Reuters
Thu 6 Mar 2008, 18:17
GMT
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will raise concerns on Monday
that
elections this month in Zimbabwe will not be free and fair, a draft
statement seen by Reuters showed.
"The (EU) Council remains very
concerned about the humanitarian, political
and economic situation in
Zimbabwe and conditions on the ground," the
statement agreed by EU envoys
before a meeting of the bloc's foreign
ministers on Monday
said.
"(It) may endanger the holding of free and fair parliamentary and
presidential elections," the statement said, urging veteran President Robert
Mugabe to ensure the elections respect international
standards.
The March 29 election presents Mugabe with one of the
biggest challenges to
his rule since taking office in 1980.
Millions
of Zimbabweans hoping for an end to a decade long economic crisis
are due to
vote in presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections
described by
Mugabe and his opponents as a landmark poll in the
post-independence
period.
EU relations with Zimbabwe have been tense for years, and have
been a thorn
in EU-Africa relations.
The 27-nation bloc slapped visa
bans and asset freezes on Mugabe and over a
hundred top officials after a
controversial distribution of white-owned
commercial farms to mainly
landless blacks and Mugabe's disputed re-election
in 2002.
The bloc
nevertheless temporarily lifted the ban on the 84-year-old leader
in
December to hold a long-delayed EU-Africa summit, as many African leaders
refused to attend if he was barred. Prime Minister Gordon Brown boycotted
the meeting to protest against his participation.
On Monday, EU
foreign ministers are due to say that the bloc is willing to
hold dialogue
with the government of Zimbabwe and to resume full cooperation
as soon as
conditions allow.
Mugabe faces a challenge in the presidential election
from his former
finance minister Simba Makoni, who is standing as an
independent after being
expelled from the ruling ZANU-PF party.
(Reporting
by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Charles Dick)
Harare 06 March 2008 |
All three presidential candidates in the Zimbabwe election have launched their campaigns for the election scheduled for the end of this month. But, as Peta Thornycroft reports for VOA, there are already indications that these elections - despite some improvements in the political climate - will not be seen as free and fair by Western countries.
Movement For Democratic Change supporters greet Arthur Mutambara, unseen, upon his arrival at White City Stadium in Bulawayo, 02 Mar 2008 |
The government then rejected allegations of violence and intimidation, blaming opposition supporters of causing violence or defying the law by holding illegal gatherings.
This time there are two challengers to President Robert Mugabe, who is seeking another five-year-term that could see him serve 33 years as Zimbabwe's head of state. In addition to Tsvangirai, Mr. Mugabe is facing a challenge from Simba Makoni, a senior member of his own party and a former finance minister.
The changed political climate is partially the result of the South African-mediated dialogue between ZANU-PF and the MDC, which produced some improvements to election laws. However, some analysts say the government is only adhering to some of these improvements.
Political analyst Brian Raftopoulos has observed all Zimbabwe's elections since the arrival of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in late 1999. He says that a climate for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe does not currently exist.
"Despite the fact that there might be some lessening of tensions in certain areas, on the whole I think the conditions are still very, very difficult," he said. "I certainly don't think these are conditions for free and fair elections."
Both factions of the MDC, which split in 2005, say a few opposition candidates and supporters have been arrested since this campaign began and some political meetings have been banned by police. But, the police have allowed most political rallies to take place and have kept a lower profile than usual.
Zimbabwe citizens are now able to work as journalists without seeking accreditation. However, Brian Hungwe, a Zimbabwe journalist, who applied for accreditation, has been informed by the Media and Information Commission, currently functioning without a legal mandate, that he is now banned from working as a journalist.
In addition, the independent Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe says both print and electronic media in Zimbabwe are almost entirely biased in favor of ZANU-PF.
The Zimbabwe Election Commission has failed to meet a deadline to officially publish names and addresses of election officials. Before parliament was dissolved, ahead of the elections, approval of 210 new voting districts was hurriedly approved by the ruling party majority, without debate.
There is little voter education, ahead of the election, in which, for the first time, four national elections take place, simultaneously.
The difficult political climate is further exacerbated by acrimony in opposition ranks. Talks aimed at reuniting the MDC failed last month. Analyst Raftopoulos says the split has caused tension within the broad opposition - both between the two factions of the party and between civil rights groups.
"Some of the key civic leaders have become involved in the split that took place in the MDC in 2005 and subsequent acrimonious activity that resulted from that," he said. "And, so they've in a sense developed a possession of that split, they have taken ownership of that split, and also engaged in some of the more bitter polemics which took place around that.
Raftopoulos says some in the MDC and some civic groups have taken a leaf out of the ruling party book, when it comes to dealing with disagreements among themselves.
"Even opposition and civic politics has grown up in a political culture dominated by ZANU-PF authoritarian political style," he explained. "And, that has often transferred itself into the practices of both the opposition and the civics, in the manner of their politics, in the manner in which they deal with differences and dissent with in their own ranks."
Morgan Tsvangirai |
"I think Mugabe has a huge perception, first of all, that nobody else can rule Zimbabwe besides himself, but certainly that Morgan Tsvangirai will never rule Zimbabwe," he added. "So, I think the acrimony, the possible fight back, the responses from state and maybe even from the army, would certainly be stronger against a Tsvangirai victory."
If President Mugabe does win the presidential elections, Raftopoulos believes the political and economic crisis will continue to deteriorate.
"It will be an election that will certainly not be widely recognized, apart from the usual culprits in the region and continent who have recognized the most repressive elections, the most fraudulent elections," he said. "But, certainly, if we are talking about the West, there will be no recognition of that election."
Raftopoulos says, if Simba Makoni wins the presidential election, his victory would legitimize the ruling ZANU-PF, as a reformed party. But he says, it would also open up political space.
BULAWAYO, 6 March 2008
(IRIN) - Both groups of the split main Zimbabwean
opposition party have
lodged complaints with the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) that their
candidates are being harassed by the police
ahead of the general elections
on 29 March.
The two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
have each
claimed that their members have either been arrested, abducted or
beaten up
by the police, and have also alleged acts of violence against
their
supporters by the ruling ZANU-PF party.
"The police are acting
in a partisan manner, banning our candidates and
their supporters from
conducting door-to-door campaigns, especially in the
city," said Nelson
Chamisa, spokesman for the MDC faction led by Morgan
Tsvangirai.
On
29 February, police arrested Marvelous Khumalo, an MDC parliamentary
candidate, and 11 other party supporters during a campaign in Chitungiza, a
high-density satellite township 25km south of the capital, Harare. Kumalo is
still in custody.
Police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri
brushed aside claims that the
police were partisan, and said Khumalo and his
campaign team had been
arrested for violent behaviour. "Those people were
arrested for a crime they
know - they were carrying weapons and campaigning
aggressively. The police
are simply doing their job of maintaining law and
order."
Chihuri maintained that the police were impartial in discharging
their
duties, as they had also arrested members of the ruling ZANU-PF in the
past
weeks for engaging in acts of violence. A ZANU-PF lawmaker, Isaiah
Shumba,
was arrested recently for brandishing a gun in public.
The
commissioner-general has warned that police would use force to deal with
perpetrators of violence in the election period.
A ZANU-PF official,
Elliot Manyika, has also dismissed allegations of acts
of violence by his
party's activists against MDC supporters. "We are not a
violent party, we
are carrying out our campaign peacefully, and such reports
[of violence]
really are false," he told IRIN.
Abednico Bhebhe, a spokesman for the
rival MDC faction, led by academic
Arthur Mutambara, said his group had
lodged a complaint with the electoral
authorities, protesting intimidation
of supporters. "Intimidation is rampant
and the conditions are not conducive
for a free and fair election," he
claimed.
No airtime
The MDC
has also accused the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), the
state
broadcaster, for denying its candidates airtime. "It is our view that
ZBC
has abused its privilege to give unfair advantage to ZANU-PF ... even
though, as a publicly funded broadcaster, you are expected to give equal
coverage to all political players," the Tsvangirai-led MDC group wrote in a
letter of complaint to the ZBC management.
Analysts said the
opposition's complaints did not bode well for the
government, as a
pre-election assessment team from the Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) was in the country to assess the situation.
Tanki Mothae, director
of SADC's Organ on Politics, Defence and Security,
told IRIN that the team
had arrived in Zimbabwe in the third week of
February and had already
compiled its preliminary report on conditions ahead
of the
elections.
Mothae said he would not divulge the contents of the report,
neither would
he comment on whether the SADC team had reported the alleged
violence and
intimidation by the MDC.
"Our entire team is leaving on
Sunday [9 March] and about 150 election
observers have been accredited. As
far as we are concerned, everything is
going on well and we are looking
forward to this election," Monthae said.
Civic organisations pointed out
that the SADC should have deployed observers
to assess pre-election
conditions, including the registration of voters and
public inspection of
the voters' roll, as well as the general environment,
more than a month ago.
They argued that prevailing conditions did not favour
a free and fair
election.
Xolani Zitha, coordinator of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
(CZC), a civic
organisations umbrella body, said the state-run media's
refusal to cover
opposition candidates was a violation of the SADC
guidelines on the conduct
of a free and fair election.
"Our teams on
the ground report that there is intimidation going on and we
have also
observed ... the conduct of the police ... when dealing with
opposition
members," Zitha alleged. "We urge the SADC team to consult
widely, so that
we as civil society can also make an input of such concerns
to their
reports."
