Zim Online
Monday 18 September
2006
PAUL Mangwana . . . we won't lift
gag
MASVINGO - The Zimbabwe government will not loosen its tight grip
on
the media because it fears a robust and independent Press could be
manipulated by Western powers pushing for "regime change" in Harare, acting
Information Minister Paul Mangwana said.
Addressing journalists
at the weekend in the southern city of
Masvingo, Mangwana, until now
regarded as among the doves in President
Robert Mugabe's hawkish Cabinet,
said Harare will also not allow private
radio and television stations until
it finds foreign currency to instal
infrastructure required before more
broadcasters could be licenced.
He did not say when the Harare
administration - struggling for hard
cash to import fuel and food among
other key national requirements - would
ever find more cash to enable the
state's Transmedia firm, charged with
providing transmission services for
broadcasters in the country, to import
more transmitting gear and other
equipment.
Mangwana said: "If you see big and powerful nations like
Britain and
United States (US) passing laws to punish Zimbabwe, it means
they want to
effect regime change.
"We realise that they would
want to effect regime change through the
Press because it is a powerful
instrument to effect their desired change. We
will therefore continue to
maintain tight controls on the press in order for
us to remain in
power".
The US and European Union have imposed targeted visa and
financial
sanctions against Mugabe and his top officials of his government
as
punishment for stealing elections, failure to uphold human rights and the
rule of law.
The Harare administration denies the Western
charges and says
sanctions against its officials - which it maintains have
crippled Zimbabwe's
economy - were meant to punish it for seizing white land
for redistribution
to landless blacks.
Mangwana, who is also
Minister of Anti-Corruption and Anti-Monopolies,
said the state-controlled
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings which operates four
radio stations and one
television channel will continue to "enjoy the
monopoly" until money was
found to develop transmission infrastructure.
He said: "For us to
develop an infrastructure which will accommodate
other players in the
broadcasting sector, we need forex for the exercise. We
do not have money
for that hence Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings will
continue to enjoy the
monopoly."
Zimbabwe, which has laws providing for the imprisonment
of journalists
for up to 20 years for publishing falsehoods, was once
classified by the
World Association of Newspapers as one of the three most
dangerous places in
the world for journalists.
The other two
countries were the former Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan
and the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
Since Mugabe's controversial re-election in 2002,
dozens of
independent reporters had been arrested and several foreign
journalists
deported.
Besides the ZBH, which is the only one
permitted by law to broadcast
in Zimbabwe, there are three other radio
stations which broadcast into the
country from outside its
borders.
The three stations, the London-based SW Radio Africa,
Studio 7 based
in the US and Voice of the People that uses a Netherlands
Radio transmitter
to broadcast into Zimbabwe, are all run by exiled
Zimbabwean journalists.
The Zimbabwean authorities, using
technology acquired from China, this
year stepped up efforts to jam the
private radio stations that they consider
illegal. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Monday 18 September
2006
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Human Rights
Forum (ZHRF) on Sunday called for
the immediate prosecution of police and
soldiers who brutally assaulted and
injured labour and opposition leaders
arrested last week while attempting to
mobilise workers to protest for more
pay and better living conditions.
The ZHRF, grouping together 16 of
the country's main human rights and
pro-democracy non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), said in a statement
that the assaulting of labour and
opposition officials was evidence of "both
widespread and systematic"
torture in the southern African country.
Both Home Affairs Minister
Kembo Mohadi and Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa were not immediately
available to confirm whether the government
would take up the call by the
ZHRF and probe state agents accused of
committing torture.
Torture and other forms of inhuman punishment are outlawed in Zimbabwe
but
there have been frequent reports of state security forces targeting
perceived political opponents of the government for torture.
Dozens of top leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
and
some officials of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party
officials were arrested by the police in Harare last Wednesday as they
prepared to lead lunchtime protests by workers against worsening economic
hardships. The protests fizzled out after the arrests.
The ZCTU
and MDC officials were severely assaulted by the police and
other state
agents believed to be members of the army who kept them locked
up in cells,
denying them medical attention. The detained officials suffered
various
injuries including broken arms, legs and ribs.
About 30 of the
badly injured labour activists were last Friday
released by a Harare court
on bail pending trial on October 3 on charges of
organising illegal
protests.
But the hearing of the bail application of ZCTU secretary
general
Wellington Chibebe, who was the worst injured during the assault by
the
police, had to be held on Saturday at the government-run Parirenyatwa
hospital where the union leader is receiving treatment for severe injuries
to the head, a broken arm and fingers.
Harare magistrate Peter
Mufunda, who granted bail to Chibebe, ordered
a thorough investigation into
the assault and directed that a full report be
brought to court when it sits
again to hear the matter on 3 October.
