http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Richard Chidza, Staff Writer
Sunday, 21 April 2013
15:26
HARARE - Zanu PF leaders who contradict President Robert Mugabe’s peace
calls are a threat to national security, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
said yesterday.
Tsvangirai was addressing thousands of Chinhoyi
residents who had gathered
for a peace prayer.
He lashed out at
security chiefs who he claimed are threatening to stage a
coup in the event
that someone other than Mugabe wins elections slated for
later this
year.
“As spokesperson of the coalition government principals, the
message I have
brought for you is one of peace,” Tsvangirai
said.
“Register to vote and vote in peace. However, I must say we are
disappointed
that at a time when the president is calling for a peaceful
election, some
misguided elements among us are still stuck in the
past.”
Tsvangirai addressed the peace rally two days after Media,
Information and
Publicity minister Webster Shamu told thousands at
Independence Day
celebrations held at the National Sports Stadium that “No
pencil shall take
away the country brought up by a gun”.
“At times
violence becomes a culture, a value system that is strengthened by
impunity,” Tsvangirai said yesterday.
“As Zimbabweans we are drawing
a line in the sand that never again shall we
fight each other for political
expediency.
“Some say we will stage a coup if so and so wins. This is not
in the spirit
of peace.”
Quoting the Bible from the book of Psalms 33
verse 16 that says “No King
shall be saved by the size of his
army.”
Tsvangirai said: “Hedging your political fortunes on the army is
no good.
Rather put your faith in the Lord,” he said to rapturous
applause.
Tsvangirai is insisting on security sector reforms before
watershed
elections, a demand that has been consistently spurned by Mugabe
and his
senior officials.
Zimbabwe’s increasingly partisan and
belligerent military chiefs over the
years have insisted they will not
salute anyone without liberation war
credentials, statements analysts say
are aimed at Tsvangirai.
MDC organising secretary and Information
Communication Technology (ICT)
minister Nelson Chamisa said a peaceful poll
will bring out the best in
Zimbabweans.
“In peace, people will have
the liberty to express themselves,” Chamisa
said. “We will have jobs, good
healthcare and stable families. Competition
is friendship and no one should
behave like a wall nail when they are
defeated.”
As if on cue,
Chamisa like his boss, looked to the Bible for guidance. He
quoted Joel 2
verse 25 when the prophet was giving comforting words to the
Israelites.
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten —
the great locust
and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust
swarm — my great army
that I sent among you.”
“This is the MDC’s
promise to Zimbabweans. We want peace and all shall be
well with us,”
Chamisa said
Chinhoyi Zanu PF aspiring parliamentarian Philip Chiyangwa
stunned the crowd
when he begged Tsvangirai to fix the country.
“If
there is hunger, joblessness and no medicines like the situation we have
at
the moment, it is difficult to have peace,” Chiyangwa said.
“I am
appealing to the prime minister as head of government to help us fix
things.
Whatever happens we must make sure our people have something to
do.
“Oftentimes, when people have nothing to do or have nothing in their
hands
they resort to vices like violence,” the flamboyant businessman
said.
Chiyangwa took a respectful bow before Tsvangirai, then he walked
away.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Chengetayi Zvauya, Parliamentary Editor
Sunday, 21
April 2013 15:21
HARARE - High Court Judge Justice Charles Hungwe left the
country two weeks
ago for South Africa, taking a break from work due to what
his family say is
intense pressure at work.
Justice Hungwe, who is
expected to return home this week together with his
wife, has been under
media spotlight for the past months over judgments he
delivered which have
angered authorities.
Tafadzwa, son to Justice Hungwe, confirmed to the
Daily News on Sunday his
father had taken a break.
“All I can say is
that he is away with my mother in South Africa and he will
be coming home
soon,” said Tafadzwa, who is also a lawyer in Harare with a
top law
firm.
