International Herald Tribune
The Associated PressPublished: October 23,
2007
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa: South African businesses
have been cashing in on
the economic crisis in Zimbabwe and need to stop
putting profits before
ethics and play a greater role in resolving the
country's problems, a
leading Zimbabwean academic said Tuesday.
Brian
Raftopolous, director of research and advocacy for Solidarity Peace
Trust, a
regional human rights body, questioned the role South Africa, a
regional
powerhouse, has played in the turmoil in Zimbabwe.
He said companies
operating in Zimbabwe had a responsibility to use their
influence to push
for human rights and democracy.
"South African companies are cashing in
on the crisis," he said in a report
released Tuesday. "They have not been
idle in finding opportunities. If you
are making that kind of money in that
context what is your responsibility in
resolving the crisis?"
The
collapse of Zimbabwe's economy has been "catastrophic," the report said.
The
country has the world's worst official inflation at nearly 8,000
percent,
though independent estimates put it closer to 25,000 percent. The
International Monetary Fund forecasts it will reach 100,000 percent by
year's end.
In June, the government ordered prices slashed by
half to tame inflation.
Instead, it worsened already acute shortages of food
and basic goods.
As the economic and political crisis has deepened, new
opportunities have
opened up for South African companies to extend their
influence, the report
said.
Several of South Africa's biggest
companies have investments, subsidiaries
and interests in Zimbabwe, making
up 60 percent of companies listed on the
Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange.
According to the report, Zimbabwe has remained the largest
African market
for South African goods, with rands 7.3 billion (more than
US$1 billion;
nearly €750 million) worth of exports.
Several
companies such as Implats, Old Mutual and SABMiller have invested or
expanded their investments in Zimbabwe since the crisis.
"The South
African corporate sector has exploited Zimbabwe's collapsing
economy to
bolster its bottom lines," the report said.
The report explores the
impact these strong economic ties have on South
Africa's foreign policy
toward its neighbor. "The role of South Africa, as
both a help and
hindrance, has been continuously debated," it said.
South African
President Thabo Mbeki has been criticized for advocating what
he calls quiet
diplomacy over confronting Mugabe, who is accused of
overseeing his
country's economic and political collapse.
Mbeki led talks between the
ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition, leading
to an agreement to ensure
that elections scheduled next year are free and
fair.
Raftopolous
said resolving the political crisis was vital to Zimbabwe's
economic
recovery and urged South African companies to use their leverage to
ensure
the talks are a success.
"They need to give support to the mediation and
speak out against human
rights abuses. It is their employees who are the
victims," he said.
Jerry Vilakazi, chief executive of Business Unity
South Africa, dismissed
allegations that South African businesses were
"cashing in on the crisis."
"That is not true. The situation in Zimbabwe
is not normal for doing
business. A number of business have lost money," he
said.
Vilakazi said his organization, which represents a number of large
private
sector firms, called for South African businesses to stay in
Zimbabwe.
"Business has to play a constructive role to ensure the
difficulties the
people of Zimbabwe are going through are minimized through
constant supply
of food ... (and) jobs," he said.
Meanwhile,
Zimbabwe's opposition warned Tuesday that the crisis has reached
tipping
point, as some suburbs in the capital, Harare, were reported to have
gone 10
days without power.
"This madness cannot continue," said Nelson Chamisa,
spokesman for the
Movement for Democratic Change.
Supermarkets have
been forced to throw out perishables after a huge fault
plunged a swathe of
suburbs in the north of the capital into darkness last
week.
Engineers warn supplies will not be fully restored until the
weekend.
Scheduled power cuts are a common occurrence in Zimbabwe, where
the theft of
cables and oil from transformer units had left engineers —
already facing
chronic shortages of hard currency for spare parts, equipment
and gasoline —
battling with mounting breakdowns.
Zim Online
Wednesday 24
October 2007
By Regerai Marwezu
MASVINGO - Several
villagers in drought-prone Mwenezi district in southern
Zimbabwe were
yesterday denied food aid by ruling ZANU PF officials amid
fears President
Robert Mugabe could increasingly use the humanitarian
assistance bait to
elicit support ahead of watershed elections next years.
Hungry villagers
gathered at Rata rural service centre in the district were
shocked yesterday
after being told by ZANU PF officials and members of the
dreaded Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) that they would not get any
assistance
because they supported the main opposition faction led by Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai heads the larger faction of the splintered
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC). Academic Arthur Mutambara leads the
other MDC
faction.
"Only a few people managed to get food while
hundreds were denied the
opportunity to get the maize for allegedly
supporting opposition political
parties," said villager Albert
Manjengwa.
He said they were told to get food aid from
Tsvangirai.
"Officers from the president's office told us that the people
in our area
were not politically correct hence they must starve or get food
from their
party," added Manjengwa.
Mwenezi district is one of the
areas in Masvingo province adversely affected
by the poor harvest of the
2006/07 season.
Some families in the area are reportedly going for days
without food and are
only looking to government and non-governmental
organisations for help.
