By Violet
Gonda
25 September 2006
27 people on Monday were left with
bruises after police in Harare
crushed a protest march by the pressure group
National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA). Demonstrations, which took part in
several cities last
Wednesday, had failed to take place in Harare due to
heavy police presence.
Dr Lovemore Madhuku, chairperson of the NCA,
said the impromptu strike
action which was attended by around 300 people was
to make the people of
Harare go back to the streets and regain their
confidence as the police
blocked the protests last week. He said; "The
objective is to raise
awareness and putting pressure on the
government."
Police are said to have started beating the protesters
who were not
resisting but merely sat on the road. There were no arrests.
Madhuku
believes it was a well calculated plot by the authorities not to
arrest
anyone so as to create the impression that there were very few people
in the
streets. He also said perhaps it was coinciding with the return of
Robert
Mugabe who was returning home from the United Nations General
Assembly in
New York.
In an interview with Associated Press
last week Mugabe is said to have
absolved the police force that violently
suppressed the ZCTU protests the
week before. He is reported to have said he
did not know the details but
blamed "overzealousness of one or two police,
exaggerating their role."
But on Monday the state mouth-piece, the
Herald newspaper quoted
Mugabe as saying the union leaders got the treatment
they deserved. The
Herald said he made the statement in Egypt, where he
stopped over on his way
home from the UN.
Two weeks ago several
senior officials of the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions were arrested and
severely assaulted by the police at the start
of protest marches for a
better standard of living. The following week
scores of NCA activists were
also arrested in Mutare, Gweru and Masvingo,
during marches to protest
against the brutalisation of their colleagues in
the labour movement. They
were also calling for a democratic constitution.
Madhuku warned of
more protests this weeks saying; "We are trying to
use the demonstrations to
build consciousness and that is happening."
But some observers have
said without a coordinated approach by the
opposition and civil society,
they will not be able to put the Mugabe regime
under pressure. Asked if the
different pro-democracy groups can tackle the
regime in isolation Madhuku
said; "I agree there is now time for coordinated
approach. The problem is
that the other people who are supposed to join us
are taking their time to
do it. We want to work with others but we can't
stop, we can't postpone our
demonstrations."
However he pointed out that some of the
progressive forces are in
discussions and that a tentative agreement is
being finalised on how the
groups will work. "What we hear from our
colleagues in other organisations,
especially the bigger ones like the MDC,
is that they are still working on
their plans. But we are happy that the
NCA, WOZA and other groups have been
going in the streets and they will be
able to join hands once an agreement
has been
reached."
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
Zim Online
Tuesday 26 September
2006
HARARE - A two-week shortage of bread worsened
in Zimbabwe over the
weekend, with some cities such as the country's sixth
biggest city of
Masvingo said to have little or no bread at
all.
In Harare and the second largest city of Bulawayo, most shops
were not
selling bread, crisis-hit Zimbabwe's second most important staple
food after
maize.
The bread shortage began about two weeks ago
after President Robert
Mugabe's government ordered bakers to sell bread at
Z$200 instead of the
$350 a loaf, which bakers say is enough for them to be
able to recoup the
costs of importing flour.
Some bakers
interviewed by ZimOnline said they were now only making
rolls, buns and
cakes whose prices are not controlled by the government,
which last week
ordered the arrest of the manager of Harare's biggest bakery
for selling
bread above the state gazetted price.
Only the rich can afford to
buy higher-priced cakes and buns in
Zimbabwe, where the prices of goods are
always rising and inflation is at 1
204.6 percent.
A National
Bakers Association (NBA) spokesman said capacity
utilisation in the industry
had crashed down to 30 percent for smaller
bakers and 15 percent for bigger
operations.
"Bigger bakers are critically affected," said the NBA
spokesperson,
adding that the industry could be forced to retrench most of
the 20 000
workers it currently employs.
Several workers were
already on forced leave while others were working
shorter shifts according
to the NBA official.
Bulawayo baker and a senior member of the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party, Eddie Cross, said several
bakeries in the city had
stopped production altogether.
"We
have stopped production. We don't have flour," said Cross.
In
Masvingo, nearly all the shops did not have bread as a spokesman of
bakers
there, Albert Chizi, said they had resolved not to bake anymore bread
until
the government lifted price controls.
Chizi said: "We have since
unanimously agreed to stop indefinitely the
production of bread. Our reasons
(for doing so) are not political but purely
economic."
Predictably, while there was no bread on most shop shelves in Masvingo
and
other cities., the key staple was available on the streets from black
market
traders, making a killing selling the commodity at $350 - the same
price the
government say bakers should not charge for bread.
A bread vendor
in Masvingo, Naison Mayo, refused to reveal who
supplies him with the bread
he sells but was ready to defend the price he is
charging
buyers.
"We are getting the bread out of this town, so we have to
charge $350
in order to make a profit," said the Masvingo bread
vendor.
The bread shortage is just one of many severe symptoms of
Zimbabwe's
seven-year old economic crisis that has also spawned shortages of
fuel,
electricity, essential medicines, hard cash and just about every basic
survival commodity.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change party and Western
governments blame the crisis on repression and
wrong policies by Mugabe such
as his seizure of productive farms from whites
for redistribution to
landless blacks.
The farm seizures
destabilised the mainstay agricultural sector and
caused severe wheat maize
and other key food items after the government
failed to give black villagers
resettled on former white farms skills
training and inputs support to
maintain production.
But Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since the
country's independence
from Britain in 1980, denies mismanaging the country
and says its problems
are because of economic sabotage by Western
governments opposed to his
seizure of white land. - ZimOnline
The Telegraph
By Peta Thornycroft in Harare
(Filed:
25/09/2006)
President Robert Mugabe sought to extend his
rule for another four
years yesterday when his regime announced that
Zimbabwe's next presidential
election will be postponed.
Mr
Mugabe's present term of office ends in 2008. But the 82-year-old
leader,
who won a violent and widely condemned presidential election four
years ago,
is about to rewrite the constitution and give himself the option
of staying
in power beyond this limit.
The next presidential poll will be
delayed until 2010, on the pretext
that parliamentary elections are also due
in that year and the two contests
should be harmonised.
Nathan
Shamuyarira, the official spokesman for the ruling Zanu-PF
party and a
former cabinet minister, disclosed the plan to the Sunday News,
a government
paper.
"We want to combine the two, the presidential and
parliamentary
elections, so that we do not have elections every two years,"
he said.
A Bill will be presented before parliament to bring this
into effect,
added Mr Shamuyarira. To change the electoral calendar would
require
changing the constitution but the ruling party, with a technical two
thirds
majority in parliament, can pass such amendments easily.
