Reuters
Fri 2 Nov
2007, 13:58 GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will hold joint presidential
and parliamentary
elections as planned in March 2008, a government minister
said on Friday,
refuting press reports the poll would be pushed back to
June.
A private weekly had said the ruling ZANU PF and the main
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had agreed to defer the
polls during
ongoing talks initiated by regional heads of state to try to
end Zimbabwe's
political crisis.
"There is no question of elections
being moved," justice, legal and
parliamentary affairs minister Patrick
Chinamasa told Reuters. "We have
always made it clear that elections will be
held in March."
President Robert Mugabe's term expires in March and
he has said he will
stand for re-election. Mugabe, 83, has been in power
since independence from
Britain in 1980.
On Tuesday, Mugabe signed
into law constitutional changes allowing the
southern African country to
hold both presidential and parliamentary
elections at the same time. They
have previously been held separately.
Chinamasa, leading the ZANU PF team
in dialogue with the MDC, refused to
comment on the crisis negotiations
brokered by South African President Thabo
Mbeki, citing a confidentiality
pact agreed to by parties involved in the
talks.
The negotiations
have so far led to a compromise deal under which the
opposition supported
constitutional changes which allow Mugabe to pick his
successor should he
decide to retire mid-term.
The MDC has been pushing for an entirely new
constitution that would
guarantee basic freedoms and free
elections.
Although Mugabe faces a weak and divided opposition at the
election,
analysts say the country's severe economic crisis poses a major
threat to
his rule. Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world
above 7,900
percent as well as food, fuel and foreign currency
shortages.
SW Radio Africa
(London)
2 November 2007
Posted to the web 2 November
2007
Tichaona Sibanda
MDC activist Clemence Takaendesa was
shot dead on Wednesday while fishing in
the Mbemeswani River in KweKwe, by a
retired army Brigadier with a
well-known penchant for
violence.
Brigadier Benjamin Mabenge shot and killed Takaendesa and
seriously wounded
his brother Taurai Chigede without firing a warning shot.
Takaendesa's body
was only removed from the scene on Thursday, nearly 15
hours after the fatal
shooting. Mabenge was arrested on Thursday and is
expected to appear in
court soon facing murder charges.
Mabenge
has told the police he saw a group of people, including the deceased
and his
brother, poaching fish from the river that runs through his farm, a
claim
denied by the MDC. The MDC said Mabenge does not own exclusive rights
to the
river and that there is no law in the country that prohibits people
from
fishing in a river, unless it is from a private dam. Mabenge, a war
veteran,
is reported to have grabbed the farm during the violent farm
invasions.
On Monday, Mabenge seriously injured another man he saw
cutting wood on the
farm, by hitting him with a rifle butt until he broke
his left knee. The
same man is sharing a ward in a KweKwe hospital with
Taurai Chigede who was
shot in the leg, according to Dr Henry Madzorere who
is also the secretary
for Health for the MDC.
Speaking about the man
beaten with a rifle butt, Dr. Madzorere said:
'Imagine how callous the man
is. He drew a pistol and put it to his victim's
head and asked him four
times whether he wanted to get shot in the head or
preferred being beaten.
Numb with shock, the victim did not reply and in the
end Mabenge withdrew
the pistol and picked up his rifle, which he used to
beat up his victim
until he passed out. This man is hunting human beings
with the intention of
maiming or killing them.'
Madzorera who is caring for the two victims
told Newsreel a preliminary
probe into the death of Takaendesa on Wednesday
would show that the retired
Brigadier General killed him in cold
blood.
'There was never any warning shot, Mabenge just walked near to
where the
victims were fishing and opened fire with a high powered rifle.
The single
bullet killed Takaendesa and also seriously injured his brother.
The two are
blood brothers but they use different surnames. He never
bothered to check
on the condition of the victims, he just walked away as if
nothing had
happened,' Madzorera said.
The retired army officer has a
history of violence and causing mayhem is the
Midlands town. Between 2000
and 2005, under the protection of Zanu-PF
strongman, Emmerson Mnangagwa,
Mabenge left a trail of broken bones among
MDC activists. He is reportedly
responsible for the burning down of the MDC
office in the town and other
houses belonging to leading party activists.
MDC MP for KweKwe, Blessing
Chebundo, is one of his other victims. In 2000 a
group of youths led by
Mabenge doused him with petrol but he escaped death
by a whisker when he
grabbed one of his attackers. This prevented him from
being set on fire
because the attacker would have been burned in the
process.
Described
as a 'maniac' by Madzorera, Mabenge committed a 'cardinal sin' by
standing
against Mnangagwa in the 2005 Zanu-PF primaries. The two eventually
fell-out
and now don't see eye to eye.
'I am sure this time he will do time in
prison. There is no one to protect
him because of his fall out with
Mnangagwa. I think KweKwe would be a safer
place without Mabenge because he
has caused so much heartache in the last
seven years,' Madzorera said.
Crisis
Coalition
The Daily Catalyst
2 November, 2007
The poor water
delivery system that has characterized the takeover of sewer
and water
delivery from urban councils by the government-run Zimbabwe
National Water
Authority (ZINWA) has witnessed the violation of human rights
especially the
right to health.
Erratic water shortages, dysfunctional sewer systems and
unsafe drinking
water due to shortages of chemicals in most urban areas in
the country has
seen the government of Zimbabwe failing to meet its state
obligations under
the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and
the 1976
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR).
It is difficult to comprehend how the government of Zimbabwe
can implement
its state obligations under these two United Nations covenants
in the
absence of clean drinking water and a functional sewage reticulation
system.
Article 25.1 of the 1948 UDHR that: "Everyone has the right to a
standard of
living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of
his family,
including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary
social
services."
The UN Charter states that it is the duty of the
State to ensure that it
promotes universal respect for and observance of
human rights and freedoms
but the Zimbabwean government has failed to meet
this obligation.
