Mail and Guardian
Angus Shaw | Harare, Zimbabwe
20
July 2007 04:15
Long, chaotic lines of vehicles built up on
Friday at the few
gas stations still supplying fuel after the government
banned a
hard-currency coupon gas-purchasing system used by well-to-do
Zimbabweans.
In desperate efforts to curb rampant inflation,
the government
on June 26 ordered price cuts of about 50% on all goods and
services. The
measure has left empty shelves, closed some businesses and
prompted warnings
that the Southern African nation is on the brink of
collapse.
The worsening gasoline shortages caused panic among
drivers on
Friday, who had bought coupons, entitling them to gas, with hard
currency.
Gas stations were rationing fuel to the coupon holders following
an
announcement on Thursday by Industry Minister Obert Mpofu that coupons
will
be invalid after August 1.
The hard-currency coupon
system had been legalised in 2000 when
severe fuel shortages
began.
The government-ordered price cuts brought gasoline
down to less
than half what it costs to import it. Regular supplies dried
up, crippling
commuter transport and closing stores and shops that use
gas-driven
generators during the nation's regular daily power
outages.
State radio on Friday reported more business leaders
had been
arrested for allegedly failing to cut prices. Three directors,
including
high-profile businessmen from the biggest store chain, were jailed
on
Wednesday.
The directors of stock exchange blue-chip
Meikles Africa, owners
of about 70 supermarkets, department stores, hotels
and other businesses
across the country, were accused of selling clothing
and cosmetics above the
stipulated government price.
Two
executives of a leading chicken breeder were also jailed and
another chicken
farm was ordered to resume full operation. The farm had shut
down some pens,
saying it ran short of chicken feed.
At least 3 000
businesses have been fined for overcharging in
the prices clampdown. Many of
their executives and managers have been
briefly held in filthy police cells,
given a single lice-ridden blanket
against near-freezing temperatures at
night.
Chicken, meat, cornmeal, bread, eggs, milk and other
staples
have disappeared from the shelves since the price cuts were
announced.
Shoppers swarm into stores when small deliveries
arrive.
Canned and other foodstuffs have largely sold
out.
"I've been around three supermarkets hunting for things.
Look,
I've managed to find coffee," said Marjory Wessels, a housewife from
the
central town of Gweru, 200km from Harare.
She said
she caught a ride to Harare with friends to stock up on
basics. Whole
sections of stores in Gweru were empty or shut down, she
said.
Private pharmacies began running out of imported
life-sustaining
drugs, including medicines for those with Aids and diabetes,
shop owners
said.
A government hospital in the northern
resort of Kariba had no
painkillers for a car-accident victim, offering him
only aspirin, said a
business associate who hired a medical air-rescue
service to bring him to a
private clinic in Harare.
Fixed
and cellphone services veered closer to collapse on
Friday, with call
connections needing numerous attempts and often cutting
off after a few
seconds.
Econet, the biggest mobile network, said power
failures and
gasoline shortages for its generators affected its relay
stations, along
with congestion after charges were reduced and as shoppers
call each other
with alerts on what is available in
stores.
Official inflation is given as 4 500%, the highest in
the world,
but private financial institutions estimate it at closer to 9
000%. --
Sapa-AP
Mail and Guardian
Cris Chinaka | Harare, Zimbabwe
20 July
2007 01:24
Zimbabwe central bank governor Gideon Gono has
warned President
Robert Mugabe's government that it risks strangling the
already battered
economy by banning private fuel purchases in foreign
currency.
A severe economic crisis many blame on Mugabe's
policies has
left the Southern African state struggling with chronic food,
fuel and
foreign currency shortages and the world's highest inflation rate
of over 4
500%.
Gono -- who has been spearheading a bid
to turn around the
economy but has criticised the government's blitz to
slash rising consumer
prices -- told Friday's Herald newspaper the scrapping
of the fuel scheme,
which removes one of the few remaining ways for people
to acquire scarce
petrol, appeared ill-thought.
A
committee enforcing price cuts ordered by Mugabe three weeks
ago said the
government had banned foreign-currency coupons allowing people
to get scarce
fuel from private oil companies or individual importers.
The
facility is also used by foreign diplomats and officials
working for
international aid organisations, and Gono said in a statement
published by
the state-run Herald that the move could be disastrous for many
in commerce
and industry.
The government gave no reasons for the move,
but in the past it
has accused fuel-coupon holders of selling fuel on the
black market at
highly inflated prices.
"We must avoid
good intentions having negative results.
Everything needs to be properly
dissected, looking at the pros and the cons
so that we do not make rushed
decisions," Gono said.
"The last thing we want is legitimate
fuel that runs mines
failing because we have done what we have done ... we
have hindered people
from going about their normal
business."
The government order that people with coupons must
use them
within two weeks sparked another wave of panic in the country where
many
urban residents are already scrounging a living and are spending long
hours
hunting for scarce foodstuffs.
Fuel points selling
petrol in foreign currency were jammed on
Thursday and Friday by desperate
motorists seeking to fill their cars and
put fuel in
drums.
"I don't know the point of all this [the scrapping of
the
scheme] ... but it just makes our life harder," one man told a Reuters
correspondent at a Harare fuel filling station where the queue stretched for
about half a mile.
The Herald newspaper said private fuel
dealers had about
10-million litres of fuel in stock while the state-owned
National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe had three million
litres.
Zimbabwe has seen several years of acute fuel
shortages, but
Mugabe -- who has been isolated by the West over his policies
-- has failed
to secure concrete fuel supply deals from "friendly" countries
such as Libya
and Equatorial Guinea.
The fuel problems
have at times forced public transport
operators to pull vehicles off the
road, forcing thousands of commuters to
walk to work.
Mugabe (83), in power since independence from Britain in 1980,
has vowed to
press on with his controversial policies, saying they are meant
to benefit
Zimbabwe's poor majority.
The veteran Zimbabwean leader said
he had ordered a price slash
because businesses were hiking prices in
support of a Western-sponsored plot
to overthrow his Zanu-PF
government.
The government has arrested and fined hundreds of
business
executives for defying the price freeze while consumers have
cleaned shops
of basic goods after the blitz, which analysts say is part of
a short-term
populist drive by Mugabe to retain power in general elections
due next
March.