Mafunda also ordered that the
people who assaulted and tortured the
labour leaders be brought to
book.
However, the government has in the past ignored such
directives by the
courts to investigate torture and bring culprits to
book.
For example, state secret service agent Joseph Mwale remains
free and
in the employ of the government years after a High Court judge
ordered that
he be tried for allegedly burning to death two aides of MDC
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai six years ago. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Saturday 16 September
2006
MASVINGO - A local child rights group
has accused a junior Zimbabwean
government minister of sexually abusing a
child parliamentarian and covering
up the crime by bribing the parents in an
out of court settlement.
The Girl Child Network, which champions
the rights of the girl child,
accused Tinos Rusere, 61, of impregnating the
former child parliamentarian
for Zaka East, Petronella
Chimbera.
Chimbera, who was still in her teens at the time of the
offence about
two years ago, has since given birth to a baby sired by the
deputy minister
who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Zaka East
constituency.
A report compiled by the Network in February this
year but only made
available to ZimOnline this week, says Rusere impregnated
the minor between
2003 and 2004.
Rusere is also accused of
using his immense influence in offering the
girl's parents a farm under the
government's controversial land policies.
The report reads in part:
"The former child parliamentarian was a
scholar and a minor when she was
allegedly impregnated by the MP. The victim
is suspected to be a mother
now.
"It is assumed that the MP got into an out of court settlement
with
the girl and the family. The family was allegedly allocated a farm . .
. It
is against this background that the GCN is instituting investigations
against the MP with the view to rescue the abused child."
Contacted for comment yesterday, Rusere flatly rejected the
allegations.
"I am not aware of such a thing. What I only know
is that I worked
with all child parliamentarians nicely in my area. Even if
that might sound
true can you not see that it has been overtaken by events?"
said Rusere. -
ZimOnline
Sunday Tribune, SA
September
17, 2006 Edition 1
Peta Thornycroft
Harare: Businessman John
Bredenkamp was acquitted of breaking Zimbabwe's
tough immigration laws
yesterday even though he has too many travel
documents.
However, his
legal team was baffled yesterday when, even after his
acquittal, the court
failed to return his South African and Zimbabwean
passports.
Bredenkamp, who claims he is a Zimbabwean citizen, was
arrested two months
ago and admitted he had a South African passport but had
never used it to
enter or leave Zimbabwe. He told the court during his trial
two weeks ago
that he had renounced his South African citizenship as
required when
Zimbabwe changed its citizenship laws before the presidential
election in
March 2002.
Harare Magistrate Tapiwa Godzi told the court
yesterday that he was obliged
to agree with the defence argument, that the
relevant section of the
Immigration Act "does not apply
extra-teritorially".
The defence had argued that legislation could not
apply outside Zimbabwe's
borders and that Bredenkamp had only used his South
African passport to
enter and leave that country as required by South
African law.
When the 20-minute judgment ended, Bredenkamp, flanked by
his legal team and
colleagues declined to comment.
His
advocate, Eric Matinenga, said the magistrate's ruling had also raised
the
question of whether Bredenkamp would still be considered a Zimbabwean
citizen or whether the Minister of Home Affairs might consider it withdrawn,
even though he had been acquitted on the passport issue.
Members of
his legal team said they could not recall any Zimbabwean who had
followed
the law and renounced access to any foreign citizenship and who had
then
been stripped of their Zimbabwe citizenship.
Bredenkamp surrendered his
passports as part of his bail conditions. Even
though he was acquitted and
freed, the magistrate's court had not returned
either by close of business
yesterday and his legal team was considering
applying to the High Court for
their return.
"We are still not sure where all this is going," said one
of his friends who
declined to be identified. Bredenkamp, often dubbed
Zimbabwe's richest man,
still has considerable business and farming
interests in Zimbabwe but is no
longer close to any significant politicians
in the ruling Zanu-PF.
South African born Bredenkamp has homes in South
Africa, the United Kingdom
and Spain, but chose to live in Zimbabwe and
developed his farm, Thetford,
near Mazowe, about 40km west of Harare, into
one of Africa's most beautiful
estates.
Until yesterday's judgment
most Zimbabweans believed they would be breaking
the law if they had a
second passport, even if they only used it outside
Zimbabwe. - Tribune
Foreign Service
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
HARARE - A cameraman for
the South African Broadcasting Corporation
was briefly held in Harare as
riot police stormed a courtroom where arrested
members of Zimbabwe's main
trade union were due to appear, it was reported
Saturday. Austin Gundani was
arrested on Friday afternoon along with
freelance reporter Tendai
Musiyazviriyo, reports the official Herald
newspaper.
