Reuters
Wed Nov 12, 2008
6:42pm GMT
By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's ruling
ZANU-PF asked President Robert Mugabe
on Wednesday to form a new government
with immediate effect, a fresh sign
that a power-sharing agreement with
political rivals is collapsing.
Zimbabweans, faced with the world's worst
inflation and acute food
shortages, hoped that a September 15 deal would end
the southern African
country's ruinous political and economic
crisis.
"The ZANU-PF politburo unanimously resolved that President Mugabe
should,
with immediate effect, proceed to form an inclusive government in
compliance
with resolutions of the SADC summit," senior party official and
Information
Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told reporters.
The September
15 deal envisages power-sharing with the opposition MDC of
Morgan Tsvangirai
but it has run into stalemate amid MDC charges that
ZANU-PF is trying to
seize most of the main ministries.
A summit of regional leaders said on
Sunday that Zimbabwe should form a
joint government immediately and the main
rivals should share control of the
disputed home affairs ministry to try to
end the impasse.
Tsvangirai rejected the 15-nation Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) proposal, saying Mugabe's "utter contempt" for
the MDC meant it was
certain to fail.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa on
Wednesday declined to comment on ZANU-PF's
move, saying his party would
decide on whether to continue power-sharing
talks and its participation in a
unity government after a leadership meeting
on Friday.
Mugabe will
invite the MDC to submit nominations for a power-sharing
cabinet, another
ZANU-PF official said.
"It is premature to say they (the MDC) have
rejected when they have not
formally rejected," ZANU-PF deputy information
and publicity secretary
Ephraim Masawi said.
Asked when Mugabe will
name the new cabinet, Ndlovu said: "Anytime from now,
the president is going
to implement the SADC resolution."
Tsvangirai, who would become prime
minister under the power-sharing deal,
has accused ZANU-PF of seeking to
relegate the MDC to the role of junior
partner.
Zimbabwe's economic
crisis has forced millions of its citizens to flee the
country, many of them
moving to neighbouring South Africa, Africa's biggest
economy.
South
African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Wednesday that
the
European Union and United States should help Zimbabwe develop its
agriculture and attract investment rather than impose sanctions that have
hurt Zimbabweans.
Washington and Brussels have imposed visa bans and
asset freezes on Mugabe
and other senior Zimbabwean officials. U.S.
sanctions also bar Americans
from engaging in any transactions or dealings
with them.
"They (the sanctions) hurt the ordinary people ... if you have
sanctions
against the government then obviously investors will not want to
deal with
that government, tourists get frightened," Dlamini-Zuma told
Reuters in
Brussels. (Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander in Brussels;
Writing by
Marius Bosch; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
http://www.mg.co.za
HARARE, ZIMBABWE Nov 12 2008
16:46
Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Wednesday
it would
not join a new government with President Robert Mugabe until
unresolved
power-sharing issues were ironed out.
"There are
outstanding issues such as the issue of governors, equity and
allocation of
key ministries that have to be addressed," MDC spokesperson
Nelson Chamisa
said.
"Unless those issues are resolved, we cannot be invited to be
passengers and
be bystanders in a government [in which] we are supposed to
be partners. No
amount of propaganda against us would force to jump into
this government,"
he said.
But the Zanu-PF said a new government
could not be held to ransom by MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai after the latest
failed regional mediation effort.
"If they are not interested, I do not
see why there cannot be a government.
They will never hold this country to
ransom," Deputy Information Minister
Bright Matonga was quoted as saying in
the government mouthpiece, the
Herald, on Wednesday.
Mugabe has said
a new government would be put in place "as soon as
possible", while his lead
negotiator, Patrick Chinamasa, said Tsvangirai had
been asked to submit
names for ministers.
Their comments came after Tsvangirai rejected a
proposal by regional leaders
at the weekend to immediately form a unity
government and share the disputed
Home Affairs Ministry with Mugabe, dashing
hopes of a breakthrough.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed to share power in
September but have failed to
break a deadlock on key Cabinet posts, which
has sent Zimbabwe into further
economic freefall and stopped foreign donors
from stepping in.
The political feuding has dashed hopes of ordinary
Zimbabweans that their
daily struggle for survival could ease.
With
inflation running at more than 231-million percent, half of the
population
requires emergency food aid while a breakdown in basic services
has led to
deadly outbreaks of cholera in Harare.
Western nations have said they are
ready to release hundreds of millions of
dollars in aid, but not while
Mugabe retains his grip on power.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwean police on Tuesday
broke up an anti-government protest
with tear gas and batons and detained
the leader of the group behind the
demonstration, the group said.
The
police crackdown on protesters was the first such action in several
weeks.
The National Constitutional Assembly pressure group said its
chairperson,
Lovemore Madhuku, had been detained ahead of the protests to
demand
political reform from Mugabe.
There was no immediate comment
from police or government officials.
Riot police later fired tear gas and
used batons to break up a protest by
about 40 activists from Madhuku's group
in Harare. Pursuing the protesters,
police dispersed queues of Zimbabweans
waiting to withdraw money from banks,
witnesses said. -- Sapa-AFP, Reuters
http://www.afrol.com/articles/31658
afrol News, 12 November - Zimbabwe
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
opposition media are expressing
their "shock at SADC's impotence in handling
Mugabe's intransigence." They
warn that the regional body is sowing seeds
for a greater conflict, with
heightening tensions between Botswana and
President Mugabe's
Zimbabwe.
Editor Wilf Mbanga of the UK-based weekly 'The Zimbabwean' -
which is widely
distributed in Zimbabwe - in a passionate editorial holds
that the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) "fails us yet again."
He writes: "SADC
is not serious and does not give a damn about the suffering
of millions of
Zimbabweans. Shame on them. Only six out of the 15 regional
presidents
attended Sunday's summit," which was to find a solution to the
stranded
efforts to implement a power-sharing agreement.
The
agreement stranded as President Robert Mugabe unilaterally decided which
ministries were to be controlled by his ruling ZANU-PF and which should go
to Mr Tsvangirai's MDC party. The repartition would give ZANU-PF total
control over both the military forces and police. SADC leaders tried to
convince the parties sharing control over the Home Affairs Ministry, but
effectively leaving Mr Mugabe in control of police, which was rejected by
the MDC leader.
Mr Tsvangirai said the issue of sharing the ministry
would not work and
expressed shock at SADC's "impotence" in handling the
crisis. He said his
dispute with Mr Mugabe was not only about the Ministry
of Home Affairs, but
striking a fair balance of power of all ministries in
the unity government
and sharing diplomatic appointments and assigning key
government posts.
Editor Mbanga said SADC leaders had failed to
understand the issue. "The
position taken by the new South African
president, Kgalema Motlanthe, is
particularly disappointing," he writes.
"The people of Zimbabwe were
prepared to give him a chance. But we should
have seen the writing on the
wall when we realised that he was the same guy
who, back in 2002, headed the
South African observer mission that pronounced
that year's flagrantly flawed
elections 'free and fair'."
According
to 'The Zimbabwean', SADC is now sowing seeds of a regional
conflict.
Botswana, which has emerged one of the MDC's strongest supporters
in the
SADC negotiations, is increasingly being threatened by the Mugabe
regime as
the Zimbabwean leader gains the upper hand among SADC
counterparts. "The
situation is rapidly becoming explosive, with Mugabe
accusing Botswana's
President Ian Khama of training MDC militias to attack
Zimbabwe. He has
provided no shred of evidence that Botswana is doing this,"
the newspaper
writes.
The paper adds that President Mugabe has made sure to arm the
hunger-struck
country to face - or at least scare - a potential external
enemy. During the
last years, Zimbabwe has bought large amounts of weapons
from China. This
included anti-tank bombs and other massive firepower "that
is not required
for crowd control but for full scale war," the opposition
newspaper noted.
http://www.nation.co.ke
By KITSEPILE NYATHI, NATION
CorrespondentPosted Wednesday, November 12 2008
at 16:27
HARARE,
Wednesday
Tension is rising in Zimbabwe following the break down of power
sharing
talks between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition amid a new
wave of
protests.
Police riot squads on Wednesday remained on the
streets in major urban
centres a day after they brutally put down protest
marches calling for the
speedy resolution of the country's political and
economic crisis.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
is threatening to
pull out of the September 15 power sharing deal with the
ruling Zanu PF
after regional leaders failed to resolve a dispute over the
sharing of
cabinet posts among the parties.
About 100 people were
arrested throughout the country after running battles
with police on the
streets on Tuesday.
The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), which
organised the protests
said the inter party dialogue had failed and now
wants fresh elections to
tackle the crisis.