After 26 years of absolute power, Mr Mugabe is already the oldest
leader in
Africa. If he retired in 2010, he would be 86 and would have been
in office
for 30 years. Mugabe's previous hints that he might go in 2008
were
ambiguous and analysts say the veteran Zimbabwean leader has been
keeping
his options open.
His bitterly divided opponents, who have failed
to make a stand
against his regime, united to condemn his plan to stay in
power.
Jonathan Moyo, who was sacked as information minister last
year and
sits as an opposition MP, said that Mr Mugabe wanted to stay in
office
rather than face justice for crimes against humanity.
Arthur Mutambara, the leader of one faction of the fragmented Movement
for
Democratic Change, said the president had "inflicted misery, poverty and
repression" and should "resign immediately".
Political analysts
say Mr Mugabe and Zanu-PF fear an electoral
challenge amid a deepening
economic crisis many blame on them, and they may
hope a delay would allow
time for recovery.
The health sector, in particular, is struggling
to function amid the
crisis, which has brought shortages of food, fuel and
foreign currency along
with water and power cuts and an inflation rate of
more than 1,200 per cent.
Zimbabwe has lost half of its public
health professionals in the past
few years and is the African country
hardest hit by a "brain drain" driven
largely by economic hardship, a state
newspaper, the Sunday Mail, reported
yesterday.
An estimated
three million Zimbabweans - a quarter of the population -
have
emigrated.
fpress@telegraph.co.uk
New York Times
By MICHAEL WINES
Published: September 25, 2006
JOHANNESBURG,
Sept. 24 - Zimbabwe's governing political party wants to
postpone national
presidential elections to 2010 from 2008, potentially
giving the nation's
longtime leader, Robert G. Mugabe, an extra two years in
office, the
state-controlled news media reported Sunday.
The proposal quickly drew
speculation that the government was seeking to buy
time before the vote so
it could try to resuscitate the economy, which is in
a state of collapse,
and settle an increasingly bitter struggle within the
ruling party over who
will succeed Mr. Mugabe once he retires or dies.
Mr. Mugabe, who is 82
and has governed the country since 1980, has suggested
but never confirmed
that he would retire at the end of his current term as
president. Several
leaders are jockeying to succeed him within his governing
party, the
Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, or ZANU-PF, but
no clear
favorite has emerged.
Because ZANU-PF dominates Parliament and is
entrenched in the government,
any proposal to delay elections is virtually
certain to be approved.
Quoted on state radio and in the state-controlled
Sunday News in Bulawayo,
the ZANU-PF information minister, Nathan
Shamuyarira, said delaying the
presidential ballot by two years would
consolidate that vote with
parliamentary elections, also in 2010.
"We
want to combine the two, the presidential and parliamentary elections,
so
that we do not go to elections every two years," The Sunday News quoted
him
as saying. "We have been discussing that and we will be putting our
ideas to
Parliament."
Some political analysts said that seemed a small reason to
amend the
Constitution and to delay the nation's most important election.
Experts said
it was more likely that the governing party wanted to give
itself more time
to settle its succession battle.
"There is perhaps a
lot of turbulence within ZANU-PF with regard to the
succession issue, to a
point where holding 2008 elections could split the
ruling party into various
factions," Dr. Eldred Masunugure, who is in charge
of the political science
department at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare,
said in a telephone
interview. "I think 2008 may be too soon for the party
to get its house in
order."
Any split in the party would separate its hard-liners, led by Mr.
Mugabe,
from reformers who favor more democratic rule. That, in turn, could
help the
democratic opposition, which insists that fraud robbed it of
victory in
recent elections.
Mr. Masunugure and others also say Mr.
Mugabe's government needs more time
to try to revive the economy, which is
saddled with 1,200 percent inflation,
80 percent unemployment and a
crippling lack of foreign exchange to import
supplies for manufacturing and
farming.
Bread vanished from store shelves last week after the government
imposed
price controls on bread makers. The Associated Press reported Sunday
that
acute shortages of coal had caused an Indian steel maker to walk away
from a
plan to invest in steelworks and had forced brewers to raise the
price of
beer last week by 50 percent.
Zimbabwe has enough
high-quality coal reserves to last the country thousands
of years, the news
agency reported, but shortages of imported spare parts
and foreign currency
have caused production to plummet.
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
HARARE - BARELY
five days after laying the blame for the
much-criticised brutal beatings of
labour union leaders on the
"overzealousness of one or two police,
exaggerating their role", President
Robert Mugabe told his staff in Egypt
the unionists deserved the treatment
they got because they asked for
it.
Mugabe, in Egypt on a brief stopover from the United Nations in
New
York to catch a connecting Air Zimbabwe flight from London to Harare,
said
police officers were right in their heavy-handed way of dealing sternly
with
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions protests over low wages on
September
13.
According to the state-controlled Herald
newspaper, Mugabe said the
trade unionists "want to become a law unto
themselves". He was speaking at
a dinner hosted for him by the Zimbabwe
Embassy in Egypt where an official
likened him to the late Egyptian
statesman Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Mugabe did not meet Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak as he waited for
his flight back home. Likening the
protests to a revolt meant to catch the
eye of British Prime Minister Tony
Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush,
Mugabe said the police would deal
effectively with any such attempts to
dislodge him from office the Slobodan
Milosevic way. He said what happened
in Yugoslavia would not happen in
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe said he did not know what the trade union leaders
wanted,
adding their protests were "nonsensical" and "stupid".
He blamed journalists "invited" by the protesters "playing to the
gallery"
for helping them catch the attention of "a Bush or a Blair". He
described
the scribes as "the stupid ones who always write stupid things".
He also
blamed unnamed non-governmental organisations for dramatising the
protests.
"We cannot have a situation where people decide to
sit in places not
allowed and when the police remove them, they say no,"
said Mugabe. "We can't
have that, that is a revolt to the system. Vamwe
vaakuchema kuti takarohwa,
ehe unodashurwa (others are crying that we were
beaten up, yes you would be
beaten up) When the police say move, move. If
you don't move, you invite the
police to use force."
The brutal
assaults on trade union leaders led to worldwide
condemnation and protests
in solidarity with the ZCTU leaders and their
allies. Taking a cue from the
US, leaders of British Trade Unions turned out
in pouring rain to protest
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London against
the ill-treatment of the
trade unionists.
The President of the Trades Union Congress (TUC),
Alison Shepherd,
said they wanted to demonstrate the depth of their support
for fellow
workers in Zimbabwe through the protests.
Québécois Libre
Montreal, September 24, 2006 . No 194
CANADIAN FOREIGN AID AND POLITICAL MANIPULATION IN SOUTHERN
AFRICA
by Harry Valentine
Several news stories that have
been published over the past two
years have described the corrupt and
callous behavior of Zimbabwean leader
Robert Mugabe toward a segment of his
population. He blamed the failure of
his economic policies on his nation's
white population. His henchmen
subsequently seized and occupied white owned
farms. Under Mugabe's rule
Zimbabwe has degenerated from a self-sufficient
nation that was able to feed
its population to one that has experienced
famine. Mugabe had once been
highly revered in Ottawa and had received a
generous Canadian foreign aid
package that helped keep him in power for many
years.