The pair
were trying to cover the court appearance of a group of
Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Union (ZCTU) members who were arrested Wednesday
as they tried to
demonstrate against low wages and Zimbabwe's worsening
economic
crisis.
Gundani and Musiyazviriyo were later released, said the
Herald.
There were scenes of chaos at the Harare Magistrates Court
on Friday
as ZCTU members tried to chant slogans outside the building
demanding the
release of their colleagues and police stormed the court, said
the Herald.
The ZCTU and its lawyers say some of the detained were
brutally
assaulted while in police custody.
ZCTU president
Lovemore Matombo and six others appeared in the
courtroom wearing slings,
said the newspaper. Wellington Chibebe, the ZCTU's
secretary general, could
not attend court because he was still in hospital.
Morgan
Tsvangirai, the founding leader of the opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC), was at the court to watch proceedings, according to
the
report.
Deutsche Presse Agentur
IOL
September 17
2006 at 04:24PM
Harare - Police in Zimbabwe on Sunday denied
reports that shots were
fired at the home of Anti-Corruption Minister Paul
Mangwana.
"Only stones were thrown at Mangwana's Harare home late
Saturday and a
policeman fired warning shots at the assailants," police
spokesman Oliver
Mandipaka told state radio.
The new version of
events will likely prove an embarrassment to
Mangwana, who is also the
acting minister of information.
News that unknown gunmen had
attacked his home was top of radio
bulletins on Sunday morning. The minister
claimed he was being intimidated
because of his fight against
corruption.
President Robert Mugabe launched an anti-corruption
drive in 2004,
which is reported to be unpopular with some powerful figures
in both the
government and the private sector.
Security
around Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono, a key figure in the
anti-graft
crusade is reported to have been stepped up, and recently a
suspicious fire
was reported to have broken out at his farm outside
Harare. -
Sapa-dpa
Seven years ago I sat in the
aquatic stadium in Chitungwiza and watched as
8000 ordinary Zimbabweans -
mostly low-income workers and rural peasant
farmers, formed a new political
Party, which they called the "Movement for
Democratic Change". It was the
start of a new era in Zimbabwean politics.
I seem to have been in
opposition politics all my life. It started in the 60
's when I was a student
at the University in Harare and underwent a
metamorphosis in political terms
- discovering the conditions under which
people were living and working and
for the first time appreciating the
unjustness of the situation. I vowed to
work towards resolving the problem
and spent the next 12 years in opposition
politics - working against the
Smith government.
At independence in
1980 I was part of the transition team - working to help
the incoming
administration (Zanu or Zapu) to come to grips with what had
been a closed
book to the rest of the world for 13 years following the
imposition of
mandatory UN sanctions in 1967. I then worked on the first
donor conference
and did the background papers that laid the groundwork for
a very successful
transition in agriculture. Over the next 15 years the farm
sector was
Zimbabwe's most consistent performer.
Although I sympathized with the
forces that came to power in 1980, I always
had an uneasy relationship with
them even though I occupied quite senior
positions in the first 8 years of
Mr. Mugabe's rule. This was accentuated in
1983 when I was brought face to
face with the early effects of the
Gukurahundi exercise and raised my
disquiet with the then Secretary to the
Cabinet, Charles Utete. I went on to
raise my concerns with certain European
governments and got my first serious
reprimand and threat from the Minister
of State Security, Emerson
Munangagwa.
It was the beginning of the end for me - the last time I had
been threatened
by a Minister of Security, it was by a Minister in the Smith
government who
called me a "threat to national security". Somewhat
exaggerated in my view
at the time and also in retrospect, but as we have
come to learn, political
paranoia has no bounds.
I eventually parted
way with the regime here in 1990 and participated in
various attempts to
initiate real opposition politics in Zimbabwe. Those
attempts culminated in
the failed Forum Party and then came the action by
the ZCTU.
At the
time I was Chairman of the Industrial Employers Committee for
the
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industry and in that capacity watched over
the
issues that related to the working conditions of the 300 000 workers
in
industry. I met with the ZCTU leadership several times a year - usually at
a
labour summit that paved the way for subsequent detailed negotiations
with
over 30 trade unions. The ZCTU exhibited much more courage than the
employer
's organisation in confronting the real issues and early on stated
that our
growing economic difficulties were due to poor macro economic
policies and
management.
Attempts by the Unions to get their voice
heard fell on deaf ears and
eventually they decided that they had to confront
the ruling party in the
one area where they had no choice but to listen -
national politics.
A long process then began that eventually led to the
meeting I was attending
7 years ago today. I attended as an employer and
curious bystander. It did
not go unnoticed and shortly after the first
Congress - I was invited to
join the leadership as Secretary for Economic
Affairs. I have remained in
the leadership since then holding various
positions and trying to help in
the one field where I can contribute - that
of policy formulation.
