British media denied accreditation for Zimbabwe Tue 23
November, 2004 18:40
WINDHOEK, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's
government has turned down applications by British media organisations to
cover England's cricket tour, a team spokesman said on
Tuesday.
However, the decision of the Zimbabwe government will not stop
the much-criticised tour from going ahead, according to the England and
Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
"I expect the tour to proceed despite the
very unfortunate situation regarding media accreditations," said ECB
chairman David Morgan. The first of five one-day internationals takes place
in Harare on Friday.
England's media liaison officer Andrew Walpole said
he had been told by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) that representatives of
BBC television and radio; the Times, the Sun, the Daily Telegraph and the
Daily Mirror newspapers; and the Sunday Telegraph, the Sunday Times and the
News of the World newspapers had been denied accreditation.
"I am
flabbergasted by this decision," said England captain Michael Vaughan. There
was no information on whether the applications by the Daily Express, the
Daily Mail, the Independent, the Guardian and Reuters had been
successful.
Walpole broke the news to reporters who are in Windhoek
to cover two warm-up matches against Namibia. He said he had not been given
reasons for the government's decision.
ZCU spokesman Lovemore Banda
told reporters the Zimbabwe government was not required to give
reasons.
"It is our government's prerogative (not to give a reason),"
Banda said. "The government is not at liberty to disclose the
reason."
England's tour of Zimbabwe, comprising five one-day
internationals, has caused much heart-searching among players and officials.
Last year England pulled out of a World Cup one-day match in Zimbabwe
because of security concerns.
Britain has campaigned for Commonwealth
sanctions against Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe because of his
redistribution of white-owned farms to landless blacks and his 2002
re-election in a poll which international observers said was
flawed.
URGENT TALKS
Morgan is due to arrive in Zimbabwe on
Wednesday and said he would pursue the accreditation issue
urgently.
"I find it unfortunate and embarrassing and I will be pursuing
it on arrival there tomorrow morning, initially with the chairman of the ZCU
and then with the appropriate government department having taken the advice
of the British Embassy in Harare," Morgan told BBC radio.
Asked if
the tour should go ahead, Morgan said: "The England cricket team is
committed to appear in Zimbabwe, that is well known.
"The board of
the ECB has looked at the issue in great detail and has concluded by a
substantial majority that we have to proceed with the tour in the absence of
their being no acceptable non-compliance."
The International Cricket
Council (ICC) is also expected to apply pressure on the Zimbabwe
authorities.
In a statement ICC president Ehsan Mani said: "I have spoken
with the president of the ZCU (Peter Chingoka) and David Morgan.
"I
have also spoken to the Zimbabwe High Commission in London on this issue as
the ICC looks to get a clear understanding of what has taken place and the
reasons for it.
"At this time, until we have received clarification on
this issue, it is difficult for us to comment further on what has happened
today."
The ICC has said any country refusing to tour for anything but
security reasons or at governmental direction would face a $2 million fine
and suspension from the international game.
Vaughan said he thought
the decision to deny reporters accreditation was "totally wrong".
"I
don't know how it can be called a cricket tour if our media are not there to
cover it," Vaughan said while stopping short of saying he would withdraw
from the tour.
"I wouldn't pull out because of the decision," he
said. (additional reporting by Martyn Herman in London)
EMMERSON Mnangagwa,
the Zanu PF secretary for administration who only last week expressed his
interest to become vice President at the party's forthcoming Congress, is
now out of the race after he lost the nomination to Water Resources
Minister, Joyce Mujuru.
Analysts yesterday said Mnangagwa, the
Speaker of Parliament and pre-Congress favourite for the post, will have to
go back to the drawing back after only four provinces nominated him, with
the rest opting for Mujuru.
National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) chairman, Lovemore Madhuku, says while it is difficult to
predict with finality what happens in Zanu PF, it appeared Mnangagwa would
have to bide his time.
"The man has lost the game for now. He
has to go back to the drawing board but even then, it appears he is trailing
behind his arch-rival John Nkomo in the battle to succeed
Mugabe.
"Mnangagwa was nominated by only four provinces for
vice President and Nkomo by six provinces for the post of national chairman.
There are long odds Nkomo has more support in the provinces than the
Honourable Speaker," Madhuku said.
