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- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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Business Day

Zimbabwe on verge of new holocaust

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THE most important recent news to come out of Zimbabwe from the Famine Early
Warning System Network concerns Zimbabwe's remaining farmers.
Of the smattering of black commercial farmers, the subsistence farmers on
communal land and the newly "resettled" farmers on what were previously
whiteowned farms "about 94% have no maize seed and 60% don't know when they
will get some".

"Without a timely and urgent distribution of maize seeds many of Zimbabwe's
farmers will not be able to plant. The consequences of a drop in maize
production would be staggering."

This is despite the fact that throughout the past two years the Zanu (PF)
government has promised the new "settlers" on whiteowned farms that they
would ensure they got seeds, implements, training and even tractors.

The fact that President Robert Mugabe's regime has made no move to honour
these promises is yet further proof its real intent was never land reform
but rather to destroy the white farm as a possible source of support for the
main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The result will be mass murder on a scale far outstripping the Rwandan
massacres of 1994, when 800000 died. In this deliberately man-made famine,
7-million lives are at risk. The only term one can use is the new holocaust
with numbers of the dead possibly even outstripping the 6-million Adolf
Hitler killed.

The most recent Emergency Food Security Assessment carried out by the
Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee is that by October 1 the
government had "not started delivering inputs to smallholder farmers in
either communal or resettlement areas".

Time is "becoming critically short". The committee reckons that 4,5-million
will be without food from September to November this year, a figure
increasing to 6-million to 7-million between December and March next year.

Mugabe is determined to kill as many MDC supporters as possible and to that
end has insisted all food distribution be placed in the hands of the Zanu
(PF)-controlled Grain Marketing Board.

To the amazement of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which
is trying to co-ordinate donor aid, the Zanu (PF) government has now broken
off talks on the UNDP's offer to set up a $85m fund to help the private
sector to import 400000 tons of maize as it fears such maize distribution
might be done on nonpolitical grounds and thus save MDC lives from the
planned mass murder.

Most murders on this historic scale have been genocides but not all. Pol Pot
and Stalin killed "class enemies" and other imagined political foes and it
is in their company that Mugabe belongs. Naturally, though, when you kill
people on such a scale many others get killed too simply because they get in
the way. Thus of the 2million Zimbabwean children under five, 30% 600000 are
already critically short of food.

Even Mugabe can hardly believe that these infants are harbouring
oppositional thoughts: their sin was simply that they have MDC parents.

In one respect Mugabe's mass murder will, indeed, exceed all others in
history. Zimbabwe's population is only 12-million and he seems set to murder
half or even more of the entire populace, something neither Stalin nor Pol
Pot remotely approached.

It is possible emergency food relief will restrict casualties this year, but
the devastation wrought by Mugabe means there will famines for years ahead.

As this enormous death toll mounts President Thabo Mbeki is going to rue
perhaps more than anything else in his presidency his continued pretence
that all that was going on in Zimbabwe was land reform.

Think how history has judged those who sympathised with Hitler in the 1930s
and who pretended the "Jewish problem" was real, something Germany had
somehow to sort out.

The African National Congress (ANC) government which came to power in 1994
believed it occupied the moral high ground. Few things are more dangerous in
politicians than self-righteousness and SA has paid a high price for that
belief.

Already many ANC supporters are embarrassed to voice support for Mbeki in
case that is taken to imply support for an AIDS policy many see as
genocidal. That moral stain is spreading fast. By March just six months away
it may be necessary to place millions more deaths in the scales.

Johnson, former Oxford academic and former director of the Helen Suzman
Foundation, is a freelance writer and journalist.

The result (of manmade famine) will be mass murder on a scale far beyond the
Rwandan massacres of 1994
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Daily News

      Economic slide continues

      10/22/02 2:48:45 PM (GMT +2)


      By Colleen Gwari Business Reporter

      THE country's economic performance continues to decline with the
manufacturing sector falling by an average 11,9 percent during the first
three months compared to the same period last year.


      In its quarterly bulletin, the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development said deteriorating macro-economic fundamentals, that included
foreign currency shortages and falling domestic currency purchasing power
due to high inflation, continued to seriously affect the economy.

      "Controlled commodities price adjustments that fail to improve
production viability can only worsen the outlook," said the bulletin.

      Just like all other sectors of the economy, mineral production during
the first half of the year dropped by 7,1 percent owing to viability
problems associated with high production costs and failure to import spares
and vital capital equipment due to the severe shortage of foreign currency.

      During the first six months, the tourism sector receipted US$24,1
million (Z$1,326 billion) compared to US$43,3 million (Z$2,38 billion) last
year.

      Tourist arrivals declined by 48 percent with Europe contributing the
largest decrease of 59 percent. Government attributed the drop to
international negative publicity on Zimbabwe, withdrawal of direct flights
to the country by major airlines and foreign currency shortages that
continued to negatively affect services. However, local and international
commentators have attributed the sharp decline to the deteriorating
socio-political environment.

      Aid to Zimbabwe has been withdrawn while the country has been isolated
by the international community owing to the breakdown of the rule of law,
the controversial land reform programme and the presidential election
described as daylight robbery by the MDC.

      The MDC has challenged the poll result at the High Court. However,
reports and statistical data show that the tourism sector is on a path of
recovery. Hotels have started realising higher bed occupancy rates, with the
number of regional tourists also increasing.
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Daily News

      Magistrate orders Majongwe's release from police custody

      10/22/02 3:32:02 PM (GMT +2)


      Staff Reporter

      RAYMOND Majongwe, the secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers'
Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) was yesterday released from custody after Harare
magistrate, Owen Murozvi, refused to place him on remand due to
inconsistencies in the State's case.


      Police arrested Majongwe, 37, last Wednesday at Dzivaresekwa High
School as he
      addressed teachers and pupils.
      Murozvi ruled there was no evidence that Majongwe forced teachers and
pupils to
      attend his meetings.
      The magistrate said: "In this case, the State will have to show
whether there was a riot. Is the State saying by merely going to the school,
Majongwe forced teachers to riot? If the State is saying Majongwe grabbed
these teachers forcibly, there is no evidence to suggest that anyone was
forcibly addressed."
      He said the assumption was that police arrived at Dzivaresekwa when
Majongwe was addressing teachers and they did not prove that the teachers
and pupils were about to riot or had been forced to attend.
      But in his submissions to the court on a Form 242, a Detective
Constable J Mamhova of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Law and
Order Section at the Harare Central Police Station, said Majongwe was
arrested as he addressed teachers, an act tantamount to committing an
offence.
      Mamhova said Majongwe still wanted the strike to continue and was
likely to continue harassing and threatening teachers to join the nationwide
strike.
      The PTUZ called for an indefinite strike two weeks ago, demanding a
100 percent salary increment, improved working conditions for all teachers
and a 100 percent cost of living adjustment backdated to June.
      The allegations by the State led by Sukai Tongogara are that on 16
October and at about 14:45 hours, Majongwe, in the company of two other PTUZ
leaders, went
      to Dzivaresekwa 1 High School.
      At the school, he allegedly gathered all the school staff and pupils,
and forcibly addressed and urged them to go on strike, advising pupils to
resist being taught.
      Majongwe was being charged with contravening Section 19 (1) (a) (i) of
the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) Chapter 11:17 (gathering, conducing
to riot, disorder and intolerance).
      Majongwe's lawyer, Tinomudaishe Chinyoka, yesterday said the court's
      decision confirmed their position that Majongwe was innocent.
      "The court has refused to place him on remand and it means he is now a
free man. The charges that were being levelled against him did not
constitute a valid offence," Chinyoka said.
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Comment from ZWNEWS, 23 October

Charity to become a crime

By Michael Hartnack

In new legislation being put before Parliament, Robert Mugabe's regime plans to make it a crime, punishable by up to six months' imprisonment, for anyone to undertake any act of organised charity - even on an entirely informal basis. The hurried revision of Zimbabwe's Voluntary Organisations Act follows denunciations by Mugabe of non-governmental organisations as "hatcheries of political opposition"; the seizure of U.N. food supplies by militants of the ruling Zanu PF party; and a ban on two major international charities, Oxfam and Save the Children (UK) from distributing relief in the Binga area bordering Lake Kariba, where 29 people are already reported to have died from malnutrition- related illnesses. Earlier, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bulawayo and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace were barred by Mugabe's self-styled "war veterans" from distributing relief, because they refused to do so under the aegis of Zanu PF party. The legislation aimed at aid agencies, NGOs and, indeed, the whole of civil society is being accompanied by the drafting of a "Code of Ethics" by the state-sponsored National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations which, according to official sources, will prevent relief organisations "interfering in our internal politics." The proposed legislation and the ethics code is so wide-ranging that a group of drinking pals at a sports club who have an occasional whip round to buy groceries for a destitute old friend, or for an AIDS orphans, will be criminals.

The United Nations' World Food Programme last week withdrew "until further notice" from distributing relief in the Insiza constituency, near Bulawayo, after staff of a voluntary organisation were intimidated into surrendering three tonnes of WFP aid to Zanu PF party officials. A parliamentary by-election is due there October 26-27. The stolen food was distributed by Zanu PF to persons "who may not be intended beneficiaries", said a WFP spokesman. In other words, the food was handed out as part of the Zanu PF campaign. Welshman Ncube, secretary general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, gives his party slim chances of retaining the constituency, left vacant by the mysterious death of one of its members of Parliament. Every time the MDC tries to hold a rally in Insiza, officials organise either for a charity or for government agencies to start distributing relief to starving rural people nearby. Voters naturally "serve their stomachs", said Ncube, and rush off to queue, where they are vetted for party cards and required to chant slogans. Ncube said hungry and frightened voters tell the MDC a by-election loss for Mugabe will not weaken his grip on power but will simply bring more misery on Insiza. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo blamed the events in Insiza on British High Commissioner Brian Donnelly who, he claimed, had been exerting sinister influence on the WFP and charities to deny food to Zanu PF members.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation says, country-wide, 6.7 million people are in danger of starvation. When, as feared, food shortages become critical in December - March, "major death" must be expected, predicts Tony Hall, U.S. ambassador to the Food and Agricultural Organisation. Yet Mugabe's regime has maintained the strict state monopoly on importing or dealing in grain. Violent reprisals continue against opposition supporters involved in contesting recent local government elections, and Amani Trust, a major human rights organisation here, is now accused by the regime of "sponsoring violence" at the instigation of Britain. Some 200 suspected opponents of Mugabe have died violently in the past two years, the killers having complete immunity from prosecution.

