White farmers seize Zimbabwe government property in S.Africa

http://news.yahoo.com

AFP

1 hr 20 mins ago

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - White farmers whose land was seized under Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe's land reforms have claimed a house owned by his
government in South Africa, their lawyer said Tuesday.

The 2.5-million-rand (338,000-dollar, 250,000-euro) house in the Cape Town
suburb of Kenilworth was attached by the sheriff's office, meaning it could
now be auctioned off by the farmers.

Their lawyer Willie Spies said the seizure was not meant to compensate the
farmers for their land, but to cover their legal costs.

"We see it as a way to send out a message to show the Zimbabwean government
that there are certain consequences to their abuse of human rights," he
said, according to the Sapa news agency.

"This is a process aimed at helping all the people of Zimbabwe in a way that
creates hope and shows that it is possible for civil society to institute
civil sanctions against a regime that does not help its people," he said.

The seize of the house stems from a November 2008 verdict by the tribunal of
the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC), which found that
Zimbabwe had wrongly taken land from nearly 80 farmers, saying they had been
targeted because of their race.

Zimbabwe has rejected the verdict, but a South African court last month
ruled that the verdict should be applied locally.

Three other properties in Cape Town have been identified for possible
seizure, Spies said.

The Kenilworth home was not protected by diplomatic immunity because the
property was being rented out, making it a commercial property, Spies said.

Mugabe launched the land reforms a decade ago, aiming to correct a colonial
legacy that left whites owning most of the best farmland.

But the chaotic campaign was marred by deadly political violence and
undermined the farm-based economy, leaving the country dependent on
international food aid.

Afriforum takes three more Zimbabwean owned properties 

http://www.sabcnews.com

March 30 2010 ,
3:11:00

Afriforum says it is in the process of attaching three other properties on
the Cape Peninsula belonging to the Zimbabwean government. The organisation
has already attached a property worth R2.5 million in Kenilworth.

The money will be used as compensation to farmers whose land was seized
under President Robert Mugabe's land reform programme. Afriforum lawyer,
Willie Spies, says the three other properties are vacant: "What is happening
today is the attachment of one property belonging to the Zimbabwean
government which we identified as a property that is being used for
commercial purposes. Its been leased by the Zimbabwean government to the
third party individual and we have found that the value of the property will
be sufficient to satisfy the order for costs that was granted by the Sadec
tribunal in November 2009 as well as June 2009."

The North Gauteng High Court last month upheld a ruling by the SADC Tribunal
directing the Zimbabwe government to compensate farmers who have lost
properties through land reform. Zimbabwe has ignored that ruling and its
High Court has rejected the SADC tribunal judgment.

Significant breakthrough for Zimbabwean negotiations 

http://www.sabcnews.com

March 30 2010 ,
3:55:00

Thulasizwe Simelane, SABC Harare

In a significant breakthrough in Zimbabwe's long-dragging negotiation
process, President Robert Mugabe is to swear in commissioners to serve on
various democracy support structures.

President Jacob Zuma's mediation team-leader Charles Nqakula says the
swearing in of the commissioners is part the time-line agreed in recent
negotiations. The three member mediation team is in Harare, overseeing the
conclusion of the talks, before a final report is submitted to Zuma
tomorrow. They say they are unfazed by public statements made by parties
that seem to water down progress made at the negotiation table.

Zanu-PF statements that appear to contradict president Zuma's announcement
of a breakthrough seem to suggest there is something not being told to the
public by the negotiators. Zuma's mediation team is adamant an agreement in
principle was reached.

Observers say Zuma has upped the pressure, as he is not keen to have his
presidency overshadowed by the Zimbabwe question like his predecessor Thabo
Mbeki. Analysts say South Africa also does not want the Zimbabwe impasse to
steal the limelight, when the country hosts the soccer World Cup in June.

D-Day for Bennett

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by ZLHR Legal Monitor
Monday, 29 March 2010 06:45

HARARE-The month of March 2010, must be the longest month for Roy Bennett,
the deputy agriculture minister- esignate, as he awaits a High Court
decision on whether he will be put on his defence over charges of banditry,
terrorism, insurgency or sabotage.

Earlier this month his lawyers, led by Beatrice Mtetwa, applied for
discharge at the close of the State's case, saying the state had failed to
establish a prima facie case that Bennett plotted to assassinate President
Robert Mugabe in 2006.
But the prosecution, led by Attorney General (AG) Johannes Tomana, opposed
the application for discharge insisting it had placed enough evidence before
the court to prove that Bennett had a case to answer.
Tomana said there was need for Bennett to explain why he ran away to South
Africa if he had no case to answer.
The State alleges that Hitschmann was given US$5 000 by Bennett to buy
weapons for use to assassinate President Mugabe. It says Hitschmann
implicated Bennett in 2006 when he was arrested after being found in
possession of firearms - claims the gun dealer denies, saying he was
tortured into making the confessions during interrogation
at a military barracks in March that year.
"We have done a good job towards establishing a prima facie case. We have
established a link between Michael Peter
Hitschmann and Bennett," said Tomana as he wrapped up his argument about
three weeks ago. Hitschmann was set to be the State's key witness when the
trial started, but was declared hostile after he rejected his statement in
court.
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu is expected to deliver his decision on Wednesday
this week.

Villagers face eviction to make way for biofuel cultivation

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
30 March 2010

The construction of a US$600 million ethanol plant in Chisumbanje,
Manicaland province has ignited a storm of protests and claims that it could
result in thousands of families being evicted from the area.

The plant, which government says will provide the country with 80 percent of
it's ethanol needs, is being built on land currently owned by the
Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA). The ethanol will be
created from sugarcane grown in Arda Chisumbanje and Arda Middle Sabi.
Clouds of uncertainty now hang over the welfare of over 250 000 villagers
living along the vast Sabi river.

