HARARE, Oct. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The police in
Harare have arrested a South African man for tearing Zimbabwean notes of
107,000 Zimbabwean dollars (about 19 US dollars) into pieces at the Harare
International Airport, according to the Sunday Mail
newspaper.
Derek Peter Hewlett, the South African man,
destroyed the moneyafter a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority official advised him
that he could not carry more than 100,000 Zimbabwean dollars (about 17.8 US
dollars) out of the country.
The police said Hewlett has
since been charged under the Section 42 (2) of the Reserve Bank Act
Chapter.
According to Assistant Inspector Blessmore Chishaka,
Hewlett last Sunday went back to his home country with 200,000 Zimbabwean
dollars (about 35.6 US dollars).
"In a fit of rage, Hewlett
tore 107,000 Zimbabwean dollars intosmall pieces and was immediately
arrested," said Chishaka.
He said the public should be aware
that destroying money is a criminal offense and "anyone found destroying
money will be arrested." Enditem
WOZA's long
walk to freedom Last updated: 10/03/2004 22:10:02 IT WAS perhaps the most
adventurous and dramatic story of the year in Zimbabwe. Until it happened,
it was always deemed unimaginable. Let alone possible. But this past week
the unthinkable happened!
As fate would have it, as the sun arose on
Sunday morning a group of about fifty women quietly left Bulawayo, the royal
city and headed towards Harare, the capital city.
All those who have
traveled on the Bulawayo-Harare highway by road or railway will willingly
testify on the long and grueling nature of the journey. It takes an average
bus a minimum of six tiresome hours to trans-link the crisis-riddled
country's two greatest cities.
It also takes a minimum of ten hours for a
train to shuttle across the two cities. Or should I say it used to, because
nowadays Zimbabwean trains rarely run on time. That is if they ever manage
to run at all in the first place!
But I digress. This week's story is
not about the country's rapidly collapsing public transport system. By that
I do not mean that it is not a serious story. It is also a cause of serious
concern. Be that as it may, I think I will have to write about it some other
time.
This week's story is about a daring feat that is founded on the
podium of heroism. It is about a group of women who defied logic and reason.
It is about women who did what men would never think of doing. By that, I
mean 'amadoda sibili'. That is, if I may be allowed to use Robert Mugabe's
favorite Ndebele expression.
This week's story is about the women who
took a stance and declared that 'enough is enough'. It is about the women
who took an unequivocal stance against an unjust regime.
It is about
women who walked all the way across the country, from Bulawayo to
Harare.
Indeed, it is about women who arose early one morning, literally!
The women who took a 450km long march to freedom, literally! The women who
walked their talk, literally! The amazing WOZA women!
This week's
story is a tribute to a group of great women of the struggle.
I mean the
struggle for a better and more democratic Zimbabwe. Indeed, the struggle
against an unjust and repressive regime that has used a labyrinth of legal
tentacles to maximize their octopus grip on the destiny of an entire
nation.
"The Parliament that was once expected to legislate the
hopes and dreams of a people has become a powerless and lifeless
institution. It has now become a shambolic white elephant whose tusks of
legislative influence have fallen away"
DANIEL MOLOKELA I
mean a callous regime that has systematically abused draconian laws such as
the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, the Public Order and
Security Act, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and
last but not least, the soon to be enacted, Non-Governmental Organisations
Bill. This week's story is about the women who wanted the entire world to
know that they are radically and rabidly opposed to the obnoxious NGO Bill.
This of course is the latest addition to the regime's ever growing cabinet
of monstrous laws. I mean the laws that have defied all laws of democratic
reason and logic. The laws that have eaten the very roots upon which the
nation's political and socio-economic prospects are rooted, upon.
I
am talking about laws that are meant to criminalize all forms of public
expression. I am talking about the laws that are meant to curtail all forms
of freedom and liberty in Zimbabwe. I am talking about laws enacted by a
caricature of a legislature otherwise known as the Zimbabwe
Parliament.
I mean a Parliament that was once the envy of a continent
that was once the thriving hotbed for coups and life time Presidents. I also
mean a Parliament that was once the hope of a people that had been denied
during the colonial days, the right to vote at all. That is a people who at
last in 1980, had been given the right to determine their destiny.
