Let us take whatever he says with a large pinch of
salt
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe, that master of political guile and
intrigue, was at it again last week: this time telling- the whole world that
he was now ready to meet opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai; British
Prime Minister Tony Blair and even to entertain debate on his eventual
departure from office.
In an interview with the state-owned ZTV,
Mugabe, who nevertheless at times appeared completely lost, tried to portray
a new image: that of a reasonable, caring and concerned leader who realises
that only serious dialogue can save Zimbabwe from becoming the real "Zimbabwe
Ruins".
But has Mugabe changed? Can we seriously say the leopard
has finally changed its spots?
It is obvious that many
Zimbabweans, battered by the combined effects of an imploding economy and an
increasingly paranoid and repressive regime, would want to hope that Mugabe
has changed and is now honestly seeking a solution to the current economic
and political problems.
But given the history of the deviousness of
the ruling Zanu PF party and its top leadership, could this newly found
optimism among the broad spectrum of Zimbabweans not be mere wishful
thinking?
History has taught us that Zanu PF, and indeed Mugabe, do
not accept that there is anyone or any political party better suited to rule
this country than the current governing party.
With the benefit
of hindsight, the late Zapu leader, Joshua Nkomo, a Zimbabwean political
colossus if ever there is one, would have testified to this.
Nkomo was the only one who swallowed his pride to make the so-called 1987
Unity Agreement brokered by former president Canaan Banana, become a reality.
In the end, both Nkomo and his beloved ZAPU were swallowed up by Zanu PF and
never to be heard or seen in this country again.
Of that formidable
party that was the front-runner in Zimbabwean nationalist politics, what
remains are token leadership positions in the ruling party for some of its
luckier cadres.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
is now on Mugabe's radar. There is nothing that would please our aged leader
more than to see the demise of the MDC as has happened to other parties that
challenged his rule, such as Bishop Abel Muzorewa's United Parties and Edgar
Tekere's Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM).
Mugabe will try all
sorts of tricks to see the demise of the MDC, so his recent call for dialogue
with Tsvangirai should be viewed in that light.
The MDC therefore
has to learn from history that it is foolhardy to enter into any talks of
sorts with Mugabe and Zanu PF that would lead to transitional governments or
shared power because these people are never sincere.
Mugabe has
ruthlessly crushed the careers of even those among Zanu PF that dared to
offer alternative solutions to the country's problems such as Tekere and
Eddison Zvobgo. Why then would he enter into an agreement with Tsvangirai
that he fully knows would allow the MDC leader one foot into State
House?
The Zanu PF leader, a master tactician, knows fully well
that his back is on the wall, what with the crumbling economy, mounting
poverty and an increasingly restless society.
He knows, and
knows very well, that the only solution is to continue to curry favour with
the likes of South African President Thabo Mbeki and Nigeria's Olusegun
Obasanjo, who have worked tirelessly to defend him and his discredited land
reforms, the main source of his current problems.
What better way
is there to win over Mbeki and Obasanjo, as well as the whole region, than to
say, in one breadth, "I am ready to talk to Tsvangirai, Blair and to listen
to the succession debate".
So while Zimbabweans, and their
neighbours, might be hoping that Mugabe is finally beginning to see reason
and is now on a reconciliatory mission with his perceived and imagined
enemies such as Tsvangirai, Blair and George W Bush, the reality might be
that he is just buying time as he has done so many times before.
Mugabe might once again be trying to hoodwink the MDC, the
British government, Mbeki, Obasanjo and the whole lot to regard him now as a
changed man and a man who has seen the light so that they remove
international sanctions against his rogue regime, and restore vitally-needed
aid.
There is no doubt that this change has been caused by the big
three: the shrinking economy, international sanctions and the effect of the
mass action.
If these three are removed from Mugabe's shoulders,
then it would not be long before the Zanu PF leader resorts to his old ways
and begins to harass the opposition, lock up opponents and muzzle the press,
because the leopard does not easily change its colours.
So it is
imperative that the international community maintains its relentless pressure
on Zanu PF and Mugabe, and perhaps tighten remaining loopholes, while the
MDC, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and ¾ the generality of
Zimbabweans continue to pile up more pressure on the domestic
front.
The MDC, the ZCTU, the NCA and the entire Zimbabwean society
should not lose sight of the ultimate goal, which is to remove Zanu PF and
Mugabe from power because they have failed Zimbabweans and have reduced us to
a begging lot: the laughing stock of the whole world.
So there
was really nothing new in what Mugabe said on ZTV on Monday. He insulted
millions of Zimbabweans who voted against him in last year's poll by saying
that they needed "re-education". He belittled Blair, whom he says he is keen
to talk to, by calling him a "little bully".
He even went to the
extent of telling a US senior government official to "go hang".
In vintage Mugabe style, he said so much while saying nothing. What he might
only have managed to achieve was to hoodwink some people that he has changed
but deep down, we know, he has not!
THE president made only¡ passing reference to all the
suffering Zimbabweans are going through in his independence day speeches.
There was no empathy with the citizens for the lack of fuel and its many
effects, not to mention its sudden much higher price, the immediate cause of
the whole nation taking the unprecedented step of staying home in protest for
three days this week. Nothing said about an inflation rate that is creeping
up to 300%, nor the many other things that have made this year's
independence anniversary the saddest ever.
He sang his usual
one-note song, about the biggest recent achievement being the taking of land
from white farmers. We may have been a reasonably functional country a few
years ago, compared to today, but we were not free because we did not own the
land. Now that we do, "Zimbabwe's future is bright," he said to national
incredulity.
Economic malaise will be a thing of the past when the
people realise it has been caused by the opposition party, who are foreign
stooges. This about sums up President Mugabe's analysis of where Zimbabwe is,
and his vision for the nation, if you can call it that.
Both his
independence speeches and his ZTV interview with Supa Mandiwanzira, who did a
commendable job of asking pertinent questions, show just how out of touch the
president is. He fidgeted through his answers, and it became clear that
President Robert Mugabe is completely divorced from the reality of Zimbabwe's
critical condition. He is immersed in a weird sort of fantasy world of his
own.
Zimbabwe gained independence many years after most other
countries in Africa. We had plenty of time to study their errors to avoid
them. How astonishing then that some politicians, academics and many others
who should know better have fallen for the simplistic magic wand of
expropriation as the solution to economic ills.
If Idi Amin's
Uganda is too extreme an example of the pitfalls of race-based
nationalisation of property, there is that of Zambia under Kenneth Kaunda. In
a popular orgy of misguided nationalism, Zambia's single cash cow, the copper
mining industry, was "Zambianised" at one stroke. Zambians were stirred by
the rhetoric of "Zambia for Zambians" and all the arguments against greedy
foreigners getting rich off the mineral wealth of the country, while the
locals were relegated to being their workers. "After all, the foreigners
stole the land from our ancestors, we have a right to take it back any way we
choose."
Solution? Simply kick out the foreigners, take over the
mines and live richly, happily ever after.
In the nationalistic
fervour, little attention was paid to the capital intensive nature of mining,
and the hard currency to keep the mines running soon ran out. The
international price of copper also fell. The industry was no longer
profitable to run, but couldn't Ü be shut down for all sorts of social,
political and other reasons. The asset of copper, now "owned" by
the Zambians, was actually becoming more an instrument of
national impoverishment than enrichment.
Once promising Zambia
became broke and heavily in debt, with no means to service the debt. The
currency plunged in value, shortages forced regular shopping trips to the
then prosperous Zimbabwe, and many other economic ills that will sound
familiar to Zimbabweans became the norm. They had "sovereign" ownership and
possession of their copper alright, but it didn't prove to be all that
useful!
It was not many years after the mine takeovers that Zambia
got another chance to exercise its "sovereignty" again. This time, it was by
going cap in hand to beg international lenders to bail them out, and
international mining conglomerates to come back and try to revive the
mines!
Zambia is now slowly recovering from economic policies that
sounded so correctly nationalistic it was considered almost treasonous to
question them. They can now laugh at the formerly arrogant Zimbabweans, who
are falling into the same trap that set the Zambians back decades in terms
of development.
Take home lesson? It is neither here nor there
whether the international mining companies in Zambia, nor the white farmers
in Zimbabwe, were nice guys or not. In both cases, they were not particularly
loved by the natives for all sorts of reasons, including the arrogance and
blindness to one's surroundings that often comes with economic power. Still,
the process of empowerment should have been driven more by the best long
term interests of the natives, rather than by mere blind hatred of the
farmers.
Because it was the latter, it is the natives who are
suffering more than the white farmers from silly overnight economic
reversals. In both Zambia and Zimbabwe, mediocre politicians had squandered
whatever positives they had inherited, and run out of ideas to build on them
and justify their continued rule. They fell back on getting segments of their
populations worked up into anti-foreigner/anti-white frenzies.
We cannot console ourselves by saying the current hardships are short-term
and will be over as soon as we reap our first few harvests. Even if we all
decided to forget about the mayhem of Mugabe's methods and get busy farming,
economic conditions wrought by Mugabe's excesses make this a particularly
difficult time to begin to be serious farmers.
