Zim Online
Sat 19
November 2005
HARARE - Zimbabwe's economic conditions have worsened
in 2005 compared
to the previous year, with gross domestic product (GDP)
expected to plunge
7.2 percent, according to International Monetary Fund
(IMF)'s annual
economic review released this week.
The decline
in GDP follows an improvement in 2004, when the economy
contracted by only
4.2 percent when central bank led economic reforms
averted a total collapse
of the southern African economy. GDP declined by
10.7 percent in
2003.
But last year's gains have been eroded, with inflation, which
had
eased to 230 percent early this year, accelerating to 411 percent in
October
this year and is seen reaching its peak of 624 percent attained last
year in
January.
The IMF said the forecast of a 7.2 percent GDP
decline this year is
due to continued sharp falls in agricultural output, as
well as accelerating
inflation and shortages of foreign exchange, which have
stoked shortages of
basic goods, diesel and
fertilizers.
Analysts concurred with the Bretton
Woods institution, which urged
President Robert Mugabe's government to
implement comprehensive economic and
structural reforms, but doubted Harare
had the political will to implement
far-reaching economic
reforms.
"This has been the call by the Fund now and it was the
point of
departure when they stopped lending money to us," consultant
economist John
Robertson said yesterday.
"Until such a time
when the government comes up with bold measures to
address the problems
there is no telling when this crisis will end."
The IMF repeated
calls made by many Zimbabweans that the government
should exercise fiscal
restraint through cuts in the public sector wage bill
and added that
adequate food security and social safety nets would need to
be provided to
vulnerable groups, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS and
a controversial
demolition of houses earlier this year.
It also urged Harare to
fully liberalise the exchange rate regime, one
of the sticking points with
donors, and to leave the determination of the
exchange rate to the
market.
The reintroduction of the interbank market for foreign
currency last
month has failed to ease crippling forex shortages with some
exporters
blaming central bank intervention for a static exchange
rate.
"A credible exchange rate is one that is determined by the
market.
This is not what we are seeing at the moment because the Reserve
Bank is
giving direction on what rates they are comfortable with," James
Jowa, a
Harare-based economic commentator told ZimOnline.
The
IMF welcomed the recent monetary tightening, but noted that
further
sustained tightening would be required although commending the
central
bank's efforts to strengthen banking supervision.
Its prescription
for an economic turnaround included deregulation,
public enterprise reform,
fiscal reform, and particularly civil service
reform, land and agricultural
reform and improvements in governance to
increase investor
confidence.
The international money lender said it welcomed
Zimbabwe's surprise
loan payments which have substantially reduced arrears,
but sought
clarification regarding the source of funds Harare used to make
the
payment. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Sat 19 November 2005
HARARE - Like every
child his age Shamiso Mutete (not his real name),
would love to play with
the toys everyday after school.
But life in Harare's
poverty-stricken Kuwadzana suburb appears
determined to deny the 11-year old
Mutete the opportunity to be a child. For
at the toll of the last bell
everyday at the government-run Kuwadzana
primary school, Mutete must
transform from being a carefree child into a
seasoned bread winner for his
family.
From school he dashes home to change from his school
uniform and to
eat a little lunch - if there is something to eat that day -
before he
rushes to the local supermarket to buy several cartons of
cigarettes.
The grade-six pupil is already good friends with shop
assistants at
the supermarket who always ensure they reserve enough cartons
of the most
cigarette brands for the youngster.
Come the
evening and the hard work begins for Mutete and his two
friends at Sunset
Nightclub in the suburb where they sell cigarettes to
patrons, among them
prostitutes, thieves, petty drug dealers and factory
workers relaxing after
a hard day's work in Harare's poor-paying industries.
"I help raise
money to pay for my school fees and food for my family
from selling
cigarettes here," says the shy boy, who says he dreams of
becoming a pilot
one day - a dream the youngster may never nurture to
reality if he continues
plying beerhalls every other night.
But Simba, the bar tender, is
quick to defend Mutete and her friends.
Simba says bars and nightclubs would
normally not allow people below the age
of 18 but according to the barman,
Zimbabwe is no longer a normal country
and neither are Mutete and his
friends living up a normal child's life.
"It's not a normal
situation but we are not in a normal country
either," says Simba, the
emphasis in his words indicating his firm
conviction that the rules and
norms must be broken in order to help the poor
children raise much needed
cash.
He continued: "Conditions in the bar are obviously not
conducive for
such young children. But we also know that they are not street
children.
They are from proper families too poor to fend for the children so
they get
their survival from here."
You just need to listen to
the young Mutete speaking to learn how true
the barman's words
are.
Mutete's parents are all alive but they are among the millions
of
unemployed Zimbabweans and the little money his father raises as a
part-time
shoe cobbler is not just enough to feed the family let alone send
children
to school.
This is how the 11-year old narrates his
situation: "I envy some of my
classmates when they talk about their
favourite TV shows because for me
there is no time to watch TV. It is work
and work, otherwise we will starve.
"My school fees is $280 000
(about US$4) a term. After raising the
schools fees by selling cigarettes I
try to raise some more money so I could
assist my father to pay the rent and
water bills as well as buy some food."
Such is the plight of an
increasing number of Zimbabwe's children as
the southern African nation
battles an economic meltdown described by the
World Bank as unseen in a
country not at war.
The six year-old crisis has seen inflation
shooting to beyond 400
percent while food, fuel, electricity, clean water
for cities, hard cash,
essential medical drugs and just about every basic
survival commodity is in
critical short supply.
The main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change party and
government critics blame
the crisis on repression and economic mismanagement
by President Robert
Mugabe.
But Mugabe, Zimbabwe's sole ruler since independence 25
years ago,
denies ruining the once prosperous country, saying its food and
economic
problems are because of sabotage by Western countries opposed to
his seizure
of land from whites and giving it over to blacks.
