Morgan Tsvangirai returns to Zimbabwe

By Robin Gedye

Last Updated: 2:55PM BST 24/05/2008

Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has returned to Zimbabwe after six weeks’ absence despite fears of an assassination plot against him and accused Robert Mugabe of seeking to "decimate" opposition structures before the June 27 election.

REUTERS

Morgan Tsvangirai arrives at the Harare International airport

Mr Tsvangirai arrived at Harare airport aboard a regular South African Airways flight from Johannesburg around 1030 GMT after cancelling his homecoming a week ago when his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said it had learnt he was the target of a military intelligence assassination plot. The government dismissed the plot as a propaganda stunt.

Mr Tsvangirai, smiling and looking relaxed, left the airport in a convoy of cars to visit hospitals where victims of recent police and militia brutality had been taken.

He later told a press conference that President Mugabe was seeking to destroy the MDC leadership ahead of next month’s elections. He also said that beating people was not going to win him extra votes

A small party of MDC officials and Western diplomats, including US ambassador James McGee, were at Harare airport to welcome Mr Tsvangirai who has been travelling abroad since April 8 on a diplomatic drive to pressure Mr Mugabe into surrendering power following the March 29 presidential poll which he says he won outright.

Mr Tsvangirai said he left Zimbabwe April 8 to present regional leaders with information that Mugabe’s military planned attacks on the opposition.

He said then that he expected to be away only a few weeks, but instead embarked on an international tour designed to rally support for democracy in Zimbabwe.

"I’m sure that we have managed to ensure an African consensus about the crisis in Zimbabwe," he said, adding it was now time to turn his attention to rallying his supporters in Zimbabwe.

Mr Tsvangirai’s party says more than 30 of its supporters and activists have been killed since the first round of voting, and that attacks are increasingly targeting its top leaders.

Tsvangirai rejects national unity gov't, vows to defeat Mugabe

Yahoo News

Sat May 24, 9:08 AM ET

HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai rejected the
idea of a national unity government Saturday and vowed to defeat veteran
President Robert Mugabe in an upcoming presidential run-off poll.

"There is no government of national unity on the table," he told reporters
at his first press conference since arriving back in Harare after six weeks
abroad.

"There has been so much speculation but I don't see how that (a government
of national unity) is going to be implemented."

On defeating Mugabe in the June 27 run-off, he said: "As sure as the sun
rises in the east and sets in the west, Mugabe will not win in the second
round."

Tsvangirai: It’s good to be back

Tsvangirai 'confident of victory'