President Robert Mugabe, who is facing stiff challenges in the
presidential
race from the MDC's Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni, a former
ZANU-PF member
standing as an independent candidate, has said his government
would only
invite "friendly" countries, such as those in SADC, to observe
the
elections.
European countries have been banned from observing the
polls. Local
observers have been invited to submit their applications, but
organisations
such as the CZC may not be accredited because according to
Zitha, "They see
us as hostile
elements."
[ENDS]
[This report does not necessarily
reflect the views of the United Nations]
Deutsche Presse Agentur
Date: 06 Mar 2008
Harare_(dpa) _ Four more people
have died from cholera in Zimbabwe, bringing
the total number of deaths from
the disease to at least 15 in the last
month, reports said
Thursday.
The deaths come after an outbreak of cholera was reported in
the capital
Harare this week.
The four latest deaths were recorded
last week in Shamva, a town in
north-eastern Zimbabwe, said the
state-controlled Herald newspaper.
"We have already deployed a team in
the area to monitor the situation since
the first death on February 26,"
Edward Mabhiza, a senior official in the
health ministry, was quoted as
saying. In February, 11 people were reported
to have died from cholera in
Muzarabani and Mudzi, in Mashonaland Central
province.
Earlier this
week Health Minister David Parirenyatwa confirmed that at least
14 cases of
cholera had been reported in Harare, including nine at a refugee
camp in
Harare's Waterfalls suburb. No deaths were reported.
At least 6 million
people in Zimbabwe - or around half the population - do
not have access to
proper sanitation facilities such as clean water.
"What we have
established is that most of the (cholera) cases are spreading
due to
inadequate sanitation facilities," the Health Ministry's Mabhiza was
quoted
as saying Thursday.
Harare, which is in the grips of a strike by
municipal workers, is already
struggling with severe water cuts, burst sewer
pipes and heaps of
uncollected garbage - conditions ripe for the spread of
diseases.
The strike has also affected operations at clinics run by the
city council,
with patients reportedly being turned away. dpa rt
pw
Monsters and Critics
Mar 6, 2008, 7:40 GMT
Harare/Johannesburg -
Political heavyweights in Zimbabwe rumoured to be
behind ex-finance minister
Simba Makoni's bid for the presidency are in
public at least stolidly
proclaiming their support for President Robert
Mugabe.
When in
February Makoni announced his shock bid for the top seat, there were
rumours
that senior ZANU-PF figures including Vice President Joyce Mujuru,
her
husband Solomon, Vice President Joseph Msika and Mashonaland East
provincial
governor Ray Kaukonde secretly supported him.
But all are now firmly
maintaining their allegiance to Mugabe, who has ruled
this southern African
country since independence in 1980. He is seeking a
fourth term in office
when Zimbabwe goes to the polls on March 29.
Only Zimbabwe's former home
affairs minister Dumiso Dabengwa has openly
broken ranks, along with a few
less senior officials. Dabengwa is now widely
shunned.
The official
Herald newspaper on Thursday reported that Vice President
Mujuru told
ZANU-PF supporters she was 'confused' by Dabengwa's defection.
'This is
not the first time that we have lost our dear ones because of
defections,'
she said during a briefing in Insiza South constituency in
southern
Matabeleland province.
'It is confusing and I do not understand it. When
I think of ubhudi Du
(Dabengwa), I say what has happened? I joined the
(1970s) struggle (for
independence from white minority rule) when he was
already there, so what
could have gone wrong?' she said.
Later she
instructed rally-goers to vote for Mugabe. 'By voting for
President Mugabe,
the people of Zimbabwe would have reaffirmed the ideals of
the revolution,'
Mujuru is reported to have said.
Mugabe maintains a vote for the
opposition - either Makoni or Morgan
Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) - is a
vote for former colonizer
Britain.
The 84-year-old president refuses to accept any blame for
Zimbabwe's biting
economic crisis, blaming widespread shortages of food,
fuel, drugs and
foreign currency variously on drought and Western
sanctions.
The announcement of the surprise election bid by Makoni was
greeted with
excitement among sections of Zimbabwe's educated elite, limited
enthusiasm
by the main opposition MDC and anger by Mugabe.
But since
then its been difficult to measure exactly what support the former
finance
minister has.
'I know Simba. I've sat on boards with him. Im on first
name terms with him.
I don't think he'd do it on his own without a
masterplan,' a former
colleague of Makoni's told Deutsche Presse-Agentur
dpa.
Makoni's strategists confidently predict he should win 90 per cent
of the
urban vote and 60 per cent of the rural vote, which is traditionally
Mugabe's stronghold.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
President distances himself from top officials suspected of backing
his
rival's election bid.
By Hativagone Mushonga in Harare (AR No.
159, 6-Mar-08)
Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe now trusts no-one and is
sidelining his top
army and intelligence officers whom he suspects of
involvement in Simba
Makon's bid to oust him in presidential elections later
this month, say
senior ZANU-PF sources.
The sources say that Mugabe
is relying on junior officers or brigadiers to
report to him instead of the
army chiefs. Director-general of the Central
Intelligence Organisation, CIO,
Happyton Bonyongwe, and his deputies have
also not been spared. Their junior
intelligence officers are now said to be
reporting directly to
Mugabe.
Bonyongwe might face the axe because Mugabe is no longer sure
where his
allegiance lies, given his close links to former army commander
General
Solomon Mujuru, believed to be the chief architect of the Makoni
project,
say the sources. CIO director Elias Kanengoni - convicted of the
attempted
murder of political activist Patrick Kombayi in 1990 - is tipped
to take
over from Bonyongwe.
Kanengoni and his accomplice, ZANU-PF
youth Kizito Chivamba, were sentenced
to an effective seven years behind
bars for shooting and injuring Kombayi,
then the national organising
secretary of the now-defunct Zimbabwe Unity
Movement, ZUM.
However, the
pair never spent a single minute behind bars as Mugabe
immediately pardoned
them.
Mugabe's closest security unit has now been tasked with attending
public
meetings and press discussions being organised by Makoni, who shocked
the
ruling ZANU-PF party when he announced on February 5 his intention to
challenge Mugabe in the March 29 harmonised elections, which will see
elections at all levels of government. This close unit reports directly to
Mugabe and not to the director-general and his deputies.
Although the
army chiefs' tenures were extended, they are still being linked
to the
Makoni election challenge, which claims to have the backing of at
least 90
per cent of ZANU-PF's politburo members and senior army and top
central
intelligence officers who want to oust the 84-year-old leader.
It is not
clear why Air Marshal Perence Shiri's term of office, which
expires in
April, was not extended together with other service chiefs but he
is
believed to be a close ally of Mujuru. Both hail from the same rural area
in
Chikomba in Mashonaland East.
The tenures of General Constantine
Chiwenga, chief of the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces, and Lieutenant-General
Phillip Valerio Sibanda, Zimbabwe National
Army commander, were extended to
2013.
A politburo member requesting anonymity told IWPR that if Makoni
did not
have the backing of Mugabe's top intelligence officers, his
announcement
would not have shocked Mugabe and ZANU-PF the way that it
did.
"Where was Mugabe's intelligence when the idea was mooted to front
Makoni.
Several meetings were held over a very long period with most of
Mugabe's
trusted comrades. What angers the old man is that he was being
surrounded by
people who were plotting to get rid of him.
"I don't
think many can truly stand up now and deny that they were never
involved at
one stage or the other. When Makoni's people are talking about
having the
backing of senior army and intelligence officers, this is not a
figment of
their imagination.
"Truthfully, I don't think the old man trusts anybody.
People know that now
and that is why they are all rushing to denounce Makoni
and distance
themselves from him. I know that the ones doing so and making
the most noise
are the guilty ones and they feel the need to exonerate
themselves fast
before President Mugabe turns on each one of
them."
At a recent rally in Bulawayo, former home affairs minister Dumiso
Dabengwa
came out in support of Makoni. He is the biggest heavyweight yet to
have
openly backed him.
Press reports have linked some of the
following individuals to the Makoni
project: Mashonaland East governor Ray
Kaukonde; former Zimbabwe Defence
Forces commander Vitalis Zvinavashe; and
former Masvingo provincial chairman
Dzikamai Mavhaire.
Women's League
head Oppah Muchinguri has distanced herself from Makoni and
is said to be
part of Mugabe's new inner circle. Despite reports that they
are backing
Makoni, ZANU-PF chairperson John Nkomo and Vice President Joseph
Msika have
also distanced themselves from him.
Zvinavashe, who retired a few years
ago and is a successful businessman and
a member of the politburo, has
always made public his feelings on the need
for new leadership. "When we
went to war we did not fight for a single
person but for all of us. But what
the president is doing now defeats the
whole purpose of our having gone to
war," he told a Zimbabwean news site in
January.
"By clinging to
power Mugabe is betraying the essence of the liberation
struggle. I may also
want to be president one day, but if one clings on to
power for too long,
how do you expect youngsters to be leaders of tomorrow.
The president has
played his part and should go immediately, to give a
chance to others whom
we feel have the guts to shape a good Zimbabwe."
Mugabe launched his
ruling ZANU-PF party election manifesto in Harare on
February 29,
questioning the loyalty of some parliamentary candidates
representing the
ruling party. The veteran Zimbabwean leader who is seeking
a new five-year
term at the polls at the end of the month, described Makoni's
backers who
were still in ZANU-PF as "two-faced" political creatures.