"We want to have a new
order where we actually have leaders that are
accountable and leaders who
actually come from elections not from
negotiations," Mr Murdock Chivasa, the
group's spokesman said.
"Our strategy now is to mobilise people, because
we can't sit back and
continue to pretend that the situation is normal when
people are dying."
The renewed clampdown on dissent comes as a group of
lawyers issued a report
saying state sponsored violence is on the increase
in Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said more than 1 300
cases of
political violence were recorded in September alone, an increase of
39
percent from August.
The MDC says the ruling Zanu PF has also
intensified a crackdown on its
supporters following the collapse of the
power sharing agreement.
"The country is sliding further into an orgy of
violence," said MDC
spokesman, Mr Nelson Chamisa.
"This demonstrates
that Mugabe lacks sincerity and has no faith in the whole
negotiation
process."
Hardliners in the ruling party are fuelling the hostilities
with fresh
violence erupting in poor townships, the MDC said.
Mr
Mugabe is also accusing his rivals of planning to launch an insurgency
from
Botswana to topple his government, an accusation that has been
dismissed by
both the neighbouring country and the opposition as "false,
baseless and
completely unfounded."
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's parliament has adjourned for
the second time inside a
month following a brief sitting after the
government failed to raise enough
money to fund the assembly's
sittings.
The capital Harare, which is battling a cholera pandemic, has
also run out
of drinking water, making parliamentary sittings a health
hazard, the
authorities said.
Zimbabweans were expecting that
parliament, in limbo since the March 29
elections will begin debate on
legislation that will bring into effect the
troubled power sharing
arrangement.
The opposition MDC said the parliamentary break highlighted
a crisis brought
about by the failure of the two parties to form a unity
government.
http://www.africanpath.com
November 12, 2008
08:53 AMBy Sandra Nyaira
The World Food Programme (WFP) distributed
29,000 tonnes of food to around
two million vulnerable people across
Zimbabwe in October but it warns food
aid to four-million people in the
country will run out by January unless it
receives new funding.
The
UN food agency says in a statement it has had no response from
international
donors to an emergency appeal and has this month started
rationing cereals
and beans.
Some major donor countries have been reluctant to donate money
to Zimbabwe,
which has a severe maize deficit, until a new power-sharing
government is in
place.
With the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
refusing to accept an unfair
power-sharing deal with Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF
following a Sadc summit at
the weekend, it remains unclear whether donors
will pour in funds to help
Mugabe if he goes ahead to form a government on
his own.
The UN food aid agency's efforts will be severely hampered due
to lack of
funds resulting in many hungry people having to go without
assistance or
receiving smaller hampers.
The WFP launched an
emergency appeal last month to raise $215-million but
there's been little
response.
Richard Lee, the aid agency's spokesperson says he is not sure
why the
response has been poor.
"Some people say that it is the
financial crisis, clearly that has been top
of the agenda of many of our
major donors. Other people say that countries
are waiting for the
power-sharing negotiations to conclude, and then yet
again others say there
are crisis all over the place, that governments are
trying to fund and help
support."
He continues; "So it is very difficult but we really need
donations now,
because we don't have any food at the moment for January and
February when
this crisis in Zimbabwe will really hit its peak. So we really
need
donations now so that we can buy food here in South Africa, ship it
quickly
into Zimbabwe and get it out to the rural areas that need it
most."
The WFP currently has no food in the pipeline for distribution in
January
and February - just when the crisis is reaching its peak - and when
the WFP
was aiming to feed over four million people each month.
The
agency still requires US$140 million to fund its operations in Zimbabwe
until the end of March 2009 - with a shortfall of approximately 145,000 tons
of food, including 110,000 mt of cereals and 35,000 mt of other food
commodities.
It takes between 6-8 weeks to transform a cash
contribution into food on a
beneficiary's table, says the WFP.
"Faced
with such a serious shortfall, WFP has been forced to cut rations in
November in order to provide some assistance to all of its targeted
beneficiaries," a statement released by the aid agency said.
The
cereal ration has been cut from 12kg to 10kg per person per month and
the
pulse ration from 1.8kg to 1kg per person per month for all vulnerable
beneficiaries and for people receiving take-home rations under the safety
net programmes.
These cuts will allow WFP to stretch its available
resources as far as
possible but they will leave greater numbers more
malnourished and more
susceptible to disease, especially at a time when
family can hardly afford
one meal per day. Cases of malnutrition are on the
rise in the country with
Zimbabweans in the rural communities being forced
to eat wild fruits, seeds
and poisonous tree roots to survive.
Hungry
families are being forced to exchange their precious livestock for
buckets
of maize, which are now being sold at extortionist prices in hard
currency,
either the US dollar, the South African Rand or Botswana Pula.
This month
the WFP aims to distribute around 46,000 tons of food to more
than 3.3
million people under vulnerable group programme and around 600,000
under the
safety net one.
At least 5.1 million - or 45 percent of the population -
will need food aid
at the peak of the crisis early next year.
http://www.iwpr.net
Zimbabwe said to be facing another poor grain harvest
next year because of
severe shortages of seed and fertiliser.
By Jabu
Shoko in Harare (ZCR No. 167, 12-Nov-08)
It rained in most parts of
Zimbabwe last week, signalling the official start
of the planting season in
this troubled country.
Most farmers here start putting the maize seed in
the ground during the
first week of November to take advantage of the start
of the rains. But
agricultural experts told IWPR the lashing downpours,
which came after a
serious heat wave, would count for nothing, as the Harare
government was
ill-prepared for taking advantage of it.
"The country
does not have foreign currency to procure fertiliser, seed,
fuel, farming
implements and spare parts for tractors and other farming
implements," said
Renson Gasela, an agricultural expert who is also the
agriculture spokesman
for the small, breakaway faction of the opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change, MDC.
"If the truth be told, nothing is happening on the farms.
Some of those
black farmers given land by Mugabe are content with hunting
the few wildlife
left on the properties instead of tilling land to feed
hungry Zimbabweans.
The country is starting another disastrous agriculture
season."
Nelson Chamisa, the spokesman for the main MDC faction headed by
Morgan
Tsvangirai, concurred, noting that the little fertiliser, seed and
fuel that
trickle in from China, Mugabe's all-weather friend, was quickly
being
diverted to the farms given to big-wigs in his ZANU-PF
party.
"This country needs change now if we are to avert hunger every
year," said
Chamisa. "The government does not have money to procure
agricultural inputs.
There's also chaos in the farming sector as ZANU-PF
functionaries continue
invading farms instead of letting those who know the
business of farming go
ahead with the job."
The commander of the
Zimbabwe Defence Force, General Constantine Chiwenga,
assisted by senior
military officials, has been tasked with identifying the
beneficiaries of
agricultural inputs. When the maize seed and fertiliser
arrive from China,
they are doled out at ZANU-PF rallies to party members
and senior government
officials; perceived opposition supporters go
empty-handed.
The
United Nations estimates between 5 and 5.5 million Zimbabweans, or
nearly
half the population, will need emergency food rations next year. Last
year's
harvests failed because of fertiliser and fuel shortages. Currently,
about
5.1 million people are reportedly receiving food handouts from local
and
international food relief agencies.
The respected Famine Early Warning
Unit last week issued a warning that
Zimbabwe would be facing another
inadequate grain harvest next year because
of severe shortages of seed and
fertiliser.
The Washington-based Famine Early Warning Systems Network
said the southern
African nation had only 19 per cent of the maize seed it
needed to meet its
planting plans, and even if it was able to import more,
the country was
unlikely to be able to get it in the ground in
time.
Zimbabwe was also facing a fertiliser shortage, with current stocks
standing
at a mere one per cent of requirements.
"Given the critical
shortages of seed and fertiliser, 2008-2009 prospects
are poor unless
resources can quickly be mobilised to address these
shortages," said a
spokesperson for the organisation, who added that "given
current economic
turmoil, political instability, and the necessity to direct
resources to
import and distribute food, improving access to inputs remains
a
challenge".
The continuing ejection of white farmers from their land has
not helped
matters. A few weeks ago, the prime farmland of the chairman of
the
Commercial Farmers Union was invaded by marauding ZANU-PF militia who
gave
him only a few hours to vacate the farm. Elsewhere, beneficiaries of
Mugabe's
land reform suspected of voting for Tsvangirai are being pushed out
of
properties at a time they are supposed to be readying the land for the
start
of the planting season.
At the same time, a substantial bailout
promised by the South African
government to bankroll Zimbabwe's agricultural
season - specifically the
procurement of maize seed, fertiliser and farming
implements - has not
materialised because it is subject to the fulfilment of
a precarious
power-sharing agreement between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. Trevor
Manuel, South
Africa's finance minister, told his country's parliament in
October that the
aid package for Zimbabwe would be provided only once a
government had been
formed and humanitarian relief agencies were free to
deliver aid.