17:27 GMT, Saturday, 24 May 2008 18:27 UK

Hospitals are said to be struggling to cope with the injured Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he will win Zimbabwe's 27 June run-off presidential poll, as he returned to Harare after weeks abroad. The Movement for Democratic Change leader accused the ruling Zanu-PF party of seeking to "decimate" opposition structures ahead of the vote. His first engagement was to visit supporters hurt in political violence. Mr Tsvangirai's return was delayed amid an alleged army plot to kill him, which the ruling party said was "fantasy". Polls on 29 March saw the country's veteran leader, Robert Mugabe, lose his parliamentary majority for the first time in two decades in power. The MDC leader says he gained the more than 50% of the presidential vote needed to win without a run-off, but official results - released after long delays - said he gained 47.9%, with Mr Mugabe taking 43.2%. Mr Tsvangirai said the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) would meet on Tuesday to discuss the possible deployment of peacekeepers and election monitors, amid fears that a Zanu-PF campaign of intimidation is making a fair second round impossible. He said they would be of little use if not in place by 1 June. He said he had been impressed by the supporters he met in hospital, and that he would win the run-off election. "I saw people with scars and bruises. They said 'president, we will finish him off on June 27'." "If Mugabe thinks he has beaten people into submission, then he will have a rude shock on the 27 of June," he said. Police assault Mr Tsvangirai also said the recent deaths of more than 40 people - many of them Zimbabwean - in anti-immigrant violence in South Africa could be "directly attributed" to "Mugabe's failed policies of intolerance and repression". There are believed to be between three and five million foreigners living in South Africa, most of them Zimbabweans fleeing poverty and violence at home. Correspondents say Mr Tsvangirai has been criticised for spending the last seven weeks abroad while hundreds of his supporters have been beaten up and at least 40 killed, according to human rights and opposition groups. Hospitals have been struggling to cope with admissions, the BBC's Peter Biles in Johannesburg says, as a result of what is widely perceived to be a government campaign of intimidation against MDC supporters. ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS TIMELINE 29 March: Elections mean Zanu-PF party loses majority for the first time since independence in 1980 19 April: Election officials begin recounting votes cast in the disputed polls 3 May: Official results of presidential election show Morgan Tsvangirai won but fell short of the 50% needed to win completely. 17 May: MDC alleges military plot to assassinate Morgan Tsvangirai 24 May: Morgan Tsvangirai returns to Zimbabwe 27 June: Scheduled presidential election run-off Will Tsvangirai return bring change? President Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party denies supporting violence and says the West is trying to demonise Zimbabwe. Last year, Mr Tsvangirai was treated in hospital after being assaulted by police. He has also been arrested several times and accused of treason. Mr Mugabe has accused the MDC of fomenting violence since the disputed first round election. The BBC's Will Ross in Johannesburg says voting in the first round was fairly free and fair by Zimbabwean standards. But, he says, it is not clear whether Robert Mugabe will risk allowing the second round to be free and fair, because that could see him being trounced as Zimbabwe's worsening economic situation is turning voters against him. Mr Tsvangirai has spent nearly two months abroad, mainly in South Africa, trying to drum up international support.

Mugabe aims to decimate Zimbabwe opposn, says Tsvangirai

Reuters

Sat 24 May 2008, 12:28 GMT

By Cris Chinaka

HARARE (Reuters) - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai returned to Zimbabwe
on Saturday for an election run-off with President Robert Mugabe and said
the veteran leader wanted to "decimate" MDC structures.

Tsvangirai arrived at Harare airport aboard a regular South African Airways
flight around 1030 GMT after cancelling his homecoming a week ago after his
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said it had learnt he was the target of
a military intelligence assassination plot.

The government dismissed the plot as a propaganda stunt.

Tsvangirai said at a news conference that Mugabe and the ruling ZANU-PF
party had launched a concerted campaign against the MDC, which has seen 42
people killed and tens of thousands displaced.

"ZANU-PF wants to decimate MDC structures," Tsvangirai said, adding that
many opposition officials were in hiding.

He said he was confident of victory, although conditions are not conducive
for a free and fair election and ZANU-PF was trying to destroy his MDC
before the run-off.

"The conditions on the ground for a run-off are not perfect, and will never
be perfect. But we are saying with the support of SADC (Southern African
Development Community), putting in election observers and peacekeepers, we
can instil confidence in the people of Zimbabwe".

Tsvangirai has been travelling abroad since April 8 on a diplomatic drive to
pressure Mugabe to surrender power following a March 29 presidential poll,
which he says he won outright.

But Zimbabwe's electoral commission says he did not get enough votes for a
straight victory and must face Mugabe in a June 27 run-off.

PEACEKEEPERS

Tsvangirai said the regional SADC will hold a meeting on the run-off vote
next Tuesday at which sending regional peacekeepers to Zimbabwe will be
discussed.

"But I told them that by the 1st of June they should put these people on the
ground otherwise we don't need them. You can't have peacekeepers and
observers two weeks before an election because they will not be of any
benefit. What we want is a complete demilitarisation of the situation," he
added.

SADC, which is due to monitor the run-off, said earlier this month that
conditions were neither safe nor fair yet for a fresh vote.

Zimbabweans hope the run-off will start recovery from an economic collapse
that has brought 165,000 percent inflation, 80 percent unemployment, chronic
food and fuel shortages and has sent millions fleeing to nearby countries.

The MDC has vowed to "bury" Mugabe in the run-off, ending his uninterrupted
rule since independence from Britain in 1980.