At the launch,
Mugabe accused former colonial power Britain of using Makoni
to sponsor
rebellion against him in the ruling party. "You who are with us
here, I hope
we can trust you," Mugabe told the crowd of about 4 000,
including ZANU-PF
candidates, at the Harare International Conference Centre.
"The traitors
and sell outs, the political witches and political
prostitutes, political
charlatans and the two-headed political creatures
must be confined to the
dustbins of history."
In giving a vote of thanks at the launch, Vice
President Msika distanced
himself and a few other ZANU-PF heavyweights,
including Dabengwa. But
Dabengwa defected to the Makoni camp a day
later.
Makoni has repeatedly stressed that he is working with people in
ZANU-PF to
bring political change to Zimbabwe. Speaking at the rally in
Bulawayo on
March 1, Dabengwa confirmed that Makoni indeed had the backing
of some of
top ZANU-PF officials.
"We urged him to come forward and
clean on the facilitation process. We gave
him our support and we found that
there was no way out but to take this
step," he said.
Dabengwa became
the first ruling party heavyweight to come out in support of
Makoni. "Our
condition today arises primarily from the failure of national
leadership,"
he said. Dabengwa, who is 69, said for a long time he had tried
to work with
fellow politburo members to facilitate a "smooth transition"
after realising
that the ZANU-PF leadership "was getting old".
He said one such
discussion took place in Cape Town, South Africa, where he
met Justice,
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa and
Makoni and
they agreed that it had become urgent to replace the aging
leadership.
Chinamasa's heart must have skipped a beat when he heard his
name. He was
always believed to be one of the few remaining staunch
supporters of Mugabe
in the politburo.
The politburo member said Mugabe feared being dumped at
the last minute by
his comrades which according to Makoni's camp might be
one of its strategies
to get rid of the president.
Hativagone
Mushonga is the pseudonym of an IWPR journalist in Zimbabwe.
IOL
March 06 2008 at
10:47AM
Harare - Political heavyweights in Zimbabwe rumoured to be
behind
ex-finance minister Simba Makoni's bid for the presidency are in
public at
least stolidly proclaiming their support for President Robert
Mugabe.
When in February Makoni announced his shock bid for the top
seat,
there were rumours that senior Zanu-PF figures including Vice
President
Joyce Mujuru, her husband Solomon, Vice President Joseph Msika and
Mashonaland East provincial governor Ray Kaukonde secretly supported
him.
But all are now firmly maintaining their allegiance to Mugabe,
who has
ruled this southern African country since independence in 1980. He
is
seeking a fourth term in office when Zimbabwe goes to the polls on March
29.
Only Zimbabwe's former home affairs
minister Dumiso Dabengwa has
openly broken ranks, along with a few less
senior officials. Dabengwa is now
widely shunned.
The official
Herald newspaper on Thursday reported that Vice President
Mujuru told
Zanu-PF supporters she was "confused" by Dabengwa's defection.
"This is not the first time that we have lost our dear ones because of
defections," she said during a briefing in Insiza South constituency in
southern Matabeleland province.
"It is confusing and I do not
understand it. When I think of ubhudi Du
(Dabengwa), I say what has
happened? I joined the (1970s) struggle (for
independence from white
minority rule) when he was already there, so what
could have gone wrong?"
she said.
Later she instructed rally-goers to vote for Mugabe. "By
voting for
President Mugabe, the people of Zimbabwe would have reaffirmed
the ideals of
the revolution," Mujuru is reported to have said.
Mugabe maintains a vote for the opposition - either Makoni or Morgan
Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - is a
vote for former coloniser Britain.
The 84-year-old president
refuses to accept any blame for Zimbabwe's
biting economic crisis, blaming
widespread shortages of food, fuel, drugs
and foreign currency variously on
drought and Western sanctions.
The announcement of the surprise
election bid by Makoni was greeted
with excitement among sections of
Zimbabwe's educated elite, limited
enthusiasm by the main opposition MDC and
anger by Mugabe.
But since then its been difficult to measure
exactly what support the
former finance minister has.
"I know
Simba. I've sat on boards with him. I'm on first name terms
with him. I
don't think he'd do it on his own without a masterplan," a
former colleague
of Makoni's told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Makoni's strategists
confidently predict he should win 90 per cent of
the urban vote and 60 per
cent of the rural vote, which is traditionally
Mugabe's stronghold. -
Sapa-dpa
iafrica.com
Thu, 06 Mar
2008
Zimbabwe's National Incomes and Pricing Commission has approved a
400
percent increase in hospitality industry rates, the state-controlled
Herald
said on Thursday.
The commission was seeking to stop
unstructured price increases that had
become increasingly evident in the
sector, the newspaper said.
The new rates would see breakfast in a five
and four-star hotel in the city
centre rising to Z$220-million from
Z$55-million while the same meal now
costs Z$264-million from Z$66-million
in resort areas.
The cost of lunch and dinner within a five star city
hotel was hiked from
Z$25-million per meal to Z$100-million and
Z$120-million from Z$30-million
in resort areas.
A single room in a
five star hotel now costs Z$280-million while the price
of a double bed rose
to Z$340-million.
The cost of a single bed and breakfast in a one star
hotel was pegged at
Z$175-million, the Herald said.
The move was made
after discoveries that the sector had been charging
"astronomic" rates - way
above those approved in December.
The move was also in line with the
expected boom in the number of tourists
expected to visit the country for
2010 World Cup soccer matches to be held
in SA, the Herald
said.
AFP
Sokwanele - Enough is Enough -
Zimbabwe PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY |
Zimbabwe Election
Watch Executive Summary March 2008 Elections - A climate of confusion and fear News24 (SA) sums up Zimbabwe's electoral landscape with the following comments: "Voters in Zimbabwe's (forthcoming) elections … will have to puzzle through a blur of alliances, divisions and sub-divisions among the political parties... The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the official election administrator, has now published a list of 779 candidates for the 210 seats in the lower house of assembly, and 197 aspirants for the 60 elected seats in the upper house, the senate, from 12 political parties and 116 independent... The muddle of candidates adds to the widespread concern about the elections when, for the first time, the electorate of 5.5 million people will have to mark their Xs on four different ballot papers for presidential, house of assembly, senate and local government wards. Church and civic groups point out that the head of ZEC, Judge George Chiweshe, has been illegally appointed by Mugabe; that he ignored legal procedures for the setting of the election date; that the boundaries of the constituencies in the elections were illegally promulgated; and that there is evidence of comprehensive manipulation of the voters' roll They say ZEC has carried out almost no voter education on the complicated system, the campaign period is far too short and there is scant hope of all would-be voters being able to cast their vote in a single day..." IRIN (UN) reports there is little evidence on the ground that the country is about to hold one of its most crucial elections; many rural people and others have not received any voter education. Dr Simba Makoni, who was ejected from the ruling Zanu PF earlier this month for announcing he would stand against Mugabe, told the BBC Zimbabwe was 'a country of fearful people.' Police have turned down his application for protection for himself, his family and key associates during the elections. The Mail & Guardian notes that, "as the chaos spreads, there are still no accredited observers on the ground to blow the whistle." The newspaper quoted a senior foreign affairs official as saying the government was 'still finalising' a list of foreign observers... Countries and organisations which had criticized past elections would be excluded. Use of violence and torture widespread Churches and human rights groups say a relentless wave of political violence over the past 12 months, in which police and other state security forces have played a major role, has rendered a free and fair contest impossible. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Manfred Nowak, says "the high number of indictments for torture filed by the Attorney General's Office show it is widespread." The opposition for Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says that incidents of violence and arrests of their candidates, polling agents and supporters have intensified. During the past month, more than 35 MDC candidates from Morgan Tsvangirai's faction have been abducted or arrested on spurious charges. Members of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe were abducted and beaten with iron bars, logs, booted feet and bottles. Preparations for poll chaotic Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has expressed concern at the continued harassment of voters and aspiring candidates by election officials presiding over some voter inspection centres. ZHLR also notes that several candidates wishing to check the voters' roll in preparation for their nomination have been denied their right to do so. The MDC (MT) House of Assembly candidate for Harare North, Theresa Makone, says there are many ghost voters registered in the constituency and it was done systematically with what appears to be the collaboration of election authorities. In addition, many names of dead people still appear on the roll. Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba has ordered the state broadcaster ZBC to pull off air voter education advertisements placed by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network. This is in blatant contravention of the SADC principles governing the conduct of elections in member countries. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has admitted it is ill equipped and under funded to carry out any exercise on its own. The state-run Chronicle newspaper has rejected advertisements from presidential challenger Simba Makoni to advertise an election campaign rally, and media coverage is still heavily skewed in favour of the ruling party. Vote buying is widespread and Zimbabwe's central bank has "donated" a fleet of brand new vehicles to state media houses "for immediate use". Reporters Sans Frontieres says the daily lot of Zimbabwean journalists has consisted of permanent surveillance, police brutality and injustice. New electoral laws negotiated under South African mediation have made no difference to biased public media and the skewed electoral climate in Zimbabwe. Ordered to vote for Mugabe Retired Major-General Paradzayi Zimondi, the commissioner of prisons, told his staff: "I am giving you an order to vote for the President (Cde Mugabe)..." The same week, Mugabe awarded salary increments to the military, just one month away from the elections. The armed forces are crucial in his bid to retain power. MDC houses burned and officials arrested in Muzarabani The MDC has reported that incidents of violence and arrests of their
candidates, polling agents and supporters have intensified around the country as
we get closer to the harmonised elections on March 29th. Identified victims: Muchemwa Chihota, Munyaradzi Nyama Source: SW Radio Africa (ZW) SADC standards breached
Pishai Muchauraya attacked by Zanu PF mob at Old Mutare The bitter election battle in Manicaland has once again spilled over into
violence after the MDC spokesman in the province, Pishai Muchauraya, was
attacked by a mob on Wednesday. Identified perpetrators: Misheck Masukume and Peter
Ngwarapi of Plot 20, Old Mutare Source: SW
Radio Africa (ZW) SADC standards breached
Police refuse to give Makoni protection Police have turned down an application for protection from independent
presidential candidate Simba Makoni and his associates amid reports that they
are being trailed by the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). Source: Zimbabwe Independent, The (ZW) SADC standards breached
Teachers’ union says women activists were sexually
assaulted … The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary general
Raymond Majongwe, who was among a group of nine union activists kidnapped and
tortured by the ruling party supporters earlier this week, said the Zanu PF
militants beat and kicked the women in their private parts with booted feet.
