http://allafrica.com/stories/201105051094.html
5 May 2011
Cape Town —
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai exuded confidence to
Africa's
business leaders this week, upbeat after securing his position at a
party
congress last weekend and clearly believing he has southern Africa's
leaders
on his side on the calling of elections.
Tsvangirai also made it clear
that his Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC-T) supports in principle the
policy of giving Zimbabweans a bigger
stake in businesses and mines, saying
the party differs with President
Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF only over how it is
implemented.
Speaking to journalists at the World Economic Forum on
Africa in Cape Town,
Tsvangirai said elections will "probably" be held
within 12 months, provided
that a new constitution is agreed upon and
supported in a referendum, and
that there is consensus on an election
date.
But, he said, there will be no elections this year - which was what
Zanu-PF
was pushing for until a recent meeting of the security arm of the
Southern
African Development Community (SADC) in Lusaka.
Referring to
the Lusaka meeting, Tsvangirai said his party had argued to
SADC leaders
that Zanu-PF had been trying to subvert the unity government in
which both
parties serve, "by collapsing it so they can have an election
under their
own conditions."
SADC and its facilitator, President Jacob Zuma of South
Africa, had insisted
that there had to be "a clear road map" to elections.
"So I am sure that [an
election this year] is dead in the water," Tsvangirai
said.
On the policy of "indiginising" business, Tsvangirai said that
"across the
political divide we both agree on the principle of citizenship
empowerment -
empowering the majority so that they can be active members of
the economy.
There's nothing wrong with that, he said.
"What is
wrong," he added, "is the implementation, and we are trying to
mould an
implementation matrix that will satisfy both the investor and our
desire to
see more people participate... There is no policy framework for
nationalisation and for expropriation, which is the biggest fear a lot of
people were raising."
In operating mines, the government could
rightfully claim that the nation
had a stake in the process.
"We are
contributing that mineral resource, and the one who wants to come
and
exploit, we exploit it for a win-win situation. You bring money, we...
bring the resource, and we exploit that resource to the benefit of both of
us."
http://www.voanews.com/
Peta Thornycroft | Bulawayo, Zimbabwe May 04,
2011
Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has elected a
new team to
take the party into the next elections. Thousands of exuberant
delegates
voted for a new executive and made resolutions to underpin MDC
policy should
it become the next government of Zimbabwe.
The MDC says
that before it holds its next congress in five years, it will
be Zimbabwe’s
ruling party. MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti, who is also
Zimbabwe's
finance minister, said the newly-elected leadership has to lay
the
groundwork for the party’s role as the next government.
"This is the last
congress we are going to have as a party that is not in
government on its
own. So we need to give a vision on the rule of law and
governance issues,
constitution and constitutionalism, on the economy. What
are the drivers of
the economy, what is the size of the economy we see in
the next five years
and the next 20 years and so forth," Biti said.
The MDC is in a difficult
coalition with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF
party, which ruled Zimbabwe
from 1980 until 2009, when an inclusive
government was negotiated after both
ZANU-PF and Mr. Mugabe lost elections
to the MDC.
Congress delegates
voted for the MDC’s new executive via a secret ballot in
an election run by
civil rights groups. All provinces unanimously agreed
they wanted to retain
Morgan Tsvangirai, who is prime minister in the
inclusive government, as
party president for the next five years,
They also decided to retain Roy
Bennett, the party's treasurer-general, who
fled into exile last year after
repeated attempts to jail him.
Happy at the outcome of the congress was
Felix Zifunzi, an MDC executive
from an area in Zimbabwe’s midlands where
many party members are constantly
harassed because of their membership in
the 11-year-old MDC.
"I think this is the most organized congress since
2000, people were voted
in and voted out without violence. Those who were
defeated accepted defeat.
Even the president of the party condemned
violence, said no to corruption,
said no to vote buying, no to use of money,
because this party this is the
party of the poor," Zifunzi
said.
Another MDC delegate from central Zimbabwe, who lives and works on
a mine,
said MDC members in his area are subjected to
intimidation.
"They will tell our direct bosses that if you entertain
this character we
will take over this company, we will do A,B,C,D - they are
saying that as
long as you employ an MDC activist we will take over, it’s on
a farm, it’s
on a mine, it’s anything," said Thomson Richard.
He said
he was one of the few who worked on a mine for a ZANU-PF boss, who
was also
a legislator, and who treated him fairly.
Givoemore Chinophumbuka, a
provincial leader from a ZANU-PF stronghold in
Zimbabwe’s northeast, said
organizing for the MDC is hazardous.
"Anyone who is associated with MDC
is threatened with eviction from the
areas, from their homes, and some are
actually kidnapped, beaten up, there
is actually no control at all, so even
if our people go to the police,
police do nothing," Chinophumbuka
said.
He said violence continued even after the 2008 elections because
perpetrators had a sense of impunity.
"The perpetrators of violence
they are the same people who killed in 2008,
and they tell our guys, we are
still free, we are above the law?,"
Chinophumbuka said.
But
Chinophumbuka says violence has eased since March, when the regional
backer
of the inclusive government, the Southern African Development
Community,
held a meeting in Livingstone, Zambia, to discuss the lack of
progress in
Zimbabwe. The SADC Troika on Politics, Defense and Security
criticized
ZANU-PF for the ongoing political violence.
"Because the atmosphere
during these few months after this Livingstone
meeting is a bit changed.
Because there is a realization among ZANU-PF
people, that there are lies in
what they are being told and so they will not
have the punch they used to
have. As long as no instructions has come from
the top leadership to start
again committing atrocities, they will not do
that, they will wait for the
instruction," Chinophumbuka said.
Biti agreed that the SADC Livingstone
meeting was a breakthrough and said he
hoped pressure on ZANU-PF would
continue so the coalition government could
implement all major reforms
necessary for free and fair elections, perhaps
next
year.
"Livingstone was defining, I hope that it wasn’t a flash in the
pan, more
important was the substance of the meeting - we are drawing the
line, we
will not tolerate the shenanigans under ZANU-PF all the games
played by
ZANU-PF. It was very refreshing. It is what happens after
Livingstone which
is critical, but my own feeling is that I saw a new SADC,"
Biti said.
SADC is holding an extraordinary summit in Namibia on May 20
to discuss the
failure of Zimbabwe’s inclusive government to implement
reforms ahead of
fresh elections.
The resolutions passed at the MDC
congress committed the party to broad
democratic principles should it win
the next elections and become the next
government of Zimbabwe.
http://www.radiovop.com/
05/05/2011 11:19:00
Harare, May 05,
2011 - Zimbabwe political parties’ negotiators to the Global
Political
Agreement (GPA) left the country on Wednesday for a two day
meeting in South
Africa, Cape Town with President Jacob Zuma's facilitation
team.
The negotiators recently completed an election roadmap to
free and fair
election which they handed to their Principals and to the
South African
facilitation team led by Charles Nqakula, Zuma's
adviser.