Zanu PF insiders said
before his interview in a local weekly recently, Mnangagwa had used his
clout and "money" to win over support in the provinces and he was assured of
support in at least seven provinces.
"His undoing was President
Mugabe's statement that he (Mugabe) was in support of a woman candidate for
Vice-President. Even those provinces that had hitherto promised him support
were swayed by the President's utterances.
"In other words,
Mnangagwa privately believes Mugabe tampered with the nomination process
through his utterances and forced various provinces to opt for Mujuru," said
a Zanu PF insider.
The Zanu PF insider said Mnangagwa's plight
was further worsened by Mugabe's statements in Bulawayo, where he issued a
stern warning to party cadres who used money to buy votes ahead of next
week's Congress.
"There are crooks in the party who want to get
posts at whatever cost. The names will be revealed because they have been
using money from white capitalists, some of them who even have links to
Britain," Mugabe told his Bulawayo audience.
Insiders say
Mugabe's statements were guided by a report from the Central intelligence
Organisation linking Mnangawa to "dirty money" and vote buying in the
provinces.
"Mnangagwa has been accused of dealing in blood
diamonds in the Congo and he was mentioned in a United Nations report over
those allegations but an even dirtier report was handed over to the
President last week alleging vote-buying in the Provinces to sway votes in
his favour ahead of the Congress," the Zanu PF insider
said.
"What is still a surprise, however, is how Chinamasa, a
blue-eyed boy of Mnangagwa managed to get nominations from four provinces
for the post of national chairman. There was a lot of under-hand dealings
and trade-offs by the provinces but the greatest loser in the whole process
was the Honourable Speaker," another analyst said.
It
remains to be seen what happens next, but those familiar with the blood and
thunder politics of Zanu PF say it is still too early to rule out
Mnangagwa.
Chegutu rural council threatens to expel
new farmers
Date: 23-Nov, 2004
CHEGUTU - The
Chegutu Rural District Council (CRDC) has given the newly resettled A2
farmers until December 15 to either pay their unit tax charges or face
expulsion from their farms.
Highly placed officials within the
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement yesterday told the
Daily News Online that about 800 A2 farmers had failed to pay up the
required tax charges amounting to over $30 million.
The
sources said the A2 beneficiaries, mostly Zanu PF supporters and war
veterans had not paid their dues to the council for the past four
years.
Fidelis Mandemwa, the acting chief executive officer for
the Chegutu rural council put up an important notice, published in the
State-owned Herald last Saturday demanding immediate payment by the A2
farmers.
In the notice, Mandemwa said: "A2 land beneficiaries
in Chegutu District are hereby advised to pay their unit tax charges by
December 15, 2004, failure of which the District Lands Committee will
recommend automatic withdrawal of their offer letters and/ or face legal
action.
"Please note that all those allocated land are obliged
to pay rates to council under the Rural District Councils Act (Chapter
29:13). Remember, best soils are in Chegutu district, please avoid
embarrassment by paying your dues before December 15."
President Robert Mugabe incited war veterans and landless villagers to
invade white-owned commercial farms in February 2000 immediately after
Zimbabweans overwhelmingly rejected a proposed draft
constitution.
At least 135 000 people, mostly ruling party
supporters were resettled under the A1 fast-track land resettlement
programme while another 34 000 were allocated land under the A2 resettlement
model.
But the programme has been dogged by allegations of
corruption where senior ruling party officials have occupied more than one
farm against the government's policy of single farm ownership.
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) governor Gideon Gono has set November 30, 2004 as the cut-off date for
companies that borrowed from the Productive Sector Fund (PSF) to explain how
the funds were utilised.
A total of 14 companies could have
declared a dividend to shareholders before having repaid the RBZ funds
borrowed from the PSF.
Those found guilty and fail to pay their
outstanding amounts equivalent to the dividends paid out would have the
loans converted to market interest rates.
In its efforts to
stimulate a supply side response in the economy, arrest unemployment and
enhance capacity utilisation in the productive sector, the RBZ had
introduced the PSF at an initial 30 percent interest rate.
It was later raised to 50 percent. A cumulative total of Z$2.058 trillion
was doled out to the productive sector in the first nine months of
2004.
