Mugabe changes the law to delay expected presidential election run off against opposition leader

Mail on Sunday, UK

Last updated at 21:17pm on 14th May 2008
Voters in Zimbabwe face a much longer wait for a say in the run-off
presidential election.

The government yesterday changed the law which says the poll must be held
within 21 days of the first official results being announced.

Under the new rules unveiled yesterday, this period has been extended to 90
days.

With the official results of the disputed vote not released until May 2, the
second election could be held as late as July 31.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat President Mugabe in the
presidential poll on March 29 but not by enough votes to avoid a run-off.

In a parliamentary election held on the same day, the ruling ZANU-PF party
lost its majority to the opposition for the first time since independence
from Britain in 1980.

The sudden change of 21 days to 90 was announced by the Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa in a government gazette.

Movement for Democratic Change spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the change was
"illegal and unfair".

He added: "It is part of a programme to give Mugabe and ZANU-PF time to
torment and continue a campaign of violence."

The MDC says 32 of its supporters have been killed in the aftermath of the
elections.

Zimbabwe Opposition Death Toll At 33 As Provincial Official Fatally Stabbed

VOA

By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
14 May 2008

The death toll from post-election political violence among activists and
supporters of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change has
climbed to 33, officials of the MDC formation headed by Morgan Tsvangirai
said on Wednesday.

They said activist Better Chakururama of Murehwa, Mashonaland East Province,
was found murdered on Sunday but the news only reached Harare on Wednesday.

Opposition sources said Chakururama, who spent around four months in prison
during 2007 in a government crackdown on the party, was still recovering
from a beating he received three weeks ago when he was abducted Saturday and
stabbed to death.

Elsewhere, the opposition party's security secretary for Harare province,
Tonderai Ndira, was abducted from his Mabvuku home early Wednesday morning
by heavily armed and masked men, MDC sources said. He has not been seen
since.

Mashonaland East MDC Organizing Secretary Piniel Denga told VOA reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri that Chakururama’s death has stunned party members.

Elsewhere, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network said two of its staff were
detained by ruling party youth militia late Monday in Mudzi district,
Mashonaland East Province, where they had gone to bring a victim of violence
to a hospital. They escaped after being held for about six hours, but their
Toyota Land Cruiser was confiscated.

National Director Rindai Chipfunde-Vava said the group is trying to recover
the auto, but acknowledged that this might be a dangerous undertaking.

RBZ launches new Z$500 million bank note

New Zimbabwe

By Staff Reporter
Last updated: 05/15/2008 08:00:05
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, grappling with record-breaking inflation, has
introduced a new Z$500 million bank note barely two weeks after issuing
Z$250 million and Z$100 million denominations.

The beleagured central bank has also introduced agro cheques, which come
into circulation on Tuesday and expire in December.

The agro cheques are in Z$5 billion, Z$25 billion and Z$50 billion
denominations.

Acting RBZ Governor Dr Charity Dhliwayo last night said the agro cheques had
been introduced to facilitate the implementation of the "grain mobilisation
programme" in the face of the unfolding global food crisis.

She said the special cheques could be used to purchase any goods and
services in the same manner as bearer cheques.

“The latest innovation seeks to bring convenience to our farmers who,
starting this year’s marketing season, are receiving competitive prices for
their produce,” she said.

She said retailers would be able to deposit the agro cheques in the normal
banking system and banks would then deposit them at the central bank for
immediate reimbursement while both banks and shops could also reissue the
agro cheques, whose date of expiry will coincide with the end of the
agriculture marketing season.

This is the third set of high denomination notes to be issued this year, the
last on May 6 when the Z$250 million and Z$100 were put in circulation. On
April 2, the RBZ launched a Z$50 million note, itself following on the
introduction of a Z$10 million note in January.

The southern African nation, currently gripped by a post-election crisis,
has been ravaged by hyperinflation which reached 165,000 percent in
February.

