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 40
6 - 12 October 2001


CONTENTS:

ANGOLA: UNITA rebels kidnap 16 children
MALAWI: SA to ship 150,000 mt of maize to Malawi
ZIMBABWE: Food shortages begin to bite
ZAMBIA: Concern over unregistered refugees
SOUTH AFRICA: GlaxoSmithKline grants licence to local drug firm
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Region moves to protect girls from prostitution
MOZAMBIQUE: Mozambique granted US $11.5 million for AIDS programme
COMOROS: Comorans to vote in constitutional referendum
NAMIBIA: Government approves fishing quotas


ANGOLA: UNITA rebels kidnap 16 children

UNITA rebels abducted 16 children attending mass in a Roman Catholic
church in Angola's northern Kwanza Norte province, AFP reported on
Thursday. According to the report, Bishop Luis Escarpa told Radio Ecclesia
that soldiers burst into the church at Kiluanji during mass on Sunday and
made off with the girls and boys, mostly under 14 years old.

In May UNITA soldiers abducted more than 50 orphans from a school in
Caxito, about 60 km north of Luanda. The children were freed a few days
later and handed over to church authorities amid widespread alarm at rebel
activity so close to the coastal capital. The kidnappings, highlighted in
the media because of the large number of children and Caxito's proximity
to the capital, were not uncommon, aid workers in Angola said at the time.
They said they received constant reports of children being kidnapped
during raids on villages across the country.

War intensifying with dire humanitarian consequences - Annan

As efforts were under way to determine the whereabouts of the children, UN
Secretary-General painted a gloomy picture of the humanitarian situation
in the country. It remained "serious, particularly in inaccessible regions
where credible evidence indicates that conditions have deteriorated
markedly", he said in his latest report to the Security Council.

"Contrary to expectations, access to at-risk populations, particularly in
new areas, did not increase during the reporting period. Security
perimeters around provincial cities and towns remained restricted and in
six areas (Moxico, Bie, Malange, Uige, Bengo and Cuando Cubango)
perimeters contracted under intense pressure," Annan said in his report.
He submitted his previous report on the United Nations Officer in Angola
to the Security Council in April.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) in Angola, about 500,000 vulnerable people remain beyond the reach
of help in the war-torn southern African country. "Agencies also estimate
that at least 20 locations may have populations in acute distress," an
OCHA spokesperson said in response to IRIN questions before Annan
submitted his report this week.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12249&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ANGOLA

'Concrete steps' needed for peace - Reverend

Earlier in the week, Prominent Angolan clergyman Reverend Daniel
Ntoni-Nzinga told IRIN during an interview in Johannesburg that goodwill
alone was not enough for changes to take place in Angola. "Everyone
acknowledges that no-one will be able to govern Angola through the barrel
of a gun," he said.

However, he added that this acknowledgment had not yet led to the
country's warring parties taking serious action to end the devastating,
26-year-old civil war. "We would like to see concrete steps (towards a
ceasefire and peace discussions)," said the executive secretary of the
Inter-Ecclesial Committee for Peace in Angola (COIEPA), which spearheads a
cross-section of civic organisations campaigning for peace.

For more details:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/angola/20011010b.phtml

Military plans to draft 15,000 soldiers

At the same time, Lusa reported that the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA)
planned to draft about 15,000 men born in the years of 1979 and 1980 in
coming months to "replace military effectives". Quoting a ministry
decision published in the government gazette on Tuesday, the report said
the move became public on the same day the FAA - founded in 1992 after the
country's only democratic election - celebrated its ninth anniversary.

According to the report, previous government draft programmes often
involved military police raids in urban neighbourhoods. In marking the FAA
anniversary, Defence Minister Kundi Paihama called for "vigilance", saying
"enemies of peace, democracy and progress" in Angola were determined to
block "programmes of reconstruction and development and the creation of
conditions" for holding "democratic elections".

Meningitis outbreak

In its latest outbreak update, the United Nations' WHO said 332 cases of
meningitis and 30 deaths were reported from Angola by 2 October. It said
the most affected provinces were Benguela, Cunene, Luanda, Lunda Sul and
Cuando Cubango. It said the epidemic reported in the Balombo district of
Benguela province earlier in the year was over.

"Cases continue to be reported from Cunene province. However, the latest
information indicates the weekly number to be declining. A joint
investigation team of the ministry of health and WHO found that
epidemiological surveillance and epidemic preparedness and response
capacity needed to be strengthened in Angola, including improved access to
emergency supplies," the update said.