Government entered into the deal with controversial businessman Billy
Rautenbach and his companies Macdom Pvt (Ltd) and Ratings Investment.

The 51 year-old Rautenbach is a multimillionaire Zimbabwe businessman well
known for his aggressive business tactics. He is also closely linked to
Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF. He was added to the EU targetted sanctions list in
January 2008, and the US targetted sanctions towards the end of 2008 for his
alleged involvement with the former ruling regime. It is alleged he has
aided ZANU PF financially and the deals have been mutually beneficial.
Mugabe, grateful for financial support, often returns favours to Rautenbach
by granting him dubious and lucrative deals in mining and this latest
ethanol project in Chisumbanje. As white farmers continue to be kicked off
their farms, Rautenbach's empire grows even bigger. Two weeks ago we
reported that Rautenbach was being accused by the MDC of hounding and
intimidating its activists in Manicaland as political tension builds ahead
of the constitution making programme.

MDC spokesman for Manicaland province, Pishai Muchauraya, told us the
businessman was directly responsible for the tensions that have led to
several skirmishes in the province.

Officially it has been stated the project in Chisumbanje will grow 40 000
hectares of sugarcane, but Rautenbach is allegedly pushing to acquire an
additional 20 000 hectares, from settlers in constituencies held by the
MDC-T in Chipinge South, Chipinge West and Musikavanhu.

Arda Chisumbanje falls under Chipinge South constituency and will provide
the 40 000 hectares. Arda Middle Sabi is under Chipinge West and sandwiched
between the two constituencies is Musikavhanhu. This is where Rautenbach has
plans to acquire an extra 12 000 hectares, all belonging to settlers. There
are reports suggesting the remaining 8 000 hectares of land have already
been identified in the Middle Sabi.

When fully operational the plant will become the second largest in the world
and will generate enough electricity to power most parts of Manicaland.
There are fears however the success of the plant will come at a serious cost
for the MDC, who are set to see the obliteration of three of their
constituencies.

All the prime land earmarked for the expansion is under constituencies that
voted for the MDC in the 2008 parliamentary elections. Chipinge West and
South and Musikavavhu have an average of 30 000 registered voters in each of
the three constituencies. MDC-T MP for Chipinge West, Sibonile Nyamudeza,
said almost everyone in the area was concerned that they would be forced off
their farming land. They have received few details about the project and
what will happen to those affected.

He said politically they were bracing themselves for the possibility that
MDC supporters will all be evicted, leaving ZANU PF supporters to stay.

'People are very concerned what will happen to their homes and livelihoods
and the possibility that they will have to move,' Nyamudeza said.

'We want to ask the company to meet the community to discuss the issue.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangira was in the area a month ago and was informed
of the impending crisis in the area. He promised however that no one will be
moved from their homes,' Nyamudeza added.

The MP said he wanted to stress that people were not against the project but
were merely expressing their concerns about the secrecy surrounding it. He
said as a party they were also concerned about the rights of people in those
areas, given Zimbabwe's recent history of forced, often violent land
evictions.

So serious is the outcry about the issue that a Parliamentary portfolio
committee on Agriculture is currently visiting the area to undertake
investigations.

'I am told the committee is carrying out investigations to see if the
expansion of the project will force the displacement of villagers. We are
waiting for the report that they will produce before we convene a meeting in
the area to decide what action can be taken if necessary,' Nyamudeza said.

Gukurahundi artist released and ZimRights moves exhibition to Byo

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Violet Gonda
29 March 2010

Owen Maseko, the artist who was arrested last week for staging an exhibition
in Bulawayo about the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres, was finally released on
bail of $100 on Tuesday. He has also been ordered to report to the police
station every Friday. Maseko was picked up by police last Friday, together
with Voti Thebe, the curator of the National Gallery in Bulawayo.

The art exhibition explored the violent period in the Matebeland and
Midlands province, when tens of thousands of people were murdered by Robert
Mugabe's notorious Fifth Brigade.

Maseko's lawyer, Kucaca Phulu, confirmed the exhibition has been covered up
with newspapers so that people cannot see it through the glass windows, and
that gallery staff have been threatened by police and ordered not to allow
members of the public to access the exhibition.

Phulu told SW Radio Africa that they will go to the High Court to get an
order to allow the exhibition to continue. The lawyer said: "We did not see
anything that is an offence to the President or anything offensive to any
race or tribe. All these charges are mere figments of the imagination of the
powers that be."

Maseko's paintings were hung on the gallery walls which had been painted
red, to depict blood, and were accompanied by captions such as; "They came
and killed our brothers and they made us sing their songs while they killed
our brothers."

One image showed Mugabe and the late ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo signing the
unity accord which led to the formation of the unity government in 1987.
Nkomo is shown slumped across the table with blood dripping down his
shoulders.

Phulu, who is also the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association
(ZimRights) said his organization will also continue with attempts to hold
the photo exhibition that has been blocked by police in Harare.

Police seized 65 photos, which were part of an exhibition at Delta Gallery
last week, and showed the violence of the 2008 election period. The High
Court ordered the return of the photographs and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai officiated at the official launch. But the police returned to the
art gallery that evening to try and confiscate the pictures again, resulting
in the organizers abandoning the exhibition.

But the ZimRights chairperson said the photo exhibition will now be shown in
Bulawayo on Tuesday, but not at the National Art Gallery because of the
atmosphere of fear that is now prevailing there. He said they will hold this
exhibition at Amakhosi Theatre - a performance arts academy and culture
centre, also in Bulawayo.

"We've got a court order that allows us to continue with that exhibition,
although it is not possible to continue with it in Harare. We are continuing
with this exhibition in Bulawayo at 5pm this evening. The exhibition is
lawful - however there is nothing we can do to stop members of the State,
members of the police from abusing us and stopping that exhibition from
continuing," Phulu said.