When you "own" land
that you cannot farm commercially because you don' t have the capital or the
technical expertise and can neither find the diesel for machinery, nor afford
it and spare parts when available, that surely is a hollow kind of
sovereignty. This is the reality for the overwhelming majority of those whom
land reform is supposed to benefit. Ownership or possession of an asset only
guarantees empowerment when many other conditions are right, which is not the
case in Zimbabwe today. It is like having one's legs amputated, and then
being given running shoes to go and run a marathon.
As in
Zambia, Mugabe identified a popular cause in Zimbabwe, the desire for the
natives to be masters of their economic destiny. In both cases, instead of
studying the situation carefully with a view to not only achieving that aim,
but doing it in a way that genuinely empowered the newly "sovereign" owners,
they did so in an emotional, knee-jerk fashion.
"Instant
empowerment" stirred the pan-Africanist soul, giving a politically and
emotionally satisfying release of centuries of pent-up anger against
colonial/racial humiliation. Here was a way to not just get back at the
whites, but achieve "development" and economic dominance in a few
years, rather than painstakingly over decades. Obviously those who said it
would take time, training, experience and capital accumulation for the
natives to reverse colonial economic equalities were Western stooges and
Uncle Toms!
"Let's march on the mines/farms and take them over now!
After all, the land is the economy and the economy is the land!"
After the initial nationalistic euphoria had died down and economic collapse
caused by hot-headed naivete set in, the formerly popular Kaunda was hounded
out of office by an impoverished people, as is happening to Mugabe in
Zimbabwe today. Chido Makunike's e-mail address is Chidomakunike@yahoo.com
THE government of a troubled central African country has said a
strike called last week was successful only because mischievous transport
operators withdrew their taxis and buses. One minister, Comrade Witless,
informed the operators that they might lose their licenses if they didn't get
straight back to work.
The statement didn't impress the taxi
drivers. Most said they'd love to get back to work, but where was the fuel?
It seemed only the advent of the More Diesel Coming party was able to resolve
their problems, they said.
Meanwhile at the other end of the
continent, another country with long fuel queues and even less excuse for
them, it is Africa's largest oil producer, was also in the spotlight. A
certain Mr Banjo, one of the top negotiators pretending to resolve the crisis
in the troubled central African nation, was found to have rigged his own
election.
The move surprised no one in either country. Citizens of
the troubled central African country said they knew all along there was a
conspiracy. They claimed the only reason Mr Banjo ever visited the troubled
central African dictatorship was to see how it was done.
"Now
watch that barking mad loony down south do exactly the same thing," warned a
political analyst who cannot be named for the same reason political analysts
quoted in the state-controlled press can't be named: they don't
exist.
And adding confusion to the troubled central African
country, the foreign minister of a morally bankrupt, war ravaged kleptocracy
in the region paid a visit. Finding nothing useful to say, and less to loot,
the man left without saying anything useful.
Insiders told Over
The Top that the oil rich foreign minister was meant to pave the way for a
task force coming to the troubled central African nation. But finding the
situation so incomprehensively muddled, he boarded a plane for richer
pickings elsewhere.
Meanwhile critics pointed out that the chances
of success had to be remote. Tasking people who in 500 years had never
allowed democracy to take root in their own countries with establishing
democracy in the troubled central African regime, was hardly
encouraging.
Still, police in the troubled central African police
state vowed to continue with their relentless defence of democracy,
especially in foreign countries. Speaking to a handful of police officers,
the police chief said democracy in the troubled central African nation would
work splendidly if it weren't for the opposition.
His amazing
grasp of politics could spark a new form of democracy known as the one party
state, said an enthusiastic Zany party supporter who was disappointed to hear
it had been tried before. He was even more disappointed when he learnt that
it was old fashioned and frowned on by democratic nations with large
bombs.
Still, Zany party officials put a brave face on matters by
denying there had been a strike and pretending not to notice their west
African ally 's own election was being condemned much as their own had been.
Instead they said it was all the fault of the British and
Americans.
OTT has decided to ask the Zany party to cease anti-US
and British rhetoric and concentrate instead on the French, who provide a far
easier and more amusing target for vitriol. After all, it doesn't really
matter who the enemy is, what matters is that we have an enemy to blame for
our troubles. Meanwhile Over The Top will continue with his tortuous study of
Uganda in an effort to unravel the complexities of life in the troubled
central African nation. Despite repeated failure, there has to be solution in
there somewhere.
Pretoria - Workers in Zimbabwe are planning
a stay-away action for May Day in protest against the Zanu-PF government,
sources said on Tuesday.
They believe their only hope is a
revolution.
The stay-away will only end once the current Zanu-PF
government and President Robert Mugabe step down and an election takes
place.
A government of national unity, which will amount to an
integration of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Zanu-PF, is not
acceptable because the current corrupt elements in government will stay in
power, the sources added.
They say the only negotiated settlement that
the masses will accept is total renewal.
Details about the planned
protest action are being kept secret since organisers could be sent to jail
for at least five years under current legislation should their identities
become known.
The sources said the latest action was a grass-roots
initiative rather than a formal stay-away action arranged by the MDC and
labour unions.
Cheaper to stay home
"People are at a dead-end.
They cannot go on any more. It is cheaper to stay at home than to go to work
every day," one of the organisers said on Tuesday.
He said there was
literally no more paper money available - partly because of the astronomical
inflation and partly because people have withdrawn their savings from banks
because of economic uncertainties in the country.
Money and food are now
being stockpiled in case the coming strikes continue for more than a month or
two.
Public servants, who should have received their salaries last week,
received payslips but not their salaries.
Rich the target of hungry
masses?
Sources said the countrywide strike would probably become evident
in public and on the streets as services and food supplies finally
collapse.
"There are fears that the rich and privileged will become the
targets of the hungry masses.
"There is a strange mood among the
people: the silence before the storm. The one thing everyone agrees on is
that nobody will back off this time.
"We will have to see it through
until the end. Hopefully there will be a Moses that will lead the people
through the desert."
Fears for reprisals
Chris Maroleng,
researcher at the Institute for Security Studies confirmed the stay-away
action on Tuesday.
He said Zimbabweans were "cautious" not to disclose
too much about the planned action because of fears for
reprisals.
"Previous talks between the MDC and Zanu-PF derailed because
too much information was leaked. Now there is total secrecy."
He said
the two parties have been locked in negotiations for the past three weeks.
Important topics under discussion include how the country's key interests,
including the economy, could be supported; the possible composition of a
government of national unity and presidential and parliamentary
elections.
"It seems that there are also speculations about Mugabe's
retirement and that he would probably have immunity against future
prosecution.
"An important point in the Zimbabwean constitution is that
an election has to be held within 90 days after a president steps down - he
cannot simply resign.
"A president with no executive power is an
alternative, but the MDC does not find this option viable."
Police bar MDC's Machiridza's wife from his
burial By Langton Nyakwenda
AGE-old African traditional
culture prescribes that a widow has to perform the vital rite of body viewing
before the body of her husband is laid to rest but Lydia Guvi, the widow of
the late opposition activist, Tonderai Machiridza, does not even know where
her husband was buried.
Soldiers and police barred Machiridza's
relatives from attending his burial after the family had dumped his body at
St Mary's police station last week.
The Movement for Democratic
Change activist died on Independence Day from injuries he sustained after
being assaulted by police two weeks ago.
He was abducted and
tortured by heavily armed police officers who accused him and three other MDC
activists of confiscating handcuffs from a police officer during the two-day
stayaway last month.
"I did not even view my husband's body. I
demand a proper burial for my husband because I am not happy with what
happened," said Guvi who married Machiridza in 1994.
Up to now
soldiers are still guarding Machiridza's grave in Chitungwiza.
Guvi and her two children, Kudakwashe, 7, and Vanessa, 3, have been chased
away from the house they "were renting by the landlord who is a Zanu-PF
supporter. "They have given me notice to vacate saying that they cannot live
with MDC supporters and I have nowhere to go," said Machiridza's widow while
holding little Vanessa.
The situation is worsened by the fact that
Machiridza did not have a rural home as he grew up in St Mary's.
"If we had a rural home we could at least go there but we do not have one and
we are stuck here in Chitungwiza," she said.
Guvi and Machiridza's
mother, Rosemary, are now staying at Lovemore Mutamba's residence. Mutamba is
the MDC organising secretary for St Mary's township.
When The
Standard arrived at the Mutamba residence, the Machiridzas were having tea
and the widow had to be persuaded to talk to the paper.
She said
she was lost for words and was pondering the future of her family after the
death of her husband who was the sole breadwinner.
"Though Tonderai
was self employed he could look after the family but now that I am alone I do
not know what to do. We used to survive on vending with me selling freezits
and him buying and selling goods but now it is going to be difficult," she
said.
Machiridza's only brother, Raymond, is bed ridden with
diabetes and cannot look after the family.
"Right now we are
surviving on food donated by the MDC. They bought the coffin and provided
food and transport during the funeral," said the grief stricken
widow.
"Where will I get the school fees, rent and clothes for the
children; this is all because my husband died for supporting a party of his
choice."
She said Machiridza was a well-known MDC activist in St
Mary's and was on the police and soldiers' blacklist.
