Zimbabwe leaders 'yet to approve key amendment'

http://news.yahoo.com

Sun Nov 30, 10:15 am ET

HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai have yet to approve a constitutional amendment critical to
forming a unity government, state media said Sunday.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said Friday that "some
shared understanding" had been reached over the amendment that will set out
the powers of the prime minister.

Tsvangirai would become prime minister under a power-sharing deal signed on
September 15, while 84-year-old Mugabe would remain as president.

Mugabe's chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa said in the state-run Sunday
Mail that none of the leaders had signed off on the proposed law.

But he confirmed that negotiators had finalised the text for approval by the
leaders.

"Negotiating teams are expected to report to their principals and political
parties for clearance of the initialled document," Chinamasa told the paper.

The amendment will create the new post of prime minister, bringing the
country one step closer toward forming a unity government.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said Friday that several other issues still
needed to be resolved, despite the agreement on the amendment.

Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a first-round presidential vote in March, when
the MDC won a majority in parliament for the first time.

But he pulled out of a run-off, accusing Mugabe's party of coordinating
deadly attacks against his supportrs.

Since signing the unity accord, the rivals have been locked in a bitter
dispute on how to divide power among their parties.

Power deal at risk as Mugabe digs in

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke

By FRED OLUOCH
Posted Saturday, November 29 2008 at 10:34

Is President Robert Mugabe's position stronger now that he has almost
crippled a power-sharing deal that would have taken away some of his immense
powers?

That is the question observers were asking last week following a warning by
a group of prominent persons that Zimbabwe faces imminent economic and
political collapse.

Besides the hyperinflation brought about by years of economic meltdown,
Zimbabwe watchers now warn of the return to political anarchy with the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change becoming increasingly
disillusioned by Mugabe's recalcitrance over real power sharing.

The MDC - led by Prime Minister-designate, Morgan Tsvangirai - has started
talking of organising a sustained peaceful resistance should President
Mugabe refuse to share power as per the agreement signed on September 15 in
the presence of leaders from African Union and the Southern African
Development Community.

Earlier in the week, African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma, meeting
with former UN boss Kofi Annan and former US president Jimmy Carter, warned
of worse times ahead in the face of fuel and food shortages and the
political standoff between MDC and Mugabe's Zanu-PF over who will take the
Ministry of Home Affairs, which oversees the police.

But it is the government's strong reaction to Zuma's statement, that has
left many observers convinced that President Mugabe is trying to jettison
the power-sharing deal and is again becoming intolerant of outside
interference.

In his response to allegations that Mr Annan, Mr Carter and Ms Graca Machel
were denied visas - made available to The EastAfrican through the Embassy of
Zimbabwe in Nairobi - Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi
accused Mr Annan of misrepresenting the government of Zimbabwe while knowing
that such a high level visit needed prior consultations and preparations.

The minister maintained that had Mr Annan made consultations, he would have
been briefed that the Zimbabwean government had undertaken a comprehensive
assessment of the humanitarian situation in partnership with the UN World
Food Programme and the UN country team in Zimbabwe.

Analysts based in Zimbabwe are worried that this could mean that the
Zimbabwean government is not keen on help from outsiders to solve its myriad
problems.

But the Zimbabwean ambassador to Kenya and its permanent representative to
Unep and UN-Habitat, Kelebert Nkomani, argued that Zimbabwe needs all the
help it can get, adding "But some outsiders appear to be more concerned
about Zimbabwe than the Zimbabweans themselves."

Apart from food and fuel shortages, Zimbabwe is now grappling with an
outbreak of cholera that has killed 290 people, forcing infected Zimbabweans
to stream to South Africa in search of treatment.

Even though Mr Mumbengegwi maintained that the Zimbabwe government did not
bar the Annan team from visiting the country, his argument that an overnight
visit was not enough for meaningful assessment of the humanitarian
situation, has some observers saying that Harare is increasingly becoming
inward looking as it tries to manoeuvre around the now shaky power-sharing
deal.

With no tangible results since the signing of the power-sharing deal in
September, doubts have started emerging over its survival given suspicions
that President Mugabe could be trying to push through a constitutional
amendment allowing him to name a Cabinet alone, which would in essence kill
the power-sharing deal.

Mr Nkomani maintained that he is confident that the two parties will reach
common ground sooner rather than later, even though Mr Tsvangirai announced
on Friday that the talks have stalled once more.

Before the resumption of talks in South Africa last week, Mr Tsvangirai had
refused to join the government, accusing President Mugabe of trying to grab
the powerful ministries, while the government on the other side accused some
neighbouring countries - especially Botswana - of training MDC cadres in
preparation for war.

MDC had earlier maintained that it will not join a Zanu-PF government unless
all the unresolved issues are settled.

They include equal control of powerful ministries such as Defence and Home
Affairs, equal sharing of governorships and other top civil service posts,
including ambassadorial positions, and discussions over MDC's claims that
Zanu-PF is fraudulently doctoring the document outlining the terms of the
power sharing agreement.

