIS MCGREAL
After armed government men burst
through the Zimbabwean farmer’s gates and
hauled off the last of the maize he
used to feed his livestock, one of them
accused him of trying to starve the
country’s black population.
“I told them that the grain is for my stock and
the men who work here and
their families,” said the farmer. “I told them that
now I’ll have to
slaughter my pigs because I’ve got nothing to feed them, but
they took it
just the same. And why not? If you don’t have enough food to
feed people,
then it’s better to take it from the animals.”
With just
weeks until the presidential election, President Robert Mugabe is
all too
aware that people will not vote for him on an empty stomach. The
confiscation
of the most productive farms has created a potentially
catastrophic food
shortage, and in desperation the government is seizing
animal feed and any
other grain it can find.
This year’s harvest will be the second
disastrous crop in a row. And the
impact of that catastrophe will be felt at
precisely the moment Zimbabwe
goes to the polls.
Many rural areas are
already facing serious food shortages.
The government blames white
farmers for the crisis, saying they are hoarding
food to bring down Mugabe.
The president’s critics say the situation is of
his making because the farm
seizures by “war veterans” have left huge tracts
of land fallow. The
thousands of small-scale farmers Mugabe said were
desperate to start planting
have yet to materialise.
The World Food Programme warns that 500 000
Zimbabweans already face serious
food shortages that could lead to starvation
within weeks, and that grain
supplies are sufficient to feed millions more
only for another two months.
The government says it needs 150 000 tonnes of
maize immediately and a
further 200 000 tonnes by April. And it will need
many hundreds of thousands
of tonnes more if the land remains
idle.
The food shortage was caused by the sharp fall in the maize harvest
last
year, initially because of poor rains but compounded by the farm
occupations
under Mugabe’s fast-track land redistribution plan. This year
promises to be
more serious, with the harvest in March and April expected to
produce less
than half the country’s needs.
The Commercial Farmers’
Union says that large-scale farms will produce only
200 000 tonnes of maize
this year — enough to feed the country for just six
weeks.
On December
28 the government imposed new regulations that gave farmers,
millers and
distributors two weeks to deliver all maize and wheat to the
state grain
marketing board. After that it began seizing stocks.
The government
finally conceded that there was a crisis in the making last
November. It is
now looking to foreign governments to bail it out. But
donors are reluctant
to give food if it is used by Zanu-PF to buy votes.
After weeks of
wrangling, the agreed terms include handing the distribution
of food over to
two foreign agencies and a Zimbabwean Christian
organisation. But the
government insists that local officials are consulted
during the food
distribution, and it is likely that in rural areas they will
be on hand to
claim credit for the deliveries.
-- The Mail&Guardian,
January 25, 2002.
From Malaysian National news Agency
Mozambique: Foreign Minister Attacks
`Propaganda' Against Zimbabwe
MAPUTO, Jan 26 (AIM) - Mozambican
Foreign Minister Leonardo Simao has
described as "gross interference in the
internal affairs of Zimbabwe" the
existence of radio stations in Europe that
broadcast allegedly hostile
propaganda to Zimbabwe, according to a report in
Friday's issue of the
Maputo daily "Noticias".
Simao was briefing the
diplomatic corps in Maputo on the results of
extraordinary summit of SADC
(Southern African Development Community) held
in the Malawian city of
Blantyre earlier this month.
The Zimbabwean government has complained
about private radio stations
broadcasting from Holland and Britain, and aimed
at an audience inside
Zimbabwe. The final communique from the SADC summit
echoes this concern.
Simao seemed to believe that western powers have the
power to shut these
stations down. He called on the countries to stop the
transmissions. Simao
recognised that the situation in Zimbabwe is difficult
"but if we don't work
sensitively, we could make things worse". "Please do
not bring more violence
to Africa", said Simao.
"Stop these
incitements against governments. We have the right, as you have,
to choose
our leaders, in accordance with our laws". He warned that any
deterioration
in the Zimbabwean situation would have knock-on effects in the
rest of the
region, "and once again we Africans will he held responsible for
inability to
democratise and to lead the destinies of our countries".
The Zimbabwean
station in Britain says that it is simply providing objective
coverage of
Zimbabwe. No evidence has been produced that it is inciting
violence.
--SNNi/AIM
Harare. January 25, 2002
Media Bill in the balance
The
future of Zimbabwe’s controversial media Bill lies in the hands of
Zanu-PF
stalwart Eddison Zvobgo
PETA THORNYCROFT
If, when Zimbabwe’s
new media Bill becomes law it is a toothless monster,
thanks will be due to
veteran politician Dr Eddison Zvobgo.
Zvobgo has forced the Bill back to the
drawing board three times, which has
delayed Parliament’s recess ahead of the
presidential election on March 9
and 10.
Parliament was presented with
two versions of the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Bill this
week — one, the poorly drafted baby of the
Minister of Information, Jonathan
Moyo; the other a version revised by the
Minister of Justice, Patrick
Chinamasa.
But neither version of the Bill made it to the second reading.
The House was
told that the parliamentary legal committee, which Zvobgo heads
and through
which all legislation must pass, had not finished its
report.
Outside the House, however, Zvobgo let it be known for the second
time in a
week that the Bill, or any version of it to date, would attract an
adverse
report.
Zanu-PF MPs, few of whom regularly attend Parliament,
were irritated and
bewildered. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation anchor
on the main
television news had announced on Tuesday that all Zanu-PF MPs,
Cabinet
ministers and the country’s eight provincial governors who have a
vote must
attend Parliament the next day.
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Background:
Cracks appear in Mugabe's Zanu-PF January 23,
2002
On Wednesday the side street outside Parliament was lined with
4x4s and
Mercedes-Benzes belonging to the people’s representatives, who have
been
forced to the House several times in recent weeks to ram repressive
Bills
into law.
Once they got inside the House, however, they realised
that something had
gone wrong with the passage of the Bill. Usually, when
something significant
is due to happen in Parliament, Deputy President Simon
Muzenda (79) lumbers
into the House, sinks into the green leather at the
speakers’ end of the
front bench and dozes off. But on Wednesday he was
nowhere to be seen.
Someone had clearly tipped him off that the Bill was
not going to be
debated.
Zvobgo (66), physically frail but mentally
robust, also sits on the
government benches. He helped found Zanu-PF in 1963,
has given birth to some
diabolical legislation since independence, and was
the first member of the
party to apologise for the massacres of civilians in
Matabeleland in the
1980s.
But Zvobgo will not be among those
campaigning for Mugabe in the
presidential elections. Nor will he be
campaigning for the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Zvobgo is politically active and holds rallies — which he
says are to
celebrate his victory in last June’s general election in
Zimbabwe’s most
populace province, Masvingo.