Critics blame the land seizures - which Mugabe says were necessary to
correct an unjust colonial land tenure system that gave all the best land to
whites - for destabilisng the agricultural sector, causing a 60 percent drop
in food output.
Whatever the causes of Zimbabwe's economic and
food crisis, the
children have been the hardest hit according to Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) president Lovemore Matombo.
Matombo, who was last week arrested for organising anti-poverty
demonstrations, says child labour was on the rise as many under-age children
were being forced to work to help their parents raise cash for
survival.
"Some of the cases are of children who have been forced
to head
families because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. But we are now witnessing
a
growing trend where children, whose parents are still alive are forced to
work part-time and supplement family incomes. It's an unfortunate trend that
is on the rise," says the union leader.
Thomas Chitewe, from
Help Our Children, a local group formed to
mobilise assistance for children
from poor families, concurred with Matombo.
He said: "The economic
climate has had devastating and horrendous
effects on Zimbabwean children.
Many no longer enjoy their childhood because
they are forced to become
adults at an early age. Many families can't afford
to give their children
the life that they deserve because of poverty."
But Mutete and his
friends must consider themselves lucky that they
can sell cigarettes and
still go to school.
Not so for 14-year old Mavis Rukuni, who says
she was forced to
abandon school altogether and become a housemaid for a
richer family in town
so she could raise money for her parents and
siblings.
She told ZimOnline: "My parents did not have money to
send me to
school. I had to look for work and I send some of my money back
to the
village so that my parents and remaining younger sister and brother
can
use." - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Sat 19 November 2005
JOHANNESBURG - Led by the tiny hand
of her 11-year old daughter, who
is dressed in a skimpy red skirt and a
faded white top, Anna Mazango trails
across to a bench at Joubert Park in
central Johannesburg.
Mazango, who is blind, is engrossed in an
animated discussion in Shona
with her daughter Tariro, interrupted only by
the regular outbursts of
laughter that pierces through the din of the heavy
early morning traffic
passing by.
On a patch of lawn not far
from the blind mother and her daughter, a
large group of young men converse
loudly in a blend of the Shona language
indigenous to Zimbabwe and the
Ndebele language found both in South Africa
and Zimbabwe.
Sporting rugged jeans and T-shirts confirming a shared loyalty to
South
Africa's two leading soccer clubs, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs,
each
one of the young men finds an opportunity to pull out of the
conversation
and take loyal puffs out of the circulating dagga joint.
Outside
the park, it is business as usual for the rest of the
sprawling metropolitan
of Johannesburg.
But behind the relative serenity exuded by these
Zimbabweans here, is
a gripping story of how they fled their troubled
motherland in search of a
better life in South Africa.
The
stories of their "Great Trek" southwards are as dramatic as the
tales of how
they met and came to be friends in a hostile city, where danger
and death
lurk in the dark alleys.
For Mazango, coming to Johannesburg was
never part of her plans. She
says she left Harare in June after her shack
was destroyed by the government
during the controversial "Operation
Murambatsvina" clean-up campaign.
The United Nations says at least
700 000 people were left homeless
after President Robert Mugabe's government
destroyed thousands of houses and
backyard shacks in what the Zimbabwean
leader said was an attempt to restore
the beauty of cities and
towns.
Another 2.4 million people were also directly affected by
the clean-up
exercise, according to the world body's special envoy Anna
Tibaijuka who
probed the housing demolitions.
"When I left
Harare, I was fleeing from the police who wanted to take
us to a holding
camp outside the city. We heard that there was no food at
the camp so I
decided to flee to my rural home in Bikita.
"But along the way a
friend, who is also blind, convinced me that
rural life held no promise for
disabled people. So we decided to hike free
rides in buses until we got to
Beitbridge.
"Begging proved just as difficult as it was in Harare,
so we were
again forced to leave. Through arrangements with some bus crews,
we paid our
way to Johannesburg," said Mazango.
Mazango says
after she arrived in Johannesburg, she expected a quick
change of
fortune.
She was in for a rude surprise.
Amid the
glitter and glamour of the "City of Gold" as Johannesburg is
affectionately
known, Mazango says she was met with open hostility on the
streets and cold
indifference at the Refugee Reception desk at South
Africa's department of
home affairs.
"Officials at the refugee reception told me I was
lying that Mugabe
was being cruel even to the disabled. The officials said
being blind did not
make one qualify for refugee status.
"They
even suggested that I hand over the child to an orphanage if I
was unable to
care for her. But I cannot hand over the child into an
orphanage because she
is my eyes," she says, clutching her daughter closer.
Frank Mbuso,
one of the young men smoking dagga and chatting about
soccer, has a
different story to tell.
"No one knew I was coming to Johannesburg
and I had never been here
before. All I had was a phone number and an
address for my uncle. I told the
men who smuggled me here that the uncle had
agreed to pay the fare upon my
arrival.
"When we got here, I
phoned my uncle who said he had no money and he
did not know of my coming,
so the men said they would hold me till he paid.
They also promised they
would start beating me up daily until they took me
back home if the money
was not paid," said Mbuso.
Mbuso says he was kept in "detention"
for close to a week before he
bolted to safety. He survives by taking odd
jobs in Johannesburg.
The odd jobs pay him just enough to be able
to buy some food and to
pay bribes to Johannesburg's police officers, who
are notorious for
demanding bribes from illegal immigrants who are only
eager to pay to avoid
being deported out of the country.
Summing up the plight of not only these Zimbabwean immigrants gathered
in
the park here but of the hundreds of thousands more illegal immigrants
in
the other parts of South Africa, the 24-year old Mbuso added: "It is the
suffering and the constant fear of arrest and deportation that brings us
together."