As ever, Mugabe set the tone for the latest crackdown. Accusing NGOs of hatching political opposition, he added ominously in an address to the Zanu PF central committee on October 11, "Political opponents will be dealt with politically. Moneys continue to pour in variously: through individuals, through Trojan horses, among them NGOs, trade unions, select private media, embassies, private companies and selected banks, through trusts, through the so-called international development agencies, through foundations and even through drought relief structures - all to be used against us," said Mugabe. He added that these organisations "no longer regard themselves as our guests. Well, we will soon remind them who they are, where they belong, and what their accredited mission is." In a legal opinion for a consortium of welfare groups, Professor Brian Kagoro has denounced the proposed legislation and "Code of Ethics" as a gross infringement of constitutional rights of free association. "It is tantamount to saying that - faced with the incapacity of the state and registered private voluntary organisations to respond to the current food crisis due to its magnitude - all other bona fide efforts to assist are criminal," he said.

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Daily News

      Police probe Hurungwe DA

      10/22/02 3:30:04 PM (GMT +2)


      By Pedzisai Ruhanya Chief Reporter

      HURUNGWE police are investigating James Munetsi, the District
Administrator (DA) after they confiscated from him property worth millions
of dollars, allegedly stolen from evicted commercial farmers in Karoi.

      The properties include irrigation pipes and tractors which the police
impounded last week, but are now stored at Karoi Police Station while
investigations continue.
      Superintendent Phillip Makoni, the officer commanding Hurungwe
district, yesterday confirmed that property was discovered at a farm owned
by Munetsi.
      Makoni said: "It is correct that some property was recovered but we
have not established the case against him. The amount of property is
substantial. We are still to establish the crime committed."
      Makoni said the police had not yet interviewed Munetsi in connection
with the matter.
      He dismissed allegations that he was under pressure from Peter
Chanetsa, the governor of Mashonaland West, not to arrest Munetsi.
      Munetsi yesterday confirmed the police last Saturday raided his
Buttervent Farm and confiscated his irrigation pipes and a satellite dish
but denied he looted any property.
      "The irrigation pipes they took were not mine. I borrowed them from a
neighbour. They also took away my satellite dish that I bought in 1996. The
police are harassing me unnecessarily," Munetsi said.
      Chanetsa was said to be busy and could not answer the allegations made
against him.
      His aide, who answered his cellphone, said: "The governor is attending
to some personal matters and cannot speak to you. He will be back in the
office next week."
      Davy Mosterte of Sambatungwe Farm in Karoi yesterday said his
equipment, which included irrigation pipes and generators worth over $800
000 was removed from his property by Munetsi last month.
      He said the farm was served with a Section 8 notice of compulsory
acquisition under the controversial fast-track land reform programme despite
the fact that the property had not been invaded.
      Another farmer, Christopher Bishop of Zebra Downs, said that property
worth $2,5 million was looted between 17 September and 3 October 2002 by
settlers and so far goods worth $900 000 had been recovered.
      He said the looted property included irrigation equipment and
household goods.
      Bishop said two people he identified as Mashumba and Chakamanga, who
had occupied his house, were arrested by the police.
      He said he was evicted last month despite a High Court order issued in
July to stop him from leaving his property.
      Bishop alleged that on 30 September he was forced by Munetsi to sell
property worth $368 000 to him. He said some of the property included
chemicals and goats.
      "Munetsi bought my property using force. This was not fairly done,"
Bishop said.
      But Munesti denied the allegations, saying he bought eight goats,
tobacco chemicals, a ridger and a boom stray without exerting any undue
pressure on Bishop.
      There have been allegations by war veterans and some Zanu PF
supporters that the provincial land committees headed by the governors,
among them provincial administrators, were allocating land corruptly.
      The war veterans have called for an audit of the land reform in order
make the process transparent.
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Daily News

      Welcome to Insiza - the election that will never be

      10/22/02 2:48:09 PM (GMT +2)



      THE people of Insiza are supposed to go to the polls at the weekend to
elect a replacement for George Joe Ndlovu who died in what relatives suspect
to be unclear circumstances.


      But what they are seeing daily seems to have no connection with an
election. People from Harare, Chinhoyi, Marondera and Bulawayo have invaded
the area, barking out orders on what must and should be done.

      Call that an election? A process that disrupts life, heightens
conflict and is nothing, but a display of force? Insiza, like most rural
areas, has nothing to show for the 22 years of Zimbabwe's independence, save
for a few bottle stores, unequipped and understaffed clinics and schools and
a rugged landscape.

      An estimated 80 percent of the young people in Insiza are unemployed;
a few Zanu PF loyalists were resettled under the so-called fast-track land
reform programme; hunger and starvation are widespread and no meaningful
development has been registered in the area since independence.

      As a show of their anger with the present government, the people of
Insiza booted Zanu PF out of the way in 2000, elected Ndlovu of the MDC as
their representative and said to hell with President Mugabe's candidate.

      That election changed Zimbabwe, Mugabe and Zanu PF. For the first
time, the people of Insiza exercised their sovereign right to decide their
future, to express a choice and to make that choice known to all.

      Those villagers in collapsing huts have become the focus of national
attention. Insiza has become the scene of a decisive battle for political
supremacy without the approval of the voters and residents.

      The opposition MDC sees the area as their natural seat for a variety
of reasons.

      Voters here rejected Zanu PF two years ago for specific reasons which
had nothing to do with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the World Food
Programme or any charity organisations.

      At the time, there wasn't a food shortage here, unemployment wasn't as
serious as it is today, the local clinic still had few drugs, teachers at
primary schools still felt a sense of duty, honour and respect.

      At the time, the foreign currency crisis was still manageable, the
parallel market did not exist. Not that this affects Insiza directly, but
illustrious sons and daughters of the area could still drive back home with
disposable income.

      The government says Insiza has changed its heart, its feelings towards
Zanu PF and its understanding of Zimbabwe.

      What is it that has changed for the better in Insiza to make the
people turn their backs on the anti-Zanu PF sentiment they expressed two
years ago?

      Has the local clinic suddenly been transformed into a place of hope?
Are the roads any better than they were when Ndlovu romped home in a climate
of dissent, displeasure and a backlash on plenty of failed promises?

      Has anybody in Insiza benefited from Mugabe's election pledge to make
anti-retroviral drugs available in public hospitals in April?

      What makes Zanu PF believe that the people of Insiza have undergone
such a social metamorphosis?

      Nothing has happened in Insiza since June 2000. If anything, Zanu PF
should have a much reduced support base because of the deterioration in the
quality of life in the area.

      Insiza is simply a centre for theatrics whose origins and dynamics are
far deeper than the mere by-election and replacement of Ndlovu.

      Zanu PF was badly wounded in 2000. In Marondera West, Bikita West,
Makoni West, Chikomba and Kadoma, the party set out to abandon any notions
of democracy through the ballot and remind the nation that it is determined
to make a forced comeback at any cost.

      Insiza voters are unfortunate to be caught in this grand plan to
forcibly restore lost pride and dignity. Unlike in 2000, the villagers here
will never be able to do the simple task of electing a representative in
Parliament. They are already overwhelmed by the attention they are
receiving; the visitors they are hosting, some singing, some threatening,
others openly reminding them of the horrors of the first seven years of
independence. If the election is for the people of Insiza, why can't we
allow them to proceed and choose their leaders?

      Why do we need guns, gunshots and fresh promises about the government'
s plans to turn the dwindling fortunes of Matabeleland? The water story,
which graced news bulletins on State radio, television and newspapers this
time last year during the mayoral elections, has resurfaced again.

      When Insiza opted for Ndlovu in 2000, the voters never saw a white
person in their area. They knew nothing about the mortal fear of the white
man in Insiza. In fact, such fears do not arise as they do not exist. The
entire population could have no idea as to who the British envoy to Harare
is. It does not concern them.

      Villagers must pray for their MPs. If they lose one, for whatever
reason, they witness what those who departed earlier never lived to see - a
complete denial of the reality, a dangerous self-fulfilment facade based on
outright theft of the people's voice.

      Elections are no longer needed here. They have become an irritant, a
source of international embarrassment and an opportunity to punish waverers,
the opposition and other anti-government elements.

      The nagging issue arises from the continued presence of the MDC. The
party has refused to disappear in spite of a costly and often indecent and
racist demonisation campaign. These "puppets" seem to be everywhere,
creating an enormous mess for Mugabe - the man who has completely failed to
celebrate his controversial victory in the March election. The government
uses any new by-election as an example to all on how people must behave. Toe
the line or else, they say. By-elections have become centres for brutal
loyalty lessons; places where voting is heavily discouraged.

      Insiza, still in mourning over the loss of Ndlovu, has been confused
by what has hit the constituency. None of the visitors are talking about
unemployment, HIV/Aids, the economy and the dying small businesses.

      The area, with erratic supplies of grain for many moons, has become a
battleground for food relief, drawing in the United Nations' World Food
Programme and a number of international non-governmental organisations.
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Daily News

      Rampant cronyism derailed Zimbabwe land reform: envoy

      10/22/02 3:28:42 PM (GMT +2)


      Staff Reporter

      THE Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher would have provided
money for the land reform programme if President Mugabe's government had not
started giving farms "to their cronies".


