| The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
By Abraham McLaughlin | Staff
writer of The Christian Science Monitor
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
– In his three-year effort to reengineer
the racial and economic landscape of
Zimbabwe by forcibly taking farms away
from whites and giving them to blacks,
President Robert Mugabe has long
counted on - and gotten - support from
almost all of Africa's leaders.
Until now.
With half of
Zimbabwe's 12 million people facing hunger, inflation
over 600 percent, and
state-sponsored torture a common tool, hints of
criticism by regional leaders
that began showing up last month have now
started to expand.
Everyone from Nigeria's President Olesegun Obasanjo to Archbishop
Desmond
Tutu has distanced themselves from Mugabe. Even South African
President Thabo
Mbeki, his chief regional supporter, met last week for the
first time with
Zimbabwe's main opposition party. It may all portend greater
desire to
resolve southern Africa's biggest political crisis, and it could
hasten the
end of the Mugabe regime.
"There's been a shift in thinking about
Zimbabwe," says Chris
Maroleng, a researcher at the Institute for Security
Studies in Pretoria,
South Africa. "We're seeing cracks within the African
region's solidarity."
The fissures first appeared at last month's
meeting in Nigeria of the
54-member Commonwealth, made up of mostly former
British colonies. Seven of
the 18 African members reportedly failed to back
South Africa in an effort
to oust Commonwealth Secretary- General Don
McKinnon over his criticism of
Zimbabwe.
The split vote could
give more clout to Mr. Obasanjo, the
Commonwealth's current chairman, who has
been less supportive of the Mugabe
regime. He heads a seven-man team charged
with tackling the Zimbabwe issue.
Even Archbishop Tutu, who's
usually mum on policy matters, has joined
South African church leaders in
criticizing Mr. Mbeki's strategy of "quiet
diplomacy" on Zimbabwe. Mr. Tutu
said last week that outside help is crucial
in dealing with repressive
regimes. "We could not have defeated apartheid on
our own," he said,
comparing Mugabe's government to South Africa's
apartheid-era
rule.
The pressure may be having an impact on Mbeki. His 45-minute
meeting
with leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's
main
opposition party - following a two-hour-plus meeting with Mugabe -
elicited
promises from both sides to restart informal talks. The MDC says
Mugabe
stole the 2001 presidential election.
Not that Mbeki has
fundamentally changed his strategy of quiet
diplomacy. In a weekly letter on
his party's website, he intoned that land
reform is the central issue in the
Zimbabwe debate and that Mugabe deserves
credit for trying to rectify
inequalities.
Mugabe's government has hardly changed its approach,
either. It
recently announced a policy allowing confiscation of white
farmers' tractors
and other farm equipment. And despite a court order to the
contrary, police
this weekend forcibly prevented the country's only
independent newspaper
from publishing an edition.
Just three
years ago Mugabe's California-sized country was one of
Africa's economic
gems, a lush, functional nation that brought in thousands
of tourists and
exported tons of corn, wheat, oranges, bananas, and tobacco.
Then
Mugabe began trying to rectify one of the most-stubborn legacies
of European
colonialism: white-black economic inequality, a problem that
troubles many
African nations. In Zimbabwe at the time, just 4,000 white
farmers owned
roughly one-third of the country's productive agricultural
land. Now only a
handful of white farmers remain.
The lesson from Zimbabwe's
experiment in land reform, says Raymond
Louw, editor of Southern Africa
Report, "is that now we know how not to do
it."
Today, nearly
half of Zimbabweans are getting food aid from
international agencies.
Sky-high inflation means, for instance, that a loaf
of bread may cost $2 one
morning, $3 in the afternoon, and $4 the next
morning. And with 70 percent of
residents are unemployed, Zimbabweans are
moving across borders, creating
economic and social problems in neighboring
countries.
Zimbabwe
has become increasingly isolated from the world. Mugabe
recently pulled out
of the Commonwealth, and the International Monetary Fund
has initiated moves
to expel the country.
The crisis has hurt Mbeki and his long-term
vision of a united Africa.
The more unified Africa is, the more it can become
a force in global trade
and politics, goes the rationale. "Mbeki is very
strong on African unity -
and is very sensitive to African nations voting
against his line," says
Patrick Laurence of The Helen Suzman Foundation,
democracy-building group,
in Johannesburg.
But Mbeki's continued
support of Mugabe, despite the cost, also
highlights the shorter-term
political potency of the issue of white-black
wealth redistribution - and the
support Mbeki may have among poor black
South Africans for backing
Mugabe.
"There's this underlying support for Mugabe's land grab
among the rank
and file" in Africa, says Mr. Louw. "It's more powerful than
we know."
Independent (UK)
As Zimbabwe shops with stolen cash, millions
starve
By Rachel Smith in Harare
23 December 2003
For the
Christmas season, Barbours department store in First Street, central
Harare,
has extended its shopping hours. Gilded smiling half-moons on red
crêpe paper
put customers in the festive spirit.
On the third-floor children's
department, there is a crush round the till.
Harassed mothers in the latest
fitted-denim skirts from South Africa watch
toddlers eyeing an American
punchball set. There is a selection of Barbies
and some Fisher
Price-imitation lorries.
One little girl with tight braids clutches a
giant pink teddy bear. Price:
ZWD$101,000 dollars (£71), three times the
average monthly wage.
Welcome to President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, land
of famine and food
shortages. Or luxury, depending on where you look. Things
have changed
little at the venerable Barbours since the 1950s except that now
there is
barely a white client in sight. Wandering through Harare these days
is like
taking a stroll through Cloud Cuckooland. On the one hand there is
the
poverty and desperation. Millions in Zimbabwe are going hungry. The
World
Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to cut rations for 2.6 million
people
after donors failed to contribute sufficient funds.
"It is
tragic that these cuts have come at a time when people are
normally
celebrating the festive season, but if we are not given food or cash
by
donors, then we are simply unable to meet their food needs," said
Mike
Sackett, the WFP regional director for southern Africa.
Inflation
has reached 619 per cent: that is the level the government will
admit to.
Independent analysts say that it is much higher. Unemployment is
more than 70
per cent. Last week, reports said a homeless woman in Mbare
township sold a
four-month-old baby for £3.
But there is also money. New money. Beverly
Hills-style mansions are going
up along Crowhill Road, in the exclusive
Borrowdale Brooke suburb. Shiny new
Pajeros and 4x4s trundle nose-to-nose out
of town on Friday nights, despite
official fuel shortages. The acting mayor,
Sekesai Makwavarara, has just
ordered herself a new vehicle worth Z$200m
although thousands of Harare
residents lack safe drinking water. Her party,
the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) has virtually disowned her; many
think she is a Mugabe mole.
Food is plentiful, for enough cash. Moneyed
shoppers, black and white,
patronise Borrowdale Brooke's new Spar superstore.
On offer this week were
Albany Christmas mince pies, giant focaccia bread and
fresh oysters. In this
marble-floored heaven, it is hard to believe more than
five million
Zimbabweans are headed for starvation. So where is all the money
coming
from? Some comes from diplomats and foreign aid workers. There are
several
thousand in Harare. Their hard currency fetches up to 10 times its
official
value when traded on the parallel market. That makes life
cheap.
And the rest? "It's mostly stolen money," says John Robertson, a
local
economist. He cites speculation, black market trading and shady deals
in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. "There have been a lot of activities
that
would not be allowed to continue if everyone was working to
acceptable
standards of honesty."
He says some of the people living in
Borrowdale Brooke suburb are "colonels
and army officers" who would never be
able to afford that kind of standard
of living on their official salaries
alone. "I think a great many people
would have a hard time explaining to a
decent tax collector how they bought
something that would have taken five
lifetimes to pay for." Mr Robertson
says those with government connections
may get scarce US dollars at an old
fixed exchange rate of 55 to one, which
they can then trade on at 6,000 to
one. Senior government cronies also get
tax-free imports. Luxury goods can
be imported cheaply and sold on at
enormous profit. Zimbabwe is believed to
have the biggest market for luxury
vehicles on the continent, after South
Africa.