Hungwe was summoned to Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku’s chambers
earlier
this month and was questioned over matters that were coming out in
the press
alleging he was neglecting his duties.
Chidyausiku
reportedly wrote a letter to President Robert Mugabe explaining
allegations
being levelled against Hungwe.
Authorities are reportedly mooting a
tribunal to probe him. The president is
empowered in terms Section 87 (3) of
the Constitution to order
investigations into the conduct of a judge upon
being briefed of the matter
by the Chief Justice.
According to
sources, Hungwe is yet to be served with communication
concerning the
allegations he will likely face. He is set to continue as
judge when the
High Court session resumes.
Hungwe, a war veteran and former chairperson
of the Zimbabwe Liberation
War Veterans Association, has come under attack
since the granting of a
search warrant to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption
Commission in March to
search the offices of minister of Youth
Development, Indigenisation and
Empowerment Savior Kasukuwere, minister of
Transport, Communications and
Infrastructure Development Nicholas Goche
and minister of Mines and
Mining Development Obert Mpofu on alleged
underhand dealings.
He also ordered the release of gritty human rights
lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa,
who faced charges of obstructing the course of
justice.
The release order was allegedly given by Justice Hungwe at night
from his
farm in Darwendale.
Judicial sources say the State’s
evidence-in-chief will centre on previous
judgments handed down by the
judge.
A case in which Justice Hungwe allegedly unprocedurally granted a
notice of
withdrawal in a house wrangle pitting Old Mutual chief executive,
Jonas
Mushosho and a man who bought the latter’s property will form the body
of
evidence, including another case, in which the judge allegedly failed to
pass sentence on Jonathan Mutsinze whom he had convicted of murder and
robbery after he lost the court record.
Mutsinze has spent 10 years
in remand prison awaiting sentencing.
Legal experts and rights groups
such as the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights and the Law Society of
Zimbabwe say Zimbabwe’s Judiciary has become
one of the strongest checks on
government excesses and have vehemently
objected to “blatant attacks on a
judicial officer” and warned that such
attacks will have “an immediate and
chilling effect on all other judicial
officers who feel they will not be
protected when they assert their
independence and deliver justice in a
professional and fearless manner.”
During Zimbabwe’s recent political
upheavals, judges have frequently ruled
against the ruling elite, earning
them the wrath of the authorities.
Several judges have been forced to
resign after making politically sensitive
decisions.
Judges such as
Hungwe continue to defy insults and intimidation, and the
tribunal is
expected to recommend whether Hungwe should remain a High Court
judge or
step down.
Justice Hungwe takes breakJustice Charles Hungwe.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Gugulethu Nyazema, Staff Writer
Sunday, 21
April 2013 15:12
HARARE - Business is brisk for some residents in Kuwadzana
and Dzivaresekwa,
who are selling water as shortages deepen.
Scores
of youths in several high-density suburbs have taken advantage of the
situation and are earning a living from the water shortages.
The
water dealers are selling water to tobacco farmers at sales floors at $1
per
500ml bottle and to locals in their area at 50 cents a bucket.
One of the
water dealers only identified as Lodza said on a good day, water
sales at
the tobacco floors can make him up to $25.
“From neighbours we make about
$10 to $15 a day. It’s decent enough for us
to live on a day-to-day basis,”
he said. “Many of us are surviving this
way.”
Lodza is a graduate
from Chinhoyi University and has never been employed.
A snap survey by
Daily News on Sunday revealed that water has become
business, especially in
Kuwadzana and Dzivaresekwa suburbs.
“Our taps have been dry for a while
now. Wells are the only solution. Some
people are even selling water from
wells,” said Rozina Chikoni from
Kuwadzana.
She said boreholes
drilled by non-governmental organisations at the height
of the typhoid
crisis in 2009 always had long queues of people seeking
water.
Another resident Munyaradzi Makuti from Dzivaresekwa said
“because of fear
of diseases, most residents were now resorting to boiling
water from the
wells before drinking it.”