Identified victims: Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary general Raymond Majongwe Source: Zim
Online (ZW) SADC standards breached
Police impose unofficial curfew in parts of Zimbabwe Police have imposed an unofficial curfew in some parts of the country,
illegally restricting movement of people in the evenings, the Zimbabwe Human
Rights Association (ZimRights) said at the weekend. Source: Zim
Online (ZW) SADC standards breached
KweKwe police chief disregards changes to POSA and
AIPPA The police chief for KweKwe district in the Midlands, Chief
Superintendent Charles Chagonda, has said he doesn’t recognise changes made to
the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). Identified perpetrators: Chief Superintendent Charles Chagonda, police chief for KweKwe district Source: SW
Radio Africa (ZW) SADC standards breached
MDC candidates arrested for meeting supporters Two opposition election candidates were on Monday being held by police
after their weekend arrest in Karoi town, more than 200km northwest of Harare,
for allegedly meeting supporters without permission from the police. Identified victims: Godfrey Gumbo and Maireva Gudo Nziramasanga, who belong to the faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Source: Zim
Online (ZW) SADC standards breached
Nominees Barred From Inspecting Voters Roll Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is concerned by the continued
harassment of voters and aspiring candidates by election officials presiding
over some voter inspection centres. Source: Zimbabwean, The (ZW) SADC standards breached
Theresa Makone alleges electoral fraud MDC (Tsvangirai) candidate for Harare North, Theresa Makone alleges
electoral fraud in the constituency through the manipulation of the voter
registration process. Source: Zimbabwean, The (ZW) SADC standards breached
ZEC declines to investigate Zanu PF voter registration
fraud The provincial elections officer for Manicaland has declined to institute
an investigation into reports that a Zanu PF legislator has allegedly helped
‘illegal aliens’ to register as voters. Source: SW Radio Africa (ZW) SADC standards breached
ZBC pulls plug on ZESN ads President Robert Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba has ordered the
State-broadcaster ZBC to pull off air voter education adverts by the Zimbabwe
Election Support Network, ZESN. Source: Zimbabwean, The (ZW) SADC standards breached
Chronicle rejects Makoni's adverts Zimbabwe’a state-run Chronicle newspaper has rejected adverts from
presidential challenger Simba Makoni…. Source: NewZimbabwe.com (ZW) SADC standards breached
RBZ donates new fleet to state media Zimbabwe's central bank has "donated" a fleet of brand new vehicles to
state media houses to prop them up ahead of the March 29 elections…. Source: NewZimbabwe.com (ZW) SADC standards breached
Defence forces chief orders Zimbabweans to vote Mugabe Retired Major-General Paradzayi Zimondi, who is the commissioner of
Prisons, …(has told the staff under his command), “I am giving you an order to
vote for the President (Cde Mugabe). Do not be distracted. The challenges we are
currently facing are just a passing phase," he said. Source: Afrik.com SADC standards breached
Mugabe awards salary increment to military President Robert Mugabe's beleaguered government has awarded huge pay
rises to the army ahead of critical elections next month in a bid to calm the
restless military. Source: Afrik.com SADC standards breached
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The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 27
February 2008 11:23
The Ugly Face of ‘Land Reform’
Nearly 50 orphans have found a caring and loving home in the orphanage
the
Nesbitts set up.
A farming family’s story of torment and
intimidation at the hands of a
top cop and green bombers.[Standfirst] Last
week we carried the first part
of Digby and Jessie Nesbitt’s nightmare tale
of the invasion of their home
by Assistant Police Commissioner Veterai and
his gang of green bombers.
Here, we continue their story of threat,
harassment and fear.Veterai carried
his pistol with him at all times but
whenever he arrived back from Harare,
normally late at night, he always
carried his folding AK47 machine gun too.
He seemed fearful that we would
harm him and always locked his bedroom
door.Our staff were prevented from
coming to work for two days by the green
bombers. Our maid, Chipo, was
crying constantly and suffering severe
headaches. She had also been chased
away from her house in December and was
having to share a room with a
friend.On the Saturday, we had a few visitors
during the morning, which we
really appreciated as the visitors brought us
groceries and because it was
such a pleasure to see some friendly faces.
While we were talking, the green
bombers and Veterai’s relatives were
playing music loudly, trying to
irritate us.That evening, while we were
sitting on the steps outside the
lounge with our doctor and his wife, men
dressed in army uniforms appeared
with a group of people in ordinary
clothes. The next moment, we saw crates
of beer, liquor and coke being
carried into the lounge – obviously, a big
party was being planned for that
night. We knew we were in for a night of
intimidation. As soon as our
guests had left, we locked ourselves in our
bedroom.The power had gone out
at 5pm and stayed off till 11pm, so it seemed
the party was destined to be a
flop but – with vehicles coming and going all
night and with people clearly
walking past the bedroom window until late –
there was little peace.On the
Sunday morning, Jessie went to her mother’s
cottage to feed her two cats.
She had to climb through the window again.
Veterai’s manager and another man
had been sleeping in the lounge every
night. On the way back, she saw
Veterai and about 12 of his guards having a
meeting.Later that morning,
around 12 members of our church tried to come to
visit after the service,
but were not allowed in. They tried everything to
persuade the guards to let
them in and spent a couple of hours arguing with
them, until eventually the
minister and his wife were allowed through. They
gave us communion and were
only allowed to stay for about 15 minutes. On
the Monday, Jessie went
again to the cottage and found Veterai sprawled on
the couch in the lounge
with three or four men around him having a meeting.
She pretended she had
seen nothing – sticking to her oath on the Bible that
she would never say
another word to him for fear of being accused of saying
something she hadn’t
said, which was his way of intimidating and provoking
them.By Tuesday, our
lawyers in Masvingo had managed to draw up a court
order to have Veterai
evicted from the farm until the court case on March
10. The court order
stated that he had to evacuate the farm with immediate
effect and that he
could not come within 30 metres of the farm. Needless to
say, this was
totally ignored and nothing happened.By this time, the guards
were allowing
visitors, but not more than two cars at one time. They wanted
everyone’s
names, ID numbers, vehicle registration numbers and the reason
for visiting.
For the rest of the week, Veterai, his family and staff came
and went.The
only way we were coping with this unbelievable invasion of our
privacy and
intimidation was through our faith in God and our many friends
and family
who prayed continually and sent many SMS messages, giving us
encouragement
and support.Many people brought us groceries, which were
accepted with
gratitude because by this time we had very little food left in
our kitchen.
I just want to mention that we had incredible support from many
blacks as
well as whites. We had many visits and phone calls from black
friends and
people we hardly knew, which we really appreciated.On the
Saturday
afternoon, we were in their bedroom when the dogs started barking
madly. We
saw two men walking past the bedroom, and one was carrying a gun.
It was a
false alarm – only our groom who was bringing the war veteran,
called Satan,
from the farm next door. Satan had come to say he was on our
side and did
not want us to leave their farm.Satan, a genuine war vet, had
lived next
door for around six years and said that all the local veterans
supported us
and did not want Veterai taking over the farm. He said that
Veterai had
approached him and other war vets in the area and asked them to
help
jambanja us, but they had refused out of respect for us. He said he
knew how
much we had done for the community in the Lowveld, including
building an
orphanage in Chiredzi, now home to 47 orphans. We also built a
clinic on the
farm, which had helped many people over the years, but was now
occupied by
some of Veterai’s staff.On the Sunday morning, we woke to the
sound of rapid
gunfire just outside the yard. The dogs were barking like
crazy and we
panicked. When Jessie went to the kitchen, she found four women
cooking on
her stove. In the dining room, Veterai was sitting at the dining
room table
with about six other men, eating sadza and having a meeting. They
stayed
most of the morning and we had people all over the house and in the
garden.
Our friend Leon Kruger came around for tea and a visit so we went to
sit
outside in the corner of the garden, far from the maddening crowd. While
we
were sitting there, Jessie felt such a weight on her chest that she
thought
she was on the verge of having a heart attack. She went to the
lounge,
ignoring Veterai, who was still sitting in the dining room with his
children
and another man, and listened to her Christian CD. She just needed
something
to calm her nerves. The green bombers stared at her as though she
were mad
because she was singing with the music. She sat on the carpet, in
full view
of Veterai, and played with the dogs while listening to the music.
The next
minute, Veterai disappeared down the passage, came back with two
bags in his
hands and went out the door.We discovered later that the
gunshots had been
some of Veterai’s men doing target practice right outside
our
– To be continued next week
Afrique en ligne
Harare, Zimbabwe - Teachers and government medical staff,
including
nurses and doctors, have gone on strike in Zimbabwe, demanding
higher pay
and better working conditions.
