Radio Netherlands
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Zimbabwean opposition fights
on | |
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by Eric Beauchemin, 26 August
2003 | |
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Grassroots appeal: Opposition slogan on
the back of a
street-sign | | In Zimbabwe, 1.5 million voters will go to the polls at the
weekend in urban council elections. Over 1300 seats are at stake. Zimbabwe's
main opposition party, the MDC or Movement for Democratic Change, has decided to
take part in the elections despite ample evidence of state-sponsored violence,
harassment and padding of the voter rolls. The poll is taking place in a climate
of fear, widespread hunger, and economic collapse.
 - click to listen to Eric Beauchemin?s radio report in
full 16?39
On the surface, Zimbabwe has changed little since I
first visited the country four years ago. The streets of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's
second biggest city, remain fairly busy. There are almost no potholes. The
lights work, water flows, and refuse is still collected every week. But the long
queues tell another story, and the only fuel available nowadays is on the black
market. Some people walk 15-20km to work and many can't afford food. And then
there is the fear, the all-pervasive fear of the ZANU-PF government, the war
veterans, and the state-sponsored youth militia.
Legal gag
In Matabeleland North, a stronghold of
the Movement for Democratic Change, the fear is palpable. MDC MPs have had their
campaigning activities severely limited by death threats, but the ZANU-PF
government has not stopped there. It has passed legislation to silence them.
Under the Public Order and Security Act, a meeting of three people or more
requires a police permit. Opposition rallies are never allowed. ZANU-PF and its
forces are also waging a campaign to turn MDC supporters into pariahs. Clever is
an MDC activist who runs his own business in Matabeleland North.
"To tell you the truth, even my friends, they are now
afraid to come to my place . . . people are also afraid to associate [with] me
in almost everything because once they are seen talking to me or giving me
business, they will be associated with MDC. All the people around me, they
[have] problems. They have been beaten up. Their property has been destroyed. A
lot of things are happening to them and I know in the near future, one of those
happenings will actually happen to me."
Despite ZANU-PF's intimidation and violence, the MDC
has continued to advocate peaceful change. The reason lies in its origins as a
social democratic movement: it emerged in the late 1990s, as trade unions,
churches, and civic organisations reacted to the government's failure to address
Zimbabwe's most crucial problems, such as the imploding economy and widespread
corruption.
Land unused
This social movement has also been
portrayed as a one-issue party, bent only on toppling President Mugabe and his
ZANU-PF government. But the movement has drawn up policies on a wide variety of
issues, including the controversial question of land redistribution. Under
President Mugabe, thousands of whites who owned the richest agricultural land
were forced off their farms. The government's so-called fast-track land
redistribution was designed to redress historical injustices. But most of the
land wound up in the hands of ZANU-PF officials and now lies fallow. In the
meantime, 3 million Zimbabweans are facing starvation.
The MDC's social democratic principles and its
position as southern Africa's first significant post-nationalist party have not
endeared it to the liberation movements who rule in the region. But the time has
come for a break with the past, the MDC believes. The liberation struggle is now
over and ZANU-PF has failed to make good on its promises: most Zimbabweans are
worse off than they were at independence 23 years ago. The ruling party has run
the country with impunity, and today, says MDC MP Abednico Bhebhe, what
Zimbabweans need more than anything are rule of law and justice and real
democracy.
"The situation we are seeing in Zimbabwe is a
situation whereby one man wants to be the referee, the adjudicator, the player,
the coach at the same time. Obviously being a competitor and a referee, he's
going to favour himself."
Green bombers
Earlier
this month, the government announced that it had recruited members of the
National Youth Training Service ? better known among ordinary Zimbabweans as the
Taliban or the Green Bombers because of their uniforms ? to work as polling
officers in next week's urban council elections. It is these youth militias who
are assaulting and terrorising MDC supporters and activists across the
country.
MDC activist Clever says it is essential members of
the opposition resist striking back at the aggressors:
"Right now we are experiencing problems, violence,
and this violence is being done in order to intimidate people. The stance that
we are taking right now is we are playing it cool because we cannot assist
violence by hitting back because once we do so, even by defending yourself, you
are very same person who is picked up by police."
Clever's decision to support the MDC has come at a
huge cost. He and his family cannot even obtain food because it is distributed
by the government-run Grain Marketing Board. His wife, who is a teacher, was
recently dismissed because of her husband's political affiliation, and early
every morning, the youth militia come to threaten her family.
Clever says he has become accustomed to the
threats:
"They're actually hardening me up. There was a time
when I was afraid. Those were the early days. But now I think there's no need to
be afraid. So I'm not afraid at all. Even if it means it may cost you your life?
Well, right now I am dying . . . I'm having a slow death because as I told you
earlier on, I'm getting no food and I'm getting no jobs. That's a death on its
own. So I am not afraid to die because I think things will change for the
better."
