• JAG Open Letters Forum No. 208
• Zimbabwe with its back to the wall
• Zimbabwe opposition urges Mbeki to hear its side
• Mbeki claims UK to blame for crisis in Zimbabwe
• Zimbabwe Farmers Lack Funds to Buy Land Here
• Sovereign can't be sacred
• Paper faces $600 million lawsuit
• Zim school fees hit the roof
• Harare Council meeting of 16 December
• Mbeki to test quiet diplomacy in Harare
• Turn up the volume on Zimbabwe
• Zimbabwe's bank chief tackles inflation

President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has sprung to the defence of Robert
Mugabe and blamed Britain for the crisis in Zimbabwe.

In his weekly letter to the ruling African National Congress, Mr Mbeki said
President Mugabe'sseizures of white farms had become inevitable because
Britain had not honoured its commitment to fund land reform. Mr Mbeki also
criticised the Commonwealth, saying it did not have the interests of
Zimbabwe's people at heart when it decided to renew the country's suspension
from the organisation. Mr Mugabe pulled his country out of the Commonwealth
on Sunday night in protest at the decision.

President Mbeki dismissed Commonwealth concerns about human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe, saying it had lost sight of the land issue, which he described as
the core of the problems in Zimbabwe.

His remarks are certain to further disappoint those who are already angered
by his defence of Mr Mugabe at the Commonwealth summit in Nigeria and his
attempts to oust its secretary general Don McKinnon, who has been a vocal
critic of Mr Mugabe.

Lovemore Madhuku, a prominent Zimbabwean academic, said: "The point is that
Mbeki is now looking a bit silly by his campaign to defend the totally
indefensible.

"I think he has made it clear that his African Renaissance and Nepad [New
Partnership for Africa's Development] pet projects, which are predicated on
good governance, are not worth the paper on which they are written. Rich
countries must take note and not waste time on these things."

In his defence of Mr Mugabe's government, Mr Mbeki quoted the Kenyan author
Ngugi wa Thiongo: "Africa actually enriches Europe but Africa is made to
believe that it needs Europe to rescue it from poverty." Mr Mbeki said those
who fought for a democratic Zimbabwe "with thousands paying the supreme
price during the struggle, and forgave their oppressors and torturers in a
spirit of national reconciliation, have been turned into repugnant enemies
of democracy".

In a direct reference to Britain, he said: "Those who, in the interest of
their [white] 'kith and kin', did what they could to deny the people of
Zimbabwe their liberty, for as long as they could, have become the eminent
defenders of the democratic rights of the people of Zimbabwe."

Mr Mbeki asked why the land issue had disappeared from the global agenda
when it was at the "core" of the problems in Zimbabwe. Whenever the land
issue was mentioned, he said, it was only "to highlight the plight of the
former white landowners, and to attribute food shortages in Zimbabwe to the
land redistribution programme".

He accused Britain, the United Nations and European Union of not honouring
commitments to help finance land redistribution in Zimbabwe after colonial
rule left most productive farms in the hands of the white minority.

"A forcible process of land redistribution perhaps became inevitable," Mr
Mbeki said. He accused "some within Zimbabwe and elsewhere" of treating
human rights as a tool to overthrow the Zimbabwe government. While
acknowledging that "many things have gone wrong in Zimbabwe", Mr Mbeki
attributed the crisis to machinations by British governments which were
meant to protect the interests of their "white kith and kin".

New Vision (Kampala)

December 17, 2003
Posted to the web December 17, 2003

Yunusu Abbey
Kampala

ZIMBABWEAN white farmers who wanted to invest in Uganda after authorities in
Harare grabbed their land, have pulled out of the venture.

The Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) director, Dr. Maggie Kigozi, said the
Zimbabweans who inspected land in Uganda, could not proceed with the deal
due to financial constraints.

Kigozi was addressing the weekly Government briefing in Kampala on Thursday.

"No bank or lender was willing to give them the 100% loan without security
as they had wanted. As a result, they had to go back home while some
remained around and got employment," she said.

Sudhir Ruparelia's Rosebud Flowers farm had recruited some Zimbabweans but
three of them ran away.

      How independent is Zimbabwe really, under the dictatorial control of a
corrupt elite which perverts the rule of law, violates the human rights of
its citizens, suppresses the freedom of the press, and, in the undoctored
reports of the Commonwealth Observer Mission, systematically manipulated the
last election?

      How absolute is the argument that one should not interfere in the
internal affairs of a sovereign state? Apartheid South Africa was "a
sovereign state"; so was Iraq.

     .. Geoff Hughes is Professor Emeritus at the University of the
Witwatersrand.

Pretoria - In yet another example of Zimbabwe's financial crisis, it has
emerged that school fees there are set to rise by up to a shocking 2 500%
next year.

Hassan Lorgat, spokesperson for the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) in
South Africa, described the situation as "tragic".

It is going to result in hundreds of children dropping out of school, he
said, adding that this was a basic depravation of human rights.

He predicts that this alone could force many adults and children in the
country to flee to places such as South Africa.

Lorgat said the GCE supported a harder stance being taken against Zimbabwe.

As in South Africa, parents decide on the school fees at about 6 000
government schools in Zimbabwe.

School bodies have said they have no other option but to raise fees.

In some schools, fees have gone up from Z$500 (R4) a term to Z$50 000
(R400).

In the more expensive schools, fees have increased from Z$19 000 (R152) per
term to Z$250 000 (R2 000).

For middle-class Zimbabweans this spells disaster - especially since 80% are
unemployed.

John Robertson, a Zimbabwean economist, said on Wednesday that the increase
would have a dramatic impact on the majority of children whose families are
unable to afford the fees.