I
mean the sad people of Zimbabwe.
Today everything has gone horribly
wrong! The Parliament that was once expected to legislate the hopes and
dreams of a people has become a powerless and lifeless institution. It has
long lost its purpose and glory. It has now become a shambolic white
elephant whose tusks of legislative influence have fallen away.
In
their place today, now lies the power of a dictatorial regime. A regime
whose leaders where the heroes of yesteryears. The heroes of the protracted
liberation war. Heroes who over the years have become so inebriated with the
rich wines of power and amassed wealth. The same heroes that have now,
suddenly turned against their own people, in an orgy of political
drunkenness.
The heroes of yesterday who have now easily become the
villains of today.
Indeed, as this first October week commences, the same
hypocrites will tread upon the hallowed corridors of Parliament. The same
caricatures of democracy will proudly say 'aye' to a new law that can only
make the architects of the UDI and Apartheid, blush green with envy. I mean
the same villains who will willingly close the last avenue for democratic
expression in the country - the NGOs.
Sadly it will be the so-called
non-constituency members of Parliament who will be leading the way. It will
be the likes of Jonathan Moyo and Patrick Chinamasa who will be hogging the
limelight.
It will be them, the unelected MPs, who will be leading the
debate on the NGO Bill on behalf of the elected MPs. It will be them who
will be having the final say on the legislative proceedings on a bill that
is much against the will and wishes of a nation.
It will be them
who have never won any election or by-election in their entire lives. Let
alone stood up as candidates! But alas, it will be them who will be having
the final say on the NGO Bill's final sections and provisions!
As we
all might know, the NGO Bill is merely the latest in a series of draconian
laws that have only served to distance the Parliament from the people. The
same laws that have increased the gulf between the will and wishes of
millions of Zimbabweans and the Mugabe led clique of non-constituency MPs
such as Moyo and Chinamasa.
The same laws that have become a legal symbol
of the loss of national control by the povo, the now voiceless majorities of
Zimbabwe. The same laws that have confirmed the legislative worthlessness of
their long winding queues at polling stations. The same laws that have
devalued completely, the worthfulness of their enfranchisement. Let alone
their ballots!
The question we all need to answer is simple.
For
how long shall they continue to usurp our will and wishes as a people. Yes,
for how long shall they continue to mock and scorn at the integrity and
sacredness of our Parliament. For how long shall they continue to abuse our
Parliament to churn out such draconian laws that are rabidly against our
ambitions and aspirations as a nation?
The answer we all need to give
is simple.
As long as we continue to watch the political proceedings
haplessly. As long we continue to agonies and not organize. As long as we
continue to sit on our laurels and assume that somehow, democratic change
will come someday. As long as we ignore the clarion call to democratic arms.
The call from women who have already dared to venture into the battlefield
for political space and expression. The call to arise and take charge of not
only our Parliament but also our national destiny.
Indeed fellow
patriots, is it not about time we responded to the determined challenge by
the WOZA women and arose and joined them in unison, in prison, as part of
our long but necessary walk to freedom.
Amandla, Ngawethu! Ayihlome
bakwethu! Wathinta umfazi, wathinta imbokodo! Woza Moya! Woza! Woza Moya!
Woza! - danielmolokela@yahoo.com Daniel
Molokela is the National Co-ordinator of the Peace and Democracy
Project Johannesburg, South Africa. His column appears here every
Monday
Police confirm eviction of Zimbabwe settlers October 03
2004 at 02:32PM
Harare - Zimbabwean authorities were on Sunday
continuing to drive off thousands of people occupying former white-owned
farms they invaded under President Robert Mugabe's land grab scheme in
2000.
For the last three weeks, paramilitary police have raided
scores of farms in once-productive white commercial farming areas, evicting
settlers and burning down their homes.
Police spokesperson and
Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena was quoted as saying that the
evictions were part of a programme seeking to regularise resettlement
patterns in the farming areas.
"Some of them illegally resettled
themselves on the farms and we are now working in conjunction with the land
task teams (local committees of Mugabes ruling Zanu-PF party) to evict
them," he explained.