"They kept
on threatening him with death, telling him he would not last this year," she
said.
The widow revealed that on the night Machiridza was abducted
more than 20 policemen viciously beat him.
"They were kicking
him all over the body and hitting him with objects on the head. The police
also hit me for harbouring an MDC supporter,"
Machiridza's mother,
Rosemary, said she was bitter at the way her son was brutally
killed.
"My son had a vision for his children. He wanted to raise
his family and that is why he was tireless. I have been robbed of my son,"
she said.
Machiridza died at the Avenues Clinic two weeks ago after
being tortured by St Mary's policemen. At his funeral, the police arrested
and beat up 61 mourners, including Mutamba and Machiridza's
mother-in-law.
Cosatu speaks out against Zimbabwe economic
state April 29, 2003, 19:45
The Congress
of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has once again raised concern over the
Zimbabwe economic crisis. This as the trade unions held a three-hour long
meeting with President Thabo Mbeki.
"If the economy of
Zimbabwe is affected, it's going to affect this country. It will affect the
workers of this country, as such we need something to be done," said Joseph
Maqhekeni, the National Council of Trade Unions president.
The call comes as Mbeki prepares to leave for Zimbabwe on Monday, where he
will be joined by Olusegun Obasanjo, his Nigerian counterpart and Bakili
Muluzi of Malawi. The three Presidents will meet Robert Mugabe, the
Zimbabwean President, where they are expected to encourage discussion between
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Zanu-PF.
The
talks went into overtime discussing issues like the upcoming growth and
development summit.
"We really need to find quantifiables
around this of unemployment, poverty and issues of inequality," said
Membathisi Mdladlana, the Labour Minister.
These issues
will be taken to Geneva when Mbeki addresses the International Labour
Organisation next month.
TAC under the
spotlight The Treatment Action Campaign's (TAC) suspended
disobedience campaign also came under the spotlight. Trade unions said the
TAC was on its own. Willie Madisha, the president of Cosatu, said: "We have
said ours is a legitimate government and you begin to raise issues of civil
disobedience, you are then saying you are dealing with an illegitimate
government and therefore Cosatu cannot agree to that kind of
thing."
The TAC suspended its civil disobedience campaign
this afternoon, pending the outcome of a full day meeting with the South
African National Aids Council (Sanac) on May 17. The decision was made at a
meeting of the TAC executive committee despite reservations expressed by
several members who stressed the urgency of changing government policy on
treatment for people living with HIV/Aids and concerns about whether Sanac
had the power to act to save lives.
In a statement, the
organisation said the current civil disobedience campaign was being suspended
to give the government a full opportunity of proving its good faith and to
demonstrate that the TAC's campaign was about saving
lives.
The executive of the TAC would meet on May 18 to
approve an agenda for the Sanac meeting which would include, an
anti-retroviral treatment programme for the public sector, the TAC's
relationship with government and Sanac, and questions Sanac may have about
the TAC's structure and finances. - Additional reporting by Sapa
More than a year
after contested elections, many finger young 'green bombers' for a campaign
of violence against opposition supporters.
By Nicole Itano |
Special to The Christian Science Monitor
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
- They were given marijuana to dull their senses and alcohol to increase
their rage. But after months of carrying out a campaign of terror against
government-opposition supporters, even the haze of intoxication was not
enough to hide the horror of their actions. "First they gave us dagga
[marijuana]. We smoked dagga and smoked dagga and then we got drunk. Then we
burned the houses, took the cattle, and beat people," says Henry, a teenager
and former member of Zimbabwe's feared National Youth Service. Henry fled to
South Africa and is now living on the streets of a run-down Johannesburg
neighborhood. Henry and others who spoke to the Monitor asked that their
names not be used out of fear of retaliation against them or their
families.
"The worst thing I did," he says, "was beat my own
grandmother because she was opposing [President Robert Mugabe's party]....
After that, I felt so bad that I ran away from Zimbabwe."
More
than a year after Zimbabwe's contested presidential elections, which many
observers say was stolen by Mr. Mugabe, violence against opposition
supporters continues. In the aftermath of a two-day opposition-led strike in
March, while the world's eyes were focused on Iraq, hundreds of Zimbabweans
were beaten and hospitalized, arrested and tortured. Last week, a three-day
strike led to the arrest of many opposition workers during raids on their
offices.
In recent months, attacks have been reportedly committed
by the police and military. But much of the violence is blamed on the
National Youth Service, nicknamed the "green bombers" after their uniforms
and the destruction they leave in their paths.
Human rights
groups estimate there are 10,000 young men in the National Youth Service, in
camps at schools and community centers around the country. The government
established the service two years ago to teach skills and patriotism, and to
get young people involved in community projects.
But many
Zimbabweans say the young men have been trained by the military to terrorize
opposition supporters and dissidents. The government denies this
claim.
Until now, most of what was known about the bombers' darker
side came from victims. But a few of these young men, like Henry, have fled
Zimbabwe and are telling their stories.
Most are just teenagers
and see themselves as victims of Zimbabwe's political turmoil, just like the
people they beat and raped. On the run from their own government, harassed by
South African police, and shunned by their own countrymen, they're asking for
forgiveness and help. But few Zimbabweans are ready to so easily
forgive.
"You're left now with a large number of people who have
done things and need to be integrated back into the community - but they've
done terrible things," says Tony Reeler, regional human rights defender for
the Institute of Democracy in South Africa. "I think there's no doubt, and
all the evidence shows, that these young people become deeply
disturbed themselves. Compassion says they need help. Human rights and law
says they're villains."
Like most of the 20 or so former bombers
who he has met up with here in Johannesburg, Henry came from a poor family in
a "high-density suburb" - a euphemism for the black slums - near Zimbabwe's
second-largest city, Bulawayo.
With few prospects, he says he
joined the bombers because he was promised land and a job in the Army. All
the boys in his area over 16, he says, were told they could join and be
rewarded, or resist and be beaten. Henry joined, but the land and the jobs
never materialized.
For months, the trainees lived in a tent near a
secondary school, going through boot-camp-style training. They ran, jumped,
and learned to handle guns and spears. The training was conducted under the
watchful eye of military officers.
Later, they were given
uniforms and were deployed to harass opposition supporters and man food
lines. They prevented anyone without a ruling-party card from buying food. In
a country where more than 7 million were said to be at risk of starvation
recently, food was as powerful a weapon as a gun.
Twenty-two-year-old Luscious, the oldest of the Johannesburg group, stutters
heavily when he speaks; it's a problem, his friends say, that increases when
he is angry or emotional. Stumbling over the words, he says he burned houses,
watched while children were raped, and shot a white farmer. But he says it
was the alcohol and drugs, not him, that did these things.
"I
didn't realize," Luscious says of the day he shot the farmer. "I was drunk.
Afterwards, when I was sober, I came to my mind. I said, 'I'm sorry, I'm
sorry, I'm sorry.' "
Luscious says he wants counseling, food, and a
place to stay, but Zimbabwe's exile community here is generally unwilling to
help the men who terrorized them at home.
The South African
government refused to comment on the bombers' presence here. But the
increasing number of Zimbabweans coming to Johannesburg to escape political
oppression and economic disaster is making the situation across the border
increasingly difficult for the South African government to
ignore.
Officially, South Africa says Zimbabwe is on the mend and
continues to protect its neighbor from international censure. Last week, with
the backing of other African and Asian countries, South Africa stopped the
United Nations Human Rights Commission from condemning Zimbabwe for human
rights violations.
Henry knows those human rights violations
occurred. He just hopes he will be forgiven for his part in them. "They must
forgive us," he says. "Because we didn't know what we were doing."
HARARE, April 29 - The Zimbabwe government on Tuesday
suspended the opposition mayor of Harare who has been locked in a power
battle with President Robert Mugabe's ruling party since he won office a year
ago. In a statement on state television, Local Government
Minister Ignatius Chombo said Elias Mudzuri, a member of the main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), would be investigated for alleged
inefficiency, mismanagement and corruption and had been replaced by his
deputy, also a member of the MDC. ''The executive mayor is being
suspended for failure to run the affairs of the city of Harare efficiently,''
he said. Mudzuri, the first opposition mayor of Zimbabwe's capital
since Mugabe came to power in 1980, was not immediately available for comment
on Tuesday night. Over the past year he has accused the government
of frustrating him by failing approve vital loans for municipal services, and
undermining his authority in the city through ruling ZANU-PF party officials
occupying senior positions in the city council. Earlier this year,
Mudzuri was detained for two nights after being arrested for allegedly
addressing a political meeting without police permission. Zimbabwe
is grappling with its worst political and economic crisis since independence
from Britain in 1980, which many blame on Mugabe, but the 79-year-old former
guerrilla leader says the country is being sabotaged by his domestic and
Western opponents.
Zimbabwe widow: Ban cricket tour By Rob McNeil, Evening
Standard 29 April 2003 The widow of a white farmer murdered by Robert
Mugabe's armed supporters has branded the English Cricket Board "totally
disgusting" for inviting the Zimbabwe national team to play
here.
