U N I T E D  N A T I O N S 
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa

Tel: +27 11 880 4633 
Fax: +27 11 447 5472 
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 14
1-7 April 2000



CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Political tension rises
ZIMBABWE: Impact on elections
ZIMBABWE: Obasanjo to mediate
ZIMBABWE: South Africa concerned
ANGOLA: Journalists convicted
ANGOLA: Dispute over diamond marketing
ANGOLA: IMF agreement
ZAMBIA: Copper mines sold   
ZAMBIA: World Bank loan
ZAMBIA: More troops for Angola border
LESOTHO: Inquiry into political violence
SOUTHERN AFRICA:  Floods report
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Crop outlook
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Risk survey
SOUTH AFRICA: Free drugs for HIV patients 

ZIMBABWE: Political tension rises

Political tension rose in Zimbabwe this week following an attack on an
opposition march at the weekend by government supporters and the continued
occupation of white-owned farms by war veterans.

In the most serious incident since government supporters began invading
white owned farms more than six weeks ago, a policeman was shot and killed,
on Tuesday, apparently by squatters, at a farm in Marondera, some 70 km from
the capital Harare.

On Thursday Zimbabwe's parliament passed a bill empowering the government to
seize land without compensation. 

The government has threatened to impose a state of emergency in the run-up
to legislative elections next month, but has blamed the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) for the unrest. Home Affairs Minister Dumiso
Dabengwa said this week that  he was "urgently considering various strict
measures to deal with public demonstrations until the completion of
elections."

Opposition leaders this week warned that growing "state-sponsored anarchy"
threatened Zimbabwe's stability. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai told IRIN that
"state-sponsored violence was being encouraged by the ruling party, and the
police seem to be totally helpless in the situation." He said he was writing
to President Robert Mugabe to stress that the government was responsible for
maintaining law and order. "Sadly the police are getting instructions from
the politicians and are not following the law."

Meanwhile, there is concern in Zimbabwe that the military could intervene to
forestall a situation that threatens the regime, analysts said. 

"My view is if there is a change of government, the military chiefs would
not sit well with a new political leadership," Executive Director of
Zimbabwe's Centre for Defence Studies, Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Rupiya,
told IRIN. The army could intervene "not only to protect the president, but
to protect themselves as well." 

He pointed out that liberation war veterans, leading a campaign of farm
invasions, have threatened to go back to the bush and fight should the
government lose the May legislative elections. "The party hierarchy seems to
have almost welcomed those comments," Rupiya said.

According to Brian Raftopoulos of the Centre for Development Studies in
Harare, an "army backlash" could be expected in a situation of political
turmoil. "If the opposition emerges strong (from the elections) they would
stay out of it. But if there is a situation of a political vacuum they could
step in," he told IRIN. "This transition is all important in keeping the
army out of politics, it must be done in an orderly way."

ZIMBABWE: Impact on elections

The London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, reporting on the "disastrous"
international impact of the land invasions, said: "There are worries also
that the war veterans intend to stay on the farms until the elections,
thereby intimidating voters into supporting the ruling party."

Church groups and business leaders have called on the government to end the
violence to allow free and fair elections. The Evangelical Fellowship of
Zimbabwe warned: "Unless the government upholds the rule of law by bringing
to book those who practice all forms of violence, the nation will slide into
anarchy."

ZIMBABWE: Obasanjo to mediate 

President Robert Mugabe said this week that Nigerian leader Olusegun
Obasanjo had been asked to mediate between Zimbabwe and Britain over the
land reform issue. The state news agency ZIANA quoted Mugabe as saying that
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook had proposed that Obasanjo be asked to
diffuse rising tension between the two countries. "He (Cook) had met with Mr
Obasanjo and other presidents and asked Obasanjo to assist in the relations
between us and Britain," ZIANA quoted Mugabe as saying.
 
Meanwhile, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe calling him a "caricature" of an African leader
"He's almost a caricature of all the things people think black African
leaders do. He seems to be wanting to make a cartoon of himself," Tutu was
quoted as saying.  "I know that when he joined the struggle he was an
idealistic man. Now I think he's become increasingly insecure, and because
he's insecure he's hitting out," Tutu said. "One just wants to weep, it's
very sad."