At the time of broadcast we were not able to confirm if the photo exhibition
went ahead uninterrupted.

 

SADC Tribunal forgot farmers' case

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by The Namibian
Monday, 29 March 2010 08:02

WINDHOEK -- A group of commercial farmers from Zimbabwe and two lawyers who
had travelled from South Africa for a hearing before the SADC Tribunal last
Wednesday were surprised to find the case had not been put on the roll by
the tribunal's registrar, who is said to have forgotten to do so.

Despite the lawyers' efforts to have a meeting with the SADC Tribunal
president, Justice Luis Mondlane, in order to find a date, their request was
denied. No comment could be obtained from the SADC Tribunal. The Registrar,
Justice Charles Mkandawire, was out of the office and the five judges were
in a court session.

"The staff at the SADC Tribunal appear to be overwhelmed by the
approximately 20 law cases registered since the regional court was started
four years ago," Namibian human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe said.

"We forwarded the heads of arguments a month ago, application was sent to
the Tribunal on February 12, the cover letter included the date of
Wednesday, March 24 and just 30 minutes in the courtroom would have been
sufficient," Tjombe said.

Zimbabwean farmer Ben Freeth, who was beaten up by people who wanted to
seize his family's farm last year, was very disappointed. "This technical
glitch hopefully was just incompetence and not done intentionally," Freeth
said.

"We set high hopes on this hearing as the situation on farms in Zimbabwe
worsens every day, people get beaten up and farmworkers suffer from hunger."

Zimbabwean farmers who lost their farms, the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU)
and the Southern African Commercial Farmers' Union instituted an urgent
legal action at the SADC Tribunal on February 12 this year.

They applied for a court order that the Zimbabwe government should be
referred to the SADC Summit planned for August this year in Windhoek for
possible suspension or expulsion from SADC.

The farmers claim that the Zimbabwean government is "in continued breach,
defiance and contempt of the SADC Treaty and of the orders of the SADC
Tribunal" by failing to comply with the judgments and orders of the SADC
Tribunal.

According to Tjombe this step was taken after the Harare High Court rejected
an application to register the SADC Tribunal's earlier ruling, and the
Zimbabwe government continued to arrest, prosecute and detain farmers who
were successful in challenging the constitutionality of the land reform in
the SADC Tribunal.

They won the case in November 2008, but the Zimbabwe government declared it
would not adhere to the ruling. -  (First published by The Namibian)

Zimbabwe urged to allow debate on past human rights violations after police block art exhibitions

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

Tuesday, 30 March 2010 17:38

Amnesty International today called on Zimbabwe's Government to end
repression of public debate on past and ongoing human rights violations,
following the detention of a well known artist for work depicting atrocities
committed in the 1980's.
Owen Maseko was arrested on 26 March after participating in a show at the
Bulawayo National Art Gallery, which depicted atrocities that took place in
the Matabeleland region, known as Gukuruhundi, in western Zimbabwe during
the 1980s where thousands of people were killed, mainly by state security
agents.
The artist who faces charges of "undermining the authority of the President",
"inciting public violence" and "causing offence to people of a particular
tribe, race, religion", under the Public Order And Security Act (POSA), was
released on bail today and ordered to report to a police station every
Friday.
"President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai should demonstrate their
commitment to end human rights violations in Zimbabwe by publicly condemning
attempts by police to silence activists and all charges against Owen Maseko
should be immediately and unconditionally withdrawn," said Erwin van der
Borght, Amnesty International's Africa programme director.
"Arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions and ongoing harassment and
intimidation restrict the work of activists who are exercising their right
to freedom of expression and contributing to the process of national healing
as provided under the Global Political Agreement," said Erwin van der
Borght.
The Global Political Agreement signed by Zimbabwe's three main political
parties in September 2008, acknowledges the need for "national healing,
cohesion and unity in respect of victims of pre and post independence
political conflicts" as well as the need for creation of "an environment of
tolerance and respect among Zimbabweans".
Incessant harassment of human rights workers by Zimbabwean police has also
forced two prominent human rights defenders, including a trade unionist, to
leave Zimbabwe. Okay Machisa, National Director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Association (ZimRights), fled the country after being detained by police on
23 March for his role in coordinating an exhibition at The Delta Gallery in
Harare that was cancelled due to repeated harassment by police.
Police confiscated at least 65 photographs from the show, some of which
featured victims of political violence in Zimbabwe in 2008, but were forced
to return them following a High Court ruling. Amnesty International
delegates witnessed police reappear at the gallery after the launch, leaving
only when they failed to locate Okay Machisa who had by then gone in hiding.
Three truck loads of police reportedly later returned and some remained
throughout the night, while another group of police attempted to break into
the ZimRights office.  Another high-profile human rights worker, Gertrude
Hambira, Secretary General of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers
Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), was forced to go into hiding for the second time
in six months, after police raided her office on 24 February.
Continuing harassment by police of GAPWUZ staff has forced the union
activist to remain outside of the country.
"We are extremely concerned that in the space of months two prominent human
rights defenders have been forced to leave the country after attempting to
discuss past and on-going human rights violations," said Erwin van der
Borght.
"The recent police action against human rights defenders undermines the
credibility of the unity government internationally and perpetuates the fear
that past human rights violations may be repeated."

BCC in massive water disconnection to defaulters

http://www.zicora.com

Posted By Own Staff Tuesday, 30 March 2010 08:09

The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is on a massive water disconnection exercise
in western areas for defaulters who have not paid their bills since January
last year, council official has said.

The local authority is owed US$60 million of which residents owe US$57
million while US$3,7 million is locked in Government departments.

The city's acting Director of Engineering Services, Job Jika Ndebele said
they were disconnecting water from individuals who have not paid anything
since January last year.

"There are some people who have not paid even US$5 towards their bills since
January last year and those are the people that we are targeting," he said.
Ndebele said they held meetings with residents on several occasions
encouraging them to at least pay something every month.