Harare City Council Health
department is working with some local
Non-Governmental Organisations in
providing safe drinking water by setting
up of mini-water treatment sites in
some high density suburbs in the capital
following an expose that some
boreholes were contaminated with faecal
matter.
http://mg.co.za/
20 APR 2013 13:12 - RAY
NDLOVU
Saviour Kasukuwere, indigenisation and empowerment minister, has
turned up
the heat on sugar grower Tongaat Hulett over its Hippo Valley
unit.
Tongaat Hulett is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange.
The Zimbabwe unit contributed 19% to Tongaat Hulett's total
interim revenue
and 32% to operating profits in the half-year period to
September 2012.
Kasukuwere accused Tongaat Hulett this week of failing to
comply with the
country's 51% indigenisation laws, which compel companies to
transfer
majority ownership to black Zimbabweans. A showdown is looming
between
Kasukuwere and Tongaat Hulett officials.
It is understood
from sources at the National Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Board
in Harare that Tongaat Hulett officials were due to
receive a letter from
Kasukuwere on Wednesday instructing them to "either
comply or move out of
their Hippo Valley unit".
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian
this week, Kasukuwere said patience
had finally run out with the sugar-maker
over its dilly-dallying antics and
failure to commit to compliance. "We are
not relenting on Tongaat Hulett.
They have been defying the country's laws
for a long time and now it is time
for them to face up to their actions,"
said Kasukuwere.
Indigenisation is the central plank of President Robert
Mugabe's re-election
bid. He wants Zimbabweans to go to the polls in June
and the stepping up of
the indigenisation programme by Kasukuwere is widely
interpreted as an
attempt to curry more favour for Mugabe. Kasukuwere's
fierceness against
Tongaat Hulett has also been spurred on by his failed bid
last week to take
over the banking sector.
Moves to take over the
majority stake in Standard Chartered were resisted by
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, who warned the minister to
back off the
financial services sector.
Compliance
Trevor Maisiri, a senior analyst
based at the Johannesburg offices of the
International Crisis Group, said it
was difficult to pinpoint the cause of
the renewed crackdown against Tongaat
Hulett.
"It is difficult to tell what the case against Tongaat Hulett
really is. The
government is primarily alleging that Tongaat Hulett is not
engaging with it
over compliance and, should this be the case, Tongaat
Hulett needs to
engage," said Maisiri. "However, if Tongaat Hulett has been
engaging, then
the indigenisation authorities are seeking to muscle the
company out and
what is taking place is the usual rhetoric to gain political
mileage that
has been a common feature of the indigenisation
programme."
Kasukuwere's latest onslaught against Tongaat Hulett comes a
week after a
high-level Zimbabwe delegation – comprising Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, Industry and
Commerce
Minister Welshman Ncube and Trade Promotion and Investment Planning
Minister
Tapiwa Mashakada – attended a Zimbabwe-South Africa investment
summit in
Johannesburg in a bid to attract foreign investment and dispel
investor
fears over the 51% indigenisation law and the looming
elections.
Eric Bloch, a senior economist at H&E Bloch, said the
latest row between
Kasukuwere and Tongaat Hulett exposed the policy
deficiency of the unity
government, because "conflicting statements, mixed
messages and political
point-scoring" had become the order of the day in
Zimbabwe.
"Primarily, foreign investors are not averse to indigenisation
but want
flexibility in choosing partners and a government that will keep
their
investments secure," said Bloch.
Officials hosting an
international trade fair in Bulawayo next week
indicated that South Africa
had the largest number of exhibitors for the
fair and interest in Zimbabwe
business remains strong.
Since last year, several large South
Africa-linked companies have complied
with the 51% indigenisation law –
giving them room to expand their
operations in the country. These companies
include Impala Platinum's
subsidiary Zimplats, which earlier this year
signed off on a $971-million
deal through vendor financing. Indigenisation
deals have also been sealed
with Anglo American Platinum's (Amplats) Mimosa
mine, Unki Mine (a joint
venture between Zimplats and Amplats), cement
manufacturer Pretoria Portland
Cement and Caledonia's Blanket
mine.