But the 84-year-old veteran leader has also vowed that he will win the June
27 poll because his ZANU-PF could not afford to lose power to an opposition
backed by "white imperialists."

Mugabe says the MDC enjoys the backing of Western powers out to oust him
over his seizure of white-owned farms to give to landless blacks. The MDC
denies the charge.

Mugabe's party lost control of parliament on March 29 for the first time
since it came to power, and the opposition says the former guerrilla leader
can only win the June 27 re-run through violence and vote rigging.

Zimbabwe opposition calls for monitors, peacekeepers by June 1

Agence France-Presse (AFP)

Date: 24 May 2008

HARARE, May 24, 2008 (AFP) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
called Saturday for peacekeepers and election monitors from the 14-member
regional body SADC to be deployed in Zimbabwe by the end of May.

Tsvangirai is to face veteran President Robert Mugabe in a run-off election
on June 27 and has asked the South African Development Community (SADC) to
assist in organising a free and fair election.

"I have discussed with the chairman of SADC as far as monitors and other
peacekeepers," he told a press conference

"I am hoping that on Tuesday when they meet they will be able to concretise
but I told them by the 1st of June you should put these people on the ground
otherwise we don't need them.

"You can't have peacekeepers and observers two weeks before an election they
will not be of any benefit," he added.

No Western monitors were allowed to oversee the first ballot and teams from
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU)
were widely criticised for giving it a largely clean bill of health.

Robert Mugabe flew to Far East for secret tests for prostate cancer

The Sunday Times
May 25, 2008

Douglas Marle
ROBERT MUGABE flew to the Far East last week for the kind of medical
treatment no longer available in his run-down hospitals in Zimbabwe, leaving
loyalists in the ruling party to wonder who was really in charge with just a
month to go before a run-off in the country’s presidential election.

Sources close to the government said the 84-year-old president travelled to
Singapore on Wednesday to undergo tests for prostate cancer. He was due to
return home today.

Yesterday the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, also returned to Harare,
the capital, with the aim of defeating Mugabe in the election on June 27.
Tsvangirai had planned to arrive last weekend but pulled out after his party
announced he was on an army hit list.

For Mugabe – who has been in power for 28 years but faces a fight for his
political life after losing the first round to Tsvangirai in March – to
leave last week suggested the visit was urgent. He is thought to have had
cancer for some time; observers said the trip might indicate a deterioration
in his condition.

Sources close to the government said the tests were being conducted by a top
Malaysian urologist who was also known to have provided “certain financial
services” for Mugabe.

In recent years the Far East has become a favourite destination of the
president and his much younger wife, Grace, who are banned from Europe and
America. Most of their assets were transferred to the region after western
sanctions were imposed. Family members continue to be educated there and
Mugabe has a close relationship with Mahathir Mohamad, the former Malaysian
prime minister.

The man who has increasingly taken charge of security in Zimbabwe is
Emmerson Mnangagwa, head of the Joint Operations Command (JOC), who was
widely associated with a massacre of 20,000 Ndebele tribesmen in the 1980s.

Mnangagwa, whose reputed brutality earned him the nickname “the Crocodile”,
made his way to power by becoming indispensable to Mugabe. He and his
tightknit group of top military and security officials in the JOC are
directing the current violent course of events.

They are running Mugabe’s campaign and masterminding the violence being
unleashed against Tsvangirai’s supporters.

Tsvangirai’s arrival at Harare airport signalled his determination to
contest the run-off despite concerns that it will be rigged. “I feel quite
safe,” he said as he left South Africa, where he had spent much of the past
weeks lobbying regional leaders.

Police were out in force along the road into the city. The 56-year-old
opposition leader has survived three assassination attempts and was taken to
hospital last year after a brutal police assault at a prayer rally.

Back in Zimbabwe, he first visited victims of the violence in hospital and
then attacked Mugabe, saying the president wanted to destroy opposition
structures before the run-off. He rejected any idea of a government of
national unity.