It decided recently to float its currency to eliminate speculation on the
black market.

The country's chronic economic crisis has condemned millions to grinding
poverty with at least 80 percent of the population living below the poverty
threshold amid mass shortages of basic goods in shops.

Abducted ZINASU leader Vava found

Nehanda Radio

15 May 2008

Zimbabwe National Students Union Secretary for Information and Publicity
Blessing Vava was found on Saturday afternoon in Banket, Mashonaland West
Province.

He was kidnapped by suspected war veterans after addressing students at
Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) last Wednesday.

According to Vava he was picked by war veterans at Chinhoyi University and
was taken to a place outside Chinhoyi town were he was interrogated about
ZINASU activities.

He was tortured while his face was covered. He was then bundled into a car
and dumped in Banket were he seeks assistance of villagers. During his
entire ordeal he did not eat anything and his health deteriorated
significantly.

Meanwhile,police in Chinhoyi failed to raise substantive charges against
detained Chinhoyi University of Technology students on Friday afternoon.

Faith Mutepfa, Lothando Sibanda, and Privillege Matizanadzo who briefly
appeared in Chinhoyi magistrate court had their charges thrown out by court.

The court released the three and ordered the police to proceed if they
gather enough evidence to press charges. The charges were not warranting
prosecution. The three were arrested during a student demonstration last
Wednesday on cumpus. Students were demand an end to the post election
violence that is rocking the country.

In Masvingo,Courage Ngwarai the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)
secretary for legal and academic affairs and Hillary Matanga, a student at
Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) were released late on Saturday afternoon
after paying admission of guilt fines.

Their charge was ”Disorderly conduct in a public place as defined in section
41.b of the criminal law (Codification and Reform )Act chapter 9.23 ……..
Wantonly engages in a riotous conduct.” Ngwarai was arrested on 08 May at
the university. This follows a student demonstration demanding that GZU
authorities stop evicting him from the college. A lot of students were
injured during the clash with armed riot police.

The Zimbabwe National students Union Vice President Brilliant Dube has
condemned the victimization of students especially female students .She said
the arrests were a ploy to stop female students from participating in
academic struggles. She also urged the Harare administration to stop the
violence that has characterized the post election period. -ZINASU

ZBC wields axe on Muradzikwa as Mugabe gears for poll

New Zimbabwe

By Lebo Nkatazo
Last updated: 05/15/2008 08:47:27
ZIMBABWE'S sole broadcaster, the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC), signalled a step-up of its propaganda drive for President Robert
Mugabe's beleaguered regime when it fired its chief executive officer, Henry
Muradzikwa on Wednesday.

Muradzikwa, the former boss of the state-run news agency, Ziana, had only
been in the job for 19 months.

His tenure at the ZBC was marked by bruising battles with workers' unions
over poor pay, and he once threatened ZBC employees with "state machinery"
when they gave notice of industrial action.

Justin Mutasa, the ZBC Board chairperson, said the government, which is the
largest shareholder, had expressed "dissatisfaction with the way in which
the national broadcaster was handling national issues".

Mutasa said the decision to terminate the veteran newsman's contract
followed a board meeting earlier on Wednesday.

He said: “We have parted ways with Muradzikwa. We met with him this
afternoon and we reached an agreement that he leaves ZBC. After the meeting
we agreed that aziva kwake, aziva kwake (we go our seperate ways)."

Mugabe's government, in power since 1980, uses the ZBC as its official
megaphone while refusing to allow independent players into the industry.

The ZBC is often criticised by opposition parties for its bias towards
Mugabe's Zanu PF party, and has been known to reject opposition adverts.

Muradzikwa's demise coincided with an announcement by the Zimbabwe
government that an overdue presidential election run-off between Mugabe and
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai would be held before August 1.

Opposition officials say at least 32 supporters have been killed in violence
since the first round of voting on March 29 which failed to produce a clear
winner, although parliamentary elections held at the same time confirmed the
MDC had overturned Zanu PF's majority.