There are millions of Zimbabweans living in South
Africa, the majority
of them illegally, after fleeing their country because
of political
persecution and worsening hunger over the last five
years.
Nkosinathi Tshuma, of the Heal Zimbabwe Trust in
Johannesburg that
assists the immigrants, said there has been a renewed
upsurge in the number
of Zimbabweans flocking to South Africa as hunger and
economic hardship
worsened in recent months.
"At the moment
the number of people arriving is so high that
humanitarian organisations and
churches are simply getting overwhelmed,"
said Tshuma.
With
thousands more refugees expected from Zimbabwe, it remains to be
seen
whether the South African government will finally and officially
acknowledge
the humanitarian crisis spilling over from its northern
neighbour and
mobilise local and international support for the refugees. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Sat 19 November 2005
HARARE - Twenty United States (US)
non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), including churches, have petitioned
the US government to allow
Zimbabweans living in that country to remain even
after the expiry of their
visas until conditions in the crisis-hit southern
African nation improved.
In a letter sent to Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff on
Thursday this week, the groups said persistent
human rights violations by
President Robert Mugabe's government and its
mismanagement of Zimbabwe's
economy made it dangerous for Zimbabweans to
return to the country.
The NGOs said Zimbabweans already in the US
should be granted
Temporary Protection Status (TPS) to enable them to stay
in that country.
The TPS allows nationals of mostly strife-torn countries
deemed unsafe to
return to, to remain in the US until conditions in such a
country improve.
The US groups' letter read in part: "Thousands of
Zimbabwean nationals
living in the United States - including students and
professionals - where
asylum is not a viable option yet would find it
impossible to return to
Zimbabwe safely due to the extraordinary conditions
of political and
economic insecurity that currently prevail.
"For these individuals, Temporary Protected Status is needed in order
to
prevent them from being forced to return home to a country that is
unwilling
or unable to provide its citizens with basic protections."
Among
organisations that signed the petition include several US-based
African and
Asian groups such as: African and Asian Ethiopian Community
Development
Council, Church World Service/Immigration and Refugee Program,
Episcopal
Migration Ministries, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, Kurdish Human
Rights
Watch, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Southeast Asia
Resource
Action Center.
It was not possible yesterday to establish from
Chertoff's office when
it planned to respond to the NGOs'
letter.
An estimated four million Zimbabweans are living in exile
after
fleeing a severe political and economic crisis gripping the southern
African
nation for the past six years. Many of the Zimbabwean exiles live in
South
Africa, Botswana, Britain, US, Canada and New Zealand.
Zimbabwe's crisis has seen inflation shooting beyond 400 percent while
fuel,
food, electricity, essential medical drugs, clean water for cities,
hard
cash and just about every other basic survival commodity is in critical
short supply.
Critics blame the crisis on repression and
economic mismanagement by
Mugabe. But the Zimbabwe leader, at the helm since
the country's
independence from Britain 25 years ago, denies ruining the
country.
Mugabe instead claims Zimbabwe's problems are because of
sabotage by
Western countries out to punish his government for seizing land
from whites
and giving it to landless blacks.
The NGOs' appeal
for Zimbabweans to be allowed to remain in the US
comes as British
authorities last August halted the forced deportation of
Zimbabweans saying
they could be in danger if they were sent back to their
country. -
ZimOnline
IOL
November 18 2005
at 07:49AM
By Angus Shaw
Harare - Civic and human
rights groups urged African leaders on Friday
to pressure Zimbabwe to
restore the rule of law and end human rights
violations.
An
alliance of 25 groups said the Zimbabwe government mostly ignored
calls by
the African Commission on Human and People's Rights to observe
human
rights.
In a report in January, the Africa Commission criticised
Zimbabwe for
enforcing repressive media and security laws, failing to
guarantee the
independence of the judiciary and allowing politics to
influence the work of
police and state agents.
"Respect for the
rule of law has deteriorated further since the Africa
Commission's report
was published," the alliance said.
The alliance of churches,
lawyers and doctors groups and civic
organisations cited an eviction
campaign in May and June.
The United Nations estimated the
demolition of thousands of homes,
shacks and markets in a campaign across
the country known in the local Shona
language as Operation Murambatsvina, or
Clean Out the Trash, left at least
700 000 people homeless.
In
carrying out the evictions, police "repeatedly failed to act within
the law,
ignored court orders, beat people and destroyed their property,"
the
alliance said in a statement.
The African Commission human rights
body is scheduled to meet in
Banjul in the West African nation of Gambia
next week, ahead of a summit of
the continent-wide African Union in
January.
The alliance said Zimbabwe authorities continued to harass
charities,
voluntary organisations and independent journalists and restrict
fundamental
rights of freedom of movement, free expression, equal protection
of the law
and access to the nation's courts for redress.
"Almost none of the African Commission's recommendations have been
implemented," said the alliance.
In a separate statement,
Amnesty International and affiliated
international and Zimbabwe groups
called on African leaders "to end their
long silence on human rights
violations in Zimbabwe".
They said the evictions forced tens of
thousands of people to return
to impoverished rural areas where already
there was not enough food. The
government was unwilling or unable to provide
affected families with minimum
essential levels of food, water, shelter and
medical care, they said.
"African states have remained
conspicuously silent and have not
demonstrated the political will to respond
to the human rights crisis in
Zimbabwe," the statement said.
It
said more than four million of the 12.5 million population were
currently in
need of food aid and tens of thousands were in need of clean
water and
sanitation.
But the government was limiting food distribution and
restricting the
work of charities trying to assist in water and sanitary
programmes, it
said.
The government routinely does not respond
to the charges of civic and
human rights groups.
