The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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IOL

Media trio to be released
          October 06 2004 at 06:00PM

      Harare - Three journalists arrested while covering a demonstration by
dozens of women from a pro-democracy group outside Zimbabwe's parliament
were to be released on Wednesday without charges, police said.

      Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said 47 women also arrested
during the protest on Tuesday were still being questioned and being asked to
make statements to investigating officers.

      "The journalists are being released sometime this afternoon. They are
not being charged," he said.

      News photographers Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Desmond Kwande, both
freelancers, and photojournalist Howard Burditt, accredited to the British
Reuters news agency, were taken to the Harare central police station during
the Tuesday demonstration.

      As lawmakers returned from a month-long break, women from the
pro-democracy group Zimbabwe Arise marched to parliament in downtown Harare
to deliver a petition calling for the government to abandon proposed
restrictions on rights groups and charities.

      Police initially let four of the protesters into Parliament to deliver
the petition. But as the four walked out of the building they were arrested.
Riot police then arrested the other protesters, who were across the street
from parliament, and seized the journalists, detaining them overnight in
crowded cells at the police station.

      Police inspected their journalist accreditation, took statements and
later decided not to charge them alongside the women who are accused of
holding a demonstration declared illegal under Zimbabwe's sweeping security
laws.

      The women are expected to appear in court Thursday to apply for their
release on bail.

      The alleged offense of holding an illegal demonstration carries a
maximum penalty of up to six months in jail.

      The women were protesting the proposed Non-Governmental Organisations
bill under which foreign human rights groups would be banned and local
advocacy groups and charities would be prohibited from campaigning on
"issues of governance".

      The bill is expected to be approved by the ruling party-dominated
parliament later this month.

      The proposed law requires all charities and church groups to apply to
a state-controlled regulatory commission for operating licences.

      They must disclose details of their programmes and funding - which
can't be from foreign sources - to get a licence. Operating without approval
is punishable by up to six months in jail and closure of the organisation.

      Zimbabwe has been wracked by political violence and economic turmoil
in recent years as the government has seized thousands of white-owned farms
for redistribution to blacks.

      Seeking to crack down on dissent, the government has arrested
opposition leaders, trade unionists and independent journalists.

      The government has repeatedly accused church leaders, rights groups
and charities of siding with its opponents and unfairly criticising its
human rights record. - Sapa-AP

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Zim $200 bn facility to rescue business sector

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

HARARE, 6 Oct 2004 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe has set up an ambitious Zim $200
billion (about US $35.6 million) loan facility to breathe life into the
country's struggling businesses.

The Zimbabwe Development Bank (ZDB) and the Small Enterprises Development
Corporation (SEDCO) have been appointed to handle and disburse the funds,
which are expected to target companies facing economic hardship,
particularly those close to bankruptcy or operating below capacity.

To qualify for a loan, companies should have the potential to generate
foreign currency and create jobs. They are also expected to promote local
ownership and improve production capacity.

A statement released by the ZDB suggested that the money be channelled into
working capital, refurbishment of existing equipment and the acquisition of
additional machinery and equipment. The ongoing shortage of foreign currency
has forced many companies to suspend imports of spare parts and new
equipment.

Since Zimbabwe's economic troubles began almost four years ago, thousands of
employees have been retrenched, while others were sent on forced leave as
businesses grappled with spiralling operating costs. According to the
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), more than 750 companies have
closed down since 2002.

Manufacturers are burdened with rising production costs, persistent fuel
shortages and regular power cuts. At the same time, markets for their
products have suffered a major contraction because of shrinking disposable
incomes. The imposition of price controls and a depreciating currency caused
major manufacturers to suspend exports.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the central bank should stop
bailing out companies with cheap money initiatives because such schemes
promote inflation, which now stands at 314 percent. The central bank has
said it will struggle to bring this down to 200 percent by December.

It would be difficult for companies to retire their debts from the loan
facility, as some of them were already battling to pay back the productive
sector facility (PSF), set up earlier in the year by the central bank,
economists told IRIN.

The PSF offers loans at 50 percent interest, while minimum lending rates are
pegged at around 200 percent.

According to economist John Robertson, "Manufacturers that borrow money will
not be able to pay the money back. That is why commercial banks are
reluctant to lend them money."