Manuel said the money was "subject to acceptance of an
appropriate role for
food relief agencies by a recognised multiparty
government".
Aid agencies claim that the government is continuing to
hinder their efforts
to deliver food to starving Zimbabweans, some
reportedly surviving by
scavenging for wild fruits and edible
roots.
The multi-party government the South Africans are waiting for does
not seem
likely to be formed anytime soon. Mugabe and Tsvangirai are at
loggerheads
over the allocation of ministries in an all-inclusive
government. A full
SADC summit in South Africa on November 9 failed to break
the impasse.
Mugabe has insisted on holding on to the entire security
apparatus, while
Tsvangirai has offered a compromise: ZANU-PF can take
charge of the military
while the MDC controls the police. Regional leaders
directed that Mugabe and
Tsvangirai share the interior ministry, a proposal
flatly rejected by the
opposition leader.
Jabu Shoko is the pseudonym
of an IWPR-trained journalist in Zimbabwe.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
12 November 2008
Five National Constitutional Assembly
activists, picked up by the police in
Harare on Tuesday during
anti-government protests, have been released on
bail. The five are part of
eight activists arrested on the streets of the
capital.
A statement
from the NCA said three individuals remain in police custody in
Harare. In
all, 22 members of the NCA will appear in court this week
following their
arrests during the peaceful protest actions throughout.
The NCA said it
condemned the continued detention of the three individuals
on baseless
charges and called for their immediate release. One of those
arrested in
Harare sustained a serious head injury at the hands of the
police and was
denied medical treatment.
The injured man was one of the five who were
forced to pay a fine and then
released. Food brought to the detainees on
Tuesday at Harare Central police
station was confiscated and eaten by police
officers.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is pursuing the case. By
late
Wednesday their lawyer had still not made contact with the detainees.
In
Bulawayo, five individuals will on Thursday appear in court on
unspecified
charges. Our Bulawayo correspondent Lionel Saungweme told us the
five were
the ZINASU treasurer general Sheunesu Nyoni, radical student
leader
Archiford Mudzengi, Samson Nxumalo, Melusi Hlabano and Brian
Mtisi
Seven NCA arrested in Gweru will also be brought to court on
Thursday, on
charges brought under the Public Order and Security Act
(POSA). NCA staff
who attempted to deliver food to the detainees were
themselves detained for
an hour on Wednesday. In Mutare, nine individuals
are being held in police
custody. The NCA said it is not yet clear what
charges are being brought or
when the detainees will appear in court. The
NCA said it was shocked by the
violence unleashed upon its members by state
security agents.
'The beating and arrest of scores of peaceful protesters
is a clear
departure from the police force's mandate to protect the
Zimbabwean public.
Moreover, the NCA is outraged by the illegitimate
detention of its members.
The charges being brought against these
individuals are entirely without
merit. These detainees must be immediately
released and all charges
dropped,' a statement from the NCA said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Staff
reporter
12 November 2008
A showdown is looming between ZANU PF
and the Tsvangirai MDC, as Robert
Mugabe is threatening to go ahead and form
a government. But Morgan
Tsvangirai is adamant that the issue of the
allocation of ministerial posts
has to be resolved first.
A marathon
SADC Extraordinary Summit held in Sandton, South Africa on Sunday
recommended the immediate formation of an inclusive government and,
controversially, the co-sharing of the disputed Ministry of Home
Affairs.
Mugabe immediately embraced the outcome of the summit and
announced he will
form a government either this week or next week and would
invite the MDC to
submit names.
Tsvangirai said in a statement that
SADC missed a great opportunity to bring
an end to the Zimbabwean Crisis and
said SADC approached the summit 'without
any concrete strategy and did not
have the courage and the decency of
looking Mr. Mugabe in the eyes and
telling him that his position was wrong.'
The MDC leader said while his
party remains committed to the power sharing
agreement signed on 15th
September, they will not accept any arrangement
that does not allow the MDC
to effectively contribute to ending the crisis
in the country.
In a
statement issued the day after the SADC Summit Tsvangirai said: "For
the
record, in today's meeting it had been agreed that all the Zimbabwean
principals would recuse themselves to allow an open and unfettered dialogue
to take place amongst the SADC leaders. However, Mr Mugabe refused and the
Chairman of SADC did not tell him to leave. Thus, Mr Mugabe became a judge
in his own case."
"I would like to put out that the failure to
consummate and implement the
Global Political Agreement means that there is
no legitimacy on any
government or any person purporting to be Head of
State. In short, Mr Mugabe
is not the President of Zimbabwe without this
agreement."
"Given this dangerous and precarious situation and the
suffering of the
people of Zimbabwe, we hope and pray that the guarantors of
the agreement,
in particular progressive members of SADC and the African
Union, will now
move very quickly to try and salvage this
agreement."
MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa told us that no names had
been submitted
to Robert Mugabe for inclusion in the government, and said
the party was
busy planning and preparing for this week's meeting with the
National
Executive Council, to deliberate on the outcome of the SADC
summit.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
12 November
2008
Fears of social unrest in Zimbabwe are growing, as swelling numbers
of
Zimbabweans become daily victims of the crash of the local
currency.
The Zimbabwe dollar hit an all time low this week, plummeting
to a trading
value of an average Z$28,4 quadrillion to the U.S. dollar -
triggering
another round of massive price increases. Analysts have said the
latest
collapse of the currency was being driven by the Southern African
Development Community's (SADC) weekend ruling on the political impasse
between ZANU PF and the MDC - with the regional body overtly siding with
Robert Mugabe.
As the countries politicians have continued to wage a
war of words in the
form of negotiations over a unity government,
Zimbabweans have been fighting
daily battles triggered by the devastating
economic crisis. The dollar has
become valueless, in a country where hard
currency is now the only
acceptable form of payment. The Reserve Bank's
decision to suspend the
online RTGS payment system has seen many businesses
struggle to stay afloat,
while at the same time Zimbabweans spend days in
bank queues to try to
withdraw enough money to pay their bills in cash.
Cheques are not accepted
because of the daily changing rate of the Zimbabwe
dollar, leaving people
with money in the bank, but unable to buy food or pay
their bills.
The withdrawal limits themselves have twice been raised by
the central bank,
and every increase has seen immediate price increases
across the country. At
the same time, most shops have stopped accepting the
local dollar, and empty
shelves are testimony to a collapsed economy. The
South African rand and the
US dollar are now the most common forms of
currency, but for those who are
unable to access forex, this means they will
be unable to survive.
Independent economic analyst John Robertson agreed
on Wednesday that the
"imminent crash of the dollar has clearly already
happened." He explained
that the levels of malnutrition and illness are
daily growing "because
people are unable to buy the goods they need to stay
healthy," and people
are losing patience with the powers that
be.
Robertson said the Zimbabwe dollar is "no longer in any way useful" and
explained that the only vaguely successful businesses are those trading in
forex. He added that the atmosphere on the streets is tense "as people are
waiting for everything else to come crashing down."
"People are angry
that the government has let the economy get to this
point," Robertson
explained. "We are on the verge of total social unrest."
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
12
November 2008
We are increasingly receiving disturbing reports from
across the country
that more and more people are succumbing to cholera, as
every aspect of
Zimbabwean society collapses. Even the state controlled
Herald newspaper
reports seeing two trucks ferrying dead bodies from
Budiriro, to an
infectious disease mortuary on Tuesday.
A reports
from the north east border town of Nyamapanda says that bodies are
being
buried in very shallow (1 meter) graves, in council land adjacent to
the
mortuary in the town.
An eye witness who had just travelled from
Nyamapanda said: "Flea market
operators who go and set up stalls from Harare
are sharing accommodation
with unburied corpses." A commentator added that
it seems as if 'Robert
Mugabe is quite content to turn the country into a
giant death camp.'
The former chairperson of the Combined Harare
Residents Association (CHRA)
Mike Davies, speaking in his private capacity,
said people would not be
dying from cholera if there were adequate
resources, but the continuing
deaths are a symptom of the failure of the
regime to address the basic
social needs of the citizens.
Prevention
of the disease is relatively easy with adequate water supplies
and proper
sanitation practices, but Zimbabwe has now become a breeding
ground for this
infectious disease. There is no clean water in most parts of
the country,
resulting in many desperate people scrounging for water from
unprotected
wells and streams, in spite of the cholera outbreak.
With the collapse of
the health industry and most hospitals now being shut,
many people are just
dying at home, making it very difficult to come up with
statistics. The
government has also been downplaying the extent of the
crisis. Furthermore
the fact that there is still no government in place in
Zimbabwe makes the
situation even more abnormal.
