IFEX
Date: 29
September 2006
(MISA/IFEX) - On 28 September 2006, the
state-controlled Media and
Information Commission (MIC) attacked the Media
Institute of Southern Africa
(MISA) Zimbabwe for portraying itself to the
donor community as "regime
change activists" who will repeal the country's
restrictive media laws.
In a statement, published in "The Herald
newspaper" on 29 September, MIC
chairperson Dr. Tafataona Mahoso attacked
MISA-Zimbabwe, together with the
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and the
Media Monitoring Project of
Zimbabwe (MMPZ), accusing the three
organisations of convening clandestine
meetings under the guise of media law
reform. The three organisations
constitute the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe
(MAZ).
Mahoso's statement was issued on the eve of a two-day
parliamentary lobbying
conference organised by MAZ to push for the repeal of
the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), Public
Order and Security
Act (POSA) and Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), among
other repressive media
laws.
He claimed that the purpose of the
meeting, which opened in Harare on 29
September, is to create "a stilted
platform from which the activists may
engage in an orgy of anti-Zimbabwe
diatribe intended to coincide with other
recently staged events".
By
referring to what he termed "recently staged events", Mahoso was
apparently
alluding to the 13 September, nationwide marches organised by the
Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which resulted in the brutal
police assault
of the ZCTU leaders, leading to the hospitalisation of
Secretary-General
Wellington Chibhebhe.
Contrary to Mahoso's assertions that Acting
Minister of Information Dr
Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana was not aware of the
meeting, MISA-Zimbabwe has it
on record that invitations were extended to
the minister and the MIC
chairperson himself well in advance of the
meeting.
His reference to "clandestine" meetings is also baffling because
Mahoso
himself acknowledges that he was invited to the
meeting.
MISA-Zimbabwe therefore dismisses Mahoso's desperate rantings as
not
warranting any serious attention. Mahoso, as has become the norm, will
go to
any lengths to protect "his supper" which comes by way of the
contentious
AIPPA, which created the statutory MIC that he
chairs.
ZUJ president Mathew Takaona said the purpose of the workshop was
to reflect
on media laws, adding that the union was not bothered by Mahoso's
allegations.
MORE INFORMATION:
For further
information, contact Zoé Titus, Programme Specialist, Media
Freedom
Monitoring, MISA, Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61
232 975,
fax: +264 61 248 016, e-mail: research@misa.org, Internet:
http://www.misa.org
VOA
By
Blessing Zulu & Patience Rusere
Washington
29
September 2006
Aid agencies in Harare are expressing concern at
the government's reluctance
to give approval to a rural food assessment
report carried out six months
ago by Zimbabwe's Vulnerabillity Assessment
Committee. The committee
involves officials from the Harare government, the
United Nations, and
non-governmental organizations.
The report has
been approved by the cabinet, but until President Mugabe
signs off on it the
document has no effect. NGO Christian Care told VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
that conflicting government figures make it hard to
raise funds from donors
for food aid. Leaked portions of the document
indicate some 1.4 million
people in Zimbabwe's rural areas continue to need
food aid, while one third
of primary school children in rural areas are
dropping out because of hunger
and deepening poverty.
Other nations in the Southern African Development
Community released draft
reports in May and issued final reports in June.
Officials at Harare relief
agencies who spoke on condition of anonymity said
President Mugabe's delay
could hamper a planned assessment of food aid needs
in the Zimbabwe's urban
centers.
For an assessment of the latest food
policy controversy, reporter Blessing
Zulu turned to researcher Chris
Maroleng of the Institute for Security
Studies in Pretoria, South Africa,
who said the delay reflects the decline
of governance in
Harare.
Elsewhere, Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono said wheat the
government has
imported at a cost of some US$10 million will last the
country for more than
2 months. He said the hard currency the RBZ made
available bought 30,400
tonnes of wheat.
But opposition agriculture
expert Renson Gasela said the imports were "too
little too late." Gasela,
who belongs to the Movement for Democratic Change
faction led by Arthur
Mutambara, told reporter Patience Rusere that the
ongoing wheat harvest is
likely to produce only about half of the total
400,000 tonnes the country
needs.
VOA
By
Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
29 September
2006
With just three weeks to go before the start of Zimbabwe's maize
planting
season, the government is pursuing fresh farm evictions around the
country
based on a new law that increases state powers to drive white
commercial
farmers off the land.