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The Guardian

Tories back intervention in Africa

Matthew Tempest, political correspondent, in Bournemouth
Wednesday October 6, 2004

The Conservatives today called for greater military commitment to Africa,
with British forces implementing a no fly zone in the Darfur region of Sudan
and, if necessary, backing UN monitors in Zimbabwe.
With publication of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) report due tonight, the
shadow foreign secretary, Michael Ancram, attacked the Tony Blair over a
failure to plan for the peace in post-Saddam Iraq and for leading Britain
into a "dangerous half-war", but he stepped back from accusing him of lying.

Mr Ancram instead laid the blame for "a successful war becoming a shaky and
danger-filled peace" at Mr Blair's door.

Speaking during the foreign affairs debate at the party conference in
Bournemouth, Mr Ancram said one of the first actions of a Tory government
would be to get a UN security council resolution to send monitors and
observers into Zimbabwe.

If this was unacceptable to Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president,
enforcement by British troops could not be ruled out, his press aides
confirmed.

Earlier Alan Duncan, the new shadow international development secretary,
criticised Mr Blair's current trip to Africa, accusing him of posing in
"stunts and photo-ops [that] don't feed the world's poor".

He called for an increase in the African Union force in the Sudan, with a
pledge to provide logistical support and even policing a no-fly zone.

Mr Duncan said: "His trip to Africa lets him pose, but if he won't call the
horror in Darfur in Sudan by its right name - genocide - how can we expect
effective action that will save lives?"

Mr Ancram's attack over Iraq was relatively restrained, not mentioning the
ISG or calling on Mr Blair to resign or dubbing him a liar. Tory pollsters
have claimed during the Bournemouth conference that Iraq is only 12th on a
list of voters' concerns.
But Mr Ancram did say the prime minister had "misled" the British people and
lost their trust, before attacking him for "ingratiating" himself with
French and German leaders.

He joked: "One day poodle Blair. Next day dachshund Blair. But bulldog
Blair - never." He accused Mr Blair of "surrender" over the EU constitution,
the charter of fundamental rights and a European army.

And he called the EU constitution a "gateway too far" vowing that the Tories
would be able to renegotiate it from a position of strength.

He told delegates: "The no vote for which we will campaign will stop the
constitution in its tracks. It will force European leaders back to the
drawing board at a time when we will lead the European agenda."

Mr Ancram declared that, according to the "timetable for action" template
which has governed the Tories' conference, within a week of winning the
election: "I will formally repudiate the dishonourable agreement reached
with Spain by this government to share sovereignty over Gibraltar."

And, in a moment of pure rabble-rousing, he told Romano Prodi to "get lost"
over his alleged suggestion that future Olympics could see Britons compete
under the European flag.

He was more vague on the other members of US president George Bush's "axis
of evil", saying merely: "North Korea and Iran, in their different ways,
must give grave cause for concern. While our response must always be firm,
it should be tempered with dialogue where we can."

Relations with the US

On the key relationship between Britain and the US, Mr Ancram said: "I want
a strengthened and honest relationship with America based on shared values
and beliefs and mutual respect. A relationship as before where we speak
frankly to each other as friends and work together as partners."

Mr Duncan, the new international development secretary, who took over in Mr
Howard's September reshuffle, promised that a renegotiation with the EU
would mean that more British aid money was directed by London rather than
Brussels, and that within a week of taking power he would "put a paper to
cabinet on setting up a permanently structured relief capability".

Earlier, the shadow defence secretary, Nicholas Soames, promised to increase
defence spending by £2.7bn over three years, funded by Whitehall savings, in
order to retain regional infantry regiments and keep three frigates destined
for the axe by Labour.

Mr Soames told delegates: "For months its been Labour's big lie that we will
cut defence. After his [shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin's] announcement,
that lie can never be pedalled again."

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This is Wiltshire

Woman becomes novelist at the age of 63
A retired Wootton Bassett woman has realised her dreams of becoming an
author.

Vera Elderkin, 63, has found a publisher for her first novel, about her home
country Zimbabwe.

Mrs Elderkin left Zimbabwe in 1984 and moved to Wootton Bassett, where her
husband's family lived.

