Zim Online
Saturday 14 October
2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's main opposition
party says it has begun
decentralised street marches in urban areas to psych
up supporters ahead of
planned mass protests against President Robert
Mugabe's government.
Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for the main wing of
the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party led by Morgan Tsvangirai,
said the
"small-scale" protests were meant to remove fear among supporters
before the
party embarked on broader protests against the
government.
The MDC has since last February promised to roll out
mass
anti-government protests to force Mugabe to give up power to a
transitional
government that will oversee fresh elections and the rewriting
of a new
constitution.
Chamisa said the decentralised protests
were being held mainly in the
urban areas and were being organised and
co-ordinated by the local district
leaderships.
"As President
Tsvangirai said (last week), there is fear among the
people. The
decentralised process is to remove that fear. It is meant to
inculcate into
people a sense of bravado and determination to confront this
regime," he
said.
Chamisa added: "The decentralised process is also meant to
stretch the
police because they have been intimidating people by keeping a
huge presence
in the central business districts of major towns.
"Once the people get a feeling of victory over the police, then the
real
democratic resistance to confront this dictatorship will start," said
Chamisa.
Addressing the party's supporters to mark the party's
seventh
anniversary celebrations at Zimbabwe Grounds last week, Tsvangirai
conceded
that there was widespread fear among people and said his party was
trying to
bolster its supporters before taking on Mugabe on the
streets.
Last Wednesday, a ZimOnline correspondent in the eastern
city of
Mutare, witnessed scores of MDC supporters marching in the streets
of
Sakubva and Dangamvura suburbs at night in what the party said was the
beginning of a new strategy to confront the government.
The MDC
supporters chanted the party's slogans and urged residents to
join the
marches in the poor suburbs.
Contacted for comment yesterday, State
Security Minister Didymus
Mutasa, immediately scoffed at the MDC strategy
saying the party should not
fool itself that "we don't have enough
manpower".
"The MDC should not fool itself and think we don't have
enough
manpower. History has shown that it is them who don't have enough
manpower
to hold sustained demonstrations because people know better than to
be used
by a foreign sponsored party seeking mayhem and chaos.
"This is what they do, talk in the press, when the time for action
comes,
you only find the leadership, so we are not worried," said Mutasa.
Mutasa and his boss Mugabe have both in the past threatened to crush
the
protests telling the media that the army will "pull the trigger" on
protesters.
An unprecedented economic collapse most critics
blame on Mugabe's
mismanagement has stoked fears of civil unrest in the
troubled southern
African country in its seventh year of a bitter economic
recession.
The MDC and major Western governments blame the crisis
on repression
and mismanagement by Mugabe. Mugabe denies the charges blaming
the crisis on
sabotage by his Western enemies after he seized land from
white farmers for
redistribution to landless blacks six years ago. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Saturday 14 October
2006
HARARE - Zimbabwean private schools on
Friday filed an urgent
application at the High Court seeking to bar
Education Minister Aeneas
Chigwedere from interfering in the determination
of fees at the schools.
The schools, under the auspices of the
Association of Trust Schools,
want the court to bar the Education Ministry
from applying the Education
Amendment Act in retrospect over fees that were
charged during the first and
second terms.
Chigwedere recently
ordered private schools to refund parents part of
the fees that were paid
during the first and second terms in line with the
provisions of the new
Education Act that came into force last May.
In papers filed at the
High Court, the schools argue that the
amendments to the Education Act only
affected the determination of fees for
the third term of 2006 and not the
first and second terms.
"He (Chigwedere) is revising fees collected
for the first and second
terms so that he creates a low base to pegged fees
for the current third
term," said James Timbe, the chairman of the
association.
The schools argue that the minister's instruction to
charge lower fees
for third term do not take into account Zimbabwe's runaway
inflation which
currently stands at 1 023.3 percent.
The
association also wants the court to declare that fees charged and
collected
by private schools for the first and second terms before the
amendment of
the Act were lawful and legitimate.
Private schools are the only
source of a good and reliable education
for young Zimbabweans as the
country's once highly regarded public schools
crumble due to years of
under-funding and mismanagement.
But the government accuses the
schools of taking advantage of their
good reputation to extort money from
parents by charging exorbitant fees and
levies to fund lavish lifestyles for
school executives. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Saturday 14 October
2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's Vice-President
Joice Mujuru on Thursday stepped up
efforts to rebuild the country's
battered tourism sector telling hundreds of
visiting international tourists
that all was now well in the troubled
sector.
Addressing more than
300 international guests attending a four-day
tourism fair in Harare, Mujuru
blamed negative media surrounding the country's
land reforms for the
collapse of the tourism sector over the past six years.
She said
Zimbabwe's land reforms were "internationalised in a manner
that really gave
a distorted view of both our intentions and desires."
"Our land
reform programme is now part of our history . . . I am happy
to say that the
issue has now been taken to its logical conclusion.
"May I
therefore reassure our visitors from all the four corners of
the world that
you are welcome, you are safe, you are secure and you are
free to move
around in Zimbabwe.
"We believe in our greatness as a nation, and
we are indeed Africa's
Paradise," she said.
But Mujuru's
reassurances come amid reports of continuing chaos on
commercial farms
around the country with fresh evictions having been
reported in Manicaland
and Mashonaland provinces only last month.
Zimbabwe's tourism
sector, which was the third biggest foreign
currency earner before 2000, has
been in the doldrums over the past six
years after tourists shunned the
country because of violence most critics
blame on ruling ZANU PF supporters.
- ZimOnline
Zim Online
Saturday 14 October
2006
HARARE - A local group which works
with communities to promote basic
health care on Friday warned that Harare
was facing a serious outbreak of
water borne diseases due to a water crisis
bedeviling the city.
The executive director of the Community
Working Group on Health, Itai
Rusike, warned that the city faced a serious
outbreak of cholera, dysentery
and scabies if the current water crisis was
not resolved immediately.
"When people drink dirty water from
sewage-drenched streams, when
toilets don't flush and when people don't bath
regularly, it's a recipe for
disease outbreak," said Rusike.
The CWGH is a coalition of 35 non-governmental organisations that deal
with
health matters in Zimbabwe. The group works with communities in the
promotion of basic health care around the country.
Residents in
the poor eastern suburbs of Mabvuku and Tafara, for
example, say they have
gone for months on end without running water
resulting in most of them
fetching water from unprotected wells.
Earlier this year, five
people died of cholera in Budiriro suburb in
Harare. Cholera is a
water-borne disease that thrives in unhygienic
conditions.
Health
and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa, could not be
reached for
comment on the matter last night.
Parirenyatwa's deputy, Edwin
Muguti conceded that Harare was facing a
health time bomb but added that
water provision was the sole responsibility
of the Zimbabwe National Water
Authority (ZINWA) and the Harare city
council.
"We can only
urge them (ZINWA and council) to solve the problem as
soon as possible
because it is a health hazard. We had cholera earlier this
year and we don't
want a repeat of that," said Muguti.
A serious water shortage in
Harare because the government does not
have foreign currency to buy water
treatment chemicals is only one in a
plethora of crises facing the
Zimbabwean government.
Harare, which was a beacon of hope at
independence 26 years ago, has
virtually crumbled due to years of
mismanagement and corruption. - ZimOnline
By Violet
Gonda
13 October 2006
A South African commission of
inquiry, probing an alleged political
gagging by the South African
Broadcasting Corporation, has revealed a
shocking blacklist of SA
commentators, Zimbabweans and others. Under the
instructions of the news and
current affairs managing director Snuki
Zikalala, outspoken Catholic
Archbishop Pius Ncube and media mogul Trevor
Ncube are among the prominent
Zimbabweans on a blacklist of commentators who
will not be consulted by the
public broadcaster.
Allegations were made a few weeks ago that the
SABC had blacklisted
four South African political commentators from
appearing on any of their
television or radio programmes, because of their
criticism of the SA
government. The four were Moeletsi Mbeki (President
Mbeki's brother), two
journalists from Business Day and another political
analyst. A commission of
inquiry was instituted and the outcome of the
investigations revealed that
there had been several other people who had
been banned from appearing on
SABC.
Part of the 78-page report
said; "The commission found direct evidence
that Zikalala gave instructions
that businessman Moeletsi Mbeki, activist
Elinor Sisulu and Mail &
Guardian chief executive Trevor Ncube should not be
used as commentators
about Zimbabwe."
The commission recommended that their report be
made public but SABC
has only published a 7 page, watered down version. The
group's chief
executive Dali Mpofu is also saying they have "full
confidence" in Zikalala.
SA based Zimbabwean journalists Basildon Peta
said; " His argument is
that it was an internal inquiry so there is no
reason to make it public."
The commission was made up of former
SABC head Zwelakhe Sisulu and
advocate Gilbert Marcus. Mbeki and Sisulu both
appeared before the
commission and the report said: "Contrary to Dr
Zikalala's impression that
they were out of touch, both struck us as having
deep roots and connections
within Zimbabwe."
Basildon Peta
said; "Elinor Sisulu is quite an active participant in
the Zimbabwean civic
society sector operating in exile here in SA. She gets
constant coverage on
other television/radio news networks including the
print media. The SABC
don't cover her at all. But it has only become clear
now."