Fresh evictions have been reported
in Manicaland, Masvingo and Mashonaland
West provinces, despite statements
in recent months from top officials
including the two vice presidents and
the central bank chief saying
commercial farm evictions were
over.
Two white farmers in Mashonaland West received summonses this week
to appear
in court for refusing to vacate their properties. Another 50
farmers across
the country have been handed eviction notices under a
recently promulgated
law saying anyone who receives a Section 5 notice of
state land takover must
vacate within 45 days.
The law makes it a
crime to refuse, with a penalty of up to two years in
prison.
VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe was unable to reach either of the two farmers
scheduled to appear in Karoi magistrate's court Tuesday to face such
charges, or to obtain a comment from the Commercial Farmers' Union of which
they are members.
Independent farming expert Roger Mpande told
reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that
these evictions are not driven by land reform
policy objectives, but by
greed.
VOA
By Blessing
Zulu & Carole Gombakomba
Washington
29 September
2006
Thousands of residents of Harare's Glenview district turned
out Friday to
protest the longstanding watershortages the southern suburb
has experienced
as well as the poor quality of the water that households are
receiving,
local sources said.
Demonstrators bearing placards
denouncing Local Government Minister Ignatius
Chombo and Harare Commission
Chairwoman Sekesai Makwavarara dumped trash at
a local council office. No
police intervention was reported, as the
demonstrators scattered quickly
after staging the protest.
Even members of the the ruling party have
criticized Chombo and Makwavarara
for poor service delivery. William Nhara,
ZANU-PF spokesman for Harare
province and a communications aide to President
Robert Mugabe said
Makwavara's incompetence put in jeopardy the ruling
party's chances of
winning Harare elections. He accused Makwavaraa's
commission of putting
"self-aggrandisement projects" first.
Analysts
warn such demonstrations could spark wider protests against the
Mugabe
government. Similar protests have occurred in Budiriro and
Dzivarasekwa.
For an inside perspective on Friday's protest, reporter
Blessing Zulu of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe spoke with Costa Machingauta, a
resident and
participant in the demonstration who estimated that some 4,000
people took
part.
Elsewhere, Kuwadzana residents without electricity
for the past two weeks
seemed likely to remain in the dark even longer after
electrical sub-station
feeding the high density Harare suburb caught fire.
Residents said flames
broke out at the facility as Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority employees
were making repairs to it.
Zesa
engineering manager Peter Nyandiya said the state utility is looking
into
what he called a "minor problem" at the Kuwadzana sub-station. Nyandiya
said
damage of some $Z15 million was incurred, affecting an estimated 100
households.
But Kuwadzana resident Fiona Mazivanhanga told reporter
Carole Gombakomba
that the problem is anything but minor from the local
standpoint given that
the disruption of electrical power has hampered the
livelihoods of about
5000 people.
Raw Story
Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa
Published: Friday September 29,
2006
Harare- Zimbabwe will act decisively on any threats to law and
order,
President Robert Mugabe said Friday, a day after the UN here urged
the
authorities to show restraint when dealing with protests. A defiant
Mugabe,
speaking to senior ruling party members, repeated his long-standing
charge
that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and former
colonial
power Britain were behind recent trade union demonstrations, which
were
quickly quashed by police.
More than 200 members of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) were
arrested and several beaten after
thwarted protest marches across the
country on September 13.
Mugabe
told the central committee of his Zimbabwe African National Union
Patriotic
Front (ZANU-PF) that the protests were staged so that government
opponents
could see whether the time was right for an uprising.
"We happen to know
that behind this ill-advised probing attempt to brew
instability was the MDC
and its British, and American and Western sponsors,"
the 82-year-old
president said in televised comments.
"They indeed are challenging the
very principle of rule of law they are wont
to chastise us for. We shall act
and act decisively against any threats to
law and order, however couched,"
he said.
The comments came just one day after the UN country team in
Zimbabwe said it
was dismayed by statements issued by the authorities here
that appeared to
condone the use of force and torture against peaceful
demonstrators.
But Mugabe reiterated his hard-line stance against
would-be protestors.
"They will be making a very serious mistake to
imagine we will stand idly by
in the name of democracy and human rights
while they choose or sponsor
illegal activities against local authorities,"
he said.
The Zimbabwe president, who has been in power for 26 years,
accuses the MDC
of being a front for Western powers who he claims want to
effect regime
change in this once-prosperous southern African
nation.
The MDC did not take part in this month's ZCTU protest marches,
although the
seven-year old party has promised to mount its own mass action
against the
government.
© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
dpa
Daily News, SA - Letter
September 29, 2006 Edition 1
The latest public outpouring
of hatred and invective by Zimbabwean dictator
Robert Mugabe is cause for
serious concern (Daily News 27-09-06)...From Cllr
John Steenhuisen,
Democratic Alliance of Durban North
Whilst lambasting the European Union,
Bush and Blair he has publicly stated
that he will continue to use torture
and brutal suppression to put down
labour protests by workers in
Zimbabwe.
Unsurprisingly, nobody appears to be holding their breath
waiting for the
South African government to respond. The President and his
cabinet will no
doubt continue on their well-trodden path of appeasement
under the guise of
"quiet diplomacy".
It never ceases to amaze me
that the ANC does not miss a single opportunity
to release a statement or
make an international song and dance about human
rights abuses and
violations in the Middle East, yet when it comes to human
rights abuses and
tyrannical behaviour on their own doorstep they maintain a
bizarre
silence.
Surely the time has come to recognise that this policy has been an
utter
failure and that the time for silence has long since passed. It is now
time
for our government and the ANC to abandon their absurd Faustian pact
with
the Mugabe regime and take real action before the tragedy of a
collapsing
Zimbabwe drags the economies of our entire region
down.
Cllr John Steenhuisen, Democratic Alliance of Durban North
Africa scores a first as IFRC/ WHO AFRO HIV/SAfAIDS launch a prevention,
treatment, care and support training package for community-based
volunteers
30 Sep 2006 16:10:00 GMT
Source: International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) - Switzerland
The
three giant humanitarian organisations, International Federation of the
Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in collaboration with the World
Health Organization Africa Regional Office (WHO/AFRO) and the Southern
Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) have joined
forces and will launch a generic HIV training package for community-based
volunteers on the 2nd of October 2006. The launch ceremony will take place
at the Harare International Conference Centre, Rainbow Towers.
This
is the first package to be developed which empowers people living with
HIV,
their family members and care givers to provide care and support with
minimal external support. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already
endorsed the package, making it an international standard that enhances the
capacity of care facilitators and community-based volunteers to support and
care for clients on anti-retroviral therapy.
"This package is unique
from many others as it is client-centered and
community-based with linkages
to clinical, nursing and health services and
it provide a link between
community programmes and organisations involved in
the work of HIV and
AIDS," says Dr Evelyn Isaacs, of the World Health
Organisation (AFRO). "It
also falls in line with the principles of Universal
Access to treatment as
defined in the Millennium Development Goals which
will eventually lead to
improved in treatment care and support in all
countries across the
world."
The tool comes against a tide of unabating spread of the HIV
epidemic,
especially within southern Africa which has become the epicenter
of the
pandemic though they have been concerted efforts coordination and
collaboration by many players to improve on access to treatment and other
prevention activities. This, however, called for a change in approach to
care, treatment and support for people community health workers and people
living with HIV which package seeks to address.
"The availability of
anti-retroviral therapy is beginning to change the
shape of home-based care
programmes across the continent, especially in
southern Africa from helping
people to die with dignity to positive living,"
explains Françoise Le Goff,
the International Federation's head of regional
delegation in southern
Africa. "The launch of the training package comes at
the right time as it
will empower people living with HIV, care givers and
family members who
provide care and support and improve backup for their
humanitarian work. As
a community based organization, we are convinced that
this will go a long
way in making life easier for our community health
workers who need support;
we care for the carers."
Having gone that far in laying the ground,
indeed Africa deserves more than
just promises, if efforts to stall and
reverse to effects of the pandemic
are to pay off.
"The issue
knowledge gap will now be addressed through this package which
does not
simply focus on treatment as a means of controlling the epidemic,
but
instead integrates treatment into prevention, care and support to
provide a
comprehensive package of HIV and AIDS interventions," says Lois
Ngandu, the
SAFAIDS executive director. Community health workers will now
have the
knowledge and skills to complement treatment roll out programmes in
the
communities they serve," she added noting that the enhancement of skills
at
community level will reduce pressure on the already stretched health
resources in many resource-limited settings.
The package, which was
pre-tested in Zimbabwe and other African countries,
is made up of eight
modules focus on basic facts on HIV and AIDS, treatment
literacy, treatment
Preparedness, adherence, community-based counseling,
nutrition, palliative
Care: symptom management and end of life care and
caring for carers. It will
be translated into many different languages
including Portuguese, French and
Spanish in order to extend its reach and
sixteen other African
languages.