Four miles away, Glen
Lorne's Town and Country store is busy, but few
shoppers bother with baskets.
Most clutch just one or two items: a packet of
Lacto (sour milk), two bread
rolls or a bag of carrots. Few will be eating
chicken and rice this year, the
traditional Shona Christmas fare.
Clashes Loom As Traditional Healers Dismiss 'Prophets'
African
Church Information Service
December 22, 2003
Posted to the web
December 22, 2003
Ntungamili Nkomo
Plumtree
There are fears
that conflict between traditional healers and
self-proclaimed prophets in
some parts of southern Zimbabwe could soon erupt
into clashes.
Tempers
are beginning to flare against the "prophets", who have been
propagating a
campaign against traditional healers in the region, accusing
them of
practising witchcraft.
The "prophets", who operate under names such as
Wafawafa, (the dead are
dead) and Silwane (roaring lions), descended on the
entire Matabeleland
Province some months ago, claiming they had been sent by
God to "cleanse the
region".
They are reportedly engaged in
fortune-telling and other healing processes,
which have seen scores of
villagers trickling to them to consult about their
future. Some of them,
according to the villagers, claim they can cure AIDS
and other related sexual
diseases.
But it is the exorbitant fees that they charge for their
services that have
raised alarm among community members, who now view them as
"nothing but
fraudsters, who are milking us dry."
Villagers who spoke
to AANA last week said they were forced to fork out
substantial amounts of
cash after their fortunes were told, or after they
got "healing" from
different diseases.
"This is very unfortunate. They claim they can heal,
but not even a single
person suffering from any kind of disease has
recuperated after getting
'treatment' from them. It is very unfortunate that
such a thing is happening
here," said Melody Mafu, a
villager.
According to the Zimbabwe National African Traditional Healers
Association
(ZINATHA), these culprits are "false prophets trying to beat the
country's
harsh economy by engaging in unorthodox practices".
Gordon
Chavunduka, the association's President, said the move by the
so-called
prophets could culminate in violence, as tempers within the
traditional
community had surged beyond boiling point.
"What these people are doing
is illegal and very much against heavenly
conduct. They are not trained, and
all they are trying to do is to tactfully
drive traditionalists out of
business," Chavunduka told AANA.
"They realise that with the presence of
traditionalists, they do not have
any chance of brisk business, and that is
why they have decided to disarm
n'ngas and sangomas first," charged
Chavunduka.
He warned the public to be wary of these "counterfeit
prophets as plainly
stated in the holy book".
"All they are bent on is
to rob the public and get away with it. But on the
part of ZINATHA, we want
to say that they will never succeed in their
warfare against our members, and
we wonder what they would do if we took
revenge against them," he
said.
Under the country's laws, it is an offence to accuse someone of
practising
witchcraft.
Chavunduka accused the police of failing to
stamp out "this madness" to
protect the public.
Somandla Malunga, a
spokesman for the "prophets" in Matabeleland, told AANA
that his group would
not leave the place until their mission was
fully
accomplished.
"We were sent by God to cleanse the province
and our targets, basically have
been witch doctors and other traditional
healers, because they are the ones
who are perpetrating the ungodly practise
(witchcraft)," he said.
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has
disassociated itself from these
"prophets".
Mengistu Enjoys His Freedom As Others Suffer
The Nation
(Nairobi)
OPINION
December 22, 2003
Posted to the web December 22,
2003
Chege Mbitiru
Nairobi
There is a mythical gentleman called
Daddy Warbucks. He's an adored creation
of a forgotten citizen of the United
States. The gentleman supposedly made
plenty of money in some war and lived
lavishly dishing out green bucks for
worthy causes, including
freedom.
When it comes to current Daddy Warbucks for the cause of
freedom, as defined
in Washington D.C., President George W. Bush has out done
Daddy Warbucks.
His skullcap kitty is overflowing.
Mr Bush had a
25-million-dollar price tag on former Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein. There
won't be any Native American left had that kind of money
existed in the New
World 150 years ago. Hopefully, the person who told on Mr
Hussein is an
Iraqi. The reward, even in dinars, is good enough to wipe out
financial
worries in a lifetime.
Also hopefully an Afghan or a Pakistan has bought
the idea that Mr Bush has
plenty of money for skullcaps. There is another 25
million dollars for Osama
Bin Laden's. Rightly. The World Trade Centre,
bombed by Mr Bin Laden's
disciples was worth billions. The human talent lost
is beyond monetary
worth.
Some Nigerians ought to be very frustrated.
Mr Bush has two million dollars
for another skullcap of a chap called Charles
Taylor, Liberia's former
president. President Olusegun Obasanjo isn't amused.
He knows some fellow
citizens will gladly sell even their mothers. He stepped
up security around
Mr Taylor. The way Nigerians treat their presidents, Mr
Obasanjo might need
the bucks some day.
The characters on whose heads
Mr Bush has a bounty that can do wonders in
some Washington, D.C.
neighbourhoods don't merit trials. They deserve
prolonged hanging until
death. Like the Nazis, they didn't kill on impulse.
They planned in a manner
relatively close to Albert Einstein's going about
the Theory of Relativity.
But human beings consider themselves very
civilised today. The obvious needs
DNA tests to be accepted as real.
There is another gentleman for whom Mr
Bush should have made some skullcap
money available. After all, US
legislators don't seem to have any problem
with the presidential skullcap
briefcase.
The fellow is Mengistu Haile Mariam. Some Ethiopians remember
him as the
'Butcher of Addis'. Unfortunately, he slaughtered thousands of
human beings
who go by any pronoun in a family: father, mother and so
forth.
Mr Mengistu is a legal resident of Zimbabwe. No wonder. President
Robert
Mugabe tops Africa's list of bad boys. He neatly camouflages his
notoriety
as defence of sovereignty. He recently took his country out of
the
Commonwealth because he was reminded of table manners.
At home, Mr
Mengistu is on trial in absentia on charges of genocide and
other evils. The
on-and-off hearings resumed last week. For 17 years
Mengistu mistreated
Ethiopia worse than his urinal. He has a macabre
distinction of turning his
office into the grave of the man he ousted,
Emperor Haile Selassie. It was a
nauseating.
Even as emperors go, Haile Selassie deserved to be left to
his lions as he
fed them meat from gold plates while his subjects died like
flies stupidly
trying to reach the marrow in a carcass.
Mr Mengistu
was among Ethiopians who realised the Emperor had been nude for
too long.
Ethiopia, the only African country that said No! to European
colonialism by
giving Italy a bloody nose, was literally dying. It was noble
to wish the
Emperor well in a future life.
That the Emperor was leading the nation
into the days of cavemen wasn't an
excuse for what Mr Mengistu did. He swam
in the blood to head the military
junta, or Derge, that ousted the Emperor.
He swam in more blood to perch
himself on top. He's an exceptional man.
Otherwise he should have drowned in
blood during a two year "Red Terror" he
unleashed in 1976. Relatives of his
victims paid for the bullets he
used.
He remains unrepentant. "We had to organise people into urban
defence units
and rural defence committees and peasants' associations to
defend the
country," he said four years ago. Many Ethiopians didn't agree.
After 17
years of "Red Terror" modifications, Mr Mengistu's airplane hopped
to
Zimbabwe. Unlike Mr Hussein, he had a friend.
There were Ethiopians
who had chosen a tree from which to hang Mr Mengistu.
Somebody in Washington,
D.C. thought that wasn't operative and helped Mr
Mengistu escape. Had that
not happened, Mr Mengistu would by now gotten what
he deserves. Sure, it will
be embarrassing were Mr Bush to put a dime for Mr
Mengistu in his skullcap
kitty. But he should. That's symbolic penance. A
champion of freedom in
Washington bungled the job.
Mr Mbitiru, a freelance journalist, is a
former 'Sunday Nation' Managing
editor.