At a recent rally he told
an allegorical tale about how a man when he gets
old must pass the baton on
to a younger man. His legions of supporters say
they understood his message
to be that they should either stay away from the
polls in March or vote for
the younger man.
Zvobgo mentions no names, but his supporters know who
the older man is.
Mugabe will be 78 next month; Tsvangirai will turn 50 on
March 10.
There is no love lost between Zvobgo and Mugabe. Zanu-PF
insiders say the
president used Zvobgo’s sharp legal brain and popularity for
decades. But
after June’s general election, he dropped Zvobgo from the
Cabinet after 21
years and chopped him out of the Zanu-PF
politburo.
Mugabe had previously manipulated Zvobgo out of the top
provincial party
post in Masvingo. Zanu-PF’s fortunes in that region —
everywhere except in
Zvobgo’s constituency that is — have declined ever
since.
In his office in a suburban double- storey building, Zvobgo said
this week
that his motivation in what turned out to be a singular obstruction
to Moyo’
s media Bill was his concern for the Constitution.
“I don’t
know whether the legislation is needed — that is decided in
Cabinet, and I am
not a member of the executive. So I was not party to the
debate. The
parliamentary legal committee must examine legislation to see
that it is
constitutional. That’s all.”
Politicians close to Zvobgo say he knows
that journalists in the privately
owned domestic media and foreign
correspondents will ignore any new media
Bill authored by Moyo or promoted by
Chinamasa.
A growing number in the rump of Zanu-PF also now seem to
understand that any
further harassment of the press will strain the party
even more, and might
even make Southern African Development Community leaders
wince.
-- The Mail&Guardian, January 25, 2002.
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Media Update # 2002/02
January 14th -
January 20th 2002
CONTENTS
1. Summary
2. Tsvangirai's
comments
3. Political Violence
4. The Campaign
5. "Confusing" Voter
education
6. Article 19 condemns amendments to Information Bill
1.
SUMMARY
The government-controlled media seized the opportunity to feast
on
the comments of opposition MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who
suggested that South Africa could introduce sanctions against
Zimbabwe
as a response to threats to undermine the presidential
election by the
military and President Mugabe himself.
He was commenting to the BBC on the
inconclusive SADC summit
in Malawi that discussed the deepening political
and economic
crisis in Zimbabwe.
Describing the organization as lacking
cohesion and being riddled
with hypocrisy and double standards, Tsvangirai
suggested that in
the absence of effective measures from SADC, South Africa
had
the strength and influence to unilaterally introduce sanctions that
would discourage government from pursuing measures that are
undermining
the democratic process in Zimbabwe.
Typically though, ZBC ignored the context
of Tsvangirai's
comments and then used his remarks to source a tidal wave of
criticism portraying him and the MDC as unpatriotic and an
unworthy
presidential candidate.
The topic dominated the government-controlled print
and electronic
media during the week.
TV's (15/01) 8pm bulletin,
which lasted 40 minutes 30 seconds,
was basically an avalanche of propaganda
to discredit Tsvangirai
and the MDC. Stories on Tsvangirai's utterances
occupied 23
minutes 25 seconds or 58% of the bulletin with other news items
occupying 17 minutes five seconds (42%).
In other developments the
electronic media continued to flout its
obligations under the Broadcasting
Services Act to give fair political
coverage to competing political parties.
TV carried nine election
campaign stories, all of them ZANU PF campaign
pieces. In these
stories ZANU PF officials and supporters were quoted 10
times.
There were three alternative voices, all of which were pro-ZANU PF
and publicly endorsed President Mugabe's candidature. Like TV,
Radio
Zimbabwe and 3FM also failed to carry a single campaign
story on opposition
party candidates.
This is a serious dereliction of duty by the national
public
broadcaster and should be condemned as a gross abuse of its
public service obligations to inform the electorate fairly and
accurately. The station has clearly become a platform for the
promotion
of ZANU PF propaganda.
ZBC's coverage of political violence in its "Campaign
for Peace
Update" carried a similar bias in favour of the ruling party. ZANU
PF's supporters were presented as facing an incessant and
organized
onslaught from MDC youths, while its supporters had
only
retaliated.
ZBC's coverage of voter education news was heavily interpretative
rather than analytical and only served to confuse voters about the
electoral process. Official statements were presented without
clarification or detail. TV, 3FM and Radio Zimbabwe presented
conflicting statements from the Minister of Justice, Patrick
Chinamasa,
and the Registrar General, Tobaiwa Mudede, on the
voter registration process
for the presidential and Harare and
Chitungwiza mayoral elections and did
not establish which version
was accurate.
2. TSVANGIRAI'S
COMMENTS
ZBC (14/01, Nhau/Indaba and 8pm television, and all radio 6am,
1pm and 8pm bulletins) broke the Tsvangirai sanctions story, and
television's 8pm news carried the BBC news interview quoting
Tsvangirai
condemning the apparent lack of "cohesion" in SADC's
response to Zimbabwe's
deepening political and economic crisis
and speculating on what South Africa
could do unilaterally to stop
the Zimbabwe government from further
subverting the democratic
process. The MDC leader was seen to say:
"Well
there are measures. I mean, for instance, the threat to
undermine the
elections by the military, by Mugabe himself,
should actually send shock
waves to South Africa and say,
'OK, under those circumstances we are going
to cut fuel, we
are going to cut transport links'. Those kinds of measures,
even if they are implemented at a lowly level, send the right
signals."
But news presenter Obriel Mpofu made no reference to the SADC
context of the interview, or to the speculative nature of the question
and the answer when he introduced the story. He simply stated
that:
"MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai has called on South Africa
to
cut official supplies, switch off electricity and sever all
communication
links with Zimbabwe in order to speed up
what he called 'change' in the
country."
Nowhere in the interview did Tsvangirai 'call' on South Africa to
impose sanctions, nor did he mention anything about 'change', a
word
that forms part of an MDC slogan and used in the report to
give the
impression that sanctions was part of the MDC's normal
programme for
change.
The inaccuracies and distortion contained in this statement were
reinforced by reporter Reuben Barwe's comment introducing the
BBC clip:
"Zimbabweans need to know that the desire to take
the reins of power by
certain people might see them suffer
more soon." thus giving the impression
that Tsvangirai is so
desperate for power he is prepared to inflict
suffering on the nation.
The next day (15/1) the government Press (Zimpapers'
titles The
Herald and The Chronicle) followed the same line by interpreting
Tsvangirai's statement as a call for sanctions and condemning it as
".a
sign of a desperate man who was clearly afraid of
elections." according to
unnamed observers. This formed the
basis of the papers' coverage throughout
the week.
The private press was reticent, with only The Daily News (15/1)
reporting the story, and The Zimbabwe Mirror subjecting his
comments to
critical analysis.
