Zim Online
Friday 26 October
2007
By Nqobizitha Khumalo
BULAWAYO -
The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) says there
is urgent need for
"political consensus" in the crisis-sapped southern
African country that
would to lead restoration of ties with the
international community and pave
way for economic recovery.
In a report on the effects of a blanket
freeze on price increases
imposed by the government three months ago and was
aimed at stifling runaway
inflation, the CZI - the voice of business in
Zimbabwe - said the price ban
had left firms facing shortages of working
capital.
"Business production volumes fell to below economic levels
required to
sustain operations due to foreign currency shortages as well as
lack of
Zimbabwean dollar facilities for working capital purposes," CZI
president
Callisto Jokonya said in the report released
yesterday.
Scores of businesses scaled down operations or closed
shop altogether
after huge losses directly blamed on the June government
directive to slash
prices of all goods by 50 percent.
Most
basic commodities vanished from shop shelves partly because
consumers took
advantage of halved prices to stockpile but mainly because
most factories
stopped producing, saying they could not do so at a loss.
Jokonya
said there was need to address the foreign currency crunch
gripping Zimbabwe
since the 1999 withdrawal of balance of payments support
by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as allow businesses to
implement
correct pricing systems if industry was to recover.
However,
political consensus remained critical to any initiative to
pluck Zimbabwe
out of the economic crisis, said Jokonya.
"There is an urgent need
for political consensus in Zimbabwe which
would lead to restoration of
international relations, for industry and the
country to recover from the
current economic crisis."
Zimbabwe has been gripped by a political
crisis and economic decline
since 1999 following the birth of a stronger
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party to challenge the rule
of President Robert
Mugabe.
The crisis has worsened over the
past eight years amid allegations of
gross human rights abuses and
deteriorating economic performance, with the
country's inflation being the
highest in the world at nearly 8 000 percent.
The regional Southern
African Development Community fearful that
Zimbabwe's crisis could spill
over into neighbouring countries last March
appointed South Africa's
President Thabo Mbeki to lead efforts to resolve
the crisis by facilitating
dialogue between the MDC and Mugabe's governing
ZANU PF party.
A wisp of hope in the Zimbabwean crisis emerged last September after
the two
political parties agreed constitutional changes that clear the way
for
presidential and parliamentary elections to be held simultaneously next
year.
But the talks, that Mbeki insists will deliver a solution
to Zimbabwe's
problems, remain fraught with difficulties as time to reach
compromise
before elections that should be held around next March is running
out. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 26 October 2007
Own
Correspondent
OUAGADOUGOU - Former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano
has called on
African leaders to voluntarily relinquish power, warning the
continent no
longer has room for life presidents and that incumbents should
not "gamble
on the confidence of their people" by clinging to
power.
In a keynote address to delegates attending the seventh African
Governance
Forum here in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, Chissano said
peaceful
change of leadership was vital to fostering good governance on the
world's
poorest and conflict torn continent.
"Leaders should not be
reckless power venders who reap where they did not
sow," said Chissano, who
also proposed national dialogue as a way achieve
reconciliation and harmony
among societies in countries emerging from
conflicts.
"Leaders
should not be power-mongers . . . grabbing power by all means and
clinging
to it when their time to go has arrived," said the former
Mozambique leader
who addressed the Forum late on Wednesday.
Ironically, Chissano - who
quit in 2005 and was this week awarded the
Ibrahim Mo Award for good
governance during his tenure as Mozambique
leader - is a close friend of
controversial Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe who has refused to step
down after 27 years in power.
Chissano, whose words must have struck a
sour note with host President
Blaise Campaore who seized power in a coup 20
years ago, last year tried to
mediate in Zimbabwe's crisis but apparently
was snubbed by Mugabe.
Mugabe, who earlier this year said there was no
vacancy for his position,
has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron-like grip since
independence in 1980 and
intends to stand for re-election for another
five-year term next year.
Under Mugabe's charge, Zimbabwe has declined
from a regional breadbasket to
a classical African basket case,
characterised by the world's highest
inflation of more nearly 8 000 percent,
deepening poverty and shortages of
every basic survival
commodity.
The governance Forum, convened by the United Nations
Development Programme's
regional bureau for Africa, is being attended by
various stakeholders from
30 African countries.
The Forum that has
the theme "Building the Capable State in Africa" has
drawn participants from
governments, civic society, private sector, the
media and Africa's
development partners, to explore how countries could
develop capacity for
effective governance and facilitate the mobilisation of
resources for
national programmes. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday
26 October 2007
By Batsirayi Muranje
HARARE -
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader Morgan
Tsvangirai on Thursday met civic leaders to brief them on ongoing dialogue
with the ruling ZANU PF party as he tries to pacify a restive civic society,
which has heavily criticized the MDC for supporting controversial government
constitutional reforms.
Sources who attended the meeting told
ZimOnline that the opposition leader
assured civic leaders he would
regularly brief them and consult them as the
dialogue agenda moves to other
issues such as the oppressive security, media
and electoral
laws.
Relations between the fragmanted MDC and its civic partners
strained last
month after the opposition party supported a constitutional
amendment Bill
that among other key provisions paves the way for President
Robert Mugabe to
handpick a successor.
Civic groups angrily accused
the opposition of reneging on commitment to
push for wholesale
constitutional reforms to produce a new and democratic
constitution they say
is a prerequisite to any effort to resolve Zimbabwe's
political and economic
crisis.
"We told Tsvangirai that we were not happy with the idea of
piecemeal
Constitutional amendments. We also told him we were not happy with
the issue
being peddled that the opposition had agreed on a new constitution
with ZANU
PF in a process that does not involve the people," the source
said.
"He reassured us that this was only a transitional phase to allow
for a free
and fair election and that the MDC would make sure the people are
involved
in the crafting of their own constitution."
Tsvangirai
confirmed meeting the civic leaders but refused to shed more
light on the
nature of the discussions.
However, ZimOnline is reliably informed that
Tsvangirai pledged to involve
civic society by consulting them on every
stage of the South African-led
talks.
Lovemore Madhuku, the
chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly
that has been very
critical of the MDC's stance on Constitution of Zimbabwe
Amendment Number
18, did not attend the meeting but sent an emissary. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 26 October 2007
Own
Correspondent
JOHANNESBURG - The Pan African Parliament (PAP) has
indefinitely postponed
plans to send a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe to
probe allegations of
human rights violations in the southern African
country.
The PAP last May voted overwhelmingly to send the fact-finding
mission to
Zimbabwe to probe allegations of rising human rights violations
against
President Robert Mugabe's critics.
On Wednesday, the PAP
appeared to have developed cold feet after it reversed
its earlier decision
on Zimbabwe citing lack of funds.
PAP President Getrude Mongella said the
parliament was still to receive
funds from the parent organization, the
African Union (AU) to facilitate the
Harare trip that had been scheduled for
next month.
Mongella said the motion to send a mission to Zimbabwe needed
to be debated
again. Mongella did not give reasons for the fresh
debate.
South Africa's Suzanne Vos, who was among the parliamentarians
pushing for
the Harare trip, later told the media that she would be
surprised if the
mission to Zimbabwe proceeded as
scheduled.
Zimbabwe's Chief Fortune Charumbira, who last May fought to
bar the PAP
mission to Harare, repeated his argument that the mission was
not necessary
adding that Zimbabwe was a "safe and stable"
country.
Charumbira said parliament should instead institute a probe into
rising
crime in South Africa as well as the killing of South African
musician Lucky
Dube who died last week in a botched hijacking in
Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, European Union development commissioner Louis
Michel says Mugabe
should not be barred from attending the forthcoming
EU-Africa summit in
Portugal just because he is a dictator as this would
rule out other leaders
as well.
"If we were to judge each of the
dictators or personalities whom we consider
unsuitable we wouldn't just have
problems with Mugabe, there would be
others," Michel told the European
Parliament in Strasbourg.
Britain and other European countries have been
pushing for the barring of
Mugabe at the December summit saying they cannot
sit on the same table with
a dictator. But the Zimbabwean leader has
received strong backing from
African leaders who have threatened to boycott
the summit if Mugabe was
barred from the meeting that has been called to
discuss Africa's
relationship with European countries.
"I have heard
the incantatory calls to denounce Mugabe, I can also say that
that changes
nothing," said Michel.
