• Price list as at 9am 11th November
• Zim land reform tables turned
• Playing deadly games while Zimbabwe burns
• Zimbabwe police clamp down on illegal fuel
• Bulawayo SPCA needs help
• Move to Plug Gold Leakage
• 'Corruption soaring in Zimbabwe'
• Govt to set up agri-focused community radio stations
• Zimbabwe says not trying to oust C'wealth sec-gen
• Warning to tourists
• Report Paints Gloomy Picture for Southern Africa Region
• Pass notes

Harare - The "fast track" land grab and resettlement the Zimbabwean
government claims to have completed "successfully" has been described as one
huge national scandal.

"What the world is hearing or reading differs greatly from the reality on
the ground, especially when it comes to who benefited from the programme.

"No Zimbabwean is against land redistribution, but the manner in which it
has been handled is not right," said a retired accountant, who only gives
his name as Nyani.

His comment comes amid reports of fresh confusion and clashes on the farms,
where senior government officials and politicians from the ruling Zanu-PF
are displacing peasants and ex-combatants of Zimbabwe's liberation war
resettled during the controversial exercise.

Three years ago it was the poor blacks against whites in the fight for
farms. The tables have now turned, as the rich blacks have descended on the
peasants. The former guerrillas, who led the initial invasions in 2000, are
threatening retaliation.

Endy Mhlanga, secretary general of Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans'
Association, says, "Comrades are now being moved off the land they seized,
to make way for some civilians, who, at that time, distanced themselves from
the jambanja (the violent seizure of the land)."

His group is inviting all former guerrillas who have been displaced from
their new land to report to the association.

Mhlanga says some incidents are already public knowledge, like the eviction
of five disabled ex-combatants from a farm in Beatrice, near the capital,
Harare. The property has been taken over by the wife of a late member of
parliament.

Three months ago police set ablaze 1 000 homes during an early morning raid
at Windcrest Farm in the south-eastern region of Masvingo, ordering the
original invaders to return to their former communal homes and make way for
a ministry of foreign affairs official.

Hundreds of other settlers have a pending case with the authorities over
"Little England Farm" in the western Zvimba District, home of President
Mugabe. His late nephew's wife and about 70 other persons have been selected
to take over the 6 000ha. The evicted families have been resisting the move.

"These people and the war veterans were used to grab the farms. Now they are
being forced to join hundreds of stranded former farm workers who lost their
jobs and homes in the land invasions," says a traditional leader in the
district.

Ex-combatants in 2000 reportedly defied orders by Vice-President Joseph
Msika, the then Interior Minister John Nkomo and the Minister of Agriculture
Joseph Made not to seize farms. Mugabe was out of the country when the noise
began.

On his return he quickly declared the illegal occupations as a
"demonstration" against unfair distribution of land, and barred forcible
eviction of the invaders, plunging the country into chaos and sparking
shortages of food, fuel and other essential commodities.

        Zimbabwe police clamp down on illegal fuel

            November 11 2003 at 03:45PM

      By Stella Mapenzauswa

      Harare - Zimbabwean police intensified a crackdown on illegal foreign
currency trade on Tuesday, setting up roadblocks in the country's second
largest city to search for hard cash amid a crippling shortage, witnesses
said.

      A Reuters photographer said police set up a roadblock along a main
highway into the southern city of Bulawayo from the airport, where youths in
plain clothes thoroughly searched vehicles and their occupants, under the
watchful eyes of police.

      "I asked them what they looking for. They said they were looking for
forex, gold, anything illegal," he said.

      "They searched the car, they searched my luggage. I showed them my
wallet. I saw them doing body searches on other motorists."

      Other residents of the city reported roadblocks in different areas.
Police were not immediately available for comment.

      Local media reported at the weekend that Bulawayo police had launched
a clampdown on illegal trade in fuel and foreign currency, raiding the homes
and cars of suspected dealers and confiscating foreign currency while some
people were arrested.

      The central Reserve Bank has also set up a unit to probe the flow of
local banknotes to neighbouring countries which led to a four-month-long
cash crunch earlier this year and prompted the bank to issue
high-denomination bearer cheques.

      The central bank has come under fire from government officials this
year for failing to clamp down on a thriving black market for foreign
currency where the Zimbabwe dollar is trading at up to 6,000:1 to the
greenback compared to an official rate of 824.

      The cash shortages are part of a crisis faced by President Robert
Mugabe's government, which critics accuse of mismanaging the country. Mugabe
says Zimbabwe is being sabotaged by domestic and foreign opponents opposed
to his policy of seizing white-owned farms for redistribution to landless
blacks.

