News Update
(On behalf of Justice for Agriculture)
Member of the
Presidents Office today visited the offices of the Rev Tim
Neil requesting
the location of the Justice for Agriculture (JAG) office.
They were directed
to the JAG offices, which were not open for business
today.
An update
received from Karoi.
At approximately 3:30 pm today (September 11th 2002),
two vehicles that were
on Renoc farm yesterday, returned accompanied by a
60/70 strong group. Once
again they fired shots at the house of Mrs Thea
Cochrane (67). Approximately
25 shots were fired. Thea was in the house alone
and her son Ian was in his
home some 200 meters away with his wife and
children.
The mob broke through the security fence and several ran around
the house
shouting and intimidating the elderly Thea.
Meanwhile at
another house on the farm, members of the invading group broke
into the house
smashing windows and looting the household contents.
A fire was started
on some dry pastureland close to the stables and hay
bales were engulfed in
flames startling the horses. A horse belonging to the
children did not manage
to break free and was badly burnt and had to be put
down early this
evening.
The police were summoned and responded after other farmers in
the area went
to the station to impress upon them that lives could be lost if
no police
presence was timeously established. The Police eventually responded
with
4-armed details and two assistant inspectors who could not have
adequately
coped with the 60 plus crowd who fortunately had dispersed just
before the
Police arrived.
The Police remained on site for just over
40 minutes but did not take a
written report, or details of the stolen
property. They left after refusing
to provide an armed
guard.
Information to hand today is that the ZANU PF youth leader in the
area
accompanied by his supporters stole 3 shotguns from guards from
a
neighbouring farm last night.
Background info filed yesterday (10th
September 2002)
Reports being received indicate that a Karoi farming family
are presently
barricaded in their home following the arrival on their farm of
a group of
about 60-70 people. Two people are armed with automatic shotguns,
and
another, who is a notorious war veteran in the area by the name of
Patrick
Mapunga, is armed with an FN.
Ian Cochrane (43), his mother
Thea (67), his sister Sally Magjwick, and two
children Hamish (5) and Stacey
(3), are presently in the main house of the
homestead at their 3 000 acre
Renroc Farm. The Cochrane's do not have a
section 8, but were issued with a
Section 5.
Evidence of trouble initially surfaced on Monday night at
about 6pm when a
crowd gathered outside the homestead, which comprises two
houses. This
morning, a white vehicle with about 60-70 people arrived on the
farm, and at
about 8:30am, two men, armed with an automatic shotgun, broke
into the fence
of the smaller house where Ian was. Ian took his rifle and
chased them out
of the garden.
Soon afterwards, another group of
people broke into the main house and
called the elder Mrs. Cochrane to come
out of the house. She went out and
confronted the group of people, one of
whom was armed with the FN. They
grabbed her and tried to drag her away,
however she managed to break free.
During the scuffle, Mrs Cochrane's
communication radio and cellphone were
taken from her.
At this point,
Sally called Ian to tell him what was happening and he
promptly took his
rifle again and was forced to wade through the larger
group of people in an
effort to reach his family in the main house. As he
was doing so, a shot was
fired and stones were hurled at him. In response,
Ian fired a shot into the
ground.
Ian was forced to circle the fence around the house for a while
as the gates
were closed. Several more shots were fired at him and he fired
twice in
response. His sister managed to open the gate for him and he went
and joined
his family.
One of the farm vehicles took a bullet in the
side and all roads leading to
the farm have been barricaded. Police are
refusing to respond to the
situation.
Ends.
11 September
2002
For more info, please contact Jenni Williams
Mobile (+263) 91
300456 or 11213 885 or on email jennipr@mweb.co.zw
Or Fax (+2639) 63978
or (+2634) 703829 Office email: prnews@mweb.co.zw
Farmer tells of 'mob attack'
Media24 Africa Bureau
Harare -
"Things got a bit out of hand," is how Ian Cochrane (41) of Renroc
farm in
the Karoi district described his "little shootout" with farm
invaders under
the leadership of a senior war veteran.
The attackers used, among other
things, shotguns and an R1 attack rifle -
normally issued to Zimbabwean
police officials.
Cochrane alleged that the police's failure to react to
calls for assistance
was part of a "well-planned conspiracy".
He said
his problems started on Monday night when a group of about 65 people
arrived
on Renroc farm.
"Everything was under control until a bakkie with armed
men and a truck with
about 50 invaders arrived on the farm on Tuesday
morning.
"When I walked out of my house to lock the gate of the security
fence, I
walked into a man with an automatic shotgun. I pointed my pistol at
him,
forced him outside the fence and locked the gate."
Men grabbed
his mother
While this was happening, Cochrane's elderly mother, Thea, his
sister,
Sally, and her two young children, Hamish and Stacy, were in a second
house
about 200m from Cochrane's one. The second house has its own security
fence
and gate.
Cochrane said: "The group of invaders split into two
and the group at my
mother's house called her outside to speak to her and she
complied. Then,
everything went wrong."
The men grabbed Cochrane's
mother and tried to drag her away, but she
managed to pull free. Her pistol
and cellphone were taken from her before
she managed to reach the safety of
her home.
"I knew I had to help my mother. I locked my own security gate
behind me and
walked across the open ground to her house as casually as
possible with my
automatic shotgun in my hands.
"The group at my house
followed. I walked backwards the entire way, pointing
my shotgun at them
while they were shouting and throwing stones at me.
"It was the longest
200m of my life. I fired a shot into the ground, but
they kept
coming.
"When I reached my mother's house, the security gate was also
locked. I
couldn't go forward or backwards and walked along the security
fence with
the angry mob following me.
"Then, two or three of the
attackers hiding behind our hangar started
shooting at me with, among other
things, an R1. I know the guy with the R1.
He is Patrick Mupunga, head of the
war veterans in Karoi. I fired several
shots at them before Sally managed to
open the gate."
'You develop a very thick skin'
Other farmers from
the district arrived to help. Cochrane said: "They were
also shot at and my
neighbour was nearly hit by a bullet going through his
bakkie
window."
Cochrane said the police arrived only about five hours after the
drama had
started. "The three men with firearms had disappeared by that
time," said
Cochrane.
The three men had left for the neighbouring farm
of Piet Storrop, where a
similar drama had unfolded. The Storrops could not
be reached for comment,
but Cochrane said everything was "back to
normal".
Cochrane said: "My mother is severely traumatised, but
everything else is
under control. We have been living with this for two years
now and you
develop a very thick skin."