The Star
There'll be no 'loud diplomacy'
December 23,
2003
By Aziz Pahad
The issue of Zimbabwe has evoked
much reporting in our media,
understandably so since we share long common
borders and have close
historical, economic, cultural, social and linguistic
ties.
Therefore what happens in Zimbabwe impacts on us. Sadly much
of the
coverage has been sensational, ill-informed, partisan, selective
and
distorted. Constructive criticism has been lacking.
The
response to the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting
in Abuja
reflects this. I want to therefore respond to the article by
Alister Sparks,
"Zimbabwe diplomacy set to get 'louder'" (Opinion and
Analysis, December
16).
Sparks states that Thabo Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" has failed
and he
emerged from Abuja with his international prestige and influence
damaged.
Diplomacy is interaction by governments to discuss various matters
with
regard to many issues: it is not necessarily to seek publicity
or
acclamation.
Let me once again re-iterate the South African
government's position
on Zimbabwe. We are concerned about the political,
economic and social
developments in Zimbabwe. The Commonwealth Observer
Mission's report of the
2002 Zimbabwe elections said: "We call on all
Zimbabweans to put aside their
differences and to work together for the
future of their country. We believe
that national reconciliation is a
priority and that the Commonwealth should
assist in the
process".
The South African mission said: "The mission recommends
an urgent
programme of political reconciliation and economic restructuring
and
transformation that places the people and country of Zimbabwe first
and
transcends the differences that were demonstrated in the election
process."
In our interactions with Zimbabweans, through the
Southern African
Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), the
European Union,
bilaterals and our interaction with some major developed
countries, this is
precisely what we have sought to achieve. We spared no
effort to assist the
government and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
to find a negotiated
solution in the interests of all Zimbabwean
people.
This was also our argument at the CHOGM meeting in
Abuja.
Unfortunately, as the Uganda and SADC statement noted, "the
matter of
Zimbabwe participation had been pre-judged, considering the
pronouncements
made by some members prior to the finalisation of this matter"
and the
intensive spin doctoring.
The president has said on many
occasions that while we accepted land
reform was a fundamental issue that
needed to be tackled, "we urged the
government of Zimbabwe to both privately
and publicly act against the
forcible seizure of white farms and other
violence in the country". We also
called for the land reform programme to be
carried out within the
constitution and rule of law.
We have
also on many occasions stated that "many things have gone
wrong in Zimbabwe
leading, among other things, to a high degree of
polarisation in the country
and a serious economic crisis.
"Together with the rest of SADC
countries, we have discussed these
negative developments with the government
and people of Zimbabwe, and will
continue to do so. At the same time, we have
made a commitment to work with
the people of Zimbabwe, represented by both
the ruling party and the
opposition, to arrive at a situation in which all
Zimbabweans put aside
their differences and work together for the future of
their country," said
President Mbeki.
For some reason these
facts have been ignored by our media, which
seems satisfied to criticise
"quite diplomacy" and create the perception
that the so-called quiet
diplomacy is simply to accept the Zimbabwean
government's position and to
defend it and not use constructive dialogue
including expressing our concern
to find solutions.
The media has succeeded in ensuring that some
sections of our society
have an "upside-down" view of our policies towards
Zimbabwe.
Sparks, who was not in the CHOGM meeting, writes that
"South Africa
was the only country holding out for Zimbabwean admission,
finally yielding
only after Tony Blair met privately with Mbeki and
presumably issued a few
warnings about the future of Nepad". A classic
example of journalism based
on "spin doctoring".
I can only
assume that Sparks comes to his conclusions on the basis of
the campaign of
disinformation fed to the media before, during and after
CHOGM, which falsely
suggested that the president lobbied and blocked
agreements regarding
Zimbabwe and failed to achieve his objectives.
Is Sparks not
familiar with the Uganda and SADC statement which states
that "we, the SADC
members of the Commonwealth, supported by some members of
the Commonwealth,
wish to voice our strong disagreements with the decision
not to allow
Zimbabwe back into the council of the Commonwealth.
"The decision
will do nothing to assist the people of Zimbabwe. The
present situation calls
for engagement and not isolation and further
punishment. We also wish to
express our displeasure and deep concern with
the dismissive, intolerant and
rigid attitude displayed by some members".
It seems that South
Africa, SADC and other countries are suffering a
spin-doctored media
onslaught because we do not indulge in "spin-doctoring".
Also
without any evidence, Sparks writes that Mbeki's possible "right
approach"
was complicated by the fact that he did not want to see the ruling
Zanu-PF
party ousted from power and the MDC take over. He seems to have an
innate
dislike for the MDC ... more likely because he did not like the
prospect of a
liberation movement being ousted by a post-struggle opposition
party spawned
by the country's labour movement. A discomforting precedent
for the leader of
an ANC alliance."
The absurdity of these views astonishes me. On
what information has
Sparks come to these conclusions? Earlier I repeated our
objectives and
tactical approach in relation to the Zimbabwe
situation.
The South African Government has interacted with all
Zimbabwean role
players, especially the MDC and the government, to assist
them to find a
Zimbabwean solution. This we have done bilaterally and
multilaterally.
Sparks is also ill-informed about the talks between
the government and
MDC. Firstly Minister Patrick Chimanasa and Secretary
General Welshman Ncube
lead their respective delegations of three. These
talks made good progress
regarding a possible new constitution. However there
has been no progress re
some other issues.
The international
community, including South Africans, must stop
making ill-informed statements
and do everything possible to assist the
Zimbabweans to solve these
outstanding issues.
Sparks is hoping for the emergence of a
grouping of African states
committed to "loud diplomacy" which will form a
unified front to urge Mugabe
to step down.
While there were
tactical differences at CHOGM in Abuja, Sparks' wish
for "loud" African
states as opposed to "quiet" African states will remain a
pipe
dream.
These labels are meaningless. African leaders through SADC,
the AU and
bilaterally are in constant contact to find an African solution to
the
Zimbabwean crises. We will continue to use constructive critical dialogue
to
create the necessary conditions for the government and the MDC to talk
and
resolve any outstanding issues.
I also reject with contempt
the notion that if there is progress in
the tactics of so-called loud
diplomacy "Mbeki will fall in line with the
general trend, albeit quietly, as
he has done with the HIV/Aids issue".
Firstly, the government's
Aids policy is developed by cabinet after
much consideration and
investigations.
President Mbeki participated fully in the cabinet
discussions and is
part of all major policy decisions, including on Aids. So
I cannot
understand how he "fell in line quietly".
Secondly, the
Zimbabwean people need an all-inclusive solution, and
the international
community must assist the Zimbabweans to find such a
solution. It is not time
for isolation but constructive and critical
engagement.
When the
Zimbabweans find a negotiated solution it will be an occasion
for celebration
and not for "quietly falling in line".
.. Aziz Pahad is the
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
New Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Jews rebound from fire
By Moira
Schneider
22/12/03
ANTI-SEMITISM doesn't appear to have played a factor in
the burning of a
Zimbabwean synagogue the day before Yom Kippur -- but the
same can't be said
for a comment that followed the blaze in the official
Chronicle newspaper.
Barely a week after the October 4 fire, which
completely destroyed the
90-year-old landmark in the city of Bulawayo except
for its foyer and
facade, a controversial comment by the shadowy columnist
``Busybody"
appeared in the Bulawayo Chronicle.
In it, the writer asks
``what really was in the Jewish church" that day,
opining that it was not
``just a beautiful carpet that went up in smoke. A
normal church building
would have nothing except the alter (sic), a few
effigies of Jesus and
perhaps the church library and furniture, but not this
one it
seems."
One theory, he writes, was that ``church members" were keeping
foreign
currency and millions of dollars in local currency there to
``cushion
themselves against the cash shortages" that Zimbabwe is
experiencing.
The writer also said the synagogue members were keeping
their passports
there, as well as ``Jewish mementoes" that they intended on
``repatriating"
to Jerusalem and archives that were ``guarded by the Israeli
army day and
night."
And then he delivers his coup de
grace.