Mugabe says Zimbabwe's economy crisis is
a result of sabotage by
opponents trying to punish him for seizure and
redistribution of white-owned
commercial farms to landless black
Zimbabweans. -- Reuters
SABC
July 20,
2007, 18:15
by Supa Mandiwanzira
The Zimbabwean government appears to
be acceding to pressure from industry
in the aftermath of huge reductions in
retail prices of basic commodities.
In an about turn, the retail price of
cooking oil has been increased by 400%
and price monitoring authorities have
started engaging manufacturers to find
common ground.
This comes
after a three-week price war that has seen prices tumble on
government
directives, giving rise to unprecedented shopping sprees. A 750ml
bottle of
cooking oil had been priced at 22 000 Zimbabwe dollars - the
equivalent of
just R1.
Because the price was not viable, the commodity simply vanished from
supermarket shelves. Now government has made a review and increased it by
400%. Economists say this was inevitable.
John Robertson, an
economist, says: "Any time you reduce the price to
ridiculously low levels,
you increase the level of demand to absolutely
everybody trying to hoard,
trying to build up stocks because they know that
it can't last. Government
has at last realised that there is basic law of
economics that will come
into effect to drive up the price of many things."
Plight of
producers
Consumers feel that as much as they appreciate bargains, the plight
of
producers cannot be overlooked. They say such increases must be extended
to
more commodities to avoid shortages.
Starting this week, price
monitoring officers are meeting manufacturers and
captains of industry in a
bid to come up with prices acceptable to both
industry and
consumers.
In an interview with SABC News, Calisto Jokonya, the
Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries president, said negotiations are going
on well and
considerable progress has been made.
By: Julian D. W. Phillips, Gold/Silver Forecaster - Global Watch -
GoldForecaster.com
- 20th July 2007
By far the
greatest majority of you who read this article live in
well-ordered
societies, where the bulk of your problems can be contained
within the good
order of the rest of your life. Indeed, from this position
it seems easy
to couch your views and criticisms of others, from within this
secure
framework.
Now look away from the civilized parts of the earth to
those where there
appears to be a veneer of civilization such as Zimbabwe.
A despot rules
but he is old and no doubt once he offends the people
sufficiently the
Democratic process will enable the voters to replace him
and his party with
a reasonable opposition who will no doubt repair any
damage done. Such is
the faith in Democracy and decency and the decency of
neighbors, isn't it?
Oh were that true, even to a small extent.
The truth of the matter is that
it is possible to watch a nation decay
beyond basic human decency.
We write this in the context of the
Platinum mines and their future because
the events in Zimbabwe have
decidedly affected the future of the South
African owned Platinum mines of
Anglo Platinum and Impala Platinum
[Zimplats], already facing the potential
appropriation of 51% of their
shares.
The author began
visiting Zimbabwe in 1981 when the U.S.$ fetched Z$1.
This was when there
was a semblance of good order and morality, despite the
growing greed of
President Mugabe. The beauty of this country is
intoxicating, while it was
then the bread basket of Africa. In the previous
30 years it had been
developed from bush to a wealthy nation, prior to it
being handed over to
Zanu-PF by the British government.
Today, after more than 2
decades of rapacious assault on and the collapse of
the economy, of the
remaining businessmen, more than 1,300 shop owners and
business managers
were arrested there as part of a crackdown on firms
accused of flouting
government-imposed price controls. The inflation rate
in April was 3,714%
and is now believed to be well beyond 5,000% and headed
towards 1.5
million%. The real exchange rate to the US$ is currently
running at about
250,000, though it has gone higher, much higher.
Mugabe had
earlier ordered companies to restore prices to their June 18th
levels after
a sudden surge of inflation trebled or quadrupled prices within
a week.
This has already created a serious shortage of goods on shelves and
forced
some businesses to close rather than continue operating at a
loss.
Zimbabwe's Industry Minister Obert Mpofu ordered businesses
a fortnight ago
to halve the prices of all goods and services in a bid to
curb spiraling
inflation but the edict has been widely ignored. Many
manufacturers say
the government-set prices mean they cannot cover their
costs and have
stopped production, leading to widespread shortages of basics
such as
cooking oil and salt. President Robert Mugabe, unable to stem the
rise of
what is the world's highest rate of inflation, warned last week that
his
government would seize and nationalize firms found to be profiteering.
In
imposing the order, shops sold their goods at these low prices, to the
police and to those who could afford them, emptying the shops of stock,
which then found its way onto the black market where they are sold at the
far higher [more than double] 'black market' prices. Of course
nationalizing companies doesn't give them money to buy goods to fill the
shelves, particularly a government that cannot afford to import fuel and
soon electricity.
It is thought that this potential shutdown
of the economy may force Mugabe
and his henchmen to step down from power and
their source of wealth.
The Southern African Development
Community (SADC) is preparing a dramatic
plan to rescue the shattered
Zimbabwean economy by extending the Rand
monetary area into Zimbabwe.
Tomaz Salamao [late the Prime Minister of
Mozambique], the SADC executive
secretary, is drafting the plan, which would
also include the South African
and Botswana reserve banks pumping millions
into the Zimbabwe reserve
bank. The aim of these measures would be to
stabilize the exchange rate
of the Zimbabwe $ and curb inflation so that the
country could buy foreign
exchange and continue importing essential goods.
But to get the
rescue package, President Robert Mugabe would first have to
agree to
fundamental political reforms in the negotiations with the
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which were snubbed by
Mugabe this
week. A superficial knowledge f Mugabe's history affirm that
such plans
are doomed to failure, because he would have to sacrifice his
present [5000
strong at lest] closest supporters sources of wealth and
therefore his own
position of strength. Despite the fact that it is a last
desperate plan,
Mugabe lacks the concern for his people tat would be
required for this
solution to work. Recent history and the collapse of the
economy and the
suffering this is causing testifies to this.
With his henchmen
able to buy the U.S.$100 for Z$25,000 and sell it for Z$3
million [1200%
profit - no risk], their source of revenue would disappear
immediately such
a plan were implemented. With it would go Mugabe's power.
With
this in mind we as writer on precious metals look at the remaining
economic
crown jewels, the Platinum mines [particularly Zimplats of Impala
and
Angloplat's new mine set to provide huge future sources of income for
the
mining companies. With the recent law past that requires these
companies
to pass ownership of 51% of their Zimbabwean subsidiaries to
Zimbabwean
ownership it is only a matter of time before they are lost to the
companies
as a source of future income, despite the Mugabe promise of being
able to
avoid such loss of control if infrastructural developments were
undertaken
by the mines.
