Aide: Mugabe expects to win election

Yahoo News

Mon May 26, 9:51 AM ET

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe expects to win next
month's presidential runoff, but will not cling to power if he loses, the
government newspaper reported Monday.

"We are very, very confident we will win this election," Emmerson Mnangagwa,
a top Mugabe aide, was quoted as saying in Monday's edition of The Herald, a
government and ruling party mouthpiece.

But "if the president loses, he will be the first one to go on national
television to acknowledge the result to the people," Mnangagwa said. "He is
a very principled hero."

Opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai claims he won the first round March
29, and that the June 27 runoff is based on fraudulent results and part of a
plot designed to keep Mugabe in power.

Mugabe, 84, has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980 and, though
once hailed as a liberator, he is seen as increasingly autocratic now.

Independent human rights groups and Tsvangirai's party say opposition
supporters have been beaten and killed by government and ruling party thugs
to ensure Mugabe wins the runoff.

Mugabe trailed Tsvangirai in the first round but, according to the official
results, the opposition leader did not win the 50 percent plus one vote
needed to avoid a runoff.

Mugabe would accept defeat in run-off: minister

Washington Post

By Nelson Banya
Reuters
Monday, May 26, 2008; 4:21 AM

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will respect the will
of voters if they end his 28-year rule in a run-off election against
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the state-run Herald newspaper reported
on Monday.

Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the March 29 presidential poll but failed to win
an absolute majority. His Movement for Democratic Change, which has accused
Mugabe's government of cheating in past elections, fears it will rig the
results of the June 27 run-off.

"If the president loses, he will be the first one to go on national
television to acknowledge the result to the people," Emmerson Mnangagwa, a
government minister and Mugabe's chief election agent, told the newspaper.

But Mnangagwa added that Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party were confident
they would win the second round of voting.

The 84-year-old Zimbabwean ruler kicked off his re-election campaign on
Sunday, accusing the United States of political interference in Zimbabwe's
affairs and the MDC of training youths to engage in political violence.

He threatened to kick out U.S. ambassador James McGee and said the State
Department's top Africa envoy had behaved like a prostitute for suggesting
that Tsvangirai had won the March 29 poll. The MDC won control of parliament
in a parallel election.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980,
routinely accuses the United States and Britain of backing the MDC to punish
him for seizing thousands of white-owned farms since 2000.

He also says Western sabotage is to blame for Zimbabwe's economic meltdown.
The southern African nation is struggling with inflation of more than
165,000 percent, unemployment of 80 percent and chronic food and fuel
shortages.

Some 3.5 million people have fled to South Africa and other countries to
escape poverty and malnutrition.

Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party have signaled they intend to pursue a
grassroots campaign focused on voter canvassing and small village meetings
ahead of the run-off, eschewing the mass rallies they have favored since
1980.

The MDC draws much of its backing from the capital Harare and other cities.
Mugabe, whose popularity has plunged as the economy has collapsed, needs to
be able to offset that if he is going to win.

The Zimbabwean ruler is still admired by many of his own citizens and others
in Africa for leading the battle to end British colonial rule, and a
grassroots campaign may tap into that legacy.

Tsvangirai also launched his campaign after returning to Zimbabwe on
Saturday for the first time since early April, repeating his demand that the
government end the political violence that has engulfed the nation since the
March polls.

The MDC says dozens of its supporters have been killed or beaten in an
intimidation campaign orchestrated by ZANU-PF. The ruling party says the MDC
is responsible for the bloodshed.

(Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Mugabe labels U.S. diplomat a 'prostitute'

CNN

 (CNN) -- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has warned against outside
influences in next month's upcoming run-off election, likening one American
diplomat to a "prostitute" and threatening to oust another from his country.
"Zimbabwe cannot be British, it cannot be American. Yes, it is African,"
said Mugabe, whose speech Sunday were quoted Monday in The Herald, the
state-newspaper.
"You saw the joy that the British had, that the Americans had, and saw them
here through their representatives celebrating and acting as if we Zimbabwe
are either an extension of Britain or ... America. You saw that little
American girl [U. S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Jendayi Frazer] trotting around the globe like a prostitute..."

Mugabe went on to say that U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee would be
expelled from the country if he "persisted in meddling in Zimbabwe's
electoral process," the newspaper reported.

The fallout from Zimbabwe's stalled election has brought international
criticism with Frazer taking the most emphatic stance. In April, Frazer
accused Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for nearly three decades, of "trying
to steal the election" and "intimidating the population and election
officials as well."

The first election was held on March 29. An announcement of the winner of
the presidential election was delayed for weeks as opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai claimed he had won. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, after a
long delay, ruled that neither candidate had won the required majority of
votes, and scheduled a run-off election for June 27.
Since the March balloting, there have been numerous reports from
Tsvangirai's party and church groups about kidnappings, torture and other
violence, including the deaths of opposition party members. They say the
violence targets opponents of Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party.

At about the same time Sunday that Mugabe was giving his campaign speech,
Tsvangirai was speaking at a funeral.

Tsvangirai spoke harshly as he stood near the casket of a man he claimed was
killed by Mugabe's supporters.

"This is a clear testimony of the callousness of this regime," said
Tsvangirai to a funeral procession of hundreds gathered outside the capital
city of Harare. "They can kill us. They can maim us. But we are going on the
27th of June, our hearts dripping with blood, to vote him out of office."
Mugabe denies his supporters were responsible for election-related violence.

Rights body sees rise in Zimbabwe abductions

Monsters and Critics

May 26, 2008, 15:29 GMT

Johannesburg/Harare - One of Zimbabwe's leading human rights organizations
warned at the weekend that cases of abduction and killings of opposition
activists were increasing ahead of the controversial run-off in presidential
elections next month.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said it was 'greatly disturbed by
the escalating phenomenon of enforced disappearance of political party
members,' adding the victims had been 'abducted, severely tortured and in a
growing number of cases, extra-judicially executed,' with the corpses dumped
usually in remote areas.

It said that the silence of President Robert Mugabe's regime over the
incidents indicated its complicity.

The report comes after about six weeks of violent retribution following
Zimbabwe's first round of elections on March 29, with the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change claiming that 43 of its supporters and
officials have been murdered, about 2 000 who had to seek hospital attention
and thousands more fleeing their homes.

Human rights agencies confirm that except for a a tiny minority of cases,
the victims have said militias of Mugabe's ZANU(PF) party, police, soldiers
or state secret agents carried out the attacks.

The violence predominantly has been in the form of savage beatings inflicted
on people mostly in rural areas, but observers say that abduction and murder
appears to be a new strategy by the regime.