      The disclosure was made by Lord Carrington, the then foreign secretary
who chaired the 1979 Lancaster House conference which hammered out the deal
which fed to Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.
      The 20 October issue of the Johannesburg Sunday Times newspaper quotes
Carrington as saying that money for land redistribution was available in
1979.
      "What we intended to do at the Lancaster House negotiations and
subsequently," he said, "was to help Zimbabwean farmers on a willing-buyer,
willing-seller basis, and to help the Zimbabwean government to make more
farms available to black farmers. But it all fell down because the
Zimbabwean government gave farms to their own cronies and the British
government of the day decided the money could not be used on that basis."
      Carrington said although no specific amount of money for the land
programme had been decided upon, about £44 million (Z$3,9 billion) had been
given to Zimbabwe by the British government up to the year 2000.
      Under the Lancaster House agreement, the white commercial farmers were
allowed 10 years within which the new government in Harare would not tamper
with their land.
      The government enacted the Land Acquisition Bill in 1992 in which it
introduced land reforms aimed at rectifying the unfair land distribution
brought about by colonialism.
      The Labour government of Prime Minister Tony Blair has said it will
not honour obligations made in 1979 by the Conservative government.
      Meanwhile, the Mugabe government has evicted nearly 3 000 commercial
farmers, most of whom have not been compensated for both the land or their
crop.
      Carrington said Thatcher's government pledged to give the new
government money for the land redistribution programme.
      The paper reports that Carrington last week asked the House of Lords
whether the British government was prepared to use money earmarked for land
reform more than 20 years ago to help Zimbabwean farmers now left destitute.
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Daily News

      MDC in moves to end leadership squabbles

      10/22/02 4:00:35 PM (GMT +2)


      From Brian Mangwende in Mutare

      THE provincial executive members of the MDC and senior officials from
the party's national committee were scheduled to meet in Mutare over the
weekend to discuss cracks that have reportedly emerged within the opposition
movement.



      There were suggestions from some sources within the party that the
provincial committee could be forced to dissolve, most probably at this
crucial meeting, unless internal squabbles could be brought under control. A
source in the MDC said the chances that the provincial executive committee
would be dissolved were very high. "These quarrels are not helping anyone,
but simply destroying the party. So if the only way to bring sanity to the
party is by dissolving the executive, then so be it." But another party
insider said efforts to dissolve the provincial executive could be
"unconstitutional". Pishai Muchauraya, the MDC's provincial spokesperson,
would neither confirm nor deny such a meeting was scheduled to take place.
He said he had yet to receive official confirmation about it from the party'
s provincial
      secretary, Sydney Mukwecheni, who represents Mutare South in
Parliament.

      But Patrick Chitaka, the MDC's chairman in Mutare North district,
confirmed the meeting was scheduled to take place, saying the alleged
factionalism was likely to dominate the agenda. Chitaka said: "We normally
do not write down agendas, but I can assure you that recent media reports on
allegations of factionalism are going to be discussed among other things."
Last Saturday, The Daily News reported on the divisions that have emerged
within the MDC leadership in the province as top officials accused each
other of financial mismanagement and corruption. A source said trouble
started after Evelyn Masaiti, the MP for Mutasa, queried the manner in which
party funds were being disbursed.

      She wrote a damning letter to the provincial executive members
accusing them of lack of transparency and accountability. Following her
accusations, a meeting was subsequently held at which daggers were drawn and
two factions allegedly emerged: one led by Timothy Mubhawu, the provincial
chairman; and the other by Prosper Mutseyami, his deputy. After The Daily
News report, an unidentified person on Monday delivered at the offices of
the newspapers in Mutare, minutes of a purported meeting by MDC top
officials which suggested a widening rift within the party. But
investigations by The Daily News have since established that the meeting
never took place and that the minutes could have been faked. According to
the "minutes", the key players who supposedly attended the meeting were MPs
Giles Mutsekwa (Mutare North), Innocent Gonese (Mutare Central), Leonard
Chirowamhangu (Nyanga), Mateu Mlambo (Chipinge North), Mukwecheni (Mutare
South) and Chitaka. Mutsekwa, Chitaka and Gonese dismissed the allegations
saying such a meeting never took place.
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Daily News

      Council to meet on water rationing

      10/22/02 3:26:01 PM (GMT +2)


      By Precious Shumba

      THE Harare City Council said yesterday the current critical water
shortage in the capital is due to electrical power failure to pump water and
the high concentration of pollution in Lake Chivero and Manyame River, the
major sources of Harare's drinking water.


      Councillor Falls Nhari, the acting mayor, said yesterday several
factors had compounded the water shortage which has left thousands of
residents without water for the past three days.
      Nhari, Ward 20 councillor in Tafara, said the public should understand
the water problems could take long to rectify.
      He said: "The position is that for various reasons, some of which are
beyond our control, the city has not been able to match water supply with
peak demand. This has resulted in certain areas going without water for
sometime."
      Nhari was speaking at a Press conference at Town House yesterday to
update the media on the water situation in Harare and all satellite
establishments.
      He said residents should stop using hosepipes, sprinklers and filling
up their swimming pools.
      Bowsers had been dispatched to critical areas to ensure water was
available to as many residents as possible pending the improvement of the
situation, he said.
      Nhari said the council would meet today to decide on the
recommendations by the council's engineers to consider the introduction of
water rationing.
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Daily News

      Jocelyn Chiwenga makes $7,5bn from seized farm

      10/22/02 4:08:41 PM (GMT +2)


      By Lloyd Mudiwa

      JOCELYN Chiwenga, the wife of the Zimbabwe National Army Commander,
Lieutenant-General Constantine Chiwenga, has sold millions of dollars worth
of crops seized from Chakoma Estates in Goromonzi to Sainsbury's
supermarkets in the United Kingdom, a British newspaper reports.

      She stands to benefit from a £500 000 (Z$45 million at the official
exchange rate, but Z$7,5 billion on the parallel market) deal signed with
the leading British supermarket chain in May.

      Chiwenga supplied vegetables to the supermarket chain between June and
September this year.

      Sainsbury's only stopped buying the produce last month, when Zimbabwe'
s High Court ordered Chiwenga to stop selling the produce.

      The Sunday Times of London reported in its latest edition that
Sainsbury's supermarkets was supplied with vegetables from the farm seized
by Chiwenga from Roger Staunton, a director of Shepherd Hall Farm (Pvt)
Limited, which operates the estate, worth over $1 billion.

      She allegedly took over produce, valued at $125 million. Staunton is
now in South Africa, where he is seriously ill with a heart condition.

      Sainsbury's admitted that it bought large quantities of sugar-snap
peas and mangetout between June and September this year from Chiwenga, the
director of safety clothing manufacturer ZimSafe, and Heritage Zimbabwe, a
dubious pro-Zanu PF organisation.

      Her husband is on the trade sanctions lists of the European Union and
the Bank of England. British companies may not deal with him, but his wife
is not affected by the sanctions. The vegetable business is in her name.

      In April the couple took occupation of the 600-acre farm.
      According to documents filed in the High Court, Chiwenga, accompanied
by several men carrying AK-47 rifles, spearheaded the siege.

      She allegedly told Staunton she had not tasted white blood since 1980
and missed the experience.

      Chiwenga said she needed just the slightest excuse to kill somebody
before ordering one of her guards to "kill the white bastards", Staunton
said.

      Staunton said the Chiwengas first said they would compensate him fully
and pressured him to agree not to take them to court or go to the press. The
Chiwengas, however, later told him they were not going to compensate him as
he had made enough profits over the years.

      A month after the takeover, Sainsbury's Zimbabwean supplier, Hortico
(Pvt) Ltd, signed a deal worth more than £500,000 ($2 875 billion) to buy
Chiwenga's produce. Hortico (Pvt) Ltd is a farm in the Enterprise area,
which Chiwenga had earlier threatened to take over.

      The company packed and labelled it as Sainsbury's own brand, with the
supermarket's consent, before exporting it to Britain.

      A spokesman for Sainsbury's said: "We had been reassured the farmer
had been compensated. We are shocked to find this wasn't the case and
confirm that we are no longer sourcing produce from this farm."

      Last week Chiwenga, listed as "Grower 881" in Sainsbury's records, was
happy to talk about British sales of her produce, The Sunday Times reported.

      "There is so much money to make because a lot of what you buy at
Sainsbury's is from Zimbabwe," she said.

      Chiwenga said she had sold to Britain more than 23 tonnes of peas,
grown on land she claimed had been neglected by Staunton.

      She reportedly admitted making a verbal agreement to compensate
Staunton for some infrastructure and crops, but not for the land.

      But, Chiwenga denied making any threats or racist comments.
      She said: "I am sorry that the whites and the blacks are killing each
other but we only have thick whites who do not want to share their land."

      Hortico, which claims to supply half the snap peas and mange-tout sold
by Sainsbury's, said that given the number of farms confiscated from whites,
it was inevitable they would have to do business with some of them.

      The company said it would review its contract with Chiwenga at the end
of this year.
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World Press Review


Virgins, Potions, and AIDS in Zimbabwe

      Eugene Soros
      Harare, Zimbabwe
      Oct. 22, 2002

It is a serene Saturday morning at Osborne Dam, in Manicaland, Zimbabwe, and
hundreds of men and women are already waiting for the biggest festival
celebrating female virginity Zimbabwe has ever seen. The assembled crowd
mills about in a constantly shifting sea of color bedecked in festive veils,
orange turbans streaked with violet, and yellow boubous splashed with blue.
Finally, just as the impatient crowd begins to get restless, Chief Naboth
Makoni calls the procedings to order.

The party begins in earnest. Spectators clap and dance, women ululate.
Participants celebrate the virgins' chastity in traditional songs. After a
week of being chaperoned by elderly women, the girls are ready for the next
challenge: finding a fitting husband. The festival has attracted 5,000
girls. By the time they leave, each will have received a certificate of
their virginity.