With the moral capacity to keep such promises gone
from the Zimbabwean
government and the presence of a willing Chinese
government investor, the
mechanics of taking the deposits and the mines away
from the South African
mining companies is simple.
We
therefore suggest that any Investors in Anglo Platinum or Impala
Platinum,
write off the contribution their Zimbabwe investments may have now
or in the
future on the companies balance sheets, when assessing the shares
values.
As we can see such hyperinflation is usually
accompanied by moral turpitude.
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
20/07/07
"Just about everything is erratic, steadily
getting worse and there seems to
be no end in sight." These were the words
of reporter Jan Raath, describing
life in Zimbabwe's capital city on Friday.
Raath said many areas are going
for days at a time without electricity and
this is affecting many other
aspects of the daily routine, which rely on
power.
Telephone communication is becoming increasingly difficult. Fixed
lines are
more reliable that the mobile networks, but the power cuts affect
substations that operate on batteries. These need a steady supply of
electricity to remain charged. Mobile lines are worse. The networks were
over subscribed anyway and that problem has increased because of the forced
reduction in costs, making access more affordable.
Then there is the
transport nightmare. Raath said the government clampdown
has made fuel even
more scarce. And the price per litre is much higher than
the reduced fares
stipulated by government. Raath said 2 weeks ago fuel was
selling at
Z$180,000 per litre. It is now selling at Z$250,000 per litre.
Raath
described the water supplies as "erratic". He explained that a year
ago most
areas, including the low density suburbs, could count on a steady
supply of
water. Then months ago people were going for 2 to 3 weeks without
water. Now
many people are opening their taps and hearing that hissing sound
that
signals there is nothing but air.
Raath said he cannot claim that the
system has totally collapsed, but at the
current rate of deterioration total
collapse is imminent.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Radio Netherlands
Transmission date: Sunday 22
July 2007
Sarah Johnson
20-07-2007
Zimbabwe was once one of
the richest and most stable countries in southern
Africa, but today it is a
state teetering on the brink of collapse.
Years of economic
collapse have taken their toll. The statistics make grim
reading: the
country has the world's highest inflation rate, estimated to be
running at
around 5000 percent. Over 80 percent of the population is
unemployed. The
country has the lowest life expectancy in the world.
The World Food Programme
says four million Zimbabweans, one-third of the
population, will need food
aid this year.
At least three million people have fled abroad in search
of a better life.
President Robert Mugabe has blamed the economic
problems on sabotage by
western nations, upset over his seizure of thousands
of white owned farms
and redistributing to black
Zimbabweans.
Critics blame the present crisis on the policies of
President Mugabe as he
fights to hold on to power. Mr Mugabe has also been
accused of resorting to
heavy-handed methods to remain in power. A new
report by the Solidarity
Peace Trust describes a deteriorating human rights
record and increased
political suppression
Is it time for the
international community to intervene? What should be done
to help Zimbabwe
out of the current crisis?
The panellists:
Stephen Ellis, a senior
researcher for the African Studies Centre in Leiden.
He is also the former
Director of the Africa programme for the ICG.
Zimbabwean journalist, Wilf
Mbanga. He is the founder and editor of the
weekly newspaper, The
Zimbabwean.
Christopher Landsberg, the Director of the Centre for Policy
Studies in
Johannesburg.
Listener response to our question: is it
time for regime change in Zimbabwe?
Allan, Netherlands:
"The
International Criminal Court needs to assess if he has committed crimes
for
which he should stand trial, and if so, issue a warrant for his arrest.
We
have already learned this lesson from the Croatian war. Additionally,
Mugabe's personal international bank accounts should be made forfeit and
used by the NGO's working in Zimbabwe to help the people from whom this
money was stolen."
Brian Merritt, Canada:
"From being a bread
basket economy to becoming a "basket-case", Robert
Mugabe has demonstrated
to the world that under his rule this country has
been ruined.
Do the
black majority believe the land grab of the white-run farms has been
good
for them and their country? This present dictatorship has left the rest
of
the world seemingly helpless of these peoples plight. Time for the UN and
others to correct this situation."
Peter Belew, Santa Cruz,
California, USA:
"While I was pleased to see Ian Smith's government replaced
decades ago, the
end of Robert Mugabe's corrupt rule is long overdue.
Hopefully it will
self-destruct, but it's looking now like external
intervention is going to
be needed. I suspect the Zimbabwe military will be
as glad to have a change
as anyone else in the country, when push comes to
shove."
Evert C. Weidner, Lansdale, USA:
"The cloak of leadership is
power. Wearing it does not a leader make. This
pattern is not only
applicable to Mugabe, but many other instances in
society and is the cause
of a lot of unwanted stress and lack of civility."
Gino Lofredo,
Argentina:
1. Keep superpower geopolitics out of southern Africa
2.
Zimbabwe has no national currency. Rand linked new currency and currency
management auth. established.
3. Fade RM heroically into the sunset, he
should be promoted not deposed.
4. Recreate environment for a multiracial
governability with S.A. as
sensible elder states brothers
5. Access to
strategic resources in Z should be managed for reconstruction.
6. Remember
RM´s hard core are ready for retirement as a matter of basic
aging. Everyone
has a right to be a hero in Heaven.
Roberto C. Alvarez-Galloso, CPUR,
Miami Florida:
"The US working to undermine Zimbabwe's Government? That's a
new one. The US
Media never mentions Zimbabwe or Mugabe."
"Whatever
information I receive is from Radio Netherlands, SABC, ABC
[Australia], RCI
[Canada], and the BBC. Mugabe was a creation of the
Republicans and
Democrats of Washington as well as the West. But to attempt
a regime change
in the style of Iraq and Afghanistan would be
counterproductive. South
Africa must lead the way to force a regime change
especially since South
Africa is the powerhouse in southern Africa and they
are going to host the
2010 World Cup."
"South Africa must not do it [regime change] alone but
in conjunction with
Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Botswana,
Namibia, Lesotho,
and Swaziland. According to SABC [South Africa
Broadcasting Corporation],
many small and big businesses are leaving
Zimbabwe."
David Rupiny, Northern Uganda:
"What the hell does Mugabe
think he is doing? We have seen war in northern
Uganda for 21 years, but it
looks like the situation in Zimbabwe is far
worse than what is happening
here. It is time for Mugabe, and all other
long-serving leaders like
Uganda's Yoweri Museveni to pack their bags and go
home. I see Uganda
becoming like Zimbabwe too - what with rising inflation,
increasing
commodity prices, power cuts, wanton corruption, nepotism and
tribalism,
inequitable distribution of resources, political intolerance and
suppression."