More so ICESR affirms that the state should see to it
that it takes
necessary steps to provide the reduction of the
stillbirth-rate and of
infant mortality and for the healthy development of
the child and the
improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial
hygiene.
Since ZINWA took over the administration of water and the sewer
reticulation
high density suburbs have suffered the most. Unattended water
pipe bursts
and raw sewages flowing all over in suburbs like Mbare,
Highfields and St.
Mary's have characterized ZINWA
administration.
The government of Zimbabwe should stop interfering with
the local-urban
councils and concentrate on resolving the crisis in the
country. The
resolution of the governance crisis will unlock investment and
the
liberalization of the economy, increase industrial export production and
increase the in-flow of foreign currency needed to import water treatment
chemicals and purchase pipes to overhaul the sewer reticulation systems in
most urban centers of the country.
Zim Online
Saturday 03 November 2007
By Brendon Tulani
BULAWAYO -
Veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s liberation war are demanding a
greater say in
the economy, taking advantage of their influence as foot
soldiers in
President Robert Mugabe's re-election bid.
The Zimbabwe Liberation War
Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) yesterday raised
the stakes in the ongoing
ZANU PF succession battle by demanding a more
prominent role for its members
in the running of the economy.
The war veterans are now demanding greater
say and participation in every
sector of the economy.
ZNLWVA national
political commissar Victor Matemadanda said his organisation
had already put
these demands to Mugabe who has been using the freedom
fighters in his
battle for survival at the helm of the ruling ZANU PF party.
"We want to
be involved in all sectors of the economy, not just being
guaranteed seats
in Parliament," Matemadanda said. "This is what we fought
for."
He,
however, did not disclose in what ways the liberation war veterans
expected
to have greater say in the economy.
The ZNLWVA has in the past
arm-twisted Mugabe to adopt disastrous policies
that later ruined what was
once one of Africa's model economies.
Such policies included the
controversial 1997 decision by the 83-year-old
Zimbabwean leader to award
the war veterans hefty gratuities, a development
seen by most analysts as
the genesis of the country's economic crisis.
The gratuities immediately
triggered the collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar and
the resultant spike in
prices of goods and services.
ZNLWVA members were also behind the violent
seizure of white-owned farms in
2000, which led to a flight of investors
from the country and the withdrawal
of credit lines by multilateral
financial institutions.
They have recently called for the complete
nationalisation of foreign
companies, demanding that the government
increases the threshold of shares
to be awarded to indigenous blacks under
the Zimbabwe Economic Empowerment
and Indigenisation Bill passed by
Parliament in September.
The Bill, currently awaiting Mugabe's signature
before becoming law, would
force foreign investors to cede 51 percent of the
shareholding to locals.
The war veterans have been staging street parades
in the country's major
towns and cities to drum up support for the
beleaguered Mugabe who faces
stiff challenge within ZANU PF for the
leadership of the party.
The demands by the war veterans come ahead of a
crucial extraordinary
congress next month.
Mugabe has been using them
as coercing agents in his campaign to be declared
ZANU PF presidential
candidate in next year's polls.
Mugabe is battling to get his
presidential nomination endorsed by his ZANU
PF colleagues amid strong
contestation from a faction led by retired army
general Solomon Mujuru,
husband to Vice President Joice Mujuru.
He is also under pressure to
recognise the Zimbabwe National Liberation War
Recruitees Association, made
up of people who were in exile in neighbouring
countries at the height of
the liberation war but did not receive military
training.
The
association's national secretary Petros Sibanda said his group,
comprising
10 000 members, had already presented their concerns over lack of
recognition to President Mugabe.
"As an association, we rally behind
the president and we support his
candidature for next year's election
fully," said the organisation's
national treasurer Jotham
Ndhlovu.
Other groups vying for recognition and possible award of
gratuities include
the Zimbabwe War Collaborators Association and the
Zimbabwe Ex-Political
Detainees and Restrictees who pledge loyalty to
Mugabe. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Saturday 03 November 2007
Own Correspondent
MUTARE -
Zimbabwe will face severe shortages of timber after newly resettled
black
farmers destroyed timber plantations in the eastern highlands,
according to
a senior official with the timber producers' association.
Bill Johnstone,
who is the chief executive of the Timber Producers
Federation (TPF), said a
total of 252 fires had destroyed over 10 000
hectares of timber plantations
this year alone.
Johnstone said there were no plans to plant pine trees
to replace those
destroyed by the fires making it impossible for the country
to produce
enough timber for its domestic and foreign markets.
Timber
is a major foreign currency earner in Zimbabwe.
"No efforts have been
made to replant those trees and consequently the
national resource is slowly
diminishing thereby endangering the future
supply of timber," Johnstone told
ZimOnline.
"The forestry industry develops around timber plantations in
the Eastern
Highlands but its thriving potential is hanging in the balance
because of a
number of drawbacks notably deliberate fires, arson attacks as
well as
unwarranted clearing by an influx of illegal settlers and gold
panners."
Zimbabwe has over the past seven years battled to restore order
in the
farming sector after President Robert Mugabe sanctioned the violent
seizure
of white farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
The
villagers have often caused havoc on former white-owned properties where
they have destroyed thousands of hectares of timber in areas such as Vumba,
Chipinge, Troutbek and Chimanimani in the Eastern
Highlands.
Johnstone said the government should put in place deterrent
fines and jail
terms to protect timber plantations.
Chaos on former
commercial farms has triggered severe food shortages in
Zimbabwe where at
least three million people, a quarter of the country's 12
million people
require food aid to survive to the next harvest in April.
Vice-President
Joice Mujuru, who is among senior government officials
calling for the
restoration of order in the farming sector, last month
lashed out at newly
resettled black farmers for destroying timber
plantations in the
area.