Despite the economic harm and human toll that
his policies have
inflicted on Zimbabwe, Mugabe does enjoy the support of a
segment of his
nation's population. He also enjoys popular support amongst a
large
proportion of the black population who live in poverty, squalor and
destitution in neighboring South Africa. This segment makes up the majority
of South Africa's population and Mugabe's influence over them has given him
tremendous influence within the ranks of the South African government. He
has on several occasions addressed the South African House of Assembly.
Canadian foreign aid played no small role in helping Mugabe acquire the kind
of influence he now enjoys in South Africa.
Mugabe was able
to take advantage of an opportunity that came
about after the collapse of
communism across Eastern Europe and in the
Soviet Union. South Africa's
apartheid era government had been vehemently
anti-communist and acquired
covert support from Washington after the Suez
Canal was closed to shipping
following the Six Day War in the Middle East in
1967. Oil tankers that
carried crude from Saudi Arabia to American oil
terminals in the Gulf of
Mexico were diverted via South Africa. A powerful
anti-communist government
in South Africa could assure secure shipping lanes
past the Cape of Good
Hope.
South Africa & communism
Communism collapsed
across Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and
the Soviet Union during the
late 1980's. These events coincided with the
re-opening of the Suez Canal to
international ship traffic. There was no
further need for South Africa's
pro-apartheid government to continue to
enforce harsh anti-communist
repression as a means to protect the
international shipping lanes through
their waters. South Africa had feared a
communist inspired overthrow backed
by Russia. Their government had not
expected Mikhail Gorbachev to abandon
communism and indirectly set the stage
by which to end the regime of
apartheid.
Changes that had occurred in international politics
as well as in
international shipping gave the South African government
little choice
except to bring about political change. Such attempts had
resulted in the
political upheavals that occurred there during the late
1980's and early
1990's. Such events had been predicted by French political
theorist Alexis
de Tocqueville in his treatise entitled L'Ancien régime et
la révolution and
they occurred in South Africa. Tocqueville wrote
that:
Experience has shown that the most dangerous moment for a
bad
government is usually when it enters upon the work of reform. Nothing
short
of great political genius can save a sovereign who undertakes to
relieve his
subjects after a long period of oppression. [.] The abuses which
are removed
seem to lay bare those which remain and to render the sense of
them more
acute(1).
The political situation in South Africa
had become dangerous and
vulnerable to outside political influence. The
social and political
situation was one that a wily foreign political leader
could have easily
manipulated to his advantage. Canada literally gave Mugabe
a golden
opportunity to rise to the occasion in this regard. A Canadian
Prime
Minister who at the time had placed extremely low in the popular
opinion
polls literally secured a place in history by assisting Mugabe in
"bringing
to an end the regime of apartheid in South Africa." But that the
unsung hero
in this regard was Mikhail Gorbachev.
The then mercurial Mugabe secured a generous long-term foreign aid
package
from Canada. He subsequently endeared himself to the majority of
South
Africa's disenfranchised non-white population by giving a voice to
their
sentiments. For the first time he vehemently spoke out against the
evils of
apartheid, at the very time when apartheid was already on the verge
of
disintegration. Mugabe has subsequently been certain to let his South
African audiences know that it was he who was instrumental in bringing down
the evil regime of apartheid. All he really did was to add the proverbial
straw that broke the camel's back.
Potential economic
fallout
Mugabe maintains a powerful influence in South Africa
as a result
of the post-apartheid economy not performing as well as
originally
envisioned. It is a nation where first world opulence co-exists
with third
world poverty. A small percentage of South Africa's black
population is
educated and employed. Many of them live in upscale homes in
well-to-do
neighborhoods. Some of them see themselves as role models for the
unemployed
black people, as symbol of what they can aspire to in modern
South Africa.
The millions of new jobs and the prosperity that
had been promised
to the masses of unemployed black people who still live in
destitution and
poverty across South Africa have not yet materialized. Their
ranks are
increasing due to an influx of black people from other African
states. There
is growing impatience amongst their ranks due to the lack of
economic
progress from which they could benefit. Robert Mugabe has been the
leading
political figure to give voice to their frustration and he
frequently does
so at large public gatherings in South
Africa.
His popularity and influence among South Africa's
unemployed black
majority continue to grow. His tacit message to the poor
black people in
Zimbabwe was that when they seized the white farms as their
own, "they were
taking back what was rightfully theirs." This same message
has been heard
across South Africa where attacks on white (and black)
farmers have
increased. South Africa's increasing crime rate is now among
the highest in
the world.
The government of modern South
Africa has recently committed
itself to massive public works projects
costing billions $ and creating
several million man-hours of employment.
These projects are aimed at
building a showcase for the World Soccer Cup in
2010. They include the
construction of a new airport; massive road and
railway infrastructure
improvements; an elaborate commuter train scheme; and
a host of
transportation infrastructure and sports facilities related
projects. These
massive public work projects will likely pay dividends at
election time when
South Africans will go to the polls in
2009.
They will likely re-elect the governing party to another
mandate.
Not much comment has been made as to the potential economic fallout
that
will likely occur in South Africa as a result of the massive public
works
spending. If free market economic theory holds true, the South African
economy could undergo a massive contraction after 2010. The people who would
likely suffer the most from the downturn would most likely be the unemployed
black majority. If Robert Mugabe is still head of the state of Zimbabwe at
that point in time, his influence over destitute black people in South
Africa could cause social upheavals in that country. Some of the events that
occurred in Zimbabwe could occur in South Africa.
Harry Valentine is
a
free-marketeer living in Eastern Ontario.
USinfo
24
September 2006
State Department criticizes failure "to allow freedom of expression
and
ideas"
Washington -- The State Department has denounced the
government of
Zimbabwe's last-minute denial of entry to a delegation from
the U.S.
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU). The American union
representatives were scheduled to meet with government officials as well as
nongovernmental organizations.
The action, which was taken despite
the fact that the delegation had proper
visas, comes after the "brutal
suppression" of a peaceful demonstration of
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions, the State Department said September
22.
Zimbabwe has been
cited in the State Department's annual Country Reports on
Human Rights
Practices for its repression of workers rights.
In its most recent
report, released March 8, the State Department pointed to
a host of blatant
human rights violations, including "restrictions on
freedom of speech,
press, academic freedom, peaceful assembly, association,
and movement ...
and harassment and interference with labor organizations
critical of
government policies and attempts to supplant legitimate labor
leaders with
hand-picked supporters."