Blake Finley, San Francisco CA USA:
"Zimbabwean and
earlier 'Rhodesian' politics has had a long history of
infestation with
political corruption, at least since the white colonizers
tricked the Shona
and Matabele chiefs into submission. The colonial regime
in Zimbabwe
(Southern Rhodesia) was highly racist and corrupt, and not
dissimilar to
that of Apartheid South Africa. The Bruderbund BOSS (South
African CIA) of
the Apartheid regime, with earlier close assistance from the
racist white
government in Zimbabwe before independence raged ruthlessly
inhumane wars,
both overt and covert through BOSS (South African CIA) in
neighbouring
countries including Mozambique and Angola. How many foreigners
realize this,
and how much attack and exploitation black Zimbabweans have
continually
undergone? Are we getting truth about Zimbabwe or Mugabe? How
much
external/foreign (including post-Apartheid Bruderbund/BOSS)
manipulation has
contributed to Mugabe's situation from the onset? Mugabe
should be heard in
an international forum, and any corruption under his rule
should not be used
to discount the principle of national autonomy and rule
of Zimbabwe by
Zimbabweans."
"Mugabe should not simply be typecast as a ruthless
dictator, as the western
media usually portrays him, without hearing what he
has to say about the
situation in his country and why he has done what he
has done."
"He should be heard not only in the EU but also in the United
Nations, as
the charges against him are very grave, and all sides in
Zimbabwe should be
heard before any foreign nation or international
organization intervenes
overtly or covertly, or before Mugabe and his
countrymen are judged for what
they have done. An eye should also be kept on
the future of Zimbabwe so that
any type of political corruption is allow to
either continue, or replace the
current situation."
David Berridge,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada:
"Unfortunately, regime change is not a viable
course of action for Zimbabwe.
After the scathing international criticism
levelled against the United
States for its intervention in Iraq, no other
power will seek to take on a
similar policy against Robert Mugabe. Unless
Bono and U2 hold a rock concert
to raise funds for a large mercenary group
to kill Mugabe and install a new
leadership, Zimbabwe will remain the
compounding tragedy it is. (Executive
Outcomes anyone?) The only viable
option left is for the United Nations to
approve a name change from Zimbabwe
to Biafra."
David L. Blatt, Chicago, IL, USA:
"It was time for regime
change the day the ZANU-PF got into power in
Zimbabwe. Mugabe has been very
open as to his desire to be the Papa Doc of
southern Africa. The
International Community should have backed the Internal
Settlement
Government of Bishop Abel Murozewa 30 years ago. Instead, we
opted to put
Tyrant Mugabe into power and the results are clear for all to
see!"
Alhaji Daramy-Bassey, United Kingdom:
"The answer is yes if
the entire nation is ready for reconciliation and
nation building efforts.
The answer is 'no' if the present demographic
sector is going to have
reprisals and put into the same plight as the
Tsvengarai group. The
political dispensation in the republic of Zimbabwe may
not differ from any
other third-world country in terms of religious, ethnic
as-well-as political
choice."
Mens News Daily
July
20, 2007 at 1:44 am
I do not know how to describe what this
collection of goons are doing but it
is the worlds biggest closing down
sale! I have now been raided 7 times and
on each occasion they have demanded
that we write down our prices to new low
levels. I have yet to determine the
full extent of our losses but they now
run into the billions. My main
concern now is just how on earth do we pay
our staff at the month end? They
are equally concerned!
I have heard many explanations of this exercise,
termed "Good Governance" by
the regime in its normal exemplary manner. One
was that this is a knee jerk
reaction to the statement by Christopher Dell,
the US Ambassador to Harare
on the 18th June 2007 to the effect that we are
headed for 1,5 million
percent inflation and the collapse of the regime in
short order. Another is
that they were shocked by outcome of their own
exercise to draw foreign
exchange from the market that week and the
resulting collapse of the local
currency and the massive surge in inflation
that followed and this is a
desperate effort to halt inflation.
Yet
another, well informed source said it was well planned, the people
involved
trained and is a deliberate attempt to further reduce urban
populations and
the support base of the MDC in the towns in the form of
small and
large-scale business. This hypothesis was based on the
Murambatsvina
exercise two years ago when they destroyed 300 000 homes in
informal
settlements and hundreds of thousands of small non-formal
businesses. This
resulted in both an upsurge in human flight and movements
back to the rural
areas - both targets of the policy and in the view of the
regime, highly
successful.
Now, forced to face elections in March 2008, they have
assessed the
situation and decided that more surgery is required. So smash
the remnants
of the formal economy and at the same time give the people
cheap goods as a
reward for their complicity. The possible outcome is now
clear, the majority
of what is left of the modern economy is being
systematically destroyed and
most companies affected will almost certainly
close their doors with
dramatic job losses, huge suffering and the flight of
much of our present
urban population to South Africa and
elsewhere.
They then feel that with all food supplies in their hands and
most of the
remnants of the economy under their control, they can direct how
people will
vote in the next election and be sure that they will comply.
This hypothesis
is validated by the actions taken last week to introduce new
controls on the
importation of food and "groceries" for resale. As for the
flight of
millions to South Africa it has been clear for some time that the
regime
here is making no efforts at all to curb illegal border crossing into
any of
our neighbors territory.
If permitted, this demonic, ruthless
but clever operation will result in the
Zimbabwean population declining to
less than 7 million this winter, the
potential voting population to perhaps
2 million; 80 per cent of them poor,
impoverished and totally dependent on
regime controlled handouts and
charity. Like peasants everywhere, the
majority will be dependent on the
regime for work, food, shelter and even
clothing - the basics of life, as
such they would not dare act in
defiance.
Zanu PF will, under this scenario, then call an election early
- as soon as
the human flight and controls are in place and effective on the
ground. In
this election they will make every pretense to show that it is
"free and
fair" even allowing some international and regional observers. The
people
will vote under supervision with the threat that districts that vote
MDC and
known MDC activists will face instant reprisals that will leave them
without
food and all other means of survival. They might even control
remittances
from abroad.