"We do not accept a situation where whole plantations are burnt
because a
person is hunting for mice," Mujuru said while opening the
Manicaland
Agricultural Show in the eastern city of Mutare. - ZimOnline
VOA
By Taurai Shava
Gweru
02 November
2007
Zimbabwean civil society leader Lovemore Madhuku said
Friday that although
he has expressed deep disillusionment with the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change for voting with the ruling party
to amend the constitution
so as to change the nation's electoral framework,
he did not back proposals
for a new opposition party.
Madhuku,
chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, told a meeting in
Gweru,
the capital of Zimbabwe's Midlands Province, that an alternative
opposition
party would not be able to wrest power from the ruling ZANU-PF of
President
Robert Mugabe so long as the constitution now in place remains in
effect.
Madhuku was responding to a suggestion from some members of
his organization
that the NCA should help form a new opposition party
because the Movement
for Democratic change has not promoted fundamental
constitutional reform.
He told the NCA's Midlands regional assembly that
the organization would
continue its fight for what it calls a "people-driven
constitution"
guaranteeing free, fair elections.
Madhuku said poor
governance has caused the country's deepening economic
crisis so a new
constitution is needed for Zimbabwe to be well governed and
to
prosper.
Madhuku criticized the MDC for voting with the ruling party to
amend the
constitution. He said ZANU-PF stands to win the national elections
slated
for March as the present constitution, amended many times, gives it a
crucial advantage over the opposition.
He said opposition politicians
know this but are blinded by greed because
they will be able to hold
well-paid seats in parliament even if the ruling
party is
returned.
Madhuku said the MDC has its own reasons for compromising with
the ruling
party on the constitutional amendment signed into law this week
by President
Robert Mugabe, but that the NCA "does not care about the
reasons, nor does
it care about the friendship that has been existing
between it and the
opposition."
He said the the ruling party had been
forced into crisis resolution talks by
concerted efforts from the MDC and
civic stakeholders organized under the
banner of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign
- but that civil society has been left
out of the dialogue.
Madhuku
added that while in the past the NCA had not been concerned as to
whether
its members belonged to the MDC, it was now time for clearer lines
to be
drawn as he charged that his organization's constitutional reform
agenda had
been subverted.
He said National Constitutional Asembly regional
officials are trying to
make clear that the organization disagres with the
MDC on the recent
constitutional amendment, and to emphasize that it is
committed to obtaining
a "people-driven" constitution.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri, Patience Rusere and Ndimyake
Mwakalyelye
Washington
02 November
2007
Movement for Democratic Change faction leader Morgan
Tsvangirai met Friday
with more provincial officials ahead of a critical
meeting of his national
executive council Saturday in Harare aimed at
resolving bitter feuding
around its women's wing.
Tsvangirai met
Thursday with faction leaders in Bulawayo where he was said
to have received
a tepid welcome amidst disenchantment among members over
the faction's
dissolution last month of the women's assembly executive led
by Lucia
Matibenga.
On Friday he made stops in Kwekwe and Gweru, both in the
Midlands. Party
sources reached in Kwekwe declined to provide details on
what Tsvangirai
told them.
But analysts said his tour of the
provinces reflects an attempt to gauge
feeling at the grass roots before
Saturday's key meeting of his faction's
top governing body.
Cape Town
based political analyst Glenn Mpani told Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's
Studio 7
for Zimbabwe that while some speculate Tsvangirai hoped to silence
his
critics, such meetings are a normal part of the consultative process
ahead
of a key meeting.
Meanwhile, the woman who has been named to the chair of
the Tsvangirai
faction's women's assembly, Theresa Makone, said her election
last weekend
in Bulawayo was properly constituted and that only the women of
the party
can reverse it.
Though a women's congress elected Makone
assembly chairwoman, a separate and
competing congress voted to reinstate
Lucia Matibenga as head of the
assembly.
Matibenga and the rest of
her executive were removed early last month by the
faction leadership for
alleged infighting and ineffectiveness.
Makone told reporter Patience
Rusere that the controversy around her
election is being stirred up by
unnamed men in the party who have hidden
agendas.
Analysts voiced
concern that wrangling within the Tsvangirai MDC faction
might have a
serious and negative impact on larger developments in the
country.
As
a participant in crisis resolution talks being mediated by South African
President Thabo Mbeki between the ruling party and opposition, the MDC
faction if fractured could slow that process, in particular with respect to
elections due in March 2008.
There is also concern ZANU-PF could seem
a more stable party than the MDC
and find support among those discouraged by
the prospect of another
opposition split.
The MDC split into two
competing factions in late 2005, nominally over the
question of whether to
participate in elections for a reconstituted senate
though personal clashes
between Tsvangirai and his pre-split secretary
general, Welshman Ncube,
played an important role in the schism. The rival
faction is now headed by
Arthur Mutambara.
For perspective, reporter Ndimyake Mwakelyele turned to
two political
commentators: Senior Analyst Sydney Masamvu of the
International Crisis
Group in South Africa, and former Zimbabwe
parliamentarian and opposition
politician Margaret Dongo.
Dongo said
she perceives the risk that fallout from the feud in the
Tsvangirai faction
could jeopardize the progress of the South
African-mediated crisis talks
just as they are about to tackle critical
issues having to do with free and
fair elections.
Meanwhile, in another incident of alleged political
violence by state
agents, opposition sources in Hwange, Matabeleland North,
said two men died
at Saint Patrick's Hospital in Hwange this week after they
were assaulted by
soldiers last weekend.
The two unidentified men
were brought to the hospital by police who found
them lying unconscious at a
shopping center in Hwange's rural Musuna
village. Sources said the police
have ordered hospital authorities not to
discuss the deaths with the media
and that a third victim in serious
condition was not be allowed any
visitors.
VOA could not reach police or hospital officials for
confirmation or
comment.
Hwange lawmaker Thembinkosi Sibindi told
reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that the
victims were brutalized by soldiers,
including youth militia, for belonging
to the opposition.