``Several, and so Busybody understands, had found a 'safe' place
to keep
their hoarded fuel," at a time that Zimbabwe is suffering from food
and fuel
shortages, with people queuing for days at gas stations. ``Sources
say it
was that fuel that might have triggered the fire."
Former
Bulawayo resident Abe Abrahamson told JTA that Jews who congregated
at the
site of the destroyed synagogue on the day of the fire wept and
recited
Kaddish.
In his letter, the letter writer latches onto this fact in
support of his
theory, saying that whatever was being kept there must have
been ``very big,
judging by the amount of emotion, dejection and desperation
on the faces of
the victims that fateful Saturday."
Alan Feigenbaum,
president of the 110-year-old Bulawayo Hebrew
Congregation -- the country's
oldest synagogue and, in its heyday, the
largest in Zimbabwe -- said that
despite the publication of the letter and
the anti-white sentiment rampant in
the country, the community did not feel
threatened as Jews.
``We are
not having any real major problems in that way," he said.
He said the
community had been ``devastated" by the fire, ``but we'll carry
on and see
how to reorganize our lives, and we will have services on a
regular
basis."
Despite the dwindling number of Jews in the country -- down to
600 from a
peak of 8,500 in the 1960s -- the community had engaged a rabbi
from Israel
in time for the High Holidays.
The Jewish exodus has come
amid a time of turbulence and upheaval in
Zimbabwe, which is ruled by the
mercurial Robert Mugabe.
Over the past several years, black ``war
veterans" have invaded white-owned
farms across the country and turned out
their owners. Hundreds of thousands
of black farm workers and their families
also have been thrown out of their
homes.
The country's economy has
deteriorated into massive unemployment and runaway
inflation, and over 80
percent of the black population now lives below the
poverty line. A
long-standing drought has exacerbated the risk of hunger.
For now, the
159-strong Bulawayo congregation is holding services in the
Sinai Jewish
Community Center, using prayer books and prayer shawls sent
from communities
in Cape Town and Johannesburg -- some of which arrived in
time for Yom Kippur
services the day after the fire.
``They are coping very well and are
quite satisfied with using the Sinai for
their immediate needs. From there, I
don't know," Feigenbaum said.
Ignoring the warnings of firefighters,
congregants Rodney Lepar and Raymond
Roth braved the flames and managed to
save all the Torah scrolls, as well as
a 350-year-old curtain that covers the
Holy Ark.
Lepar, 51, who has lived in Bulawayo all his life, said he too
had been
``devastated" by the fire.
``Part of our lives and our
history has just gone. The wonderful memories
are there, though," he said.
``I was heart-sore to see the shul go up in
smoke.''
In a poignant
twist, Leizer Abrahamson, 104, recited from the Torah -- as he
does at most
services -- at what proved to be the last service held at the
shul. JTA
The Herald
Fuel supplies improve
Herald Reporter
OIL companies
believe there is now enough fuel for the festive season
following increased
deliveries in the last few weeks.
But prices will vary. Yesterday service
stations were selling diesel and
petrol for between $3 100 and $3 200 a
litre.
Fuel is still available at $3 000 a litre but usually motoritsts
have to buy
coupons for 20 or 25 litres at a time to access this
price.
The chairman of Petroleum Marketers Association of Zimbabwe Mr
Masimba
Kambarami, said supplies had vastly improved in the last few weeks
thanks to
the recent agreement allowing oil companies to use Noczim fuel
pipeline to
transport petroleum products from Beira.
"Most of the
major companies have at one time or another used the Noczim
pipeline to
transport their products," said Mr Kambarami.
"There should not be any
problems of fuel during the festive season, but we
urge customers to shop
around for best prices."
The popular Mbare Msika was yesterday jammed
with thousands of travellers
jostling to get seats in the few buses that were
available because of diesel
shortage.
It was hoped that the prices of
fuel that had at one time shot up to $3 500
per litre would come down once
the oil companies started using the Noczim
pipeline.
The oil companies
had found it costly and unreliable to transport large
quantities of fuel by
using road haulage trucks.
Mr Kambarami said that the use of the Noczim
pipeline was working for most
private fuel companies.
The Herald
Malaria cases up: Parirenyatwa
Health Reporter
MORE
than two million people in Zimbabwe suffer from malaria each year while
half
of the country’s population is also at risk of contracting the
disease.
Addressing journalists at the weekend, the Minister of Health
and Child
Welfare Dr David Parirenyatwa said current statistics showed an
increase in
malaria deaths.
He said the increase in malaria cases was
as a result of limited access to
treatment, knowledge on the disease,
religious beliefs and misconceptions of
drug resistance.
"It is
therefore important to inform those who are at risk of contracting
malaria to
take appropriate measures to protect themselves," said
Dr
Parirenya-twa.
Dr Parirenyatwa said while children and pregnant
women were the most
vulnerable, people who lived in malaria zones were also
at risk of
contracting the disease.
The areas include Binga, Nkayi,
Hwange, Lupane, Kariba, Hurungwe, Guruve,
Centenary, Mount Darwin, Rushinga,
Nyanga, Chipinge, Chiredzi, Gokwe and
Uzumba Maramba-Pfungwe.
"Malaria
in pregnant women can cause miscarriages and stillbirth. Therefore
pregnant
women living or visiting malaria areas should take measures to
protect
themselves from mosquito bites," he said.
People living in gold-panning
areas and some religious groups have also been
urged to seek early treatment
of malaria and have chloroquin ready at hand.
"As we move into this
year’s malaria season, it is important to note that
malaria is preventable
and curable. There are also enough drugs to
administer to all those who are
suffering from that ailment.
"Those intending to travel or visit malaria
areas should take preventive
medicine a week before embarking on the journey
and continue taking
preventive medicine as long as they are in the area and
four weeks after the
visit," said Dr Parirenyatwa.
He said it is vital
for one to seek early treatment if one contracted
malaria as failure to do so
would result in complications such as
convulsions in children or
death.
Malaria’s symptoms include headaches, fever, vomiting, general
body aches
particularly pain in the joints.
One way of preventing
malaria is draining disused pools or stagnant water
bodies where mosquitoes
breed.
Pouring paraffin or light oil in water destroys mosquito larvae.
It is also
advisable to keep pools clean and dry if they are not in use.
News24
'Each man for himself' in Zim
22/12/2003 22:26 -
(SA)
Liesl Louw
Pretoria - Attacks against farmers in Zimbabwe
are not only on the increase
but it has also become a free-for-all where farm
invaders are concerned.
Not only are these invaders ordering farmers off
their land but they are
also helping themselves to these families'
possessions.
In one instance a farmer, his wife and their two-year-old
daughter were
trapped in their bedroom while attackers plundered their
house.
Last week another couple was violently attacked in the Rusape
district,
while a farmer, whose farm has been in his family for 70 years, was
given
only a few hours to pack his belongings and vacate his
home.
According to one Rusape farmer, farm invasions in the past have
been
organised take-overs. "This is no longer the case," he
said.
"It's each man for himself," said Tienie Martin, who was driven off
his farm
the week before last.
Martin said that his farm was
subdivided earlier this year to accommodate
settlers. According to the law,
Martin and his family were allowed to keep
and farm 400ha of the
land.
He said that the man who has taken over his farm, arrived with
henchmen and
gave him a few hours to leave. Farmers in the area came with
their lorries
to help pack, he said.
"While we were packing they stole
goods out of my house," he added.
In the latest incident, Colin van der
Linde and his wife, Francina, also
from the Rusape district, were beaten with
steel rods by a group of armed
men after they were robbed of all valuable
possessions.
Their farm has also been subdivided but they think the
attack was simply a
criminal incident.
Australia Praises Zimbabwe Police Over Suspects' Arrest
Copyright © 2003, Dow Jones Newswires
CANBERRA (AP)--The Australian
government praised Zimbabwe Tuesday for
the rapid arrest of two men who
allegedly killed an Australian accountant by
forcing him to drink
acid.
