Riot police break up Zimbabwe PM meeting

http://www.timeslive.co.za

Sapa-AFP | 06 March, 2013 08:51

Riot police in Zimbabwe blocked an address Tuesday by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, whose uneasy unity rule with President Robert Mugabe is set to
end within months at the ballot box.

"Riot police have just disrupted a community meeting I was due to address,"
Tsvangirai tweeted on Tuesday night. "Their actions today show that the
leopard has not changed colours."

A pick-up truck loaded with helmet-clad police officers carrying riot
shields and batons could be seen in pictures posted on Tsvangirai's Facebook
page.

The meeting was set to start at 6:00pm in the capital, state-run newspaper
The Herald reported on Wednesday.

But around 20 riot police ordered people to leave the meeting before it had
started.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said the meeting was stopped as it had
not been cleared with authorities.

The area's district police officer "was not given the notice of intention to
hold the meeting" as legally required, she was quoted as saying.

However, a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the documentation had
been sent to the police.

"We were unlawfully dispersed," Senator Obert Gutu told The Herald, adding
that the meeting was to discuss an upcoming vote on a draft constitution.

"For the police to say they dispersed the meeting because it was in the
evening, it would be a frivolous excuse," he added.

Zimbabwe's security forces are seen as loyal to Mugabe who shares power with
Tsvangirai in an uneasy unity government that was uneasily formed after
chaotic polls in 2008.

Zimbabweans will vote on March 16 in a draft referendum which is set to pave
the way for fairer elections.

Fresh polls are set for July to steer Zimbabwe onto a new track after a
series of votes were marred by violence, intimidation and economic hardship.

The run-up to the polls has been marked by a crackdown against political
activists, media and civil society groups.

Radio stations have been raided, members of non-governmental groups have
been arrested and the son of an opposition leader died in a suspected
firebomb attack.

Zimbabwe police have found no foul play in the house fire that killed the
12-year-old boy.

Mugabe, who turned 89 on February 21 has ruled the southern African nation
since independence in 1980.

The former rivals set up a unity government in early 2009 after the violent
polls of the previous year tipped the country into crisis.

Zimbabwe's PM addresses rally after police crackdown

http://www.globalpost.com/

Agence France-PresseMarch 6, 2013 13:46

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai addressed his party's supporters
on Wednesday a day after riot police broke up his rally.

"I don't know if it's some kind of a demon, that riot police only emerge
when we start campaigning," he told his supporters in the local Shona
dialect. "Why riot police?"

Pictures posted on Tsvangirai's Facebook page on Tuesday showed a truck load
of helmet-clad police officers carrying riot shields and batons.

He said the police action showed that "the leopard has not changed colours."

But police spokesperson Charity Charamba said the disruption was due to a
"communication break-down" between the police and Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change.

Zimbabwe's security forces are seen as loyal to President Robert Mugabe who
shares power with Tsvangirai in an uneasy unity government that was formed
after chaotic polls in 2008.

At Wednesday's hour-long meeting in the capital's working class suburb of
Glen View, Tsvangirai explained key points of the new constitution which is
expected to lay groundwork for fairer elections later in the year.

He urged the 200 supporters to vote in favour of the new text at the March
16 referendum.

"We must all go out and vote yes for the draft constitution so that we move
the reform process forward. It is important for our nation," said
Tsvangirai.

Fresh polls are set for July to steer Zimbabwe onto a new track after a
series of votes were marred by violence, intimidation and economic hardship.

The run-up to the polls has been marked by a crackdown against political
activists, media and civil society groups.

The former rivals set up a unity government in early 2009 after the violent
polls of the previous year tipped the country into crisis.

Zimbabwe police blame error for rally crackdown

(AFP) – 7 hours ago
HARARE — Zimbabwe police on Wednesday said bungled communication led to
armed riot police blocking a rally by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Police spokesperson Charity Charamba told AFP "there was communication
break-down" between the police and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change.
"The notice to hold the meeting was given through the minister to the
commissioner general instead of the officer commanding the district."
"That issue has been rectified."
Riot police blocked an address Tuesday by Tsvangirai whose uneasy unity rule
with President Robert Mugabe is set to end with a fresh vote in months.
"Riot police have just disrupted a community meeting I was due to address,"
Tsvangirai tweeted on Tuesday night. "Their actions today show that the
leopard has not changed colours."
A pick-up truck loaded with helmet-clad police officers carrying riot
shields and batons could be seen in pictures posted on Tsvangirai's Facebook
page.
Charamba said according to the Public Order and Security Act anyone who
wants to hold public meetings must notify the police who can decide whether
the meeting can go ahead.
Tsvangirai's meeting was set to start at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) in the capital
on Tuesday, but around 20 riot police ordered people to leave the meeting
before it had started.
Zimbabwe's security forces are seen as loyal to Mugabe who shares power with
Tsvangirai in an uneasy unity government that was uneasily formed after
chaotic polls in 2008.
Zimbabweans will vote on March 16 in a draft referendum which is set to pave
the way for fairer elections.
Fresh polls are set for July to steer Zimbabwe onto a new track after a
series of votes were marred by violence, intimidation and economic hardship.
The run-up to the polls has been marked by a crackdown against political
activists, media and civil society groups.
Mugabe, who turned 89 on February 21 has ruled the southern African nation
since independence in 1980.
The former rivals set up a unity government in early 2009 after the violent
polls of the previous year tipped the country into crisis.

GPA negotiators meet Zuma's team

http://www.herald.co.zw

Wednesday, 06 March 2013 00:00

Felex Share Herald Reporter

President Jacob Zuma's facilitation team on Tuesday jointly met negotiators
to the Global Political Agreement to get an an update on the preparations of
the constitutional referendum in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe will hold a referendum on Saturday next week.

Zanu-PF negotiator, who is also Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick
Chinamasa yesterday said the the facilitation team, led by President Zuma's
international relations advisor Ms Lindiwe Zulu,also met Jomic
co-chairpersons.

He said the team wanted to understand the steps the three political parties
in the inclusive Government would take after the referendum.

"The facilitation team came yesterday and they met Jomic chairpersons before
we had a bilateral meeting with them," he said.

"In our meeting they wanted to hear about the preparations for the
referendum and the challenges we were facing as well as the aftermath."

Minister Chinamasa said they told the facilitation team that the
preparations were going on well.

"Things are going according to plan and we told them that after the
referendum we will have the Constitutional Bill being gazetted 30 days
before it is taken to Parliament. From its passage through Parliament we
will have the President assenting to it and then we have amendments to the
Electoral Law to align it with the new constitution," he said.

"After that we can start preparing for the next stage, which are elections."

He said the team would be back in Zimbabwe next Tuesday, a few days before
the referendum.

MDC negotiator Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga also confirmed the
meeting.

"They wanted to see where we were in terms of referendum preparations and
the political environment," she said.

"We did highlight to them last weeks' problems of political violence and the
issues of appointments where we did agree."

Parliament to urge editors to turn down hate speech

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
6 March 2013

Editors from both the independent and state controlled media will from
Thursday attend a two day workshop on ‘ethics towards free and fair
elections’ in Gweru.