From The Independent (UK), 11
September
White farmer in gun
skirmish
By Angus Shaw, AP, in Harare
A white farmer exchanged gunfire yesterday with ruling party
militants who shot at his homestead and tried to force him off his land. Ian
Cochrane fired eight shots into the ground and some above the heads of militants
who were surrounding the farmhouse in Karoi district, 125 miles north-west of
Harare. No one was hurt. Three of the attackers, armed with pump-action shotguns
and a rifle, were accompanied by about 50 militants who barricaded Mr Cochrane
and his family inside the yard, Alan Parsons, a neighbour, said. Police
intervened, dispersing the attackers, who moved away in trucks to adjacent
properties from where at least two more gunshots were heard. The leader of the
militants was identified as an army major, Mr Parsons said. "It seems they are
trying to provoke farmers to retaliate with weapons," he said. Farmers leaders
said Mr Cochrane was among 26 farmers contesting the legality of government
eviction orders to leave their farms in the Karoi grain and tobacco belt.
The independent Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum said the
displacement of farmers had risen since 8 August, the eviction deadline for
about 2,900 landowners. Property and equipment had been stolen. In one recent
incident, a farmer who fled for her safety returned to find militants in her
house and property strewn outside. In south-eastern Chimanimani, police
officers, soldiers and Central Intelligence Organisation agents were "meting out
a reign of terror", assaulting civilians with fists, boots and whips, the forum
said. No one from the government was available for comment. President Robert
Mugabe vowed last week to crack down on defiant whites. "Time is not on their
side," he declared. Earlier yesterday, police reported that 306 white farmers
had been arrested since the eviction deadline. Most were freed on bail but
prohibited from returning to their farms before trial proceedings. The
government is trying to seize about 95 per cent of white-owned farms.
Scotsman
Gunfire breaks out on Zimbabwe farm
Jane Fields In
Harare
WHITE farmers and supporters of Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe traded
shots yesterday on a farm in the north-west of the country, as
tensions over
land reform reach boiling point in the former British
colony.
Ian Cochrane, a farmer of Scottish descent, said he was forced to
fire shots
into the ground and the air after self-styled war veterans
levelled their
guns at his mother.
Neighbouring farmers who came to
the Cochranes' rescue also exchanged
gunfire with the settlers, who are
believed to have been trying to force the
family off the farm. There were no
reports of injuries.
Mr Cochrane told The Scotsman that around 100 war
veterans surrounded the
two homesteads on his farm, in the tobacco and
grain-producing Karoi
district, early yesterday morning.
Black
veterans of the war for independence from Britain have led the
invasions of
white-owned farms in Zimbabwe over the past two and a half
years. They have
been suspected of - but never charged with - the murder of
at least 11 white
farmers.
From his garden, Mr Cochrane saw three armed men disarm his
mother, who was
staying in the next-door house with her daughter and two
children.
"My immediate concern was that they were going to shoot her,"
Mr Cochrane
told The Scotsman. "I trotted across to my mother's house with
this crowd
surging with me.
"These guys were watching to lynch me," a
clearly shaken Mr Cochrane said.
He said that two militants shot at him,
and he fired back to "keep them
behind me".
About 50 farmers answered
his distress call, but were fired at as they drove
towards his house. The war
veterans had barricaded all roads leading to the
property, Mr Cochrane said.
"It was not very nice at all," he said.
The situation stabilised when
police eventually reached the farm - more than
three hours after they were
first called. White farmers complain that police
are slow to intervene when
they are under attack, while some police say that
farm invasions are
"political matters" which they are not allowed to
intervene in.
The
father of two had been told to vacate his farm by Sunday afternoon under
the
latest ultimatum issued by the regime of the ageing
Zimbabwean
president.
Mr Mugabe has made the battle to seize land from
those he calls "greedy"
white farmers his rallying call. More than 95 per
cent of farms have now
been earmarked for government
acquisition.
Dozens of white farmers vacated their farms last weekend,
fearing a repeat
of the mass arrests which followed the expiry of an earlier
eviction
deadline last month.
But Mr Cochrane, who is descended from
Lord Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald,
says he has not received a valid
eviction order and had decided to stay on
at his farm, which is the only
property he owns in Zimbabwe. "This is just
to intimidate us. We've all
resolved to stay on in the area. We are not
going to get out." "Hopefully the
world will realise that something has to
be done to stop this," he
said.
Jenni Williams, spokeswoman for the farming pressure group Justice
for
Agriculture (JAG), said that Mr Mugabe's regime had turned to
"land
terrorism".
Nine farmers were arrested on Monday in Centenary,
northern Zimbabwe. They
were held overnight but released without charge
yesterday morning, Ms
Williams said. Another farmer, Jean Simon, of nearby
Raffingora, said she
was packing up after war veterans had told her to leave
yesterday.
Mr Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party this week through its
mouthpiece, the
People's Voice, promised that more white farmers "are going
to be arrested
in the coming week in an effort to complete the programme of
redistributing
land".
Meanwhile the government has expelled a US
journalist, Griffin Shea of AFP.
Last chukka as farmers realise the game is up
By Peta Thornycroft
(Filed:
09/09/2002)
The last chukka of northern Zimbabwe's last polo game was
played yesterday while 600 white farmers fled their homes <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/09/08/wzim08.xml>
in the country's most productive farming districts.
While players
thwacked the ball across the polo ground of the Chinhoyi Country Club, 55 miles
north of the capital Harare, the main road nearby was packed with removal vans,
heavily-laden farm lorries and pick-ups heading south to safety.
On
Thursday hundreds of farmers in the northern grain belt were warned by uniformed
police and soldiers to be off their farms by lunchtime yesterday and that
anything left behind would be nationalised.
In two hours early yesterday,
more than 200 vehicles loaded with farmers and their possessions were on the
road.
The Umboe Valley Copper Cup, a 44-year-old polo tournament at one
of the last functioning country clubs in Zimbabwe, was the end of an era,
signalling the beginning of the realisation for farmers who endured 31 tormented
months, that the game was up.
"This is the last time we will play this
tournament as there will be none of us left next year," said Zimbabwe's top
grain farmer.
"Please don't name me now until I have got my family safely
to Australia."
The farmer said he and a colleague last week met Ignatius
Chombo, the minister dishing out white-owned farms to the elite and to thousands
of peasants hoping to become farmers.
"He told us there would be no white
farmers left in Zimbabwe," he said. "Now we know."
A mile or so behind
the polo ground, next to the few wheat fields planted this season, a fire was
raging in tinder-dry bush, which farmers say was started early in the morning by
President Robert Mugabe's supporters squatting on a recently productive grain
farm.
"They set fire to millions of dollars worth of cattle food last
week," a farmer said.
The regime's land seizure programme <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/08/18/wzim18.xml>
has destroyed Zimbabwe's agricultural sector, cost hundreds of thousands of
black farm workers their jobs and left millions facing starvation. International
aid agencies are having to distribute food in a country that was once a grain
exporter.