"We don't ... have the right to say to our African
friends 'you can invite
anyone you like except him'," he added. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 26 October
2007
By Ntando Ncube
JOHANNESBURG – A
former personal guard to Zimbabwe’s main opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai
died at a Johannesburg hospital allegedly after
failing to recover from
injuries he suffered when he was assaulted by
government agents in
Harare.
Nhamo Musekiwa, 35, died on Wednesday at Thembisa Hospital,
according
to Roy Bennett, the treasurer of the faction of the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) led by Tsvangirai.
Musekiwa was in South Africa seeking political asylum after he,
Tsvangirai
and other MDC activists were last March severely assaulted and
tortured by
the police for attempting to attend a banned prayer rally.
“I can
confirm to the public that President Tsvangirai’s personal
aide, Nhamo
Musekiwa, died on Wednesday morning at Thembisa Hospital in
Johannesburg,”
said Bennett.
“He was ill for a long time and did not recover after
the attack by
the police in Harare on 11 March,” added Bennett, who lives in
South Africa
after also fleeing agents of President Robert Mugabe’s
government.
A senior official at the MDC’s South Africa office said
the opposition
party would cover the cost of repatriating Musekiwa’s body to
Zimbabwe as
well as cover other related costs.
Musekiwa joins a
growing list of MDC activists who have died allegedly
after being beaten or
tortured by agents of the Harare government or
militant supporters of
Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party.
The MDC has accused ZANU PF and
state agents of stepping up violence
and human rights abuses against its
activists despite ongoing dialogue
between Zimbabwe’s biggest political
parties aimed at finding an amicable
and democratic solution to the
country’s long running political and economic
crisis.
South
Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki is mediating in the talks between
the
Zimbabwean political parties.
The MDC on Wednesday said Home
Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi had
promised to investigate politically
motivated violence against opposition
activists. However, state media quoted
him as having dismissed opposition
claims of violence as hearsay. -
ZimOnline
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
24 October 2007
Posted to the web 25 October
2007
Shame Makoshori
THE government has once again gone
shopping in China for potential investors
to finance the refurbishment and
expansion of the Victoria Falls and Kariba
airports, despite the failure of
previous deals with the Asian country in
the mining and power generation
sectors.
Transport and Communications Minister Christopher Mushohwe told
this month's
edition of the Air Zimbabwe's in-flight magazine, Skyhost, that
"very
serious" investors had taken an interest in investing in
airports.
Although he did not reveal the identity or nationality of
the investors,
sources from the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ)
said the
government was in discussion with the Chinese for the two
projects.
"We have a number of potential investors whom we are discussing
with and
have shown interest in joining hands with the Civil Aviation
Authority of
Zimbabwe in putting up a first class international airport at
Victoria
Falls," Mushohwe said.
He said the refurbished airport would
be "up and running before 2010" when
South Africa hosts the soccer world
cup.
He said they were also in talks for the refurbishment of the Kariba
airport
as well as another one at Buffalo Range in Chiredzi.
The
Chinese expedition received an early warning from ZANU PF Makonde Member
of
Parliament Leo Mugabe, who urged them to be cautious of deals with
countries
from the Far East, saying they had a dubious record for supplying
sub-standard goods to the continent.
Mugabe chairs the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Transport and
Communications.
Sources said
since 2005, government had led talks with potential investors
mostly from
China, which has become the country's closest investment partner
under the
"Look East" policy.
Expansion work at the country's major airports, which
started over three
years ago, has suffered from poor funding, which has
delayed progress.
The expansion of the Victoria Falls Airport was still
at the clearance and
excavation phase a year after the project began last
year.
According to sources, talks for the intervention of the Chinese
started in
2005, but nothing has materialised so far.
The runway at
the Victoria Falls Airport was due to be extended from 2,6
kilometres to
four kilometres.
Three major international airlines from the Far and
Middle East, Doha based
Qatar Airways, China Southern Airlines and Emirate
Airline have entered into
serious negotiations with government, which could
see them flying into
Zimbabwe but the major constraint had been the state of
the airports, which
apart from Harare, have short runways.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
ANALYSIS
25 October 2007
Posted to the web 25 October
2007
ZIMBABWE'S Look East policy, adopted by President Robert Mugabe
after the
West slapped his government with sanctions, has become a
predominantly
Chinese affair, with a number of high profile visits and
memoranda of
understanding having been made between the two countries since
its
proclamation in 2003.
But the country remains in a haemorrhage,
with very little or nothing to
show for its much-publicised romance with
China.
In fact, indications are that the country's pariah status,
dramatised by
increasing reports of lawlessness, has created apprehension
even among
Zimbabwe's trusted friends from the East.
While President
Mugabe was forced into adopting the Look East policy to
spite the West,
whose companies had slowed down investment into Zimbabwe,
Chinese companies
and those from the Far East have shown very little
interest to investing in
the country.
Under the policy, President Mugabe said bilateral and trade
relations with
China, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea,
India, Russia and
other eastern countries would be promoted, with investors
from these
countries being given priority in setting up projects in the
resources,
manufacturing and power generation sectors.
While
Zimbabwe's affection was being lavished on all Asian countries, it was
its
relationship with China that became the talking point.
But the results on
the ground are disappointing, and the much-vaunted
investment inflows from
China have failed to go beyond rhetoric.
"It is a marriage inspired by
China's penchant desire for cheap raw
materials, and Zimbabwe's desperate
need for unconditional aid to stop the
economic recession," an economist
told The Financial Gazette.
Trade deals with China, often announced at
glittering ceremonies, have
floundered.
State owned companies like
China Aerotechnology Import and Export
Corporation (CATIC) have entered into
investment deals with the ZESA
Holdings, for the refurbishment of power
plants but they have not yet
injected a single cent into the projects four
years since signing the deals.
CATIC had promised in 2005 that it would
invest US400 million in mining. So
far, the promised investment remains a
pledge.
With India, apart from the collapsed US$400 million deal to
resurrect what
was once southern Africa's largest integrated steelworks,
Ziscosteel, the
company has not made any meaningful investment in the
country.
Instead, India's priorities had been on South Africa where last
week, the
Asian country said it aimed to treble, "even quadruple", bilateral
trade to
US$12 billion by 2012.
Trade between India and South Africa
had been growing at about 30 percent
per year and more collaboration has
been earmarked for telecomms,
infrastructure, media, health care and
entertainment.
Analysts have questioned the commitment of Chinese
investors in Zimbabwe,
arguing that China's interests lied in making big
investments in countries
with huge oil reserves.
There is a high
demand for energy in China following a boom in the
automotive industries,
mines, and car and aircraft assembly and industrial
chemicals manufacturing
plants.
Zimbabwe is land locked and could find herself chasing shadows,
with Chinese
investment inflows coming in trickles.
President Mugabe
once sought a US$1 billion bailout from China last year but
came back empty
handed, according to reports.
However, China poured over US$1 billion in
Angola, where it has expressed
interest in starting a oil plant and
refinery, and this year injected US$5
billion into the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC) to modernise its
railway system. Apparently, the Chinese
are eyeing mining rights in the DRC,
and the railway infrastructure would
give them good access in a country with
a poor road network.
Sudan,
another oil rich country, has been another significant beneficiary of
Chinese benevolence.
But for Zimbabwe?
Apart from receiving
Chinese textiles and other goods, in seven years, which
have threatened its
own textile industry, Zimbabwe has not benefited from
China's appetite for
resources that has pushed up demand and world prices.
China has also
invested in Africa for food security, with the adverse
effects of the rapid
population growth becoming increasingly unsettling to
the political
leadership.
Zimbabwe, in that respect, has been unattractive to the
Chinese because of
its current food shortages, which have resulted in
increased imports.
This could be another reason for China's hesitance to
line up capital into
the country, analysts say.
China has over 1,3
billion citizens.
They have been funding agriculture, and have become one
of the biggest
buyers of tobacco in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has turned
from a net export of food in Southern Africa to a
perennial
beggar.
While there could be growing political and economic ties between
China and
Zimbabwe, the benefits have been tilted in favour of
China.
China has the capacity to buy the little unprocessed products
still coming
out of Zimbabwe's farms and mines at low prices, refine them
and sell them
as high value finished products.
About 13 000 tonnes of
tobacco from Zimbabwe will enter the Chinese market
this year.