Anglo American Platinum is considering a new mine at a cost of
$400-million,
and in February PPC announced plans to build a $200-million
cement plant.
Zimplats is carrying out an expansion exercise at one of its
main platinum
mines in Ngezi, at $460-million.
The chairperson of the
national indigenisation economic empowerment board,
Mike Nyambuya, said
nearly $1.56-billion had been raised for the
indigenisation fund through
empowerment deals.
Despite renewed
pressure from SADC for the full implementation of the GPA, President Mugabe
exuded confidence that he will win the elections he insisted should be held last
year or the year before that at the latest. ‘You’d be surprised what little bags
of diamonds can do’ he told the Vigil. ‘Just ask my friend Charles Taylor or for
that matter. . .’
Waving a pistol at
Vigil supporters, the President (played by Fungayi Mabhunu in our Mugabe mask)
was making his annual appearance outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London to mark
Independence Day. Carrying a poster reading ’33 years in power’, he was beset by
Zimbabwean exiles with rival placards such as: 33 years of oppression, 33 years
of looting, 33 years of suffering, 33 years of lawlessness, 33 years of violence
and 33 years of rigged elections.
Mugabe assured us
that the voters’ roll had been cleaned up. ‘Dead people have been taken off’ he
said – but added under his breath ‘more of them will be added’.
Vigil supporters
signed a letter to President Zuma drawing his attention to the moves underway
for massive vote rigging (see: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/apr20a_2013.html#Z8
– Cabinet descends on chaotic RG’s office).
The letter
reads:
‘We welcome the latest
visit to Harare by the SADC facilitation team but caution South Africa against
paying for the forthcoming elections there.
As Professor Welshman
Ncube has pointed out, it is well within the capacity of Zanu PF to fund the
elections if they are prepared to use their diamond revenue. Finance Minister
Biti has made the same point, lamenting the loss of diamond revenue to the
Treasury.
The UN, the US and
the EU have all expressed willingness to fund the elections but their offers
have been rejected by Zanu PF because it fears objective scrutiny. We believe
that South Africa should also exercise due diligence in this matter.
With elections coming
in the next six months, we call on the facilitation team to ensure that eligible
voters in Zimbabwe are allowed to register and draw your attention to what is
described as ‘calculated
bias towards ensuring perceived Zanu PF voters register to vote, with
simultaneous efforts being made in some quarters to prevent opposition party
supporters from registering at all’ (see: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/apr19_2013.html#Z23
– Zimbabwe Election Watch: Issue 1).
The Zimbabwe Vigil
has been protesting outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London every Saturday for
the past eleven years in support of human rights and free and fair
elections.’
The letter was the
Vigil’s contribution to the 16th monthly Free Zimbabwe global
protest. The theme this month is ‘Simuka, Phakama – stand up and be counted’.
Vigil founder member
Ephraim Tapa stood up and spoke of the recent undercover visit he’d made to
Zimbabwe. He said the three party leaders were congratulating themselves on the
33rd anniversary of independence as if everything was ok. Everything
was not ok, he said, and that is why we were gathered on the Strand demanding
free and fair elections which would produce a credible result. He added that he
had found a cowed nation and that he believed the result of the elections had
already been decided.
Other
points
·
It was a busy day for
Ephraim who came to the Vigil after chairing a well-attended meeting of the
Zimbabwe Yes We Can group of which he is President. After the Vigil, he joined
us at the bi-monthly Zimbabwe Action Forum to speak about his time in Zimbabwe.