On Wednesday the Herald newspaper could not
hide the extent of the crisis.
The paper wrote: "The Harare City Council
yesterday remained mum as cholera
continued to take its toll. Yesterday
afternoon The Herald witnessed two
trucks ferrying bodies of cholera victims
from Budiriro Polyclinic to
Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital
mortuary."
A number of areas in the capital have been without water for
several weeks
and yet residents are still being forced to pay their rates.
Some areas like
Mabvuku and Tafara have gone for half a year without
water.
Meanwhile a CHRA statement accuses the Zimbabwe National Water
Authority
(ZINWA) of gross incompetence, which has resulted in the cholera
scourge
that has claimed lives in Budiriro, Glenview, Glen Norah
Dzivarasekwa and
Chitungwiza.
"In the traditional fashion of the
arm-twisting of state institutions for
partisan and self gratification, the
ZANU PF Government defied all reason
and went ahead with the ZINWA takeover
of water and sewer management from
the local authorities in 2006. The
decision has resulted in untold water
inadequacies and subsequent disease
outbreaks and deaths from cholera and
other related diseases, in the light
of the collapsed health sector," said
the statement.
However ZINWA
blames the crisis on a lack of spare parts and foreign
currency to buy
chemicals needed to purify the water.
Davies says that until there is a
legitimate government in the country,
elected by the people, there will be
no change in the situation. He also
noted the failure of leadership in the
opposition, to galvanise the anger
from people who have now been reduced to
an animal existence.
Davies said: "This is an indictment of civil
society. I think that we haven't
constructed possibilities that people can
believe in, that we can deliver a
change to the situation."
From Mail & Guardian (SA), 11 November
Michael Georgy - Southern African leaders are
highly unlikely to ever force
Zimbabwe's rival parties to implement a
power-sharing deal, and their lack
of resolve will continue playing into the
hands of President Robert Mugabe.
An emergency weekend summit of the
Southern African Development Community
(SADC) failed to break the deadlock
in talks on Cabinet posts, which
threatens a September 15 power-sharing deal
seen as the best chance to
rescue Zimbabwe from economic collapse. SADC was
more assertive than usual,
saying Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai should share control of the powerful Home
Affairs Ministry and
quickly form a unity government. But Tsvangirai
rejected the idea and Mugabe
quickly capitalised on that, apparently seeking
to portray the MDC leader as
a spoiler and vowing to form a unity government
"as soon as possible."
Aware that SADC is divided and lacks the will
to force the sides into a
deal, Mugabe knows he has time to wait. "They
[SADC] would love to have this
go away and have it swept under the carpet.
It's difficult for them to come
out and impose anything on Mugabe's regime,"
said Mark Schroeder, director
of risk analysis for sub-Saharan Africa at
Stratfor. Mugabe has held power
since 1980 with what critics say is
patience, cunning and ruthlessness. He
has already survived international
isolation and sanctions imposed by
Western foes. Although neighbouring
countries are struggling with millions
of refugees fleeing Zimbabwe and fear
a total meltdown there, they have few
practical steps to take even if they
could agree on the need to take
stronger action. While Botswana and Zambia
have taken a tough line on
Mugabe, others still respect him as a former
African liberation hero. "You
have this mythological figure. Robert Mugabe
is like George Washington, he
can't be touched," said one Western
diplomat.
Influential regional politicians who have made the
strongest calls for an
agreement in Zimbabwe also have more pressing issues
to worry about. Jacob
Zuma, leader of the ruling African National Congress
in regional powerhouse
South Africa, has said Zimbabwe's parties must be
forced into a deal. But he
is distracted on the home front after senior ANC
members defected to form a
breakaway group in the biggest political upheaval
since the end of apartheid
in 1994. Analysts believe South Africa's
caretaker president, Kgalema
Motlanthe, cannot make a difference before
South Africa's election next
year, which is expected to put Zuma in power.
Zambian President Rupiah Banda
is fighting opposition accusations he rigged
last month's presidential
election - which might make it harder for him to
champion Tsvangirai's
assertion that Mugabe cheated him of election victory.
Zimbabwe's economic
decline, once seen by the opposition as the only factor
that could weaken
Mugabe, has been worsening while he digs in for a
prolonged power struggle
that now centres on the Home Affairs Ministry -
seen as crucial to the
veteran leader's survival because it controls the
police.
But Mugabe knows the economy cannot get much worse. Inflation
is officially
231-million percent. Even under government price controls, the
cost of bread
is doubling every week and all food is in short supply.
Zimbabwe is
dependent on handouts and malnutrition is on the rise. With
Mugabe keeping a
strong hold, the chances of badly needed aid and investment
from Western
countries are nil. "Mugabe will not listen to anybody at this
stage because
he is resigned to fate. He knows nothing will change about the
economy, even
if he continues to hang on to power, because it has already
gone down," said
prominent Lusaka economist and political analyst Chibamba
Kanyama. "There
was so much hope that there would be change in Zimbabwe and
donors had begun
to reposition themselves to bail out the country, but now
Mugabe realises
that the bail-out will not come quickly because of the
global financial
crisis and as such he will hang on to
power."
Zimbabweans can expect more of the same - talk of a unity
government, new
accusations and counter-accusations, calls for SADC
intervention - while
Mugabe keeps the upper hand. Western countries,
pre-occupied by their own
worries, are unlikely to do much more and had in
any case always emphasised
that it was the region that needed to play the
main role. An exasperated
Tsvangirai complained at the weekend summit that
SADC leaders told
opposition parties to leave their meeting while they
formulated a resolution
but allowed Mugabe to stay on as what he called a
judge of his own case.
"SADC is made up of a group of leaders that are
friends of President Mugabe.
Many of them have been in power for a long time
and do not respect
democratic decisions," said Fernando Macedo, political
analyst and professor
at Luanda's Lusiada University.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
12 November
2008
The precarious water situation in Harare, which is also under a
serious
threat of a cholera epidemic, forced the adjournment of Parliament
on
Tuesday to the 16th December.
Parliamentary business came to a halt a
few hours after the legislators had
resumed sitting. The House of Assembly
had originally been forced to adjourn
on the 23rd of October to 11th
November because of lack of funds from
government, after reports claimed
that MPs based outside Harare were being
turned away from hotels in the
capital as there was no money to pay their
bills.
MDC MP for Mbare,
Piniel Denga, said there was very little business in
parliament on Tuesday,
except debate on the presidential speech. There were
no new motions
introduced. The impasse over the formation of an inclusive
government has
also delayed the introduction of constitutional amendment
number 19.
The
constitutional amendment - which has yet to be formally put on the
agenda -
is supposed to be rushed through to create the post of Prime
Minister that
Morgan Tsvangirai has been allocated under the power sharing
deal, along
with other posts and changes.
'At the end of business it was decided to
adjourn parliament to next month
because of the bad conditions of toilets in
the building. We are sitting on
a time bomb if we don't act quick enough to
avert the spread of the deadly
cholera disease,' Denga said.
Bad
governance, plus chronic economic mismanagement and corruption, has
meant
that government has done nothing to maintain the water system.
Water has
become the most sought-after natural resource in the country and
chronic
shortages affects over 60 percent of the country's population.
Millions of
people do not have access to clean drinking water or adequate
sanitation
facilities and open sewers are a fact of life in most high
density suburbs.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com
Africa News
Nov 12,
2008, 16:26 GMT
Harare - Hearings at the High Court in Zimbabwe's
capital Harare have been
brought to a halt as the building falls victim to
the breakdown in water
supplies affecting much of the country, a court
official said Wednesday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity a junior
official told Deutsche
Presse-Agentur dpa: 'On Tuesday mid-morning, we were
asked to close shop as
there was no water. Today (Wednesday) it is the same
story. There is no
water.'
A visit to the court Wednesday confirmed
there was little activity at the
court, where many courtrooms were were
closed.
Harare has not had adequate supplies of clean water for months,
forcing
people to seek out shallow wells and rivers for water to drink, wash
and
cook.
The situation has prompted an outbreak of cholera that has
claimed over 100
lives since September, according to a doctors'
group.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) non-governmental
organization
condemned the de facto closure of the High Court.
'That
such a court as a vehicle for protecting human rights should be closed
due
to lack of water is a serious undermining of equal protection of the law
to
litigants, detainees, and even convicted prisoners whose matters are on
appeal from lower courts,' the organization said.
Zimbabwe's once
robust economy is racing towards collapse. Inflation is
officially put at
231 million per cent (but estimated at several times that)
and close to 4
million people require food aid.
