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.za


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 26
7 - 13 July 2001


CONTENTS:

ANGOLA: Fighting, humanitarian suffering intensify
ZIMBABWE: Government sets up task force to tackle food shortages
MOZAMBIQUE: Government restricts Zimbabwean farmers
ZAMBIA: HRW welcomes independent murder detectives
SOUTH AFRICA: Govt says it is delivering on homes
SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN Focus on small arms
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Cereal deficit forecast
AFRICA: OAU leaders reach consensus on action plan

ANGOLA: Fighting, humanitarian suffering intensify

Angola's humanitarian crisis continued to worsen this week as the rebel
movement UNITA intensified its attacks against government-held towns and
cities. And while the Angolan government reiterated its commitment to the
1994 Lusaka peace accord, UNITA again called for revisions to the treaty,
saying that the "armed forces of the government and UNITA are not the same
as they were in 1994, and are not in the same positions".

Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Miranda told the Portuguese news agency Lusa
on Wednesday that the Lusaka power sharing agreement - negotiated at a
time when government forces had the upper hand against UNITA - remained
the basis for peace in Angola. He reportedly said his government continued
to cooperate with the three countries designated to oversee the accord,
the United States, Russia and Angola's former colonial power Portugal.

UNITA's failure to comply with all the provisions of the peace agreement
led to the country's return to war in late 1998. Now, with the movement
recently scoring military successes in the long civil war, UNITA is
calling for a revision of the agreement achieved after a torturous process
of negotiations in the Zambian capital. In the latest security setback for
the government, the Catholic church-run station Radio Ecclesia reported on
Thursday that UNITA troops captured the municipality of Quela in the
northern province of Malange. UNITA forces also reportedly attacked a fuel
depot in the key central highland city of Huambo on Tuesday.

Mortality, malnutrition rates in Bie still high

Meanwhile, OCHA said in a report released on 13 July that "humanitarian
conditions in Bie province are the worst in accessible areas of Angola".
The UN agency also said that malnutrition and mortality rates "exceed
emergency thresholds" in Kuito, Camacupa and Cuemba. According to the OCHA
report: "The therapeutic feeding centre (TFC) at the Kuito provincial
hospital registered a 24 percent mortality rate during the first two weeks
of June, decreasing to 14 percent by the third week of June," the report
said. In addition, medical staff in Kuito have had to deal with an average
of 70 pellagra cases a week since an outbreak in mid-June.

On Wednesday Sergio Guimaraes, UNICEF coordinator for Angola and Sao Tome,
said 12 children were dying daily from hunger-related problems in just
three special feeding and health-care centers set up in the province. The
centers, run by Medecins Sans Frontieres and CONCERN, cared for the 867
most needy children, he said. "The humanitarian context of Angola´s
children is worrying, but the indices of malnutrition observed in Bie call
for immediate intervention as the province lies at the edge of a tragedy",
he was quoted saying after a three-day visit to Kuito.

OCHA said in its report that high levels of food insecurity, in addition
to war displacement, had forced people into Kuito. It estimated that
between 15,000 and 20,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the
municipality of Cuemba could try to enter Camacupa and Kuito in coming
months for food and medical care - placing further pressure on scarce
resources. However, said OCHA, humanitarian partners in the province had
agreed, as a matter of priority, to conduct nutritional surveys and
verification exercises in Camacupa and Kuito, to increase the delivery of
food through the hiring of additional aircraft, to pre-position food at
strategic locations and, among other things, to open new TFCs in Camacupa
and Kuito. OCHA estimates that about 200,000 people remain at risk and
inaccessible to aid workers in Cuemba.

OCHA said that in spite of the crisis, WFP was still only able to deliver
less that 60 percent of Kuito's relief requirements, mainly because of the
poor condition of the airstrip. Even though repairs had begun in June and
were scheduled to be completed in October, the agency said it was
concerned that the repairs could result in the temporary closure of the
airstrip, blocking the regular delivery of goods. The agency said that
while WFP could only fly between four and seven aircraft into Kuito each
day at present, according to its revised needs estimates it would need to
increase flights to about 600 a month.