MDC also wants the constitutional amendment giving effect to the
power-sharing deal be passed by parliament before any new government can be
appointed.

Zimbabwe stalemate hinges on South African promise

Voice of America (VOA)

Date: 29 Nov 2008

By Akwei Thompson

Washington, DC, 29 November 2008 - Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party says it has reached a tentative deal with the ruling
ZANU-PF party on a constitutional amendment to create a unity government.
But talks between the rival parties in South Africa aimed at forging a
power-sharing deal, are said to be making little progress.

Mduduzi Khumalo, a research specialist with the Peace & Security Research
Unit of the Africa Institute of South Africa said right now the talks are
hinging on a proposal by South Africa.

Referring to the conditions in the agreement signed by the government and
the opposition, Khumalo said "South Africa will not make good on its promise
to give "financial aid" to Zimbabwe until the stalemate has been resolved.

One of two issues hampering the stalemate he said 'is the issue of the
Department of Home Affairs, which he added, is a "very sensitive issue"
because neither side wants to relinquish that department.

The South Africa Development Community (SADC) has suggested the two parties
share the department as a solution to the stalemate and is using the promise
of aid as "carrot".

"South Africa is saying we're not going to give you the money until, go and
resolve the problem," explains Khumalo. This approach by SADC, he says, is
"giving the facilitator of the talks a little bit of a leeway."

The South African analyst said sanctions imposed by the UN are not the
answer to the problem.

Mugabe discusses Zimbabwe's crisis with UN chief at Doha aid summit

http://www.apanews.net

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe met United Nations
secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Sunday on the sidelines of a UN aid
conference in Qatar, amid growing desperation to resolve a looming
humanitarian crisis in the southern African country, state radio reported
here.

Although details of the meeting between the two men were not immediately
available, it is understood they talked about the humanitarian and political
situation in Zimbabwe.

The meeting comes a day after Mugabe blamed Western sanctions against his
government for shortages of food, drugs and electricity that have beset
Zimbabwe since 2000.

He accuses Britain and her allies of using the sanctions as punishment for
Zimbabwe's land reform programme under which his government expropriated
land from white farmers for the resettlement of landless peasants.

The meeting between Mugabe and Ban also comes a week after Zimbabwean
authorities barred a team led by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan from
entering the country on a humanitarian mission.

Annan's team of Elders, which also included former US president Jimmy Carter
and children's rights activist Graca Machel, had planned to visit Zimbabwe
to assess the country's humanitarian needs in the wake of food shortages and
a cholera outbreak that has now claimed more than 400 lives.

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation also reported that Mugabe met Cote d'Ivoire
president Laurent Gbagbo and Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika on
Sunday.

  JN/tjm/APA 2008-11-30

Land of Broken Trust

The IoS Christmas Appeal: Mugabe's disgrace: Starvation threatens millions in Zimbabwe

http://www.independent.co.uk

Our special correspondent in Zimbabwe reports from Matabeleland North on the
desperate plight of families facing malnutrition and disease. Here's what
you can do to help

Sunday, 30 November 2008

The future for children in Zimbabwe is bleak, and getting bleaker every day.
A country which once fed itself, and exported food to its neighbours, is on
the verge of mass starvation. A cholera epidemic is raging out of control,
and health professionals expect an equally deadly outbreak of malaria to
follow soon.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that 5.1 million Zimbabweans
will need food aid by the end of the year. That is more than half the people
remaining in the country, with another three million having fled abroad,
mainly to South Africa. But the WFP is being forced to cut the ration,
because it is short of funds, leaving the most deprived to dig for roots or
strip the trees to survive. More than once, labourers have fainted from
hunger while unloading consignments of WFP food. A weakened population has
no ability to resist the diseases, including anthrax, now springing up.

Though these disasters have been worsened by the disintegration of a health
system that was once among the best in Africa, Zimbabwe's economic collapse
underlies everything. The official annual inflation rate is 243 million per
cent, but independent economists calculate that it is actually 2.8
quintillion - a quintillion is one followed by 18 zeroes.

Doctors and teachers whose monthly wage does not buy one square meal are
leaving their jobs to forage for food like everyone else. Poverty drives
people to the cities in most Third World countries, but in Zimbabwe there is
migration to the countryside, where there is a chance of growing something
to eat. As the year ends, the surge of hope following the September
power-sharing agreement between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition
has turned to despair, as the deal has failed to have any impact on people's
lives. This weekend, there were reports that the constitution will be
amended to implement the agreement, but progress has been fitful and
fundamental disagreements remain.

The first sight that greets visitors who fly into Harare is that of people
tilling public land beside the airport. Even where doctors and teachers are
still working, they are defeated by the lack of basic materials such as
dressings, surgical gloves, books and writing materials. Harare's hospitals
have stopped functioning, and schools around the country are shutting down.

Last week Catherine Bragg, a senior UN aid official, said school attendance
had plunged from above 90 per cent to below 20 per cent. A total of 1.6
million, roughly one in four children, have lost one or both parents, the
highest proportion in the world. That is almost entirely due to HIV/Aids,
but now it is the young who are dying. "We are not too far away from seeing
children being carried off by hunger," said Rachel Pounds, country director
of Save the Children (UK). Chronic malnutrition under the age of five stunts
children physically and mentally for life.