"We are moving in countrywide as a way of
trying to normalise the resettlement patterns," he added.
The
mass evictions are seen as a dramatic reversal of the government's land
reform policy, denounced internationally as violent, illegal and
chaotic.
The forced removal of white farmers was followed by
the collapse of the country's robust agriculture-based economy and the
country is forecast to be entering a third consecutive year of
famine.
Thousands of people have camped at the roadsides,
sheltering with their belongings. All those interviewed said they had been
there since 2000 when Mugabe launched his revolutionary land reform
programme which urged blacks to help themselves to white-owned
land.
The state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper said that violence
broke out on Saturday when police met with resistance from settlers after
they descended on four farms just east of Harare.
The 2000
land-grab was widely seen as a bid by Mugabe to regain sinking popularity
ahead of parliamentary elections that year, which Zanu-PF won with a narrow
majority in the 120-seat parliament. - Sapa-dpa
There is no clarity on who is in charge of overseeing the
process to tidy up the land reform process in order to ensure sustainable
productivity following the accelerated redistribution programme, it has
emerged.
This confusion has been cited as the major reason behind the
apparent lack of decisiveness on the part of delegated authorities, as well
as the conflicts that have recently emerged in the exercise to get rid of
the untidiness that has dogged the programme since it was officially adopted
in 2000. This absence of clarity was evident this week in interviews the
Sunday Mirror carried out with high-ranking government officials, when their
opinions were solicited on the recent, apparently uncoordinated evictions of
new farmers form the communal A1 model scheme to make way for commercial and
somewhat elitist A2 farmers. The Minister in charge of Lands and Land
Resettlement, John Nkomo, who is also the ruling Zanu PF national chairman,
was anxious to place blame on provincial authorities following the on-going
wave of new settler displacements.
"As far as the reported
displacements are concerned, talk to the provincial governors, provincial
administrators and provincial land committee authorities who should explain
to you what is happening. I cannot answer on their behalf. I can only talk
after they have commented," Nkomo told the Sunday Mirror.
Critics,
however, say the attempt by Nkomo to pass the buck amounts to dereliction of
duty, since he is supposed to be overally in charge of the resettlement
process.
This sentiment was echoed by Vice President Joseph Msika, who at
one time was tasked to supervise the resettlement of land-hungry
Zimbabweans.
Msika queried Nkomo's attitude of trying to absolve himself
of the problems bedevilling the attempts to clean up the land reform
programme.
"It is puzzling why Nkomo should refer all questions to the
provincial authorities, when it is obvious that he is the responsible
minister. He is the one who is in charge of resettlement and in any case,
why the governors? Nkomo should closely liaise with his subordinates and we
have told him that he is the authority," said Msika.
This discord at
the highest level, observers say, is one of the main reasons why it is
taking too long to bring to a conclusion the land redistribution programme
that was sold as the basis for the empowerment of land-hungry Zimbabweans
who had been crammed on unyielding land at the expense of a minority white
farming community.
But even at the provincial level, authorities insist
that it is the mother ministry that should ensure sanity in cleaning up the
land programme, with them receiving orders on what to do.
The
Masvingo governor, Josaya Hungwe recently came out in the open, saying new
farmers who government was declaring illegal settlers should be given
alternative living and farming plots before they are summarily removed from
farms that are now being officially described as meant for commercial
purposes.
His remarks came in the wake of a wave of evictions, some
of them violent, carried out in several provinces, but notably in
Mashonaland West, where settlers that have lived on the farms since 2000 and
had their houses burnt as they were forced to live along the roads as they
pondered their future.
Msika has been opposed to the eviction of people
without the government offering alternative solutions. He said he stood by
his announced position that Kondozi farm in Manicaland, a horticultural farm
that earned the country substantial foreign currency before it was taken
over by ARDA, a government agricultural establishment criticised by some for
lack of capacity, should not have been acquired.
Nkomo was last year
given the task to establish to what extent decongestion had taken place and
what problems still remained in order to tidy up the land redistribution
programme. His ministry, some have acknowledged, has done a lot to identify
problems, even though they also express reservations with his authority.