Land
and agrarian studies expert, Sam Moyo said foreign tobacco merchants,
including the Chinese, were making up to 10 times more profit from tobacco
purchased from Zimbabwe.
"Instead of getting the US$2,50 per kg that
they were paid (this year),
Zimbabwe's tobacco farmers can get more money by
processing tobacco," Moyo
told The Financial Gazette.
This means, out
of about US$40 million that the economy would generate from
the 13 000
tonnes, Chinese merchants would generate at least US$400
million.
Official statistics indicate that Zimbabwe suffered a US$189
million trade
deficit against China during the first half of
2007.
The country managed to export US$16 million worth of goods out of
the US$205
million worth of trade conducted during the period.
This
indicates another weakness of the "look-east" policy.
The friendship has
been characterised by the influx of Chinese flea markets
in Zimbabwe's
cities and towns.
These small shops employ at most three
people.
This is in contrast to South African and British mining projects
that have
been opened since 2000, for example, which have given jobs to
thousands of
people.
Analysts say Zimbabwe requires foreign
investment policies not targeted at
specific international
markets.
The danger about Chinese investment is that it is targeted at
growing its
own manufacturing sector.
Chinese companies want to
produce for the local market from China, doing
very little to expand
Zimbabwe's economy.
The Chinese embassy in Harare sees the trade between
the two countries
differently.
The office says there had been
positive growth in business between Harare
and Beijing since
2003.
"The bilateral trade has been on steady growth and economic
cooperation is
deepening and expanding," China's Yuan Nansheng
said.
"The trade volume reached US$270 million in 2006. China has become
a major
trading partner to Zimbabwe, second only to South Africa. China is
also the
largest investor in incremental investment in Zimbabwe," he
said.
Despite the criticism, Zimbabwe's government officials see a model
in China
To them, China remains a role model for Zimbabwe's economic
development.
Women's Affairs and Rural Development Minister Oppa
Muchinguri last week
said if "an impoverished country like China" could rise
to the point of
becoming the third largest economy in the world, nothing
could stop Zimbabwe
from doing the same.
Chinese President Hu Jintao
in February avoided a visit to Zimbabwe during
his Africa tour that saw him
visiting South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and
Namibia, in what analysts saw
as a clear indication of the Chinese
perception of Zimbabwe.
Beijing
denies this was a snub.
ground are disappointing, and the much-vaunted
investment inflows from China
have failed to go beyond rhetoric.
"It
is a marriage inspired by China's penchant for cheap raw materials, and
Zimbabwe's desperate need for unconditional aid to stop the economic
recession," an economist told The Financial Gazette.
Trade deals with
China, often announced at glittering ceremonies, have
floundered.
State owned companies such as China Aerotechnology Import
and Export
Corporation (CATIC) have entered into investment deals with ZESA
Holdings,
for the refurbishment of power plants but they have not injected a
single
cent into the projects four years after signing the
deals.
CATIC had promised in 2005 that it would invest US400 million in
mining. So
far, the promised investment remains a pledge.
With India,
apart from the collapsed US$400 million deal to resurrect what
was once
southern Africa's largest integrated steelworks, Ziscosteel, the
country has
not made any meaningful investment in Zimbabwe.
Instead, India's
priorities had been on South Africa where, last week, the
Asian country said
it aimed to treble, "even quadruple", bilateral trade to
US$12 billion by
2012.
Trade between India and South Africa has been growing at about 30
percent
per year and more collaboration has been earmarked for telecomms,
infrastructure, media, health care and entertainment.
Analysts have
questioned the commitment of Chinese investors in Zimbabwe,
arguing that
China's interests lied in making big investments in countries
with huge oil
reserves.
There is a high demand for energy in China following a boom in
the
automotive industries, mines, and car and aircraft assembly and
industrial
chemicals manufacturing plants.
Zimbabwe is landlocked and
could find herself chasing shadows, with Chinese
investment inflows coming
in trickles.
President Mugabe once sought a US$1 billion bailout from
China last year but
came back empty handed, according to
reports.
However, China poured over US$1 billion in Angola, where it has
expressed
interest in starting an oil plant and refinery, and this year
injected US$5
billion into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to
modernise its
railway system. Apparently, the Chinese are eyeing mining
rights in the DRC,
and the railway infrastructure would give them good
access in a country with
a poor road network.
Sudan, another oil rich
country, has been another significant beneficiary of
Chinese
benevolence.
But for Zimbabwe?
Apart from receiving Chinese
textiles and other goods, in seven years, which
have threatened its own
textile industry, Zimbabwe has not benefited from
China's appetite for
resources that have pushed up demand and world prices.
China has also
invested in Africa for food security, with the adverse
effects of the rapid
population growth becoming increasingly unsettling to
the political
leadership.
Zimbabwe, in that respect, has been unattractive to the
Chinese because of
its current food shortages, which have resulted in
increased imports.
This could be another reason for China's hesitance to
line up capital into
the country, analysts say.
China has over 1,3
billion citizens.
They have been funding agriculture, and have become one
of the biggest
buyers of tobacco in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has turned
from a net exporter of food in Southern Africa to a
perennial
beggar.
While there could be growing political and economic ties between
China and
Zimbabwe, the benefits have been tilted in favour of
China.
China has the capacity to buy the little unprocessed products
still coming
out of Zimbabwe's farms and mines at low prices, refine them
and sell them
as high value finished products.
About 13 000 tonnes of
tobacco from Zimbabwe will enter the Chinese market
this year.
Land
and agrarian studies expert, Sam Moyo said foreign tobacco merchants,
including the Chinese, were making up to 10 times more profit from tobacco
purchased from Zimbabwe.
"Instead of getting the US$2,50 per kg that
they were paid (this year),
Zimbabwe's tobacco farmers can get more money by
processing tobacco," Moyo
told The Financial Gazette.
This means, out
of about US$40 million that the economy would generate from
the 13 000
tonnes, Chinese merchants would generate at least US$400
million.
Official statistics indicate that Zimbabwe suffered a US$189
million trade
deficit against China during the first half of
2007.
The country managed to export US$16 million worth of goods out of
the US$205
million worth of trade conducted during the period.
This
indicates another weakness of the "Look-East" policy.
The friendship has
been characterised by the influx of Chinese flea markets
in Zimbabwe's
cities and towns.
These small shops employ at most three
people.
This is in contrast to South African and British mining projects
that have
been opened since 2000, for example, which have given jobs to
thousands of
people.
Analysts say Zimbabwe requires foreign
investment policies not targeted at
specific international
markets.
The danger about Chinese investment is that it is targeted at
growing its
own manufacturing sector.
Chinese companies want to
produce for the local market from China, doing
very little to expand
Zimbabwe's economy.
The Chinese embassy in Harare sees the trade between
the two countries
differently.
The office says there had been
positive growth in business between Harare
and Beijing since
2003.
"The bilateral trade has been on steady growth and economic
cooperation is
deepening and expanding," China's Yuan Nansheng
said.
"The trade volume reached US$270 million in 2006. China has become
a major
trading partner to Zimbabwe, second only to South Africa. China is
also the
largest investor in incremental investment in Zimbabwe," he
said.
Despite the criticism, Zimbabwe's government officials see a model
in China
To them, China remains a role model for Zimbabwe's economic
development.
Zim-Sino milestones
2003
Harare announces its
decision to shift its foreign policy to the Far East
after a political stand
off between Harare and the European Union and the
United States triggered
massive capital flight and what would become one of
the world's worst
economic recessions. "The sun rises in the East and sets
in the West,"
President Robert Mugabe announced.
December 2003
China grants
Zimbabwe the Approved Destination Status (ADS) giving Chinese
tourists the
right to visit Zimbabwe tourist attractions. Chinese tourists
can only visit
destinations certified by their government as safe. Zimbabwe
became the
second African country after Egypt and Kenya to be granted the
ADS amid much
Western publicity that the country had degenerated into a
rouge
state.
February 2004
One of the first a high-powered Chinese
government delegations visits
Zimbabwe to strengthen economic
ties
between Harare and Beijing, as the presence of Chinese citizens
exploring
business opportunities in Zimbabwe increases.
April 2005
A
Vietnamese business delegation arrives.
Zimbabwe becomes the first
African country to purchase Chinese assembled two
MA60 passenger
aircraft.