In
the report a letter sent by Pippa Green, then head of news, to
Snuki
Zikalala on April 6th last year (published by the Mail and Guardian),
revealed that Green and another staff member were threatened if there was
any "opinion" that was reported on Zimbabwe.
Green wrote in the
letter; "You expressly forbade the views of members
of civil society on the
situation in Zimbabwe, naming two specific
individuals: Elinor Sisulu and
Moeletsi Mbeki. Sisulu is an active member of
civil society both here and in
Zimbabwe. As for Mr Mbeki, he is a former
journalist and now businessman who
also happens to be head of the South
African Institute of International
Affairs.
You also informed our line talk that you had excised the
voices of
Zimbabwean Archbishop Pius Ncube and publisher Trevor Ncube from a
TV report
on Zimbabwe, and said that you held the same views about their
voices on
radio. Archbishop Ncube, whatever we may think of his view, is the
head of
the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe. Barring his views on the situation
in his
own country would be equivalent to barring the views of Archbishop
Desmond
Tutu on social and political matters here."
Analysts
have expressed concern that the latest developments are a
copy of what
happened under apartheid and raised questions as to whether SA
is heading
the Zimbabwe route in media control. When asked if the democratic
space is
being shut down in South Africa Basildon Peta said; "The kind of
controls
that happen here are not like the controls in Zimbabwe which are
brazen and
direct. They are subtle."
He said it's possible that the Mbeki
government may not go out of its
way to muzzle the media but that; "It's the
characters who are employed in
key positions at the SABC who see their role
as being that of pleasing the
government of Mr Mbeki and the ANC at all
cost, that they will do anything
to stifle opposition voices. And in this
respect I am speaking with
particular regards to Mr Snuki
Zikalala."
The SABC current affairs and news managing director's
appointment,
several years ago, was controversial. Peta said; "He is a
passionate ANC
cadre and he tends to mix his role in the ANC with his role
as the managing
director of news at the SABC.
Commissioners had
recommended urgent action against Zikalala. SABC has
violated all
recommendations of the commission by not publishing the report
and not
censuring Mr. Zikalala.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
Freedom of Expression Institute
(Johannesburg)
PRESS RELEASE
October 13, 2006
Posted to the web
October 13, 2006
The Freedom of Expression Institute is outraged that
the South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has decided not to release
the much-awaited
report into allegations of a politically-motivated
"blacklist" implemented
by the Group Executive of News, Dr. Snuki Zikalala,
on SABC services.
Instead they have chosen to release the findings. This
blacklist is alleged
to have consisted of political commentators that had
made statements
critical of President Thabo Mbeki's presidency.
The
report was put together by a semi-independent commission of enquiry,
with
the following terms of reference:
1. Dr. Zikalala had instructed his
staff not to use four specifically named
commentators because of their
alleged political bias. Other names were
subsequently added to the list of
"excluded analysts".
2. This instruction was wrongful in that it was
politically motivated since
these commentators held a particular view on the
African National Congress
(ANC) succession debate to which the SABC was
presumably opposed.
The FXI believes that there is only one way for the
SABC to put public
speculation about the report into allegations of
blacklisting on the
Corporation's services to rest, that is: to release the
report in full. Half
measures and summaries will not do. That is why the FXI
yesterday filed an
information request with the SABC, on the basis of the
Promotion of Access
to Information Act, asking for the report.
The
SABC's Group Chief Executive Officer, Adv Dali Mpofu's response to
questions
this morning on the SABC's SAFM, and the statement issued by the
SABC
yesterday - which contains a "summary" of the report - are completely
inadequate and raise more questions than they answer. Further, in failing to
release the report, the SABC is falling down at the critical moment when it
comes to its commitment to transparency. There is now a public dispute about
the contents of the report, with competing versions coming into the public
domain: a dispute that will be laid to rest only once the public has an
opportunity to engage with the contents of the report directly, and not
mediated by the SABC itself. We believe that there is a strong argument in
terms of the Act for the report to be released.
Significantly, Adv
Mpofu repeatedly contradicts himself and his media
statements. Yesterday (on
the Xolani Gwala show on SAFM and reported on the
sabcnews.com website), Adv
Mpofu insisted that, according to the report,
there was no "blanket ban" on
commentators. This morning he said he would go
to the grave maintaining this
position. However, this contradicts the report
summary issued by the SABC
yesterday. The summary says the commission found
that the media statement
stating that there were no blanket bans on the use
of individual
commentators "avoided the issue" and was "misleading by
omission".
Accordingly, it found that SAFM presenter's John Perlman's
position - who
had challenged on-air the SABC spokeperson, Kaizer Kganyago,
on the
Corporation's statements refuting the existence of the blacklist -
was in
conformity with the actual situation. Mr. Perlman's position,
according to
the SABC statement, was that '"blacklisting" was happening "in
practice".
Mr. Perlman specifically stated that this practice was happening
"by
instruction". We find it amazing that, after this, Adv Mpofu can still
claim
that the report found that there was no 'blanket ban" and no
"blacklisting"
at the SABC.
Further, according to the SABC summary,
the commissioners found that
instructions were given not to use some
commentators (Karima Brown and Paula
Slier), others could not be used in
relation to the Zimbabwe crisis
(Moeletsi Mbeki, Elinor Sisulu and Trevor
Ncube); there were inferred
instructions in relation to others (William
Gumede and Sipho Seepe) and a
still-to-be-clarified finding on Vukani Mde.
Yet, Adv Mpofu continues to
claim there is no evidence of any blanket ban or
blacklisting of certain
political analysts.
Another reason why the
SABC must release the full report to the public is
because the SABC's own
summary of the report is confusing, garbled, and even
downright
contradictory.
The reasons for the non-release cited by the SABC are that
much of the
evidence given to the Commission was given by anonymous sources,
and could
therefore not be tested and "may well be contestable". Also, that
the
constitutional rights of witnesses and those against whom allegations
are
being made, are at stake. The un-testable nature of some of the evidence
was
perhaps inevitable with an enquiry of this nature, but the preponderance
of
confidential sources should not stop the release of the report. The
public
will read and understand untested (and un-testable) allegations for
what
they are. Also, if this weakness applies to the report, then it applies
equally to the summary, so these are not sufficient grounds to withhold the
release of the report.
The public will never know what the report
really says as long as we receive
only an SABC interpretation of it, which
confuses as much as it informs. For
example, what is one to make of the SABC
summary that, in relation to Vukani
Mde, there was "no evidence to suggest
that any instruction was ever given
to use him as an analyst or
commentator"? It is difficult to know whether
this is a mistake, as the
purpose of the enquiry was not to prove whether
there were instructions to
use particular commentators, but rather not to
use commentators. In relation
to Aubrey Matshiqi, it states that there was
no evidence of a blanket ban,
but then refers to his "exclusion".
It is highly inappropriate for a
public institution, committed to the free
flow of information, to disable
the free flow of information about its own
activities. The FXI calls on the
SABC to have the courage of its convictions
and release the report, and to
deal with the consequences as they arise.
By
Lance Guma
13 October 2006
Its going to be a busy weekend
for the embassies of Zimbabwe and South
Africa in London on Saturday after
pressure groups ZimVigil and Free Zim
Youth UK both announced demonstrations
there. Alois Mbawara who heads
Free-Zim Youth UK says they will be
demonstrating at the South African
mission to voice their disapproval of
Thabo Mbeki's stance on the Zimbabwean
crisis. The Zimbabwe Vigil on the
other hand are marking their 4th
anniversary and will be joined in the usual
vigil at the Zimbabwean embassy
by members of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) in the United
Kingdom. It promises to be a well-attended vigil
according to the
organisers, as the MDC activists will be celebrating the
7th anniversary of
their party.
Free-Zim Youth UK will march
from Zimbabwe House to the South African
embassy in central London. Mbawara
says they will all be dressed in black to
mark the death of democracy in
Zimbabwe. The group says they will have a
mock coffin symbolising victims of
Operation Murambatsvina and that they
will dump this at the embassy. Mbawara
expressed their disappointment at
Mbeki for not speaking out against abuses
in Zimbabwe and says the South
African leader is not being an honest broker
in the crisis. After the
demonstration the youths say they will march back
to the Zimbabwean embassy
to join the ZimVigil.
Rose Benton
from the ZimVigil meanwhile told Newsreel they are also
expecting a large
turnout of people for their 4th anniversary vigil. She was
cautious not to
call it a celebration because they should not be in a
situation where they
have to demonstrate for over 4 years in the first
place. Benton says it will
be more like a wake. She expressed satisfaction
with Thursdays handing over
of a petition to British Labour MP Kate Hoey,
saying over 40 activists
joined in the march from Zimbabwe House to the
Houses of Parliament where
they met the MP. British Liberal Democrat MP
Lembit Opik also joined the
marchers. Hoey told protesters time was running
out for Mugabe and that
during her recent secret trip she realised there was
a swelling tide of
people saying, 'Mugabe must go.'
SW Radio
Africa Zimbabwe news
VOA
By
Blessing Zulu
Washington
13 October
2006
Zimbabwean Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa said this week
that the
International Monetary Fund has become a tool of countries seeking
regime
change in Harare. His comments came amid disagreement between
Zimbabwean and
IMF officials over the timing of an IMF assessment mission
that the Fund
wants to schedule this month.