"We are aware that times are hard, but we have said that one can at least
pay whatever it is they can afford every month. However, we feel that some
people are not contributing anything at all at the expense of others. Hence
we are disconnecting those people," he said.

The ongoing exercise is in the Western areas with places such as Entumbane,
Emakhandeni and some areas in Lobengula already disconnected.

Hundreds of Bulawayo residents have gone for more than six months without
water after a disconnection exercise last year in a bid to force residents
to pay.
A health hazard is now looming in those high density suburbs, where about 1
100 households have had no water since August last year.A resurgent cholera
outbreak in Zimbabwe has so far infected about 100 people and claimed three
lives since it was detected last November.

About 99 cholera cases have been reported in seven of Zimbabwe 's 62
districts over the past four months.The latest report also revealed that
more than 218 others have been infected by a typhoid outbreak that has hit
Mabvuku in Harare .

A total of 32 cases and five deaths were reported by 7 March, six samples
were confirmed to be Salmonella typhoid.

HOT SEAT: ACR CEO Andrew Cranswick on history of Chiadzwa diamonds

Women Survive Political Violence Alone

http://www.ipsnews.net

 
By Vusumuzi Sifile

HARARE, Mar 30, 2010 (IPS) - Mary Pamire will never forget the day a group
of men took turns to rape her.

In June 2003, Pamire was among scores of people who participated in a mass
demonstration organised by the then-opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) and civil society organisations, among them the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA).

"I am a woman who has suffered a lot for the MDC and NCA," said Pamire. "I
remember in 2003 when we participated in the mass action, I was abducted by
a group of soldiers. They took me to a secluded place and took turns to rape
me. I counted up to ten the number of times they raped me."

Betrayed

′The tears that streamed down her face as she gave her testimony at the
recent launch of a new NCA report revealed the trauma Pamire has
experienced. The report, "Fighting for a New Constitution: Human Rights
Violations Experienced by Female Members of the NCA", released on March 23,
concludes that "being female and a civic or political activist comes with
severe risks".

At 36, Pamire says she has been through too much suffering. She has been
hospitalized many times and detained at police cells on numerous occasions.
She has been gang raped. Mingled with the pain of these experiences, Pamire
said the saddest part was realizing that the very people she was in the
struggle with offered her little help.

"The NCA and MDC never helped me despite the fact that I was suffering for
them," said a sobbing Pamire. "Only [the late] Mrs [Susan] Tsvangirai helped
me. She was so supportive and helped me get medication in South Africa. If
she was alive, I know things would be better for me."

Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, died in a
car crash on March 6, 2009. She was famous for her support to mostly female
activists in the MDC and the NCA.

Pamire told IPS that she felt betrayed by those who usually lead such
demonstrations.

"From the day I was discharged from hospital, I have not received any
support from the MDC or NCA. Even if I get to their offices, they just
ignore me. It pains me that now I cannot even afford to look after my two
children. I lost my job after the rape, and life has never been good for
me," she said.

Pamire has two children, a 15-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son, who
she says have since dropped out of school since she cannot afford to pay
their school fees.

"At the moment, there is nothing I can do for my children. I have since
moved them to the village in Buhera," she added. Buhera is a rural district
in Manicaland Province in eastern Zimbabwe.

Life long trauma

Speakers at the launch of NCA report agreed on the need to support women who
are affected by political violence, saying if not properly assisted, they
will remain traumatised for the rest of their lives.

What complicates the situation for most women, said Pamire, is that they
rarely get enough medical and emotional support.

NCA director Ernest Mudzengi defended his organisation and other civil
society groups’ failure to adequately support victims and survivors of
violence, blaming scarce financial resources.

"We have not had the kind of resources that allow for continuous support to
victims and survivors, mostly because of the enormity of the challenge,"
said Mudzengi.

"Once someone becomes a victim it means their entire life has been affected.
These people need help."

The executive director of the Women and AIDS Support Network (WASN), Mary
Sandasi, said failure to address issues of violence against women has dire
effects on the national response to the HIV/AIDS. She said there was a need
for support mechanisms to develop the women from being victims to be
survivors.

"HIV/AIDS and violence drive each other," said Sandasi. "We should be able
to separate the support we give to victims and to survivors. As long as we
lump them together, it may be difficult to identify them and their different
needs. We need to help the survivors.

Towards national healing

The newly launched report indicates that during election campaigning, sexual
violence is often used to intimidate and silence opponents. In most cases,
notes the report, the perpetrators are people with strong links to the state
without necessarily being part of the state.

"Politically motivated violence against women is one of the more regrettable
features of contemporary Zimbabwean political life. It is a feature seen in
every election since 2000, and is the likely and common experience of any
woman who dares to become politically or socially active," notes the report.

Despite the hazards it exposes, the report encourages women activists to
"participate in any civil society activities without fear of reprisal and/or
brutal treatment from law enforcement agents".

The report comes at a time when Zimbabwe is gearing up for the launch of the
national healing and reconciliation programme, which is driven mostly by the
need for victims and perpetrators to forgive each other and work together in
nation building.
 

ZINASU factions head to head on BTH

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Martin
Tuesday, 30 March 2010 16:58
This is Part 1 of a heated debate on Behind the Headlines featuring the two
spokespersons of the rival Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)
factions. SW Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma moderates as Kudakwashe
Chakabva and Wisdom Mgagara battle it out to explain why the students union
split and who is the legitimate executive out of the two?
Lance Guma: Hello Zimbabwe and welcome to another edition of Behind the
Headlines. As some of you will be aware, the Zimbabwe National Students
Union, otherwise known as ZINASU, split into two factions sometime last year
over disagreements over various issues, one of which was - which direction
to take with the constitution making process.
So what we have decided to do, since there has since been two congresses by
two different factions and two executives elected, we've got the
spokespersons from the two factions onto the programme, I've got Wisdom
Mgagara who is from the executive led by Joshua Chinyere and I've got
Kudakwashe Chakabva who is from the Executive led by Tafadzwa Mugwadi,
gentlemen, thank you very much for taking your time and joining us.