MALAWI: SA to ship 150,000 mt of maize to Malawi

South Africa's Absa Corporate and Merchant Bank said on Thursday it had
reached a US $33 million deal with the Malawi government and National Food
Relief Agency to supply 150,000 mt of maize to them. Malawi, suffering
severe shortages which have led to hunger, particularly in southern parts
of the country, has to import more maize this year than it has in previous
years.

For more details:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/malawi/20011011.phtml

Patients transferred from strike-bound hospital

At the same time, health authorities this week, unable to coax striking
workers back to the country's biggest hospital, started moving scores of
patients to a private facility. AFP reported on Wednesday that the strike
by more than 500 junior workers at Malawi's Queen Elizabeth Central
Hospital in Blantyre, which also serves the populous south of the country,
had paralysed health services since it began last Saturday. Government
officials were quoted as saying that the strike had almost closed the
1,000-bed hospital and could have resulted in the deaths of two patients.

Peter Zinchetera, administrator of the nearby Mlambe hospital, a 254-bed
facility run by the Roman Catholic Church, told AFP it had taken in scores
of patients but was not yet overstretched. "We will try hard to help them.
We won't even ask the government to pay us the bills," Zinchetera was
quoted as saying. The striking healthcare workers wanted professional,
housing and duty allowances, backdated to July, to augment their monthly
salary of US $40, the report said. It added that workers were striking
because the government had not yet implemented a budgeted payout of US
$110 in salary increases to its 120,000 civil servants. The increase would
have boosted junior medical workers' salaries to about US $77 a month, the
report said.

Also see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/malawi/20011009.phtml

ZIMBABWE: Food shortages begin to bite

The view from one of Zimbabwe's beleaguered commercial farmer's houses is
a constant reminder of what he has lost. From the front window he can
clearly see what was once a rolling field of lush green wheat. It has been
reduced to a bed of dry stalks after pro-government militants drove cattle
through the field.

"That crop was worth millions. But at least they did not physically harm
me," the farmer said, pleading with IRIN not to publicise his case. He
doesn't want to provoke more action from the militants still occupying the
southern part of his mixed-production farm in Beatrice district, 60 km
south of Harare.

At Manyati village not far from Beatrice, 41-year-old widow and
mother-of-four Mary Makombo despairs. "The five bags of maize we harvested
will take us to around March next year, after that I do not know what we
shall eat," she says. Zimbabwe, in the throes of its worst economic and
political crisis since independence, faces critical food shortages because
of disruptions in agriculture, and a severe lack of foreign aid and hard
currency.

For more details:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zimbabwe/20011008.phtml

Govt wants to resume exporting livestock products

In other developments this week, the government said it was negotiating
the resumption of livestock product exports to South Africa, Botswana,
Zambia and Mozambique following the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease
in August, the 'Daily News' reported on Monday. Stuart Hargreaves,
director of Veterinary Services, said the negotiations on the export of
livestock products, which included canned meat, were still under way. The
foot-and-mouth disease was first diagnosed in Zimbabwe on 18 August. The
European Union (EU), which receives 9,100 mts of beef from Zimbabwe, had
suspended its orders, the report said.

South Africa to evict more than 10,000 Zimbabwean farm workers

On Wednesday it was reported that South Africa planned to evict more than
10,000 Zimbabweans working on farms in the northern part of the country
because their work permits had expired. The measure was necessary to
encourage farmers to hire South African workers, thousands of whom needed
jobs, Billy Masetlha, Director-General of the home affairs department, was
quoted as saying.

Farmer organisations complained it would be impossible for them to find
suitable replacement staff by Monday, the deadline to replace their
Zimbabwean workers. Masetlha said the government had signed an agreement
with the farmers on 15 October last year to phase out the use of the
workers from Zimbabwe, South Africa's northern neighbour.

Last week major-general Tinus van Rensburg, a senior South African Defence
Force officer in the region, warned that serious problems could arise if
the government pressed ahead with its plans to expel the Zimbabweans, who
could find it difficult to return to their own country. Thousands of farm
workers in Zimbabwe have been displaced since March last year, when
government-backed militants embarked on a violent campaign to seize
white-owned farms.