      Millions of Zimbabweans experience food shortages, unemployment stands
at around 70 percent and annualised inflation has surged to more than 450
percent, one of the highest rates in the world.

      In addition to foreign currency, the black market has also seen a
thriving trade in fuel, minerals and basic food commodities not readily
available in the normal economy.

The Herald (Harare)

November 11, 2003
Posted to the web November 11, 2003

Harare

THE Government has introduced further measures aimed at tightening foreign
currency leakage in the lucrative gold mining sector amid allegations that
several unscrupulous business people were selling the mineral on the
parallel market.

The latest development comes at a time when Government has made concerted
efforts to formalise operations of some gold panners with a view of
harnessing the much-needed foreign currency.

Several gold panners have already been issued with licences to mine the
lucrative mineral.

The measures, which are likely to result in an improvement in foreign
currency inflows, were gazetted on Friday.

With immediate effect, no gold won from milling ore shall be removed from
the vicinity of the mill without express permission from either the
designated buying agent, Fidelity Printers and Refiners (Private) Limited,
any holder of a permit issued in terms of the Gold Trade or any agent of
such holder.

No gold won from milling ore shall be sold to any company or individual
other than Fidelity Printers and Refiners, any holder of a gold buying
permit issued in terms of the relevant Gold Trade Act, or any agent of such
holder.

No gold won from milling ore shall be sold at a price in excess of the price
declared by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and prevailing on the day of the
transaction.

In conformity with the Mines and Minerals (Custom Milling Plants)
Regulations 2002, all gold in excess of 100 grammes that is won from milling
ore shall be sold within 48 hours after such amount is milled.

Mines and Mining Development Minister Mr Edward Chindori-Chininga has also
threatened to withdraw permits from all miners who fail to submit a return
of their output of gold to the Mining Commissioner by the beginning of next
month.

The Government is, however, ready to waive the deadline if there is
reasonable grounds warranting such a move.

"Where a nil return is declared on the assertion that the milling location
in question is temporarily closed down for care and maintenance, proof of
such assertion must be produced to the satisfaction of the Mining
Commissioner," said Mr Chindori-Chininga.

All millers have already been asked to register their custom milling
operations with the Mining Commissioner's office and to keep records of
every transaction of gold that takes place within their milling companies.

In addition, they pay a non-refundable registration fee and automatically
become gold buying agents, with the special responsibility of buying all the
bullion recovered from their plants.

Last week, the Government gave gold concessionaires until the end of this
week to submit progress reports regarding their operations.

Gold concessionaires have the exclusive rights to buy the mineral from
small-scale miners and millers across the country and they are supposed to
sell all their gold to Fidelity Life and Printers.

It has since emerged that not all the gold that is being mined is finding
its way to the intended destination as some of the concessionaires are
opting to sell the precious metal on the black market.

The Ministry of Mines and Mining Developing had to introduce the system as a
way of curbing smuggling of the mineral.

There is also concern about protecting small-scale miners from exploitation
by some greedy and selfish business people who take advantage of the
economic hardships by underpaying the miners below stipulated prices.

There has been a decline in gold deliveries through the formal system in
recent years. For example, the amount of gold purchased by the central bank
has fallen from 28 percent in 1999 to 15 ounces in 2002 because of leakages
in the system.

Police has, however, made headway in trying to bring some of the alleged
offenders to book.

Only last week, three gold dealers were arrested for allegedly smuggling
144,6 kilogrammes of gold with a street value of US$161 000 (Z$96,6 million)
to South Africa.

Generally, there has been a dramatic drop in total gold production.

Last year, at least 29 tonnes was produced in the country.

Indications are that only 15 tonnes will be produced this year.

        'Corruption soaring in Zimbabwe'

            November 10 2003 at 07:48PM

      Harare - As Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis deepens,
corruption levels in the troubled southern African country have soared, a
watchdog said on Monday.

      Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) said millions of Zimbabwe
dollars were fleeing the country while a dual pricing system for government
entities and the rest of the population was fostering a burgeoning black
market for scarce goods like fuel and maize.

      "The breakdown of the rule of law is a major contributor to the
escalation of corruption in Zimbabwe," TIZ chairperson John Makumbe told a
press conference.

      Zimbabwe is in the throes of a severe economic crisis with inflation
at 455,6 percent and unemployment at around 75 percent.

      While many basic goods are unavailable at supermarkets, they are
readily available on the parallel market at much higher prices.

      "We are seeing the black market, rather than shrinking, expanding,"
Makumbe said.

      The TIZ chairperson, who was speaking at the end of a one-day national
anti-corruption conference, said the economy was being "stripped of its
assets" by corrupt practices both in the private and government sectors.