Maria Stevens, whose husband David was dragged from his farm and
shot three years ago, is furious at what she calls "a tacit acceptance of
Mugabe's genocidal policies - which are just as appalling as those of Saddam
Hussein or Slobodan Milosevic.
"Politically it would be far better if
these players did not come. They are only in it for the money and I think it
is a disgrace".
She was speaking two days before the Zimbabwe team fly in
to London to play a number of matches, including one at cricket's spiritual
home - Lord's.
President Mugabe is the patron of the Zimbabwean team,
which has been purged of any players unwilling to support the government -
including former captain Andy Flowers and fast bowler Henry
Olonga.
Mrs Stevens said: "It was an outrage that the English cricket
authorities were willing to send a team to play in Zimbabwe in the Cricket
World Cup, but at least people made a stand.
"For the team to be
invited here by the English Cricket Board is an insult. Things shouldn't have
been allowed to get to this stage. This has destroyed the reputation of
cricket as a gentleman's game. What sort of gentleman stands by and watches
while murders and rapes are taking place?"
The 42-year-old mother-of-four
has seen her entire life turned upside down since the death of her husband,
who was shot twice at point-blank range.
The once-profitable marigold and
tobacco farm that the couple devoted their life to has been reduced to
scrubland. Their beautiful home was burned to the ground and the 300 people
from 75 native families that were once employed by the Stevens family have
been forced to seek work elsewhere.
Mrs Stevens and her three youngest
children are now living with another exiled Zimbabwean woman and her two
children in a small house in an Oxfordshire village.
She has a
cleaning job in the mornings to help make ends meet and her two youngest boys
- twins Warren and Sebastian who turned five last week - have only the
vaguest memories of their father.
She said: "Mugabe and his thugs not
only killed my husband, they destroyed the lives of hundreds of ordinary
Zimbabweans who depended on the farm to make a living, and they took away my
children's father.
"The man who was arrested for killing David - and
subsequently convicted of it and jailed - was pardoned by Mugabe because he
was such an 'upstanding member of the community'. Zimbabwe is being sucked
dry by Mugabe and the rest of the world is standing by and watching it
happen."
Mrs Stevens added: "The English Cricket Board is doing the same
as the Government - putting money before people.
"The great tragedy of
Zimbabwe is that it isn't really in anyone's financial interests to deal with
the problems there.
"There is torture, rape, looting and the brutal
murder of Mugabe's political opponents. But while we use these very human
rights abuses as a justification to attack Iraq, in Zimbabwe they are all
being ignored. But then Zimbabwe doesn't control huge oil
reserves.
"My husband was a decent, kind man who spoke Shona - the local
language - and looked after his employees very well. He wasn't in any way
racist and he wasn't political. His murder was essentially
arbitrary."
Labour pullout sounds TNF death knell By Itai
Dzamara
THE Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) faces collapse with
revelations that labour has pulled out and business could soon follow suit,
Standard Business can reveal.
The forum, set up by government,
business and labour, suffered a major body blow last week when the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) organised a successful three-day mass job
stay away to protest against the exorbitant increases in fuel prices. The
ZCTU accused the government of leaving it and business out when making the
300% fuel price increases.
Collin Gwiyo, the deputy secretary
general of the ZCTU, said the union 's council resolved that if government
did not reduce the fuel prices, participation in the TNF would become
impossible for the union.
Said Gwiyo: "Last week, the council
resolved that if fuel prices are not reduced back to the prices before the
recent increases, we would cease to participate in the TNF. The decision will
now depend on the outcome of the stayaways."
Anthony Mandiwanza,
the president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), told
Standard Business that to him the current scenario means labour has pulled
out of TNF, leading to the crumbling of the forum.
That, he said,
left the business community with no choice but to accept that the forum had
collapsed.
He added that business would regard the forum as
"ineffective and dysfunctional" after the withdrawal of labour and as a
result, it would follow suit by withdrawing from the forum.
"The
TNF was set up for the three social partners to work together. Now, with one
of the partners (labour) having withdrawn, the forum becomes ineffective and
dysfunctional. As business we have no choice but to accept the reality that
the TNF has collapsed unless the lost partner bounces back. Therefore, one
can say the forum can no longer continue," said Mandiwanza.
Although stating his desire to see the TNF remain intact and continuing to
work towards reviving the economy, James Sanders, the president of the
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), acknowledged that labour's
participation was vital.
Both labour and business have declared
that the TNF has failed to achieve its intended goals.
Mandiwanza said: "The essence of the TNF was to resuscitate the economy,
through reviving industry. But we have been experiencing an unfortunate
scenario whereby government has been continuously destroying industry through
its policies."
The TNF was established last year and has been a
stage for bickering as the partners persistently differed on policy
matters.
President Robert Mugabe's government has been obstinately
pursuing populist policies such as price controls of basic commodities and
distorted foreign currency exchange regimes while largely ignoring
contributions from labour and business.
While such populist
policies like price controls might have found favour with workers and the
ZCTU, they crippled industry and commerce where many companies were forced to
operate below profit, forcing them to close or scale down.
The
collapse of the TNF also hampers the prospects for success of Zimbabwe's new
economic recovery programme, the National Economic Revival Programme that
hinges on the success of policies jointly formulated by government, labour
and business.
Politicians and the art of shifting the
burden Pensions &Investments By Vince Musewe
IT is
with sad that Mugabe sees it fit to focus on our past rather than on our
future. Many African politicians continue to focus on the past as a
justification for their current problems, problems which they themselves have
created in the first place.
There is a term called "shifting the
burden" used in systemic analysis. This typically happens when we fail to
address the fundamentals of a problem and our failure leads us to "reframe"
the problem situation by creating a context that justifies our failure, and
thereby shift the burden of the problem to a past event that occurred when we
were not part of the problem.
Politicians are well known for
mastering the art of shifting the burden and actually pay ministers of
information to do just that (a typical example being of course the Iraq
information minister and others we all know very well). In other words they
are never wrong nor are they ever at loss for a solution. Now when dealing
with an "intelligent" individual, they are well known for manipulating the
context in their favour so that it appears as though they are not part of the
problem but rather part of the solution. What happens from there is that they
will continually focus on past facts that you and me cannot really argue
about or change.
By focusing on past facts, they focus our
attention away from the fundamental problems and their role in creating them.
This of course does not only happen in politics but also in organisations
where there is a power struggle. It is an art; an art for survival in systems
that are crumbling.
Let us look at shifting the burden statements
and compare them to the fundamental problem.
Shifting the burden
statement: We have always done things that way so why change:
Fundamental problem: the changes you are suggesting, although necessary, will
make me irrelevant and I must protect my interests
Shifting the
burden statement: price controls are a result of profiteering by
companies:
Fundamental problem: we actually do not have a solution
to that problem so let's blame the weakest link.
Shifting the
burden statement: the opposition are funded by whites and are
puppets:
Fundamental problem: anyone who opposes us is our enemy,
whites opposed us historically so if blacks also oppose us now, it must be
because the whites have influenced them.
Shifting the burden:
land is the economy, the economy is land:
Fundamental problem, the
economy is not performing because of our own mismanagement but we can shift
the problem to land, which is not in our hands.
Shifting the
burden statement: petrol shortages are a result of ownership by
multi-nationals of the industry and not pricing;
Fundamental
problem: the pricing formula is creating the shortages so whether blacks own
it or not, the problem will persists
Shifting the burden
statement:foreign exchange shortages are a result of the black
market:
Fundamental problem: the black market arises as a result of
shortages and not the other way round. The shortages are due to our isolation
and the fact that the world does not need us anymore.
Shifting
the burden statement: sorry dear I am late because the guys would not let me
go:
Fundamental problem: I was actually enjoying being with the
guys at the pub and forgot about coming home on time.
What then
typically happens is, by shifting the burden and reframing the problem
situation, politicians then justify their "intervention" and hence their
relevance to change what they have reframed as the problem, and they
typically blame everything on you as the one who does not understand what the
problem is in the first place!
Examples are price controls as an
intervention to stop inflation, awarding licenses to black suppliers as a
means of ending fuel shortages, giving land to blacks despite their lack of
capacity to produce, closing bureau de changes, stifling debate on the
current realities, violence to discourage change and so on. But what happens
is the problems persist, they are reframed and new solutions prescribed, and
so the cycle continues.
In all these situations you can see that
the problem is addressed in the wrong manner because it has been reframed and
by reframing, one tends to come up with ad hoc solutions that create
unintended consequences and make the problem even worse in the future.
Symptoms are addressed because they are less painful to the one prescribing,
albeit only in the short term.
Having said the above, it is clear
that this cycle becomes self-perpetuating, as each time there is a real
problem it is reframed and a solution that does not address the fundamental
underlying cause prescribed. The fundamental underlying cause of all our
problems is the style, manner, habits and philosophy that has driven the
current government's existence and its interests from day one; their
perceived indisputable right to preside over every aspect of our social and
economic life at any expense, whether we like it or not.
Now of
course that is totally unacceptable but only as unacceptable as we want it to
be. There are many of our brothers and sisters who are living the life of
their dreams under such a situation and would of course not benefit from
change. They have become a creation and inadvertently the props of a
dictatorship.