Kudakwashe Chakabva: You are welcome

Wisdom Mgagara: Yes, thank you.

Guma: Right, let me start with you Kudakwashe Chakabva from the Tafadzwa
Mugwadi executive, from your side of the fence, why do we have this problem
where we have two executives claiming to be the legitimate ZINASU?

Chakabva: I think the whole problem emanates from some few individuals, I am
sure they are just power-hungry individuals who are trying to make Zimbabwe
National Students Union a platform for self-enrichment. If you go back, if
you trace the events leading to this so-called split, that it emanates from
the General Council meeting that was held in Harare on the 27th of July
2009, whereby (Lovemore) Chinoputsa was deposed from power through a vote of
no confidence by the students of Zimbabwe General Council then that
disgruntlement emanated from his failure to execute his duties fully and
from there Brilliant Dube led a group of students into forming something
that they call a National Executive Council but what you have to remember
also is that Brilliant Dube was suspended even before she had created this
thing called another ZINASU.

Guma: OK that's your side of the story. Let's go to Wisdom Mgagara, the
Joshua Chinyere executive, what's your take on what Kudakwashe has just
said?

Mgagara: Our position is that these divisions, they emanated from a problem
which was caused by competitive individuals as well who believed that they
are the gurus of the student union. What is the so-called General Council
which toppled Lovemore Chinoputsa was not constitutional because we have an
issue whereby the students who were there to represent the students...and we
also have an issue of the constitution whereby the then president Clever
Bere had to move a motion on the position of the students that the students
of Zimbabwe had (inaudible) denied a constitution and had to align himself
to the Madhuku agenda of the Take Charge campaign.
This was again unconstitutional and an extraordinary General Council which
is in the provision of the constitution of ZINASU that even then that there
is an office bearer who has abused his powers, there's need for that and
that general extraordinary General Council, we had on the 22nd of August
2009 whereby Clever Bere was ousted out of office and Brilliant Dube was
elevated to the President of the Union.

Guma: OK, you've raised one interesting issue which has been the dominant
theme here that this whole disagreement was over the constitution making
process where one faction was supported by the NCA and Dr Lovemore Madhuku
and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and the other faction supported by
the MDC and others who thought that taking part in the constitution making
process was the best thing. Let me start with you Kudakwashe. Is it true
then to say the students are not really in disagreement here, it's the
organisations outside ZINASU who have their own agendas that are
manipulating the students? Would you agree to that?

Chakabva: I actually totally dismiss that. We as the National Executive
Council were given the mandate to endorse the Take Charge campaign, the
so-called Madhuku campaign. It is now a popular phenomenon in all colleges
of Zimbabwe that when you go there, we are actually called the Orange
Revolutionaries. It is not, it is not something, it has nothing to do with
the NCA chairman, it is actually within the students themselves that we have
nothing to do with the constitution making process that is stipulated under
Article Six. Of course there are certain influences especially those at the
Crisis Coalition who are trying to field some differences within the
students of Zimbabwe. I actually do not consider what the spokesperson, the
guy on the other line, what he says because we actually think that he is
part of my constituents I speak on his behalf as a student. It is actually a
nullity that he is actually saying some things that concern the Union
because I am the only one who can speak on behalf of the Union.

Guma: OK, clearly, obviously there is disagreement. There are two factions,
both claiming to be the legitimate ZINASU which is why we are having this
programme to discuss these issues. Let me come to you Wisdom, in the first
discussion, last year I hosted a debate between Brilliant Dube and Clever
Bere and the obvious thing that came out was that Clever Bere's Executive
was against the constitution and Brilliant Dube's one supported the
constitution making process. Is this something that both factions can deny -
that this rift really has been driven by the constitution making process?

Mgagara: Yah, truly that's where the problem emanates from. In fact on the
22nd of August when Brilliant Dube was elevated to be the president of the
Union, there was a resolution there which was adopted by the legitimate
students and they say that the students of Zimbabwe were agreeing to write
the constitution and from that resolution, the resolution was later taken to
a Congress which we had on the 19th of December 2009 where it was also added
that the students of Zimbabwe have agreed to writing the constitution.
So I'm surprised that there are still a group of people who still claim to
be student leaders, yet as I speak right now we've got our Secretary General
Grant Tabvurei who is in Mutare where he is meeting the students, telling
them about the progress on the issue of the constitution and as I speak
right now, I'm in Midlands, where I'm talking to the students, talking to
them about the issue of the constitution and the students have responded in
a positive way because they are cooperating and they have said to us that it
is a privilege that we need to write a constitution that will benefit us and
our siblings and even the generations to come.
So I think the position being taken by our fellow guys is a selfish decision
because how can you just say I do not want to get into..(inaudible).haven't
seen a problem with that, so the students of Zimbabwe, they have made it
clear from the resolution we had that they are going to have a constitution.

Guma: OK, how difficult is it to get the two sides to agree and have one
united voice because I remember there was a meeting, again last year to try
and bridge the differences and have one Congress. This collapsed of course
over several disagreements which we want to get to. Let me start with you
Kudakwashe Chakabva from the Tafadzwa Mugwadi executive, why did the meeting
fail to get the two sides to have one Congress? What were the major
obstacles?

Chakabva: I am sure you are referring to the period when Clever Bere was
still in power?

Guma: Yes.