Nkomo clashed with several Cabinet ministers who had been believed to be
owning more than one farm each, in direct contravention of theland To page 2
policy and the fallout remains apparently unresolved, degenerating into
media wars. Other critics say he is also failing to repossess land from
non-VIP multiple farm owners, yet seems powerless as former communal farmers
are being ejected from farms on which they had made considerable investments
over the years, to make way for individuals.
Nkomo was given the role to
lead the clean-up committee following the publication of a report compiled
by a presidential land review committee that was led by former secretary to
the President and Cabinet, Charles Utete.
The Utete land report,
among other things, indicated that there was gross multiple farm ownership,
underutilisation of land, corruption by land officials, double allocations
and a general lack of decongestion in some provinces.
The Utete team
also found out that the fast track programme was marked by the allocation of
excessively big farms and inflated figures by government officials of the
number of families resettled since the start of the land reform programme
The presidential report was hailed by many as a positive move to realise the
empowerment of landless Zimbabweans, with many saying it would enable the
full utilisation of land by new farmers, a goal that Nkomo had to
achieve.
While the empowerment of blacks was the rallying cry when the
programme commenced officially in 2000, but unofficially in the preceding
years, critics have maintained that the land reform programme was attended
by political considerations in its early years, with the ruling party
realising that it could depend on it to win the sympathy of the
electorate.
Down the years, analysts say it dawned on the ruling party
that there was need to move from politicising the land issue to genuinely
ensure social justice-through equitable distribution-and economic
productivity.
Social justice would be attained mostly through the A1
model while economic sustainability would occur through the A2
model.
However, it is argued, there seems to be an inability to manage
the political backdrop, given the prevailing confusion and
discrepancies.
Observers have been querying why lesser authorities can
manage to defy orders that come from above, amid reports that some governors
and other provincial authorities refuse to follow orders that emanate from
higher offices.
One politician who refused to be named said that this
was made possible by the political factions and camps within the ruling
party.
"It is not surprising these days to see a very lowly-placed
government official defying orders from a superior. It is because they have
their own godfathers high up there. Once higher authorities learn of this,
they backtrack because they are afraid that insisting on what is otherwise
right might earn them powerful enemies. It is all about fear and
uncertainty," said the politician.
The government recently
commissioned a new land team led by Deputy Police Commissioner Godwin
Matanga to oversee the eviction of illegal farm settlers.
Matanga
refused to reveal his mandate but confirmed that former senior secretary for
Special Affairs in the office of the President and Cabinet, Willard Chiwewe,
had appointed him.
Matanga's committee comes in the wake of recent
statements by Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Patrick
Chinamasa who announced that government was setting up a vetting committee
to assess the levels of land
South Africa confirmed yesterday that it had stepped up contact
with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF and the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change ahead of Zimbabwe's election early next year. "There has
been a deliberate decision to intensify the contact with both parties in
Zimbabwe," chief government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said. Zanu PF and
the MDC sources in Harare said the SA government was now regularly focused
on the Zimbabwean crisis. They said both parties briefed Pretoria at least
once a week through its embassy in Harare, the Department of Foreign Affairs
or President Thabo Mbeki's office. Netshitenzhe said South Africa was
encouraging the implementation of Southern African Development Community
protocols for free and fair elections, which include the right to campaign
freely, arrangements for the conduct and monitoring of the vote and free
access to the media. Mugabe previously promised to engage the opposition in
negotiations about election rules but little has come of his undertakings so
far. The contact is being managed from the SA side by the director-general
in Mbeki's office, Frank Chikane, and by the President's legal adviser,
Mojanku Gumbi. Welshman Ncube, secretary-general of the MDC, which said it
would boycott the poll unless conditions for opposition campaigning improved
dramatically, welcomed the enhanced contact with South Africa. "We are now
[holding] weekly briefings with the SA government," he said. "We discuss the
Zimbabwean crisis openly and honestly ... It's very helpful." A senior Zanu
PF source also confirmed that Mbeki's government was talking to his party
"more often".
Mujaji gets $40m and holiday package
from President
By Phyllis Kachere
A New Year's holiday
trip for himself, his wife and three children to Malaysia and $40 million
from President Robert Mugabe and the First Lady, Amai Grace Mugabe. Another
$30 million from the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture, $20 million
and a trophy from the Sports and Recreation Commission, and over $10 million
from individual efforts. All these for winning a gold medal at the
just-ended Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, in the 100 metres sprint.