The indaba, in co-operation with Parliament’s Committee on Media,
Information and Publicity, is to address issues relating to professionalism
and the role of journalists in peace building under a polarized society.

The MDC-T’s MP for Mbizo in KweKwe, Settlement Chikwinya, who heads the
media parliamentary committee, said they wanted to engage the editors in an
effort to minimise hate speech and unbalanced reporting.

With the country set to go to a referendum in 10 days time and a general
election sometime after that, the parliamentary committee has been closely
monitoring the media’s coverage of political events and they have found them
wanting.

Chikwinya blamed both electronic and print media for magnifying political
conflict and hate speech in their reporting in ways that can politically
motivate inter-party disputes.

‘The way I define hate speech is when a politician attacks another
politician verbally, and it becomes news, there will be counter verbal
attacks and this leads to people taking sides and creating room for
conflict,’ the MP said.

While analysts agree that that the media overall has been highly polarised,
Chikwinya said they would urge all media bosses to tone down on hate speech
and inflammatory language, one of the triggers of political violence.

‘What we don’t want to do is interfere with the work of journalists. All we
want is to ensure that they grasp the knowledge and understanding of the
electoral process while at the same time being sensitive to issues that
could trigger tensions in the country as we prepare for a referendum and
elections,’ Chikwinya said.

Woman mauled to death by lion as she made love to boyfriend in Zimbabwe

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

A woman was mauled to death by a lion as she made love to her boyfriend in
Zimbabwe, it has been reported.

By Emily Miller 12:35PM GMT 06 Mar 2013

Sharai Mawera died on Tuesday after the lion pounced as she enjoyed a
romantic al fresco moment with her unnamed partner.

The My Zimbabwe news website reported that the predator attacked the couple
at a secluded spot in the bush near the northern town of Kariba.

Ms Mawera's boyfriend, who has not been identified, is believed to have
jumped up and fled in the nude when the lion lunged forward.

A source told the newspaper the young woman died at the scene.

He said: "Unfortunately the woman was mauled to death by the lion, but her
boyfriend managed to escape naked."

A friend of the couple told My Zimbabwe Ms Mawera had worked at the local
market and that her partner was a fisherman.
The friend said the couple had met at the same spot before.

"The lion came from behind and roared," the friend was quoted as saying.

The man managed to escape, stopping at a distance to look back and witness
his girlfriend being attacked before rushing to the road to seek help, the
friend said.

Local police and armed rangers from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife
Management Authority rushed to the scene, where the source said they fired a
single shot - but it was too late for Ms Mawera.

She had been mauled in the neck and stomach, and was covered in bloody
bruises, the source said.

Rangers launched a hunt for the lion following the tragedy, amid concern the
same animal may have killed a local man who disappeared at the weekend.

The remains of the victim were found on Tuesday on the outskirts of the
town, which lies near the Zambezi river. Police believe the man, who has not
been named, was mauled by a lion as he walked home from a nightclub.

Zimbabwe's state-controlled Herald newspaper reported that officers believed
the fact the woman killed yesterday was mauled rather than eaten suggested
the same lion could have been responsible for both attacks and not regained
its appetite since devouring part of its first victim.

The newspaper added: "Residents of the town are now living in fear as the
lions are still roaming freely as there are yet to be caught."

‘Aliens’ voting rights reinstated: Tsvangirai

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

Wednesday, 06 March 2013 12:34

HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has urged the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec) to ensure that citizens hitherto disenfranchised as aliens
are registered as voters in line with the new constitution in the offing.

Tsvangirai’s political advisor, Alex Magaisa, told journalists after the PM’s
meeting with visiting Swedish minister of International Development and
Co-operation on Monday that the premier wants the elections body to ensure a
comprehensive voter registration process.

Tsvangirai wants Zec to ensure that thousands of citizens disenfranchised by
the Lancaster House Constitution get a chance to exercise their democratic
right.

“The PM impressed upon the Swedish minister that apart from the issue of
violence, the single most important issue for his MDC is the voter
registration exercise and a clean voters’ roll,” Magaisa said.

“Principals have agreed in principle that there should be a comprehensive
audit of the voters’ roll to do away with irregularities and ensure
universal suffrage that includes people previously deemed aliens especially
in the farming communities and we hope Zec will co-operate in this
endeavour.”

Magaisa warned that failure by Zec to ensure aliens are given easy access to
the voter registration process would dent the chances of the country holding
a credible and internationally recognised election.

“The PM has made it clear that without a credible voters’ roll, the
credibility and legitimacy of the election could be severely affected. We
must deal with both the perception and reality that the voters’ roll is a
mess,” he warned.

Most people whose parents or grandparents were born in neighbouring
countries, such as Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, lost their right to vote
in Zimbabwe as the previous Zanu PF government disenfranchised people of
foreign origin.

Displaced white farmers were also stripped of their citizenship and
consequently their right to vote in the country’s elections since 2000.

However, the new constitution — if adopted — will see the restoration of the
voting rights of the so-called aliens.

The draft has come up with three categories for citizenship namely citizen
by birth, by descent and by registration.

It also allows dual citizenship in some instances and is expected to pave
way for children of thousands of Zimbabweans who fled the country at the
height of the political and economic crisis to claim citizenship.

The new draft charter is expected to be ratified in the forthcoming
referendum set for March 16, before Parliament assents to the constitutional
bill. - Mugove Tafirenyika

‘Elections will need Western observers’

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Richard Chidza, Staff Writer
Wednesday, 06 March 2013 12:33
HARARE - Zimbabwe's forthcoming national elections will require
international validation if to be seen as credible, free and fair, UK envoy
to Zimbabwe said yesterday.

Deborah Bronnert was briefing journalists in the wake of declarations by
Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi that Western observers will
not be invited ostensibly because their objectivity is compromised by
sanctions imposed on one contestant to the election.

“Inasmuch as it is the prerogative of the government of Zimbabwe to invite
observers or not, the country’s elections will need a series of observers
from across the world to authenticate its electoral process,” Bronnert said.

“Obstacles to election observation will call into question the credibility
of the poll but we will not put invitation to observe as a requirement for
funding the process.”

After meeting visiting Swedish minister of International Development
Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson earlier on Monday, Mumbengegwi told reporters:
“One cannot observe anything in a country that they are hostile to.
The level of hostility is measured by the relationship those countries have
with Zimbabwe and clearly those countries that have imposed sanctions on us
will not be here.

“To be an observer, you have to be objective and once you impose sanctions
on one party, your objectivity goes up in smoke. If you are not objective,
you are not entitled to observe elections anywhere and that is the situation
with those Western countries.”

“I do not see why they need to be invited when they have never invited us to
monitor theirs,” he said.

“Of course Sadc, Comesa and the AU will be here and also those countries
that are friendly to us. Those coming already know and as for the elections
we will only invite them once we have an exact date.”

However, Bronnert said they had not received official communication from the
Zimbabwean government that the door has been shut on their observers.