Zimbabwe's political crisis has resulted in the Southern African
Development
Community (SADC) troika summit calling on the unity government
to fully
implement all agreed issues in the GPA. The troika said it will
send a team
to be stationed at the Namibian embassy to monitor
progress.
"The negotiators left (Wednesday) for the meetings in South
Africa. This is
a crucial meeting as it is before the SADC extra-ordinary
summit that is set
to be held in Windhoek, Namibia," a government official
privy with the
discussions said.
The negotiators from the three main
parties are Patrick Chinamasa and
Nicholas Goche from Zanu (PF), Tendai Biti
and Elton Mangoma from the larger
Movement for Democratic Change led by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
(MDC-T) and Priscilla
Misihairambwi-Mushonga and Moses Mzila Ndlovu from the
smaller MDC
formation.
Some analysts have pointed out that the full SADC summit will
likely push
President Robert Mugabe to fully implement the GPA unity
pact.
"We are likely to see a different SADC saying to Mugabe in the face
that
they cannot continue with these extra-ordinary summits which are not
moving
anything on the ground. Diplomacy will be dead at the meeting," one
analyst
told Radio VOP.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Editor
Thursday, 05 May 2011 13:59
HARARE - The
convoluted Global Political Agreement (GPA) negotiations resume
in Cape
Town, South Africa on Friday amid indications that Zanu PF will try
to throw
spanners into the works in a bid to reverse the gains made in the
last few
weeks.
The first salvo towards this end was fired by Media,
Information and
Publicity Minister Webster Shamu last week, who questioned
the intentions of
some GPA negotiators who have agitated for sweeping
changes to be made to
the management of the public media.
In the
roadmap to next year’s national elections that was recently agreed by
the
tripartite negotiating group, they called for changes to be made to the
boards and management teams of public media organisations.
They also
agreed that steps be taken to ensure that public media provide
balanced and
fair coverage to all political parties.
What this would mean effectively
when it is adopted by the three GPA
principals, is that it would result in
the appointment of new boards at the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC), the Broadcasting Authority of
Zimbabwe (BAZ) and the licensing of new
broadcasters.
Commenting on this development, Shamu said the country’s
communications
policy had become a victim of the GPA process.
“We
must not as negotiators abuse our mandates to roll back the very
freedoms we
purport to read in the GPA.
“I have already made reference to technical
imperatives, which come with
opening the airwaves. No one in the GPA seems
to see this vital connection,
which is why GPA proposals and pronouncements
seem to me largely statements
of political pressure and not statements of
government intent,” he said, in
a perplexing statement that confused both
negotiators and analysts.
In addition to Shamu’s discordant voice on the
GPA negotiations, the Daily
News reported yesterday that some Zanu PF hawks
were working hard to torpedo
the inclusive government, in a futile bid to
hang on to power, hence the
fear that the Cape Town meeting would not be
easy.
But a Daily News source said from Pretoria yesterday that South
Africa had
“long factored in this kind of politicking” and was confident
that more
progress would be made this weekend.
He added that this was
part of the reason why Sadc had effectively taken the
responsibility of
seeking the removal of targeted restrictive measures on
Zanu PF leaders - a
move that was “already neutralising” Zanu PF’s biggest
scapegoat in the
party’s desperate attempt to avoid the full implementation
of the
GPA.
A Sadc delegation made up of members of the South African
facilitation team,
representatives of the Sadc troika on politics as well as
those of the Sadc
chairperson, has been travelling to western capitals to
seek the removal of
the restrictions.
They have so far been to
Washington, London and Brussels.
“The sanctions became a Sadc issue when
the summit in Zambia took the
decision to ask for their removal. The
political parties have to help our
efforts by making progress in
implementation on the ground,” said Ambassador
Lindiwe Zulu, President Jacob
Zuma’s international relations advisor.
Asked if the meetings have so far
produced any positives, Zulu said there
had been “some mixed feelings, but
they (the West) have expressed that they
are flexible on the
issue”.
“The issue is that, we are saying they are sanctions and they are
of the
view that they are targeted measures,” she added.
The United
States, European Union (EU) and other western countries such as
Canada and
Australia imposed sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and his
cronies in
response to the increase in human rights abuses and assaults on
democracy in
Zimbabwe.
The Daily News’ South African source also said Pretoria would
want to focus
on Zimbabwe’s worsening climate of fear and violence, as well
as on security
sector reform when the GPA negotiations resume in Cape
Town.
“Pretoria knows that your country’s top and partisan army and
security
officials are standing in the way of further progress in the GPA
negotiations by instructing Zanu PF negotiators to refuse to give in on the
issue of the transfer of power in the event that Mugabe is defeated,” he
said.
In the meantime, the negotiators themselves were looking
forward yesterday
to the Cape Town round of negotiations.
“We are
going to meet with the negotiating team from South Africa and we
hope they
are going to help us resolve the deadlock we are having on some of
the
issues with the other parties in the GPA. We hope we will be able to
make a
breakthrough as the talks have been going on for a long time,’’ said
MDC
representative Priscilla Misihairambwi- Mushonga .
“There is going to be
negotiations and the results will only be seen
afterwards. We have always
have been confident with the Sadc process,” said
Zanu PF’s Emmerson
Mnangangwa.
A senior MDC official said: “Our objective and our
expectation is that an
election roadmap will be agreed upon, setting clear
time-frames for free,
fair and credible legitimate elections. Other reforms
we need include the
security sector reforms to ensure a secure vote and
outcome.”
http://www.voanews.com
Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa, chief negotiator for ZANU-PF issues
related to the Global
Political Agreement underpinning the power-sharing
unity government, has
said elections may have to wait until 2013
Blessing Zulu 04 May
2011
Sources said the Joint Operations Command has assigned retired
Air Vice
Marshal Henry Muchena to be ZANU-PF Director of the Commissariat,
with a
former top Central Intelligence Organization official as his
deputy
Sources say Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's former ruling
Zimbabwe
African National Union-Patriotic Front or ZANU-PF is deeply divided
over the
timing of the next elections despite having demanded in a December
conference they be held in 2011.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa,
chief negotiator for ZANU-PF issues
related to the Global Political
Agreement underpinning the power-sharing
unity government in Harare, has
said reforms including drafting of a new
constitution and its approval by
Parliament and the Zimbabwean people could
oblige elections to be put off to
2013.
"It is my own opinion that it is not possible to hold elections
this year.
We need to start talking about elections next year or 2013,
assuming that
the [constitutional] referendum is completed in September" as
projected by
the parliamentary select committee in charge of the
constitutional revision
process, Chinamasa told the state-run Herald
newspaper.
President Mugabe is under pressure from the Southern African
Development
Community not to call elections this year as he has threatened
to do, but
rather to institute reforms prescribed by the Global Political
Agreement
before proceeding to a ballot.
But Chinamasa has come under
fire from ZANU-PF hardliners led by the Joint
Operation Command comprising
top officials in the national security
apparatus, including the police,
which has taken charge of many aspects of
ZANU-PF's electoral
machine.