However, by the end of September 2004, $478 billion
had been repaid, leaving an outstanding balance of $1.58 trillion. The
facility is set to cease in June next year as the central bank feels that by
that time the rate of inflation and corresponding interest rates would have
fallen to manageable levels.
However, analysts said the
list of "transgressors" comprised several firms that had declared a final
dividend from the year ended December 2003, after obtaining the funds in the
first quarter of 2004.
This was the same time that the final
results were published and observers have said there was a need to clear the
air on whether such companies would also fall within the list of
offenders.
This category is made up of BAT, Bindura Nickel
Corporation, Caps Holdings, Interfresh and National Foods, which had
declared dividends of Z$620, $198, $7, $2 and $42
respectively.
The remaining firms fall into the most likely
alleged group of violators that declared a dividend with PSF borrowings on
their books.
Astra, Cairns and Tractive Power Holdings (TPH), whose
financial year ended in August 2004, have been identified as possible
culprits, and they declared dividends of $26, $23 and $34.
Companies whose financial year ended in March 2004 and declared a dividend
include Cottco ($34), Delta ($26) and ZSR ($22).
Those that had
their year ending in October 2004 comprise TSL, which declared $16 and
Phoenix ($3). Murray and Roberts also declared a dividend of $1 per share
for the closing period June 2004.
In the presentation of the
third quarter review of the monetary policy, RBZ governor Gono, fired a
broadside on companies that had rushed to declare a dividend to shareholders
before having cleared their PSF borrowings with the central
bank.
Gono had said that while the central bank had previously
spoken very strongly against banks and borrowers that had abused funds
accessed under the concessional facilities, it was dispiriting that some
firms had taken the same route.
Said Gono: "In some
instances, corporates are daring to declare the fanfare dividends barely a
few hours after accessing concessional support on the back of their
purported distress calls. Such practices exude the highest level of
corporate immorality, and only serve to undermine policy
effectiveness."
The central bank said it had a full list of
the companies and promised to deal with them severely. Gono said the
incremental penalty revenue on adjustment to market rates, in the case of
errant corporates, would be for the account of the RBZ and would go into the
Productive Sector Penalty Fund.
The central bank is on record
as saying that cheap funds should not be diverted into non-productive
consumptive purposes-including pockets of shareholders - that fuel
inflation.
The firms, together with their directors,
management, shareholders and financial advisers were warned that
"commandeering PFS funds into shoddy money market deals was illegal and,
hence will not be tolerated".
Board chairpersons were also
accused of issuing directives to management to channel PSF funds into money
market placements. In such instances, the central bank said it had to
confiscate the undue interest income earned, in addition to calling back the
funds into the RBZ coffers.
In its all out endeavour to wipe
out the abuse of the cheap funds, RBZ has been carrying out audits in order
to check on the proper usage of all funds that were disbursed since January
2004. The audits will also encompass the 2004 winter wheat programme, the
irrigation rehabilitation fund, the 160 million kgs fund for the tobacco
industry and the agricultural equipment facility.
Mugabe warns associates threatening to split party
November
23, 2004, 14:00
Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe president, has accused senior
political associates of threatening to split his ruling Zanu-PF party in a
fight over the vice-presidency, seen as a stepping stone to the top job. The
party has been rocked by a leadership wrangle ahead of a congress next week,
expected to endorse Mugabe as its leader for another five years and to elect
a second vice-president seen as a possible successor when he eventually
retires.
The country's first vice president is 81-year-old Joseph Msika,
who is not seen as a serious contender for the top post. Mugabe (80) said at
the weekend that Zanu-PF's leadership had endorsed the nomination of a woman
candidate, Joyce Mujuru, the water resources minister, under its affirmative
action programme.
Political analysts said the move seemed to reduce
the chances of Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Speaker of parliament, long rumoured
to be Mugabe's choice for a successor. Mnangagwa ended up with the votes of
the party's regional branches in only four of the country' 10 provinces,
while the remaining six votes went to Mujuru. The final vote to confirm the
appointment is due at the December 1-5 congress.
State media today
quoted Mugabe as saying the ongoing fight for leadership posts threatened
the party ahead of parliamentary polls next March which will pit it against
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). "Apart from the MDC
that we know is sponsored by (British prime minister) Tony Blair, there are
some elements that are developing within the party and those are the
divisive elements we must take care of," Mugabe said.