“We are getting different messages from different parties in the coalition
government,” she said.

“While Zanu PF ministers are saying we are not allowed to observe the polls,
the MDCs are willing to let us observe and monitor the elections and that is
what we have been getting.

“They could invite independent institutions that have been proven to be
credible and do not always agree with their host countries on policy. We
have these in the EU and they have a proven track record of observing
elections.”

The British envoy extended her country’s condolences to the Maisiri family
following the death of Christpower in an inferno in Headlands some 10 days
ago.

She also raised concern about the harassment of civil society organisations
and escalating violence.

“We are very concerned by this and other incidents,” Bronnert said.

“We hope all Zimbabwean parties can be clear that violence is not
acceptable. Zimbabweans deserve better. We are also concerned about arrests,
detentions and harassment on dubious charges of civil society organisations
as well as undue force against peaceful assemblies,” said Bronnert.

“In terms of conditions for a free, fair and credible poll we are not yet
there. It would be good if the police use the vigour and we know they have
lots of it like they used in confiscating shortwave radios to investigating
the Headlands murder.”

Bronnert said reports of seizures of shortwave radios from Zimbabweans and
the raid on Radio Dialogue offices in Bulawayo were unacceptable saying that
“the confiscated radios have always been a source of information to rural
folks since before independence”.

The UK ambassador said targeted measures imposed on President Robert Mugabe
and his inner circle over the issue of human rights abuses after the
disputed 2002 presidential election will be reviewed again after the
constitutional referendum this month.

“After the referendum there will be a significant review of the targeted
measures based on how the constitutional referendum would have proceeded.
Zimbabweans must be given their democratic right to vote without fear or
intimidation.

“The issue of targeted measures is regulated by an EU legal instrument and
individuals are removed from the list based on current information on the
level of their participation in undermining democratic processes or aiding
such processes,” Bronnert said.

She said there are around 90 individuals now remaining on the targeted
measures list following the annual February review and the removal of some
names was a political statement of intent by the EU to encourage
consultation and engagement with Zimbabwe. - Staff Writer

Police arrest MDC-T youth activist in Byo

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

06.03.13

by Staff Reporter

MDC-T youth activists Sifiso Ncube was yesterday arrested in Emakhandeni
High density suburb for producing his party’s councillor's letter as proof
of residence in order to register to vote

Ncube who lives in the nearby Cowdray Park high density suburb visited
Registrar General's Office at Emakhandeni primary school with the aim of
registering to vote in the next elections but was immediately arrested by
police officers manning the office saying the councillor’s letter was fake.

“We are shocked by the behaviour of these police officers. I personally
wrote and signed the letter for Sifiso to go and register to vote at
Emakhandeni primary school, but some overzealous police officers arrested
him. They claimed the letter was fake. As I am speaking to you Sifiso is
detained at Luveve police station,”Cowdray Park MDC-T Councillor Collet
Ndlovu told The Zimbabwean yesterday.

Zimbabwe is expected to hold elections in July this year, but several MDC-T
youths have been arrested in the past few weeks countrywide when attempting
to register to vote. Police accused them of being mobilised by
non-governmental organisations which are anti-Zanu PF to go and register to
vote.

Youth Initiative for Development Zimbabwe (YIDEZ) Matabeleland regional
coordinator Tsepiso Mpofu also said 20 youths were barred from the same
Emakhandeni primary school’s registrar general offices on Monday. “The
officers working there said they should not come in groups or mobilised by
anybody to come and register to vote”.

When contacted for comment Bulawayo Police spokesperson Mandlenkodsi Moyo
said: “I am busy with Zimbabwe International Trade Fair preparations and
have not received those reports.”

Last month 40 youths were arrested in Lupane in Matabeleland North after the
youth organisation, National Youth Development Trust (NYDT) had mobilised
them to go and register to vote.Police later raided NYDT offices in Bulawayo
accusing them of conducting an illegal voter registration exercise in
Matabeleland region.

Desperate national railways wives appeal for salaries

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
6 March 2013

The wives of men employed by the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) have
once again appealed to the authorities to ensure their husbands get full
salaries, after eight months of non-payment.

The parastatal owes its more than seven thousand strong workforce about
US$1.4 million in unpaid salaries and allowances. Last week a group of wives
staged a demonstration at the NRZ offices in Bulawayo, in protest over
months of receiving small amounts of staggered payments, or nothing at all.
But they left empty handed.

One of the wives, Gladys Moyo, told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that they
have had no choice but to protest on their husbands’behalf, “because the
General Manager, being a retired air commodore, does not tolerate any action
by his workers despite the fact our husbands haven’t been paid for eight
months.”

“We are hungry at home. We don’t have money. My electricity is cut. My water
is cut. Some of my children have dropped (out of school). I have got a flea
market where I sell some goods but unfortunately no one is buying. In
Zimbabwe most workers are not being paid or they are being paid late so
there is no business,” Moyo explained.

She added that despite reports in the state media that their salaries were
being paid, “nothing like that has materialised.”

“Our husbands have to work because if they don’t go they are victimised…
Management is only concerned about our husbands working but they don’t care
if they are hungry. They go to work with an empty stomach,” an angry Moyo
said.

The wives are now planning to try and expand their protest to include other
women in similar situations, or any women’s rights groups who will join
them.

“We are still finding other ways that are effective. There are other women
that have the same problems. In the clothing industry there is the same
issue. So we are thinking of maybe mobilising more women, even engaging
WOZA, and other organisations, so maybe our demo will have an impact,” Moyo
said.

NRZ General Manager, Retired Air Commodore Mike Karakadzai, meanwhile
announced at a press conference this week that the company will continue to
stagger salaries for its workers in a cycle of between four to eight weeks
until there is some improvement in its business performance.

“What is happening now is that in a cycle of four to eight weeks all our
workers get 100 percent payment of their net salary in their two groups.
Group one comprises low level employees who are between grade A1 and B3
while group two are workers on level B4 up to management and these are paid
in two tranches of 50 percent in a month,” Karakadzai was quoted by the
Chronicle newspaper as saying.

NRZ spokesperson Fanuel Masikati declined an interview with SW Radio Africa
saying the issue had already been discussed with the Chronicle newspaper.

Fraudulent activities uncovered at Mpilo hospital

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Nomalanga Moyo
6 March 2013

Mpilo Central Hospital authorities have issued another appeal after shocking
details emerged of what could be fraud running into millions of dollars at
the institution.

Mpilo currently needs at least $5 million and has appealed to well-wishers
for donations to help raise its standards to acceptable levels and revive
the ailing institution, as SW Radio Africa reported in February.

Now hospital authorities keen to rescue the institution say they have
uncovered a scam that could have prejudiced the facility of millions of
dollars meant to improve patient care.
It is suspected that the fraudulent activities originated in the accounts
department where receipts, phased out in 2009, were still being issued to
patients and service providers, according to a NewsDay report.

The hospital’s new chief executive officer, Dr Lawrence Mantiziba, is quoted
as saying investigations were instituted after a “patients produced a
receipt which is no longer in circulation.”