The violence has grown worse by the day. Last week there were reports of
villagers in opposition areas having their hands crushed in wooden bowls
used for pounding maize so that they cannot vote. At least 48 people have
been killed and hundreds injured since Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party lost the
elections.

Hospitals are inundated by the victims of violence and there are shortages
of basic medical materials. “We have come across injured women in hospital
who have no idea who is taking care of their babies and children,” a
hospital worker said.

Mnangagwa and his prime organisers – General Constantine Chiwenga, the
commander of the Zimbabwe defence force, and police commissioner Augustine
Chihuri – are leaving little to chance. They are said to be even more afraid
than Mugabe of the consequences of the president’s loss of power. They might
well face trial, whereas Mugabe could be granted immunity.

A highly structured organisation involving the army, air force and prison
services, as well as officers of the feared Central Intelligence
Organisation, has been put in place to campaign against Tsvangirai’s
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), to enforce support for Mugabe and to
intimidate the rural electorate who deserted him in the first round.

With nearly 50 known murders of MDC activists, hundreds of beatings and
thousands displaced from their homes, some Zanu-PF officials are wondering
whether the whole enterprise might not be counterproductive when polling day
comes.

Undeterred, Mnangagwa and his henchmen pressed on last week, dismantling a
network of local agents from the Zimbabwe electoral commission and
recruiting trusted military figures to replace them on polling day.

Bankrolling their entire operation was Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe. At the same time, he cannily let it be known in Harare
that he had warned Mugabe at the outset about the cost of a run-off,
estimated at US$60m.

He also warned that a run-off could further destroy national unity and that
Mugabe would probably lose again.

Even if the “securocrats” manage to beat and rig their way toa Mugabe
victory, how long will their politically weakened and sick candidate be able
to hang on in office; and who will take charge when he goes?

One man thinks he has the answer: Mnangagwa. One report last week said he
had developed a “vice-like grip” on government. It was an apt description
for “the Crocodile”.

Punishing Dissent, Silencing Citizens : SPT Report

Which way now?

www.cathybuckle.com

Saturday 24th may 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
They say that a picture speaks a thousand words and if that is true then a
deafening roar filled the African sky this week. We have seen images so
dreadful that they are haunting our thoughts and are etched into our
memories. From The Zimbabwean newspaper comes the picture of a victim of
political violence. A 22 year old woman beaten so badly that her buttocks
have been reduced to cavernous holes." A mess of raw flesh" is the
description used by Peter Oborne, the shocked writer who met Memory, the
young mother of two who was beaten in the playground of her childhood school
along with others accused of being MDC supporters.

Pictures and reports such as these are not new in Zimbabwe. They have become
a part of our lives - a tragic record of a country that has lost its way and
is crying out for help. Then came the other images that shocked us even
more.

The picture of a man burning alive on a road in a South African town is a
sight too cruel for words. He was the victim of an attack against
foreigners. Then came pictures of mobs of men armed with sticks, throwing
rocks, beating people and chasing away their own neighbours. Now the
pictures are of many thousands of frightened, homeless people taking shelter
in police stations and churches and reports that the violence against
foreigners has spread to other South African cities.

For the last eight years South Africa has been a place of safety for
Zimbabweans - an oasis of sanity and an orderly, law abiding, normal way of
life. Even though the South African government chose not to speak out about
events in Zimbabwe, ordinary people opened their homes and hearts to us;
they could not have been more caring, supportive and compassionate to us and
our plight.

An estimated three million Zimbabweans are living in exile in South Africa.
They have left home not because they wanted to but because they had to. Many
left here with wounds, injuries and physical scars, others with memories of
extreme trauma but always it has been the great kindness and support of our
neighbours that has helped heal the wounds, restore dignity and begin the
process of healing.

The eruption of violence against foreigners, many of whom are Zimbabweans,
has left us in deep shock here. How can it be, that without warning and when
Zimbabweans need support and refuge more than ever before, this can be
happening across the border. Our temporary sanctuary, the place where we
felt safe and could find food, friendship and compassion has suddenly gone.
Which way now for our poor people? Too frightened to stay, too frightened to
go.
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.