But Zimbabwe's people are amazingly resilient, she adds, and a little aid
goes a long way. In the parts of the Zambezi River valley where the
organisation works, villagers who have been living on roots and leaves share
handouts of maize meal with their neighbours. When seeds are distributed,
they will see that family members who did not qualify receive some.

Save the Children is feeding 140,000 people in the area, but another 45,000
are losing out, because the WFP does not have enough food supplies. The
communities decide who qualifies for help, but the distinction between the
desperation of those in category A, who will receive food first, and those
in category D, who will rarely if ever get supplies, can seem microscopic.

Take 13-year-old Thandi Munkuli, who was digging up makuli roots in
Matabeleland North province with her mother, Mary. Her family is certainly
category A: her father has been in hospital for two years, probably
suffering from Aids, they have no livestock, and can no longer grow their
own food. "We used to beg for seed from friends and relatives, but they do
not have enough for themselves," she said. A simple way to gauge deprivation
in Zimbabwe is to ask when someone last had sadza,the staple food made from
maize meal. The poorest cannot afford enough meal to make the stiff mash
that is considered essential to life. Instead they have to make a watery
porridge that gives very little nutrition.

For Thandi and the two other children in the family, the answer was three
days previously. "We have been living on makuli since then," she said. The
potato-sized roots are white, crunchy and utterly tasteless, yet small
children have been seen to grab and eat them as soon as they are dug up,
without even cleaning the dirt away. Though the roots have no nutritional
value, they fill empty stomachs. But they can be dangerous: some carry toxic
parasites, and can be so poisonous they need to be boiled for hours to make
them edible. Many other wild fruits give people stomach cramps and
diarrhoea, yet are still eaten. This contributes to the spread of cholera,
as does the movement of people in search of food.

No rations have yet been distributed in Thandi's area, but if and when they
arrive, she and her family will be entitled to them. But Mercy Shumba will
not, even though she has not had sadza for a month. Sometimes all she eats
is a stew of mulberry leaves, boiled up by her great-grandmother, Zandile
Nkomo, who has never known such hard times in all her 74 years.

Mercy, who thinks she is seven - she has no birth certificate - lives in a
dilapidated mud and thatch house, 20 minutes' walk from the nearest track.
The mulberry leaves came from a tree planted by an absent neighbour, next to
a mango tree which had been stripped of its fruit by Mercy and her
six-year-old cousin, Nesta, too desperate to wait for it to ripen. "I feel
sad and weak all the time," said Mercy. She is the oldest of Mrs Nkomo's
five great-grandchildren, four of whom sat with her on a mat. The youngest,
seven-month-old Sibongile, looked unnaturally quiet in her
great-grandmother's arms, and her sister, three-year-old Patricia, had the
greying, turning to ginger, hair that is a clear sign of severe
malnutrition. They were so listless that no one cracked so much as a smile
when their only chair toppled over and I sprawled in the dirt.

Mercy used to go to school, a walk of several hours. "I liked the Ndebele
language lessons, but I was finding it difficult to learn, because I was so
hungry," she said. Her education would have come to a halt anyway - her
school has been closed since August.

"What we try to do," said Ms Pounds of Save the Children, "is to improve
children's chances of survival, and then to get them some kind of
education." If anyone sounds deserving of this, it is Mercy, but her family
is in category D, for two reasons. One is that there are two able-bodied
adults in the household. Mrs Nkomo's two grand-daughters, the children's
mothers, go off in search of food each day, taking Mercy's disabled
three-year-old sister with them. Since each of their five girls has a
different father, it is not hard to guess how they earn the maize meal and
cooking oil they bring back.

The second reason the family is seen as less wretched than some is that Mrs
Nkomo still has two cows. "If I sell them to buy seed, or slaughter them, we
would not be able to plough our plot," she said. "We don't have any seed
now, but perhaps we might get some." Barter has almost entirely replaced
cash in Zimbabwe's rural areas, but this does not make country dwellers
immune from the effects of economic collapse. One goat used to be worth 50kg
of maize meal, but now fetches only 10kg - another reason why owners don't
want to sell. But anthrax has flared up in Matabeleland North, threatening
to leave people like Mrs Nkomo with nothing. Even worse, hungry people have
eaten the infected meat, spreading the disease to humans, at least three of
whom have died. Once again, given the collapse of administrative systems,
the outbreak may be hard to contain.

"I am just waiting for God to do whatever he can, because I have lost all
hope," Mrs Nkomo said.

Save the Children is seeking to set up emergency feeding centres for
children under five. Even the severely malnourished can be brought back from
the brink with Plumpynut, an enriched mixture of peanut butter, powdered
milk and sugar.

The work of agencies such as Save the Children was suspended for months
during the violent election campaign. When Ms Pounds and her staff resumed
operations, conditions were infinitely worse than before. Zimbabweans do not
deserve the fate that has befallen them. If they are to be given any hope
this Christmas, it will have to come from us.