Like the Zimpapers' dailies, The Daily News (15/01)
interpreted
Tsvangirai's comments as an appeal to South Africa to impose
sanctions on Zimbabwe. But it noted that his call was made
against a
background of mounting violence and intimidation of MDC
supporters ahead the
election.
From Tuesday (15/01) through to Saturday (19/01), The Herald
alone ran 11 stories and two cartoons on the issue. No new angles
were
offered in the reports, except for sourcing additional critical
opinion.
All three dailies noted Tsvangirai's comments in the context of
SADC's deliberations in Malawi and quoted his reference to the
military
and the President as undermining the democratic process
of the election, but
the two state-owned dailies exonerated the
service chiefs.
The Herald
(15/01) also attacked Tsvangirai in an editorial and
attempted to sow the
idea of division within the MDC by claiming
that "rumours" suggested that
significant support within the party
was becoming disillusioned with his
leadership.
These "rumours" blossomed in a Sunday Mail (20/01) report, five
days later, entitled, Fresh divisions rock MDC, which quoted
unnamed MDC
MPs as saying Tsvangirai's comments had angered
the intellectuals within the
party and had "reopened old
wounds". Not a single quoted source was
identified in the story.
The Herald carried parliamentary accounts on the
issue on
Thursday (17/01) and Saturday (19/01). According to the reports,
also in The Daily News (18/01), ZANU PF and MDC MPs clashed
in
Parliament over Tsvangirai's remarks. ZANU PF accused the
opposition of
selling out and conniving with the West to impose
sanctions, whilst MDC
legislators claimed Tsvangirai was quoted
out of context. MDC's Gibson
Sibanda was quoted saying
Tsvangirai's statement "was not a request for
sanctions but an
analysis of options not only to South Africa, but to the
rest of
the region to persuade the government to stop
politically-
motivated violence and to ensure a free and fair presidential
election is held."
The Zimbabwe Mirror (18/01) discussed Tsvangirai's
comments in
The Scrutator , which reflected the government media line under
the heading, Morgan's Gaffe, while its Behind the Words column
was more
reflective and relevant.
It also placed the MDC leader's comments in the
context of
SADC's apparent public procrastination by noting that: "At the
(SADC) meeting President Mugabe made the undertaking that
his government
would ensure that the March elections are free
and fair, guarantee freedom
of expression and association,
investigate and act upon all cases of
political violence, and
accredit national monitors and international
observers
These are concessions that could hardly have been extracted
even with a regional threat of sanctions."
The author however, did not
assess the likelihood of these
promises ever being translated into reality,
given the hard realities
of what is still happening around the
country.
But the columnist concluded by observing: "Tsvangirai may see
in
sanctions the way to precipitate the collapse of the present
government. But
it would help him and his supporters a great
deal to ponder over where such
a precipitous fall of the
present government, leading to anarchy and mayhem,
would
take this country."
Apart from the live question-and-answer
broadcast on television
(15/01, 8pm) quoting the MDC's Learnmore Jongwe and
the
indirect comment from Gibson Sibanda, (16/01, 8pm) no other
MDC
official was quoted in the coverage of responses to
Tsvangirai's
statements.
TV (15/01, 8pm) broke two of ZBC's 10 "Golden Rules" even though
newscaster Obriel Mpofu warned Jongwe and ZANU PF MP David
Chapfika to
observe two of the "golden" rules, which state that:
"Name-calling and
insulting offices and figures protected by
the Zimbabwean law, national
heroes and or any member of
the public will not be accepted; and, use of
inflammatory or
defamatory language inciting members of the public to be
violent will be strictly forbidden."
Mpofu allowed Chapfika to break the
rules with impunity when he
called MDC officials "stooges" and "traitors"
and then highlighted
ZBC's intolerance of opposition views by frequently
interrupting
Jongwe.
Television and radio (15/01, 8pm) audiences had the
rare
opportunity to see and hear other opposition presidential
candidates. But they were only aired to discredit Tsvangirai.
TV's
propaganda (16/01, 8pm) also included what Rueben Barwe
called the "twists
and turns" in the MDC since its formation.
Describing Tsvangirai's comments
as not surprising, television re-
screened old footage of Tsvangirai
receiving donations from
commercial farmers; BBC footage of MDC legislator,
Fidelis
Mhashu, calling for British help; and ZTV clips of "Talking
Business" debates to illustrate the MDC's collusion with foreigners
and
Rhodesians.
4. POLITICAL VIOLENCE
Predictably, reports of
political violence were grossly polarized. The
state controlled Press
focused on violence committed by MDC
supporters, while the privately owned
Press exclusively reported on
incidents allegedly committed by ruling party
groups. Unusually,
The Herald reported the highest number of incidents of
political
violence, closely followed by The Daily News.
Of the 21
incidents of violence reported on television, 11 (52%)
were allegedly
perpetrated by the MDC, six (29%) by unknown
assailants, two (10%) did not
mention the perpetrators, one (5%)
by UZ students and one (5%) was "ZANU
PF's retaliation to MDC
attacks".
These figures barely do justice to
ZBC's continuing propaganda
blitz against the MDC in its coverage of
incidents of political
violence in its "Campaign for Peace Update" segment.
Coverage of
violence was also accompanied by ZANU PF campaigns quoting
its officials publicly appealing for peace to give the impression that
ZANU PF was a peaceful party.
For example, television (18/01, 8pm) quoted
Zanu Ndonga leader
Wilson Kumbula, Paul Siwela of Zapu, National Alliance
for Good
Governance (NAGG) leader, Shakespeare Maya, ZANU PF's Elliot
Manyika, and the police all condemning the rising incidence of
politically-motivated violence nationwide. In the same report
however,
an MDC official was said to have refused to comment for
fear of being
"misquoted".
This appears to have been a deliberate attempt by ZBC to create
the impression that while everyone else was calling for peace, the
MDC
was silent and therefore guilty by exception.
Earlier that day (18/1), The
Herald reported Manyika's appeal to
ZANU PF youths at a meeting in Bindura,
and even noted that it
was ".held as a result of violent demonstrations by
ZANU PF
youths against some magistrates at the Bindura courts." who
had
been accused of handing down judgments against the ruling
party. That story
only appeared in The Daily News two days earlier
(16/1), providing an
indication of the extent to which the rule of law
and the dispensation of
justice have been undermined - and the
reluctance of the state media to
report such incidents.
The warning from international human rights watchdog,
Amnesty
International, that Zimbabwe was in danger of descending into civil
war, also only appeared in The Daily News (15/1), as did the
warning
about a "human rights crisis" in Zimbabwe from the UN
High Commissioner for
Human Rights.