The people behind this strategy are very
clever in an evil sort of way. They
have become wealthy beyond their
imaginations; they have no shortages, can
take holidays abroad (if they are
not under sanctions and even if they are,
there are plenty of places that
will gladly take their dollars) and have the
systems of control and coercion
in their hands without legal or moral
constraints. They are totally
determined to protect this power and privilege
at any cost.
Their
main threat is not from the MDC or the people, but from within.
Therefore
they reserve their most harsh action for those individuals who
dare to break
away from the power group and in recent weeks we have seen a
resurgence of
political killings of senior Army officers who have dared to
ask questions
about what is happening and what they are asked to do. They do
not give a
hoot about the interests of the region or the people, they think
the former
can be manipulated, do not have the will to stand up to them and
may even be
compliant. The latter, they regard as just fodder for the
machine they are
creating.
The operation itself tells us a great deal about this regime.
It is now,
effectively a military Junta. The Joint Operations Command is
totally in
charge and the civilian State is simply being brushed aside and
forced to
watch as decisions are taken (outside of Cabinet) and implemented.
We have
documentary evidence of this.
It also confirms that the rule
of law has now been totally abandoned and the
Courts sidelined and access
the legal redress made impossible. There is
nothing legal about what they
are doing; it would never stand up in a Court
of Law in any normal society.
The rights of property owners (no matter what
sort of property) are being
flagrantly violated with business capital being
wiped out in a dramatic and
fatal way. Interestingly they are not
discriminating in this operation,
foreign or local, Zanu PF or MDC, Asian,
indigenous black or white, they are
simply sweeping the board. This shows
that they feel they no longer need
these alternative pillars of political
support - the armed forces and their
own systems and tentacles are enough to
do what they want.
Do
regional leaders understand the terrible price they will pay for this
gross
abuse of power and privilege in Zimbabwe? What on earth are they doing
to
stop this madness? Not a great deal at present and there are four
possible
outcomes of their inaction.
1. We will collapse in a heap and the
military will formalize their role in
our society.
2. The so-called
reformers in Zanu PF will take over, expel Mugabe from
power and form a new
government that will declare a state of emergency and
govern.
3. Mugabe
will call a snap election late this year and will try to win by
manipulation.
4. The SADC initiative will be put back on course by South
African power and
we will stagger under reserve engines to an election in
March 2008 that will
produce a new government to pick up the
pieces.
It is reported to me that Zanu PF Members of Parliament have
jokingly stated
to MDC colleagues "we know you will win the elections, and
we are making
sure there is nothing left for you to eat!" This might well be
a scorched
earth strategy - or the scorched earth idea might simply be a
fall back
position if SADC does intervene. Whatever, time is running out for
all of
us!
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 19th July 2007
By Lance
Guma
20 July 2007.
Masvingo State University has decided to take the
lead from their
counterparts in Harare by defying a court order allowing two
suspended
student leaders the chance to write their exams. In June the
President of
the SRC Whitlaw Mugwiji and his Secretary General Edson
Hlatshwayo were
violently dragged out of the examinations room before being
severely
assaulted by the state and college security personnel. The courts
have
ordered the institution to set supplementary exams before 10th August
this
year and allow the two to write them.
Unfortunately for the
students it seems Robert Mugabe, the Chancellor to
most Universities, is
giving direct instructions to the Vice Chancellors to
ignore court orders.
In Harare, High Court Judge Ben Hlatshwayo last week
ordered the University
of Zimbabwe to reverse the eviction of over 4000
students from their halls
of residence. But Vice Chancellor Levi Nyagura
defied the order, telling one
suspended student that Mugabe had told him the
judge who made the decision
should be prepared to accommodate the students
at his house. Authorities in
Masvingo are singing from the same songbook.
Vice Chancellor Professor
Maravanyika openly told the students that he takes
instructions from the
Presidents office and that he has been firmly told not
to readmit the two
students. Contempt of court applications have been filed
by students at the
University of Zimbabwe and similar applications in
Masvingo are
expected.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Chipo Ngwira, 31, left Harare three weeks ago to look for a job in Gaborone, Botswana. She has not tasted a decent meal for 14 days as Batswanas constantly remind her that they have no jobs for foreigners, commonly known in the diamond-rich nation as 'makwerekwere'.
The 100 Pula she had raised over six months in Zimbabwe's economically crippled capital, Harare, has been exhausted. The only thing now is for her to join other Zimbabwean women at Gaborone West's Mogoditshane suburb where prostitution is the order of the day.
Finding a job in Gaborone's White City area, largely frequented by Zimbabweans looking for formal employment such as gardening and housekeeping is just a pipe dream.
To Chipo, the idea of leaving her two starving children with their grandmother was the most painful decision she has ever made in her life.
"I just dumped them at my grandmother's place in Highfield density suburb in Harare and told the granny that I am leaving for a better life either in Botswana or South Africa," says the distraught single parent.
"I shed my tears before embarking on the 760 kilometre journey to Gaborone. Right now, I don't know whether my children have had a decent meal during the past three weeks because my grandmother is poor and she receives $100,000 per month from the Department of Social Welfare. This is hardly enough to buy two loaves of bread."
Chipo is not the only Zimbabwean facing such difficulties as thousands of economic refugees are flocking to Botswana and South Africa to search for basic food commodities and greener pastures as the country is facing its worst economic crisis in its history.
"This is the worst time of our lives and there is no way
one can live in Zimbabwe and make ends meet unless one is a thief, money dealer,
businessperson, worker of a non-governmental organisation or top civil servant.
People have struggled to make ends meet since President Robert Mugabe and his
cronies raided the farms in the year 2000," says Njabulo Ndlovu, an economic
refugee currently looking for a job at White City suburb.
Independent
sources estimate that between 500 and 600 refugees cross into Botswana and South
Africa every day to look for jobs. Farmers close to the border between Zimbabwe
and South Africa say that the figures are much higher, a fact that they say
senior officials in the military and police will only privately admit to.
According to the farmers' estimates, about 4,000 Zimbabweans are crossing into
South Africa every night. That represents at least 100,000 people a month, far
more than official estimates of 20,000 per month.
Just this week the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported that 6,000 Zimbabwean refugees were deported every week from Musina near the Beit Bridge border post. ZimbabweJournalists.com reported that Andrew Gethi, the chief operating officer of the International Organisation for Migration, which opened an office to assist deported Zimbabwean refugees on the northern side of the border, says the organisation is handling on average 17,000 deportees every month - it estimates that more than 86,000 illegal immigrants were forcibly repatriated between January and May this year alone. (It is important to note that the figure of 17,000 per month excludes those refugees who have managed to evade the South African authorities).