None of us appreciated what we were letting
ourselves in for that day. What
followed has been, to some extent, the
classical African nightmare: the
collapse and implosion of post independence
African economy that was handed
over in reasonable condition by those who had
run it before.
I can recall visiting Ghana in 1983 - seeing first hand
for the first time
just what a lousy government can do. Subsequently I saw
the situation in
many other African States that we had never been able to
visit before our
own independence process. It was not a pleasant experience;
I saw countries
decimated by war and bad policies, massive corruption and the
complete
subordination of the people's will and welfare to the needs and
greed of a
tiny minority in power.
But life does not stand still -
Ghana is now a thriving democracy with a
booming economy. Africa as a whole
this year will grow at above the average
growth for the global economy and
generally experience inflation below 10
per cent. If we take South Africa and
Zimbabwe out of the SADC the region is
doing even better than Africa as a
whole. This gives me the conviction that
we will one day also see Zimbabwe
turn the corner and rediscover the values
and principles on which it's
independence struggle was founded.
But in September 1999 none of that was
in view - we were embarking on the
long road back to sanity and in the
process would see our own government
destroy its economy and undermine every
principle on which it had led the
struggle for justice during the earlier
regime. Since then we have seen
hundreds killed, thousands beaten and maimed
and been slandered and mocked
in all State controlled media. We as a Party
have been subjected to regional
ostracism and isolation as well as propaganda
led by South Africa - the one
country we thought might help and one that has
the power to change things
here overnight.
But we have survived - we
certainly won the 2002 Presidential elections -
probably by a two-thirds
majority, we probably won the 2000 elections and
the subsequent parliamentary
election in 2005. In the process we have
sacrificed and worked - our
leadership has often gone to jail and been
beaten. We have been infiltrated
by State agents using their money and
training to do so and have been failed
by elements of our own leadership.
But we have survived.
We know,
better than most that that is not enough. Political parties are
judged by
history and by their ability to deliver real change and
transformation for
their followers, which we have not yet managed to do. But
we remain the main
threat to this regime and the only hope of a new and
better Zimbabwe. No
amount of reform is going to rescue Zanu PF and those
who record our history
are judging their leadership harshly. Their weakness,
paranoia and failure
was no better demonstrated this past week, when they
arrested and then
subjected to savage, brutal beatings, the entire elected
leadership of our
Trade Union movement because they dared to want to submit
a memorandum to
government on the problems of the workers in this country.
I want to pay
tribute today to those who have had the courage to stand up to
this tyranny
in Zimbabwe. I looked at the roll of honor we keep at the MDC
recording the
names of those killed in politically inspired murders since
2000. They
include many friends and I am proud that there are a number of
white Africans
listed there. We salute the ZCTU leadership, we salute our
own leadership who
participated and were also imprisoned and beaten this
past week. We commit
ourselves afresh to this struggle and to achieving a
new and better Zimbabwe,
one that will make us proud to be Zimbabweans
again. The one thing this
regime and its supporters need to know is that we
in the MDC will not quit
this struggle until we have achieved our
objectives - those set for us 7
years ago by the real representatives of the
people of this great
country.
Eddie Cross
16th September 2006
The savage repression of the
workers' demonstrations in Zimbabwe this week
made the Vigil even more
determined to stand up for our suffering brothers
and sisters back home. We
had with us founder Vigil member Addley, whose
sister Grace Kwinje (MDC
Deputy Secretary for International Affairs) was
arrested during the
demonstration on Wednesday. Grace, who was with us in
London only last
week, had a phone conversation with Addley today and told
her that she was
covered in cuts and bruises from her violent treatment
while under arrest.
Addley was not the only one of us affected by this
lastest trauma. We were
relieved to hear that Lovemore Matombo, ZCTU
President, along with the
others had been released. On Wednesday, we had
his niece Mercy with us in
tears when she heard he'd been arrested and
beaten.
As we hear from
SW Radio Africa: 'The victims, including ZCTU President
Lovemore Matombo and
Secretary General Wellington Chibhebhe told the medical
team that when they
were arrested on Wednesday, "they were taken two at a
time into a cell and
beaten by five policemen in uniform, who beat them for
at least an hour if
not more." When tired the police officers are said to
have taken rests or
taken turns to torture the labour officials. The arrests
happened in Harare
on Wednesday as people gathered for a mass demonstration
against low
salaries, high taxes and workers' lack of access to
anti-retroviral HIV/AIDS
drugs. Describing the injuries Dr Matchaba Hove
said; "Chibhebhe himself
had obvious lacerations on the top of his head and
his shirt was full of
blood. His hands were obviously swollen and the left
hand - it was very
clear that he had an obvious fracture. They all had
severe bruises to the
limbs, backs, buttocks and they said to us they had
been thoroughly beaten
the very day they had been picked." He said Lovemore
Matombo's hands and his
back are swollen. Lucia Matibenga, the ZCTU First
Vice President, was
bleeding from the ears. Matchaba Hove named some of the
others injured;
Moses Ngondo and Rwopedza Chigwagwa had fractures of the
forearm, Tererai
Todini a broken finger and Nqobizita Khumalo a fractured
leg.'