The collapse is widely blamed on the
populist policies of 84-year-old
President Robert Mugabe, who has used state
force to remain in power this
year, despite two election setbacks.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Very rarely do people demonstrate against the MDC in South
Africa, home to
almost three million of their supporters. So when protesters
in ZANU PF
regalia thronged the venue of the SADC Summit in Sandton, singing
and
dancing in support of Robert Mugabe, there was disbelief. It turns out
the
protestors were students from Zimbabwe on government scholarships, the
majority of them children and relatives of ZANU PF ministers.
From The Financial Gazette, 11 November
Shame Makoshori, Senior Reporter
Air
Zimbabwe (Airzim), which currently operates four flights into the
Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), has secured rights to run internal
flights in the
mineral-rich country, an official with the national airline
said this week.
Kingstone Mbape, a senior official with the passenger
career, told a meeting
of the Harare Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday that the
DRC government had
given Airzim rights to operate flights linking the
southern cities of
Mbuji-Mayi, Lubumbashi and Kinshasa, the capital. "We
have been given the
rights by the government of the DRC to operate those
(internal) flights. It
is very difficult if you are a foreign company to
operate, say the
Harare-Bulawayo (route), but we have got (to do it now that
we have) all the
rights," Mbape said. "We are in a position to say in
southern Africa we are
penetrating into each city," he added.
Mbape was addressing a
business delegation preparing to tour the vast
African state on November 24.
The delegation is expected to meet the
governor of the Katanga Province and
representatives from the Federation of
Industries and the Lubumbashi
Investment Agency, among other key figures.
The visit will run concurrently
with an exhibition by Zimbabwean companies
targeting the DRC market.
Airzim's presence in the DRC is expected to
improve the parastatal's foreign
currency generating capacity and make up
for the subdued business back home.
Since 2006, the airline industry has
experienced a decline in traffic to the
major tourist resorts in the country
such as the Victoria Falls owing to the
high fares triggered by the rising
international prices of oil and the
general impact of the hyperinflationary
environment. Statistics indicate
that in 2006, Airzim, which commands a 13
percent share of the local market,
suffered a huge decline in tourist
passengers from 1,231,370 the previous
year to 274 888. South African
Airways still dominates Airzim's turf with a
market share of 39 percent.
Airzim is hoping to reduce its exposure
at home by taking advantage of the
massive size of the DRC economy and the
fact that businesspeople find road
transport in the conflict-ridden country
severely laborious. Previous
attempts by Zimbabwean companies to penetrate
the DRC market have, however,
largely not been successful. The Rainbow
Tourism Group, FBC Bank and the
Agricultural and Rural Development
Authority, were some of the local
companies that invested in the DRC with
minimal success. Mbape was upbeat
this week about business prospects in the
DRC saying Airzim had built
confidence in the market and was beginning to
experience brisk business. "We
feel that the potential is there in the DRC.
We are the ones who made the
DRC what it is today and we must take advantage
of that. We are hoping to
increase the frequency (on the Mbuji-Mayi-Kinshasa
route) be-cause the
traffic is there," he said.
From The Chronicle, 12 November
Business Reporter
Air Zimbabwe is reportedly
demanding payment of fares in foreign currency,
making it potentially
difficult for locals without access to hard currency
to travel on the
national airline. A Bulawayo man who phoned Business
Chronicle on Monday
said he might be forced to cancel a trip to Johannesburg
after Air Zimbabwe
advised him that it was no longer accepting local
currency for travel
outside the country. Only local routes are still payable
in local currency.
He said on Friday he made an inquiry about travelling to
South Africa and he
was told he could make the payment by cheque. "I
inquired on Friday and they
said I could pay by cheque. However, when I went
to pay today (Monday) they
said the policy had changed and they no longer
accepted cheques and wanted
US dollars," said the man who asked not to be
named. Buying a ticket by
cheque would have cost him $12 quadrillion, he
claimed. He said he had more
than $14 quadrillion locked up in his bank
account which he could not
withdraw because of limits set by the Reserve
Bank of
Zimbabwe.
Under the limits, individuals can withdraw a maximum of
$500 000 and
companies $1 million per day. According to information on the
Air Zimbabwe
website, a return flight to Johannesburg from Bulawayo, Harare
or Victoria
Falls costs US180 while a one way ticket is US$99. A return
ticket to China,
one of the airline's most popular destinations with locals
seeking goods for
resale, costs US$880 while flying to Dubai, another
popular destination
costs US$550. Although no comment could be immediately
obtained from Air
Zimbabwe, the airline has made representations to charge
fares on regional
and international routes in foreign currency to enable it
to service
external debts and buy spare parts. Ninety percent of the
company's costs
have to be met in foreign currency. A number of local
companies now charge
for services in foreign currency after being given the
go ahead by the
central bank.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
TANONOKA JOSEPH WHANDE
12
November, 2008
After the shameful display of political inadequacy
and collective
irresponsibility by SADC's Heads of State in South Africa a
few days ago, I
was converted to the simple fact that the rest of Africa is
fatalistically
jealous of the nation of Zimbabwe.
I reached this
conclusion after trying and failing to understand how SADC
leaders could
seriously reach a decision that literally confirmed Mugabe as
leader at the
expense of the one who won the elections.
And SADC leaders knew that without
the much touted agreement with the
Movement for Democratic change, Mugabe is
not a head of state.
Mugabe is refusing to respect the very document that
gives him legitimacy
and SADC gave Mugabe legitimacy.
Mugabe was not even
supposed to be at the SADC summit.
His presence there was like a murderer
entering court to pass judgment on
himself.
In spite of Robert
Mugabe, Zimbabwe is a beautiful country with beautiful
people.
Everything
about Zimbabwe is hardly comparable to other African countries.
If the truth
be told, Zimbabwe and its people are the best on the continent.
Economically,
we used to go toe to toe with South Africa as evidenced by the
number of
businesses that set up shop in Rhodesia and, later, in Zimbabwe.
All you
need to do is look back and see how many international
organizations,
businesses and non-governmental organizations headquartered
themselves in
Zimbabwe.
I have seen ambassadors weeping when their tour of duty in Zimbabwe
ended.
Even at the height of our misery and during Mugabe's irresponsible and
murderous rule, Interpol, the International Police, was busy building their
regional headquarters in Zimbabwe.
I shake my head in dismay when I look
at video footage of ZANU-PF thugs
chasing MDC supporters with machetes, logs
and axes as Mugabe broke up an
MDC rally during the elections early this
year. What amuses me is the fact
that on that news footage, you can see MDC
supporters in flight from machete
wielding ZANU-PF militias, dashing past
the Interpol Regional Headquarters
whose construction is almost
complete.
The pariah state of Rhodesia managed to manufacture and export
goods to
South Africa, Europe, America and South America, not to mention
Australia
while it was under real economic sanctions.
It is a tribute to
Zimbabweans that Smith could achieve such a feat.
Today, with our currency
virtually non-existent, we provide booming business
to Botswana, South
Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and even Namibia,
Angola and DR
Congo.
Underpaid, abused and taken advantage of wherever they are,
Zimbabweans
soldier on.
Because of lack of proper immigration documents,
our qualified teachers are
tending cattle in Botswana, our nurses are maids
in South Africa, our
engineers are messengers and our pharmacists are
cleaners in many countries.
Robert Mugabe, the horrid man who caused this
sad state of affairs and brain
drain, loves to insult our desperate
professionals by saying that they left
Zimbabwe to go and wipe white
people's behinds in the nursing homes of
Britain and Australia.
Of
course, they did not but even if they did, there is nothing wrong with
that.
A properly paid maid in Botswana can pay Mugabe's salary in Zimbabwe
dollars.
So I sat there listening to Tomaz Augusto Salomão, SADC's
Executive
Secretary, spouting nonsense as if he had spent so much as an hour
figuring
out how Zimbabweans have to be saved from Robert Mugabe's
clutches.
I watched the embryonic president Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa
surrendering without even throwing a punch.
I ogled at veteran Rupia
Banda, a firebrand during his time, as he suddenly
could not find a big
enough space to hide from Robert Mugabe.
Over the years, Mugabe has been
abusing us.
Since independence, Mugabe has been killing our citizens.
We
have known no other leader apart from this cruel and heartless man whose
recliner sofa is waiting for him in hell, for he surely can't go the other
side. That's where his victims are.
As SADC was meeting, Zimbabweans were
being beaten and chased from their
homes by Mugabe's thugs again. But SADC
chose to turn a blind eye.
In spite of the much referred to technicality of a
presidential candidate
getting 50% plus 1 vote, the heart of the matter is
that Zimbabweans voted
Mugabe out. Period.