But the fact of the matter is that, social systems
are by their own very nature dynamic and recreate themselves continually.
Social systems are "intelligent" systems and their growth and necessity to
change can never be limited through domination and prescription by
individuals or groups; they collapse and recreate themselves to "viable
systems" with new leaders and new aspirations. We cannot change that; it is a
fact of nature.
By our nature as humans we are unable to survive in
a social system that is not viable, we are unable to be prescribed to on what
we must think and do, what our future should be and what information we must
see, who we must associate with, who we can become and so on. We were not
built for that purpose.
Quote of the week
"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted;
the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the
voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to
triumph." Haile Selassie.
By Vince Musewe is an independent
investments consultant and co-author of the book A trustee's guide to
investment management and may be contacted on pension36@hotmail.com
CITING Zimbabwe's alarming and poor macroeconomic
fundamentals, Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe Ltd (Barclays) is reviewing
operations in the country to concentrate on projects with a low foreign
currency content.
The international bank is also considering
withdrawing its local credit cards later this year unless the country's poor
macroeconomic fundamentals improve.
Barclays, whose headquarters
are in the United Kingdom, is the country 's most heavily-capitalised
financial counter on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) worth more than $40,6
billion.
The latest decisions come at a time when Zimbabwe is
facing a severe foreign currency shortage, which has resulted in several
projects either being delayed or abandoned as the economy slowly grinds to a
halt.
The country's balance of payments deficit during 2002 pushed
the economy into foreign exchange shortages.
The official
exchange rate has remained fixed at Z$55: US$1 since October 2000 and this,
coupled with the 40% retention of export proceeds by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ), had substantially eroded export sector earnings as Zimbabwe's
inflation continued to surge while that of trading partners remained
generally subdued.
The government, however, recently introduced a
dual foreign exchange regime during which exporters now earn the equivalent
of about $800 for every US dollar earned.
The country's foreign
payment arrears continued to build up during 2002 and are forecast to have
ended the year at US$1,5 billion up from US$700 million in 2001.
In its financial report for the year ended December 31 2002,
Barclays chairman, Dr Robbie Mupawose said: "The bank is reviewing its
products, processes, delivery platforms, infrastructure and internal
supportive structures to ensure that its business model meets customer needs
and demands. Primary focus during the review process will be the bank's
capacity to invest in low foreign currency content solutions in light of the
acute shortages of foreign currency."
Mupawose said as a result
of the Banking Act's provisions, which now permitted commercial banks to
engage directly in leasing business, Barclays' leasing subsidiary, Fincor
Finance Corporation Ltd, would shortly become a division of the
bank.
"This will add value to the bank by reducing operating costs
and eliminating roles which were of necessity duplicated by its position as
a subsidiary company," Mupawose said.
"The brand name will be
retained to maximise customer loyalty. The affordable asset financing
facilities, for which Fincor is well known, will continue to be
offered."
Mupawose, who co-chairs several other blue-chip companies
listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, said the critical shortage of foreign
currency had forced Barclays to withdraw its international credit card
facility and to consider withdrawing its local credit cards later this
year.
"Unless the situation improves, the bank will be forced to
discontinue its local credit card system but will offer customers an
alternative card product."
The chairman said 2002 had seen a
further deterioration in Zimbabwe's macro-economic environment and shortages
of foreign currency reached alarming levels.
Year-on-year
inflation continued on its upward trend, closing the year at 198,9%. He said
the economy was expected to have shrunk by about 12% in 2002 compared to
2001
Ex-President Banana in UK for treatment By
our own Staff
ZIMBABWE'S first president, Canaan Sodindo Banana,
has left the country for the United Kingdom (UK) where he is reportedly
suffering from an undisclosed illness.
Sources close to the
Banana family told The Standard yesterday that the former president was flown
out of the country three months ago after his health condition continued to
deteriorate.
They said Banana had been in and out of the hospital
for some time and that his children, who are now resident in that country,
had invited him to get specialist treatment in the UK.
"Banana
was seriously ill when he left the country. He had a long history of a heart
ailment but this time around his condition had worsened since he came out of
jail. I think loneliness also compounded his problem," said the source, a
relative of the former president
Most of Banana's family members
now live in the UK and his estranged wife, Janet, skipped the country last
year after alleging that her life was in danger from Zimbabwe's state
security agents.
The two separated after Banana, a Methodist Church
minister who became Zimbabwe's first president at independence from Britain
in 1980, was embroiled in a messy homosexual scandal.
The former
president was jailed for a one-year term after being convicted of 11 counts
of sexual offences including two of sodomy in 2000.
Allegations of
rape against Banana were first revealed when Jephta Dube, his former aide de
camp, who was facing murder charges, told the court during his dramatic
1996-97 trial that he fatally shot a fellow policeman who had referred to him
as "Banana's wife".
The revelations resulted in Banana being
dragged to court where he was convicted of sodomy and subsequently ordered to
serve a jail term at the Connemara Open Prison near Gweru.
Dube
died in February 2001 after battling with tuberculosis. He had just received
$250 000 restitution fee from the former head of state.
"Banana's
health has not been well even when he was in jail. You may recall that he was
later moved from Connemara to Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare,
closer to his doctor. He had a long-running case of high blood pressure and a
heart ailment. We are hoping that he can get better treatment in the UK where
his wife and children are now residing," the source said.
But
Banana's niece and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legislator, Priscilla
Misihairambwi-Mushonga, on Friday allayed fears that the former president's
health had worsened.
"Banana is living well with his family in the
UK. It is true that he left the country three months ago on grounds of ill
health but the last time I spoke to him, not so long ago, he said he was very
well," said Misihairambwi-Mushonga.
She could, however, not be
drawn to elaborate on what the former president, who brokered Zimbabwe's
national unity agreement between President Robert Mugabe and the late ZAPU
leader Joshua Nkomo in 1987, was suffering from saying only that he was ill
from a "combination of a number of things".
State, ZCTU headed for fresh showdown Government
sticks to new fuel price By Henry Makiwa
THE government
yesterday ruled out any reduction in the prices of fuel, setting the stage
for a bitter and protracted confrontation with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) which successfully organised a three-day stayaway last
week.
Amos Midzi, the Minister of Energy and Power Development,
told The Standard yesterday that the government would not bow down to demands
by the ZCTU to reduce the more than 300 percent fuel price increases, despite
the mass protest which paralysed industry and commerce from Wednesday up
to Friday.
"The ZCTU can keep on dreaming. We cannot reduce the
prices of fuel," said Midzi.
Meanwhile, the ZCTU's general
council yesterday held a special meeting where a decision was made to come up
with "decisive action" that would force{ the government to bow down to their
demands.
Such action, Lovemore Matombo, the ZCTU president told The
Standard, would come after a thorough consultation exercise with the workers
which he said had already started.
Matombo said: "The government
still has to reduce the fuel prices to previous levels as we
demanded.
"Our protest was a show of the great strength of the
workers and they should grow in the confidence that if they stand firm their
demands will be heeded."
Matombo added: "The government now
knows that they have a challenge in their hands and they need to take a
realistic and holistic approach to the current situation. They are the ones
who have reduced all of us to a nation of paupers."
The ZCTU
held a successful three-day workers' stayaway in protest against the fuel
price hikes that were announced by the government to save its national oil
procurement company, Noczim.
The stayaway saw business grinding to
a halt in most urban areas while the police and soldiers reportedly ordered
business owners to open shop at other centres.
The government
clearly acknowledged the effects of the stayaway with ministers coming out in
the open to condemn the protest.
Government later responded by
increasing the minimum wages of workers that ranged from $23 070 to $42 168
which were rejected by the ZCTU.
The combination of the general
failure by the government to mend the economy and its persistence with
lopsided policies has dragged Zimbabwe into its present economic and
political crisis.
Zimbabwe currently has one of the fastest
shrinking economies in the world resulting in mounting poverty, massive
unemployment and lack of hard currency, basic foodstuffs, fuel and
electricity.
To all intents and purposes, the Zimbabwean economy
has collapsed.
The International Cricket Council's handling of
the Zimbabwe affair at the World Cup has come under severe attack in the 2003
Wisden Almanack.
Tim de Lisle, editor of the 140th edition,
criticises the decision to defy public opinion and allow games to take place
in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, instead of shifting them to South
Africa.
De Lisle also has a dig at the ICC's request for Andy
Flower and Henry Olonga to relinquish their black armbands and punishment of
England's refusal to play in Zimbabwe.
"The ICC ended up doing
something that ought not to have been possible," de Lisle says. "Washing
their hands at the same time as burying their heads in the sand.
"For much of the past year, the ICC were at their worst, which is saying
something. Their Champions Trophy did not produce a champion. Their Test
championship produced the wrong one.
"Their new one-day
championship was so arcane that it went virtually unnoticed. Their World Cup
consisted of more than 50 matches, but hardly any real contests. And they
adopted a stance on Zimbabwe that shamed the game."
The issue -
which breaks with tradition by using a photograph of England's Michael
Vaughan on its famous yellow jacket - names the Yorkshire opener as one of
its five cricketers of the year.