These
torturers must not think they can get away with it forever. The
people know
who they are and they will be brought to justice. The Vigil was
addressed
by Julius Mutyambizi-Dewa, newly elected Secretary to the MDC UK.
He said we
must not be intimidated by the latest brutal response by the
Mugabe regime
to peaceful protest. He said that the police and the army are
our brothers
and some of them are beginning to see the light. He had spoken
to Grace
Kwinje, who despite her ordeal, was defiant and determined to fight
on. The
Vigil made a spontaneous collection for this week's victims of
violence -
but the main message we want to send them is our admiration for
their
courage.
We had a good attendance (including a large group from Milton
Keynes)
despite some regulars attending a London meeting arranged by the
Britain-Zimbabwe Society on Zimbabwean skills and reconstruction. We are
glad that so many came to join us to express their outrage at what is going
on in Zimbabwe rather than talking about it.
Wonderful to meet the
family of founder Vigil member, Patience. Her husband
and two children have
recently joined her from Zimbabwe. So many families
have been divided by
the Zimbabwean catastrophe so it's a great joy to see a
Vigil family
reunited.
As the outcome of last week's MDC UK elections becomes clearer,
we are happy
to say that other Vigil supporters have been elected to the
National
Executive. Congratulations to the following:
- Youth
Wing - Harris Nyatsanza, Secretary (Harris has been
instrumental in so much
of what we have done); Vandirai Zano,
Vice-Organising
Secretary.
- Women's Wing - Adella Mutero, Chair; Fadzanai
Muchenagumbo,
Vice-Chair; Mercy Mwakipesile, Vice-Secretary; Victoria
Tarupiwa, Treasurer.
- M embers of the National Executive who have
also attended the
Vigil are: Virginia Ncube, Deputy Secretary and Mary
Kasirowore, Treasurer.
We are glad that so many of the new National
Executive are activists - we
look to them all to do more than just
talk.
For this week's Vigil pictures:
http://uk.msnusers.com/ZimbabweVigil/shoebox.msnw.
FOR
THE RECORD: 72 signed the register.
FOR YOUR DIARY: Monday, 18th
September, 7.30 pm: Zimbabwe Forum. The speaker
is Nicholas Mkaronda,
Co-ordinator of the Crisis Coalition of Zimbabwe
(based in South Africa).
He is an Anglican minister who has worked in
Zimbabwe in the fields of HIV,
human rights and democracy. He has also
published a book on the crisis in
Zimbabwe from the church perspective
'Witness in a Time of Crisis'.
Upstairs at the Theodore Bullfrog pub, 28
John Adam Street, London WC2
(cross the Strand from the Zimbabwe Embassy, go
down a passageway to John
Adam Street, turn right and you will see the pub).
Vigil
co-ordinator
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London,
takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross
violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil
which started in
October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored,
free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
LONDON - ZIMBABWEANS
living in the United Kingdom took their protests
against deportations from
Britain to the Labour government's offices with
other demonstrations taking
place simultaneously in Leeds, Birmingham,
Manchester and other areas with
big concentrations of the Zimbabwean
community over the
weekend.
Noble Sibanda of the United Network for Detained
Zimbabweans told
zimbabwejournalists.com there was need for all Zimbabweans
to unite and send
a message to the British government against its plans to
remove thousands of
failed asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe.
"What we are basically saying to the British government is that they
should
stop aiding Mugabe by trying us here in the UK," said Sibanda. "They
should
allow us to regroup, map our programmes and focus our energies on
fighting
the regime back home. We are worried by the contradictions which we
continue
to find in Tony Blair's government over the Zimbabwe crisis."
At
the Labour party offices in London, the protesters, who have since
visited
the Conservative party offices on the same issue, handed in a
petition
highlighting the plight of the failed asylum seekers and the need
for the
British government to protect them. There was a lot of singing, drum
beating, ululating and sloganeering as the failed asylum seekers and other
Zimbabweans told their sad story of existence both in Zimbabwe and the UK.
The petition was addressed to chairman, Ian McCartney.
"Nobody
wants to be here any longer than necessary. Things are not yet
okay in
Zimbabwe and the British government knows that and that is why
Zimbabwe is
still under the targeted sanctions," said Sibanda. "As long as
they haven't
removed those sanctions then it means people are still being
trampled on. We
want the British government to work with us on this issue
and many others.
