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 11 880 1421 e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.zaSOUTHERN AFRICA IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 16 15-21 April 2000
CONTENTS: ZIMBABWE: International reaction to the crisis ZIMBABWE: Farm worker's body found ZIMBABWE: Political crisis continues ZIMBABWE: Mugabe at the helm ZIMBABWE: Media accused of incitement ANGOLA: New UN mechanism to monitor sanctions ANGOLA: Tightening UN sanctions ANGOLA: WFP flights to Kuito not suspended MADAGASCAR: Aid funding shortfall MOZAMBIQUE: More aid needed ZAMBIA: Malnutrition on the rise ZAMBIA: Soldiers seek asylum MALAWI: Privatisation on track MALAWI: Poll results case back in court SOUTH AFRICA-NIGERIA: Military relationship SOUTH AFRICA: Land reform ZIMBABWE: International reaction to the crisis Zimbabwe hosts regional talks on Friday on the country's escalating land crisis and the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). President Robert Mugabe has invited the leaders of South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia to the resort town of Victoria Falls to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe, which has drawn international condemnation over the government's refusal to reign-in war veterans who have conducted a campaign of political violence in the countryside. US White House press spokesman Joe Lockhart, commenting on the Victoria Falls meeting, said on Friday he was "confident" that regional leaders are "aware of our position and the international community's position" on the situation in Zimbabwe. He refused to be drawn on what communications had passed between the US government and Zimbabwe's neighbours. Ugandan, Angolan and Rwandan heads of state, along with DRC rebels, are also to attend as part of separate talks on the recent Congo ceasefire. That meeting would form the focus of the summit, regional officials insisted. Meanwhile, in a rare comment on the situation in Zimbabwe, South African President Thabo Mbeki was quoted in 'The Star' on Thursday as saying: "This land question is an important question, and it must be addressed, but done in a manner that doesn't produce instability. That is the general view in the region." On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament that the recent attacks on white farmers were "barbaric" and that the situation in Zimbabwe, was "totally and utterly unacceptable." UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also voiced his concern over the situation, and reportedly telephoned Mugabe on Tuesday. UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said: "We do continue to view this as a domestic matter, but I can say that the United Nations deplores the violence in Zimbabwe. We've been monitoring the situation for a while and will continue to monitor it closely. We believe that the differences over land reform should be settled by peaceful and constitutional means." ZIMBABWE: Farm worker's body found The death toll in Zimbabwe's farm violence rose with the discovery of the body of a farm worker on Thursday who had been missing since Saturday. The body was found on the same farm in Marondera on which a white farmer was killed. The discovery brings the number of fatalities since the land invasions began in February to four, Reuters reported. ZIMBABWE: Political crisis continues As Zimbabwe celebrated 20 years of independence this week, celebrations were marred by the ongoing political crisis and farm violence that has gripped the country in recent weeks. In his speech to the nation on Tuesday night President Robert Mugabe said that he was seeking "to reach an understanding" with the predominantly white Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) over the occupation of their land by war veterans and supporters of his ruling ZANU-PF party. Mugabe stopped short of ordering the veterans and party supporters off an estimated 600 farms they have occupied since February. Speaking on state television late Wednesday after meeting separately with leaders of the veterans and the CFU, he said: "There will be no withdrawal in the meantime. I am happy that these meetings were held. It has created an atmosphere of understanding even though there may not have been the necessary solution on both sides." The CFU told IRIN it had started evacuating farmers from occupied lands in the southern Matabeleland Province following the shooting of a farmer on Tuesday at a property outside the country's second city, Bulawayo. This was the second killing of a farmer in as many days. For more detailed reports on the farm violence and the independence celebrations go to: ZIMBABWE: Mugabe at the helm Political opponents of President Robert Mugabe and human rights activists this week accused his ruling ZANU-PF party of waging a countrywide campaign of intimidation. "The human rights situation in this country has never been as bad as it is right now," Bidi Munyaradzi, director of ZimRights told IRIN. "It is really quite frightening the way his ruling ZANU-PF people have gone all out to harass and intimidate the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)." MDC officials said they feared Mugabe would use the showdown over the occupation of white farms by independence war veterans to declare a state of emergency. "But this is unlikely as long as he feels he has the upper hand, and right now he has all the cards," Munyaradzi said. Jonathan Moyo, chief strategist of the ruling ZANU-PF party insisted that there was no intimidation, and that the election would go ahead next month. The reports of violence, he added, had been "hyped" by the international media. "So this talk of a state of emergency is absolute nonsense, and the way they (the opposition) are dealing with it is to create chaos." ZIMBABWE: Media accused of incitement The latest report by Zimbabwe's independent Media Monitoring Project (MMPZ) warns of declining standards in political reporting by the public media. "Where once they might have been described as biased they now function as little more than propagandists," the update said. "The public media on occasions crossed the line from inadequate reporting into near-incitement. On 12 April, for example, a television report alleging (opposition) MDC violence carried irrelevant pictures of the liberation struggle showing white Rhodesian soldiers handling the dead bodies of black Zimbabweans," it said. It also listed examples of allegedly inaccurate stories, a lack of analysis of the unfolding political crisis, while "anti-MDC items" are reported "with gusto". As one example of skewered reporting, the MMPZ said the killing of two MDC officials at the weekend in a petrol bomb attack "merited 10 seconds" on the television news. Meanwhile, the journalist watchdog Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) has written to Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa to express concern at the "deterioration in press freedom" and to urge him to ensure "that journalists can work freely and safely in Zimbabwe". RSF said that journalists have been "physically or verbally attacked" by government supporters in the conduct of their duties. ANGOLA: New UN mechanism to monitor sanctions The UN Security Council this week approved a new sanctions monitoring mechanism for Angola and warned countries that have violated embargoes against UNITA rebels they may face penalties. The Security Council resolution 1295 passed on Tuesday requests the Secretary-General to establish a monitoring mechanism of up to five experts to further investigate violations of the arms and fuel embargo on UNITA, and the ban on rebel diamond sales. The new team, following on from the work of a Panel of Experts set up last year, is to sit for six months and present a report on improving the sanctions regime against UNITA by 18 October. Alex Vines of Human Rights Watch, the civil liberties group that has monitored sanctions, said the "period of grace" before the Security Council reviewed compliance was a "compromise". However, he told IRIN: "It's useful to have a period for further investigation and reflection into those countries named and shamed. The resolution clearly says they are not off the hook." To view the text of Security Council Resolution 1295 visit: ANGOLA: Tightening UN sanctions The civil liberties group Human Rights Watch has made a number of recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the sanctions regime. In a briefing paper released on Monday, Human Rights Watch said the Panel's findings "includes an imaginative set of recommendations and some weighty new information on embargo violations". However, "the Experts Panel suffered from the lack of a centralised office to coordinate its work; the failure to involve Interpol in its efforts; and the failure of member states to share intelligence with the panel". Human Rights Watch report on UNITA sanctions-busting at: http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/angola ANGOLA: WFP flights to Kuito not suspended The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday it had not suspended aid flights to the Angolan city of Kuito, about 560 km southeast of Luanda, but the number of flights using the damaged runway had been cut. Ronald Sibanda, WFP representative in Luanda, responding to media reports last week alleging a suspension, told IRIN that Kuito airport was open, but there were "restrictions on the number of food aid flights". "This averages up to four flights a day, compared to some 10 daily flights that are required to feed over 200,000 people," Sibanda said. MADAGASCAR: Aid funding shortfall Humanitarian agencies working in Madagascar say the lack of adequate logistics remains a problem in conducting assessments and in distributing aid to inaccessible areas following the devastation caused by three cyclones that hit the Indian Ocean island. World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman in Madagascar, Haladou Salha, told IRIN on Thursday that the response to the agency's appeal for US $5 million has not been enthusiastic. The appeal was made up of US $3 million for food aid and US $2 million for logistics and expertise. "The logistics appeal has been funded by up to 70 percent while 52 percent of food aid requirements have been met," Salha said. Salha said the agency has only two helicopters and two boats at its disposal to deliver assistance to the northeast and southeast of Madagascar, areas most devastated by the floods in February and March. "Many of the key roads are still inaccessible and aid is being moved by helicopter from the capital, Antananarivo to the districts from where they are delivered to villages by boat and road." MOZAMBIQUE: More aid needed The Mozambican government and World Bank have forecast a significant slowdown in economic growth as a result of February's devastating floods, while humanitarian agencies report that more emergency assistance is needed to help people cope with the disaster. Finance Minister Luisa Diogo has cut GDP growth projections from more than 8 percent to 6 percent, and said that inflation would accelerate from 5.5 percent in 1999 to around 10 percent. The World Bank anticipates GDP growth will be in the region of 5 percent. Its preliminary estimates of the cost of the flooding is some US $1 billion. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that confirmed donor pledges for its emergency operation only cover 35 percent of its US $36 million appeal. A WFP official told IRIN on Wednesday that donors appear to be waiting for the 2 May Rome conference on Mozambique, but by May the food pipeline to feed 597,000 people would be under strain. ZAMBIA: Malnutrition on the rise Poverty and low agricultural productivity have increased malnutrition levels among Zambia's rural households, with many forced to survive on less than three meals a day, humanitarian officials told IRIN on Tuesday. An official of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) told IRIN that the agency, in conjunction with the country's health ministry, is currently involved in supplementary feeding programmes for 100,000 people, most of whom are women and children as well as tuberculosis victims. ZAMBIA: Soldiers seek asylum The refugee agency UNHCR confirmed media reports that a group of soldiers seeking asylum in Zambia have crossed the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The group of 53 soldiers handed themselves over to Zambian authorities and are being screened in the northwestern town of Mansa. UNHCR is interviewing the men, and so far 37 have renounced their military status. A UNHCR official could not comment on local press reports that the men were Hutu soldiers fighting on the side of President Laurent-Desire Kabila. "They came from the DRC. We are yet to find out the details of whether they constitute other nationalities. The interviews are still going on," the UNHCR officer told IRIN. MALAWI: Privatisation on track Malawi's four-year old privatisation programme has earned the government of President Bakili Muluzi about US $21.7 million from the sale of 35 state-owned enterprises, a government official told IRIN on Wednesday. The programme is being carried out under the terms of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who, together with other bilateral donors, provide up to 50 percent of the impoverished country's budgetary support, according to 1998 government figures. According to an official of the country's Privatisation Commission, 100 state enterprises have been identified for privatisation, among them the telecommunications operator, the power utility ESCOM, the national carrier Air Malawi and the water supply authority. MALAWI: Poll results case back in court Malawi's High court on Monday resumed hearings on the opposition parties challenge over the results of last June's presidential elections won by President Bakili Muluzi of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF). The opposition coalition of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) argue that Muluzi did not win a clear majority of registered voters, saying fake ballots and voter registration cards were discovered that were used by Muluzi's party to rig the elections. SOUTH AFRICA-NIGERIA: Military relationship The strategic relationship between former rivals South Africa and Nigeria has taken a step towards military cooperation as part of a broader commitment to stability across the continent. South Africa's military intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Johannes Motau arrived in Nigeria on Sunday on a five-day official visit as part of a process of establishing military ties between sub-Saharan Africa's two superpowers. Gani Yaroms, a researcher at Nigeria's National War College told IRIN the visit would involve an "exchange of ideas to see how both countries can offer assistance to one another. It provides a working relationship that can spill over into areas of trade and other economic benefits." South Africa - Nigeria's principal ideological foe during the apartheid years - "has an advantage in many areas of military hardware and can give technical advise. Basically, as of now, everything has been paralysed and destroyed so in rebuilding we need friendly nations to support training and professionalising the military," Yaroms said. SOUTH AFRICA: Land reform Recent events in Zimbabwe have highlighted the issue of land reform across southern Africa and specifically in South Africa where, despite good intentions, the government's land reform policy has been described as "flawed". Overall the criticism has been that the actual process itself is too slow. Analysts told IRIN that in theory there was no problem with the policy, it was the implementation that has proved to be the difficult part. "The policy gets bogged down by process and red tape issues," Thobias Schmitz, a researcher with the Centre for Policy Studies told IRIN. The office Chief Land Claims Commissioner told IRIN: "The Department of Land Affairs and the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights has been criticised for the slow pace of delivery since the inception of land reform legislation. However, a significant increase in finalising restitution claims has happened since the appointment of Minister Thoko Didiza." Despite these shortcomings critics and the government seem to be in agreement that South Africa is unlikely to experience the same kind of events that are currently unfolding in Zimbabwe. "The South African government has had its foot in the door from the word go with the first election in 1994, and has been one of the more actively pursued policies, even with its problems," one critic noted. When asked if a similar scenario could develop in South Africa as in Zimbabwe, the Chief Land Claims Commissioner's office said: "It is very unlikely. Land reform in South Africa is both a constitutional and legislative issue as provided by the Constitution and the Land Restitution Act of 1994. Plans in place make provision for the finalisation of land restitution by 2005." For an IRIN focus on land reform in South Africa go to: Johannesburg, 21 April 10:00 gmt IRIN-SA - Tel: +27-11 880 4633 Fax: +27-11 447 5472 Email: irin-sa@irin.org.za [This item is delivered in the English service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . 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