ZLHR cited four confirmed cases of MDC officials who were either snatched
from their homes or intercepted while driving, and disappeared, only for
their decomposing and mutilated bodies to be discovered several days later.

'These are by no means the only the only victims of enforced disappearance,
and ZLHR is currently attempting to confirm several other such cases,' it
said.

'Regrettably, the silence of the authorities in the face of such atrocities
can only be perceived by all reasonable persons as acquiescence and a
fuelling of impunity.'

The MDC won the parliamentary election in March and opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai secured more votes than Mugabe in the presidential vote, but his
tally - according to results issued by the state electoral body after it had
sat on statistics for a month - just failed to exceed 50 per cent of the
vote, necessitating a run- off, on June 27.

On Sunday, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai attended the funeral in Harare of
one of the victims, Tonderai Ndira, an opposition youth official whose body
was dumped in the morgue of a Harare hospital a week ago after he was
kidnapped from his Harare home by eight unknown men wielding pistols a week
earlier.

His family obtained a court order to force authorities to allow an
independent pathologist to carry out a post mortem, but then hospital
officials moved the already badly decomposing body to an unrefrigerated area
of the hospital, accelerating the decomposition of the body to the point
where an investigation would have been almost impossible.

Mugabe launched his campaign on Sunday, accusing the MDC of being the
perpetrator of the violence, while his party publicity machine adopted a new
profile, with advertisements in newspapers showing a smiling, genial Mugabe,
and quoting him as saying that '... violence is needless and must stop
forthwith.'

The 84-year-old leader is notorious for his statement before a previous
election that 'we have degrees in violence.'

© Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Southern African Leaders In Tokyo Expected To Hold Sidebar On Zimbabwe

VOA

By Blessing Zulu
Washington
26 May 2008

Southern African Development Community heads of state attending a
development conference in Tokyo on Tuesday are expected to gather on the
margins to consider a request by Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai that they deploy election observers in the country late this
month rather than in mid-June.

Tsvangirai will face President Robert Mugabe in a presidential run-off
election that has been marred by political violence following the March 29
first-round ballot. Tsvangirai claimed an official 47.9% share of the
first-round vote vs. Mr. Mugabe's 43.2%.

SADC's current chairman, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, was expected to
put Tsvangirai's request before his regional peers at the Tokyo summit.

Sources said that in the run-up to the summit, South African President Thabo
Mbeki, SADC’s mediator in Zimbabwe, dispatched his chief delegate for
mediation, Sydney Mufamadi, to Harare for discussions with President Mugabe.

Senior officials in Mr. Mugabe’s office confirmed the president met with
Mufamadi on Monday, but declined to disclose further details. Spokesman
Ronnie Mamoepa of the South African Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed
Mr. Mbeki would be in Tokyo, but said he has no information indicating
Zimbabwe will be on the agenda.

SADC sources told VOA that regional monitors are not likely to be deployed
until mid-June, saying the organization's resources have been drained by the
extended crisis and that the upcoming election in Angola must also receive
its attention.

Political analyst Peter Kagwanja, director of democracy and governance
research at South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council told reporter
Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that sending peacekeepers might
exceed SADC's means.

National Constitutional Assembly Director Earnest Mudzengi said statements
by ZANU-PF officials close to Mr. Mugabe that he will accept the outcome of
the runoff if he is defeated cannot be believed, and are intended to mollify
SADC leaders.

Mudzengi said such statements by Rural Housing Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa,
a key Mugabe strategist, are not matched by developments on the ground as
ZANU-PF continues to unleash terror on opposition activists and rural
supporters.

Ruling Party Terrorises Voters

(Inter Press Service)
Grace Kwinjeh
May 26, 2008

JOHANNESBURG, May 22 (IPS) - "It’s a very traumatized community. Their crime
on the 29th March election, at that polling station called Chaona, there
were about 80 votes for the MDC and 15 votes for ZANU-PF. So that is the
offence they committed. This is the price they are paying. And that is what
Retired Major Mhandu was saying. ‘You will have to learn’. Not only were the
victims killed, their parents were also beaten, their wives were also
beaten, their children were also beaten, so it was a very frightening
operation. The community is still traumatized. It’s very sad."

This testimony comes from an eyewitness account of the massacre of six
people on May 5 at Chaona, a village in northern Zimbabwe; the attack was
directed by Mhandu, a member of Parliament from the ruling Zimbabwe African
National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). The account is part of a report
on post-election violence by the Solidarity Peace Trust (SPT), a
church-based organisation focused on human rights abuses in Zimbabwe,
released in Johannesburg on May 21. It describes a climate of brutal
intimidation in Zimbabwe following March 29 elections, and recommends fresh
mediation led by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in order
to form a transitional government.

The authors describe a campaign of beatings, torture and destruction of
homes since the elections, in which at least 22 people have been killed.
They say the attacks have been carried out by ZANU-PF supporters -- 
including war veterans and the party's youth wing -- but planned by a Joint
Operations Command that includes senior members of Zimbabwe's army, police,
prisons service and Central Intelligence Organisation. Army, police or
intelligence officers have been directly involved in 56% of the attacks
covered by the report. ZANU-PF members of Parliament are also accused of
directly participating in assaults.

The authors say none of their interviewees reported attacks by the MDC, but
the authors visited a business centre where opposition supporters had
retaliated to the destruction of shops owned by MDC-aligned traders by
burning and looting stores owned by ZANU supporters. They also acknowledge a
number of other unsubstantiated claims of violence attributed to MDC
supporters.

The violence is nationwide, but particularly intense in rural areas of the
northern province of Mashonaland, a traditional ZANU-PF stronghold, where
many voters for the first time gave their support to the opposition. The
authors believe the violence is meant to intimidate people in these areas
ahead of run-off presidential elections now scheduled for June 27.

The Zimbabwe Election Commission delayed the release of results of
Zimbabwe's March 29 election for several weeks, ostensibly for a recount,
but giving rise to suspicion of manipulation to avoid an outright defeat for
the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) by
its main challenger, the Movement for Democratic Change. When results were
eventually released on May 2, no candidate had the 50 percent required for
outright victory under Zimbabwe's electoral rules, necessitating a run-off.

Speaking in Johannesburg at the launch of the report, Brian Raftopoulos, a
leading Zimbabwean academic said, "SADC has to bring the parties together,
demobilize structures of violence, create a Transitional Government that
will oversee the writing of a new constitution, and set conditions necessary
for free and fair elections."

Raftopoulos insisted that in the present environment of state violence, the
June run-off election is neither practical nor desirable. "We have to bring
the two centres of power together. That is the only way forward. We have to
accept that ZANU PF is a force on the ground that is why it is able to do
the things it is doing."