Philip Laing, 51, of Perth, who worked for the Eastern
Highlands Tea
Estate in Zimbabwe, was allegedly killed on Friday in a gang
attack on the
British company's offices.
Australia's junior
foreign minister, Chris Gallus, said Tuesday that
Zimbabwe police had
arrested two men, and expected to apprehend two other
suspects
soon.
"Over this matter we could not fault the Zimbabwean
government,"
Gallus said. "Clearly, they took the crime extremely
seriously."
Brother-in-law John Kirkman said Laing and at least
five other staff
had interrupted four armed men during a robbery, The West
Australian
newspaper reported on Monday.
The robbers tied Laing
and other staff members to a tree and forced
them to drink acid, Kirkman
said. Laing was the only one who died.
The arrests come as
relations between the two countries have
deteriorated over Prime Minister
John Howard's repeated condemnation of
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe for
human rights abuses and violence
surrounding a 2002 presidential
poll.
Howard helped lead a successful campaign in 2002 to suspend
Zimbabwe
from the 54-nation Commonwealth group of former British colonies and
bar the
African leader from attending a summit of the organization in Nigeria
this
month.
Mugabe responded by withdrawing Zimbabwe from the
Commonwealth and
accusing Howard of racism.
-Edited By Kevin
Lim
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 22, 2003 23:03
ET (04:03 GMT)
Business Day
Regional powers have duty to
governance
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
SA,
Brazil need to take responsibility to help end Zimbabwean,
Venezuelan
crises
WHILE President Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu
(PF) flout the rule
of law in the face of a growing political and economic
crisis, Venezuela's
Hugo Chavez is drawing on similar methods to cling to
power.
Dissatisfaction with Chavez culminated recently in a national
petition,
which overwhelmingly demanded a referendum to remove him from power
before
the end of his term in 2006.
In terms of the Venezuelan
constitution, the petition received sufficient
support to compel the
electoral commission to hold a referendum. However,
there are strong signs
Chavez will reject the petition and delay a
referendum, clinging to power for
as long as possible.
This year Venezuela and Zimbabwe were the
worst-performing nations in their
regions. Venezuela is rich in oil
resources, and its geographical proximity
to the US has made it the second
most important oil exporter to that
country.
Zimbabwe's wealth is in
agriculture, especially tobacco, and it is the most
developed economy in its
region after SA.
Despite this wealth, both nations are on the verge of
state collapse.
Political accountability has given way to irresponsible
leadership.
A combination of continuing political instability and
economic
mismanagement, which reached a climax early this year during the
devastating
oil strikes, has plunged Venezuela into crisis.
The
strikes were in response to Chavez's insistence that stateowned oil
monopoly
Petroleos de Venezuela supply oil to Cuba despite its nonpayment.
Prior to
that, in April last year, there was a failed coup supported by
big
business.
Venezuela's economy declined about 15% in this year
after the dismal 9%
decline last year. A more basic crisis has struck its
institutional
infrastructure, affecting the core areas of health care and
education.
Since Chavez was elected president in 1998, foreign investment
has dropped
by a staggering 80%. Close to 60% of this drop was last year, at
the height
of political uncertainty. Inflation is expected to exceed 30% by
the end of
the year; exchange rate volatility has forced the introduction of
exchange
and price controls, which in turn has created a very lucrative black
market
in the currency.
Unemployment has risen to uncontrollable
levels, with the informal sector
squeezing out most formal businesses. The
grim picture does not improve when
other economic and political factors are
considered. Venezuela's economy is
far less diversified than those of many
economies in Latin America.
Oil exports account for more than a fifth of
Venezuela's total gross
domestic product. But this enriches only a very small
elite. Poverty has
worsened. The number of families living below the poverty
line has increased
from 60% to 70%.
Zimbabwe's situation is not much
different. Since 2000 most sectors of the
economy have been contracting.
Unemployment is well above 70% and inflation
is conservatively estimated at
more than 600%. Its tobacco exports, which
previously provided more than a
third of its foreign exchange, have been
reduced to a trickle.
The
acute foreign currency shortage has had a negative effect on the ability
of
Zimbabwe economy to source external inputs, with socioeconomic
consequences,
including the inability of the health sector to access
much-needed drugs.
About 5,5-million people are facing famine. Many are
reliant on humanitarian
aid from countries of the north to survive.
At the centre of the problem
in both nations lies the dearth of responsible
political leadership, focused
on the personalities of two charismatic but
demagogic leaders. Both use
revolutionary rhetoric to justify and push their
own political agendas, and
muster support at the cost of their citizens and
democracy.
As their
countries spiral further into crisis, their strategy has been to
retreat into
isolationism, citing infringement of sovereignty against anyone
who dares
condemn their increasingly imperious actions, including human
rights
violations and suppression of free speech.
However, Chavez and Mugabe
have benefited from their stridently
antiwestern/anti-US rhetoric at a time
when such talk has resonance in the
developing world.
Analysts in
Caracas have identified various scenarios for the future of
Chavez and
Venezuela. On the extreme side of the spectrum, analysts
referring to
sympathetic gestures Chavez made towards left-wing guerrilla
groups in
Colombia, have suggested he might turn to nonpolitical methods to
achieve his
grand Bolivarian revolution.
Most likely, though, is that Chavez will
consolidate his political position
and campaign in 2006. Against a fragmented
opposition and a disorganised and
ill-informed electorate he might even win,
which will give him greater
legitimate power than before. But 2006 is a long
time to wait for real
results and Chavez's disruptive attitude relating to
the referendum raises a
number of concerns in the short term.
The most
recent announcement by both Zanu (PF) and the Movement for
Democratic Change
of a resumption of talks in Zimbabwe may signal a
breakthrough in the
gridlock, but this is not the first time such
declarations have been made.
Progress in resolving the crisis must become
evident sooner rather than
later. Talks must bear fruit not be seen as an
end in themselves.
In a
world where the focus on good governance is increasingly gaining ground
over
concern about state sovereignty, regional powers will have to take on
more
responsibility for ensuring both political and economic stability in
their
neighbourhoods.
Brazil and SA, therefore, must push for tangible
outcomes, which augur a
return to political and economic normality in both
countries.
While SA has been actively engaged in Zimbabwe, that
involvement has not
seen any real progress in resolving the political crisis.
Brazil has pursued
a similar line with Venezuela, assuming the role of a
silent big brother
with minimal engagement to date.
Sustainable
conflict resolution is possible only if the final settlement is
domestically
driven. That was the success of the South African transition.
However, this
should not be an excuse for relinquishing regional
responsibilities. Here
too, responsible political leadership is necessary.
Sidiropoulos and
White are, respectively, the director of studies and Latin
America researcher
at SA's Institute of International Affairs.
Business Day
Rights abuse in Zimbabwe, Cosatu
warns
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Vavi
warns of rising poverty, job losses
Labour Correspondent
THE Congress
of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has pledged support to
Zimbabwean
workers, whom the labour federation says face continuing
violations of worker
and human rights.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said at its
yearend press
conference yesterday that it would send a "fact-finding"
mission to
Zimbabwe.
Cosatu's comments come against the background of
renewed attacks on
President Thabo Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy", which seeks to
limit SA's
involvement in Zimbabwe to the facilitation of talks between
President
Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) and the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change.
South African church leaders condemned government at
the weekend for failing
to speak out against human rights abuses in the
southern African nation.
The labour federation also expressed its support
for the call for the
creation of free political activity in
Swaziland.
Vavi predicted that more people would be facing poverty in the
coming year
as a result of massive job losses and retrenchments that took
place this
year.
He said about 13000 workers had been retrenched by
the end of October, with
nearly 5000 more notices of retrenchment given last
month and this month.
The clothing and textile sectors were hit
particularly hard by the strength
of the rand which has made imports cheaper
resulting in the loss of jobs.
"Current clothing and textile imports
account for 70% of the total sold, up
from 45% a year ago. This is way above
the 30% economists regard as healthy
for any economy. Clothing imports from
China alone were up by 60% in the
first six months of the year," Cosatu said
in a statement.