She said: "I was writing this book for about four years.

"The story is about two soldiers in the Rhodesian army, one black and one
white.

"It's based on events that actually took place in the bush war in Rhodesia
prior to 1980, as told to me by people involved in the war."

Vera met her husband Roy, 63, in Zimbabwe where he served in the police. He
had left England for Africa at the age of fifteen.

When the Bush War began Roy joined the Greys Scouts, a special army unit,
featured in the story. The couple have two sons and a daughter all living in
Wootton Bassett.

The book, entitled "The Last Rhodesian Soldiers" (ISBN 1-4137-4546-6) will
be available through the publisher's website, www.publishamerica.com
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mineweb

Aquarius warns of Zim mine grab
Gareth Tredway & Jim Jones
Posted Wed, 06 Oct 2004

Aquarius Platinum, the London- and Australian-listed miner with platinum
interests in South Africa and Zimabwe, seems apprehensive about the latest
nationalisation, or indigenisation, proposals to emerge from Zimbabwe's
government.

In a leaked document from Zimbabwe's Ministry of Mines, the government is
proposing that all of the country's mines be 20 percent owned by indigenous
people (Zimbabweans) within the next two years. The leaked proposals in
draft form want 20 percent indigenous ownership within two years of the
proposals being turned into official regulations. The level rises to 25
percent within seven years and 30 percent within ten.

Aquarius has diplomatically and somewhat ambiguously stated that it views
proposals as "achievable subject to funding availability". In other words,
Aquarius would appear to want to know whether it will be compensated in hard
currency for any loss of property and that new Zimbabwean shareholders will
have the available hard-currency funding to complete development of Aquarius's
platinum project. The Zimbabwean dollar is in free fall and can only be
converted into hard currencies at unofficial exchange rates that are much
less favourable than the meaningless officially-quoted rates.

"Aquarius Platinum wishes to advise shareholders that it has been made aware
that the Government of Zimbabwe's Ministry of Mines has released proposed
draft regulations for discussion with the industry that include proposed
indigenous ownership levels for mines in Zimbabwe," said a statement
released by Aquarius.

Last month, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe was quoted by one of his
government-controlled newspapers as wanting half of all Zimbabwe's mines.
Tinaye Chigudu, Zimbabwe's secretary of mines told Mineweb a few days later
that the quotes were misreported.

Nevertheless, this sort of unofficial kite flying is par for the course in a
country where the president is playing every trick in the book to hang on to
his virtually absolute power.

Earlier this year, for example, another draft proposal was leaked into the
public domain, in which government was apparently demanding 49 percent
indigenous ownership of all Zimbabwean mines.

Many of the country's mines are being forced to close because they are
deprived of most of the hard currency derived from their export sales and
needed to buy capital equipment and supplies needed to keep production
going.

The Mugabe government has either grabbed most of the country's previously
white-owned commercial farms without compensation or it has encouraged its
supporters to occupy those farms and force the owners off them. Rather than
operating a land-reform programme that would give land to peasants, Mugabe
has ensured that the farms have been turned over to his powerful supporters.
That binds the new owners to the president through the threat of subsequent
dispossession should those new owners waiver in their unequivocal support
for Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party.

Analysts at Numis Securities, which is Aquarius's London broker, have said
in a note that the proposed percentages could even be lowered after
consultation with stakeholders in the industry. "The ownership levels are
presumably one of the items available for consultation and so they probably
represent the maximum the Government would seek to achieve," said Numis,
"After the period of rumour and uncertainty, substantive proposals for
negotiation are a positive development."

Aquarius is not the only company with interests in Zimbabwe. Anglo Platinum
and Impala Platinum, the world's two largest platinum producers, also have
operations and proposed projects in the country. So, too, does Rio Tinto,
the diversified mining house.

Les Paton, an executive director at Impala, told Mineweb that his company's
special agreement signed with government a few years ago, requires a 15
percent black economic empowerment participation.

He says the company has been in discussions with Zimbabwe's Nkuleko
consortium for three years regarding its participation and that the proposal
released on Wednesday "reflect the BEE component going forward."
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Reporters without Borders

In latest move against press freedom, Mugabe regime imposes news blackout on
opposition

After years of hounding the independent press, Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe is
increasingly establishing itself as one of the African countries that places
the most curbs on its population's right to information, Reporters Without
Borders said today.