According to the villagers, all suspected MDC
supporters have since been
summoned to a hearing on October 27 which will be
presided over by CIO
operatives at Chief Negari's homestead.
MDC
officials in Masvingo yesterday said they were shocked by the
government's
decision to deny its supporters relief food.
"These incidents in which
our supporters are being denied food ahead of the
elections next year are on
the increase. I think it is high time we take
action as a party to save our
supporters who are starving," said MDC
Masvingo central legislator Tongai
Matutu.
"We are also not happy to hear that members of the CIO have since
taken over
the distribution of food in rural areas where they screen
beneficiaries on
political grounds," added Matutu.
Agriculture
Minister Rugare Gumbo yesterday confirmed that operatives from
the CIO were
part of food distribution teams in rural areas.
"It is true that members
of the CIO are now part of the food distribution
team. The aim is not to
deny other people food but to ensure that the whole
thing is done properly,"
Gumbo told ZimOnline.
Masvingo governor Willard Chiwewe yesterday said he
was yet to receive
reports of politicisation of food.
"I have never
received such reports but I think if it was true I should have
heard about
it," he said.
President Mugabe's government has been accused of
politicising food aid
ahead of next year's harmonised
elections.
Although Mugabe has personally denied the allegations, one of
his
supporters, Chief Fortune Charumbira, is on record as having told
government
officials in Masvingo earlier this year to deny food aid to those
linked to
the MDC, arguing that the opposition supporters were biting the
hand that
feeds them.
Zimbabweans go to the polls next year and
Mugabe, in power since
independence in 1980, is accused of employing dirty
tactics such as
manipulating the voter registration exercise, politicisation
of food aid and
harassment of opponents to ensure victory. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wednesday 24 October
2007
By Sebastian Nyamhangambiri
HARARE - A Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) deputy governor, Edward
Mashiringwani, last week invaded a white-owned farm, contradicting calls by
the central bank to stop farm invasions blamed for destabilizing the
mainstay agricultural sector.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono is among
a group of top government and ZANU
PF officials worried about the rapid
decline in agriculture and who have
pushed to stop fresh farm seizures -
albeit without success.
Mashiringwani, who is responsible for
financial markets, banking
operations and national payment systems at the
RBZ, last Wednesday stormed
Friedwall farm located 150 km north-west of
Harare claiming the government
allocated the property to him.
A
ZimOnline reporter, who happened to be at Friedwall farm on other
business
when Mashiringwani invaded the property, witnessed the RBZ official
personally break open the gate and pull down part of the fence to let in a
tractor and a group of people believed to be his workers.
"I
want to get to the fields and start tilling the land in preparation
for the
coming rains, after that I will take over the whole farm,"
Mashiringwani
nonchalantly told the owner of the farm, Louis Fick.
Mashiringwani
told his workers to camp at the farm and to till the
fields in preparation
for this coming season's crop before he drove off.
Attempts since
last week to get comment on the matter from
Mashiringwani have been
fruitless, while Gono was also not immediately
available for
comment.
Fick, among the fewer than 600 whites still farming in
Zimbabwe after
President Robert Mugabe's government grabbed land from most
of the country's
about 4 000 white farmers, refused to discuss the invasion
of his farm.
Henrick Olivier, chief executive of the Commercial
Farmers Union that
represents white farmers, said: "A report was made to us
about Friedwall
farm. The RBZ deputy governor definitely went to Fick's farm
with a couple
of guys and asked him to wind up and move out."
Fick practices animal husbandry, keeping 3 000 pigs and about 1 500
cattle
at his farm. He also breeds fish and crocodiles.
Zimbabwe, also
grappling with its worst ever economic crisis, has
since 2000 relied on food
imports and handouts from international food
agencies mainly due to failure
by new black farmers to maintain production
on former white
farms.
Poor performance in the mainstay agricultural sector has
also had far
reaching consequences as hundreds of thousands have lost jobs
while the
manufacturing sector, starved of inputs from the sector, is
operating below
30 percent of capacity. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wednesday 24 October
2007
By Batsirayi Muranje
HARARE - Two
senior officials of Morgan Tsvangirai-led opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party will today meet Home Affairs
Minister Kembo Mohadi over
rising political violence in the country.
The MDC last week accused
President Robert Mugabe's government of
stepping up violence against the
opposition party ahead of next year's
presidential and parliamentary
elections, a charge Harare denies.
Mohadi last week invited
Tsvangirai for talks after the MDC threatened
to pull out of South
Africa-led talks between the opposition party and the
ruling ZANU PF party
over alleged political violence.
Sources within the MDC said
yesterday that Tsvangirai will not attend
the meeting with Mohadi but will
be represented by the party's home affairs
secretary, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo,
and Mutare Central legislator Innocent
Gonese.
In a letter to
Tsvangirai last week, Mohadi demanded that the
opposition party furnish him
with specific cases of violence against the
party's supporters at today's
scheduled meeting.
The MDC says cases of political violence against
its supporters have
escalated despite ongoing dialogue with the government
to seek an end to
Zimbabwe's political stalemate.