But so far investigations have yielded nothing with “even the person who is
in charge of the receipt books professing ignorance saying he was on leave,
and he was.

“We have therefore decided to go open about the issue and call on all people
that received any treatment since 2009 to come forward with their receipts
for verification,” Mantiziba told the paper.

He said a board would decide whether or not patients in possession of the
phased-out receipts should repay, and added that the aim of the exercise was
to clean up the rot rather than to victimise people.

“People should come forward and assist us crack down on the scam sooner
rather than later,” Mantiziba added.

The hospital has since put up posters advising patients and service
providers who were issued receipts with numbers before or after 929076H to
contact its finance department, the chief executive’s office, or the police.
This includes anyone who was issued a receipt since 2009.

Efforts to get an update from Mantiziba were fruitless as he was busy moving
office.

Air Zim seeks to heal rift with pilots

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Chengetayi Zvauya, Parliamentary Editor
Wednesday, 06 March 2013 11:08
HARARE - Air Zimbabwe management is considering re-engaging its pilots and
cabin crew to avert further strikes as the national airline re-launches
after a tumultuous era.

Ozias Bvute, the new Air Zimbabwe chairman told the parliamentary portfolio
committee on State Enterprises and Parastatals that as a way of gaining
confidence amongst its travelling public, the airline had to agree on all
the contentious issues with the pilots.

The committee, chaired by Zanu PF legislator Larry Mavhima, wanted to gather
oral evidence from Air Zimbabwe management on its current status.

MDC MP Edward Musumbu asked whether the airline was still working with the
pilots, and how it had managed to resolve the industrial dispute.

“It is not a secret that the airline has been facing financial problems,”
Bvute said. “We are going to engage our pilots so that we can work together
smoothly. However, the strikes by pilots are not unique to Zimbabwe as the
pilots are always striking globally.”

The airline employs 49 pilots among 1 300 workers.

Last year Air Zimbabwe pilots engaged in strike action and turned down the
offer put on the table for them to go back to work.

The pilots and cabin crew claimed they were owed allowances and bonuses
backdating to February 2009.

The strike by the pilots lasted for three months as the planes remained
grounded, with no flights taking off.

The pilots had vowed to continue with the industrial action until an amount
of $200 000 was deposited into their accounts in respect of their June and
July salaries.

Bvute said the airline was aiming to resume its international routes to
London in July this year and did not anticipate any industrial strike from
pilots.

“We have people in the diaspora asking for Air Zimbabwe to fly them as we
used to fly from Gatwick airport in UK straight into Harare airport, “said
Bvute.

Air Zimbabwe operates a daily Harare-Johannesburg route. It used to run a
two-weekly flight to London and a weekly-flight to China Beijing.

ARV effectiveness in preventing HIV trial fails

http://www.herald.co.zw

Wednesday, 06 March 2013 00:00

Herald Reporter

A trial on the effectiveness of anti-retroviral drugs,commonly used in
treating HIV in preventing sexual transmission of the virus to young
unmarried women have shown that the drugs do not work.

The research, Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (VOICE)
began in September 2009 and is set to to have its last phase ending in
August this year.
It involves 5 029 participants, 630 of them Zimbabweans.

The drugs were being administered as either vaginal gel or an oral tablet.
Announcing the results on Monday, VOICE project director Dr Nyaradzo Mgodi
said the reason why the three test products namely, tenofovir gel, oral
tenofovir and oral truvada proved to be ineffective was the lack of
adherence.

“All the results were not statistically significant. All the products did
not work to prevent HIV in the population because the women were not using
the study product.

“We found out that less than 40 percent were using the study product and
that less than a third had indications of the drugs on their hair, blood or
vaginal area,” she said.

“An analysis of blood samples from a subset of 773 participants (including
women who acquired HIV) found adherence to product use was low across all
groups, drug was detected in 29 percent of blood samples from women in the
Truvada group, 28 percent of samples in the oral tenofovir group and 23
percent among those in the tenofovir gel group.

“In sharp contrast, adherence to the product use was calculated to be about
90 percent based on what the participants themselves had reported to trial
staff and on monthly counts of unused gel applicators and leftover pills,”
the report stated.

Dr Mgodi said what was most shocking was that relatively older married women
were better in using the product than young single women who were at higher
risk of contracting the disease.

“We are now considering looking at psycho-social problems that the women
might have encountered because for some reason they did not use the product.

“In the Zimbabwean context 60 percent of the women had completed their
secondary education which suggests higher levels of literacy hence there is
a need to engage women to help us as scientists to address the situation,”
Dr Mgodi said.

Previous researches, on the use of Tenofovir in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal
Province had found that it reduced the risk of HIV by 39 percent.

According to the report, seven Zimbabweans became infected with HIV during
the study, nearly twice the rate that investigators had envisaged when the
trial was designed.

HIV incidence, which reflects the number of women who became infected for
every 100 participants in a given year, ranged from 0,8 in Zimbabwe, 2,1
percent in Uganda to seven percent in South Africa.

Condom use is one of the readily used and recommended ways of preventing HIV
but women have over the years been faced with the challenge of negotiating
for their use with their partners.

It was hoped that if the drugs became successful, women who account for 60
percent of adults with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, would have a more
convenient strategy of protecting themselves.

Knight plans to improve security in Mbare

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Nomalanga Moyo
6 March 2013

Popular former broadcaster-turned-politician Eric Knight, has revealed his
plans for Mbare, and chief among these is ridding the constituency of the
state-sponsored Chipangano menace.

Knight hopes to contest the Mbare seat at the general elections set for
later this year on an MDC-T ticket. But before he can do that Knight, aka
‘The General’, has to lock horns with other hopefuls at the party’s
primaries.

Over the weekend, MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora told the Sunday News
that the list of contestants had been finalised and handed over to the
election directorate.

“The applications have been processed and 4,000 candidates were shortlisted
to stand in the primaries with over 900 being disqualified as they did not
meet the criteria,” Mwonzora said.

An insider at Harvest House confirmed that Knight’s name is on the list of
those eligible to participate in the primaries to be held after the March
16th constitutional referendum.

Knight says he is all-too familiar with the problems of Mbare, having been
born, raised and worked in this populous residential location: insecurity,
anti-social behaviour as well as poverty and youth unemployment.

“These are some of the challenges that I would have to confront should I be
elected by the people of Mbare and this is one of the reasons why I decided
to play a part in Mbare.

“The most important facet of Mbare is that there should be peace. Since
2000, there has been this anti-social and illegal outfit called Chipangano
which we hope to get rid of working together with the residents of Mbare.

“Chipangano is easy to deal with since it did not originate from Harare’s
oldest suburb,” Knight added.

Knight revealed that part of his plan involved creating neighbourhood watch
teams, in conjunction with the police, to curb any anti-social behaviour.

“We are working closely with the community, both residents and those that do
business in the market.

“The people have said they do not want a repeat of the 2008 election
violence and to ensure people go about their business freely at the various
markets and bus termini,” Knight said.