SABC
November 02, 2007,
21:45
Former President Nelson Mandela's spokesperson, Zelda le Grange,
has denied
reports claiming Madiba has asked Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe to step
down.
The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, quoting
unnamed sources, reports Mandela
sent a team of advisers to Harare in March
with a message for Mugabe. The
newspaper says Mandela advised Mugabe to
leave sooner rather than later, and
expressed concern that Mugabe could be
hounded in the same way that former
Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet was
until his death last year.
Le Grange says Madiba no longer plays any
political role.
"I can categorically deny that Mr Mandela has not
approached anyone to
interfere or intervene in the situation in
Zimbabwe.
"He made a very strong statement in 2004 that he's retiring
from politics
completely and he has not been involved in any political
discussions since
June 2004," said le Grange.
Reuters
Fri 2 Nov
2007, 17:09 GMT
By Sujata Rao
LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) -
London-listed South African firm Lonrho <LONR.L>
is raising a 70
million-sterling ($145.8 million) fund that will invest in
Zimbabwe and
position for a recovery in the stricken economy, the company's
CEO said on
Friday.
The announcement comes as the last foreign companies are pulling
out of
Zimbabwe, a once prosperous country that has been brought to
near-bankruptcy
due to a series of controversial land and economic policies
since 2000 by
President Robert Mugabe's government.
U.S. food group
Heinz left in September and the state has acquired its
Zimbabwean subsidiary
as part of its campaign to take control of
foreign-owned firms. The country
is also facing chronic food shortages and
inflation at almost 8,000
percent.
But Lonrho CEO Geoffrey White told Reuters his company, once a
large
investor in Zimbabwe, saw the situation as an opportunity to
re-enter.
"The Zimbabwean economy will recover...most people accept the
fundamental
infrastructure is solid, for instance a good road system and a
good
workforce," he said. "The question is when the upturn will come. We
want to
be there and ready to partake in that process."
He declined
to comment on politics.
"We will work within whatever legal framework
there is in the country of
operation. That's what we do across
Africa."
The move is a return of sorts to its roots for the company which
started out
in 1909 as the London and Rhodesian Mining Company. At its peak
in 1995,
Lonrho was operating in 15 sub-Saharan African countries, with
approximately
90 subsidiaries in diverse sectors like agriculture, mining,
property and
construction.
White said the company had pulled out of
its vast mining concessions and
agricultural land in Zimbabwe at the same
time as it was disposing of its
African assets in 2000. But since 2005 it
has started re-establishing itself
in Africa.
Lonrho is hoping to
invest primarily in Zimbabwe's infrastructure sector, he
added.
"We
are looking at transport, manufacturing, production -- sectors that we
believe will recover relatively quickly and strongly," he said. "We were
very big participants in the economy once and we hope to be
again."
He said investment had already started with the purchase of
controlling
stakes in Zimbabwean telco Celsys and chemicals manufacturer
Gardosave for
$5.45 million in cash.
It is unclear how the
investments will be affected by Zimbabwe's new law
requiring locals to hold
majority control of foreign-owned firms.
White said the creation of
LonZim, the Zimbabwe investment vehicle, had been
met with a "significant
amount of interest". It has mandated Russia and
Africa-specialist
Renaissance Capital as the placement agent for LonZim's
fundraising which he
said is expected to complete by the end of 2007.
He said the fund would
list on the Alternative Investment Market or AIM --
considered London's
junior stock exchange with lighter regulation than the
full
list.
"This will be an AIM-listed investment vehicle. It will comply with
London
rules and regulations and will be very transparent," White said. "It
is
possibly the only vehicle investing in Zimbabwe that a wider audience can
partake of."
Lonrho shares are trading at 47.25 pence compared with
28 pence at the start
of 2007.
From Miningmx (SA), 2 November
Dumisani Ndlela
Canadian mining group Canaf Group Inc
has abandoned a proposed plan to
acquire Great Lakes Minerals and associated
mining assets in Zimbabwe,
citing the controversial Empowerment and
Indigenisation Bill now awaiting
assent from President Robert Mugabe. Canaf
president and CEO David Way said
political risk in the country, now in its
eighth year of a recession, was
increasing, making the planned acquisition
unattractive. The initial
agreement with Midas Trust for the acquisition was
adjusted after the
announcement of the Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill,
passed through
parliament in Harare last month, Way said in a statement.
"After much
discussion, we have decided that this acquisition is not in the
best
interests of our shareholders at this time," he said. "We are committed
to
providing value to our shareholders and will focus on our now 90%-owned
coal
processing facility, with a view of increasing both our ownership stake
to
100% and the overall profitability of the plant.
Canaf is the
majority holder of Quantum in South Africa, which currently
supplies Mittal
Steel with approximately 6,000 tonnes of coal per month. "We
will continue
to search for new high-potential mining and mining related
opportunities in
Africa." Midas Trust and Canaf remained on good terms and
may choose to
revisit the acquisition potential of Great Lakes Minerals at
some time in
the future, he said. Canaf's decision adds to increasing
concern from
foreign-owned mining companies over the effect of the proposed
law on
investment in the mining sector. Rio Tinto Plc recently indicated
that it
had put on hold plans for $250m of additional investment into
expanding
Murowa Diamond Mine pending the outcome of agreements with the
government
that will recognise and reduce the risks to Rio Tinto's existing
and future
investments following passage of the proposed law through
parliament.
The Sowetan
02 November 2007
Hotelier
sees a very different Zimbabwe this time next year, writes Andrew
Molefe
Dave Bunyard either knows something we don't or he's simply
naive.
The gospel according to him is that come this time
next year, Zimbabwe will
be a different kettle of fish from the wasteland it
is today.
Talk is cheap, but Bunyard and his company, Zimbabwe Sun
Limited are backing
their unwavering beliefs in that blighted country with
hard, cold cash.