Chief Makoni revived the traditional festival last year as a means of
curbing the spiraling rate of HIV infection in the province. Zimbabwe is
among the countries hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic. Today, an estimated
2.2 million Zimbabweans are infected with HIV-about 70 percent of them
between the ages of 15-49, or the segment of the population most likely to
change sexual partners and further spread the virus.

But Ottilia Chaputsira, a 28-year-old Zimbabwean woman who was forced into
an arranged marriage while she was still a virgin, was not celebrating. To
her, the festival was more a reminder of past trauma than a celebration.

"My father passed me into marriage to a man who was HIV-positive. I only
learned later, when my husband was dying. He told me that he had been told
by a traditional healer to find a virgin who was going to help him get
cured. He told me he was sorry that he did that to me."

Chaputsira, who has been living with HIV for the last three years, says
people should know that "It's not only the girl's virginity that matters
most-It's her whole self."

"I wish my parents and other people will know what is going on through me.
Many of us would want to share a moment like this festival with our parents,
but they have to understand that their traditions have betrayed us in most
cases."

For many girls receiving their certificates of virginity at the festival,
the challenge now will be to escape Chaputsira's fate.

Critics of Chief Makoni's festival worry that men like Chaputsira's late
husband will flock to the ceremony to find a virgin bride to cure them of
AIDS.

"We are concentrating on an issue that is not relevant," charges Joyce
Kadandara, a women's health specialist with the World Health Organization in
Harare. "How much have we done for women and girls who have been raped? What
is our priority: a viginity test or assisting girls who have been raped?"

Petudzai Nyanhanda, a member of the International Community of Women Living
with HIV/AIDS' steering committee, agrees. When asked about the festival's
potential to help fight AIDS in Zimbabwe, she pointedly replies, "Virgin
Mary should marry virgin Peter."

Betty Makoni, director of Girl Child Network, a Zimbabwean nongovernmental
organization that works with victims of sexual aggression, puts it in
stronger terms: "We would like to confirm to you that girls are under siege
from men who think sleeping with virgins cures the deadly HIV/AIDS virus. In
this context, virginity testing becomes a harmful cultural practice. Girl
Child Network Trust's position is that [efforts to combat AIDS] should not
focus on the vagina, but the whole person: her integrity, empowerment,
decision-making, welfare, and capacity for independent thought."

 Zimbabwe Map, Statistics, and Press

Chief Makoni dismisses these arguments as "feeble." He notes that the
practice is meant solely to curtail the HIV/AIDS infection rate in a
district that he says has the highest infection rate in the country.

"An animal called AIDS
has come to destroy our generation and we have found it necessary to
reintroduce this practice that was in existence long before colonization,"
he told participants at a Harare forum on women and development.

Chief Makoni expects the festivals to encourage parents to keep a shorter
leash on their childern. "You must be ashamed of yourself if your daughter
does not have a viginity-confirmation certificate, because the whole village
will scorn you."

Perhaps so, AIDS workers retort, but men spread HIV more often than women.
And in Zimbabwe, as elsewhere, male infidelity is often explicitly or
tacitly sanctioned. In some parts of Zimbabwe, a bride is advised not ask
where her husband has been if he spends the night out. Worse, a
deteriorating economy and a brutal famine have led increasing numbers of
young girls to offer sex in exchange for food.

The odds are stacked against Zimbabwean girls in other ways, too. A recent
survey conducted by the Zimbabwe Family Planning Council found that 50
percent of unwed young men and women reported having had more than one
sexual partner. Of these, 70 percent percent were boys. Seventy-three
percent of girls surveyed reported feeling sad after their sexual
experiences because they had been raped or pressured into the act.

Betty Makoni charges that the government and Zimbabwean society at large
have not taken reports of sexual abuse and rape seriously enough and that
sexual crimes are becoming more common as a result.

She worries the festivals will have a profoundly negative impact on the
rights of women and girls in Zimbabwe. "What is the chief saying about those
who stole the viginity of girls who might have wanted to be virgins? What
mechanisms have we put in place to protect children at risk of falling
victim to rape in their own homes, those who have been raped by their
fathers, or who become victims of Mubobobo?" Mubobobo is an increasingly
popular potion sold by herbalists that can supposedly render a man invisible
or otherwise allow him to have sex with a woman without her knowledge. Some
customers believe that they cannot contract or spread venereal diseases
through Mubobobo-assisted sex.

Peter Sibanda, secretary general of the Zimbabwe National Traditional
Healers Association (ZINATHA), contests Chief Makoni's claims that virginity
tests are part of traditional Zimbabwean culture. "It was not the norm to
test for virginity," he says emphatically. "Under normal circumstances it
was the role of the elderly women to know the status of the girls for entire
village. But not to test them."

Sibanda says he is aware that some traditional healers have been advising
patients to sleep with virgins to heal certain ailments, but that it is
difficult to track them down. He says the same of doctors prescribing
Mubobobo. Sibanda maintains that ZINATHA has no mechanisms in place to
determine what advice its members are giving, and that even if it did,
ZINATHA would not be able to bring the doctors to justice because of the
1890 Witchcraft Suppression Act (WSA). The WSA, as amended in 1989,
criminalizes purporting to practice witchcraft-defined as "the use of charms
and any other means or devices adopted in the practice of sorcery"-but also
makes it illegal to accuse someone of practicing witchcraft, or to solicit
someone to name witches. Since 1997, ZINATHA has campaigned for further
amendments to the 1989 law that would narrow the definition of witchcraft to
sorcery intended to cause harm, but Christian churches have opposed such
legislation.

Women's-rights groups originally supported the WSA for the protection it
afforded women in rural areas who had previously been falsely accused of
using sorcery to harm people or crops. Since the rise of the Mubobobo
phenomenon two years ago, though, women have been campaigning to amend the
act to allow doctors prescribing aphrodisiacs or sex with virgins to be
prosecuted.
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newsmax.com

United Nations
  James Humes
  Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2002

When did the United Nations become the supreme moral authority of the world?
One might advance such a proposition if most of the organization were
represented by democratic governments, but that is not the case. Of the 191
nations in the United Nations only about 40 percent (85 countries) are
democratic societies that enjoy political rights and civil liberties. The
rest are either controlled by dictators or by a one-party government.

In 48 of the nations, dictators wield an iron hand. Thirty-five per cent of
the world's population is subjugated by those totalitarian governments.
Fifty-nine other countries are controlled by one-party governments in which
institutions like the judiciary and the press are not free from government
influence or control. One country with a population of 23 million, which has
a free government, is a pariah nation, not allowed entry into the United
Nations: Taiwan.

So I ask whether an institution such as the United Nations, in which
dictatorships outnumber democracies, should be looked up to as a moral
exemplar.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence: "Governments are
instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed." How can we say that the United Nations has received the consent
of the governed?

To pose this question is not to write off the United Nations. It does serve
useful purposes, such as expediting postal and telephone service. Its
endeavors to help world refugees are commendable.

The U.N. is also a world debating society - where representatives of 191
nations can meet and talk. In the General Assembly every nation is equal.
Population giants such as China and India have one vote - the same as little
mountain-town republics like Andorra or San Marino, or such island dots as
the Maldives or Mauritius.

So, 191 representatives of these big and small dictatorships and free
nations assemble at this hothouse on the East River that is called the
United Nations. There they are expected to solve the world's problems.
Instead, what often happens is posturing and perorating by the appointed
puppets of dictators or one-party regimes at the expense of democracies.

Israel is censored for its "racist" genocide policies and compared to Nazi
Germany. The United States is attacked for human rights violations in Puerto
Rico, while brutalities in China, Cuba, Syria and Zimbabwe are unmentioned
and unexamined. Secretary-General Kofi Annan presides over proceedings in
his urbane, soft-spoken manner. But what is his background? Born to a
millionaire family, he comes from Ghana, where his family was closely tied
to the West African Dictator Nkrumah.

If the General Assembly is at best an empty debating society, what about the
Security Council? The five permanent representatives include the United
States and its staunch ally, Britain. The others are France, Russia and
China. Among its rotating members is currently Syria - a regime that is on
the U.S. State Department terrorist list.

In dealing with Iraq, I ask by what logic does the blessing of these
countries constitute any kind of moral legitimacy? China's leaders are the
butchers of Tiananmen Square. France and Russia will make their decision on
the cynical calculation of their own national interests, meaning money and
oil. They are traders in oil with Iraq. If, privately, they would like to
see Saddam Hussein eliminated, publicly they would like it done with the
United States bearing all the blame and paying all the cost.

These three countries - France, Russia and China - have been responsible for
the toothless and useless inspection operations of the last few years in
Iraq. In the Security Council Resolution of 1999, those countries refused to
support even that much-diluted resolution because it did not make enough
concessions to Saddam Hussein.

Yet Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee
advances legislation that would not authorize use of force without prior
U.N. approval. Sen. Edward Kennedy, who, like Levin, also voted "no" on the
resolution supporting President Bush on the use of force to eliminate the
nuclear threat, said earlier, "I am waiting for the Security Council's
approval."

Yet 40 years ago his brother, President John Kennedy, said, on the Cuban
Missile Crisis: "This nation is prepared to present its case against the
Soviet threat of peace . in the United Nations or in any other meeting
without limiting our freedom of action. [Emphasis added]

In May 1959 President Eisenhower spent a week with former Prime Minister
Churchill at the White House and Eisenhower's Gettysburg farm. Churchill,
still a member of Parliament, had left 10 Downing Street four years before.
It was not a state visit by Sir Winston but a private meeting between two
old friends. Eisenhower savored the prospect of hearing wisdom from this
venerable statesman whose experience encompassed six decades in public life,
including two world wars and a cold war.

One matter they discussed was the emerging impotence of the United Nations.
In Churchill's last great speech two years before, to the American Bar
Association that was meeting in London, the old statesman lamented the
United Nations' inaction in Hungary the year before and questioned the
future value of an institution whose majority of members were dictators. The
word he used to describe the United Nations in 1957 was 'feckless.'