Chipangano was formed in 2000 with the aid of some top ZANU PF officials and
police bosses, allowing the group to operate with impunity. Opposition
activists say the group has been responsible for political attacks on
several of their supporters in and around Harare.

Knight said he was already negotiating with possible donors to address the
issue of youth unemployment, as well as the general health and hygiene in
the constituency.

Mnangagwa ‘co-operated’ with apartheid SA

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

05/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

IN what could dent President Robert Mugabe’s image as an unwavering
anti-Apartheid hero, it has emerged that Zimbabwe cooperated with the South
African Defence Forces in 1983 in their efforts to keep PF Zapu from
supporting ANC operations in Zimbabwe.

PF Zapu and the ANC are historical allies who also shared office space in
exile Zambia.
After the 1980 elections, which were won by Mugabe’s Zanu PF, the ANC -
convinced that the newly independent Zimbabwe was stable owing to the
government’s reconciliation policy - set up base in the country.

But recent revelations suggest that, unbeknown to the ANC, Mugabe’s
government routinely cooperated with Pretoria to render undermine their
activities.

Details of the cooperation are contained in an academic piece by Timothy
Scarnecchia, titled “Rationalising Gukurahundi: Cold War and South African
Foreign Relations with Zimbabwe, 1981-1983” which was released a couple of
years ago by Pretoria.

According to the Scarnecchia, SADF representatives held bi-annual meetings
with the CIO in 1982 and 1983.
One of the meetings, which took place a month after the Fifth Brigade-Mugabe’s
Gukurahundi crack unit-had moved into Matabeleland, was organised by
Emmerson Mnangagwa and was held in Harare between 7 and 8 February in 1983.

According to a Memo of 14 March in 1983 to Direkteur General Van Wentzel,
Mnangagwa, who was then security minister, took personal credit for
obtaining “permission from the Prime Minister [Mugabe] for the SADF visit to
Harare and for future intelligence meetings of a similar nature. He claimed
that he [Mnangagwa] initiated the RSA/Angola and RSA/Mozambique dialogue.”

But there are indications that Harare was indeed concerned about the effect
it would have on their credibility if details of the initiatives were to
emerge; and that they may have opened the negotiations with Pretoria against
their consciences.

Mnangagwa, for example, shot down a proposal by the South Africans for the
formation of a ‘Joint Crisis Committee’ to handle ‘any matter which caused
tension to the relations between the two countries and needed prompt
rectification to diffuse the situation’.

Moreover, in a classic case of hypocrisy on the part of Mugabe’s government,
American Diplomat Robert Cabelly told the South Africans in September 1983
that “Zimbabwe felt that Mozambique and Angola had in fact let them down by
having Ministerial meetings with South Africa”.

According to Scarnecchia, an Associate Professor at Kent State University,
these moves were almost unavoidable as Zimbabwe was hard pressed for
options.

The Zimbabwean economy was, at the time, dependent on South Africa by about
75 percent. Moreover, Harare felt vulnerable to South Africa’s military
might and logistical capacity owing to the ease with which Pretoria’s crack
units successfully operated in the country almost without trace.

However, the details revive long-held suspicions that some of the South
African killer squads’ activities in the country may have been known to some
high ranking Zimbabwean government officials. One such incident was the 1981
killing of ANC representative, Joe Gqabi, who was brutally assassinated in a
hail of bullets in Ashdown Park, Harare.

Zimplats given 30 days to object to government land take over order

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
6 March 2013

The Zimplats mining group has been given 30 days to object to the government’s
plans to seize about 50% of its land, which was officially announced last
Friday.

A notice in the Government Gazette published last Friday said that the
government would be taking almost 28,000 hectares of land from Zimplats “for
the benefit of the public”. Zimplats said in an announcement to its
shareholders that this would constitute “approximately 50% of the operating
subsidiary’s mining area,” and that it had 30 days to file an objection.

This Government Gazette follows a statement made last month by Mines
Minister Obert Mpofu who said the government had repossessed the land ‘with
immediate effect’. At the time, Zimplats had said it knew nothing of such
plans, while Mpofu said: “Zimbabwe has not realised significant value from
the platinum sector beyond the traditional statutory payments. We can no
longer continue having our minerals refined outside the country.”

Zimplats Corporate Affairs officials told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that
the company was still looking into the issue, and would not yet be making a
statement to the media.

But this takeover of the land is likely to have come as a surprise to
Zimplats, so soon after its mother company, Impala Platinum (Implats),
reached an agreement to comply with the ZANU PF led indigenisation campaign.
Under that agreement (finalised in January), the company will transfer 20%
of Zimplats shares to employee and community trusts and 31% to a state-run
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund. Implats agreed to
sell this majority stake for $971m, by loaning Zimbabwe the money that would
be paid back with interest.

But ZANU PF leader Robert Mugabe has said Kasukuwere made a mistake in this
agreement, and that the government had no intention of paying Implats for
the shares.

“That is the problem, they gave us 51 per cent saying that it is a loan that
we are giving you, and we are paying for you in advance and then you can pay
us back tomorrow,” Mugabe told the state media, adding: “I think that is
where our minister made a mistake. He did not quite understand what was
happening, and yet our theory is that the resource is ours and that resource
is our share, that is where the 51 per cent comes from.”

Economic analyst Masimba Kuchera said it is likely that the land acquisition
order is a now a ‘retaliatory’ move by the government, who have been caught
out by ‘agreement’ to pay for the shares.

“I think they are trying to get back at the shoddy deal that was signed. The
government is angry that they overlooked it, so this is a way of protecting
the indigenisation theme,” Kuchera said.

Zim to grab mine with no compensation

http://www.iol.co.za/

March 6 2013 at 02:07pm

Johannesburg - Impala Platinum’s Zimbabwean unit must cede 51 percent
ownership to the country without compensation, Zimbabwe Indigenization
Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said March 1 that the country shouldn’t
pay for the stake in Zimplats because all natural resources belong to the
state.

“They know what the president said and they have to do that,” Kasukuwere
said today by telephone from Harare, the capital.

Impala, which owned 87 percent of Zimplats and is the world’s biggest
producer of the metal after Anglo American Platinum, signed terms to sell 51
percent of the unit to the country’s black citizens in January.

Any previous agreement between Zimplats and Zimbabwe’s National
Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Board must now “take into account”
Mugabe’s statement, Kasukuwere said.

Calls to Zimplats Chief Executive Officer Alex Mhembere in Harare weren’t
answered.

Zimbabwe seized 27,498 hectares (67,949 acres) of Zimplats’s land March 1,
saying the company had 30 days to appeal a decree contained in the
Government Gazette. - Bloomberg News

Zim to increase royalties

http://www.iol.co.za/

March 6 2013 at 06:16pm

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe plans to raise royalties payable by platinum miners
to make producers process the metal in the country, Mines Minister Obert
Mpofu said.

Semi-processed ore will attract more charges than refined ore, Mpofu told
reporters today in the capital, Harare.

“We have become a source of cheap raw material and we need to improve on the
value of our minerals, especially our precious minerals, and that should
stop,” he said.