The press freedom organisation said it was particularly alarmed by
information minister Jonathan Moyo's warning during a provincial tour on 3
October that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will be
denied access to the state media although general elections are to be held
next year. "Unless and until we have a loyal opposition, it will not be
possible for them to access the public media," Moyo said.

Reporters Without Borders said : "A leading member of the government who has
gone so far to describe foreign journalists as 'terrorists' has yet against
shown that Zimbabwe is now in a phase of all-out censorship."

"By banning the MDC from access to the public media, the information
minister has demonstrated that the official press has been reduced to the
role of government mouthpiece," the organisation continued. "As for the few
Zimbabwean journalists bold enough to show signs of independence, they are
systematically hounded by the police or judicial apparatus even if, by
peacefully resisting a dictatorial government, they achieve some victories
which we salute."

Reporters Without Borders said it called on South Africa, one of the last
countries still able to talk to the Zimbabwean government, to ask it to at
least respect its own international undertakings.

Harare has ratified the protocol on the principles and guidelines governing
democratic elections in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Yet the minister's announcement violates article 2.1.5 of the protocol,
guaranteeing 'equal opportunity for all political parties to access the
public media'.

"It goes without saying that banishing the opposition from the public media,
threatening remarks and judicial harassment of the independent press
constitute serious violations of Zimbabwe's public undertakings towards its
partners in southern Africa," Reporters Without Borders said.

Hounded for saying the truth

President Mugabe's right-hand man, Moyo, was already responsible for
drafting a draconian press law in 2002. In May of this year, he described
foreign correspondents as "terrorists" and then got the daily The Herald to
dismiss three of its journalists who also worked for Voice of America (VOA)
on the grounds that they posed a "national security threat."

On 1 October, Moyo made threatening remarks about journalists who contribute
to foreign news media and who, he said, were "ready to be used by colonial
forces to destroy the country by reporting lies".

Zimbabwe's independent press meanwhile struggles to continue publishing
although the authorities do everything possible to reduce it to silence.

After interminable procedures were used to force the Daily News to stop
publishing, the newspaper fought back with a judicial guerrilla war it seems
close to winning. Now it is the privately-owned Zimbabwe Independent's turn
to be attacked by Moyo. Three of its journalists - editor Vincent Kahiya,
reporter Augustine Mukaro and publishing group director Raphael Kumalo -
were detained on 23 September and accused of abusing press privileges.

They were held for a day after the newspaper ran a story on 30 July saying
the two court assessors in the trial of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
had asked for the verdict to be delayed so that they could give their
opinion on Judge Paddington Garwe's decision. Tsvangirai, the leader of the
MDC, is accused of plotting to assassinate President Mugabe. The verdict has
indeed been postponed until 15 October.

Kahiya, along with reporters Dumisani Muleya and Itai Dzamara and former
managing editor Iden Wetherell, was previously arrested on 10 January and
held for several days on Moyo's orders after running a story about President
Mugabe's "grabbing" of an Air Zimbabwe jet for a holiday and business trip
to Asia.

Moyo was publicly criticised by eminent Zimbabwean lawyer Edith Mushore, who
told a magistrate's court on 1 October that he had been "overzealous" in his
reaction to the Air Zimbabwe report and could have caused an "embarrassment
to the president." Moyo effectively confirmed that the report was true but
had insisted that, if not "defamatory," it was at the very least
"blasphemous."
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Bloomberg

      Zimbabwe Scales Back Plan for Impala, Rio Mine Sales
      Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe scaled back plans to force the world's
largest platinum producers to sell assets to black investors, seven months
after opposition from mining companies prompted Robert Mugabe's government
to abandon a bigger sale.

      Companies led by Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the world's No. 2
platinum miner and top foreign investor in Zimbabwe, would have to sell 30
percent of their Zimbabwe assets to ``historically disadvantaged
individuals'' within 10 years, according to a proposal from the Harare-based
Ministry of Mines obtained by Bloomberg News. Twenty percent stakes would be
sold in the first two years.

