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 45
10 - 16 November 2001


CONTENTS

ZAMBIA: Millions in need of food aid
ZIMBABWE: Hundreds of white farmers face eviction
SOUTH AFRICA: Arms report clears government
NAMIBIA: Caprivi separatists demand representation
MOZAMBIQUE: Cholera claims 60 lives


ZAMBIA: Millions in need of food aid

As a result of bad weather across much of southern Africa this year,
millions of Zambians are in serious need of food aid, the UN's World Food
Programme (WFP) announced on Friday 16 November.

"The country is reeling from two freak acts of nature. So far too much
rain in some areas, and barely a drop in others," Richard Ragan WFP
Country Director for Zambia said in the statement. "If relief food is not
mobilised and provided in time to families in need, we will see
malnutrition levels rise even higher." He added that "chronic
malnutrition" was already at 60 percent up from 41 percent in 1991. Ragan
made an urgent appeal for US $18 million to feed 1.3 million people
between December and March next year.

The statement said that under WFP's newly-approved emergency operation,
more than 41,000 mt of maize, and nearly 1,000 mt of specially-prepared
nutritious food for children would be distributed. "Distribution will take
place through various non-governmental organisations and other groups
within civil society," Ragan explained to IRIN.

For more details see
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14792&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&
electCountry=ZAMBIA

Debt campaigners demand government transparency

As the poor crop deepens Zambia's poverty, debt activists are questioning
the transparency of government social spending under the donor-supported
Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. So far, the government
has made two allocations this year to rural development and health from
funds saved under HIPC debt relief. However, according to the debt group
Jubilee-Zambia, it has failed to announce how much money was disbursed,
and what precisely it was spent on.

Under the terms of HIPC, Zambia is committed to channelling its additional
resources into the social sector as part of a poverty reduction plan. A
local HIPC monitoring team, in which civil society groups have been
invited by the ministry of finance to witness disbursements, in theory is
intended to provide accountability over the process. However, according to
Charity Musamba of Jubilee-Zambia, who attended the first meeting of the
monitoring team last week, government officials and debt activists reached
deadlock on the role of the inspection mechanism.

For more details seehttp://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14363&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&
electCountry=ZAMBIA

Meanwhile, weaker copper prices and demand have lowered growth forecasts
in Zambia, the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said in its
latest update this week. "We (the EIU) have lowered our forecast of real
GDP (gross domestic product) growth in 2002 to 4.3 percent despite
increased mining output, because of weak copper demand and output," said
the EIU. "The rate of real GDP growth is forecast to pick up to 4.6
percent in 2003."


ANGOLA-ZAMBIA: Border tense as villagers return

The Zambian-Angolan border remained tense this week, but no new incursions
by Angolan troops (FAA) were reported, a Zambian government official told
IRIN. A raid on villages at the end of last week left at least seven
Zambians dead. "The situation is tense but since Friday when fresh
(Zambian) troops were deployed there hasn't been any new incursions," the
official said.

According to a BBC report on Tuesday 13 November, the Zambian authorities
summoned the Angolan ambassador to express their concern over the raid
into southwestern Zambia last Friday in which at least seven villagers
were shot dead and some 103 people, mostly women and children, abducted.
Some of those captured from the Shangombo area began to make their way
home over the weekend, but Zambia's Information Minister Vernon Mwaanga
told the BBC that 20 people were still unaccounted for.

News reports said the Angolan troops crossed the border to hunt down UNITA
rebels amid a continuing Angolan refugee influx into Zambia's Western
province. "That doesn't make a lot of sense. They say they are coming to
pursue UNITA, but UNITA is in Angola," the official said. "I think it's
units deployed along the border who are doing this and not with the
blessing of the high command."

Cross-border raids by Angolan troops are not uncommon, and have often
involved livestock theft. However, relations between the two countries
have improved with the establishment of a joint security commission to
investigate border incidents. Officials said they would investigate the
latest incident.

For more details,
seehttp://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14216&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&
electCountry=ANGOLA-ZAMBIA


ZIMBABWE: Hundreds of white farmers face eviction

President Robert Mugabe went on the offensive against one of his main
opponents this week. As part of its "fast track" land reform plan, the
government on Monday ordered around 800 white commercial farmers who had
received notification their land was to be seized to stop cultivating
their land and prepare to vacate their homes.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said a further 3,500 white farmers who
had received preliminary warnings their land would be occupied would soon
receive seizure notices. The President of the Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) president Colin Cloete, told IRIN that farming was likely to stop on
almost 800 farms currently under acquisition orders.