The SPT report's recommendations were immediately questioned by analysts and
some civic leaders at the press conference who felt the proposal could give
fresh legitimacy to Mugabe’s regime while disregarding the electoral process
in which Zimbabwe's people have elected leaders of their choice.

Nicole Fritz, the Director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC),
an organization that promotes human rights and the rule of law, was present
at the launch of the report; she warned against facilitating agreements
between elites for the sake of peace. "Issues of international justice are
no longer issues subject to political negotiation. Amnesties cannot be
granted for crimes against humanity and crimes to the scale of genocide,"
she said.

Doubts were also cast over South Africa's role in mediation. Elinor Sisulu,
spokesperson for the Johannesburg-based Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, a
coalition of civic organizations, accused South African president Thabo
Mbeki -- who led SADC-sponsored mediation efforts in 2007 -- of failing to
acknowledge the gravity of Zimbabwe’s political crisis. Sisulu cited Mbeki’s
earlier attempts to block United Nations Security Council efforts on
Zimbabwe, "Mbeki has opposed the UN, suggesting Africans can do it
themselves."

Political analyst Deprose Muchena suggested that any mediation team should
include other Africans with experience in political mediation and that
President Mbeki should not work alone. "We need to reinforce the mediation
route first by ensuring a sitting president not be allowed to work alone,
because it is quite evident he will not deliver a solution on his own."

For the moment, the MDC has begun campaigning for the run-off election. MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai announced today that he would re-enter Zimbabwe
this weekend; he delayed his return from South Africa to begin campaigning
for the June run-off when his security staff said there was evidence of a
plot to assassinate him. His party has decided to defy the violence in a bid
to remove Robert Mugabe through the ballot.

The SPT report quotes an unidentified MDC activist saying, "What has clearly
emerged in Zimbabwe is that an election is not an election, since ZANU PF
purports to know for the people of Zimbabwe rather than the people of
Zimbabwe to know for themselves…. We can’t be forced to do what we don’t
want to do. We can’t be forced to vote for hunger. We can’t be forced to
vote for poverty. We can’t be forced to vote for terrorists like this..."

By Grace Kwinjeh

Kwinjeh is a member of the MDC National Executive and Deputy Secretary for
International Affairs

Courtesy of Inter Press Service

© Street News Service: www.street-papers.org

25,000 Zimbabweans in South Africa heading for Zambia: Red Cross

Agence France-Presse (AFP)

Date: 26 May 2008

JOHANNESBURG, May 26, 2008 (AFP) - An estimated 25,000 Zimbabweans are
heading for Zambia as they flee anti-immigrant violence in South Africa with
thousands of others leaving for Mozambique and Botswana, the Red Cross said
Monday.

"In Zambia, our teams are expecting the arrival of 25,000 Zimbabweans, or
5,000 families," Red Cross director for Southern Africa, Francoise Le Goff,
told AFP on Monday.

"At least 5,500 Zimbabweans have had assistiance to Mozambique," she added,
and 342 had been received in centres near the border with Botswana.

Anti-immigrant violence has raged in South Africa over the last two weeks,
leaving 50 dead and an estimated 35,000 displaced internally.

Authorities in Mozambique have said about 26,000 citizens have returned home
since the violence began on May 11.

About three million Zimbabweans are believed to have fled an economic
meltdown in their country to seek work in South Africa.

They and other foreigners are being blamed by locals in poor slum aeras for
unemployment and high crime.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said on Sunday that Zimbabweans fleeing the
anti-immigrant violence could have land if they returned home.

"Our land is still there, even for youngsters, those who are in South Africa
who wish to return to the country," he said.

Mugabe’s health could be failing

26th May 2008
Staff writer

There are credible news reports that Robert Mugabe’s health is failing. The
UK Sunday Times reports that last week he flew to Singapore to have tests
for prostrate cancer. It is believed that he has had cancer for some time
and this sudden trip, in the middle of Zimbabwe’s crisis, could indicate
that his condition had deteriorated.

The newspaper said that 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.
As usual it has been impossible to get any further facts about Mugabe’s
health.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Why Bob should be afraid of Morgan

www.zimbabwejournalists.com

26th May 2008 16:54 GMT

By Chenjerai Chitsaru

THERE was what some people might call an amazing bounce in President Robert
Mugabe's performance at the launch of his re-election campaign in Harare on
Sunday.

Before his delivery, there had been rather lacklustre performances by
Didymus Mutasa, Elliot Manyika and Patrick Chinamasa.
All three seemed acutely aware that the party would have an Everest to climb
on 27 June, when Mugabe faces off with Morgan Tsvangirai in the run-off for
the presidency.

Their lack of animation was anchored in the reality of what happened on 29
March and why it would be foolhardy for Zanu PF to believe that by the wave
of some esoteric magic wand, they could transform Mugabe's rout into a
victory on 27 June.

They know that, even after the murders of a number of Tsvangirai's
supporters since 29 March, the tide has turned, inexorably, against Zanu PF
and Mugabe.

Tsvangirai returned on Saturday, reportedly at the insistence of his party,
not because the United States ambassador, James McGee had “ordered” him to,
as Mugabe gloated, but because too many MDC supporters had been killed for
the party leader to justify his continued absence from what some called “the
killing fields” in Harare – 42 at the last count.

He visited supporters recovering in hospital and then attended the funeral
of the latest victim, when he delivered a speech ringing with defiance.

Moreover, most Zanu PF leaders, except Mugabe, now know that Tsvangirai is
in this struggle for the long haul. He has been battered, bruised and
brutalised to within an inch of his life since 1998, yet has not wavered.

The 11 March battering last year was particularly brutal. It demonstrated,
once again, that his enemies would not hesitate to kill him, if they
believed they could get away with it, as they did with the attempt on
Patrick Kombayi's life in 1990.

Mugabe may view this tenacity as being rooted in Tsvangirai's confidence in
the capacity of the United Kingdom and the United States to protect him
against Mugabe's excesses.

But it is time Mugabe opened his eyes to the naked truth: Morgan can beat
him hands down in a straightforward free and fair election. Most of this has
absolutely nothing to do with the UK or the US: it has a lot to do with how
Mugabe's performance as president has shredded to smithereens his image as
the people's choice, which he may have been before 2000.

In sticking to a tired, boring and unconvincing formula to explain the
country's descent into economic perdition – Western sanctions and nothing
else – he has convinced most Zimbabweans that he has a very low opinion of
their intelligence.

At the launch in Harare on Sunday, it was almost bizarre to listen to him
harp endlessly on why the election was about defeating the West.

Watching some of the reaction of the audience – quite often stony, fidgety
silence – you had the distinct impression most of them were unmoved by his
rhetoric.