Because of the severe restrictions the ZANU-PF
government places on foreign journalists, Eric Beauchemin travelled undercover
to Zimbabwe to prepare this report. |
Telegraph
Mugabe's new palace in a land of
hunger
By Peta Thornycroft in
Harare
(Filed: 27/08/2003)
Builders are putting the finishing touches to a retirement home
for President Robert Mugabe that will rival the most extravagant of African
leaders' residences.
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An aerial photograph of the mansion, 18 miles north of
Harare |
The project is the latest sign of how his regime is prospering
while vast numbers of Zimbabweans are close to starvation. The World Food
Programme estimates that 5.5 million people - almost half the population - will
need hunger relief by the year's end.
Several architects who have seen aerial pictures of Mr Mugabe's
new mansion, 16 miles north of Harare, say it looks as large as a medium-sized
hotel.
Surveyors in Harare estimated the building cost about £3.75
million - a colossal sum in a country where factory workers can earn as little
as £6 a month. Final costs, including landscaping, security and interior
decoration are expected to push the bill close to £6 million.
Contractors are working feverishly on the fittings while two
lakes built for Mr Mugabe on the southern boundary have begun to fill.
The residence offers more than three acres of accommodation,
mostly on three floors, including two-storey reception rooms, an office suite,
and up to 25 bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms and spas.
The Chinese-style roof is clad with midnight blue glazed tiles
from Shanghai. The ceilings were decorated by Arab craftsmen.
Mr Mugabe's mansion is more than three times the size of his
present official residence and his offices at State House.
Its scale has raised opposition concerns that - if as is widely
expected - Mr Mugabe steps down as leader of his ruling Zanu-PF at the annual
congress in December, or maybe after his 80th birthday in February, real power
will move from his official government offices to his new residence.
David Coltart, the justice spokesman for the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change, said: "It had always been assumed that Mugabe himself has
not been corrupt. The size of this house would suggest otherwise and will
further complicate the negotiation process as Mugabe seeks to secure a peaceful
exit. He must explain to Zimbabweans where he got the money from to build such a
mansion."
Since coming to power 23 years ago - first as prime minister and
then as executive president - Mr Mugabe has officially earned a total of less
than US$1 million (about £625,000), including various allowances. Last month, he
increased his annual salary by 1,000 per cent to the equivalent of £23,000.
Last year, when America and the European Union slapped sanctions
on Mr Mugabe and more than 70 of his political cohorts, Washington also froze
their assets. Mr Mugabe challenged investigators to find any personal stash
abroad. "They will find nothing," he said.
However, his new house is one of the most striking signs that he
has spent massively more than he has earned. A mile away from the new mansion is
that other architectural testament to Mr Mugabe's rule, the brick house -dubbed
Gracelands - which his second wife Grace built using a government building fund
set up to assist lowly paid civil servants.
That house appears unoccupied. After exposure in the media, Mrs
Mugabe sold it, and it ended up in the hands of Libyan diplomats - among the
last international backers of the regime. But they have not moved in.
It is dwarfed by her husband's retirement home across the valley.
Set in 44 acres of heavily wooded land, the property is made up of three
separate title deeds - the first two bought in 1987 by the M & S Syndicate
Ltd, set up seven years earlier.
This week, staff at the Registrar of Companies in Harare said
records of M & S Syndicate were not available, but gave names of directors,
including the speaker of parliament, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is tipped to
succeed Mr Mugabe as president of Zanu-PF, and the defence minister Sydney
Sekeramayi.
The third tranche of property was bought three years ago from a
farmer who, friends say, was forced to sell because Mr Mugabe wanted to extend
the land-holding.
When he finally retires as president, he will continue to receive
his full presidential salary which is nowhere near enough to maintain the costs
of his retirement mansion.
At present, the cost of protecting the property is borne by
Zimbabwe's taxpayers. At least four uniformed police officers patrol the
perimeter 24 hours a day.
Security agents from the Central Intelligence Organisation are on
hand to apprehend inquisitive drivers or bird-watchers who stop near the
fence.
The mansion was built by a former Yugoslavian company,
Energoproject, which has had close links with Mr Mugabe.
The present site manager, Alexandre Illic, said last week that
the building had been completed about a month ago. He said he reported to the
ministry of mines and that Mr Mugabe recently visited the site while he was
there.
Sources in the building industry say landscaping and interior
decoration - supervised by Mrs Mugabe, renowned for her expensive tastes - will
be carried out by South Africans.
The Telegraph faxed questions to Mr Mugabe's Harare office,
asking how the residence was paid for, but received no reply.