"Some are trying to
sway you to vote for them using cunning methods. There are crooks in the
party who want to get posts at whatever cost. The names will be revealed
because they have been using money from white capitalists, some of them who
even have links to Britain," he said.
Analysts say Zanu-PF, which led
Zimbabwe to independence from Britain in 1980, risks a north-south regional
divide. Mujuru was largely supported by three Mashonaland provinces in the
north of Zimbabwe while Mnangagwa got most of his backing from southern
provinces. - Reuters
Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe is only one seat shy of the two thirds majority he needs in
parliament to entrench his dictatorship after an opposition party
parliamentarian died in a car accident at the weekend.
The death of
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP Stanley Bethel Makwembere in a head
on collision with a lorry has reduced the MDC's presence in parliament from
51 to 50.
His seat would automatically go to Mugabe's Zanu-PF after
the MDC confirmed last night that it would not contest a by-election.
Zanu-PF will now have 99 MPs in the 150-member chamber.
"We
will certainly not participate in any by-election because of our decision to
suspend contesting in any elections until the electoral framework is right.
So they can have the seat," said MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi last
night.
Zimbabwe opposition urges EU pressure ahead of
elections 23.11.2004 - 09:43 CET | By Andrew Beatty EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS
- Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has urged the EU to put pressure on
Zimbabwe and its neighbours ahead of presidential elections.
Mr
Tsvangirai, who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, will
visit Brussels later this week in a bid to increase international pressure
on the government of Robert Mugabe.
This comes ahead of elections
next March.
After over two years of diplomatic sanctions against
Zimbabwe, the EU is being asked to use its influence to convince regional
players such as South Africa and Nigeria to press for free and fair
elections.
"[The EU can] offer diplomatic pressure to the region and to
some of the influential people in the region", Mr Tsvangirai told the
EUobserver.
His comments came after a visit to Brussels by South African
President Thabo Mbeki and ahead of a visit to Brussels by Foreign Minister
Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma on Tuesday (23 November).
According to South
African diplomats, the issue of Zimbabwe is likely to come up on Tuesday's
agenda.
As the major power in the region, European Parliamentarians have
pressed South Africa to do more to encourage talks between the MDC and Mr
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
The EU is also being pressed to punch its
weight - as one of South Africa's biggest trading partners.
Mr
Tsvangirai is now calling on the EU to make it clear to neighbours that more
must be done.
"They can help draw the attention of the African leaders
that it is not going to be business as usual" said Mr Tsvangirai.
Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe president, has accused members of
his Zanu(PF) party of being "bought" by white capitalists and the British.
Speaking at rural schools in Zimbabwe's western province of Matabeleland
yesterday, an angry Mugabe slated his own ruling elite and repeatedly said:
"We are not for purchase."
"Apart from the (opposition) Movement for
Democratic Change that we know is sponsored by the British, there are some
elements that are developing in our own party and those are the divisive
elements we must take care of," said Mugabe.
"We are going to our
Zanu(PF) congress in the next week and we want delegates to be aware of
these clandestine and cunning knaves. There are crooks in Zanu who want to
get posts at whatever cost. Their names will be revealed because they have
been using money from white capitalists, some of whom even have connections
to the British," Mugabe warned.
His statements came a day after Zanu(PF)
voted Joyce Mujuru into the position of second vice president, ousting
Emmerson Mnangagwa, presidential hopeful and parliamentary
speaker.
Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu(PF) party has seen widening cracks as
divisions emerge over who will lead the party when Mugabe stands down. The
80 year old leader last year invited his party to choose a successor, though
he now accuses party members of trying to "oust the old guard" within his
party. - Sapa
November
23, 2004 Posted to the web November 23, 2004
Harare
DISTRESSED
companies have made applications totalling $344 billion exceed the $200
billion availed to the Zimbabwe Development Bank (ZDB) for
disbursements.
This comes at a time when the Small Enterprises
Development Corporation (Sedco), which has also been mandated to identify
and facilitate the payment of loans to distressed companies, said it is
still inviting small-scale firms to apply for funds.