He spoke of the daily hardships of the people living the ‘economy of the
stomach’ and how when he visited people’s carefully kept homes in Harare their
faces fell when he asked to use the toilet. Running water was sporadic and when
it was available was full of sewage. He also spoke of his terror on the death
trap of the Masvingo Road. Large lorries with swerving trailers resulted in cars
being swept off the road. In contrast the road to Mutare (and the diamonds) was
immaculate.
·
To our joy it was the
warmest and sunniest day for seven long months. The dancing, singing and
drumming reflected this.
·
We were happy to be
joined by our good friend Mark Beacon and others from Action for Southern
Africa, the successor to the Anti-apartheid Movement. Other visitors included a
Pakistani lady, Ayesha Siddique Khan, who is studying human rights law in London
and who said how important it was for oppressed people to stand
together.
·
We are glad to let
you know that our Swazi friend Tintswalo Ngobeni who was threatened with
deportation is still in the UK. After our mailing on Thursday in which we called
on the airline not to take her back, we were told that the deportation had been
called off.
·
Grateful thanks to
Rose Maponga who took away our weather-worn banners for repair and return next
week.
FOR THE
RECORD: 72 signed the
register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·
ROHR Milton Keynes
Branch Relaunch. Saturday
27th April from 2 – 5.30 pm. Venue Coffee Hall Meeting Place (Coffee
Hall Community Hall), 60 Garraways, Coffee Hall, Milton Keynes MK6 5E. For more
information please contact: Casper Nyamakura (07577666912), Epiphania Phiri
(07426 136 124) and William Muchayi (07826311731).
·
Zimbabwe Action Forum
(ZAF). Saturday
4th May from 6.30 – 9.30 pm. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first
floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. The Strand is the same road as the
Vigil. From the Vigil it’s about a 10 minute walk, in the direction away from
Trafalgar Square. The Strand Continental is situated on the south side of the
Strand between Somerset House and the turn off onto Waterloo Bridge. The
entrance is marked by a big sign high above and a sign for its famous Indian
restaurant at street level. It's next to a newsagent. Nearest underground:
Temple (District and Circle lines) and Holborn.
·
ROHR Executive
meeting. Saturday
4th May from 12 noon. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first floor
lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. For full directions check entry for
Zimbabwe Action Forum.
·
ROHR Birmingham
Branch meeting. Saturday
11th May from 12.30 – 3.30 pm. Venue: All Saints Centre, Vicarage
Road, Kings Heath B14 7RA. For more information, contact: Zenzile Chabuka
07951418577, Anne Chikumba 07857528546, Petronella Mapara 07903644612, Jane Mary
Mapfumo 07412310429, Pedzisai James 07428180518 and Tecla Bandawe
07450507650.
·
ROHR Southampton
Branch meeting. Saturday
11th May from 12.30 – 4 pm. Venue: Swaythling Neighbourhood Centre
off Broadlands Rd, Southampton SO16 3AY. For more information contact:
Wellington Mukucha 07450264733, Sally Mutseyami 07969029752, Manfred Mambo
07774538359 and Taylor Madondo.
·
ROHR Central London
Branch meeting. Saturday
18th May from 12 – 1.30 pm. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first
floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. Contact Fungayi Mabhunu 07746552597.
For full directions check entry for Zimbabwe Action Forum.
·
ROHR Reading
Relaunch. Saturday
25th May from 11 am – 5 pm. For more information please contact:
Tawanda Dzimba 07880524278, Nicodimus Muganhu 07877386789.
·
Zimbabwe Vigil
Highlights 2012 can be viewed on this
link: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/467-vigil-highlights-2012.
Links to previous years’ highlights are listed on 2012 Highlights
page.
·
The Restoration of
Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s
partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil
to have an organization on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s
mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through
membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in
Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other
website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents the
views and opinions of ROHR.
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace
page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil
·
Useful websites:
www.zanupfcrime.com which reports on Zanu
PF abuses and www.ipaidabribe.org.zw where people can
report corruption in Zimbabwe.
Vigil
co-ordinators
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 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.