Brian Raftopoulos, professor of development studies at the
University of Zimbabwe, said: "Details of his new home are an indicator that the
issue of retirement is on the agenda. He will never let go of power. His
influence on government will be different, but will remain.
"One of the issues for the transition is his role in retirement
and his continued influence on all sectors.
"The size of his house indicates that he feels his presence needs
to be symbolised by this massive outlay of resources for his
retirement."
dawn.com
EU takes advantage of Africa's weakness to impose
conditions
By Joyce Mulama
NAIROBI: The European Union is taking
advantage of Africa's weak bargaining
power to bloat the list of conditions -
attached to development aid - with
further demands.
Washington Akumu,
a senior economic writer and columnist with a Kenyan
newspaper, says most of
the EU conditions border on tokenism and "the urge
to be perceived as
politically-correct among the community of nations".
"Time and again, the
West and the EU in particular has supported and traded
with African states
not on the basis of their adherence to good governance,
but in the pursuit of
their own overbearing self-interest," he observes.
"Nothing can become of
these conditionalities unless the EU assists African
institutions like the AU
(Africa Union) and NEPAD (New Partnerships for
Africa's Development) to
develop monitoring mechanisms that work. In any
case, they are nearer to the
ground and have relatively cleaner hands,"
remarks Akumu.
Job Ogolla,
of the Nairobi-based Africa Economic Research and Development
Consortium,
contends that some of EU's terms, such as involving civil
society and faith
groups in projects proposal writing, are welcome, since
they are meant to
guard against corruption by governments.
"The government is placed on
check right from conceptualization of ideas to
proposal writing. When the
proposals are approved and money sent, other
parties, apart from the
government, will be aware of it and chances of
squandering it are therefore
reduced," he says.
"But some of the EU terms require change of
legislation and establishment of
new institutions. This might not be an easy
task for recipient countries,"
notes Ogolla.
EU has often demanded
privatization, procurement laws and civil service
restructuring as conditions
for providing aid to developing countries.
The EU has maintained that
economic and institutional reforms are necessary
to attract international
funding, and has been asking recipients to
intensify the reforms to boost
investor confidence.
More than 50 per cent of EU's support in Africa
targets the creation of a
favourable and sustainable environment for private
sector participation to
revitalize economy, complains local development
officials.
Road infrastructure, tourism and trade are some of the key
areas the union
looks at in regard to boosting economy.
Ogolla has
accused the European Union of manipulating Africa when it comes
to trade.
"They tell us that we will enjoy non-tariff rate for our raw
materials
getting into the European market. When you look at this
critically, Africa is
condemned to remain a raw material economy, because it
supplies the west with
raw goods, the west manufactures and exports the
goods back to Africa, which
is not right," he says.
Some African countries have disagreed with EU
officials over aid sanctions.
Last year, Kenya fell out with European Union,
one of her key development
partners, over contents of a draft copy of a
"country strategy paper", which
spelled out aid terms.
The paper,
prepared by the local EU delegation, spelled out unattainable
conditions in
exchange for aid.
Government officials insisted that the terms were
humiliating and touched on
sovereignty.
The disagreement happened
after 10 years of "donor boycott" but Kenya never
went on bended knees.
During that period, the plunder of the country's
economy by its leadership
was at its best. "We suffered an economic
melt-down but survived because of
the resilience of the people," Ogolla
says.
EU has frozen aid to
countries accused of human rights abuses and some
African nations have fallen
prey.
Donor funds to Zimbabwe, for example, have been frozen due to,
among other
things, its policy on land, where farms owned by 4,500 white
commercial
farmers have been parcelled out to landless black
people.
In July, the European Union froze development aid, running into
"hundreds of
millions of euros", to Africa over the insistence that
Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe attend meetings between EU and
Africa.
Mugabe has been banned from travelling to Europe in accordance
with EU
sanctions, but African leaders say Europe could not dictate who
should
attend meetings.
The first EU-Africa meeting was held in Cairo,
Egypt two years ago. This
year's meeting was supposed to take place in
Lisbon, Portugal.
EU spokesperson Michael Curtis indicated that despite
the cancellation of
the meeting, dialogue will continue between the union and
African countries,
most of which share a lucrative multi-billion Euro aid and
trade deal with
the union.
The EU work with Africa through the Cotonou
Agreement, whose main objective
is to alleviate poverty through increased and
better-targeted aid, a new
trade partnerships and political
dialogue.
The agreement was signed in Benin's capital, Cotonou, in June
2000, and
links 77 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP)
with the
15 EU member states. The agreement, which provides the framework for
EU's
cooperation with the ACP countries, also seeks to liberalize trade
between
the two blocs.
France and Germany, two of largest countries in
the 15-member EU followed in
the Union's footsteps by increasing the
financial assistance they give to
Africa.