The federation said its biggest challenge was its loss of
members caused by
job losses.
Cosatu lost about 2%, or 30000 members,
in the past two years. Its 21
affiliates lost about 130000 members, but this
was counteracted by three
federations joining Cosatu this year.
At its
congress in September, Cosatu adopted a programme aimed at increasing
its
membership to 2,6-million by 2006.
Vavi said the tensions that had
strained the tripartite alliance of Cosatu,
the ruling African National
Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist
Party (SACP) particularly
towards the end of last year, had now subsided.
"While there are still
unresolved areas of disagreement, we have moved much
closer to a consensus on
many of the formerly divisive questions."
Vavi said the HIV/AIDS debate
had been replaced by a common programme. He
also said that government had
shifted away from some of the most
conservative elements of its macroeconomic
policymaking.
The federation said it would seek to increase the ANC's
majority in next
year's general election. Cosatu has vowed to ensure that the
ANC wins the
majority votes in Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the only two
provinces not
under ANC control.
Vavi said Cosatu had been involved in
the drafting of the ANC's election
manifesto, and expected it to take account
of workers' concerns on jobs and
poverty.
Cosatu also pledged to
pursue its founding goal of creating one federation
in the
country.
Its political ties with the ANC and SACP have been a major
stumbling in the
creation of a super federation. Vavi would not say whether
Cosatu would be
prepared to abandon the alliance, but said political ties
should not be an
obstacle to merging.
Business Day
MDC cautiously optimistic' on
talks
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
International
Affairs Editor
THE main opposition party in Zimbabwe, the Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC), says it is cautiously optimistic about prospects for
talks with the
ruling Zanu (PF) party because it has received "signals" that
President
Robert Mugabe has dropped preconditions to begin
negotiations.
MDC spokesman Paul Themba-Nyathi said yesterday that his
party was now
"certainly not aware of any conditions he (Mugabe) is
putting".
"They may have given up the idea of preconditions. Any
preconditions would
have been against the spirit of dialogue," said
Themba-Nyathi, but he would
not go into details about what signals the party
received.
While welcoming dialogue at its annual conference, which ended
at the
weekend, the MDC maintained the threat of mass action. "There was
never a
time when mass action was removed from party's programme; the goal is
to
bring Mugabe to the negotiating table."
At the weekend MDC
secretary-general Welshman Ncube said his party was
waiting for signs, after
President Thabo Mebki's visit to the country last
week, that no conditions
were being placed on the holding of talks.
Zanu (PF) has insisted that
the MDC drop its court challenge to the validity
of last year's presidential
election and accept Mugabe as a legitimate
president . The MDC refused, and
as a result talks were broken off in July.
However, Themba-Nyathi said
that the succession debate within Zanu (PF) may
still delay talks, although
there was no reason that this should be the
case.
"We are supportive
of efforts by President Mbeki to broker an agreement, and
realise we as
Zimbabweans should play our part. All his efforts would come
to nought if
there was not political will on both sides," he said.
Themba-Nyathi said
that although the leadership of the MDC was facing
spurious prosecutions it
was not imposing any preconditions for dialogue.
"We are simply saying, let's
get around the negotiating table."
Themba-Nyathi said that the dropping
of preconditions reflected Mugabe's
growing realisation that he could not
continue to defy international opinion
while more than 80% of the population
was unemployed and 7-million
Zimbabweans required food aid.
Yesterday
the United Nations World Food Programme warned that more than
2,6-million
people in Zimbabwe would face a bleak Christmas after having
their food
rations halved because of insufficient donations from the
international
community.
PENDING DISASTER IN LOWVELD LAND GRAB
As a past
resident of the South Eastern Lowveld of Zimbabwe, now living
abroad, I am
compelled to comment on the latest, and probably most
senseless "land grab"
now occurring on Mkwasine Estate, near Chiredzi, and
the humanitarian and
economic disaster it will inevitably cause.
It would appear that the "big
boys" in government are saving the biggest
and best fish for last, and have
targeted Mkwasine Sugar Estate as a "thank
you" present to the country's DRC
war heroes, and other top chefs and
military brass. Do they really know what
they are doing?
If this scenario is allowed to unfold the country will
witness its biggest
single humanitarian and economic disaster since the whole
land acquisition
farce began! I have no doubt that any Lowveld, or even
Masvingo Province
resident will confirm that the three Lowveld sugar estates
- Hippo,
Triangle, and Mkwasine - are the economic engines driving the
entire
economy of that region. Mkwasine is the smallest of the three, but
its
approximate 5,000 hectares of cane make it huge by any standards, as
it
single handedly produces over 12% of Zimbabwe's sugar.
Designed in
the mid sixties, together with its bigger sisters it represents
an
engineering masterpiece with over 350 kilometres of gravity-fed canal
systems
flood-irrigating the fields that annually supply over 500 000
tonnes of sugar
cane to the two mills at Hippo Valley and Triangle. Being
remote from the
two mills, - over sixty kilometers if I remember
correctly - a sophisticated
haulage system combining a huge fleet of
tractors, specially designed
trailers and numerous cranes, load three
trains every day which ply the 60
kilometres of rail line to the mills.
The Estate itself, aside from being
an oasis of beauty in the arid bush, is
home to around 25,000 people - mainly
estate workers and their families -
and provides housing, medical, education
and recreational facilities second
to none. The extended families of these
people in neighbouring communal
lands, together with the workers of
downstream businesses and neighbouring
settlement schemes that rely almost
totally on income derived from the
estate, would probably take the total
number of affected people to well
over 150 000. This is over 1% of
Zimbabwe's population!
Are the livelihoods of all these people to be
sacrificed to settle a few
hundred soldiers who themselves wont have the
faintest idea of how to run
such a complex set up?
At independence,
the sugar industry showed its commitment to resettlement
by making available
for resettlement some 3 000 hectares of Mkwasine Estate
land to about 200
indigenous farmers, and assist them thereafter. The
resultant resettlement
scheme - I think it is called Chipiwa ("we were
given") - has been hailed as
the most successful of its kind in Zimbabwe
and the region, but it is totally
dependant on Mkwasine Estate's assistance
for haulage, water control and
financing. One wonders what is to happen to
Chipiwa and other neighbouring
settlers when their golden goose, the
estate, vanishes?
The simple
fact is that estates such as Mkwasine are designed to be
operated as
large-scale units, and require a vast array of agricultural,
engineering and
administrative expertise to work at all, let alone
efficiently. They cannot
be cut up into hundreds of 20-hectare plots, even
if the occupants of those
plots WERE accomplished farmers, as the necessary
centralized control and
expertise would be missing! Even if our intrepid
bunch of soldiers and chefs
were to organize themselves to this extent,
where will they find the cash to
pay for the haulage equipment and
railways, which I guess must now run into
billions of dollars annually!
Possibly they will be expecting the two
remaining estates - Hippo and
Triangle - to pay the bills as in the past, but
this would be highly
unlikely to happen. They own Mkwasine Estate, and thus
far have paid the
bills out of the profits generated by that estate. Their
own mill
viability, and indeed profitability, would be mortally damaged by
the loss
of direct ownership of such a large chunk of their business. Even
if they
could pay, they would be stupid to do so as this would be the
first
instance where a dispossessed farmer would be asked to buy back the
produce
which had been stolen from him!
I believe Zimbabwe is
experiencing sugar shortages, amongst a few other
basic commodities! Brace
yourselves folks, sugar will be even more scarce,
as 5 000 hectares of sugar
cane quickly converts itself into a few hundred
motly fields of parched
maize. I suppose all good things come to an end,
but I cannot believe any
sensible person would conceive of ending a good
thing in this stupid
manner?
I cry for 150 000 people, soon to loose their livelihoods and
homes as one
of the biggest single nails so far, gets driven into Zimbabwe's
coffin. I
pray earnestly for some common sense to prevail in the minds of
those who
make the decisions. There is still time to prevent this
disaster.