Web news provider
ZimOnline quoted Murerwa as telling business leaders and
others meeting in
Bulawayo that the international financial institutions
have applied a double
standard to Zimbabwe. "I disagree that we should seek
assistance from the
IMF and the World Bank. We have paid our dues yet they
have not supported
us," he said.
Senior Finance Ministry sources said relations between
Harare and the global
lender of last resort have become more strained.
Reserve Bank Governor
Gideon Gono, sent a stiff letter to the Fund and
boycotted its annual
meeting in Singapore last month.
Zimbabwean
officials were also irritated at a public forecast from a Fund
analyst that
Zimbabwe's 1,000%-plus inflation rate would soar to 4,000% in
2007.
The timing of the impending Article IV consultation is also an
issue.
Zimbabwe wants the IMF mission to come to Harare only after the IMF
Executive Board has taken up Zimbabwe's status as a fund member when it
meets in November. But IMF officials said they must assess conditions in the
country before the board meets.
Murerewa's attack Thursday on the IMF
on echoed President Robert Mugabe's
anti-IMF broadside before the United
Nations General Assembly in September.
Consultant Peter Robinson said
Harare would be ill-advised to alienate the
IMF and try to go it alone.
Economist James Jowa said the latest tiff shows
that both Harare and the
international financial community are frustrated
with the deadlock.
The Herald (Harare)
October 13,
2006
Posted to the web October 13, 2006
Harare
Operations at
the National Blood Transfusion Services Zimbabwe resumed
yesterday following
a near-total disruption on Wednesday when a generator
went up in
smoke.
This led to a complete cessation of testing and various
assessments of blood
samples, resulting in a total stoppage of supplies to
hospitals and nursing
homes.
NBTSZ heavily relied on the 85-kilovolt
generator to power cold rooms,
freezers and refrigerators.
Workers
were yesterday busy collecting blood samples from various places
they had
sent them for temporary storage on Wednesday.
NBTSZ blood procurement and
public relations manager Mr Emmanuel Masvikeni
said their power system had
in the interim been directly linked to Zesa
Holdings' network.
"We
have been linked to the Zesa grid directly and we have resumed
operations.
"We are, however, not comfortable with this arrangement
although we welcome
it. Our concern is that with the ongoing load-shedding,
which sometimes
occurs at night and without any back-up, our blood samples
might go bad," Mr
Masvikeni said.
He said his organisation was
working flat out to put everything back in
order.
"The generator will
need to be replaced and we are still appealing to the
corporate world and
any other donor organisations to come to our rescue."
NBSZ on Wednesday
stopped issuing blood while its staff was working manually
as all their
electronic equipment was down.
All blood from the quarantine freezers,
specimen in cold rooms and
refrigerators was taken to the University of
Zimbabwe Medical School and
some private health institutions for
storage.
From The Daily Mirror, 13 October
Brian Mangwende
The police in Harare have
disclosed reasons they visited the offices of
Local Government, Public Works
and Urban Development Minister Ignatius
Chombo last week. Chief police
spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena told The Daily Mirror
yesterday that Chombo is a State witness
and not a suspect in the on-going
investigations into alleged corruption at
public transporter Zimbabwe United
Passenger Company (ZUPCO). Said
Bvudzijena: "We had gone there to record a
statement from Minister Chombo
since he is a State witness in the on-going
investigations into ZUPCO. He is
not a wanted person. He is not a suspect,
but a State witness." Bvudzijena
was simply buttressing what the police have
always said regarding statements
they wanted to record from Chombo. Asked
whether there had been any new
developments regarding the police's stance on
the minister, Bvudzijena said:
"The circumstances have not changed. Chombo
is a State witness and not a
suspect." Recent media reports purported that
the police had unearthed
evidence which could link Chombo to the scandal at
ZUPCO. ZUPCO falls under
Chombo's ministry. The allegations of a scandal at
ZUPCO have seen deputy
information minister Bright Matonga and former ZUPCO
board chairperson
Charles Nherera hauled before the courts on charges of
corruption. The State
alleges that Matonga and Nherera each received US$10
000 as bribes from
Asian businessman Jayesh Shah so they could extend a
lease agreement to his
company Gift Investments which rented ZUPCO premises
in Southerton, Harare.
Nherera, who is currently serving a two-year prison
term for soliciting for
a US$85 000 bribe from Shah, and Matonga, are also
accused of demanding US$2
000 for each of the 75 minibuses supplied to ZUPCO
by Gift Investments in
2003. Meanwhile, the defence has since requested the
Attorney General's
Office to furnish it with exhibits incriminating their
clients before trial
kicks off on November 13.
AND
October 13,
2006
By Dave Mlilo
More people in Zimbabwe are using
alternative sources of power such as
generators, inverters, firewood and
candles because of lack of electricity
in the country.
The
foreign currency shortage soon had a domino effect on fuel
supplies. Since
Zimbabwe imports all its fuel needs, the hard currency
crisis spawned a
nationwide fuel shortage. A flourishing black market where
traders import
and sell the commodity at exorbitant prices to desperate
motorists then came
about.
Now, it is a lack of electricity, which has proved a
proverbial
blessing in disguise for traders who are making brisk trade
selling
generators, inverters and even firewood and candles to desperate
individuals
and companies.
While the southern African country
has had to contend with erratic
power blackouts over the past few years, -
the outages worsened this year as
the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
Holdings (ZESA) rolled out a
stricter power-rationing programme
countrywide.
And, dealers are cashing in. "They are selling like
hot cakes," beamed
Hamunyare Choto, a sales representative at a Harare firm,
Maiden
Electronics, which supplies inverters. "It has been good for us. Our
products are selling fast because they are far cheaper to use than for
example, power generators.
All you need is a car battery and an
inverter to light up your
premises or to power your electrical appliances."
In addition to lack of
foreign currency to import spare parts and
supplementary power, the power
shortage is also caused by dwindling internal
generating capacity amid a
scarcity of coal. Zimbabwe's two major
hydro-electricity generating
stations, Hwange and Kariba cannot generate
enough power to meet demand as a
result.
Three smaller thermal
power stations in Harare, the capital and
Bulawayo, the second largest city
and Munyati in central Midlands province
have been down for more than six
years because of erratic coal supplies.
This has forced the state-owned ZESA
to introduce a strict load-shedding
schedule across the country. Official
statistics indicate that the power
utility now only generates about 49
percent of national demand, down from 65
percent five years
ago.
As the country continues to battle the electricity blackouts,
plunging
whole suburbs into darkness for as long as 10 hours, a strong
demand from
individuals and companies for alternative sources of power has
ensued.
Barzem Power Holdings, a big firm that mainly sells generators to
industries
and wealthy individuals, has a long waiting list of clients
seeking to buy
the machines. "You have to register because we rarely have
any in stock,"
said a salesman in Bulawayo.
The smallest gadget
they supply - a 13kva generator costs US$10 000
and the biggest - a 400kva
machine costs US$50 000. "There is a race for
generators," noted Lawrence
Shamu, a salesman at Mica Hardware in Harare,
citing Honda, Kohler and the
Chinese-made Nexus Power, as the most
preferred. "Since we started selling
them a few weeks before the (FIFA)
World Cup in June this year, we have been
very busy."
Some of the generators they sell can power small
stoves, refrigerators
and light up homes, making them ideal for household
use. For those who are
not rich enough to afford inverters or generators,
there is a cheaper and
more traditional alternative - firewood. Piles of
firewood at roadsides are
a common sight as one drives around the
country.
Martin Muchero, who ekes out a living vending firewood in
Norton, a
small town 100km west of Harare says he can earn as much as Z$10,
000
(aboutUS$40) daily from his work. "I am doing well, not only because of
power blackouts but also because we have hundreds of newly-built houses here
which have not been connected to the national electricity grid. So demand is
high," he said as he manned his roadside stall with piles of firewood. He
says he fetches the firewood for free from nearby farms, the majority of
whose owners were white owners evicted during President Robert Mugabe's land
redistribution scheme in 2000.
While Muchero just gets his
stock from the wild, Martha Nyathi, of
Bulawayo has invested in a
candle-making machine. She makes as many as 200
candles per week and sells
them to her neighbours in Mzilikazi, a working
class suburb in the city. At
first the ZESA rationed power in residential
areas, but because the shortage
is worsening, it spread the restrictions to
city centres and
factories.
Industry has suffered worst in a country where
industrial capacity
utilisation is already as low as 40 percent because of a
myriad of other
operational difficulties. Some factories are being forced to
either invest
in generators or to stop production altogether during
blackouts. However,
industrialists say the use of generators, as an
alternative is costly.
The long-running fuel shortage means that
companies have to mobilise
the scarce foreign currency to import fuel or to
buy the commodity on the
thriving black market where prices are exorbitant
so that they power the
generators. "They are not cheap alternatives," says
Obert Sibanda, an
industrialist based in Bulawayo. "Industries just resort
to generators
because it is a question of survival more than anything
else.
We want our businesses to continue operating despite the
blackouts.
But generators are very expensive, considering that fuel supply
is erratic."