Yesterday's flight by the majority of Zimbabwe's cereal
producers included up to 100 farmers in the Chinhoyi area who successfully
challenged nationalisation of their farms.
Most who fled yesterday were
owners of only one farm, said the Commercial Farmers' Union, and as such should
have been allowed to keep them under Zimbabwean law.
While Justice for
Agriculture, the pressure group, told farmers on Friday to stay put, most
ignored the advice. "Some of us, who had time to pack up, are leaving forever,"
said a farmer whose wife leaves for Europe to join their three young children at
the end of the month.
"Some are staying with friends on farms which were
not visited by the police. Others have gone to Harare. If the tension dies down,
then we will go back and pack properly.
"I will be going at the end of
the year," he said. "Now I am going to play my last game of polo in
Zimbabwe."
His farm in the Umboe Valley, after which the polo tournament
was named, was trashed a year ago. "We repaired it and thought it would come
right eventually but it's over," he said.
David Rockingham-Gill, the
farmers' representative in the Chinhoyi area, said: "The Sunday deadline was
impossible to meet. There are not enough vehicles in the whole of Zimbabwe to
move off this large number of farmers' equipment and personal
possessions."
Nonetheless the day passed reasonably peacefully for the
farmers of northern Zimbabwe, who have become used to constant harassment,
threats and beatings by Mugabe supporters.
"One farmer was barricaded in
for several hours but he rammed his security fence and got away," said a
farmers' representative. © Copyright <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?view=COPYRIGHT&grid=P9>
of Telegraph Group Limited <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/exit.jhtml?exit=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.htnm.com>
2002.
Dear Friends
We have taken a few steps backwards in Tengwe this weekend. We
have had 7 families move - 5 have stopped farming completely and 2 (father and
son) have relocated within the district. Add to this another 3 families who
planned to leave in the next few weeks and you will realise that we are in dire
straits. Our boundries have shrunk badly.
The weekend was fairly quiet - all the section 8 farmers who
decided to stay prudently spent the nights with friends and we are back at home.
There was only one incident - at Craig Werrit's. He went back to collect some
stuff - he is on remand and has not been able to sleep at home since being
arrested a few weeks ago. They barricaded him and three of his workers in the
house. The guys reacted and it got a bit ugly. Andy collected a good black black
eye but they eventually had to withdraw. The police refused assistance.
Eventually, Craig had to walk out with a shotgun and cut his fence - he then
walked back and drove through the opening holding the shotgun but did not have
to fire it. There were 2 arrests in other districts. Over the weekend the
foremen on all the farms were called into the copshop and told that if they
worked, they would get beaten. The message was repeated on Monday. The cops
tried to tell our workers that we were leaving as we had all our tractors etc in
the yard not at the barns. Our people told them that the stuff has been kept
here since we had a rash of battery, fuel and parts theft from the workshop
area. Also that we had only had one sale and all the tobacco was in the shed.
The cops tried to convince them we were nevertheless about to skip and they
should press for retrenchment packages (if they didn't they could expect a
beating for working). Andy assured them that we did not go to the high court
because we wanted to leave - we went because we wanted to stay. They are not
working today and we can't do anything until they realise that it is
intimidation and we certainly can't pay anything untill the crop is sold.
Yesterday afternoon late the member-in-charge went around again to everyone that
had been warned to get off to see if they had obeyed. Andy was at Leith's when
they got there. The end result of the acrimonious altercation with them was the
MIC saying "I am very glad you two have not moved off because you will see what
is going to happen to you." We have just heard that 4 guys in Bindura, 2 in
Mutepatepa and one in Mvurwi have been arrested - they are unprotected because
they did not go to the high court.
We are now in a refugee situation as far as displaced workers
are concerned. All the compounds which are allowed to work are overflowing with
people trying to find shelter. Most of the workers from the farms which
have shut down have been evicted from their homes - we had some rain and Leon's
guys had to spend the night in the bush. They are all at Blythe's - cold and
homeless. If you think that each farm probably employs 45 families minimum, it
is a lot of homeless people.
We are tired and it is very hard to be positive - if they
would just state categorically all the way from RGM down to the DA that we must
all piss off immediately, they don't want a single whitey to farm, then fine.
Instead we get all these mixed messages - one farmer one farm etc etc. Our
leadership is just as much to blame because we have no idea what is really being
said to them. Are they diluting the messages from govt and just feeding us what
they hope is the story? We never get a verbatim report of what is said at
meetings with govt. RGM has certainly succeeded in creating two nations in one -
the cities have no idea what goes on on the farms and when we go to the cities
we are amazed that life just seems to be plodding along. We had a classic this
weekend. One of our farmers phoned a guy in town to ask if he could come out on
Saturday to do a valuation of the farm and the reply was that he couldn't
because he would be playing golf on Saturday and as a consequence would probably
not be feeling too good on Sunday. Last week's Financial Gazette carried a
report that property and rents had shot up lately because of "cash rich" farmers
moving to Harare. If we were so cash rich, would we not have invested in
property in Harare long before being turfed off our farms?
The radio is going in Karoi - there is an incident building
there but we can't hear all the transmission and don't want to tie up the
network by calling in to find out whats going on. Its on Ian Cochrane's place
and it sounds a bit hairy. They were barricaded in last night. The media guys
say its very hard to get a story on farmers onto the news channels - displaced
farm workers yes, but not stories on farmers. Especially now with the
anniversary of September 11th and the Iraq crisis looming. Whenever there is a
crisis in Zim, another international crisis seems to happen to overshadow any
interest there might be in the plight of Zimbabweans. I have a feeling though,
that things must come to a head in the next week or two. Many districts have
been cleaned out and if you are one of the few left in the district, you must
decide if you want to live and farm in an area devoid of friends. You must also
decide if you can farm when there is a culture of "help yourself" and you are
supply depot.
1.00 p.m.
We were having a lie down when I heard a vehicle then another.
It was Maponga the army colonel who has been put in charge of the evictions here
and at least 7 henchman. Lucky we had locked the doors. Andy spoke to them
through the burglar bars. He tried to explain about the High Court and one man
one farm etc. They said that they didn't care what Mugabe or the high court said
- this was them running it on the ground. There was now no place in Zimbabwe for
Andy. We had been given plenty of warning and if we weren't out by tonight we
would have to take what comes. Andy thinks that this is a further tactic since
the police pressure over the weekend did not work. I don't know what to think.
Given the choice, will our district hold out? The only way we can do it is if
everyone stands together but I detect some jitters. You can't expect people with
young children in the house to be steadfast in the face of physical
intimidation. They have gone from here to Chris Edgar's farm. We will monitor
their movements. We are to have a meeting tonight at the club to try to work out
a strategy.