South
Africa's President Thabo Mbeki has since last March been leading
a Southern
African Development Community (SADC) initiative to push for a
negotiated
settlement to Zimbabwe's eight-year political crisis.
Last week,
the MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa suggested that the
opposition party
could pull out from the talks if violence, arbitrary
arrests and harassment
of the opposition did not stop.
"It cannot be summer time in
Pretoria while here in Zimbabwe, our
supporters continue to live under a
winter of violence," Chamisa told
journalists.
Sources within
the MDC in Harare say Mbeki, who has in the past said
the talks were
progressing "very well," was exerting pressure on the
Zimbabwean government
to stop the political violence and save the fragile
talks. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wednesday 24 October
2007
Own Correspondent
HARARE - The
Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) says it not
sure if the 2007
examinations currently going on will be marked as it does
not have the money
required.
ZIMSEC director Happy Ndanga told a closed parliamentary
committee on
10 October, minutes of which were seen by ZimOnline yesterday,
that about
$1.7 trillion was needed to mark Grade Seven, Ordinary and
Advanced Level
examinations.
"We asked for a budget of $1.5
trillion and got something which was
not quite anything. When we asked for a
supplementary budget we were given
$630.6 billion - just a little over 50
percent. We cannot run an examination
at 50 percent capacity. It must be 100
percent," he said.
He warned that lack of resources continued to
affect marking standards
for examinations as most markers were leaving the
country for greener
pastures. Ndanga said the examinations body was forced
to import markers
from other countries.
"We envisage a
situation for this examination where the examiners may
be very much in
demand because they have left in large numbers," said the
ZIMSEC chief,
adding that the examiners must be paid reasonable rates.
"It is not
proper for an examination to be run with people where you
have scrapped rock
bottom of the available resources," he said.
ZIMSEC received only
$1 billion from examination fees that are pegged
at $500 per subject.
Equipment at the examinations body was obsolete and
printers were also
failing to print question papers.
Ndanga revealed that scanners
used by the examinations body to "read
answers" for multiple-choice
questions were now obsolete.
"The manufacturer who sold them to us
has stopped manufacturing (such
scanners) and we cannot even get spare parts
for them. Unless we have a
scanner which can mark the whole paper at a
fraction of a second, if we use
manual marking it will take ages, costs a
lot of money and it will require a
lot of labour," said Ndanga.
ZIMSEC also wants armed security at examinations centres and to
accompany
trucks distributing examination papers to reduce cases of fraud
and other
irregularities.
"Examinations are very sensitive and important to
depend on one
authority. What we want is shared responsibility . . . Every
year we receive
very large numbers of cases of irregularities and we are
trying to obviate
these cases by ensuring that there is good security all
round," said Ndanga.
He disclosed that in 2005 a truckload of
question papers printed in
South Africa was hijacked between Johannesburg
and Pretoria.
"At one time in 2005 a whole truckload of question
papers printed in
South Africa was hijacked somewhere between Johannesburg
and Pretoria and we
lost the whole cargo to criminals," said
Ndanga.
Zimbabwean examinations have been riddled by irregularities
with
several cases of leakages reported. - ZimOnline
SABC
October 23, 2007,
18:30
The Solidarity Peace Trust (SPT) has come out in support of
President Thabo
Mbeki's mediation efforts in Zimbabwe. It says although
under some
criticism, these efforts could still be a way of ending the
crisis in
Zimbabwe. The SPT released its preliminary Zimbabwe-South Africa
economic
relations report in Johannesburg today.
The SPT, a NGO
committed to human rights, freedom and democracy --
co-chaired by the
Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo and the Anglican Bishop of
KwaZulu-Natal --
has been favourable about South Africa's role in the
Zimbabwean mediation
effort.
SPT's director of research and advocacy Brian Raftopolous said:
"One has to
be hopeful because the alternative may be too ghastly to
contemplate. There
has been a lot of progress so far under the mediation and
a lot of ground
has been covered."
SA businesses condemned
The
talks, sanctioned by Southern African Development Community, are meant
to
address violent crackdowns on the opposition, which led to a
constitutional
amendment agreement that paves the way for presidential
elections by March
next year.
But today Raftopoulos said if Mugabe's government failed to
honour the
agreement, there would need to be a serious debate about economic
and
political sanctions.
The SPT also accused South African
businesses operating in Zimbabwe of
cashing in on the economic
crisis.
The SPT says there are no guarantees that either mediation or the
elections
will bring about peace, but it feels these at least present an
opportunity
to confront Zimbabwe's economic challenges.
Monsters and Critics
Oct 23, 2007, 11:13 GMT
Harare - Zimbabwe's crisis has
now reached tipping point, a spokesman for
the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) warned Tuesday as a
local consumer watchdog said the
cost of living had climbed 30 per cent in a
month.
'It is now clear
that Zimbabwe's crisis has reached the tipping point,' said
the MDC's Nelson
Chamisa who said bread was now 'as scarce as gold.'
Food shortages have
worsened since July following President Robert Mugabe's
controversial order
that all prices be slashed by at least 50 per cent.
