The Scotsman
MICHAEL HARTNACK
IN HARARE
THE Zimbabwean president,
Robert Mugabe, has said his country will process
recently discovered uranium
deposits in order to resolve its chronic
electric power shortage.
Mr
Mugabe, who has close ties with Iran and North Korea, two countries with
controversial nuclear programmes, made the announcement on Saturday, state
radio said yesterday.
It was not clear how Mr Mugabe intended to
use any uranium deposits, as the
country does not have a nuclear power
plant. He unveiled plans in the 1990s
to acquire a reactor from Argentina,
but nothing more was heard about the
idea.
Zimbabwe was not
previously known to have any workable deposits of uranium,
and South Africa
has the region's only nuclear power station, at Koeberg.
"Zimbabwe will
develop power by processing uranium, which has recently been
found in the
country," the radio quoted Mr Mugabe as saying. "The discovery
of uranium
will go a long way in further enhancing the government rural
electrification
programme."
Voters in rural areas make a substantial portion of Mr
Mugabe's support.
Zimbabwe needs 2,100 megawatts of electricity a day but
has a daily
shortfall of 400 to 450MW and has had difficulty meeting bills
from
Mozambique, South Africa and Congo for imports from the regional
electric
grid.
It has suffered a chronic shortage of foreign exchange
since the seizure of
5,000 white-owned farms and the collapse of an
export-oriented agricultural
industry.
Zim Daily
Monday, November 21 2005 @ 12:08 AM CST
Contributed by:
Zimdaily
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- President Robert Mugabe said
Zimbabwe will
turn to nuclear power by processing recently discovered
uranium deposits to
resolve its chronic electricity shortage, state radio
said Sunday.
Mugabe, who has close ties with two countries
with controversial
nuclear programs - Iran and North Korea, spoke of his
intention Saturday,
the radio station reported. It was not clear how Mugabe
intended to use any
uranium deposits since the country does not have a
nuclear power plant. The
president announced plans in the 1990s to acquire a
reactor from Argentina,
but nothing else was ever heard about the
proposal.
"Zimbabwe will develop power by processing uranium,
which has
recently been found in the country," Mugabe said, according to the
radio.
"The discovery of uranium will go a long way in further enhancing the
government rural electrification program." Zimbabwe was not previously known
to have any workable deposits of uranium.
South Africa
has the region's only nuclear power station at
Koeberg. Zimbabwe has been
plagued by a chronic shortage of foreign exchange
since Mugabe's seizure of
5,000 white-owned farms and the collapse of an
export-oriented agricultural
industry. It currently falls short of
generating the 2,100 megawatts it
needs daily by 400 to 450 megawatts.
Zimbabwe has had great
difficulty meeting bills from Mozambique,
South Africa and Congo for imports
from the regional electric power grid.
Analysts have indicated that such a
discovery is dangerous, given the kind
of a person Mugabe is and fear if the
uranium falls in wrong hands, nuclear
weapons might be developed. Zimbabwe
does not have the capacity to build the
weapons, but can export it to
terrorist groups. This alone should give at
least western governments a
chance to have another serious look at the
tryrant.
Business Report
November 21, 2005
By Ronnie Morris
Cape Town - The
Zimbabwe National Chrysotile Task Force, an asbestos
watchdog, is preparing
to lobby the South African government following the
publication of draft
regulations in the Government Gazette earlier this
month that seek to outlaw
the use of asbestos.
The regulations seek to ban production, import and
export of asbestos
products, and give interested parties 60 days to
comment.
The ban would not apply to asbestos in transit from a
neighbouring country
and meant for the export market, unless further
repackaging or processing of
the asbestos or asbestos-containing material is
done in South Africa.
South African companies that produce products
containing asbestos would have
three months after the regulations come into
force to phase out its use.
The task force, which represents the Zimbabwe
government, labour unions,
industry, occupational health specialists,
medical doctors and lawyers, said
the new regulations were still in draft
form. They did not constitute a ban
yet and the public should not be
confused by the campaign that had been
launched by sections of
society.
"As has always been the case worldwide, there is need for a
clear
distinction between the asbestos fibres, specifically chrysotile
fibre, and
the amphiboles. Zimbabwe has always mined chrysotile, also known
as white
asbestos.
The latest scientific research points to the fact
that chrysotile does not
pose health risks if used responsibly. Apart from
Zimbabwe, chrysotile is
also mined in Canada, Brazil, Russia and
China."
The asbestos task force said that Zimbabwe's safe-use principle
was
consistent with the 1986 International Labour Organisation conventions
160
and 162 concerning safety in the use of asbestos.
"These
International Labour Organisation conventions 160 and 162 have for a
long
time now provided an excellent framework for asbestos users in their
quest
to prevent occupational hazards due to chrysotile asbestos," the task
force
said.