SK
Africans
asked to aid Zimbabwe
THERE are African leaders today who remain reluctant to criticise Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe, despite the suffering he has inflicted on his people,
despite his illegitimate hold on power, and despite the human rights abuses of
his regime.
Perhaps they feel a sense of loyalty. Perhaps there is a deeprooted sympathy
for the black ruler of an African nation who claims to be defying the rich,
white colonial oppressor.
If so, we have to tell them that their loyalty, however noble a sentiment, is
both wrong and misplaced. Their loyalty and support should not be for this
tyrant, but for the people of Zimbabwe.
The people who attempted to remove him democratically, through the ballot box
were denied this right by the regime's cynical programme of intimidation, vote
rigging and blatant electoral fraud. The people now face starvation because of
the regime's incompetent and brutal destruction of the rural economy. This is
where the loyalties of other African nations should be placed.
Mugabe's days are limited he is an aging leader desperately defying the will
of his people. Opposition to his rule is gathering pace, both inside Zimbabwe
and around the world.
We beseech African leaders to help the voice of millions of Zimbabweans to be
heard through truly democratic elections.
When democracy and stability are restored, and Zimbabwe is once more a
neighbour you can be proud of as part of, we will remember those who stood by us
in our struggle; who showed true solidarity with the Zimbabweans.
We ask the community of nations in Africa to come to our aid now. There are
more than 12-million black Zimbabweans suffering under the savage rule of this
tyrant. Help us win our freedom.
Ephraim TapaChief SpokesmanSave Zimbabwe campaign
MDC MPs Walk Out of Parliament in Protest
The Daily News
(Harare)
September 11, 2002
Posted to the web September 11,
2002
Municipal Reporter
OPPOSITION MDC MPs walked out of
Parliament for the second time in two
months yesterday just when debate
started on President Mugabe's speech.
Soon after the Minister of State
Enterprises and Parastatals, Paul Mangwana,
rose to move his motion on the
debate of Mugabe's speech, MDC MPs who had
been taking part in the business
of the house, walked out. In July, the
opposition MPs snubbed Mugabe's
address when he opened the second session of
the Fifth Parliament, on the
grounds that they did not recognise him as the
legitimate President of
Zimbabwe. The MDC is challenging Mugabe's victory in
court, citing massive
rigging and intimidation in the March
presidential
election.
Yesterday, the MDC secretary-general, Welshman
Ncube, said their walk-out
remained consistent with the party's position. "We
are not taking part in
this debate because we do not recognise Mugabe as the
legitimate leader. It
is not worthwhile to contribute to debate on his
speech," said Ncube. "The
party's national executive was very clear that we
must not involve ourselves
in anything to do with his speech. We may choose
to go back but we are not
going to make any contributions." Before the
walk-out, Parliament had
approved the National Social Security Authority
Amendment Bill and Statutory
Instrument 112 of 2002, which seeks to amend the
Criminal Procedure and
Evidence Act.
Seed Supply Situation Remains Critical
The Daily News
(Harare)
September 11, 2002
Posted to the web September 11,
2002
Chris Mhike
AS SOME parts of the country received early
showers last week and early this
week, the seed supply situation remained
critical owing to delays by
government in reviewing the price of agricultural
seed.
Manufacturers of seed products met with the government in August
to
negotiate for a review of prices. Seed companies had begun to withhold
their
products citing the unprofitability of the "unrevised" price levels,
but the
negotiations have not yielded any results. Seed, especially the
maize
variety, had been in short supply in the last month.
Prices of
agricultural seeds, which are controlled by government, have not
been changed
since June 2001. As negotiations with the government started
last month, seed
companies complained that while the prices of importing
chemicals and other
raw materials to produce seed had increased, the prices
for selling the
product had not changed.
Vincent Gwarazimba, the chairman of the Seed
Trade Association, said in an
interview: "The unavailability of seed on the
market has reached critical
levels. The few companies that supplied seed in
the past few months probably
did so from last season's leftovers, but that
has not been enough for market
needs."
Gwarazimba said that the
government had promised to report on the outcome of
the review process by
Friday last week, but he, however, emphasised that
there could be no
certainty about a price increase shortly.
He said: "We cannot promise
anything because the decision lies with
government. There is nothing we can
do, but wait and see. I really hope the
outcome of the review process will be
positive so as to improve the seed
supply situation."
Simeon Chibanda,
a technical sales manager at National Tested Seeds, a seed
distribution
company, confirmed that the availability of maize seed on the
market was low
in August and September. He said: "Seed products have been
coming in very
small quantities and on a very erratic basis. "While the
supply of vegetables
seed has been satisfactory, we have experienced serious
problems with the
supply of maize seed." The open pollinated maize variety
(OPVs), considered
by the government to be cheaper seed than the
conventional seed type, has
been dismissed by the seed distribution sector
and farmers as a non-viable
option to seed shortages.
Indigenous Commercial Farmers' Union executive
for commodities, Denford
Chimbwanda, said: "The OPVs yields are lower and
Zimbabwe will be going
backwards if it uses these varieties."
S.Africa's Mbeki wants to discuss Zimbabwe at U.N.
CAPE TOWN, Sept. 11 — South African President Thabo Mbeki
will try to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis with Commonwealth colleagues on the
sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, a government minister said on
Wednesday.
Despite Western pressure and limited sanctions
against President Robert Mugabe, the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe
has dominated southern African politics for more than two years, denting
investor confidence in the region and undermining the value of South Africa's
rand.
Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said Mbeki, due in New York
on Wednesday for the annual General Assembly, would try to meet Commonwealth
colleagues Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Australian Prime Minister
John Howard.
''If they are all there at the same time, it is expected
that they will try to meet to tackle the Commonwealth mandate...to find in some
way a solution to the situation in Zimbabwe.
''There is an economic
crisis in Zimbabwe, the food situation is quite dramatic, tensions are still
very high,'' Pahad said.
Zimbabwe has been in crisis since militant
supporters of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF began to seize white-owned farms for
landless blacks in 2000.
Mbeki has refused to take unilateral steps
against Mugabe, but agreed with Obasanjo and Howard in March to suspend Zimbabwe
from the Commonwealth in protest against an election Mugabe was alleged to have
stolen through intimidation and fraud.
Pahad said no new action
against Zimbabwe would be on the agenda for the three leaders, but that it was
important to rack up the pressure for a political dialogue and legal land
reform.
Mugabe has ordered 2,900 of the country's 4,500 white farmers
to surrender their land without compensation. More than 300 farmers have been
charged for defying the order.
Mugabe says he is taking the land to
redress a colonial legacy that left 72 percent of the best land in the hands of
a tiny white minority after independence in 1980.
''The land issue,
everybody accepts, is fundamental not only in Zimbabwe, but in many countries in
Africa,'' Pahad said.