Germany, Europe's biggest
economy, has granted an additional 215 million
euros to fight HIV/AIDS on the
continent, in addition to 300 million euros
it has already pledged to
international health funds operating in Africa.
French President Jacques
Chirac said Paris would also triple its
contribution from 50 million euros to
150 million euros. Aid to sub-Saharan
Africa fell from $16 billion in 1996 to
$12.7 billion in 2000.
Oxfam, the largest British charity, says aid
spending in Africa needs to
increase at least $25 billion a year if the
region is to meet the intended
target of halving the number of people living
on less than a dollar a day by
2015.-Dawn/The InterPress News
Service.
VOA
Africa African Leaders Sign Defense Pact
VOA News
26 Aug 2003, 15:23 UTC Southern African leaders have signed a
security pact that allows
member states to intervene in conflicts in
neighboring countries.
Members of the 14-nation Southern African
Development Community (SADC)
unanimously approved the plan at the end of a
two-day summit in Tanzania.
The security agreement permits SADC
members to use strong action to
enforce peace in another member state. States
will be able to respond using
diplomatic, political or military
means.
It is not clear if the security pact will create an African
regional
peacekeeping force. The African Union has been debating the idea of
forming
such a force.
The annual summit was attended by several
African heads of state and
hundreds of delegates.
It opened
Monday with a call on Western nations to lift sanctions on
Zimbabwe. SADC
chairman and Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa told the
conference that U.S.
and European sanctions were ineffective, unwarranted,
and hurt ordinary
people in Zimbabwe.
Britain, the European Union and the United
States slapped sanctions on
Zimbabwe's government following last year's
disputed elections and the
implementation of President Robert Mugabe's
controversial land reform
policy. Zimbabwe also has been suspended from the
Commonwealth, a grouping
of former British colonies.
SADC
members also tackled serious development issues facing their
region,
including the AIDS pandemic affecting some 14 million people in
southern
Africa.
Fourteen nations comprise the Southern African Development
Community,
which seeks to establish an economic community and a common market
similar
to the European Union. SADC nations are: South Africa, Swaziland,
Lesotho,
Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritius, Tanzania,
the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Malawi and
Seychelles.
Seychelles says it plans to quit the grouping but has not yet
done so.
From The Sunday Mirror, 24 August
Zanu PF in no hurry to dialogue
with the MDC - Chinamasa
Artwell Manyemba in Kariba
The
ruling Zanu PF is in no hurry to resume interparty dialogue with
the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the Minister of
Justice,
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa said last week.
The
minister said Zanu PF was committed to entering into direct talks with
the
MDC, "once the environment is ripe and conducive to delivering a
successful
conclusion." Asked when that would be, Chinamasa said he could not
reveal
the indicators for such a time. "What I am saying is that because of
the
importance of the matter (talks), nothing should be hurried, rushed.
"Direct
contacts by their very nature will help get Zanu PF and MDC to get to
know
each other better and demystify a lot of things. I am sure the contacts
when
established will contribute immensely towards the easing of
tension,"
Chinamasa said. He said he did not see the role of any mediator in
the
talks, saying Zanu PF and MDC were already engaged through their
interaction
and participation in Parliament. Efforts by Church leaders to
mediate
between the two parties will not yield much as Zanu PF only
welcomes
facilitators for the talks, Chinamasa said. Chinamasa was at the
forefront
of dismissing church-led initiatives to bring Zanu PF and the MDC
to the
talking table, accusing the clergymen led by Reverend Sebastian Bakare
of
being partisan in favour of the latter party. This prompted
media
allegations that Chinamasa was averse to talks as they would diminish
his
political clout.
The minister however denied reports that some
Zanu PF top ranking officials
were against the resumption of the inter-party
dialogue to resolve the
country’s political problems. "The generality of
Zimbabweans support
resumption of inter-party dialogue," he said. However,
Chinamasa spelt out
conditionalities for stakeholders genuinely interested in
moving forward.
The conditions, which he termed "shared core values", include
the
acknowledgement of the legacy of he Second Chimurenga (Zimbabwe’s
armed
struggle for independence), recognition of the heroes and heroines of
the
liberation struggle, respect for the country’s symbols and institutions
and
a nationalistic political attitude. "MDC should not seek to enter
into
dialogue with the hidden agenda to achieve an imposed solution or to
achieve
what it failed to achieve through attempted assassination,
stayaways,
rolling mass actions and so called final pushes. Zanu PF will not
talk under
threats of mass actions. No common ground can be found between a
political
party or leader that remains the footstool of (Tony) Blair and
(George) Bush
and a party with liberation credentials. It is like water and
oil. The two
cannot mix," Chinamasa said. The minister said the MDC’s
attendance of
parliament and the party’s abolishment of their boycotts of
President Robert
Mugabe’s address was a refreshing new
beginning.