For many Zimbabweans living in South Africa, it is not a case of wanting to be here, but more of not being able to return home.
They are unable to find work in Zimbabwe and to provide for their families they have to be here.
Many are fearful of political violence at home and do not believe elections later this year, for which South Africa has made R900 million available, will lead to change.
Domestic worker Angela Engina, who works seven days a week cleaning five households, says “things were tough at home”, so she moved to South Africa in 2009.
Engina now lives in Khayelitsha with her son, Bombojena Engina, but the rest of her family remain in Zimbabwe and can’t afford to visit.
Of her treatment here, she says: “South Africans are not always good to foreigners. They say we take their jobs, but if there was a chance to get a job I would go home.”
Engina says if Zimbabweans are doing jobs here that need to be done, she doesn’t understand why South Africa shouldn’t put money into the Zimbabwean elections to make it better there. “We want to vote for our country,” she says, but does not have the money to go home to vote.
Taxi driver Minos Moyo came to South Africa in 2011 to find work. He found no opportunities to work in Zimbabwe so came here believing things would be better, and so far they have been. He has a big family at home and, while he would prefer living in Zimbabwe with them, he needs to work here.
“I help them. I’m the breadwinner of the family,” he says. “Everything is in order as long as I am working.”
He has generally found South Africans to be friendly.
“People depend on me,” he says. His family at home work in exchange for food, so he needs to send money for everything else, including school fees and uniforms.
Loren Landau, director and associate professor of the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand, says: “What the Zimbabweans are expressing acutely is a sentiment and fact shared by many of those who have come to South Africa in search of protection or work: the vibrancy and viability of the regional economy depends heavily on migrants and their ability to find work in South Africa.
“While South Africans may feel this threatens their own efforts to counter poverty and inequality, such a position ignores migrants’ real and potential contributions to South Africa and the degree to which South Africa benefits from a more stable and prosperous region.
“Were our country to work to facilitate rather than frustrate cross-border movements, I have little doubt we would multiply the benefits to families, communities and countries throughout the region.”
Tendai Bhiza’s reasons for coming to South Africa in 2004 were varied. She was disenchanted by the political situation at home and struggled with having political views that differed from those of her family, workplace, personal relationships and church.
“Home is home, but also there are some things which need to be changed for the better, not for the worse,” she says.
Bhiza was a trader on Greenmarket Square until 2009, when she says foreigners were “pushed out” of the market before the World Cup.
“Our bread was buttered in Greenmarket Square. It was honest, selling our curios. We were helping the economy here and sending money home. After that we were stranded.”
Her son, Trevor Hewitt, lives in Zimbabwe with his grandparents. Bhiza returns when she can but wants him to be at home with a support network in case anything happens to her. She sends money home for her son’s education.
“In Zimbabwe, to make things better they have to start with the health system.”
She said she needed to be here for her health, but would rather be at home and feels threatened here sometimes.
“Whenever Mandela is in hospital and people know I am foreign, they tell me things are going to change when he dies because it was only Madiba who welcomed foreigners.”
But she doesn’t understand why the colour of your skin or where you were born matters.
“When a white person is cut, red blood comes out. When a black person is cut, red blood comes out. We have different views, different thinking, different religions, I respect that.
“There are many Malawians and Mozambicans in Zimbabwe and they are welcome. We never had xenophobia.”
Bhiza laughed when asked if she would go home to vote.
“It won’t make a difference,” she says. “They always rig the elections.”
Landau believes it is in South Africa’s interests for Zimbabwe to stabilise and begin its path to economic recovery. “Although free and fair elections are part of that – and something we should support - this must mark the beginning of a progressive engagement in the country’s reconstruction,” he says.
Nehemiah Simango came to South Africa in 2007 because he was “obviously gay”.
“My brother saw the situation and decided to come with me here,” he says. “I would love to be there. I was born and bred there, but I’m happy to be here.” - Sunday Argus