WFP said in its latest situation report that it moved 1,091 mt of food
into Kuito between 22 June and 7 July and had managed to provide rations
to more than 6,900 new internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Camacupa.
The agency said a total of 14,211 IDPs were registered in Camacupa and "it
is expected that this number will rise, as people arrive from surrounding
areas, especially Cuemba".

Open Society decries media harassment

In other developments, Open Society Foundation representative and
freelance journalist Rafael Marques said on Monday that the media in
Angola were operating under increasingly difficult conditions. His
statement coincided with a decision by independent Catholic-run Rádio
Ecclésia to suspend all news reports for two days in favour of religious
broadcasts only - and a plea to Angolans to pray.

For more details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/angola/20010710.phtml

Boavista protest outlawed

The government on Friday outlawed a protest march and nighttime vigil
planned by residents of Boavista, a Luanda shantytown which the
authorities want to demolish, AP reported. The Luanda regional government
cited a legal technicality and security concerns for the prohibition of
the vigil scheduled for Friday night and the march on Saturday morning.
Luis Nascimento, a lawyer for the residents, said he would appeal the
ruling, the report said.

The communique also noted the march could cause unrest because it came
only 13 days after rioting, when police first tried to evict residents
from Boavista, where between 40,000 and 60,000 people live in poor
conditions. Two residents were shot dead during the clashes. Local people
allege the two men were killed by police. Officials have promised an
inquiry into the deaths. After the communique was released, about 50
heavily-armed riot police took up positions in downtown city streets,
apparently to discourage protests.

The government has said that Boavista is unsafe as it is susceptible to
landslides. According to the report, Boavista lies on an escarpment which
occasionally gives way during the rainy season. The provincial government
wants to rehouse the people in Viana, a suburb almost 30 kilometers (18
miles) outside the city, but locals refuse to leave.

For more details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/angola/20010711.phtml

ZIMBABWE: Government sets up task force to tackle food shortages

The Zimbabwean government has set up an inter-ministerial task force to
ensure food security in the country and to advise the Grain Marketing
Board (GMB) on the way forward, the state-run 'Herald' reported on
Wednesday. The newspaper also announced the second bread price increase in
two months, of between 15 and 20 percent. A loaf of bread now costs
between 35 and 45 Zimbabwe dollars (US $0.60 and US $0.80). Analysts told
IRIN that the task force indicated that President Robert Mugabe's
government was at last acknowledging that the country faced an impending
food crisis. "It's an admission that there's a huge problem, it was not
addressed before, largely I think to stop hoarding," a Harare-based
economist said. The government admitted last Thursday for the first time
that the country faced food shortages later this year and may need
international aid.

This year Zimbabwe cereal production is expected to be 27 percent lower
than last year, the food early warning unit FEWS NET said in its latest
report. "The decline in economic conditions in Zimbabwe, and the resulting
drop in cereal production is of growing concern. With a large urban
population and high unemployment and poverty rates, food shortages and
civil unrest could ensue," the USAID-funded network said.

For more details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zimbabwe/20010711.phtml
See also:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/other/20010710.phtml

Unions call for regional solidarity

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), protesting over the
government's economic policies, told IRIN on Tuesday that the federation
was seeking solidarity action from workers' organisations in neighbouring
countries, particularly from South Africa's powerful trade unions.

"We want COSATU (the South African union federation) to blockade our
common borders next time we take industrial action," ZCTU
secretary-general Wellington Chibebe told IRIN. Zimbabwe receives most of
its imported goods via South Africa and a sustained blockade could have a
significant impact on Zimbabwe's faltering economy. COSATU backed a
similar two-day closure of border posts with Swaziland last year in
support of the pro-democracy opposition. A COSATU delegation is due in
Harare later this month, and is expected to call on President Robert
Mugabe's government to respect workers' rights, and rescind a recent 70
percent fuel price hike. "We hope to be meeting COSATU when they come to
Zimbabwe, we want moral support and we want them to put pressure on the
ANC government to influence Mugabe for the better," Chibebe added.