Sources said the Joint Operations Command has detailed retired
Air Vice
Marshal Henry Muchena to take over the position of ZANU-PF Director
of the
Commissariat. Reporting to him as deputy is Sydney Nyanhongo, former
internal affairs director of the Central Intelligence Organization, which
falls under the office of the president.
Sources said hundreds of
serving army members of lower ranks have been
deployed to campaign for
ZANU-PF across the country..
ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo told VOA
reporter Blessing Zulu that
statements by Chinamasa on the timing of
elections reflect his personal
views, not the party's.
Political
analyst Charles Mangongera said the fallout is uncharacteristic of
ZANU-PF.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
05 May, 2011
Regional leaders in the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) have
been strongly criticized for taking on the
campaign against targeted
measures that were imposed on the Mugabe regime by
the E.U. and its Western
allies. It has been revealed that a SADC
delegation, comprised of
representatives from President Jacob Zuma’s
facilitation team, the current
SADC Troika and SADC chairpersons, travelled
to key Western cities this week
urging foreign officials to remove the
restrictive measures.
So far the delegation has met with officials in
Washington, London and
Brussels. Reports said they have adopted the ZANU PF
line that the
restrictive measures are blocking economic progress in
Zimbabwe. They also
claim that the targeted sanctions provide an excuse for
ZANU PF not to
implement the GPA.
ZANU PF has said they will make no
more ‘concessions’ to the MDC while the
restrictive measures are still in
place. Meanwhile party thugs have been
forcing innocent civilians and school
children to sign a petition as part of
their “anti-sanctions” campaign. They
are aiming for a million signatures
and plan to present the petition to the
E.U.
Observers and civic groups have stressed the fact that there are no
real
sanctions on Zimbabwe, just targeted restrictions on the ruling elite.
They
also say that it is important to see an end to state sponsored
violence,
plus key sector reforms, before the restrictions are
removed.
According to the Daily News newspaper, President Zuma’s
International
Affairs Advisor, Lindiwe Zulu said the decision that the
“sanctions” must go
was made at the SADC Summit and African Union level last
month.
Strong criticism of SADC for taking on this new role has come from
human
rights activists, journalists and political analysts in Zimbabwe and
South
Africa. Dewa Mavhinga, regional director for the Crisis Coalition,
told SW
Radio Africa that he was “shocked and outraged” at SADC for wasting
precious
resources on the wrong issue.
“These are not sanctions but
shopping restrictions on the ZANU PF elite,”
Mavhinga said, referring to the
travel ban imposed on Mugabe and his close
cronies. “The unnecessary foreign
trips are hurting the economy and SADC
should be focusing on the GPA,
security sector reforms, media reforms,
electoral changes and issues like
that,” he added.
Journalist Jan Raath said the claim that the
restrictions are causing
economic damage is “complete and utter nonsense”.
Raath explained that the
E.U. is the biggest buyer of tobacco from Zimbabwe
and there are absolutely
no businesses being affected by the targeted
sanctions.
Both Raath and Mavhinga agreed that even if the targeted sanctions
were
removed ZANU PF would find another excuse for not fully implementing
the
GPA. They said history has shown that Mugabe and ZANU PF cannot be
trusted.
The SADC delegation was due back on Thursday and is expected to
brief the
SADC leaders, ahead of a special summit on Zimbabwe later this
month in
Namibia.
After the news Tererai discusses SADC’s anti-sanctions
campaign on the
program Crisis Analysis, with writer and journalist Geoff
Hill and Dewa
Mavhinga from the Crisis Coalition.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
5
May 2011
Four MDC-T activists from Chikomba district who have been
missing since
Sunday have been released from custody, but only after police
in Mbare
forced them to drop charges against members of the Chipangano
gang.
The two men and women who were set free are Kudzanai Taruvinga, the
Chikomba
youth treasurer, Timothy Mugari, ward 19 chairman, Remita Motiwa,
Women’s
chairperson for the district and Anna Peresu, the district women’s
treasurer.
Contrary to reports that they were abducted, the group said
they fled to the
police station after coming under heavy attack in Mbare
from members of the
Chipangano gang. They were beaten, had their clothes
torn and belongings
stolen, including their identity particulars.
‘The
group came under attack from the Chipangano gang and thought the only
way to
save themselves was to seek protection from the police,’ Amos Reza,
the MDC
Chikomba district secretary said.
Reza told SW Radio Africa on Thursday
that when they got to Matapi they told
the police of their ordeal. But their
relief turned soon to horror when some
members of the Chipangano stormed the
station demanding their arrest for
‘disturbing peace’ in
Mbare.
‘While it was clear our members were victims of a vicious
political attack,
the police went ahead and arrested them. This gave the CIO
an opportunity to
interrogate them on the Congress in Bulawayo and many
other party issues.
‘We are further disturbed by the fact that police
officers at the station
denied any knowledge of the presence of the four
members, which makes it
clear they are an appendage of ZANU PF. These guys
were held incommunicado
for three days and were meanwhile being interrogated
by state security
agents,’ Reza added.
Reza said the latest incident
also showed how the police were too scared to
arrest anyone with links to
ZANU PF. He said officers at Matapi were seen
begging members of the
Chipangano gang to return identity particulars of the
MDC-T
members.
‘The Chipangano gang was so stupid that when they brought back
the stolen
goods, it included photo-copies of their identity particulars.
They brought
these particulars in full view of our activists, which should
have told the
police that indeed our members were attacked and had their
ID’s stolen. Why
they photo-copied the documents remains a mystery to us but
we know they are
our enemies,’ Reza added.
After this episode, the
police made it clear to the MDC-T activists that if
they cherished their
freedom they were better off dropping charges against
the Chipangano gang.
Cornered, the activists grudgingly agreed and were
released without charge
on Wednesday evening, after spending three nights in
filthy police cells.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Maxwell Sibanda, Staff
Writer
Thursday, 05 May 2011 16:40
HARARE - People in the Midlands
province have implored the inclusive
government to swiftly dismantle torture
bases and camps built by Zanu PF in
the run up to the violent June 2008
Presidential run-off.
During community dialogue meetings supported by
the Centre for Community
Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ), villagers expressed
fears that torture bases
would force them to stay away from future
polls.
Phillip Pasirayi, CCDZ co-ordinator said participants in Gokwe and
Chirimanzu felt that ‘political bases’ played a role in intimidating
ordinary people.
“The people accused the youth militias manning these
bases of triggering
violence during the elections,” said Pasirayi. “They
want the inclusive
government to dismantle the bases as part of a roadmap
allowing the holding
of free and fair elections.
“The people are
urging the ZRP to be professional and they want them to
bring to book all
perpetrators of political violence regardless of
affiliation. They also want
the military and police to play no role in the
elections except maintaining
law and order. The people do not want the
deployment of the military in the
communities to campaign for Zanu PF,” said
Pasirayi.
CCDZ held
meetings at Vhudzi, Mangoma, Holy Cross and Muwani Business
centres in the
Midlands province.
Participants accused traditional leaders of failing to
stop violence in
their communities, and of manipulation and exploitation by
political
parties.