Some neutral observers calculated that Mugabe's refusal to acknowledge that
his defeat on 29 March was no fluke was a dangerous state of mind to be in
for a man leading a country in such dire economic straits as the world's
highest rate of inflation.

What it suggests is that to Mugabe the people who voted against him were
preached to by the West and swallowed their propaganda whole.

He, it would seem, does not believe the voters took the state of the economy
into account, or the violence his party routinely unleashes against them
during an election campaign, or the staggering corruption in his government.

It would seem, then, that he is convinced his performance has earned him the
right to be re-elected without any fuss. This suggests, to many political
observers that Mugabe has, spiritually, at least, departed the real world of
Zimbabwean politics.

He is living in another dimension, a dimension in which he is still the
freedom fighter, his mortal enemies still the imperialists and their running
dogs.

Perhaps that is why some in the audience at the launch seemed a little put
off by his lengthy, boring litany of accusations against the West. When he
ended his speech with the most boring epitaph of all - “Zimbabwe shall never
be a colony again” - you could almost hear the yawns among some members of
the audience.

The question now then, is: why would the people who rejected Mugabe on 29
March suddenly rally behind him on 27 June? Is Mugabe placing all his eggs
in the “murder basket”?

In other words, is he satisfied that the number of MDC supporters killed by
people generally believed to be sympathetic to his dubious “cause” will
convince others in the opposition to either stay away from the polls or vote
for him instead?

Such a state of mind would be in conformity with his deep contempt for the
voters' intelligence: bash them a little and they will vote for you, never
that you have virtually no political platform with which to woo them.

Most of what will happen on 27 June must depend on how much hard work the
MDC is prepared to go out into the campaign. The murders will have
frightened many. On the other hand, it might have emboldened others.

If Zanu PF is prepared to shed so much opposition blood, then it stands to
reason that they are scared stiff of a thorough walloping.
What might spur the opposition voters to the polls must be the outcome of
the 29 March election.

In spite of the playing field not being as level as they had hoped it would
be and in spite of the absence of a level media playing field, the
opposition still managed to shock Mugabe and Zanu PF.

The campaign could turn even more violent as we draw nearer the date of the
poll. By killing so many opposition supporters in so-called “retribution”
campaigns, Zanu PF must hope it has planted the seeds of fear in the hearts
of the opposition voters: vote for the MDC again and you will be next to go
six feet under.

The killings so far have not been as widely condemned by the few “peaceniks”
in the Zanu PF hierarchy as they ought to have been. Not incredibly, there
are leaders in the party who believe deeply that its reputation for what
most see as gratuitous violence has lost the party so much support even as
an opposition it might find itself in difficulties attracting new
supporters.

The prospect of being in opposition is no longer as outlandish as it might
have seemed a few months ago. After the 29 March roasting, the reality is
now confronting even the most self-confident of the leaders: they will go
the way of UNIP and the Malawi Congress Party in Zambia and Malawi,
respectively.

Those parties lost power because, like Zanu PF, they decided to sit on their
laurels as the vehicle through which independence was achieved. Once the
economies in both countries began to deteriorate, largely through corruption
and monumental misadministration, the voters decided, quite simply, that
they could no longer “eat tales of the struggle” in place of food.

Mugabe, in particular, has convinced many voters that he is happiest
regaling them with the tales of heroism in the struggle for independence.
His enthusiasm for bringing the fruits of independence to the tables of the
voters seems to be half-hearted, as if it was only an incidental detail not
to be dwealt on at length.

Tsvangirai, the former trade unionist, knows how bread and butter issues can
turn the tide of an election. For him, the preoccupation with colonialism,
imperialism and the fascination with the cold war – which obsesses Mugabe –
are worth only idle chatter.

This is another reason why Mugabe ought to be very afraid of Tsvangirai: his
political platform is anchored on the desire for full stomachs all around.

The Meaning of Africa Day

allAfrica.com

GUEST COLUMN
26 May 2008
Posted to the web 26 May 2008

Faten Aggad
Johannesburg

Oh, that sunset on the beach of Sali, south of Dakar… the peace and quiet of
the mountains of Lesotho… the beat of Mozambican, Cape Verdean and Angolan
music… the taste of Injara in the restaurants of Addis Ababa…

Yes, it is easy to become nostalgic about Africa. It is after all a
continent with magical beauty, warm people, age-old, diverse cultures, some
of the best music beats in the world and of course, famous wildlife. Yes, we
have a lot to be proud of and indeed a lot to celebrate on Africa Day 2008.

Yet I cannot help but ponder what the displaced immigrants in Johannesburg
would think if I said, “Let’s celebrate ‘Africa’ Day”. What would a
Darfurian or an Eritrean say? Sure, we have a beautiful continent to
celebrate, but would a Congolese, a Sahrawi, a Ugandan really care about
celebrating Africa’s diversity at a time when they can barely understand
what led them to their dire situations?

So far 2008 has not been a great year for Africa. Starting with
post-electoral violence in Kenya which claimed the lives of more than 1,000
people, the continent continues to witness violent clashes, notably in
Uganda. Increasing food and oil prices have set off confrontations in the
streets of Cameroon, Egypt and Nigeria. Elections in Zimbabwe left the
country confused about its future. And in South Africa the local population
has turned against fellow Africans. We clearly have a lot to be ashamed of
too.

Africa Day should not only be a day to celebrate our diversity in the form
of diplomatic functions and academic workshops. It should also be a day when
we assess our future as a continent. For starters we should reflect on ways
to create development-oriented governance systems. We have moved a step
forward with the implementation of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM),
Africa’s governance evaluation scheme, but even that effort raises important
questions.

Recommendations put forward by the ARPM’s Panel of Eminent Persons, notably
in Kenya, were not taken seriously despite warnings that the country would
drift into chaos should a range of issues not be addressed. Similar warnings
were given to South Africa with respect to xenophobia. Alas, the warnings
were dismissed by governments as exaggerations. Why make recommendations if
governments will not act on them? Who will finally learn to listen?

The future of the APRM administration is also cause for concern. A change of
leadership within the Panel of Eminent Persons, in compliance with the core
documents of the APRM, was due to be implemented, at least partially,
between January and June of this year. But as the forthcoming AU summit in
Egypt looms at the end of June, there is still no clarity about who will
retire from the panel, leading one to ask how the programme can take the
lead in establishing accountable and transparent systems of governance.

How can countries be expected to pay an annual contribution of U.S. $100,000
to sustain the APRM when levels of accountability are so questionable? What
do Africans have to do to get a leadership that genuinely thinks of the
continent’s future?