Some names have been changed

You can also pledge at www.independent.co.uk/iosappeal

Zimbabwe's cholera infection rate nearly doubles in a week

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Health News
Nov 30, 2008, 13:57 GMT

Harare - Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic is surging ahead unchecked according to
official figures released Sunday. They show the number of reported cases has
almost doubled in the last week, to over 11,000.

Quoted in the state-controlled media, Health Minister David Parirenyatwa
said 11,071 cases had been reported since the epidemic began seven weeks
ago. That compares with 6,000 reported at this time last week.

However, the death toll from the deadly diarrhoeal disease is rising more
slowly. There were 425 deaths reported November 28, up from 295 reported a
week before that.

Harare, the capital, had the highest number of infections, with 152 deaths
and 6,063 cases, according to Parirenyatwa.

Health experts said the epidemic is thriving due to poor health conditions
in Zimbabwe's crowded, low-income urban areas. Many suffer from broken-down
water supplies, with raw sewage streaming through people's yards and
metre-high ridges of rubbish lining the streets.

Experts point out that the official statistics only include cases where the
victim has received treatment at a hospital or clinic. Experts estimate that
the actual death toll might be five times as high if people who died in
their homes without treatment were factored into the figures.

At Budiriro clinic, one of the capital's two main treatment centres, the
number of cases has accelerated dramatically, from 150 per day earlier in
the week to 500 a day by week's end, said one health worker, who asked not
to be named.

'They are just not coping, it's as if it's a war zone,' he said. 'I was
there for 30 minutes and saw two bodies being taken out.'

Cholera had also broken out in a prison in the northern town of Chinhoyi,
the independent weekly Standard newspaper reported Sunday. The institution
is designed for 150 inmates but is holding 260. Health officials in the area
refused to comment, saying it was 'a security matter.'

Meanwhile, the central bank announced Sunday that it had increased the
maximum amount that people can withdraw from their bank accounts in a week
to 100 million Zimbabwean dollars (50 US dollars), from 2.5 million
Zimbabwean dollars.

A critical shortage of cash is only part of the economic collapse afflicting
the country. Inflation is estimated to be in the quadrillions. The
Zimbabwean currency is worth a quadrillionth of its value at the start of
the year. There are severe shortages of basic commodities.

Bank governor Gideon Gono was quoted in the state-run Sunday Mail newspaper
as saying that the new limit would reduce the huge queues outside banks
where people have been queuing all day to be able to draw enough cash for
half a loaf of bread.

The announcement came just before a mass action planned for Wednesday by the
Zimbabwe National Congress of Trade Unions, the national labour movement,
urging Zimbabweans to 'go to your bank and demand your money.'

Last week President Robert Mugabe extended Gono's term of office for another
five years. Economists say Gono's stewardship has produced not only world
record inflation and devaluation, but the disappearance of cheques and
electronic transfers as forms of payment, and a central bank classified by
the International Monetary Fund as bankrupt.

It was also revealed earlier this month that the bank has allegedly
illegally appropriated 7 million US dollars of aid agency cash meant for
AIDS victims.

Reports: Up to 10,000 Zimbabwe cholera deaths possible by March

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Health News
Nov 30, 2008, 11:24 GMT

Johannesburg - Aid organizations in Zimbabwe fear that as many as 10,000
cholera deaths and 60,000 infections could strike the country by March 2009,
South African media reported Sunday.

So far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) around 10,000
people are infected and 412 have died from the disease. The number of
cholera victims however remains imprecise as many families can no longer
register their deceased relatives, according to reports from several
newspapers in neighbouring South Africa.

The government of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been attempting to
cover up the extent of the cholera epidemic, the reports continued.

Aid organizations such as Medecins sans Frontieres, Germany's
Welthungerhilfe and the WHO have been the only parties - in light of the
complete collapse of public services in Zimbabwe - to provide the aid to the
cholera victims.

With hospitals closed in Zimbabwe and supplies of clean drinking water
insufficient, the cholera epidemic has already crossed over into
neighbouring countries such as South Africa, where six cholera deaths have
been reported.

The news reports warn of a humanitarian crisis in southern Africa with the
start of summer rains next year amid the ongoing deterioration of Zimbabwe's
health system.

Queues to bury victims of cholera

http://www.iol.co.za

Basildon Peta
November 30 2008 at 10:58AM

Three new cases of cholera in Durban, including one death, have
highlighted the threat of the cholera epidemic sweeping across Zimbabwe and
spilling into South Africa.

But Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is believed to be trying to hide
the true extent of the epidemic by silencing health workers and restricting
access to the many death certificates.

A senior health official said more than 3 000 people had died from the
disease in two weeks - 10 times the reported death toll of just about 300.

"But even this figure is an understatement, because very few bother to
register the deaths of their relatives these days," said the official.

He said the health ministry, which at the time of independence was the
envy of Africa, had been banned from issuing accurate statistics about the
deaths.