At Chinyenyetu, residents felt that the chiefs had
been reduced to political
party propaganda instruments for particular
parties, hence forsaking their
traditional mandate of leading and guiding
communities.
Pasirayi said through the community outreach meetings, CCDZ
was mobilising
grassroots communities on the constitutional referendum and
raising
awareness on citizen electoral rights in the Mashonaland, Midlands
and
Manicaland provinces.
Throughout the meetings Zimbabweans have
been urging the inclusive
government to concentrate more on improving the
nation’s deteriorating
social standards and economic problems than spend
time calling for
elections.
The CCDZ also met communities in Kwekwe,
Chiundura, Lalapanzi, Murehwa,
Hwedza and Zhombe.
Communities felt
that while elections were necessary, government had first
to address their
humanitarian plight.
If the elections were to go ahead, communities should
put forward their
demands.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/
May 5, 2011, 13:57
GMT
Harare - President Robert Mugabe's press secretary has threatened to
reinstate a ban on Western journalists visiting Zimbabwe, in comments
published in the state-run Herald newspaper on Thursday.
The threat
was 'retaliation' for Zimbabwean state media journalists being
refused entry
to Europe, the paper reported.
'(Zimbabwean) journalists are being
targeted to stop them from the lawful
gathering of news outside Zimbabwe,'
George Charamba was quoted as saying.
'This is seriously an attack on the
media.'
His comments came after Reuben Barwe, chief correspondent of the
country's
only television network, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC), was
refused entry to Italy to accompany Mugabe to the Vatican for the
beatification of former pope John Paul II.
A power-sharing agreement
reached between Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai in 2009 saw the
relaxation of draconian media controls.
Three independent newspapers have
been allowed to go to press and the ban on
foreign journalists was almost
totally lifted. But journalists have
continued to be arrested on charges of
undermining Mugabe's authority, while
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has staunchly
refused to sanction new radio and
television stations.
Barwe is one
of six state media journalists, along with nearly 200 other
members of
Mugabe's inner circle, who are the subject of sanctions which
prevent them
from visiting Europe among other things.
Paris-based press watchdog
Reporters Without Borders this week named Mugabe
a media 'predator,' writing
that it was 'thanks to its president that
Zimbabwes privately-owned print
media are constantly harassed and that the
state-owned ZBC has a monopoly of
radio and TV broadcasting.'
'Mugabe has no problem with the arbitrary
arrests and harassment to which
most of the countrys journalists are
exposed,' the report added.
Last week unidentified intruders broke into
the offices of the independent
Newsday newspaper and stole editor Brian
Mangwende's computer and hard
drives.
The incident came days after
the newspaper had reported that army commander
and Mugabe loyalist
Lieutenant General Constantine Chiwenga had had to be
flown to China for
urgent medical treatment.
http://af.reuters.com
Thu May 5, 2011 4:45pm
GMT
By Ed Cropley
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's
cash-strapped government will not pay any
money for stakes in mining
companies forced to sell majority holdings under
new local ownership laws,
the minister overseeing the drive said on
Thursday.
Instead, Harare
will base any payment negotiations on the state's ownership
of the southern
African country's untapped mineral wealth, Youth and
Indigenisation Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere said. Zimbabwe is home to the
world's second-biggest
platinum reserves.
"It's not just about capital. There are substantive
discussions that must be
held," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a World
Economic Forum event in
Cape Town.
"The state has a stake in any
mining entity in the country in any case
because the resource belongs to the
state. That has to be taken into
account."
Kasukuwere's comments are
the latest twist in a convoluted push to spread
Zimbabwe's mineral wealth
among local blacks and are likely to alarm mining
companies who have until
the end of September to transfer 51 percent stakes.
Although individuals
are able to buy holdings, Kasukuwere said in March the
government was
setting up a sovereign wealth fund as a takeover vehicle,
effectively
turning the local-ownership drive into nationalisation.
MINERAL
ROYALTIES
Analysts said at the time Harare appeared to be using the
threats to force
global mining groups into paying more in mineral
royalties.
However, the March publication of laws demanding ownership
transfer within
six months raised the stakes and hit the shares of platinum
miners such as
Impala Platinum, the world's second-biggest producer of the
precious metal.
London- and Johannesburg-listed Aquarius Platinum and
Anglo Platinum also
have operations in the country.
"Obviously the
mining companies are not going to be happy with this after
putting a lot of
money into their operations," said Tony Hawkins, professor
of business
studies at the University of Zimbabwe.
"But I don't think it will work.
It's the same concept with the land reform
where they said they will not pay
for the land but for the improvements. I
have a sense that they are making
these policies up as they go. When they
meet problems they will again change
the policy."
Mining companies operating in Zimbabwe face a May 9 deadline
to say how they
will transfer controlling stakes to local
blacks.
Kasukuwere did not know how many had already complied, but said
no
exceptions would be made.
"All the companies who are affected are
aware of the law and they will have
to comply," he said.
He also
denied suggestions that a six-month transfer window was unrealistic.
"It
will be done, nicely," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/
AFP
– 27 mins
ago
CAPE TOWN (AFP) – Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said
Thursday
that negotiating his shaky unity pact with veteran President Robert
Mugabe
was "the most frustrating experience" of his life but was key to
halting the
country's collapse.
"It is the most frustrating
experience of my life to have to negotiate with
somebody who lost an
election, and then forced to negotiate an arrangement
where the loser comes
through the window in order to claim the same rights
like somebody who has
won," Tsvangirai said.
"But I think that you reach a stage where, given
the level of collapse, you
may have to forego whether you have won or not
and say what is the best
solution for the people," he told a session of the
World Economic Forum on
Africa in Cape Town.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai's
power-sharing government -- formed in February 2009
after a violent and
disputed election -- has succeeded in halting Zimbabwe's
economic tailspin,
mainly by ditching the local currency after record
hyperinflation.
But the ruling pair have repeatedly locked horns over
implementing the deal.
In March, regional leaders insisted that Zimbabwe
draft a new constitution
before holding new elections that will end the
fragile coalition.
Tsvangirai earlier told a media briefing that there
would be no polls this
year but predicted they would probably be held in the
next 12 months, saying
the outcome must be credible.
"The next
election must produce a legitimate government so that we don't
have the
losers trying to negotiate their way back into power through some
form of an
arrangement or some form of a coalition like the government of
national
unity," he said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Reagan Mashavave, Staff Writer
Thursday, 05 May
2011 17:02
HARARE - Intense fighting for Zanu PF Mashonaland West
chairperson position
continues, with senior members of the party’s
Provincial Coordinating
Committee (PCC) threatening to resign from the party
if candidates are
imposed.
As infighting within Zanu PF spreads
to the provinces, there are reports
that politburo members, Webster Shamu
and Ignatius Chombo have clashed over
the candidate they want to take over
the provincial leadership, with Shamu
said to be favouring Reuben Marumahoko
while Chombo wants Walter Chidhakwa.