The others are England Test
captain Nasser Hussain, Surrey's Adam Hollioake, South African Shaun Pollock
and Australian opener Matthew Hayden
Zimbabwe says early Mugabe exit ''wishful'' thinking
By Cris
Chinaka
HARARE, April 29 - Zimbabwe said on Tuesday President Robert
Mugabe had no plans to retire before the end of his six-year term in 2008,
calling media reports on an early exit strategy ''wishful''
thinking. Speculation on Mugabe's future has been rife in the past
week after the 79-year-old leader hinted at his possible retirement by
encouraging an open debate on his successor as head of the ruling ZANU-PF
party. In an interview with state television aired a week ago Mugabe
also said he was ready to meet opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
over Zimbabwe's deepening crisis if the opposition recognised his
disputed re-election last year. Newspapers in Zimbabwe and South
Africa have since reported that Mugabe would soon discuss his retirement
plans with the presidents of South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi. They also said
talks were underway between ZANU-PF and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) on a transitional government. In a statement on
Tuesday, the Harare government accused ''British-linked newsmen'' of
sensational reporting meant to create uncertainty by suggesting that Mugabe
wanted to leave. ''President Mugabe has not indicated a wish to leave
office now or at any other time before the expiry of his term,'' the
statement said. ''All the president did in the recent interview...was
to invite debate on a range of national questions, including that of
succession,'' the government said, calling the media reports ''at best
wishful and at worst an undemocratic insult.''
AFRICAN LEADERS SEEK
MUGABE TALKS It said Malawian President Bakili Muluzi, South African
President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted to
visit Mugabe as part of their efforts to repair Zimbabwe's relations with
former colonial ruler Britain. ''The three presidents are very
clear that Zimbabweans have no wish to see their gains reversed through
back-door deals meant to either entrench or perpetuate colonial interests in
Zimbabwe,'' the statement said. It did not give a date for the
proposed visit. Zimbabwe has plunged deeper into a political and
economic crisis since Mugabe defeated Tsvangirai in presidential polls last
year condemned as fraudulent by some Western governments.
Tsvangirai, who is on trial on charges of plotting to kill Mugabe before the
election, has said he would drop a legal challenge of the poll results to
secure talks with Mugabe. Zimbabwe is facing its worst crisis in more
than two decades, with soaring unemployment and shortages of fuel, foreign
exchange and food which many blame on Mugabe's policies. The
southern African country has been hit by two major national strikes in the
past month to protest against government polices and a sharp hike in fuel
prices. Mugabe, the country's sole ruler since the former Rhodesia
gained independence in 1980, says the economy has been sabotaged by domestic
and Western opponents of his campaign to seize white-owned farms
for redistribution to landless blacks.
Workers Fired for Participating in National Stayaway
UN
Integrated Regional Information Networks
April 29, 2003 Posted to the
web April 29, 2003
Johannesburg
Workers who participated in last
week's three-day strike have experienced a backlash in Zimbabwe, according to
reports of mass dismissals and beatings which emerged on
Tuesday.
About 2,800 state post office workers were fired for
participating in the stayaway, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
told IRIN.
There have also been reports of beatings and the victimisation
of people accused by so-called war veterans of having participated in the
strike.
Among those who have lost jobs at the post office is ZCTU
president Lovemore Matombo.
"Our president also received a letter
saying that they participated in an illegal strike and were therefore being
summarily dismissed," ZCTU secretary-general, Wellington Chibebe, told
IRIN.
The strike was organised by ZCTU to protest the latest fuel price
hike, which doubled a price that had already risen by 95 percent in
previous weeks. The union called on the government to reverse the fuel price
hikes because of the inflationary impact on ordinary
Zimbabweans.
Following the firing of post office workers, ZCTU said it
intended contacting the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and
the International Labour Organisation to alert them to the current
developments.
"We will also see how we can tackle the issue legally,"
Chibebe said.
ZCTU had written to the government to express its concerns
about the plight of workers prior to last week's stayaway, but had still
received no reply, he added.
"Government has not responded to our
letter, [so] we sent another one yesterday [Monday]. We're waiting to see
whether or not they will respond. We have re-submitted our demand [for] the
reversal of the fuel price hike," Chibebe said.
He added that ZCTU was
consulting its members regarding the way ahead. "If government does not
respond positively [then further] action is on the agenda, the form and
timing of which is going to be announced in due course," Chibebe
noted.
The union was "humbled" by the response to its call for a strike,
he added, but was "not happy" about the government's lack of response to its
demands.
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Please send any job
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL --------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARARE
I
have 2 jobs available which might be of interest to some
displaced farmers:
Job # 1 Salesman, selling automotive chemicals.
Training will be provided, applicant must have own car, remuneration will be
on commission. Hours will be flexitime, and the opportunity to earn
significantly is there provided the person has energy and is reliable. Start
immediately. Job#1 Applicants should contact Mark Wilson @ 498745 or
011218006.
Job # 2 Security manager is required at Borrowdale Brooke
Estate. We have our own security team but it needs management.Hours will be
flexible to a degree and further details can be obtained from Brian Moorse,
the estate manager @ 860370
Harare.
HARARE
- BOOKKEEPER (ad inserted 13th Feb 03) We have clients looking for a
bookkeeper to assist in running the business. Must be computer literate and
able to use Pastel. Will be required to keep the books up to date as well as
assist in producing management information. A competitive package will be
offered for the right person. Contact Norman 369877 or pastel@ecoweb.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- HARARE we
need a retired semi retired mechanic to assist in the daily running of our
vehicle workshop behind Jaggers Harare. Mornings only is preferred but we can
offer flexibility of time. Job description: to assist and advise workers on
the floor. Undertake some of the more complex work. Offer general
expertise. Vehicles maintained are general light goods. Work covers all
aspects of repair and maintenance. Package subject to
discussion. Please contact Kevin or Chris on Debonair@africaonline.co.zw Sincerely,
Kevin
Smeda
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- HARARE (ad
inserted 1 April 2003) WANTED: FARM TRIAL BALANCE BOOKKEEPER, computer
literate, based Harare. Pleasant environment at Fife Ave/10th Street - hassle
free on site car parking. Full time preferably, but part-time/flexi-time will
be considered. Negotiable salary based on experience.
HARARE
- BOOKKEEPER (ad inserted 13th Feb 03) We are looking for a book keeper
type person for two months till the end of March - needs computer experience
(pastel is used but easy to pick up if computer literate) to work from a
house close to Highlands School - may be able to take some work away - part
time or full time is OK - salary to be neg depending on time and
experience. Contact Lynda Scott 091 201 324 or
498705
HARARE
- BOOKKEEPER (ad inserted 13th Feb 03) WANTED: FARM TRIAL BALANCE
BOOKKEEPER, Needs to be computer literate and based in Harare. Pleasant
environment at Fife Ave/10th Street - hassle free on site car parking. Full
time preferably, but part-time/flexi-time will be considered. Negotiable
salary based on experience. Contact Norma Gordon Tel. 04-704949/email norma@zimcor.co.zw
"Personal Assistant/Secretary to Consulting Legal
Practitioner: Mornings Only. Lovely working environment in a family home
in Avondale West. Work consists mainly of typing (which must be accurate).
Consultant dictates all work and a dictaphone playback machine is used to
transcribe work; answering the telephone, taking messages and attending to
assist clients; maintaining Consultant's diary - as Consultant travels away
from the office from time to time the Applicant will sometimes be required to
work on her own initiative; attending to monthly payments of PAYE/NSSA etc
for one employee (the Applicant). Some accounts experience is necessary,
as Applicant will need to assist with Consultancy accounts, income tax
and liaising with the Consultancy's Accountants and
Bookkeeper.
Applicants should contact Alannah or Gayle on (04) 335866
(strictly mornings only) or Alannah on 091 367 197 (strictly 08.00 to 16.30
hours)"
Highly capable farmers required to join a progressive
team. Qualifiers will be men who have the ability to grow within themselves
and to generate growth within a team. Experience and competence in one or
many facets of agriculture will be of interest, in particular irrigation,
horticulture, tobacco and cattle.
Please respond to Carswell
Group
email;reg@icon.co.zw Fax:
304415
Either male or female, Balance Sheet
Bookkeeper also involving foreign payments. Experienced person preferred.
Very good package. Ruwa area, export company.
Please contact Annalize
at 073-2847/50 or 091 406 934.
Trucks required for hire
Seven (7)
tonne trucks with or without trailers required for
agricultural commodities.
Tshabezi
Safaris - West Nicholson Garage manager required for country workshop. Toyota
Landcruiser experience would be an added advantage. This position would suit
a husband and wife team - wife could help out either in safaris office or
accounts department. She must be computer literate. Please reply with
current CVs to: Rogers Brothers & Son P/L (Garage Manager) P O West
Nicholson
WARDEN:
BORRADAILE TRUST. The post of Warden at Borradaile Trust Marondera has become
vacant. This is a retirement complex with about 70 cottages for
independent residents. Two large establishments house about 60
semi-independent residents and there is a small hospital called Borradaile
House, for dependent residents. In the grounds is the separately
administered Borradaile Hospital. The Warden is provided with a house in
Marondera. Applications with C.V.s and two references should reach the
Administrator, Borradaile Trust, Pvt. Bag 3795, Marondera as soon as
possible. In view of the high cost of postage, the Administrator only
undertakes to reply to those short-listed. Acknowledgements will be made to
those providing e-mail addresses.