Now, it appears the MDC will have to comprehend with a renewed propaganda
offensive as Muradzikwa's successor seeks to keep Mugabe in power

“End this horror,” says leading Archbishop

Aid to the Church in Need

 ACN News: Thursday, 15th May 2008 – ZIMBABWE

By John Newton

FOLLOWING a visit to Zimbabwe, the South African Bishop’s Conference (SACBC)
has added its voice to those calling for an immediate end to the beatings,
torture, and deaths which have darkened the country following its
controversial elections.
The president of SACBC, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, Bishop of Johannesburg,
and Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, Bishop of Durban, heard “first-hand accounts of
systematic intimidation, violence and torture” when they visited the country
last week.
This confirms previous reports received by Catholic charity Aid to the
Church in Need that tell how hundreds of people have been attacked and many
homes destroyed by supporters of de facto President Robert Mugabe.
Last week ACN paid out an emergency grant of $30,000 to help needy children
in the archdiocese of Bulawayo, where demonstrators against the violence
were beaten by police earlier this month according to ‘Women of Zimbabwe
Arise’ who organised the march.
Archbishop Tlhagale said: “This ‘reign of terror’ has seen many deaths,
savage beatings and flight from family, homes and communities.”
Victims identified the perpetrators of the attacks as members of the country’s
Armed Forces, the Police, and the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO),
as well as naming War Veterans, and members of the Youth Militia.
According to Archbishop Tlhagale, it is not only those believed to have
voted against Mugabe who have been targeted, but also Polling Officers.
The President of the South African Bishop’s Conference called on “all
political parties to reign in their supporters and end this horror.”
The Archbishop of the South African Bishop’s Conference ended his statement
by questioning whether a “free and fair” run-off election was possible if
there was no will to end the violence, and he called for International
Election Observers to be deployed immediately.
He said: “A run-off election in Zimbabwe will not be possible without an
immediate end to intimidation, violence and torture and the deployment of
reliable international election observers.”
The latest news from Zimbabwe is that the run-off election is expected in
three months, but some are speculating that it may be up to a year.
Last week the Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe joined other national Church
leaders to decry the military’s vicious and organised attacks on civilians
“accused of campaigning or voting for the ‘wrong’ political party in the
March 29, 2008 elections”.
They said: “People are being abducted, tortured, humiliated … and in some
cases people are being murdered.”
Aid to the Church in Need is set to pay more than $250,000 in aid for
Zimbabwe over the course of 2008.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful
wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a
Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer,
information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named
“An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in
about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing
transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church
buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since
the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s
Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

Genocide threat in Zimbabwe

Mmegi, Botswana

 Wednesday, 14 May 2008

NOAH SALAKAE*

Fourteen long agonising years now separate us from those days which turned
day into night, life into death, when an orgy of bloodletting unprecedented
in the history of the Republic of Rwanda.

The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan president Juvenal
Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6
April 1994. And with him the president of Burundi Cyprian Ntaryamira and
many chief members of staff were killed.
Some seconds after this painful ordeal, Leaders of the political opposition
were murdered, and almost immediately, the slaughter of Tutsis and moderate
Hutus began. The early organisers included military officials, politicians
and businessmen, but soon many others joined in the mayhem. Encouraged by
the presidential guard and radio propaganda, an unofficial militia group
called the Interahamwe (meaning those who attack together) was mobilised.
Soldiers and police officers encouraged ordinary citisens to take part.

Participants were often given incentives, such as money or food, and some
were even told they could appropriate the land of the Tutsis they killed. On
the ground, the international community largely left the Rwandese alone. UN
troops withdrew after the murder of 10 soldiers. Between April and June 1994
(hardly three months), an estimated 800,000 Rwandese were killed and many
more fled to the neighbouring countries of Burundi, Tansania and Uganda in a
space of 100 days.