"We are all Zimbabweans": South Africans march against xenophobia

Monsters and Critics

May 24, 2008, 12:31 GMT

Johannesburg - Over 2,000 people marched through central Johannesburg
Saturday in protest over the recent spate of xenophobic attacks that have
claimed the lives of at least 44 mostly African migrants.

Waving placards reading 'We are all Zimbabweans' and 'Xenophobia hurts like
apartheid' the diverse crowd of South Africans and immigrants wound its way
through the central business district to a church that shelters hundreds of
illegal Zimbabwean migrants.

Immigrants from Kenya, Cameroon, Mozambique and Angola marched under the
flags of their country.

Zimbabweans were also present in large number among the protestors, some of
whom wore t-shirts marked 'amakwerekwere' (foreigner) - a term used
derogatorily in South Africa.

The protest was organized by a coalition of non-governmental organizations
on the eve of Africa Day, a day on which Africans celebrate continental
solidarity but which looks set to be overshadowed this year by the violence.

Nearly two weeks of attacks aimed mainly at driving African migrants out of
poor communities continued Saturday in a township near George in the Western
Cape. Police fired rubber bullets to disperse rioting residents, who
attacked and looted foreign-owned shops.

East of Johannesburg, a man was shot dead by one of the soldiers deployed to
help police restore calm to the townships around the city, which have seen
the worst of the violence.

The defence department said the soldier shot the man in Springs Friday night
after the man pointed a firearm at him during a police raid.

Earlier this week, President Thabo Mbeki gave the green light for the army
to be deployed to assist the police in fighting mobs that have have turned
on migrants living in their midst, accusing them of taking jobs and public
housing.

Since a speech decrying xenophobia a week ago Mbeki has been remarkably
quiet on the crisis, which has shattered South Africa's tolerant image.

'Where are you Mr President?' a banner carried by one protestor in
Johannesburg read.

Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Zola Skweyiya said Saturday he was worried
that the attacks could fuel tensions between South Africans and other
Africans.

South Africans decry attacks; 10,000 displaced in Cape Town

People scatter as a South African police officer raises a shotgun outside the Central Methodist Church which houses hundreds of foreign immigrants, after South Africans attempted to attack them in Johannesburg, South Africa, 24 May 2008. Thousands of protesters marched in downtown Johannesburg to protest the recent attacks against foreigners that left over 40 people dead, hundreds seriously injured and some 15,000 displaced. EPA/JON HRUSA

May 24, 2008, 15:59 GMT

Zimbabweans vow not to return home amid attacks

SABC

May 24, 2008, 18:15

Zimbabweans working on farms around Musina in Limpopo have vowed not to go
back home despite the incidents of xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

It is estimated that 90% of the work force in the Musina area are foreign
nationals. Most Zimbabweans enter South Africa through the Beitbridge border
post. The majority of them feel it is better to remain in South Africa than
to go back home to starve.

The wave of attacks on immigrants left over 40 people dead and 20 000 more
displaced. Five hundred people have been arrested since.

Earlier, authorities at the Lebombo border post in Komatipoort in Mpumalanga
confirmed that the influx of people through the border from South Africa has
increased dramatically since early this morning. Officials from Home Affairs
have been deployed at the border to assist as Mozambican nationals are
fleeing xenophobic attacks in South Africa. The Lebombo border control
coordinator, Mbongiseni Msongweni, says they have attended to a large number
of Mozambicans without documentation.

Mbeki calls South Africa violence 'a humiliating disgrace'

africasia

JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (AFP)

South African President Thabo Mbeki said Saturday that anti-immigrant
violence that has raged for nearly two weeks was a "humiliating disgrace for
our nation."

"Today we are faced with a disgrace... a humiliating disgrace for our nation
where you have a handful of people, a minority in our community, that
decides to commit crime against fellow Africans," he said during a speech in
the Eastern Cape region, state SABC radio reported.