CREDIT-CONTROLLER (ad
inserted 6th Feb 03), Bright Steel (Zimbabwe) Ltd requires a Credit
Controller with a strong accounting background to manage a large debtors
portfolio. Strong computer skills in Microsoft packages essential and the
ability to communicate across the board. Main accounting package is Sage but
knowledge of at least one accounting package is essential. Main duties will
include the following: 1. All credit control functions 2. Product
costing of imports. 3. Salaries for junior staff using Belina Computer
System. 4. Computation of sales tax 5. Checking & capturing Goods
Received Vouchers. 6. Preparing audit schedules. 7. Spreadsheets -
excel. 8. Sage Computer System would be an advantage. The above person to
report to the Financial Controller and will have a debtors clerk reporting
directly to him/her from Bulawayo and a trainee. Conditions: 1.
Competitive salary 2. Pension scheme 3. Profit Incentive Bonus Scheme
(P.I.B.S.) 4. Medical Aid paid in full 5. Lunch provided 6. Travel
allowance 7. Cell phone time paid. Contact Brian Wilson Phone: 754324.
091 400
588.
NEAR
HARARE (ad inserted 30th Jan 03) Retired Farming couple required to live
and work on a farm 60 km from Harare. Husband to carry out Sourcing and
Procurement of farm supplies as well as run Stores and Arrange movements of
farm Transport fleet. Wife to run Farm Store and Tuck shop. Usual farm perks
are offered. Contact 011 403 558 or 091 218 822 or email timjack@zol.co.zw.
NEAR
HARARE (Ad inserted 24th February 03) Part time Manager for small farm 7
km on tar from Westgate Shopping Centre, Harare. Wide range of crops- herbs,
spices, etc with cleaning plant and essential oils distillery, grown under EU
organic certification. Accommodation available- cottage with 3 bedrooms.
Might suit someone with farming experience who could combine this work with a
job in Harare. Please email details to fsfoods@zol.co.zw
Do you love the bush, enjoy gardening, and have
the personality to make guests feel welcome? Are you mechanically minded?
Interested in catering? We are looking for a mature fit couple to run our
resort at Kariba. If you feel this is for you. Call us on: 011
201839.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL --------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOUTH
AFRICA (ad inserted 25 April 2003) It is a General Manager position
responsible for the Management of the Citrus Estate that employs about 40
Management staff as well as about 600 labourers. In addition there is an
Avocado Estate and a Timber operation that the General Manager would take
over also. It really needs someone with good General Management skills;
administration, labour relations,finance, marketing and good sound judgement.
The person would report to my father(Dennis Solomon). He is in his late 70's
and does not want to be burdened with the day to day management, he would
like to take a very hands off role and only be involved in strategic long
term issues. He will probably spend about half his time in the Cape so
expects that the GM take full control of the Operation. Because its primarily
a Citrus Estate, it's a plus to be from a Citrus background but we are much
more interested in getting a good GM than a good farmer as we already have
good farming people on the staff who can do the day to day activities very
well. I think ideally that the guy will be in his 40's or 50's (fairly
Mature) and not trying to set the world on fire but be a good solid
Manager.
Contact Nelspruit 013 7522141. My father is using a Recruiter
from Cape Town to screen candidates but he will be happy to talk to
potentially interested parties and to pass them onto the recruiter. Again,
his name is Dennis Solomon and the farm is Crocodile Valley Citrus Company
just
outside Nelspruit.
Drummond area of Natal....roughly
30 km from Durban on the way to Pietermaritzburg. Organic Veg farm manager
required. General farm management and tractor skills, knowledge of organic
veg growing and Zulu. We are looking for someone who is prepared to run the
farm as their own business, what you put in you get out. Salary linked to
profit share and house. Phone/fax 031-783 4995 or e mail gjtech@iafrica.com
Mature person
required as maintenance and farm manager including wildlife for a very
reputable hotel and game farm, (conservancy) outside Polokwane (Pietersburg)
Limpopo Province.
Duties include. Organizational ability, vehicle
maintenance, boreholes, electrical maintenance at hotel and farm, good labour
relations etc.
I
felt that there might be someone in your network that may be interested. The
post could suit a person that is currently underemployed, and it falls vacant
because the present incumbent has been employed by the World Bank.
ICC is
looking for an agricultural consultant to service our market in Manica and
Tete provinces of Mozambique. The responsibilities include selling to donor
agenicies, helping to write proposals, and helping to manage the resultant
consulting projects. The ideal person will have extensive agriculture
experience, both commercial and small scale, will be fluent in Portuguese and
English, will be familiar with the customs of Mozambique, and preferably live
close to Mutare. We can teach them the consulting skills.
ICC is a
Southern African consulting company with offices in Harare, Maputo and
Lusaka. In Mozambique we are active in consultancy work in Micro finance,
commercial and small holder agricultural projects. Recent
projects include: Strategic plan for a Mozambiquan manufacturer of oils,
fats and soaps, Market analysis and feasibility study for a new horticultural
project, Asssisting a major regional tea and coffee producer to prepare for
further regional expansion, Business plans and facilitated negotiations
for a major Zimbabwean agri business to start a joint venture in
Mozambique, Feasibility and business plans for greenfields tea project in
Espungabera. roger.purcell@iccafrica.net Tel:
+ 263 4 731555/7 Fax: + 263 4 731558 Cell: + 263 (0) 91 272 767 www.iccafrica.net
ZAMBIA (ad
inserted 6th Feb. 03) The JAG Office received an enquiry from Mr George
Mashinkila who owns some farmland in Zambia. He wants to lease out his farm.
If anyone is interested, they can get hold of him directly at e-mail George.Mashinkila@fao.org
"Dynamic
agriculturally based trading company looks for energetic person to take over
there Lusaka operations. Looking for reliability-honesty-integrity. Please
interested applicants email nigel@stf.co.zw"
A very good friend of mine who lives in Gabarone
Botswana has asked me to put out this piece of information so I thought your
organisation would be ideal to do it for me.
His name is Snowy Du Toit
( ex Zimbo ) and his details are as follows :-
Phone: 00 267 3971026 / 00
26771724810 ( cell ) Fax: 00 267 3909610 Email: snowjudy@global.bw He has been offered a
certain piece of land near Gabarone which would be ideal for market gardening
or horticulture. It apparently has plenty of water from the municipal waste.
He has indicated that he could probably negotiate a loan on anyones behalf
should they be interested as he is now a citizen of Botswana. All the
technical details can be provided by Snowy himself, so if anyone is
interested, please could they contact him direct. I know time is of the
essence so if anyone is interested they must contact him ASAP
.
Mr Johan Boshoff - Pontdrif, RSA is looking
urgently for a dynamic reliable middle age couple to manage a farm in the
north western part of Botswana, close to the Caprivi strip. Preferable no
young children still in the house, due to the distance from
schools. Experience: Farm management & general farm equipment
maintenance crops: Vegetables under irrigation - drip & Pivot
irrigation Contact # Johan Boshoff Tel (+27) 15-5751425 Fax (+27)
15-5751580 Cell (+27) 82 822 6310 e-mail Minds, ratho.pburg@minds.co.za
PRIME
CATTLE FARMS FOR SALE IN BOTSWANA Cattle farming business in Ghanzi District,
North-West Botswana for sale. (The owners moving for kids schooling.)
Comprises 2 well-developed freehold farms, measuring 10 112,06 Morg (8 660
Ha) in total, 1050 head of cattle (cross Santa-Sussex), all necessary farming
equipment, lighting-plants, gensets, inverter equipment managers residence,
main farm residence, staff accommodation, workshops and storerooms etc, etc
Walk-in / walk-out deal BWP4 500 000-00 (Approx US$ 775 000-00). All serious
offers will be considered. Contact Mike on (267) 72290622 or e-mail airfield@it.bw
MALAWI
- TOBACCO MANAGERS Tobacco managers wanted in Malawi: 2003/4 seasons 100ha
Flue cured 100ha Maize African tobacco managers of Malawian extraction
wanting to relocate with costs paid and paper work facilities. Malawian
Passport Holders will obviously be given preference. Respond to JAG's email
address and we will
forward.
We are looking for an ex farmer, with tobacco
experience, to oversee the building of tobacco curing systems in Malawi.
This position will be for a period of ten months, with the possibility of
extending the contract to two years, either in Zimbabwe or elsewhere.
Accommodation and vehicle will be provided. Contact browneng@africaonline.co.zw or
send your application to Debbie Graham at Brown Engineering, Box ST 311,
Southerton,
Harare.