Just across the border to the north of our beloved country, humanity is yet
again threatened by these lingering murder mystery and gruesome crimes
perpetuated against innocent souls, this time around against the voiceless
and poor ordinary Zimbabweans while the international community is yet again
trapped into a culture of suffer in silence. What pains us more is the fact
that the victims of these occasionally ethnic-ridden tensions are none other
than members of the so-called minority tribes whose only participation in
many economies is marked by the casting of a ballot. By so doing, opening
doors to riches for eventual office bearers and their beloved families who
later turn around and put knives on these innocent voters' throats as a
token of appreciation.

A quite regrettable scenario and a sheer act of infamy is a case where these
voiceless and economically disadvantaged groups often fall victims of their
own very decisions it is purported they make through the power of their
vote. They queue lines with little knowledge that they are in actual fact
spelling doom to their sacrosanct right of existing as humans; they queue
lines with little knowledge that they are in actual fact sliding their lives
once more into depression and despair, and other problems that distort and
mutilate human existence. The vital task therefore, confronting all those
who desire the creation of a more humane society like Chelwa ya Shekgalagari
Association is to raise up the banner of hope, to establish once again in
the popular consciousness the inextricable connection between elections,
which is basically the inalienable right of choosing a leader of your
choice, and peace and security, as well as hope for better living. The
challenge is to help restore to peace and security their democratic essence,
their passionate concern with human freedom. At a memorial conference at the
UN headquarters in April 2004, Kofi Annan, then UN Chief of Security Council
(Kofi Annan was UN Secretary-General from Jan 1997 to Dec 2006) said he
realised he personally could have done more to rally support for
international efforts to stop the Rwandan genocide. To quote him verbatim,
he said: "The international community failed Rwanda and that must leave us
always with a sense of bitter regret," and that "the international community
is guilty of sins of omission". We only wish as Chelwa ya Shekgalagari
Association that Annan's painful memories could influence the current UN
Chief of Security Council Ban-Ki-moon (Ban Ki-moon succeeded Annan as the
current UN Secretary-General) to lobby the international community to employ
the political will to achieve the necessary agreement on how to put in place
the type of measures that will prevent a possible genocide that is currently
looming in Zimbabwe from happening to the world in the future.

African Union (AU) under the Chairmanship of President John Kufuor of Ghana
(Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete succeeded Kufuor early this year)
watched helplessly as people were being butchered recently in Kenya and is
continuing watching helplessly as people are being butchered in Zimbabwe.
SADC under the Chairmanship of President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia is
helplessly watching as people are being butchered in Zimbabwe. Is the
international community only going to act decisively after a plane carrying
Tsvangirai and his entourage who can be you, or your relative is
courageously brought down by the so-called war veterans? Is the
international community only going to act decisively after the Ndebeles in
Bulawayo, Plumtree and other Ndebele areas are brutally massacred and forced
to flee their ancestral land? It took three months in Rwanda to unashamedly
force close to a million souls to depart from this world before it was their
time! A buoyant Minister of Justice in Zimbabwe, Hon Patrick Chinamasa has
of late been pronouncing that it might take close to a year before the
anticipated presidential run-off takes place! One wonders how many souls
would have unceremoniously departed this world before then because of the
butchering perpetuated by war veterans' militia! What then can we do to help
as Botswana?

To begin with, we kindly request that as you read through this discourse,
you close your eyes and think deeply about the situation of Zimbabwe. Think
if it were your mum or kid, how would you be feeling now? As we speak a
person is virtually sent to a death row by war veterans' militia in Zimbabwe
without a trial and eventual conviction by a competent judiciary. The threat
of genocide and with it, of human annihilation, is greater now in Zimbabwe
than at any time in the contemporary history of any Sub Saharan African
state. This discourse is written under the conviction that under the world
now plagued by violence and war normally perpetuated by lust for power and
greed by fascist-type dictators so much characteristic in Africa, no African
country can confidently say its territory is immune to a situation that has
now bedevilled Zimbabwe. It does not matter the types of names Botswana
would attract from her detractors, if ever an effort was needed to position
ourselves as caring, compassionate and serious minded human beings or nation
in the face of the world, it must be today. It is becoming a necessity to
determine whether our existence as human beings on the one door created by
one God holds any validity if the very existence of human beings next door
is under siege.