''We do believe land reform must be done in an
orderly way, within the rule of law, within the constitution of the country. (We
must) ...ensure that the principle of willing buyer, willing seller becomes a
reality,'' he added.
Pahad said South Africa was pressing for the
conclusion of a protection of investment treaty with Zimbabwe, which has been
under negotiation for many months.
''We are very keen that this
agreement gets signed very quickly because it does give South African investors
some form of legal protection. But in the end, it depends when you have signed
this agreement, whether they really implement it.''
Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters.
A2 Model Plots Remain Unoccupied
The Daily News
(Harare)
September 11, 2002
Posted to the web September 11,
2002
Correspondent in Bulawayo
THE majority of the people
resettled under the A2 model scheme in
Matabeleland are yet to take up their
plots despite the government's threat
to confiscate the land if it was still
unoccupied by 31 August.
There were about 54 000 applications nationwide
for land for farming
purposes. But most of the successful applicants, who are
urban dwellers,
have not moved onto the plots and there is still no
production going on as
the planting season approaches.
Justice for
Agriculture (JAG) chairman, David Connelly, said yesterday they
aware the
majority of the applicants had not occupied the farms.
He said they were
compiling a list of the unoccupied farms.
"This will have a negative
impact on farming because it means that the farm
is not going to be
productive this farming season, when it could have
produced food for the
country," said Connelly.
Zimbabwe is having one of its worst food crises
in recent history as a
result of wheat and maize shortages, with thousands of
people, especially in
rural areas, starving. World food agencies have warned
that half the
population will starve to death if no food aid is made
available. The last
planting season in 2001 was severely disrupted by the
chaotic land
redistribution exercise led by war veterans who invaded
productive farms and
ordered farmers to cease operations.
This,
coupled with the drought last year, has compounded the situation.
The
Matabeleland North governor, Obert Mpofu, has admitted in recent reports
in
the State media that most of the the plots remain unoccupied.
He
has said a taskforce would soon be deployed into the farms to compile a
list
of the unoccupied farms. He said the land would be redistributed to
people on
the waiting list. In Umguza alone 43 people were allocated land
under the A2
scheme but only 22 have taken up their plots.
Very few have taken up the
plots in the Gwayi valley, Esigodini valley and
in the West Nicholson area in
Matabeleland North.
Bishop Mum On Priest's Departure
The Daily News
(Harare)
September 11, 2002
Posted to the web September 11,
2002
Correspondent in Mutare
Bishop Alexio Muchabaiwa, leader
of the Roman Catholic Church in Mutare,
yesterday refused to shed any light
on the forced departure from Nyanga,
reportedly by so-called war veterans, of
Father Patrick Joseph Kelly.
Three weeks ago Muchabaiwa promised to
investigate the circumstances in
which Kelly was forced to leave his St
Gabriel's Church in Nyanga. Instead
the bishop told the reporter: "It is very
surprising why you are so
interested in Father Patrick Joseph Kelly's matter.
I do not have any
information to share with you on that one." Last month,
Kelly said he
received an ultimatum to leave the area by 22 August. It was
issued by a
group of seven war veterans, supported by the Central
Intelligence
Organisation (CIO).
Kelly immediately went into hiding
and is reportedly still underground,
awaiting the outcome of Muchabaiwa's
investigation of the matter. It was not
immediately clear by yesterday
whether Jack Straw, the British Foreign
Minister, had intervened to save
Kelly, after a request by Michael Ancram,
Conservative shadow foreign
secretary, to do so. Kelly said yesterday he had
still not yet received any
assistance since his eviction from Nyanga. He
said: "Fearing for my life, I
fled. I am forced to shuttle between places.
"I do not understand why our
church leaders are taking so long to solve such
a straightforward case."On 16
August a group of so-called war veterans
approached Kelly and accused him of
preaching opposition politics.
They reportedly ordered him to leave
Nyanga or face unspecified action.
Kelly said he was briefly detained twice
by CIO agents who questioned him
about anti-government literature he
allegedly distributed in the area. In an
unrelated incident, the Zimbabwe
Catholic Bishops' Conference urged the
government to depoliticise the
procurement of food amid claims by the
opposition MDC that war veterans and
Zanu PF activists were abusing it for
their personal consumption. In an
August pastoral letter released last week,
the bishops, among them Patrick
Chakaipa of Harare, Pius Ncube of Bulawayo
and the retired Auxiliary Bishop
of Mutare, Patrick Mutume, appealed to
their sister churches around the world
to donate food. The United Nations
has said about six million people need
emergency food aid in Zimbabwe.
Drought Bites Into National Cattle Herds
The Daily News
(Harare)
September 11, 2002
Posted to the web September 11,
2002
Correspondent in Bulawayo
HUNDREDS of cattle have died in
Matabeleland South as the drought bites deep
in the region, aggravating the
threat to the already depleted national herd.
Mafende Nicos Khumalo, the
acting Gwanda North district animal health
inspector, said they had received
reports of the deaths of several cattle in
the district. The national
commercial cattle herd was estimated at more than
1,25 million before the
farm invasions two years ago. The Cattle Producers
Association says the
figure had since fallen to an estimated 500 000 after
massive destocking by
farmers evicted from their properties. Khumalo said:
"We are compiling
statistics as we are still getting reports from around the
district. We hope
to have the information by the end of the month." Several
communal farmers in
the area are said to be losing their cattle as the
drought takes its toll in
the region because of the steep price of
stockfeeds. The communal farmers
were reportedly herding their cattle onto
commercial farms which have
reasonable pastures, a situation which has
resulted in overgrazing in parts
of Matabeleland South.
One farm, Highway Ranch, has been reduced to a
semi-desert after hundreds of
cattle were moved onto the ranch. Matabeleland,
otherwise known as the
cattle land, falls under climatic region five which
receives very little
rainfall. Some villagers at Hwali, about 100km south of
Gwanda, said all
their cattle had succumbed to the drought. Joseph Ndlovu
said he was forced
to move his cattle some 50km away from home in search of
grazing land. "I do
not know whether I still have any cattle left because the
area to which I
moved them is very far from here. "There is completely no
grazing in this
area," Ndlovu said.
Chombo Allegedly Fighting to Take Over Two Farms
The Daily News
(Harare)
September 11, 2002
Posted to the web September 11,
2002
Lloyd Mudiwa Court Reporter
DR IGNATIUS Chombo, the
Minister of Local Government, Public Works and
National Housing, has been
accused of making spirited efforts to grab two
farms in the Lomagundi
district.
He is being accused of trying to take over Erewhon and Nswala
farms, despite
a provisional High Court order issued early this month barring
him from
harassing or interfering with the farming operations of Jean
Simpson, a
director of the properties. Chombo joins several senior government
officials
in trying to grab farms amid allegations the reform is benefiting
the rich,
not the landless peasants.