And instead of helping the
people of Zimbabwe to regain their moral high
ground and political
imperative, SADC leaders are now ganging up against us.
Africa is a disgrace
and SADC is worse.
As is being confirmed by Somalia, Darfur, Zimbabwe and DR
Congo, there are
no African solutions to African problems.
If there were,
these long running problems would have been dealt with a long
time
ago.
DR Congo even has the luxury to present Africa with an encore of the
mindless violence against itself with the help of other neighbouring
countries, not to mention Zimbabwe and Angola who are already in the DR
Congo.
How could SADC collectively stand with Mugabe at the expense
of the long
abused people of Zimbabwe?
Why do African leaders love
violence, chaos and abuse of citizens?
Oh, COSATU, please, where are
you?
How can COSATU just keep quiet?
COSATU knows where it derives its
strength from.
Its strength comes from the people, from the workers.
And
people and workers are the same everywhere.
It is my hope that COSATU will
stamp its authority and prod their government
to take a sterner attitude
towards renegade Mugabe who is destroying the
region and soiling
SADC.
I don't read much into, nor do I care much about this Kgalema
Motlanthe guy
as president of South Africa; he's got his own frustrations
and he is trying
to walk a fine line.
He is human and he has ambitions.
Like everybody else, he is up to
something, too.
He is not leaving State
House nor is he going to give Jacob Zuma the
presidency on a
platter.
Motlanthe has his own supporters too and they are taunting him on
why he
should later step down and settle for Number Three, Four, Five or Six
when
he is Number One right now - something Jacob Zuma never
achieved.
So, regrettably, Motlanthe has already started campaigning as the
once
mighty African National Congress is wobbling and tearing itself apart
as
some of its highly ambitious sons are deserting it to form splinter
groups
much like we witnessed with the once mighty ZANU-PF in
Zimbabwe.
I look around the countries surrounding Zimbabwe and ask myself
which of
their citizens would do what Zimbabweans are doing were similar
circumstances to befall them?
None. Absolutely none!
Zimbabweans are
resilient, hard working and are not afraid of challenges or
difficulties;
they appear at their best when cornered.
No one can say for sure how people
in Zimbabwe survive on a day to day
basis. I do not think that even they
themselves can explain it.
So I look around the region, and indeed around
Africa.
Mozambique is picking up some economic steam because Zimbabwe, thanks
to
Mugabe, is lying dormant.
South Africa, whose citizens flooded our
towns and whose businessmen owned
almost half of the "international
companies" appears to be successful
because Zimbabwe is not there to
challenge it like it did before.
What is Namibia, Malawi or Zambia compared
to Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe can hardly breathe, having been run into the ground
by Mugabe and
yet the same citizens who afforded Ian Smith to produce export
quality
products for Europe and the Americas while under international
economic
sanctions are making it possible for this much abused nation to
stand on its
toes and taunt the big regional powers.
However, unlike
other SADC countries, Botswana has never pretended to be
what it is not. It
has always given credit where it is due.
Botswana has never been jealous of
Zimbabwe.
Batswana still talk fondly of the days when they used to travel to
Zimbabwe
for shopping. In spite of the strains caused by Mugabe, Batswana
have been
very understanding and accommodating of Zimbabweans.
We have,
however, overstayed our welcome and all because of the cowards at
SADC.
Zimbabwe's biggest product is its people, whose resilience has
yet to be
matched by any other nation.
Zimbabwe has a good educated
population that spends well when times are
right and Zimbabwe has one of the
most literate labour forces in the world
and, certainly, the most literate
in Africa.
That alone is an investor's dream.
And that is why many
countries are standing by to invest or re-invest in
Zimbabwe when we get our
house in order. They'd rather wait than to invest
elsewhere and that cannot
be pleasing to some African countries, can it?
Before the SADC Summit
over the weekend, we heard from Jacob Zuma who
declared that the Zimbabweans
would not leave before reaching an agreement.
Motlanthe's spokesperson also
weighed in and stated that South Africa would
be taking a tough stand
against Mugabe at that summit.
That was hogwash, of course.
The result of
all the tough talk was that SADC gave Mugabe the thumbs up and
energized his
intransigency.
SADC conveniently forgot that Zimbabweans went to the
polls and voted Mugabe
out.
Kofi Annan's poisonous political concoction
in Kenya is not only retarding
but is destroying democracy in Africa.
The
heart of the matter is that we are our own liberators and should not
bother
counting on other countries, especially African countries.
Having given
Mugabe all the necessary time, he has shown nothing but
contempt; no
contrition, regret or apology for destroying our country. He
wants to
continue raping the country and killing the citizens.
He refuses to listen to
reason. He has gone rabid.
ZANU-PF has to be stopped now.
It is time to
employ other means; heavy duty and industrial strength type of
means.
I
am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it
is
today, Thursday November 13, 2008.
http://www.iol.co.za
Karyn Maughan
November 12 2008 at 12:35PM
Johannesburg - The government has
launched a fresh attempt to clear
then-president Thabo Mbeki of
unconstitutionally failing to protect a South
African farmer during
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's land grab.
But its attempt to use a
secret report to exonerate Mbeki hit a snag on
Tuesday when the
Constitutional Court ordered it to apply for the document
to be admitted
into evidence.
The government is challenging the Pretoria High Court's
finding that Mbeki's
failure to deal with farmer Crawford von Abo's
application for diplomatic
protection from the Zimbabwean government,
"despite diligent and continued
requests", was unconstitutional.
In
handing down his findings, high court Judge Bill Prinsloo said: "No
explanation whatsoever has been forthcoming for this tardy and lacklustre
behaviour."
If the High Court ruling is confirmed
by the Constitutional Court, the
government could end up facing more than
R5-billion in claims by South
Africans who have lost land and other property
in Zimbabwe in the past eight
years.
Delivering his ruling on Von
Abo's application against Mbeki and his
government, Prinsloo slammed what he
said was the South African government's
dereliction of duty in failing to
provide proper diplomatic protection to
the farmer, who lost 14 farms in
Zimbabwe in Mugabe's land resettlement
scheme.
The farms, worth a
combined R60-million, were occupied by war veterans and
others in
2002.
When Von Abo refused to leave his farm Fauna, he and farm manager
Willem
Klopper were arrested by militiamen.
Von Abo was granted bail
and for 30 months had to appear in court every two
weeks, until his case was
withdrawn.
He said he had not been given any assistance and his letter to
South African
government departments remained unanswered.
The
government tried yesterday to submit a confidential 60 page report -
containing correspondence between the South African and Zimbabwean
governments - to the Constitutional Court.
Told to apply for it to be
admitted into evidence, Patric Mtshaulana, SC,
for the government, sought a
postponement.
Von Abo's counsel, Peter Hodes, SC, opposed this, saying
the farmer had been
fighting for six years for diplomatic protection. He
said the report
contained "irrelevant" information.
Constitutional
Court Judge President Pius Langa expressed extreme
displeasure at the way
the government had conducted its case, but postponed
the matter to February
26. He told the government to pay Von Abo's costs.
This
article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Times on November
12,
2008
Can the situation in Zimbabwe be
resolved by the West? Not unless someone wants to get his hands dirty.
Can Zimbabwe survive any longer? Not as we know it but will any-one admit
Zimbabwe has finally collapsed. Lets look at a couple of issues and see if
there is a way out.
ECONOMY
From a financial point all we hear or
read about is how the economy has
almost collapsed. ALMOST!! Who believes
that? The economy HAS collapsed.
When people have resorted to bartering
product for product without using
money, there is no economy. When no
electronic equipment can handle the
number of zeroes in a transaction there
is no economy. When the reserve
bank prints money as and when it feels like
it there is no economy. When a
loaf of bread (if you can find one) costs
more than the daily withdrawal
rate (which has a ridiculous number of
zeroes) at the banks (which often run
out of money) there is no economy.
When no-one honestly knows how much
anything costs (if you can find it) so
they attach arbitrary numbers which
change with every transaction there is
no economy. I could go on but you
get the point. Ludicrous statements such
as “Inflation is the worst in
history for a country not at war” really warm
the heart. My goodness who
believes that nonsense? Inflation cannot
practically be measured anymore,
even by Professor Hankey (no disrespect
Sir) because you need operating
income and expenditure figures to calculate
it. How do you calculate
inflation on exchanging 3 potatoes for 5
tomatoes? Even officialdom are
resorting to the barter system, the banks
are exchanging fuel coupons for
cheque books. There is no economy. Please
name the country that had a
worse inflation rate? Even post world war 2
Germany wasn’t that bad. The
US dollar was worth one million Reich marks in
1945 which is still worth a
hell of a lot more than 28.4 quadrillion
Zimbabwe dollars to one US dollar,
(quoted by swradioafrica.com yesterday)
and that’s after a whole bunch of
zero’s have been removed by Gideon Gono.