Zimbabwe, which has the largest platinum reserves in the world after South
Africa, charges a 10 percent royalty on platinum, according to the ministry.

Mpofu didn’t disclose the proposed new rates.

Impala Platinum, which owned 87 percent of Zimplats and is the world’s
biggest producer of the metal after Anglo American Platinum, signed terms to
sell 51 percent of the unit to the country’s black citizens in January.

Zimplats must cede the stake without compensation, because Mugabe said March
1 that all natural resources belong to the state, Indigenization Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere said by phone today. - Bloomberg News

The upcoming referendum is the very last chance for Zimbabweans…

http://www.swradioafrica.com

Wilbert Mukori

Wilbert on Wednesday transcript
Wednesday, 06 March 2013

Good Evening my fellow Zimbabweans!
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

I have evoked this prayer, not because I am religious, but because it encapsulated beautifully the three things I want to talk about today; change, courage and wisdom.
The upcoming referendum is the very last chance for Zimbabweans to achieve the democratic change that would propel us out of the desert of despair, dictatorship, into the green valleys of hope, democratic rule.

Zimbabwe is a de facto Zanu PF dictatorship and all political opposition has been routinely and ruthless silenced. The 2008 presidential run-off elections showed just how brutal the dictatorship could be when over a million Zimbabweans were internally displaced, hundreds of thousands were beaten and/or raped and over 500 were murdered.

The whole world was shocked by the wanton violence of 2008 and SADC instructed the Zimbabwe GNU to implement a raft of democratic reforms whose end product was very clear and explicit: to deliver free and fair election and to stop the repeat of 2008 violence.
None, not even one, of the reforms were implemented because Mugabe refused and MDC were too incompetent to force the issue. Although everyone could see there had been no change, still the people had accepted the hollow assurance from PM Tsvangirai that the coming elections would be free and fair and not a repeat of the 2008.

The nation’s false sense of security was shattered on Saturday 23 February 2013 when a 12 year old boy, Christpower Simbarashe Maisiri, the son of an MDC official in Headlands, was burnt to death after the hut the boy was sleeping in was deliberately torched by known Zanu PF thugs. PM Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC friends went into overdrive, revising their lies that the nation was heading for peaceful elections to acknowledging that the Zanu PF dictatorship was indeed alive and very dangerous!

“This election is going to be bloodier than 2008″ admitted the MDC Home Affairs Minister, Theresa Makone on S W Radio Africa Hot Seat programme. Well that speaks volumes! This is an admission that the party’s hair cut changes in the Copac constitution will not bring free and fair elections – free of violence.

MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti said the party was sending a dossier to SADC giving details of the intimidations, harassment, beating and even murders. This the first time the party has ever spoken of this dossier!

A high power MDC delegation was sent off to SADC “to discuss among other things, the need for SADC to deliver a free and fair election,” a report on the MDC party website read.

This is a knee-jerk MDC response; they not only run to SADC but, worse still, they blame the regional body for the party’s own breath taking incompetence. It is not for SADC to “deliver free and fair elections” but for MDC to implement the reforms by seeing to it that the required laws are passed in parliament. The MDC had the parliamentary majority so this should have been a breeze.

SADC have told P M Tsvangirai again and again, implement the agreed GPA reforms – follow the GPA roadmap – follow the yellow brick road. No doubt SADC will tell this high powered MDC delegation exactly the same thing – implement the agreed GPA reforms!
It was not until Christpower’s murder that the MDC maintained that the party would not brook boycotting the elections. On 31 January 2013 following a high level MDC party retreat in Inyanga Nelson Chamisa the party’s National Organising Secretary “The people of Zimbabwe have embraced the MDC and have placed their hope in the party; hence, whatever the magnitude of the persecution from which ever quarter, the people will vote in their numbers for a new beginning and real transformation which will be brought about by the MDC government.”

If we remove the political rhetoric and the pseudo machismo – we all know when the going gets tough Tsvangirai will once again have his mad dash for the Netherlands Embassy and the rest of the MDC leaders will disappear like mist in the morning African sun – we will have the chilling message: the MDC will drag the nation through another election regardless the cost in broken limbs and lost lives.

After Christpower was murdered, the MDC resubmitted the party’s old Conditions for a Sustainable Election in Zimbabwe (COSEZ), which include demands for a free media and the implementation of the reforms to dismantle the Mugabe dictatorships. And renewed the threat too; the party will not participate in any election unless the conditions are met.

Meanwhile on Saturday 2 March 2013 PM Tsvangirai was in Gweru for the launch of the “Yes” campaign on the referendum.

Let me help you unpack this MDC mess. Whilst the MDC accepts that it is impossible to deliver free and fair elections without implementing the reforms, hence the resubmitted COSEZ, what the party fails to grasp is the reality that if this Copac constitution is accepted in the referendum then the door to implementing reforms will be shut. It is nonsense to talk of amending a constitution that the populous has just adopted, particularly when those amendments are the very reforms Mugabe has resisted all these last five years!

If the truth be told, and it must be told, MDC are quietly reverting to their chilling position; they will drag the nation through another election regardless of the cost in broken limbs and lost lives!

I was watching a wildlife documentary about wildebeest migrating in search of good grazing. They had to cross this flooded river and the point they happened to arrive at had steep banks, 30 feet drop. The more savvy zebra would look for a safer crossing point and if the river is flooded they would wait 3 or 5 days if necessary. Not so with the wildebeest; it was tails up and jump. Many broke their legs, many were swept away by the strong fast flowing flood and drowned and those that made it across had the impossible task of climbing the steep and slippery bank on the other side. What a carnage!

Zimbabwe’s 2008 chaotic and violent elections were carnage!
By failing to have the reforms implemented the country’s political leaders had let the nation down. After five years of bickering amongst themselves and wasting billions of dollars the GNU had brought the nation back to the same political situation as in 2008, the same dangerous river crossing point!

The referendum is giving the people their chance to decide whether the critical reforms have been implemented. The need for implementing the reforms has not vanished, the reality of the repeat of the violence is still there and just because the GNU failed to implement them does not mean no one else can.

A “YES” vote in the referendum means people do not want the reforms and accept the politicians’ failure; it is yes to the violence; it is tails up and jump! There will be another carnage, a repeat of 2008 or worse!
A “NO” vote can be a demand for the reforms to be implemented, a demand for a safer crossing point. Surely this is the common sense position.

Tsvangirai is the madman Chandagwinyira who will sit before a blazing camp fire on a roasting hot day because that is what he has set his mind to do. This Copac constitution gives Mugabe dictatorial powers. It is nonsensical that anyone who believes in democratic rule would vote for such rubbish; the only reason Tsvangirai is doing it is because he has set his mind to do it. If the people are foolish enough to follow Chandagwinyira then they will pay dearly for their folly!

If this Copac constitution is adopted then this will constitute the crossing point for the nation for decades to come; Zimbabwe’s elections will be a chaotic and violence affair, a carnage, for years to come. Frankly the world is fed up with Zimbabwe’s failure to sort out its political problems, the sanctions will be lifted regardless of the level of violence and we will be on our own.