Chombo is suspected to have
ordered Hannes Swan, a manager at Alan Grange
Farm in Raffingora, to leave
the farm early this month so he could move in.
But Chombo, who chairs the
government's land acquisition task force, denied
he had any personal interest
in the farm, saying the farms were earmarked
for resettlement under the A2
commercial farming model. Yesterday morning,
two war veteran leaders,
Kangachepi and Kusvimbada and a woman, accompanied
by about 60 settlers from
Erewhon Farm, tried to force Simpson's workers to
move her property from her
house and offices into a barn, allegedly at
Chombo's
instructions.
Simpson said: "Although they managed to move out the
property in my office
to the barn, they have not broken into my house which
is locked." She said
they were thwarted by the police in Raffingora and a
local security company.
"Chombo arrived at the farm on Sunday afternoon
accompanied by Chrispen
Kadhoza, Zanu PF's political co-ordinator for Banket
district, to order
Kangachepi to remove my property from the farmhouse and
put it into the
barn," Simpson said. She said she was now considering having
Chombo charged
with contempt of court. Justice Benjamin Paradza on 2
September granted
Simpson an interim order preventing Chombo, in his personal
capacity,
Kangachepi, and Kadhoza from evicting her.
Cited as
respondents are Chombo, in his official capacity, Joseph Made, the
Minister
of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Augustine Chihuri,
the
Commissioner of Police, Chief Inspector Chipato, the officer-in-charge
of
Chinhoyi Police Station, Peter Chanetsa, the governor of Mashonaland
West,
and Webster Tembo, the district administrator for Chinhoyi. "The farm
workers
and myself have been subjected to a campaign of sustained harassment
and
interference by certain of the respondents, notably Chombo and
Kadhoza,"
reads part of Simpson's founding affidavit.
"Chombo is being
cited in his personal capacity because he has acted
unlawfully and in such a
manner as is so unbecoming and lacking in the
imperium and dignitas
customarily associated with one of ministerial rank,
it is inconceivable that
he could be acting in his official capacity as
such. "Although Chombo has not
been physically present on a number of these
occasions, I believe that he has
orchestrated the campaign against me by the
use of State power and through
the machinations of Kangachepi, Kadhoza and
others, for motives which are not
readily understood by me."
Mugabe Accused of Plotting to Exile MDC
The Daily News
(Harare)
September 11, 2002
Posted to the web September 11,
2002
Pedzisai Ruhanya Chief Reporter
MORGAN Tsvangirai, the
opposition MDC president, says his party is aware
that President Mugabe's
regime is planning to imprison, or drive into exile,
a number of MDC MPs to
enable the ruling Zanu PF party to amend the
Constitution and prepare for
Mugabe's exit.
Tsvangirai made the remarks in an address to about 500
people at a public
seminar organised by the Mass Public Opinion on Monday
night. The MDC leader
said: "We are also aware that the regime intends to
imprison or drive into
exile a certain number of MDC MPs in order to enable
it to achieve a
two-thirds majority in Parliament and thereby facilitate a
change in the
current Constitution to enable Mugabe to slide into oblivion
without the
need for a fresh presidential poll as mandated by the
Constitution."
Out of the 150 MPs in Parliament, the MDC has 55 seats,
Zanu Ndonga one and
Zanu PF 92. There are two by-elections pending following
the deaths of Zanu
PF's Marko Madiro of Hurungwe West and the MDC's George
Ndlovu of Insiza. At
least 100 MPs are needed to vote in favour of any
constitutional amendments.
Zanu PF cannot muster such a majority at the
moment. Many MDC MPs, among
them, Professor Welshman Ncube, the party's
secretary-general, Gibson
Sibanda, the deputy president, Renson Gasela (MP
for Gweru Rural), Fletcher
Dulini-Ncube (Lobengula-Magwegwe) , Munyaradzi
Gwisai (Highfield), Job
Sikhala (St Mary's), Tafadzwa Musekiwa (Zengeza) and
Austin Mupandawana
(Kadoma Central) are facing charges ranging from treason,
murder and public
violence.
Most of these cases have been set for
trial in November, including that of
Tsvangirai, Gasela and Ncube's. If they
were found guilty the MDC's
hierarchy could face the death penalty or life in
jail. "The people will
massively resist any illegitimate tampering with the
Constitution. We shall
never allow the political proceeds from fraud to be
inherited by Mugabe's
hand-picked successor," Tsvangirai said. He said that
despite the numerous
cases of rape, murder and assault which had become a
part of Zanu PF's
election campaigns, due to the continued illegitimacy of
Mugabe's regime,
the MDC would not abandon elections.
Tsvangirai said:
"However, should we decide in the long run that this route
has run its
course, then we will have to devise other effective non-violent
modes of
political combat." He said Zimbabweans should avoid adventurism
because
Mugabe had already declared that he was ready to spill blood to
remain in
office and casualties should be minimised. Contrary to The
Herald's story
yesterday that Tsvangirai described beneficiaries of the land
reform
programme as "Stone Age scavengers", his full speech did not mention
the
regime's chaotic land reform programme. Tsvangirai said: "The
total
emasculation of the people's political power has been complemented
by
another strategy to reduce the majority of the population economically
to
the level of Stone Age scavengers available for manipulation and abuse
by
Mugabe and his cronies."
Reacting to the allegations that he
insulted the resettled people, the
opposition leader said he was surprised by
the magnitude of lies in the
state-controlled Herald. "I simply don't know
where they got that from." He
said that as a nation born out of the
revolution whose ideals Mugabe
continuously continued to emasculate, the MDC
knew that freedom would come
with a price and the opposition party had
absolutely no intention of letting
"the dictator hold the nation to ransom
and in shackles forever". "We remain
resolute in our conviction that the
illegitimate Mugabe regime shall not be
allowed to consolidate and make its
fraud permanent. The people must and
will reclaim their stolen victory," he
told the participants such a majority
at the moment. Many MDC MPs, among them
Gibson Sibanda, the party's deputy
president, Professor Welshman Ncube, the
secretary-general, Renson Gasela
(MP for Gweru Rural), Fletcher Dulini-Ncube
(Lobengula-Magwegwe), Munyaradzi
Gwisai (Highfield), Job Sikhala (St Mary's),
Tafadzwa Musekiwa (Zengeza) and
Austin Mupandawana (Kadoma Central) are
facing charges ranging from treason,
murder to public violence. Most of these
cases have been set for trial in
November, including that of Tsvangirai,
Gasela and Ncube.
If they were found guilty the MDC's hierarchy could
face the death penalty
or life in jail. "The people will massively resist any
illegitimate
tampering with the Constitution. We shall never allow the
political proceeds
from fraud to be inherited by Mugabe's hand-picked
successor," Tsvangirai
said. He said that despite the numerous cases of rape,
murder and assault
which had become part of Zanu PF's election campaigns, due
to the continued
illegitimacy of Mugabe's regime, the MDC would not abandon
elections.