THERE IS NO ECONOMY. But no-one
does anything.
LAW AND ORDER
What
can be said about this? Actually nothing, there isn’t any. Thugs roam
free
to do as and what they please without any form of reprisal from any
form of
officialdom, as long as they are doing it in the name of ZANU PF.
Even the
state police get in on the act assisting rapists, looters and
murders carry
out their dastardly deeds. When productive farms are seized
it’s often the
police who are the first on the scene to evict the occupants,
and when the
farmer is beaten within an inch of his life they turn a blind
eye. When was
the last time anyone heard of the police responding
positively to a call for
assistance? The silence is deafening. I think the
whole world knows the
tragedy of a lawless country, is Zim really any
different to the warlord run
Somalia? Once again as recently as 17th
October this year heavy fighting
broke out across the city of Mogadishu, how
long before this starts
happening in Zimbabwe? Without a representative
government to control an
impartial police force and judiciary system, local
power will resort to
those who can keep it the longest, welcome the
warlords. The end result
people suffer and die. But no-one does anything.
HEALTH
The saddest
of all Zimbabwe’s woes. There is not a functioning hospital in
the entire
country, even the private clinics and nursing homes have ceased
to
effectively function and people die daily from a lack of even the most
basic
medical assistance. The children are the ones that suffer the most.
A
disturbing quote “In hospital we cannot feed them (starving children), at
least at home they can scrounge for things. We only keep those that we can
see won’t make it at home. We have lost the battle before we have fought it.
. . “(Mutare hospital staff member.) The doctors and medical staff who for
so long have battled bureaucracy, poor funding, no pay, power and water
interruptions, no functioning sewerage systems, the list goes on, all
deserve sainthood. Is it any surprise they leave in their droves? The
streets are filled with uncollected rubbish, the sewerage systems have
broken down a long time ago and people literally live within spitting
distance of raw sewerage that has spilled onto the streets. The fresh water
supplies are no longer working at anything near capacity and are often
contaminated due to the failed sewerage system. Cholera has already claimed
numerous lives, how long before it reaches epidemic proportions? And who
will deal with it when it does? The medical fraternity within the country
cannot for obvious reasons, and the international community cannot because
the “government” won’t let them. The end result, people die. But no-one
does anything.
AGRICULTURE
We all know what happened here. A
country that could feed itself and half
the rest of sub Saharan Africa not
so long ago has almost half the
population requiring urgent food aid and for
a sizeable chunk of that
population it may be too late already. Once
productive commercial farms lie
fallow having produced nothing for some
time. The rains have come but who’s
planting? Most of the best farms are
in the hands of government officials
and if it can be believed some foreign
hands also. The Chinese are reputed
to have been given farm land in
exchange for goods which never see the light
of day for the public, and it
is even rumored Mbeki has a farm in Zim.
Could this be why he is reluctant
to condemn Mugabe? That is all
speculation but what is fact is that
Zimbabwe cannot feed itself, and
although I am not totally apposed to a well
managed and controlled land
reform process I am totally apposed to the
wholesale removal of farmers from
productive commercial farms because they
happen to be white. The end
result, the nation starves and people die. But
no-one does anything.
EDUCATION
Zimbabwe without question had the best
education system in Africa and one of
the best in the world. People
educated in Zimbabwe have gone on to attain
greatness in industry, medicine,
finance, education, politics the list goes
on. Students educated in
Zimbabwe have been admitted to some of the most
prominent tertiary
institutions in the world based on their education in
Zimbabwe.. Today it
is all gone. Schools have closed, teachers have left
in search of greener
pastures, those that have remained are hamstrung by a
failed system,
students living too far away to walk cannot attend classes
because they
cannot afford the transport, and the cost of education has
exceeded the
income of many households so they stopped sending their
children to school
in favor of saving the few dollars they do have to buy
food. ‘O’ and ‘A’
level examinations, once the envy of many an education
system are on the
brink of collapse as a teachers strike has threatened to
scotch the 2008
examination process. The teachers are striking over poor
wages and
conditions. In some areas, chiefs and headmen and even the
military have
been called in to invigilate the examinations after repeated
calls by the
teachers union to postpone the examinations fell on deaf ears.
The integrity
of the exams are now seriously in doubt. Education is the
backbone of any
nation and all that is happening in Zimbabwe provides a very
dim view of the
future of the country. And no-one does anything.
GOVERNMENT
Ah the
government, the best for last. Zimbabwe has been without a
representative
government for 8 months, and without a rational, sensible,
for the people
type of government for years. At the height of the current
crisis (Mbeki
probably still denies there is a crisis) Mugabe would have us
believe it is
nothing more that propaganda perpetrated by the British and
Americans to
discredit him. Perhaps Mbeki is right there is no crisis in
Zimbabwe that
is if you are a member of Mugabe’s inner circle. If Mugabe
wants a piece of
prime rump steak with all the trimmings for dinner, washed
down with
expensive wine, he gets it. If Mugabe wants to jet off to the new
Zambian
president’s inauguration he goes. There’s always enough fuel. You
never
hear of any politburo member standing in long queues at the bank or
waiting
hours and sometimes days at filling stations for fuel. The air
force did a
fly by to celebrate Mugabe’s “victory” in the laughable election
re-run.
How much desperately needed medicine could the cost of that little
indulgence have bought. Most of the politburo drive flashy imported SUV’s
that most people in the real world cannot afford. The nation starves and
the government trades ivory for guns. It’s true it is an unconfirmed
allegation but under the current circumstances totally believable. How
about the ZANY PF (Not a spelling error) planning a massive feast for their
annual congress. How many starving people could you feed with 1000 cattle,
500 goats, 500 sheep and 5000 chickens?
For all his failings, Ian Smith
was driven around in the same car for almost
20 years, what did that save
the taxpayer? Maybe not a great deal in real
terms but it said something
about the man. Mugabe despises the West but he’s
happy to be driven around
in the latest Mercedes Benz limousine costing many
thousands of scarce
foreign dollars. He has replaced his vehicle at least a
dozen times in 28
years. Ineptitude, mismanagement, corruption, murder,
rape, pillaging, and
assault it’s all in a days work for the government. At
this they are
masters, under the tutelage of the grand master himself, the
President.
They have run a dynamic, prosperous God given country into total
ruin at the
expense of the people, a people with no future and even less
hope. And
no-one does anything
This is the government which Morgan Tsvangerai was
hoping to do business
with, the poor man. You have to admire his
determination and courage to
persevere under the most extreme political
prejudice imaginable. Will he
succeed, I doubt it even the circus called
the SADC could not help him. The
African union is equally powerless and the
rest of the world sit insulated
in their warm safe havens and condemn “in
the strongest possible terms”
Mugabe and his cronies. And what has that
achieved? Absolutely nothing.
Impose a travel ban on Mugabe and several of
his senior hit men that will
fix them. You have to laugh, they still seem
to be able to travel freely to
wherever they please. Mugabe has attended
how many summits, conferences and
debates in countries he is supposed to be
banned from visiting. He traveled
to Lisbon for the EU and African leaders’
summit in November 2007 despite an
EU travel ban. Very effective that ban
was! In June he flew to Italy for
the food crisis summit despite the ban.
Oh no but it was organized by the
UN so he was allowed to go. Maybe I’m a
bit stupid but I thought a ban was
a ban. All this foreign travel has cost
the foreign currency beleaguered
nation how much? I’ll leave it to the
experts to calculate but suffice it
to say I’m willing to bet it was money
meant for something else, like
medicine or some such other insignificant
trifle. And no-one does anything.
Lets look at the current state of
affairs surrounding the supposed power
sharing deal. This deal was doomed
to failure before it ever got off the
ground and poor Mr. Tsvangerai has
been on a hiding to nothing from the
start. Did anyone including Mr.
Tsvangerai really believe Mugabe was ready
to back off and accept the
sharing of power? My God the reaction to the
March elections should have
started ringing bells somewhere that this man
was apposed to any kind of
defeat. This is Robert Mugabe we are talking
about here. As long as he
draws breath he will never relinquish his grip on
power and the sooner the
rest of the world realizes this the sooner
something can be done about it.
Mugabe is destined to die in office because
he believes he is the president
for life, and that to him means for life.
So what now? I believe we can
do something, Indulge me if you will. Leave
him alone and let him self
destruct. This will happen, it is just a
question of time, but as long as
the rest of the world and especially Africa
pander to this maniac the longer
this is going to take. America, Britain
and the European Union must back
off and leave this mess to sort itself out.