The death of acting Zanu PF
Mashonaland West province chairperson, Robert
Sikanyika last month has left
party heavyweights fighting among themselves
for the post, with some trying
to impose their preferred candidates to lead
President Robert Mugabe’s home
province.
Controversial businessman Phillip Chiyangwa, Marumahoko, Bright
Matonga,
Faber Chidarikire, Chidhakwa, and Themba Mliswa, have been named as
candidates interested in the chairperson post.
Marumahoko who was
reportedly fired from the provincial executive, prior to
Sikanyika’s death
bounced back on Sunday to chair a PCC meeting, resulting
in commotion at
Chinhoyi Training Centre.
Provincial executive committee members John
Yotamu, Tapera Table and other
PCC members said Marumahoko should not chair
the meeting, saying he had been
fired from their committee after he failed
to attend crucial meetings.
Nathan Shamuyarira, the most senior Zanu PF
and politburo member who
attended the meeting lashed out at some senior
officials who had not
informed him about the Sunday meeting.
The
fiasco on who should chair the meeting roped in Chombo and Webster Shamu
after quarrels and disagreements with some PCC members who wanted Marumahoko
to chair the meeting.
Others were saying Shamuyarira who is viewed as
a ‘neutral’ person must
chair the meeting. Shamu supported Marumahoko to
chair the meeting.
Marumahoko was however, allowed to chair the meeting,
where a letter was
produced from Zanu PF secretary for administration,
Didymus Mutasa
announcing that Chiyangwa must return to the party, leading
to cheers from
the floor.
A senior Zanu PF Mashonaland West
provincial member told the Daily News that
party supporters in the province
have had enough of ‘imposition’ of
candidates.
He said, if other
senior officials go ahead with their plan to impose
candidates, the party
will lose to the MDC.
“Things are getting out of hand here. And people
are not happy with the
imminent imposition of candidates without following
the constitutional
procedure,” the source in the PCC said.
“If these
people continue to impose candidates, we are prepared to leave our
posts in
province. The party wants people who are supported by the grass
roots. The
party has been losing to the MDC in Kadoma, Chegutu, Chinhoyi and
Kariba. We
need leadership that is accepted by the grassroots.”
The source said,
normally, the provincial executive committee has the powers
to co-opt a
candidate of their choice to take the chairperson’s post.
The imposition
of candidates is not new in Zanu PF as several people have
been imposed
without due process being followed.
Simon Khaya Moyo, the Zanu PF
chairperson on his tour of the party’s
provincial structures after occupying
the party’s top post, denounced the
‘imposition’ of candidates. He
reiterated his call again at Sikanyika’s
burial.
In 2008, Manicaland
chairperson, Basil Nyabadza resigned from his post
towards the party’s
congress after he felt the party was imposing Khaya Moyo
to the chairperson
post ahead of Mutasa.
Mugabe at that congress bemoaned divisions in Zanu
PF saying the party was
“eating itself up.”
He said divisions led to
Zanu PF’s defeat in the 2008 harmonised elections
left a “huge dent” on the
party that brought independence in 1980.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Yeukai Moyo
Wednesday, 04 May 2011
13:35
MUTARE – The average cost of living in Zimbabwe is much too high
and not in
line with salaries earned by the workforce, says an official from
the
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ).
CCZ regional officer, Banabas
Masavu, said, “Consumption patterns in
Zimbabwe show an alarming and marked
downward trend. Most families have cut
their number of meals per day. The
socio-economic gap has widened increasing
the number of the poor. The cost
of building a house is far above the reach
of many in Zimbabwe. The majority
of workers in Zimbabwe are in the low
income group.”
According to a
monthly price survey presented by Masavu, the 2011 monthly
consumer basket
for a family of six in January stood at $509,17, compared to
$505,81 in
February and $508,29 in March.
In line with the monthly record Masavu
said, “This implies that the cost of
goods and services is not in line with
the salaries and wages provided,
which average $200 a month.”
He said
it was impossible to understand how pensioners, who are getting a
paltry $40
per month, are surviving, and urged NSSA to review pensions.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Edward Jones Thursday 05 May
2011
HARARE – Gold output surged at Freda Rebecca to 8,577 ounces
during the
first quarter of the year, surpassing the mine’s target after
improved mine
maintenance and power supplies, parent company Mwana Africa
said yesterday.
Mwana restarted operations at Freda Rebecca in 2009
following the formation
of a unity government between bitter rivals
President Robert Mugabe and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and completed
the first phase of the mine’s
operation which targeted output of 30,000
ounces a year in March.
Gold miners were hit by the country’s economic
crisis, which saw inflation
soaring to 500 billion percent and while the
price of the yellow metal was
soaring on the international market,
Zimbabwe’s miners were being given 40
percent of their earnings in a
worthless currency.
Freda Rebecca’s production of 8,577 ounces exceeding
the Phase 1 target of
7,500 ounces and was 10.7 percent above the first
quarter of 2010.
"As a result of implementing the planned maintenance
programme, involving
significant upgrade work on the processing plant, plant
availability has
improved and has been sustained ahead of targets," Mwana
said in a
statement.
“The site has benefitted from full power with no
incidents of load shedding
or power disturbance being
recorded.”
Mwana Africa said it was on track to achieve its Phase II
target to expand
production to 50,000 ounces a year by the end of the third
quarter.
The company resumed operations at Freda Rebecca in October 2009,
after the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe allowed firms for the first time to sell
bullion
and keep all the proceeds.
Gold was last year eclipsed by
platinum as the single largest foreign
currency earner and industry
officials say the country has the potential to
produce 50,000kg of the
mineral but would need up to $5 billion to revamp
the mining sector over a
period of five years.
The mining sector has been subdued this year after
the government gave
miners up to next Monday to submit proposals of how they
intend to surrender
at least 51 percent of their shares to blacks by 30
September. -- ZimOnline
http://www.voanews.com
Applications for
assistance must be filed by May 27 in line with the
Zimbabwe School
Examinations Council’s closing date to register for November
examinations
Gibbs Dube | Washington 04 May 2011
The
Zimbabwean government has set aside US$1 million to pay examinations
fees
for some 15,000 primary and secondary school students under the country’s
Basic Education Assistance Module, a program intended to assist students
from poor families.
Social welfare officials said the government will
pay at least US$66 for
pupils sitting for Ordinary and Advanced level
examinations.
Applications for assistance must be filed by May 27 in line
with the
Zimbabwe School Examinations Council’s closing date to register for
November
examinations.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association
Director Roderick Fayayo said
authorities should insure that the funds are
distributed equally to all
provinces.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by MDC Information & Publicity
Department
Thursday, 05 May 2011 17:24
The MDC believes that all adult
Zimbabweans, regardless of their station
either at home or in the Diaspora,
must be allowed to vote in the next and
in any election if democracy has to
assume its generic meaning out of
today's political transition.
The
MDC's call comes amid claims by Zanu PF's Emmerson Mnangagwa that
restrictive measures imposed on certain senior Zanu PF officials must go
first before those in the Diaspora can vote.