The general-manager of marketing of this dominant
Zimbabwean hotel chain -
it owns 13 hotels in Zimbabwe which employ some
1800 people - said he and
his company were excited
The chain has also
built or acquired hotels in Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea,
Tanzania, South
Africa (The Grace) and have set their eyes on neighbouring
Botswana.
"The situation can only improve," he told me over coffee at
the
recently-revamped The Grace boutique hotel in Rosebank,
Johannesburg.
"At the Zimbabwean Sun group we want to position ourselves
so that we are
ready when international tourists start pouring into the
country again," he
said.
After Mugabe seized white-owned farms in a
massive, controversial land grab
in 2003, tourism to Zimbabwe dwindled
.
Today, a little more than 60 percent of hotel guests are locals with a
fair
share of visitors from neighbouring countries like South Africa,
Botswana,
Zambia and Mozambique.
Bunyard, unlike any other white man
I have come across, believes that at
some stage land redistribution was
inevitable and that white dominance of
farms was unsustainable.
You
don't have to be a battle-weary journo to know that . No board member of
a
large concern would want to be critical of a regime on whose empire his
welfare rests.
Bunyard is no different. For starters, his PR company
requested that I asked
no fat political questions.
As we sat down at
The Grace, he told me: "I'm no politician.
"I'm a hotelier with a great
hope for the future of my country".
He was, of course, born in Zimbabwe.
He hadn' t experienced the brutal and
sometimes murderous uprooting of the
people of his forefathers.
"You could say I'm a city boy. I was born,
went to school and grew up in
Harare".
But PR or not, you can't but
be amazed at this eternal optimist.
The Zimbabwe Sun's flagship hotels,
the Victoria Falls Holiday Inn and the
Harare Holiday Inn are big cash
cows.
A few months earlier I spent 10 days at the Harare Holiday Inn and
was not
impressed. Far from that. Food was bad and sparse. Every other
bottle of
beer had some foreign bodies floating inside.
Of course,
you can't blame the hotel for that. It simply supplies its guests
with what
the local breweries dish out.
But that is a sure sign of how low that
beautiful country has sunk.
Quality control institutions have either
closed shop or their best people
have migrated to better climes. The
workforce is demotivated.
Who wouldn' t be when the most you could expect
is less than R400 a month?
Sad, sad little country.
But Bunyard
believes things will eventually turn out for the better.
Hope is a rare
commodity in that part of the world.
But his hope is infectious. It rubs
off on you.
As many multinationals, including many South African
companies cut their
losses and pull out of Zimbabwe, he is looking at
building more hotels and
golf estates.
With sanctions pushing
Zimbabwe to the edge of an economic collapse and
worker salaries being
slashed, Bunyard and his people increased pay of their
workforce by
150percent this year alone.
"We apply the basic principles of hoteling,"
he told me. "An underpaid
worker creates an unhappy guest."
The hotel
chain also helps its workers with school fees and contributes
hugely from
its social responsibility programme.
I was an unhappy guest at one of his
hotels, mainly because of the
pedestrian grub and bad customer
service.
But he assures me that next time I'm in the land of Monomotapa,
things will
be hunky-dory.
Next time I cross the Limpopo River and
venture into that wonderful and
ancient country, I will get my favourite
sirloin steak, spare ribs or leg of
lamb .
That is if I take Bunyard
on his word.
How they plan to achieve that in a land where farms are
wastelands and hard
foreign currency is as scarce as chicken teeth, does not
need one to be a
rocket scientist, according to Bunyard.
Next
year this time I hope to be back in Zimbabwe and also hope to enjoy a
home-grown piece of quality steak and good home-made cheese.
I'm
taking you on your word, Dave. And good-luck with your country.
SW Radio Africa
(London)
2 November 2007
Posted to the web 2 November
2007
Henry Makiwa
The country's courts are in crisis following
a nationwide strike by
magistrates in protest at low pay and poor working
conditions.
Regional magistrates at Harare, Mbare and Chitungwiza courts
stopped work on
Thursday and others followed suit across the country. The
magistrates
reportedly have sent a strongly worded letter to Justice
Minister Patrick
Chinamasa, Attorney General Sobuza Gula-Ndebele and acting
director of
public prosecutions Florence Ziyambi, voicing their
concerns.
It is understood that scores of magistrates have tendered
resignations and
only one is left at Harare's main court. According to our
correspondent
Simon Muchemwa, prosecutors and support staff have also joined
in demanding
that the government look into their salary
concerns.
Muchemwa reports: "The courts have seized functioning. Many
cases are not
being attended to and the government has recalled some retired
prosecutors
to act as magistrates.
"The magistrates say they have a
genuine demand because of their status in
society. They are surviving on a
paltry salary and yet they have to deal
with some serious legal cases at the
courts. They are as such left prone to
corrupt practices or exposed to
dangerous elements. Many are said to have
resigned and are looking for
greener pastures beyond the borders."
Observers have criticised the
government for turning a blind eye to the
magistrates' crisis, whose ripple
effects include an increased backlog of
cases needing trial. Inmates in
custody cells will be affected most as
conditions in prison continue to
deteriorate.
The state media on Friday however reported that government
has made offers
to provide all magistrates with cars and better pay.
From The Financial Gazette, 1 November
Clemence Manyukwe, Staff
Reporter
Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede faces potentially
embarrassing obstruction
of justice charges for allegedly harbouring Rotina
Mavhunga, the Chinhoyi
spirit medium who duped government officials to part
with $5 billion after
claiming she could conjure refined diesel from a rock.
A letter seen by The
Financial Gazette this week, written by the
prosecutor's office in Chinhoyi
to the Harare Central Investigations
Department's Homicide Division, directs
the police to investigate Mudede and
to produce a docket. The letter is
copied to the Attorney General. Court
records seen by this paper also show
that in denying Mavhunga bail last
month, Chinhoyi magistrate Ngoni Nduna
questioned why Mudede had not been
charged for protecting a wanted person.