Zimbabweans stand in desperate need of a genuine help today than ever
before. They have fought to break the chains of domination that have tied
them to a life of drudgery and misery through a power of vote but reality
has proven them otherwise.  Jacques Roux put it at the height of the French
Revolution in 1793 that; "Liberty is no more than an empty shell when one
class of men is allowed to condemn another to starvation without any
measures being taken against them. And equality is also an empty shell when
one class of men, have the power of life or death over other members of the
community".

It is against this background that we pray with peace loving people of this
country, Human Rights Institutions, Political Organisations across the
divide i.e., Government and the civil society as a whole to converge at the
National Stadium and once again condemn the monstrous acts that were once
attributed to the Late Ian Smith's regime by none other than Robert Gabriel
Mugabe and his lieutenants. We urge the nation to unequivocally declare
solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe. God willing! It is our hope that
Zimbabweans who flee their country and seek refuge in Botswana shall be
treated with dignity and respect.

*Salakae, is the Secretary of Chelwa ya Shekgalagari Cultural Association,
(a non-political association fighting for the emancipation of the minority
groups).

US protests to Zimbabwe over treatment of US envoy and other diplomats in Harare

International Herald Tribune

The Associated PressPublished: May 14, 2008

WASHINGTON: The United States has protested to the Zimbabwean government
over harassment of the American ambassador and other diplomats in Harare,
State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Wednesday.

The U.S. envoy and other diplomats were detained for an hour Tuesday at a
police roadblock after they visited a hospital to check on victims of
political violence that broke out after last month's presidential elections.

"Certainly, it is inappropriate behavior and we wanted to make sure that the
government was aware of our concerns about this issue," Casey said.

He also said the United States and others, including representatives of the
Southern Africa Development Council who are in Zimbabwe, do not "think
conditions are right now to have a safe and fair run-off" election for
president.

Casey said if a run-off is to be held, the international community should
push the Zimbabwean government to make sure conditions are in place for a
fair vote, including independent supervision of the Zimbabwean electoral
commission and the presence of SADC observers throughout the country so
violence can be deterred.

US-Zimbabwean Diplomatic Row Erupts Over Surging Political Violence In Countryside

VOA

By Blessing Zulu
Washington
14 May 2008

A diplomatic row between the United States and Zimbabwe widened Wednesday as
the state-controlled Herald newspaper accused U.S. Ambassador James McGee of
mounting "a spirited campaign to demonize" the government and breaching
diplomatic protocol by visiting rural hospitals treating victims of
political violence.

The Herald broadside followed incidents Tuesday in which police in Mvurwe, a
town in Mashonaland Central Province north of Harare, attempted to detain
McGee and other envoys at a hospital after they tried to visit victims of
politically motivated attacks. The diplomatic convoy was again delayed at a
roadblock on its way back to Harare.

The Herald stated that McGee, "who has been on a spirited campaign to
demonize the government ahead of the presidential election
run-off...circumvented diplomatic protocol and went on a "fact-finding
mission" to support his claims of political violence against the
opposition." It said McGee breached diplomatic protocol in traveling more
than 40 kilometers from Harare without Foreign Affairs Ministry permission.

McGee rejected this contention, saying that diplomatic protocols allow him
as a diplomat to travel the width and breadth of a country to which he is
posted.

McGee said he and British, Japanese, Tanzanian and European Union diplomats
saw "evidence that violence is being perpetrated against innocent people
who'd done nothing more than vote their conscience in the last election."