This is despite negative market sentiments that the planes,
which were
delivered with the third one for free, "were flying coffins".
Despite the
pessimisms, the aircraft have serviced regional and domestic
routes for
three years, with a few incidences.
December
2006
Harare announces the opening of negotiations with China for a US$2
billion
loan to stabilise the free falling economy.
The deal
collapses under unclear circumstances, giving credence to
speculation that
China was only interested in exploiting Zimbabwe's natural
resources, not
the good friend that she is described as.
February 2007
Chinese
President Hu Jintao ignores Harare during his eight-nation tour of
African
countries, signaling that despite Zimbabwe's overly optimistic jibes
about
the "positive economic ties," China had its interests set in oil reach
investment destinations in Africa such as Angola and Sudan.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
24 October 2007
Posted to the web 25 October
2007
Harare
ZIMBABWE'S economy is likely to contract by a further
6 percent this year,
despite robust growth on the African continent on the
back of strong
domestic demand, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report
said.
Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to gather speed
in 2007
and 2008, but Zimbabwe would stumble due to worsening macroeconomic
instability, the IMF said in its regional economic
outlook.
Zimbabwe is currently going through its worst crisis in
history,
characterised by acute foreign currency and fuel shortages, which
have
disrupted the normal functioning of all economic activities, triggering
severe commodity shortages that have fuelled inflation.
Inflation
last month hit an all-time high of 7 982.1 percent, the highest in
the
world.
Critics blame the economic crisis on mismanagement of the
country's economy
by President Robert Mugabe's government, but the
government alleges the
economy has suffered under illegal sanctions by the
West meant to trigger
social upheaval and force President Mugabe out of
power.
"We are quite concerned about what is going on in Zimbabwe, and we
have
discussed that several times, including in South Africa, including
recently,
when we had a meeting with the African Caucus in Mozambique,"
Abdoulaye
Bio-Tchané, director, Africa Department, told a press briefing on
the
report.
"What we are advising the country's authorities to do is
to tackle the
current problem by putting in place a comprehensive package of
policies,
which should include fiscal policies, quasi-fiscal policies,
exchange rate
policies, and obviously, some measures on the structural side,
including
liberalisation of exchange rates, liberalisation of the prices,
but also
addressing property rights issues," Bio-Tchané said.
"So I
think the situation is dramatic," he noted, adding: "It is of great
concern
not just to us but to many friends of Zimbabwe."
The report said economic
expansion on the continent would be spurred by
swelling demand and
investment inflow into the continent.
"Domestic demand continues to drive
the expansion in sub-Saharan Africa,
with a strong contribution of
investment reflecting the favorable economic
outlook and better policies,"
the report said.
The report indicated that real per capita gross domestic
product growth in
sub-Saharan Africa, which averaged 3.5 percent between
2003 and 2006, was
expected to reach 4.25 percent in 2007.
The report
also said inflationary pressure would ease during the outlook
period across
the continent, but again singled out Zimbabwe as the only
stain on a clean
sheet.
"Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe is fueled by rapidly deteriorating
economic
conditions and shortages of basic goods," said the IMF, adding:
"The
instability in Zimbabwe is
having adverse regional consequences
as traditional trade patterns are
disrupted and Zimbabweans move to
neighbouring countries for work."
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
24 October 2007
Posted to the web 25 October
2007
Kumbirai Mafunda
Harare
RENAISSANCE Capital (RenCap), the
multi-billion dollar Russian investment
firm, is planning to spread its
tentacles in Zimbabwe through further
investment into the country's
economy.
Financial sector sources disclosed this week that RenCap, which
is now the
second biggest shareholder in CBZ Holdings (CBZH), which holds
the country's
second biggest bank by assets, will extend its influence on
the country's
banking industry and other sectors through the purchase of
shares.
RenCap now controls 14.98 percent in CBZH after purchasing
some of the
shares previously held by South Africa's Absa.
CBZH had
bought the shares under a share buy back arrangement.
The government and
the Libyan Arab Foreign Bank control 16.07 and 14.12
percent of CBZH
respectively.
The Africa-focused Russian investment bank last week
launched a stock index
covering 11 markets in sub-Saharan Africa (RCSSA),
reflecting its growing
interest in the region.
The RC SSA 50 index is
made up of 50 equities and represents 62 percent of
the total market
capitalisation of the sub-Saharan equity market, at US$61.3
billion.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
25 October
2007
Loyalists of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe are
already taking steps to
shape the agenda of the extraordinary congress of
his ruling ZANU-PF party
set for December to ensure Mr. Mugabe's candidacy
is not challenged.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper stated Thursday
that the sole purpose
of the congress will be to affirm that Mr. Mugabe will
be the party’s
candidate in next year’s presidential election. This would
make it hard for
anyone to mount a challenge to his leadership, as some
believe Vice
President Joyce Mujuru and her husband, retired General Solomon
Mujuru,
might attempt to do at the gathering.
Mrs. Mujuru during a
recent trip to Cuba was quoted as saying that the sole
agenda of the
congress select a candidate for the presidential election -
suggesting that
ruling party delegates might consider and nominate someone
other than Mr.
Mugabe.
Party insiders say that after consulting lawyers loyal to Mr.
Mugabe,
loyalists of the president are now arguing that under the ZANU-PF
constitution, a challenge to Mr. Mugabe’s preeminence can only be mounted in
2009 when the ruling party's next ordinary congress is due - ruling out
consideration of another candidate.
But the Mujuru camp says the
leadership of the party - and consequently
candidacy for president can be
taken up at an extraordinary congress like
that in view.
Mr. Mugabe's
position has been bolstered by support from the war veterans
faction led by
Jabulani Sibanda, who has been organizing provincial rallies
in support of
the president, declaring that those who refuse to back Mr.
Mugabe are
"sellouts."
Delegates to the ZANU-PF national conference in Goromonzi
last year failed
to reach consensus on Mr. Mugabe's candidacy, necessitating
the
extraordinary congress.
South African-based political analyst
Glen Mpani told reporter Blessing Zulu
of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
such mixed signals from various ZANU-PF
factions show that Mr. Mugabe is now
a divisive figure within the party.
Commentator Bill Saidi said ZANU-PF
was in disarray, with some of the
party's political provinces opposed to
having Mr. Mugabe stand as the
party's candidate.
Monsters and Critics
Oct 25, 2007, 21:09 GMT
Harare - Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe has launched a new school of
intelligence named
after himself, state radio reported Thursday.
Mugabe, 83, laid the
foundation stone of the Robert Mugabe School of
Intelligence in the Mazowe
Valley north of the capital Harare earlier in the
day.
State radio
said the school was the first of its kind in the country and the
region.
At the ceremony, which was also attended by State Security
Minister Didymus
Mutasa, the longtime Zimbabwean leader said intelligence
activities were
more critical than ever before given the continued
unjustified demonisation
of Zimbabwe by Western powers.
The important
role of defending Zimbabwe cannot be left to mediocre
officers, Mugabe was
quoted as saying.
Mugabe's government recently tightened its grip on
internal dissent in
crisis-ridden Zimbabwe when a controversial law to tap
phones, open mail and
intercept email was passed.
Government critics
say the authorities already have a tight network of
informers across the
country.
The Robert Mugabe School of Intelligence should be operational
within 18
months, the report said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche
Presse-Agentur
Fahamu
(Oxford)
OPINION
24 October 2007
Posted to the web 25 October
2007
Mary Ndlovu
Mary Ndlovu presents some hard truths about
life in Zimbabwe and questions
those Pan Africanists who fall for Mugabe's
"anti-imperalist rhetoric". She
asks if there is hope? Yes there is but only
if Pan Africanism is "turned on
it's head" and "seized by the people" away
from leaders not just in Zimbabwe
but across Africa who have consistently
betrayed the people.
Thanks to Rotimi Sankore (Pan Africanism and the
Zimbabwe crisis) for
blowing aside the smokescreen which obscures the real
issues in Zimbabwe for
many well-wishers of a Pan Africanist persuasion.
President Mugabe is very
clever in his use of anti-imperialistic rhetoric to
attract the loyalty of
many unsuspecting supporters throughout Africa. It
saddens Zimbabweans to
see how easily people can be misled by words and
ignore the true facts on
the ground, thus failing to reach a meaningful
understanding of our tragedy.