He also said that even now, a large percentage of children dropped out of
school at the age of 12 because their parents could not afford the fees.

He said this was tragic, especially in view of the fact that Zimbabwe was
once respected for its high standard of education.

A Unicef report showed that more and more children were deprived of
schooling due to the cost of education and because of HIV/Aids.

Unicef said this week that urgent attention must be given to Zimbabwean
children, especially girls, regarding their continued education.

Mbeki to test quiet diplomacy in Harare

With mounting pressure to prove that "quiet diplomacy" can help bring about
a settlement in Zimbabwe, President Thabo Mbeki arrives in Harare today for
talks with the country's president, Robert Mugabe. The visit comes as
Archbishop Desmond Tutu called on SA to speak out against human rights
violations. Tutu said SA's stance raised the question of what would stop SA
from lapsing into undemocratic practices if it was indifferent to what was
happening north of the border. Arnold Vaatz, a deputy leader from Germany's
main opposition party, the Christian Democrats, who spent three days in
Zimbabwe, said yesterday he feared for the future of southern Africa if SA
tolerated and supported "a criminal and racist" government. Vaatz also
warned that SA was losing postapartheid international goodwill and
credibility and stood to lose out on international investment.

Mbeki's spokesman Bheki Khumalo, said yesterday that the president's visit
was part of continuing consultations with Mugabe, to help the people of
Zimbabwe to find a solution to their problems. Khumalo said the visit was
planned "a long time ago" and was not a result of events at the recent
Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Nigeria, at which Zimbabwe was
indefinitely suspended from the Commonwealth. The expulsion was criticised
by the Southern African Development Community. Mbeki was particularly
stinging in his attack, labelling the move by European members as seeking to
protect their "kith and kin". In a statement earlier this week, Tutu said
that what was reportedly happening in Zimbabwe was "totally unacceptable and
reprehensible". By drawing attention to the issue, Vaatz could put pressure
on German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to make Zimbabwe a prominent matter on
his visit to SA early next year. As SA has supported Zimbabwe, Vaatz said,
"you ask yourself, what's the future for SA and Africa"? Vaatz said his
deepest impression from the visit was how similar the climate of repression
in Zimbabwe was to that in his former homeland, east Germany. He said there
was an environment of deep mistrust in Zimbabwe, as well as "deep insecurity
about the future".

      President Thabo Mbeki travelled to Harare today on another "quiet
diplomacy" mission. But while Mbeki has been steadfast in his belief that
Zimbabweans themselves must resolve the crisis in that country, the rest of
the world it losing its patience.

      With the worsening food shortages, inflation reaching triple figures,
an ongoing brain drain of its professionals and a renewed commitment to grab
more white-owned farms as part of the country's controversial land reform
programme, Zimbabwe is in a mess.

      Mugabe's political opponents, especially members of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change, have been harassed and Zimbabwe's only
independent daily newspaper, The Daily News, has been banned, stifling all
opposition voices in that country.

      It is a moot point that President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF agreed that
the country must withdraw from the Commonwealth when the club's 54 member
states were about to extend the country's suspension anyway.

      Other world leaders and bodies, including the European Union, have
imposed selective embargoes against Zimbabwe and its leaders. We continue to
whisper and cajole.

      It is therefore imperative, as good neighbours, that Mbeki begins
dialogue with Mugabe that is loud and clear and that will start a process of
ending the tragedy in Zimbabwe.

      Mbeki has committed himself and is optimistic about finding a solution
to the crisis by June.

      The only way he is going to achieve that objective, and end the
suffering, is to convince Mugabe to hold free and fair elections and not a
repeat of the shambles we witnessed in 2000 and in the presidential
elections last year.

By Tony Hawkins in Harare

Gideon Gono, new governor of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank, will on Thursday
present his first monetary policy statement, expected to include a
substantial devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar and drastic new measures to
tackle inflation. Mr Gono will unveil his policy a day after the publication
of inflation figures showing that prices rose 33.6 per cent in November, the
highest monthly increase to date. Year-on-year inflation accelerated
dramatically from 525.8 per cent in October to 619.6 per cent last month.
Prices have doubled in the last three months to give an annualised inflation
rate of over 1900 per cent. Public expectations of what Mr Gono can deliver
have been built up in the state media, but bankers say Mr Gono faces a
near-impossible task. President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly said interest
rates are too high and must come down, while last month the cabinet vetoed
plans to devalue the Zimbabwe dollar from its current official rate of Z$824
to the US dollar to over Z$3,000. Despite political obstacles, the markets
believe there will be a substantial devaluation on Thursday to more than
Z$3,000 to the US dollar. If it goes ahead, the move will not be called
devaluation but an adjustment to the "export support" exchange rate.

There is speculation too that in a move to regulate the parallel market,
where the Zimbabwe dollar trades between Z$6,500 and Z$7,000 to the US
dollar, Mr Gono will announce a new system of tradable bearer bonds,
denominated in foreign currency that exporters will be required to hold for
a minimum of 90 days. Bankers say the exchange rate adjustment is a less
taxing problem than resolving the rapidly-worsening crisis in the country's
money market. Overnight rates have risen to over 600 per cent as banks
struggle to meet their obligations. At least four banks have been shut out
of the daily clearing system because of liquidity problems, suggesting that
to avoid a crisis the central bank will have to to pump more money into the
market, thereby bringing interest rates down. Bankers say this would worsen
rather than reduce inflation. "To square the circle, Mr Gono will have to
come up with some innovative measures, to force down interest rates while
simultaneously discouraging banks from lending for non-productive purposes,"
said one banker.