They should not run ahead of us but work with us."
The British
government won the right to deport thousands of failed
Zimbabwean asylum
seekers at the courts recently but lawyers representing
the Zimbabweans are
trying to appeal against the decision.
Most of the protesters want
the British government to at least stop
deportations to Zimbabwe until the
situation in the country improves. Some
failed asylum seekers have since
been taken into detention while the
campaign to free them and stop the
deportations continues.
IOL
September 17 2006 at
10:04AM
By Fred Kockott
South African National
Intelligence Agency operatives have infiltrated
a local multi-billion-rand
crime syndicate smuggling counterfeit cigarettes
from Zimbabwe.
Alleged kingpins of the syndicate are now being hunted down by the
NIA, the
South African Revenue Services and various other agencies, but no
high-profile arrests have yet been made.
This follows the
seizure of two shipping containers of counterfeit
cigarettes at Durban
harbour on Tuesday this week.
A source said the consignment of 40
850 cartons was ostensibly
destined for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates,
but had been intercepted at
a Spoornet holding area in Bayhead, Durban
harbour, and not the container
port, where it should have been if it were to
have been shipped out of the
country.
"The Beit
Bridge customs stamp and other export documentation was also
found to be
false, and the clearing agent non existent," said the source.
"God
knows how many other containers have got through. This is but the
tip of the
iceberg."
He said one person - the owner of the containers - had
already been
arrested, but none of the syndicate's alleged
kingpins.
"Huge amounts of bribe money is being paid over to
customs officials,
border control officers and whoever else is needed to
turn a blind eye.
Investigators have got names of four officials involved in
these scams,"
said the source.
Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay
confirmed the seizure of the illegal
consignment, but said neither he nor
Sars Customs and Excise's
Anti-Smuggling head, Inspector Deon Smith, had
been advised of any arrests.
He said investigations were currently focused
on how the syndicate had
obtained a unique South African diamond stamp,
which is only issued to
registered manufacturers of South African
cigarettes.
"There are only 10 (stamps) in South Africa. Others are
issued by
embassies in countries that also produce South African cigarettes,
like
Malawi and Zimbabwe," said Lackay.
Lackay said because no
duties and taxes were charged on cigarettes
destined for export, syndicates
pretended to ship large shipments with bogus
paperwork, then arranged
networks to stash the consignments for distribution
and sale on the local
market.
"Cigarettes are easy to conceal, and are fast selling,"
said Lackay.
He referred to recent statements by the Tobacco
Institute of South
Africa that the illicit trade in tobacco products had
grown from being
almost non-existent 10 years ago to more than 20 percent of
the total South
Africa market.
Lackay also confirmed that
investigations had linked at least three
high-profile South African
businessmen, including the murdered Brett Kebble,
to cigarette
smuggling.
Kebble was gunned down on September 27 last year - a
murder that is
yet to be solved by police.
In his book Brett
Kebble: The Inside Story, business journalist Barry
Sergeant stated that
after running into serious financial difficulties,
Kebble was thrown a
lifeline by a man referred to as "Mr X", an alleged
international smuggler
with whom Kebble had allegedly been doing shady deals
since
2002.
The book says, "It had started with cigarettes and cannabis,
then ran
the gamut of organised crime on a global scale."
Last
month, a state witness in the ongoing R250-million Alberton drug
bust case
also fingered Glen Agliotti of JCI, a Kebble company, in alleged
cigarette
and hashish smuggling.
Lackay reported that on May 20, police in
Zimbabwe arrested two South
African immigration officials and their
Zimbabwean counterparts for trying
to smuggle cigarettes and ivory across
the border.
On May 11, three people were arrested at Zimbabwe's
southern border
attempting to smuggle about R790 000 worth of illegal
cigarettes under a
consignment of coffee. And, in January, a 61-year-old
man, linked to the
smuggling of R7 million worth of goods seized in
Germiston, attempted to
bribe a Sars investigator, offering him R600 000 to
avoid arrest.
This article was originally published on page 1
of Tribune on
September 17, 2006
From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 15 September
Political art from our northern neighbour is thin on the
ground, writes Lisa
Johnston
It is difficult to find a politically
outspoken artist in Zimbabwe. Almost
as hard as trying to locate a garage
with steady fuel supplies, a bearer
cheque that holds its value or an
honourable politician. But unlike the
vagaries of the country's currency,
creative expression has an uncanny
tenacity that allows it to grow under the
most trying circumstances.