He who cares
LONDON
VOA
Zimbabwe Exit from Commonwealth Might be Very Costly
Tendai
Maphosa
Harare
23 Dec 2003, 15:46 UTC
Much has been said and
written about Zimbabwe's withdrawal from the
Commonwealth earlier this month.
But Zimbabwe's departure from the club of
Britain and 53 of its former
colonies and other countries could mean quite a
lot to the people of
Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's departure from the Commonwealth might be more costly
than the
country's leadership cares to admit. A Commonwealth secretariat
spokesman,
who asked to remain anonymous, told VOA that Zimbabwe will no
longer be
eligible for funding under many Commonwealth programs aimed at
training,
business, trade, technical support and other development-related
areas.
Zimbabwean writers will no longer qualify for the Commonwealth
writers'
awards. They have featured prominently in the awards, which raised
their
international profile. Zimbabwean athletes will be excluded from
the
Commonwealth Games.
Also, the contracts of Zimbabweans employed by
the Commonwealth offices will
not be renewed once they expire. The spokesman
said the Commonwealth employs
a number of Zimbabweans at what he called a
"very senior level."
Zimbabwe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised
all Commonwealth
diplomatic missions in the country that they are now
embassies, as opposed
to the High Commissions they were before the
withdrawal. A diplomat in
Harare said the exercise is going to cost Zimbabwe
more, than his country,
in terms of changing stationery and related costs
because it has
representatives in different countries.
The changed
status may also mean Zimbabweans will have to apply for visas to
visit some
other Commonwealth countries where they did not need visa before.
"We are
still waiting to hear from the host government," said a diplomat
from a
neighboring country where Zimbabweans do not need visas.
Zimbabwe is not
the first country to leave the 54 nation Commonwealth.
Pakistan, South Africa
and Fiji at some point quit the club, but all have
rejoined.
ZANU-PF
party foreign affairs secretary, Didymus Mutasa, told BBC News he
did not
foresee any possibility this government would rejoin the
Commonwealth.
VOA
Zimbabwe Goes from Bad to Worse in Difficult Year
Tendai
Maphosa
Harare
23 Dec 2003, 17:12 UTC
This story is part of
VOA's 2003 in Review series
It has been a difficult 12 months in Zimbabwe,
where the economic crisis
deepend and the political deadlock showed only the
slightest sign of easing.
The year ends with hyper-inflation, the collapse of
the Zimbabwe dollar,
high unemployment, and more international isolation than
ever. When the year
started Zimbabweans thought things could not get any
worse, but they did.
For most Zimbabweans, just surviving 2003 was a
significant challenge. The
co-ordinator of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition,
John Makumbe, says the
country is worse off now than it was a year ago. "We
have seem more arrests,
more beatings. We have, in fact, seen more human
rights violations by the
state against the opposition, against civil society,
against the public in
general. And I would say 2003 has become more difficult
for Zimbabweans, in
all sectors of life, than any year previously," he
said.
Zimbabwe's multi-year economic collapse accelerated in 2003. The
shortage of
foreign currency needed to import essential items got so bad that
the
government gave up its monopoly on the importation of fuel. It allowed
oil
companies to import oil products and sell them at what Energy Minister
Amos
Midzi called market-related prices.
This means there is more fuel
available, but at much higher prices. Some
retailers even ask for payment in
U.S. dollars, which illegal.
The government tried to control prices of
basic commodities to cushion the
poor from the high inflation, which reached
an estimated 620 percent. But
price controls put many producers out of
business because they could not
cover costs, which resulted in shortages and
the development of high-priced
black markets. At various times during the
year Zimbabweans had to spend
hours lining up for fuel, bread, cooking oil,
flour, sugar, and even money.
The high prices meant people needed huge
amounts of cash even for routine
shopping. And that resulted in a shortage of
bank notes.
The crisis was compounded because the government did not have
enough foreign
currency to buy the paper and ink to print more bank notes.
The situation
has somewhat improved with the introduction of locally printed
large
denomination bearer checks, which function just like
money.
Banker and economist Andy Hodges says the shortages and high
inflation and
unemployment have left ordinary Zimbabweans unable to maintain
even a modest
standard of living. "I think it is fair to say that we have had
very bad
times in the last 12 months. We are a country with a high inflation
rate, a
parallel market, which obviously has an impact on goods and services.
If you
look at the wages and salaries of the ordinary man on the street in
terms of
inflation, in terms of all the price rises around him, it has not
really
matched at all, it is very disparate, so the ordinary man on the
street is
worse off," he says.
Many of these issues were carried over
from the previous year, but 2003 also
saw several new developments. The
government forced the country's largest
independent daily newspaper, The
Daily News to stop publishing because it
refused to apply for a license under
a new media law. The government has
ignored court orders allowing the paper
to resume publication.
Meanwhile, the treason trial of opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai began,
based on charges that he conspired to assassinate
President Robert Mugabe.
His two co-defendants were acquitted by the High
Court, but Mr. Tsvngirai's
trial continues. He also faces an additional
treason charge for calling
marches and a nationwide general strike to protest
the government's
policies.
In some parts of the country the lines of
people receiving food aid from
donor agencies are getting longer.
Unfortunately for those people, the U.N.
World Food Program announced a few
days before Christmas that it would have
to cut food rations in half in
Zimbabwe because of a lack of donations.
About half of Zimbabwe's people
depend on those donations. Zimbabwe used to
be a food exporter, but that has
changed in recent years because of a
combination of continuing drought and
the government's chaotic and
sometimes-violent land reform program.
As
the year ended, almost two months into what is normally the rainy season,
the
rains have been patchy and insufficient. And even if enough rains fall,
the
majority of the farmers lack the funds to buy seed, fertilizer and
other
agricultural requirements.
The exodus of Zimbabweans wanting to
look for a better life elsewhere also
continues. While some go through the
legal route of getting visas from the
places they want to go to, thousands
simply walk across borders into
neighboring countries.
Meanwhile,
Zimbabwe's international relations continued to deteriorate. In
early
December, President Mugabe withdrew the country from the Commonwealth
after
it refused to end Zimbabwe's suspension that was imposed after the
2002
elections. Mr. Mugabe won the election amid widespread charges of
violence
and fraud.
President Mugabe argues that the suspension is racially
motivated and the
country is better off out of the
Commonwealth.
Political analyst Heneri Dzinotyiwei says the decision to
extend Zimbabwe's
suspension was wrong. "Those who are directly affected,
namely ourselves in
Zimbabwe and member countries in the region, felt that
further progress
could be done while Zimbabwe was within. It is a better
approach for all of
us to have the country non-isolated than to have it
isolated," he says.
Zimbabwe's continued suspension seems to have
increased the impetus for the
resolution of its problems. One of Zimbabwe's
chief supporters in the
Commonwealth, South African President Thabo Mbeki,
visited Harare. He
convinced Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai to resume the
dialogue between their
political parties.
Analysts believe the
economic situation is pushing the government toward
reaching an agreement
that could include Mr. Mugabe's retirement and new
elections. The success or
failure of the political talks will likely be the
biggest story in troubled
Zimbabwe in 2004.
VOA
Hopes for Quick Zimbabwe Political Negotiations Disappear
Peta
Thornycroft
Harare
23 Dec 2003, 15:56 UTC
Hopes for
negotiations between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party and the
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change before the end of the year have
evaporated, as
even preparatory talks failed to take place.
Zanu PF's main negotiator,
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has reportedly
gone on vacation for the
Christmas and New Year holidays. MDC Secretary
General Welshman Ncube, the
opposition's main negotiator, said Tuesday there
is, therefore, no
possibility of any contact between the two sides this
year.
The
expectation that Zanu-PF and the opposition may start talking again soon
was
kindled by South African President Thabo Mbeki. He said during his visit
to
Harare last week that he was looking forward to some political progress
in
Zimbabwe later this month.
President Mugabe himself said publicly after
the meeting that talks between
the two parties were necessary.
The
ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition party have had only sporadic contact
since
formal negotiations between them broke down last year.