The launch draws participants from all over Africa, including
representatives of International Federation of Red Cross societies, WHO
regional offices, the African Union, relevant government ministries as well
as regional UN agencies, networks of people living with HIV, community care
facilitators, advocacy networks, NGOs and donors. Participants will have an
opportunity to create awareness among these diverse stakeholders on the
important role community-based volunteers play in treatment rollout
programmes.
Cricinfo
Champions Trophy 2006-07
Cricinfo staff
September 30,
2006
Zimbabwe's coach Kevin Curran has backed his young side
to prove their worth
in the upcoming Champions Trophy. "We have an
inexperienced but talented
team of players who can perform well in a
tournament like this," Curran
said. "It is not going to be easy but we will
surely put up a good fight."
The side, led by Prosper Utseya, were the
first team to arrive for the
tournament which starts with a qualifying match
between Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh at Mohali on October 7. Zimbabwe and West
Indies will also be
involved in a four-team battle for two berths in the
main competition.
"It is going to be a massive learning curve for the
guys," said Curran, who
represented Zimbabwe in the 1983 and 1987 World
Cups. "Obviously, with teams
like Sri Lanka and the West Indies playing
against us we have to be at our
best. There is no reason why we can't beat
Bangladesh again but we also have
to win another match to
qualify."
Utseya, 21, was not bothered about lack of experience following
an exodus of
players for non-cricketing reasons. "We have always done well
in big
tournaments like the World Cup. The current team may not have the
experience
but I think we are capable of causing a few
upsets."
Zimbabwe's first match is against the West Indies in Ahmedabad
on October 8.
IPS
Moyiga
Nduru
NELSPRUIT, Sep 30 (IPS) - South Africa is caught between a rock and
a hard
place. It must address the growing hunger for land on the part of
black
people and, at the same time, avoid going the route of Zimbabwe. Land
reform
in this neighbouring state, meant to address colonial injustice, has
ended
up undermining the economy.
Zimbabwe's land reform has involved
the seizure of property from thousands
of white commercial farmers, starting
in 2000.
The failure of the reform is reflected in Zimbabwe's dismal
economic
performance. Figures released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
Sep.15 show
that inflation is now over 1,200 percent, the highest rate in
the world.
Before embarking on the ill-fated reform, Zimbabwe used to be
the grain
basket of Southern Africa. Not anymore. Reports indicate that a
number of
the farms were distributed to President Robert Mugabe's
associates, or to
people who have no collateral to secure a bank loan for
investment in
agriculture.
Namibia is also in the throes of a debate
on land issues. Official
statistics show that whites in this country, who
make up about 100,000 of
Namibia's 1.8 million people, own 80 percent of
prime farmland.
But South African officials have dismissed perceptions
that the difficulties
surrounding land reform -- which aims to rectify the
wrongs of apartheid --
will scare off foreign investors.
"I don't
think the land reform in South Africa will have any impact on
foreign
investors. We are following the same policy that we have been
pursuing since
the 1990s. It's not something new," said Dirk du Toit, deputy
minister for
agriculture and land affairs.
Du Toit met with journalists this week in
Nelspruit, the capital of northern
Mpumulanga province, where he was touring
farmlands. Mpumulanga lies on the
border with Swaziland and
Mozambique.
"There are views that the only people who can do farming are
whites. If they
leave, then agriculture will collapse. This concern is also
being expressed
in some quarters in Zimbabwe," said Tozi Gwanya, chief land
claims
commissioner at the Department of Land Affairs in South Africa's
capital --
Pretoria.
"In South Africa, we are working together with
strategic partners who
transfer skills to black farmers. We are addressing
equity, fairness and
justice," he said, adding that while the country could
not have the majority
of land in white hands, it was not chasing whites from
the agriculture
sector.
"We have got enough space and room for
everybody in the new South Africa. If
we achieve the 30 percent target of
transferring land to black people by
2014, 70 percent of the land will still
remain in the hands of white people.
I don't know why big issues are being
made out of land reform."
But some don't believe that the government will
confine itself to the target
it has set.
"They won't stop at 30
percent. Our calculation is that whites will be left
with closer to 50
percent of the land they currently own," Chris Jordan,
manager of Property
Rights at the Pretoria-based Transvaal Agricultural
Union of South Africa,
representing mainly white commercial farmers, told
IPS.