      The government in March withdrew a plan to force a sale of as much as
49 percent of the mines in the southern African nation, which holds the
world's second-largest platinum reserves after South Africa. Mugabe, who has
led Zimbabwe's government since independence in 1980, needs investors after
the economy collapsed following his government's seizure of white-owned
commercial farms.

      ``A lot of people have been factoring in the worst,'' said Darryll
Castle, who helps manage $30 billion, including Impala shares, at Stanlib
Asset Management in Johannesburg. ``This might clear the path'' for further
investments by Impala, he said.

      Impala's Growth

      Impala, based in Houghton, South Africa, is relying on Zimbabwe for
growth after production peaked at its South Africa mines. The company may
spend much as $750 million to expand mines in Zimbabwe within seven years,
Finance Director David Brown said by telephone from Frankfurt.

      ``Zimbabwe is a very big part of Impala's future,'' said Sandy
McGregor, who helps manage about $12 billion at Allan Gray Asset Management
in Cape Town. Impala expects its Zimbabwean mines to produce 610,000 ounces,
or 22 percent of the company's total, by 2014, up from 138,000 ounces, or 7
percent.

      Impala shares gained 1.01 rand, or 0.2 percent, to 523.01 rand in
Johannesburg. The stock has slumped 9.8 percent this year, valuing Impala at
about 35 billion rand ($5.4 billion). Of 13 analysts covering the stock, six
have ``buy'' and seven have ``hold'' recommendations.

      Other companies with operations in Zimbabwe include London-based Rio
Tinto Plc, the world's third-largest mining company, Anglo American Platinum
Corp., the world's largest platinum producer, and Aquarius Platinum Ltd.,
based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Impala's mines are the biggest new investments
in Zimbabwe since the turn of the century.

      The government's proposed targets are ``achievable'' but ``subject to
funding availability'', Aquarius said in an e-mailed statement.

      Growing Demand

      Demand for platinum, mainly used in catalytic converters to reduce
vehicle emissions and in jewelry, has exceeded supply for the past five
years, according to top platinum distributor Johnson Matthey Plc. Platinum
for immediate delivery was up $4.50, or 0.5 percent, to $844 an ounce in
London at 2:20 p.m. It reached a six- week high of $876.50 on Sept. 28.

      The economy of Zimbabwe, which lies between South Africa and Zambia,
has contracted by two-fifths since 1999, according to the International
Monetary Fund. Annual inflation was at 314.4 percent in August, after
reaching 622.8 percent in January. Zimbabwe's main industries are tobacco,
gold and manufacturing, the World Bank said.

      Zimbabwe's tobacco crop, its biggest foreign-exchange earner until
last year, has shrunk to its smallest in 33 years after commercial farmers
were driven off their land. This year's expected harvest is about 65.5
million kilograms, auctioneer Tobacco Sales Floors Ltd. said on Aug. 31,
down from a record 237 million kilograms in 2000.

      Elections Coming

      The mine plan comes before parliamentary elections Mugabe has called
for March next year. His seizure of farms won him support from rural black
Zimbabweans before elections in 2000 and 2002, when he faced his biggest
ever opposition challenge. During 90 years of colonial rule, black
Zimbabweans were dispossessed of the best farm land and largely barred from
investing in businesses such as mining.

      The proposal to sell mines is ``meant for internal discussion only,''
Harry Nyamayaro, Zimbabwe's acting permanent secretary for mines, said in a
phone interview from the capital of Harare. He referred questions to Tinaye
Chigudu, the permanent secretary for mines, who was out of the country and
couldn't be reached.

      South Africa passed similar laws in May. Companies operating in South
Africa are forced to sell 26 percent of their mines to black investors by
2014 to make reparations for almost five decades of apartheid, which ended
in 1994.

      ``The bigger the percentage numbers they mention, the harder these
deals will be to fund,'' Impala's Brown said of Zimbabwe's proposal.

      `Difficult Financing'

      A 30 percent stake in Zimplats would cost a new investor as much as
1.5 billion rand, said Brenton Saunders, head of equities research At
Deutsche Securities in Johannesburg.

      ``Financing this size of deal in Zimbabwe would be incredibly
difficult,'' he said.