Although Zimbabwean law provides for worker
rights and union organization,
for example, the report documents numerous
instances of harassment and
physical attacks on union members as well as
severe restrictions on the
ability of unions to strike or bargain
effectively.
The CBTU, founded in 1972, has more than 50 U.S. chapters
and one in Canada;
it is open only to active or retired members of labor
union organizations.
More than 50 American and international unions are now
represented among its
members, the CBTU says.
According to the CBTU
Web site, the organization seeks to:
-- Improve economic development and
employment opportunities for black
workers;
-- Work within the
framework of the trade union movement to provide a voice
and vehicle for
greater black and minority participation;
-- Increase union involvement
in voter registration, voter education and
voter turnout projects;
--
Organize unorganized workers;
-- Actively support civil rights and civic
groups working to improve living
and working conditions in the black
community; and
-- Increase effective political alliances between labor,
churches and the
general community.
For more information on U.S.
policy, see Africa.
The text of the statement and the report on
Zimbabwe's human rights
conditions can be found on the State Department Web
site.
More information about the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists is
available
on the organization's Web site.
(Distributed by the Bureau
of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
People's Daily
Zimbabwe's Belgravia Motors company has clinched
an agency deal with a
Chinese firm, Gaobeidian Xinkai Automobile Making
Company Ltd, to distribute
new vehicles in Zimbabwe, a development that is
expected to improve the
supply of vehicles in this country.
This deal, which is a direct response to the Zimbabwean government's
"Look
East" policy, is certainly going to be welcomed by many, as payments
of the
vehicles will be made using the local unit, a local newspaper
reported on
Sunday.
The vehicles, which have the Isuzu looks and engine, have
single cabs
and double cabs, including double cabs with long cargo body
pick-up and
SUVs. All these vehicles come in both petrol and diesel-powered
engines, The
Sunday Mail said.
The delivery period is six to
eight weeks from date of order, which is
also very good for this market when
compared with other brands like Mazda,
Nissan and Toyota, it
said.
These vehicles are called Xinkai, but may be renamed to
Century for
the convenience of locals who may find it difficult to pronounce
it in the
Chinese language.
Currently, there are six samples
for the local market to view and test
run at the Belgravia Motors
showroom.
According to the managing director of Belgravia Motors,
Faizal Sherif,
there are 12 other units on the way that are set to arrive in
about two
weeks.
Source: Xinhua
The Herald
(Harare)
September 23, 2006
Posted to the web September 24,
2006
Harare
POLICE have launched investigations into the case in
which a senior police
officer and the prosecution are accused of suppressing
evidence showing the
source of funds for former Finance and Economic
Development Minister Chris
Kuruneri.
Lawyers representing Kuruneri,
who is on trial on charges of illegally
exporting foreign currency to South
Africa, had asked the Attorney-General
to probe the manner in which his case
was dealt with.
Assistant Commissioner Samson Mangoma and the chief law
officer and public
prosecutor, Mr Joseph Jagada, are being accused of
removing a sworn
affidavit by Mr Felipe Solano, whose family had business
dealings with
Kuruneri between 1976 and 1981, from the docket.
Two
constables and a sergeant from Highlands Police Station yesterday
evening
recorded a statement from Kuruneri at his Glen Lorne house
concerning the
matter.
In his statement to the police, Kuruneri who is now the
complainant, said on
September 15 while at the High Court and under
cross-examination, Asst Comm
Mangoma admitted to the court that he had
removed the document.
"Under re-examination by Mr Joseph Jagada, the
chief law officer and public
prosecutor in the Attorney-General's Office,
Asst Comm Mangoma told the
court that he removed Mr Solano's sworn affidavit
from the docket because Mr
Solano was a defence witness and that he had
consulted Mr Joseph Jagada,"
said Kuruneri in his statement.
Kuruneri
alleged that Asst Comm Mangoma contravened the Police Act and the
Prevention
of Corruption Act.
Last week, defence lawyers accused the police and the
prosecution of
conspiracy to suppress evidence that showed the source of
Kuruneri's funds.
In a letter to the Attorney-General, Mr Sobusa
Gula-Ndebele, dated September
19, Kuruneri's lawyers Lofty and Fraser said
they had been instructed to
query the conduct of the AG's
Office.
Kuruneri is being charged with illegally exporting large sums of
foreign
currency to South Africa -- where he allegedly bought properties in
Cape
Town -- without the authority of the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
He has already been convicted of possessing a Canadian passport
without
renouncing his Zimbabwean citizenship as required by law, and is
awaiting
sentence.
According to information in the police diary log,
Mr Solano acknowledged
that Kuruneri had done consultancy work for the
Solano family.
The defence showed the court the sworn statement obtained
from Mr Solano
which the State opposed to have tendered as an
exhibit.
The statement detailed the nature of the consultancy work which
Kuruneri did
for Tellerers Felipe Solano SL and payments made to him in
United States
dollars.
Zim Online
Tuesday 26 September
2006
HARARE - A Zimbabwean court on Monday
freed the directors of private
radio station, dismissing as a "circus"
attempts by state prosecutors to
postpone for the third time the trial of
the directors for allegedly
violating the country's tough broadcasting
laws.
Refusing to place the seven directors of the Voice of the
People (VOP)
radio on further remand, magistrate William Bhila, said the
state could
summon them to court when and if it unearthed more evidence to
prove the
accused were illegally running a broadcasting service without a
licence from
the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ).
VOP
directors, David Masunda, Nhlanhla Ngwenya, Lawrence Chibwe,
Millie Phiri,
Arnold Tsunga, Isabella Matambanadzo and John Masuku, have
been out on bail,
awaiting trial since the beginning of the year.
The directors and
three journalists, Maria Nyanyiwa, Nyasha Bosha and
Kundai Mugwanda, were
arrested at different occasions last year and charged
with violating the
Broadcasting Act of Zimbabwe, which bars people from
owning transmitting
equipment or running a broadcasting service in the
country without
permission from the BAZ.
The matter had been postponed on two
previous occasions forcing Bhila
yesterday to remove the accused from remand
after defence lawyer Beatrice
Mtetwa told the court it would be unfair to
further postpone the matter.
"I totally agreed with the legal
counsel. It is now becoming a circus.
Remand is refused," ruled the
magistrate. - ZimOnline
By Tichaona
Sibanda
25 September 2006
Eleven AIDS activists from Save
the Children Zimbabwe and a child
protection group, plus six top MDC
officials including the Mayor of Kariba,
were arrested Saturday from the
resort town's Nyamhunga surburb.
They are all still in police
custody and are expected to appear in
court on Tuesday. Lawyer Tapiwa
Muchineripi who is representing the 17
arrested said police pounced on the
group for allegedly holding an illegal
meeting. He said of the 17, five are
women who are all AIDS activists based
in the town.