Our systems of governance are not only questionable at the continental
level. Dictators still flourish, albeit to a lesser extent than in the past.
When Cameroon’s Paul Biya, in power since 1982, or Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe,
who has led his country since 1980, refuse to leave their fantasy worlds,
one cannot help but ask how a democratic order can be established. We
struggle to find answers, but these are the questions we must ask ourselves
when we “celebrate” Africa.

As an African I ask: we celebrate our culture, but do we think of ways to
preserve it? We celebrate our people, but do we know how we will save them
from wars and poverty? We celebrate our natural wealth, but do we think of
ways to allow our people to benefit equally from it? We celebrate our youth,
but do we think of ways to satisfy them so that they don’t board boats and
cross seas only to come back in coffins? We celebrate the beauty of our
wilderness and nature but do we know how we will save it from climate
change?

All these questions could be answered had we only had a responsive system of
governance!

Faten Aggad is a researcher at the South African Institute of International
Affairs.

Civil Society Hosts Zimbabwe Day Today

The NEWS (Monrovia)

26 May 2008
Posted to the web 26 May 2008

Monrovia

Liberian civil society groups will join their counterparts across Africa to
celebrate Zimbabwe Day on Monday.

The day was set to coincide with the May 25 observance of African Liberation
Day, which falls on Sunday.

According to a release issued in Monrovia, Monday's observance is in
solidarity with the continuously ambiguous and uncertain political situation
the people of Zimbabwe are faced with.

Zimbabwe has been plagued with growing instances of violence since general
elections in March. The results of the elections were delayed for nearly two
months, after which the electoral commission announced the lack of an
outright winner, and declared a rerun later in June.

This political situation is an outgrowth of persistent antagonism that has
been flamed since early 2000, leading to huge breakdowns in the economy,
pushing inflation by more than a million per cent, and destroying the
country's profile from the regional breadbasket to one of increasingly
hungry people.

The solidarity observance is thus meant to draw international attention,
through civil society advocacy, to the troubling, conflicting, dangerously
eroding and terrible situation in Zimbabwe.

Monday's observance will be held across the continent, in consonance with
the resolution of an Africa - wide civil society meeting held in Abuja,
Nigeria from 12th - 13th May.

In Liberia, the Center for Media Studies and Peace Building (CEMESP), in
collaboration with the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) and other
civil society organizations in country, will host a symposium to discuss the
unfolding situation, and make propositions that African and world eaders can
be guided by to help stabilize conditions in that country.

Monday's observance will include a moment of silence for the hardship and
suffering the brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe are undergoing, and as well
feature analytical panels on the situation in that country, and the lessons
that can be drawn from it.

The activity will begin at 1:00pm at CEMESP's Benson Street office, with the
support of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), and in
partnership with the West Africa Civil Society Forum (WACSOF), West African
Bar Association (WABA), and the West African Human Rights Forum (WAHRF).

The current outlook in Zimbabwe

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com

May 26, 2008

By Eddie Cross

THE current outlook for Zimbabwe is anything but encouraging. There are
three possible outcomes of the election on June 27.

The most promising is a clean, clear win by Morgan Tsvangirai and a swift
transition to a completely new government. The others are not so promising –
in one scenario Mugabe wins by rigging and fear and carries on, appointing a
minority government and using the powers of the presidency to govern in the
same way as he is managing the affairs of State today.

A third option is that he will win and then retire – handing power to a
chosen successor from the ranks of Zanu-PF who would then start to implement
reforms but protecting those who have participated in the present regime and
securing their assets.

Under each of these scenarios there would be consequences. If we assume the
second scenario becomes a reality then we can predict with some certainty
what conditions will be like – there will be no international assistance and
some of existing aid might well be withdrawn. Inflation – now at over 1
million per cent will continue to surge, reaching unprecedented levels
within three months. Most likely this will be accompanied by a sharp
increase in the flight of both people and capital and we can expect that the
situation in South Africa will deteriorate even further.

At this point several other possibilities present themselves - a coup
against Mugabe, the collapse of the regime and anarchy is also possible.
Whatever happens the outcome will simply make things worse.

If they manage to wrangle the third option and this might well be the real
game plan of the JOC and its external masters, then it very much depends on
who takes over and when. They would have to move fast – difficult just after
an election, and the incoming leadership would have to clearly demonstrate
its
capacity to implement the reforms that are necessary to get inflation under
control and some kind of recovery under way.

Not impossible, but very difficult as the new leadership is unlikely to
unscramble the bad egg of agriculture and reverse the recent changes in
legislation that is crippling mining and industrial recovery. Donors and
multilaterals are unlikely to step up to the plate any time soon and without
them it seems unlikely that we could feed the country or stabilize the
economy at large.

So we are left with Option One. The main concern here is how do we get there
and what will be the reaction of the security chiefs and the senior players
in Zanu-PF? I have no doubt about the people; the present wave of political
violence unleashed by Zanu-PF on the people is counterproductive. It is
being translated into anger - both in the MDC and among the general
population. This makes the situation worse for existing power brokers as it
is now most unlikely that the MDC leadership will entertain any sort of
amnesty for them under the new dispensation - their options have narrowed
significantly in recent weeks - mainly because of their own intransigence.

I would expect therefore, that in a free and fair run off, Mugabe would
betrounced by Morgan Tsvangirai - beaten most likely by more than two
thirds.

The main threat to such an outcome is in the way the election process is
managed - still totally under the control and management of Zanu-PF through
the JOC and the ZEC. Standing between them and a free and fair outcome are
the region who are obligated to deploy observers not only to watch the
run-off itself but also the run up to the election. We want them here right
away and we want them deployed to those areas where the violence is worse.

The other element that stands in the way of such an outcome is the MDC.

They are trying to cripple the electoral capacity of the MDC in every way –
many of our leadership in the front line have been killed, abducted, beaten
and generally harassed. They are working in every field to reduce our
capacity to campaign and win the run off – radio stations are being jammed,
newspapers burned (yesterday 60 000 copies of the Zimbabwean plus the
vehicle they was in burned in the Midlands) and journalists harassed and
worse.

Only the MDC and its election agents can stop the rigging of this election -
no one else has either the capacity or the legal right to do so. So our
capacity to fund and support that operation (it is a massive undertaking) is
crucial. The JOC is making sure that no stone is left unturned in their
efforts to block funds and other resources reaching the MDC from any
quarter.

But let us assume the MDC is able to control the rigging and gets a majority
vote for Morgan, what will then happen? We saw what happened last time -
they simply prevaricated until eventually they were forced to announce a
result that was patently false and force a run off. That process was
protected by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa who not only went along
with the masquerade but also endorsed the call for a run off and has
subsequently made the spurious claim that the solutions to the crisis lay in
the hands of the Zimbabwe people themselves.