Zanu PF and Mnangagwa
must know that the issue of restrictive measures and
the Diaspora vote are
not linked in anyway and therefore cannot be compared.
The Inclusive
Government was set up to give birth to a completely new
society, a society
that reflects a radical departure from our dark past. The
people's Party of
Excellence, the MDC recognises the fundamental right for
total franchise for
all eligible citizens of Zimbabwe. The right to a vote
can never be treated
as a privilege, and cannot be bargained for.
Decades of economic and
political chaos drove millions of Zimbabweans off
their home base. As if to
further punish them the former regime quickly
disenfranchised them purely on
allegations of supporting the party of the
future, the MDC. Now that
Zimbabwe is being surveyed by an Inclusive
Government, there can never be
any justification for official discrimination
of citizens in the
Diaspora.
For the record, these Zimbabweans living and working abroad
gave the country
a lifeline against a debilitating hyper-inflationary period
through a steady
flow of remittances in cash, food and fuel. They continue
to do so today as
the country teeters back to its feet. They should never be
denied a voice to
determine the future of their country.
As our
negotiators exchange notes with the SADC facilitation team in Cape
Town,
South Africa, the MDC calls for the restoration of the Diaspora vote
as a
natural right. We should end the discrimination and exclusion of such a
sizeable and invaluable part of our active population in national
affairs.
Needless to point out that the liberation struggle was
anchored on the need
for a one-person, one vote principle. To deny a
Zimbabwean such a right
would amount to a regrettable betrayal of the ideals
of that struggle.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
NCA Media Alert: 5 May
2011
Elections only after a new constitution-Madhuku
By Blessing
Vava
Mazowe-National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) Chairperson Professor
Lovemore
Madhuku said that Zimbabwe should only go for polls only after a
new people
driven constitution is in place. Professor Madhuku said this
while
addressing villagers in Mazowe South’s Kanyemba district ward 13 at a
Take
Charge campaign meeting held today.
‘’As the NCA we are telling
the politicians of this country that elections
should only be conducted
after the writing of a new genuine people driven
constitution. That new
constitution should guarantee a free and fair
election,’’ he said. Further,
Madhuku dismissed the COPAC process saying
that it will not come up with the
desired constitution that will enable the
country to conduct free and fair
elections.
Speaking at the same meeting NCA National Spokesperson Madock
Chivasa told
villagers that they should only accept a good constitution that
bears in
mind the aspirations of the people. Chivasa said that the people
should be
able to judge for themselves after the COPAC draft is out and that
should
aid whether to vote YES or NO during the referendum.
‘’After
the draft is out its everyone’s duty as a Zimbabwean to scrutinise
the
contents of the draft and if your views are not captured surely you
should
all vote NO,’’ said Chivasa. The NCA Spokesperson said it was a
fallacy to
expect a good document coming out of the COPAC process basing on
the manner
in which the process was undertaken.
The NCA leaders both called for the
abolishing of COPAC to pave way for an
independent commission to spearhead
the constitution making exercise. A
villager who spoke during the meeting
said that they were afraid of
political violence during the run-up to the
referendum as some community
leaders have already started intimidating
people. He also said that they
were forced to sign the anti-sanctions
petitions.
The Take Charge Campaign meetings are part of the NCA’s NO
vote campaign
that seeks to resist the Parliament sponsored constitution.
The NCA has
lined up a number of activities countrywide.
National
Constitutional Assembly
348 Hebert Chitepo Avenue
Good Evening Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
On behalf of my wife
Heather, my party the Movement for Democratic Change,
and of course the
people of Zimbabwe, I thank the SA Business Club for the
opportunity of
engaging with like-minded people—people who care about the
prospects of a
democratic Southern Africa. Given the much esteemed
personalities who have
addressed this forum previously, I feel truly
humbled.
I hope that my
address helps to shed further light on the inescapable fact
that Zimbabwe’s
continuing trials and tribulations will increasingly impact
negatively on
South Africa, and on the region, if there is no true
resolution of the
crisis. A true resolution can only come when the theft of
Zimbabwean votes
is righted—when Zimbabweans are allowed to elect leaders of
their
choice.
Nearly twelve years ago, a close family friend of mine living in
Johannesburg told me of a discussion he had had with one of Johannesburg’s
celebrated business leaders. The gist of this conversation was along the
lines of ‘Well even if President Mbeki has covered up for Mugabe, and the
MDC actually did win the 2000 elections, so what?’ This whole issue will be
seen by us in, South Africa as irrelevant and it will be business as
usual—that’s ‘AFRICAN POLITICS’.
We all know now some of the more
obvious results of President Mbeki’s policy
of ‘Quiet Diplomacy’. South
Africa has, for example, been overwhelmed by at
least two million Zimbabwean
migrants. This sad, unnecessary, traumatic
exodus will be felt for decades
and decades to come. Indeed, the effects
cannot yet be fully evaluated. For
the two million Zimbabweans cast into
abject poverty, it is a human tragedy
of epic proportions. If ever South
Africans wanted to see the sheer scale of
their misery, a visit at night to
the Central Methodist Church in
Johannesburg, is all that is needed. Bishop
Paul Veryn and the Methodist
Church will always be warmly remembered and
admired by Zimbabweans for his
single-handed, herculean efforts to ease the
plight of homeless
Zimbabweans.
The pressures exerted by desperate Zimbabweans, experienced
across South
Africa, has seen highly literate Zimbabweans compete for
employment
opportunities from white collar jobs to the most menial of tasks.
This human
contagion has already resulted in turmoil and social discord. Yet
President
Mbeki denied the very existence of xenophobia in South Africa,
such was his
disconnect with reality in his own country, let alone
Zimbabwe.
I have news for all South Africans. If the result of the next
Zimbabwean
elections, likely to be held in early 2012, are not accepted by
the MILITARY
JUNTA/ZANU PF DICTATORSHIP and the resulting will of the people
is again,
for the fifth time, ignored, Zimbabweans will be left with no hope
for a
peaceful democratic future. They will pour into South Africa! But this
flood
of refugees will be different. The Zimbabweans, who will come to South
Africa in 2012, will be older, much older and totally destitute. They will
also be less educated, and they will most certainly not assimilate into
South African society as well as the previous flood of Zimbabweans. They
will become a DAILY, living reminder, on every street corner, of South
Africa’s dreadful complicity in the subversion of democracy in our region.
For Botswana, where Francistown groans under the weight of the Zimbabwean
influx, the story will be the same. We are looking at an awful
scenario.
Ladies and Gentlemen, please do not in any way simply brush
this possible
development aside. What we have in Zimbabwe is a ruthless
coterie of thugs,
bullies, and incompetent individuals, masquerading as a
political
organisation—ZANU-PF. They are capable of anything. Their capacity
for
institutionalised violence and torture is unprecedented, even in Africa.