This is the list of those who attended Christpower’s funeral: Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe, The Right Honourable Morgan Richard Tsvangirai and his good wife, Mai Elizabeth Tsvangirai; the Right Honourable Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khupe; “x” number of Ministers; ”y” MPs and “z” hundreds of thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans. A great tribune indeed given he was only 12 years old.

However the greatest tribute the nation can pay to Christpower, in my humble opinion, would be if by his gruesome death the nation was shocked into realizing the urgent need to address this Zanu PF culture of violence decisively once and once for all and thus vote NO in the referendum. Let the name of Christpower Simbareshe Maisiri be entered in the annals of history as the last victim of Zanu P’s wanton political violence! That will be some small recompense for this innocent life so ruthlessly and brutally cut short!
Good night.

Zimplats deal exposes generational disconnect

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

Wednesday, 06 March 2013 12:12
HARARE - The Zimplats Indigenisation (ZI) transaction has exposed the
disconnection between the minds of key policymakers as well as the
generational challenge that faces Zimbabwe.

It is evident from the construction of the debate that there is a serious
fault line in the understanding of the need and value of altering the member
register of companies as a means of addressing ghosts of the past.

On the one hand, Jonathan Moyo contends that anyone who questions the model
used to realise objectives of the indigenisation programme is motivated by a
desire to scuttle it.

On the other hand, Gideon Gono believes that a market approach that seeks to
create “smart partnerships” between productive companies and the aspiring
indigenous entrepreneurs will help reduce the frontiers of poverty and
unemployment.

When I wrote my first book entitled: When Minds Meet, I was concerned that
there appears to be a far much serious problem in Africa than the ills
occasioned by colonialism and that is the inability of African minds to meet
not only to debate but develop tactics and strategies that respond to
challenges of the time and not circumstances of the past.

It must be admitted that the minds of President Mugabe and Savior.Kasukuwere
have yet to meet.

Kasukuwere was appointed by Mugabe and yet from recent comments by Mugabe on
the design, structure and financing of ZI transaction it would appear that
their minds are ideologically and conceptually estranged.

Mugabe belongs to a different generation and his mind is shaped and defined
by experiences that Kasukuwere can only imagine.

So when he talks of colonialism and imperialism he does so from personal
experience.

The fact that times have changed is not evident from the views that he
generously shares with the world.

What does he believe in? Many have not really understood the man and
believe that his beliefs, if any, are opportunistic solely aimed at power
entrenchment.

On the question of indigenisation, his views are diametrically opposed to
those contained in the ZI transaction term sheet that Kasukuwere signed on
January 11, 2013 on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe and not Zanu PF.

If one were to encroach into Mugabe’s mind, what would one expect to find?

I have no doubt that one would find a mind troubled by the past and its
consequences on the condition of African people.

To Mugabe the link between black poverty, inequality and unemployment; and
racism is a direct and causal one.

The humiliation and economic subjugation of native Zimbabweans by settlers,
although it is part of a past that is fading with the passage of time, is
considered to be the root cause of contemporary problems that confront
Zimbabweans.

The birth of any person marks an entry into a world with no inevitable
outcomes but a series of negotiations for a better life.

Human beings are assigned names and through socialisation acquire character
and personality.

Companies play a significant part in facilitating transactions that then
bring food to the table.

The role of firms and their actors in transforming lives is less understood
by Mugabe’s generation because the minds of revolutionaries were focussed on
asserting the civil rights of the majority.

The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act was informed by
circumstances and facts that existed before independence and, therefore, it
is a difficult mission to locate the indigenisation debate outside the
context of pain of the past.

It would be a fatal exercise to attempt to convince Mugabe that companies
like natural persons have rights separate and distinct from the holders of
shares in such companies.

His generation believes that Zimbabwe belongs to an identifiable class of
persons and, therefore, God had a secret covenant with that class as to who
must benefit from the exploitation of the creator’s resources.

He believes that if he were to retire before the demon of colonialism is
exorcised he would have betrayed Zimbabweans and so his quest to remain in
power must be understood in a historical context.

Whether the indigenisation programme is the best solution to challenges of
today becomes irrelevant when facts on the ground show that even under
Mugabe’s control white Zimbabweans have not fared badly in terms of the
promise of a better life.

The fact that Kasukuwere proceeded to negotiate a deal that on the face of
it appears to be at variance with the views of his master goes a long way
towards exposing the complexity of the indigenisation debate.

The ZI transaction has provided a unique opportunity to open a conversation
of sober minds on how best Zimbabwe can move forward rather than remain
arrested by its painful past.

Even if Mugabe were to win the elections, it would not change his views on
what matters.

He believes that for any nation to move forward it must lean backwards first
for the past has created the present and it is his cardinal responsibility
to remedy the past through the State that he must control presumably until
death.

The design and construction of the ZI transaction term sheet is based on
market principles.

The real scandal involves the Brainworks angle.

Even Kasukuwere would agree that the appointment of Brainworks was not in
order and is inconsistent with the values and principles that informed the
struggle.

However, the real point of departure for me is the location of companies in
the battle for progress.

I have no doubt that Mugabe would agree that his government issued a birth
certificate to Zimplats.

For clarity, Zimplats stands for Zimbabwe Platinum confirming that the
founders of the company knew that the platinum in question was located in
the territory of Zimbabwe.

The company is, therefore, a citizen of Zimbabwe and will remain as such.

There is no doubt that even a fool would accept that a child of two Chinese
parents in Beijing, for example, can make the choice to be Zimbabwean in
terms of the Constitution and laws of Zimbabwe.

Once that child becomes Zimbabwean, the identity of the parents does not
change but the nationality of the child changes to reflect the choice.

By accepting to be Zimbabwean, the child’s parents do not have an obligation
to be Zimbabwean as well.
The birth certificate of Zimplats is and will always be Zimbabwean.

I should like to believe that Zimplats’ roots are Zimbabwean.

The company was not born before independence and, therefore, has no personal
knowledge of colonialism. It is, indeed, a born-free and one of Mugabe’s
children.

It pays taxes and employs Zimbabweans.

It did not steal prospecting and mining licences.

The ground that it holds was not stolen but granted willingly by Mugabe’s
government.

Like the Chinese child who acquires voluntarily Zimbabwean citizenship,
Zimplats did not exist before birth as a citizen of Zimbabwe and it is
common cause that for it to exist it must have complied with the citizenship
laws of Zimbabwe.

The Companies Act of Zimbabwe provides for the registration of companies.

What is registered is the company and its shareholders have no obligation to
be Zimbabwean just like the Chinese child.

It would be a sad day when the Chinese child is reminded daily that he or
she does not belong to Zimbabwe after complying with its laws.

If Zimplats was a natural person, what would be on its mind when the issue
of indigenisation is raised?

Should the indigenisation laws apply to persons like Zimplats that were born
under Mugabe’s watch?