His intelligence resources here have told him what the real situation is and
he simply chooses to ignore it and continues with the crude political
fabrications of Zanu PF.

This time there are no easy solutions for Mbeki, if the MDC wins, the region
has no option but to endorse the outcome and insist on a transfer of power.
In recent weeks elements in Zanu PF and in South Africa have been
desperately trying to get negotiations going on some form of national unity
government. This would be the easy way out for Mbeki, as it would ensure the
full compliance of the military in such an accord. However for the MDC this
could only be considered if as the first step, Mugabe retired and announced
that he was accepting the outcome of the elections on the March 29 and
handing over to Morgan Tsvangirai. This is not going to happen and this
route or easy option is not a possibility.

We are therefore left with the hard reality - can the region enforce a
constitutional process resulting in the full transfer of power from Zanu-PF
to the MDC because our own court system and even the State machinery itself,
is incapable of such a transition without military resistance. I personally
think it can but South Africa holds the keys. I doubt that the rank and file
in the military or the police would accept a coup against the constitution
and the electoral results. I doubt that the region or the AU would accept
that outcome or reaction. I think a transition would take place.

Under these circumstances I would expect very dramatic policy and other
changes to emerge within days, I would expect inflation to be fully
controlled within six months and for basic needs to be covered within three
months. After that the stabilisation and reconstruction process will get
underway and will, within a year be superseded by rapid economic growth and
recovery. Such an outcome would have immediate impacts on the region as a
whole but especially on South Africa.

For that country these changes could not become at a more important time.
South Africa will itself be engaged in a transitional process - from the
Mbeki era to new ANC leadership and maybe even a restructuring of political
forces in South Africa. While this is going on it would bring much needed
stability and enhanced growth to the South African economy.

It is time to back sanity and to finally defeat tyranny.

European Union - council conclusions on Zimbabwe

Government blocks new MDC councils

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com

May 26, 2008

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe’s government plans to block newly elected
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) councilors from assuming office until
after the second round of the presidential election, which is scheduled June
27.

The opposition MDC has said the Zanu-PF government had instructed town
clerks and executive officers running rural and urban councils not to
cooperate with the newly elected councilors “until further notice”.

MDC national organizing secretary and former Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri
accused the government of “dragging its feet” and blocking newly elected
councilors from assuming office.

Mudzuri said: “Zanu PF is blocking our councilors from assuming office in
both rural and urban councils. It’s unfortunate that civil servants are
collaborating with Zanu-PF in this regard. Clearly those who are running
local authorities today are doing so illegally.

“We know they have instructed all town clerks and district administrators to
delay swearing in newly elected councilors until after the presidential
election run-off”.

The MDC says town clerks and rural district administrators across the
country have refused to preside over the swearing-in ceremonies for the new
councilors, claiming to be waiting for instructions from the parent Ministry
of Local Government.

The opposition says Zanu-PF plans to use the old councils and commissions
which are still running most local authorities in its campaign ahead of the
run-off which is due in 6 weeks.

Under the country’s laws new councilors have to be officially sworn in
before they can assume office as policy makers. The law also stipulates that
newly elected councilors should assume office soon after the announcement of
election results.

Mudzuri said: “This plan to block popularly elected councilors from assuming
office is illegal. It is illegal in terms of both the Electoral Act and the
Urban Councils Act.”

The former Mayor who was fired and violently removed from office in 2003
said Zanu-PF was planning to delay the swearing in of new councilors for as
long as possible in order to serve its selfish political interests “with a
view to clinging to power indefinitely”.

Most councilors were declared duly elected when the harmonized election
results were announced at ward level across the country on March 30, a day
after the elections.

But eight weeks after their election on March 29 the new councilors are
still to be sworn-in by the designated government officials.

MDC councilors now dominate all major urban municipalities including the
capital city Harare, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Mutare, Masvingo, Gweru, Kwekwe
and Chinhoyi after winning the local government in March.

The MDC has also made significant inroads into rural areas winning several
council seats in the districts.

In the past the Zanu-PF government has sought to retain control of urban
councils run by opposition councilors by dismissing them and replacing them
with commissions appointed by President Mugabe.

Minister of Local Government Ignatius Chombo has in the past fired elected
opposition-dominated councils in Harare, Mutare and Chitungwiza on
allegations of incompetence. He replaced them with pro-Zanu PF commissions.

Asked to comment on the delay in swearing in new councils Chombo claimed his
ministry was in the process of making arrangements to ensure a smooth
take-over of councils by newly elected councilors.

Chombo said: “My ministry is in the process of making sure that new
councilors can take over without facing any problems. The transition has to
be smooth and we would like to make sure the take-over by the new councilors
does not hamper service delivery”.

Chombo insisted that his ministry had not breached and laws by prolonging
the tenure of councils and commissions whose term of office expired on March
29.

Analysts say blocking newly elected councils from assuming office is part of
a broader strategy by Zanu-PF to weaken the opposition MDC ahead of the
second round of the presidential poll which Mugabe has vowed he will win.

Mugabe who lost to MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai in the first round of voting has
unleashed a violent terror campaign in Zimbabwe’s rural constituencies which
has left 43 opposition supporters dead, while hundreds have been
hospitalized.

The MDC says over 5 000 villagers including women and children have been
displaced following the wave of politically motivated violence that has
swept across the country since March 29.

Critics say the vanquished Mugabe has resorted to violence in order to cow
the rural electorate and force them to vote for him in the run-off poll.

ZEC seeks permission to destroy ballot papers

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com

May 26, 2008

HARARE - The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission last week filed an urgent
application in the High Court chambers seeking an order to destroy ballot
papers used in the controversial March 29 elections.

In terms of the Electoral Act ballot papers should not be destroyed for a
total of six months after the election. Both the victorious Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party led by Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert
Mugabe’s losing Zanu-PF party have mounted legal challenges to the results
announced in a total of 105 constituencies.

ZEC chairman George Chiweshe argues that he wants to re-use the empty ballot
boxes in the forthcoming presidential election run-off that has set down for
June 27.

He argues that the legal challenge mounted in court to half of the results
of the parliamentary polls in March has no bearing whatsoever to the order
he is seeking.

Zanu-PF, now technically the opposition party after it lost the
parliamentary election, has filed petitions challenging the results in 53
constituencies, while the MDC, now the majority party in Parliament, has
challenged 52 results. Members of Parliament have not yet been sworn-in, two
months after the elections were held.

Chiweshe says the commission does not have the capacity to purchase new
boxes and seals for the second round of presidential elections because of
financial constraints. An order for the manufacture of the seals, which are
imported, has to be made six months in advance, Chiweshe says. Surprisingly,
Chiweshe recently rejected a donation of transparent ballot boxes from the
United Nations.