ZBC's coverage of the assault on MDC legislator David Mpala in
Lupane (television and radio, 14/01, 8pm) exposed television's
biased
coverage of incidents of violence. Insp. Alfred Zvenyika was
quoted as
having said, "the motive behind the attack is not
known" but could not rule
out political violence. Television reported
that 11 unidentified suspects
had been arrested, but 3FM's 8pm
bulletin the same evening actually
identified those arrested as
ZANU PF youths. So, was television - and the
policeman -
suppressing unpalatable information about the Mpala's attackers?
Even The Herald (16/1) blamed the attack on "suspected war
veterans",
although it buried this news at the end of a violence
round-up story which
contained news of another murder, this time
in Guruve, of a man who ".had
been abducted by ZANU PF
youths", according to initial investigations.
In
the television report of Mpala's assault, the reporter shifted
viewers'
attention away from this latest assault by gratuitously
referring to the
unsubstantiated claim that Limukani Luphahla and
Cain Nkala had been
abducted and murdered by MDC youths, as if
to suggest the assault on Mpala
was some form of retaliation.
TV's bias was also exposed (19/01, 8pm) in the
Banket case
where youths who actually identified themselves as belonging to
ZANU PF assaulted a farm foreman allegedly to settle a labour
dispute,
but the TV reporter chose to say the youths belonged to
the MDC without any
reasonable proof.
ZBC (14/01, 8pm) did report an incident of violence
allegedly
committed by ZANU PF youths, but this was down played as
"retaliation".
The Daily News (15/01) quoted Joyce Kazembe, a member of
the
government appointed Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC)
blaming
political violence on ZANU PF. She was quoted as saying:
"The level of
violence depends on the level of access to State
agents and State machinery
which the ruling party enjoys,
while the opposition practices hit-and-run
raids because of
limited resources."
The same issue reported the
abduction and assault on Mpala as
the paper's lead story, quoting Mpala
himself accusing war
veterans of being responsible.
Farm invasions also
continued to be reported in the privately owned
Press. The Daily News
(14/01) reported that 23 farmers had been
ordered off their farms by ZANU PF
supporters. The same issue of
the paper reported that two black commercial
farmers in Dande had
also fallen victim to violence. According to the paper,
the two
cotton farmers had their crop uprooted on allegations of supporting
the MDC.
The Zimbabwe Independent (18/01) reported more farm violence
and observed that, "The invasions also fly in the face of
assurances
given by a government delegation which last week
attended an EU/ACP meeting
in Brussels."
Much of The Herald's violence round-up feature (14/01), under
the
generic headline, MDC's violent campaign intensifies, simply
regurgitated old and unsubstantiated reports accusing MDC
supporters of
being responsible for the murder the previous week of
Gibson Masarira, a
senior district ZANU PF official in Zaka.
5. ELECTION CAMPAIGN
STORIES
.
The absence of any election campaign stories about opposition
party candidates on television and radio confirms a deliberate
policy by
ZBC to exclude these voices from the electronic media in
the run-up to the
election.
It should also be noted that in addition to the nine positive
stories
on the ruling party's campaign, ZANU PF is also using live
programmes, recorded documentaries and films as part of its
campaign
strategy.
MMPZ notes with concern that ZBC has deliberately and totally
failed to meet its public service obligations. MMPZ believes this is
a
worrying development because the national broadcaster is
creating an
election campaign environment in the broadcast media
that is unfair and
undemocratic. As a result, ZBC's audiences are
being denied their right to
access fair and accurate information to
make informed political choices in
the election.
Since 2002 began, ZBC TV and radio have not covered a single
rally or campaign statement by any opposition party. MMPZ
condemns this
gross abuse of public resources. Television (14/01,
8pm) covered a
government-organized "Day of Prayer" meeting
attended by some churches held
at the Harare International
Conference Centre where it was said that
churches, unlike in the
past, "are in full support of the country's land
reform
programme". And in what can only be described as a terrible
embarrassment, one church leader was even quoted as saying
President
Mugabe was appointed "by God not by man".
ZANU PF policies were reflected on
the placards carried by
delegates and no comment was sought from
commentators on the
political nature of the meeting, which sought to invest
President
Mugabe with a morally divine status. Neither did ZBC clarify which
churches had attended the so-called prayer meeting.
The other campaign
stories were statements from ZANU PF
officials and even ruling party
announcements to its MPs and
members masquerading as news items.
Breaks
between news segments on television are now also
saturated with ZANU PF
advertising.
The absence of opposition advertising, and in particular, MDC
material, should also be taken in the context of statements this
week by
the party's Secretary-General Welshman Ncube
(Zimbabwe Independent, 18/01)
that "we have stopped bothering
ourselves about advertising in the public
media" because of
restrictive procedures including ZBC's 10 Golden Rules.
There are also live and recorded programmes, which are all being
used as
platforms for ZANU PF to transmit its campaign
propaganda free of charge.
Some of them are:
v Face the Nation (Friday, 6.30pm),
v Media
Watch
v Talking Farming,
v Nhaka Yedu/Our Heritage (Sunday, 8.35pm,
repeated
Monday, 1am),
v Around Zimbabwe (6.30pm); and
v
National Affairs (propaganda film slot on Thursday &
Sunday,
9.05pm).
Other propaganda programmes appear on television unscheduled
and some come as repeats by "popular public demand" in what
appears to
be an attempt to force people to watch them.
Clearly, ZBC has been reduced to
a ZANU PF propaganda
machine.
Similarly, the government owned
newspapers continue to prove
beyond doubt that they have also been turned
into ZANU PF
election campaign platforms.
A curious feature during the
week was the use of small opposition
political parties to denounce MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
According to The Herald (18/1) three opposition
parties described
Tsvangirai ".as a puppet of the West". The article quoted
ZANU,
ZAPU and NAGG, but did not shed any light on those parties'
policies.
MMPZ does not condemn Zimpapers for sourcing comments from
these groups on issues of national importance. However, it would
seem
they are only quoted when it is in Zanu PF's advantage to do
so. For
example, where were the small opposition groups when the
armed forces'
Commander Vitalis Zvinavashe, commented about
the "qualifications" of
candidates for the presidential office? It
would appear these parties only
exist to condemn the MDC when it
is perceived to have blundered. MMPZ
condemns such cynical and
unprofessional practice.
The Chronicle story
(17/1) Opposition political parties form
alliance, reported the formation of
a third political party to counter
MDC. The newspaper failed to subject the
proposed new political
alliance to any examination. It appears the article
was meant to
vilify MDC through the voices of little known political
parties.
MMPZ notes that The Herald continues to publish names of people
who have "qualified" for land in the ongoing land reform process
and
hopes a list of those "allocated" land will also be published.
The Herald
(15/1) reported that the MDC had ". acquired ZANU
PF members' cards to
weaken the ruling party's stronghold in
the rural areas". The article relied
on an unnamed source.