Perhaps their perspective could be improved by
a few hard realities:
Zimbabweans have a lower material standard of
living now than they have had
since the 1940's up to one quarter of the
population has fled the country,
due either to political harassment and
torture or to inability to survive
and feed their families tens of thousands
of Zimbabweans are dying of
treatable diseases because the health system has
collapsed teachers earn
less than the cost of their transport to work; their
monthly salary will buy
ten litres of petrol, but none can afford a car
chiefs, discredited during
the liberation war as supporters of the Smith
regime, are being restored and
elevated, imposed on the rural population as
unelected leaders, and placed
on the government payroll a small elite of
ruling party cronies, families
and relatives, without any evidence of
working for it, live at a standard
far beyond the expectations of most
middle class professionals of the
developed world Anyone who wishes to study
the situation honestly will have
to admit that none of this is caused by
western "sanctions".
Our government has systematically destroyed an
already troubled economy, for
the purpose of staying in power. Rather than
respond falling living
standards in the 1990's by devising rational policies
which could serve the
people - or alternatively admitting failure and
allowing the opposition to
try their own solutions - the government
panicked, determined to stay in
power at all costs, put politics ahead of
economic sense, and the whole
descent into repression and chaos
resulted.
It is an insult to Zimbabweans to expect that, faced with
declining living
standards, they would not seek to change a government which
might bring them
something better. Why should they be used by foreign
exploiters - any more
than the nationalist movement of the 60's and 70's was
being used by
communist meddlers?
Here are better explanations of the
current Zimbabwean crisis:
There is a shortage of food because government
forcibly stopped the most
knowledgeable and skilled farmers from growing
food there is a shortage of
almost everything, including food, medicine,
transport, manufactures and
services because government has forced everyone
to sell their goods and
services at less than the production cost people are
dying of starvation
because government would prefer them to die than to lose
control of food
distribution to donors Bulawayo, a city of a million people
has no water
because government, since Independence in 1980, has not
constructed a single
new source for a population which has multiplied five
times; it would prefer
to kill a city which has the reputation of being an
opposition stronghold
those who dare to protest publicly that the situation
is intolerable are
arrested, battered, tortured, and thrown into lice, flea
and excrement
infested cells It is also true that there were poor rains in
2007. There
have been poor rains before, and much of Zimbabwe is
drought-prone. It is
the responsibility of governments to deal with this
type of problem and
develop contingencies. If the government has not found
out in 27 years how
to deal with recurring drought, then they do not know
how to fulfil their
responsibilities.
Imperialists have been around
for at least two centuries. If government has
not found out how to deal with
modern day "imperialists" (or globalisation)
to protect their own people,
they do not know how to lead an African nation.
No amount of rhetoric is
going to change the world order. But the rhetoric,
along with the repression
that has destroyed the economy, the society and
the polity has killed a once
vibrant nation full of hope. The dismemberment
of families and the moral and
material destruction of an entire society may
have kept our government in
power; it will never solve the problem of
imperialism.
It is one
thing to analyse what has gone wrong in Zimbabwe. It is quite
another to
take action which will promote positive change. Zimbabweans once
(only seven
long years ago) naively believed that leaders in Africa would
understand the
true nature of the tragedy which has struck us. No longer. It
is now crystal
clear that they are cast in a similar mould. Problems in
their own countries
stem from some of the same causes. If other governments
in the region faced
the same strength of opposition as Zimbabwe did in 2000
and 2002, they might
look very similar to ours. We have only to watch the
repression of
protesters over housing and service provision in South Africa
to understand
the true position. Yes Mbeki may succeed in forcing some kind
of
accommodation between the MDC and ZANU PF. It might just improve the sad
lot
of Zimbabweans in some small way. But let us not fool ourselves into
believing that it will promote any kind of social justice.
Opposition
parties are cut from the same cloth and in countries where they
have gained
power have yet to show that they can deliver to the people Our
nationalist
movements for independence were led by intellectuals, by petty
bourgeoisie,
by labour aristocrats frustrated by their own lack of
opportunity. They
gained the support of the peasantry and the workers. But
once in power they
became distracted by the comforts of office, the
self-importance of command
and the prospect of fabulous wealth through
corruption. Africa as a whole
has been betrayed by nationalist movements, by
governments, by liberation
movements, and even by the new elite- the NGOs.
So let us not expect much
from our "leaders". They are not going to bring us
social justice, whatever
elite-pacting may take place in the secret places
behind closed
doors.
Where, then lies the future? Must we stop hoping and trying? Does
Pan
Africanism have any role to play? Of course it does. But only if we
claim it
away from the rhetoricians and the charlatans and the leaders who
have
betrayed us. We must turn it on its head and seize it for the people.
Only
through Herculean efforts of the social movements who demand a share of
the
wealth, and respect and comfort for the people will we make progress.
And
for this purpose we must form cross-border alliances at grass roots
level to
counter those alliances of corrupt leaders that the AU and SADC
have become.
No one said this could be easy. Just as the liberation
struggle was long and
hard, so will this one be. But this time we must be
more aware of the
reality of not just potential but probable betrayal by
leaders. We must
develop new styles of leadership based on service not power
and privilege.
Then we can support each other across Africa, and step by
careful step build
a new Pan Africanism based on social justice for the
people.
* Mary Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean human rights activist.
25 October 2007
MDC activist Nhamo
Musekiwa dies
Nhamo Musekiwa, an MDC activist who was also President
Morgan Tsvangirai's
bodyguard since the formation of the MDC in 1999, died
yesterday in a South
African hospital.
He was 37 when he passed away
yesterday afternoon.
Musekiwa was an opinion and community leader before
the formation of the
MDC. He was a pioneer of the MDC's youth assembly; a
pathfinder who traveled
the length and breadth of the country helping in
creating structures and
spreading the gospel of change in the formative
years of our struggle.
Musekiwa was recuperating in hospital following
injuries he sustained when
he was brutally assaulted and tortured, together
with President Tsvangirai
and other senior party leaders, during the aborted
prayer meeting in the
working-class suburb of Highfield in Harare on 11
March 2007.
President Morgan Tsvangirai, his family, the party's staff and
members and
supporters have received the news of Musekiwa's death with grief
and sorrow.
The story of the long and arduous road to a new Zimbabwe and
a new beginning
will never be complete without the mention of Nhamo
Musekiwa, a committed
man who was so faithful, so committed to the struggle
and so trustworthy as
to be entrusted with the security and life of the
President.
Musekiwa, who shared the same cell and helped President Tsvangirai
when he
was fainting during their detention at Borrowdale police station in
March,
has been recuperating in South Africa since his brutal and barbaric
assault.
His brother, Caisson, says Musekiwa never recovered from the brutal
assault
and has been vomiting blood since the fateful day on 11 March
2007.
He was born on 20 April, 1970, in Mwenezi Communal Area in Neshuro
village
in Masvingo Province.
He attended Mwenezi Primary School before
proceeding to Zengeza High School
in Chitungwiza for his secondary education
from 1985 to 1990.
After the completion of his secondary education, he did a
course in
carpentry and worked for several years in the informal sector
before joining
the MDC's Presidential security team at the party's inception
in 1999.
He travelled with President Tsvangirai in all the country's
provinces. He
encountered all the life-threatening incidences with the
President since
1999, including the fateful and brutal assaults in Machipisa
which marked
his slow and painful journey to his untimely death.
Musekiwa
is survived by his wife Edina. Burial arrangements are still in
progress.
The President, his family and all MDC supporters, are still
shocked by the
death of one of the illustrious heroes of this
struggle.
Musekiwa is our hero. May his soul rest in eternal
peace.
MDC Information and Publicity Department
DEPARTMENT OF
INFORMATION & PUBLICITY
44 Nelson Mandela Avenue
Harare
Tel:
0912 940 489, 091 2 850 556
e-mail: mdcnewsbrief@gmail.com
SW Radio Africa
(London)
25 October 2007
Posted to the web 25 October
2007
Tichaona Sibanda
An aspiring MDC parliamentary candidate
and two other party officials were
abducted from their homes Thursday in
Chipinge South and are being held at a
police post manned by war veterans at
Checheche growth point.
The opposition officials were bundled into a
white B1800 truck with no
number plates by six heavily built men in broad
daylight. Before startled
onlookers could help, the truck was driven away at
high speed.