      "We are aware that millions, if not billions of Zimbabwean currency is
being externalised," Makumbe noted.

      Chronic cash shortages in Zimbabwe have recently been alleviated by
the introduction of a new form of currency, bearer cheques.

            'We are seeing the black market, rather than shrinking,
expanding'
      But bank queues have begun to resurface amid reports that the cheques,
like the traditional bank notes, are being taken out of the country where
they are used to buy foreign currency for resale on the black market back
home.

      Foreign currency such as the United States dollar can fetch up to
seven times its official rate of one US dollar to 824 Zimbabwean dollars on
the black market.

      Zimbabwe has recently plummeted in Transparency International's
corruption index to a rank of 106, with only 27 other countries considered
more corrupt. In 1998 it was ranked 43. Sapa-AFP

BULAWAYO, 11 Nov 2003 (IRIN) - Media activists in Zimbabwe have welcomed the government's plans to set up agri-focused community radio stations, but remain sceptical that the stations would be truly community-owned.

Addressing a graduation ceremony of agriculture students at Esigodini Agricultural Institute south of Bulawayo last weekend, minister of information and publicity, Jonathan Moyo, announced that new community radio stations to produce and broadcast agricultural programmes and news in local languages would be established.

Moyo did not disclose the number or locations of the stations, but said they were meant to further the goals of the fast-track land reform programme by becoming a source of agri-news and advice for farmers.

The Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Zimbabwe) welcomed the move, but raised concerns over the stations' independence from government interference.

"We welcome any moves to empower the communities through information. But the community radio stations being proposed by the minister are suspect, in that the communities do not seem to have been consulted about the choice of programming," MISA-Zimbabwe director Sarah Chiumbu told IRIN.

"It is even more suspect because, according to the Broadcasting Services Act, it is the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) that should announce such plans, and make invitations for investors willing to provide such services. So far, the BAZ has not said anything, and we find it improper that the minister should usurp its role," Chiumbu added.

During the past two years MISA has run a "free the airwaves" campaign calling for private and community-owned television and radio stations to be set up.

There is not one licensed independent radio station in Zimbabwe. After the Supreme Court ruled against the legal monopoly of the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) in 2000, the government introduced new regulations that have effectively barred private and community radio.

The government's latest announcement took many by surprise, as Moyo has been at the forefront of criticising the MISA campaign.

Since the minister's statement, government-owned newspapers have been running unsigned adverts explaining the merits of community radio and calling for public involvement.

Chiumbu said MISA's campaign would not end because of the apparent shift in the government's position. She noted that the country still did not have independent broadcasting stations.

"The objective has not been achieved, so the struggle goes on. If anything, we need to increase the pressure now because the Broadcating Authority of Zimbabwe has not invited any applications for radio and television stations - two and a half years after it was set up. This country is still subjected to the monopoly of the ZBC in television and radio services," she said.

Chiumbu dismissed the notion that the country's frequency spectrum was too limited, and alleged that authorities were using that arguement to restrict the number of players in the radio and television broadcasting industry. A number of applications for broadcasting licences have been made by various privately owned organisations, but none has been granted.

IRIN was unable to reach Moyo for comment.

African Church Information Service

November 10, 2003
Posted to the web November 11, 2003

Bhekisipho Nyathi
Harare

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has said that 6.5 million
people in Southern Africa will face severe hunger at the most critical time
of next year, unless it receives immediate donations.

In a recent statement, the relief agency said more than two thirds of people
in need of food aid were in Zimbabwe, where a series of droughts, and
economic collapse blamed on the unstable political environment, have
resulted in severe food shortages.

"Generous contributions have helped to stave off immediate cuts in WFP food
distributions, but from January, countries across the region are confronted
by the three-month lean season," said Mike Sackett, WFP Regional Director
for southern Africa.

"Supplies of locally produced food in critical areas will be scarce and
people's ability to cope is already limited because of the food shortages of
recent years," he continued.

The regional food situation is further complicated by the fact that southern
Africa has the highest HIV prevalence in the world.

There has been an alarming increase in the number of households headed by
children, the chronically ill or grandparents. Moreover, because HIV/AIDS
has devastated agricultural productivity, food shortages and chronic poverty
are likely to persist for many years to come.

"If we are ever to turn this situation around, we need to ensure those with
HIV/AIDS have access to life-sustaining food so that families survive,"
Sackett said, noting: "Once the family unit starts to unravel, social and
economic problems pitch people - many of them children - into a calamity
from which it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to emerge."

WFP has been carrying out emergency food support in the region since 2001.
The peak of the operations was reached last year, when 10.2 million people
received WFP food aid.