The future is gloomy for the country. A huge power deficit is
forecast to
hit southern Africa next year because regional giant South
Africa, the
biggest supplier of power to its neighbours, would have run
short of excess
electricity to export as it focuses on meeting domestic
demand. So countries
will have to scout for other sources or augment
domestic production.
But for a foreign currency starved country
like Zimbabwe, the
implications could be disastrous. For example, ZESA
recently announced that
it needs to mobilise a staggering US$3,8 billion to
enhance its internal
electricity generating capacity to 2 000 megawatts.
Analysts say the
parastatal; long declared technically insolvent, would be
unable to raise
that amount of money without external support.
"ZESA will never be able to raise that money," commented an
independent
economist, Joel Muchacha. "Seeing that ZESA must raise that much
to avert
the looming power crisis next year, I shudder to think what will
happen in
the likely event it fails to do so." Meanwhile, trade in
alternative sources
of power would continue to roar.
Sydney Morning Herald
a.. October 14, 2006
The pain of the destruction of Zimbabwe
cricket lingers for Henry Olonga,
writes Simon Briggs.
WHEN President
Robert Mugabe and his henchmen were expelling Zimbabwe's
white farmers from
their properties four or five years ago, there was much
talk of the "war
veterans" who supplied the muscle. The label was
misleading: in many cases,
these were teenagers, cheap to find and easy to
bend to the government's
will.
Listen to Henry Olonga, who fled Zimbabwe after a political protest in
2003,
and he will tell you that the Zimbabwean cricket team - who make their
bow
in the Champions Trophy on Sunday - runs on a similar basis. All aged
between 19 and 24, the players are young enough and obedient enough not to
question the rampant corruption that underpins the Zimbabwean Cricket
Union.
According to Olonga, the decline of Zimbabwean cricket began as
early as the
2000 tour of England. "What happened was that we successfully
got the ZCU to
put up our salaries by threatening a strike," he said. "Ever
since then, the
administrators have decided that the players will never get
their way again.
They were prepared to tear the team apart just to make
sure."
This may explain why players as good as Olonga, Andy Flower and
Heath Streak
all find themselves stranded in England while a group of boy
soldiers are
left to fend for themselves. "It does grate with me because I
know Zimbabwe
has a lot more to offer," Olonga says. "But as long as men
like [Peter]
Chingoka and [Ozias] Bvute are in charge of the ZCU, people
will keep
leaving. Tatenda Taibu retired at 22, for goodness sakes. He
resigned
because there was so much money missing.
"When I look at
this sort of thing, never mind Mugabe's political abuses, I
feel frustrated
that the International Cricket Council are prepared to stand
quietly by.
They make a big fuss about the spirit of the game, expecting
players to
maintain the highest moral standards and fining batsmen who give
the umpire
a funny look. But it's hypocritical if they then fail to show any
moral
leadership over Zimbabwe. They're just being spineless."
Spinelessness is
one accusation that no one could level at Olonga. He and
Andy Flower showed
backbone in spades when they took the field wearing black
armbands during
the 2003 World Cup. Their protest was not so much against
the ZCU, who still
retained some vestiges of respect, but against the death
of democracy in
their country. It was by far the most resonant moment of the
tournament. But
both men quickly found themselves strangers in their own
land.
"I had
some awful emails," Olonga says. "Plenty of supportive ones, too -
about
2000, and I still haven't read all of them. But there were some really
unsavoury things said. As a young black man one of the worst things you can
be accused of is being an Uncle Tom. I just thought, 'You guys have missed
the point. It's irrelevant whether it's a black man hurting a white man or
the other way around'."
Olonga, 30, is himself a war veteran of a
sort. Exiled from his homeland,
cast off from his first career, he has lived
in west London since 2003 (with
occasional excursions to visit his wife in
Adelaide). Olonga makes his
living in unusual ways. If he is not appearing
for Lashings, the celebrity
cricket team, he is painting a piece of art or
returning to his first love -
singing.
He is wearily resigned to the
fact that people assume he cannot sing just
because he used to play sport
for a living. If cricket had not claimed him,
he would have aimed for a
career as a stage performer - "specialising in
musicals, rather than
Shakespeare, because that's not my thing".
At one point last year, Olonga
thought he was on the point of winning a big
record contract with Universal.
"They liked my voice, but then they took the
stuff I'd done to some guy who
is a go-between for the record label and the
retailers, and he said, 'Name
one celebrity who has had a successful singing
career'. Well, they didn't
really know what to say, even though they could
have mentioned Will Smith,
Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Lopez.
"Now I've become a bit cynical about
record companies because they didn't
judge me based on my music. This guy
didn't come to my showcase, he didn't
hear my voice, and there's a part of
me that thinks if they can make
spontaneous decisions like that, maybe I'm
better off starting this on my
own and just letting people fall in love with
me the way they want - which
is listening to my music and going, 'I really
like that, who is this kid?'.
That, to me, is genuine appreciation for you
as an artist."
Olonga recently completed a debut album, called Aurelia,
which is available
only by download from his website, www.henryolonga.net. This is no bedsit
record, put together on a cranky old four-track tape deck. He collected
pretty much all the money he has made over the past three years, hired a
crack producer known only as Robbie (Sugababes, Howard Jones), and assembled
what he calls "a solid piece of work".
"Maybe after hearing it,
people might have to deal with their pre-conceived
ideas about whether
cricketers should be able to sing or not," he says. "But
I'm content for it
to grow organically. If even 10,000 people download it,
I'll be delighted. I
don't want to get obsessed with making money and being
a hit
musician.
"I've already had one career where I was single-minded and did
everything in
my power to be successful. That's not what I want to do with
the rest of my
life. Music is something I enjoy, and something where I feel
I'm giving of
myself and giving people pleasure. If one person comes away
from a gig or a
CD saying, 'That touched me', I'm happy."
Telegraph,
London
The Herald
(Harare)
October 13, 2006
Posted to the web October 13,
2006
Harare
THE Tourism Image and Communication Taskforce will
next week tour Gonarezhou
National Park to assess the progress made so far
ahead of the 2010 World Cup
to be hosted by South Africa.
Parks and
Wildlife Management Authority Public Relations Manager Retired
Major Edward
Mbewe yesterday said the authority would take advantage of this
visit to
highlight some of the challenges they are facing in developing the
park.
"We are going to use this opportunity to create a platform from
where we
will lobby for people to invest in the park and help fast-track its
development," Rtd Maj. Mbewe said.
He said the taskforce, which is
chaired by Secretary for Information and
Publicity, Cde George Charamba is
keen to assess progress of de-mining in
the area around the Sango Border
Post, the Chitsa clan settled in the park
and other infrastructure
developments underway.
"The preparedness of Gonarezhou is key to the
country's tourism sector
particularly as we look forward to the World
Cup.
"It is therefore important for various stakeholders to be part of
this
development, as we are optimistic that a significant amount of foreign
currency will be generated," he said.
The park is part of the Great
Limpopo Transfrontier Park; the world's
largest wildlife sanctuary
comprising Mozambique's Limpopo, South Africa's
Kruger and Gonarezhou
national parks.
The Government has prioritised the development of
Gonarezhou and has so far
injected $232 million this year, mainly for the
opening up of roads,
electrification, sprucing up lodges and construction of
the Chipinda Pools
lodges and interpretation centre.
"What was made
available to us is not adequate in terms of what we intend to
do in the park
and we feel the taskforce is a vital force that could help us
romp in some
people to invest and help us source for more funding to improve
the
infrastructure."
The authority has emphasised they would not want
Gonarezhou to look like
South Africa's Kruger which is developed to an
extent of losing its rawness.
"We will try to keep it natural, a
wilderness, without losing sight of the
need to install essential facilities
that even real hunters would expect
from every park, which include good
roads."
The parks authority is faced with daunting tasks that include
relocating the
Chitsa people to a yet to be identified
settlement.
The dispute over the relocation of the Chitsa people who are
occupying part
of the park's buffer area has been going on for
years.
"This is one of our challenges and efforts are still being made by
various
stakeholders to see how best we could resolve the issue.
The
bottom line though is that legally, no one should settle in a park," he
said.
Rtd Maj. Mbewe said committees have since been set up to look
into the issue
and find solutions to major challenges faced by the park,
which included
construction of a strategic bridge linking Gonarezhou and
Kruger and
developing Buffalo Range Airport.
The Nation, Malawi
by Zainah
Liwanda , 13 October 2006 - 03:30:38
The Centre for Human Rights and
Rehabilitation (CHRR) on Thursday
said it was unfortunate that some civil
society organisations backtracked on
the visit by Zimbabwean president
Robert Mugabe mid this year, arguing a
firm stand would have sent a strong
signal for Mugabe to improve on human
rights and the general governance
situation in his country.
CHRR executive director Undule Mwakasungula
said at a press briefing
jointly addressed by a delegation of the Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition in
Lilongwe yesterday that the civil society in Malawi is
divided on Zimbabwe,
a development he said is unacceptable.
"The
civil society was and is still divided about Zimbabwe, few stood
firm and
opposed Mugabe's visit. What happened was unfortunate, because it
gave us
negative perception about what type of activists we are," said
Mwakasungula.