The Herald (18/1) quoted Information Minister Jonathan
Moyo
saying thousands of MDC supporters were defecting to ZANU PF,
but
provided no evidence for this.
The Daily News story (18/1) Model A2 land list
a political gimmick,
reported that "Most people listed as beneficiaries of
the A2
model scheme under the resettlement programme have not
been given
the land."
The Sunday Mail (20/1) front-page article, SA police confirm MDC
link to $2bn heist, made preposterous and unfounded allegations
against
the MDC. The report also regurgitated the same
unsubstantiated claims that
appeared in its first report of the
robbery: ". former Rhodesian and
apartheid South Africa
intelligence officers, who are now supporting the
MDC, had
perfected the art of using criminal elements to raise funds for
their cause during their days and were now using the same
dirty tricks
to raise funds for the opposition party ahead of the
presidential
elections". In a display of blatant propaganda, the
article read: "The MDC
is using all desperate means to get
funds for the presidential elections
because the party never
thought the elections would be held at the beginning
of
March".
The Sunday Mail (20/1), claimed the MDC had "hatched
clandestine plans to bring in its own foreign election monitors
and
observers into the country ." but again the paper provided
no evidence for
its claim.
6. VOTER EDUCATION: Confusing reports on ZBC
There
was precious little voter education in any of the media during
the
week.
But The Zimbabwe Independent (18/1) reported the chaos
surrounding
the forthcoming presidential poll and the Harare and
Chitungwiza mayoral
elections. The story noted that the pre-
election conditions, such as
political violence, and repressive new
legislation all point to a poorly
organized poll. Part of the article
read:
The whole process of
preparation for the polls is not
transparent and because of the recent
amendments to
the Electoral Act, the Electoral Supervisory
Commission has not started its work. In addition, the
training of
election monitors is not in place and voter
education has not started .
While the Registrar
General's office has had problems in running single
elections, it is going to be near-impossible running a
three-tier poll.
ZBC (18/01, 8pm) covered comments made by
Registrar-General
Tobaiwa Mudede, on the progress made on the voter
registration
exercise. He said they were doing the job to make sure that in
the
end "we take the necessary action when we are printing our
voters'
roll as regards those who are no longer citizens of this
country". He was
not pressed for comment to clarify what this
"action" implied.
MDC
president Morgan Tsvangirai's urgent application on the
constitutionality of
the voter registration process was also scantily
covered on ZBC compared to
the detailed manner in which it was
covered in The Daily News
(19/01).
Radio Zimbabwe (17/01, 1pm) carried a confusing report about
which roll would be used in the presidential election. Minister
Chinamasa was quoted as saying the constituency roll would be
used.
However, ZTV (18/01, 8pm) contradicted this by saying the
common roll would
be used in the presidential elections. The
mayoral and council elections
would use the ward roll. As a result
of the remarks there now appears to be
no clear information about
the rolls to be used and the procedures to be
followed for the dual
elections in Harare and Chitungwiza and viewers and
listeners were
left confused and uninformed about these important issues.
ZBC did not analyze the implications of Mudede's contempt of
court by
closing voter registration and defying both the High Court
and Supreme Court
orders ordering his office to expedite the
holding of mayoral and council
elections by February 11, 2002.
A 3FM (20/01, 1pm) report also sent
misleading signals on voter
registration. Minister of State in
Vice-President Simon Muzenda's
office, Flora Bhuka, was quoted expressing
optimism that "more
people in the Gokwe District will get their national
identity
cards and be registered as voters soon following the successful
discussions with the Midlands provincial registrar". The
reporter did
not explain why registration was continuing in the
Midlands when Mudede had
announced that the exercise had been
stopped, or, indeed, what business
Muzenda's office had with
registration and why it was holding discussions
with officials from
the RG's office. But the report did give the unfortunate
impression
that Muzenda's office was a law unto itself - a fairly common
notion of most government activities.
7. ARTICLE 19 CONDEMNS
INFORMATION BILL AMENDMENTS
ARTICLE 19 today released a detailed analysis
of the
amendments to the Zimbabwean Access to Information and
Privacy
Bill1 showing that all our previous concerns remain
and that the Bill still
massively restricts freedom of
expression. This analysis updates previous
reports on the Bill
by ARTICLE 19 issued on 11 January and 24
January.
ARTICLE 19 acknowledges some positive amendments to the Bill,
tabled in Parliament on 22 January 2002, but condemns them as
falling
far short of the meaningful change required.
Despite the amendments,
journalists are still required to obtain
licenses and face a possible 2
years' imprisonment for spreading
'false news'. Extensive powers over the
media and journalists
continue to be wielded by the Commission, a body
firmly under
government control. Despite its title, the Bill does little to
guarantee the public's right to access information held by public
authorities. The ARTICLE 19 analysis addresses each of these
concerns
and illustrates how the Bill systematically undermines
the right to freedom
of expression.
These amendments were a response to growing local and
international pressure, and ARTICLE 19 calls upon the international
community to continue to exert pressure on the Zimbabwean
government,
lending their voice to the many opposition voices
originating from inside
the country, in the hope of bringing about
more fundamental reforms to the
Bill.
"The Zimbabwean government is under pressure both as a result of
the upcoming elections and the growing international condemnation
of its
undemocratic practices. There is a real opportunity for
change now, but
concerted effort is needed."
Copies of the analysis are available on the
ARTICLE 19 website, at
http://www.article19.org
Issued by Toby
Mendel, Head of Law Programme, on 44 20 7239
1193 (44 20 8552 3437 out of
office hours), email:
toby@article19.org.
ENDS
The
MEDIA UPDATE is produced and circulated by the Media
Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe (MMPZ), 15 Duthie Avenue,
Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4
703702, E-mail:
monitors@mweb.co.zw
Previous copies of MMPZ reports can be
accessed at http://www.icon.co.zw/mmpz
We
appreciate comments from our subscribers on Zim media
performance. Please
make these brief.
Also, please feel free to circulate this report
Guardian
Journalists' group confronts Harare
government
Jessica Hodgson
Friday January 25, 2002
Reporters
Sans Frontiers, the international press freedom pressure group,
has written
to the Zimbabwean information minister, Jonathan Moyo, to
express its concern
at government threats to foreign journalists.
The RSF secretary general,
Robert Menard, says in this letter that
journalists have been forced to enter
the country illegally using tourist
visas.
"These journalists applied
for tourists visas only because they had no other
choice to cover the news,"
writes Mr Menard.
"We ask the government to give them accreditation and
let them work freely",
he said.
"With presidential elections due in
March we fear that Zimbabwe is hardening
its stance against the local and
international press."