Chiweshe’s application has been opposed by the MDC leader Tsvangirai, who
beat President Mugabe at the polls on March 29. Results published by ZEC
showed, however, that Tsvangirai did not win the 50 percent required to
avoid a run-off. His party, however, maintains that Tsvangirai won at least
50.3 percent. ZEC delayed announcing the presidential election result by
five weeks, without offering the public any satisfactory explanation.

The Zimbabwe Times heard that the case to hear Chiweshe’s application to
destroy the ballot papers for the March 29 presidential election will be
heard in chambers this week. It was not immediately clear which judge would
preside over the case.

In its opposing affidavit, Tsvangirai said Chiweshe’s application should not
be granted because this would be tantamount to destroying critical evidence
needed in the challenge to the election results.

In his application, Chiweshe makes the that the destruction of the ballot
papers has nothing to do with the finalisation of the ongoing court
challenge in 105 constituencies since the harmonized elections were a
four-tier election where there were four different ballot boxes for the
presidential, parliamentary, Senate and local government elections.

In terms of the Electoral Act, ballot papers should not be destroyed for a
maximum period of six months.

The petitions were filed by losing candidates across the political divide
for alleged electoral malpractice such as vote-buying, intimidation and
corruption.

To cope with the extra legal work, the chief justice, Godfrey Chidyausiku,
has appointed 17 more judges to hear the cases in the electoral court.

Under the law, the court has up to six months to deal with the cases, with
another six months allowed for appeals.

Mugabe preparing for State of Emergency?

The Zimbabwean

Monday, 26 May 2008 12:42

BY STAFF REPORTER
HARARE

Faced with almost certain electoral defeat in the event of a
presidential run-off, the Mugabe military junta is psychologically preparing
Zimbabweans for a state of emergency.

Several recent interviews on state television, including one from the
previously un-heard-of, one-man organisation Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice,
have hinted at the declaration of a State of Emergency. Perhaps by floating
this idea, the state hopes to gauge public response.Observers say the
declaration of a State of Emergency would legitimise the current campaign of
murder, torture and abuse of innocent citizens and have far-reaching
consequences, particularly in terms of healing a traumatised nation. Since
independence, the Zanu [PF] government built its foundation for rule on
violence, typified by the horrendous laws it retained and promulgated.

“Despite the physical handover of power, Zanu [PF] excellently
imitated the Rhodesia Front [RF], and unleashed the same laws and violence
on innocent and defenceless Zimbabweans,” said one observer. “In fact,
Mugabe even made Smith’s laws more draconian.”For example, the Indemnity and
Compensation Act 45 of 1975, which gave security forces immunity from
prosecution if a transgressor could prove their act was committed in "good
faith" with the intention of preserving law and order was retained. The
leader of the Patriotic Front (PF), the late Joshua Nkomo had this to say:
"Under the terms of the Indemnity Act, which we condemned as barbaric
and fascist during the liberation struggle, a citizen has no right of appeal
or redress against those who illegally torture, maim, kill destroy property
or do any illegal act on him or against him. I am sure you realise that the
result of this use of Smith's laws and torturers has been to create in an
independent Zimbabwe a climate of terror and fear even more discriminate
than that created by the Smith Regime."

Nkomo said these words after Robert Mugabe re-branded and resurrected
this law calling it the "Emergency Powers (Security Forces Indemnity)
Regulations 1982 (SI 487/1982), which fell away when the state of Emergency
was lifted in 1990". Under this law, ZIPRA commanders Lookout Masuku and
Dumiso Dabengwa, were incarcerated, while many former ZIPRA ex-combatants
disappeared and were murdered. Mugabe's attitude at that time is represented
by the utterances of then Minister of Intelligence, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who
in April 1983 told a huge forcibly assembled crowd...in a parody of
scripture: “Blessed are they who will follow the path of the government
laws, for their days on earth shall be increased. But woe unto those who
will choose the path of collaboration with dissidents for we will certainly
shorten their stay on earth."

Members of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO), who normally should steer clear of
politics, are openly campaigning for Mugabe.For example, Deputy Director
General (CIO), Maynard Muzariri and Colonel Douglas Nyikayaramba, both
members of the Zanu (PF) commissariat, are cited in the National Police
Situational Reports (SITREP) of 6-7 May as having addressed a Zanu
(PF)campaign rally at Sadza Business Centre in Wedza, Mashonaland West on 3
May.Nyikayaramba told the 300-strong crowd that "security forces of Zimbabwe
have decided to campaign for Zanu (PF) to safeguard the country's
sovereignty." Muzariri told the people that the security forces would not
salute a puppet leader and “voting for Morgan Tsvangirai is as good as
calling for a war."

CIO Deputy Director General (Internal) Elias Kanengoni, cited in a
Police Internal Sitrep of 4 May as a member of the Zanu (PF) Mazowe Central
Campaign team, told a rally at Nzvimbo Council Hall in Bindura, "that the
opposition will not rule the country", and Colonel James Makondore (ZNA) on
4 May told a Zanu (PF) campaign rally at Zvipiripiri Shopping Centre, in
Marange that the " ZNA will not allow Tsvangirai to rule the country even if
he wins the election."

Independent weekly’s latest issue torched, freelance reporter beaten up

Reporters without Borders
Zimbabwe26 May 2008

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the continuing use of violence
against the independent press after 60,000 copies of The Zimbabwean On
Sunday newspaper were intercepted and torched on the evening of 24 May and a
freelance reporter was attacked and beaten in the eastern city of Mutare.
“These attacks must not remain unpunished,” the press freedom organisation
said. “Since the 29 March general elections, the authorities have been
guilty of at least 12 violations of their national and international
undertakings in the form of physical attacks and arbitrary arrests of
journalists. These attacks on the independent press are now being carried
out by unidentified men armed with AK-47 rifles and using 4WD vehicles.”
A truck containing 60,000 copies of The Zimbabwean On Sunday, which is
edited by Zimbabwean exiles based in Britain and printed in South Africa,
was intercepted on the main road linking South Africa and Zimbabwe about 150
km south of Masvingo by eight gunmen with AK-47 type rifles. The newspaper’s
editor, Wilf Mbanga, said he assumed the gunmen were Zimbabwean intelligence
agents.
They forced driver Christmas Ramabulana and distribution assistant
Tapfumaneyi Kancheta to drive the truck to a deserted spot, where they set
it on fire. They also seized and burned Kancheta’s passport, and beat him
and Ramabulana before departing, leaving the two of them with their torched
truck.
Freelance journalist Sydney Saize was attacked outside Mutare, near the
border with Mozambique, on the evening of 18 May. He was returning home when
four men invited him to get into their 4WD vehicle with them. After driving
a short distance, they stopped, accused him of being a traitor and gave him
a beating. They finally left him at the side of the road.