Zimbabwe's economic environment makes it
difficult for artists simply to
function as artists. Aside from being
expensive, materials are difficult to
come by and most artists stick to
small or medium formats to keep their
costs down, opting for neutral subject
matter that is easy to sell in the
country's diminished market. Politics,
unsurprisingly, also plays a
hampering role. Knowing this I was still
surprised, when I visited a recent
group exhibition of Zimbabwean artists in
Johannesburg, at just how little
social commentary the pieces conveyed.
True, the stated aim of the
exhibition was not political, but to see the
country through that lens was
to see the land as a soothing oasis of
pastoral life, rolling hills and
endless wildlife - if I thought it was
true, I would move there tomorrow.
This criticism is shared by at
least some Zimbabwean creatives.
Controversial playwright Cont Mhlanga told
Worldpress.org earlier this year:
"With a society such as ours, which is
suppressed and depressed, artists
should be the voice of reason, the
conscience of society. For me, artists in
Zimbabwe are not reflective of the
problems in society and that is why it
has taken so long to solve them." It
is a sentiment that curator Raphael
Chikukwa feels strongly about. In 2003,
at the height of political tension
when the government was vehemently
stomping out dissident voices, he held
Visions of Zimbabwe, an exhibition of
outspoken work, in the United Kingdom.
A collection that, he says, would
have been impossible to show on home soil.
"It was a chance to give a voice
to the voiceless and educate the First
World about Zimbabwe," says Chikukwa.
Yet he still feels that artists should
be more critical and fight for
freedom of expression from their home turf.
"Why are we sitting down? Why
are we folding our arms?" he asks. "If you are
living in a society where
people are suffering, you have to comment on that.
So many people are just
trying to get their bread and butter, crossing the
border to sell their art
at Greenmarket Square and Rosebank [rooftop
market]. Artists are reduced to
that, but it is work for economic salvation.
It is not art. It is good
décor, you can match it to your curtains."
"Even those who speak out
become self-censored. There are a lot of
disgruntled artists in this place.
We are crying for freedom, freedom of
expression. If artists are locked out
then we become the opposition. During
the liberation struggle, artists were
used: 'Go and dance [and we will give
you] a bun and a Coke.'" Now those
same voices, he says, are being quashed.
"We aren't against the government.
We are against the system they impose and
we should be given a platform
against that system. We need to get our
priorities right as a nation,
especially those in power. It has been a
long-haul flight. We have been in
it for too long now and we are jetlagged."
Bulawayo-based Owen Maseko is one
artist who has pushed through the fear
barrier to exhibit controversial
works from his home city. In one
installation he built a toilet cubicle
spattered with political graffiti and
commentary - the message being that it
is only in the toilet that anyone has
the freedom to express themselves. In
another work entitled One Fool at a
Time, he shows a group of people
clamouring on a single toilet seat - with a
similar message being that when
living in a Big Brother environment there is
no room for
privacy.
"People said I was crazy, but the fear only gripped me in
2003, when the
political tension was really high. I was followed around by
the police for a
while. It was fear, but it was also strength. I see that it
was an
opportunity to put myself in an experimental situation and it became
a
growth thing. As an artist [in Zimbabwe] we always have fear, but here I
am,
I'm still around." He introduces me to fellow artists Charles Nkomo,
Khumbalini Mpofu, Bkezelo Mlilo, who all work from studios at the Bulawayo
National Gallery, and the conversation turns to economics. "Generally,
anyone who gets the opportunity [to leave the country] goes," they tell me.
"The few of us who are left are trying. Those who made a name for themselves
before the bad times are lucky. It is unfortunate for people trying to make
a name for themselves now. There are three classes in Zimbabwe: rich, poor
and surviving - the surviving class is becoming the dominant class," says
Maseko. "We always say if you can survive in Zimbabwe, you can survive
anywhere in the world." For many artists survival means selling over the
internet or through South African galleries or flea markets. With the demise
of tourism and a climate of hyper-inflation, the local market is a barely
viable means of making a living.
"The problem with selling work
in Zimbabwe is that you sell today, but by
the time the cheque has cleared
you have lost 20% of the work's value," says
Harare-based painter Pip
Curling. Aside from selling her own work, Curling
represents naive artists
Mishek Gudo and Foni Kofi, who work from a gazebo
in her garden. It is the
work of these artists that seems to best embody a
gentle resilience that is
apparent among the majority of Zimbabweans I meet.
They are the quiet voices
that offer a window on an enduring source of
faith - that in the long run,
human truth will win over political blindness.