It insists the
eviction campaign was to remove illegal dwellings and
curb black market
trading by street vendors and stall holders. It denies the
country is facing
a humanitarian crisis.
Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic
crisis since independence in
1980, with acute shortages of food, gasoline
and medicines and other
essential imports. Inflation has soared to 411
percent, one of the highest
rates in the world, and unemployment has reached
80 percent.
The meltdown has been blamed on government
mismanagement, corruption
and the often violence seizures of at least 5 000
white-owned commercial
farms since 2000.
About 300 people have
died in political violence since 2000 and
thousands of cases of politically
motivated assaults, kidnapping, rape and
torture have been reported by human
rights groups. - Sapa-AP
The Herald
(Harare)
November 18, 2005
Posted to the web November 18,
2005
Harare
THIEVES have vandalised 25 Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (Zesa)
Holdings transformers worth about $25 billion in Harare
alone in recent
months, plunging some parts of the city into
darkness.
Zesa Holdings general manager for corporate communications Mr
James Maridadi
said yesterday in an interview some of the affected areas
included parts of
Mabvuku and Hatfield.
"Thieves have vandalised the
25 transformers by either draining oil or
stealing copper cables and it cost
in the region of between $500 million and
$1 billion to replace a single
transformer.
"Although the transformers that had been vandalised can be
repaired, some
that include the one in Mabvuku and the other one in Hatfield
are beyond
repair so we have to find replacements," he said.
Some
parts of Mabvuku and Hatfield have been without electricity for the
past
three weeks owing to the vandalism of the transformers.
Mr Maridadi said
Zesa Holdings was working round the clock to restore
electricity in the
affected areas through alternatives that included
power-sharing
arrangements.
Thieves were believed to be taking advantage of the
temporary power cuts to
vandalise the transformers before selling either the
drained oil or copper
cables on the black market.
Zesa Holdings, he
said, had officers who made routine patrols but it
appeared the thieves were
outwitting them.
Mr Maridadi appealed to local authorities and members of
the public to
assist in curbing the vandalism of
transformers.
Vandalism of electricity infrastructure and theft of
overhead conductors and
underground cables is rampant and accounts for 70
percent of power outages.
In Harare alone, replacement of stolen material
is costing the power utility
about $20 billion a month.
The Herald
(Harare)
November 18, 2005
Posted to the web November 18,
2005
Harare
SOME suburbs in Harare and its satellite towns will
have water cuts of up to
12 hours in every 48 hours to ensure that all areas
receive water at
adequate pressure for at least the other 36
hours.
The local authorities and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority
(Zinwa) -
which provides the bulk supplies - have agreed to the rotational
cuts in
order to cope as demand exceeds the maximum supply of 600 million
litres a
day.
Zinwa board chairman Mr Willie Muringani said yesterday
demand had risen to
750 million litres a day and parts of Harare,
Chitungwiza, Ruwa and Epworth
have been facing a critical shortage with
Norton having been without water
the whole of this week.
Only
Harare's central and southern suburbs had adequate supplies since,
without
demand management, they get what is available first.
Although water is
pumped to the reservoirs that serve northern and eastern
Harare, Ruwa and
Norton, it is not enough. Low reservoir levels mean low
pressure and,
consequently, some users going without water.
Mr Muringani said the new
water demand management system had been introduced
in consultation with the
local authorities of Harare, Chitungwiza, Ruwa,
Norton and
Epworth.
"The demand management involves cutting off supplies to one
section of the
town, and transferring the resultant saved water to another
section. The
boosted reservoir levels will help to achieve satisfactory
pressures which
enable water to be accessible to consumers in each section
on alternate
days," he said.
Under the previous system, the supply to
Chitungwiza was throttled while the
feeders to Ruwa, Epworth and other
Harare suburbs were closed on alternate
days.
But this was not
working. Water had to be continually pumped to Ruwa after
officials advised
of the critical shortages in the town. Ruwa has grow so
fast that even with
a 24-hour bulk supply, the town does not get enough
water and the local
board has to ration households. The new system will see
supplies cut in
rotation to all areas so that each of them will have a
decent supply most of
the time.
Zinwa, Mr Muringani said, had discussed the issue with the
local
authorities' technical staff, who were now implementing the demand
management programme in tandem with Zinwa's programme.
The peak water
demand for Harare Metropolitan Province during the hot season
is 750 million
litres per day while the current optimum output of treatment
works is 600
million litres, leaving a deficit of 150 million litres.
Mr Muringani
said more than 40 percent of the produced water was lost
through leaks
throughout the distribution network, which was archaic and
needed complete
overhaul.
The Zinwa chief said there was need to rehabilitate existing
treatment works
and to construct an additional treatment plant with a
capacity of 200
million litres a day to cover for the
shortfall.
Local authorities were urged to pay Zinwa on time and repair
leaks within
their reticulation.
Remitting dues to Zinwa timely would
enable the authority to re-invest and
maintain water
infrastructure.
Turning to quality, he said water produced by the
authority met World Health
Organisation standards.
However, Mr
Muringani said, it was possible for the water to be contaminated
through
openings created by pipe bursts or through pipes after repair work.
Water
could also be contaminated in storage tanks on sites such as hotels
and
institutions as this increased retention time of the water, thereby
depleting residual chlorine. There was also the possibility of
cross-contamination in the pipes through spillages from sewerage
leaks.
Mr Muringani called upon industry and other stakeholders to
contribute
towards the maintenance of quality raw water by reducing
pollution, adding
that currently the water levels were low and this
compromised the quality.
Since taking over the distribution of bulk water
supply in May this year,
Zinwa has made tremendous progress towards
addressing the water situation.
To this end, it has commissioned four
high-lift pumps at Morton Jaffray
waterworks and another two at Prince
Edward Dam.