The three abductees, George Makuyaya the MDC's
parliamentary candidate for
next year's elections, Philip Munopera the
party's district elections
director and local ward Chairman Leornard
Makusha, are reportedly being held
by Zanu-PF members loyal to the local MP
and central committee member Enock
Porusingazi.
The MDC said the
police post, situated in a building owned by Porusingazi,
is a no-go area
for the opposition, human rights activists and lawyers.
Pishai Muchauraya,
the MDC spokesman for Manicaland, said more often war
veterans and Zanu-PF
youths man the police post.
'You will be signing your own death warrant
if you try to approach the
police post. This is why we are concerned about
the safety of our colleagues
because we hear a lot of horror stories coming
from that police post,'
Muchauraya said.
Muchauraya added that they
have concluded from the abduction that the
'extremely violent' Porusingazi
wants to frighten Makuyana from standing
against him during next year's
parliamentary elections.
'It shows they are panicking and they know they
are going to lose the
elections. This is why they are resorting to violence
in the hope that
people will vote them back into parliament.'
SW Radio Africa
(London)
25 October 2007
Posted to the web 25 October
2007
Tichaona Sibanda
The MDC ward chairman for Mutare
central, Tobias Gundavakura, on Thursday
told of his terror after his head
was sliced open by a machete-wielding
attacker believed to be a Zanu-PF
youth.
Gundavakura 35, suffered serious injuries to his head and hand and
was
treated at Mutare general hospital. He told Newsreel he was undergoing
scans
at a private surgery to determine the extent of his head
injury.
The attack on Gundavakura happened as he was walking home
with his brother
from watching a football match in Dangamvura just after 7pm
Wednesday. The
brothers were near their home when they walked into an
ambush.
'My brother and I were wearing MDC t-shirts and we were so close
to reaching
home when a group of four men approached us and started swearing
and telling
us that we were selling out the country to the whites. We tried
to ignore
them but they became more aggressive and abusive,' Gundavakura
said.
The ward chairman said his young brother got into a big
confrontation with
the group and there was a verbal confrontation which
almost turned into a
fistfight. When he tried to pull his brother away, one
of the men drew a
machete from under his shirt and struck Gundavakura with
brute force on the
head.
'I momentarily lost consciousness because of
the intense pain. I must have
cried out loud in pain because a lot of people
who heard my screams came
rushing to our aid as the attackers fled from the
scene. I lost a lot of
blood but I was rushed to hospital were I received
sixteen stitches,'
Gundavakura said.
They were attempts to chase the
attackers but they disappeared into the
night. The attack on Gundavakura
came just a few hours after Home Affairs
Minister Kembo Mohadi promised an
MDC delegation that the government would
investigate all cases of violence
against the opposition.
'The attack on me has fuelled my resolve to
support the MDC to the hilt.
From today when ever I go into town I will put
on my MDC t-shirt or even
walk into a police station dressed in party
regalia. I want to be the first
to test the government's sincerity to tackle
violence against the MDC,' he
said.
IOL
October 26 2007 at 01:35AM
Windhoek - The presidents of Namibia and
Angola called on Western
countries to lift sanctions imposed against
neighbouring Zimbabwe on
Wednesday, calling them "illegal" and
unfair.
"The sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe are illegal and
unjustifiable,"
Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba and his Angolan
counterpart Jose
Eduardo dos Santos said in a joint press statement on
Wednesday.
"These sanctions cause hardship to the Zimbabwean
people," said the
statement, released during a ceremony to mark the
departure of Dos Santos
after a two-day state visit to Namibia.
The two presidents also expressed concern about a recent upsurge of
violence
by rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
They
encouraged the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to
continue
supporting the government of the DRC in consolidating democratic
institutions and maintaining peace and stability in that
country.
Dos Santos returned to Angola Thursday, after an address
to the
Namibian parliament in which he emphasised the close ties between the
two
countries.
"Together we fought a powerful enemy to obtain
freedom and
independence," Dos Santos said.
During the state
visit the two countries signed co-operation
agreements on education, private
investment, legal assistance in criminal
matters and health services along
the common border.
Pohamba and Dos Santos also discussed a possible
railway link across
the common border, as Namibia is building a railway line
to the Angolan
border by 2009. - Sapa-AFP
Africasia.com
GABORONE, Oct 26 (AFP)
Gabarone businessman Thlomamo Patrick Dibeela has
little sympathy for his
Zimbabwean narrator as he listens to his tales of
arrest and assault at the
hands of the security services in
Botswana.
"You don't have a permit. You are a border jumper," he tells
Morris Mahlangu
Lorenzo.
"We are generous but sometimes they take
advantage... Five years ago, the
situation was okay, but now you have
murders, rapes. The situation has gone
beyond control."
His list of
complaints is typical of the population in Botswana which is
feeling the
strain of the influx of Zimbabweans across their common
border -- but is
also happy to take advantage of a cheap source of labour.
Dibeela, who
runs a garage in downtown Gaborone, readily acknowledges that
he employs
many of the migrants. But he says they should all be prepared to
return to
the economic meltdown in their homeland once their three-month
visas
expire.
"After three months, they should leave and let others come," he
said.
According to government sources, Botswana is playing host to an
estimated
quarter of a million Zimbabweans -- a number that is growing by
the month as
the situation back home under President Robert Mugabe goes from
bad to
worse.
The number is only a fraction of the million-plus who
are believed to have
headed across the Limpopo river to South Africa, but
the social impact on a
country with a population of only two million is
arguably felt more acutely.
The sleepy capital Gaborone is normally home
to around 170,000 Botswanans
but its population has been visibly swelled by
the Zimbabweans who can be
seen hanging out on street corners and parking
lots at all times of the day.
Olivia Manhembe manages to earn a few
dollars a day by gathering soda cans
which are then sold on for scrap for
0.40 pula (around 60 eurocents, 85 US
cents) per kilo.
"In Zimbabwe,
there is no job, no food," she explains.
"I came to seek for some money,
but here it is nearly as difficult," adds
the 32-year-old, who lives in a
wooden shack on the outskirts of the capital
along with several other
Zimbabweans.
Despite the hardships of every day life, Manhembe manages to
save enough
money to buy basic household goods that are almost impossible to
find on
supermarket shelves in Zimbabwe, and regularly returns to supply her
family.
Lorenzo is similarly driven to join the ranks of Zimbabweans who
offer
themselves for a day's labour -- often for derisory wages that they
are in
no position to contest for fear of being denounced to the
police.
Keeping a close eye out for police patrol cars, he recalled how
he had twice
been deported, including once after being picked up even though
he had made
a 120 kilometer (75 mile) detour on foot to avoid a
roadblock.
"I came back by foot again the same night," he said. "If we
see the police
now we run ... I have been beaten many times."
While
he insists he has no complaints with his current boss Dibeela,
mechanic
Henry Chagwiza says Zimbabweans are all too often exploited.
"We are not
treated well. The people we work for want to use us as cheap
labour,"
Chagwiza said.
"They're okay with medics, accountants and doctors but
they are flooded with
the others. They don't want us now."
Botswana's
government is also alert to the advantages of the troubles across
the
border, reaching out to professionals who have had enough of
Zimbabwe.
Health Minister Sheila Tlou said that Zimbabweans were the
number one target
of a recruitment drive to find staff for three new
hospitals opening in
Botswana later this year.
"It is cheaper (to
relocate the Zimbabweans) because they will be close to
home. Hopefully they
will find the pula much more attractive," she told AFP.
While Botswana is
one of Africa's wealthiest countries thanks to its large
diamond reserves,
the Zimabwean economy has been in meltdown for several
years.
Inflation is the highest in the world at nearly 8,000 percent,
the jobless
rate is around 80 percent and wages barely cover the cost of the
daily
commute.
According to Chagwiza, who moved from Harare to
Gaborone in 2004, most
Zimbabweans would be only too happy to head back home
if the economic
situation there improved.
"If things get better in
Zimbabwe, we will go back the same day," he
insists.