ZIMBABWE: South Africa concerned

The South African Chamber of Commerce (SACOB) said that political unrest in
Zimbabwe had contributed to a decline in South African business confidence
in March for a second consecutive month. Reuters reported SACOB chief
executive Kevin Wakeford as saying: "If Zimbabwe is propelled into the
international news agenda because of its government's scant regard for human
and property rights as well as the rule of law, its neighbours will
inevitably be painted with the same brush." 

For more detailed reports on the crisis in Zimbabwe, go to:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/safp.htm

ANGOLA: Journalists convicted
 
Angolan journalists Rafael Marques and Aguiar dos Santos, editor of an
independent weekly newspaper, were convicted last Friday over charges of
slandering President Jose Eduardo dos Santos in articles published last
year. 

Marques was sentenced to six months imprisonment and fined the equivalent of
US $16,000. Aguiar dos Santos was jailed for two months and fined US $6,000.
However, both journalists were released on bail pending the outcome of
appeals to the Supreme Court on their convictions. Antonio Freitas, a
journalist with the independent weekly 'Agora' was acquitted on the charges.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Wednesday wrote a protest
letter to  Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos objecting to the arrest
and conviction of two journalists on charges of defaming the head of state
and the attorney-general. 

ANGOLA: Dispute over diamond marketing
 
The South African diamond giant De Beers, and the Angolan government were
reported to be engaged in a fresh dispute this week over marketing rights
for Angolan diamonds.

The issue was highlighted by the seizure in Antwerp in recent days of two
consignments of rough gems from Ascorp, a rival to De Beers. De Beers
successfully applied for a court order for their seizure by Belgian
authorities.  

De Beers spokeswoman Tracey Peterson told IRIN the legal action had been
taken because the company has a valid contract with the government to market
Angolan diamonds.
 
"Our contract is still valid and we are arguing in the courts that we have
the right to buy those diamonds. Ascorp have also signed an agreement with
the Angolan government, and we have sought legal advice and put this process
in place because we want to protect our contract," she said. 

ANGOLA: IMF agreement 

Angola has signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
which will allow it to implement broad economic reforms. The agreement
signed earlier this week is said to include slashing state spending,
expansion of investment on infrastructure and welfare, liberalising foreign
trade and speeding up the privatisation of certain state assets. 

ZAMBIA: Copper mines sold 

The government-owned Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) and the mining
giant Anglo American have signed an agreement transferring ownership of 70
percent of ZCCM's mines to the South African conglomerate. 

According to the agreement signed last Friday, Anglo's subsidiary, Zambia
Copper Investments (ZCI) has acquired the mines through its new company, the
Konkola Copper Mines plc (KCM) in which ZCI holds a 65 percent stake and
ZCCM 20 percent. A 7.5 percent interest each is held by the World Bank's
International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Commonwealth Development
Corporation's Financial Services. 

The transferred mines are the Konkola division. They include the Konkola
Deep Mining project, the Nchanga division with its Chingola refractory ore
stockpiles, the Nampundwe pyrite mine, as well as the infrastructure
associated with the mines. The sale of the ZCCM mines brings to conclusion
years of negotiation on the privatisation of the mines, which was
characterised, by suspended negotiations and disagreements over the terms of
sale between ZCCM and Angolo American.

The acquisition of 70 percent of ZCCM assets will have a positive effect of
unlocking resources to recapitalise the mines, trade union sources told
IRIN. 

An official of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) said many of the local
suppliers to the mines had not been paid over the last two years because
ZCCM did not have the money to meet its obligations. "We hope this
uncertainty will be over once the new owners move in and unlock resources to
recapitalise the mines, thereby removing the uncertainty about the
operations," said the official.

ZAMBIA: World Bank loan

The World Bank has given Zambia a loan of about US $63 million. The loan is
part of the bank's balance of payments support to Zambia and is intended to
assist the government with its economic reforms. "The credit was
specifically designed to assist the government in the restructuring and
reform of its public sector, especially in the reform of pay levels and
improving of management controls," Finance Minister, Katele Kalumba said.