Yet the evidence of how this plague is decimating Zimbabweans is there
for all to see at the burial grounds. When Munyaradzi Mudzingwa, who lives
in Chitungwiza, a town outside Harare, where the epidemic is believed to
have started, buried his brother, 27, who succumbed to cholera last week, he
said he had seen at least 40 other families lining up to bury loved ones.

His suburb has been without running water for 13 months. The only
borehole, built with the help of aid agencies, attracted so many people day
and night that it was rarely possible to get access to its water.

Residents were forced to dig their own wells, which became
contaminated with sewage. The water is a breeding ground for bacteria,
including Vibrio cholerae, which causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea and
can kill if not treated.

The way to prevent death is simple: antibiotics and rehydration. But
the sewerage system is broken and soap is difficult to come by. Harare's
central hospital officially closed last week, doctors and nurses are scarce
and even those clinics still open do not have safe, clean drinking water.

As ordinary people suffer, Mugabe is locked in a bitter power struggle
with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai over control of various ministries
in a unity government. The president has threatened to name a cabinet
without the approval of the Movement for Democratic Change, which could see
the peace deal unravel.

Pressure is growing from around the region and beyond to strike a deal
as the humanitarian crisis deepens. Hundreds of Zimbabweans have streamed
into South Africa, desperate for medical care. Officials in Musina say their
hospital has treated more than 150 cholera patients so far.

"(The outbreak) is a clear indication that ordinary Zimbabweans are
the true victims of their leaders' lack of political will," said Themba
Maseko, the South African government's chief spokesperson.

Oxfam warned that a million of Zimbabwe's 13 million population were
at risk, and predicted that the crisis would worsen significantly in
December, when heavy rains start.

The Zimbabwean Association of Doctors for Human Rights has accused the
government of dramatically under-reporting the spread of the disease. Medics
tried to protest last week, but riot police moved in swiftly. - Sunday
Independent

This article was originally published on page 17 of Cape Argus on
November 30, 2008

Zimbabwe raises bank withdrawal limits as cash shortages persist

http://www.apanews.net

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe's central bank has increased cash withdrawal
limits to ease a credit crunch that had seen some workers setting up homes
at their workplaces to beat rising transport costs, APA learnt here Sunday.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) announced in a statement that withdrawal
limits for individuals would with effect from December 4 be raised from the
current 500,000 Zimbabwe dollars a day (about US$7 at the official exchange
rate) to 100 million Zimdollars (about US$1,425) per week.

The current bank withdrawal limit had become inadequate to meet daily needs
of Zimbabweans in a country where inflation is the highest in the world, at
more than 231 million percent.

The current limit is equivalent to a paltry US$0.25 if converted at the more
realistic parallel market exchange rate of two million Zimdollars for every
American dollar.

It is no longer enough for a one-way commuter omnibus trip, forcing many
workers to stay at work instead of commuting daily.

"I have been camping at work because I can't afford bus fare on the little
money I am allowed to withdraw every day from the bank," said Matthew
Tinarwo.

With most of his colleagues, Matthew has found it to be more sensible to
spent the whole week at work and only go home on Friday when they would have
raised enough money for bus fare and a few other items.

Several others have been camping overnight at banks in the capital Harare in
an effort to be the first ones to get cash when the financial institutions
open the next morning.

Chaotic scenes have been witnessed at most banks in the past week as
soldiers beat up bank officials and other depositors.

Zimbabwe is in the grips of a severe shortage of banknotes blamed by the RBZ
on the cancellation of a German contract to print the currency.

  JN/tjm/APA 2008-11-30

Zimbabwe Vigil Diary - 29th November 2008

Much anxiety at the Vigil about the cholera epidemic. Patson Muzuwa said he
knew of eight people who had died.  There was certainly a feeling that the
death toll was much higher than the figures given. Ephraim Tapa said he had
received reports from Zimbabwe of hundreds of deaths a week. We were sorry
to hear from Chipo Chaya of our Vigil management team that her cousin has
the disease.

On a cold, gloomy wet day, when the light went at 4 pm, we were encouraged
to find three people (Andrew Kumwenda, Anesu Monalisa Mlambo and Kudzanai
Kanyimo) who had come down all the way from Liverpool. They left there by
bus at 8 am and were due to get home after 11 pm.

Six-year-old Candice visited the Vigil with her school's teddy bear, Bill.
The teddy bear stays with a different child each weekend and the child then
reports to the class on his adventures.  This is probably the first time he
has taken part in a human rights protest!

As the year nears its end we have been looking at attendance figures.  We
are grateful to the following core supporters who have attended 20 times or
more so far this year: Francesca Toft, Chipo Chaya, Sue Toft, Fungayi
Vincent Mabhunu, Batson Chapata, Arnold Kuwewa, Moses Kandiyawo, Dumi, Gugu
and Zizi Tutani, Luka Phiri, Jenatry Muranganwa, Patson Muzuwa, Sam
Takaravasha, Simon Mambongo, Lovemore Mukeyani, Ephraim Tapa, Rose and
Dennis Benton, Kelvin Kamupira, Paradzai Mapfumo, David McAllister, Roseline
Motsi, Ian Pocock, Agnes Zengeya, Nobuhle Ndlovu, Rugare Chifungo, Rosemary
Mandizvidza, Bonny Adams, Willard Karanga, Addley Nyamutaka, Munetsi Toro.