Speaking at a ceremony to honour the country's Paralympic gold medallist,
Elliot Mujaji, which coincided with the official opening of the Danhiko
Paralympic Games in Harare yesterday, President Mugabe said Mujaji had
brought honour to the country. "We want to say congratulations to you. We
watched you on television and saw you win the race. Yes, we were with you,
cheering you even though you could not hear us. We are proud of you," said
President Mugabe. He said Mujaji's victory should serve as a reminder to all
that whatever one does, one is not doing it only for oneself but for the
country. "Whether you are in the office, cleaning up floors, playing soccer
or swimming, you must remember that being Zimbabwean, and born of the soil,
whatever you do, you do it for the citizens of this country," he
said.
The President paid tribute to Mujaji and thanked him for
bringing honour to the country and said people should acknowledge the
existence of disability, as disability could come later into their lives.
"Disability could be caused by accidents at work or even at home, but we
must know that disability doesn't mean inability. "Even persons with full
senses, full limbs and with no sign of injury are not 100 percent efficient.
We are all only partially efficient," he said. Describing the limitations of
human capabilities, President Mugabe said: "That is why we cannot do
everything that can be done by a human being. We can only do certain things
and not all things. We are able to pull in one direction but we cannot pull
in all directions at one time," he said. After receiving the money Mujaji
said it was a dream come true for him to sit next to the President. "I want
to assure my fellow compatriots that there is indeed light at the end of the
tunnel. After the accident in 1998 good things have started happening. I
will be a role model for all the disabled athletes and I will be a good
ambassador for my country," said Mujaji.
Officially opening the
Games, patron Amai Mugabe said: "I view the Danhiko Annual Paralympic Games
as a kind of homecoming that I always look forward to with anticipation. At
the outset, I wish therefore to extend a deep sense of gratitude to every
one who has been involved with the Games since 1997 and supported them at
every step of the way." She also paid tribute to Mujaji for successfully
defending his 100 metre gold medal and praised him for beating his previous
best time of 11,33 seconds. "In congratulating Mujaji, I wish similarly to
applaud the committed efforts of the Zimbabwe Sports Association for People
with Disabilities. Against quite some formidable challenges, particularly of
funding, the association has distinguished itself by giving confidence and
motivation to people with disabilities," said Amai Mugabe. She singled out
Delta Beverages for taking over the sponsorship of the Games from Chibuku
Breweries, one of its subsidiaries, and said this year's Games had attracted
better funding thanks to the seed money made available by the
Government.
She appealed to corporate sponsors to fund the
resurfacing of the racetrack and basketball court as well as the
construction of an ablution block close to the sports fields. Welcoming
participants from Botswana and Zambia, Amai Mugabe expressed hope that more
participants from neighbouring countries would join next year's Games. "This
year, 80 teams from schools and clubs, including our friends from Botswana,
are attending. Our hope remains that of attracting participation from a
bigger number of countries in the Sadc region," she said. Amai Mugabe said
all the 2 000 participants would receive $50 000 each for participating in
the Games plus other special prizes for the winners. As a token of
appreciation from Mujaji, the First Lady received a T-shirt with his image
while on the track at Athens. Those who attended the ceremony included
Education, Sport and Culture Minister Cde Aeneas Chigwedere, Health and
Child Welfare Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa and Zimbabwe Olympic Committee
president Mr Paul Chingoka.
THE Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has said the $750 000 tax-free income threshold
proposed by the government in July is not enough and authorities should
consider raising the figures to $1.5 million.
Presenting the mid
term fiscal policy review, the acting Finance and Economic Development
Minister Herbert Murerwa said the decision was reached after realising that
rising prices had eroded incomes for the ordinary worker.
The
new rate was set to be effected end of September. The labour body asked why
individuals should be taxed higher than corporates.
In his mid-term
review for the half-year to June, Murerwa said individual taxpayers
contributed $1.2 trillion to the fiscus, accounting for nearly 39 percent of
revenue.