Since the March 29 general elections in which the opposition won a majority
in the lower house of parliament and its presidential candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai outpolled Mr. Mugabe, youth militia and war veterans linked to
the ruling ZANU-PF party have been attacking opposition members in rural
communities. The death toll among opposition members has risen to 33, an MDC
official said Wednesday.

Government and ZANU-PF officials have blamed the violence on the opposition,
but many observers have concluded the state sanctions and supports the
violence.

McGee told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that he
sees "no evidence that the government is determined to stop this violence."

How Zimbabwe's election was stolen

Take us back home, say Zim immigrants

Zim Online

by Ntando Ncube Thursday 15 May 2008

JOHANNESBURG – More than 60 Zimbabwean immigrants who were left injured and
homeless in xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg on Wednesday appealed to
immigration authorities to send them back home to Zimbabwe, saying it was no
longer safe for them to stay in South Africa.

“We are now appealing to Home Affairs to take us back. We want to go back to
our country, it’s not easy to stay in South Africa. Anywhere in South
Africa, we are not safe . . . we came here for jobs and this is what we
get," said Tariro Mudavanhu, a victim of the xenophobic attacks.

She added, "They insulted us. They screamed, they shouted and said get out .
. . they said leave everything. They demanded cellphones and money?.”

Xenophobic violence broke out in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra when
a group of South African men attacked foreign nationals around midnight on
Sunday setting off ugly scenes of assault, looting, rape and destruction of
property.

Foreign nationals mostly from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe had to seek
refuge at Alexandra police station after they were assaulted and driven off
out of the shacks in which they were living.

A Zimbabwean pressure group National Constitution Assembly (NCA), which has
an office in South Africa office, other human rights organisations and well
wishers yesterday, distributed blankets, clothes and food to victims now
based at the police station.

“The NCA is concerned over the failure by the local security authorities to
protect both local and foreign nationals living in the country,” NCA
coordinator Tapera Kapuya said yesterday in Alexandra.

“As we condemn the Ministry of Safety and Security's failure to put in place
measures in townships where foreign nationals live despite early warnings
over violence that took place in Pretoria, the NCA urges the South African
government to urgently show political will in protecting the rights of
non-nationals,” he added

South Africa’s official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party urged the
government to deploy the army to help calm the situation in Alexandra.

“The army should only be used in a civilian context in case of serious
emergency. But I believe we may have reached that stage. They should either
be reinforced so that they can, or the army should be brought in to back
them up,” a DA provincial legislator John Moodey said after visiting some of
the victims.

The violence in Alexandra is the latest in a series of attacks on foreigners
in South Africa’s poor townships, where residents often struggle for scarce
resources.

Gauteng Member of the Executive Committee for Finance and Economic
Development Paul Mashatile, ruling African National Congress (ANC) party and
Gautengprovincial leaders on Wednesday visited Alexandra and met with
community leaders, ANC branch members and religious groups in an attempt to
find a way of avoiding further violence.

Meanwhile South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Wednesday
condemned the attacks on innocent immigrants labelling them as “anti-working
class”.

NUM secretary general Frans Baleni said: “It is totally unacceptable and
inexcusable that immigrants could be attacked for being immigrants in a
country which purports to support human rights.

“The working class and the poor should be united against the common enemy
such as oppressive regimes and capitalist exploitation. We cannot wage war
against each other. Workers of the world should unite and therefore we must
discourage this malady.”

NUM urged its members to take part in street marches called by the umbrella
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) later this week to protest
against rising food prices in South Africa and against the deteriorating
situation in Zimbabwe, which was forcing many of that country’s citizens to
flee to neighbouring countries.