Meanwhile, the minister announced that government for the
first time was
requesting the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for
assistance
for the electoral process leading to the 2005 general elections.
UNDP
resident representative, Victor Angelo confirmed the request saying the
UNDP
was engaged in discussions with government in the past seven months.
Angelo
said the UNDP was willing to financially and materially support the
2005
general elections process, from legislative review, delimitation,
voter
education, and the political parties’ campaigns. "We want to
contribute
towards the full credible process. The elections should meet the
high
international standards," Angelo said. Both the minister and the
UNDP
representative could not be drawn into revealing the amount to be used
for
the election support being sought. The UNDP wants to safeguard the
validity
and credibility of Zimbabwe’s elections. After the 2001 March
presidential
and the 2000 parliamentary elections, the MDC led campaigns for
the
nullification of the results saying the process leading to the elections
was
flawed. Some international observers said the elections were not free
and
fair.
Telegraph
Nothing fishy going on up the Zambezi
(Filed:
26/08/2003)
A generation or so ago I achieved a long-standing
ambition - to live in
Africa. With the enthusiastic assistance of the
Colonial Office, I arrived
in Salisbury, the capital of what was then
Southern Rhodesia, a land
described as consisting of "heat, dust, tea, cold
beer and shorts".
The Sovereign was represented by a retired admiral and
the Union Jack,
flying over Government House, represented the Pax Britannia
throughout the
land and many other lands in Africa now sadly torn by civil
strife. Having
little money and no job, a somewhat anxious period followed
before the offer
of a job transpired. This took the form of the junior of two
assistants to
the manager of a large tobacco plantation .
A salary for
a cook being provided by the estate, I interviewed a candidate,
who assured
me that there was nothing he did not know about the culinary
art. I
instructed him to bring me my breakfast in the tobacco lands on his
first
morning. This he did with a big smile, whipping the cloth off the
plate to
reveal a whole boiled cabbage. At the end of the season I was
invited to
accompany the manager on a fishing trip to the Zambezi river,
which was quite
an adventure in those days.
Applications for a volunteer to accompany us
as Man Friday were called for
and Chakuda was selected - a man of
considerable initiative and ingenuity,
whose CV was only slightly marred by
several prison terms for robbery and
assault. The great day arrived and a
one-ton Bedford truck was duly loaded.
The load largely consisted of drums of
petrol, fishing tackle, and crates of
beer, the final addition being some
£3,000 in cash wrapped in a paper bag
being the balance of farm wages, with
no safe on the estate for deposit.
The descent of the gravel and dirt
road leading down the escarpment to the
Zambezi valley required maximum
concentration in bottom gear. On reaching
the valley floor, a further 40
miles of sand track awaited one before
reaching the river. Finally arriving
in the vicinity of the river, a road
consisting of half game trail and half
track was negotiated for some miles,
with the assistance of the redoubtable
Chakuda wielding an axe.
Camping consisted of clearing a space under a
marula tree and unrolling a
blanket each. The beer was kept cold by placing a
canvas bag full of bottles
in a tree and dripping petrol on them, the walk to
fishing spots required
avoiding numerous short-sighted and aggressive rhino
and Worcestershire
Sauce was added to the guineafowl stew when it got a
little high. But the
fishing was superb.
On the last day we ventured
further from our camp than usual, leaving
Chakuda busy drying and salting a
large quantity of fish. We were sitting
taking a break from fishing about
mid-morning when Chakuda arrived with the
front of his shirt stuffed with our
£3,000 whilst remarking that if we were
stupid enough to leave large sums of
money around, somebody would steal it.
In view of his previous CV and the
fact that at the time he was in receipt
of an income of £3 a month, there
must be a moral to the story. However,
after some 40 years have passed, I
have still not arrived at the conclusion
as to what it is.
The Mercury
MDC and govt 'still talking'
August 27,
2003
By Beauregard Tromp & Sapa
Dar es Salaam: The
new Southern African Development Community
chairman, Benjamin Mkapa, says
talks between the Zimbabwean government and
the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change are continuing behind the
scenes.
He was
speaking at the closing of the 23rd annual Sadc summit which
saw the regional
body adopt a road map to speed up economic integration.
The
Tanzanian president said that, contrary to media reports, contacts
still
existed between the Zimbabwean government and the opposition.
"Just because it is not happening in public doesn't mean talks are
not
continuing. You may call it a creeping readiness to dialogue," said
Mkapa.
He emphasised the region's support for Zimbabwe and called
for an end
to sanctions.
The leaders also agreed to a new mutual
security pact that would
permit member states to intervene and stop an
internal conflict to prevent
it destabilising other countries.
Reuters
27 Aug 2003 01:04:16 GMT
FEATURE-African wildlife
set for cross-border tourist
boost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Toby Reynolds
LUSAKA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Africa's wild animals have never
paid much
attention to the continent's often arbitrary borders.