Most basics are now
only available on the expensive black market. Many
Zimbabweans say they are
surviving on vegetables.
Chamisa whose party is currently involved in
delicate South African-brokered
talks with Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF also
pointed to widespread power outages
which have crippled hospitals, schools,
universities and industry.
'They (the ruling party) are not worried about
our suffering,' the spokesman
said.
His comments came as the Consumer
Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) reported a 30
per cent surge in the cost of living
for a family of six, up to 21.7 million
Zimbabwe dollars (officially worth
723 US) in September.
Senior teachers report that their take-home pay
that month was just four
million dollars.
The CCZ said there had been
a 222 per cent rise in the cost of the staple
maize meal, while rentals have
surged by an average of 34 per cent.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
SW
Radio Africa (London)
23 October 2007
Posted to the web 23 October
2007
Tererai Karimakwenda
The controversial issue of whether
Robert Mugabe should be invited to the
European Union-Africa Heads of State
Summit in Lisbon Portugal in December
has surfaced again. A delegation of EU
MPs reportedly visited the
Pan-African Parliament (PAP) in South Africa last
Friday, and after meeting
to discuss the issue agreed it was better to
invite Mugabe and engage him on
the crisis in Zimbabwe, rather than snub him
altogether.
The EU delegation was headed by Michael Gahler and PAP was
represented by
legislator Marwick Khumalo. At a joint press conference
Friday they revealed
that EU-Africa MPs will be meeting a day ahead of the
heads of state summit
in December, and hoped to influence the leaders to
meet Mugabe and offer to
discuss his problems.
The EU and PAP
parliamentarians are the latest addition to a growing list
who believe
engagement is a better alternative to the decision made by the
British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown, who has insisted he will not attend the
summit if
Mugabe is invited. Brown said it was important to take a strong
stance
against the abuses of the Mugabe regime. But those favouring
engagement with
Mugabe continuing to grow in numbers.
Nickson Nyikadzino, information
officer with the Zimbabwe Crisis Coalition
in South Africa, described the
decision by the EU/PAP parliamentarians as a
"thorn in the flesh" because he
believes Mugabe should not be permitted to
attend the summit. He said:
"There should be a clear cut agenda on what
issues will be dealt with,
particularly the issues of human rights
violations in Zimbabwe, the economy
and to what extent can Africa and also
the EU assist to make sure they
mitigate the crisis in Zimbabwe."
Nyikadzino suggested that a committee
be formed that would include both
African and European heads of state, to
engage Mugabe on the sidelines of
the summit so he does not distract from
the core business. He referred to
Mugabe as "a loose canon" who will use the
platform for his own propaganda.
"He can be given a long rope and say a lot
of stupid things while the
country is suffering", said Nyikadzino.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
No let up in directives that alienate and demoralise the
population.
By Hativagone Mushonga in Harare (AR No. 140,
23-Oct-07)
The Zanu PF-led government appears to be shooting itself in
the foot with
policies it has implemented in the last few months.
In
addition to continuing farm seizures, these include the imposition of an
import duty in foreign currency for items including clothing, footwear and
electrical goods, thereby cutting the source of livelihood for cross-border
traders; and the price slash in July that resulted in empty supermarket
shelves, job losses, company closures and the arrests of company
executives.
Some commodities are slowly starting to re-appear, but at
unaffordable
prices for ordinary Zimbabweans, whose salaries had also been
frozen through
a government directive. The prices of some commodities have
now gone up by
as much as 800 per cent.
"I simply cannot afford
anything now. Some of the prices are now too high
for small people like me.
What this means is that the prices are going to be
even worse on the black
market," said Mary Chanakira, an administrator at a
factory.
"I have
to earn at least 100 million Zimbabwean dollars to live comfortably
in
Zimbabwe. At the moment, I earn five million a month. How many things can
I
buy? My salary is worth only five bars of one-kilogramme washing
soap."
The official exchange rate is currently one US dollar to 30,000
Zimbabwean
dollars, ZWD, but on the black market it's trading at around one
million
ZWD.
"You tell me where we are now," said Chanakira. "I have
never felt so
helpless in my life and I never thought I would be forced to
go hungry -
this is not the reason why I went to school and university. When
is change
going to come?"
The few goods that have been delivered to
supermarkets have found their way
on to the black market at double or treble
the gazetted prices.
Meanwhile, essentials like sugar, salt, maize meal,
cooking oil and all
meats including beef, chicken and pork are still in
short supply.
As if that is not enough, Harare residents now have to fork
out between five
million and 24 million ZWD for their water bills, despite
the supply being
erratic.
The government has approved high water
tariffs - a rise of between 3,000 and
8,000 per cent, depending on the area
- thereby violating international laws
and universal declarations, which
make access to basic water requirement a
fundamental human right.
At
the same time, several suburbs of the capital are experiencing water cuts
of
more than four days and in some cases even one to two weeks.
The Zimbabwe
National Water Authority, Zinwa, has started cutting supplies
to residents
who have failed to pay the huge bills and has threatened to
continue doing
so if they are not paid on time.