Please send any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to: JAG
Job Opportunities; jag@mango.zw or justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
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EXPERIENCED & TOUGH FARM MANAGER
NEEDED
Greyfriars (UK) Ltd is one of the leading producers and marketers
of fresh
produce in Europe
We produce or source a wide range of
vegetables from all round the world and
market them in to major UK
supermarkets
As part of its ongoing development programme Greyfriars is
currently
investing £2 million in the activities of its wholly owned
subsidiary
Greyfriars Bulgaria Ltd. This investment includes the purchase of
land and
farm machinery together with the building of a pack house and
boutique hotel
for staff and visitors in the east of the
country.
Crops to be grown include wheat, exotics (mange tout, sugar
snaps, baby
corn, chillies, garlic etc) and maybe tobacco.
The
project is lead by a UK MD and a local Operations Director – but it is
now
time to recruit an ambitious, knowledgeable, self starting farm manager
with
crop experience, good farm machinery skills and an ability to motivate
a
workforce more accustomed to creative inertia than getting things done
well
and on time or not at all!
The ideal candidate could be a younger person
without children or perhaps
someone who is still fit and ambitious but whose
children are on their way
in the world. In other words a top Zimbabwean
farmer or former farmer.
This is an exciting, pioneering opportunity with
an aggressive and
innovative company with strong links to
Zimbabwe
Salary will be competitive – and will be paid in
Sterling.
Initially accommodation will be a large mobile home or an
apartment in
Yambol – but ultimately the company hotel will be used to
accommodate key
company personnel.
A company car is
provided
Initial interviews will take place in Harare – possibly before
Christmas
2007 – for an appointment early in the New Year.
Full CV’s
and photographs should be sent by e mail to :
cjohnsmith@greyfriars.biz
C.
John Smith MBE
Chairman
Greyfriars (UK) Ltd
www.greyfriars.biz
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted (25/10/2007)
Driver/Messenger Wanted Urgently for a small
company. The vacancy is a
mornings only position, there may be an option to
go full day at a later
stage if need be. Ideally looking for a retired
individual, although I am
also willing to consider other candidates.
Traceable references, driving
license and experience in driving motorbike
and motorcar required. Please
contact Sarah on 778842 or 747975 or
091-2-351-260 or alternatively email
your cv to sarahv@unizim.co.zw
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted (25/10/2007)
Domestic Worker who can Cook/Bake and do Maid
Duties Wanted Urgently for a
flat in Avondale Area. This position does not
provide accommodation and
traceable references are required. This position
is to work a 5 day week
and a love of animals is a must. Looking for an
honest, hardworking and
reliable individual. Please contact Sarah on 778842
or 747975 or
091-2-351-260 or alternatively email your cv to sarahv@unizim.co.zw
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Add
inserted (25/10/2007)
MAINTENANCE MANAGER. Opportunity for mature male
candidate . Diesel Fitter
with at least 15 years experience in running
plant workshops and field
service teams. Position would require a
self-starter to develop and manage
the maintenance department of a
medium-sized construction company.
Knowledge of, and experience in setting
up workshop systems is essential.
Experience in auto-electrics, motor
mechanics, panel beating,
metal-fabrication would also benefit. Portuguese
would also be an
advantage. Package tailored to suit the right candidate.
Apply in writing
with CV and references to craig@vmmoz.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Add
inserted (25/10/2007)
FORESTRY AND SAWMILL MANAGER. An opportunity for a
35+ male candidate with
experience in Forestry Management and Hardwood
Timber Sawmilling Operations.
The right person would need several years
experience in sustainable forest
management and commercial sawmilling
operations. Tertiary education in
Forestry Management would help as would
the ability to speak / understand
Portuguese. A self-starter who enjoys a
challenge would be ideal. Apply in
writing with CV and references to craig@vmmoz.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 18/10/07)
FINANCIAL DIRECTOR – Vilanculos
An excellent
opportunity exists for a CA qualified person (or equivalent) in
Vilanculos,
Mozambique, with a medium sized construction company.
A minimum of 5 years
experience is needed.
Experience in the construction industry and an ability
to speak Portuguese
would be an advantage.
Apply in writing with CV and
references to: louise@vmmoz.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 11/10/07)
Junior School Teacher required – Mozambique
A
junior school teacher is required for a small junior school situated in
Vilanculos, Mozambique. There are also possible job opportunities in
Vilanculos in Construction/Management/Tourism for partner or spouse.
For
more details please email: rainier@vmmoz.com or louise@vmmoz.com
-------------------------------=----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 11/10/07)
Driver/Messenger Wanted - Urgently.
The
applicant must have experience and a valid licence in driving a
motorbike
and a car. Traceable references are required. Work in the
Hillside area on
a part-time basis. Job will only be for a couple of hours
a day from Monday
to Friday. Travel costs will be covered, within reason.
Please contact Sarah
on 778842 / 747975 / 091-2-571-002 or email
sarahv@unizim.co.zw.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 11/10/07)
Maid Wanted - Urgently
Must have traceable
references and must like animals. Work in the Avondale
Area, no
accommodation provided. We are looking for someone preferably
living within
that area, but we are willing to pay travel costs, within
reason. Job is to
work for two flats during the week.
Please contact Ian on: 091-2-336-589 or
Sarah on: 091-2-571-002 / 778842 /
747975.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 4/10/07)
Accountant Required
A fully or semi qualified
Accountant is required for a growing Financial
Services Provider. The
successful applicant will be proficient in Financial
Statement Preparation,
Tax Computations, Capital Allowances Computations and
all related
activities. The applicant should also have experience with
Management
Accounting. The applicant should be highly motivated, career
orientated and
hungry for success. The successful applicant will work with
a dynamic young
team of individuals. This person must be willing to learn
and to grow with
the company. An attractive package is offered for this
position. If you are
interested, please contact us as follows:
Cell: 091 2 236
625
091 2 354 840
Email: Brendan.palmer@sabreserve.co.zw
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
Inserted (04/10/2007)
P.A./Administrator/Book Keeper
Required
P.A/Administrator/Book Keeper required to work for a growing
Financial
Services Provider. The successful applicant will have experience
in book
keeping and office administration. This person will also be the
Personal
Assistant to the directors of the company. The applicant should be
highly
motivated, willing to learn and keen to grow with the company. An
attractive
package is offered for this position. If you are interested,
please contact
us as follows:
Cell: 091 2 236
625
091 2 354 840
Email: Brendan.palmer@sabreserve.co.zw
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Add
inserted 4/10/07
EMPLOYMENT OFFERED
A top Golf Club in Harare is
looking for a bookkeeper to start immediately.
Must be proficient with
Pastel accounting packages and able to take books to
balance
sheet.
Busy, but wonderful working environment, with negotiable
package.
Please send CV to mikew@zimbiz.net or phone 04-747743 for more
details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 27/9/07)
FARM LABOURERS required
Older, yet capable, sheep
hand and general farm hand required, good with
irrigation and
fencing.
Contactable refs required – would suit displaced farm
worker.
Contact – Debbie on cell: 0912 323 220
Email: mikes@kettex.co.zw
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 20/9/07)
SIMBA International School – NDOLA, ZAMBIA
SIMBA
International School, a multi-cultural school in Ndola, Zambia, has
the
following vacancies.
1. A-level and IGCSE Art teacher. This post will
become vacant in January
2008.
2. An English teacher – to teach up to
IGCSE level. This post is currently
vacant due to the death of a staff
member.
3. A Design & Technology teacher to teach up to A-level. This
post will
become vacant in September, 2008.
4. A History teacher to
teach up to A-level. There is a possibility that
this post will become
vacant in 2008.
In order to obtain a Work Permit from the Zambian
Immigration Authorities,
it is essential that applicants have experience of
the Cambridge
International Board exams and should preferably have had
experience of
teaching in an Independent School. SIMBA prides itself on its
academic
results, which have been excellent in recent years.
An
attractive US Dollar based package is offered along with free
accommodation,
free medical and a car.
Ndola is a thriving and friendly town with an
expanding expatriate
community.
Letters of application and a CV
should be emailed to:
deputy.head@simba.sch.zm
Only
short-listed applicants will be
contacted.
.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
Inserted – 20/9/07)
FARM MANAGER REQUIRED
A Horticultural Export
project close to Mutare, requires a farm manager.
Previous horticultural
experience would be an advantage.
Contactable references only .