"World Justice cannot be a hit-or-miss system. We cannot be satisfied with
an arrangement where our system of international laws applies only to those
who are willing to keep them," said Churchill. He had never been as hopeful
as Franklin Roosevelt in the United Nations as an institution to prevent
future invasions and wars. In his Iron Curtain speech of 1946, Churchill
only added a reference to the United Nations at the insistence of Dean
Acheson, President Truman's undersecretary of state.

Eisenhower shared Churchill's fears about the U.N. in their Gettysburg
discussions in 1959. A year later, when Eisenhower wrote his Farewell
Address, he crossed out in red pencil the paragraph that his White House
speechwriter Malcolm Moos had inserted about "reliance on the United
Nations." Eisenhower, like John Kennedy, did not want to let the United
Nations or any other organization tell the United States how it would defend
itself.

As President Eisenhower said in his 1953 Inaugural Address: "We must be
ready to dare for our country. For history does not entrust the care of
freedom to the weak or timid."

James C. Humes is the Ryals Professor of Language and Leadership at the
University of Southern Colorado. He is the author of "Eisenhower and
Churchill: The Partnership that Saved the World." In 1976 he served by
appointment by President Ford to the Commission on UNESCO. He also served as
Director of Policy and Plans in the U.S. State Department in 1970 - 1972.
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Translated from Die Burger - 17th October

FARM ATTACKS IN SOUTH AFRICA SURGE
Marietie Louw

Johannesburg. The South African police have acknowledged that they are aware
of certain Zimbabwean elements, actively trying to make contact with
selected South African groupings, with its main aim being that of commencing
land occupations in South Africa.

This was stated by Assistant Commissioner Johan Burger, chairman of the
police's Priority-Committee dealing with rural safety and security, during a
seminar dealing with farm-attacks at the Institute of Security Studies
(ISS).  According to him, the police have been successful in collecting
information about the South African and Zimbabwean groupings wishing to
start these farm and land invasions.

Despite the assurances from the South African Government, farm attacks have
shown a steady escalation.  In 1997 a total of 433 attacks occurred.
Subsequent statistics show that it rose to 769 in 1988 and 830 in 1999
respectively.

Mr Hendri Boshoff, a security analyst from the ISS confirmed that this
figure rose to over 900 in the year 2000 and a record of more than 1000
attacks were reported during the year 2001.

Midway through 2002 the number of attacks stand at over 600.

Attacks in areas such as Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Western Cape and North West
Province, were increasing.  The figures in the Free State and Kwazulu Natal
have eased slightly.

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BBC

      Wednesday, 23 October, 2002, 16:26 GMT 17:26 UK
      Elephant poaching 'rife in Central Africa'

      
      Elephants are at risk in East Africa, too

      Elephant poaching is on the rise in Central Africa, according to a new study funded by the European Union.
      Elephant numbers have dramatically fallen in the Central African Republic and Gabon because they are being killed for their ivory, the study says.

            Ivory trade 
            One tusk sells for $22
            Many local people earn 75 cents a day
            1997: Ivory cost $3/kg
            2001: Ivory cost $12/kg 
      The body which regulates the trade in endangered species, Cites, is due to discuss the ivory trade next month in Chile.

      Five Southern African nations with large elephant populations want the ivory trade ban to be lifted to allow a limited sell-off.

      But animal rights campaigners and countries such as Kenya oppose them, arguing that allowing even a limited trade in ivory will lead to an increase in poaching.

      Big business

      The French news agency, AFP, reports that the ivory from one elephant tusk can fetch 15,000 CFA francs ($22) - more than many local people earn in a month.

      Ivory prices have risen in recent years, the EU study said, from 2,000 CFA per kilo in 1997 to 8,000 CFA last year.

            
            Gabon loses up to 1,000 elephants every year
          

      Ivory is smuggled from Central African capitals, such as Brazzaville, Kinshasa, Bangui and Libreville, to West Africa and Asia, where ivory ornaments are highly prized.

      Poaching has almost cut Congo's elephant population in half, from 50,000 in the 1990s to less than 30,000, according to Dominique Nsoso from the environment ministry.

      While in Gabon, poachers kill between 500 and 1,000 elephants a year out of a population of 20,000, the EU study said.

      'Paying their way'

      "We have taken steps on a regional level to fight poaching in border areas, but the poachers still remain very active," Mr Nsoso said.

      The ivory trade was outlawed in 1989 after poachers had decimated elephant populations, especially in East Africa.

            
            Ivory products are openly on sale in Thailand
          

      In 1999, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe were allowed to hold a one-off sale of 60 tonnes of ivory to Japan.

      Now, South Africa and Zambia have joined their three neighbours in seeking to sell 80 tonnes of ivory from their stockpiles.

      There are some 242,000 elephants in southern Africa and they say they should not be punished for their sound elephant-protection policies.

      They argue that allowing elephants to "pay their way" by selling ivory is actually the best way of ensuring their survival in the long term.
      See also:


      14 Oct 02 | Science/Nature
      'Rich world should save elephants'

      11 Oct 02 | Africa
      Ivory sales threaten African elephants

      09 Oct 02 | Africa
      Southern Africa bids for ivory sale

      04 Oct 02 | Asia-Pacific
      Ivory trade 'increasing' despite ban

      13 Jun 02 | Asia-Pacific
      Thailand carving an illegal trade

      14 May 02 | Science/Nature
      Elephants face renewed pressure

      Internet links:


      CITES
      Friends of the Asian Elephant
      World Wildlife Fund
      IFAW

      The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
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War Vets' Monthly Pensions Increased



The Herald (Harare) (Government mouth piece)

October 23, 2002
Posted to the web October 23, 2002

Harare

THE Government has increased the monthly pensions of all its pensioners and
war veterans by 20 percent with effect from November 1.

War veterans have each been receiving a monthly pension of $7 900 and the
increase means they will now get $9 480.

Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association chairman Cde Patrick
Nyaruwata told journalists yesterday that the 20 percent increase would be
backdated to July.

The war veterans were advised of the increment on Monday when they met the
Minister of Defence, Cde Sydney Sekeramayi, and Public Service, Labour and
Social Welfare Minister Cde July Moyo at the Zanu-PF Headquarters in Harare.

Cde Moyo confirmed the increment and said it was for all Government
pensioners. "It's not just them (the war veterans), it's all pensioners
across the board," said Cde Moyo.

Cde Nyaruwata said the Government also agreed to review pensions for war
veterans in the 2003 budget.

"We are optimistic that they will review our pensions. We want a monthly
pension of more than $20 000 and our funeral benefits to be increased from
$5 000 to at least $20 000," he said.

War veterans spokesman Cde Samuel Mhlanga said the ex-combatants were
suffering and could not afford to buy basic foodstuffs owing to the rising
inflation rate. "Our status in the society is not that of a hero. People
should not despise war veterans by calling us names. They should sympathise
with us and not look down upon us," he said.

In other countries, Cde Mhlanga said, war veterans with special
identification cards get huge discounts when they shop and even in airfares.

In July this year, all civil servants received a 20 percent cost of living
adjustment and the Government has promised to review their salaries early
next year.

Cde Nyaruwata urged the Government to speedily amend the War Veterans Act so
that widows or widowers could benefit from the fund.

Turning to land distribution, he said the war veterans national executive
raised concerns over some of their members who were being victimised and
were being evicted from their land.

Cde Nyaruwata said they had received complaints that some provincial and
district land committees were sending out letters of offer reallocating land
which would have been given to other people.

"This must stop. This shows there is an element of corruption with some of
our members being victimised or discriminated against."

He said all war veteran organs should compile cases where war veterans were
being evicted from their land through dubious means.

Cde Nyaruwata said Agricom Holdings has agreed to provide support with
farming inputs to all war veterans.

"They have agreed to assist in the growing of wheat, soya beans and maize.
We will give more information about this deal."

War veterans who attended a national executive meeting over the weekend also
resolved to resuscitate the War Veterans Board which was instituted in 1992
under retired army General Solomon Mujuru.

The board had ceased to operate in 1997 after some internal wrangling.

"We resolved to resuscitate it so that it can process loans for war veterans
by November. We expect President Mugabe to nominate members of the board
soon to help war veterans," Cde Nyaruwata said.

Apart from this board, he said, the war veterans national executive also
agreed to institute a War Veterans Advisory Board which would include former
members of the Central Committee, and former members of the liberation
movements' high command and general staff.

"We should not forget our comrades who we fought with in the struggle
regardless of their positions in society," he said.

The war veterans national executive would be meeting the Minister of Lands,
Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Cde Joseph Made and the Minister of
Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Cde Ignatius Chombo, as
part of its efforts to resolve problems facing the former fighters.
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Poor Prospects for Tobacco Production



UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

October 23, 2002
Posted to the web October 23, 2002

Johannesburg

Prospects for the 2003 tobacco crop, an important foreign currency earner
for the country, are poor, the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) warned on
Wednesday.

Chief executive of the ZTA Chris Molam told IRIN that production had been
negatively affected by the government's fast-track land reform programme.

"The prospects aren't good for the 2003 tobacco crop ... as a huge number of
farmers have been prevented from getting on with the job [of planting
tobacco]," Molam said. The planting season for the 2003 crop was currently
underway.

"We've got a lot of new [small scale, resettled] farmers and their
production is difficult to gauge, but overall we are expecting a crop of
between 70 million kg to 80 million kg. But it could be as low as 60 million
kg if the farmers continue to be prevented from planting and the banks
continue to play hard ball," he said.

Total tobacco production hit a bumper 260 million kg in 1998.

Banks were reluctant to fund farmers because there "were too many risks",
which mainly affected large-scale farmers "where the quality production
comes from". "We have a problem with funding, banks are nervous as there's a
lack of collateral value because the land could be invaded, be listed under
a Section 8 [government acquisition] notice anytime," Molam added.

