• Directors of banned newspaper charged in crackdown on dissent in Zimbabwe
• Mugabe vows that his opponents will never rule Zimbabwe
• Zimbabwe's white farmers risk losing land payouts
• SA working 'hard' to solve Zimbabwe crisis
• Simon Muzenda
• Zanu, MDC in potential breakthrough deal
• Mbeki 'advancing Mugabe regime'
• Mugabe vetoes devaluation attempts
• Daily News to appeal against MIC ruling
• Bleak prospects for agriculture recovery
• Frequent price hikes rile Bulawayo residents
• Land grab goes on despite audit report
• CFU, united we stand, divided we fall
• Drastic plunge in tobacco output
• Currency devaluation: good or bad?
• Zanu PF to blame for dependency syndrome
• JAG PR Communique dated 22 September 2003
• JAG Open Letters Forum No. 149
• JAG Thought for the Day dated 22 September 2003

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

      It said the figures being offered by the government to compensate
dispossessed white farmers for work done on their farms represented on
average ten to 25 percent of their real value.

      JAG vice president John Worswick said that around 700 farmers had been
summoned to the agriculture ministry to discuss compensation.

      "Most farmers have walked away flabbergasted at how low the offers
are," he told AFP.

      "They (the government) have failed to raise the finance for land
reform. This is just another way of robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said.

      According to a recent survey by the white-run Commercial Farmers'
Union (CFU), an estimated 485 commercial farmers out of around 3 291
operating in 2000 have remained on their land.

      The eviction of white farmers has been partly blamed by aid agencies
and critics of President Robert Mugabe's regime for Zimbabwe's worst famine
in living memory which has left about two thirds of the 11.6 million people
facing severe food shortages. - Sapa-AFP

SA working 'hard' to solve Zimbabwe crisis

Chief Political Correspondent

Government moved to calm nerves over the closure of Zimbabwe's independent
newspaper, Daily News, with an assurance that a lot of "behind the scenes"
negotiation was taking place to arrest the situation. This has fuelled
speculation that Zimbabwe's continued clampdown on an independent critical
voice was symptomatic of political problems spiralling out of control and
that regional leaders have run out ideas to convince Zimbabwe's President
Robert Mugabe to return to the rule of law. Foreign affairs and the
presidency closed ranks yesterday, assuring the public that all stops were
being pulled to resolve Zimbabwe's problems. President Thabo Mbeki had said
the deadline of June next year, which he set for himself to have Zimbabwe's
political parties working on tangible solutions, was still achievable, said
presidential aide Bheki Khumalo. Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa
said the public could "safely assume government is doing its best to help
Zimbabweans resolve their problems amicably".

Dr Eddy Maloka, CEO of Africa Institute of SA, said Zimbabwe's problems were
making it difficult for the African Union, and the Southern African
Development Community especially, to continue supporting Mugabe. "They have
been giving him support and lots of opportunities to prove their critics
wrong. Unfortunately, his party is very divided on how it should move
forward and end the chaos." Maloka said Zimbabwe had become a crisis that
was not of Mbeki's making, but which had come to affect his programme for
Africa's vision and Nepad. "It does not matter what people outside the
country do or say, without a protagonist element inside both parties (the
ruling Zanu PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change) that see
eye to eye in the interest of the country, regional efforts will not
succeed." Meanwhile, the African Editors' Forum and the South African
National Editors' Forum have requested an urgent meeting with SA's foreign
affairs department. Mathatha Tsedu, interim chairman of the African Editors'
Forum, said if the ban was permanent it would shut down the voice of dissent
in a country where democratic gains had been rolled back significantly in
the past few years. The Daily News said yesterday it was preparing to
challenge the state media commission's refusal to grant it a licence.

Simon Muzenda

Simon Muzenda, who died on Saturday aged 80, was Zimbabwe's vice-president
and one of the less colourful but more important members of the ruling Zanu
PF; he played a vital role as a backroom power-broker among the clique whose
personal loyalty to President Robert Mugabe remained unquestioning and
steadfast even as the country descended into political turmoil and economic
chaos. Muzenda's organisational and administrative skills were largely
responsible for healing the bitter rifts within Zanu during the guerrilla
war in the 1970s that led to the transition from white-ruled Rhodesia to
black-ruled Zimbabwe. The movement's then leader, the Reverend Ndabaningi
Sithole, caused turmoil among the thousands of freedom fighters massed on
Rhodesia's borders by renouncing violence as a means to power. Muzenda,
released from prison with other leaders during the Anglo-Rhodesian peace
negotiations in 1971, travelled to every guerrilla camp in neighbouring
countries, calming fractious elements and organising a key meeting of the
divided leadership that eventually confirmed Robert Mugabe, then in hiding
in Mozambique, as the new Zanu leader.