The scale of the problem is likely to worsen as the Zimbabwean economy deteriorates further and as Zanu PF policies become increasingly repressive and brutal. For most refugees, the dangerous crossing into neighbouring countries and the uncertain future they face there presents them with far better options of survival than staying at home.
Zimbabwe's economy is deteriorating at an alarming rate. South Africa's Econometrix Ecobulletin of 10 July reported that in June, Zimbabwe's inflation was around 3 700% and the preceding month around 2,200%. At the time of publishing, the bulletin said the official rate had reached over 4,500%. This clearly indicated that the country had reached the realms of hyperinflation as a 4 500% inflation rate entailed roughly a doubling of prices every month or an escalation of 2.33% per day. Furthermore, if daily prices accelerated to 2.8% per day, on an annualised basis this would be equivalent to 20,000% inflation.
The Econometrix Ecobulletin noted: "No country has ever endured true hyperinflation without there being a change in leadership or type of government within a fairly short space of time. Zimbabwe is unlikely to be any different."
The very recent 'price war' policies embarked upon by the Zanu PF government under Mugabe's leadership has led to an immediate upsurge in the scale of the refugee problem. The editor of South Africa's Business Day newspaper commented this week that the undeniable human flood of Zimbabwean refugees to South Africa over the recent years has suddenly become a torrent. He further commented: "There is a real threat of a socially and economically disastrous tsunami sweeping [South Africa] in the coming weeks unless there is international intervention".
Opposition parties in South Africa have called upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to set up refugee camps along the borders with Zimbabwe, a call that has been rejected by Jack Redden, the UNHCR's regional information officer. Redden said that the UNHCR could only be involved in the case a "total collapse" of the Zimbabwean state, at a point when Zimbabweans became 'asylum seekers' rather than 'economic refugees'.
Rapidly escalating state-sponsored violence and the fall out from Operation Murambatsvina has blurred the distinction between political and economic refugees. During the disastrous government initiated operation to demolish the houses and shacks of largely poor people in the major cities and towns, more than 700,000 people were rendered homeless or jobless, and at least 2.4 million poor people were affected. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, the special envoy of Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, said the programme breached both national and international human rights law provisions guiding evictions, thereby precipitating a humanitarian crisis. The UNHCR distinction between political and economic refugees is a moot point to most Zimbabweans; they are leaving Zimbabwe because they have no options and they need to survive. *
Among the refugees fleeing Zimbabwe, those who have already sought political asylum in Botswana during the past six months are awaiting the processing of their application papers at Dukwe Camp, a security-tight compound once occupied by Zimbabweans fleeing atrocities perpetrated by former Rhodesian leader Ian Smith's repressive regime and the Mugabe government's Gukurahundi - involving mass civilian murders - in the 1980s. It is estimated that more than 20,000 people died during the Gukurahundi massacres.
David Sediadie, an official spokesman of President Festus Mogae's Office, says indications are that the political asylum seekers arrived in the country six months ago while the new string of refugees are linked to the current price control measures enforced by Mugabe's desperate regime.
Although the Zimbabwean government is tight-lipped over refugees fleeing the country into neighbouring countries, the situation appears to be worse in Johannesburg, one of Africa's largest cities.
This has forced Bishop Paul Verryn's Central Methodist Church to take care of 900 stranded refugees, some of them with little children, who crossed the borders illegally to look for a better living.
"Conditions for refugees in a church building not meant for housing are a nightmare, but it's far sight better than living rough on the inner-city streets where life is very tough and the refugees are regularly harassed," said the Bishop.
"While peace is not in place, it's vital that people seeking asylum and refuge find a more humane welcome in the countries to which they flee. In South Africa, we have the opportunity for the Zimbabwean refugees to be granted full refugee status, almost in response to the way we were hosted and cared for during the difficult years by the Zimbabwean government of that time."
He continued: "The presence of Zimbabweans in this country presents us with a choice about our view of humanity. Firstly, refugees are by no means a nuisance or a curse in a country. They are a glorious opportunity for us to show our true humanity. Secondly, Zimbabweans come with gifts. Our wisdom is to expose and celebrate their presence among us."
An estimated three million Zimbabweans, mostly illegal immigrants, live in South Africa. The majority end up living in crime-infested areas such as Hillbrow, Berea and some parts of Johannesburg's South-Western Townships (Soweto), leading to the troubling perception among some South Africans that Zimbabweans are deeply involved in crime - a perception that many commentators see as a worrying increase in xenophobia.
"Once these economic and political refugees arrive here, look for jobs and fail to get formal employment, some are forced into crime," says a top South African policeman.
Despite concerns like these expressed in media reports, Chris Maroleng from the South African Institute of International Affairs says the statistics do not indicate a disproportionate number of Zimbabweans involved in crime.
"Individuals who were engaged in normal activities back home are less likely to get involved in criminal activities in other countries," he says. "They are just keen to make a living and send food and money home."
Maroleng does point out, however, that there have been cases of former Zimbabwean army personnel being involved in specialised crimes, such as cash in transit heists and bank robberies.
The difficulties and uncertain future facing Zimbabwean refugees in neighbouring countries, combined with the negative and sometimes hostile reception they receive from locals there, highlights the scale of the desperate conditions in Zimbabwe. The choice to leave, to cross illegally into another country either by swimming across a crocodile infested river or risking arrest by border patrols, reflects the tenacity and courage of Zimbabweans too, determined to find a way to survive despite all efforts to beat them into submission.
Zimbabwean refugees want to go home to live with their families in peace and security and are increasingly turning to talk of the need for action and the need for political change in Zimbabwe. Regional leaders would do well to listen to them, and support their call for non-violent peaceful change.
The Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa and Botswana believe that there is only one answer to their suffering - the demise of Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe's rule, a dictatorial evil leader who has been at the helm of the country for all of the 27 years since independence from British rule.
"Our lives are resting on one selfish man named Robert Gabriel Mugabe. I don't see the reason why over 12 million people can be terrorised by one man without fighting back. This is the time for us to retaliate against this monster. Enough is enough!" says Phathisani Mkandla, an economic refugee roaming the streets of Johannesburg during the past two weeks looking for formal employment.