A poor tobacco crop would have serious ramifications for Zimbabwe's economy.

"If it's 70 million kg, we feel that the auction sale value of the tobacco
will be about US $105 million, down from close to US $400 million [in the
previous year]. That's pretty dire, it's chopping hugely our ability to pay
for imports like fuel. The total national fuel bill is about US $360
million, the value of auction tobacco was at least covering our fuel bill
[previously]," Molam said.

Zimbabwe has been the world's second largest tobacco producer after Brazil
with its golden-yellow "lemon leaf" variety in high demand by blenders.
Tobacco accounted for an estimated 31 percent of export earnings in 2001.
However, according to the ZTA, if production continues to fall, China and
the United States could overtake Zimbabwe by next year.

A lot of single-owner commercial farmers who had offered to subdivide their
land to share with small-scale resettled farmers had their offers rejected
by the government. "They [government] initially were after 5 million
hectares and are now taking 11 million hectares [of commercial farm land for
redistribution], they are wiping out the commercial farming sector. They are
leaving us with about 350 out of 715 farmers able to operate [this season],"
he added.

The tobacco growers that continued to farm were doing so on reduced
hectares.

"The cost of production has gone up 152 percent in a year, from October to
October, the [inflation measuring] consumer price index is at 139.9 percent.
We are going to run short of fuel, we're short of fertiliser ... we've got
quite a lot of problems," Molam noted.
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IRIN

DRC: Negative reactions from those named in UN Panel report



NAIROBI, 23 Oct 2002 (IRIN) - Individuals, companies and governments named
in the latest UN report on the illegal exploitation of natural resources of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have, so far, denied their
involvement.

The report, released on Monday, stated that despite the withdrawal of
foreign forces from the DRC, "elite criminal networks" had become so deeply
entrenched that continuing illegal exploitation of the country's natural
resources was assured, independent of the physical presence of foreign
armies.

"Three distinct criminal groups linked to the armies of Rwanda, Uganda and
Zimbabwe and the government of the DRC have benefited from overlapping
micro-conflicts [and] will not disband voluntarily even as the foreign
military forces continue their withdrawals," said the latest report from the
United Nations Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural
Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the DRC.

"The looting that was previously conducted by the armies themselves has been
replaced with organised systems of embezzlement, tax fraud, extortion, the
use of stock options as kickbacks, and diversion of state funds conducted by
groups that closely resemble criminal organisations," it said.

The Rwandan government, which was harshly criticised by the report, said on
Tuesday it rejected the report in its entirety and would make a formal and
appropriate response "in due course".

It added: "The report says nothing new and, like previous reports, simply
recycles unsubstantiated allegations and blatant falsehoods.

"The report attempts to not only criminalise the government and people of
Rwanda but also to intimidate and blackmail them into silence and inaction
against the authors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the ex-FAR [former armed
forces of Rwanda] and Interahamwe [Hutu extremist militias]. This is neither
acceptable nor justifiable."

Regarding Rwanda's repeated claims concerning its security as justification
for the continued presence of its armed forces, the panel reported to have
"extensive evidence to the contrary". Using a term employed by the Congo
Desk of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), Rwanda's "real long-term purpose"
was to "secure property".

The panel said: "RPA battalions that specialise in mining activities remain
in place, though they have ceased wearing RPA uniforms, and will continue
the activities under a commercial guise. The rationale for Rwanda's presence
is to increase the numbers of Rwandans in the eastern DRC and to encourage
those settled there to act in unison to support its exercise of economic
control."

The Rwandan government said it would "continue to fulfil its obligations to
ensure peace and security for her people and will not be derailed from
meeting these obligations by the same international community that abandoned
Rwanda at her greatest hour of need". The government was referring to the
1994 genocide of some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate ethnic
Hutus.

Uganda, several of whose military leaders and businessmen were heavily
implicated, has yet to release an official reaction. However, speaking to
Ugandan government-owned The New Vision newspaper on Tuesday, Foreign
Minister James Wapakhabulo said his government was carefully studying the
report.

"But we are waiting for the [Ugandan] report of the judicial commission of
inquiry led by Justice David Porter, according to the recommendations of the
first UN panel report last year. We are acting in step with UN
recommendations," the paper quoted him as saying. "After we have compared
both reports, we assure our people and the international community that we
shall implement the findings."

The Porter Commission is expected to submit its report by 15 November.

Although no reaction was yet available from the government of Zimbabwe, Gen
Vitalis Zvinavashe, commander of his nation's armed forces, told his
country's official Herald newspaper that the report was "meaningless".

"No one in the world, especially in the West, was happy with the assistance
that we rendered to the DRC government. So they just want to tarnish our
names," he said.

Zvinavashe, who was named in the report, said opponents of Zimbabwe's
involvement in the Congo war were behind the UN probe.

While the Congolese government has not yet commented on the report, a
minister cited by the UN panel for involvement in illegal exploitation of
his country's natural resources, Augustin Katumba Mwanke, said on Monday
that the government must institute an inquiry into the report's findings.

"I wouldn't answer to things like these. Let an inquiry speak for itself,"
Katumba, the minister of the presidency and portfolio, told IRIN.

France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council that has been a major
force in supporting the work of the panel, said on Tuesday it welcomed "the
seriousness of this report, which reflects considerable work both in terms
of the breadth of the subject and also its methodological rigour".

France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was "deeply concerned at the
ongoing pillage, brought to light by the report, of Congo's natural
resources, in particular by uninvited foreign armies".

It added that France was also concerned that pillaging remained one of the
main causes of the continuing conflict and instability in the eastern part
of the country.

"This report does not put an end to the problem, the international community
must be more vigilant than ever in regard to the smuggling of raw materials,
condemned by the experts, and it must show itself determined to fight the
smuggling," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, two of the world's largest gem and mining firms have denied any
involvement in unethical activity in the Congo.

Anglo American and De Beers diamond company, were among dozens of
multinationals in South Africa, Europe and the United States that allegedly
violated ethical guidelines on conflict zones stipulated by the Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The De Beers spokesman in South Africa, Brian Roodt, told IRIN on Tuesday
that his company was puzzled by its inclusion in the report. "We're trying
to get hold of the UN to find out what the specifics are in relation to
their allegations," he said.

Meanwhile, Anglo American issued a statement saying it had had no operations
in the Congo "for several years".

The firm added: "The group's interests have included a couple of potential
projects, only one of which ... proceeded beyond the earliest form of
pre-feasibility stage. It was precisely because of the company's concerns
with regard to broad governance issues surrounding mining in the DRC that
Anglo American hesitated to become further involved in the country."
Retired' Diamond Dealer Shefer Denies Diamond Plunder



Business Day (Johannesburg)

October 23, 2002
Posted to the web October 23, 2002

Eddie Botha And Dumisani Muleya
Johannesburg

Zimbabwe finds itself under the spotlight as the United Nations deepens its
probe into the scramble for minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo

EAST LONDON Israeli businessman Niko Shefer, whose SA Tandan Holdings
diamond company was in a United Nations (UN) report which accuses criminal
cartels of plundering resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo, says he
has retired from business.

Several Zimbabweans also in the report have denied its claims.

Fifty-four individuals are mentioned in the report, which was chaired by
Egypt's ambassador Mahmoud Kassem. Congo, Rwandan, and Ugandan authorities
were also fingered.

The report recommended the business assets of those involved be frozen, and
that travel bans be imposed on them. Shefer said yesterday that he had
stopped all his business activities. "I have closed down Tandan last year. I
have sold my premises and I have no more staff. I am retired except for some
consultancy work that I do from time to time."

Last week the Israeli businessman, who was jailed in SA in 1988 for
defrauding Trust Bank of R47m, was also accused by Liberian President
Charles Taylor of financially backing the shadowy Liberians United for
Reconciliation and Democracy group as a route to lucrative diamond mines in
the country.

Shefer, a former commodities broker, who at one stage after his release on
parole described himself as honorary consul general of Liberia, was
sentenced to 14 years in jail after the then Witwatersrand attorney-general
Klaus von Lieres successfully applied for his extradition from Switzerland.
Shefer denied involvement with the rebels. He said he had stepped down as
honorary consul general in 1996.

Shefer said he had not been out of southern Africa since 2000 and had last
been to west Africa in 1997. He said Tandan was not a diamond dealing
company but a diamond exploration company.

Asked about the panel's claim that Tandan had a 50% stake in Thorntree
Industries, a joint venture diamond-trading company with the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces, Shefer said he never had any equity in Thorntree.

A number of high profile southern African mining companies were identified
by the panel to be in violation of the UN's Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development guidelines for multinationals.

The report from UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan to the president of the
security council deals with the illegal exploitation of natural resources
and other forms of wealth in Congo.

Anglovaal and Iscor are mentioned in the UN report.

Other SA companies listed are: African Trading; AH Pong & Sons; Banro
Mining; Carson Products; Mercantile; 63 Orion Mining; Saracen Security
company; Swanepoel Construction; Track Star Trading and Zincor Mining.

Zimbabwean political and military elite implicated in the plunder also
denied the accusations yesterday.

Zimbabwean Defence Force commander General Vitalis Zvinavashe said that the
claims were "meaningless". "No one in the world, especially the west, was
happy with the assistance we rendered to the Congo government so they just
want to tarnish our names," said Zvinavashe.

Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa , regarded as President Robert
Mugabe's heirapparent, said he would comment on allegations against him
after reading the report.

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Zim Experience Offers Vital Lessons



The Namibian (Windhoek)

October 23, 2002
Posted to the web October 23, 2002

Max Hamata


SOUTH Africa's envoy to Namibia, Curtis Nkondo, says Africa needs to learn
from the conflicts created by the Zimbabwe land crisis to avoid similar
incidents from being widespread.