An estimated three million Zimbabweans are living in South Africa and other
neighbouring states – many of them illegally – after fleeing their home
country because of political violence and worsening economic hardships. –
ZimOnline

Politicians dither as the violence spreads

The Times, SA



Nkululeko Ncana and Thabo Mkhize

Published:May 15, 2008

Attacks now in Diepsloot, Alex tense

Senior ANC leaders, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, have condemned the xenophobic attacks in Alexandra and have apologised to its victims — but late last night police confirmed that the violence had spread to Diepsloot, another township north of Johannesburg.
Four people have been killed and dozens injured since the attacks on foreigners began in Alexandra on Sunday night.
Late last night, Metro police spokeswoman Superintendent Edna Mamonyane confirmed that men in several bakkies, apparently from Alexandra, drove to Diepsloot and opened fire on residents.
She said: “ It seems like it is the same thing that is happening in Alexandra.”
Several injuries were reported as residents clashed with police.
Not far from Diepsloot, the epicentre of the latest upsurge in xenophobic violence, Alexandra was quiet, but tense last night. Heavily armed police patrolled the streets and ordered residents to remain indoors.
Earlier in the day, Madikizela- Mandela, Gauteng finance MEC Paul Mashatile, housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane, transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs and sports MEC Barbara Creecy met police and community leaders in Alexandra .
Madikizela-Mandela apologised to the immigrants who have been targeted .
However, President Thabo Mbeki and ANC president Jacob Zuma have said nothing.
And no concrete plans to end the violence have been announced.
“It is criminals and not South Africans who don’t want you. But please forgive us for what has happened to you. We will help you as long as you are still here,” Madikizela-Mandela said.
Firoz Cachalia, Gauteng MEC for safety and security, said it was clear criminals were taking advantage of the tensions in Alexandra.
He said: “This is not just xenophobia. South African families have been displaced from their homes. It is clear that a criminal element is involved. South Africa represents emancipation from tribalism and discrimination. We are embarrassed by what has happened.”
At least 66 people have been arrested for taking part in the violence in Alexandra.
The ANC leaders visited the families of two men killed in the violence and the refugees who have been forced to flee their homes.
Nelson Chaminga, one of hundreds of immigrants taking refuge at the Alexandra police station, told Madikizela-Mandela the foreigners would rather leave South Africa so they “could die closer to home ... because things are equally bad there”.
She responded: “The government and the ANC will do everything in their power to see that stability is restored here. It is most tragic that xenophobia should be used as an explanation for the crisis .”
She said there were deeper reasons for the violence in Alexandra. These were linked to frustrations about living conditions, which had not improved since the advent of democracy in 1994.
“There are serious problems that should have been addressed before now and this [violence] is a cry from the people that we must speed up [service] delivery ,” Madikizela-Mandela said.
She said: “I criss-crossed the country [in] 1994 and assured people that the problems they were experiencing would, 14 years down the line, at least be reduced …
“It is particularly painful for me because I promised them. I promised a better life for all, and that we were going to push back the frontiers of poverty. And here I drive through the streets of Alex and I am on the same muddy streets and in the same filth — I was here in 1994 and the people of Alex gave us the highest votes, so it is very personal for me.”
Mashatile said: “We can’t solve the problems overnight, but we will work very hard to make sure that the situation is under control in the next few days. ”
Thabo Masebe, spokesman for the Gauteng legislature, said accommodation was being sought for the scores of displaced foreigners seeking shelter at the police station.
Zimbabwean Regina Dube said she had lived in Alexandra for 13 years without incident.
“Now I’m scared of the people I’ve lived with. I wish I could go home but I don’t have enough money. I’ve already sent some belongings back to Zimbabwe, but the situation [there] is not any better,” she said.
South African Monica Mshiywa, 34, is one of many locals whose shack was ransacked by the marauding mob. She also sought shelter at the police station.
“I’m a South African and I’ve been forced out of my house. I think this is just a crime,” she said.
The Anti-Privatisation Forum and the Alexandra Vukuzenzele Crisis Committee joined the chorus of condemnation.
They said : “It is a tragedy that such attacks are happening in poor working-class communities, where the poor are fighting the poor.
“Blaming foreigners and launching violent attacks on [ them] will benefit no one except those who feed off the desperation and poverty of the poor.”
Sapa reports that the DA wants the army to help the over-stretched police to stop the violence.
“The army should be used in a civilian context only in an emergency, but I believe we might have reached that stage,” said party spokesman John Moodey.