ZAMBIA: More troops for Angola border 

Zambia has sent more troops to its border with Angola. President Frederick
Chiluba said that Zambia had reinforced the troops along the border because
it "did not want people to live in fear". He also said Zambia was ready to
defend herself and would not tolerate any attacks. "Our policy is to be
friendly with all our neighbours but if we are attacked we'll attack back,"
he said. "If in defending ourselves we kill some people God will forgive
us."

LESOTHO: Inquiry into political violence

Lesotho on Monday announced the establishment of a commission of inquiry
into the 1998 political violence, which devastated the tiny kingdom and led
to military intervention by South Africa and Botswana.  

The commission will identify the instigators and causes of the political
turmoil and instability in the kingdom between July and November 1998,
Deputy Prime Minister Kelebone Maope told the national assembly. It has also
been mandated to examine whether there was a conspiracy to destabilise and
overthrow the government of Lesotho. 

The commission - comprising three South African judges who sit in the
Lesotho Court of Appeal - is due to start its investigations on 25 April and
complete its work within at least one and a half months, Maope said. 

SOUTHERN AFRICA:  Floods report

As cyclone Hudha was poised to hit Mozambique at the weekend, a senior UN
official told IRIN that the devastation it had wrought in Madagascar this
week was the worst he had ever seen.

In one of the first eye-witness accounts by a senior humanitarian official,
Dr Sergio Soro, the UNICEF Representative in Madagascar, told IRIN on that
cyclone Hudah had wrought "devastating and dramatic damage" in northeast
Madagascar this week. The cyclone, which swept through the northeast part of
the island on Sunday, was "one of the most powerful yet experienced in this
part of the Indian Ocean", he added.

Meanwhile, as the United States announced that it was sending two disaster
relief teams to Mozambique, WFP spokeswoman Aya Schneorson told IRIN that
the emergency in Mozambique "was far from over" and that situation still
remained "very serious". 

"It is very important to remember that we still have an emergency on our
hands. There are still tens of thousands of people in displaced camps whom
we have to take care of and the present weather conditions are not making
our jobs any easier," Schneorson said.

Mozambican disaster management authorities said Thursday that the new storm
could affect up to 400,000 people in the northern Nampula and Zambezia
Provinces. It issued a warning to people to stay indoors, to stay away from
power lines and to secure their possessions.

For more detailed reports on the floods go to:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/safp.htm

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Crop outlook

Southern Africa's crop production prospects are "generally satisfactory"
despite the recent flooding in large parts of the region, the UN's Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said in its latest update. 

The FAO said that the food supply situation in Angola remained "very
serious" and that emergency food aid was needed for Angolan refugees in
Zambia and Namibia. 

It added that a joint FAO/WFP Food Supply Assessment Mission planned to
visit Angola in mid April to review the harvest, assess the food supply
situation and estimate the cereal import requirements, including food aid,
for next year.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Risk survey

Botswana scores lowest on security risk and Malawi the highest in the latest
survey on three southern African countries by the Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU). 

On a scale of A (the lowest risk) to E (the highest risk) Botswana scores an
overall B, according to the EIU. Its political risk is however pegged at a
C, down from a B rating awarded last month. "Volatile regional conditions
may threaten Botswana's political stability," the EIU said. It noted that
Namibian refugees are fleeing across the border as the Angolan civil war
spreads, border tensions with Namibia may resurface, and "instability in
Zimbabwe also poses a risk". 

SOUTH AFRICA: Free drugs for HIV patients 

Pfizer, the international pharmaceutical company, said this week that it has
made an offer to the South African government to provide free drugs to poor
AIDS/HIV patients. 

Thabi Nyide, associate director for corporate affairs of Pfizer-South Africa
told IRIN on Tuesday that the offer involved one specific drug, Diflucan,
which is used to treat AIDS patients suffering from cryptococcal meningitis.
"This offer is an over time donation in that it does have a time limit on
it," Nyide told IRIN. She added that the details of Pfizer's offer still had
to be discussed with the department of health. "We have sent a letter
through to the department outlining our proposal and we now are waiting for
their response."

Johannesburg, 7 April, 12:00 GMT


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Fax: +2711 447 5472
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za 


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