Tsvangirai said: "However, should we decide in the long run that
this route
has run its course, then we will have to devise other effective
non-violent
modes of political combat." He said Zimbabweans should avoid
adventurism
because Mugabe had already declared that he was ready to spill
blood to
remain in office and casualties should be minimised.
Contrary
to a Herald story yesterday that Tsvangirai described beneficiaries
of the
land reform programme as "Stone Age scavengers", his full speech did
not
mention the regime's chaotic land reform programme. Tsvangirai said:
"The
total emasculation of the people's political power has been
complemented by
another strategy to reduce the majority of the population
economically to the
level of Stone Age scavengers available for manipulation
and abuse by Mugabe
and his cronies." Reacting to the allegations that he
insulted the resettled
people, the opposition leader said he was surprised
by the magnitude of lies
in the State-controlled Herald. "I simply don't
know where they got that
from," Tsvangirai said.
He said that as a nation born out of a revolution
whose ideals Mugabe
continuously continued to stifle, the MDC knew that
freedom would come with
a price and the opposition party had absolutely no
intention of letting "the
dictator hold the nation to ransom and in shackles
forever". "We remain
resolute in our conviction that the illegitimate Mugabe
regime shall not be
allowed to consolidate and make its fraud permanent. The
people must and
will reclaim their stolen victory," he said.
Business Report
SA keen to move quickly to protect investments in
Zimbabwe
Sapa
September 11 2002 at 01:08PM
Cape Town - South Africa was
very keen that a bilateral agreement on
protecting investments was signed
with Zimbabwe, Deputy Foreign Affairs
Minister Aziz Pahad said on
Wednesday.
"We are very keen as foreign affairs that this agreement gets
signed very
quickly because it does give South African investors some form of
legal
protection," he told reporters in Cape Town.
Echoing comments by
Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin, he warned that
such an agreement
would only be effective if the country it was signed with
was prepared to
implement it.
South Africa's High Commissioner Jerry Ndou had been
instructed to take up
any case of a South African who was experiencing
difficulties in Zimbabwe.
The problem
had been that not many South
Africans in Zimbabwe had registered with the
High Commission.
There
was only about eight or 10 who had done so, although a further list of
75
names had subsequently been given to the commission.
"We are following
this up and to see what if any we can do to protect South
African interests
in Zimbabwe."
Pahad said he was hoping to have a formal meeting to
discuss foreign affairs
issues with the Democratic Alliance and the New
National Party before he
left for Washington next week to attend the
congressional hearings on the
New Partnership for Africa's Development
(Nepad).
"There are many burning issues confronting us. Zimbabwe, and of
course now,
the Middle East situation and the Iraqi situation."
Pahad
said he would also follow up with Ndou whether any progress had been
made in
ensuring that South African farmers were returned to their land
in
Zimbabwe.
Speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Erwin told
MPs the government
had not received notification of the seizure of any South
African-owned
properties or assets in Zimbabwe.
His department was
keeping in close contact with the heads of local
companies investing in that
country.
"There were certainly at one point disruptions in their
activities.
"But, in the main the contact we have with the South African
corporates in
Zimbabwe deals with the economic position that they are in, and
the
difficulties they face on the economic front," Erwin said. - Sapa
Fuel Shortage Looms
The Daily News (Harare)
September 11,
2002
Posted to the web September 11, 2002
Staff Reporter
A
FRESH fuel crisis has gripped the country, with most filling stations
running
dry, leaving hundreds of motorists stranded or enduring long,
winding queues
yesterday to get the scarce commodity.
The shortage of petrol and diesel
comes in the wake of mounting speculation
that there could be an increase in
the price of fuel. Scores of queuing
motorists yesterday expressed fears that
the country could be plunged into
another crippling fuel crisis. Since 1999,
Zimbabwe has been experiencing
erratic fuel supplies largely due to foreign
currency shortages caused by
slumping exports and a cut-off of international
aid by financial
institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the World
Bank. The latest shortage comes at a time when Mugabe is on a
visit to
Tripoli, Libya ostensibly to negotiate for a fresh fuel deal after
his
embattled government failed to settle a huge debt estimated to run
into
millions of dollars.
Mugabe is leading a large entourage that
includes the new Minister of
Finance and Economic Development, Herbert
Murerwa, the Commercial Bank of
Zimbabwe chief executive, Gideon Gono, and
the newly-appointed Minister of
Energy and Power Development, Amos Midzi.
Diplomatic observers see the
inclusion of Gono as ominous as the Libyans are
believed to have staked a
significant claim in Zimbabwe's financial sector in
general and in banking
in particular. Press reports from Tripoli yesterday
said the two countries
were expected to sign a broad-based trade agreement
which includes continued
fuel supply.
The reports followed delicate
negotiations between representatives of the
two governments and officials
from Libyan supplier Tamoil, which has been
providing fuel to Zimbabwe for
the past year, the Libya Arab Investment Bank
and the Libyan African
Investment Company. The agreement is expected to
renew the US$360 million
(Z$19,8 billion) fuel procurement pact between
Libya and Zimbabwe which has
seen the latter receiving almost hitch-free
fuel supplies from the former
since last year in return for commodities such
as beef, tobacco and
cotton.
A number of filling stations had neither petrol nor diesel, while
others had
only one of the commodities. By late yesterday afternoon, several
filling
stations had already displayed "No fuel" signs. One attendant said
supplies
had been erratic for the past week. Midzi, the Energy and Power
Development
Minister, only last week quashed reports that a fuel crisis was
imminent.
Speculation has been rife, however, that the government has been
mulling a
30 to 40 percent fuel price increase.
MSNBC
Zimbabwe,Libya renew $360 mln fuel
deal-media
HARARE, Sept. 11 - Zimbabwe has renewed a $360 million
fuel deal with Libya
under which the North African country will supply 70
percent of its fuel
needs for a year, state media reported on
Wednesday.
''Zimbabwe will continue to receive fuel from Libya for
another year
following the signing of a trade, investment and fuel supply
agreement
between the two countries on Monday night,'' the official Herald
newspaper
said.
President Robert Mugabe led a high profile
government delegation last
weekend to Libya, which has provided most of
Zimbabwe's fuel for the last
two years.
An acute foreign currency
shortage has led to erratic supplies in the
southern African country since
1999.
On Tuesday several garages in the capital Harare reported
limited
supplies of petrol and diesel, leading to long queues by motorists,
which
have been a regular feature in the last three years.
State
radio however quoted the energy ministry as assuring the nation
of adequate
supplies following the Libya deal.