Masetlha said the government had no plans to renew the Zimbabweans' work
permits and that those who remained in the country would be arrested.
Farmers wanting to employ foreigners would have to prove their job could
not be done by a South African, he said.

Government orders price controls on basic commodities

In a significant development which analysts said could worsen the food
shortage, the government, faced with increasing poverty and a
deteriorating economy, ordered price controls on basic commodities. The
state-run 'Herald' newspaper said on Wednesday that manufacturers and
retailers had been ordered to revert to prices used in August this year.

The price controls cover a number of basic commodities, including bread,
the staple maize meal, sugar, cooking oil, beef, chicken and pork, the
paper reported. A loaf of bread, the price of which has already been
increased eight times this year, will now revert to its August price of
34.43 Zimbabwe dollars (62 US cents) from around 50 Zimbabwe dollars (90
US cents).  The paper reported that the government would issue a statutory
instrument on Wednesday gazetting the prices of the selected consumer
items, which analysts believe marks a return to the country's
command-style economy of the 1980s.

For details on these and other developments in Zimbabwe this week please
see: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/archive/zimbabwe.phtml

ZAMBIA: Concern over unregistered refugees

Zambia faced a refugee crisis as tens of thousands of people who escaped
war in neighbouring countries continued to stay there without proper
identification, an AFP report quoted a government official as saying on
Monday. According to the report, Zambia sheltered more than 250,000
refugees, mostly from neighbouring Angola and the Democratic Republic of
Congo, where protracted civil wars had forced people to flee to safety.
Acting permanent secretary in the ministry of home affairs, Kafula Ngandu,
was quoted as saying that about 130,000 of the refugees were scattered
throughout Zambia without identification particulars and continued "to be
a source of concern to government".

The report said that in the past refugees - most of whom had no proper
identification - had been arrested and detained, especially in urban
areas, for violating Zambia's immigration laws. Ngandu said the government
was looking at ways of enforcing registration for all refugees. He said
the government had developed identity cards for refugees living in urban
areas to assist in their protection.

Trade drops on maize market

Low trading volumes had characterised the maize market and further
declines were expected in the coming week, 'The Post' reported on Monday.
Quoting the latest Agriculture Commodity Exchange report, the newspaper
said cheap imported maize meal had had an adverse effect on local maize
products.

Despite the overwhelming shortage in local maize supplies, prices had not
started moving upwards because of uncertainty over pricing of imported
white maize, which would be made available to local millers, the report
said. It added that the uncertainty arose from a Food Reserve Agency
announcement of tenders for the supply and purchase of maize, to be
supplied from November 2001 to March 2002. Zambia has also appealed for
international aid to stem deepening hunger in the country.

"At the present time there is uncertainty as to the impact white maize
landed in the country during the month of March [2001] will have on prices
of local early maize," 'The Post' quoted the ACE report as saying. Farmers
currently deciding on whether to plant for the early market were concerned
that carried-over stocks of subsidised imported maize may further
adversely affect prices in March and April next year, the report said. ACE
also reported that wheat prices maintained last week's levels because
nearly all farmers had started to harvest and deliver their crops.

Former Chiluba ally announces bid to succeed him

On the political front, a former top official in President Frederick
Chiluba's ruling party announced on Sunday that with the backing of a new
political party, he would seek to replace Chiluba in elections due later
this year.

News agencies reported that Michael Sata, who quit last month as the
national secretary of Chiluba's Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD),
told the Catholic radio station 'Icengelo' that he would run with the
backing of the Patriot Front (PF).

The PF was formed on 21 September after the MMD named Levy Mwanawasa as
its official presidential candidate in August. "If you are hard working,
but do not get promoted, then you should opt to work for yourself," Sata
was quoted as saying. "Work for myself and become president." Sata also
quit his post as minister without portfolio, reports said.

SOUTH AFRICA: GlaxoSmithKline grants licence to local drug firm

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) had granted a South African
company a licence to manufacture and market three key AIDS medicines in
South Africa, the company announced on Sunday.

Aspen Pharmacare CEO Stephen Saad, told PlusNews on Monday that his
company had been granted a voluntary licence on patents to GSK's
antiretroviral drugs AZT and 3TC, and a third pill, Combivir, which
combines the two. He said the company would be allowed to sell its
versions of the widely-used AIDS drugs to the public health system,
charities and non-profit organisations in South Africa, while GSK
continued to supply private markets. Other countries in Africa were not
part of the deal.