      Aquarius, Zimbabwe's second-largest platinum producer, is considering
a $50 million project to double output at its Mimosa mine. It would only go
ahead if there is ``certainty'' about mine ownership, Chief Executive Stuart
Murray said in a Sept.6 interview.

      The forced sales proposed by the Zimbabwean government are ``somewhat
achievable'', said Mike Mtakati, a spokesman for Anglo Platinum. The company
expects to begin production at its Unke platinum mine, which will cost $92
million to dig, by 2008.

      Rio Tinto plans to start up its Murowa diamond mine this year. Rio
Tinto hasn't seen the Zimbabwe proposal, spokeswoman Lisa Cullimore said by
phone.

      ``Until it's official, we won't comment,'' she said. ``If it becomes
law in Zimbabwe then we would comply.''
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Daily News online edition

      Defence forces must be loyal to all the people

      Date:7-Oct, 2004

      CONSTANTINE Chiwenga, the commander of the defence forces, is a war
veteran; so were Vitalis Zvinavashe and Solomon Tapfumaneyi Mujuru.

      Josiah Tungamirai and Perence Shiri are war veterans.

      The defence forces of Zimbabwe have been headed by war veterans since
independence. This is not surprising since independence resulted from a
liberation war, in which all these people played a key role.

      But this is not a military government. The commander-in-chief of the
defence forces is a civilian, President Robert Mugabe.

      He was the political leader of the Zanla forces, as Joshua Nkomo was
the leader of the Zipra forces. But as the leaders of Zanu PF and PF Zapu
both men took part in the first elections which led to independence.

      Since then, there have been presidential and parliamentary elections
in which the defence forces were not constitutionally involved.

      But before the 2002 presidential elections, the defence forces
declared their loyalty to Zanu PF and its leader. In essence, they abused
their neutral role in the politics of the country.

      There must be very few countries in the world which profess to be
democratic, but allow the defence forces, whose loyalty should be to all the
people, to state publicly that if so-and-so is not elected president, then
they would not recognise whoever is selected in their place.

      But the voters of Zimbabwe, as courageous as they were during the
liberation war when they lent their absolute support to the freedom
fighters, voted in very large numbers for Morgan Tsvangirai, the man the
defence forces had warned them against voting.

      Mugabe was declared the winner, by a whisker, according to some
analysts. But nobody can doubt that the threats from the defence forces
influenced a large number of voters.

      Apart from the violence unleashed against the opposition during the
campaign in that election, there was the threat of the defence forces.

      Today, a few months before the next parliamentary elections in March,
we have Chiwenga repeating the threat - vote for Zanu PF or there will be a
military coup.

      If the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) is serious in
calling for uniform electoral guidelines for member-states, it will ask
Mugabe and his government to repudiate Chiwenga's public statement.

      There should be a categorical repudiation of that statement if Sadc is
to be taken seriously by the people of Zimbabwe.

      The fact is that Zanu PF is aware of its lack of support among the
voters, most of them young and eager for change.

      The party is using every underhand method to frighten the voters. But
as they did in the 2002 presidential election, the people could still be
undeterred.

      There is always the chance that because such an election would be a
total farce in political terms, a boycott could be an option.

      Zimbabwe would then be headed for a political Armageddon. - Editorial

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IOL

Harare: Muharukua died from brain disease
          October 06 2004 at 08:07PM

      Harare - The Zimbabwe government said on Wednesday that a South
African man serving a prison sentence in connection with a coup plot in
oil-rich Equatorial Guinea died in a Harare hospital after a bout of
meningitis.

      Ngave Jarukemo Muharukua, 35, who was serving a one-year sentence, was
admitted to the intensive care unit at a Harare hospital on Sunday suffering
from meningitis and died the following day, said Zimbabwe's information
department.

      The prisoner had first complained of nose bleeds and dizziness on
September 9 and was examined by a prison medical officer before being taken
to a hospital ward in the top security Chikurubi prison.

      "His condition worsened on October 2, 2004 and he was referred to
Harare Central Hospital," said the statement.

      "He was admitted at Harare Central Hospital Intensive Care Unit on
October 3, 2004 suffering from clinical meningitis" and died the following
day, the statement said.