Nkondo spoke to The Namibian on Monday after meeting Prime Minister Theo-Ben
Gurirab as part of a 12 Commonwealth Group Heads of Mission which paid a
courtesy call on the Premier.

"We have to find a way to solve problems without making other people feel
small. There are divisive elements and other big nations that want to divide
us,"said South Africa's High Commissioner to Namibia.

" All political issues affecting sister countries have to be settled without
pointing fingers. We have to complement each other," he added.
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Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to:
Open Letter Forum <justice@telco.co.zw>


MESSAGE 1

The Chairman,
Nat. Association of Dairy Farmers,
Commercial Farmers Union.
Attention S. Hawgood Esq.

Dear Sir,

I wish to draw your attention to an article published in the Daily News,
today 17th October, 2002.

You Mr. S. Hawgood are quoted as having said:

"As far as we are concerned, no dairy farmer has been driven off their
farms. Those who have left have made an economic decision to stop dairy
farming."

My dear Chairman, I wish to inform you that if those were your words, I
really have to ask you to do a little homework, or alternatively, join
the real world. I was illegally evicted from R/E of Spitzkop on Good
Friday, at the end of March, this year. P. Goodwin Esq. was illegally
evicted from his Komani Farm, about two days before that, and has
subsequently sold his herd. We were both very kindly accommodated by Mr.
M. Mylne, at Longridge Farm, until August 19th 2002. At that point I was
placed in the Police Cells at Esigodini, for producing milk illegally,
on a farm with a section 8. There was an unprecedented sense of urgency
from the Zimbabwe Republic Police, to stop any `allegedly illegal' milk
production, as well as other farming operations, over that weekend, of
17th, 18th and 19th August, 2002. I am told that `allegedly illegal'
farmers were particularly scarce over that period. The gentleman who was
looking after my cows was also placed in the cells at Esigodini, for
`producing milk illegally' and not knowing the whereabouts of his
`illegal dairy farmer boss.'

I have always subscribed to the belief that it is hard to farm from the
cells, and I can now assure you that this is the case. I now subscribe
to the belief that it is very difficult to produce milk with out a farm.
Further, I subscribe to the belief that it is almost impossible to farm,
if the Rule of Law, is conspicuous by its absence. A Rose Farm with some
five Hectares under plastic, (in full production, and with all the
ancillary facilities) has just been closed in the same district. I am
reliably informed that the Staff Housing was torched, rendering over one
hundred families homeless and jobless; and many lost their worldly
possessions.

When I approached the NADF the first time, you were in Australia, and
when I telephoned the second time I was told that you were attending to
Dairy Affairs in Paris, and that Mr. Van Vuuren was on leave.

I fully subscribe to the saying that "it is no use crying over spilt
milk." However, I also subscribe to the saying that "there are none so
fair as those unaffected."

Mr. Chairman, I am well aware that our `African Director Hasluck' has
some new ideas as to the "Cause" of our problems, which are causing some
wonderful debate right now. However, please, would you be so kind as to
attempt to stick to the Truth, when dealing with the "Effect" on the
ground, where your National Farmers Association is concerned. In the
Umzingwane District, three of your nine dairy farmers have been driven
off their farms physically and illegally - not economically, Mr. Chairman,
please note.

Yours faithfully,
J. L. Robinson

P. S.  I am told that David Robinson near Norton has had to stop
dairying, and also a Mr. Ed Lindsell, from Mvurwi. I have not actively
been seeking out displaced dairy farmers but am willing to help you at
the NADF to attempt to get your facts sorted out, should you need a hand.


MESSAGE 2

To : CFU Committee

Having recieved the mail on the CFU I have to contribute my opinions
even though I am a farmer who is not a member of the CFU. I am not a
member for a very good reason - the CFU lives in the past and doesent
seem to grasp the reality on the ground. In fact it wouldnt be too
radical to say that the CFU leadership is as guilty as the ZANU PF
government of bringing down the agriculture sector as we knew it. They
continue to advocate "dialogue" - has it worked in two years and since
when do you talk to dictators and unelected military regimes? Do you
know something we don't - if so, what is it?

The reality is the CFU will not exist within a year as members slowly
realise that we have two options. We join the government line(as the CFU
leaders seem to think is OK) or we join the people of Zimbabwe (which
JAG advocate). If the CFU has any "muchendes" at all thay would have
called for members to stop growing crops two years ago. No point in
saying we are not politicians. Politics, economics, farming, living,
eating are all interlinked. By talking to the politicians, you are
involved in politics.

To me the way forward is like this :
1. disband the CFU as there is too much dissagreement
2. start or join a new multiracial body that makes a stand (such as JAG)
3. take the government to court for it's illegal behaviour
4. express your open support for civil society and the suffering masses
5. be prepared for the worst (or leave)!!
6. if you stay, dont waver in the face of adversity
7. join any strike as a group that may be called by the ZCTU and opposition

Finally, if you dont stand up, you won't be counted.

P. Cochran


MESSAGE 3

RE: M Smith,

In the first paragraph I acknowledged that we should agree to disagree
(entitled to our own opinion) on the current issues facing us.  So I
don't feel that I am in the same league as the regime, who bans freedom
of expression.

I never intended to be nasty or offend people leaving the country, they
all have their own reasons and my attitude is not "Go we don't need you
anyway" quite the contrary, as I think that we are going to need every
single skilled/unskilled person to rebuild this country when the time
is right.  I am just tired of all the negative sentiments about Zimbabwe
and if people are obviously unhappy in Zim they should look elsewhere
for greener pastures, where they will be happy.  They do not have to
justify their actions to anybody, it is their perogative if they want to
leave.

Re "presume Ally and family are still able to farm" yes we are still
farming (citrus) but have had enormous pressure from local war vets,
land "destruction" comittee, Government officials on our game ranch,
we've spent 18 years building up this wildlife sanctuary only to have it
totally destroyed within 6 months, it does hurt. We do sympathise with
all the farmers in the same predicament as we are.

Ally

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Please send any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG Job Opportunities <justice@telco.co.zw>


GENERAL MANAGER - FARMING we are looking for a Farm Manager for a
cereal/row crop farm near Norton.  Must have an agricultural
diploma/degree and at least 7 years' cropping experience.  Knowledge of
cattle will be advantageous, as will tobacco experience.  Write sending
CV and contact details, together with details of present and required
salary to The Company Secretary, P O Box WGT 10, WESTGATE, Harare or
e-mail to anne@kencor.co.zw.


FARM ACCOUNTANT - to be based Gwebi area.  At least 10 years experience
and able to prepare and present Monthly Management Accounts.  Do books
for 2 farms, stock schedules, debtors/creditors, wages etc.  .  Write
sending CV and contact details, together with details of present and
required salary to The Company Secretary, P O Box WGT 10, WESTGATE,
Harare or e-mail to anne@kencor.co.zw.


Two people in South Africa have manager positions on their farms vacant
and are willing to keep these positions open for two Zimbabwe farmers
who lost their farms. Please send this message out.  Especially to JAG.
If interested please contact:

    Mr de Villiers
    (012) 361 7703 (after hours)
    (012) 315 7556 (at work)

He has a cattle farm about 160 km from Pretoria (900 ha), there is a
house on the farm.

Mr J C van Rensburg
(011) 659 0329
0837025110


Farm in the Free State.  A big part of operations is a holiday resort.
Ray Botha P/a Dr P R Du Toit


Business in Harare looking for secretary/bookeeper in agricultural based
operation. Experience in Computers and Pastel bookeeping necessary. Job
in a busy environment with an attractive salary being offered. Looking
for suitable encumbant to start asap. Please contact on the below
address. Farmers wife would be good! Contact - sales@maguires.biz


DAIRY INDUSTRY
SECTION HEAD: ANIMAL HEALTH
SAUDI ARABIA

A leading Saudi Arabian Dairy Farm is seeking a suitably qualified and
experienced candidate to occupy the post of Section Head Animal Health.

The successful candidate will head a multi-national team of 18 persons
comprised of Veterinarians, Specialists and Laboratory staff.  He will
report to the Herds Manager.

The successful candidate will be required to manage and control an ISO
9002 certified Animal Health Section, to maintain the highest standards
of overall health care on the Farm.  Duties will include conducting
disease control measures, control of Animal Health Warehouse and Budget.

An attractive remuneration package includes, furnished accommodation on
the farm, medical care, use of company car, annual vacation entitlement
including airfare.

This position is unlikely to suit candidates seeking education for
children in the Kingdom, due to the location of the farm, approx. 100km
from the capital, Riyadh.

Interested individuals should send full CV to:-

ROBERT H FIDLER
YORK PERSONNEL SERVICES
P O BOX 391, UMHLANGA ROCKS, 4320, SOUTH AFRICA
Tel: 0027-31-562 8712 / Fax: 0027-31-562 8753
e-mail: recruit@yorkpersonnel.com


DAIRY INDUSTRY
SECTION HEAD: PARLOUR MAINTENANCE
SAUDI ARABIA

A leading Saudi Arabian Dairy Farm seeks an experienced Milking
Equipment Engineer, to head an 18-strong multinational maintenance team
for an ISO 9002 compliant section.  He would report to the Herds
Manager.

Duties
The successful candidate would be responsible for the maintenance and
technical management of:-

540+ (De Laval) state-of-the-art milking points in 7 parlours, including
vacuum, pneumatic, electrical & hydraulic peripheral equipment, in order
to maintain this equipment integrity, to guarantee milk production.

A computerised cattle housing cooling system, together with corral
fencing, and above-ground, cattle water supply.

Sectional responsibility includes budgetary, administrative and spare
parts control.

Candidate
The successful candidate should hold a recognised technical
qualification in Electro/Mechanical Engineering and have at least 8
years experience in milking equipment.

He should have a good command of English, both spoken and written, and be
computer literate.

An attractive remuneration package including furnished accommodation on
the farm, use of company car, medical care, and generous annual vacation
leave entitlement including, airfare is provided.