GSK was one of several pharmaceutical companies which took the South
African government to court to prevent it from passing a law which would
enable the import and manufacture of cheaper generic drugs. The companies
dropped the lawsuit in the face of immense public pressure. Before the
agreement with Aspen, GSK was already offering its drugs to South Africa's
public health system at cost - about US $2 per person a day for Combivir,
a combination of 3TC and AZT. According to Saad, under this agreement, the
price will now range from US $1-1.50 per person a day. GSK and Shire
Pharmaceuticals, which hold the patents on the medicines, would charge a
30 percent licensing fee to Aspen, the report said. Saad said the money
would be set aside for non-profit organisations fighting HIV/AIDS in the
country.

For this week's stories on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa, also
see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/southafrica/20011008c.phtml
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/southafrica/20011009.phtml
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/southafrica/20011010c.phtml

More important issues than race - survey

A recent survey by the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR)
involving more than 2,100 South African residents aged 16 and above
suggested that the nation was more preoccupied with issues like
unemployment and HIV/AIDS than with race, the Economist Intelligence Unit
(EIU) reported this week. The sample was drawn from nine socio-economic
groups stretching from deep rural areas to the cities, and embraced people
of all races. The survey was commissioned to coincide with last month's
World Racism Conference in the port city of Durban.

For the full story please see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/southafrica/20011011.phtml

Land claims fast tracked

At the same time, a provincial land claims commission in South Africa on
Monday began to fast track close to 6,000 restitution claims lodged over
the past four years, African Eye News reported. The claims were expected
to be validated by June next year after the commission hired three private
companies to speed up the process, said provincial land claims
commissioner Mashile Mokono.

For the full story please see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/southafrica/20011010b.phtml

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Region moves to protect girls from prostitution

International sex syndicates are luring pre-pubescent girls into a life of
slavery and abuse from impoverished African countries such as Mozambique
and Malawi, African Eye News reported on Monday, quoting the international
police organisation Interpol. The girls, some as young as eight or
nine-years old, are lured from their homes with promises of work in homes
and restaurants in neighbouring South Africa and Zimbabwe.

For the full story please see:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/other/20011009a.phtml

MOZAMBIQUE: Mozambique granted US $11.5 million for AIDS programme

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has granted
US $11.5 million dollars to Mozambique for an anti-HIV/AIDS programme, AFP
reported on Tuesday. The programme, called the Development Corridor of
Hope, will involve individuals and communities living along the Maputo
Development Corridor - a key road and rail link between South Africa and
Mozambique - in the distribution of information designed to combat
HIV/AIDS and encourage safe sexual practices, the report said.

The southern provinces of Gaza and Inhambane, where large numbers of
people are infected, would also be covered by the programme. Many
Mozambican workers from Gaza and Inhambane moved to South Africa to work
in the mines and are believed to have brought AIDS back to their native
provinces from the neighbouring country. According to the report,
Mozambique's anti-AIDS programme would also aim to improve health care for
those living with HIV/AIDS and to tackle the discrimination they
encountered in their communities.

COMOROS: Comorans to vote in constitutional referendum

A constitutional referendum aimed at settling a long-running crisis over
the unilateral secession of the Comoran island of Anjouan will be held on
23 December, AFP reported on Wednesday. The report said that Comorans will
be asked to approve an amended basic law under which the Indian Ocean
archipelago's three islands will have greater autonomy. The referendum
will be held under an accord reached in February among the military junta
in Moroni, the military regime in Anjouan and the opposition.

NAMIBIA: Government approves fishing quotas

Namibia's cabinet had approved quotas for horse mackerel, deep sea crab
and rock lobster for the 2001-2002 season, 'The Namibian' reported on
Thursday.

The quota for horse mackerel was set at 350,000 mt, down 60,000 mt from
the 2000-2001 quota of 410,000 mt, the report said. It quoted Fisheries
and Marines Resources Minister Abraham Iyambo as saying in his submission
to the cabinet, that surveys and stock assessments indicated a dramatic
fluctuation in the horse mackerel stock. The current estimated stock size
was between 900,000 and 1,7 million mt, he said, and the allocation was in
line with a scientific recommendation, as well as the recommendation of
the Marine Resource Advisory Council. The quota for crab was set at 2,200
mt, a 200 mt increase from the previous year's quota, and the quota for
rock lobster was set at 400 mt, up 50 mt from last year, the report said.


IRIN-SA
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Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

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