'My clients
are still detained at Mahombekombe police station and are
expected to appear
in court tomorrow (Tuesday). The six MDC officials will
be charged under
POSA. The six, together with the rest of the group will
also face another
charge of gathering as a group to provoke the breach of
peace,' Muchineripi
said.
Those in custody are Kariba executive Mayor John Houghton,
Kwekwe MP
Blessing Chebundo, former Chegutu Mayor Francis Dhlakama, national
executive
member Silas Matamisa and MDC Mashonaland West provincial
chairperson Jephat
Karemba. There is one unnamed MDC official also in
custody while the rest
are HIV/AIDS activists based in Kariba.
Muchineripi denied reports that the group had gathered for a political
meeting, insisting that all of those arrested were well known HIV/AIDS
activists.
'Their meeting had nothing to do with politics. It
was a meeting to
discuss the HIV/AIDS crisis in the country.' He
said.
A statement released by MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa
condemned the
arrests, describing the regime's action as confirmation that
Zimbabwe has
been turned into a police state. Chamisa added that 'the regime
is locked in
a permanent mode of thuggery against the people. Throughout the
country, the
regime continues to engage in a sustained fight against
democracy by banning
our meetings, detaining our officials and even
unleashing violence on
innocent
Zimbabweans.'
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
International organisations just amaze me -
especially those involved with
the United Nations. Today I read a food
security assessment that claims
blandly that the cereal deficit in Zimbabwe
is 22 per cent for the 2006/07
season. That is from the 1st April 2006 to the
31st March 2007. Not "about"
or "estimated", just 22 per cent. Now where on
earth could they be getting
the statistics that the figure may be based
on?
By my calculations the cereal deficit is much larger than this. Can
it be
that they are using the figures fabricated by the Minister of
Agriculture
and destined to be used in the Politburo of the ruling Party? If
so, they
are living in a fantasy world no different than that occupied by
Alice in
Wonderland.
If we start with the maize crop - we need 1,2
million tonnes of maize a year
for human consumption. 600 000 tonnes for
livestock and 120 000 tonnes for
industry - starch and breakfast cereals and
edible snacks. That is 1,9
million tonnes. We have grown possibly 800 000
tonnes and this leaves a
deficit of 1,1 million tonnes - slightly higher than
the 1 million tonnes
imported last year to cover food shortages.
In
respect to the winter wheat crop - the only other significant cereal
consumed
in Zimbabwe, the crop planted is about 23 000 hectares and yields
are
expected to be well down on previous years - so I would not expect more
than
about 50 000 tonnes of wheat. We can ignore the barley crop as that is
90 per
cent for beer, the other cereals such as sorghums and millets may
reach 100
000 tonnes at best.
Wheat usage has declined with the fall in living
standards and most of the
sorghum will go into traditional beer manufacture
in both the formal and
informal sectors. Even so I would estimate we will
require at least 350 000
tonnes of wheat and 160 000 tonnes of small grains.
Leaving a deficit on
these other cereals of 360 000 tonnes. This combined
with the maize deficit
is 1,36 million tonnes of cereals as against total
estimated demand of 2,43
million tonnes or 45 per cent of demand. The total
cost of these imports
would be US$360 million.
The issue on the table
today is what sort of cropping outlook exists for the
next season that starts
in a few weeks time. Maize plantings any time from
the 1st October through to
the 15th November before yield potentials start
falling off. Cotton more or
less the same - perhaps a bit later for the cut
off point, oilseed crops -
mainly Soybeans also a bit later.
From my perspective the outlook is
pretty grim. The tobacco crop is already
set - cannot be changed
significantly now and looks like 20 000 tonnes - may
be a bit higher if the
weather is favorable. The preparations for
large-scale maize and cotton
plantings are minimal - seed is short and
fertilizers are difficult to find
and very expensive in relation to crop
prices. Oilseed contracting by firms
is below last year despite vigorous
efforts and the dislocation of the
remaining commercial farmers is reducing
the potential here. By my estimate
we can expect no improvement in crop
output this coming season - in fact it
is more likely to be down as the
long-range weather forecasts are
negative.
The situation in the mining industry is no better - in fact
after holding up
mining output in a very negative operating environment,
mining output is
falling. Gold production and sales via official markets is
down to a third
of "normal" output and all other sectors are also reporting
serious
difficulties. Power outages and low official exchange rates and
tight
foreign exchange controls within a highly inflationary environment is
making
life simply impossible for mining companies. Couple that to threats
of
nationalization and the fear by investors that their investment may be
in
jeopardy anyway, gives rise to many situations where shareholders will
no
longer bail out failing Zimbabwean mines.
In the past week the
parallel market exchange rates have been moving so fast
that dealers and
businessmen have been unable to keep track of things. I
heard of one deal
done for a big company at Z$1 100 to US$1. That would
represent 50 per cent
devaluation in a week or so. Actual rates vary for
different sorts of foreign
exchange - the highest rates for so called "free
funds" (meaning the most
expensive) and funds from exporters and others
where rates are lower. Never
the less the markets were devaluing the
Zimbabwe dollar by about 10 per cent
per day last week with no sign of a
bottom. Fuel prices rose sharply as a
result to about Z$900 a litre - in
many cases Z$1 000 a litre. Bus travel
costs rose 1 third in the week.
So there is no relief in sight for the
ordinary consumer - prices are rising
faster that their incomes and money has
very little value. Only those with
hard income earnings are able to survive.
Another twelve months of this and
I do not know where we will be. One thing
is sure - if this carries on for
much longer, hundreds of thousands of
Zimbabweans will be forced to leave
for greener pastures. Most will go to
South Africa.
I picked up a Prison Warden today and gave him a lift to
town - he said he
was earning Z$29 000 before tax - probably a take home
salary of US$40 a
month. He could work as a farm laborer in South Africa for
three times
that - when he learned who I was he asked me if I could help him
leave the
country - I told him he must stay and help us change the country.
He said he
felt that was never going to happen until Mr. Mugabe goes or
dies.
As for Mr. Mugabe - he was riding around the world in a Boeing
767
commandeered from our State airline - first speaking at the NAM summit
in
Cuba and then at the UN General Assembly. In both places he defended
his
role in the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy and claimed it was due
to
British and American sanctions. I worked under mandatory UN sanctions for
14
years and know what a real sanctions regime entails - what he was
talking
about are the travel restrictions imposed on him and his cronies by
the EU
and the USA and Australia - some personal discomfort when you like to
buy
your shirts at Harrods, but hardly sanctions.
Eddie
Cross
Bulawayo, 24th September 2006.