He added: "That's something we have to act against very firmly, and stop."

The Red Cross in South Africa said Saturday it was caring for 25,000
displaced people following nearly two weeks of anti-immigrant violence amid
emerging evidence of a humanitarian crisis.

Ambassadors warned Pretoria

IOL

    May 24 2008 at 04:58PM

The South African government failed to act on a warning from African
ambassadors last month about impending xenophobic attacks.

This emerged on Friday after a briefing with Safety and Security
Minister Charles Nqakula and African ambassadors to South Africa.

By Friday, the violence had spread to the Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal,
Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga. At least 43 people have been killed and
more than 23 000 displaced.

Police had their hands full trying to staunch looting in Cape Town.

The group of African ambassadors said a warning letter had been sent
to the department of foreign affairs in April.

But on Tuesday, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad described
the violent attacks as "a totally unexpected phenomenon". And Nqakula has
reportedly admitted the government had been "caught off-guard".

 At Friday's meeting, the ambassadors initially appeared sceptical of
government assurances that the violence was under control, that protection
of refugee concentrations would be stepped up and that
intelligence-gathering would be increased to prevent further attacks.

Xenophobic pamphlets warning foreigners to leave SA or be killed
indicated a degree of organisation that some diplomats appeared to find
disturbing.

At a time when the country's top three politicians are abroad, the SA
government on Friday made its first public apology.

"We are very much concerned and apologise for all the inconveniences
that the incidents have caused," said Deputy President Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka, speaking from Abuja in Nigeria.

Mozambique declared a state of emergency to help its citizens fleeing
the attacks. About 10 000 Mozambicans had returned home by Friday.

The country's two most senior leaders - President Thabo Mbeki and ANC
President Jacob Zuma - have yet to visit any of the violence-affected areas.

Mbeki, who was expected back on Friday night following an African
Union meeting in Tanzania, condemned the attacks in a statement released on
Monday - the day a photograph of a foreigner being burnt alive was flashed
across the world.

On Wednesday, Mbeki authorised the deployment of the SA National
Defence Force to help the police combat and prevent further attacks.

Zuma was also expected home on Friday after a three-day trip to
France.

Gauteng's worst-hit area, Ekurhuleni, is sheltering up to 13 000
displaced people. They have experienced some of the past week's worst
violence in 10 informal settlements.

Ekurhuleni municipal spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said most were
sleeping in the metro's city halls and in 100 tents, each sleeping 10
people, which had been set up outside the Primrose police station.

Policing efforts would be stepped up at the weekend, he said. "Lots of
people are at home and anything can happen."

This week's attacks have also affected operations at DRDGold, where a
third of the workforce is foreign and two of its miners were killed as
violence erupted in the Ramaphosa informal settlement in Ekurhuleni.

On Wednesday, 58 percent of workers did not report for work at ERPM in
Boksburg, but by Friday the situation was 85 percent normal, spokesperson
James Duncan said.

ERPM mine was housing nearly 500 foreign workers in a place of
safety. - Additional reporting by Sapa and AFP

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on May 24,
2008

South African Xenophobia Embarrassing

OhMyNews

Mbeki not competent to deal with issues facing the country

Kgobalale Peter Moruthane

Published 2008-05-25 03:13 (KST)

"Citizens from other countries on the African continent and beyond are
as human as we are and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity," said
South African President Thabo Mbeki on Monday. "South Africa is not and will
never be an island separate from the rest of the continent."

Since then there have been several xenophobic attacks on foreigners in
the country. Many people are saying that Mbeki does not have power to stop
it.

On Thursday, Limpopo became the fourth province in which attacks were
reported. Mozambicans living in the area of Mohlaletse in the Sekhukhune
regions were attacked on that night. Two of them are being treated at Jane
Furze Hospital.

Around the country, some 43 people have lost their lives and more than
20,000 have been evacuated from their shacks or homes since the start of
this phase of xenophobic attacks several weeks ago.