He said some civil society organisations like CHRR,
the Civil
Liberties Committee (Cilic), the Institute for Policy Interaction
(IPI) and
the Centre for Youths and Children Affairs (Ceyca) stood firm
against Mugabe's
visit despite the fact that others chickened out after
meeting President
Bingu wa Mutharika
Asked why there was silence
from all civil society organisations after
the Mutharika meeting,
Mwakasungula said CHRR issued a statement on its
stand while Mugabe was in
the country. Mwakasungula argued that this was a
manifestation that his
organisation was still not happy with the idea of
naming the Midima Road
after Mugabe
"We were not quiet. We issued a statement while Mugabe was
in the
country. We were betrayed by some civil society organisations who,
after
meeting the President, gave government the go-ahead to honour Mugabe,"
he
said.
According to Mwakasungula, the situation in Zimbabwe is
worrying and
needs the speedy intervention of leaders of the Southern Africa
Development
Community (Sadc) and the African Union.
The activist
said it is important that civil society organisations in
the Sadc region
should take the lead in helping Zimbabweans out of the
crisis.
"Sadc leaders have failed on Zimbabwe. They have not been honest. That
country has collapsed and as a regional organisation, Sadc needs to do
something tangible.
""The Zimbabwe crisis is a Sadc, African and
global problem," said
Mwakasungula.
Coordinator of the Zimbabwe
coalition, Jacob Mafume, said the
situation in his country is so critical
that over 80 percent of the
population is unemployed and that inflation is
at 1,204.6 percent which, he
said, is the worst in the world.
The
situation in Zimbabwe, according to Mafume, worsened when the
Mugabe
administration implemented the Operation Murambatsvina where, among
others,
houses were razed down, leaving about 700,000 people homeless
"The
above is a symptom of a collapse in the socio-economic and
political set-up
in Zimbabwe, which has been caused by a corrupted
governance structure that
is characterised by repressive legislation,
breakdown of the rule of law, a
weak Parliament and lack of accountability,"
he said.
Mafume said
the press has been oppressed to the extent that there are
no private radio
and TV stations in his country and that activities of civil
society trade
unions, churches and opposition parties are stifled by
colonial legislation
which restricts political discussion and gatherings.
"It is important
that Africa, especially the Sadc region, realises
that the Zimbabwe
situations is getting worse. The Mugabe government
continues to suppress the
people of Zimbabwe. The crisis cannot be solved by
Zimbabweans alone, but
strong, well informed and active solidarity of civil
society organisations
in the region," he said.
Mugabe recently opened the Midima Road which
was later named after him
despite opposition from some civil society
organisations in the country over
the Zimbabwe leader's questionable human
rights record.
[This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 13 Oct
2006 (IRIN/PLUSNEWS) - A new report shows that Zimbabwe's
education policy
for children with disabilities is skewed, with 67 percent
of disabled
children having no access to any form of schooling.
"Clearly, children
with disabilities are the worst disadvantaged, and
experience the most
difficult barriers in accessing education," said a
recently published report
by the National Association of Societies for the
Care of the Handicapped
(NASCOH).
Zimbabwe's record of 93 percent literacy among its school-going
children has
ranked among the best on the continent, but a sizeable
proportion of the
country's roughly 200,000 disabled children have slipped
through net.
Maria Chisunga is convinced that God has cursed her. Both
her sons have been
confined to their three-roomed home in the Mbare township
of the capital,
Harare, since they were afflicted by polio during
infancy.
"I don't know what crime God is punishing me for. I live with
the sorrow of
seeing my relatives, friends and neighbours avoiding me
because I happened
to bear disabled children," said Chisunga, 38, a sole
breadwinner who
survives by selling tomatoes on the street.
Her
husband, who has threatened to divorce her for cursing the family, has
always opposed educating the children - a 16-year-old who cannot walk or
talk and his deaf-mute 12-year-old brother. "It would be sheer waste of
money to send the children to school because there is nothing they would
bring into the family," is the husband's excuse.
Even if Chisunga did
send her sons to school, education has been considered
a privilege for the
able-bodied, said NASCOH, although "it is children with
disabilities who
need education most" because they face the "twin evils of
poverty and
discrimination".
According to the society, all children with disabilities
received inadequate
formal education - a situation compounded by a general
lack of specialised
schools, and made worse in rural areas where such
children often spent their
days "idly in the company of caregivers who are
non-responsive and likely to
regard them as a burden".
Physically and
mentally challenged children face numerous obstacles, from
stigmatisation in
their communities and sexual abuse to prohibitive school
fees and transport
costs, in an economic environment where inflation is
hovering at an annual
rate of 1,000 percent and unemployment is over 70
percent, resulting in
dwindling government spending on social welfare.
"Inflation has pushed up
the cost of school uniforms, stationery, public
examination fees and bus
fares, further compounding the constraints to
access of education faced by
children with disabilities who are generally
poor," said
NASCOH.
Although the society preferred an inclusive type of education, in
which
children with disabilities attended schools that also enrolled
nonchallenged
students, the environment was not conducive to such a policy
said Theresa
Makwara, acting coordinator of the Zimbabwe Parents of Children
with
Disabilities Association (ZPCDA).
"Lumping children with
different capacities is not workable, given our
present setups in schools.
Almost all the general schools lack facilities,
such as toilets that
accommodate wheelchairs ... Most school heads are
insensitive to the needs
of children with disabilities because they did not
receive special training,
while teachers allocated to the needy pupils are
discriminated against and
ostracised by their colleagues, who seem not to
understand them," Makwara
told IRIN.
Even though the job of specialised teachers is more demanding,
they received
the same salaries as their counterparts, a situation that led
to low morale
and high turnover, with many taking their skills to such
countries as
Britain where the pay and working conditions were
better.
"There are a few vocational schools for the children, some of
them offering
boarding facilities which are extremely expensive. In
addition, the schools
are located in isolated areas and most of the buses
that are meant to ferry
the children are constantly breaking down," she
said.
The government was not allocating any money to challenged learners,
who
needed expensive learning equipment such as Braille, hearing aids,
wheelchairs and tape recorders, despite its commitment to do so, and it was
proving difficult to source money from donors.
Many parents had
withdrawn their disabled children from school after
learning that they had
been sexually abused, Makwara said.
A 2004 report by the Save the
Children Fund of Norway indicated that 87
percent of children needing
special care in Zimbabwe were being sexually
abused, more than half of them
were found to be HIV-positive, and 47 percent
were mentally challenged, said
the report.
"The marginalisation of children with disabilities in the
education system
is worsened by the fact that a significant number of them
are orphans whose
parents died of AIDS, while we also have cases of teenage
parents who cannot
fend for their affected children and are sometimes
disabled themselves,"
said Makwara.
James Elder, head of the media
and advocacy unit at the UN Children's Fund
in Zimbabwe, which is helping to
source grants and scholarships for affected
children, said the organisation
did not condone the exclusion of children
with disabilities from schools.
"Instead, we support a range of school-based
initiatives to include and work
with children with disabilities," Elder said
in a written response to
questions from IRIN.
He commented that it was a "mark of a country's
moral maturity when the most
vulnerable are accorded equal opportunities in
society".
Angola Press
Harare, 10/13 -
African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson, Alpha Oumar
Konare Thursday met
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Africa`s
peacekeeping efforts in
Sudan`s troubled western Darfur region.
The two leaders expressed support
for UN moves to deploy more peacekeepers
in Darfur, where a three-year rebel
war has killed some 200,000 people and
displaced two million
others.
Khartoum is resisting international pressure for the deployment
of a UN
force in Darfur, preferring instead to retain African peacekeepers
presently
on the ground in the region.
Konare and Mugabe said, after
the talks, they would back the UN deployment,
but insisted this should be
led by African peacekeepers to allay Sudan`s
suspicions, and respect its
sensitivities.
The AU chief is on a regional tour to drum up support for
an international
peacekeeping force in Darfur, against the backdrop Sudan`s
opposition on
grounds that big powers would use the deployment to interfere
its internal
matters.
Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the
subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1
Dear Family and Friends,
The rains have arrived early in
Zimbabwe this year.There has been all the
usual talk about signs and omens
and if it's going to be a good season or a
bad one. Predictions of early or
late rains were made as were observations
of natural peculiarities that may
hint about what lies ahead. Everyone is
talking about the amazingly heavy
crop of Msasa pods this year, and the fact
that they still haven't finished
dropping. People say it's a sign of
something - but no one agrees what the
sign is! The termites have gone high
into the trees this year, their columns
of red mud clearly visible - this
too is used as a weather
predictor.
Black and burnt grasslands went green almost overnight and
bought a feeling
of intense relief at not having to look at the bleak and
scorched earth
anymore. Out of insignificant cracks in the hard ground
multiple millions of
flying ants have poured out into the early evenings and
the air has been
crowded with wings. The silky, shimmering wings of the
flying ants have
tempted all manner of birds to stay out late and feast on
the ants as they
fly past - almost no effort required. For the birds at
least, this a time of
plenty. The same can not be said for the
people.
I started making notes for this letter on Tuesday morning, after
we had had
two storms and just under an inch of rain had fallen. The
neighborhood was
already crowded with people who had come to till the land at
the roadsides.
Men hung their shirts in trees, women had babies in towels on
their backs
and toddlers sat on cloths in the shade of bushes. It was time.