Soon
the tourists who watch them won't have to either.
Trans-national
conservation areas with relaxed or no borders are a
blossoming project for
conservation in southern Africa, where neighbour
states have formally agreed
to set up seven cross-border wildlife sites, and
have 15 more in the
works.
Those pressing for their creation say they will allow animals
freer movement
and encourage tourism, and that the parks are also valuable
exercises in
regional cooperation.
"African borders were all
determined arbitrarily by European colonial
powers, irrespective of existing
ethnic groups," said Willem van Riet, head
of South Africa's Peace Parks
Foundation.
"Those boundaries have nothing to do with
ecology."
Van Riet's group facilitates the development of cross-border
conservation,
and has the backing of peacemaker and former South African
president Nelson
Mandela.
The issue will be big on the agenda at next
month's World Parks Congress in
Durban, South Africa -- where the future of
the world's parks, nature
reserves and other protected areas will be under
the spotlight from
September 8-17.
Three days will be devoted to
trans-frontier conservation areas at the
meeting, Van Riet
said.
ENLARGING ANIMAL, TOURIST RANGES
Aside from the issue of the
borders themselves, expanding the size of the
individual parks by running
them into one another increases the foraging and
migration ranges of the
animals and the attraction to tourists.
"From a conservation point of
view you can manage populations much better
because the habitat is much
larger and the animals can migrate," Van Riet
said.
"The second thing
is that you can do much better tourism development because
there are more
places for the tourists to go...From a pure rural development
option tourism
is often a better, more feasible option than agriculture."
Breaking down
the park boundaries also fits in with regional integration
efforts under the
auspices of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC), a bloc that
groups 14 member states with the aim of boosting trade
and
co-operation.
That spirit has already set South Africa, Zimbabwe and
Mozambique well on
the way to creating a giant super-park which will include
the renowned
Kruger National Park.
"In the SADC protocol on wildlife
and conservation management there is a
provision for the establishment of
these trans-frontier conservation areas,"
said Hapenga Kabeta, director
general of the Zambian Wildife Authority.
He hopes his country will
benefit from running its border conservation areas
into those of its
neighbours.
Zambia's vast plains and rich forests once housed huge
populations of game
animals, elephant, rhino and big cats.
But
poaching devastated many of them during the 1970s, and while they
are
beginning to recover, they need all the help they can get.
Opening
up the country's borders to amalgamate its parks with those of its
neighbours
will help attract tourists, Kabeta said.
ZAMBIA PLANS SIX SUCH
PARKS
Zambia, a poor country which has nonetheless protected about a
third of its
land for wildlife, has six cross-border conservation areas on
the drawing
board.
One -- encompassing Malawian and Zambian parks on
the Nyika plateau on the
northern edge of the shared border -- is on track
for official approval this
year, Kabeta said.
"Basically, Zambia and
Malawi have agreed...Our target is that by December
this year the two
countries must sign a memorandum establishing this," he
said.
The
envisaged Nyika trans-frontier park would cover some 3,200 square
kilometres
(1,236 square miles), and would house leopard, elephant, buffalo
and lion --
four of the hunter's famous "big five", as well as more than 400
species of
birds.
Just south of the Nyika plateau Zambia's Lundazi Forest Reserve is
set to
merge with Malawi's Vwaza Marsh reserve, and further south again there
are
plans to link Zambia's Lukusuzi park and the Kasungu park in Malawi to
make
a combined park that would cover nearly 6,000 square kilometres
(2,317
square miles) of ground.
Another project would join protected
areas in Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe,
Botswana and possibly Angola, around the
northern Okavango delta, while a
fifth would cross Zambia's borders with
Zimbabwe along the banks of the
Zambezi river.
Tens of thousands of
wildebeest could find their annual migrations between
Zambia and Angola made
easier by the establishment of a sixth cross-border
area on the Liuwa plains
between the two countries, Kabeta added.
These projects will be expensive
-- a Peace Parks Foundation report pegs
costs at more than $70 million -- but
will encourage visitors, and will help
shore up regional
alliances.
"Apart from the conservation and tourism...these are little
experiments in
co-operation between countries," Van Riet said.
CNN
Southern African states trade sovereignty for security
Pact seeks
to halt civil wars
Wednesday, August 27, 2003 Posted: 0046 GMT ( 8:46 AM
HKT)
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DAR
ES SALAAM, Tanzania (Reuters) -- Southern African leaders ended a
regional
summit Tuesday with a new mutual security pact that will permit
member states
to intervene and stop an internal conflict to prevent it
destabilizing other
countries.
The pact, which effectively limits an individual country's
sovereignty,
enshrines the principle of strong joint action to enforce peace,
and
officials of the 14-member Southern African Development Community said
they
hoped this would avert civil war in the region.