This, Mr Muringani said, had stabilised water output and
reduced losses
significantly.
The distribution of bulk water is a
joint project between Zinwa and local
authorities with the former tasked
with distribution of water to reservoirs
while the latter are responsible
for all reticulation, distribution to
consumers - such as households,
schools, hospitals and business premises -
within their administrative
boundaries, and maintenance of infrastructure.
The Zinwa chairman paid
tribute to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and
Government for funding and
supporting the authority.
The Herald
(Harare)
November 18, 2005
Posted to the web November 18,
2005
George Maponga
Masvingo
THREE people and 130 cattle have
succumbed to an anthrax outbreak that has
hit most parts of Masvingo
Province in the past few weeks.
The dead are from Bikita, the worst
affected area where 14 livestock deaths
were reported.
The resurgence
of anthrax cases in both humans and livestock has raised
alarm bells in the
Department of Veterinary Services which has expressed
concern at the impact
of the outbreak on the province's beef herd.
Acting provincial veterinary
officer for Masvingo Dr Charity Sibanda
yesterday confirmed the
anthrax-related deaths of the three people and
scores of cattle in
Bikita.
Dr Sibanda said it was disturbing that the highly contagious
disease had
resurfaced in Masvingo this year in the aftermath of a massive
anthrax
outbreak last year, which almost decimated the province's beef
herd.
"There has been an outbreak of anthrax in the province over the
past few
weeks which has already claimed three human lives and 14 livestock
in
Bikita. We suspect that most people who were affected by the disease
might
have contracted it from biltong made from beef from animals that died
during
last year's outbreak," said Dr Sibanda.
She added that the
outbreak had to date been reported in six districts,
namely Masvingo,
Bikita, Zaka, Chivi, Gutu and Chiredzi. Zaka was the worst
affected in terms
of livestock fatalities with 64 cattle having already
succumbed to anthrax.
In Gutu, the disease has claimed 32 cattle while 17
cattle died in Masvingo
district with Chiredzi and Chivi recording less than
10 deaths
each.
Dr Sibanda said the veterinary department did not have sufficient
stocks of
anthrax vaccines to inoculate all the cattle.
"We only have
enough stocks to cater for areas where outbreaks of the
disease would have
been reported. We would have wanted to go on a wholesale
vaccination
exercise of all the cattle in the province, but we cannot do
that because we
do not have enough stocks to inject all the cattle at once,"
said Dr
Sibanda.
Last year, anthrax - which is an acute infectious disease caused
by
spore-forming bacteria, called bacillus anthracis, which can stay in an
environment for about 60 years, killed hundreds of cattle in Masvingo
Province.
The disease has already severely dented Masvingo's efforts
to replenish its
beef herd.
News Release
(Women of Zimbabwe Arise - WOZA)
OVER FOUR HUNDRED members of
Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA) took to the streets of Bulawayo and
Harare
Thursday 17 November in protest against the holding of
Senatorial
Elections instead of dignifying Zimbabweans
with food, water, housing and
basic needs. The women
were able to complete their demonstrations
and
disperse before Riot Police could arrive. Information
to hand
indicates that four women were arrested after
the protest and Lawyers are
attempting to obtain their
release.
WOZA, known or their peaceful
street protests, have
conducted over 30 protests in its three year
existence
and over 800 women have spend up to 48 hours in
custody, some
more than once. On 31 March over 265
women and 20 babies spent a night in
custody after
conducting a prayer vigil on Election night.
In the
marches, women carried placards with differing
messages, including, 'the
Senate will make us poorer',
'we are starving' and 'Senate is not a
priority'. They
distributed WOZA's newsletter, Woza Moya (Come
Healing
Wind) and sang songs like Amalungelo (we are fighting
for our
rights) and chanting 'Tairamba Senate (we have
refused the
Senate)'.
In Harare women marched towards Parliament and left
their
placards and flyers there. Riot Police
approached walking very slowly and
most of the women
had already dispersed before they could arrest only
four
women. WOZA takes this to signify that their vote
is for dignity, not
poverty. The procession began in
Fourth Street and ended close to Parliament.
This is
the sixth WOZA demonstration in Harare this year.
In Bulawayo,
as women gathered to prepare for the
march, three bus loads (approx 250) of
Youth Militia
arrived, parked and disembarked. Leaders had to keep a
cool
head and waited to determine if the WOZA march
was on the notorious brigade's
agenda. Very soon
though, they walked off to queue at a nearby
bank,
obviously hoping to obtain a few pennies for
themselves. Having
determined this, the protest began
harnessing extreme courage after chanting
the Woza
Moya slogan. The demonstration proceeded along Fife
Avenue to The
Chronicle offices where the women left
their placards and fliers before
dispersing. When The
Chronicle reaches the streets tomorrow without
a
mention of the WOZA demonstration, it will be further
evidence that
there is no freedom of the press even
when the news happens right outside
their front door.
Riot Police and Law and Order Vehicles were
seen
speeding towards The Chronicle by the dispersing
women. Once again
WOZA caught them napping! This is
the ninth WOZA demonstration in Bulawayo
this year.
The leaders of WOZA are currently in a safe house
aimed at
preventing the normal attempts to arrest them
in their homes after failing to
get them at their
'place of work' in the streets.
WOZA is also part of
the 'Speak Out Coalition', which
is calling for a Boycott of the Senatorial
Elections
and is asking citizens to participate in a protest
referendum.
The referendum choices are simple: vote
for the Senate and vote for more
poverty; boycott the
Senate and vote for Dignity. This is an
activist
grassroots door-to-door campaign being conducted in
urban and
rural areas. Results will be announced next
week. For more information,
please email
taurai_khulumani@yahoo.com.