"These regulations have widespread implications for the commercial
agricultural sector both in respect of continuing farming operations and
the resettlement programme," he said. For the full IRIN interview, see
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14347&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa

Mugabe used a presidential decree to amend the law. The decision means
that farmers who have been issued with acquisition orders by the
government will have to stop farming immediately and remain confined to
their houses, which they will have to vacate after three months. The
government has targeted a total of 5,000 white-owned commercial farms,
about 95 percent of all farms owned by whites, for seizure and
redistribution to landless blacks.

For more details, see
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14203&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&
electCountry=ZIMBABWE

See also Commercial Farmer's Union at http://www.cfu.org.zw

Government to be sole distributor of food aid

After last week's announcement by the World Food Programme (WFP) that it
would launch a programme to provide food aid to half a million Zimbabweans
by December, Mugabe's government declared on Sunday that it would bar NGOs
from being part of the distribution process.

The government-controlled Sunday Mail quoted Information Minister Jonathan
Moyo as saying that only the government would be allowed to participate in
the issue of food given by donors, because NGOs would use food aid to
campaign against Mugabe in presidential elections due at the end of March.
Ethan Mhlanga, programme coordinator for Oxfam in Zimbabwe told IRIN on
Monday 12 November that his agency was seeking clarification from the
government on the issue. "Obviously this would be a setback to our work,"
he said.

For more details, see
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14015&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa

Government woos army with land

Zimbabwe's army has offered farms and plots of land to all serving
soldiers under the government's Model A2 resettlement programme in
exchange for their support and loyalty to President Robert Mugabe ahead of
next year's presidential election, the Financial Gazette reported on
Thursday.

Investigations by the newspaper suggest that the army has established an
internal task force to handle applications by all soldiers interested in
taking up the land offers. All applications for land holdings by soldiers
are being submitted to the army's administration branch and are reportedly
treated separately from applications by ordinary Zimbabweans who submitted
these to the offices of provincial governors.

Army officers interviewed this week said a budget was being drawn up to
help resettle soldiers on their new land and to aid them to buy the
necessary inputs to start farming.

Botswana's president condemns Zimbabwe's land policy

In a sign that regional leaders are starting to break ranks over Zimbabwe,
Botswana's President Festus Mogae has harshly criticised Mugabe for his
controversial land resettlement policy. Mogae told a Sunday newspaper in
an interview that attempted intervention by other neighbouring leaders
seeking the restoration of order in Zimbabwe had so far failed.

"On every visit to Zimbabwe we tried to impress upon them the seriousness
of the situation - be it in multilateral or bilateral talks - and so far
we do not think we are winning," he said in the interview. Mogae accused
Mugabe and his self-styled war veterans of dragging the entire southern
African economy down, saying regional leaders were becoming frustrated
with the impact the Zimbabwe crisis was having on their economies.

In South Africa, the crisis has contributed to an almost 21 percent slide
in the rand this year alone and has frightened off investors fearful of
contagion. "The reality is that the region cannot afford to have its
second largest economy sinking because of this situation," Mogae said.
"While we support land reform in Zimbabwe completely, we feel the
implementation of the strategy is incorrect."

Magistrate dismisses charges against Zimbabwean journalists

A magistrate threw out fraud charges against the editor of Zimbabwe's only
independent daily newspaper and a former colleague on Friday 16 November,
saying the state had failed to provide evidence against them.

Geoff Nyarota, 50, editor of the Daily News and his former business
partner Wilfred Mbanga, 55, were arrested last week and charged with
misleading officials about the amount of money they had at their disposal
to start the paper three years ago.

Police also said they had launched a daily newspaper when they had applied
to start a weekly. Magistrate Weston Nyamwanza ruled on Friday there was
no deliberate intent to mislead the authorities. Nyarota was given special
permission to be absent from the hearing as he was in the United States to
receive an award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. Before
departing, Nyarota said he would fight any attempt to close his newspaper
and would not change its anti-government stance.

See also Daily News at http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Opposition denies involvement in killing of leading war veteran

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has rejected
government claims that it was behind the abduction and murder of a leading
war veteran in the country's second city, Bulawayo.

The body of Cain Nkala was found in a shallow grave on Tuesday 13
November, a week after he was kidnapped from his home by armed assailants.
State-controlled media said he had been strangled with his shoe laces.
Police have arrested six men, reportedly opposition members, and the
minister of home affairs has been quoted as saying that the police are
investigating leaders of the MDC.