Interested individuals should send full CV to:-

ROBERT H FIDLER
YORK PERSONNEL SERVICES
P O BOX 391, UMHLANGA ROCKS, 4320, SOUTH AFRICA
Tel: 0027-31-562 8712 / Fax: 0027-31-562 8753
He-mail: recruit@yorkpersonnel.com


Australian Opportunity - radiographer
Mark Palmer from the Royal Darwin Hospital writes:

I have job vacancies for radiographers at Royal Darwin Hospital. We are
willing to sponsor suitably qualified people. I can be contacted via
email Mark.Palmer@nt.gov.au. Here is a brief description of the place:

RDH Radiology Department

RDH is a 350 bed general hospital, admitting a wide range of patients
including general medicine, surgical, paediatrics, obstetrics,
orthopaedics, renal, A&E etc. This is one of the large general hospitals
still operational.

RDH radiology performs approximately 50,000 examinations per annum.
This includes :-
1. CT - 3,000 examinations
2. Nuclear Medicine - 600 examinations
3. Ultrasound - 4,500 examinations
4. MRI - 400 examinations

The department outsources radiology, service is supplied by NT Medical
Imaging. CT, MRI and Nuclear Medicine are currently fully serviced by NT
Medical Imaging.

The General Radiography and Ultrasound are performed by RDH radiographers.

There are 19.5 FTE RDH radiographers. All staff participate on the shift
roster except the chief radiographer. Hours of operation are 8am until
2am, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Shift radiographers commence
their shifts at either 1600hrs or 1730hrs. Normal hours per week are 35
hours, ie commence at 8am until 4pm. RDH operates an on-call system for
radiography after 2am, although the radiographer often does not leave
work until 0230-0300hrs. Within a few months the Radiology Department
will be moving into new premises. Some work at remote health units may
be required from time to time. RDH provides an ultrasound service to
Gove, Tennant Creek and Kununurra as required. Chest Xrays for the chest
clinic may require a radiographer to travel to various Aboriginal
Communities. These are opportunities to see some of the remote health
sites in the NT. Staff may be absent for periods up to 5 days. There are
circumstances when staff may be asked to relieve other radiogr Salary
range for a P1/P2 from $36,178 to $60868 depending on years qualified.
Additional to this there are shift penalty payments and on-call
payments, which generally may increase income by 10-15% annually.

There are 10 clerical staff including 2 report typists, 2 front desk
receptionists and 6 other clerical staff who sort and file Xray films.

There are 3 main general rooms, one DSA room, 3 ultrasound rooms with 2
Acusons Xp10/128's and a Toshiba Corevision Pro. There is a general Xray
room in the emergency department. Two radiographers per day are rostered
to theatre and mobiles.

RDH has many other advantages. It is located 5-10 minutes from Casuarina
beach and the Casuarina shopping centre. Within the hospital complex is
parking for all staff and visitors, there is a large swimming pool,
squash courts, tennis courts, gymnasium and on-site accommodation. RDH is
approximat We are 90 minutes from Litchfield National Park and 3 hours
from Kakadu National Park and very close to Bali too.

I hope that you will consider the RDH for your future employment as I am
sure that the job will be interesting, culturally enlightening,
fulfilling and challenging.

For any more information contact:
Mark Palmer
Chief Radiographer
Royal Darwin Hospital
Te: 81 8 8922 8732
Darwin, NT. Australia


Fulll Time Personal Assistant required for young dynamic company
executive. Successful applicant will be female, aged 35 -45, motivated,
bright, keen to learn, and able to run the show alone for short periods
of time. Does not need to be an expert on computers, just keen to learn.
This job is a genuine solid offer, with a good package for the right
person. Phone Lindsay Campbell 023 410 300 for further details.


Two opportunities have arisen in Nigeria:

Northern Nigeria: Farm Manager required for 3500 ha farm, mostly
cereal/row crops, but some other crops also. Owner is offering an expat
package, with usual perks. Interviews will take place in Johannesburg
between 10 & 15th December 2002, expenses paid. Please submit CV with
full particulars to masibs@zol.co.zw, or fax to 04 744166. Schools are
available, and Nigeria is only 5 hrs' flight time away!Phone Mary
Cosgrove for more details on 011 613735

Eastern Nigeria : Timber/forestry Specialist required to manage a 114 ha
forestry concession, with sawmill and furniture factory. Successful
applicant must be capable of managing the concession and running the
furniture factory & sawmill. Expat package with usual perks offered.
Interviews will take place in Johannesburg between 10 & 15th
December,exps paid. Please submit CV with full particulars to
masibs@zol.co.zw, or fax to 04 744166, or contact Mary Cosgrove on 011
613735.


Job in RSA - no further details available - ph Sakki Van Der Clos 021
9398365 or 021 9399909


Junior Manager required for 94 ha tobacco,15 ha paprika, maize, & 26 ha
coffee. Contact Willie Watson on 064 7535


I write on behalf of a company called Instamac (Pvt) Ltd. We are a
medium sized construction/development company specialising in
residential and other developmental infrastructure. Amazingly enough in
these troubled times, we currently have a large volume of works on our
books. Subsequently, we are urgently looking for suitable persons to
recruit as staff in the following fields :
    (a) Construction Site Management ;
    (b) Workshop Management.

(a) above would involve managing at least one construction site in or
near to Harare (i.e.Ruwa and Norton). The type of construction we are
currently mainly involved in, is that of providing roads, water and
sewerage to residential stands. Construction of housing may come in at a
later stage. The incumbent manager would be responsible for at least one
site, and all the construction works on it (i.e.plant, labour,
materials, etc.). The works on site are not highly technical, but does
require a person with a practicalmind, motivation and initiative.

(b) above would involve the daily management of our central workshops in
Harare, plus the liaison of our various site workshops and personnel.
This vacancy again requires a hands on type of person, with some
mechanical experience, but not necessarily a formal qualification in
mechanics.

We are prepared to offer the right type of person a good package. It
would be good if the person(s) had their own transport. We would
obviously pay for this.

We have contacted yourselves since we admire your positive and motivated
stance in these difficult times, and because you may have a database of
ex-farm owners/managers who have experienced problems recently, and may
be looking for something to do. We feel these types of people would be
ideal for the vacancies we have described above.

Thank-you for your time, and we would greatly appreciate it if you
wouldn't mind possibly posting a copy of this E-mail onto your
noticeboards, and/or with the relevant persons in your organisation.

Thank-you once again for your kind cooperation on this issue.

Yours faithfully
Paul Brown
Contracts Director for Instamac
Accomodation in RSA
Accomodation and Assistance offered to Zim refugees in Western Cape,
alsoJoBurg and Bloemfontein. Contact Carol Miller at mil@iafrica.com


Weekly South African Newspaper advertising jobs: www helderberg.co.za


Farming Opportunity in SA

My family has a farm in Lowveld (Nelspruit), which was once regarded as
the best tobacco ground in the lowveld. We would love to offer the land
to evicted land owners from Zimbabwe, to use and restore their lives
again. Please could you let me know if you know of people that would be
interested!!?? My uncle up in the northern province can be contacted
regarding this matter. Dennis Traynor +27 15 295 9247

Regards
Jack Smith
083 235 5615


We have a farm in the Eastern Tvl between Machadodorp and
Nelspruit.Fairly remote on 5000 hectars it is used for running a few
cattle plus horses where we take clients on rides and as an outward
bound area for school children. There are two houses with all elect
water etc should you have someone who might like to move there they are
available there are numerous other facolities plus 25 odd km of the
crocodile river. The offer is to some self motivating people on a
partnership basis if they need set up costs these can all be negotiated.
Should you have any takers cud you e mail me at tn@earthport.co.za many
thanks. Tony North.


Australian Farming Opportunity
CITRUS FARM, NOOSA, SUNSHINE COAST, AUSTRALIA

Please forward this to any Zimbabwean farmer who you think might be
interested in living on a citrus farm in Noosa, Sunshine Coast,
Australia,rent free.  The farmer who owns the farm would like a farming
couple to look after his citrus trees and there might be other farming
opportunities.Please contact: richard.annabel.hulme@i-biz21.com if the
offer is of interest to you.  Thank you.

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NEWS24

Teachers vow to continue strike


Johannesburg - The leader of the nationwide teachers' strike in Zimbabwe has
vowed to continue pressing for better pay, despite alleged government
harassment.

Raymond Majongwe, secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe told IRIN: "The government's continued harassment has only
strengthened our resolve to continue with the strike. The organisation's
solidarity with my fate and the conditions I am facing is unquestionable."

Majongwe was released on Monday after a court dismissed fresh charges
against him. He was detained after being accused of trying to force teachers
at two schools in the capital, Harare, to join the dispute.

Under the controversial new public order and security act it is an offence
for "any person who, acting in concert with one or more other persons,
forcibly invades the rights of other people".

The union leader had been arrested twice last week for his role in the
teachers' strike.

Majongwe confirmed reports that up to 2 000 students had taken to the
streets of Harare on Monday to protest against the dismissal of their
teachers.

Hundreds ordered to be dismissed

"So far, our reports tell us that a teacher, who has been accused of
organising the protest in the Tafara and Mabvuku suburbs, has been
arrested," he said.

Last week, the government ordered the dismissal of hundreds of teachers for
taking part in a wage strike.

But Majongwe said most of those dismissed had not yet received official
notice and had continued working.

"It is not up to the education ministry to fire teachers. Teachers are hired
by the public service commission. So far, the commission has not contacted
any of the teachers," he said.

"It is the teachers' constitutional right to engage in a peaceful strike,
and the regime should be, instead, making concerted efforts to address the
grievances of the teachers who are the most expensive resource in the
education system," said David Coltart, legal affairs secretary of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

The teachers have been on strike since October 8 and are demanding a 100%
salary increase backdated to January this year and another 100% cost of
living adjustment backdated to June. - IRIN
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