Ends
17
November 2005
Editor's Information
WOZA, the acronym of Women of
Zimbabwe Arise, is an
Ndebele word meaning 'Come forward'. WOZA was
formed
in 2003 as a women's civic movement to:
-Provide women, from all
walks of life with a united
voice to speak out on issues affecting
their
day-to-day lives.
-Empower female leadership that will lead
community
involvement in finding solutions to the
current
crisis.
-Encourage women to stand up for their rights
and
freedoms.
-Lobbying and advocacy on those issues
affecting
women.
For more information, please contact Jenni
Williams,
Magodonga Mahlangu or Ellah Hwenzira on +263 91 300
456, +263 91
362 668 or +263 91 377 800 respectively
Electronic photos of the Bulawayo
and Harare
processions are available upon request.
Mail and Guardian
Copenhagen, Denmark
18 November 2005
03:54
Two Danish artists said advertisements they created
that ran in
a Zimbabwean newspaper on Friday were meant to poke fun at
Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe.
Jan Egesborg and
Klaus Rohland said they presented the ads as
art work to business weekly the
Zimbabwe Independent, but did not mention
the intended message in order to
avoid being censored.
"The point of our art is to make global
political art and to
make fun of despots," Egesborg said, adding two more
ads are set to be
published in Sunday's edition of The Standard, another
Zimbabwean newspaper.
The ads look like bank notes carrying
the text "Try a foreign
bank account", which the artists said is a reference
to allegations that
Mugabe and his closets associates have transferred large
sums of money
abroad.
They also featured drawings of
cocks -- a symbol associated with
Mugabe in Zimbabwe.
The
artists declined to say how much they paid to get the ads in
the
paper.
The media in increasingly autocratic Zimbabwe is
tightly
controlled and criticism of Mugabe and his government is often
quickly and
harshly suppressed.
The political crisis has
been accompanied by the worst economic
crisis since independence in 1980.
Mugabe claims the country's financial
woes result from sanctions imposed by
the West in the wake of his
government's seizure of white-owned
farms.
The European Union, the United States, Australia and
New Zealand
have imposed sanctions on Mugabe and about 200 of his closest
associates and
their families, denying them the right to visit or operate
personal bank
accounts there. -- Sapa-AP
BBC
South African and
Zimbabwe have signed an agreement to increase
co-operation on defence and
security matters.
The two neighbours undertook to share security
information and to
co-operate in enforcing immigration laws.
After the signing, South Africa's intelligence minister scolded a
journalist
who raised questions about Zimbabwe's record on human rights.
Details of the deal were not released but Zimbabwe's secret police is
accused of torturing opposition activists.
South Africa is a
key player in attempts to negotiate an end to
Zimbabwe's political
crisis.
President Thabo Mbeki has been criticised at home and
abroad for not
putting more pressure on President Robert Mugabe's government
to end abuses.
Zimbabwe prayers
"This week's historic
meeting further consolidates a long-standing
socio-political and economic
relationship between our two countries," South
African Intelligence Minister
Ronnie Kasrils said at the signing of the
agreement in Cape Town on
Thursday.
After the signing, a journalist asked Mr Kasrils how
South Africa,
with a "good human rights track record", could sign agreements
with
Zimbabwe, which had a "poor human rights record".
Mr
Kasrils apologised to his Zimbabwean counterpart, Didymus Mutasa,
for the
question.
"We have very strong ties with our neighbour and we are
indebted to
our neighbour for achieving freedom and liberty," Mr Kasrils
said.
Mr Mutasa suggested praying for the journalist.
"Lord forgive him for he does not know what he is saying," Mr Mutasa
said.
Numerous activists from the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
have said they have been detained and assaulted by
Zimbabwe's secret
police - the Central Intelligence
Organisation.
Thursday's agreement also provides for South Africa
pilots and
instructors to be trained in Zimbabwe.
'Failure'
Also on Thursday, Zimbabwean and international human
rights groups
called on the African Union to speak out against human rights
abuses in
Zimbabwe.
"The silence of African leaders on Zimbabwe
represents a failure to
honour their commitments to the human rights of
ordinary Africans," said a
statement from a human rights coalition that
includes Amnesty International,
Zimbabwe's Centre on Housing Rights and
Evictions and Zimbabwe Lawyers or
Human Rights.
"Hundreds of
thousands of Zimbabweans have seen their homes
demolished. Now desperate,
displaced and homeless people are being denied
the aid they so badly need -
and forced evictions and demolitions continue
to take place."
The UN says 700,000 people were affected by a Zimbabwe government
clampdown
on illegal housing and trading earlier this year.
Reuters
18 Nov 2005 15:31:54 GMT
Source: Reuters
By
Stella Mapenzauswa
HARARE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's about-turn on
U.N. housing aid for
those left homeless by its slum demolitions signals a
recognition of the
government's lack of resources as well as an attempt to
thaw frosty
relations, an analyst said.
President Robert Mugabe's
government drew sharp criticism over the crackdown
earlier this year, which
the United Nations said had destroyed the homes or
jobs of at least 700,000
people and affected the lives of 2.4 million
others.
A U.N. official
in Harare told Reuters on Wednesday the government had
finally agreed to
accept a $30 million humanitarian relief programme after
the shantytown
demolitions, following months of rejection.
Critics say the crackdown
worsened the plight of poor urban Zimbabweans
grappling with an economic
crisis widely blamed on the government and
reflected in soaring inflation
and unemployment as well as chronic shortages
of food, fuel and foreign
currency.
Zimbabwe's acceptance of U.N. help reflected Harare's
realisation that it
did not have sufficient resources for the required
rebuilding and also
wanted to heal relations ahead of a visit by a U.N.
official next month,
analysts said on Friday.