On January 24 the government-controlled daily, the
Herald, reported that the
authorities were close to arresting British and
South African journalists
who had entered Zimbabwe on tourist
visas.
Reporters from the Guardian, the Sunday Telegraph, the Economist
and the
South African Sunday Times have been singled out by the
government.
Today the Sunday Telegraph's correspondent, Philip Sherwell,
was reported to
have left the country, while the Guardian's Chris McGreal was
believed to be
making his exit.
The Guardian's editor, Alan
Rusbridger, told the Today programme this
morning it was too dangerous for
journalists to operate in a country where
they were treated as "spies and
terrorists".
Zimbabwean War Veterans' National Secretary
Arrested
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xinhuanet
2002-01-26 16:15:06
HARARE, January 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Zimbabwe
police have arrested
the war veteran' national secretary Mike Moyo on several
criminal
allegations including extortion involving 15 million
Zimbabwean
dollars (about 272,273 U.S. dollars), according to the
official
Herald newspaper on Saturday.
Moyo, 40, was brought before
Harare magistrate Dominic Muzavazi
on Friday on allegations of extortion,
public violence, assault
and armed robbery.
He was not asked to plead
and was remanded out of custody on
bail to March 15.
As part of his
bail conditions, Moyo was ordered not to visit
Mayfield Farm in Mazowe and a
service station along Fourth Street
in Harare where two of the offences were
allegedly committed.
Moyo is being jointly charged with Chris Pasipamire,
deputy
chairman for Harare province of the ruling Zimbabwe
African
National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), on the extortion
and
public violence allegations.
The two are alleged to have demanded
15 million Zimbabwean
dollars or 50 percent of the profits of the Mayfield
farm, from
Arthur Duncan Parkes, the previous owner of the farm, which
has
been allocated to Pasipamire under the land redistribution program.
The two are then alleged to have assaulted the farmer after he
refused to
pay.
On the armed robbery charge, Moyo is alleged to have, on
January
10 this year, gone to a service station along Fourth
Street where he forced a
petrol attendant to re-fuel his car and
debit a ZANU-PF account.
Moyo
had also allegedly assaulted the attendant when he refused
to comply.
Enditem
From ZWNEWS, 26
January
Tories say, don't rule
out troops
Conservative Party foreign affairs spokesman Michael Ancram
said Wednesday that Britain should not rule out sending troops to Zimbabwe if
President Robert Mugabe ignores international pressure and the situation
deteriorates further after presidential elections in March.
Ancram spoke
during a debate on Zimbabwe in which nine members of Parliament contributed -
six Conservatives, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell,
the Labour Party government's Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the
Foreign office, Ben Bradshaw, and one other Labour MP, Tony Worthington. The
line-up reflected the usual preponderance of Conservatives pressing for action
on Zimbabwe. In the latest debate, everyone agreed the situation has continued
to deteriorate and said they received constant reminders, including from
constituents, of the terror campaign and atrocities under Mugabe. But while
Conservatives urged more robust action by Britain, Bradshaw simply repeated the
official line that if things get worse, unspecified "action will be taken,'' and
refused to elaborate. It was widely acknowledged that the March 9-10 elections will
not be fair and free, but the Minister would not speculate on Britain's reaction
if a) Mugabe loses and tries to cling to power, or b) Mugabe wins a fraudulent
election.
Ancram and Maude said that instead of
hiding behind guilt about Britain's colonial past, the government should spend
some of the international capital accrued by Prime Minister Tony Blair during
the last few months on taking a lead in the Zimbabwe crisis - with action beyond
the efforts of the European Union. They called for the immediate suspension, if
not expulsion, of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth; targeted sanctions against
Mugabe and his 20 or so top lieutenants - in line with proposed action by the
United States; and said Britain must not rule out possible direct intervention,
including military action, if the situation gets worse after the election.
Menzies Campbell expressed concerns over the feasibility of British military
intervention, and, for the government, Bradshaw re-iterated remarks by Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw. "If the situation deteriorates we will take action,'' he
said. Bradshaw also said he did not think the efforts of the international
community have been too little too late, adding, "We act best when we act
together.''
Daily News - Leader Page
MPs are duty-bound not to pass the Labour
Bill
1/26/02 9:12:43 AM (GMT +2)
By Rene
Loewenson
YESTERDAY, Tom Ncube had a job. Today he is
unemployed.
His 20-year-old son has never had a job, and is worried
and angry that he
may never get one.
Unemployment and the rising cost
of living are among people's greatest
worries in Zimbabwe today.
Late
last year, the Civic Alliance for Social and Economic Progress
(Casep)
carried out a survey of community and civic views on economic and
social
priorities.
Casep is a network of membership-based civic
organisations operating in key
areas of social and economic
activity.
Employment was one of the top priorities raised by people in
rural and urban
areas, particularly as new waves of job losses were reported
to add to old
problems of finding jobs.
Farm workers were said to have
been particularly affected, followed by hotel
and catering sector workers and
tour operators, retail workers, factory
workers, mine workers and municipal
workers.
Older people were doubly worried - to old concerns that young
people had
little chance of finding jobs, they were now worried that they too
might
lose their jobs.
Improving employment prospects now adds the
challenge of stopping job loss
to that of generating new jobs, especially for
youth.
To tackle the problem, people felt it was essential to go to its
causes. A
number of these were recent, and linked to violence and
political
instability.
Farm workers have lost jobs because farm owners
have left occupied farms or
workers have themselves fled or been driven out
of farms.
There were reports of local council or public sector workers
leaving or
being forced out of work by violence in their
areas.
Reports of violence have discouraged tourists, leading to hotels
scaling
down operations and retrenching workers.
Businesses were
reported to have scaled down or closed, leaving
workers
unemployed.
There were other, more chronic causes
raised.
Economic decline, increasing input costs and increasing poverty has
led to
increasing production costs and shrinking markets.
"People are
no longer buying goods," said one worker, "so retail workers are
losing
jobs."
Fishing workers were said to have lost jobs due to the slump in
fish sales.
Despite the gloom and despondency that unemployment can
generate, community
and civic voices had many ideas about how to turn the
situation around. They
felt that workers and employers could generate ways of
dealing with problems
rather than simply closing.
The room for new
enterprises and range of local productive resources that
people pointed out
was astounding.
The options raised included small livestock keeping,
growing and processing
furniture and timber products from indigenous trees,
craft production,
welding, running grinding mills, fishing projects,
processing, canning,
drying and retailing of fruits and vegetables, cattle
fattening, paper
recycling, running tourist lodges and a host
more.
"Some people are travelling hundreds of kilometres to major centres
to buy
goods that could be produced in their home areas," one person
commented. It
was evident that people were keenly aware of the local
possibilities for
earning a living.
So what are the obstacles they
face? A number were reported.