Chakabva: What I know is we had some certain set of conditions that we
thought could be discussed and probably endorsed and amongst the conditions
were that the current secretariat, or the then secretariat should be
dissolved, one. Secondly with the mandate that there should be a forensic
audit of the Zimbabwe National Students Union financial affairs for the past
three years and we actually do not know the reason why the comrades failed
to endorse such conditions. It is our belief that an external force was used
to impede the effort and for reasons which we are sure are just selfish ends

Guma: Let me, Wisdom can you respond to that? What caused the collapse of
the attempts to get the unions together?

Mgagara: I'm sure that the reason why we couldn't have one Congress is that
the one ousted president, Clever Bere, had to give some demands which even
if you go to Mars you'll not get them. He demanded that he wanted six months
in the office to lead the students union and when his term was over, point
number one. (Tafadzwa interrupts laughing).
Then point number two we also have some individuals who are using ZINASU to
be their political battle field to settle their scores the likes of Lovemore
Madhuku, the likes of (Takura) Zhangazha. Those guys they are godfathers for
those guys and I remember well that there was once a close agreement,
whereby these guys had agreed that they were going to have one Congress but
to my surprise, the next meeting which was held, Clever Bere was now talking
something else which means that there were some people whom he had to go and
consult who were telling him what to do and which is the same problem even
happening.
As the students we don't have problems, I don't have problems with Two boy
(Tafadzwa Mugwadi) from UZ, I don't have problems with Kurayi Hoyi but the
problem is that we have got some individuals who are using ZINASU to their
playground, where they want to achieve their issues. The Madhuku agenda is
the unpopular thing, to the people of Zimbabwe the (inaudible) thing and
therefore they know that the students are a big force for change and
therefore they can use the students to manipulate the agenda so hence the
problem which you have in ZINASU.

Guma: OK Kudakwashe I heard you laughing as Wisdom was talking there, is
there anything that you object to what he said, particularly the fact that
he's alleging Clever Bere had requested an extra six months in office. Is
that true?

Chakabva: Ah, well like I said before, his position is a nullity it comes
from someone who I can't consider now, so the point that Clever Bere wanted
power for so long it is just an assumption that he himself cannot even prove
it. Not even he that he speaks on behalf of, they cannot even prove it. What
I can prove to you as a fact is that Clever Bere did leave power on the 28th
to the 30th of January in the year of our Lord 2010, that is enough ground
to say that the man wasn't what is being said about him.
In fact to refer back to the issue of money that he talks of, if it is so
self-evident that these guys are so authentic why is it that they fear so
much the issue of a forensic audit? Why is that? They must question that.
They must prove to the world that they stand on behalf of real principals.
Remember what Comrade Lenin said about these worshippers of money that when
you go through such periods of invasion by these worshippers of money you
come out stronger and more resolute and that is exactly what we are. We are
not even moved by what he said. These are just opinions by those people that
we represent. Wisdom is just a student at the University of Zimbabwe. I
speak on his behalf as a student leader.

Guma: Wisdom this is interesting, did you or your faction reject the audit?

Mgagara: Ah actually what I can simply say is that all what he is saying are
dubious charges. I think this young man is actually talking from an
un-informed prospective point of view because what I know is he was not even
part of the talks, one, and two I think what he is saying does not even
tally with what happened on the issue of the talks. On the issue of the
talks the agenda was not even about the secretariat. I'm sure that he should
go back and know the history for ZINASU to have the secretariat.
It was in 2005, 2006 that the then Executive could not produce an audit
report and therefore there was need for the secretariat so that it could
account for those resources. The issue of an audit is out of the question.
That was not an issue which is making the students to be divided. It's very
unfortunate that these guys are actually pursuing an agenda of a certain
individual and they don't even know where the problems emanated from and I
mean if you are a blind person and you are being led by someone who can see,
he can even drop you in a pit of mess.
So they are heading to mess, we are the legitimate student leaders,
recognized by everyone in civil society, recognized by everyone, even the
students. Go to the University of Zimbabwe, ask them who is the President
they'll tell you Joshua Chinyere, go to MSU (Midlands State University), go
to Belvedere in Harare, so I don't even know what he's saying, I mean he's a
student and I'm sure that he's a student at Harare Poly but not a student
leader. We can have even a survey that could go even to Madziva and ask them
who is the President of ZINASU and they'll tell you Joshua Chinyere, so I
don't even know what these guys are talking about?

Guma: One argument that was put Wisdom, against the Secretariat was that
certain individuals were becoming permanent fixtures in the Union and there
was this feeling that people should come and go and I do remember an email
which was sent soon after the talks collapsed that stated that the
Secretariat was a problem, certain individuals did not want to be removed.
Would you agree it still remains a problem or should it have been a problem?

Mgagara: I don't think the issue of the Secretariat is a problem. As the
leadership of ZINASU we are working well with the Secretariat and I'm sure
that these guys were trying to hide behind their fingers by citing the issue
of the Secretariat but it is something which is completely out of the story.

Guma: Well on that note we have to conclude the first part of this
discussion between the two rival spokespersons of the Zimbabwe National
Students Union (ZINASU). That's Kudakwashe Chakabva and Wisdom Mgagara
representing both their factions. Join me next week as we conclude this
debate on just what is the problem in ZINASU.

U.S. hands over laboratory facilities to Zimbabwe

U.S. Embassy Harare

Public Affairs Section

Harare, March 30, 2010: The United States government officially handed over a new, upgraded bio-safety level 2+ laboratory to the Minister of Health, Dr. Henry Madzorera.  The facility will enhance the capacity of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare to offer clinical and diagnostic testing as well as research on indigenous/exotic agents which may cause serious disease after inhalation, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB),typhoid (Salmonella Typhi),anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) and the H1N1 virus.

Speaking after a tour of the facilities with the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray described the cooperation between the government of Zimbabwe, the private sector, and the international community as ‘historic.”

“This is an historic occasion.  The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is entering into a mutually beneficial relationship with a non-traditional partner, a private research laboratory administered by the National Microbiology Reference Laboratory (NMRL) and Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI).  This cooperation will significantly enhance Zimbabwe's testing efficiency and enable research capacity as never before,” said the U.S. Ambassador.