Under the pact, a
conflict within any SADC country would automatically
invite a response from
other members. Diplomatic, political or military
means, or a combination of
all three, would be used to end civil war in a
member, officials
said.
The agreement provides for regional intervention but opposes coups
and
suggests that SADC members would aim to restore "constitutional
order."
It does not set up a new regional peacekeeping force, though
existing
African Union plans envisage such a force.
An SADC body
equivalent to the U.N. Security Council would take the hard
decisions on
intervention after reviewing each case that might require it,
SADC officials
said.
"If your neighbor is not stable, you cannot be stable for too long.
If your
neighbor collapses, the fallout will not respect the boundary between
you,"
Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, the SADC's new chairman, told a
news
conference.
Could intervene in Zimbabwe
The pact could allow
the SADC to play a more direct role in trying to
restore stability and
security in Zimbabwe, where often violent land reform
since 2000 and a
controversial election last year led to a political and
economic
crisis.
It could also help the region to negotiate a return to law and
order and
greater freedom for the people of the small kingdom of Swaziland --
where
opposition parties are banned and analysts say the rule of law has
virtually
collapsed.
While the pact marks a public step toward greater
accountability, analysts
have noted that southern African leaders have thus
far been reluctant to
take a strong stance against fellow rulers in the
region.
In an end-of summit communique, SADC pledged its solidarity with
Zimbabwe,
and said it rejected donor aid to the region linked to resolving
the
Zimbabwe crisis.
"We do not choose our neighbor. Do not tell us
how to choose our friends,"
Mkapa said.
The group also agreed a
regional strategy to fight HIV/AIDS, which affects
some 14 million people in
the region and is seen as a threat to economic
development.
Mkapa said
the SADC had agreed to take a common position during World Trade
Organization
talks in Mexico next month on issues ranging from drugs for
AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis to subsidies for U.S. and European farmers.
The SADC
comprises South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia,
Angola,
Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritius, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of
Congo,
Mozambique and Malawi. Seychelles has given notice it intends to leave
the
group, but has not yet formally done so.
Business Report
Myth that SA is going the Zimbabwe route must be
dispelled
By Jeremy Gardiner
With the amnesty
period in full swing, there is much debate raging on
the merits of coming
clean. I do not profess in any way to be an expert on
the amnesty, and
therefore am not going to say much on the subject.
However, I urge
those who are considering not taking advantage of the
amnesty to think what
spending time in a South African jail would actually
be like, and with that
thought in mind, how much one would be prepared to
pay to get out of that
particular predicament, and I think you'll find that
the penalty fees pale
into insignificance!
What is intriguing is that most articles on
the amnesty start with the
argument that if you think South Africa will go
the same way as Zimbabwe,
don't come clean.
In fact I would take
it further. If you believe South Africa is headed
in the same direction as
Zimbabwe, then it would make sense to sell all your
South African-based
assets, rent a house and a car, and take advantage of
the generous forex
relief to get every cent you legitimately can out of the
country, because
with the Zim dollar trading at 2 500 to the US dollar,
R7.30 to the dollar
must be about as good as it's going to get!
However, given that
certain people will be guided in making their
amnesty decision on this topic,
it is surprising that nobody seems to be
stating a case for why it is highly
unlikely that we will travel the
Zimbabwe road.
While nobody can
categorically state that we won't go the same way as
Zimbabwe, here is an
attempt to dispel some of the common myths on this
subject.
Myth
One: Africa is inherently corrupt.
No continent encourages
corruption. The 20th century, however, was not
kind to Africa. Under
colonialism the local population was massively abused
and the scars remain
today.
Then, when it became politically incorrect to own a piece of
Africa,
the colonialists withdrew, leaving behind a leadership
void.
Into this void stepped leaders more interested in enriching
themselves
than the countries over which they presided. And enrich themselves
they did.
The European colonists, wracked with guilt, were not going to
intervene in
these newly liberated countries. So Africa was left to its own
devices and
corruption thrived, but the tide is turning.
Myth
Two: Africa will never change.
The world has changed, and the West
is now taking an active interest
in Africa's affairs for a variety of
reasons, including:
... Humanitarian - Improved news flows
highlighting the plight of
Africans, combined with the increased political
and economic power of
various interest groups, which attack world leaders
every time the Group of
Eight tries to hold a conference, has led to an
improved attitude towards
helping the world's have-nots.
...
The spread of fundamentalism - Post-September 11, the US feels
vulnerable,
paranoid and aggressive, fuelling fears that Africa might become
a breeding
ground and a launch pad for terrorist attacks, after which the
perpetrators
could retreat into an impenetrable jungle. It has become
important for US
strategic reasons that democracy and stability advance in
Africa and that
poverty and war retreat.