In the leafy rich suburbs of Highlands,
Borrowdale and Mandara, residents
were shocked to receive bills of up to 24
million ZWD.
Pensioner Sekuru Murehwa, who looks after five orphaned
grandchildren in the
poor suburb of Highfield, could believe it when two
weeks ago he received an
eight million ZWD water bill.
In previous
months, he used to pay an average 250,000 ZWD. At first, he
thought it was a
mistake, only to be told that water charges had gone up by
a huge
percentage.
"Where am I going to get eight million ZWD? I have never held
that kind of
money before. I am not the only one, everyone is crying about
their water
bills. I think they will have to cut us off if the government
does not
intervene because I know for a fact people in this area cannot
afford to pay
even a quarter of their bills," he said.
"I know the
water authority is looking for money to buy chemicals but to do
so this way
is wrong. It is very cruel. How many ordinary Zimbabweans earn
that kind of
money? And even if they did, they also have to eat, go to work,
educate
their children and clothe them. We are suffering already and all
blame falls
on the government. Things have to change."
People should not be mistaken
by the crowds at Harare International Airport
welcoming or bidding Mugabe
farewell to assume that Zanu PF still commands
huge support in
Harare.
These are borrowed crowds from Harare's largest vegetable market,
Mbare
Musika, and the nearby flea market at Mupedzanhamo.
IWPR spoke
to some vendors at the two markets, who are forced to attend such
events.
"We are required to close the markets and we all have to go
to the airport
to welcome or bid the president farewell. If we don't go, we
lose our space
in the market. There will be people there taking a register
of everyone. So
my dear, you either attend or lose your source of
livelihood," said one
vendor.
"So we go, chant slogans, sing songs
praising [Mugabe] but deep down in our
hearts, we will be cursing him and
normally by the time I leave I am so
angry because I know he is the same man
that has impoverished me, the same
man who is making my kids go to school on
empty stomachs, the same man who
is making me live in
near-destitution."
When asked about his party's campaign for joint
presidential and
parliamentary elections next year, an opposition Movement
for Democratic
Change, MDC, legislator from Morgan Tsvangirai's camp said
jokingly their
electioneering was being done for them by the ruling party,
through their
bad policies.
"No need to campaign," he said. "Zanu PF
is doing it for us. Whatever move
they are making is convincing people why
they should be out of power. So
really we are just watching Zanu PF
destroying itself. But still with
politics we have to be always on our toes
and work hard to get the
Zimbabwean vote."
If the situation continues
its downward trend, which is likely, Zanu PF will
have to come up with a bag
of tricks to convince the electorate why the
party should be allowed to
continue to rule the country for another five
years. If not, it will have to
employ the same tactics as it did in previous
elections, of violent
intimidation and vote-rigging.
Hativagone Mushonga is the pseudonym of an
IWPR reporter in Zimbabwe
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
23 October
2007
Getting by has gotten a lot more expensive for
Zimbabwean households - a
family of six needed Z$21.7 million in September
to purchase the essentials
of life, up 30% from August's Z$16.7 monthly
bill, the Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe said Tuesday.
The
state-sponsored council said the biggest percentage rise in costs was
seen
in the national staple food of maize meal, which was up 222%, followed
by
meat which surged 172% and cooking oil, 104% more expensive.
The
organization said commodity supplies had improved somewhat, but that
overall
there were still not enough goods on shelves to meet consumer
needs.
Economist Godfrey Kanyenze, director of the Labor and Economic
Development
Institute of Zimbabwe, told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's
Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that an average worker making $5.7 million a month is
on starvation
wages.
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
23
October 2007
Frustration is mounting among Zimbabwean
telephone subscribers and their
offshore family and friends as the country's
mobile and fixed-line phone
services falter.
It has been increasingly
difficult to reach subscribers on the
state-controlled NetOne mobile
network, or to get through to TelOne
fixed-line phones. The privately owned
Econet has had problems too, though
far fewer than NetOne, or parent
TelOne.
Experts say the telecommunications crisis has sprung up on the
back of the
general economic crisis gripping the country. Fixed-line
monopoly TelOne
issued a statement recently saying current problems are due
to continuous
electric power outages.
Three weeks ago, TelOne and
Econet jointly informed the public that a
connector linking their networks
was down. TelOne says the vandalism of
telephone cables is another factor in
the increasing unreliability of its
networks.
Bulawayo and Harare
residents report that their fixed lines have been out of
service in some
cases since last year. They added that they have reported
the problems, but
TelOne technicians have told them that computer network
problems have made
it difficult to track line problems let alone follow
through to make
repairs.
Opposition parliamentarian Murisi Zwizwai, a member of the house
committee
on communications, told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio
7 for
Zimbabwe that the real problem is insufficient investment by state
providers
in their networks, arising in part from the chronic shortage of
hard
currency in the country.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
23 October
2007
The Zimbabwean government says it is mobilizing all
farmers across the
country to deal with food shortages, ordering each to
plant at least one
hectare of maize, the Southern African nation's staple
food now in
desperately short supply.