      Meningitis is an infectious disease that causes inflammation around
the brain and spinal cord.

      A post mortem is to be carried out to establish the exact cause of
death, the statement added.

      Earlier on Wednesday the South African government announced that it
was investigating the death of Muharukua.

      "We are in the process of investigating the circumstances leading to
his death," said foreign ministry spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa in Pretoria.

      The deceased was one of 70 men arrested at Harare International
Airport in March when a plane they were travelling on stopped to pick up
weapons from the state arms manufacturer.

      Almost all of the men were last month sentenced to prison terms
ranging from one to seven years for violating Zimbabwean immigration,
firearms and aviation laws.

      Two of the men were acquitted but 67, including the deceased, got
prison terms of between 12 and 16 months for breaching immigration laws.

      Their leader and former British special services operative Simon Mann
was sentenced to seven years in jail for attempting to illegally purchase
weapons.

      Zimbabwean authorities accused them of being on their way to depose
the government of Tedoro Obiang Nguema, the longtime president of oil-rich
Equatorial Guinea.

      The men denied the charges and claimed they were on their way to
protect diamond mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

      The alleged coup plot has embroiled some high-profile names including
Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

      Mark Thatcher, who lives in South Africa, is facing charges of
financing the alleged coup plot. - Sapa-AFP
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 5 October

An alien in Jozi

Everjoice Win

'You are so lucky! Oh I wish I was in your shoes, leaving this dreadful
country and its problems. I wish I could fit in your suitcase!" So they all
said to me. My friends, my family, colleagues in the office, complete
strangers at Harare airport immigration. I smiled. I have no words for them
because I have been out of the country on long stays twice before. I know
what it's like. It is my first day in South Africa and not my lucky day. The
fellow at customs orders me to open my baggage. He searches . very ... very
slowly. Then he walks away from me, leaving my stuff strewn all over the
counter. I repack with tears blinding me. In Johannesburg now and I still
don't feel so lucky out on a short trip to buy fruit and vegetables. A South
African police car stops right in front of me. I almost fall into it. "Come
here!" the white officer barks at me. I move towards him, while the black
officer jumps out from the other side to come to me. "ID," the white officer
demands. As I hand it to him, he turns away, motions for me to give it to
the black cop who grabs it and roughly flips through it. "What you want
here? When will you go back to Zimbabwe?" he barks. I am not sure how to
answer this question. Does he mean what do I want at Dunkeld West shopping
centre? Or does he mean what do I want in South Africa? I point at my
two-year visitor's visa. "This not working permit. Sisi, not working permit.
Get working permit or we deport you. You hear me?" he asks. I can hear him
too loud and too clear. I can feel him too. So menacingly close to my chest.

I feel much luckier later in the day, when a taxi driver asks me where I am
from. When I tell him, he gives me R10. "Don't worry my sister, you will
defeat him [Robert Mugabe] like we defeated the Boers. Here is a little
something for you. Go well, my sister." Luck doesn't seem to stay with me
long. I am in a supermarket. Surrounded by what appears to be the entire
management of the chain. I am being questioned intensely about the origins
of my rand-denominated travellers' cheques, what am I doing here? I try to
explain that these are from a local bank. They are legal tender. Nobody is
convinced. They reject them. "We have had a lot of problems with many Nig
... I mean people from Africa. Just get proper cash," says the manager.
Nigerians, that is what she was about to say. That's the collective name for
those of us who are a different species from across the Limpopo. Nothing
much has changed since I lived here back in 1999. Occasionally, my sojourn
in South Africa makes me feel like an unhappily married woman returning to a
union she is not wanted in. I really can't believe my ears, when my own
mouth proclaims loudly, "I am doing this for the sake of my children. They
will be better off. They will at least have a more normal childhood." There
are some good things about my new life in Jozi. Joy of all joys, I am able
to listen to the radio. (I couldn't at home because it's all state-run and
mostly propaganda.) The same goes for television and newspapers. My Sundays
fly past as I devour all the papers. Can someone remind me how I ever
survived without a daily newspaper? I'm afraid the state-run Herald didn't
cut it.