Patients and pupils
across the country have been turned away from
hospitals and schools, with
both teachers and medical staff vowing not to
return to work until their
demands are met.
This is the latest in a series of bad news for
President Robert
Mugabe, who is fighting for political survival in a crunch
29 March poll.
Teachers and nurses, who form the bulk of the public
service, are
demanding new salaries of up to ZWD3.5 billion (ZWD30,000=1USD)
per month,
citing high cost of living fuelled by high inflation of over
100,000 per
cent.
At present, they earn average salaries of
around ZWD400 million a
month, barely enough to cover transport costs
alone.
Teachers and medical staff have been further irked by being
left out
when the government recently increased the salaries of soldiers and
other
security agencies, ahead of the poll, to an average of over ZWD1
billion per
month.
Mugabe, campaigning for re-election
Thursday, ordered his government
to resolve the issue quickly to bring the
situation back to normal.
He said he wanted teachers in particular
to be adequately renumerated
because their frequent strikes were affecting
education standards in the
country.
"Teaching is an important
profession which we give first priority;
that is why the government gives
the biggest budget allocation to
education," he said.
Mugabe's
opponents, including a break-away group from his ruling
party, are
capitalising on Zimbabwe's economic meltdown, in the election.
They
accuse him of mismanagement and ruining the economy, once one of
the
strongest in southern Africa.
Harare - 06/03/2008
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 06
March 2008 10:10
.... as strike paralyses hospitals
HARARE -
Patients were being turned away from major government
hospitals as the
strike by nurses and doctors entered full swing this week,
paralyzing an
already crippled health delivery system, leaving multitudes of
Zimbabweans
to die.
Nurses and doctors have made demands to the beleaguered
government of
President Robert Mugabe asking for minimum salaries of Z$2
billion and Z$3,5
billion respectively vowing not to return to work unless
they get this - but
the Zanu (PF) government, busy with election
campaigning, is giving very
little attention to the protests.
Susan
Lungu of the Zimbabwe Nurses Association said, "We are simply
saying the
money we are getting is not enough to take us to work, feed us
and our
families as well as afford decent lives. We have made our demands
but there
has not been any serious response hence we have to stay at home or
just do
nothing."
The Zimbabwean visited Parirenyatwa and Harare hospitals in
the
capital this week and observed only a skeleton staff comprising senior
personnel trying to attend to patients. The staff were overwhelmed and most
people were sent home without being attended to.
Some patients who
had been admitted were asked to go home because of
lack of staff to attend
them. "This is a sad situation," Vivian Chamuko of
Harare said after she had
been informed to take her husband home from Harare
Hospital. "They are
saying we should go home because there are no nurses and
doctors. They are
saying we should simply take the patients home to die."
Health minister
David Parirenyatwa could not be reached for comment
but the Public Service
Commission has said its members are disgruntled
because government gave
salary hikes only to the uniformed forces yet all
civil servants' earnings
have been ravaged by massive hyperinflation.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
05 March
2008
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has announced that
police officers will
remain at least 100 meters from polling stations during
the presidential,
parliamentary and local council elections set to take
place on Saturday,
March 29.
The commission issued this order in
keeping with the country's revised
Electoral Act, which prohibits police
from entering polling stations during
voting. In the past members of the
opposition complained of interference by
the police in the voting
process.
Spokesman Nelson Chamisa of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
formation headed by presidential candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai, told reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
that his formation is
skeptical about the commission's announcement because
its nonpartisan
credentials are in doubt.
The Star, SA
March 06, 2008
Edition 1
Harare - One of Harare's most exclusive restaurants has
been fined for
overcharging the deputy information minister for a meal last
year.
Bright Matonga complained that when he came to pay for a meal and
drinks at
Amanzi Restaurant in Harare's plush Highlands suburb in June, the
proprietors charged him at black market rates.
Matonga's bill came to
US$97,11, said the official Herald daily. The
restaurant converted the bill
into Zimbabwe dollars but used the parallel
market rate prevailing at the
time of US$1: Z$100 000.
The deputy minister maintained he should have
been billed at the official
rate of US$1: Z$250.
Amanzi Restaurant,
with its plush gardens and water features, is a favourite
with diplomats and
foreign tourists.
The outlet is allowed to bill foreign visitors in
foreign currency but
locals must pay in Zimbabwe dollars.
President
Robert Mugabe's government artificially fixes the rate of
exchange, which is
usually way below black market rates.
This week, while the government
maintains US$1 is worth just Z$30 000, the
parallel exchange rate sits
somewhere between Z$18-million and Z$29-million.
Most traders, schools
and health providers set their prices with an eye on
the parallel exchange
rate.
The Herald said Amanzi was fined just Z$10-million, enough to buy
two pints
of fresh milk - in the unlikely event that milk is available. -
Sapa-dpa
The Star, SA
March 06, 2008
Edition 1
Basildon Peta
Campaigning in Zimbabwe has gathered
steam, with President Robert Mugabe
sweeping through his rural strongholds
to consolidate his support base.
He focused on discrediting former
finance minister Simba Makoni ahead of
crunch elections later this
month.
In four separate rallies attended by thousands on Tuesday and
yesterday
Mugabe virulently attacked Makoni, who walked out of Zanu-PF in an
unprecedented move to challenge his mentor for the country's top
job.
Mugabe's anger appears to demonstrate his fear that Makoni, who drew
decent
crowds to his first rallies at the weekend, will split the
ruling-party
vote, with devastating consequences to Zanu-PF's electoral
prospects.
Makoni, who is also making a blitz across the rural areas,
preferred to
campaign using low-key methods. He visited voters in their
homesteads and
has avoided being drawn into trading insults with Mugabe. So
far, he has
focused on bread-and-butter issues.
Opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai is also visiting rural areas to try to
counter Mugabe in
his support base.
But Tsvangirai's spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa, said the
Movement for
Democratic Change wanted to dispel any notion that the
situation in the
rural areas has improved for the
opposition.
There have been suggestions that Tsvangirai has been able
to campaign
unhindered. But Chamisa said this emanated from people who "have
no clue
about what we have to live with here".
He said opposition
candidates across the country continued facing obstacles,
including violence
from ruling-party supporters. Chamisa listed instances in
which he claimed
the police had disrupted opposition rallies.
He also complained of a
media blackout from state broadcast and print media.
Tsvangirai and his
activities have barely featured in the state media, which
has focused on
Mugabe and little-known independent candidate Paul
Towungwana, who has no
chance of beating Mugabe.
Chamisa complained that while Mugabe was
buzzing around the rural areas in
an air force helicopter, the opposition
had no access to state resources.
Tsvangirai did not benefit from state
money allocated to political parties
as his party's share was given to an
MDC splinter formation led by Arthur
Mutambara.
In Zimbabwe's
hyper-inflationary environment, that money is too little
anyway to make a
significant difference.
Chamisa said the situation on the ground required
credible independent
observers to be in place to see for themselves how
skewed the electoral
playing field was, but Mugabe has said he would admit
only observers from
"friendly" countries.
VOA
House
By Patience Rusere
Washington
05 March 2008
A parliamentary candidate for the branch of
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement
for Democratic Change led by Morgan
Tsvangirai held by police since late
last week has obtained a high court
order for a bail hearing in his case on
Thursday.
Police arrested
Marvellous Khumalo and eight others Friday and charged them
with committing
public violence - they said they were simply campaigning
door to door to
drum up support ahead of parliamentary elections set for
March
29.
Earlier this week the men were denied bail and remanded in custody to
March
18.
Opposition sources said police have arrested Khumalo four
times since the
beginning of the year and recently raided the offices of
civic groups in
search of him.
Khumalo's lawyer, Alec Muchadehama,
told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that his
client's arrest seems to be politically
motivated.
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 06 March 2008 10:17
Massive pay increases
fail to win hearts and minds of forces
BY ITAI
DZAMARA
HARARE
President Robert Mugabe's hitherto unshaken
support base among the
military is crumbling as massive lobbying take place
in the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces (ZDF) for members to vote for either Simba
Makoni or Morgan
Tsvangirai instead of the geriatric leader.
In
addition, a good number of Zanu (PF) senior officials are not
seriously
campaigning for him.
Inducements given to ZDF members in the form of
huge salary increases
and soft loans have not succeeded in winning hearts
and minds, as sources
say Makoni and Tsvangirai have penetrated the army,
air force, prison
service and police and gained support from influential
senior members.
Confidential information obtained this week also
reveals that, while
Zimbabwe Prison Service head Paradzai Zimhondi has
already issued a
directive to his subordinates to vote Mugabe, senior army,
air force and
police officials are clandestinely campaigning for the other
two candidates.
Sources at KG V1 army headquarters this week revealed
that pamphlets
and fliers have been circulated urging members to "vote with
your
consciences and put the interest of the nation ahead. Remember your
kids and
parents are dying of hunger".
Major William Mutasa of KG
V1 responded to inquiries saying the
pamphlets "are coming from some unknown
elements outside the army" but our
investigations showed that senior army
officials were behind the anti-Mugabe
campaign and that it was stirring a
lot of enthusiasm as well as anxiety in
the ranks.
Security
services sources say given the scenario and available
options, Tsvangirai
has the backing of many members described as having
"long chosen to support
the opposition", whilst Makoni is said to be
attracting those who still
regard themselves as Zanu (PF).