Many areas lack secure energy supplies to power
production.
Transport is expensive and unreliable and roads are sometimes
poor. People
have not been able to access adequate reliable start-up capital,
and
complain of political bias and obstacles in accessing public
funds.
They also say they cannot access or afford commercial loans, due
to high
interest rates, or demands for security.
They felt that there
was inadequate public investment in management,
financial and production
skills for local entrepreneurs and that some
private organisations who used
to provide skills or financial inputs now
found it difficult to operate in
their areas.
A further cause of job loss was industrial action. A study
was carried out
on this issue by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
in 2001. It
analysed 51 industrial actions and interviewed 10
unions.
The study found that the existing labour law has created room for
mass
dismissal of employees after industrial action, and is highly
prejudicial to
workers.
The study showed that:
* strike actions are
a direct or indirect cause of dismissals;
* the legal protection given to
workers unfairly dismissed is very weak; and
that
* cases involving
dismissals take an extremely long time to resolve.
The ZCTU study showed
that the current system punishes workers twice.
Firstly, workers often resort
to strike action because of the unwieldy and
non-responsive management by
employers of industrial relations.
In the study cases, employers had, for
example, avoided voluntary
arbitration in favour of the slower process of
compulsory arbitration over
disputes, or had not implemented correct
bipartite procedures for short-time
work or retrenchment.
Frustrated
workers resorted to strike action to speed up the resolution of
their
issues.
The same workers were then dismissed in terms of the legal
provisions
governing strikes.
They were then further punished with a
second slow process of resolving
disputes around their dismissal, while
dealing with loss of jobs and income.
The ZCTU has thus objected strongly
to provisions in the current Harmonised
Labour Bill that further curtail
rights to strike. The labour movement
argues that the Bill should instead be
amended to avoid giving open licence
to employers to dismiss employees after
collective job action.
In a situation of high unemployment, the fact that
the current and proposed
labour law provisions on industrial action further
increase unemployment and
poverty does not make sense.
Members of
Parliament debating the Harmonised Labour Bill have the
opportunity to make
one legal dent in the conditions generating job loss.
Daily News
MDC accuses police of barring rallies
1/26/02 8:57:33
AM (GMT +2)
From Brian Mangwende in Mutare
THE MDC has
suspended rallies in Manicaland after the police allegedly
banned the party
from campaigning in the province for this year's crucial
presidential
election. The ban comes soon after the police and soldiers
descended on
Sakubva residential area and imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew
on
Tuesday.
Yesterday, Pishayi Muchauraya, the MDC's spokesman in
Manicaland, said: "We
had 10 rallies lined up on 12 January in Buhera. Five
were to be held in
Buhera South and the other five in Buhera North. But after
we were
approached by the police, who threatened to arrest us if we went
ahead with
the rallies, we decided to suspend them for the safety of our
supporters."
Francis Mubvuta, the Manicaland police spokesman,
immediately denied the
accusation.
He said: "We have not banned any
political party from campaigning. Instead,
what we did was to urge all
parties to campaign peacefully. The allegation
that we have banned rallies is
not true."
But Muchauraya insisted the police had ordered his party to
desist from
holding any rallies in the province. "It's now virtually
impossible to hold
rallies in Rusape, Buhera, Nyanga, Chipinge and other
areas without police
intervention. Just last week, one of our vehicles was
impounded by Zanu PF
youths at a rally in the presence of the police, who
just stood by and
watched."
Meanwhile, Zanu PF supporters in Rusape
have reportedly intensified their
violent campaign in the constituency,
assaulting passengers on buses passing
through the town who fail to produce
Zanu PF membership cards.
Yesterday, The Daily News received reports from
Rusape that the youths were
now asking people to produce their IDs following
the passing into law of the
draconian Public Order and Security Bill. The Act
makes it mandatory for all
Zimbabweans above the age of 16 to carry on their
person identity documents
when in public places.
Failure to produce an
ID at the police's request attracts a fine of not more
than $5 000 or
imprisonment of up to six months or both.
Under the Act, public violence
attracts a fine of not more than $100 000 or
imprisonment of up to 10 years
or both. Organisers of public gatherings are
required to give at least four
days' written notice of their intentions to
the relevant
authorities.
Meanwhile, residents of Sakubva said yesterday they were
living in fear
after the deployment of armed soldiers and riot police who
have imposed a
dusk-to-dawn curfew to curb political violence.
Foster
Kazembe, 27, a barber, said the uniformed forces have been patrolling
the
suburb since the beginning of January.
Kazembe said: "We are now living
in fear. They threaten to shoot us if we
are seen on the streets after 7 pm.
Last Saturday, the police fired tear gas
at around 7.15 pm to disperse a
church gathering. Now we can't even pray at
night."
Innocent Gonese,
the MP for Mutare Central, described the deployment of the
forces as another
move by Zanu PF to intimidate the electorate.
He said Zanu PF had not
only positioned soldiers and policemen to harass the
people in his
constituency but had also sponsored a gang called "Mutape"
from Chipinge to
beat them up.
A similar curfew was reported this week in the Zaka
district of Masvingo
province, where armed soldiers and policemen have been
stationed. Yesterday,
Francis Mubvuta and Colonel Bonis Gatsheni, the army
spokesmen, denied any
knowledge of the deployment.
The Minister of
Home Affairs, John Nkomo referred questions to the police
commissioner,
Augustine Chihuri who could not be reached on Thursday
| British film maker's son arrested in
Zimbabwe |
A white teenage opposition activist has been arrested by police in
Zimbabwe.
Tom Spicer has been accused of attempted murder, his relatives say.
He is the son of a British film maker.
Spicer, 17, was taken into custody two days after a magistrate ordered him
released on bail for separate allegations of kidnapping.
He reported to a Harare police station and was rearrested, says his mother
Edwina Spicer, a British television journalist and filmmaker.
Police told Spicer his arrest was in connection with the attempted murder of
a supporter of President Robert Mugabe in a Harare township two weeks ago.
Ms Spicer says her son was a victim of police harassment.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena has confirmed Spicer's re-arrest but would
not elaborate on why he was being held.
Spicer was arrested last Sunday when he campaigned with other youths from the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change in Marondera when they were attacked
by ruling ZANU-PF supporters, his family says.
Story filed: 15:06 Saturday 26th January 2002
Call for War Games At What
Cost?
Business
Day (Johannesburg)
OPINION
January 21, 2002
Posted to the web January 21, 2002
DON'T say I didn't warn you! The Rambo
lobby has begun to demand military measures to deal with Robert
Mugabe.
The demand, published by The Sunday
Independent during the holiday period, came from Norman Reynolds, described as
chief economist in Mugabe's government until 1986. The newspaper gave it
extraordinary prominence. South Africa, Reynolds wrote, "must play serious war
games on Zimbabwe's borders" in order to force division in the Zimbabwe army
"and to be ready for intervention".