ZDB and Sedco
are disbursing funds to hard-pressed companies on behalf of the Government
with the later facilitating the payment of funds to small and medium scale
enterprises (SMEs) while the former is looking at larger
entities.
ZDB revealed that the response coming from companies was
positive and they were giving priority to deserving concerns.
"The
demand for this financial facility has been overwhelming, but funding will
be provided to the most deserving cases," said ZDB.
ZDB has so far
identified 78 projects with 33 of them worth $145 billion having been
approved.
The other 45 projects valued more than $199 billion have been
appraised as at September 30.
Sedco has also announced that loan
applications were still ongoing.
Applicants would be asked to supply
Sedco with information such as the reasons for distress.
The facility
which was made available by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), would go a
long way in thawing problems of recapitalisation besetting some local
entities.
The funds would be used for refurbishing equipment, buying of
capital goods as well as providing working capital for the
companies.
Those intending to benefit from the facility would have to
comply with a number of requirements such as collateral details, past and
present financial statements, reasons for distress and strategies for
resuscitation.
Institutions under judicial curatorship have to provide a
detailed analysis on the status of the troubled firm either from the curator
or judicial manager.
Loans for working capital would be reimbursed
over a period of 6 to 12 months, and up to three years for capital
expenditure and refurbishment.
The Government, through the central bank
and the Ministry of Industry and International Trade, granted the $200
billion facility for the revitalisation of distressed
companies.
Sectors such as manufacturing, chemical, mining, transport and
agro-processing have all benefited from the facility.
President Tsvangirai's Tuesday message to the people of
Zimbabwe.
The nature of the crisis in Zimbabwe is now obvious to all
influential African and European leaders.
The two continents
are unambiguous as to the cause, effect and the corrective road map for the
restoration of confidence, law and order and legitimacy to the state of
Zimbabwe. They understand your dilemma. The world shares your dreams. The
world is conscious of what you are going through. The world is prepared to
help the people of Zimbabwe. All indications show that we are near the
finishing line.
There is a consensus that the solution lies in a
free and fair election in which all Zimbabweans decide the future; choose
leaders of their choice; enjoy basic freedoms and conduct their affairs in a
sovereign and democratic fashion.
The stance taken by the
international community has given us so much hope. We believe a free and
fair election is a must to enable our nation to shed its pariah status and
join the international community.
Throughout my travels -- in the
SADC region, in West Africa and now in Europe - concerns are being raised as
to how we can avoid the Zimbabwe situation from sliding into an open
conflict. We have a duty; we have a responsibility as political leaders to
set aside our personal preferences and to manage our emotions in a manner
that retains our resolve to serve our people and our
nation.
The Robert Mugabe regime is feeling the heat. The regime
has run out of options. The ruse they sold to the world and the relentless
propaganda they poured onto the people can no longer hold.
We
have dismantled the political sand barrier they erected in the past five
years and exposed the nature of the Zimbabwean crisis for what it is - a
crisis of governance, fertilised by greed, corruption, dictatorship and
tyranny. There is clarity on issues at hand. Governments and civil society
are aware that the crisis has nothing to do with race, land reform,
imperialism or personalities. Our hosts are aware of the source of the
crisis. They are ready to assist the people of Zimbabwe overcome their
predicament.
The regime is severely under pressure at home.
Pressure from the people is creating political victories for a free and fair
election; every week these incremental victories are serving to strengthen
our optimism that a free and fair election may indeed be possible next
year.
Recent events in Parliament show a regime that is panicking
to show the world that there is a semblance of reason within the ranks of
the ruling Zanu PF party. The regime's actions are far from being sufficient
to grant the people their total freedom. Mugabe must realise that piece meal
legislative reforms shall haunt him sooner, as they always fail to bring
about the desired result.
Zimbabweans know that despite the
progress that is being made at a political level on the ground, we need to
remain vigilant and cognisant of the fact that we are still some way from
the finishing line; conditions on the ground do not yet adhere to the
standards expected under the new SADC standards.
I am happy to
note that several hawkish elements within Zanu PF are losing political
ground paving the way for some measure of understanding within that
discredited party for a patriotic approach to the future.
We are
ready to play our part to assist the process of national political reform in
order to allow Zimbabweans to chart their own destiny through free and fair
elections.
