VOA
By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye & Patience Rusere
Washington
18 August 2007
Southern African
leaders have taken tentative steps towards an expanded role
in the
resolution of Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis, observers
concluded
after the Southern African Development Community ended a summit in
Lusaka,
Zambia.
The SADC summit that ended Friday was tougher on Zimbabwean
President Robert
Mugabe than expected, as diplomatic sources said his fellow
regional leaders
insisted that he institute democratic reforms and economic
policy changes
before they would assemble an bailout package to relieve
food, fuel and
electricity shortages.
But critics said leaders headed
by Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, SADC's
new chairman, offered nothing
new in the way of solutions to the longrunning
crisis.
Mr. Mugabe's
peers were said to have grilled him behind closed doors, but in
public they
closed ranks, giving him a standing ovation on Thursday when he
entered.
Though Zimbabweans are flooding into South Africa and other
neighboring
countries to escape dire economic conditions at home including
hyperinflation and critical food shortages, the SADC communiqué merely
urging Mr. Mugabe's government and its opposition to seek common ground in
South African-mediated crisis talks.
The SADC leaders "encouraged the
parties to expedite the process of
negotiations and conclude the work as
soon as possible so that the next
elections are held in an atmosphere of
peace," referring to general and
presidential elections in early
2008.
The faction of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change
headed
by MDC founder Morgan Tsvangirai took issue with Mwanawasa for
declaring
during the summit that the severity of the Zimbabwe crisis was
"exaggerated." The formation said it intended to "enlighten" regional
leaders as to the depth of Zimbabwe's distress.
But the U.S. State
Department voiced satisfaction at the SADC summit
statement.
Political analyst Peter Kagwanja of the Human Sciences
Research Council in
Pretoria, South Africa, told reporter Ndimyake
Mwakalyele of VOA's Studio 7
for Zimbabwe that the Southern African regional
organization has clearly
toughened its stance.
Meanwhile, police in
Lusaka twice arrested then released a Southern African
regional officer of
the Tsvangirai opposition faction, sources in the
Zambian capital
said.
Lusaka police arrested MDC official Nqobizitha Mlilo Friday for
allegedly
attending the summit without accreditation, released him later
after
verifying his credentials, then re-arrested him on Saturday. He was
released
within hours after his lawyer intervened.
Reached late
Friday after being released for the first time, Mlilo told
reporter Patience
Rusere that he was not questioned about his credentials
but about the
activities of the Johannesburg MDC office, adding that
Zimbabwean agents
were present.
His attorney, Executive Director Arnold Tsunga of the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights, said the Lusaka police told him clearance
would have to be
obtained from the Zambian secret service before Mlilo would
be allowed to
leave the country.
SABC
August 18, 2007,
15:15
Civil society delegates meeting in Lusaka, Zambia during the SADC
heads of
state summit have called for strong intervention by governments to
resolve
the crisis in Zimbabwe.
The Civil Society Forum has implored
SADC leaders to set targets for the
creation of a climate that will allow
for free elections. Crisis in Zimbabwe
coalition coordinator Nicholas
Mkaronda says a people driven constitution
that entrenches democratic
governance must be developed.
SADC leaders earlier said regional finance
ministers had been tasked to find
a solution to Zimbabwe's economic
problems. South African President Thabo
Mbeki also told delegates that there
had been progress in facilitated talks
between Zanu-PF and the opposition
MDC.
IOL
August 18
2007 at 12:53PM
Civil society groups on Saturday called on the
Southern African
Development Community (SADC) to review Zimbabwe's electoral
framework,
following a two-day SADC heads of state summit in Lusaka,
Zambia.
"Zimbabwe's electoral framework must be reviewed to comply
with the
barest minimum requirements of the SADC Principles and Guidelines
on
Democratic Elections, along with other recognised international
standards,"
said Reverend Malawo Matyola of the SADC Civil Society Forum in
a statement.
Delegates welcomed President Thabo Mbeki's efforts on
Zimbabwe, but
said mediation efforts by SADC governments in emerging and
existing conflict
areas continued to be marginal and fell short of
addressing core issues.
There was a "worrying
trend" by some SADC member states to institute
statutory regulation aimed at
stifling the work of NGOs, the civil society
delegates noted.
"Civil society is calling on SADC heads of state to institute
legislation
promoting and enabling civil society participation in
decision-making
processes in the region."
Meanwhile the SADC secretariat said the
summit had been briefed that
negotiations between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF
party and both factions of
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
were "progressing smoothly".
"Summit welcomed the progress and
encouraged the parties to expedite
the process of negotiations and conclude
work as soon as possible...," a
statement read.
An economic
plan to support Zimbabwe would be drawn up, based on a
report by the SADC
executive secretary, in consultation with the Zimbabwean
government.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who took up the
SADC chairmanship,
said he would work towards making a free trade area a
reality by 2008 and
accelerate preparations for a customs union. - Sapa
SABC
August 18, 2007,
16:15
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) leader Kenneth Meshoe has
accused
President Thabo Mbeki of protecting Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe. He
says Mugabe will further violate people's rights and Mbeki should
own up to
the current situation in Zimbabwe.
Meshoe says Mbeki is
well positioned to intervene. "The President of South
Africa is in a
position to confront the leader of Zimbabwe and ensure that
the decisions he
make do not cause unnecessary suffering amongst Zimbabweans
and Mbeki has
not done so," says Meshoe.
He adds: "So the problem we are facing as a
result of the flood of illegal
immigrants, he must take responsibility for.
He (Mbeki) does not want to
tell Mr Robert Mugabe that he is wrong and he
needs to correct the wrongs
he's making".
Mbeki told the SADC summit,
which ended in Lusaka, Zambia last night, that
there had been progress in
facilitated talks between the ruling Zanu-PF and
the opposition MDC. He has
also asked SADC finance ministers to come up with
a plan to save the
Zimbabwe economy.
Yahoo News
Sat Aug 18, 10:42 AM ET
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's main
opposition party Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) said on Saturday it
would "enlighten" regional leaders who have
dismissed the country's crises
as exaggerated.
"We will continue to enlighten Southern African
Development Community (SADC)
on the crises affecting us, which have resulted
in our people fleeing to
other countries in large numbers," MDC spokesman
Nelson Chamisa told AFP,
reacting to a statement by Zambian President Levy
Mwanawasa.
"We remain focused to allow the region and the entire continent to
stand on
the side of the people and not to stand on the side of Mugabe and
his people
who are the authors of these crises and who are also benefiting
from them,"
Chamisa said, referring to Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe.
On Friday Mwanawasa, who is also chairman of the SADC, said at
the close of
a regional summit: "We ... feel that the problems in Zimbabwe
have been
exaggerated." The country, he added, would find a solution to its
economic
woes.
"We are quite satisfied with the report from South
African President Thabo
Mbeki on the crisis in Zimbabwe," the Zambian leader
said.
Earlier, however, Mwanawasa had likened neighbouring Zimbabwe to a
"sinking
Titanic".
In the throes of an economic crisis, Zimbabwe is
plagued with hyperinflation
well past the 5,000 percent mark, four in five
people jobless, and 80
percent of the population living below the poverty
threshold.
Chamisa said the MDC was discouraged and disappointed by
Mugabe's insistence
that problems were minimal.
"Companies are
closing down, there is shortage of food, shops are empty.
"We would have
thought Mugabe would have at least owned up and say we have a
challenge,
which will need the ruling party and the opposition to sit and
talk," the
spokesman said.
The 83-year-old Mugabe, who has ruled his country for
nearly three decades,
has blamed the country's woes on drought and the
imposition of targeted
sanctions by Western nations on himself and members
of his inner circle.
But critics say problems started with a
much-disputed government land reform
programme in 2000 that saw thousands of
white-owned commercial farms seized
and redistributed to landless blacks and
government cronies.
Meanwhile, a South African a newspaper on Saturday
lashed out at President
Thabo Mbeki and SADC leaders for allegedly being
soft on Mugabe at the
just-concluded summit in Zambian capital
Lusaka.
"The SADC leaders are a pathetic, week-kneed bunch, judging by
their
inability to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis," the opposition newspaper
said
in its editorial titled 'Mbeki bows to the hero of SADC'.
"And
none is more ineffectual than Mbeki, mandated by the SADC to facilitate
a
political solution, he has got precisely nowhere," it said.
SABC
August 18, 2007,
09:45
President Thabo Mbeki says political negotiations and efforts to
support
Zimbabwe's ailing economy will continue.
Mbeki was speaking
in Lusaka, Zambia at the end of the two-day SADC summit,
where the situation
in Zimbabwe featured prominently on the agenda.
The President says SADC
leaders accepted a report from the regional body's
executive secretary on
what needs to be done to revive Zimbabwe's economy.
He also said that he
was confident that the SADC region will be able to have
a free trade area by
the end of next year as planned. He says SADC states
have just one year left
to remove tariffs on goods.
Independent, UK
Despite many beatings in pursuit of equal
rights, Peter Tatchell has always
abhorred violence. Now he says he could
understand the murder of an African
dictator
Interviewed by Cole
Moreton
Published: 19 August 2007
Peter Tatchell speaks very
carefully. He stops in mid-sentence to edit his
words - "Sorry, let me
rephrase that" - as if a conversation is a radio
interview. Remember that
when the famed campaigner for human rights says
something truly shocking
about what he would like to see done to Robert
Mugabe. But first this thin,
intense man is telling me the terrible things
that other people would like
to do to him.
"We are going to kill you gays," says Tatchell, reading
from a transcript he
has made of threatening telephone calls. "The
punishment for sodomy is
death." The calls have been frequent, usually late
at night. He takes them
in this musty room, where every spare space is
filled with stacks of books
or papers. They tell him: "You are going to be
beheaded: that is the
punishment in Islamic law."
I was going to
start lightly, with a question about the Manchester Pride
festival, where he
will be on Thursday, arguably the biggest, most joyfully
riotous celebration
of gay culture in the country. I was going to ask
Tatchell, best known for
his outrageous direct action in support of lesbian
and gay rights, whether
the battle for equality had been won and it was time
to kick back and party.
But instead we're talking about death threats.
"I know that most of them
are bluff and bravado, but there is always a
danger that someone might be
deadly serious and have a go," he says. I'm on
a low sofa, trying not to
kick over copies of The Humanist. He's looking
down on me from a hard-backed
wooden chair he has pulled close. He has an
unsettling habit of keeping
constant eye contact, except for when his energy
or attention flags
momentarily.
Tatchell still suffers headaches, blackouts and memory loss
from his beating
by Russian Neo-Nazis (and possibly secret policemen) at a
Pride event in
Moscow in May. The 57-year-old has been assaulted many times
during 40 years
of campaigning. Homophobic Muslim clerics with friends who
like to call and
make threats in the dark are among the more gentle of his
enemies. Followers
of Jamaican reggae were said to have taken out a contract
on his life after
he called for the banning of songs, such as Buju Banton's
"Boom Bye Bye",
that advocate the shooting, hanging, burning or drowning of
gays.
The police gave him armed protection for a while, but it seems to
have gone.
The windows of his three-roomed council flat in a tenement just
off London's
Elephant and Castle are protected by security bars, and a
notice on the
front door warns that it is under 24-hour electronic
surveillance. That
stopped people putting dog-shit through the letterbox,
but Tatchell is less
than impressed with the official reaction to the latest
calls, which have
been going on for three months. "We have managed to trace
the number to
identify the perpetrator but that person has never been
interviewed, let
alone questioned by the police. It's an absolute fucking
disgrace."
Tatchell is edgy. It's late afternoon and he has been arguing
with officials
all day in an attempt to prevent a lesbian being deported
back to a country
where she believes she will be executed. He has had no
breakfast and only a
"a small banana and apple" for lunch, which is not
unusual.
"Some of the abuses these people have suffered are so
catastrophic, they are
difficult to block out. Until I can find some kind of
solution they do play
on my mind and I find it difficult to sleep." He looks
drawn. "I'm getting
into the Margaret Thatcher mode of sleeping for three or
four hours a night.
But I know I need eight."
Thatcher has an
inevitable presence in a room whose walls are decorated with
the ephemera of
four decades as an activist. There's a Coal Not Dole sticker
and a badge
that says, "If Thatcher is the answer, it was a bloody stupid
question".
Thatcher has long gone, but every radical figure needs a
nemesis, and for
Tatchell, her place was taken by Robert Mugabe, the
President of Zimbabwe.
Having supported the struggle for independence in
that country, Tatchell
found himself appalled by the President's violent
persecution of gay and
lesbian people, and his treatment of his own people.
It was challenging
Mugabe that also transformed Tatchell's public
image.
He was part of human rights campaigns even as a teenager in his
native
Australia, but here he was long seen as a single-issue obsessive: in
the
Nineties, the papers called him a "homosexual terrorist" and "prize
pervert"
for seizing the Archbishop of Canterbury's pulpit at Easter and
trying to
"out" gay public figures with his group Outrage!.
Labour's
victory in 1997 began a political shift towards equality, but the
way
Tatchell was seen did not shift dramatically until 2001, when he tried
to
make a citizen's arrest of Mugabe at the Brussels Hilton. The sight of
the
determined but slight protester being forced to the ground by the
President's bodyguards won him many new admirers.
Last year, New
Statesman magazine named him as one of the "heroes of our
time", and The
Independent included him among 50 men and women who had made
the world a
better place. So it is a shock to hear this lifelong advocate of
non-violent
protest say, in carefully chosen words, that he believes the
problem of
Mugabe may now have only one solution: assassination.
"The prospects for
democratic, peaceful change seem to be closed, in the
same way as in
Nazi-occupied Europe," he says. "In all normal circumstances,
I'm against
violence. All violence. But in the extreme situation of a
dictatorship where
tens of thousands, if not millions, of lives are at
stake, there may be a
moral and ethical case for the people of Zimbabwe to
kill Mugabe."
It
would have to be a black Zimbabwean, he says, so the motives could not be
misunderstood. "And preferably someone who had opposed Ian Smith's
white-minority rule." This is not frustration then, or a moment of
ill-temper. He has thought out the strategy. But still, it seems
extraordinary coming from him, as if all the energy and fury that enabled
him to challenge the powerful with nothing but his body and his willingness
to take a beating has been twisted into the single, burning thought of a gun
and an expedient death.
Not that Tatchell will worry about what it
does to his image. He has never
attempted (or been able) to make money from
that, earning only about £8,000
a year from journalism. His colour-spattered
tie looks like a relic from the
Eighties and his red jeans and red shirt are
not new, although they are
neatly pressed. The long-life lightbulb remains
unlit as the shadows darken,
although he does switch on the kettle to make a
good, strong cup of tea. And
offers biscuits. He is witty and friendly, when
he's not being recorded.
On Thursday, Tatchell will attend the massive
Pride festival that will
fittingly dominate Manchester, a city whose
regeneration has been helped by
gay culture. Sponsors include Manchester
City Council (flying a rainbow flag
from public buildings) Selfridges and
even the Highways Agency.
After a carnival-style parade watched by "young
and old, gay and straight,
friends and family", Gossip will headline a
concert; but there is also
classical music, theatre and comedy, film and
even sporting competition.
Tatchell will speak on the question, "Queer human
rights: what next?" In the
midst of such a big party one answer would be,
"Relax". But not for him.
"There are unfinished battles."
Such as?
"Imagine how we would feel if the black or Jewish communities were
told,
'You're banned from getting married but we'll give you a separate
system of
civil partnership.' This is a form of sexual apartheid."
Then there are
the problems in the playground. "A recent survey found
two-thirds of lesbian
and gay pupils had suffered homophobic abuse in
school. A quarter had been
physically assaulted. That's truly shocking."
The asylum system is unjust
too, he says. "Time and time again, we see gay
and lesbian asylum-seekers,
who have been jailed, tortured and had their
partners murdered, being told
they are not genuine refugees and deported
back to violently homophobic
countries like Jamaica, Nigeria and Iran."
And it is a mistake to believe
that the violence has ended here, he says.
"About a quarter of all lesbian
and gay people here have suffered assaults
by homophobic gangs. We're
talking about at least a million people. Over the
past two decades, I have
been physically attacked more than 500 times." When
was the last time?
Tatchell pauses, and clears his throat. "The last
incident was about two
years ago."
Things have changed for the better? He switches tack. "Yes.
The decline of
physical attacks on me is probably a rough barometer of the
demise of
homophobia in Britain. I don't want to diminish the gains of the
past
decade, but it would be a mistake to assume they are permanent. Let's
not
forget, Berlin was the gay capital of the world in 1930. Then Hitler
came to
power and gay and bisexual men were carted off to concentration
camps."
Now he campaigns (for free) across a wide range of issues,
including climate
change and the need for an overhaul in our democracy,
which he thinks will
only be achieved by "a new mass movement such as the
Chartists or
Suffragettes". Despite this, he will stand for the Greens in
Oxford at the
next election. He just can't stop, and admits to working
almost every
weekend and evening, responding to 60 calls and 300 emails a
day. "I don't
have the capacity to switch off my mind to other people's
suffering. I can't
help it."
His heroes, Martin Luther King and
Malcolm X, had movements around them.
Tatchell has a close circle of
friends, mostly fellow campaigners, but
admits he does not spend enough time
with them. It sounds like a lonely
life. "It's not lonely. It has been one
of my great failings to not build a
movement, but that's perhaps partly
because I have been involved in so many
campaigns."
Perhaps it's also
because he's difficult to get on with? He ponders for a
moment. "I guess I
am sometimes driven." He has charm, but after two hours
his intensity is
exhausting. "The downside is that it has made sustaining a
partnership with
someone difficult. Who would put up with me?"
Have lovers come close and
been put off? "Yeah." Tatchell smiles, but he
does look drained. "I work the
hours of two people. I do recognise the way
I'm living my life is not ideal,
by a long way. If George Soros or someone
said to me tomorrow, 'Here is
£150,000 for 10 years to run and staff an
office,' I would grab it, and take
the occasional weekend off."
His expression says we both know that is
unlikely. "I have been unable to
attract funding," says the awkward, driven,
maverick Peter Tatchell. "I
don't know why."
News24
18/08/2007 14:27 -
(SA)
Johannesburg - A Zimbabwe government official has scoffed at
reports that
Britain is looking at contingency measures for the possible
evacuation of up
to 22 000 of its citizens from the crisis-wracked country,
saying Harare
would assist them to leave, official reports said on
Saturday.
Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga was responding to
reports in the
British press earlier in the week that said Whitehall was
concerned over
deteriorating conditions in Zimbabwe and had ordered the
Ministry of Defence
to look at what logistical support it could provide in
the event of a total
meltdown.
The report, quoting unnamed ministry
sources, said military evacuation of
British citizens would only be used as
a last resort.
Matonga, who has lived in Britain and has a British wife,
told the official
Herald newspaper: "If, in our wildest dreams, such a wish
from the British
government occurs, why would they dare to send their
evacuation team to
Zimbabwe? We can assist them to leave."
"This is
not going to happen. It's only a dream. Zimbabwe is peaceful and
secure, and
millions of Britons are dying to come and stay in our country,"
Matonga
said.
Zim students deported
Conditions in Zimbabwe are
deteriorating, with chronic shortages of food,
fuel, power and
water.
Political tensions are on the rise ahead of parliamentary and
presidential
elections early in 2008, in which President Robert Mugabe is
expected to
seek another term in office.
Matonga also hit out at a
decision by the Australian authorities to deport
eight students who have
been linked to families from Zimbabwe's ruling
elite.
"We are not
surprised by this move by Australia, a country born of
descendants of
British rapists and paedophiles that were deported from
Britain," he
said.
The official said the expelled students would be able to enroll at
universities in other countries such as Malaysia, which Harare deems
friendly.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated PressPublished: August 18,
2007
HARARE, Zimbabwe: A private security guard attacked and
killed a colleague
he accused of stealing his bag of cornmeal amid acute
food shortages in
Zimbabwe, the official media reported Saturday.
The
arrest of Voice Tongotaya, 29, for alleged murder followed the deaths
Wednesday of two people crushed in a stampede for sugar.
Tongotaya
allegedly slashed a co-worker repeatedly with a machete after his
10-kilogram (20-pound) bag of maize meal - a staple in Zimbabwe - went
missing at a security company depot in the eastern border town of Mutare,
the state Herald newspaper reported.
A 10-kilogram (20-pound) bag of
cornmeal cooked sparingly can last an
average family about 10
days.
Shortages of food and basic goods have heightened tensions in the
southern
African country where lengthy and unruly lines of shoppers waiting
at stores
and markets for food deliveries occur daily.
In Bulawayo on
Wednesday, hundreds of people surged toward the gates of a
yard where sugar
was expected. The perimeter wall collapsed, killing a man
and an
infant.
Police were called to one Harare supermarket Friday to quell mobs
jostling
for cornmeal. A few blocks away, youths in lines for transportation
hurled
rocks at passing cars and the few minibus taxis still operating,
witnesses
said.
Gasoline shortages have crippled commuter transport
since a June 26
government order to slash the prices of all goods and
services in efforts to
tame rampant inflation given officially as 4,500
percent, the highest in the
world.
The order has left shelves bare of
cornmeal, bread, meat and other basics.
Independent estimates put real
inflation closer to 20,000 percent on goods
still available, often through
illegal black market trading, and the
International Monetary Fund has
forecast inflation reaching 100,000 percent
by the end of the
year.
In other signs of rising tension, earlier this month, two soccer
matches
were abandoned before the final whistle after violent fans invaded
the field
to protest refereeing decisions, and music fans trashed the venue
at a show
by top local musician Alec Macheso.
Such actions generally
are rare in Zimbabwe.
At least 7,000 executives, business managers,
traders and bus drivers have
been arrested since June 26 for overcharging.
Most have been briefly
detained and fined, some have been sentenced to
community service cleaning
dilapidated government buildings and one,
described in court as an unethical
and unrepentant businesswoman, began an
eight-month jail term this week.
No deaths have been officially linked to
worsening food shortages though
doctors have reported an increase in
conditions related to poor nutrition,
contaminated water in the nation's
collapsing sanitation facilities, daily
water and power outages and
shortages of basic drugs.
From The Star (SA), 18 August
Hans Pienaar
A schoolgirl from Mabelreign
High School in Zimbabwe stole a march on
President Thabo Mbeki's Zimbabwe
mediation by quoting him on poverty being
the cause of Aids. A visibly
embarrassed Mbeki tried to ignore President
Robert Mugabe's tugging at his
elbow, but had to relent with a curt smile to
the octogenarian dictator.
Diana Kawenda, of Harare, walked away with the
top prize in a Southern
Development Community essay competition for
secondary schools. She was asked
to read her essay to the 12 heads of state
gathered on a stage for SADC's
27th summit being held in Lusaka, Zambia.
Kawenda (18) turned the
essay-reading into rousing propaganda for Mugabe's
viewpoints. It was his
second triumph of the day. At the opening of the
summit, Mugabe had already
been applauded loudly by about 1 000 ministers,
officials and dignitaries
when the heads of state were introduced.
Mbeki was supposed to have
by then delivered his report on his attempts to
mediate in the Zimbabwe
crisis by bringing together opposing parties for
dialogue. But the briefing
to the Tanzanian, Namibian and Angolan presidents
was postponed at the last
moment until after the opening of the summit. The
three leaders make up the
troika of the SADC organ on politics, security and
defence. During the long
opening of the summit, leaders and the audience
struggled against fatigue
from two weeks of hard work to prepare a long
agenda for the summit. Kawenda
enlivened proceedings when she quoted from
research that men in Africa
worked harder than women. Following the ruling
Zanu PF party line, she
ascribed poverty in the region to Africans having
been robbed of their land.
She said political unrest during the apartheid
and colonial eras also
contributed.
Kawenda also blamed drought and floods - favourite
scapegoats of Zanu PF
propagandists. To some extent, she said, drought has
also led to the closure
of manufacturing facilities and rising unemployment.
The main culprit, she
said, was a lack of basic education, due to colonially
biased syllabi. She
then quoted Mbeki from a Zimbabwe newspaper published in
April saying the
cause of the Aids pandemic was poverty. Mbeki turned
towards the podium
where Kawenda was standing, as the audience tittered.
Mugabe, who was seated
next to him, reached over and tugged at his sleeve.
Mbeki ignored the first
few tugs, but then had to turn to Mugabe, after it
had become clear he would
not stop pulling at Mbeki's arm. With great mirth
Mugabe said something in
his ear, at which Mbeki gave a short laugh and
turned back to listening to
Kawenda.
She praised the Chinese for
experimenting with new ways during the Cultural
Revolution - now widely
discredited by the Chinese themselves - but also
advocated free trade in the
region. She made no mention of the fact but
Zimbabwe has been known as a
supplier of arms to mercenaries and a trader in
conflict diamonds. Just as
she began speaking on the need for economic
growth, there was a power
failure. A woman in the audience said, to
laughter, that it was "male
sabotage". An official from Botswana took
umbrage, and started a serious
debate in his corner of the audience on
women's rights. Later he said he was
not against gender reform, as he was
surrounded by women in his job. Only 13
entries were received for the SADC
media awards, but an adjudication
committee nevertheless flew to Windhoek in
June, where they spent a week -
from June 19 to 27 - finding winners in the
print and radio categories. It
was decided not to appoint a winner in the TV
category, as there was only
one entry.
On Thursday, Zimbabwe had scored its first propaganda
victory when SADC
executive secretary Tomaz Salamao told reporters he had
discovered during a
fact-finding mission on behalf of the summit troika that
Zimbabwe was
labouring under sanctions. Zimbabwe had a viable economy, he
said, but
politics and the economy could not be separated in the country. He
said
Zimbabwe's critics did not acknowledge the damage caused by sanctions.
The
US and Europe imposed targeted sanctions against 130 Zimbabweans deemed
to
benefit from repression by Mugabe's government. SADC is partly financed
by
money from Western donor countries.
cathybuckle.com
Saturday 18th August 2007
Dear
Family and Friends,
A month ago I received an email from one of the last few
commercial sugar
farmers still hanging on in Chiredzi. She described how in
April a convoy
had arrived at the farm and announced that the government
were taking over
their property and that the family had until September to
wind up their
business, give up their livelihood, get out of their home and
off the land.
The government delegation then proceeded to enter the family
home and list
all the things which were not to be removed as these were also
being
acquired by the State. These included fans and kitchen units and from
the
house the delegation moved out to the farm yard. Here they took details
of
tractors, machinery and farm implements and said these too were now the
property of the State. The delegation said compensation for the listed items
would be made "One Day" in the future at a price to be decided by State
valuators when finances were available. The farming family are now, as I
write, closing down their affairs and preparing to leave their home and
property which grows sugar cane, citrus fruit and produces milk. In her
email describing these last weeks, the farmer wrote that her children are
well but very upset with these events and that they have so many questions
about it all but there are not many answers.
This farming family are
leaving to make way, not for a landless Zimbabwean
peasant, but for the
daughter of a high up political figure in the district.
This story of
what is happening to one farm and one family in Chiredzi has
been repeated
hundreds of times over in the last eight years. The continuing
seizure of
farms in Zimbabwe by the State makes less sense now than ever
before in our
hungry land which has the lowest life expectancy and highest
inflation in
the world. The story of the seizure of this sugar farm is
particularly
poignant this week as tragic news has emerged of how three
people died when
a sugar queue in Bulawayo turned into a deadly stampede.
Just a fortnight
ago I described being in a supermarket with my fifteen year
old son and
witnessing a stampede for cooking oil. The sight and sound of
the rush, the
pushing and shoving and the frantic snatching is still clear
in my mind.
These events are being repeated every day all over the country
as there is
virtually no food to buy in our shops as the government
continues to insist
on price controls. The deadly stampede happened in
Bulawayo where many
hundreds of people were queuing for sugar. A supermarket
Security Guard
opened the gates, people surged forward and then a wall
collapsed. The
Security Guard died instantly. Another man died later of head
injuries and
broken limbs. A 15 year old school boy was trampled in the
stampede, his
limbs were broken and he too died later in hospital.
As a farmer who
suffered the indignity and outrage of the seizure of home,
business and farm
by the State in 2000 and who was also given the
unfulfilled promise of
compensation, I understand exactly the agonies of the
sugar farming family
in Chiredzi. As a mother of a 15 year school boy my
heart goes out
particularly to the family of the teenager trampled to death
in a sugar
queue in Bulawayo. Like my son, this teenager would have been
just a year
away from writing his 'O' Levels, about to embark on his life
and perhaps go
on to do great things for his country.
In a week so many lives and
families have been broken - and all for sugar
but all because of politics.
Knowing this and then hearing of the standing
ovation at the SADC summit in
Lusaka makes the events on the ground at home
all the more tragic. Do the
SADC leaders know? Do they care?
Until next week, thanks for reading. Love
cathy.
cathybuckle.com
Friday 17th August
2007
Dear Friends. 'Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe was greeted with
thunderous applause by delegates as he arrived at a meeting of the 14-nation
Southern African Development Community (SADC) at which his country's crisis
tops the agenda.'
So writes Chris McGreal in The Guardian today Friday
August 17th 2007.
All week long we in the UK diaspora have been hearing
and reading comment
and analysis of the likely outcome of this meeting in
Lusaka. Just this
morning the BBC's Today programme carried an interview
with the MDC man in
London and one George Shiri, a British based academic -
or that's how he's
described - on the prospects for the talks. Shiri has
been in this country
for close on twenty years, he is in effect the ruling
party's spokesperson
in London and can always be relied on to parrot the
party line.
For anyone who knows anything at all about the situation in
Zimbabwe it was
a shoddy piece of journalism. The BBC presenter clearly had
not done his
homework; he asked innocuous questions and completely failed to
respond when
Shiri, questioned about the violence in the country and the
attack on the
MDC leaders, replied with the usual unproven allegations that
it was all
caused by the MDC themselves. They were mounting a violent attack
on a
police station at the time of the attack, Shiri claimed. And he was
allowed
to get away with that preposterous allegation. No one, not the BBC
man nor,
I'm sorry to say, the MDC representative had the wit to challenge
Shiri or
to remind him of Mugabe's own words at the time, 'We will bash
them.they
deserve it.' which would have pinpointed for the listener exactly
where the
violence is coming from and who is directly responsible for it
all.
And this is the same man who receives 'thunderous applause' from the
SADC
leaders as they gather in Lusaka. Maybe Zanu PF bussed in a whole lot
of
cheer-leaders, I wondered? How else could grown men, leaders of their
countries, cheer for a man like Mugabe who permits no opposition, muzzles
the press and beats his own people . Have these leaders lost all decency and
humanity that they continue to back the man who has time and again shown his
utter contempt for the people's suffering? With literally thousands, of
refugees flooding over their borders, SADC leaders continue to applaud the
man who has brought about his country's downfall and reduced the population
to starvation, misery and desperation so great that they will risk
everything to get out of Zimbabwe.
Mugabe will fly back to Harare
once again, his ego undiminished, to claim
that he has the full support of
his African brothers and the state-owned
media will trumpet his success on
the front page and shout it aloud on every
news broadcast. And once again
the Zimbabwean people, those that are left in
the fast-shrinking population,
will hear the same old lie: that it is the
British who are responsible for
the whole mess. I wish that someone would
explain to me how sanctions
against named individuals have caused the total
collapse of Zimbabwe's
economy. Sanctions! scream the Zanu PF apologists. UK
led sanctions have
destroyed the economy and the SADCC leaders believe -or
choose to believe -
the lie. Even while they benefit from British aid and
trade they swallow the
lie because they must not be seen to attack a
'liberation leader' and break
so-called African unity.
Today's article in The Guardian reports that The
Zambian president who in
March this year described Zimbabwe as a 'sinking
titanic' heaped praise on
Africa's liberation leaders, including Robert
Mugabe and urged all
Zimbabweans to ' maintain peace and stability.' What
kind of nonsense is
this? Morality is turned on its head and Mugabe's
blood-soaked present is
overlooked on the grounds that twenty-seven years
ago he was a great
liberation leader. In the twisted logic of the SADC
leaders' thinking the
past liberation history excuses all present crimes
against his own people.
There is something terribly wrong with that logic;
rather like telling
oneself that one great, heroic deed in the past excuses
all present crimes.
Winning freedom from colonial rule was a great
achievement but the
liberation leaders would do well to remember that they
would never have won
that battle without the support of millions of ordinary
men and women who
gave their lives for freedom. But that was then and this
is now, the
twenty-first century. Thousands of young Zimbabweans have no
memory of the
liberation struggle. The only struggle they know is the
struggle to survive
in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. He will be long gone while the
born-free generation
will live on with his dreadful legacy.
There was one
tiny ray of hope - and unintended humour - in The Guardian
report. The
Zambian information minister, speaking to Associated Press
commented' Zambia
cannot impose its will on Zimbabwe just as Zimbabwe cannot
impose its will
on Zambia. But we can quietly whisper to each other our
concerns.'
So now
we know! A combination of Mbeki's quiet diplomacy and Zambia's quiet
whispers seems to be all that will come out of this SADC extravaganza. Will
the softly-softly approach be loud enough to awaken the collective
conscience of the SADC leaders? Maybe even Mugabe himself might hear a
distant murmur of disquiet from his neighbours and change his ways. Somehow
I doubt it - but miracles do sometimes happen!
Ndini shamwari yenyu.
PH.
Afrique en ligne
Harare (Zimbabwe) The queue at Beitbridge border post in
Southern
Zimbabwe snaked for nearly 500 metres as Zimbabweans waited
patiently to
clear immigration formalities so that they could enter South
Africa.
The South African officials appeared to be in no hurry as
the queue
moved at a snail's pace, while the number of Zimbabweans continued
to swell.
There were close to 700 other people ahead of us on that
chilly August
midnight, but by the time we finally cleared the immigration
formalities
four hours later, the number had increased to
1,500.
This is the story of the daily tribulations of Zimbabweans
who leave
their home country in droves to make forays into neighbouring
countries in
search of either better economic fortunes or
groceries.
It is estimated that close to 5,000 Zimbabweans cross
into Botswana,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia daily to
escape
economic hardships at home.
While some of the people
making the great trek into neighbouring
states do not have proper documents
and use uncharted entry points, the bulk
of those leaving are bonafide
travelers, driven by a desire to fend for
their families back
home.
Most of the travelers are Zimbabwean informal cross-border
traders who
sell their wares in South Africa and return with groceries
either for their
own consumption or for resale back home.
After
clearing the border formalities, the journey to the South
African commercial
capital, Johannesburg, was not easy either.
Police had mounted
roadblocks to flush out illegal Zimbabwean
immigrants.
The
illegal immigrants bribe their way through at the border but often
encounter
problems when they come across roadblocks along the way.
Companies
in the country's neighbours are making brisk business out of
the Zimbabwean
plight because the Zimbabweans tend to buy more than most of
the
locals.
Figures from Statistics South Africa showed that in 2006
Zimbabweans
were among the largest spenders in that country, pumping 2.2
billion rands
(US$324.3 million) into that economy.
The
favourite purchases are goods in short supply at home such as
cooking oil,
sugar, washing soap, milk and, lately, beef.
From time to time one
would see cars carrying unconventional purchases
such as old bicycles and
used furniture.
Besides the benefits to business, the unresolved
Zimbabwean crises
have been taking a toll on neighbouring economies.
Inflation in South Africa
and Botswana have been rising, a development
observers blame on the high
demand by Zimbabweans.
Southern
Africa's main fear is the contagion effect of President
Robert Mugabe's
policies on their own countries and the region.
Zimbabwe is
currently the third most risky country in the world,
ranked marginally
better than Myanmar, according to the Economist
Intelligence Unit of the
UK.
Excluding Zimbabwe, the average rate of inflation for the SADC
region
is pegged at 17.3 percent.
Zimbabwe currently has the
highest inflation rate in the world,
officially estimated at more than 4,500
per cent in May. Independent
estimates put the rate of change in Zimbabwean
prices at as high as 20,000
per cent.
The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) has even warned that Zimbabwe's
inflation could breach
the 100,000 per cent by year-end unless drastic
action was taken to arrest
the economic decline.
There are also concerns about the effects of
Zimbabwe on the rest of
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in
light of the imminent
launch next year of the SADC free trade area and a
Customs Union, and the
various targets the member states have set for
themselves ahead of the
launch.
The targets include
single-digit inflation and budget deficit for all
member states by
2008.
These targets could prove quite a tall order for the Harare
authorities whose penchant for populist and often ill-conceived policies is
widely documented.
JN/nm/APA
2007-08-17
African Press Agency
Welcome to CHRA News Service, provided by the Combined Harare Residents
Association; to subscribe, please send an email written in the subject
Subscribe, to unsubscribe, write the word Unsubscribe in the subject
line.
COMMENT: Heroes Day mean little to most residents 16 August
2007
THE Combined Harare Residents' Association (CHRA) shares the same
concerns
with residents on the collapse of service delivery in Harare. This
is mostly
striking considering that this issue comes to you just a few days
after
Zimbabwe commemorated Heroes Day.
The day is associated with
liberation of the citizenry by liberation
fighters. Unfortunately, those
among our members who also participated in
the liberation struggle are
bitter over the collapse in service provision,
the shortages of water, of
drugs in clinics and hospitals, the continued
breakdown of the rule of law,
and the unreasonable hiking of rates.
The meaning of this very important
day in our nation's history has been
eroded by endemic corruption, police
brutality, State-sanctioned violence,
repressive legislation that hinders
civic participation of the masses and
declining living standards to the
majority of residents of Harare under an
illegal commission.
CHRA
continues to urge the citizens to exercise their right to vote in next
year's election by participating in the current voter registration exercise.
Although the voter registration points are few in Harare, concerned citizens
must still use this opportunity to become registered voters.
Register
now or you will continue to be held at ransom by those you have not
elected
into power.
Below are some key articles that appeared in the
media:
Commission orders investigation of indiscipline among council
workers,
Herald 6 August 2007 ----Page 1
Council on drugs, Herald 10
August
2007
-------------------------------------------------------------------Page
2
Zinwa takes over, Herald 10 August
2007
-------------------------------------------------------------------Page
2
Self-styled 'prophet' swindles Harare residents, Sunday Mail 12 August
2007-------------------------Page 3
Mahachi all out to bring back sparkle
to Harare, Sunday Mail 12 August
2007-------------------------Page
4
Chi-town implements supplementary budget, 12 August
2007
--------------------------------------------Page 6
Vendors in new survival
tactics, Sunday Mail 12 August
2007
-------------------------------------------Page 6
Commission orders
investigation of indiscipline among council workers,
Herald 6 August
2007
THE Commission running the affairs of the City of Harare has ordered
an
investigation into the rampant indiscipline among its workers after
deliberating over 34 such cases, which occurred last month
only.
According to the latest full commission minutes, the acting
director of
human resources Mr Stewart Mungofa was ordered to investigate
the problem
and to prescribe solutions to contain the high incidence of
insubordination,
corruption, moonlighting, absenteeism and various other
disciplinary issues.
Statistics last year showed that on average, council
dealt with 30 cases of
various acts of misconduct per
month.
Dismissals, suspensions and demotions were prevalent.
Last
week, the full commission deliberated on 34 cases of misconduct which
included seven dismissals, one acquittal, 19 initial appearances before the
disciplinary committee and four withdrawn cases.
"The commission has
resolved that the acting human resources director
establishes the root cause
of the increase in cases of misconduct with a
view of recommending measures
to address the problems," reads part of the
full commission
minutes.
Mr Mungofa confirmed starting the investigations.
He said
they would look into a number of issues adding that some of the
reasons were
already known such as those related to the economy and a poor
working
culture within council.
A municipal police officer who was responsible
for manning the Central
Stores was cautioned for releasing towed away
vehicles without authority.
A worker from the engineering services
department charged with absenteeism
was acquitted after council failed to
prove a case against him.
The worker has since joined another
employer.
Four employees from the engineering service department had
their cases
withdrawn after key witnesses who were supposed to testify in
the cases were
reported to have left council.
Two employees from the
housing and community services department and urban
planning services who
were supposed to appear before a disciplinary
committee resigned.
The
commission approved the resignations allowing the workers to claim their
benefits from council.
Council on drugs, Herald 10 August
2007
THE Commission running Harare City Council has authorised the city
health
department to buy hospital and clinical drugs from private suppliers
in the
event official suppliers, the National Pharmaceutical Company, does
not have
stocks.
The decision, which was given as an option in the
event that NatPharm fails
to supply, was reached when the health department
had requested permission
to buy drugs in bulk at a cost above the threshold
allowed for departmental
heads.
The advantage of buying from NatPharm
is that drugs are sold at 50 percent
less than the price of private
suppliers.
"The commission authorises the purchase of drugs above the
$100 million
threshold set for the town clerk.
"The commission
authorises purchases of drugs from private institutions in
the event that
the drugs are not available from NatPharm subject to the
sourcing of three
quotations and purchasing of the drugs from the lowest
supplier," reads part
of council minutes. - HR.
Zinwa takes over, Herald 10 August
2007
BINDURA Municipality is ready to partner the Zimbabwe National Water
Authority in its efforts to achieve excellent service delivery after taking
over the water and sewage reticulation system in the town.
Speaking
at the handover-takeover ceremony on Monday, Bindura executive
mayor Cde
Martin Dinha said his council would ensure the transitional period
was
smooth.
Council would also hand over to Zinwa all skilled manpower from
the water
department.
"Unlike what happened in other towns, we are
going to impart all the
knowledge since the municipality had been in charge
for about 25 years," the
mayor said.
Cde Dinha said he envisaged that
residents would get improved service
following centralisation of
administration.
He said Bindura was in the process of rehabilitating the
sewer system.
"We know there would be an interim period during which you
would be trying
to get acquainted with the system in Bindura, but we are
here to assist you
so that residents are assured of good service delivery,"
he told the Zinwa
officials.
Cde Dinha said demand for water in the
town had increased over the years and
council was resorting to cutting
supplies at night to allow reservoirs to
fill up.
He said Bindura
Municipality would now assume a regulatory role and ensure
the maintenance
of current standards of water quality.
Self-styled 'prophet' swindles
Harare residents, Sunday mail 12 August 2007
A SELF-STYLED Harare
prophet, who allegedly swindled several residents of
their property, was
last week arraigned before a Mbare magistrate and
charged with six counts of
theft.
Patrick Saungweme (35) pleaded guilty to four counts only when he
appeared
before Mrs Letwin Rwodzi, who remanded him in custody to August
16.
For the State, Ms Fadzai Nyagwande said charges against Saungweme
arose on
March 8 this year when he approached one Mrs Rose Sanyamande in
Glen View
when she was escorting her child home from school.
He
allegedly told her that he was a prophet who could solve any problem.
Mrs
Sanyamande then took him to her house where she indicated that there
were
some family problems. Upon arrival, Saungweme told the complainant that
his
powers would be effective if she switched off her cellphone before
putting
it in the clothes she was to wear the following day and she
complied.
Saungweme then allegedly sprinkled some water in the house
before he ordered
Mrs Sanyamande to go out and spill some water, which he
claimed was part of
the cleansing process.
In her absence, he then
stole the cellphone. When the complainant returned,
Saungweme indicated that
he was leaving.
She later discovered that her cellphone was missing. It
is alleged that
Saungweme used the same trick and stole a cellphone, R200
and $500 000 from
Tambudzai Goche of Glen View.
He also allegedly
stole two cellphones, which were valued at $20 million,
from Faith Dzeka of
the same suburb, on April 18.
On July 19 this year, using the same trick,
he stole three cellphones, R500
and $8, 5 million from other
complainants.
Saungweme allegedly approached Mrs Pamela Chidziva of Glen
Norah and
swindled her of her cellphone, it is alleged.
On July 16,
Saungweme approached Mrs Madeline Guchu of Glen Norah and
applied his usual
trick.
He then ordered the complainant, who was in the company of her
aunt and
sister, to follow him to a nearby bush so that he could burn some
charms
which he said had been found in their house.
When they were in
the bush he ordered the complainant's sister and aunt to
return home so that
he could remain with her to perform the task.
When the two returned home
they were shocked to discover that two
cellphones, US$100, 350 pula, R1 000
and $300 000 were missing. The two then
rushed back to inform the
complainant and the money and cellphones were
found in Saungweme's
possession.
They called for help from other residents in apprehending him
before handing
him over to police.
Mahachi all out to bring back
sparkle to Harare, Sunday Mail 12 August 2007
FOR the past few years, the
sun has failed to shine on Harare, casting a
dark shadow of uncertainty on
many residents of Zimbabwe's once shining
capital city.
From the
shadows of the city comes a man who believes he can return the
sparkle that
made Harare a marvel to many. He believes this can be done
within the next
six months.
"Six months seems like a long period, but I am laying the
foundation for the
direction that we are taking," said newly appointed
chairman of the
commission running the affairs of Harare, Mr Michael
Mahachi.
Mr Mahachi rose to the helm of Harare City Council after his
predecessor, Ms
Sekesai Makwavarara, elected not to be considered for
reappointment at the
expiry of her tenure in June.
His term runs
until early next year when a substantive mayor will be elected
for the city.
Before his appointment, he was the deputy chairman of the
commission's
finance committee.
In coming to the post, Mr Mahachi holds high hopes
that his contribution
will help improve the city's outlook.
He has
set out the development of housing, clinics/schools, roads, power and
social
amenities as some of his targets for his tenure.
He said these would feed
into the council's master turnaround programme,
which is already being
implemented.
"My main priority areas are providing accommodation to
residents," he said
in an interview in his mayoral office at Town House last
week.
According to Mr Mahachi, the commission will solicit for private
sector
assistance for a good number of its projects. In terms of housing,
plans are
already underway to unlock stands that will be subdivided for
those that can
afford them.
Flats will also be provided for yet to be
established professionals. The
projects will mainly be for leasing,
divorcing them from Government's
national housing project list. The
initiative is expected to bring relief to
many residents who have been
facing accommodation problems.
"Planning, surveying and subdivision of
land is not a lot of work and can be
accomplished in no time," he
said.
While the housing project is set to alleviate housing constraints,
Mr
Mahachi is of the opinion that it could be a source of revenue for the
council.
By charging rentals instead of selling identified
properties, the council
could also use this vehicle to regulate
rentals.
"As it stands, no revenue flows from that section. It would be
good if we
could get this underway to generate revenue for the council,"
said Mr
Mahachi.
Provision of affordable accommodation is just one of
the new chairman's aims
during his term in office.
He also hopes to
address refuse collection issues that have been contentious
among
residents.
Street and traffic lights would also be fully catered for
under standing
arrangements with players in the private sectors.
"I
am itching to change a lot of things and at the moment I am still
deliberating on the outcome of some of my plans," he said.
"I know
some might not work out or appeal to other concerned parties, but I
hope to
serve the city to the best of my capabilities."
To achieve his brief, Mr
Mahachi hopes to soon fill in critical vacancy
areas in council. Adverts for
suitable personnel have already been flighted
while interviews will soon be
conducted.
He believes having the "right" team will help bring the
long-awaited glow to
the city. "The commissioners that are there comprise a
very powerful team,
but what remains is to get dynamic people in the key
positions that are
vacant.
"We expect that these will be able to push
the agenda that we are rolling
out to the residents."
Another
contentious issue that has been gnawing at residents is that of the
enforcement of council by-laws.
Mr Mahachi said it has been difficult
for municipal police to act in certain
instances, as they did not fall under
their jurisdiction.
However, measures are already on course to provide
the framework for the
laws to have biting teeth.
Negotiations will
soon open with the police to second their officers for
duty under the
council for a specific period.
Soon after his appointment, questions
around his ability to achieve his
goals within six months arose, but Mr
Mahachi is not new to such leadership
challenges.
A quantity surveyor
by profession, Mr Mahachi has held several chairmanship
positions in the
private sector. In 1981, he worked in the then Ministry of
Works before
joining a private firm, Nudds/Burns Partnership, in 1984. In
1985, he became
Zimbabwe's first black quantity surveyor in private
practice, as he,
together with some partners, formed Nudds, Mahachi and
McComick Quantity
Surveyors.
After the departure of Nudds and McComick in 1990, Mr Mahachi
teamed up with
another surveyor to form an all-black firm called Mahachi,
Gwaze and
Partners.
In the same year, he became chairman of
Intermarket Discount House, which he
helped form together with his fiend, Mr
Nicholas Vengerayi.
He was chairman of various organisations such as the
First National Building
Society (FNBS), Willdale Bricks and Mashonaland
Holdings.
He is also a board member of Batanai Holdings
Finance.
Chi-town implements supplementary budget, 12 August
2007
CHITUNGWIZA Municipality has started implementing its 2007
supplementary
budget after objections received were deemed as directed at
council
operations, and not at the contents of the budget itself.
A
report presented by Chitungwiza's director of finance, Mr Renias Mutati,
said the objections received could not be sustained, leaving the town with
no option but to go ahead with implementing the budget.
In accordance
with Section 219 (3) (a) of the Urban Councils Act [Chapter
29: 15], "if a
statement of the budget is advertised and within 30 days the
objections of
the proposed tariffs, charges or deposits are lodged by 30 or
more persons
who are voters, such tariffs, charges or deposits shall not
come into
operation".
Chitungwiza's supplementary budget received 33 objections and
after council
scrutiny, it was observed that only six appeared as coming
from registered
ratepayers, as they were the only ones appearing on the
town's record.
"It was, therefore, management's considered position that
since the
objections received were taken to be nowhere near the stipulated
figure of
30 users of the services concerned, there was no need to wait for
council to
sit and consider the objections," said Mr Mutati.
Mr
Mutati said some of the objections were written in a rhythmic style,
which
made them identical, with the difference being only the handwriting.
He said
others were misdirected and talking about Zesa issues while others
talked
about the management of council affairs.
"The objections received were
based on two different cycle-styled filling
forms, which made them
identical. Furthermore, it was observed that the
objections were
misdirected.
"For example, some talked of Zesa issues such as
streetlights. Again, some
were not relating to the supplementary budget but
largely to management of
council affairs," he said.
Vendors in new
survival tactics, Sunday Mail 12 August 2007
WANDERING close to the exit
of most retail shops is a group of women one
would mistake for
pedestrians.
Some with babies strapped to their backs and clutching big
handbags
containing their wares, they constantly look out for both customers
and, of
course, their sworn enemies, the police.
"Everyone is a
potential customer or police officer, so you just have to be
alert," said
Mrs Esnath Kahembe, who operates from a retail shop along First
Street. She
sells carrier bags targeting mainly customers who shop at the
large retail
outlet. Of late she has also diversified to selling airtime to
supplement
her earnings.
"Occasionally we approach shoppers and offer them a carrier
bag big enough
for the goods they will be carrying. We even offer to pack
the goods for
them, and while we conduct business, our eyes are also darting
around
scouting for potential threats," added Mrs Kahembe, who is popularly
known
as Gogo Kahembe.
Mrs Kahembe has been conducting business on
the streets for several years
and is taking care of her family
single-handedly. She buys the carrier bags
from various wholesalers. In
Mbare she gets the bags made from plastic sacks
and these are very durable.
She sells a taxi bag for an average of $30 000
and the bigger bags for $50
000.
Mrs Kahembe and her colleagues all over the city have developed a
sound
communication system to warn each other of impending danger - a unique
whistle.
"We look out for one another and often alert our colleagues
if we get the
chance. It is not always easy but often we are able to run
away blending in
with the pedestrians. The trick is to make as much
commotion as possible to
confuse the police officers, giving us room to
flee," said Ms Maria Saizi,
who operates from a retail outlet along Nelson
Mandela Avenue.
She added that of late business has been booming as
consumers take advantage
of the Government directive to reduce
prices.
"People had stopped buying groceries in bulk and that reduced our
sales of
carrier bags. But since the beginning of the price slash, we are
back in
business.
"During the past few weeks business has been brisk
and I also had the chance
to buy some basic commodities. I can sell the
carrier bags and fruits while
queuing for basic items," said another vendor,
who only gave his name as
Tom.
Tom frequents a retail outlet along
Cameron Street and also sells socks and
cigarettes.
The 29-year-old
man from Mufakose wakes up early and makes his way to Mbare
Musika where he
buys fruits in season for resale in the city.
From as early as seven, he
is on the streets doing business although he
admits that he has been
arrested several times.
"I am aware that my business is illegal, but I
have a family to support.
Besides, where there is risk is where the money.
Where the police are, is
where the money is, so we will be engaged in these
running battles with the
police forever," added Tom.
Concerned
residents have expressed disapproval of the vendors operations
along the
pavements.
"Vendors take up most of the walking space and if you step
near their stuff,
they pounce on you forgetting that they should not even be
there in the
first place," said a shopper in the city centre.
When
arrested the vendors pay fines of $200 000, but they said that they get
away
with a $50 000 bribe to the arresting officers.
In their quest to evade
the law enforcement agents, vendors in the city have
familiarised themselves
with the council's vehicles.
"I know most of the trucks they use when
they are raiding us and we are
often clear of them before they even know
it," chipped in a dreadlocked
vendor only identified as Mike.
Mike is
a regular face along Robert Mugabe Road and his wares include
stockings,
cotton buds, wallets, needles and sewing thread, among others.
Recounting
the countless running battles he is often engaged in with the
police, he
says that the secret is in vigilance.
"When the going gets tough, the
tough gets going. When I fail to evade the
police I sometimes apply hide and
seek tricks. I have an art in evading the
police as I often slip through
their hands. Sometimes I get arrested and pay
fines or spend a night or two
in the cells.
"I have some of my stuff in a satchel that never comes off
my back and I
leave the rest of my stuff at a parcel counter at a nearby
supermarket.
There is a friendly guard at a nearby alley whom I sometimes
give my stuff
for safekeeping. You cannot risk displaying everything as the
police may
impound the items," said Mike. He added that they employ a
special type of
whistling to warn each other of impending danger.
In
a bid to deceive law enforcement agents, some flower vendors who used to
operate from the Africa Unity Square stalls are conducting their business
differently at the old site.
They do not display the fresh flowers,
but only talk in soft and hushed
tones to passers-by.
"Upon the
realisation that customers were used to getting their flowers from
this
place, I opted to continue with the trade. I still get my flowers from
the
same old suppliers and have a steady client base," said Mr Tawanda
Sagumbetu
as he goes through his newspaper. On first glance, he would fool
anyone
because of his trendy dressing.
There is now a new breed of vendors
specialising in vegetables that descends
on the city's busy roads and bus
terminuses in the late afternoon.
"Every weekday I am on the street from
three in the afternoon until eight as
I sell vegetables to workers on their
way home.
"These pay better than in the residential areas, but it is not
all rosy as
we are often raided by the police. The trick is to spread the
goods on a
sack that you can easily roll up and flee when the police come,"
said Mrs
Petronella Masoka of Domboshawa.
"I've lost a good deal of
stuff to the police, but there is no job without
its own hazards," added Mrs
Masoka.
At most shopping centres in the residential areas, vendors have
become part
of the scenario. It is interesting how all the vendors will
disperse at the
sight or rumour of police presence.
Ends
"CHRA
for Enhanced Civic Participation in Local
Government"
______________________________________________________________________________
For
more details and comments please contact us on 011 862 012, 0912 924
151,
011 443 578 and 011 612 860 or email info@chra.co.zw you can also visit
us at
Exploration House at Corner Robert Mugabe Way and Fifth
Street.
Regards
Precious Shumba
Information
Officer
Combined Harare Residents' Association
Mobile: 011 612 860 or 0912
869 294
Tel: 04-705114
Website: www.chra.co.zw
"Stand Firm. Be of Good
Courage"