Most recently, they dragged my friend, the MDC’s Deputy Treasurer General,
Honourable Elton Mangoma, to court in leg irons after an unpleasant and
unjustified incarceration. Honourable Mangoma is Minister of Energy in this
so called INCLUSIVE GOVERNMENT, and is a respected and influential leader in
our party.
The South African Government and the governments in the
region, as
represented by SADC, MUST FINALLY and I repeat FINALLY, demand in
simple
unambiguous language, that ZANU-PF adhere to EACH AND EVERY condition
that
forms part of the Global Political Agreement. If they don’t, the
REGION, the
WHOLE REGION of Southern Africa, will feel the effects of their
feebleness.
Reluctance on behalf of SADC once again to reign in ZANU PF,
will negatively
and radically affect future regional business investment. It
will be a red
rag to the indigenization radicals in ZANU PF—a group that
already has the
whip hand—and the international investment risk profile for
the entire
region will go through the roof. It will also provide fuel for
those in
South African politics who see ZANU PF as blazing a trail, showing
how the
game should be played south of the Limpopo. This is not an
exaggerated
scenario. Every South African, Botswanan, Zambian, and Malawian
citizen
should demand from their governments that GADAFFI’S bosom buddy,
ROBERT
MUGABE, respect the peaceful democratic will of the people, and
transfer
power to the people’s choice, once their votes are tallied, after a
peaceful
electoral process. More than anyone, it is the South African
business
community that must see this scenario in full Technicolor and push
its
government to finally bring this nonsense to an end. Another
pseudo-solution
will be a disaster.
If any further proof is needed of
ZANU PF’S failure to grasp reality,
reflect for a moment on the absurdity of
their most recent INDIGENIZATION
demands. These are totally and utterly
illegitimate, they are not endorsed
by my party, and if implemented they
will, as sure as day follows night, lay
waste to Zimbabwe’s natural
resources industry. If ever intelligent people
are inclined to wonder what
investors think of ZANU-PF’S
nationalization/indigenization policies, just
look what has happened to the
value of PLATINUM shares such as IMPALA and
ANGLO PLATINUM on the London
Stock Exchange. It is beyond comprehension in
today’s GLOBALISED competitive
market place, to expect companies to cede 51%
of their equity, and to fund
the business going forward assuming their
obligation and those of their NEW
PARTNERS!
We only have to look back
a few years to see what indigenization Mark 1 did
to the country: we have
gone down the road of ‘so called’ “Agricultural Land
Reform”. Every
Zimbabwean besides half-baked ZANU PF zealots knows now that
agriculture and
agri-business, hitherto Zimbabwe’s most productive sectors,
have been
virtually destroyed. Indicatively, literally all our groceries and
food
stuffs are imported, primarily from South Africa! Far from being
liberated,
we have become a Bantustan.
These are the legacies of ZANU-PF’S ‘BREAD
BASKET, TO BASKET CASE IN TEN
YEARS!’ How should business respond to these
challenges? To begin, the
desperate INDIGENISATION demands made upon
well-known, respected London
Listed companies must be disregarded. The
majority party in Zimbabwe’s
parliament is not a signatory to this
institutionalised theft by
individuals, posing as agents for the Zimbabwean
people! Ladies and
Gentlemen I also find the attempts by management of these
companies to
‘NEGOTIATE’ an acceptable level of ‘theft’ quite nauseating. It
is
symptomatic of a worldwide malaise affecting many companies. Namely a
gross
failure to understand, that a country’s resources, whether they be
Libyan,
Egyptian or Zimbabwean, are not the property of illegitimate
dictators,
their wives and fellow travellers. The justifiable anger of the
Egyptian
people directed at the MUBARAK family should serve as a real wake
up call to
ZANU-PF. Zimbabweans have had enough of Grace Mugabe’s shopping
trips using
our peoples resources!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am not an
embittered ‘Rhodesian Farmer’. I am not a
product of WHITE privilege. In
fact most of you will be interested to know
that many WHITE Zimbabweans
complicit with the regime for monetary gain
actually loathe me—I am ‘BENNETT
the TROUBLE MAKER’ etc. I have often been
asked to ‘CUT A DEAL’—‘ALL THEY
WANT IS MONEY’ and so on. My constituency
and reference point in life is the
wonderful, brave ethical people of
CHIMANIMANI and ZIMBABWE. A friend of
mine once told me I have perhaps
become the JOE SLOVO of Zimbabwean
Politics. Being a simple Zimbabwean
farmer, I didn’t know whether it was a
compliment or a back handed snide
remark, given how apparently unpopular the
late JOE SLOVO was with many
white South Africans! However, the steadfast
bravery and support which I
enjoy from ordinary Zimbabweans, reminds us all
in Southern Africa of Nelson
Mandela’s vision. This is what he had to say at
his inauguration as
democratic South Africa’s first president on the 10th
May 1994 and it rings
loud and clear for us tonight: ‘The time for the
healing of wounds has come.
The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us
has come. The time to build
is upon us... We enter into a covenant that we
shall build the society in
which all South Africans, both black and white,
will be able to walk tall,
without any fear in their hearts, assured of
their inalienable right to
human dignity- a rainbow nation at peace with
itself and the world’ This is
the part of the African National Congress that
ZANU-PF can never resonate
with. Since when should I accept that I have no
rights in the country of my
birth? Since when should Ndebele’s accept second
class citizenship in
Zimbabwe, and so on, and so on?
Is it too much
in the 21st Century for Zimbabweans to expect access to
functioning
educational infrastructure, decent/effective health care,
socially
acceptable housing, and meaningful employment opportunities, with
access to
impartial courts of justice?
Zimbabweans demand that the fundamentals of
democratic society, stolen by
ZANU-PF, be returned to us. We are NO
DIFFERENT from KENYANS; FROM IVORIANS.
How are we different from the brave
people of South Sudan, our African
brothers and sisters in Tunisia, Libya
and Egypt? The days of tyrants and
dictators are over.
Individually,
when evaluating the possibility of supporting MDC, all of us
here need to
reflect on the reality that the African National Congress is
not aligned to
ZANU-PF, and has little in common with it.
ZANU- PF’S history in the war
of liberation was in Partnership with the PAC.
When President Jacob Zuma,
and ANC MK CADRES fought alongside freedom
fighters in the then Rhodesia,
President Zuma came under fire with comrades
from ZAPU and their armed wing
ZIPRA alongside him. The party of Luthuli,
Mandela, Sisulu and Tambo is not,
and can never be equated with ZANU-PF.
ZANU-PF is the party of TRIBAL ETHNIC
CLEANSING. Mugabe’s shameful
extermination of thousands of Ndebele’s was a
deliberate systematic pogrom
of murder. Only recently Operation
MURAMBATSVINA (CLEAN OUT THE FILTH) is
yet another grotesque example of
ZANU-PF’S ‘APARTHEID JACK BOOT’ approach to
solving dissent. The similarity
displayed by ZANU-PF’S disgusting
destruction of people’s homes, mirrors the
myriad actions of the Apartheid
regime’s delinquent behaviour over many
years with forced relocations. The
shameful record of ZANU PF obligates
every South African to speak out. ZANU
PF constantly violates EVERY tenet,
of the remarkable South African
Constitution. We as MDC strive for people’s
Constitution that is comparable.