A farming opportunity exists in Menongie ,
Cuando Cubango Province in Angola for a person experienced in the cultivation
of maize. Land will be made available and various options exist with regards
to the funding of the operation. Interested parties can e-mail their
information and a summary of their experience to hendrik@burmeister.com.na
KENYA
(ad inserted 24th Feb 03) I came across your website when searching for
information on Zimbabwean Farmers. We are looking for a General Manager for a
large horticulture and floriculture company based in Nanyuki, Kenya. I wanted
to know if you could pass on the attached brief to farmers that might be
interested in looking at this opportunity? Many thanks and Kind
Regards, Zia Manji Recruitment Manager CAREER CONNECTIONS (K)
LTD. P.O. BOX 25118, 00603 NAIROBI, KENYA. TEL: +254-2-3752400 / 1 FAX:
+254-2-3752401 MOBILE: 0733 994469 OR 0722 516043 EMAIL: info@careerconnections.co.ke Position
Specification & Candidate Profile
GENERAL MANAGER, LARGE
HORTICULTURAL & FLORICULTURAL COMPANY THE COMPANY Our client, one of
Kenya's most established horticultural and floricultural companies, is a
major exporter to the large retailers in the United Kingdom and Europe. The
group encompasses 3 large vegetable and flower farms, packing facilities, a
clearing and forwarding company, and a propagation business. Exporting Two
Million stems of cut flowers and 120 MT of vegetables monthly, the Company is
managed by a dynamic multicultural team employing over 3,000 staff
countrywide.
Our client's biggest challenge is to remain the market
leader by maintaining a strong customer focus coupled with a continuous
expansion and improvement strategy to deliver the highest possible quality
products in line with the requirements of this fast paced
industry.
THE LOCATION Nanyuki, Kenya.
THE POSITION The General
Manager will be responsible for independent co-ordination and management of
all aspects of the business unit incorporating 15 hectares of flower
greenhouses, a fully automated rose propagation unit and 25 hectares of
vegetables. Within the framework of the company's objectives and action
plans, the manager's key focus will include: Day to day growing, packing and
propagation of required product within the specified quality, cost and time.
Overseeing the packing of flowers onsite to meet international standards.
Overseeing the cutting and bulk packing of vegetables to the centralized
pack house in Nairobi. Managing the financial and administrative functions on
the farm, providing frequent and accurate reports to the head office.
Ensuring optimum processing and workers performance as well as maintaining
safety and developmental requirements. Supervising the maintenance of all
processing equipment. Ensuring the compliance of the farm, packing
operations, workers welfare and environment within Company's and client
requirements. Responsibility for the manpower organisation of 600 employees
including maintaining cordial and efficient industrial relations. Managing
and co-ordinating the audits by client supermarkets throughout the
year. Responsible for the preparation of operating plans and programmes
and ensuring proper implementation. Providing strategic advice and
co-ordination of agreed development and expansion projects. The General
Manager reports to the Board of Directors.
KEY PERFORMANCE
CRITERIA These include: Respecting production commitments in terms of
volume, deadlines, costs, and product compliance. Correct team
performance. Creating and encouraging a cordial working environment in the
farming and processing team. Guaranteeing the compliance of the Company and
its Clients standards in all areas of farming, processing, staff welfare and
environment. Proper management of the farm's budget.
PRINCIPLE
RESPONSIBILITIES Key responsibilities include: Help define the long-term
plan, the improvement and expansion plans for the entire farm. Proposing
annual production programmes and making adjustments as required in line with
group requirements and good agricultural practice. Preparation and submission
of annual budgets. Identify adjustments and modification required in the
farming and processing to optimise the performance and the quality of the
products. Co-ordination of the program of inspections, visits, and audits
with the Board of Directors. Planning and organisation of manpower to best
suit the delivery programme. Identifying and resolving problems relating to
farm and processing management on a daily basis. Maintaining of equipment
in good working condition by ensuring compliance with correct usage
practices, and regular inspection and liaison with the maintenance
team. Implementation and management of approved expansion and
improvement projects in line with Company objectives. Monitoring labour
performance, setting work targets, implementing viable bonus schemes to boost
labour productivity and motivation.
EXPERIENCE & BACKGROUND
NEEDED: A graduate in agriculture/horticulture/floriculture or any other
relevant field. 5 to 8 years experience at a senior management level in a
large horticulture or floriculture concern. Relevant experience in rose
growing is an advantage. Good knowledge of product quality parameters and
compliance regulations. In-depth knowledge and a proven track record in of
growing, packing and propagation. Computer literate and proficient in the
use of MS Office. An understanding of management concepts, agricultural
practices and quality management methods e.g. ISO 9000, HACCP and
EUREPGAP.
OTHER VITAL QUALITIES: The candidate must also be: Able
to manage and work with a culturally and educationally diverse team. A good
planner and organiser. Must have good analytical skills, and a
decision-maker. Proactive in their work and take the initiative to propose
and implement new approaches. Out-going, articulate with high verbal
abilities. Results oriented. A team player willing to work in a very
competitive and fast-paced industry.
COMPENSATION: A highly
competitive package will be offered to the right candidate.
PROCEDURE FOR
CANDIDACY: Online registration only. Log onto the following web-site,
register and upload your CV: http://www.high-fliers.com For more
information, please email: zia@careerconnections.co.ke Zia
Manji Recruitment Manager DEADLINE:
28/02/03 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF CONGO (ad inserted 21 April 2003)
A 5000 hectare
concession in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Kasaï Province,
800 km to the south of Kinshasa, in the region of Kikwit. This property was
farmed by a Belgian for more than 40 years and he had nearly 4,000 heads of
cattle! There is a forest with nearly 150,000 trees, mostly eucalyptus and
pine. A river flows on the domain's border. Agricultural plantations such as
corn, manioc, groundnut as well as chicken farming are possible. There is
a building in Kikwit with a commercial ground floor and living quarters on
the 1st floor. The whole complex is very pleasant and offers great
opportunities of further economic development! Asking price for the
transfer of the concession is 125,000 euros.
I sincerely believe this
project is well worth your attention so please do not hesitate to ask should
you require additional information. If you like I could for instance scan
some
photos.
NEW
ZEALAND (Ad inserted 24th Feb 03) Employment available as part of a Team,
thinning and harvesting summer fruit, apples and kiwifruit in the Hawkes Bay
area of New Zealand, (North Island, East coast). The company, Labour Force,
NZ, is expanding to fill contracts. Dormitory/Single/Married Accommodation
is available within easy commuting distance. For more information, please
email labour.force@xtra.co.nz in
the first instance with personal details, and a summary of recent work
experience. Advice, assistance and support with settling in, will be given by
local branch of the Zimcare Trust, NZ, contact kiwi_team@gpoffice.com
message: We have two beautiful farms in the South of Victoria,
Australia. We would be interested in spnsoring a family to migrate with a
view to help us. We can offer a package of a base of $50000 Australian plus
a 3 br.house. One farm is dairy, the other beef. We are in our late fifties
so need someone in say mid 30's to late 40's Please reply to Dick and Judy
Edwards richjude@tpgi.com.au
Foreign
teachers for NT jobs 'better late than never': CLP The Northern Territory
Opposition is welcoming a move to recruit teachers from overseas, but says
this should have been implemented months ago.
The Government has
announced it will try to attract teachers from regional areas, as well as
from countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada.
The Government
says there are 25 permanent teaching vacancies in
the Territory.
Shadow Education Minister Terry Mills says the Country
Liberal Party (CLP) has been calling for this to happen since late last
year.
"To implement them now is an indication that they are in panic
mode, the teacher shortage is in excess of what the Government currently
claims," Mr Mills said.
"These initiatives will take an extended
period of time to actually bed in and to produce the results, which is
teachers in the classroom for
students now."
HELP ON FARM needed for approx. 3 days per week.
The farm consists of 400 acres of marginal pasture and woodland overlooking
the Severn Estuary. The grazing is let on an annual basis, and some of the
woodland is of special scientific interest.
Work would comprise farm
and estate maintenance, including driving of Unimog, use of chainsaw,
fertiliser spreading, weed-wiping, fencing. Mechanical ability an advantage.
Might suit someone with an interest in wildlife and conservation. Preferred
age 24-45. Suit couple. Ability to caretake occasionally would be an
advantage.
East Wing Annexe is available as part of a deal to be
negotiated. It comprises separate front door, lobby, kitchen and small
living or dining-room downstairs, and bathroom and two good-sized rooms
upstairs. Partial central heating included. Extra storage space
available.
For further details please ring 01633.400213, or contact us by
`e'-mail : richard@penhein.co.uk
I am wondering if you might be able to assist me.
I am a partner in a farm in UK and we currently have a vacancy for a Farm
Manager and I thought this might be of interest to some of the unfortunate
farmers recently displaced from Zimbabwe by Mugabe. Would you have any idea
where it might be best to advertise the vacancy in order to attract any
interested parties' attention? I am contactable at abrich@hotmail.com.
We
are a Farming partnership in North Essex. We have a 600 acre mixed farm and
are currently seeking a Farm Manager. This position may well suit a displaced
Zimbabwean farmer and his family. Accommodation is likely to be available and
the position should become vacant in the Autumn.
Please forward this
message to any who may be interested or please let us know the best way of
contacting such dispossessed farmers who are arriving here or planning to
move here in the near future. Our email address is: thomas.richardson@ukgateway.net
For
the latest listings of accommodation available for farmers, contact justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
(updated 29 April
2003)
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