The laboratory received US$120,000 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief for the renovation of the laboratory and the procurement of supplies.  In addition, CDC trained laboratory personnel on conducting assays and quality assurance.

Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr. Madzorera described the donation from the U.S. as a great enhancement to the service delivery system in the health sector.  "This is a good sample of collaboration and working together.  I was pleased to hear that we are now one of the top four level 2+ laboratories in the region.  It means we are no longer going to export testing samples to South Africa or Zambia for H1N1 and many other diseases,” said the Minister.

“I was particularly pleased by the fact that that we can now diagnose HIV early in infants at the rate of 70 samples an hour, which is a great enhancement of our service delivery,” said Madzorera.  Previous testing methods only allowed Zimbabwe to determine HIV status in 100 samples a day.

        # # #  

Contact:  Tim Gerhardson, Public Affairs Officer, on hararepas@state.gov, Tel. +2634758800-1, Fax: 758802, Website: http://harare.usembassy.gov

Zimbabwean farmers score significant victory

The attachment of Zimbabwe Government Properties

30 March 2010

MEDIA STATEMENT

The attachment of these properties is something that is of major symbolic
value.  After ten years of the annihilation of property rights in Zimbabwe
where no one has been compensated, the long arm of the law is finally
reaching out to make itself felt.

Of course the attachment of four Zimbabwe Government properties is a drop in
the ocean compared to the theft of the thousands of once productive
agricultural properties in Zimbabwe that were the homes and livelihoods of
over 2 million farmers, farm workers and their families;  but this is a huge
symbolic step in the quest for global justice through the international
courts.

When has anyone ever heard of a Government having its properties outside its
borders attached because of its contempt for an international court?

It is a historic day on the road to accountability.

This judgment is saying that when dictators rule their own countries against
the universal declaration of human rights, justice will be served.  It is
saying that dictators can no longer get away with destroying life, liberty
and property with impunity: there are consequences to acts of tyranny.

This is a major precedent and it will be built upon so long as the Zimbabwe
Government continues to trample on the rights of millions of its citizens so
that they are left hungry and in desperate poverty.

Ben Freeth [SADC Tribunal Rights Watch].

Cell:  +263 913 929 138  (Zimbabwe)
E-mail:  freeth@bsatt.com

Ben Freeth is the son-in-law of Mike Campbell, who took his case to the SADC
Tribunal in Windhoek.

For further information on the case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Campbell_%28Pvt%29_Ltd_and_Others_v_Republic_of_Zimbabwe

Note:

Deon Theron, President of the Commercial Farmers' Union (Zimbabwe) is
currently in South Africa and can be contacted for comment on:
Cell:  072 109 0125
E-mail:  dtheron@cfuzim.org

Photos are available on the following website:
www.zimbabwedemocracynow.com

 

Pitfalls of National Consciousness and the Crisis of the National Project in Zimbabwe

By
Dr. Sabelo J. Ndlovu- Gatsheni.

The signing of the Global Political Agreement in September 2008 and the
installation of the Inclusive Government in February 2009 provided hope to
the poor and underprivileged in Zimbabwe, who had experienced not only
violence but numerous problems ranging from shortage of basic commodities,
endless electricity cuts, water shortages, devastating cholera outbreak and
endured a bizarre situation of having to buy the few available goods in
foreign currency while being paid in worthless Zimbabwe dollars. Indeed
there is no doubt that the Inclusive Government has made commendable strides
towards restoration of normalcy in Zimbabwe.

While money is still in short supply, basic commodities are now available,
violence has subsided, schools have opened and the national economy is
showing signs of revival albeit a painstaking one. In spite of all these
positives, Zimbabweans must be cautious not to engage in pre-mature
celebrations. We still need to know why our country reached such low ebb. We
cannot expect a brighter future beyond this crisis, without clearly
understanding why we experienced an unprecedented crisis in the first place.
Our leaders must know and accept that critics are not necessarily enemies of
the nation but concerned citizens who want to see right things being done
for the sake of the nation. It is in this spirit that I still feel as a
nation we have not given ourselves time to do a thorough, deeper, sober and
honest explanation of why Zimbabwe plunged into crisis at the beginning of
2000. This is not a mere intellectual exercise, but is necessary if the
nation has to avoid a similar crisis in future.

This exercise is pertinent because within the Inclusive Government there is
no consensus on the causes of the crisis leading inevitably to a lack of
consensus on what is to be done to transcend the crisis. The former ruling
party (ZANU-PF) still insists that the crisis was caused by imperialist
sanctions. The MDC factions insist on the culpability if not responsibility
of ZANU-PF for the political and economic melt-down that left Zimbabwe a
shell of its former stature. In short, as a nation we are not yet beyond the
simplistic politics of denials and blaming each other. The full
implementation of GPA is hostage to this retrogressive politics.