Speaking at an African day event at Sandton Convention Center in
Johannesburg, Zolo Skweyiya of the office of foreign affairs said this
behavior had tarnished the good name of South Africa internationally.
Skweyiya said he is afraid that these attacks will end up causing tension
between South Africa and nearby countries.

Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma called the violence
embarrassing to the government. Dlamini-Zuma believes the attacks are caused
by a mobilized group of people whose intentions are to steal rather than
plough. She is promising that her department will deal with this matter
carefully and very seriously.

Opposition parties and others have said Mbeki is not competent to deal
with the issues worrying the country. Buti Manamela, secretary general of
the Young Communist Party, said Mbeki had failed to deal with the issue of
HIV/AIDS and failed to mediate the political crisis in Zimbabwe. There's
nothing to suggest that he won't now fail to deal with the xenophobia.

More calls for Mbeki to step down

SABC

May 24, 2008, 07:15

Secretary General of the Young Communist League, Buti Manamela has
reiterated the position of the SA Communist Party that President Thabo Mbeki
should step down. Earlier this month ANC Treasurer General Mathews Phosa and
leading National Executive Committee (NEC) member Tokyo Sexwale also called
for the President to step down.

Manamela says President Mbeki has failed the country in dealing with
HIV/Aids challenges as well as overlooking the crisis in Zimbabwe. He was
addressing the party's 86th anniversary fund raising gala dinner in Phokeng
in the Rustenburg area in North West last night.

The dinner, which was held under the theme True to our History, was attended
by amongst others Phosa, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) Acting
President Sdumo Dlamini and ANC Youth League President, Julious Malema.

During his address Manamela also said President Thabo Mbeki should release
himself from his position before next year's national general elections.

Meanwhile, Manamela has urged the law enforcement agencies to bring to book
the perpetrators of ongoing xenophobic attacks that had claimed 43 lives
across the country.

The Zimbabwe we DON'T want

The Zimbabwean

Thursday, 22 May 2008 08:48
BY CHENGETAI MUPARA
HARARE – On May 17 at around midnight  my mother, Reverend Winnet
Mupara of the United Methodist Church's Chitakatira Circuit and brother
Guyson Mupara (27) were savagely attacked by vigilantes loyal Mugabe's Zanu
(PF) at their house in Chitakatira.

This group was acting on the express instructions of Zanu (PF) and my
cousin, Grace Mvududu, who stood as a Zanu (PF) candidate for Councillor in
Gombakomba (near Mutare) and lost to the MDC.
The group was let into the house when one of them knocked on the door
and stated that she was Mrs. Marange, wife of the priest of the neighbouring
parish; that she had stayed out late and would like a place to sleep before
continuing her journey the following morning. My mother opened the door to
what she believed to be a wife of a colleague who needed help. To her
disbelief the woman was leading a group of young men and women in military
uniform.
The group informed my mother and brother that they had information
from their leader Grace, to the effect that: 1. They were staunch supporters
of the MDC; 2. the group had reason to believe that MDC paraphernalia
(cards, t-shirts, fliers and other campaign materials) were kept in the
house. 3; that my mother frequently preached MDC-friendly gospel and/or
sermons to her congregation; and 4. that her son (Chengetai Mupara) was a
known member of the MDC and is now living in the UK.
My mother and brother were requested to surrender all the MDC
materials in their custody. My brother and brother could not produce any of
the items because they did not have any of it. They invited the group to
search for these items anywhere in the house; they found nothing.
My mother and brother were taken out of the house and immersed in cold
water. There were then forced to sit down and lashed with makeshift whips
made of metal wires and wood planks. They were lashed on the back, under the
feet and on the buttocks. They suffered severe bodily injuries namely, loss
of skin and loss of flesh and gapping wounds on legs, back and buttocks. My
mother lost fingernails.
This torture happened in the presence of my mother's granddaughter and
my cousin's daughter, who has mental health problems. Both girls are below
the age of 10. The group stopped the beatings after two hours and left
without making any arrangements for their victims to be treated.
My mother and brother were taken away for treatment following the
intervention of church members and leaders 10 hours later. Fortunately, the
injuries are not life threatening, but we continue to monitor the situation.
Blood is thicker than water. I implore my cousin Grace to think long
and hard about what she has done to her own family in the name of Zanu (PF)
and relations between us and you, your children and the rest of our family
going forward? We cannot continue to have a situation of sister turning on
sister, brother turning on brother, child turning on parent. For what?
Inflation is now over 165,000% and rising; Life expectancy of 37 and
34 for men and women respectively and decreasing; Unemployment is 90% and
rising; Sporadic essential services, inconsistent water and electricity
supply; Collapsed education and health delivery systems; No rule of law and
respect of human rights in general.
I remind my cousin Grace and her Zanu (PF) colleagues, that there is
no good enough reason, least of all political; to attack anyone, never mind
family, in Zimbabwe today. Our nation is at crossroad. We are staring into
abyss.
This is not the Zimbabwe we all want. The Zimbabwe we all love needs
change now more than ever before. And yes, I say with no regret, shame,
apologies, fear or favour that a vote for Morgan Tsvangirai on June 27, 2008
is a vote for the Zimbabwe we want. We shall overcome!