Corporate tax during the same period was only $321.1
billion, about 11 percent of total revenue. The high taxes on individuals,
that are enabling the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to surpass its revenue
targets, give a false impression that the authority is efficient yet the
money is collected on its behalf by employers.
This is clearly
shown by the authority's failure to meet targets on corporate and other
taxes because it is not able to bring everyone into the net.
The high taxes on individuals dampen demand because they deprive people of
disposable incomes to purchase goods and services. In his budget
presentation for the current year, Murerwa said the review of the tax
threshold from $15 000 to $200 000 a month would release $1.2 trillion to
taxpayers while that from $200 000 to $750 000 a month would release $750
billion to taxpayers.
"Why should individual income tax be 45
percent when company tax is 30 percent, why should workers continue to
negotiate for increments in wages and salaries only for the government to
take all the gains, while they remain poor and hungry?
"Companies are into business for profit while workers work for a living, so
why should workers be deprived of their right to life by being taxed to
death," the ZCTU queried.
Government said workers earning up to
$750 000 are not taxed while those earning between $900 001 and $1 050 000
would be taxed at 25 percent.
Workers with incomes from $1500 001
and above will from this monthend be taxed at 45 percent, a bracket the
labour body described as uneconomic, suggesting instead that the 45 percent
be revised downwards to 30 for workers earning above $5.5
million.
The ZCTU's demands came as economic analysts have always
pointed out that Zimbabwe's income tax rate is too high and needed urgent
reviews to beat the shooting prices.
"The solution would have
been that income tax thresholds be reviewed in tandem with the Poverty Datum
Line," said University of Zimbabwe Graduate School of management lecturer,
Isaac Kwesu.
Consumer watchdog, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe
(CCZ) recently released figures indicating that basic commodity procurement
prices for an average family shot up to well over $1 million per month
against average monthly earnings of $200 000.
Up until
recently, income from employment in this country was taxed at progressive
rates after an exempt threshold of $200 000 per month and workers had begun
complaining that government revise these figures to sustainable
levels.
While the new thresholds were expected to trigger increased
spending power amongst consumers, they however come amid a spate of basic
commodity price increments that analysts warned would see minimal benefits
to the overburdened worker as the economic landscape has changed since
Murerwa's announcement.
Harare - Zimbabwe's seven Catholic bishops on Sunday denounced
state media control, while ecumenical Christian groups called for outright
defiance of planned laws curbing charity work in the impoverished African
country.
The bishops sent a pastoral letter to churches on Sunday
demanding a "credible electoral process" and peaceful campaigning ahead of
March elections.
And they warned against propaganda, favouritism and
discrimination against dissenters, including the main opposition
party.
In a separate move also seen as a crackdown on dissent, the
government proposed criminalising charity work done without a government
permit, and banning charities and private groups focusing on "issues of
human rights and good governance" from receiving foreign funding.
The
bill comes before parliament on Tuesday.
"It is important that all
political parties have access to media coverage so that they can inform
citizens about how they intend to govern if they are elected," said the
bishops, who claim 2 million followers in Zimbabwe, including President
Robert Mugabe.
Information minister Jonathan Moyo said the government
would deny media access to the "disloyal" opposition, and ignore Southern
African Development Community rules on election conduct, the state-run
Sunday Mail reported.
"When a political party has no loyalty, then it
should not expect to be treated fairly," the paper quoted Moyo as
saying.
"Unless and until we have a loyal opposition, it will not be
possible for them to have access to the public media."
International
observers have rejected the ruling party's victories in the 2000
parliamentary election and 2002 presidential election as illegitimate,
citing widespread allegations of rigging and intimidation.
Christian
groups say the government's new efforts to limit charity work jeopardise
crucial relief work in the country, where the United Nations says about 2
million people may need food aid before March.
Roman Catholic Archbishop
Pius Ncube of Bulawayo has accused Mugabe of planning to use food to buy
votes.
The Christian groups urged Zimbabweans to reject the proposed
bill, calling it a "vain attempt by the ruling party to usurp the place of
God."
"If what we do in obedience to our Christian calling makes us
criminals in Zimbabwe, so be it," said a joint statement signed by the
Bulawayo diocesan branch of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace
and two inter-church bodies - Christians Together for Justice and Peace, and
Solidarity Peace Trust.