For several years,
Zimbabwe has been mired in a political and economic
crisis. Unemployment
exceeds 70 percent, inflation is expected to hit 600
percent early next year,
and half of the population depends for food on
donations.
Sunday Times (SA)
Zimbabweans brace for a bleak
Christmas
Tuesday December 23, 2003 15:24 - (SA)
"What about
my Christmas box?" a security guard at an office block in the
Zimbabwean
capital Harare asks, using a common expression at this time of
the year to
solicit a tip.
Like many workers in the southern African country his
monthly salary is not
enough to pay for the season's
festivities.
Zimbabweans are reeling - for at least the second year
running - under
unprecedented economic hardships. This Christmas, for many,
is hardly going
to be a time for celebrating.
Inflation is running at
620%, unemployment is estimated at 70%, and prices
go up on a near-weekly
basis.
Shoppers at a supermarket in Harare's busy Avondale shopping
centre find
little comfort in the Christmas carols piped over the store's
sound system
and instead complain bitterly about the prices.
"They've
put this up again! Can you believe it," an elderly white woman says
to her
companion about a packet of biscuits that cost 2,000 Zimbabwe
dollars
(US$2.40/ E1.93 euros) last week, but costs 5,000 dollars this
week.
"It's true, the prices go up every time."
Most of the
shoppers in the store do not have full trolleys.
Bread, margarine and
bottles of orange squash are some of the items
selected.
It's a far
cry from the imported champagne and bottles of South African wine
advertised
in full page advertisements in the state-run Herald that cost at
least 40,000
Zimbabwe dollars (US$48/ E38.70) a bottle, more than the
average monthly
wage.
"At a time when a simple Christmas card costs more than 3,000
dollars
(US$3.64/E2.93), it is highly unlikely that many households are going
to
have cards to hang on the tree," writes Herald columnist
Beatrice
Tonhadzayi.
Tragically it is not just Christmas cards that
hundreds of thousands of
Zimbabweans will be missing out on this year, but a
square meal.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP), which has been carrying
out emergency
food aid distribution in the country for the past two years,
said this week
that food rations to 2.6 million Zimbabweans would be cut by
half due to
insufficient donations.
"It's tragic that these ration
cuts have come at a time when people are
normally celebrating the festive
season," Mike Sackett, WFP's regional
director for southern Africa said in a
statement.
Around half of Zimbabwe's 11.6 million people are expected to
need emergency
food aid by next year because of poor harvests blamed by the
government on
two successive years of drought.
However aid agencies
say the government's seizure of white-owned commercial
farms for
redistribution to blacks has slashed agricultural production.
And Morgan
Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
accuses President Robert Mugabe's government of plunging the
country into
hopelessness.
The government rejects the charge, and instead accuses the
opposition party
of campaigning to isolate the country internationally and
thus bring about
social and economic hardships.
"Hunger, disease,
poverty and hopelessness are setting in fast," Tsvangirai
told a weekend
conference of his party.
But he claimed the MDC would bring about a
change for the better.
"We have managed to prepare ourselves fully for
the daunting challenges that
lie ahead," he said. "Next year will be the year
of the people. The people
shall govern."
It is uncertain whether many
urban families will be able to visit their
rural homes this Christmas, as is
the tradition.
Fuel, when available, sells for at least 3,000 Zimbabwe
dollars
(US$3.60/E2.90) a litre, and public transport fares have
rocketed.
Two days before Christmas central Harare was jammed with cars
and people,
although few carried shopping bags, while hundreds of people
queued outside
banks to draw out money ahead of the two-day public
holiday.
Most Zimbabweans "are really happy that 2003 is at last coming
to a close,
but they also have serious trepidations about 2004," University
of Zimbabwe
political science lecturer John Makumbe said.
"There's
nothing on the horizon indicating change for the better."
AFP
Homeless Youths Sweep in Return for Food, T-Shirts
The Herald
(Harare)
December 23, 2003
Posted to the web December 23,
2003
Harare
Homeless youths cleaned up the area around the
Centenary footbridge along
Julius Nyerere Way last week in return for food
and T-shirts from fast-food
outlets in the area.
They sang in a
typical "Nhimbe" style as they swept and cleaned the area.
Many who
frequent the set of fast-food outlets on the west side of the
bridge had
complained about the surroundings. Nandos branch manager Mr
Misheck Tongoona
said the shop felt the dirt was chasing away customers.
"As a food outlet
we felt that the human waste and litter around this place
was chasing away
our customers and we felt that we had to do something."
Street youths who
moved around the area were always asking for handouts but
this time offered
to help in return for food. However, the same youths are
suspected to be the
ones soiling the area.
Harare City Council's spokesman Mr Cuthbert
Rwaze-mba commended Nandos for
complementing the council's effort in keeping
the city clean and implored
other companies to do the same.
Mr
Rwazemba said that the initiative came at a good time when council
was
intensifying efforts to bring order to the central business
district.
The council's efforts would be targeted at illegal vendors and
those who
used pushcarts in the central business district.
Pushcarts
were being confiscated if used in the area and vendors were being
asked to
move to vending sites.
"Vendors and pushcart operators have contributed
to the obstructions on
pavements and have hindered the smooth flow of
traffic. These have to go to
designated vending sites."
People have
lost money and valuables as thieves took advantage of the
confusion on the
pavements while accidents have increased in the central
business district
because of the pushcarts.
The council had placed its municipal police on
shift work, to allow
around-the-clock policing.
Zimbabwe: Zanu And Mdc Examine Agenda for Talks
UN Integrated
Regional Information Networks
December 23, 2003
Posted to the web
December 23, 2003
Johannesburg
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa
and opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) secretary-general
Welshman Ncube are scheduled to meet on
Tuesday in Zimbabwe's second city
Bulawayo to discuss an agenda for
interparty talks, news reports
said.
Speaking from Bulawayo, MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi told
IRIN that
the development was "logical" coming after South African President
Thabo
Mbeki extracted a commitment from Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe last
week
to "move from informal to formal talks".
Nathan Shamuyarira,
secretary for publicity and information of the ruling
ZANU-PF, told IRIN that
Chinamasa was "in the committee on the talks that
meets regularly with
MDC".
Formal inter-party dialogue, which has been championed by among
others South
Africa and the churches, is seen as key to beginning to resolve
Zimbabwe's
political and economic crisis.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
said at the weekend that the party's strategy
had three phases. "One; how to
unlock the logjam with Mugabe, two; what are
the confidence building measures
to normalise the environment in this
country, and three; how to restore a
democratic and legitimate government so
we can join the family of nations,"
he told a press conference at the end of
the MDC's national
conference.
"We have submitted this agenda to the church leaders and to
South Africa.
ZANU is stalling because they think that coming to the table is
equal to
surrendering. We are not talking about surrender. We are talking
about
moving forward for Zimbabwe. All other issues are negotiable,"
Tsvangirai
said.
The MDC has called for talks to agree on
constitutional reforms before fresh
elections can be held.
"Going into
an election with skewed [election] laws will produce the same
outcome [a
controversial ZANU-PF victory]. The MDC believes that you can not
have a
comprehensive people driven constitution in this environment but you
do need
a constitutional environment that is conducive for free and fair
elections,"
Tsvangirai said.
He threatened "mass action" in 2004 as only "national
and international
pressure" would persuade ZANU-PF towards
negotiations.
However, according to Chris Maroleng, an analyst with
South Africa's
Institute for Strategic Studies, substantive talks are
unlikely until Mugabe
clarifies whether he intends to stand down before his
term expires in 2008 -
as he had suggested earlier this year - and who would
be his successor.
"I think what is stopping the possibility of serious
national dialogue
between the two parties is the fact that there's division
within ZANU-PF,
and there's a power vacuum. There's a need, first of all, to
resolve the
leadership issue and the succession debate within ZANU-PF, before
the party
can come out with some sort of consensus to engage in any
meaningful talks
with the MDC," Maroleng told IRIN recently.