On the day of judgment on the bail
application, the officer investigating
the case revealed for the first time
that Mudede had shielded Mavhunga from
arrest. Up to that point, police had
only referred to the Registrar General
as "a high ranking government
official". The records show that the
magistrate denied Mavhunga bail on
account of her links with Mudede, whom he
said could facilitate the woman's
escape. Court papers also show that the
prosecutor, Herikiya Maromo, made an
application to have Mavhunga's state of
mind ascertained in terms of the
Mental Health Act. The prosecutor said the
accused might have a split
personality, as evidenced by her use of a string
of different identities -
Rotina Mavhunga, Nomatter Tagarira and Changamire
or Sekuru Dombo. Defence
lawyers opposed the application, saying their
client's constitutional rights
were being violated. The prosecution deferred
the application pending the
determination of the matter by the Supreme
Court.
The Financial
Gazette reported last week how government plied Mavhunga with
$5 billion, a
farm, and other services while pursuing her claims that a rock
could produce
diesel if she pointed her "sacred stick at it." She faces
allegations of
fraud, or alternatively charges under the Criminal Law
(Codification Reform)
Act for being a "criminal nuisance." According to the
state, the saga began
last year when Mavhunga, and a group of gold panners
still at large, came
across a container of diesel at Muningwa Hills in
Chinhoyi after which they
connived to convince government officials that it
was flowing from a rock.
Many speculate the diesel tank could have been left
there in the years
leading up to independence. According to court records,
Mavhunga connected a
hose from the container to the foot of the hill,
dazzling the gullible with
mystical incantations - which must have been a
signal to her sidekick to
open a tap - as the liquid flowed. However, when
the diesel finally ran out,
according to court records, Mavhunga would buy
more from passing truckers to
continue her con.
"As a result of this misrepresentation by the
accused, the whole country's
interests and government interests at large
resulted in the government of
Zimbabwe committing human and material
resources into the issue, which later
turned out to be false," court papers
say. "As a result of this
misrepresentation, the accused unlawfully
solicited and received food,
money, services, a farmhouse and a farm from
the government of Zimbabwe,
knowing well that her claims were false." So
convinced was government, that
it sent in three different teams of senior
officials to secure what they
must have believed was the solution to years
of fuel shortages. The first
team comprised State Security Minister Didymus
Mutasa, Defence Minister
Sydney Sekeramayi and Home Affairs Minister Kembo
Mohadi. A second team was
made up of Energy Minister Mike Nyambuya, Science
and Technology Minister
Olivia Muchena and Mines Minister Amos Midzi. Yet
another committee, led by
deputy Police Commissioner Godwin Matanga, and
including security forces,
government officials, supposed academics and
traditional leaders, had also
once been rushed to the site. Government's
n'anga shame has blown the lid on
how deep the belief in superstition and
sorcery among the country's
political leaders runs
IOL
November 02 2007 at
11:47AM
By Lavern de Vries
A peaceful sit-in by
desperate asylum seekers at the Department of
Home Affairs offices on the
Foreshore, Cape Town, erupted into pandemonium
when refugees clashed with
police.
Last night's violent confrontation led to the arrest of two
members of
the refugee advocacy group Passop (People Against Suffering
Suppression,
Oppression and Poverty) and the manhandling of a
refugee.
Earlier a group of about 40 refugees had refused to leave
the
department's premises after waiting for more than seven hours to be
served.
One irate Zimbabwean refugee said he had arrived at the
department at
2am, hoping to be one of the 100 firstcomers that the
department recently
agreed to serve.
"After
waiting for seven hours, they told me I needed to fill in a
form with my
details and they would phone me on Wednesday to be helped. I
can't wait
until Wednesday because I may be picked up by police who will
arrest me and
deport me," the emotional man said.
Despite being informed that
they might be arrested for trespassing,
the angry group staged a sit-in at
the offices, refusing to leave until they
were served.
Helpless
officials then called the police who explained to the group
that they could
not sleep in the centre because the department was not
liable for their
safety.
After 30 minutes of negotiating, the police called for
back-up.
A Cape Argus team witnessed a group of about 15 police
officers
disperse the group using pepper spray.
A Zimbabwean
refugee, who reiterated that he could not leave because
he would miss his
turn in the queue this morning, curled into a ball and
started
crying.
Attempts at asking him to leave failed and about seven
policemen
started kicking him.
Passop chairperson Braam Hanekom
then pleaded with the police to stop
and requested that they remove the man
without force.
Upon exiting the building, police taunted the crowd
by laughing at the
injured Zimbabwean and a scuffle ensued between Hanekom,
another Passop
member and the police.
Police again sprayed the
crowd with pepper spray and chased the group
from the premises, warning that
they would be beaten with batons and
arrested.
Hanekom and a
Passop member known only as Ben were handcuffed and
shoved into a police
van. The two are to face charges of riotous behaviour.
On Friday
Patrick Chauke, portfolio committee member for Home Affairs,
said he was
"utterly disturbed" by last night's events.
Chauke, who during a
recent visit to the centre described the
situation as "chaotic", urged
refugees to remain patient and allow home
affairs to handle the
problem.
Police and Home Affairs were unable to comment at the time
of going to
press. - Additional reporting by Jade
Witten.
This article was originally published on page 1
of Cape Argus
on November 02, 2007
New Zealand Herald
5:00AM Saturday November 03, 2007
By Paul Thomas
In
the mad, mad world that is Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, the Lotto ticket
buyer's dream of becoming an instant millionaire is an everyday
reality.
With inflation at 8000 per cent and US$1 now worth one million
Zimbabwe
dollars, the local currency is good for nothing except starting a
fire. Who
could afford to hire the convoy of trucks needed to transport the
mountain
of cash it would take to fund a regulation trip to the supermarket?