South African minister: Situation 'under control'

AP

By DEVON HAYNIE – 1 hour ago

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — A wave of violence against immigrants that
left 56 people dead and forced 30,000 from their homes has subsided, South
Africa's safety and security minister said Monday.

Police reported isolated incidents of looting and shacks being set ablaze
over the weekend, but Safety and Security Minister Charles Ngakula said that
anti-immigrant attacks have slowed.

"The situation is under control," Ngakula told reporters.

Foreigners continued to journey home to neighboring countries on Monday,
while thousands remained in makeshift camps after fleeing stick- and
knife-wielding mobs of South Africans who accuse immigrants of taking jobs
and blame them for crime.

The violence, which has gripped South Africa for more than two weeks, has
centered on squatter camps and notoriously bleak dormitories built during
the apartheid era for single men who were allowed to work in the cities but
not to bring their families.

The attacks spread to Cape Town on Friday and more than 10,000 people spent
the weekend in churches and community centers. City authorities also set up
six special sites as dedicated camps for the displaced.

More than 1,300 people were being housed at a camping site near Cape Point,
one of South Africa's most famous tourist attractions. Hundreds more, mainly
Somalis, gathered outside the gates as disaster management teams inside put
up giant tents and installed basic lavatories. A large contingent of armed
police tried to quell tensions among the crowd.

Many blamed the South African government for doing too little too late.

Malim Hajim, a Somali, fled his brother's store when it was looted. Even
though Somalia has no functioning government and is wracked by violence,
Hajim said he hoped authorities would help him and his countrymen return
home.

"I don't want to stay here anymore. It's finished," he said.

On Sunday, a group of South Africans assaulted five men from neighboring
Mozambique in the eastern port city of Durban, police spokeswoman Phindile
Radebe said.

Another Mozambican man was shot in the hand north of Durban Saturday as he
drove his family toward Mozambique, police said. It was unclear if that was
related to the wave of xenophobic attacks.

Mozambique and Malawi have given assistance to their citizens, including
transport back home.

The first bus containing 120 Malawian evacuees arrived in Malawi Sunday
night, and another was expected Monday, the government said. Mozambique
reported more than 16,000 of its citizens had returned from South Africa by
Saturday.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, whose country's political and economic
crisis has chased as many as 3 million citizens across the border into South
Africa, promised free land to Zimbabweans who chose to return home.

Meanwhile, regional Red Cross director Francoise le Goff said Zambia is
making contingency plans to receive up to 25,000 Zimbabweans who may flee
South Africa.

Also Monday, lawmakers visited some of the worst affected areas around
Johannesburg.

"Whatever our political differences, what unites us all is our outright
condemnation for what has been happening in recent past," said Andries Nel,
deputy chief whip of the governing African National Congress.

Associated Press writers Clare Nullis in Cape Town, South Africa, and
Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre, Malawi, contributed to this report.

Johannesburg Quiet As Mob Violence Subsides, But Immigrants Remain Fearful

VOA

By Chris Gande
Washington
26 May 2008

The streets of Johannesburg were reported to be calm Monday as the
anti-foreigner violence that claimed 50 lives in the past 10 days to two
weeks subsided, but tension remained high as few foreigners ventured out and
little business was done.

Thousands of Zimbabweans were said to be fleeing South Africa - though
heading for other countries rather than their homeland. Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for Democratic Change laid on buses to ferry hundreds of
Zimbabweans home.

Red Cross officials estimated that 25,000 Zimbabweans were heading for
Zambia to escape the xenophobic mob violence which has turned South Africa
from a political and economic refuge into a place where death can lurk
around any corner.

Methodist Bishop Paul Verryn, whose Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg
has been a haven for Zimbabweans, told reporter Chris Gande of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe that thousands of Zimbabweans remain huddled at police
stations and other shelters where they feel safer than in their former
homes.

Death toll climbs in SA violence

BBC

20:17 GMT, Monday, 26 May 2008 21:17 UK

South Africa has given fresh figures on the numbers of people killed
and displaced by the wave of attacks on foreigners over the past two weeks.

Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula told the BBC 56 people
had been killed and more than 650 injured. Previously, 50 deaths were
reported.

More than 30,000 had been displaced or forced from their homes, he
said.

He added that more than 1,300 arrests had been made and special courts
had been set up to deal with the situation.

Aid agencies say large numbers of Zimbabweans have been leaving for
Zambia, with others heading for Mozambique and Botswana.

On Sunday, South African President Thabo Mbeki denounced the
anti-immigrant violence as a disgrace that had blemished the name of South
Africa.

'Under control'

Mr Mbeki chaired a meeting of a government task force on Monday to
discuss the crisis.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Nqakula said the situation was "now under
control".

He added that no accurate picture was yet available on the precise
ethnic make-up of those who had fled.

Aid agencies have spoken of large numbers of Zimbabweans leaving for
Zambia, with others heading for Mozambique and Botswana.

Francoise Le Goff, director of the Red Cross in Southern Africa, told
AFP news agency that the organisation's teams were expecting the arrival of
25,000 Zimbabweans in Zambia, while a further 5,000 had received help to
reach Mozambique.

"The big problem is coordination of information between authorities
and NGOs [non-governmental organisations] - it's not very well organised,"
she said.

"The government is still looking for shelters for people and we're
still in an emergency situation."

Mozambique's government says about 20,000 of its own citizens have
fled South Africa.

It has set up transit camps near the capital, Maputo, to accommodate
the fleeing migrants.

Appalling violence

In Cape Town, South Africa, the authorities and charities have begun
efforts to feed and shelter the displaced.

Advertisement
South African police raiding the home of a suspect

At least 10,000 immigrants fled to makeshift camps outside the
south-western city alone.

South African President Thabo Mbeki made his comments on Sunday in a
national radio and television address.

He said the attacks were the worst acts of inhumanity South Africa had
seen since the end of apartheid.

The president has been criticised for his handling of the crisis,
including a response which some have seen as slow.

The BBC's Will Ross in Johannesburg says some in South Africa wonder
why it took him two weeks to make this address to the nation.

Our correspondent says there is a great deal of xenophobia in South
Africa and foreigners are often accused of taking away people's jobs and
fuelling crime.

But despite this perception, he adds, most South Africans have been
utterly appalled by the violence.

The troubles flared with a wave of attacks on foreigners in the
township of Alexandra, within sight of some of Johannesburg's most expensive
suburbs.

They have since spread to seven of South Africa's nine provinces.