Mugabe's ascent to power in Zimbabwe was in no small measure due to
Muzenda's efforts. He rewarded the quietly-spoken former carpenter by making
him his deputy prime minister and foreign minister upon independence in
1980, and later his vice-president. As a leading political figure among the
Karanga people, the largest of the sub-groups making up the Shona-speaking
people of Zimbabwe, Muzenda's support was vital in keeping the sprawling
south eastern Midlands region of the country loyal to Mugabe, a member of
the rival Zezuru clan. Some of the younger and more ambitious Karanga
leaders had hoped that Muzenda would make his own bid for the country's
leadership, but he remained a faithful friend and second-in-command to
Mugabe to the end. The Karanga people were regarded as the most arrogant of
the tribal sub-groups. Their leaders frequently laid claim to being the true
founders of the nation, and they were viewed with suspicion by other
Shona-speaking people as they had been seen to co-operate with the first
white pioneers and settlers sent by Cecil Rhodes to colonise the country.
The Karanga had also intermingled and inter-married with earlier black
invaders, the Matabele people, who had occupied the south west of the
country in the late 19th century. Joshua Nkomo, the political figurehead of
the Ndebele people, was seen by himself and by many others, including
Britain, as the natural leader of the future Zimbabwe but Karanga support
was a vital component of his bid for power at independence. It was not
forthcoming as Simon Muzenda had pinned his flag firmly to the Mugabe mast.
Nkomo was thus condemned to play second fiddle to his Shona rival.

Never regarded as an original thinker or orator, Muzenda was given to
parroting Robert Mugabe's more outrageous utterances as well as giving
unreserved backing to the more disastrous policies. When Mugabe condemned
homosexuals as being "no better than pigs or dogs", Muzenda frequently
repeated the condemnation, insisting that homosexuality had been introduced
to Africa by "white colonialists". When Mugabe, stung by the mounting
criticism of his rule, decided to muzzle his own independent press and curb
the activities of foreign correspondents, Muzenda told journalists: "Those
who want to tarnish our country's image through inaccurate reporting in the
Western-backed media should have the courage to answer charges about their
malicious political campaigns in courts of law." As the Mugabe regime openly
flouted democratic principles, subverting the judiciary and brutally
crushing opposition politics, Muzenda told an election rally in his home
region of Masvingo - formerly Fort Victoria - that if Zanu PF chose to put
up a baboon as a candidate "then you will vote for that baboon". Zanu
members had fought and died to win power and were not going to hand over the
country to "so called opposition sponsored by foreigners". Despite failing
health and offers of a generous retirement package, Muzenda insisting on
staying on in government "to see the successful conclusion of the land
redistribution programme", a reference to Robert Mugabe's seizure of white
farms which precipitated Zimbabwe's slide to ruin. The "redistribution" had
less to do with a more equitable deal for the landless than for Mugabe, his
military chiefs and his faithful clique to grab the most valuable real
estate in the country for themselves and their families. Muzenda did not
hesitate to take advantage of the land grab. In 2002 he ordered a successful
white farmer off his cattle ranch south of Harare. He allowed the farmer to
take "his household goods and furniture but nothing else", leaving the
prosperous acreage with its livestock, crops, equipment, farmhouse and
outbuildings as a "gift" for the ageing vice-president. By most accounts, it
was the third such property appropriated by Muzenda and members of his
family.

Simon Vengai Muzenda was born on October 28 1922, to a family of peasant
farmers in the Gutu district of what was then the Victoria province of a
Rhodesia then firmly under British colonial rule. He was brought up by his
grandmother who ensured his regular attendance at a local Catholic
missionary school, and he spent his teenage years herding the family's
cattle. A relatively bright child, he was sent for teacher training and on
the advice of his tutor travelled to the Marianhill mission in Natal where
he showed an aptitude for carpentry. At Marianhill, between completing his
carpentry course and furthering his studies, he developed an awareness of
politics from fellow students, including several men who became prominent in
black activism in South Africa and Rhodesia. He returned to Rhodesia in
1950, working in a furniture factory in Bulawayo and becoming involved with
Benjamin Burombo, one of the earliest black activists to challenge
discriminatory laws.