Not that
there's anything on the supermarket shelves or any staff to serve
you since
police arrested about 10,000 businesspeople and confiscated their
stock for
failing to enforce price controls.
Like many a
revolutionary saviour turned tin-pot dictator, Mugabe promised a
people's
paradise but delivered hell on earth. The land once known as "the
breadbasket of Africa" is now racked by famine. Even wildlife in game
reserves is being slaughtered for food. In 20 years, life expectancy has
fallen from 62 years to 38.
It wasn't always thus. The transition
from white-ruled Rhodesia to
black-ruled Zimbabwe in 1980 was greeted with
near-universal approval and
optimism, but perhaps we should have heeded the
prophetic lines Shakespeare
gave Julius Caesar - "Let me have men about me
that are fat. Yond Cassius
has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much:
such men are dangerous" -
when Mugabe superseded fellow revolutionary and
rival, the beefy Joshua
Nkomo.
It didn't take Mugabe long to
demonstrate that he wasn't a Nelson Mandela, a
healing figure blessed with a
saintly capacity for forgiveness and
reconciliation and untouched by the
paranoia and totalitarian urges which
often infect leaders who cut their
teeth in revolutionary struggle.
He brought in North Korean military
advisers to train the Fifth Brigade, a
unit made up entirely of veterans of
his ZANU Party's military wing which
operated outside the army's command
structure, answerable only to Mugabe
himself.
In 1982 the Fifth
Brigade pounced on Matabeleland, Nkomo's power base:
20,000 people were
butchered and the potential opposition smashed. Nkomo
fled the
country.
His 1984 autobiography contained this plaintive and bewildered
line which
pretty well summarises post-colonial Zimbabwe:
"Nothing in
my life had prepared me for persecution at the hands of a
Government led by
black Africans."
Since then Mugabe has seldom deviated from a course that
has transformed the
breadbasket into a basket-case and secured his place in
Africa's chamber of
horrors alongside other gangster-megalomaniacs such as
Amin, Mobutu, and
Bokassa.
International opinion, especially in the
Third World, has struggled to come
to terms with Mugabe, perhaps because
people find it hard to separate the
individual from the cause or to accept
that the euphoria which greeted the
end of white rule was
premature.
Nkomo notwithstanding, it's easy to assume that for a black
African corrupt
and tyrannical rule by one of his kind would be easier to
bear than being
treated as second-class by the white master. The danger with
this type of
rationalisation is that it can classify black-on-black tyranny
as a lesser
evil or give rise to the troubling proposition that because of
historical
and cultural factors, notably tribalism, democracy as we
understand it
doesn't work in Africa.
So are the usual accompaniments
of one-party states - suppression of
opposition, denial of human rights,
corruption, incompetence - part and
parcel of "the African way"? And what is
the cultural context of state
terror?
"They're entitled to do things
their way" trips off the tongue but ignores
the fact that they - in the
sense of the citizenry whose Western
counterparts get to choose and dump
their leaders - don't have much say in
the matter. This is as fatuous as
critics of the Iraq war who insisted it
was up to the Iraqi people to depose
Saddam Hussein.
"My country right or wrong", the catch-cry of the
American right during the
Cold War, had a left-wing echo in "No enemies on
the left." These slogans
led both sets of believers down a moral and
intellectual cul-de-sac,
encouraging them to view matters of fact and
questions of right and wrong
through the distorting lenses of patriotism and
ideological solidarity.
To think and act on the basis of my race or
religion or skin colour right or
wrong carries the same risk: that of having
to defend the indefensible.
Zimbabwe Independent
(Harare)
OPINION
2 November 2007
Posted to the web 2 November
2007
Darlington Majonga
JAMAICAN reggae star Luciano was this
week wheeled in to buttress state
propaganda designed to portray Zimbabwe as
a safe tourist destination.
Luciano's visit is only the latest in a
pathetic PR exercise under the aegis
of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority which
in the past has included usurping
and commandeering beauty
pageants.
No doubt these publicity stunts -- ingratiatingly
well-oiled by the state
media -- are targeted at glossing over Zimbabwe's
crisis ahead of the 2010
World Cup in South Africa which will lure droves of
tourists to this region.
Does anyone care to tell us how many tourists
have been to Zimbabwe since
the country hosted the Miss Malaika pageant in
2002 at a huge cost to the
taxpayer?
At least we can count the costs
of the government's misrule without effort.
Luciano incidentally visits
at a time his kith and kin are considering
whether or not they will be safe
to play cricket in Zimbabwe later this
month.
In July, West Indies
did not hesitate to withdraw their A side from
fulfilling a tour of Zimbabwe
because of player security concerns.
Who would blame them if they can't
trust a country where opposition
activists can be bashed while in police
custody?
This probably explains the desperate propaganda surrounding
Luciano's visit:
Zimbabwe is a safe tourist destination.
"It is our
honour to celebrate our Jacaranda Jazz Festival with you and I
hope your
eyes will do the talking when you return to Jamaica," Tourism
minister
Francis Nhema told Luciano.
"If you want to go to Mbare, Highfield or
Chitungwiza we will make
arrangements so that you preach what you would have
seen."
The Rastaman has been dutiful so far.
Luciano has since his
arrival on Tuesday gratifyingly extolled President
Robert Mugabe's
leadership, chanting the unoriginal rhetoric that the
geriatric politician
was still needed to extricate Zimbabwe out of
marshland.
But hailing
the land reform or heaping praises on Mugabe will neither put
food on our
tables nor make Zimbabwe a safer tourist destination - assuming
safety has
ever been an issue for those who want to visit the Victoria
Falls, Hwange,
Kariba, Matobos or the Eastern Highlands.
Coincidentally, Luciano's
see-and-tell-it-like-it-is tour was preceded by a
visit --though unrelated
-- by another man from the Caribbean.