For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/

FOR THE RECORD  about 120 signed the register.

FOR YOUR DIARY:
·   Central London Zimbabwe Forum. There is no Forum on 1st December as
the usual venue is not available because of Christmas bookings. The Forum
has managed to find an alternative venue for the next two weeks (Mondays,
8th and 15th December) - The Cole Room, Fabian Society, 11 Dartmouth St,
London SW1H 9BN (020 7227 4900). Nearest station: St. James' Park.
·  ROHR launch meeting in Hatfield, Saturday, 6th December, 13.30 - 1
7.30. Venue: The Memorial Hall, French Horn Lane, Hatfield AL10 8AQ.
Contact: Emiliah Muradzikwa on 07886098012, Mary Muradzikwa 07920170620,
Phillip Chakanetsa 07988496771 or P Mapfumo 07932216070 / 0793++3831617.
·  Next Glasgow Vigil. Saturday, 6th December 2008, 2 - 6 pm. Venue:
Argyle Street Precinct. For more information contact: Patrick Dzimba, 07990
724 137
·   Zimbabwe Association's Women's Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30
am - 4 pm. Venue: The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre, 84 Mayton
Street, London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground: Finsbury
Park. For more information contact the Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355
(open Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Vigil co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.

Vigil co-ordinator

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk

What happened in Sandton

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=19790



   published:Mon 17-Nov-2008 posted on this site:Sun 30-Nov-2008

Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has not given up on
negotiations for a government of national unity. Four major SADC member
states originally backed its call for sole control of the contested home
affairs ministry until only one remained and then conceded grudgingly to
"consensus" at the Sandton SADC summit last weekend. This is what happened
at the meeting and where the negotiations over the crisis-hit country will
go next.

When SADC leaders met in Sandton at the MDC's request, Tanzania's foreign
minister, Bernard Membe, passionately called for Morgan Tsvanigirai's MDC to
be awarded sole control of home affairs. He argued that Robert Mugabe's Zanu
PF was getting the other security ministry, defence, as well as control of
the feared Central Intelligence Organisation even though the MDC won a tiny
parliamentary majority in March. Tanzania was supported by Botswana, Lesotho
and Zambia, according to sources in the meeting. The smaller MDC party's
leader, Arthur Mutambara, supported Tsvangirai's claim. Zanu PF argued that
as the party of liberation it had to have all security ministries and let it
be known that it feared that if Tsvangirai controlled the police, the MDC
could use the force for revenge arrests, particularly over Zanu PF
corruption and of course for violent attacks against the MDC over eight
years.

As Sunday faded into a long night, South Africa's acting foreign minister,
Charles Nqakula proposed the compromise, arguing that sharing home affairs
could become a super ministry and try and build trust between the two
parties and give rank and file policemen an alternative to misuse by one
party or the other. Tsvangirai had originally raised the shared ministry
compromise. Nqakula's argument drew support from Lesotho prime minister
Pakalitha Mosili, but Zambia's foreign minister Kabinga Pande remained
sceptical and Botswana vice president Mompate Meraphe opposed this option.
After further debate, the Zambians were persuaded. Botswana only conceded,
reluctantly, at the end of the summit, that it would be a signatory to a
"consensus" summit statement.

In the debate surrounding the allocation of ministries, Lesotho raised the
point that while Mugabe had got the coercive ministries he insisted on,
Tsvangirai had won control of service delivery portfolios, which was argued
at one point, could be seen to be unfair to Zanu PF. Within two years, if
the transitional Government of National Unity is established, and a new
constitution agreed, then properly supervised elections will provide a
government based on the people's will. Tsvangirai's MDC hope to use control
of social services, supported by donor funds to provide food, health and
other desperately needed social services to a suffering population. With
Zanu PF's gross misgovernance and corruption replaced in part by service
delivery, Tsvanigrai should easily deliver a decisive MDC parliamentary
majority rather than the present hung parliament in which he depends on
Mutambara's 10 MP's to defeat Zanu PF. If Tsvangirai gets his way the two
MDC's would be reunited ahead of the next election and would win an easy two
thirds majority and Tsvangirai would breeze through to presidential victory.

On Friday the MDC-T issued an ambiguous statement that some analysts
interpret as a decision to accept the dual-minister compromise if a proposed
constitutional amendment is passed. Zimbabwe political commentator Alex
Magaisa says: "The MDC had a clear choice of rejecting the option of joining
the inclusive government but they did not take it expressly." "The MDC has
been careful to say that they reject the two communiqués by the SADC Troika
(October 28) and the Summit (November 9.) But to what extent have they
actually 'rejected' them?" Magaisa says that the key is in paragraph 3 of
the MDC's Friday statement: "...the MDC shall participate in a new
government once Constitutional Amendment No. 19 has been passed and effected
into law". The word "shall" rather than "may" indicates that providing the
constitutional amendment needed to ground a GNU in law is agreed, the MDC
will take part, he says, and others believe this will include sharing the
disputed super ministry, home affairs, which controls the police.