Zimplats, the Zimbabwean company, was granted a right to prospect and mine
legally fully cognisant of the fact that it was a citizen of the country
irrespective of the address of its parents.

By incorporating in Zimbabwe, the company agreed to comply with the laws of
the country.

The question that needs to be addressed openly and transparently is whether
the ZI transaction threatens or violates core constitutional values such as
constitutional supremacy, the rule of law, the doctrine of separation of
powers and independence of the courts.

In taking an oath as president of Zimbabwe, Mugabe must have understood his
obligations even to persons like Zimplats.

If it can happen to Zimplats, it also can happen to SMM and ultimately no
one is safe.

Citizenship is not free for it comes with obligations as well as rights.

No allegation has been made that the company has violated any laws of
Zimbabwe that would call for the reversal of rights granted to it.

It was granted a right to mine platinum and that is precisely what the
company is doing.

The company did not exist at independence and when the prospecting order was
granted it had no idea that the platinum hidden beneath the earth’s surface
was in abundance and that more importantly like the government officers
responsible for granting the permit had no idea of the value of the
resource.

Like a gambler the company risked capital to establish the resource only to
now be penalised for the enterprising effort.

Had the company chosen to engage in farming on the same land, the ministry
of Indigenisation would not have been relevant.

Is it, therefore, in the national interest to target citizens selectively?
What does the future hold for Zimbabwe?

Yes people can be excited and end up listening to their voices forgetting
that the future belongs to builders and not extortion experts.

Zimplats evidently had no choice and we are all culpable for choosing to
remain silent while new brains are at work undermining the very values and
principles that informed the liberation struggle. - Mutumwa Mawere

Constitution Watch 13/2013 of 6th March [Referendum - Correction of Foreign Media Practioners' Fees and Warning about Publishing False Information]

Zims abroad: strong links with home

Many choose to send part of their income back for business purposes or to families still living there. In many cases, this money is vital for survival.

Tawanda Tatefiwa, a musician in his mid 30s, has sent money back to his family on a monthly basis since he arrived in the UK in 1999. “It is essential. My father still works but my mother doesn’t. There is no one else who helps my parents. It is my duty. The money I send adds to whatever my father earns so it’s really helpful, I’m sure,” he said.

Tatefiwa, who lives in East London, sends between $150 and $250 a month to his mother who is responsible for a large household that includes his younger siblings and some extended family.

“It would be tough for them if I didn’t send money,” he says. “I think it’s quite common for Zimbabweans. It’s part of our culture to help everyone that you know, in any way you can.”

Back home, remittances are used to support living costs and basic needs and have helped households to recover from unexpected crises such as unemployment, illness and crop failure. One study established that 50 per cent of urban households in Harare and Bulawayo were dependent on migrant remittances for everyday life.

Remittances to Zimbabwe have grown significantly, from $17million in 1980 to about $44million in 1994 and an estimated $361million by 2007.

South African advocacy group People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (Passop) has estimated that worldwide remittances currently amount to between 28 and 40 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

In response to the large numbers of people sending money back home, the money transfer company, Western Union, has made major efforts to tap the market. In the face of rising competition, they launched the Africa and Zimbabwe money transfer promotion from November 5 to 31 December 2012.

The competition gave customers the chance to win cash prizes ranging from £100 to £2,500 by transferring money home. Petra Lovgren, the company’s marketing manager, said: “Zimbabwe is one of the big markets and Africa as a whole is hugely important for us. That’s why we’re doing these promotions. We’ve had a couple of Zimbabwean winners which is proof there are customers who need to send money home. It’s one of the key communities that we try to engage in the UK and from a global perspective it’s going to remain part of our focus.”

One person who realizes the importance of being able to send money across the world is Western Union prize winner Thanks Mutange. The Zimbabwean father of two runs a car export company from the UK where he has been living since 2002.

Without being able to send money quickly and safely to various parts of Africa, his business would not be booming as it is today. He has trucks that carry cars between Zimbabwe and Namibia.

“You find that anything can happen during the course of that journey. Sometimes they reach Namibia and have to stay longer than originally thought, or they get delayed, or they suffer a breakdown. It’s good that we are able to send money to remote parts of Africa within 15 minutes,” he said.

By sending funds back home, Mutange and Tatefiwa, along with so many others, have helped the Zimbabwean economy to remain afloat despite the negative performance of other economic sectors.

Yet, the ability of the diaspora to effectively continue to contribute to Zimbabwe’s recovery will depend on the political and economic environment back home. The diaspora will only have an enhanced national attachment to the home country if it comes to be treated by national authorities as a legitimate stakeholder in the political and economic processes of the country going forward.

It remains to be seen whether this will happen.

Life in exile

Thanks Mutange, 37, lives in Hemel Hempstead. “I have been living in England since 2002. I moved when there was a lot of government unrest in Zimbabwe. I was running a taxi service there and police interference was making business conditions difficult. I operate a car sales business in Botswana and export cars to Namibia, Botswana and

Zimbabwe. I also run a car transporter business. I have been operating these two companies for the last two years and at the moment I can’t really complain – business is booming. I send money to

Zimbabwe for advertising and some goes to Botswana. We send fairly huge amounts. The charges are competitive although I would love them to be reduced. I also send money to my mother every fortnight. She’s the only one left in

Zimbabwe. The rest of us are scattered all over the place – I have a brother in Botswana, a sister in the UK, one in

America and one in Australia. I send money for upkeep. My mother gets US$75 a month worth of pension. It’s something but not much. She’s 57 and had to come out of work nine years ago because it didn’t make sense for her to keep going with the salary she was getting. Those who don’t have any other form of external support are really struggling. Personally for me, the lifestyle here is not one that I would want for the rest of my life.

For starters, the weather has really put me off. I would go back to Zimbabwe tomorrow. I was last there over a year ago and from what I hear, people do say the situation is getting better. But, my business is here so moving back is not anything I’m planning at the moment.”

Tawanda Tatefiwa, in his mid 30s, lives in East London. “With all that was happening in Zimbabwe from the late 90s onwards, I decided to relocate to Britain. I was part of a well-known band and had been working in the UK on and off for quite some time. I send money to my mother every month. My father works as a supervisor in a company that manufactures brushes but they don’t pay him enough.

It wasn’t enough when I was growing up. Retirement is something he’s been talking about for a long time but it never happens. If I didn’t send money, it would be tough for them. When my brothers were at home, they couldn’t afford to pay to finish their education so I helped out with that. Whatever they wanted to do in terms of improving their lives or developing themselves like doing courses or getting a driver’s licence, I had to take care of.

The amount I send varies because my income is not set. When I make more, I send more. In the UK, we are feeling the pinch but you have to keep moving. When you speak to people at home, they don’t understand this life and that it’s also very tough here. They think it’s easy to make things happen.

There are all these assumptions that life is good in Europe, America and so forth. It has always been my plan to go back to Zimbabwe. I don’t want to be here when I’m older. There are lots of things I like but there are some things I don’t like. Going back is something I consider quite a lot. The time will come when I return but for now I love what I do and I want my son to grow up with me in his life.”