We have also established that Mugabe
this week complained to the other
members of the party's presidium that,
according to an informed source,
"there is not enough zeal, commitment and
enthusiasm down to the lowest
party levels for the campaign and it appears
most candidates are not giving
it their best to campaign for the president's
re-election".
A senior ruling party official said "many members are
campaigning for
other candidates other than Mugabe, and mostly Makoni
because they admit we
cannot continue the way things are in the
country".
Zanu (PF) political commissar Elliot Manyika admitted that
"there are
some in the party who are being double-faced and sell-outs by
pretending to
be with the rest of us but doing something else behind our
backs".
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 06 March 2008 10:12
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe has
unilaterally given police the
power to ban money "hoarding" by stopping and
stripping people in the street
if they suspect them of hoarding
cash.
Under sweeping new powers aimed at forestalling a looming cash
crunch,
a statutory instrument printed last month says: "A police officer,
acting in
accordance with a warrant issued in terms of this section, may
require a
person to remove any clothing that the person is wearing, but only
if the
removal of clothing is necessary and reasonable for an effective
search of
the person."
Zimbabweans have slated the new law, which
make it illegal to hold
more than Z$500 million (about US$21) in cash. The
new regulation has been
promulgated under the Bank Use Promotion and
Suppression of Money Laundering
Act.
Authorities said Mugabe
hurriedly signed the new law to avert a cash
crisis in the run-up to the
hard-fought March 29 general election.
Bankers have not been warned of
the move and were "mystified" about
how it would be applied.
The
new law says anyone found with cash holdings in excess of Z$500m
will be
guilty of "unlawful hoarding". The statutory instrument also outlaws
companies from settling any bills for more than Z$250m in cash, in a move
aimed at promoting the use of cheques. This means it will now be illegal for
companies to buy 10litres of petrol using cash.
In November, the
RBZ raised the cheque limit that can be accepted for
clearing by 150 percent
to a maximum $500 million, amid a sharp rise in
demand for cash on the
market.
A Germany company engaged by the Reserve Bank is currently
printing
and delivering Z$170 trillion worth of bearer cheques every week to
meet the
huge demand for cash. Government is paying the Munich-based
Giesecke &
Devrient (G&D), US$500,000 a week for this
service.
Economist John Robertson feared the announcement would open
the way
for arbitrary seizures of cash by police as has happened with people
found
in possession of dwindling necessities like bread, maize meal or
fuel.
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 06 March 2008 10:21
HARARE - After weeks of exploiting
speculation that he was backed by
senior Zanu (PF) members, presidential
challenger Simba Makoni suffered a
major setback this week when the powerful
Mujuru bloc moved to distance
itself from him.
On Monday Vice
President Joyce Mujuru, wife to retired army general
Solomon Mujuru, threw
her weight behind Mugabe's bid for a 6th term in
office. Up until recently
Makoni was thought to be sponsored by the Mujuru
faction and enjoyed support
from a significant section of Zanu (PF) members
unhappy with
Mugabe.
Her vice president Joseph Msika and party chairman, John Nkomo,
have
also distanced themselves from Makoni.
By the weekend only
Dumiso Dabengwa and Cyril Ndebele had defected to
his cause, together with
former Zimbabwe Union of Democrats President
Margaret Dongo and former Zanu
secretary general, Edgar Tekere - who was
expelled from the party some time
ago.
On Sunday Makoni held a rally at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield
with some media reports putting the crowds at between 3000 and 5000 people.
During the rally Makoni alleged that the low turnout was because thousands
of supporters were turned away by riot police who closed off Willowvale Road
and ordered buses packed with supporters to turn back.
Tekere also
addressed the rally and pledged to spend his time
campaigning for Mugabe's
removal.
Our Harare correspondent, Tagu Mukwenyani, says Makoni seems
to enjoy
support from academics and members of the business community while
ordinary
people, 'identify Morgan Tsvangirai as the face of the
struggle'.
Makoni created a buzz of expectation when he told
journalists on the
day of his campaign launch that there would be massive
defections from
within Zanu (PF) to his camp. But he has only managed to
secure the backing
of individuals who at best have been described as fringe
Zanu (PF) members,
such as education minister Fay Chung and former
prosecutor Levison Chikafu.
"These are people who feel they have been
mistreated by Zanu (PF).
They have nothing to lose and in Makoni have found
a convenient rallying
point to vent their frustrations," said a
commentator.
On Saturday Makoni took his campaign to Bulawayo where
around 5000
people were estimated at White City Stadium. Three candidates
from the
Mutambara MDC were introduced to the crowd. Rumours that John Nkomo
would
join the parade proved false as he did not turn up. - SW Radio
Africa
By
Tererai Karimakwenda
06 March, 2008
Police arrests over the alleged
removal of election campaign posters have
continued. We received a shocking
report from the Mbare high-density suburb
of Harare that a group of rowdy
ruling party youths pressured police
officials at the local station to
arrest the complainants in a case
involving campaign posters. We understand
that 3 street vendors and an MDC
official are in custody. This is similar to
many other cases that have been
reported where MDC members are arrested
after complaining that they were
victimised by youth from
ZANU-PF.
According to lawyer Alex Muchadehama, an MDC security official
named Ozius
Ndhlovu went to Mbare police station to report that ZANU-PF
youths were
pulling down posters and defacing images of MDC President Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Ndhlovu was made to wait at the station for about 3
hours.
The ruling party youths arrived at the station while Ndhlovu was
still there
attempting to press charges against them. Muchadehama said they
told the
police to arrest Ndhlovu and 3 others that they dragged in with
them,
claiming they were all defacing posters of Mugabe.
The lawyer
said the police resisted initially in order to investigate
further. But the
ZANU-PF youths became rowdy, noisy and aggressive. They
threatened the
police, saying their hesitance showed they were MDC
supporters.
Muchadehama said he believes the police fear being
labelled opposition
supporters because it can lead to them losing their jobs
or being
transferred to some remote rural post. This is why most cases
involving the
arrests of opposition officials have no supporting evidence
and they wind up
being thrown out of court.
The arrested vendors had
the goods they were selling with them in the police
cells when Muchadehama
was allowed to visit them. They insisted they were
not MDC members and had
not even registered to vote.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By Tichaona
Sibanda
6 March 2008
The MDC parliamentary candidate for Chivi north
in Masvingo, Bernard
Chiondegwa, claimed on Thursday that corruption and
mismanagement of food
supplies by Zanu-PF has now brought the country to its
knees.
He said millions of villagers in the country's rural areas could
be facing
famine within months. Chiondegwa said this was a man made crisis,
since the
government's disastrous land reform programme.
'Famine is
caused by the shortage or inability of people to obtain food.
Ours has been
caused by low food production, not resulting from drought, but
from
government's suicide policies on food production,' said Chiondegwa who
is
representing the Tsvangirai led MDC.
Hunger and food insecurity are most
serious in rural areas, where farming
and livestock rearing are the main
means of livelihood. Chiondegwa, a
successful businessman, who was born and
grew up in Chivi, blamed Mugabe's
obsession with power for the collapse of
the domestic economy.
'We've come to a point where life simply is
unbearable for the majority of
us. Mismanagement, corruption and bad
policies by Mugabe and his Zanu-PF
have all played a major part in causing
low food production, widespread
poverty and dislocation of food
distribution,' He said.
He added; 'I think Zimbabweans have woken up to
the full extent of the
failure of the Mugabe regime. Every place I visit in
Chivi there is so much
anger against government failures and this sense of
national anger and
outrage has become overwhelming. We are fighting to make
those who are blind
to poverty to be able to see the poverty that we see.
Unfortunately power
has blinded Mugabe to a point where he only sees rose
tinted glasses
everywhere,' Chiondegwa said.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Many too preoccupied with getting by from one day to the next to
feel
excited about voting.
By Florence Mafa in Harare (AR No. 159,
6-Mar-08)
There is little excitement and much despair among Zimbabwean
people in the
run-up to harmonised elections set for March 29.
The
usual euphoria preceding presidential or parliamentary elections is
almost
absent as the so-called "make-or-break" polls approach.
The elections
mark a critical moment in Zimbabwe's deepening political and
economic
crisis, which has seen the former breadbasket of Africa become, in
the words
of Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, a "sinking titanic".
The polls are
being held at a time when the country's economy is at its
lowest ever ebb,
with the world's highest inflation rate of over 100,000 per
cent, an
unemployment rate much higher than 85 per cent, critical food and
fuel
shortages, and a collapsing infrastructure.
President Robert Mugabe, who
turned 84 last month, has presided for the past
nine years over the world's
fastest shrinking economy and achieved the world's
worst mortality
rates.
In the last parliamentary polls in 2000 and presidential elections
in 2002,
ruling party ZANU-PF and Mugabe came close to their first ever
losses since
independence. So this year's combined local government,
parliamentary and
presidential elections were predicted to be among the most
exciting.
This time round, not only is Mugabe facing a stiff challenge
from Morgan
Tsvangirai from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
MDC, but his
former ally Simba Makoni has also entered the
race.
According to inside sources, Makoni has the backing of more than 90
per cent
of the ruling party's supreme council, the politburo. He is also a
former
finance minister, and Zimbabwe's economic crisis is expected to be a
crucial
factor in influencing voters.
Local and international
observers had expected to see the country gripped
with election fever in the
run up to the race, rather than the current
malaise being displayed by both
ordinary Zimbabweans and politicians.
Driving around different suburbs in
Harare, one does not get the feeling
that elections are three weeks away.