The six negotiatiors, from MDC, Zanu PF and the smaller MDC could meet soon
to hammer out the constitutional amendment. . It has been drafted by the
Attorney-General's office in Harare and sent to the facilitator, former
President Thabo Mbeki. The MDC has drafted its own version of the amendment
so the two will have to be negotiatied. Tsvangirai is likely to want some of
the imperfections of the September 15 agreement corrected, so may use this
opportunity to ensure that there is equitable appointment of top civil
service jobs. It may be in these negotiations that composition of the new
National Security Council takes place. As it stands it is not a statutory
body but is made up of service chiefs, now known as the Joint Operations
Command. The agreement does not spell out its composition, and Tsvangirai,
who the agreement says would be a member, would be massively outnumbered by
the pro Zanu PF service chiefs. If an amendment is then agreed and addresses
some of the specific imperfections of the Global Political Agreement of
September15, such as a fair methodology for allocation of top civil service
jobs, then it would be gazetted and President Robert Mugabe would then swear
in the two other signatories to the September 15 political agreement: Morgan
Tsvangirai, as prime minister and Arthur Mutambara, leader of the smaller
MDC, a deputy.

Then, a month later as the constitution demands, the amendment would have to
be passed by a two thirds parliamentary majority and the second deputy prime
minister, Thoko Khupe, (Tsvangirai's vice president) would be sworn in and
then the cabinet, agreed by consensus by SADC on November 9. SADC executive
secretary Tomaz Salomao has accepted that the position of 10 powerful
governors is still up for negotiations and told the post summit press
conference these posts will have to be handled after the government is sworn
in. The MDC says they must be distributed based on March 29 election
results. SADC ought to endorse a fair allocation of governors' since its
observers accepted the results of the March 29 election which Tsvangirai's
MDC won with a single seat majority. However Mugabe will resist as he
installed Zanu PF governors ahead of the agreement to give his party a
majority in the Senate which is unacceptable to both MDC's.

Repression of MDC leaders and ordinary supporters for eight years has taken
a toll on the MDC leadership, leading to personal and policy disagreements.
Tsvangirai, has from the beginning of negotiations, appeared to
instinctively want to have a go at a GNU, according to those who watched him
during all the talks. However, whenever he came close to signing a deal
during negotiations for allocation of the ministries, he withdrew to consult
and was pulled back by key supporters, and he then introduced new bottom
lines. He is answerable to a group of party advisors including his volatile
secretary-general, Tendai Biti, a senior and respected partner of a top
Harare law firm. Before the power sharing agreement was signed, Tsvangirai
ensured that the top structure of the GNU would be limited to two deputy
prime ministers, one for his party deputy, Khupe, and the other to the
unelected Mutambara, effectively, and some say, strategically, leaving Biti
out. At that point, insiders say Biti influenced some key intellectuals
against participating in a GNU.

Against all this, negotiations' facilitator Thabo Mbeki has long been
accused by the MDC of shielding Mugabe. But Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy,"
however irritating, did allow him to become the mediator acceptable to
Mugabe, even if mistrusted by Tsvangirai. In private, one on one, we do not
know whether Mbeki exercised pressure on Mugabe, but he must have put some
heat on the old man, or there would have been no negotiations at all.
Several sources close to Mbeki say his approach to Zimbabwe is dominated by
an obsession with "imperialist" Britain and the United States and a
suspicion for some obscure reason that they are using the MDC as their
agents (witting or unwittingly). Mbeki also seems to have little respect for
Tsvangirai, possibly because of the latter's lack of tertiary education,
perhaps forgetting that the MDC leader is closer to the grass roots of
Zimbabwe than Mbeki ever was in South Africa.

Mbeki has also been irritated by Tsvangirai's frequent change of mind during
negotiations and his failure to turn up for a meeting with Mugabe earlier in
the year, which he, Tsvangirai, had repeatedly asked for. MDC leaders find
it hard to understand Mbeki's obsession with "imperialism," in the face of
the much larger issue of the collapse of Zimbabwe and the unimaginable human
suffering throughout the country. With increasing hunger, in some places on
the point of starvation which will be worse in the coming months, the
self-interest and ideological obsessions of politicians is beginning to look
obscene.

Where there's smoke . . .

http://free.financialmail.co.za

28 November 2008

By Matthew Hill

What a team - a convicted UK criminal, a Zanu-PF stalwart banned from
the European Union and a Zimbabwean fugitive. Those are the brains behind
JSE- and London-listed Hwange Colliery, formerly Wankie, which operates in
Zimbabwe.

Nicholas van Hoogstraten, who was jailed in the UK in 2002 for
ordering an attack on a business rival but later released after successfully
appealing against his conviction, is the second-biggest shareholder (13,5%)
through his family's control of Messina Investments. In 1968 he was jailed
for four years for paying someone to lob a hand grenade into a cantor's
house. He is reportedly a friend of Robert Mugabe, whom he once described as
"100% decent and incorruptible".