Time to use
every piece of open ground, no matter how small, to grow some
food.
Everywhere you looked there was someone bent over digging and preparing
the
roadsides for planting. Some were scraping together sticks and weeds
and
clearing the area, others were bent over with hoes, ploughing the land
by
hand. This year there were many more children than normal helping to
prepare
the roadside lands. School is in session at the moment but many
many
children no longer attend school. The fees are so high that for
many
children reading and writing has been replaced with digging and
weeding.
Developing minds have just become extra hands.
As the sun
moved higher in the sky, still more people came and then
suddenly, at mid-day
on Tuesday the 3rd of October it was all over. Two
shaven headed men arrived
saying they were from the Municipality. One was
armed. Everyone must go, they
said, all tools are to be put down, they are
confiscated, there is no
cultivating of roadsides allowed this year. It was
utterly shocking to watch.
Within just a few minutes it was all over.
Perhaps forty people, men, women
and children, dejected, broken and swamped
with despair, walked away from the
chance to grow a few cobs of maize. They
were told that if they wanted their
tools back they would have to go to the
Municipal offices and pay fines for
cultivating illegally. No receipts were
issued for confiscated goods, no
resistance was proffered. The two shaven
headed men filled a confiscated
wheelbarrow with confiscated hoes and rakes
and left, on foot, the way they
had come. An eerie, out of character silence
has descended over the newly wet
roadsides in my home town. This is the time
of year when mealie madness fills
the land and everyone has an unstoppable
urge to grow maize. Not this year it
seems.
In the very very early mornings for the rest of the week one man
without a
shirt has toiled out there on the roadside. Apparently he is doing
"piece
work" for all the people who were chased away. The man is dropping
seeds
into holes in uncleared, unploughed land. This is zero tillage by
necessity
and not design. It is better than nothing. He has a woman with him,
she
stands on high ground, watching, ready to warn him, ready to
run.
For seven years the authorities in Zimbabwe have turned a blind eye
to
roadside cultivation. Now, when the need for extra food is so great, it
is
forbidden. Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy. Copyright
cathy
buckle, 7 October 2006. http:/africantears.netfirms.com My books
"African
Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from: rders@africabookcentre.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2
Dear all,
I have just had it confirmed that the bill did go
through the senate
yesterday. There were no amendments from the original
bill and in essence
every owner or occupier on every last white mans property
will be facing
criminal penalties 45 days after Mugabe first signs it, and
then sets a date
by statutory instrument as to when the 45 days will start.
The penalties
for defying the law and remaining in our homes and committing
the now
defector criminal offence of farming is up to 2 years
imprisonment.
If we comply with the law, the owners and occupiers on
those farms that are
termed "gazzetted land" [which include over a hundred
thousand people] will
have 45 days to find new homes and new income sources
[unless Minister
Mutasa suddenly issues leases/permits or offer letters to
cover those
hundred thousand plus people]. Of course we know the law will be
applied
selectively in a racially motivated manner - but any farm-worker that
steps
out of line will face up to 2 years in prison with us.
The
audacity of this clear injustice is almost unbelievable. It
demonstrates the
evil that we are up against with great clarity. We need to
pray against the
lies and the hatred that continue to kill and to steal and
to destroy our
nation. We need to counter these lies and this hatred with
truth and love
through the power of Christ who went before us. We need to
defy this unjust
law, first through whatever legal means there may be
available; and then
through making it plain for all to see the unjust nature
of this law; and
then, and this is for each of us to decide, by defying this
law and staying
in our homes and continuing to farm and taking the
consequences of
that.
We have troubled days ahead. We need to be firmly rooted in the
source of
all strength. He is the God of the impossible and Him we must find
the
wisdom and the strength that we shall need to go forward.
Ben
Freeth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
3
Dear JAG,
Thank you for arranging the Stress seminar last week
at the Convent. Really
helpful and interesting.
Best wishes - Venetia
Winkfield
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
4
Rev. Arthur Shirley Cripps, priest and poet. d.1952
I am
re-reading some of ASC's poetry and a new book based on his life. Is
there
anyone reading this who can put me in touch with someone who knows
more about
his writing and life. I have lost touch with Canon Richard
Holderness, who
first lent me the biography "God's Irregular".
Rev. George
Martin.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
5
Dear Jag
Poonam Patel, known to me as 'Crystal-Barrington', was
last seen by me in
KweKwe in1986 when she was 18 months old, I haven't seen
her since. Her
mother, Bhati, used to work at 'Plaza Bakery' in KweKwe during
the 80's when
I worked at the Umniati Power Station. I have searched for many
years with
hope of seeing my daughter before I die, please can you help to
turn my
dream into reality?
Sincere regards,
Frank
Carver
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions of
the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
Please send any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG
Job Opportunities; jag@mango.zw or justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 7 September 2006
Cook
Wanted for very small household:-
competent cook with some domestic work
included. Male or female with refs.
please.
Phone Harare
776298.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 7 September 2006
VACANCY
A vacancy has arisen at Haigar
Tyre & Fitment Centre with immediate effect.
The position offered
will suit a semi-retired person with mechanical
knowledge. The position
entails the overseer of a small workshop,
invoicing, sourcing
of
commodities and liaisoning with companies.
Persons interested should
contact 331726 / 305812 cell: 011
220606
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 7 September 2006
ACCOUNT ASSISTANT/CLERK
Our client is
looking for an Accounts Assistant/Clerk based in Marlborough.
The candidate
must have just graduated or about to finish a professional
course and must
possess good A Levels especially in Maths/Economics.
Due to the nature of
the position, the client is seeking an individual no
older than 25 or a first
jobber. Hours are 8-4:30pm Monday to Friday.
Please email your cv to cvs@oxfordit.co.zw and put
'Accounts
Assistant/Clerk' on subject of the email. Please include
current
position/salary/benefits/notice period. Closing date for cvs is
Friday 15th
September 2006. Interviews for short-listed candidates will be
from the
20th
September.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 7 September 2006
Australia - Refrigeration
Qualified
refrigerator mechanic; Australia. Apply to e-mail address
Hunties3@bigpond.com.
Employer
sponsorship possible for suitable
person.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 14 September 2006
HEAVY PLANT WORKSHOP MANAGER
We are
looking for a dynamic individual to run our Heavy Plant Workshop on
our
quarry in Mutoko. Applicant must be organized and be able to
administer
Preventative Maintenance Programs on a large fleet of mainly
Caterpillar
Equipment which includes Wheel Loaders, Excavators, Dumpers and
IR
Compressors.
Good Salary offered with vehicle and rustic mine
accommodation in bush
environment.
DIESEL PLANT FITTERS
We are
also looking for experienced Diesel Plant Fitters with preferably
Caterpillar
experience and some knowledge of hydraulics and air-compressors.
Please
send CV's to mineadmin@quenyagranite.com or
deliver to 76 Enterprise
Rd, Highlands, Harare or phone 091 201 943
weekends.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 14 September 2006
General Manager
VACANCY AS A GENERAL
MANGER WILL ARISES AT THE END OF NOVEMBER 2006. THE
POSITION IS WITHIN THE
TEXTILE INDUSTRY AND A MORE MATURE PERSON FROM EITHER
GENDER IS BEING
SOUGHT. THE IDEAL PERSON MUST HAVE A WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF
SEWING (THE
PRESENT INCUMBERENT IS MALE) OR HAVE IMMEDIATE ACESSES TO A
BACKUP WHO CAN
ADVISE ON THE MORE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF SEWING AND KNITTING,
AND BE PREPARED
TO WORK IN AN ALL FEMALE ENVIROMENT. THE CANDIDATE WILL BE
EXPECTED TO BE
NOT ONLY GENERAL MANAGER, BUT BOOKKEEPER TO TRIAL BALANCE,
COMPUTER LITERATE
IN EXCEL, WORD AND E-MAIL. EXPERINCE IN EXPORT PROCEDURES
WILL BE AN ADDED
ADVANTAGE. THIS POSITION WILL BE SUITABLE TO PEOPLE LIVING
IN THE MOUNT
PLEASANT, BORROWDALE, GUN HILL, NEWLANDS, GREENDALE, EASTLEA
AREAS OF HARARE.
PLEASE FORWARD YOUR APPLICATION AND C.V.S TO
aztec@zol.co.zw. OR TO P.O. BOX BW1510
BORROWDALE BY NO LATER THAN THE CLOSE
OF BUSINESS ON THE 30 SEPTEMBER 2006.
RENUMERATION PACKAGE WILL BE
DISCUSSED AT THE
INTERVIEW.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 14 September 2006
Vacancies Available
Two vacancies need
to be filled at Peterhouse:
1. Estate Manager (September
2006)
Responsibilities include;
Maintenance of sports fields, swimming
pools and sporting facilities
Overseeing water supply and borehole
upkeep
Controlling lawn mowers, tractors and equipment usage
Managing a
forestry plantation and estate gardens
Usage and maintenance of
generators
Managing a small labour force
2. Transport Manager
(November 2006)
Responsibilities include;
Procurement, storage, issuing
and recording of fuel
Vehicle records
Planning and controlling the daily
transport requirements
Maintenance and servicing of the vehicle
fleet
Please send a detailed CV with 3 references and application
to:
The Bursar, Peterhouse, P/Bag 3741, Marondera
Or fax to: 079 -
24200, or e-mail to: peterhousebursar@mango.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 21 September 2006
DO YOU WANT TO WORK IN AUSTRALIA?