In our engagement with various world leaders, we
expressed our commitment and on our willingness to work with Zanu PF to
build a national consensus on the way forward. We desire peace and security.
We need to rebuild Zimbabwe.
We seek no revenge; no retribution.
We yearn for a fresh start, a new beginning. That new beginning, that
political dispensation everybody is looking forward to experience shall
require the collective effort of all the political players in our
country.
The starting point for such a beginning shall be a free
and fair election. The sooner the regime realises that the better for us
all. There is a new feeling and an acknowledgement that the only solution to
the Zimbabwean crisis lies in the creation of an open political environment
for democracy.
A free and fair election shall provide answers to the
chronic shortage of fuel and rising food prices. Such an election can be
made possible by the right political will.
Our collective
resolve to restore our basic rights and freedoms will ensure that we will
never be the losers. Backed solidly by the international community, we are
firmly on the road to victory. We shall meet in early December to review our
decision to suspend participation in all elections. We shall be guided by
the people, using raw facts on the ground on how far the regime has sought
to implement the spirit of Mauritius. As I said before, we desire an entire
package, with measurable outcomes to re-generate confidence in the electoral
process.
Lastly, may I express my deepest sympathies to the
Makwembere family, the residents of Gweru and the entire national membership
of the MDC over the loss, in a car accident, of Bethuel Makwembere, the MP
for Mkoba.
Makwembere, a founder member of the MDC, shall be
sadly missed by all of us who worked with him for a long time. It is
unfortunate that he died before witnessing the realisation of our objective
to bring about a new Zimbabwe.
Homes now beyond reach of urban dwellers 23 Nov 2004 18:26:17
GMT
Source: IRIN BULAWAYO, 23 November (IRIN) - High inflation
continues to erode household incomes in Zimbabwe, forcing many people to
reconsider the dream of owning their own home.
Since his parents died
a few years ago, 45-year-old Mhleli Ngwenya has lived with his family in a
run-down three-roomed house in Makhokhoba, an old township in Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe's second largest city.
It has always been his desire to buy a
bigger home in one of the city's more affluent suburbs, but in recent years
he has had to confront the fact that, given his meagre earnings, this may
never become a reality.
"I have worked tirelessly for more than 15 years,
hoping I would be able to buy a decent house of my own someday, but this has
remained only a dream. I have also tried doing part-time jobs but it hasn't
helped," Ngwenya told IRIN.
His monthly income, an estimated Zim
$670,000 (about US $119), is spent on food, clothing and tuition fees for
his three siblings, leaving very little to put towards buying a
property.
"Besides houses, everything - including food and clothes - has
become too expensive, and life has become a nightmare. At one time I tried
to get a loan from a certain financial institution to buy a house stand in
Luveve 5 [a new suburb in Bulawayo] but the interest rate they were charging
was just too much for a burdened and poorly paid worker like me," Ngwenya
said.
The effects of Zimbabwe's economic crisis have taken a heavy toll
on the country's labour force, who have seen a steady decline in their
monthly incomes and living standards. Current measures to arrest
hyperinflation have brought some relief, but many households are still
unable to afford a monthly food basket, which stood at Zim $1.4 million for
a family of five in November.
Ntando Nkomo, a truck driver, told IRIN
that although he was better off than most people, he also could not afford
to buy his own home. "I don't have a family of my own to look after as yet,
but still I cannot make ends meet. My home for now is a backyard room in
Nguboyenja, where I pay Zim $70,000 (about US $12) every month for rent," he
said.
Workers complain that their meagre salaries have failed to match
the soaring costs of property in urban areas, and many families have instead
opted to build cheap pole and mud brick dwellings in rural parts of the
country.
At the start of 2004, a four-roomed house in Bulawayo's western
townships cost close to Zim $4 million (US $712) but the price has now
increased to a whopping $30 million (US $5,357), or more. In the affluent
eastern suburbs, a similar house used to cost around US $12,500, but has
since trebled in price.
"Most workers live terrible lives ... that is
why we are lobbying for the improvement of the salaries of workers and
stable prices [of goods]," remarked Wellington Chibhebhe, secretary general
of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Union.