One of Gudo's mythical
whimsical pieces, Greed, features an owl with an
uncanny likeness to
President Robert Mugabe. "[My work is based on] stories
I used to hear from
my grandparents, [but] some of these things are
happening right now," he
says. The traditional story behind the painting is
that the owl was greedy
and demanded food from the other animals until one
bird refused and
discovered the owl's horns were only ears. The animals
fought the owl, which
is why it now hides during the day and moves around at
night. Similarly,
Kofi's joyful, geometric paintings carry a simple source
of strength. The
proverbs in his works teach that "every conquerer has his
conquerer", "he
who eats fire vomits the embers" and "even leaders should be
humble".
Sunday Mail, Zimbabwe
From Itai
Musengeyi in HAVANA, Cuba
THE Non-Aligned Movement should reject the
unilateral actions of some world
powers which impose illegal sanctions or
attack other countries in disregard
of international law, President Mugabe
has said.
Addressing the 14th NAM summit here early yesterday
morning, Cde Mugabe said
several NAM member states, including Zimbabwe, have
been slapped with
unilateral sanctions while others like Iraq and Lebanon
have suffered from
illegal attacks by some Western powers and their
allies.
"My strong appeal is that we take a stand to fight against these
rampant
acts of aggression affecting our countries and peoples," President
Mugabe
said.
Zimbabwe was slapped with illegal economic sanctions by
Britain, the United
States and their Western allies after it embarked on the
land reform
programme in 2000.
Cde Mugabe said the threat of
international terrorism was worrying and
required the international community
to co-operate to combat the scourge.
He said the growth of state
terrorism was also disturbing in the wake of a
unipolar world.
"Our
small states now live in fear as daily threats emanate from the West
to
attack or undermine our systems in order to bring about regime
change.
"The phenomenon of national sovereignty and the exclusive
political rights
of our people to vote for governments of their own choice is
being
undermined.
"Democracy has now become the right of a superpower
to change governments.
My country has rejected this stupid belligerent notion
and will resist any
attempt to realise it. However, this summit must condemn
this dangerous and
adventurous tendency of Western powers led by the United
States and
Britain," he said.
Cde Mugabe said NAM faced new situations
which required the grouping to
uphold and defend its own purposes and
principles, those of the UN and
international law for a peaceful, prosperous,
just and equitable world.
President Mugabe told delegates at the NAM
summit that it was imperative
that the movement should improve its cohesion,
unity and solidarity to make
a difference.
He said the grouping must
adapt to the changing international arena to
remain relevant.
NAM was
supposed to ensure that the United Nations was the pivot of
multi-lateralism
and its strength in facing the challenges of the 21st
century lay in its
ability to defend this principle, he said.
Cde Mugabe said development,
which must be viewed as a human right, must be
at the centre of the UN
agenda.
A lot had been said in the past three decades about supporting
development
efforts in Third World countries, but the developed countries
were not
committing enough resources towards achieving this.
President
Mugabe said momentum generated in the past two years for the
reform of the UN
Security Council had not produced tangible results.
He said NAM should
press for a Security Council that is democratic and
representative while
pushing for the expansion of the key arm of the UN in
both its permanent and
non-permanent categories.
"Furthermore, we should guard against attempts
to create two or more tiers
of member states in the permanent category. If
the veto cannot be abolished,
then it should be extended to all permanent
members," said President Mugabe.
The birth of a new UN Human Rights
Council was welcome following the tainted
performance of the old Human Rights
Commission, said Cde Mugabe.
He said there should be no politicisation,
selectivity and double standards
in the work of the new
council.
"Already we witness a defiance of this same Human Rights Council
by those
states which disregard its resolution due to their perennial
protection by
the powerful."
The President also urged developed
countries to do more on debt relief as
the overall external debt of
developing countries continued to rise.
Co-ordinated approaches to
external debt and debt servicing, including
outright forgiveness, would
create a fair and just multilateral trading
system.
Cde Mugabe said
globalisation and trade liberalisation had produced uneven
benefits among and
within states.
The global economy was slow and lopsided in growth,
resulting in economic
instability which hurts developing
countries.
"NAM should call for international economic development
characterised by
greater coherence between the international monetary and
financial systems.
Furthermore we should continue to call for the creation of
a universal,
rule-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral
trading
system."
President Mugabe said NAM and the G77 and China
should work to break the
current impasse on international trade negotiations
which have stalled the
Doha talks.
Those responsible for the impasse -
the Western economic powers - should
remove their unfair domestic
agricultural subsidies, he said.
Cde Mugabe said NAM should support and
reinvigorate South-South co-operation
to break dependence which characterises
trade and economic relations between
the developed and developing
countries.
He said Zimbabwe had adopted a "Look East" policy that has
seen it enhance
economic relations with China, the Eastern tigers, India,
Pakistan and the
Middle East.
Cde Mugabe said the critical economic
situation in Africa - the least
developed and marginalised of all regions -
had to be addressed if global
economic growth and interdependence was to have
meaning.