It’s useless saying “but the
people are suffering”. Yes they are suffering.
Unimaginable hardship, but
have any of the useless bans and sanctions and
condemnations eased their
suffering? I think we can all agree the answer is
a resounding NO. Unless
the West has the balls to militarily invade
Zimbabwe aka Afghanistan and
Iraq (there’s no oil in Zimbabwe so the
Americans will definitely not
invade) then stop the words and leave them
alone. Every time Brown or Bush
has anything to say Mugabe says “I told you
so, this is all their fault.”
The AU and SADC have proved beyond any
question of a doubt they lack the
fortitude to force Mugabe’s hand and as
Tsvangerai put it “look Mugabe in
the eye and tell him he’s wrong..” For
goodness sake the man refused to
leave the room so the SADC could discuss
the talks and make a decision and
they backed down and let him stay! How
bizarre is that? All the words of
the rest of the world are doing nothing
to help the people of Zimbabwe, and
if these same people of Zimbabwe who
have suffered beyond measure cannot
stand up and fend for themselves what
will your words do anyway?
We
know the situation in Zimbabwe is totally unacceptable to any rational
human
being, which is why it does not worry Mugabe, he ceased to be human a
long
time ago, so unless the nations of the world who have the means to
physically remove Mugabe from power will not do that keep quiet and let him
self destruct. Withhold any aid; be it financial, food, medicine,
agricultural or whatever until Mugabe is gone. If you want to ban him from
traveling then BAN HIM! That means NO traveling and NO exceptions. Expel
all his diplomats and send them home. He is like a cancer feeding on all
the attention. Take away his food source and he will shrivel and die. The
country has already collapsed so let it finish as it started from inside
Zimbabwe. If the AU and SADC are happy to leave him in power then let them
provide the aid for his ZANU PF machine.
I don’t see millions of tons of
food crossing the borders from Zambia, South
Africa, Mozambique or Botswana
to alleviate the plight of the people. I don’t
see truck loads of
medicines, spare parts and sewerage pumps poring in from
those same
countries. He looked East fore assistance, but I don’t see
Chinese aid
poring into the country, unless you call guns aid. I do see
refugees being
deported back to Zimbabwe, I do see refugees being harassed
and in some
cases brutalized at the hands of the citizens in the countries
where they
have sought refuge, I do see the African power base pandering to
a demonic
despot, I do see a lunatic thumbing his nose at the rest of the
world and
getting away with it. Again I say back off and leave him to his
own devices
unless you are prepared to physically remove him, which would
probably make
him a martyr. If the poor suffering people are not prepared
to stand up and
be counted what chance have your words.
A final word. Mugabe said only
God can remove him from power, so be it.
MH
Botswana
HARARE, 12 November 2008 (IRIN) - Derrick Jimu,
56, has still not come to terms with the death of his son from cholera in the
low-income suburb of Budiriro, in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. So far more than
20 lives have been lost in this area, and the epidemic has now spread beyond the
city.
Photo:
Foto Mapfumu/IRIN
Uncollected garbage in
Harare
"Samson had just graduated with a degree in community medicine
from the University of Zimbabwe. I remember the days when he would come back
from university and we would discuss a host of disease outbreaks that we faced
in this country. He always warned me that our suburb was sitting on a cholera
time bomb.
"My son was in the process of obtaining his work permit,
after being promised a job in Namibia. A day before he was taken ill, he told me
that the job was well-paying and he promised that he would look after the whole
family.
"I put the blame for his death squarely on the city officials
and the government. They have turned a blind eye to the health hazards in our
area for too long, despite repeated pleas from residents.
"For the past
six months we have had no running water, the health department is not repairing
broken sewer pipes, and every time we approach them for help they tell us they
are on their way, or simply inform us that they do not have the vehicles or
fuel.
"Samson was correct when he said we were sitting on a time bomb.
We are now accustomed to sewage flowing on the doorsteps and sometimes inside
the houses.
"Children play in the sewage, and ponds of the contaminated
water are attracting armies of flies. Without regular supplies of clean water,
it means the food we eat is unhygienic, and most of it is sold in the open.
"In order to beat the water problem, most of us here have dug wells, but
that will not solve our problem because raw sewage from underground burst pipes
seeps into the wells from which we draw water for cooking, washing and drinking.
"My son would still be alive if the health system was still functioning
normally. When he developed severe diarrhoea, we rushed him to a government
hospital but we were told that they could not help us because nurses and doctors
were on strike.
"Private hospitals now demand foreign currency upfront
and by the time we managed to raise it, Samson's condition could not be
salvaged.
"Besides losing him, I am now also deep in debt. Because
mortuary staff were also on strike, it took me three days to be able to claim
his body for burial, and that was after bribing one of them. Municipal cemetery
attendants also demanded a bribe in order to allocate me a grave number, and to
dig the grave.
"My woes did not end there, because city health officials
came to the funeral and instructed me to delay the burial because the body had
to be wrapped in special plastic paper that we could not readily get, while a
quarrel between them and my relatives erupted when body viewing was limited to
the immediate family.
"If water is not restored and nothing is done to
fix the sewage problem, Harare will definitely run out of burial space, because
the cholera outbreak is spreading too fast."
11 November
2008
The Combined Harare Residents Association
(CHRA) is disillusioned by the continuous reluctance that is being displayed by
the defacto ZANU PF government in
solving the water crisis in
The cholera incidence has been rife in Budiriro (that has gone for weeks without water supplies), claiming more than twenty lives in the past two weeks. The government claims to have, through the RBZ, availed large sums of money, fuel and vehicles to ZINWA so as to alleviate the water situation but nothing has been seen on the ground and residents face the risk of an increase in the cholera incidence.
The defacto government has failed to formulate sustainable development and poverty alleviation policies which benefit the masses but have concentrated on selfish ends which have seen the September 15 Global Political Agreement implementation heavily compromised. In the traditional fashion of the arm-twisting of state institutions for partisan and self gratification, the ZANU PF Government defied all reason and went ahead with the ZINWA takeover of water and sewer management from the local authorities in 2006. The decision has resulted in untold water inadequacies and subsequent disease outbreaks and deaths from cholera and other related diseases, in the light of the collapsed health sector.
The government has continued to cry foul,
citing sanctions and other limitations while skirting the obvious strategic and
disastrous blunder they made when they took water and sewer management away from
the local authorities. The water crisis in the city cannot be solved by the
current defacto government; this
government has a legacy of porous systems which will see the money disbursed by
the RBZ finding its way to
CHRA cannot brook piecemeal solutions and will continue to call for the democratization and constitutionalisation of local government which would allow the residents effective participation in local governance, semi-autonomy of local governance guard against the heavy interference of central government in local government. The Association will continue to coordinate residents’ efforts in advocating and demanding accountability, transparency, professionalism and non-partisanship in local governance and quality municipal service delivery.
Combined Harare Residents Association
(CHRA)
145 Robert Mugabe
Way
Exploration House, Third Floor
Harare
Landline: 00263- 4-
705114
Contacts:
12th November 2008
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Zimbabwean musicians Oliver Mtukudzi and Alick Macheso perform live for two joint shows in the UK this month.
Oliver Mtukudzi has had a very successful year of international touring in Canada, the USA, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. His unique brand of Tuku Music-which is a combination of Mbaqana, guitar and traditional instruments and Oliver's deep soulful vocals- has been gaining mass appeal globally making him Zimbabwe's truly international superstar. Mtukudzi has released a staggering 55 albums in over thirty years and is due to release his 56th 'Dairai' soon. See www.tukumusic.com
Alick Macheso known to his legions of fans as 'Cheso Power' is an immensely talented musician. Parallels can be drawn here with Oliver Mtukudzi. He sings, plays guitar, dances and has also just completed a busy itinerary of international touring. Macheso has been hailed as the King of Sungura Music-a very popular, heavily guitar-based genre of Zimbabwean music. He has been recording and performing for nearly a decade and has released several albums with his group Orchestra Mberikwazvo. He is responsible for the popular 'Razor Wire', a dance craze that has swept the streets of Harare. See www.chesopower.co.zw
Joab Mugugu from Phab Entertainment says: "We are very thrilled to bring together Zimbabwe's biggest artistes together performing on the same stage to the UK audience. The last time that Oliver Mtukudzi and Alick Macheso shared the stage here was both electrifying and an instant sell-out and so we are looking for these two shows to be even bigger and better. It will be the biggest end of year party."
Concert information as follows:
Date: Friday 21st November 2008
Time: 8pm till late
Tickets: £25 Advance (contact 07799 066 075 for ticket information)
Media Contact: Sylvester Mutsigwa at: press.pmmediamanagement@gmail.com or Ph 07958591338.