But experts say the plan,
reminiscent of Soviet centralized agriculture and
expected to be launched
this planting season, is deeply flawed and destined
to
fail.
Agriculture Minister Rugare Gumbo told the state-controlled Herald
newspaper
that every farmer in Zimbabwe will be obliged to
participate.
The campaign will be run by five cabinet ministers, the
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, Agribank and the army, represented by Brigadier
General Douglas
Nyikayaramba. Provincial governors, chiefs and village heads
will enforce
local compliance.
Zimbabwe needs around 2 million tonnes
of maize a year to feed its
population, but has consistently failed to meet
this target since launching
land reform in 2000.
With the planting
season upon the country, essential agricultural inputs
such as seed and
fertilizer as well as fuel and electricity, are in short
supply
everywhere.
Agriculture secretary Renson Gasela of the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change faction headed by Arthur Mutambara said the
the yield of
maize from the compulsory hectare will only feed the producers
and their
families.
Agriculture expert and agronomist Roger Mpande
told reporter Blessing Zulu
of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the
government plan is simply not
viable.
From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 23 October
Jocelyn Newmarch and Percy Zvomuya
Zimbabwe has
effectively outsourced its economy to South Africa, sending
workers south of
the Limpopo to mop up skilled jobs and receiving
$500-million a year in
return. Estimates vary, but it is thought Zimbabwean
migrants in South
Africa number between 800 000 and three million. They span
the spectrum of
skills and income levels, from highly paid professionals to
poorer domestic
and restaurant workers. There is also considerable
cross-border trade at an
informal level, as Zimbabweans shop for groceries
and tradeable goods in
South Africa. A study conducted by the ComMark Trust
last year found that
between R15-billion and R20-billion was pumped into
South Africa's economy
by other African traders who bought goods here for
sale at home. Although
the trade has meant that border towns such as Musina
are booming, most
shoppers prefer Johannesburg, where goods are cheaper and
there is more
choice. This has boosted local manufacturing and retail,
encouraging local
businesses to be set up to support these shoppers.
A recent study
conducted by Unisa associate professor Daniel Makina found
that 62% of 4 654
Zimbabweans sampled had completed secondary school; 10%
had a post-secondary
school diploma, 3% were artisans, 15% held a
professional qualification such
as teaching or nursing and 4% had a
university degree. Makina's results are
noteworthy, as his subjects live in
the comparatively low-income areas of
Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville in
Johannesburg. But, despite South Africa's
desperate skills shortage, many
Zimbabweans feel they are not employed at
levels commensurate with their
qualifications. Most work in the automotive
industry or the hospitality
sector, said Makina, earning less than R2 000 a
month. The majority appear
to be illegal immigrants: of those who
participated in the survey, 57% want
refugee status and 36% want work
permits. Makina's study found the average
monthly remittance of the 4 654
Zimbabweans surveyed was R290.
Luke Zunga, a Zimbabwean author and
businessman, said this means about
$500-million is sent back every year from
South Africa. A Harare-based
economist who asked not to be named said that
globally about $1-billion is
sent to Zimbabwe a year, although it is
difficult to quantify informal
transfers. Zunga said ways should be found to
formalise these remittances,
as the amount available on the black market
could help sustain the economy.
Most of the money from South Africa is sent
informally using taxi and bus
drivers, traders and friends. It finds itself
on the black market where the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, when in need of
money, has to buy it at a premium.
In addition to cash, many also send
clothing and groceries to their
families. The Zimbabwean government has a
two-pronged scheme, known as
Homelink, which is meant to attract foreign
currency into the formal system.
It has met with a lukewarm reception.
Homelink disburses money in local
currency to Zimbabweans abroad who want to
acquire property. This money is
repaid in its foreign currency equivalent.
The scheme also works as a money
transfer agency.
Recipients
receive money at what the bank calls the diaspora rates. On
Wednesday the
rate was around Z$35 000 to the rand, while the black market
rate was Z$110
000. The Harare economist said remittances coming from abroad
could not
sufficiently plug the holes left by declining exports. He said
Zimbabwe
needed $40-million for fuel and $15million for electricity a month.
All in
all, the government alone might need in excess of $2billion annually.
Although a significant amount of money is coming in, it is in the parallel
market. Bringing it into the formal market is inflationary, as the Reserve
Bank prints money in order to buy foreign exchange. Black market money could
present a headache for the Zimbabwean finance sector, but earning it in the
first place can be a challenge. Researcher Sally Peberdy, from the South
African Migration Project, said the waiting list for passports in Zimbabwe
runs into years, not months. Others complain that Zimbabweans face more
onerous conditions when applying for visitors' permits to South Africa than
other SADC nationals. Government appears reluctant to employ Zimbabwean
teachers and nurses, despite the shortage. One researcher said it appeared
government did not want to be seen as poaching skills from other African
countries.