... Expediency - The US consumes 25 to
30 percent of the world's oil,
most of which originates from the Middle East.
Needless to say, the US feels
that the level of client service from the
region is sub-standard and is thus
looking for non-Opec
alternative.
There is no doubt oil played a significant role in
President George W
Bush's recent trip to Africa. This is to be encouraged as
Africa has oil and
the US wants oil, but we don't have the massive capital
resources required
to prospect and mine the oil. Just imagine what
significant oil exports
could do to Africa's infrastructure and
economies.
Myth Three: Quiet diplomacy means we agree with what is
going on in
Zimbabwe.
This issue is often misread as complicity,
the logic being that
because the government has not been significantly
outspoken on the subject,
they therefore agree with President Robert Mugabe's
actions. The government
would argue there are many reasons for quiet
diplomacy, including:
... South Africa's proximity to Zimbabwe
- Of paramount importance has
been the need for a gradual transformation
rather than any risk of
instability, which would impact on the
region
.
... Mugabe continually kept up the pressure
on apartheid South
Africa - It is important for the maintenance of South
Africa's leading role
in African statesmanship, not to publicly spurn a
leader who was steadfast
in his opposition to apartheid and who still has the
ability to unite with
various African malcontents, such as Libya, to wreck
the best of the
government's intentions.
... Various
cultural reasons that include not publicly castigating or
humiliating your
elders.
Myth Four: Mugabe and President Thabo Mbeki are
close.
The evidence suggests otherwise. While Nelson Mandela was in
prison
and Mbeki in exile, Mugabe was the global spokesperson for Africa.
Upon
their release and return, Mandela and Mbeki have usurped this role. It
is
hard not to credit the rumours that Mbeki is privately irate that Mugabe
has
managed Zimbabwe into the ground and embarrassed Mbeki at crucial moments
in
his marketing of an African Renaissance.
Myth Five: The ANC
and Zanu-PF are struggle allies.
Zanu traditionally had a
relationship with the Pan Africanist
Congress, not the ANC. In fact, Mugabe's
government turned a blind eye to
cross-border raids by apartheid forces, that
attacked ANC safe-houses. The
ANC's relationship was in fact with the
Zimbabwean African Peoples Union,
Zanu's opposition.
Myth Six:
Our government has done nothing.
The government has been active
behind the scenes for at least 3 years
(since Victoria Falls in 2000 to be
exact) trying to secure a government of
national unity, without Mugabe. The
"without Mugabe" part of the equation
has proved impossible to achieve and is
largely responsible for the failure
of quiet diplomacy.
Finally
...
If ever there was a time when South Africa was actually heading
in the
same direction as Zimbabwe, it was in the late 1980s. This was when we
also
had a leader who would wag a finger at the rest of the world. Land
invasions
and forced removals were legislated. We had a security force not
dissimilar
to Mugabe's war veterans, and an economy isolated from the rest of
the
world.
Those were dark days indeed. So bleak in fact that
white South
Africans, when travelling overseas, pretended to be
Australian!
Today, not only is the rainbow nation not heading in
the same
direction as Zimbabwe, but on the contrary, is heading in the
opposite
direction, as the facts below illustrate:
... The
Zimbabwean economy is forecast to shrink by 15 percent* this
year, ours will
probably grow by roughly 2 percent.
... Its inflation will
finish the year at 450 percent*. Ours will drop
to roughly 4
percent.
... Its formal sector employment is dropping. Ours is
rising, albeit
slowly.
... Its currency will fall to Z$3 500
to the US dollar* by year-end
and ours is forecast to finish at R8 to R8.50
per US dollar.
... Its tourism industry has collapsed. Ours is
one of the few in the
world experiencing growth.
In conclusion
the world is a different place today.
The abuses of yesterday will
not be tolerated by a West that is no
longer burdened with colonialist guilt
and hungry for solutions.
In addition, a new breed of African
leaders is taking control on the
continent. Led by the New Partnership for
Africa's Development, countries
that subscribe to the principles of good
governance, human rights and
democracy will be rewarded with Western
investment, aid and training and
those that don't, won't.
Finally foreigners and South Africans are learning to distinguish
between
South Africa and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a unique and sad situation,
which will
hopefully start to improve in the not-too-distant future. The bad
news is
fortunately (or unfortunately) already factored into the price of
our stock
market and our currency. Therefore, as we move closer towards a
possible
solution, a potential upside is more likely than downside.
So, when
looking at Zimbabwe, try to look forwards, not backwards, as
past performance
is no guarantee of future performance, particularly in
this
case.
* Sourced from: Professor Tony Hawkins (University of
Harare) and Nic
Borain (HSBC)
... Jeremy Gardiner is the
director of Investec Asset Management