"If we go the
Zimbabwe way we may lose 15,000 farmers out of the total
46,000 commercial
farmers by 2008/2010. These include black farmers who come
to us complaining
about their farms being targeted for acquisition," Jordan
added. "The
pressure on commercial farmers to lose their land is becoming
extensive."
Last month Lulu Xingwana, minister for agriculture and
land affairs, warned
that the government would start expropriating
white-owned farms by February
2007. She gave six months for negotiations
concerning the transfer of
property, and said if commercial farmers resisted
this, government would
have no choice but to go ahead with expropriation.
The government wants to
complete restitution by 2008.
Pretoria has
also been criticised for moving too slowly on land reform.
Between 1994
and 2004 only 4.3 percent of white farmland was transferred to
blacks,
according to a 2005 study by the Centre for Development and
Enterprise, a
Johannesburg-based think tank.
"Land reform took off slowly because we
had to put the commission (for land
claims) in place. Although management is
now in place, we still have basic
challenges to address," du Toit
confirmed.
Although land occupations on the scale of those in Zimbabwe do
not appear
imminent in South Africa, government is aware of the need to move
as quickly
as possible on this issue. "It's in the interest of national
security that
the (30 percent) target be reached. We need all the assistance
that we can
get from non-governmental organisations and business," du Toit
said.
"It's in the interest of everybody that we address land
reform."
Certain blacks whose lands were seized during apartheid are
becoming
desperate to regain their property.
"Last week I spoke for
three hours and lost my voice because people were
complaining that their
lands were taken and that we were doing nothing about
it," said Madala
Masuku, who is in charge of agriculture and land affairs in
Mpumulanga
Province.
On occasion, interactions with white farmers, who keep guns at
home to
protect their property and themselves, become heated. "Sometimes we
use the
left hand to wave away guns pointed at us. We say first listen to us
and if
you decide to shoot, make sure that the bullet catches us for the
right
reason," noted Masuku, referring to meetings with white
farmers.
Gwanya said he had also been confronted with gun-toting white
farmers while
in the company of a government minister, whom he didn't
identify.
"The farmers told us that they didn't recognise the government
of South
Africa. But, at the end of discussions, they said they would
cooperate with
it," he recalled.
"And they sold their land," du Toit
interjected.
White farmers also believe that a spate of murders on farms
is aimed at
driving them off their land. "An average of two farmers and
their workers
are killed every week. Some 2,400 murders of farmers (and)
their black
workers have taken place since 1996. A third of those murdered
are black
workers," Jordan said.
Police say the murders are criminal
in nature, and not directed at farmers.
But Jordan disagrees: "We have
experience that when there's a claim on a
farm then the level of murders
goes up. They kill and don't take anything
from the farm. From our point of
view, it's an attack directed at white
farmers and their workers to force
them off land."
Where white and black farmers cooperate, there seem to be
some success
stories.
"I only experience small problems, such as
fixing defective water pumps and
fences. Last year I harvested 5,038 tonnes
of sugar cane. This year I'm
looking forward to harvesting more," Henry
Magagula, a black farmer whose
37.2 hectare farm is situated some 110
kilometres from Nelspruit, told IPS.
Magagula took a loan of 302,000
dollars last year, payable over 15 years,
with the support of his white
mentor. "I grew up in a farming family. I like
farming. I'm also thinking of
raising chickens so that when natural
disasters like drought hit my
sugarcane farm, I have something to fall back
on," he said.
He
employs two fulltime workers, and upwards of 30 seasonal workers during
harvests. "When I raise enough money, I want to buy 100 hectares of land,"
said Magagula.
The farm he owns is on Siyathuthuka Land Reform
Project, which he shares
with six other black farmers. Initiatives such as
this may just be
scratching the surface of what is required.
"Some
1,000 people applied for this farm. Only seven were selected to run
it. It
was a run-down farm. We managed to turn it around," said Martin
Slabbert,
manager of Transvaal Sugar Limited, who mentors and helps the
farmers with
skills transfer and negotiating with banks.
At a neighbouring farm called
the Moody Blue Land Reform Project, shared
between the white owner and three
black families, manager Rian Kotze said
government needed to provide
providing fertilizer more quickly -- but didn't
have many additional
complains.
"In a farm things don't happen in two weeks. They must happen
the same day.
Apart from the delay in supplying fertilizer, we don't have
big problems,"
he told IPS. (END/2006)