Suzie
Ward can assist you. She has been in the recruiting business for over
20
years. She is looking for professional and skilled people to work
in
regional Australian positions.
Contact her on: Email: suzie@ajsward.com.au
Phone: + 612
9818 5539
DO YOU WANT TO MIGRATE TO AUSTRALIA?
Florence Buegge
Borshoff has been in the business of assisting migrates to
Australia for over
17 years. She will assess your application and respond
to you within 24
hours.
WE WILL ADVISE HONESTLY AND DO OUR BEST FOR YOU.
www.businessmigration.com.au
MARN
# 9255934: Visit our website or
EMAIL: visa@businessmigration.com.au
FAX:
+612 9555 7100: PHONE + 612 9555
2333
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 21 September 2006
Australia
We have a number of job
opportunities for trades' people in Australia
Fitter and turner,
Boilermakers, Welders, Diesel Mechanics, Auto
Electricians, Bosch diesel
injection specialists, Diamond Drillers
We will provide a full facility
in relocation to Australia, including visa
applications: Please contact - rebecca@aussiemigrant.com
Tel +61
7 3226
4888
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 21 September 2006
Tourism and Conservation
We are looking
for a person with the following qualities.
We are looking for someone to help
us with our small but growing tourism and
conservation concern.
Applicants
should have the following attributes:
Have a interest in Wildlife - the bush
- conservation as well as tourism.
On top of this applicants must have
animal husbandry experience particularly
with horses.
MUST BE COMPETENT
RIDER, BE ABLE TO GET ON WITH AND MANAGE STAFF
PREPARED TO TRAVEL
INTERNALLY IN ZIM BETWEEN OUR 2 SAFARI DESTINATIONS
HAVE GOOD OBSERVATIONS
AND RECORD KEEPING SKILLS
IDEALLY HAVE LEARNER GUIDE OR FULL PROFESSIONAL
LICENSE, HAVE DRIVERS
LICENSE
NOT AFRAID OF HARD WORK AND LONG HOURS -
ASSOCIATED WITH TOURISM.
IDEALLY THIS POSITION WILL SUIT YOUNG SINGLE
MALE WITH FARMING OR BUSH
BACKGROUND OR OLDER SINGLE PERSON
OR MARRIED
COUPLE WITH FARMING BACKGROUND.
PLEASE CONTACT: 04 861766, 091 256434 OR riding@vardensafaris.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 28 September 2006
Vacancies Available
Financial manager /
Office Administrator
for medium sized agricultural
concern
Book-keeper
Flexi-time, casual environment, handling accounts
for a small Internet
subscription business. Knowledge of turbocash or pastel
an added bonus but
not essential, but must be computer
literate.
Please email CV's to rob@arniston.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 28 September 2006
GARAGE / MAINTENANCE MANAGER
This
position would suit a self-driven, committed, elderly or retired
gentleman
with a good knowledge of vehicle maintenance (especially Land
Cruisers) and
man management. It would assist if the incumbent has
experience in
overseeing other maintenance such as refrigeration repairs,
plumbing and
building, but this is not essential. Clock-watchers need not
apply. This is
a very pleasant and happy environment and we would like to
keep it that way,
so a good sense of humour would be great. Salary is
negotiable to the right
person and good perks are offered. This position is
available immediately.
Interested persons please contact Mr. Rogers on
(016) 596 or send CVs by fax
to (016) 256 or email them to
tshafar@mweb.co.zw
SECRETARY
TOURISM/HUNTING WANTED
Secretary in tourism/hunting needed. Word, Email
and common sense required.
Is a very interesting and can be very entertaining
too. Salary negotiable.
Contact tshafar@mweb.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 28 September 2006
Position - Cropping Manager
Location -
Northern Zambia, between Ndola and Kitwe.
Responsibilities - Preparation of
annual cropping budgets and cash flows,
overseeing and controlling all
aspects of irrigated (450ha) and rain fed
(700 - 1000ha) row crop production
(predominantly winter wheat and summer
maize and soya)
Qualifications
- Extensive experience and traceable performance in row
cropping and
agricultural management, as well as being computer literate.
Degree/diploma
will be necessary in order to obtain employment permit.
Remuneration -
attractive $ salary, normal farm perks, accommodation,
company vehicle,
performance based bonus scheme, medical aid etc. Contact:
Mick on selby@iwayafrica.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 28 September 2006
VACANCY
Vacancy exists for husband/wife
couple to assist in running rural
workshop/superette. All benefits: i.e.,
vehicle, house, and medical aid.
Please submit CV's to borser@comone.co.zw. Phone for reply to
011408986.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 5 October 2006
COOK / DOMESTIC WANTED
I AM LOOKING FOR A
COOK / DOMESTIC WORKER - SOMEONE WHO IS HONEST AND
TRUSTWORTHY. WITH
TRACEABLE REFERENCES.
CONTACT:- rsjsgardini@zol.co.zw / 011 604
084
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 5 October 2006
Gardener Wanted
Borrowdale area. Prefer to
share with some one in the area as no
accommodation available 091 865 666 /
882013 (pm)
secretary@plastique.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 5 October 2006
Teacher Wanted
ONCE UPON A TIME NURSERY
SCHOOL is looking for a teacher for January 2007.
If you are a qualified
Primary, Infants or Nursery School trained teacher
you will find this a
rewarding position. We have a happy work atmosphere,
wonderful equipment, and
offer an excellent salary.
For more information phone Rosy on 776470 or
091-216730 or Andy on 746811
or
091-315455
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
Ad
inserted 12 October 2006
S. KOREA
We are seeking 'Foreign
Teachers' to teach English in Seoul S. Korea. We
offer 12 month contracts
with good salary and conditions of employment.
Please send your CV if you can
fulfil ALL the criterion listed below.
Brief description.
Ten years
ago (1996) Dr. Jeong established a private tuition college in
Seoul, South
Korea. The college provides extra tuition in all subjects to
Korean school
students..most of whom are of primary school and early high
school age. The
majority of the staff are Korean teachers. However, ALL the
English teachers
are recruited from outside Korea. In order to be eligible
for an E-2 teaching
visa.. The Korean government stipulates that the
following two requirements
are met:
1) The teacher speaks English as a first language. i.e. 'grew
up in a
home where english was spoken.' This applies irrespective of their
country
of origin. For example we get many applications from Australians who
are of
Asian descent. Unfortunately, we are unable to employ them despite
most
applicants having outstanding qualifications.
2) The teacher
has a university degree. The degree MUST have been
completed in English.
However, a teaching degree is not required, nor is
teaching experience.
although clearly this is an advantage.
Ideally, the applicant has
completed a recognized TESOL course. However,
this requirement is not
mandatory.
Send applications of interest to mennellmike@optusnet.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 12 October 2006
Situation Vacant
Balance Sheet Bookeeper
- Either half or full day (what is important is to
get the job done!),
Borrowdale surburban, friendly (if not 'flash'!)
environment. Immediate or
ASAP start. Phone Rob on 011 604 136 or email
rebeare@africaonline.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 5 October 2006
Floor Manager Wanted
Position for a floor
manager in a vegetable wholesaling business 15 km
outside of Harare. 4 day
week and would suit an energetic gentleman
experience not
essential.
House a usual farm perks offered. Please contact 011 208447
or
011
207639.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 12 October 2006
Accountant wanted
Blackfordby College of
Agriculture is looking for a suitably qualified
accountant to fill the
position of Bursar. The job: To run the accounts
section of the college and
farm from a-z, the preparation of college and
farm budgets and cash flows and
to provide monthly management reports for
Board meetings. Knowledge of
agriculture may be an added advantage. Only
applicants with solid accounting
experience and those fluent with PASTEL and
EXCEL will be considered. The
package includes company car, medical aid,
competitive salary, with house
free water free lights and other benefits.
The successful applicant will
reside at the college about 70km from Harare
in the Mazowe / Concession
area. The job of assistant matron may be offered
to the wife of the
successful applicant. Phone for interview appointment.
Details of CV to be
sent to The Principal. P O Box EH197 Emerald Hill,
Harare, Zimbabwe. Phone;
075-2532 / 2533, Fax 075-2539, e-mail
agfordby@mweb.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 12 October 2006
HUNTING SAFARI MANAGER
Position open in
Pemba, Mozambique, for a manager for a large hunting
operation. Responsible
for all aspects of the operation - permits, trophies,
camps, equipment,
stocks, etc. Previuos hunting experience not required but
proof of managerial
ability essential. Good terms and conditions available.
Reply to tlane@mweb.co.zw with
CV
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employment
Sought
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 7 September 2006
Employment Sought
I am a highly
experienced individual with a varied background and a tertial
education. I am
seeking a position in sales and marketing, advertising,
shipping or similar
areas. Please call Cheryl on 776 875 or
011
628451
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 14 September 2006
Gardener
Gardener looking for job for
three days a week and also needing
accommodation. Preferably in the Alex Park
area.
Phone
744075
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 14 September 2006
BALANCESHEET BOOKEEPER/ADMINISTRATOR
I
am a 39-year-old man looking for placement in the above post and am
very
proficient in the following functions.