Please
send CV’s to: dalyn@mweb.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted – 20th September, 2007)
ABC AUCTION –
BOOK-KEEPER
Qualifications: Must have excellent qualifications in Pastel
Vs 7, 8, 9 and
be proficient in Excel & Word
Duties: Perform all
basic tasks of data capturing into Pastel and
interpreting into Excel &
Word Spread Sheets
Balancing inter Company Accounts (no wages or
salaries)
Produce monthly balances of Expense Accounts in
Pastel
Responsibilities: Ensuring daily sales are
accurate
Reporting to Financial Manager
&
carrying out duties allocated
Supervising Accounts Clerk
Qualities: Well organised &
Punctual
Efficient &
Dynamic
Must work well under pressure & in busy
environment
Suit mature
female/male
Be prepared to work 6 day
week
Forward updated C.V. with contactable references to:
Glynis
Wiley
ABC Auctions
Hatfield House
Seke Road, Harare
Telephone:
751343 / 751498
Email: auctions@yoafrica.com
ABC
AUCTIONS
ACCOUNTS CLERK
Qualifications: Must be very proficient
in Excel, Word, Pastel and have
good working knowledge of
VAT.
Duties: Data capture from departments and interpretation onto
Spreadsheets
RTGs applications
Balancing
spreadsheet to Pastel
Produce cheques & write out
orders
Responsibilities: Ensuring accurate daily data
capture
Reporting to Financial Manager &
carrying out
duties allocated
Qualities: Well organised &
Punctual
Efficient & Dynamic
Must work well under pressure & in busy environment
Be prepared to work 6 day week
Suite mature
female/male
Forward updated C.V. with contactable references
to:
Glynis Wiley
ABC Auctions
Hatfield House
Seke
road
Harare
Telephone: 751343 / 751498
Email: auctions@yoafrica.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 20th, September 2007)
CV People Africa
Visit our website
(www.cvpeopleafrica.com) for
numerous local and regional
positions.
Financial Representatives.
Financial Services and Off-Shore Investment Sales
and Marketing. Zimbabwe
and the Region. Commission Based. Job Ref 519
Construction Plant and
Equipment Workshop Manager. Lusaka. Package includes
house. Job Ref
936
Heavy Earthmoving / Road Construction Plant and Equipment Manager.
Southern
Angola. Job Ref 1855
Fibreglass Laminating / Moulding
Production Supervisor. Southern Angola. To
manufacture street lighting and
related products. Job Ref 1856
Insurance Marketing Manager. Malawi. Short
Term, Treaty and Facultative
Reinsurance. Job R 1857
Balancesheet
Bookkeeper. Milton Park, Harare. Duties to include assisting
with new
projects and business development. Job Ref 1834
Semi-Retired Mechanical
Engineer. Harare. Construction related products
manufacturer. Duties to
include plant and machinery maintenance. Job Ref
1846
Chemicals
Production Manager. Harare. Control of production processes. Job
Ref
1786
Export Clothing Production Supervisor / Manager. Workington, Harare.
Job Ref
315
Website : www.cvpeopleafrica.com
Email :
cathy@cvpeopleafrica.com
-
PA To Director : Agri-Processing : ref 63
-
Transport & Warehouse Supervisor : ref 410
- Production /
Works Director – Textiles : ref 471
- Livestock
Out-Grower Programme Manager : ref 1188
- Project Systems Business
Manager : ref 1189
- Finance
Manager :
ref
1433
- Farm Mechanic / Workshop Supervisor : ref
1513
- CV People Recruitment Consultant - Regional : ref 1
-
Borehole Drilling Team & Operators Angola : ref 1697
- Creditors
Controller / Head of Department : ref 1717
- Property
Negotiator :
ref 1754
-
Roads Civil Engineer : Angola : ref 1657
-
Construction Engineer : Angola : ref
1659
- Quantity Surveyor : Angola
: ref
1664
Contact
- email : cathy@cvpeopleafrica.com
- Cathy’s
cell : + 263 (0) 11 213 989
- registration : mail@cvpeopleafrica.com
-
website : www.cvpeopleafrica.com or www.cvpeople.co.zw
Farm Managers –
Angola – Southern Province. Required to develop and
rehabilitate agriculture
in the Southern Province. Primary crops will
include maize, onions,
potatoes, etc. US dollar remuneration. Email
cathy@cvpeopleafrica.com or visit our
website www.cvpeopleafrica.com
Production/Works
Manager. Textiles, Manufacture & Export. Harare based. A
good technical/
engineering background required. Highly negotiable package.
Email cathy@cvpeopleafrica.com or visit our
website www.cvpeopleafrica.com
Factory
Manager. Construction mouldings and boards. Harare based. Lucrative
operation with expansion programme underway. US dollar based package. Email
cathy@cvpeopleafrica.com or
visit our website www.cvpeopleafrica.com
General
Manager/Manageress. Designer furniture import and distribution.
Duties to
include business development, sales and marketing, retail,
showroom
administration, contract negotiations, etc. Email
cathy@cvpeopleafrica.com or visit our
website www.cvpeopleafrica.com
Construction
Managers. Civil Engineers. Road Engineers. Site Agents.
Quantity Surveyors.
Angola. Recruitment interviews presently being
conducted. Email cathy@cvpeopleafrica.com or visit our
website
www.cvpeopleafrica.com
PA to
Operations Director. Food Processing. Secretarial and public
relations
functions. Very good communicator required. Own vehicle essential.
Email cathy@cvpeopleafrica.com or visit our
website www.cvpeopleafrica.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 20th September, 2007)
GARDENER/HOUSEWORKER
REQUIRED
Urgently Wanted – A reliable, honest person to work in the house
and garden;
preferably having worked for someone who is leaving and can
recommend their
worker.
Please contact Liz on 0912 308410, 04 492754
(home) or 04
747859
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
Inserted – 20th September, 2007)
SINGMONT INVESTMENTS (PVT) LTD t/a The
Capsicum Company
Paprika
The Capsicum Company needs farmers with
irrigation. There is still time for
direct sowing of paprika.
The
Capsicum Company has been established for over ten years and we have
reputable markets.
Please contact the office on 04 369143/369198
or
Zane: 011 611 650
Brendan 0912 214 340
Daniel 011
604 666
Douglas 011 638
622
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 6th September, 2007)
HUSBAND/WIFE TEAM
Twin Peaks in
Gweru is looking for a husband and wife team. The husband to
be
handyman/caretaker and the wife to supervise the restaurant.
A two bedroomed
house, fully dura-walled is available and animals are
allowed.
The
vacancy is available from 1st November, 2007.
Any further details can be
obtained from Marie Pile.
Please send your CV: to pilet@mweb.co.zw
Tel: 054 223762 or 054
227996
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 13th September, 2007)
HOUSEWORKER/COOK OR GARDENER
I am
looking for either a houseworker/cook or gardener. The applicant should
be
mature, experienced and either recommended by an employer or have recent
contactable references.
Excellent accommodation offered plus a good
salary to the right person.
Please phone: 011 614 233 for
interview.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 18th October 2007)
I have a transport company in Botswana
servicing trade between Botswana and
Zambia.
There are 7 vehicles all
Internationals with Cumins engines, Rockwell Difs
and Fuller G/Boxes.
I
am seeking a Mechanic to service the fleet and respond to breakdowns.
The
Incumbent should be fully Versatile with the above and have a minimum of
10
years experience with traceable references.
In return the company offers the
following:
Housing
Medical Aid 50 %
Company Vehicle
22 days leave
P/A
Remuneration would be based on experience.
Ideally we are seeking a
mature person of sober habits with the ability to
make decisions and respond
to any mechanic problem that would arise at any
time.
Should you feel
that you meet the requirements please forward your C.V and
details to
gerry_van_zyl@yahoo.co.uk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EMPLOYMENT
SOUGHT
(Add inserted 20/9/07)
QUALIFIED MOTOR
MECHANIC
Qualified in diesel and petrol.
Experience also on boats.
Had
own workshop.
Requires position as Workshop Manager in and around
Harare.
Contact: Vernon Cockcroft on Tel: 0912 272842
Email: cockie@zol.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Add
inserted 13th September, 2007)
OPPORTUNITY WANTED
A mature man with
many years referenced experience, mainly in administration
and security
related management with various reputable organisations, seeks
a new
direction in life.
CV is available and contact can be made through:
Mrs
Parsons on Tel: 04 300514 or email: Selous.hotel@mango.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For
the latest listings of accommodation available for farmers, contact
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw