Reuters
Tue 19 Aug 2008, 6:34 GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's annual
inflation, already the highest in the
world, jumped to 11.27 million percent
in June from 2.2 million the previous
month, the Central Statistical Office
(CSO) said on Tuesday.
The latest inflation figure shows the economic
turmoil -- Zimbabwe is
already suffering chronic shortages of food and fuel
-- is worsening with no
signs that Zimbabwe's rival parties will reach a
power-sharing deal to end
the country's political crisis.
The CSO
also said in a statement sent to banks that month-on-month inflation
accelerated to 839.3 percent from 433.4 percent the previous month.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Cuthbert Nzou
Tuesday 19 August 2008
HARARE - South African President Thabo
Mbeki is expected to travel to
Zimbabwe this week to try one more time to
push President Robert Mugabe and
opposition MDC party leader Morgan
Tsvangirai to agree to share power in a
government of national
unity.
Diplomatic sources told ZimOnline that Mbeki - who they said might
arrive in
Harare on Wednesday - planned to meet Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
Arthur
Mutambara, who heads a breakaway faction of the MDC.
"Mbeki
will be in Zimbabwe on Wednesday for the talks . . . he realises the
need
for an urgent deal in the country to avert a humanitarian crisis," one
of
the diplomats said, adding that it was not immediately clear whether
Mbeki
would meet Tsvangirai in Harare after the MDC leader announced he was
going
on tour of the region this week.
The planned trip to Harare will be
Mbeki's first major move to push for a
political settlement in Zimbabwe
following a weekend summit of leaders of
the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) that failed to flog Mugabe's
ruling ZANU PF party and the
MDC into signing a power-sharing pact.
Mbeki, who assumed the rotating
chairmanship of SADC, spent four days in
Zimbabwe last week trying
unsuccessfully to nudge Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
Mutambara to form a
government of national unity.
ZANU PF and MDC officials privately confirm
that Mugabe and Tsvangirai agree
on nearly all the other aspects of a unity
government but sharply differ
over who between them should wield more
power.
Tsvangirai wants to be executive prime minister with Mugabe
serving as
ceremonial president while Mugabe is unwilling to shed any of his
wide-sweeping powers and has instead offered to make Tsvangirai a
non-executive premier.
The two rivals also differ on the duration of
the unity government with
Tsvangirai saying it should last up to two years
while Mugabe prefers the
government to serve a full five-year
term.
In a statement at the conclusion of the summit, SADC leaders urged
Zimbabwe's
feuding political leaders to urgently sign any outstanding
agreements to
pave way for a power-sharing government seen as the most
viable way to end
the country's long-running political and economic
crisis.
Analysts say Zimbabwe's crisis that is marked by the world's
highest
inflation of more than two million percent, severe shortages of
food, jobs,
foreign currency and deepening poverty worsened after Mugabe was
re-elected
unopposed in a widely condemned June 27 presidential run-off vote
boycotted
by the opposition because of violence.
Meanwhile the MDC
has said convening Parliament before conclusion of talks
was contrary to the
spirit of dialogue, hinting it could pull out of
negotiations altogether if
Mugabe called the House to sit.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said
last week that Mugabe could name a
new Cabinet and summon the seventh
Parliament to commence following
elections on March 29.
Mbeki on
Sunday also said Parliament could be convened while the
power-sharing talks
continued.
Mugabe has delayed convening Parliament or naming a new
Cabinet to give
talks a chance. - ZimOnline
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Michealene
Cristini Risley
Posted August 18, 2008 | 04:55 PM
(EST)
Perhaps, I should say "You-Know-Who" or
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" but the
more we vocalize the name, the less power
and fear he will use to violate
Zimbabweans. Mugabe. Mugabe. Mugabe.
Voldemort is of course a fictional
character, who personifies evil and
strikes terror at the very heart of the
world he inhabits. Mugabe, is
unfortunately, real and evil and also strikes
terror in the hearts of those
still surviving his despot regime. I wish
getting rid of Mugabe was as easy
as closing the cover of a book.
In the last year since coming back from
Zimbabwe, I have continued to
witness the rape, the abuse, the murders and
lengthy tortures from human
beings who want a better life. The distribution
of aid by local and
humanitarian efforts is still prohibited by his regime.
The torture camps,
which I have written about in an earlier blog continue to
operate:
www.huffingtonpost.com/michealene-cristini-risley/the-estimated-cost-of-hum_b_103772.html
.
The situation in this once prosperous country has gone from worse to
hopeless.
J. K. Rowling is the author of the wildly successful and
creative "Harry
Potter" series of books. Her own story could be a book. The
part of her
story that is relevant here is taken from her commencement
Speech at Harvard
University earlier this year. Her speech was incredibly
powerful and
poignant. In her talk: http://harvardmagazine.com/go/jkrowling.html,
she
says
"One of the greatest formative experiences of my life
preceded Harry Potter,
though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote
in those books. This
revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day
jobs. Though I was
sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I
paid the rent in my
early 20s by working in the research department at
Amnesty International's
headquarters in London.
There in my little office
I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of
totalitarian regimes by men
and women who were risking imprisonment to
inform the outside world of what
was happening to them. I saw photographs of
those who had disappeared
without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate
families and friends. I
read the testimony of torture victims and saw
pictures of their injuries. I
opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of
summary trials and executions,
of kidnappings and rapes.
And as long as I live I shall remember walking
along an empty corridor and
suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a
scream of pain and horror
such as I have never heard since. The door opened,
and the researcher poked
out her head and told me to run and make a hot
drink for the young man
sitting with her. She had just given him the news
that in retaliation for
his own outspokenness against his country's regime,
his mother had been
seized and executed.
Every day of my working week in
my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly
fortunate I was, to live in a
country with a democratically elected
government, where legal representation
and a public trial were the rights of
everyone.
Every day, I saw more
evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on
their fellow humans, to
gain or maintain power."
It is very clear to me, the lengths at which
Robert Mugabe will go to
maintain his power. What is unclear to me is how
the world continues to
stand by and let this man destroy Zimbabwe? South
Africa's tarnished leader,
Thabo Mbeki continues to say that negotiations
are on track for a power
sharing government. News today is that regional
leaders put pressure on
Tsvangirai to accept a power sharing deal. The
question is, power sharing by
whom? Mbeki- is the same man who ate denial
for breakfast when it came to
addressing the crisis going on in Zimbabwe. WE
need courageous leaders like
Botswana's President Khama!
I fully
expect that one day soon, Morgan Tsvangirai will be dead. It will be
an
accident, a simulated heart attack or an outright execution. Mugabe's
arrogance fears no repercussions and has no boundaries, so an execution
would not be a surprise. Morgan Tsvangirai has stood up to Mugabe, has
resisted "his evilness", but "BOB" will try to maintain power at all costs,
including standing over the dead body of Tsvangirai. What's one more
body?
I find myself in awe of J.K. Rowling's ability to use those early
experiences and create great gifts of imagination and storytelling-I wish
that as a world we could write away the evil of Mugabe. It would go
something like this...
Mbeki is in the midst of the negotiations with
Mugabe and Tsvangira in a
large hot room somewhere in the middle of Harare.
They are surrounded by
military leaders who stand tall, watching attentively
over there two African
leaders. Morgan Tsvangira is sweating.
There
is a light knock at the door. The General closest to the door opens it
swiftly. All eyes look to the doorway. There is a large, lithe man standing
there. He wears a dark blue hooded sweatshirt. The hood covers almost
everything but the center of his face. His lean piano thin hands reach to
lower the hood. There is a collective gasp in the room; instant recognition
as the bald-headed man reveals himself. Mugabe's eyes alight, in awe he
stands and reaches for Voldemort's hand. Two distorted minds connect hands
and in a shower of sparks, Voldemort takes Mugabe's soul and both
disappear.
Mbeki and Tsvangira are left behind with those familiar scars
emblazoned on
their foreheads.
Cut to a close up of the last pages of
the Harry Potter novel, and it turns
by itself and the book closes. There is
a loud thud as the book closes, then
a long silence. There would be initial
silence and then a HUGE wave of
relief if Mugabe had disappeared with
Voldemort into the pages of Harry
Potter novel, never to hurt a real human
being again.
Okay, Okay...We need more than imagination to rid the world
of evil beings
like Mugabe, but my fantasy allows me to at least finish a
real breakfast.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=2841#more-2841
August 19,
2008
JOHANNESBURG (dpa) - Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC) Sunday said it was committed to reaching an
agreement with President
Robert Mugabe on the formation of a government of
national unity, but warned
him against convening Parliament before a deal
comes through.
"Failure is not an option in this dialogue," MDC
secretary-general Tendai
Biti told a press conference at the close of a
two-day Southern African
Development Community (SADC) summit in
Johannesburg.
Biti said he was confident the dialogue would be concluded
very soon but, in
an apparent reference to Mugabe, added that one of the
parties to thetalks
had "no business negotiating unless they are prepared to
compromise."
Biti also warned Mugabe against convening Parliament, a move
the MDC
opposed.
A last-minute meeting of the SADC organ on politics,
defence and security
said: "While negotiations (on a government of national
unity) are
continuing, it may be necessary to convene Parliament to give
effect to the
will of the people as expressed in the parliamentary elections
held on 29
March 2008."
Biti responded: "We hope that no one would do
anything to breach the
memorandum of understanding on the talks."
The
July 21 memorandum, which set down rules for the tripartite talks,
orders
that the parties not convene Parliament or form a new government
"save by
consensus".
A senior MDC official said the party viewed the SADC
statement as an attempt
to pressure it into agreeing to a deal, but vowed it
would not work.
"We don't have consensus to reconvene Parliament. How do
you reconvene
Parliament with an illegitimate government?" the
official.
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has been calling for parliament to be
reconvened
since opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai backed away from a
power-sharinga
greement earlier last week that would have seen Mugabe retain
some executive
powers.
Tsvangirai's MDC faction took more votes than
Zanu-PF in the March elections
but Arthur Mutambara, the leader of a
splinter faction of the MDC that holds
the balance of power between the two
groups in Parliament and is a party to
the talks, has said he would consider
working with either.
Biti said the sticking point in the talks - the
division of powers between
Mugabe and Tsvangirai, if Tsvangirai is made
prime minister as proposed
under a draft deal - was a point "of
principle".
The MDC official said there had been no progress towards a
deal at the
summit and that the party had "stuck by its
guns".
Tsvangirai, who took the most votes for president in the March
election, is
pushing for full control of government while Mugabe is looking
to share
authority.
Mbeki, who had been talking of the possibility of
a deal over the weekend,
reiterated his hopes for a "speedy conclusion to
the negotiations so that it
becomes possible to address the enormous
challenges that face the people of
Zimbabwe".
Mugabe's attendance as
head of state at the summit was controversial.
Botswana's President Ian
Khama, who refuses to recognize Mugabe's victory in
a one-man June
presidential election widely derided as a sham, boycotted the
summit.
Zambia, whose ailing President Levy Mwanawasa has been openly
critical of
Mugabe, said the election had "left a serious blot on the
culture of
democracy in our sub-region".
Zimbabweans are hoping a
negotiated settlement will rescue the country from
the brink of economic
collapse.
Mugabe's populist policies over the past decade are blamed for
inflation of
several million per cent and widespread hunger.
Western
powers such as Britain and the United States have vowed to plough
money into
the country's reconstruction if Tsvangirai and the MDC head
theunity
government and Mugabe takes a back seat.
SABC
August 19, 2008,
06:15
ANC stalwart Kader Asmal says the situation in Zimbabwe is a
disgrace. He
says Zimbabwe and Burma are examples of countries where passive
resistance
has failed. Asmal was speaking in Johannesburg last night at the
100th
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent protests.
He said
peaceful protests have failed in Zimbabwe because there is no
response from
the international community. Asmal says that the people of
Zimbabwe, through
their election in April 2008, showed that they had
transferred their
allegiances and what they want now is change in that
country.
Asmal
said the international community is not rewarding the people of
Zimbabwe for
taking part in elections and seeking change. "That is when
violence takes
place, when the apostles of peaceful change are not able to
deliver
anything. Let the people rightly say, you have asked us to put up
with
murder, rape, the economic exploitation, exile, and then you have
nothing to
show for that. And what we are doing now is to support those who
are the
very instruments of the oppression," he said.
Meanwhile, Asmal said
Mahatma Gandhi's passive resistance campaign played an
important role in the
struggle for democracy in South Africa. On the August
16, 1908, thousands of
people gathered outside the Hamidia Mosque in
Newtown, in protest at a law
which required all Indians to carry
registration certificates. They burned
their certificates in a large iron
pot.
http://www.thestar.co.za/
Call by UN officials, civil society
ignored
August 19, 2008 Edition 1
Hans Pienaar
Activists,
unionists and others slammed the failure of the SADC summit at
the weekend
to deal with worldwide demands to have the Mugabe regime's
restrictions on
humanitarian agencies lifted.
In the final communique from the body there
is no mention of the call made
in the days before the summit by United
Nations officials, NGO forums and
the Zimbabwe opposition.
Zimbabwean
Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche banned field work by the NGOs
during the
campaign for the June 27 presidential run-off election.
He accused them
of having provided campaign support for the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change during the March 29 elections, which the MDC
won.
A
communique issued on Sunday after a special meeting of the SADC organ on
politics, defence and security co-operation makes no mention of the
humanitarian crisis.
It calls on the parties to sign the outstanding
agreements "as a matter of
urgency to restore political stability in
Zimbabwe".
At a press briefing afterwards, President Thabo Mbeki said
SADC facilitation
had been initiated over humanitarian concerns, but
suggested several times
that addressing these would have to take a back seat
to concluding a deal.
"We need this inclusive government to drive this
process of addressing these
challenges," he said.
Observers pointed
out that the SADC's original appointment of Mbeki as
mediator came after the
international uproar over the near-fatal assaults on
MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Elinor Sisulu, chairperson of the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition, said the
summit showed the SADC's "undemocratic governments were
not geared to
handle" crises.
Zimbabwe was an "exaggerated symptom of
the illnesses of regional
governments" in general.
The fault with the
talks was that "everything has to be suspended", she
said.
Meanwhile,
the violence continues, despite undertakings in the memorandum of
understanding underpinning the talks. The danger is that an eventual deal
will lack legitimacy if violations continue.
"It is mind-boggling. It
is like putting a gun to somebody's head. It is
extraordinary that you put
pressure (on the Mugabe regime) by removing such
pressure," Sisulu said in
reference to Mbeki's appeasement of Mugabe, which
was going "far beyond
Neville Chamberlain's" appeasement of German dictator
Adolf
Hitler.
"Mbeki's handling of the process is one of the most painful
things I have
experienced in my life," she said.
Women of Zimbabwe
Arise was to issue a report today detailing abuse of women
by the Mugabe
government.
It concludes that "generally, women in Zimbabwe have
experienced more trauma
after 1980 than pre-independence".
It says
more than 50% of the women interviewed were at risk of developing
significant psychological disorders.
Trauma and the abuse of women
would be highlighted, as well as testimony
from women who had recently spent
weeks at the infamous Chikurubi Female
Prison, said a statement.
Nine
members of Woza were held by police. Four were released only after
showing
the police safe houses where the five others had been hiding.
People
merely suspected of supporting the MDC are being targeted, according
to the
statement.
http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/traps/2008/08/18/zimbabwe-forget-the-crap-what-about-the-aid-agencies/
Michael
Trapido
While the negotiations between the major parties on Zimbabwe's
future are
ongoing, I have specifically avoided giving any commentary. This
is being
done to afford the negotiators every chance of succeeding while
giving
Zimbabwe's starving masses the opportunity to receive aid.
I
therefore find the continued refusal to give the aid agencies access to
the
majority of the 5.1 million people at risk unbelievable.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7562776.stm
While
I'm not going to join in the speculation surrounding these
negotiations I
would remind the parties, members of the SADC and the South
African
government that the aid agencies are complaining that less than 20%
of the
required aid is being allowed in.
As the ZANU-PF. MDC and MDC splinter
group are supposedly representing the
people of Zimbabwe the first thing you
would have expected was agreement to
rush through aid for these
people.
Apparently that is not the case.
While everyone is
fighting about positions and titles could they spare a
moment to remedy this
(irritating I know) side issue.
In East Africa the Times of London is
reporting:
"Rapidly rising global food costs have contributed to the
worst hunger
crisis in East Africa for eight years, with at least 14 million
people at
risk of malnutrition, aid agencies said yesterday.
In
Ethiopia, the worst-affected country in the region, the Government said
that
4.6 million people faced starvation, but aid agencies claimed that the
true
figure was closer to 10 million.
The United Nations World Food Programme
is providing emergency food
assistance to 3.2 million people in Ethiopia and
900 000 people in northern
Kenya, where poor rains and political violence
have disrupted food
production.
The programme is also feeding 707 000
people in the Karamoja region of
northeastern Uganda, where erratic rainfall
has prevented 90 per cent of the
population from planting for the current
growing season and aims to give
help to 115 000 people in Djibouti - just
under a quarter of the tiny
country's population.
The UN says that
2.6 million people in Somalia are in need of food
assistance as a result of
drought, conflict, hyperinflation, and high food
and fuel prices. The World
Food Programme believes that the figure will rise
to 3.5 million in
December. "
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4553673.ece
Let's
also spare a thought for our brothers in that region.
While in West
Africa the SABC is reporting:
"The combination of abundant natural
resources, a history of autocratic,
unaccountable government and high
perception of corruption have posed
particular challenges to governance in
West Africa.
Civil bodies in the region are now working to get laws
around access to
information and freedom of expression laws into statute
books.
West Africa is abundant in mineral resources like oil, gold and
fishing
stock. Yet its people have received little or no benefit from it
all.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where half of the
continent's population of 840 million people live on less than $1 a
day."
Whether it's political, climatic or bad governance that is
responsible the
time has come for Africa to start looking after its people
and preparing for
contingencies like East Africa, a lot better than it is
doing right now.
In the case of Zimbabwe and West Africa the
circumstances bringing about
their situation is infinitely worse because the
damage is self-inflicted.
Africa has got to learn that every life is
sacred and that people are our
most valuable resource.
Starting
now.
This entry was posted on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 8:48 am
http://www.zimdaily.com/news/gono27.6289.html
By Peace
Kadiki
Published: Tuesday 19 August 2008
HARARE - Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor, Gideon Gono is on the forex
black market pouring huge
amounts of quadrillion Zimbabwe dollars in order
to desperately raise money
to pay off accumulating debts with regional power
suppliers that have
threatened switching off Zimbabwe.
Zimdaily has established that Eskom of
South Africa, reportedly owed in
excess of US$20 million and Mozambique's
Cahora Bassa has also written to
Harare sounding a warning over a yet to be
established amount in debt owed
by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA).
Our investigations revealed that the power crunch has been the
reason Gono
recently sunk his claws into the forex black market to trigger a
massive
jump in major currencies' trading rates over the past
week.
The US$ for example, jumped from trading at Z$160 billion
(Old Currency) on
August 5 to a record high of US$1 selling for Z$1 trillion
(Old Currency) on
Thursday.
Zimdaily on Wednesday visited the
popular Roadport forex market in Harare
and established the existence of
huge quantities of new notes of local
currency supplied directly from the
RBZ.
One lady forex dealer revealed to Zimdaily in confidence
that the bunch of
notes she had in the boot of her car amounted to Z$200 000
(new value),
which is equivalent to about Z$2 quadrillion in the old
value.
"I get a bag (huge amount of cash) from my people at the
RBZ daily and have
to make sure I finish all the cash in buying US dollars,"
the lady said.
An official at the RBZ who had seen the recent
communication from Eskom told
Zimdaily Friday that the SA power
utility-grappling with its own failures to
satisfy the market at home-had
indicated to ZESA that its failure to service
its debt was severely
affecting operations and causing a lot of tension
between Eskom and SA's
government and business.
Efforts to obtain comment from Eskom
failed. However, an official from ZESA's
public relations department who
declined to reveal his name said in a
telephone interview, "I cant respond
to that issue unless its put down on
paper". Gono was repeatedly said to be
unavailable by his personal
assistant.
Business Day
19 August 2008
Karima
Brown
THE
fact that a unity deal for Zimbabwe eluded the negotiating parties at
the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit hardly came as a
surprise. Secret talks between elites are unlikely to yield conditions for a
lasting peace, let alone justice in Zimbabwe.
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) secretary Tendai Biti said as much when
he admitted
that the lack of progress was due to the inability to find
consensus on
"very clear issues of principles". The issues on which the
parties are
struggling to find common ground include the duration of a
transitional
authority and the timing of a new constitution.
But before these
issues can even be resolved it is critical that an
environment is created in
which there is no longer political violence, the
rule of law is established
and humanitarian aid is facilitated without
interference from Zanu (PF)
bully boys. Otherwise, any deal struck between
the parties will end up in
smoke.
Hence the need to examine the options put forward by civil
society
organisations from Zimbabwe and the SADC regarding levelling the
playing
field and the mechanisms that need to be put in place to deliver a
genuine
democracy in Zimbabwe.
Key among these include the
proposal that the transitional authority in
Zimbabwe be headed by someone
who is not a member of Zanu (PF) or the MDC,
especially considering the bias
and shenanigans that characterised the
previous process.
Secondly
the argument put forward that such an authority needs to be made up
of
individuals from a broad section of Zimbabwean society should be given
serious consideration because it ensures popular participation beyond
political elites.
MOREOVER, the call that such an authority
should have a limited mandate is
crucial. This is because it is premised on
the belief that a transitional
authority should in no way seek to replace an
elected government and that
its primary task is to facilitate the drafting
and adoption of a new
constitution, which would form the basis under which
legitimate elections
could be held.
The drafting of a new
constitution too must include broad-based consultation
with public and civil
society organisations and should not be the outcome of
a behind-closed-doors
deal between Zanu (PF) and the MDC. Advocacy groups
say the draft
constitution should not be enacted until it has been ratified
by the public
in a national referendum. Such a transparent process will bind
not only Zanu
(PF) but also the MDC from ever believing it is above the
Zimbabwean
people.
Of even greater importance in the run-up to any new electoral
process is the
need for the depoliticisation of state institutions such as
the judiciary,
police, security services, and state welfare agencies. This
is critical if
the political process is to be legitimate, given that many of
these
institutions have functioned as mere appendages of the ruling Zanu
(PF) .
The demand that restrictions on press freedom be lifted and that Zanu
(PF)
release its hold on state media outlets is also important in levelling
the
playing field.
But it is proposals on an economic recovery
plan that need closer scrutiny.
It is an open secret that Zanu (PF) high-ups
are the only real beneficiaries
of any process that has been initiated by
Robert Mugabe under the guise of
redistributing wealth. Initiatives should
be undertaken to resolve the
economic crisis and ensure an equitable
distribution of national resources
for the benefit of all Zimbabweans,
including land as a national asset of
the people.
That such
suggestions have come from civil society formations is
instructive. It
points to new conditions in postcolonial Africa and a
changing global
environment. It confirms that Africans are no longer
prepared to have their
fate determined by political strongmen and liberation
movements long past
their sell-by dates.
.. Brown is political editor.
Business Day
19 August 2008
Wilson
Johwa
MDC
seeks regional support to break deadlock in talks with Zanu
(PF)
Political Correspondent
ZIMBABWE's opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) is again turning
to regional leaders to help
break the deadlock in power-sharing talks, after
the failure to clinch a
deal at the weekend summit of the Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) raised fresh doubts over the progress of the
negotiations.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday headed
off on a 10-day tour to
consult regional leaders in an apparent bid to bring
greater pressure to
bear on President Robert Mugabe, and the SADC-mandated
mediator, President
Thabo Mbeki.
While Mbeki insisted after the
SADC summit on Sunday that a solution
remained within the negotiators'
grasp, observers said his credibility had
been further dented by the failure
of the talks, which were dragging on well
beyond the original
deadline.
Tellingly, Tsvangirai's first port of call is Botswana,
whose President Ian
Khama has emerged as a staunch critic of Mugabe's ploys
to stay in power.
Khama was a notable stayaway from the SADC summit.
However, not only
Botswana, but several other southern African governments
have registered
growing dissatisfaction with Mugabe and the wider effects of
his misrule on
the region.
MDC sources said Tsvangirai hoped to
channel this growing unease with the
Zimbabwean impasse into pressure on
Mugabe and Mbeki.
His trip will add at least 10 days to the deadline,
originally two weeks
since the signing of a memorandum of understanding on
July 21. However, in
contrast with the MDC's apparent unease at Mbeki's
performance, Mugabe's
ruling Zanu (PF) yesterday again came out in support
of Mbeki, saying also
it remained committed to the talks.
"We
hope a deal can be finalised in the fullness of time," said Justice
Minister
Patrick Chinamasa. He declined to say when the talks would
resume.
Chinamasa said parliament would have to be convened, a point
raised by Mbeki
in his closing address to the summit.
This presents
another potential dispute with the MDC, which opposes the
move, sensing it
could solidify Mugabe's grip on power.
"Parliament will have to be
convened sooner rather than later, but I cannot
say when. That is the
president's prerogative, he will decide. It's almost
five months since they
(the MPs) were elected," Chinamasa said.
Tsvangirai spokesman
George Sibotshiwe said the regional tour was part of a
process to "unlock
the deadlocks".
"The Zimbabwe issue is far from resolved and so
the continent as a whole has
a responsibility to continue to engage with us
in finding solutions," he
said.
The tour is Tsvangirai's latest
regional initiative.
Soon after the March 29 elections he went around the
region explaining the
MDC's position and lobbying leaders for the release of
election results
which eventually came only weeks after the
poll.
Since then the mood in SADC has changed, with leaders appearing
to have
broken ranks with Mugabe. Even staunch former ally Angola now seems
less
understanding.
Brian Raftopoulos, research director at
the church-based Solidarity Peace
Trust, said Tsvangirai could be attempting
to exert new influence on the
Continued on Page 2
SADC gets muscle:
Page 3
Opinion & Analysis: Page 11
mediation. "He could be trying to
put more pressure on the regional leaders
to put pressure on Mugabe and
Mbeki," he said.
But sources close to the talks said the trip was an
attempt to win over
regional leaders after they refused to accept
Tsvangirai's position at the
summit.
"He believes he has lost
ground," said a source, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
At issue
was Tsvangirai's insistence that he assume all executive powers,
with Mugabe
playing a ceremonial role. "He wants power transfer and not
power-sharing
and obviously Zanu (PF) are not going to accept that," said
the
source.
The initial target of the two MDC factions was a Kenya-style deal
under
which there would be two centres of power. But having achieved that,
Tsvangirai wanted more control, the source said.
MDC
officials said Mugabe wanted to retain control of the government, and
chair
the cabinet, allowing Tsvangirai some ministries.
Key western countries,
whose support would be crucial for turning around
Zimbabwe's economy, have
said they will only recognise a government led by
Tsvangirai.
Analysts said Tsvangirai's only leverage is the aid
package he can unlock.
"Unless Tsvangirai signs on the dotted line the
crisis continues, not only
simply because the billions of foreign aid does
not become available, but
also because he does represent a significant
majority of the Zimbabwean
population," said Adam Habib, a political analyst
at the University of
Johannesburg. With Reuters
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
18 August
2008
Zimbabwean non-governmental organizations focused on
HIV/AIDS say their
treatment and support programs aimed at people struggling
to live with with
HIV/AIDS remain significantly scaled back despite
government promises to
allow them to resume such
activities.
Representatives of two NGOs spoke with VOA on condition of
anonymity, saying
that a state ban on NGO distribution of humanitarian aid
has obliged them to
stop distributing food aid meant for people living with
HIV/AIDS, despite
recent assurances from Health Minister David Parirenyatwa
that the
government would lift the ban where HIV/AIDS was
concerned.
Director Itai Rusike of the Community Working Group on Health said
it is
hard to determine if the death rate has gone up due to the government
ban,
as most of the statistics on AIDS-related deaths are maintained by
physicians in government employ.
He added that as most of those who
cannot afford to provide for their own
care are dying at home, it would be
difficult in any case to tabulate
accurate fatality data.
Rusike told
reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
progress in
fighting AIDS through state programs that reduced the national
HIV
prevalence rate and death rate could be lost due to the extended
political
crisis in the country.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
18
August 2008
Zimbabwe opposition officials on Monday reported
another abduction in
Manicaland province following the brief kidnapping last
week of the wife of
an opposition activist there.
MDC officials said
Moses Chirau, the younger brother of activist Killian
Chirau, was taken away
by suspected war veterans and members of the ZANU-PF
militia who opened fire
on him.
This incident followed the abduction Thursday of Killian
Chirau's wife,
Juliet Dakacha, who was seized from her home in Manicaland's
Buhera South
constituency and released the same day after being beaten and
tortured. The
militia is said to be actively seeking Killian
Chirau.
Moses Chirau's whereabouts were unknown but opposition sources
said he was
believed to be held at the notorious Mutiusinazita torture base
in the
constituency.
Manicaland opposition officials said they have
not been able to transport
Juliet Dakacha to the hospital because most of
the party's vehicles are in
the hands of police who confiscated them during
the turbulent period
following the March 29 general and presidential
elections.
The party said hundreds of its supporters around the country
have yet to
receive medical care for election-period injuries due to lack of
transport
and other problems.
Buhera South Member of
Parliament-elect Naison Nemadziva of the MDC, in
hiding in Mutare, told
Jonga Kandemiiri that war veterans have sealed off
Buhera South, making it
very difficult for opposition members who fled
violence to return to their
homes.
Elsewhere, sources in Gokwe, Midlands, said suspected state agents
have been
arresting opposition councilors then releasing them without
pressing
charges. They said the agents have vowed to make life difficult for
the
councilors until they resign or join ZANU-PF.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
18 August
2008
Having failed to achieve a Zimbabwe power-sharing deal
in the just-ended
summit of the Southern African Development Community,
South African
President and SADC Chairman Thabo Mbeki was expected in Harare
late this
week for another stab at persuading ZANU-PF and both formations of
the
Movement for Democratic Change to come to terms.
Addressing
reporters late Sunday, Mr. Mbeki said his mediation would
continue.
The failure at the SADC summit was not for lack of
heavy hitters. Two
different SADC political and security "troikas" worked
directly with the
principals, especially President Robert Mugabe and MDC
founder Morgan
Tsvangirai, but in vain. The mandate of the first troika was
expiring and
the new troika, comprising Mozambique, Swaziland and Angola,
took over.
Tsvangirai on Monday set out on a tour of regional capitals
aiming to
bolster support for his position on power-sharing, meeting first
with
Botswanan President Ian Khama, who stayed away from the SADC summit to
protest the attendance of President Mugabe on grounds that his widely
condemned June 27 re-election violated SADC and African Union
norms.
Tsvangirai was next scheduled to meet senior officials of South
Africa's
ruling African National Congress before heading to Ghana to meet
President
John Kufuor.
Reviewing the weekend's failed negotiations,
SADC sources said the main
sticking point had continued to be the division
of executive powers between
Mr. Mugabe as president and Tsvangirai as prime
minister in a national unity
government.
The sources said the
Tsvangirai MDC argued that Mugabe could keep most of
his executive powers
and maintain direct control of the state security
apparatus.
Tsvangirai, for his part, demanded full control of the
cabinet.
But Mr. Mugabe, backed by rival MDC leader Arthur Mutambara,
called this an
unacceptable transfer of power, saying Tsvangirai would then
have all
executive powers.
In response, Tsvangirai offered Mr. Mugabe
the post of prime minister, but
Mugabe declined.
Sources told VOA
that at one point late Sunday, Mr. Tsvangirai countered
that he wanted the
presidency, not the prime ministership, which infuriated
Mr.
Mugabe.
The MDC later furnished the troika with a list of Mugabe's
executive powers
according to the current Zimbabwean constitution. The SADC
leaders are said
to have been shocked by the extent of the powers which the
MDC argued that
Mugabe would be keeping.
Political analyst Brian
Kagoro told reporter Blessing Zulu that Mr. Mbeki
must be firm with
President Mugabe if his mediation efforts are to succeed.
http://www.zimbabwemetro.com/news/mutambara-to-lose-us-green-card/
Local News
August 19, 2008 | By Metro Investigations
Unit |
The US government could revoke MDC faction leader Arthur
Mutambara's United
States Permanent Residence Permit which is valid up to
2017 amid growing
concerns he is abetting Mugabe's hold on to
power.
The United states government's Acting Deputy Spokesman Gonzalo R.
Gallegos,
told the state department's state briefing earlier during the
week,
'We're going to continue to watch. We're going to continue to see
what
happens there. Ultimately, as I've said before, from here, what we want
to
see is that the will of the Zimbabwean people is reflected in the results
of
this or any talks that may take place to come to a resolution to this
situation,and if anyone aids the subvetting of the people's will even if
they are not from ZANU PF will face the same measures we have taken against
ZANU-PF.' said Gallegos.
Mutambara reportedly dismissed MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai's claim to power
when he addressed the SADC leaders and
claimed the he and President Mugabe
should hold power.
Mutambara
reportedly told the gathering that Mugabe who won the run-off
should have
executive power and his faction should hold key positions in the
cabinet
because they hold the balance of power in Parliament.
"The March 29
elections produced a hung parliament. We hold the key to
power.'
"Whomever we decide to go with will have the majority in
parliament. In
these talks we are on our own. And anyone who thinks they
have the majority
in parliament is a joker. Nobody must take us for
granted," said Mutambara.
Sources at the US embassy in Harare say the US
is watching closely Mutambara's
actions and say there is a general feeling
he is aiding Mugabe's divide and
rule strategy.
Mutambara gloated
and bragged last year to a group of Zimbabweans and
journalists in the US
among them The Zimbabwe Times's editor Geoff Nyarota
that if his political
career fails to work out he can always go back to work
in the US because he
has a green card and when he was asked why he was
silent about developments
in his home country during the more than ten years
he spent in the united
states he reportedly said, 'I don't believe in
talking or criticizing I
rather act,some of you are illegal here but make a
lot of
noise.'
Legal expects say Mutambara who lost his first bid for parliament
could be
served with a Notice of Intent to Revoke, (NOIR) under the same law
the US
is currently using to revoke residence permits of those who assisted
the
Nazi in Germany and went to live in the United States and acquired the
much
sought after permanent residence card.
The U.S. Has been
revoking the citizenship of all those with past Nazi
involvement and to date
the United States has deported and revoked students
permits of 37
individuals with close links to ZANU PF bigwigs and those
perceived to be
assisting Mugabe 's regime.
The U.S. already has financial and travel
penalties in place against more
than 170 citizens and entities with ties to
Mugabe. If talks fail the Bush
administration is considering punishing the
government of Zimbabwe as well
as further restricting the travel and
financial activities of Mugabe
supporters.
US president George Bush
has already promised aid for Zimbabwe if the talks
result in "a new
government that reflects the will of the Zimbabwean
people," he said, "the
United States stands ready to provide a substantial
assistance package,
development aid and normalization with international
financial
institutions."
http://www.dispatch.co.za
2008/08/19
ZIMBABWE'S
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says convening
the country's
parliament before a political compromise is reached would be
contrary to the
spirit of the ongoing dialogue.
This follows President Thabo Mbeki's
remarks that it may be necessary to
convene parliament, even before the
talks had been concluded.
The comments came as the Southern African
Development Community (SADC)
summit ended in Johannesburg at the weekend
without clinching a
power-sharing deal between Zimbabwe's rival
parties.
The leader of the smaller MDC faction, Arthur Mutambara, is
under the
spotlight as speculation grows that parliamentarians may be sworn
in soon.
With 10 seats, Mutambara's MDC faction holds the swing in the
lower house,
where Tsvangirai's MDC faction and President Mugabe's Zanu-PF
are separated
by just one seat.
As a power-sharing deal continues
to elude negotiators, Mutambara may soon
be called upon to decide whether to
take part in parliament without
Tsvangirai on board. - DDC
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=2833
August 19, 2008
By Tendai
Dumbutshena
BRAVO Botswana. The 13 leaders who gathered for the SADC
summit in
Johannesburg last weekend tried to put on a brave face but were
visibly
uneasy and embarrassed.
The absence of Botswana's President
Ian Khama exposed them for what they
are - spineless and morally bankrupt
nonentities.
They could not argue against the reasons for Botswana's
boycott. The
government in Gaborone - ironically the headquarters of SADC-
reminded the
regional body of its protocols on good governance. There is one
on the
conduct of elections in the region which clearly spells out what is
expected. Khama's boycott was a reminder to his counterparts that they did
not take this protocol seriously. That it could be brutally violated with
impunity.
Observers from all SADC countries were sent to monitor both
the March 29
elections and June 27 presidential run-off in Zimbabwe. Their
verdict was
unanimous and unambiguous. All conditions for a free and fair
election in
the run-off were not met.
Furthermore, the state was
responsible for savage violence against the
opposition to the point that
Robert Mugabe's only opponent Morgan Tsvangirai
had to withdraw from the
race to save lives. Based on the reports of SADC
observers and its own
citizens the Botswana government concluded that the
outcome of the run-off
did not reflect the true will of the people of
Zimbabwe. It could therefore
not accept Mugabe as a legitimately elected
president of Zimbabwe. Gaborone
made it clear that its president would
boycott the SADC summit if Mugabe
were invited as head of state.
There was hope that others would follow
Botswana's bold and principled
position. Fat chance. Other leaders
maintained an embarrassed silence in the
hope that the problem would simply
go away. Lacking moral courage and
principles they hid behind the African
Union's call for a government of
national unity. The region's official
mediator, South Africa's President
Thabo Mbeki saw in the AU resolution an
opportunity to legitimize and
prolong Mugabe's rule. He frantically tried to
bulldoze an agreement that
would produce an essentially Zanu-PF government
led by Mugabe with some MDC
ministers. Mindful of the fact that it was
impossible to confer legitimacy
on Mugabe on the basis of the run-off he
thought the best way was through a
Mugabe led GNU endorsed by the MDC. He
wanted the deal signed before the
summit so that the awkward issue of
Mugabe's legitimacy would fall away.
The SADC leaders should have
convened an emergency summit soon after the
run-off to tell Mugabe that they
did not recognize its outcome. Mbeki would
then have carried on with his
mediation on a clear understanding that SADC
did not recognize Mugabe as
president of Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean leader
would have been more amenable
to compromise had SADC taken such a principled
stand. But knowing his peers
well Mugabe realised that they would cave in.
They did not have the backbone
to insist on a strict adherence to their own
protocols. It was easier to
just let Mugabe take his seat at the high table.
At least this time they
did not like imbeciles applaud when he walked into
the summit
room.
To salvage their consciences they tried to bully Tsvangirai into
signing a
document that would legitimize Mugabe's rule for five more years.
One of the
tactics used to pressure Tsvangirai was to accuse him of being
controlled by
Western powers. This is ironic coming from leaders whose
countries and
governments are sustained by Western donor money, as Mugabe
himself pointed
out no so long ago.
To his credit Tsvangirai stood
firm and refused to append his signature to a
document crafted to serve
Mugabe's interests.
Outside the summit hundreds of demonstrators made
their voices heard on the
dictatorships in Zimbabwe and Swaziland. A
petition for the leaders handed
to the SADC secretariat said in part that
ordinary people were taking to the
streets because of an absence of
political leadership in the region. In
other words people have lost faith in
a regional leadership that places a
premium on friendship and solidarity
among ruling elites above their
welfare.
It has repeatedly been
argued in this column that there are too many
dictators in Africa for the
continent and its regional bodies to take
principled positions on issues of
human rights and good governance. In SADC
a troika of nations is tasked with
responsibility for political, defence and
security matters. It currently
comprises Tanzania, Angola, and Swaziland
with the latter being chair. How
can Angola and Swaziland pronounce on
issues pertaining to human rights and
democracy? How can they stand in
judgement of Mugabe?
Since
independence in 1975 Angola had only one election in 1976, and a
dubious one
at that.
President Eduardo dos Santos would not recognize a ballot paper
if it hit
him in the face. The Swazi monarch, King Mswati III presides over
a feudal
regime that treats its citizens like serfs. ? How can they stand in
judgement of Mugabe?
At the moment both dos Santos and Mswati are
custodians of the region's
putative commitment to democracy. Until Africa
takes issues of human rights
and democracy seriously it will not be able to
deal effectively with rogue
regimes like Mugabe's.
The SADC summit
declared the region a free trade zone. Normally this would
have been a
momentous occasion celebrated by all its peoples. Instead it was
a damp
squib. The inability of SADC to deal with Zimbabwe cast a shadow over
all
other issues. People in the region do not believe the free zone
declaration
will have any bearing on their lives. Spineless and unprincipled
leadership
breeds cynicism and pessimism. All they see are self-serving
leaders
obsessed with protecting one another like the endangered species
that they
are.
Mbeki is regarded as the architect of the New Economic Partnership
for
Africa's Development (NEPAD) which recognizes a direct causal link
between
good governance and economic prosperity. African leaders undertook
to
promote good clean governance in exchange for economic partnership with
developed nations.
Principles have a habit of being put to the test.
When confronted with the
Zimbabwe crisis at the heart of which are issues of
governance and human
rights SADC failed. Their commitment to these
principles disintegrated. Old
habits and instincts took over. Their comrade,
Mugabe, had to be protected.
In so doing they dimmed the hopes not only of
Zimbabweans but all peoples in
the region.
Only Khama offered a ray
of hope.
The Nation (Nairobi)
18 August
2008
Posted to the web 19 August 2008
Kitsepile
Nyathi
Harare
Zimbabwe's main opposition today warned President Robert
Mugabe risked
jeorpadising the ongoing power sharing talks by convening
parliament on the
advice of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC).
This came amid reports that South African President Thabo Mbeki
who is also
the regional body's appointed mediator in the talks was
preparing to travel
to Zimbabwe to rescue the tripartite talks before the
end of this week.
A weekend SADC summit failed to forge a hugely deal
between the feuding
parties despite sustained pressure.
State media
reported that Mr Mugabe was preparing to officially open
parliament 'any
time soon', while talks with the two factions of the
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) for a government of national unity
continued.
According
to a July 21 memorandum, which set down rules for the tripartite
talks, the
parties agreed not to convene parliament or form a new government
'save by
consensus.'
But a meeting of the SADC organ on politics, defence and
security late on
Sunday advised that: "While negotiations (on a government
of national unity)
are continuing, it may be necessary to convene parliament
to give effect to
the will of the people as expressed in the parliamentary
elections held on
29 March."
The official opening of parliament will
automatically mean the end of Mr
Mugabe's five month interim government as a
number of his ministers lost
their seats during the March
elections.
Mr Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary general said they did not
expect such a
drastic move from the ageing leader, which he said will
complicate the
talks.
"We hope that no one would do anything to
breach the memorandum of
understanding on the talks," he
said.
Another senior MDC official was quoted as having said: "We don't
have
consensus to reconvene parliament. How do you reconvene parliament with
an
illegitimate government?"