There are few of the posters of
presidential or parliamentary candidates
that have been plastered everywhere
ahead of past elections.
Instead,
there is a distinct lack of excitement and even lack of hope among
ordinary
people.
Some say the enormity of another victory from incumbent president
Robert
Mugabe is weighing heavily on people's minds, while others say
Zimbabweans
are more preoccupied with bread-and-butter issues, such as
coping with food
shortages, to worry about the elections.
In a normal
political environment, these are the kinds of issues that would
spur people
on to participate in the country's politics. However, in
Zimbabwe, where
intimidation, political violence and vote rigging are
commonplace, the
opposite is true.
Only once, in a referendum in February 2000, has Mugabe
ever lost a popular
election, and analysts predict he is not about to lose
this one.
Many believe that that ZANU-PF will rig the vote. The president
controls the
entire electoral process, including the counting of the ballots
- a fact
which has plunged the population into apathy and
despair.
Harare resident Amos Chigwida told IWPR that he had neither the
energy nor
zeal to follow the political campaigns and is more concerned
about feeding
his children.
"[The price of] food is going up every
single day. Meat is now beyond the
reach of the majority of people. Many
people cannot afford cooking oil,
margarine, soft drinks and beer. Imagine -
even tomatoes and onions have
become unaffordable. So have green vegetables,
which were sustaining many
families," said Chigwida.
"So tell me,
what is there to get excited about? I have too many things to
worry about
than to spend time following rallies or listening to political
speeches.
"We have been told by analysts that Mugabe and ZANU-PF are
going to win. So
why waste my time, when they are so sure that Mugabe will
win? I have lost
hope and the more I read about these predictions the more I
get depressed."
Observers also report there has also been little of the
routine violence
which is common in Zimbabwe during pre-election
periods.
"People are hungry. Why fight when you don't even have mealie
[maize] meal
in your house and have not had bread, tea, milk or sugar in a
long time?"
asked Harare resident Munyaradzi Masango.
"People do not
have the energy - many people are starving and living on one
small meal a
day.
"They have more serious things to worry about than to be used in
fights
which do not have a direct benefit to them or their families - they
have
learnt this from past experience."
But not everyone is apathetic
about the elections. Struggling single mother
of three Christine Makumbe
believes her vote will make a difference.
"I pray that Zimbabweans have
registered and will go and vote. I don't agree
with those that have already
given up - every vote counts and each of us can
play our part in choosing
which direction Zimbabwe should go," she said.
"For me, hope is important
and without it there is no reason to live."
For Makumbe, the thought of
another ZANU-PF victory gives her nightmares.
"I cannot imagine the day
after ZANU-PF wins, or a week, a month or another
five years of hell. Have
people really put into perspective what it will
mean for inflation, foreign
currency rates, the health delivery system and
the education system?" she
asked.
Foreign currency dealer Willis Ncube is one of the few people who
would like
the economic crisis to continue. He does not worry about how the
country can
continue to sustain parallel foreign currency
rates.
Ncube, who has never been formally employed, became what is
referred to as a
"runner" or middleman when the black market for foreign
currency began to
boom. Over time, he began trading his own cash and has
since bought a car
and is renting a house in a Harare
suburb.
"Mudhara (the old man - a reference to Mugabe) must win. I can't
imagine
going into formal employment. I am used to working my own hours and
making a
quick buck," he said.
"It is better for me the way things
are right now. I can't imagine what I
would do if things
normalised."
Florence Mafa is the pseudonym of an IWPR journalist in
Zimbabwe.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Critics say he hasn't got what it takes to defeat Mugabe in upcoming
elections.
By Joseph Sithole in Harare (AR No. 159,
6-Mar-08)
Although many here believe the main opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai is
the biggest threat to President Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule,
there is
little consensus on how he will fare in the coming
elections.
The Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, has been the most
popular
opposition since independence in 1980, at one time winning 57 seats
against
the ruling ZANU-PF's 61. But Tsvangirai enters the presidential race
later
this month on the back foot, at the helm of a party weakened by splits
and a
shrinking support base.
Supporters of the trade
unionist-turned-politician believe he will win the
March 29 harmonised
elections ahead of Mugabe while critics say he has made
to many tactical
errors and lacks the "killer punch" to finish the job.
Some go so far as
to claim that Tsvangirai is being sacrificed by "enemies"
in his party who
believe that he can easily be pushed out once he loses the
presidential race
this time around, since he has never won a popular
election.
Tsvangirai controversially lost the parliamentary elections
in his home area
of Buhera only a year after the launch of the MDC in 2000.
He went on to
lose the presidential race against Mugabe in 2002 by 400,000
votes in a
result he described then as "daylight robbery". The election was
marred by
violence and allegations of vote- rigging and resulted in the
imposition of
sanctions by the West on Mugabe and his
ministers.
According to the MDC constitution, a party leader can serve
only two terms
as president of the party. Tsvangirai is in his second term,
which ends in
2010, unless the constitution is amended to allow him to stay
on, a likely
scenario if he wins next month's elections against both Mugabe
and his
former finance minister-turned-independent candidate Simba
Makoni.
But since 2000, the MDC has been weakened by internal squabbles,
violence by
the state and a mass exodus of a majority of its young
supporters who have
left the country for the diaspora. Tsvangirai himself is
accused of
leadership failure by allowing the party to split into two
factions in
October 2005 over the reintroduction of a bicameral
system.
Until very recently, the presidential race was mainly between
Mugabe and
Tsvangirai, with the other MDC faction leader, Arthur Mutambara,
largely
written off as a serious contender. However, the announcement a
month ago by
Makoni that he was entering the contest altered the political
landscape
overnight and injected new energy into the elections, with reports
of
thousands of people rushing at the last minute to register to vote on
March
29.
Even though he doesn't have a political party, Makoni is
taken so seriously
that state propagandists have made it their business to
attack him at every
opportunity since he announced plans to challenge Mugabe
for president a
month ago. Mugabe himself called Makoni's decision to
challenge him against
the party constitution "disgraceful" and accused him
of being worse than a
prostitute.
The MDC has downplayed Makoni's
impact on the electoral outcome, with
Tsvangirai saying a fortnight ago he
was not interested in an alliance with
Makoni. Party supporters say Makoni
threatens to split the opposition vote
in their urban strongholds, already
weakened by Tsvangirai's failure to
unite with Mutambara, who is now backing
Makoni.
There are now strong appeals that Tsvangirai should also defer to
Makoni as
the main opposition candidate to face Mugabe and forge a united
opposition
to take on Mugabe in the elections. Analysts say Makoni has
appeal across
the political divide in Zimbabwe and internationally and
therefore will be
able to reunite the nation once Mugabe is out of the
picture.
They say Tsvangirai has also made too many errors of judgment
which
undermine him as a credible leader. "This is a do-or-die election for
Tsvangirai," said an analyst in Harare. "It is an election he cannot afford
to lose, especially if his MPs win in their so-called 'safe urban'
constituencies. That would seriously weaken his authority in the party, as
has happened to South Africa's [president] Thabo Mbeki since
Polokwane."
The analyst said it was possible that if Tsvangirai lost the
presidential
elections, he would not get the support to amend the party
constitution to
remain president of the party. "Then that would be the end
for him," said
the analyst. "There would be many people ready to challenge
him for the
leadership of the party depending on how well they perform in
their own
constituencies."
He suggested that the same people who were
refusing unity with other
opposition groups stood to benefit from
Tsvangirai's defeat by either Mugabe
or Makoni. "The trouble is that, at
least from a distance, Tsvangirai's
close friends have become his worst
enemies. They believe they own him and
he is unable to function without
their advice, which means once they begin
to see opportunities for the
presidency they can sacrifice him," said the
analyst.
"At the moment,
they are giving the impression that he is able to split the
opposition vote
and still win, a very difficult undertaking given Mugabe's
huge rural
constituency where at least 70 per cent of the population still
live."
The analyst added that it had to be born in mind that Makoni
would also be
taking votes away from Tsvangirai in urban areas.
"In
any case, we cannot rule out rigging of the vote should Mugabe feel real
threatened," he said. "That in itself minimises Tsvangirai's chances of
winning."
The fairness of the polls was cast in doubt after the
failure of the talks
between ZANU-PF and the MDC, initiated by the South
African Development
Community, SADC. According to the MDC, the negotiations
became deadlocked
over the time frame for elections; the implementation of
electoral and media
reforms and the process of drawing up a new
constitution.
The opposition complains that by unilaterally proclaiming
the date of the
elections, Mugabe reneged on the letter and spirit of the
talks. It has
warned that the results of the elections will be contestable,
given that
they will not be free and fair, it claims.
Zimbabwe's
economy has been in freefall for the past eight years and
observers see
little chance of a change of fortunes if Mugabe wins the
polls. But most
believe any other outcome is unlikely and doubt Tsvangirai
can pull off a
victory this time round.
Joram Nyathi, a veteran Zimbabwean journalist
working in Harare, said
despite Tsvangirai's evident popularity, he lacked
leadership when it
mattered most. "Most of the tactical errors he makes,
like dividing his
party's women's assembly just before a crucial election,
are the result of
bad advice. Every serious political leader in Africa knows
that women
deliver the vote, not men. But clearly Tsvangirai lacks the
killer instinct
to finish off a job well done," he said.
Joseph
Sithole is the pseudonym of an IWPR journalist in Zimbabwe.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
If election shows signs of heading for second round, Mugabe expected
to
ensure that it doesn't.