"Please hold on a moment, I cannot speak now," says
Gibbs Chaponda. "I am in
the bank". Chaponda* is depositing money into a
friend's South African bank
account. The friend will get the bank details of
the intended recipient of
the money in Harare and will pay her at the
prevailing black market exchange
rate (1:110 000) on Tuesday in Zimbabwean
dollars. Chaponda is a fitter
machinist, now based in Steelport, who worked
on the gold mines in Zimbabwe
before he left in 2004. He now works as a
maintenance fitter in a smelting
operation. As he is building a house in
Zimbabwe, he sends up to R20 000 a
year. Prince Chinyemba* is not so
fortunate. He has an IT diploma, but works
as a salesman in a hardware shop
in KwaZulu-Natal. "What I do now has
nothing to do with what I did at
school," he says. "But it's about
survival." Chinyemba sends about R800 a
month to his parents in Zimbabwe. "I
don't like it here, but Zimbabwe is
worse." He came to South Africa last
year.
Just about everyone
interviewed by the Mail & Guardian did not want to be
identified.
Hillary Moyo* is an investment administrator with a leading
financial
services institution in Johannesburg. He holds a bachelor of
commerce degree
in finance with a background in investment management. "My
position is not
consistent with my expertise, but that's a familiar story
for every second
Zimbabwean," he says. "I send home about R1 000 a month.
This is mostly in
the form of groceries or money or sometimes a combination
of both." He has
siblings at home in Zimbabwe and tries "to keep everyone
afloat". This
includes his parents, his grandmother and some of his extended
family
members. A former security guard and waiter, Moyo bemoans the crisis
that
nearly snuffed out his dream of a corporate career. "Being in South
Africa
is not a dream come true. It was never a dream. I was educated at
considerable cost to my community and the Zimbabwean government - and
Zimbabwe is not recouping much benefit."
South Africa's tourism
and hospitality industry could boast the most
educated workforce on the
continent. Nhlanhla Ndebele* has a marketing
qualification, but has worked
as a waiter since coming to South Africa in
2002. He sends about R600 every
month to his siblings and parents in
Tsholotsho in rural Matebeleland. Vusa
Moyo* is one of many in the IT
workforce who has left Zimbabwe, where he
used to work for a financial
house. Now a project manager at a local bank,
he says that Zimbabwe "lost
out" to South Africa in the technology race.
"When I left, the banking
industry was becoming really developed and
sophisticated. But when things
imploded, multitudes of professionals fled.
Most of the guys fitted in well,
as we were not that far behind the South
Africans." This, he says, is the
same scenario in many of the industries -
mining, banking and tourism - that
were mature. He sends about R30 000 a
year to his relatives in Bulawayo.
Raphael Muhoni* was working as a
geographic information systems (GIS)
specialist. His former colleagues earn
about Z$16million (R150) a month,
worlds away from the R15 000 he earns in
Johannesburg, where he works as a
GIS analyst with a company that deals in
industrial minerals, chrome sand,
pigments and ferro-alloys. Simanga is a
single mother who works as a
waitress. She uses her earnings to take care of
her adolescent son and
commute to Bulawayo to monitor the progress of the
three-bedroom house she
is building. Afak Chiutila, a stock controller at a
local company, has a
diploma in purchasing and supply and is part of the
generation that had it
good before the economy imploded. "I am not that
happy because I enjoyed it
before the economy went down." He sends about R8
000 a year to his family. A
father of three, Zvikomborero Nyakudzi lives
with his wife and family in
Johannesburg, where he runs a biomedical
research consultancy. He sends R30
000 worth of groceries and cash to his
parents and siblings in Zimbabwe each
year. "We are here to further our
education and better our lives. We are
buying properties in Zimbabwe, which
we hope to return to when things
normalise," he says.
* Not their
real names
The Herald (Harare)
Published by the government of Zimbabwe
23 October 2007
Posted to the
web 23 October 2007
Harare
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has
issued a three-year variable coupon
Insurance Industry Bond that will seek
to mobilise funds to finance
Government's capital projects.
The bond
was expected to offer variable coupon interest rates of between 100
and 300
percent payable on a diminishing method. The highest interest will
be paid
in the first year. According to a statement issued by the central
bank
urging insurance industry companies to subscribe to the bond, the bank
indicated that companies in the industry could offer any amount above $500
million and that the offer would be available everyday. Other salient
features on offer to subscribers under the bond include exemption from
withholding tax, prescribed asset status and liquid asset
status.
In addition, the bond would be redeemable or payable at the
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe on maturity and could also be used as collateral
for repo and
overnight borrowing from the central bank. Pension funds and
insurance
companies are required to invest at least 40 percent of their
total asset
portfolio in risk-free Government paper such as Treasury bills
or bonds.
The issuing of the insurance industry bond is in line with
pronouncements by
the RBZ Governor, Dr Gideon Gono, in his Mid-Term Monetary
Policy Statement.
Dr Gono blasted insurance firms for betraying the
country's economic
turnaround efforts by failing to adequately invest in
public sector
instruments. "By their nature, insurance companies and pension
funds are
monumental hubs through which long-term capital can be mobilised,"
said the
governor. "In the case of Zimbabwe, the degree to which this sector
has
contributed into the real sector of the economy continues to be drawn
back
by a variety of factors. "Non-compliance with stipulated minimum
prescribed
assets holdings, and over-concentration of business in
non-productive money
market and stock exchange investments.