Zim Daily
Monday, November 21 2005 @ 12:07 AM CST
Contributed by: correspondent
THOUSANDS of squatters who overran
white-owned farms in Zimbabwe
in the biggest mass occupation spawned by
constitutional amendment 17 are
leaving their promised land and walking
home. They feel betrayed by Robert
Mugabe, the faltering, 81-year-old
president whose government lured the
urban poor into the countryside with
pledges that they would share not only
lands once known as the breadbasket
of Africa, but also food and petrol that
would be essential to survive while
they awaited their first harvest. The
supplies have not arrived amid a fuel
crisis so severe that commuters have
been involved in shoot-outs at petrol
stations.
When the land rush began mid year prompted by
Mugabe's cynical
attempt to distract attention from the country's economic
woes up to 70,000
people stepped onto state-sponsored buses that ferried
them to the farm
gates. That was the last state aid many hapless squatters
saw. Two weeks
ago, as many as 700 of the 3,500 white-owned farms were under
occupation,
but last week, according to confidential official estimates, the
number of
squatters was down to 58,000 on 400 farms. There is a pattern here
that is
unnerving Mugabe's kitchen cabinet, if not the increasingly detached
president himself.
Most of the farms still occupied are
in Mashonaland, his tribal
stronghold between Harare, the capital, and the
northern borders towards
Zambia. There, leaders such as Comrade Jesus, a
former guerrilla commander,
are easily recognised by their trademark rifles
in one hand and their mobile
phones, constantly dialling Harare, in the
other. At least, say critics, the
mass occupation has taken place openly.
Last week Parliament heard a list of
424 previously white-owned farms that
had been bought on the open market and
given on rent-free, 98-year leases to
leading government members and
cronies.
Among the
beneficiaries have been Perence Shiri, who led the
infamous North
Korea-trained Fifth Brigade when it butchered 5,000 Matabeles
in an
undeclared civil war in the 1980s. He now owns a substantial farm in
Matabeleland. Another rent-free arrival is Rex Nhongo, who led Mugabe's
guerrilla army in exile in the 1970s. He has changed his name - to Solomon
Mujuru - and his politics, and is now one of the country's most tough-minded
landlords. Most white farmers have coped well with the influx of barefooted
would-be masters.
The Sinclair family, who have farmed
the same fields 40 miles
west of Harare since the 1930s, and export flowers
to Europe, were
nonplussed but not surprised when they were declared
"foreigners" on their
own land. But the invaders were surprised by the
attitude of the Sinclairs'
black farm hands, who refused to speak to them. A
few days later, weary of
the rain, unsure what to do with the mechanised
farm equipment and upset at
the failure of aid to materialise, they drifted
away. Mugabe's reaction to
the setbacks has been twofold: he has purged his
cabinet of old comrades The
final throw of the dice, which might be prompted
by the continued refusal of
Kuwait to sell Zimbabwe any more oil, would be
to declare a state of
emergency. But there is still one force to be reckoned
with. One Zimbabwean
commentator said: "He played the race card, but the
failure of the farm
invasion has only revealed a busted flush. Now everyone
will wait to see
what is in the army's hand."
Zim Daily
Monday, November 21 2005 @ 12:02 AM CST
Contributed by: correspondent
President Robert Mugabe will open
his land reform programme for
an ''audit'' by regional ministers on today,
but opponents say the exercise
is unlikely to change or slow down his drive
to seize white-owned farms. The
Zimbabwean government said a six-member
ministerial team from the 14-nation
Southern African Development Community
(SADC) was due in Harare on Monday
for a two-day visit to assess its
''highly successful'' programme to acquire
white-owned farmland for black
resettlement.
Farmers and other critics say Mugabe has
largely ignored
Nigerian-brokered plan he endorsed to end the farm seizures
in exchange for
funds from former colonial ruler Britain and other sources
to implement a
fair land reform plan. The Commonwealth will meet within two
weeks to
discuss possible trawling of sanctions against Zimbabwe to
establish land
ownership protections in his country. Nine white farmers have
been killed,
scores of black farm workers have been assaulted and thousands
of others
displaced since pro-government militants began occupying
white-owned farms
five years ago in support
of Mugabe's land
programme.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) said it was
sceptical that the SADC visit would change anything.
''Whatever observations
SADC will have, it will have little impact on the
ground. It's given that
Mugabe is sticking to his guns, but all pressure
will be good,'' MDC
presidential spokesman William Bango told zimdaily.
Political analysts say
Mugabe, in power since the former Rhodesia gained
independence in 1980, is
using the land programme as part of a campaign to
retain power.
The trip follows reports that South African
President Thabo
Mbeki is pressing for a special meeting of the SADC task
force on Zimbabwe.
Mbeki said earlier this month that the situation in the
southern African
country was deteriorating. On Sunday, Zimbabwe's
state-controlled Sunday
Mail quoted a a government spokesman as saying the
SADC team's visit would
have been a routine audit if it were not for foreign
pressure.