By Joseph Sithole in Harare (AR No. 159,
6-Mar-08)
The belated entry of Zimbabwe's former finance minister Simba
Makoni into
the presidential race has prompted speculation that a second
round of voting
will be needed after the March 29 polls.
But some
argue that the ruling party will determine the outcome through
control and
abuse of the electoral process, removing the need for a run-off.
Makoni
is one of four candidates who will fight in the presidential poll,
set to
take place on the same day as senate, house of assembly and local
government
elections.
Before Makoni came into the picture, it was essentially a
two-horse race for
the presidency between the country's leader since
independence 84-year old
Robert Mugabe, and Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the
main faction of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
MDC.
However, there has been speculation that Makoni's candidacy will
split the
vote, triggering a second round of balloting.
According to
a constitutional amendment of 2002, 51 per cent of the vote is
now required
to win the presidency instead of a simple majority as was
previously the
case.
Some observers believe Makoni may snatch votes from the MDC in
urban areas
and the ruling ZANU-PF's votes in the countryside where it holds
sway. The
candidate, who has no party of his own, is seen as representing
"moderates"
from both sides.
Zimbabwe's former information minister
and political scientist Jonathan Moyo
suggested that all three leading
candidates could struggle to clear 51 per
cent of the vote.
"If you
look around where Tsvangirai is popular and likely to get support,
where
Makoni is popular and likely to get support, where Mugabe is popular
and
likely to pick more votes, none of them is guaranteed 51 per cent," said
Moyo, on an online news site.
However, a political science lecturer,
interviewed by IWPR under conditions
of anonymity, said Mugabe would never
"allow himself to be humiliated" by a
second ballot.
"A run-off is
only possible when the whole electoral system is transparent
and all the
parties have access to the entire process - from the casting of
the vote,
through to counting, to the announcement of the final result," he
said.
He argued that the authorities would use their control of
administrative
bodies to manipulate the results.
"The election
results are decided by the command centre which is under the
full control of
the ruling ZANU-PF party and to which Makoni and Tsvangirai
and their agents
have no access," he said.
The political scientist said the opposition
party missed a chance at recent
Southern African Development Community,
SADC, sponsored talks with ZANU-PF
in failing to demand access to the
command centre where the final results of
all national elections are
processed.
The SADC negotiations, which began in March last year, are
intended to
achieve an agreement between ZANU-PF party and the MDC to put an
end to the
country's eight-year political and economic crisis.
He
said that if a close challenger to Mugabe emerged during the poll, it
would
be easy for the command centre to use postal votes from the embassies
abroad
to widen Mugabe's lead. He suggested it was easy to exploit the
postal
voting system to influence results.
The political scientist added that
the opposition had shot itself in the
foot by failing to resolve the
internal differences which led it to split in
2005. He argued that because
the MDC delayed its decision to take part in
elections, many of is
supporters may have missed the chance to register to
vote.
"They took
too long to decide whether or not they wanted to take part in the
elections," he said. "As a result, it is possible that a number of people
who wanted to vote for them didn't in fact register as required by
law."
Joseph Sithole is the pseudonym of an IWPR journalist in Zimbabwe.
Dear ex-Zimbabwean or Concerned Citizen,
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Mail and Guardian
Zahira Kharsany | Johannesburg, South
Africa
06 March 2008 06:00
For many
refugees streaming into South Africa, especially from
Zimbabwe, it is a
matter of trading a life of poverty and famine for one of
violent crime,
unemployment and bureaucratic obstacles.
Most of the refugees
arriving here try to escape the economic
meltdown in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
If they are not detained at the border,
they make their way to the
Johannesburg and Pretoria offices of the
Department of Home
Affairs.
Elliot Moyo, a researcher at the Centre for Forced
Migration
Studies at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, says:
"The
Zimbabwean situation is traumatising in itself. It is true that some
leave
because of the economic collapse. They cannot access the basic
commodities.
Economic migration coupled with ongoing violence and
intimidation has led
them to seek refuge in South
Africa."
The Mail & Guardian Online spoke to two refugees
about their
experiences and the difficulty in obtaining asylum-seeker status
in South
Africa.
Lee Faison (33), an accountant from Kwe
Kwe, Zimbabwe, manages
an adult literacy school at the Central Methodist
church in central
Johannesburg, a known haven for
refugees.
"They're [refugees] are from all over. It's mainly
Zimbabweans
but you can find some from Mozambique, Zambia, DRC [Democratic
Republic of
Congo], Rwanda, Ethiopia, Malawi and even Ivory Coast. We all
stay
peacefully at the church and no one interferes," he
says.
Leaving behind his wife and seven-year-old boy in Kwe
Kwe,
Faison set out in February 2006 for Johannesburg.
"I
had some help. I knew people who were always crossing the
border between
Zimbabwe and South Africa, but coming [in] illegally is very
difficult. The
border guards are not dangerous. If you are caught by them,
all they do is
hold you for a while and send you back after fining you," he
says.
However, "The people who rob and steal and kill at
the border
are vicious. They are [the] most vicious and should be known as
animals
instead, and not people. They have traits like animals. They attack
people
[refugees], rob them, beat them, kill and even rape
women."
According to the Department of Home Affairs, the
number of
people seeking asylum and protection in South Africa each day is
estimated
at more than 1 000. The department does say, however, that this
number of
registered asylum seekers does not reflect the number of those
queueing
outside its refugee reception offices.
Refugees
soon find that life in South Africa has its own
challenges.
Says Faison: "Johannesburg has the stench of
death on it. In my
first week here I smelt death on the streets. I witnessed
a shoot-out
between cops and robbers on the first day I was here. In the
second week I
was here I was robbed. People here have such indifference to
others.
"Johannesburg is unsafe. In Zimbabwe, I could still
walk at
night and know I won't be mugged. With all our problems we still
feel safe
from each other."
He sends whatever he earns
home to his wife via cross-border
traders. "The deliverymen charge 20% for
every R100 we send home. For
groceries, it depends. They judge and give us a
price, but we trust them and
we know the money will get home safe to our
families."
His wife is studying interior design at the
technical college in
Kwe Kwe. "If things change overnight in Zimbabwe, I
will be back home
overnight," Faison says.
Desperate
measures
Many refugees resort to desperate measures to cross the
border.
Some are assisted by human traffickers, for which there is a booming
market,
and some arrive via bus or truck. Others travel to South Africa with
temporary travel documents and decide to stay.
Moyo, of
the Centre for Forced Migration Studies, says that
towards the end of last
year, the centre's research team at home affairs saw
an increase in arrivals
from Malawi, Lesotho, Rwanda and Somalia.
Department of Home
Affairs head of communications Jacky Mashapu
says that the department
registered 7 612 new applications for asylum during
January this
year.
"Refugee reception offices' trend shows that Pretoria
led the
pack with 3 018, followed by Cape Town and Rosettenville
respectively with 2
728 and 1 279. Durban (247) and Port Elizabeth (340)
have fewer numbers of
registered asylum seekers."
The
department has been overwhelmed by the flood of refugees.
"They are not able
to deal with the mass exodus," says Moyo.
Plenty of queueing
await refugees who need to have their
documents issued.
The Department of Home Affairs office in Johannesburg does not
have
sufficient infrastructure and human resources to process asylum
applications. Refugees have to travel to the home affairs office in Pretoria
to apply for asylum-seeker status; once they have been processed, collection
takes place at the Rosettenville reception office in
Johannesburg.
"This is not easy. It is a big challenge to
newly arriving
refugees who have to travel to Pretoria, [only] then to get
there and
realise that there is no relief. There is a bottleneck in the
process," says
Moyo.
The department's Mashapu says,
however, that an additional home
affairs office in Crown Mines in the city
should start operating soon to
help take care of the backlog in asylum
applications.
Survival
To survive, many
refugees resort to informal trade, find their
way into the security industry
or become waiters. Moyo says that some even
get jobs as
teachers.
"The Department of Education has benefited the most
from the
refugees. Many schools even help some get their papers," he
says.
Some South Africans feel threatened by the new
arrivals, and
there is a growing tendency among the country's citizens to
alienate and
intimidate refugees, especially informal traders, says
Moyo.
Sitting on an upside-down drum at the Central Methodist
church,
Peter Dzingai (39), another refugee from Zimbabwe, shares Faison's
sentiments.
Dzingai sells tea and coffee from a makeshift
table -- a board
balanced over some tins and bricks. By pouring boiled water
from a flask and
using instant coffee and tea, he earns a few rands to send
to his wife and
three children in Masvingo.
The bus ride
from Masvingo to the border was the easy part, says
Dzingai; crossing the
border on foot and avoiding the criminals operating
there was difficult. The
primary-school teacher now has to contend with
doing odd jobs to earn an
income to send home.
Dzingai's reason for fleeing Zimbabwe is
different from the
others. Instead of fleeing to a "better life", he was
forced to leave.
"I was a teacher at the primary school in
Masvingo. The NGOs
used to help with the schools and I joined them. There
was nothing political
in what they were doing. But I was victimised for
working for with the
whites. I tried to explain, but it was all in vain. I
had problems with my
neighbours and with the ruling party's [Zanu-PF's]
district committee."
Dzingai wants to rejoin his family soon
and says that being
without them in Johannesburg is the worst. "Johannesburg
is a little better
than back home, but the worst thing I hate is the crime.
The crime rate is
too high, but I am more afraid of the thugs than the
police. I was robbed
three times. I miss my family and hope I see them
soon."