The one strand that I sense is the real
fundamental disconnect between the
ANC and ZANU-PF, and which is at the core
of the African National Congress
and its Alliance Partners, is its declared
commitment to non-racialism and
the pre-eminence the ALLIANCE gives to
HUMAN RIGHTS. We in the MDC, aspire
to be a party, which shows by its
decisions and policies, that we are in
step with the vision of Nelson
Mandela.
My involvement in the unfolding struggle is to ensure that
fundamental HUMAN
RIGHTS be entrenched in every component of our country’s
new constitution.
My struggle, and that of many Zimbabweans, demonstrates to
people—irrespective of race—that those whose rights have been ignored, and
trampled upon, are also citizens deserving to have their respect and dignity
restored.
Now enough with the ‘gloom and doom’. Believe me; I am
totally optimistic
about Zimbabwe and the region’s future. With one caveat
though: there is, in
spite of what I have said, no room for any of you as
mere spectators and arm
chair critics! Accordingly, I urge each and every
one of you, to genuinely
engage in your own way directly in the fight for
Southern Africa’s
DEMOCRATIC FUTURE. A real life drama is playing out.
Everyone is part of
history in the making.
Most of you in this
audience are probably sceptical about the suggestion
that Zimbabwe has all
the possibilities to become Africa’s ‘Switzerland’.
But if one stops for a
moment, and reflects on RWANDA’s dramatic progress
over the past few years,
Zimbabwe’s transformation is entirely feasible and
optimistic.
My
position heading up our party’s GLOBAL ADVOCACY campaign which embraces
far,
far more than FUNDRAISING, has enabled me to meet one-on-one, with some
of
the world’s most influential entrepreneurs, financiers and business
leaders.
I find it simply incredible that LONDON and NEW YORK are
more favourably
disposed to Zimbabwe than South Africa. It is not ignorance
either: whether
the interest comes from Europe, Canada, or Brazil or Sweden,
I have been
warmly received.
Business opportunities will flourish in
Zimbabwe as our economy begins to
grow again. One of the world’s outstanding
entrepreneurs confirmed to me,
after a personal, on the ground visit to
Zimbabwe recently, that unlike most
African countries, ‘Everything,
infrastructure-wise was built— power,
roads, railways, schools, arms,
factories, homes. It is always easier to
rebuild than to create from
scratch’. I was deeply impressed with his
observations and
advice.
My colleagues in party leadership positions will fast track
ethical
investment in every sector of the economy. It is South African
business,
those listed construction companies in South Africa, mining
houses,
exploration companies, health sector players that stand to benefit,
if they
engage properly. But perhaps significantly, it is individuals, who
wish to
re-connect with Africa, that offer our best hope for the
future.
With a natural resources boom underway, and likely to be in
play for some
time ahead, the fundamentals of SUPPLY and CAPACITY
constraints continue to
undermine landlocked Southern Congo, Zimbabwe,
Zambia and Botswana’s ability
to effectively leverage the value of their
mineral resources.
As long as Zimbabwe, which acts as the LOGISTICS HUB
for Central Africa, is
rightfully perceived by the investment community as
another SOMALIA in the
making, Botswana, Zambia and the resource-rich
Southern Congo, will be
deprived of natural resources growth investment. An
efficient rail network
is required in the region. Investment of this scale
clearly requires a
measure of stability going forward. This is just one
fundamental reality
beyond the scope and capacity of ZANU-PF to
understand.
Our Party’s is a broad church. Its bedrock is the Zimbabwean
people, most
of who are recognised throughout Africa as industrious,
intelligent,
educated individuals. Unlike many in Africa, we know the STATE
cannot offer
sustainable economic growth, employment or career
opportunities. The
institutions of the STATE are they HEALTH, EDUCATION,
WATER AND SEWERAGE,
RAILWAYS or ROADS, have been ruined by
ZANU-PF.
Tremendous business opportunities therefore exist in Zimbabwe
for tomorrow’s
dynamic entrepreneurs. EVERYTHING, I repeat EVERYTHING, has
to be RE-BUILT.
The goodwill and financial capacity to fund this is
available from the world
community—if we get our politics right.
We
look for inspiration to our friends in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and
our SADC partner Mauritius. Why can’t Zimbabwe emulate the development that
is occurring in these countries?
Everyone can be sure of one thing. I
speak to you tonight in all honesty,
and filled with excitement of perhaps
being able to look on as an elder
figure, while the youngsters, the smart
guys in our party, roll up their
shirtsleeves and create a genuinely
business-friendly environment in our
beloved country. It is an honour for
all Zimbabweans, and a singular reason
for us to be proud, that our MDC
Minister of Finance has become respected
around the world. I acknowledge our
economy’s modest size but reflect also
on his achievements against all
odds.
By helping us in Zimbabwe, to rid ourselves decisively of the
scourge of
ZANU-PF—folks it’s in South Africa’s selfish best interests. Here
is a
simple illustration of my argument. An MDC-led Zimbabwe will embrace
broad
based economic EMPOWERMENT initiatives that clearly sustain and
encourage
investment, which are supported by local communities and CIVIL
SOCIETY. This
carefully crafted legislation will be the genuine perfect
alternative to
POPULIST rhetoric in South Africa for the nationalisation of
specific
sectors. Zimbabwe has been down the nationalisation road to ruin
and chaos.
The evidence of abject failure is there for all who truly have
the best
interests of the region’s people at heart. We in Zimbabwe have seen
the
MOVIE, been there, and DONE THAT. Believe me; South Africa does not need
to
go down that road.
We yearn to show you all that Zimbabwe can, and
with the hard-nosed good
will of others, in time truly become an African
Switzerland. We can, as
predicted by MDC President Tsvangirai at the recent
MDC party congress in
Bulawayo, transform ourselves into a US$ 100 billion
economy within 30
years.
While many among you may be sceptical,
perhaps even cynical, Zimbabwe offers
so many opportunities for those who
are African in their souls. Those who
wake up in Zimbabwe, and breathe that
wonderful fresh, unpolluted air still
believe. ‘Yes, we Can’ overcome the
pervasiveness of failure and AFRO
pessimism. Now is the time for action.
Zimbabwe’s glass is most definitely
half full and the future is that of
opportunity and growth.
I would like to take this opportunity to say with
pride MAKOROKOTO,
AMHLOPHE, CONGRATULATIONS, to the MDC for last weekend’s
successful
historical third Party Congress. A big thank you to my fellow
members for
the confidence they have shown in my unopposed re-election,
congratulate my
colleagues on their election and join them in a commitment
towards the next
election, TOGETHER. UNITED, WINNING, READY FOR REAL
CHANGE!
It has been a pleasure to talk to you this evening as an
African talking to
my fellow brothers and sisters from South Africa. I say
THANK YOU-SIYABONGA-
BAIE DANKIE- HAMBE GAHLE.