"As
monetary authorities, we have, with immediate effect, established a
standing
insurance industry bond, which will be available on a continuous
tap basis,
so that industry players can comply with the prescribed asset
holdings
requirement at all times." Dr Gono said experience the world over
"shows
that insurance companies and pension funds played a pivotal role in
providing development capital, particularly in the real estate sector".
Pension funds and insurance firms have concentrated most of their
investments on the stock market. They control 90 percent of the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange. And, already, insurers and pensions are exempt from the 5
percent capital gains tax levied on stock exchange trades. Government has,
in some instances, failed to raise requisite capital to fund national
projects. The public sector housing bills have not been fully sub-scribed in
many instances.
Financial analysts said the 40 percent rate is fair,
but only if interest
rates remained high.
SW
Radio Africa (London)
23 October 2007
Posted to the web 23 October
2007
Tichaona Sibanda
A group of torture victims have written
a letter to the Australian
government, paying tribute to their 'unequivocal
show of support for
humanity' and the concrete action the country has taken
against the Mugabe
regime.
The Johannesburg-based Zimbabwe Political
Victims Group, which comprises
victims of torture at the hands of state
security agents, thanked the
Australian government for publicly speaking out
against Robert Mugabe.
The majority of the members in the group still
bear scars after being
severely wounded due to their brutal torture in
police cells. They are all
now safe in South Africa having been granted
refugee status.
Spokesman for the victims, Remember Moyo, told Newsreel
from Johannesburg on
Tuesday that his group commended the Australians for
cancelling the visas of
senior Zanu-PF party members' children who were
attending universities in
that country.
'These children have to
experience the poor service delivery, poor health
delivery, electricity
power cuts, and all other well-documented examples of
poor governance by
Mugabe and their fathers,' Moyo said.
According to the group, the
Australian deputy Ambassador at the Pretoria
Embassy gladly accepted the
letter. It was also copied to Australian Prime
Minister John
Howard.
Apart from cancelling the students' visas, the Australian
government banned
its cricket team from undertaking a tour of Zimbabwe in
November.
'We urge the Australian government and all other pro-democracy
groups to
continue standing in solidarity with those who have been
oppressed. We take
comfort in the actions taken by the Australians and it
gives us hope that
what we are fighting for will be achieved sooner rather
than later,' added
Moyo.
Moyo said his group is also appalled by the
escalating government-instigated
violence targeting all forms of opposition
in Zimbabwe.
The
Herald (Harare) Published by the government of Zimbabwe
23 October
2007
Posted to the web 23 October 2007
Harare
Some suburbs in
the northern part of Harare have been without power for the
past 10 days
following a high-voltage cable fault, but the Zimbabwe
Electricity
Transmission and Distribution Company says it is working to
restore
supplies.
Supplies were, however, restored yesterday evening to some
sections in the
Avenues area around Parirenyatwa Hospital, and parts of
Avondale and
Belgravia. The other affected areas are Avondale, Milton Park,
Belvedere,
Lincoln Green, Ridgeview, Kensington, Strathaven, Meyrick Park,
Haig Park,
St Andrew's Park, Sentosa, Mayfield Park, Ridgeway, Sherwood
Park, Avondale
West, Alexandra Park and Belgravia.
The areas were
cut off 10 days ago after a fault developed on the
high-voltage cable
supplying Strathaven Substation. "The fault has, however,
been identified
and ZETDC engineers are in the process of restoring power to
the affected
areas. "The exercise started late last night (Sunday) and has
been slowed
down as engineers are first examining transformers in the
affected areas for
possible acts of vandalism before restoring power.
"The exercise is
expected to be complete before the weekend," the power
utility
said.
Engineers have also identified the site of a high-voltage cable
fault
feeding the Dorset Substation and work to fix the fault and restore
power to
the network is underway. Areas affected by this fault include
Northwood,
Vainona, Mount Pleasant Heights, Marlborough, Ashbrittle, Emerald
Hill and
Groombridge. Businesspeople in the areas said they were incurring
losses
owing to the power cuts. Some shops at Belgravia Shopping Centre were
closed
yesterday with notices that the closure was due to power
cuts.
However, some shops and businesses in other areas were operating
because
they had generators. But some shop owners said they received
sporadic
supplies on Sunday evening.
"We have not received
electricity for the past two weeks and we do not know
whether it is still
load-shedding or not. Zesa should rectify the problems
because we are losing
potential revenue every day. "Every day we are
throwing away perishables and
we have since stopped ordering perishable
goods because of the power cuts,"
said a Food Chain Group supermarket
manager in Ashbrittle.
However,
it was brisk business for firewood vendors in the areas as they
were
charging up to $500 000 for a small bundle.
"We are spending at least $1
million daily on firewood for cooking and
heating water. The situation has
become unbearable," said Mr Tapfuma Murira
of Mount Pleasant.