ACCOUNTING:
i) Cash
book entries
ii) Bank reconciliation's
ii) Debtors invoicing and
administration
iii) Creditors invoicing and administration
iv) Fixed Asset
Registers
v) Monthly Management Accounts
vi) Balance Sheeting
vii)
Income Tax Computation
ADMINISTRATION:
Company Secretarial
Work
Deeds Office Searches
Company Registrations
Forms CR14, Forms CR6,
Forms CR2
Annual Returns
Handling Judicial Managements and
Liquidations
Salaries
NSSA Registrations and Returns
NEC
Returns
P.A.Y.E administration
Bank Transfers via Paynet
Software
Medical aid
Pension Fund returns
Reconciling various salaries
related accounts
COMPUTER LITERACY:
Pastel Accounting Version 4 to
7
Solution 6 Accounting*
Microsoft Office (Excel & Word)
Belina
Payroll
Paynet Salaries, Paywell Payroll*, Payplus Payroll*
Denotes
packages used a while ago requiring some recapping
Please contact Peter
Andrew TAPIWA on Telephone 04 740233 or e-mail
andrew@guardtec.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 28 September 2006
Employment Sought
Workshop, parts
manager, and motor mechanic looking for employment.
Please contact me on
091 772 473 or 011 732
084
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 5 October 2006
Employment Sought
HONEST, RELIABLE, 64
YEAR OLD, MARRIED FAIRLY ACTIVE EX FARM GENERAL MANAGER
FOR A LARGE AND VERY
SUCCESSFUL FARMING OPERATION, SEEKS CARETAKER TYPE
POSITION OR ANYTHING
INTERESTING PREFERABLY IN OR AROUND THE HARARE AREA.ONE
MONTH NOTICE
REQUIRED.UP TO DATE CV AND CHARACTER REFERENCES AVAILABLE ON
REQUEST. MAIN
OUTSIDE INTERESTS IS PLAYING BOWLS AND FISHING. PLEASE CONTACT
091387891 OR
EMAIL lilford@hms.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For
the latest listings of accommodation available for farmers, contact
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
(updated 12 October 2006)
Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the
subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1 - Ben Freeth
Open letter to the President. The lie of the
land.
Dear Mr. Mugabe,
IT has been said that the battle for land
is the greatest single cause of
strife and warfare between human beings. I am
sure you can testify to the
truth of this. You will know that your parliament
has now passed the Bill
that aims to drive the last white man off the land as
well. We sit on the
eve of the senate ratifying this and you, Your
Excellency, signing it.
Before you do so I wish to give you some food for
thought.
I have listened to many history lessons on how terrible the
white man is and
how terrible colonialism was. Repeat something often enough
and it becomes
accepted; and all subsequent actions against the white man,
whatever they
may be even if he or his family had nothing to do with
colonialism, appear
to become justified.
The history of colonialism is
not quite the simple history that it is often
made out to be. In 1930 the
Land Apportionment Act was passed. It was
passed, as you know, on the
strength of the Carter Commission which reported
that territorial segregation
was what the black people needed for purposes
of security of
tenure.
The Act set aside 30 acres for every black man, woman and child.
White men
were then barred from buying land in those areas. Contrary to
the
repetitious propaganda, every serious farmer knows that land in
these
communal areas could be made to produce every bit as well as other land
in
Zimbabwe.
In the 1940s ownership with title was given to the most
skilled black
farmers in small- scale commercial farming areas. Since that
time quite a
number have done so, including many high-profile people within
your party.
It is regrettable that no serious move was made by Ian Smith,
or later by
yourself, to give the land to the people in the rest of the
communal areas
through the provision of title.
But the repeating of
history does not change the principle that if a man
buys a piece of land and
develops and uses it productively, he should be
able to continue to utilise
it; unless it is compensated for in accordance
with international norms, some
of which you have signed up to.
Over 70% of those that have been chased
off their land bought their land
under your government since 1980. Your
government had right of first refusal
on all land transfers. Your government
issued certificates to say that they
did not want those specific pieces of
land that were being sold. Your
government accepted transfer duties from
those that were
purchasing the farms and taxes from those who were selling
them. And now
your government has taken those farms and not paid for
them.
Zimbabwe whites reduced their land holdings by over a third between
1980 and
2000 - from over 30 % to 18 % of Zimbabwe's land total. This was all
on a
willing seller/willing buyer basis. Unfortunately the land that
your
government bought from the whites then, that we as the taxpayers paid
for
through our taxes in conjunction with the British, was never given by
the
state to the rural poor people. Much went to your party hierarchy. The
rest
was never actually given to the rural poor because, I presume, your
party
did not want to lose control over it.
The rural poor who were
allowed to go on to the land were never given
ownership of the land. They
could not develop and invest in land that was
not theirs. The rural poor got
poorer; and still, especially because of the
last six years, they are getting
poorer today. Conditions are so poor that
the population is actually
shrinking and the economy is contracting too.
We are now in the position
where the state, through the party, has taken all
of the land by vesting it
in you Mr President. Nobody owns any of the land
apart from you. There are a
few exceptions, like a few well-connected
people, who realising the
importance of title, bought their farms while your
government was still
saying that it did not want them through certificates
of no present interest.
All land is now yours Mr President. If you do not
like someone you can remove
them.
The last 400 of us whites are liable to be chased off the land any
day now
and there are many in your cabinet and your party that covet what has
been
developed by us. There is folly in this situation and evil motivation
behind
it. If we want the people to eat and prosper, it is time that a
holistic
legal system of individual ownership be put in place and
respected.
What all right-thinking people should be saying is that the
18% owned by
white farmers should be recognised as such: they bought it and
developed it;
and unless they are compensated for it, the state through the
party has
stolen it.
Many white men won't come back; but at least pay
them what they are due so
that the land can be properly freed up for people
that wish to produce on
it. The ones that want to stay should be left
alone.
On the 82% of Zimbabwean land that the white farmers do not/did
not own, as
well as much of the rest that the whites will not come back to,
the rural
poor need to be given ownership. Only then will they have security
of tenure
so that they can buy and sell and lease it out and invest and
protect it as
individual owners will generally want to do.
It is
giving the individual ownership that counts. The ones with a
propensity to
work and develop can then do so. Not all people are farmers -
in most
developed countries it is less than 2% of the population that are
in
agriculture - and because of the economies of scale they have large
food
surpluses. Why are you wishing to perpetuate an inefficient peasant
feudal
system based on subsistence agriculture where food becomes short and
the
towns begin to die?
In Zimbabwe, do the young really want to break
their backs like Cain, hoeing
the land as peasants? Do they not want to be
professionals, tradesman and
businessmen? Should land be just given to people
who want something for
nothing?
Should land be just handed out to
people who have not got a realistic chance
of keeping that land productive
with the people employed and fed? Should
land be dished out at all if there
is no proper ownership system in place?
The system of vesting all the
land in yourself as the president and in
removing the white man from the land
has happened in country after country
to the north . . . it is a tried and
tested formula that ensures people
control for a while; but abject poverty
for generations.
Africa is the poorest continent on earth and getting
poorer; and yet God has
given us more arable land than any other continent;
and most of that land in
the tropical belt where we can out-produce every
other area with the right
investment and skills.
With God's help we
have a chance to allow the healing of our land; to become
an example of how
things should be done and to make Zimbabwe great. But Mr
President, I believe
that you know that God will not help those that
continue in the ways of
wickedness. A house built on the foundations of
hatred will crumble and
fall.
I do not know whether you will sign the law that will put us in
jail if we
stay in our homes and commit the criminal offence of
farming.
I pray to God you do not.
Yours sincerely,
Ben
Freeth,
Chegutu.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2 - Stu Taylor
Dear Jag,
(You do not have to print this if you
feel it would jeopardize guys
returning to the land!!)
What a
contradiction in terms the latest "efforts" by the CFU to work
hand-in-hand
with government to attempt to revive agriculture in the country
is - it is
tantamount to attempting to panel beat a Mini-Minor that has been
run over by
a juggernaut.
Contrary to the utterances by mugabe that the land reform
was not carried
out on racial terms, I'm afraid I beg to differ - several
times during the
past 6-or-so years he has said no whites must be on the land
at or after
"such-and-such a date", and what about his speech that "Whites
are animals"?
There is no doubt that the land reform was carried out for
political
expediency/survival and on totally racist principles - the White
farmer has
been the target of mugabe since the seventies - why change things
now?
At the expense of sounding "defeatist"(which I'm not - just a
realist!),
commercial agriculture in Zimbabwe is beyond the panel beating
stage - it
was unique while it lasted - and White former farmers must find
something
else to do with their lives; mugabe has chased most of the good
White
farmers to the four corners of the earth, and they would be fools to
come
back - like a child who has been abused beyond reason whose parents
are
pleading for forgiveness - that trust is no longer there. The sincerity
of
government will forever be doubted, as they don't have a brilliant
track
record. Rather let the thousands of resettled guys supplement the
former
agricultural output and let all of us who contributed to the
excellence of
commercial agriculture adapt and make a living out of some
other livelihood.
Cheers, go well and have a good day!
Stu
Taylor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions of
the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.