"This bill has a deeply sinister purpose, to
disable all NGO's which the ruling party perceives to represent a threat to
their continuing brutal hold to power," it said.
The government has
said food aid is unnecessary, due to a bumper 2.4 million maize crop this
year.
UN agencies say, however, the harvest yielded less than 900 000
tons.
Black rhino in the crosshairs 03/10/2004 20:33 -
(SA)
Malelane - Multi-millionaire game farmer John Hume speaks
lovingly of his "insecure" and "over-sensitive" black rhinos, and yet he is
fiercely lobbying to lift a ban on hunting the endangered
species.
The Zimbabwe-born game farmer stands firmly behind the South
African government as it goes before a world body regulating trade in
endangered animals this week to ask for 10 hunting licences for adult
bulls.
Paradoxically, Hume believes trade in rhino products is the only
way to save one of his favourite animals from extinction.
"It's so
logical. Give something a commercial value and it will increase in
number.
A farmer will guard his animals with his life if it is
commercially viable," Hume says from his stunning 7 000ha game farm outside
Malelane, next to Kruger National Park.
South Africa will ask the
Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) at a meeting in Bangkok this week to be granted an annual
hunting quota of 10 black rhinos.
There are about 3 600 wild black rhinos
in the world and South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Namibia - which will ask
for permission to hunt five rhinos per year at CITES - are home to most of
them.
"We need the hunting quotas for farms that have a problem with too
many rhino bulls that kill each other," Thea Carroll of the environment
ministry told AFP.
"This doesn't mean we will necessarily use all 10
permits in one year.
"It's just to give us the option to do that, if
there is a need."
South Africa has won acclaim for boosting its black
rhino population from 110 in the 1930s to nearly 1 300 last
December.
But the South African director of the International Fund for
Animal Welfare (IFAW), Jason Bell, says re-starting the rhino hunt will be
an open invitation to poachers.
"It sends out a dangerous message to
consumers, traders and poachers that rhino horns are back in
trade."
Hume started a breeding programme for black rhinos on his
well-maintained bushveld farm in 1996 - but he has since lost three of his
black rhinos.
A "cantankarous and very territorial" infertile bull named
"Number 65" is taking the rap for killing two males and one
female.
Hume would rather that a hunter pay between $80 000 and $100 000
to shoot "Number 65" and use the funds in one of his "many other
conservation projects that are screaming for money".
"If you have a
black rhino that is old and that is going to die anyway, why not let it be
hunted," says Andre van Dyk, communications manager at the South African
Hunters and Game Conservation Association.
"The farmer can plough that
money back into conservation."
Africans could fill job needs Sunday, 3 October
2004
AN AFRICAN-born woman says Zimbabwean immigrants could be the answer
to the Ballarat region's skilled employment shortage.
Jill Lambert,
of the Zimbabwean Connection, will visit Ballarat next week to promote the
not-for-profit association which aims to match the skills of Zimbabwean
immigrants with local employment needs.
Ms Lambert joined the association
to help Zimbabweans interested in fleeing the unrest in their home country
begin a new life in Australia.
The association's website states: "Rural
Australia is short of skills in many areas.
"Although you may find it
difficult to own your farm or business initially, there is no reason why you
cannot continue to do what you do best - and that is to continue working in
your area of expertise - either in a direct employment
situation or
through a joint venture opportunity which will allow for diversification
into other areas, using your skills.
"We do not believe in encouraging
anyone to leave Zimbabwe because that is a unique and personal decision," it
continues.
"We are here simply to help those who have actively made a
decision to move on because they cannot stay in the country any
longer."
The association, which does not act as an immigration or
personnel placement agency, works with ex-Zimbabwean migration agents in
several states across Australia.
"We are at the moment expanding to
cover the whole of Australia and hope to have each state and territory
covered by the end of 2004"' the website states.
"In essence, we play
the role of a caring `relative' or `friend' and try to help in a number of
ways - we match your skills up with existing opportunities throughout
Australia."
Ms Lambert will speak to a Business Ballarat function at the
Town Hall on October 13.