New Zimbabwe
By MacDonald
Dzirutwe
Last updated: 09/26/2006 02:19:35
ZIMBABWE defence forces have
taken over food security to shore up falling
production as farmers struggle
to raise output, partly crippled by President
Robert Mugabe's land
seizures.
The southern African nation has suffered food shortages since
2001 after
being affected by drought and disruptions to farming blamed
largely on the
government's seizure of white-owned commercial farms for
landless blacks.
Critics say the black farmers have been hamstrung by
shortages of inputs
such as fuel, seed and fertiliser while the majority
lack the skills to
produce on a commercial scale.
Agriculture
Minister Joseph Made said personnel from the army, air force and
police had
been enlisted to take charge of food security by producing the
staple maize
and other key grains while taking over the harvesting and
distribution of
key crops.
In the past year the army has been involved in low-key
production of maize
and wheat but Made said on Monday the police and air
force had also joined
in and would plant 300,000 hectares of grain crops
this season, which starts
in six weeks.
"Defence forces are not out
there to cause problems," Made told the official
Herald newspaper. "We want
all (government) departments to cooperate and
other civilians to pick skills
and knowledge imparted by them. We want their
brains and
resources."
The state grain agency, headed by an ex-military officer, is
struggling to
collect maize from farmers because of a severe fuel crunch.
The agency has
enlisted the army's help.
Farming groups said on
Monday the involvement by security forces would
compliment their efforts in
resuscitating agriculture, used to be the
biggest foreign currency
earner.
"This will not only guarantee food security but it is also meant
to
consolidate the government's land reform programme," Silas Hungwe, head
of
the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union told Reuters.
The central bank says
its fight against inflation will fail unless the
country addresses food
security. Food accounts for a third of the average
price basket used to
calculate inflation.
At 1,200 percent, Zimbabwe's inflation rate is the
highest in the world and
is the clearest sign of an eight-year recession
also marked by shortages of
foreign currency, fuel, electricity and
food.
The United States-based food monitoring group Fewsnet said in its
latest
food security update that transport problems faced by the Grain
Marketing
Board had resulted in the price of maize going up by 114 percent
in the
deficit areas.
The group said the country had enough maize
seed for the 2006/7 planting
season, but shortages of fuel and fertilizer
could hit production.
"Fertilisers are likely to be in shortly. If the
fuel shortages persist,
farmers will have very little fuel to power their
equipment, and land
preparation for 2006/7 will be seriously compromised,"
Fewsnet said in its
report seen by Reuters. - Reuters
25 September
2006
We note with dismay the reports in the State media recording
utterances from
Robert Mugabe celebrating police brutality and torture of
labour leaders and
pro-democracy activists. Mugabe's statements show that
Zimbabwe is now a
state where anarchy and intolerance are officially
accepted as a way of life
despite the regime's ratification of various
international and regional
protocols.
Although the statements came as no
surprise to us given our sad experiences
over the past seven years, Mugabe's
behaviour flies in the face of his
regime's botched attempts to rebuild
bridges with the international
community. No sane government, business
community or development partner
would wish to work with a regime that
sanctions violence, promotes
intolerance and declares war against its own
people.
Mugabe accuses the labour leaders of seeking attention through their
actions. Zimbabwe will reclaim its traditional position and unfettered
attention as soon as it restores its previously coveted position as the
bread basket of Africa. Zimbabwe can even claim greater attention if Mugabe
and his regime step aside and allow the people to save their country and
rejoin the family of nations. It is now common cause that Mugabe and his
dictatorship are the main authors of the prevailing political and economic
morass. They have become even a danger to themselves, to the nation, to SADC
and to world peace.
Mugabe accuses the ZCTU leaders of breaking the law.
This is unfortunate
because under the Zimbabwean Constitution and even in
terms of all Draconian
laws in this country, demonstrations are permitted.
POSA is very clear on
the issue of demonstrations. It states that people
wishing to exercise their
right express themselves in terms of the
Constitution merely have to notify
the police about their intentions. POSA
does not authorize the police to
sanction such activities.
Instead of
wasting time worrying about people expressing genuine national
grievances,
Mugabe can enrich his legacy if he begins to worry about rising
inflation, a
collapsing economy, high unemployment and a health delivery
system that has
become a collective African shame.
Mugabe's lack of respect for democracy and
people's rights undermines
current efforts by the Zimbabwean courts to
restrain and contain police
against excesses while on duty.
When the
battered labour leaders and MDC activists appeared before a
magistrate on
Friday, 15 September 2006, the court ordered the Commissioner
of Police to
furnish it with a report on the assault of the suspects while
at Matapi
Police Station. On Saturday, Mugabe was in contempt of court
through actions
which ridicule the magistrate's order. Effectively, Mugabe
was saying the
torturers and perpetrators of the assaults did so with his
blessing.
The
people of Zimbabwe are very clear about the kind of society and type of
government they desire. The people have turned their backs on Robert Mugabe
and Zanu PF. They shall resist attempts to divert attention from their cause
through threats and intimidation.
There shall be more demonstrations and
other actions, whether Mugabe like
them or not. It is a universal right to
express oneself. We shall always
exercise that right.
Nelson Chamisa,
MP
Secretary for Information and Publicity
European Commission
COUNCIL OF
THE EUROPEAN
UNION
EN
P/06/119
Brussels, 22 September 2006
13131/06 (Presse
259)
P 119/06
Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European
Union
on the suppression of demonstrations in Zimbabwe
The European
Union is following closely the human rights situation in
Zimbabwe, and is
deeply concerned by the latest infringement of human rights
and fundamental
freedoms.
On 13 September the Zimbabwe Council of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
organised a
demonstration to express concerns about the situation workers
face in
Zimbabwe. The Government of Zimbabwe responded by arresting the
President
and the Secretary General of the ZCTU. In addition, the government
undertook
countrywide arrests of individuals who had planned to participate
in these
demonstrations. Considerable violence leading to serious injuries
was used
in many cases, including while the individuals were under
arrest.
The European Union urges the Government of Zimbabwe to stop
intimidation and
assault and to respect the human rights and fundamental
freedoms of its
citizens. The EU calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to
carry out a full
investigation into the assaults and to bring those
responsible to justice.
Zimbabwe has signed and ratified the African
Charter on Human and Peoples'
Rights, which they are in breach of with these
actions.
The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate
Countries Turkey,
Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*,
the Countries of
the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential
candidates Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA
countries Iceland,
Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European
Economic Area, as well as
Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align
themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia continue to be part
of the Stabilisation and
Association Process
[This report does not necessarily
reflect the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 25 Sep 2006
(IRIN/PLUSNEWS) - News of Zimbabwe's declining HIV
prevalence rates have
been met with scepticism and confusion, particularly
in view of the
country's economic and political climate. Can this good news
be attributed
to behavioural change or skewed statistics?