For more details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zimbabwe/20010710.phtml

Union leader held

Chibebe was detained by Harare police on Wednesday, local media reported.
He was held for two hours and quizzed on recent ZCTU-led job stayaways. No
charges were laid against him but the police promised to get back to him
if there were any further developments, the ZCTU said. The leader was
picked up from his union offices and asked how stayaways, the last of
which was staged by Zimbabwe's workers only last week, were being
organised, the people behind them and the structures of the ZCTU. The
police also questioned Chibebe on the political affiliation of the ZCTU
and his own. The government has accused the ZCTU of being allied to the
main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). "We are disturbed by
this action by the police in so far as they question the political
affiliation of myself and the union. We hope this is not aimed at
undermining the activities of the ZCTU," Chibebe said.

Opposition lawyers accuse government of bias

Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has reserved its ruling over the
constitutionality of charges against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
AFP reported on Thursday. Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), and a former trade union leader, is accused of
calling for the violent overthrow of President Robert Mugabe's 21-year
rule. He was charged in May under security laws that carry a maximum
penalty of life imprisonment. But his High Court trial was postponed
indefinitely to allow the Supreme Court to determine whether the charges
were constitutional. The charges against Tsvangirai were too wide and
"speculative," his lawyer said. Tsvangirai's legal representative said he
planned to subpoena Attorney General Andrew Chigovera to explain why
ruling party leaders and militants had not been prosecuted for more
serious incitement violations. "Why has he acted selectively?" Andersen
asked in court. The top state law officer is a member of cabinet and was
appointed to parliament by Mugabe.

Media watchdog welcomes court case against public broadcaster

In a statement e-mailed to IRIN on Thursday, Zimbabwe's Media Monitoring
Project (MMPZ) said it supported The National Development Association's
(NDA) reported decision to take the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) to the High Court to have its live phone-in television programme
"Talk to the Nation" reinstated. The programme pitted an opposition
parliamentarian against a government law maker for the first time and was
widely applauded as a contribution to free and fair public debate on
economic issues. It was unilaterally switched off by the ZBC on 5 July,
2001.

The NDA contends that the act was an infringement of the public's right to
freedom of expression. "By cancelling the programme, first and second
respondent are in the applicant's view, denying members of the public
their constitutional right to the enjoyment of freedom of expression
bearing in mind that the first respondent is a public institution
established primarily to serve the public." The MMPZ pointed out that this
was the third NDA programme to be aired but only the first in which some
form of political balance was reflected in the panellists.

Gadhafi motorcade in support of land grabs
 
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi rode into Zimbabwe in a 100-vehicle
motorcade on Thursday, stopping at farming towns to express support for
the government's program to seize white-owned farms for the settlement of
landless blacks. The motorcade was escorted by armoured cars, wailing
police cruisers and motorcycle outriders as it arrived from neighboring
Zambia, where Gadhafi had attended a three-day summit of African leaders
in the capital, Lusaka. Gadhafi addressed Zimbabwe ruling party groups who
gathered to greet him and expressed support for President Robert Mugabe's
land seizure programme, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)
reported. "This is our land, the land of our fathers and grandfathers.
Each one who came as a coloniser should go back to where they came from,"
said Gadhafi, speaking in Arabic through an interpreter. He added that
white landowners, the descendants of colonial settlers, should leave
Zimbabwe.

Mugabe was scheduled to hold talks on Friday with Gadhafi on fuel
shortages and economic sanctions against Zimbabwe proposed by Britain, the
former colonial power, and its western allies, the state-run 'The Herald'
newspaper reported. Gadhafi, an old friend of beleaguered Mugabe, will
discuss the possibility of Libya providing petroleum products to Zimbabwe,
the newspaper said. Last year Libya gave Zimbabwe a US $100 million
financial package to ease a fuel shortage which has gripped the country
since December 1999.