''The ministry and the National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe are also
working on other financing arrangements which
will also guarantee the nation
of continued fuel supplies for the foreseeable
future,'' the radio said.
The Herald said besides supplying fuel,
Libya would also invest in
Zimbabwe's mining, tourism and agricultural
sectors, and in infrastructure
development in the oil industry while the
southern African country would
export beef, fruits and tobacco.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is a key ally of Mugabe, who has
faced
criticism on the international scene over his controversial drive to
seize
white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks and his disputed
re-election
in March.
Zimbabwe is mired in its worst economic
crisis in history, which many
people blame on Mugabe's mismanagement since
assuming power at independence
from Britain in 1980.
On Wednesday
state radio said Mugabe was in New York for the United
Nations' General
Assembly meeting, which he would address on Thursday.
ZIMBABWE: Drought worsens cholera outbreak
JOHANNESBURG, 11 September
(IRIN) - Ten people have died out of 350 new cases of cholera in southern
Zimbabwe since the beginning of August, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on
Wednesday.
In the districts of Zaka and Bikita, 61 new cases of the
waterborne disease - associated with poor sanitation - have been reported since
the beginning of September.
Last year, 650 cases were reported throughout
the country and 14 people died.
"The current situation is being made
worse because of the drought, and in the rural areas sanitation is very poor,"
UNICEF Resident Representative Festo Kavishe told IRIN.
The situation had
been compounded by a protracted health workers' strike, and an overall shortage
of health personnel, Kavishe explained.
An unexpected setback was also
the initial reluctance of a religious sect in the area to take anti-cholera
medication, opting for healing prayers instead, he said.
To control the
spread of the disease, UNICEF, the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, local health
authorities, and even the police, have mobilised for an education and prevention
campaign.
UNICEF information officer Mayke Huijbregts said this had also
included the distribution of water purification tablets, the provision of public
bowsers, and soap.
Huijbregts said people living with HIV/AIDS were in
particular danger, as their weakened immune systems made them more vulnerable to
illness.
An outbreak of cholera in nearby Malawi earlier this year had a
significant impact on the ability of communities to cultivate, deepening the
country's food crisis.
Around half of Zimbabwe's 12 million people are in
need of food aid until next year's harvest.
For more details on cholera:
http://www.who.int/inf-fs/en/fact107.html
[ENDS]
IRIN-SA
Tel:
+27 11 880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za
Tobacco Sales Rake in $11 Billion
The
Herald (Harare)
September 10, 2002
Posted to the web September 11, 2002
Leornard Makombe
Harare
ZIMBABWE has earned US$200 million (Z$11 billion) from the
sale of 100 million kilogrammes of tobacco that have so far passed through the
country's three auction floors.
The golden leaf, which is the biggest foreign currency
earner, fetched an average price of US$2,10 per kg.
Latest figures released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
indicate that the quantity of tobacco sold at the floors is slightly lower than
that of the previous period.
The average price per kg is also 8,8 percent lower when
compared with that of the preceding period.
Last year the average price per kg was US$2,30 per
kilogramme, which is 20 cents higher than the US$2,10 offered to farmers this
season.
The price however, translates into a lower cumulative
earning for the crop.
The managing director of the Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF), Mr
Pat Devenish told Business Herald yesterday that the crop handled by the three
auction floors could reach 170 million kgs projected this season. TSF is one of
the three auction floors operating in Zimbabwe.
The other two are Burley Marketing Zimbabwe and the
indigenous owned Zimbabwe Industry Tobacco Auction Centre.
"Farmers are not holding on to their crop and to date the
three tobacco auction floors have sold 101 582 427 kgs. Most of the farmers are
selling their crops as quickly as possible and we expect around 170 million kgs
by the end of the selling season," he said.
This year's tobacco-selling season kicked off on a low note
after farmers decided to keep their crop demanding better prices and the
devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar.
Farmers were arguing that they had bought some of the
foreign currency required to import inputs on the parallel market.
Trade on the floors normalised after the Government offered
farmers an additional US80 cents on each American dollar paid by tobacco
merchants on the auction floors.
Tobacco is the country's major foreign currency earner. The
crop enjoys an advantage in that farmers are paid instantly compared to other
crops, which are paid some months after the purchases have been made.
September 12, 2002
Gold fever grips Zimbabwe workers left jobless and at risk of
starving
From Jan Raath in Harare
GOLD fever has hit
Zimbabwe as 1.5 million displaced farmworkers and redundant miners pan rivers
for gold dust and try their luck down derelict mines.
But there is no hope
of getting rich quick. Starvation is looming while the nation’s once prolific
farmland lies neglected. Moreover, the disused mineshafts have claimed 60 lives
already this year.
John Holloway, a mining consultant, calls it an unprecedented boom. “It’s
driven by famine, the economic situation and the black market exchange rate,” he
said. “The work is all manual, exhausting and extremely dangerous, and the
technology is no improvement on the Ancient Egyptian goldminers.”
In the rivers, it is mostly women and children who dig through the soft
sand to reach the bedrock where the alluvial gold settles, using wooden bowls to
separate the particles.
Mr Holloway said that jackhammers and dynamite are used in perhaps 10 per
cent of the underground rock mines. In the rest, barefoot and helmetless young
men batter at the rock reefs with hammers and chisels. They haul themselves on
ropes out of shafts hundreds of metres deep, with a basket of ore on their
shoulders. They are often killed by river sands that collapse as they tunnel
through them.
For a century gold and tobacco were the country’s most important exports.
Zimbabwe was Africa’s third-biggest gold producer, after South Africa and Ghana.
However, since President Mugabe’s campaign of violent repression jolted the
country into rapid economic decline in 2000, production from the country’s
sophisticated mining industry has collapsed from a record 29 tonnes to only 10
tonnes forecast this year.
Fifty mines have closed in the same period. Meanwhile a force of about 1.5
million men, women and children with no knowledge of mining are at work on river
banks or prising open old mines to scratch out the deposits by hand.
Zimbabwe has renewed its £240 million fuel deal with Libya, state radio
said yesterday. Libya supplies 70 per cent of Zimbabwe’s fuel, which it pays for
by beef and tobacco exports. The statecontrolled Herald newspaper said that
Libya would invest in mining, tourism and agriculture.
Hi Everyone,
Amnesty International are running a petition to Mbeki on the
Mugabe issue,
so if you have time please log onto the site at
http://www.amnesty.org
and fill it out.
It takes literally one minute of your time. It is currently
featured on the
homepage, so you can't miss it, but if you can't find it (ie
if they move it
off the home page) here below is the direct URL
http://web.amnesty.org/web/zimbabwe.nsf/intro
Please
pass this on to as many people as you can, it is rare that we all
have an
opportunity to do somthing concrete so easily.