Electoral court orders Mugabe to fix by-election date

zimbabwejournalists.com

 15th May 2008 00:24 GMT

By Ian Nhuka

BULAWAYO - The Electoral Court has ordered President Robert Mugabe to
gazette in the next fortnight, the date for the sitting of a nomination
court to accept prospective candidates for the Pelandaba-Mpopoma Lower House
constituency by-election.

Justice Nicholas Ndou made the ruling at the High Court in Bulawayo last
Friday, in a case brought to the court by an independent candidate in the
constituency, Job Sibanda.

The House of Assembly election in the constituency was postponed on the eve
of the March 29 general election after the death of Milton Gwetu, who was
representing the Movement for Democratic Change faction led by Professor
Arthur Mutambara.

Sibanda, a prominent Bulawayo lawyer, had approached the Electoral Court to
compel, President Mugabe, the first respondent to fix the date for a
by-election in the Bulawayo constituency.

The applicant contended that by delaying a by-election in the area,
President Mugabe was violating the Electoral Act.

In his judgment, seen by zimbabwejournalists.com Ndou also ordered President
Mugabe to bear the costs of the application.

“The respondent be and is hereby ordered and directed,” said Ndou in the
judgment, “to take steps to publish in the government gazette in the
shortest possible time in not more than 14 days of this order,
the sitting of the nomination court in order to accept nominations for the
Pelandaba-Mpopoma parliamentary constituency.”

The judge said Mugabe must also take the necessary steps in terms of Section
39 (2) of the Electoral Act to have a by-election conducted in the
constituency.

Sibanda is one of the eight candidates who successfully filed their
nomination papers in February this year, ahead of the general election.

Information and Publicity Minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, who has lost in the
constituency since 2000, veteran opposition politician, Paul Siwela are some
of the other candidates who has successfully filed their nomination papers
before the election in the constituency was deferred.

Ndou said the applicant is being prejudiced by the delay in the holding of
the by-election.

“After the nomination court sitting in February 2008, and during the
campaign period,” said the judge, “the applicant traveled the length and
breath of the constituency, canvassing for support. He addressed
numerous meetings and gatherings. The applicant avers that his support was
growing with each meeting that he addressed. He distributed thousands of
fliers in an effort to sell himself to the electorate.”

Sibanda also composed a song in his honour while a play has also been
written and staged.

The judge said, although the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), chief
elections officer, Lovemore
Sekeramayi had, in terms of sections 39 (2) b, and 50 notified the president
of the death of Gwetu well before the March 29 elections, the respondent had
not gazetted the date for the sitting of the nomination court within the
required 14 days of such communication from the ZEC head.

The Pelandaba-Mpopoma Lower House constituency is one of the three where
by-elections are pending following the deaths of two candidates. Both
candidates like the Pelandaba-Mpopoma one belonged to MDC-Mutambara camp.

The other constituencies are Redcliff in Midlands province and Gwanda North,
in Matabeleland South.

No dates have also been set yet for the sitting of the nomination courts in
Redcliff and Gwanda North. Ndou found no merit in the argument by a defence
lawyer, a U. Mabhiza that ZEC does not have funds to hold the by-election in
the time the applicant sought.

The judge said since ZEC is an autonomous body, in terms of Section 61 (5)
of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe’s lawyer cannot speak on
behalf of ZEC on matters that concern the electoral
management body.

“In the circumstances,” said Ndou, “the respondent cannot use this argument
of lack of resources to ward off the order sought in this
application. It is really up to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to fight
its battles, so to speak. In the circumstances, this argument of lack of
funds should fail.”