Archbishop Emeritus
Desmond Tutu questioned black economic empowerment on Tuesday, saying it
seemed to benefit a small "recycled" elite and called for action against
poverty.
"It will not do to say people did not complain when whites were
enriched. When were the old regime our standards?" asked Tutu in an address
at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg.
Imploring
the audience to remember the struggle values of "the people shall share" and
the pledge to evolve a caring, compassionate society, he said too many South
Africans were living in "gruelling demeaning, dehumanising
poverty".
"We are sitting on a powder keg. We really must work like
mad to eradicate poverty," he said.
"We should discuss as a nation
whether BIG (the proposed basic income grant) is not really a viable way
forward. We should not be browbeaten by pontificating decrees from on high.
We cannot glibly on full stomachs speak about handouts to those who often go
to bed hungry.
"It is cynical in the extreme to speak about handouts when
people can become very rich at the stroke of a pen. If those are not massive
handouts, what are?"
He suggested adopting a family with a monthly
gift of R100 or R200 or paying the school fees of a poor child.
Tutu
called government houses "the next generation of slums", telling the
audience that they were known as Unos -- a small Italian car -- and asked
why South Africans were not involved with the Habitat for Humanity project,
which was building 50 new houses a week.
Tutu touched on the most
violent and repressive points of apartheid and compared them with events
after 1994.
"We really do have much to celebrate and much for which to be
thankful", he said, marvelling at mixed-race couples who would once have
been victimised by the police and the way the new society was reflected in
the demographics of the school near his home.
He spoke of sporting
triumphs and the Nobel peace and literature prizes won by South Africans,
and reminded his audience that in spite of South Africa's deeply troubled
and divided past, the expected racial bloodshed did not
happen.
However, he conceded that the country had problems, the most
serious of which was HIV/Aids.
"Over four million of our people are
infected. It is estimated that nearly 400 000 people will die this year from
Aids. That is shattering news."
He said it was worth celebrating that
while it could have been expected that whites would say "good riddance" to
the mostly black people with the virus, the most committed workers in the
Anti-HIV/Aids campaign were whites.
Tutu also expressed concern about
freedom of expression, and said that party lists (which determine who gets
into Parliament), made people reluctant to question any policies.
"We
should not too quickly want to pull rank and demand an uncritical,
sycophantic, obsequious conformity. We need to find ways in which we engage
the hoi polloi, the so-called masses, the people, in public discourse
through indabas, town hall forums, so that no one feels marginalised and
that their point of view matters, it counts.
"We should debate more
openly, not using emotive language, issues such as affirmative action,
transformation in sport, racism, xenophobia, security, crime, violence
against women and children.
"What do we want our government to do in
Zimbabwe? Are we satisfied with quiet diplomacy there? Surely human rights
violations must be condemned as such whatever the struggle credentials of
the perpetrator. It should be possible to talk as adults about these issues
without engaging in slanging matches. My father used to say, 'Don't raise
your voice; improve your argument'." - Sapa
New Zim courts to alleviate farm backlogs November 23
2004 at 01:24PM
By Peta Thornycroft
Harare - New
courts to speed up the legal confiscation of thousands of white-owned farms
in Zimbabwe are now in operation.
The brainchild of Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa, they sat for the first time on
Monday.
The administrative courts have a backlog of up to 5 000
properties taken by the government since 2000, but not yet
processed.
Now Chinamasa has established four new presidents of
administrative courts to move things along swiftly. These are lawyers from
the department of justice, who will have the same status as
judges.
Under new laws, farmers have only five working days to
prepare their legal defence, collating decades of paperwork of farm accounts
which include complex valuations of equipment and loss of
earnings.
However, the Law Society of Zimbabwe is challenging what
it regards as a "patently unconstitutional" law.
Individual
lawyers handling cases for farmers have already appealed to the Supreme
Court to rule on the constitutionality of the time allowed to prepare a
defence.
John Worsley Worswick, of Justice for Agriculture, said a
court deadline loomed for about 500 farms on the same court
day.
But there were not enough lawyers in the whole of Zimbabwe to
prepare simultaneous defences for all those properties in a
week.
"This creation of new courts has been expected for some time
as the backlog is enormous. We are looking at yet another fast-track process
to strip people of property," he said.