Van Hoogstraten was born in East Sussex, and is said to have become
England's youngest millionaire at 23. According to The Times of London, he
also made it into the Guinness Book of Records in the 1980s for owing the
tax authorities £5m - more than any Briton till then.

Hwange's biggest shareholder is Mugabe's government, with 37,1%.
According to Hwange's 2007 annual report, Mittal Steel African Investments
is the next-biggest shareholder, with just under 10%.

Former Hyundai SA boss Billy Rautenbach, who is facing charges of
fraud, corruption and other crimes in SA, provides contract mining services
to the operation through his company, Clidder Minerals.

Hwange's chairman is Tendai Savanhu - a Zanu-PF stalwart banned from
entering the EU, along with about 120 other ruling party officials. One
person who has dealings with the company, but asked to remain anonymous,
called the operation a "pit of snakes".

The company, which mines coal in Zimbabwe, has a market capitalisation
of R304m and employs 3 000 people at its remote Chaba mine. According to its
website, it is the biggest coal producer in Zimbabwe, and Hwange is "a
company town".

But as intriguing as its management may be, the company's performance
on the JSE tells an even more puzzling story.

Hwange Colliery's share price has been resilient on the Johannesburg
bourse as well as in London, despite a bombardment of bad news.

The JSE mining index had lost over 40% by the end of October compared
with the same month in 2007. Hwange gained 22% over the same period. But in
November the share tumbled along with those of other mining companies and it
is now trading at R3,20 - 20% off its levels a year ago.

The company doesn't trade nearly as often as the big caps, but an
average of 9 089 shares a week swap hands.

Though the buoyant coal market might have propped up the company's
shares, there are negative factors that should have more than offset this.

Zimbabwe's violent and contentious elections and its decrepit economy
are the principal reasons why investors should have dashed out of Hwange.
The global flight from risky assets should have significantly depressed the
firm's share price.

Add to this the fact that Hwange's coal output dropped in 2007, and
continues to decline this year, and question marks hang over why the company
has been so resilient. It has outperformed Anglo American over the past 12
months.

A possible explanation is that Hwange, which listed on the JSE in
1953, failed to run during the commodities boom from 2001 to mid-2008
because of Zimbabwe's economic and political woes. Its market capitalisation
actually contracted from the end of 2002 to mid-2003, before a sharp
recovery in 2005.

Then there's the value of the coal Hwange owns. According to an
analyst, who can't be named, the resource is of exceptional quality. That's
because it has a large amount of coking coal - used in the steel industry -
which sells for a premium. It is also low in phosphorus, which increases its
value. But the analyst hurries to point out that value isn't only about a
mine's resources. Logistics play a major role.

Companies have to be able to get equipment to the mine and the mine
must be able to transport its product to markets.

Zimbabwe's roads and railway networks have been left to crumble,
presenting a tall barrier to transportation. While the bulk of Hwange's
production goes to the nearby power station, transport challenges make it
difficult to get the coal to other customers.

But it seems Hwange's biggest headache is getting its hands on foreign
currency to pay for new equipment and desperately needed repairs. Ironic,
then, that the government is its largest shareholder, as well as its biggest
customer - as owner of the Hwange power station that buys 70% of the mine's
output.

At the end of October, though, the colliery sealed a deal with
Chinese-owned Zimasco Holdings, from which it gets US$2,5m in cash to repair
major equipment, in exchange for production worth that amount.

Ferrochrome producer Zimasco also recently concluded a deal with state
power utility Zesa Holdings to provide it with $15m for the refurbishment of
two of the six units at Hwange power station, according to Zimbabwe's
Herald. The state-owned newspaper didn't give further details of the deal.

Early this year, the Namibian government provided $40m to Zesa to
refurbish another unit, to secure power for that country.

The power station comprises two 330 MW units and four 120 MW units,
with a total nameplate capacity of 1 140 MW, about a quarter of
Johannesburg's power requirements. However, it is believed to be running at
about 33% of its capacity.

Though the power station is small by SA standards, its coal
requirements would still be good business for Hwange Colliery if it were
operating at capacity. If Zimasco expanded its operation in 2009 - as the
Herald reports it will - that would also consume more coal from Hwange. But
investors shouldn't get too excited about that; it will still have to supply
$2,5m worth of coal and coke to the Chinese company before it starts making
a profit from this customer.

Recent announcements from the world's biggest ferrochrome producers,
which operate from SA, about furnace closures because of a sharp market
downturn also don't bode well for Hwange.

That's not the only concern investors should have over Hwange. If the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) ever dislodges Mugabe's government, it
can be expected to dig up any dodgy dealings. If a company is found to have
cut any illicit deals with the government, it would have reason to worry
about the immunity of its assets under a new regime.

The MDC has said it will review business deals made to aid or abet
Mugabe's government if it came to power.

And Hwange could be one of the first companies a new government would
scrutinise, because of the reported relationships between Mugabe, Van
Hoogstraten and Rautenbach.

*Efforts to get comment from Hwange Colliery management and Rautenbach
were unsuccessful.