By 1955, Muzenda and his wife, a nurse, had moved to the Midlands town of
Umvuma where he started his own carpentry business, continuing his
involvement in black political activity and eventually becoming
administrative secretary of the embryo Zimbabwe African National Union. He
was soon attracting the attention of the Rhodesian security police and spent
two years in Salisbury's central prison which he later described as "a place
of study" as he and other inmates completed their education. In 1964, having
been elected deputy organising secretary of Zanu, he was arrested again for
being in possession of a pistol. By this time he was committed to the cause
of armed revolution as the only way to topple white colonial dominance and
was active in organising young blacks to leave the country for military
training elsewhere in Africa, the Soviet Union and China. He was soon
imprisoned again and remained incarcerated until being released under the
Anglo-Rhodesia agreement in 1971. Muzenda then travelled throughout Africa
in an attempt to heal the deep divisions within the black nationalist
movement. He failed to draw Joshua Nkomo and his Zapu movement into a
unified political front and eventually backed Robert Mugabe as
Zanu-Patriotic Front leader. The subsequent guerrilla war culminated in the
Lancaster House negotiations, a brief interregnum of British rule as
democratic elections were organised, and the election of Mugabe as the first
president of an independent Zimbabwe. Muzenda was criticised - and
challenged - by many Karanga leaders during the post-independence period but
he used his status to retain political power in his home area, repeatedly
delivering the Karanga heartland to the Mugabe camp. His health was always a
problem and in the last decade he often visited China for prolonged
treatment for heart, lung and liver complaints. He is survived by his widow,
Maud, and seven children.

Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki should call for an urgent resolution on
human rights violations in Zimbabwe when he addresses the United Nations
General Assembly this week, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday.

Mbeki was scheduled to address the 58th session of the General Assembly on
Tuesday.

Acting DA leader Joe Seremane said Mbeki would have the opportunity during
his speech to counter "the growing perception" that he and his government
were actively advancing the interests of the Mugabe regime, against the
interests of ordinary Zimbabweans.

While everyone else was criticising the Zimbabwean government for its
draconian and oppressive media laws after the Daily News was closed down
last week, Mbeki's government was actively campaigning for Mugabe to attend
the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Nigeria in December, said
Seremane.

Mbeki's spokesman Bheki Khumalo was saying there was no reason for the
continued exclusion of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. The ANC government
was risking the interests of South Africa for a rogue state, Seremane said.

He said South Africa actually led the rejection of a draft resolution on the
human rights situation in Zimbabwe in April. Under the resolution, the UN
Human Rights Commission would have expressed deep concern at continuing
violations of human rights by Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF government and would
have demanded certain actions, said Seremane.

Mbeki should use Tuesday's opportunity to put pressure on Mugabe. By calling
for a new resolution, Mbeki could show the world that he was serious about
the values reflected in the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(Nepad).

If he did not call for action, it would simply be another instance where
South Africa, and Mbeki, had failed to do the right thing, said Seremane.

      MY letter is directed at fellow farmers and ex–farmers.

      Isn’t it an amazing thing that just when our government is in the
process of implementing “Operation Cleansweep”, a new constitution is being
prepared which enshrines property rights and the current regime is trying to
form an interim government and re-designate all farms so that they can
legally nationalise the farms prior to the new constitution being put in
place and:

      *ZESA has increased rates on export oriented businesses to such a
level that it makes the remaining export produce farms unviable,

      *inflation sits at 399,5% officially for August but much higher in
real terms,

      *Daily News has just been taken off the streets for being “illegal”
and so removes our main form of public information of the current economic
and political environment. Our leadership in Matabeleland finds it necessary
to withdraw from CFU because of a lack of trust between the leadership.

      For over forty years the debate about trust between the leadership in
Matabeleland and the rest of the country has raged on from time to time.
Over the past years our very brave men have put aside personal differences
in order to stand united as a Union to fight matters of importance to the
farmers and our nation.

      While this internal power struggle rages, our homes burn and our
people starve.

      We are a democratic union. We have to accept the decision of the
majority and work within the framework of our Constitution. We need to put
aside our personal fears and aspirations in the interests of our farming
“family” and do what is good for our people....and we have to work together
as a team.

      United we stand and divided we fall.

      Jean Simon

      Harare