Political exile. Economic exile. Company transfer. There are so many words
to describe why you left your home. I feel all the dislocation of the
emigrant. As I walk past happy South Africans having Saturday brunch, a
group of men playing chess on the street and listen to their conversations,
I am depressed and angry. I am here and yet I am not here. In moments like
these I clip on my headphones and listen to one of our exiled singers,
Lovemore Majaivana, "Umoya wami bo, ausekho lapha . ngisakhe ngikhumbule
ekhaya . Ngabe bona basakhela amafekithali . ukuthi siyesebenza, Gijima
gijima mfana, uyetshela abadala, ukuthi mina ngithe ah ah." "My heart is not
in this place . I am thinking of home . If only they [our leaders], could
build us factories, then we could work, Run, run young man, go tell the old
men, . I said no." I am a fish out of water, not a lucky fish.
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politics.co.uk

      Ancram - Straw guilty of spineless betrayal on Zimbabwe

      Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram has accused the Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw of "spineless betrayal" of the people of Zimbabwe.
Speaking to the Conservative Party conference, Mr Ancram told delegates
that: "While Mugabe continues to torture, to murder and to demolish
democracy and the rule of law, Straw's response is that the suffering
Zimbabwean people must find their own salvation. What a spineless betrayal."

      Mr Ancram went on to promise that: "Within two weeks of taking office
I will table a Security Council resolution to send monitors and observers
into Zimbabwe to protect against Mugabe's brutality and to help restore
democracy and the rule of law."
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DEFENCE FOR CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL

September 30, 2004

Dear Ms. Williams and WOZA Sisters,

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Defence for Children International
Canada we want to express our strong support for your WOZA march from
Bulawayo to the Zimbabwe Parliament in Harare in protest of the proposed NGO
Bill to limit funding for the human rights work of Non Government
Organizations in Zimbabwe.

We learned yesterday of the arrest of the WOZA women marchers as they neared
Harare. We understand all but 4 of the 62 sisters were in custody. Today we
learned of the arrest of the remaining few. We condemn this arrest of
peaceful women marchers.

We want to assure you of support from Canada against both the oppressive
measures of the WOZA arrests and the proposed legislation to prevent NGO
human rights work.

Canada, the International Community, the UN, the UA and SADC are well aware
that the government of Zimbabwe has benefited by millions of dollars saved
through NGO assistance in social services and health care and are aware of
the multitudes of Zimbabweans being assisted.

DCI Canada is particularly concerned of 1) the effect of these arrests about
the intimidation of children when they learn their sisters and mothers may
not speak out in their own land and 2) the decrease in the funding of
services from international sources to NGO's which will result in suffering
and death to children.

WOZA is right to draw attention to legislation which would limit NGO
effectiveness.

We support your march and condemn your arrest.

Please be assured someone has heard you!

Sincerely,

Agnes Samler                Les Horne
President                       Executive Director

CANADA
25 Spadina Road
Toronto, Ontario
Phone & Fax: 416 907-7432
M5R 2S9
email:dci-canada@sympatico.ca

**************************************************************

Ms. Jenni Williams and Sisters
Women of Zimbabwe Arise
P/O. Box FM 701
Famona, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Woza@mango.zw

Wozazimbabwe@yahoo.ca
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WOZA update:

Confirmed numbers arrested Tuesday 5th and held at Harare Central
49 women
a 2 year old child
3 journalists

Solidarity meeting outside central at 5 pm today.

While we managed to get food to the political prisoners yesterday and at 6
am today, police are refusing to handover food we delivered at lunchtime. No
idea why not! It is obviously an attempt to harass and intimidate the
prisoners and to ensure that their detention is as unpleasant as possible.
They are been held in the cells in cramped conditions.

Support those who have the courage to stand up to tyranny

regards

Mike

Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 2:13 AM
Subject: WOZA update

3 journos released at 5.30 pm
WOZA women still inside but we managed to get food to them tonight

Mike

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Kubatana
 

Zimbabwe under siege: A Canadian civil society perspective
Zimbabwe Reference Group
September 2004

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000928/index.php

Executive summary
In late May and early June 2004, representatives from the Zimbabwe Reference Group (ZimRef), a coalition of Canadian civil society organisations, went to South Africa and Zimbabwe with two objectives in mind:

The main findings of the mission can be summarized as follows:

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