"The economic ...
imperative would dictate that the government accept the
assistance because
it does not have the financial or other resources to
provide structures for
those affected," said political analyst Eldred
Masunungure of the University
of Zimbabwe.
"This could also be a diplomatic move to try and smooth the
rough edges that
had been created between Zimbabwe and the U.N. after its
report. It is a
charm offensive to say 'we are as humane as any government
should be',"
Masunungure told Reuters.
A spokesperson for a local
housing rights group applauded the government's
move, saying the state's own
rebuilding exercise had only benefited a small
fraction of those left
homeless.
"We welcome the government's acceptance of U.N. aid. We would
hope that the
assistance would be directed at people that need it the most
because at the
moment we still have people living in the open," said the
spokesperson for
Housing People of Zimbabwe.
On Wednesday a U.N.
spokesman in Zimbabwe, Yasuhiro Ueki, said the world
agency would construct
2,500 housing units during the first phase of the
programme and that 10
pilot houses would be built next week for government
approval.
Earlier that day, 150 international rights groups led by
Amnesty
International and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
petitioned
African governments and the African Union to act on what they
called a
humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.
African governments have
largely been silent on human rights issues in
Zimbabwe, in contrast to
criticism from Western governments and African
churches, trade unions and
rights groups.
The United Nations has protested against Zimbabwe's
eviction earlier this
week of hundreds more people from a slum in the
capital city of Harare that
previously had been cleared of residents. The
government has defended its
slum crackdown, saying it was meant to root out
black-market trade in
foreign currency and other scarce commodities that it
said thrived in
shantytowns.
By Lance Guma
18
November 2005
Leading Zimbabwean economist Erich Bloch has singled
out corruption in
both the private and public sector as one of the biggest
causes of the
country's economic problems. He was commenting on admissions
by Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa that price controls have contributed to
the current
hyper-inflationary environment. Bloch believes however this is
only part of
the problem and there is a need to tackle corruption which has
seen the
country listed amongst the 30 most corrupt countries in the
world.
In an interview with Newsreel Bloch said price controls in
any event
have never worked anywhere in the world. Controls make it
unprofitable for
manufacturers to produce and sell goods. This is what has
created shortages
which in turn have fuelled a black market dominated by
high prices. He urged
the government to spend money which it had and not
that which it intends to
borrow. He revealed that in the first nine months
of the year government
borrowings had grown by 1078 percent and that this
was fuelling money supply
growth and ultimately inflation.
Bloch also stressed the need for a marked increase in productivity and
said
the Agriculture sector needed to be restructured in order for it to
contribute towards rebuilding the economy as it once did. He conceded
politicians in Zimbabwe don't want their political objectives to be
over-ridden by economic considerations and that this is contributing to the
current problems. Meanwhile Finance Minister, Herbert Murerwa told a
pre-budget consultative meeting that market forces were now destined to play
a bigger role in the 2006 budget. Cynics however say this might be one of
the conditions for a bail out loan from South
Africa.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
By
Violet Gonda
18 November 2005
South Africa has been
criticised for signing an intelligence deal with
Zimbabwe despite its
neighbour's appalling human rights record.
In spite of growing
international condemnation of Zimbabwe, the two
countries signed an
agreement to strengthen defence and intelligence ties.
Observers say Mugabe,
who is smarting from military sanctions, will use this
deal to get around
the arms embargo from the West.
Political analyst Professor
Stanford Mukasa said, "Thabo Mbeki is
putting his imagined national security
interest over the humanitarian
interest of the people of Zimbabwe. This
defence agreement means Mugabe will
be able to invoke South African military
resources to suppress the people of
Zimbabwe." The outspoken commentator
said this is similar to the time the
apartheid regime brought in military
resources to the Smith regime who used
it suppress the freedom
struggle.
The security agreement has been seen as a slap in the
face for human
rights and civic groups across Africa, who this week issued a
joint letter
to African Heads of State calling for them and the African
Union (AU) to
address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in
Zimbabwe.
After the signing of the bilateral agreement in Cape Town
on Thursday,
a journalist was humiliated when he raised questions about
Zimbabwe's record
on human rights after the signing between South African
Intelligence
Minister Ronnie Kasrils and his Zimbabwean counterpart Didymus
Mutasa.
They attempted to mock the journalist by avoiding answering
this very
serious and truthful question.
The journalist had asked
Mr Kasrils how South Africa, with a "good
human rights track record", could
sign agreements with Zimbabwe, which had a
"poor human rights
record".
Kasrils apologised to Mutasa, for the question and said, "
"I find it
rather insulting that you (the reporter) should level such a
question here
at us with this delegation from Zimbabwe. "I apologise to them
that they
have to sit here on an historic occasion when we have signed two
agreements
which are so important to the security, stability, the
development of both
our peoples and countries."
Mutasa on the
other hand suggested praying for the journalist saying,
"I just want to say
that he (the reporter) doesn't have to apologise to us
and that perhaps the
best (is) that all of us here should agree to say to
our honourable reporter
is simply, to pray for him. "Lord forgive him for he
does not know what he
is saying. The liberation struggle was much more
painful than the insults we
are getting from some of these misguided
creatures."
Professor
Stanford Mukasa said, "It is the world that must pray for
Didymus Mutasa
because he has become such a helpless psychiatric case. he is
one of the
most useless members in Mugabe's cabinet and whatever he says
should not
surprise us."
The agreement provides for a joint permanent
commission on defence and
security, boosting military, police and
intelligence co-operation. It will
also tackle specific areas of concern -
such as cross-border crime and
illegal immigration. There are about three
million Zimbabweans living in
South Africa, many of them without papers,
seeking refuge from political
repression and economic collapse.
Critics say that South Africa is under no military threat and the
agreement
raises the possibility of intelligence being passed to Zimbabwe on
activists
living in South Africa.