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)'s
cricket operations manager Tony Howard
spent last week in Zimbabwe to assess
the security situation in the country
ahead of the Caribbean side's tour
scheduled for this month.
Although Howard has attempted to downplay the
purpose of his visit, saying
it was just a routine "pre-tour assessment", we
know why he was specifically
here.
This happens four months after the
Caricom politicians barred West Indies A
from fulfilling a cricket tour of
Zimbabwe on security grounds.
It must have been hard for the WICB to make
an embarrassing climbdown and
immediately declare Zimbabwe safe to
visit.
Howard might have seen something that will stop the Windies from
coming to
Zimbabwe, but at least he should be encouraged that India A, South
Africa
and their A side as well as Sri Lanka A have toured the country
without any
incidents.
But whatever Howard and his security expert
saw, it certainly has nothing to
do with the security of West Indies in
Harare.
If West Indies don't want to come to Zimbabwe, they better give
us another
excuse.
Security -- especially of tourists -- is not an
issue in Zimbabwe.
In that sense, roping in Luciano to depict Zimbabwe as
a safe tourist
destination is a futile effort and a sheer waste of
taxpayers' money.
Instead of a merry-go round with Luciano in a Hummer,
why doesn't the
musician's handlers let him out on his own at night to see
if he will be
harmed?
The Jah Man can hobnob with sistrens and
ruggamuffins until the wee hours of
morning if he wants; he can commute on
public transport to the House of
Nyabinghi in Chitungwiza if he so
wishes.
And chances are high no one will touch him, unless he's unlucky
to have
someone picking his foreign currency-lined
pockets.
Fortunately too -- and with respect - very few will recognise
him on our
streets because most of us have not seen him on television as we
constantly
don't have electricity.
But more seriously, there's no
point in the West Indies Players Association
refusing to fulfil an ICC
Future Tours Programme series on the basis that
their cricketers' security
will be compromised in Zimbabwe.
As for food, there's no doubt whatsoever
that Zimbabwe Cricket will make
sure the West Indies have enough to
eat.
The only people who can worry about their safety are opposition
politicians
and activists as well as those who dare point a finger at those
they think
are responsible for their penury.
The only people who can
worry about food shortages in the country are us
ordinary Zimbabweans who
have suffered the consequences of never-thought-out
populist
policies.
Next will we hear West Indies refusing to tour South Africa
because their
brethren, reggae icon Lucky Dube, was shot dead in one of the
numerous
high-profile murders in that country?
Will Wipa tell us they
will not tour Karachi because they fear bomb blasts?
Maybe next time the
Windies will refuse to play at home in the Caribbean
because former Pakistan
coach Bob Woolmer is suspected to have been murdered
there during the 2007
World Cup?
On that note, we can only listen if West Indies say they will
not come to
Zimbabwe on moral grounds.
We can only understand if the
Windies are honest enough, just like the
Australians, that they don't want
to come to Zimbabwe because of Mugabe's
alleged human rights
abuses.
Still, if West Indies don't come for political or moral reasons,
that will
be tantamount to cricket sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Do we
as Zimbabweans deserve that?
If anything, cricket sanctions would give
Mugabe a good chuckle.
By the way, it appears the Old Man will be with us
for some time. Nuff
respect!
Anyone who believes Mugabe would shed a
tear if West Indies were to call off
their scheduled tour of Zimbabwe might
as well believe the veteran leader
will spend the remainder of his old life
in a monastery.
The Old Man is determined to remain in power no matter
what you, me and even
his wife may say.
Again the West Indians should
know that if they take the Australian route
their efforts would be nearly
futile.
Having said security is not an issue, we sincerely hope West
Indies will
make a sporting decision instead of a political
one.
Zimbabwe's young and inexperienced cricketers need West Indies more
than the
Zanu PF government does.
The young players have a future and
Mugabe doesn't.
Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS
NET) Date: 02 Nov 2007 The FEWS NET Outlook for Southern Africa incorporates the findings from six
country outlooks for the period October 2007 to March 2008. This outlook
provides a basis for regional and global resource allocation and contingency
planning, as well as in-country planning. This report summarizes the results of
this process for Southern Africa, highlighting what FEWS NET believes are the
major threats to food security in the period October 2007 to March 2008. The most likely regional food security scenario between October 2007 and
March 2008 is a continued decline in food security conditions in areas now
facing moderate to high levels of food insecurity as noted above. The exception
is Zimbabwe, where the situation as at end of September is expected to improve
marginally between October and December, as the number of areas with high levels
of food insecurity declines as a result of improvements in emergency
interventions. The situation will however deteriorate again between January and
March, during which the hunger season peaks, and more districts become
moderately food insecure. This analysis takes into account the regional seasonal
forecast which in general indicates a normal to above normal rainfall season for
the period of the outlook. The worst case scenario would arise if the assumptions under the most likely
scenario do not hold, and instead, conditions deteriorate leading to extremely
high levels of food insecurity, particularly in Zimbabwe and southern and
central Mozambique, countries which face moderate to extreme food insecurity
even in the most likely scenario. The situation would be further exacerbated if
rainfall performance is poor with a delayed start and/or lengthy dry spells.
Extreme levels of food insecurity will arise in parts southern Mozambique in the
period October to December; while in Zimbabwe, most extreme levels would occur
in the January to March 2008 period. In Lesotho and Swaziland, where widespread food insecurity has been assessed,
the situation is likely to be mitigated through on-going emergency interventions
targeted at vulnerable households. However adequate assistance will depend on
improvements in the responses to appeals for resources by governments and
humanitarian agencies. Currently the UN appeals for emergency assistance are 18
percent funded in Swaziland, and 49 percent in Lesotho.
This report covers
the period from 9/13/2007 to 10/30/2007
Full_Report
(pdf* format - 454.1 Kbytes)