Earlier this month, findings
from the Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey
(ZDHS) for 2005-06 revealed that
the prevalence rate had declined from 20.1
percent to 18.1 percent among
adults. But women are still the hardest hit,
with prevalence figures
reaching 21.1 percent, while 14.5 percent of all men
were
HIV-positive.
Zimbabwe, which has one of the world's highest rates of HIV
infection, is
going through a severe economic crisis. There are shortages of
food and
fuel, and inflation has topped 1,200 percent.
Given the
severe economic and food security difficulties, a falling
prevalence rate
might indicate that the number of people dying from AIDS was
outnumbering
those newly infected with it.
In a presentation at a recent conference on
the US President's Emergency
Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Dr Owen
Mugurungi, head of the government's
HIV/AIDS unit, told delegates that after
the dramatic decline was announced,
further investigations revealed that the
mortality rate could not cause a
reduction by itself, and there had also
been lower numbers of new people
becoming infected.
DEATH AND
BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
Karen Stanecki, a UNAIDS senior advisor in the
epidemiology monitoring
group, told PlusNews there was evidence of high
rates of mortality, as well
as "some behaviour change, including reduced
number of [sexual] partners and
increased condom use".
Dr Simon
Gregson, epidemiology senior lecturer at the Imperial College
London,
agreed, and noted that in the early 1980s, Zimbabwe became one of
the first
countries in the region to implement programmes to manage sexually
transmitted infections, and condom distribution began in the early 1990s,
steadily increasing over the years.
One clear example of behaviour
change is increased condom use. During the
1990s, the public sector was the
principal provider of male condoms but
social marketing now accounts for
more than a half of all condoms
distributed. The fact that most condoms were
now purchased rather than
freely distributed, made it more credible that
people were using condoms
more frequently, he said.
"Data from local
scientific research studies in Manicaland [province]
indicate recent delays
in onset of sexual activity, reductions in rates of
sexual partner change
and, for women with high rates of partner change,
further increases in
consistent condom use," a UNAIDS review on the HIV
decline in Zimbabwe
noted.
Pinpointing when the reduction started taking place, however, was
difficult.
"We cannot be precise as to when it started ... but it looks like
behaviour
change was occurring in the late 1990s. It is possible that other
intervention programmes from the early 1990s may have contributed and could
still be contributing [to the decline]," Gregson, who authored the report,
told PlusNews.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
Nongovernmental organisations
(NGOs) have been cautious about the recent
drop, preferring to adopt a 'wait
and see' approach, but have argued that
gains against the disease have been
damaged by current conditions.
Last year's Operation Murambatsvina
('Clean Out Garbage'), officially aimed
at rooting out the parallel market
and criminal activities, also encompassed
unapproved housing owned or rented
by the poor, making life even more
difficult. A year after the campaign,
AIDS NGOs are still trying to locate
displaced HIV-positive people, and fear
that many have had to discontinue
their treatment.
NGOs have warned
that the vulnerability of women would be heightened, as
violence against
girls and women was on the increase, and girls would be
forced to sell their
bodies to survive.
"If it [decline in prevalence] can be attributed to
behaviour change, we
need to find out what behaviour change took place and
why, so we can
capitalise on this and see what works and what doesn't. But
we have to move
fast, before more damage is done," said Lindiwe Chaza,
director of
Zimbabwe's AIDS Network.
Inevitably, comparisons have
been drawn between wealthier countries, such as
South Africa and Botswana,
which have failed to record any significant
declines, while cash-strapped
Zimbabwe has managed to bring down its level
of HIV
infections.
Questions have also been raised about whether the large
numbers of
Zimbabweans leaving the country, have affected the prevalence
rates.
But the UNAIDS review stated: "International migration is believed
to have
been extensive and the possibility that it contributed in a small
way to the
decline in HIV prevalence cannot be ruled out given the limited
data
available. Nonetheless, the evidence available does not support the
view
that the overall level of migration ... needed to cause a decline in
national HIV prevalence in the absence of behaviour change has occurred in
Zimbabwe."
Acknowledging the scepticism, Stanecki explained: "People
tend to forget
that it takes a long time for programmes to have an impact
[on statistics].
In the mid- to late [19]90s there were probably more
resources available,
and community and grassroots programmes being
run."
Stressing that the reduced figures were not a reflection of current
conditions in Zimbabwe, Stanecki admitted that the present situation "could
reverse the trend".
The effects of the clean up operations would only
become evident over the
next two or three years, Gregson added.
/This
article is part of a series on HIV/AIDS and communities of
humanitarian
concern. Visit: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp/
Zim Online
Tuesday 26 September
2006
HARARE - The Swedish Confederation of
Professional Employees (SCPE)
has written to President Robert Mugabe
protesting the Zimbabwe Republic
Police's strong-arm tactics in dealing with
labour leaders behind this
month's anti-government strike.
The
Swedish employees' federation becomes the latest international
organisation
to voice its concern over the heavy-handed way in which police
and other
security agents stifled the September 13 protests by the Zimbabwe
Congress
of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
Similar protests have come from the
European Union, Nigerian Labour
Congress, Congress of South African Trade
Unions, Botswana Council for Non
Governmental Organisations, the United
States and Britain, among others.
In a letter dated 15 September
2006, the Swedish worker body accused
the Zimbabwean authorities of using
heavy-handed tactics to break up the
ZCTU-organised protests and of
politicising "what was a purely a trade union
event".
Routes
planned for use by the ZCTU marchers on 13 September were
blocked in many
cities, including in Harare, where ruling ZANU PF militia
wearing party
regalia moved from point to point, intimidating workers.
"Indeed,
and as it had widely announced beforehand, the ZCTU was only
demonstrating
against the country's inflation rate of 1 000 percent - by all
available
accounts the highest in the world - and in demand of higher
incomes, lower
taxes and better access to antiretroviral drugs needed to
fight HIV/AIDS,"
the SCPE's letter to Mugabe reads in part.
The Swedish
confederation said it was preparing to lodge a formal
complaint to the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) against the Harare
authorities for
violating ILO conventions recognising the right of workers
to organise and
engage in collective bargaining for better pay and working
conditions.
The SCPE also said it was particularly incensed at
the brutal beatings
of the ZCTU top leadership while in police
custody.
The ZCTU leaders suffered serious injuries including
broken ribs, arms
and legs after they were assaulted and tortured by the
police who also kept
them locked up in cells for several hours denying them
access to medical
treatment.
Zimbabwe police authorities say
they will investigate the assault of
the ZCTU officials and charge officers
found to have beaten up or tortured
the union leaders. But police commanders
have in the past never followed
through similar promises to bring to book
officers accused of torturing
civilians.