''The committee is coming at a time when there are
renewed
efforts by Britain to mobilise the European Union, the Commonwealth
and some
countries in the southern Africa region that includes South Africa,
Botswana
and Mozambique to reverse the highly successful land reform
exercise,'' the
spokesman said. Zimbabwe's Supreme Court ruled earlier this
month that the
land seizures were legal. It said white farmers occupied 14
million of 33
million hectares (35 million out of 81.5 million acres) of
farmland and used
only 40 percent of that while many blacks had no
land.
Cape Times
November 21,
2005
By the Editor.
Shortly after the start of
World War 2, British leader Winston
Churchill described Russia as "a riddle,
wrapped in a mystery, inside an
enigma".
That too,
unfortunately, is the only way to describe South Africa's
muddled foreign
policy on Zimbabwe these days.
Last week, it signed a wide-ranging
defence and security co-operation
agreement with its despotic neighbour. The
pact includes joint military
exercises and
intelligence-sharing.
It is a most peculiar decision. At a time
when other countries are
isolating Zimbabwe in an attempt to coerce it into
some kind of democratic
behaviour, South Africa seems to be snuggling up
closer to its northern
neighbour.
Asked about the morality of
entering into a defence agreement with
Zimbabwe, intelligence minister
Ronnie Kasrils instead apologised to
Zimbabwe's delegation for the
"insulting question".
Even more astonishingly, he referred to the
legacy of colonialism in
triggering Zimbabwe's current problems, yet made
absolutely no mention of
the role of the Zanu-PF government's policies in
aggravating the crisis in
that country.
Kasrils furthermore
remained silent when Zimbabwe home affairs deputy
minister Sydney Sekeremayi
summarily dismissed claims of human rights abuses
in his country as
lies.
In short, the agreement signed last Thursday further
complicated
efforts to understand South Africa's stance on
Zimbabwe.
When Churchill referred to Russia in that memorable
speech in 1939, he
went on to state: "But perhaps there is a key. That key
is Russian national
interest."
That must, somehow, also be true
in this case. However, in the absence
of any information from the South
African government, we are none the wiser.
We know very little
about what informs its policy on Zimbabwe. And of
its objectives, even
less.
New Zimbabwe
By Lebo
Nkatazo
Last updated: 11/21/2005 09:22:22
ZIMBABWE'S Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) is going to launch
another daily newspaper in Zimbabwe as
they intensify their efforts to win
the minds and hearts of a restive
population, highly placed intelligence
sources have said.
The sources
added that the new paper would be unleashed on an unsuspecting
country
during the first three months of 2006.
The spy agency has taken ownership
of The Daily Mirror and its sister paper,
The Sunday Mirror after elbowing
out former proprietor and Zanu PF apologist
Ibbo Mandaza. The Financial
Gazette is also in their stable.
The secret service is also said to be
intending to use the papers in the
succession race, possibly to sway the
vote in favour of President Robert
Mugabe's chosen successor.
A
source told New Zimbabwe.com: "The paper is going to hit the streets
between
January and March next year. The idea is to create the impression
that the
country has an independent press, while smoothing the public to
accept
Mugabe's chosen succussor into public office."
The sources also cited the
recent unmasking of their involvement in the
Mirror and Financial Gazette as
the main reason why the spy agency are keen
to see the project
through.
"There are some senior members in the CIO who do not want the
Daily News to
come back and as such they think if there is a paper with some
semblance of
independence, attention would be diverted from the Daily News
issue."
New Zimbabwe
By Lebo
Nkatazo
Last updated: 11/21/2005 08:46:46
THE government is set to take
control of all MDC run urban councils through
a proposal to pay salaries for
all senior personnel.
Local Government Deputy Minister, Morris Sakabuya,
said the move is aimed at
stemming the brain drain of qualified
personnel.
The move has not gone down with the MDC which says that by
controlling
councils' key staff, the government would have taken over the
towns and
cities.
MDC spokesperson for local government Trudy
Stevenson, who is also MP for
Harare North dismissed the proposal as
"ridiculous" and indicative of
Harare's desire to completely take over all
urban cities.
Said Stevenson: "In my view it shows how the government
wants to completely
take over all local authorities.
"Besides, the
government does not have the money and is currently grappling
with importing
fuel and food. The proposal is just ridiculous."
In recent months, the
government has displayed its impatience with having
the municipalities under
the aegis of the MDC, arresting two opposition
mayors -- Chegutu's Francis
Dhlakama and Chitungwiza's Misheck Shoko in a
space of two
months.
Mutare's Misheck Kagurabadza is expected to be fired in the next
few months
on
recommendations of a government-appointed probe
team.
At the weekend Mugabe ratcheted pressure against Shoko at a rally
held
in Chitungwiza and hinted that the mayor would soon be fired.
"I
will personally talk to Chombo (the minister of Local government
minister)
over the issue of Chitungwiza. We want the government to get in
and
solve
the problems here," said Mugabe.
"Zanu PF hausi Musangano
wetsvina. Hatidi Tsvina. Urikunzwa here Shoko
iri shoko? (Zanu PF does not
accept dirt). Are you getting the message
Shoko?).
When Chombo fired
Harare mayor, Elias Mudzuri last year, he said the
order had come from the
president