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
By Tererai Karimakwenda
18 November
2005
The water crisis that has gripped the whole country has
continued
without any serious intervention by the government. There is no
doubt that
the problem is serious. Talk to Zimbabweans in any part of the
country about
water and you are sure to get someone angry. Experts say it
cannot continue
this way and urgent solutions are needed. While the
government
procrastinates, animals are dying in the National Parks, citizens
are going
without water for months and waterborne diseases have created a
health
crisis.
According to the state paper The Herald, the
National Parks and
Wildlife Management Authority has so far lost 99 animals
at Hwange National
Park. The authority's public relations manager Retired
Major Edward Mbewe
told journalists on Tuesday during a tour of the park
that more than 40
elephant, 53 buffalo, a giraffe, three zebra and two
impala succumbed to
thirst and black leg, a disease that affects animals
when the ground is too
dry. He also said his office had sent recommendations
to the government
seeking authority to cull the elephants from 75 000 to
"manageable figures."
Meanwhile, the Namibian government has
rejected Zimbabwe's request to
take some of the country's starving elephants
saying it was already facing
serious problems with its own jumbos. Our
correspondent Warren Moroka
reports that Zimbabwean deputy environment
minister Andrew Langa had
suggested some of the starving elephants in Hwange
National Park could be
moved to Namibia. But Ben Beytell, the director of
the country's parks and
wildlife department, said Namibia was also facing
worsening serious water
shortages and grazing pasture for its 16 000 strong
elephant population. He
added that the northern Caprivi Strip was already
under siege from elephants
escaping hunger and drought in Botswana's Chobe
National Park.
What has not been reported is how Dr. Beytell and
Namibian authorities
feared receiving Zimbabwe's animals because they might
be diseased.
Outbreaks of foot and mouth and anthrax have been common on the
Zimbabwe
side, and Namibia did not want to take any chances. Zimbabwe's
neighbours
are also experiencing water shortages, but they are better
prepared and well
staffed. They also have the spare parts for pumps and
other irrigation
equipment. In comparison the Zimbabwe government is
literally broke, and
animals are the least of their concern.
The
parks department needs over Z$500 million to purchase a minimum of
five new
water engines in order to restore water services in the park.
While
the animals suffer, the water crisis has continued to
deteriorate in many
towns around the country. The Herald reported that some
suburbs in Harare
and its satellite towns will have water cuts of up to 12
hours in every 48
hours. It says local authorities and the Zimbabwe National
Water Authority
(Zinwa) have agreed to the rotational cuts in order to cope
as demand
exceeds the maximum supply of 600 million litres a day.
But these are
not permanent solutions. An injection of money is what
is needed to fix and
maintain the infrastructure.
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
18 November 2005
The former member of
parliament for Chimanimani and MDC national
executive member Roy Bennett has
spoke out against the senate elections and
the idea of some sort of a
government of national unity. In a wide ranging
interview with the Reverend
Martine Stemerick on Friday, Bennett blamed
Britain as the former colonial
power and South Africa as our biggest trade
partner for interfering in the
internal affairs of Zimbabwe.
Bennett said the 2 powers are more
interested in a reformed ZANU-PF
combined with elements of a split MDC who
would form this government of
national unity. The idea, he said, would be to
sweep all the human rights
abuses committed by Mugabe and his cronies under
the carpet. There would be
no truth and reconciliation commission and those
responsible for the
murders, theft and corruption that have plagued our
country will simply get
away with it. But when the idea was presented to
many Zimbabweans on the
ground, Bennett said it was rejected hugely.
Zimbabweans were not interested
in any of it, and basically want to focus on
bread and butter issues. He
said a senate is absolutely not needed right now
and is a waste of enormous
amounts of money.
Bennett also
explained how the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe is
an embarrassment to
the British government and South Africa. He said the
more the issues became
critical and disruptive, the more these governments
conspired to make the
situation amicable. Bennett believes they want to
soleve the Zimbabwe crisis
and wind up with no egg on their face.
Bennett was very strong in
his opinions and very deeply concerned
about what is happening to the
ordinary people. Although he believes in the
end Zimbabweans will triumph as
they are resilient and wonderful people, he
was concerned about the food
crisis and the water situation which are both
getting
worse.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By Lance Guma
18 November 2005
Riot police descended
on the University of Zimbabwe on Thursday and
re-arrested the entire student
leadership. What had been planned as a
routine meeting between the student
body and the Vice Chancellor, Levi
Nyagura ended up in dramatic scenes of
brutality. Nyagura accused the
students of violating the conditions of their
suspensions. This despite the
fact that High Court Judge Ben Hlatshwayo
dismissed the alleged suspension
as null and void, since the students had a
right to express their
grievances.
Nyagura tried to get the
students to sign suspension letters and
called the police when they refused.
The Secretary General Mfundo Mlilo says
authorities feared they were about
to instigate a demonstration and hence
the quick arrests. They were
assaulted whilst in custody and on release on
Friday, Garikai Kajau one of
the leaders was admitted at the Avenues clinic
with a swollen eye. Mlilo
narrated how they were confined to over-crowded
cells with human waste all
over. He believes the state is worried the
restlessness at the university
will spill into a national revolt.
There has been a gradual and
systematic victimization of the student
leaders on the campus. The President
Henthel Mavuma was earlier in the year
expelled on frivolous cheating
charges while the others were first removed
from residence, suspended and
then arrested twice in 2 weeks. According to
Mlilo, the Vice Chancellor is
trying to circumvent a High Court order by
issuing fresh suspensions for the
student leaders. Meanwhile hundreds of
riot police were stationed at the
university campus in anticipation of
student demonstrations over the
arrests.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news