We will bury the confused cockroach regime
BY TS
HARARE - I was there at the MDC rally of MDC last Sunday. It was
fantastic, ecstatic and the morale was high amongst supporters. People are
just excited to vote for President Morgan Tsvangirai again. I am one of
those people, who has vowed to campaign vigorously for President Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The regime is on the loosing end now. It is now ponderous, confused
and does not know what next step to take besides abusing the army personnel
to campaign for it. It no longer trusts its MP's. The regime is on its way
out. It’s going to be a walkover for the confused former president of
Zimbabwe. We are excited to think that we are going to vote again, and vote
this regime out for good.
All those people like Chinamasa, Didymus Mutasa and Jabulani Sibanda;
we will definitely try them, come hell, come thunder. There are no two ways
about it. We will purge you Didymus, you are a thief, a liar and a thug.
As for Jabulani Sibanda, you are killing people from Mashonaland,
where I come from. You are going to stand in the dock for it. You have
teamed up with those thugs. In fact, we want the regime to be brought to
book for its Gukurahundi atrocities. You will face it Jabulani.Rember that
people have vowed to go again and vote in millions for M.D.C.
Inflation is hovering at 700 000 % – a world record for sure. There is
no food, the economy is now crippled, and you say Mugabe will win? This will
be a miracle indeed and a world record, of course, if this regime wins under
such conditions. People are just excited again to remove this confused
cockroach regime and ready to throw it in the Hall of Fame for blood sucking
dictators, such as Idi Amin, Charles Taylor, Bokassa and others.
We are just more than happy to go to polls again to just cast our
votes and you will see what will happen to the dictator once it knows that
it has lost.

Zimbabwean chief mobilizes votes for Mugabe in run-off

xinhua

www.chinaview.cn  2008-05-24 20:41:35

    HARARE, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Chief Sogwala of Lower Gweru in the
southern Zimbabwe Midlands Province has called on traditional leaders to
mobilize their subjects and overwhelmingly vote for Robert Mugabe in the
presidential run-off set for June 27.

     He said voting for the incumbent president was the only way of
defending the country from its erstwhile colonizer, Britain, which he said
is threatening to reverse the gains of the country's independence, according
to The Herald newspaper on Saturday.

    He said chiefs and headmen had a duty to safeguard and maintain
the fruits and gains of independence through mobilizing their subjects to
vote against opposition MDC-T presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai, whom
he said was a British-sponsored regime change agent.

    "After threats of the recolonisation of our country by Britain
through their sponsored MDC-T almost became a reality in the March29
harmonized polls, chiefs and headmen now have a big task ahead of them of
mobilizing people to vote resoundingly for Mugabe. He has a track record of
fighting imperialist forces and he actively participated in the liberation
struggle of our country," Chief Sogwala was quoted as saying.

ZCTF Report: Milk & game cubes for Tatenda