On Friday 16 November pro-government militants burnt down the MDC's
Bulawayo office during a protest over Nkala's murder. "They threw a petrol
bomb and it has burnt down our office. The roof has collapsed, but no one
was hurt," MDC legislator Moses Mzila-Ndlovu told Reuters by telephone
from Bulawayo.

For more details, see
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14573&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa

Government suspends human rights education in schools

The Zimbabwe government has suspended the implementation of a human rights
and democracy pilot education programme in all schools, local media
reported on Thursday, 15 November. The move was seen as another attempt to
withhold civic education from the public in the run-up to next year's
crucial presidential election.

According to circular number nine of 2001, dated 17 September and signed
by Education, Sport and Culture Secretary Washington Mbizo, the programme
has been withdrawn until "further notice from the Ministry of Education,
Sport and Culture".

The human rights programme, funded by British and Dutch NGOs, was supposed
to run as an experiment in schools from the three Mashonaland provinces of
East, West and Central before being endorsed for all secondary schools in
Zimbabwe. Clemence Moyo, acting national chairman of the country's leading
human rights watchdog ZimRights, however said the suspension would impact
negatively on Zimbabwe's already tarnished human rights record in the
world.

"ZimRights has long been lobbying for the teaching of human rights in
schools and it seems that the government does not need enlightened
citizens in this country.

See also ZimRights at http://www.hrforumzim.com


"SOUTH AFRICA: Arms report clears government

The South African government was this week cleared of any wrongdoing in a
controversial multi-billion dollar arms deal. The three agencies
investigating the arms procurement package - the public prosecutor, the
national directorate of public prosecutions and the auditor-general - said
in a report released on Thursday 15 November that "no evidence was found
of any improper or unlawful conduct by the government".

"The irregularities and improprieties referred to in the findings as
contained in this report, point to the conduct of certain officials of the
government departments involved and cannot in out view, be ascribed to the
president or the ministers involved in their capacity as members of the
ministers' committee or cabinet. There are therefore no grounds to suggest
that the government's contracting position is flawed," said the report.

Commenting on the report, analysts told IRIN that the focus now had to be
on the way in which parliament handled the findings and the
recommendations. "What we saw today was very much an informal process as
MPs were only briefed on the report. The real process starts now as the
report is referred to the various parliamentary committees and their study
of the document," one analyst said. "The key committee is going to be I
think the public accounts committee which has in recent months become
divided over the probe. The key concern I would say is accountability and
follow through."

For more details, see http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14587

For the complete report on the arms deal please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14587

Government and farmers reach agreement

Meanwhile, farmers in the Limpopo valley in northern South Africa have
reached an agreement with the government over the fate of thousands of
foreign workers. Farmers have agreed to complete forms with information on
their current foreign workers by 23 November. A task team will then
consider the applications and make recommendations to the department of
home affairs on whether the workers should remain in the country.

The government had originally said that all foreign unskilled labour in
the area had to be phased by April 2001 and skilled and semi-skilled
labour by 15 October 2001. The process has been delayed several times with
some farmers saying that they could not recruit South Africans workers in
the area, primarily because of the costs involved.

For more details, see http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12309


NAMIBIA: Caprivi separatists demand representation

International Bar Association (IBA) president Dianna Kempe may soon visit
Namibia to raise the organisation's concerns over 128 men facing high
treason charges, possibly without legal representation.

Joanna Salsbury, the IBA's human rights institute lawyer, confirmed to
IRIN on Tuesday 14 November that the organisation had written to the
Namibian authorities listing their concerns over the men's' trial, set to
begin next February. "The IBA is thinking of sending its president to
raise our concerns face-to-face because that's how seriously we take this
problem and how concerned we are that there will not be a fair trial if
these defendants are not represented," she said.

Namibian Justice Minister Ngarikutuke Tjiriange recently urged national
and international human rights organisations and the Law Society to help
the suspects, saying that the government simply did not have the money to
provide them with legal representation. The call raised fears that the
trial would go ahead without the men being represented.

For more details, see http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14212


MOZAMBIQUE: Cholera claims 60 lives

At least 60 people have died of cholera in Mozambique since the disease
broke out in August, the state-run daily Noticias said on Friday 16
November. It said that more than half the country had been affected,
including the capital Maputo. At least five provinces - Maputo, Sofala,
Zambezia, Nampula and Niassa - are affected, with Zambezia, in the centre
of the country, hit the hardest, the paper said.

For a World Health Organisation (WHO) fact sheet on cholera please go to
http://www.who.int/inf-fs/en/fact107.html


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