MOZAMBIQUE: Government restricts Zimbabwean farmers

The Mozambican government has stressed that while welcoming Zimbabwean
commercial farmers, the new arrivals must accept integration within local
communities to avoid future land conflicts. In an interview with the
Sunday newspaper 'Domingo', Agriculture Minister Helder Muteia said that a
group of 63 white Zimbabwean farmers had requested 400,000 hectares of
land in the central province of Manica - across the border from Zimbabwe.
The government told them to apply individually, and for no more than 1,000
hectares each, the official news agency AIM reported.

Muteia said the initial "gigantic" proposal - which included the building
of roads, schools and clinics - threatened to create "islands of white
development" and had serious social implications. "What we want is an
integration of Mozambican farmers, so as to avoid social conflicts," he
said.

Mozambique's new land law is predicated on a tripartite approach involving
the government, private investors and the local community. "If somebody
wants to invest they have to reach agreement with the government, but also
the local community to ensure the sustainability of the planned exercise,"
FAO Representative Peter Vandor told IRIN on Wednesday. In the case of the
Zimbabwean farmers, "the government is really stressing this tripartite
agreement" to avoid a repetition of Zimbabwe's land crisis.

For more details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/mozambique/20010711.phtml

ZAMBIA: HRW welcomes independent murder detectives

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has welcomed the inclusion of Scotland Yard
detectives in the team probing the execution-style murder of opposition
leader Paul Tembo last Friday. The 41-year-old politician was shot dead in
his bed in the presence of his wife just hours before he was to testify in
a corruption hearing involving three cabinet ministers.

Peter Takirambudde, HRW executive director for Africa, told IRIN on Monday
that events like the murder could further destabilise the political
environment in Zambia, particularly with an election on the horizon later
this year. "One is concerned about the serious destabilising implications
of events of this nature if they are not adequately and promptly
addressed," he said. "It is very critical that the probe be executed
professionally, impartially and quickly. They (Zambian police) have a
credibility problem, so we think it is only proper and appropriate to have
an independent investigation."

Tembo, a founding member of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy
(MMD) and President Frederick Chiluba's former campaign manager, left the
party abruptly last month to join the newly-formed Forum for Democracy and
Development (FDD) which brought together former senior MMD officials who
were expelled from the party. His murder has inevitably sparked
allegations of government involvement.

Even though the Zambian government moved swiftly after the killing,
ordering the police to invite Scotland Yard detectives to assist them,
thousands of people who attended a memorial service for Tembo on Monday
continued to accuse Chiluba and his government of murdering Tembo. Reuters
reported that FDD secretary-general Teddy Mulonga, who was among those who
attended the service in the capital, Lusaka, had claimed that the
government had a hit list which included all key FDD members to be killed
before the general election due around October. "We are aware of the plot
to eliminate all the key members of our party before the elections,"
Mulonga was quoted as saying.

SOUTH AFRICA: Govt says it is delivering on homes

As police evicted the last of about 2,000 people who occupied a stretch of
land in Gauteng, the South African government defended itself on Friday
against accusations that it has neglected its poor and homeless. The
government has come under fire from civic organisations and opposition
politicians in the past week for the tough stand it has taken against the
squatters who moved in on the land in Bredell just over a week ago. Pan
African Congress (PAC) officials charged the invaders about US $3 for a
small plot each on the land. The government was granted an eviction order
in the High Court and began demolishing about 1,200 hastily-built shacks
on the privately-owned land on Thursday.

Nkoana Maloka, acting head of housing and community development services
for the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council, told IRIN on Friday that a total
of more than half a million people were still waiting for houses in
Gauteng. He said the housing backlog in the Ekurhuleni municipality, where
Bredell is situated, was over 125,000.

In a statement earlier, he said: "The government wishes to reiterate that
it is fully aware of and sympathetic to the plight of homeless and
landless people in Gauteng. It is within this context that the government
has developed comprehensive strategies and processes to address these
problems ... Whilst implementing a fast-track delivery process, however,
the government must ensure that this is done in an equitable manner that
is just and fair to the many people living in desperate circumstances
throughout the province."

Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa said during a media briefing late on
Friday that the human tragedy flowing out of homelessness had prompted the
government to initiate several housing projects over the past six years,
contrary to accusations that the government was "doing nothing" to provide
houses and services to the poor. In the Ekurhuleni municipality alone, he
said, more than 60,000 houses had been developed under project-linked
subsidy schemes in the past six years. In addition, more than 44,000
service sites were released to the homeless and another 40,000, on which
people live, were serviced in terms of the Essential Services Programme.
Ten thousand more houses had been developed through two other programmes,
he added.

For more details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/southafrica/20010710.phtml

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN Focus on small arms

Although southern African countries have agreed on a comprehensive
protocol on controlling the flow of small arms in the region, its
implementation could be far more problematic, security analysts told IRIN.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol agreed by
foreign ministers last week seeks to harmonise legislation on weapons
ownership, and the regulation of the import and export of small arms. It
will be presented to heads of state at next month's SADC summit in Malawi,
but can only come into effect when the protocol is promulgated by national
parliaments.

That, analysts say, is the rub. "It's a very good protocol, definitely a
step forward, but from signature it needs to be promulgated and there is
the issue of the political will in SADC," Institute of Security Studies
researcher Jakkie Potgieter told IRIN. While countries like South Africa,
Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia have been at the forefront of the reform
process, others with antiquated colonial-era laws on arms control are
going to face a far tougher time in applying the protocol. "In countries
like Zambia and Malawi, it is not an issue of adding two or three clauses
but rewriting the whole firearms legislation," Potgieter said.

The United Nations has been discussing this week the scourge of the
illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. Outlining the extent of the
global problem, Secretary-General Kofi Annan explained that when illegal
weapons fall into the hands of "terrorists, criminals and irregular
forces, small arms bring devastation. They exacerbate conflict, spark
refugee flows, undermine the rule of law, and spawn a culture of violence
and impunity. In short, small arms are a threat to peace and development,
to democracy and human rights."

For more details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/other/20010713.phtml

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Cereal deficit forecast

Southern Africa is expected to face an overall cereal deficit this year
with only Malawi and South Africa forecast to produce a small surplus, a
regional early warning unit said in its latest report. Cereal production,
which includes the regional staple maize, is expected to be down by 17
percent, the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) said. Around
94 percent of Southern Africa's overall cereal requirements can be met
through stocks and production, but commercial imports are needed to cover
the remaining six percent.

Normally, South Africa and Zimbabwe have been able to meet the import
requirements of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). But
this year South Africa's maize production is down by over 30 percent from
last year, and is slightly below domestic requirements. In Zimbabwe cereal
production is 27 percent lower than last year.

For more details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/other/20010710.phtml

AFRICA: OAU leaders reach consensus on action plan

The heads of state of South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt
have reached agreement on a blueprint for a combined African development
plan for presentation to the Organisation of African unity (OAU) summit
this week, South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana-Dlamini Zuma said on
Monday.

Zuma said the blueprint under which Mbeki's Millennium African Recovery
Programme (MAP) and Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade's Omega Plan would
merge would be presented to OAU heads of state before the meeting in
Lusaka closed on Wednesday.

It coincides with the transformation of the OAU into a far more ambitious
continent-wide union, eventually leading to a common currency, parliament
and court of justice. Lusaka this week is the final OAU summit - the last
of 37 annual meetings stretching back to the era of Africa's
decolonisation from Europe. Dozens of presidents and prime ministers will
bury the OAU with honours and assist at the birth of an African Union (AU)
modelled on the lines of regional groupings in Europe, Asia and the
Americas.

For more details see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/other/20010709.phtml


Johannesburg, 13 July 17:40 gmt

IRIN-SA Weekly - Tel: +27-11 880 4633 Fax: +27-11 447 5472 Email:
irin-sa@irin.org.za


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