This importunate demand was slipped into
a long list of other "musts": sanctions, refugee camps, food stockpiles, a
commission of inquiry to "nail" corruption, and an economic programme to be
imposed after the transfer of power "whether democratically or
militarily".
This is dangerous ground. I realise that
international law was thrown into confusion when the US kidnapped a foreign head
of state (Panama's Noriega), but military operations on the borders used to be
regarded as an act of war. Heaven knows what might ensue.
The action seems to me as likely to force
division in South Africa's cobbledtogether army as in Mugabe's, especially if we
blundered into a fight and got another bloody nose as we did in
Lesotho.
What would it cost? What effect would it
have on the rand? What resources would have to be diverted from our social
programmes to the military? Might we need eventually to resume conscription, and
how would that affect the emigration of skills?
None of these questions is asked or
answered. Instead, we are bombarded with meretricious warnings of what will
happen to us if Mugabe survives (as he shows every intention of
doing).
The propaganda is blatant. Reynolds, for
example, demanded on December 30 the establishment of a $250m strategic
stockpile of maize, wheat and other basic foodstuffs to feed Zimbabweans. A
fortnight later, in the same newspaper, he asserted astonishingly that the
decline in Zimbabwean food production was causing our food prices to
soar.
He predicted that most South African
families would be impoverished, the real loss to the economy might be R50bn, the
rand would be impossible to defend, children would drop out of school, and crime
would rise!
Well, which is it to be? Do we face
crisis because Zimbabwe cannot feed us, or does there exist, somewhere, a
surplus for a stockpile to enable us to feed Zimbabwe?
A year ago I was derided when I predicted
that pressure for intervention would move from denunciation to symbolic
sanctions, to targeted sanctions, to punitive sanctions, and to direct military
intervention. The Rambo lobby feigned innocence.
I was also derided when I argued for
constructive engagement, combined with support for international action led by
the Great Powers, the United Nations or the Commonwealth. I suggested that we do
everything possible to insulate ourselves from the coming turmoil (including
preparing refugee camps and calling on the UN Commission for Refugees to provide
food aid), but that we refuse absolutely to accept prime responsibility for
Britain's left-over colonial mess.
That is roughly what our government has
done, albeit not with excessive skill, and we should be grateful: it has perhaps
spared us the costs of blundering into disaster. But every step of the way, the
Rambo lobby has used Zimbabwe as a stick to beat President Mbeki, recklessly
undermining both national confidence and the currency.
Meanwhile, the underlying choices have
not changed materially. Mugabe, facing extinction if he loses his grip, cannot
yield to exhortation, or insult, or pressure, or to the milder forms of
sanctions. To remove him it will be necessary to use force or to impose the sort
of sanctions that will collapse the economy. Any more optimistic scenario
underrates the determination of the Mugabe clique to survive.
The time has surely come for President
Mbeki to emerge from his habitual sulk and confront his critics in Parliament:
Do they want to prepare, as Reynolds demands, for military intervention? Do they
want to move the army to the border?
Do they want merely to insult Mugabe with
useless sanctions, or are they ready to starve Zimbabwean peasants until he
surrenders? Will they accept responsibility for the stabilisation and
reconstruction of Zimbabwe afterwards?
And will they pay the price? Let's hear
it.
Harare is a Threat to
Africa, Says German President
South
African Press Association (Johannesburg)
January 21, 2002
Posted to the web January 21, 2002
Pretoria
The political instability in Zimbabwe posed a threat to the
entire African continent, German President Johannes Rau said in Pretoria on
Monday.
"When people in Europe look at Africa and the developments
here, they see South Africa but they also see the other countries. They see the
developments taking place in a country like Zimbabwe and they hope that the
rights of the individual and the rule of law are going to prevail.
"Right now that is not the case. They are very much
threatened, and that in itself poses a threat to the African continent as a
whole," he told reporters after talks with President Thabo Mbeki.
Rau, who is on a three-day state visit to South Africa, said
Germany condemned what was happening in Zimbabwe, but declined to elaborate on
possible sanctions against that country.
He stressed one could not draw any parallels between South
Africa and its troubled northern neighbour.
Mbeki said the main aim of the southern African region at
this stage was to ensure that Zimbabwe's presidential elections in March were
free and fair.
"So the region with regard to the question of sanctions is
saying: 'No, the task ahead of us is to ensure we have a properly elected
president of Zimbabwe, elected freely by the people of Zimbabwe'," he said.
Asked if sanctions would be considered by South Africa
should the elections turn out not to be free and fair, Mbeki said the Southern
African Development Community would consider that question if the time came.
"The critical challenge is to do whatever needs to be done
to ensure free and fair elections ... in the interest of the people of
Zimbabwe," he said.
"The instability has gone on for too long. (Zimbabweans are)
unable to solve very urgent economic problems that face them, levels of poverty
are increasing in the country, conflict has increased. If you added to that a
fraudulent election, worsening the lives of those millions of Zimbabwe --that
has to be avoided."
The two leaders also discussed the economic and political
ties between their countries.
These relations were very important for South Africa's
development, Mbeki said.
"We've got a range of relations with Germany ... which are
of critical importance as far as the sort progress we want to make in this
country is concerned.
"We spent a bit of time talking about those things, economic
co-operation and political co-operation. These matters are important for our
success here."
They also discussed issues relating to the development of
the continent as a whole.
Rau was accompanied by a delegation of German businessmen
and representatives of civil society.
"Our discussions today were very much to the point, very
much concerned with practical questions, and questions of common interest. We
touched upon them in great detail," the German president said through an
interpreter.
He added his country had been closely following developments
in South Africa since 1994, and had great hopes and expectations.
"These hopes and expectations are not affected in any
negative by one the other critical remark about developments or one or other
critical development here," he said.
"I have come here to see with my own eyes, to listen with my
own ears, to see the developments taking place here, in the political, economic
and cultural fields.
"I return with great hopes and expectations to my own
country."
Asked what role his country could play in assisting southern
Africa to cope with the difficulties of globalisation, Rau said globalisation
was an inescapable development.
"I believe no-one should try to escape it. It is an economic
process that is going to fail if it is not accompanied with the social, cultural
and humane aspects of development."
Every country would have to find its own way to deal with
globalisation, he added.
"We live in one world now. That is the first lesson we have
to learn. We are no longer divided along the lines that separate continents. We
share problems. We have different answers sometimes to those problems."
Ongoing debate was needed on the topic, Rau said.
Obasanjo: Mugabe
Pledges Fair Elections
Martin
Rushmere
Zimbabwe
VOA News:
21 Jan 2002 19:25 UTC