"If all people agree to stage a strike against Mugabe, we will push him out of power within hours and our country may pull out of this mess," says Mkandla's friend Power Nketha with razor sharp cheekbones, a sign of extreme hunger.
* See reports by the Solidarity Peace Trust: "No War in
Zimbabwe" and "Operation Murambatsvina - Discarding the Filth".
www.solidaritypeacetrust.org
IOL
July 20
2007 at 08:22PM
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has pronounced
China his country's
top co-operation partner, Harare's Herald newspaper
reported on Friday.
Its website quoted him as saying: "Currently,
we are being driven by
our Look East policy and our first country for
co-operation is China."
Mugabe was addressing a delegation from the
Communist Party of China
at a meeting in Harare on Thursday.
He
said relations between the two countries dated back to the struggle
for
independence, which Beijing backed to the hilt.
"Now that we are
independent and sovereign, we have pursued together
ways of how we can
transform our socio-economic systems for the benefit of
our
people."
The two countries had done this realising
that there were areas where
they must observe their oneness especially on
the international forum.
Zimbabwe and China had always been
criticised by Western countries at
international forums on false grounds
that they did not uphold human rights.
But the United Nations had
always found nothing wrong with the human
rights records of China and
Zimbabwe, Mugabe said. - Sapa
Cape Argus (Cape Town)
20
July 2007
Posted to the web 20 July 2007
Thabo Mabaso
The
national SPCA has called on South Africans to dig into their pockets and
donate funds and goods to help animals left destitute by the political and
economic crisis ravaging Zimbabwe.
The call follows reports in the
Cape Argus that food shortages had forced
the Zimbabwe SPCA to begin
euthanasing stray animals housed in its kennels.
The euthanasing
began early this week and affects more than 600 animals.
Allan Perrins,
chief executive of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, told the Cape
Argus that
public response to the reports had been overwhelming.
He said the local
SPCA had been inundated with offers of help from concerned
animal
lovers.
"Some kind of help from us is inevitable and imminent. The
Zimbabwe SPCA
will send us a wish-list, we will procure what they require
and courier
those to them," said Perrins.
"It is also not in the
realm of the impossible that we could even send
people up to Zimbabwe to
help our colleagues there," he added.
The Zimbabwe Conservation Task
Force has also done a study that shows that
83% of wildlife in privately
owned game farms and conservancies has been
destroyed since 2001. The blame
for the wipe-out has been attributed to
drought, and the political upheavals
that have engulfed Zimbabwe over the
last five years.
A statement by
the SPCA said the mass exodus of Zimbabweans to neighbouring
countries had
left many animals destitute and dying of hunger.
"There are no easy
solutions. The situation in Zimbabwe is not one conducive
to the homing or
adoption of animals. Supplies of food for captive and
animals on farms is a
central issue and we fear that these animals
themselves become targets for
food," the NSPCA said.
Meanwhile, the DA has announced that it will be
sending an inspection team
to the Beit Bridge border crossing next week to
study for itself the
circumstances of the refugees fleeing from the economic
and political
collapse of Zimbabwe.
Mark Lowe, the DA spokesman on
home affairs, said in a statement that the
government should set up a
refugee camp near the Beit-Bridge border
crossing.
"This is a major
humanitarian crisis happening right now. Not next month,
not next year, but
right now ... the Department of Home Affairs has a duty
to find
accommodation for refugees coming into the country en masse, which
is the
case of Zimbabwean refugees," he said.
Zimbabwe is reeling from the worst
economic and political crisis ever to hit
the country. Annual inflation is
at record highs of 4 000% and free
political activity has been
curtailed.
Donations to the SPCA should be donated into the following
account:
Institution: Standard Bank
Branch:
Southdale
Account Name: NSPCA
Account Number: 201 032
015
Branch Code: 006 405
Reference: ZIMHELP
Business Day
20 July 2007
Lesley
Stones
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information
Technology Editor
POLITICAL pressure to end the crisis in Zimbabwe could
get an unexpected
kick from Fifa, as officials organising the 2010 World Cup
are anxious to
avoid a humanitarian catastrophe on SA's border.
The
"Mugabe factor" could harm the smooth running of the Soccer World Cup,
so
Fifa would be urging SA's government to intervene and help to resolve the
crisis, said former footballer Gary Bailey.
The World Cup could also
be the catalyst that finally spurs the government
to face up to crime in SA,
he said yesterday at the Internetix conference,
staged by technology company
Internet Solutions.
The 2010 tournament was a chance to "rebrand" the
country, said Bailey, a
former Kaizer Chiefs player and goalkeeper for
England. He was an ambassador
for SA's World Cup bid.
"The rest of
the world doesn't see us as world class. T hey are very
Afro-pessimistic.
The World Cup is an incredible opportunity to reposition
SA. What's holding
us back isn't the infrastructure, it's crime and
security."
The g
overnment tenders, worth R410bn, were being issued to overhaul SA's
infrastructure, said Bailey. "(President Thabo) Mbeki has put R410bn behind
it - now we have to force him to deal with crime."
Police statistics
released earlier this month showed robberies at
residential premises had
risen 25,4% for the year to March. That could
affect visitors who stayed in
bed and breakfast accommodation, Bailey
warned. "Every single news
organisation will be in SA and we can't say we
only have five murders a
week, not 10, because that will fill up their
pages."
Bailey said he
had met Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi after the
statistics were issued
and came away optimistic.
Selebi promised that 35000 new police would be
on the roads by 2010, new
centres would be built to process criminal cases,
and 55000 more paid
reservists should be recruited.
The World Cup
would be a success, Bailey said, but the question was how
local companies
would capitalise on the massive opportunities presented by
"the biggest
business opportunity ever to reach SA ".
Analysts at Grant Thornton
estimate that R51,1bn will be pumped into the
economy as a direct result and
foreign visitors are expected to spend R15bn
on travel, accommodation, food
and entertainment.
An estimated 220000 overseas visitors are expected,
plus another 180000 from
Africa. Those figures were conservative and up to
600000 may arrive . That
created challenges and opportunities for the
transport system,
accommodation, tourism and the telecommunication networks,
said Bailey.
IOL
July 20
2007 at 06:04PM
South African authorities would adopt a
wait-and-see approach before
deciding whether or not to seek businessman
Billy Rautenbach's extradition
from Zimbabwe.
This comes as
Rautenbach, best known in South Africa and Botswana for
his activities in
assembling Hyundai cars, was arrested in the Democratic
Republic of Congo
and deported to Zimbabwe.