The key question is what went wrong in Zimbabwe? Unless our leaders look
beyond the useless politics of denials and blaming one another, they will
miss the big picture. The Zimbabwe crisis is largely an African crisis. A
crisis emanating from what Frantz Fanon termed 'the pitfalls of national
consciousness' that leads to national tragedy. Its roots are traceable to
the limits of decolonisation and the poverty of the social basis of African
nationalism as an emancipatory project. In order to simplify things, I will
call it the crisis of the Zimbabwe national project. It is a crisis that
emerges from unresolved modes of accumulation; unresolved definition of the
authentic subject of liberation; unresolved problems of belonging;
unresolved racial nationalism and contested teleology of decolonisation.
Academics like Brian Raftopoulos and others are clear on these issues but I
am not sure that our leaders and citizens realise the salience of these
issues. ZANU-PF reduced these complex issues to the land question and their
solution was a confused one of 'conquest of conquest' in which those defined
as natives had to be allowed to re-conquer those considered settlers. It is
from this understanding of the Zimbabwean situation that some people see the
country progressing through a series of Zvimurenga from 1896 to 2010. This
wrong methodology plunged Zimbabwe into what Fanon described as the
nightmare of repetition without difference. In this case, Zimbabwe found
itself repeating and practising the cannons of racial nationalism (reverse
racism) as a solution to the problems rooted in white settler racial
colonialism. This went hand in hand with the politics of destruction of
people in the name of things particularly in the former white owned
commercial farms. The Black Nationalist bourgeoisie found themselves
organising themselves in the same manner in which white settler bourgeoisie
did into what I would call 'loot committees.' All this was covered under the
noble gloss of either Africanisation of civil service, nationalisation of
means of production or indigenisation of the economy. The colonialists
called it pacification of barbarous tribes and civilising mission. The
nationalists call it Chimurenga and liberation. While the colonialist did
not conquer Africa to be poor, the nationalist did not fight for liberation
of Africa to be poor! What a paradox? Is this not manifest in the way the
land reform programme was hijacked by 'native bourgeoisie'?  Are we not
witnessing this in the manner in which Chiadzwa diamonds are being extracted
and sold? Is clinging to state power at whatever cost not linked to the
politics of accumulation?  Who then can deny Frantz Fanon's critique of
decolonisation as resulting in 'repetition without difference'? Are we not
repeating the crude ways of primitive accumulation that has its roots in the
unfolding of Western modernity which eventually resulted in imperialism and
colonialism? Indeed we have not escaped the laws of repetition and have
failed the test of ethical based notions of being free and empowered.

Like Fanon, I think the key failure of decolonisation lay in the hands of
the class that led the nationalist revolutions in Africa. The bourgeoisie
class that led nationalist movements suffered terribly from what Fanon
termed 'intellectual laziness.' It is a disease of failure to transcend the
immanent logic of colonialism together with its re-production of racism and
ethnicity. It is a failure in the bourgeois class to commit class suicide
and be truly representative of workers and peasants. Just think of the
Lancaster House Conference. Just visualise Joshua Nkomo, Robert Mugabe and
Abel Muzorewa, squabbling over decolonisation of Zimbabwe with the British
and Americans as moderators. Then one would see the limits of the elites
that led us to where we are today. One would easily see where the revolution
lost its way. At least Nkomo and Mugabe pretended to be together only to
plunge the country into crisis barely two years into independence.

The colonially produced bourgeoisie were and are a liability to the African
emancipatory project. Either they degenerate into open tribalism and plunge
young African nation into ethnic cleansing or they fall headlong into
embarrassing compromises with the colonialists and again plunge the workers
and peasants into non-freedom. At another level, they degenerate into
narcissism and victimhood and die railing against imperialism and
colonialism while butchering their citizens and looting national resources
ahead of peasants and workers. Indeed the crisis of Africa is that 'the
beautiful ones are not yet born.' The 'other of bourgeoisie' that is
currently contesting power from the nationalist bourgeoisie produced by
colonialism also suffers terribly from ideological confusion. They tend to
imbibe lock, stock and barrel, notions of good governance, democracy, human
rights and even life-style audits unquestioningly. They find themselves
being blamed for being lackey of imperialism and colonialism. The recent
example of life-style audits being debated in South Africa for instance does
not take into account the hidden hand of those focused on criminalisation of
black accumulation of wealth and deflection of popular focus from real
causes of inequality bedevilling post-apartheid period. The worst level is
when black people engage in what is termed 'black-on-black' violence as part
of the struggle to achieve freedom. Xenophobia that rocked South Africa is a
case in point. 'Election cleansing' that engulfed Zimbabwe between April and
May is the second example. That level of degeneration of consciousness is
not forgivable.

The challenge is how to renew the African national project without
necessarily falling into the tragedy of trying to turn our backs on the
world and trying to go it alone. Hatred of the world is not the answer.
Militarisation of state institutions is not the answer. Violence is not the
answer. Tribalism is not the answer. Racism is not the answer. We need to
guard against the pitfall of imagining the nation in racial terms and
fragmenting postcolonial states into tribal fiefdom(s). We still need to
think hard about terms of peaceful co-existence founded on ethical politics
of fair and just distribution of available resources. If we think broader,
they questions of the day revolve around three pre-occupations: the search
for freedom development and material welfare; acceptance, belonging and
citizenship; and finding ethical conditions of human peaceful coexistence
where diversity and difference does not result into inequality and
exclusion.

Not only Zimbabwe had to rethink what it means to be free in the first
place. South Africa is experiencing a similar challenge. The current debates
in South Africa about 'life-style' audits and the Zimbabwean debates of
indigenisation and empowerment are all reflective of the African search for
a language to articulate pathologies of inequalities and quest for ethical
founded politics of fair distribution of wealth. A recent presentation by
Achille Mbembe on Fanon and decolonisation held at the University of
Witwatersrand set me thinking harder about the trajectory of the African
national project in general. Mbembe's presentation touched on key current
debates on wealth and property; and rights and entitlements in Africa that
translates into idioms of relations between people and things; opulence and
hunger, and manipulation of state control as an avenue to accumulation
versus pathologies of distribution. This is the challenge of our time and we
need to think carefully on these issues and thread cautiously over the
pitfalls of national consciousness that breed such tragedies as xenophobia,
racism, tribalism and genocides that have disunited the masses of our people
and limited our quest for universal emancipation. We long for a new humanity
where African hatred of the self dies. It is African hatred of the self
induced by colonialism that enable the thirsty to 'annihilate' and
'de-capacitate' one another easily whenever we are hungry and whenever there
are elections.

*Dr. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni is a Zimbabwean academic writing from
Johannesburg in South Africa. He can be contacted by email:
sgatsha@yahoo.co.uk