Last week, the MDC accused Mr Mugabe of
trying to lure its MPs into a new
government after their leader, Mr Morgan
Tsvangirai briefly walked out of
the talks protesting against the veteran
leader's refusal to cede executive
powers.
Analysts say Mr Mugabe was
agitated by the opposition leader's approach to
the negotiations and felt
that time was running out to form a new government
that will extricate
Zimbabwe from its current economic morass.
An opposition spokesman said
he will ask regional leaders to help resolve
the deadlock in power-sharing
talks with President Mugabe's party.
"The Zimbabwean issue is far from
resolved, and so the continent as a whole
has a responsibility to continue
to engage with us in finding solutions," Mr
Tsvangirai's spokesman George
Sibotshiwe said.
"Part of it is actually a process of trying to unlock
the deadlocks that
have emerged in the negotiations."
Zimbabwe's
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said power-sharing talks would
continue
under the mediation of South African President Thabo Mbeki.
"We hope
a deal can be finalised in the fullness of time," Mr Chinamasa
said.
VOA
By Howard
Lesser
Washington, DC
19 August 2008
The
condition of Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has suddenly worsened. Mr.
Mwanawasa, who was elected in 2002 and is in the middle of a second
four-year term, has been under treatment in a Paris hospital since early
July after suffering a stroke. Zambian Vice President Rupiah Banda, who is
governing the country in the president's absence, said in a statement
yesterday that doctors noticed a deterioration in the 59-year-old leader's
condition late Sunday night. He had been flown to the French military
hospital after being stricken in Egypt on June 29. In Lusaka, Radio Phoenix
reporter Sanday Chongo Kabange said the timing of the president's stroke was
unfortunate, as he was due to play a key role in the debate on the election
crisis in Zimbabwe, both at the African Union (AU) summit that was just
getting underway in Cairo and at last weekend's Zimbabwe discussions at the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting that was held in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
"I think it's really been sad that the
president has not been at the SADC
summit. You know, Mr. Mwanawasa had been
the SADC chair. He was the rotating
chairman that is held for about a year
and Mr. Mwanawasa had been one of the
main critics of the Robert Mugabe
regime, so I think his absence might have
been felt. And I'm sure that there
are certain things that he wanted to
mention, might have a lot of
contributions he would have made if he himself
had attended this summit that
was held over the weekend in South Africa," he
said.
During his term
as SADC leader, President Mwanawasa was outspoken against
the violence and
political and economic instability in Zimbabwe that
contrasted with
positions taken by other neighbors of Zimbabwe. Journalist
Kabange says
those views were missing, not only from last weekend's SADC
discussions, but
also from the African Union summit that opened in Cairo
back in June.
President Mwanawasa suffered his stroke on June 29 on the eve
of the AU
meeting, which commenced three days after Zimbabwe's controversial
runoff
election. Robert Mugabe easily won that vote, running unopposed after
his
opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, pulled out of the race because of
unmitigated
violence against members of the opposition, most notably in
Zimbabwe towns
and rural areas.
"His absence may have definitely played a negative role
in the negotiations
for free and fair, or maybe a partial government in
Zimbabwe because early
on, Zambia was actually considering going to boycott
or snub the South
Africa SADC summit. Well I'm sure Zambia was supposed to
be part of the SADC
summit in South Africa, probably, one, because Zambia's
outgoing
chairperson, Mr. Mwanawasa, was outgoing chairperson. So he was
supposed to
be there in order to hand over the chair from Zambia to South
Africa, who
are the incoming chair of the group. So if Mr. Mwanawasa was
there in
person, I'm sure he would have boycotted, because like in the case
of Ian
Khama (president) of Botswana, who says he could not attend because
he's not
content with the government of Robert Mugabe. So if Mr. Mwanawasa
was there
in person, I don't think he would have taken part. Or if he had
come, he
would have gone there just because he was supposed to hand over the
chairmanship of the 14-member grouping. So it's really a blow to the
negotiations in Zimbabwe that President Mwanawasa himself did not attend,"
said Kabange.
At home, Kabange says Zambians are struggling with the
suspended state of
their leader's rule. He says Vice President Banda has
been doing more to
preserve citizen confidence by keeping the public
informed about changes in
the president's condition.
"There was too
much anxiety. There was some point where we were told that
the president had
died. So that kind of anxiety had continued in some areas
and some people
remained concerned. But he (Vice President Banda) has tried
to run the
country and maintain peace. There might be a few incidents that
are taking
place, but he has used his managerial ability to run the country
and
maintain law and order," said Kabange.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by
Norest Muzvaba Tuesday 19 August 2008
JOHANNESBURG - A
leading international relief agency has expressed concern
at plans by South
African officials to close down camps for foreign
immigrants displaced by
xenophobic violence that swept across Africa's
economic powerhouse earlier
this year.
President Thabo Mbeki's government, which strongly condemned
attacks against
immigrants, has told the foreigners to return to the
communities they fled
during the violence or face deportation to their
countries of origin.
Oxfam's South African office said on Monday that
while it supported plans to
remove displaced people from temporary camps so
they could be reintegrate
back into their former communities, this should
not be done at the risk of
the foreigners' safety and right to
protection.
The group said in a statement: "The closure of the camps
would have serious
impact in that people would be forced to go back to
places without guarantee
of their safety and without proper support from the
government.
"We support the reintegration of people into communities
assuring that
their rights to protection, safety, and basic needs are met.
Reintegration
should not become an abdication of responsibility by
government and other
agencies of their responsibilities for meeting the
needs of people who have
been displaced by violence."
The group urged
South African officials to follow United Nations guidelines
on the handling
of internally displaced people when deciding what action to
take regarding
the thousands of mostly black African immigrants left
homeless by the
violence.
Rampaging mobs of South African men armed with machetes, axes,
spears and
guns attacked and killed immigrants looting their property in an
unprecedented two-week wave of xenophobic violence last May that shocked a
nation, which prides itself as among the most tolerant societies in the
world.
It is estimated that more than 30 000 foreign nationals mostly
from
Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other African countries fled xenophobic
attacks in
poor South African townships and sought refuge in police
stations, churches
and public buildings.
The government later set up
temporary shelters for the homeless foreign
nationals and has been seeking
to reintegrate displaced people back into
their communities. -
ZimOnline.