President Mugabe has,
meanwhile, backed the police's strong-arm
tactics to crush the ZCTU
anti-government protest.
Addressing staff at the Zimbabwean embassy
in Cairo, Egypt, Mugabe
said the police were right in dealing sternly with
the ZCTU leaders during
their demonstration "because the trade unionists
want to become a law unto
themselves".
He said the protest
organisers got the treatment they deserved for
breaking the tough government
security laws prohibiting Zimbabweans from
staging public protests without
permission from the police. - ZimOnline
From BBC News, 25 September
By Steve Vickers
Harare - Zimbabwe's traditional
weddings, usually joyous occasions with
singing, dancing and plenty of food,
are now increasingly being held in the
absence of those whose presence might
be considered vital - the bride and
groom. Nokuthula and Timothy are one
such couple who have not joined their
relatives in Harare to tuck into
chicken and rice, beef and sadza (maize
meal) as they live thousands of
miles away in the UK. Like millions of other
Zimbabweans, they have left
their homeland to seek better-paying jobs. When
they met abroad, they
decided that they were made for each other, but wanted
a traditional
ceremony to be held back home where lobola or bride price is
paid. For many
such couples, it does not make economic sense to fly back to
Zimbabwe for a
few days just for the wedding. For the many Zimbabweans who
have overstayed
their visas, going back home is impossible, as they would
not then be
allowed to return to wherever they have found their jobs. So
Timothy and
Nokuthula organised the event from London and sent home the
money that was
needed.
Nokuthula's mother wished her daughter was with her on such a
special day,
but she is pleased for her, nonetheless. "I'm really really
happy. I wish I
could give her a hug. She has respected our culture even
though she's living
outside Zimbabwe," she said. "And she does have a better
life than if she
was still staying here in Zimbabwe." Timothy's father also
believes that
things will be better in the UK for his son and his
daughter-in-law who he
has never met. "I am very very happy. I just want
them to build a nice home
here - to have some properties in Zimbabwe," he
says. "Because home is the
best - and one day we'll meet." While the
ceremony and celebrations were
taking place in Harare, Nokuthula and Timothy
were at work in London. When
they got home they phoned to find out how
things had gone. But their absence
did mean that there were some important
traditions that could not be carried
out. A day or two after lobola has been
paid the bride is supposed to be
covered in a white sheet and taken by her
aunts to join her husband and
in-laws at their homestead, where she carries
out household duties.
However, playwright and cultural analyst
Stephen Chifunyise feels that that
these marriages are culturally
acceptable. "It does satisfy minimum
requirements, because in the actual
process of paying lobola, the couple
does not play a major role," he says,
explaining that everybody appreciates
the reason they are out of the
country. "I've been at one negotiation [for
lobola] where the go-between
would go outside to ring England and then come
back in to negotiate, which
is expensive," he says. "But we're actually
delighted with it because what
it has shown is that irrespective of whether
Zimbabweans are in the country
or outside the country they adhere to the
traditions very strongly. And it
also shows that we've been able to marry
technology and tradition
adequately." When these traditions started
centuries ago, no-one could not
have imagined that a wedding could take
place in the absence of the happy
couple. But with millions of Zimbabweans
now building their lives in foreign
countries, the phenomenon of these
virtual weddings looks set to
continue.
From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 25 September
Sarah McGregor
Johannesburg -
While most tourists head for South Africa's beaches and
safari parks, many
African visitors forego the natural wonders for shopping
malls. For years,
cross-border shoppers from Southern Africa have flocked to
Johannesburg,
South Africa's financial centre, to buy cheap goods that can
be taken home
and sold for a profit. Now officials are seeing their own
dollar signs after
a study showed the influx of African "tourism traders"
lifts the local
economy by R20-billion per year. The spending bonanza by
shoppers from
neighbouring countries includes cash register sales and
expenditures on
overnight accommodation, meals and transportation. In 2004 -
the latest year
of available data - the hotspots for more than half a
million African
visitors were South Africa's array of shops, mainly
wholesalers and a
specific brand known as "cash and carry." "These are
typically low- to
middle-income people who come because there is a wide
variety of goods and
good quality. And these stores may just be popping up
in their own country,"
said urban consultant Neil Fraser of the newly-formed
Jo'burg Cross-Border
Shopping Association.
Most visitors come from Lesotho, Swaziland,
Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique,
Namibia, Zambia and Malawi where many people
live on less than a dollar a
day, said Tammy Lieberman, from a consulting
firm hired by the city to study
the issue. Urban economic development
officials are hoping to harness this
powerful consumer base in a city often
ignored by other visitors because of
its reputation for high rates of
violent crime and xenophobia. "We cannot
ignore this huge number of people.
We need to keep attracting them," said
Linda Vilakazi-Tselane, acting
director of the municipal Economic
Development Unit. A welcome booth for
cross-border traders travelling on
shoestring budgets is due to open this
year at Johannesburg's Park Station,
a commuter hub that is running at full
capacity. Manager Nico Bredenhann is
working with city planners to develop a
new passenger boarding area and
talks are under way for an international
terminal to consolidate a
smattering of informal bus stops located in dusty
yards around the inner
city. "Cross-border traders have increased by about
50% in the last five to
seven years. It's just booming," said
Bredenhann.
Private sector partners are considering requests to
construct basic
lodgings, with cheap nightly rates for a bed and shower,
said
Vilakazi-Tselane. One of the most popular destinations on the trader
circuit
is the "cash and carry," massive warehouses where forklift trucks
cart
pallets of household staples and items needed to run a business. Aisle
after
aisle of bargain-priced goods tower several stories tall. Hair
stylists can
fill oversized shopping carts with braids, perm solutions,
stand-up hair
dryers and cash register rolls. Cash is usually the only
method of payment,
with big-order customers the only exception to a strict
no-credit policy.
Market players dub a clutch of such stores on the fringe
of the city the
Bermuda Triangle, a play on the shape and powerful
attraction for customers.
The boom has created its own set of
challenges. Out-of-towners carrying
large wads of cash are vulnerable
targets for robbery in a city with one of
the highest crimes rates in the
world. A lack of low-cost accommodation and
the near absence of a reliable
local transit system complicates their stay.
Some shoppers are unaware of a
tax refund process at the border - where they
face long queues or a
night-time stay if they arrive after closing time. A
four-hour wait at land
crossings is common as customs officials search for
illegal items and check
receipts to charge duty on purchases. "As time goes
on it becomes more
strenuous," said trader Mary Sibanda (40). The single
mother-of-three sat
amid a mountain of shopping bags as she waited for a bus
to Zimbabwe, where
a political and economic crisis has left consumers
battling frequent
shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange. For almost a
decade she has
travelled the route weekly to stock her table in a shantytown
market. "It's
the only way to survive," she said.