"We will wait to see what happens to him
in Zimbabwe, if he is not
imprisoned the (extradition) option remains open,"
said Panyaza Lesufi, NPA
spokesperson.
Rautenbach, a Zimbabwean
passport holder, faces hundreds of charges of
fraud, corruption and other
crimes in South Africa.
The London-based public relations company,
Bell Pottinger, on behalf
of the Katanga provincial government, said: "The
government of the DRC is
making strenuous efforts to clean up the mining
sector in the country, and
has taken seriously South African charges of
fraud, corruption and other
crimes against
Rautenbach."
Rautenbach is a major shareholder in
Central African Mining and
Exploration (Camec), which owns copper mining
properties in the DRC.
Katanga governor Moise Katumbi said later:
"Even if we have as yet no
extradition facilities in place, we will not
continue to allow such people
to operate in the DRC with
impunity."
Camec, chaired by former England cricketer Phil Edmonds,
is in a
hostile bid for DRC-focused copper firm Katanga Mining. - Sapa
The Herald - Published by the Government of
Zimbabwe
Editorial
Thursday, July 19,
2007
Dell missed only by MDC
By Isdore
Guvamombe
NOBODY can fight time and reality for that will be akin
to impish
attempts to paint the air.
So US ambassador
Christopher William Dell, who left Zimbabwe last
Saturday, found out as he
ended up sneaking out without bidding farewell to
President
Mugabe.
Progressive Zimbabweans will remember Dell as an evil man
who
sponsored the petrol-bombing of innocent men, women and children; an
evil
man who sought to remove the wheels from the Zimbabwean economy in his
attempt to embellish his reputation as Uncle Sam's Mr Fix-it.
The scars Dell left in Zimbabwe are too raw to forget. Remember the
gory
pictures of the two female police women petrol-bombed by suspected MDC
youths in Marimba?
Good riddance to bad rubbish, Dell has gone
to Hell where he belongs.
His time was up after three years of
failing to understand Zimbabwe's
political vectors as he desperately sought
to break President Mugabe's
resistance to British and American regime change
tactics.
What baffles many is that hardly two days before Dell's
departure a
schooled diplomat from Russia, Ambassador Oleg Scherbak, bade
farewell to
President Mugabe after completing his mission.
As
expected, the battered and bruised Dell did not have the courage to
face his
nemesis, and stole out like a common thief following the footsteps
of Sir
Brian Donnelly, the British spy who also found the going tough in
Zimbabwe.
After coming to Zimbabwe as warmongers masquerading
as diplomats, we
were not shocked when Dell and Donnelly flouted diplomatic
etiquette by
sneaking out of the country without bidding their host
farewell.
Maybe we expected too much, honey comes from bees, not
flies!
Dell came to Harare a dragon breathing the fire of misplaced
regime
change and intoxicated with the destruction he wrought on the
Yugoslavs. He,
however, left a humbled man with egg all over his
face.
It was easy for the Government to beat Dell at his game
because the
cowboy was so myopic; he always tipped his hand.
Dell, like many Americans, seems to have been socialised into
believing that
he was mightier than other people as he thought Zimbabwe
should be governed
in the manner he saw fit.
After taking his destructive antics to
every facet of Zimbabwean life
in an impish attempt to effect illegal regime
change, Dell must have found
it difficult to accept that he had
failed.
But excuse me Mr Fix-it, Zimbabwe is not Kosovo let alone
Luanda or
Maputo.
President Mugabe is not Slobodan Milosovic;
he is not Mohamed Siad
Bare.
President Mugabe is the greatest
son of Africa, a political
grandmaster whose gamesmanship, antics, vision
and wisdom have left not only
Dell but also generations of imperialists
wondering what hit them.
From the day he took over from Joseph
Sullivan in 2004, Dell dabbled
in opposition politics as if he were
Zimbabwean.
Admitted, Dell was on a mission to clandestinely effect
illegal regime
change in Zimbabwe but the failure of his project frustrated
him so much
that he could no longer hide his intentions, he was so pathetic.
What a sore
loser!
In June 2004 Dell, just nine days after Tony
Blair told the world that
he was pursuing regime change in Zimbabwe,
appeared before a US
Congressional hearing and laid bare his
agenda:
"If confirmed (as ambassador to Zimbabwe) I would continue
the efforts
of our government in seeking Zimbabwe's re-emergence as a
country with a
legitimate democratically elected Government that reflects
the rule of law
and human rights . . .''
Three years down the
line, Dell left Harare a wreck of nerves, his
much-vaunted reputation as
America's "Mr Fix-it'' in tatters.
He came riding on the bloody
legacy of military excursions that ranged
from the "accidental" bombings of
Kosovar Maternity Ward and civilian buses
on the streets of Belgrade, to
infinite hiccups in Mozambique and Angola's
civil wars and tried to apply
the same in Harare.
He tried to relive his experiences in Kosovo
and Belgrade on the
streets of Highfield and Glen Norah; his hand was
evident in the bombings at
Sakubva and Marimba police stations.
Due to Dell's desperation, innocent men, women and children suffered
permanent injuries. They lost property and they will never forget him for
his terrorism.
After the Government thwarted that violence,
Dell hatched more plans,
this time on the price hikes using his so-called
Fishmongers.
As prices skyrocketed Dell continued with his
provocative, combative
and confrontational approach issuing statements to
the effect that the
Government would be on its knees within six months. When
Government once
again closed that front, Dell was left clueless, with no
time on his hands
to organise anything else; he stole out like a spy coming
from the cold.
In October 2005, Dell trespassed into a restricted
security zone at
the Botanical Gardens in an apparent attempt to provoke a
diplomatic row. A
year later, he walked out of a meeting in which the
Government had invited
him and other diplomats, before the meeting had even
started. It was a very
undiplomatic, rude thing to do.
Dell
used to hold secret meetings with the opposition and its allied
groups.
Fine, it was his right to associate but he never walked out of any
of their
meetings because those involved were American puppets.
Dell's
subversive activities brought untold suffering on innocent
people, but he
was undeterred since no American could be injured in
Highfield, Glen View or
Sakubva, no American policeman could be
petrol-bombed at Marimba or Sakubva
police stations.
The cruel man has gone and will not be missed
except, maybe, by the
MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai.
[Just a thought - where else in the world would you think it normal to have a restricted security zone in the Botanical Gardens?- Ed.]