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 48
01 - 07 December 2001


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Mugabe seeks support
ANGOLA: Security situation "generally calm" - WFP
NAMIBIA: Food pipeline breaks expected in new year
MALAWI: IRIN Focus on land reform proposals
MOZAMBIQUE: Limpopo river level rises
SWAZILAND: Opposition rejects constitutional exercise
SOUTH AFRICA: Arms deal report scrutinised
ZAMBIA: Attempts to curb maize prices
SOUTHERN AFRICA: IFRC appeals for US $13 million

ZIMBABWE: Mugabe seeks support

The South African presidency said this week that it had not yet received
an official request for a meeting with the Zimbabwean government in spite
of reports that President Robert Mugabe wanted an urgent summit over South
Africa's waning support for his policies.

A spokesperson for Mbeki's office told IRIN on Thursday 6 December that
the presidency would comment "if and when we receive such a request".
Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette reported on Thursday that a shaken Mugabe was
seeking an urgent meeting with Mbeki to try to mend the rift that had
developed between them. The report quoted official sources as saying that
Mbeki's scathing attack on Mugabe's policies over the weekend had prompted
plans to request the meeting.

Mbeki, in his first public rebuke of Mugabe, was quoted as saying at the
weekend that the Zimbabwean leader's policies had destroyed southern
Africa's second largest economy and that the country's presidential
election next year was unlikely to be free and fair. Mbeki warned that
Mugabe should no longer expect protection from South Africa, the report
said.

"President Mugabe has been advised to have a meeting with President Mbeki
so that the two can have a frank talk about the events in Zimbabwe and try
to bridge a rift which is developing between the two countries," a cabinet
minister was quoted as saying.

As the Zimbabwean media focused on the allegedly tense relationship
between the two governments this week, local analysts were quoted as
saying that the unspoken but most significant point under-scored by
Mbeki's new attitude was that Pretoria could easily flex its economic
muscle if Harare continued defying international calls to uphold the rule
of law and to hold a free and fair election next year.

For the full report please go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=17269&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SOUTH_AFRICA-ZIMBABWE

US gets tough

By an overwhelming margin, the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, 4
December authorised President George W. Bush to pressure Mugabe and his
government to restore democratic rule. The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Act, passed by a 396-11 margin, directs Bush to support the
people of Zimbabwe in their struggle to bring about democratic change and
restore the rule of law in the country.

The bill, which passed the US Senate in August and now goes to Bush for
his signature, asks the president to consult with other countries on ways
to implement visa restrictions and other targeted sanctions against those
responsible for political violence in Zimbabwe. The proposal also provides
funding for such efforts once the rule of law has been established and
when free and fair elections were possible.

SADC ministerial visit planned

Zimbabwe has invited a committee of Southern African Development Community
(SADC) ministers to the country this month to assess progress in its
controversial land reform programme, the state-run Sunday Mail reported on
Sunday 2 December. A committee of ministers from Malawi, South Africa,
Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and Angola have been invited to visit the
country on December 10, the newspaper said.

A government spokesman said the team had been invited by foreign minister
Stan Mudenge. He could not confirm the date of the visit, however. Last
month the regional body's chairman, Malawian President Bakili Muluzi said
SADC supported land reforms in Zimbabwe "but maybe the way it is being
done needs to be reviewed in order to respect the rule of law and the
democratic way of handling the issue".

Supreme court endorses land reform

Meanwhile, in a related development, Zimbabwe's Supreme Court this week
ruled that President Robert Mugabe's land reform programme to hand over
white-owned farms to the landless was lawful and that the rule of law
prevailed in the countryside.

The decision on Monday 3 December confirmed an interim ruling by the court
in October and effectively overturned an order in November 2000 that land
reforms were illegal and that occupiers should be evicted, news reports
said. Four of the five judges hearing the case said they were satisfied
that the government had put in place a land reform programme that complied
with the constitution.

For the full IRIN story please go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=17048&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZIMBABWE

Court relaxes voter registration rule

On the same day that the Supreme Court ruled the controversial land
programme legal, a High Court judge ordered the state-run electoral
authorities to relax restrictive voter registration conditions. Critics
said the registration conditions were disqualifying huge numbers of people
from voting in April's presidential election. Judge Anne Gowora told
registrar-general Tobaiwa Mudede to register as a voter anyone who
produced the written proof - from a landlord, parent or friend - of their
place of residence, which is needed for voters to register.

Campaign of disobedience launched

Unionists, priests and thousands of representatives from civic groups
launched a civil disobedience campaign on Sunday 2 December to force
Zimbabwe's government to implement political reforms and to stage a free
presidential election. Risking arrest, the assembly's leaders agreed to a
nationwide programme of civil disobedience, strikes and tax boycotts.

"We will proceed regardless of the consequences," said Douglas Mwonzora,
spokesperson for the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA). The assembly
last year successfully campaigned against a constitutional amendment
proposed by Mugabe to enable him to redistribute thousands of white-owned
farms to landless blacks.

The proposal was defeated in a referendum, but Mugabe ignored it and
condoned the subsequent seizure of 1,700 white-owned farms by ruling-party
militants as a justified response to the legacy of inequitable land
ownership left by colonial rule. Lovemore Madhuku, a law lecturer who
chairs the assembly, said it was fruitless to hope that Mugabe would
respond to diplomatic pressure for political reform.

ANGOLA: Security situation "generally calm" - WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) said in its latest report on Wednesday 5
December that the security situation in Angola during the previous week
was generally calm, despite reports of scattered military incidents "in
areas near and surrounding several provincial capitals".

However, the onset of the rainy season had "increased the general fear of
attacks" by UNITA rebels, resulting in the continued influx of internally
displaced persons (IDPs) to the larger towns under government control, and
where WFP's presence provides a minimum guarantee of food security, the
report said. According to WFP, in the southern province of Benguela, over
40 houses were reportedly looted in an attack by an "armed group" in
Libata, 3 km from Balombo town.

For the full story please see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=17173&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ANGOLA

Government urged to help refugees

Meanwhile, WFP on Wednesday 5 December urged the Angolan government to
boost its assistance to some four million people next year, who have been
driven from their homes by the country's civil war.

A Sapa report quoted WFP regional director for Central Africa Holdbrook
Arthur as saying that "we hope there will be a more significant
contribution by the government".

"We think it's in a position to do more," Arthur was quoted as saying
after a series of meetings with government officials. Government and rebel
UNITA troops have been at war for the better part of the past 30 years.
Arthur said it was "urgent for the government to rebuild airports across
the country, so we can fly in humanitarian aid in more reliable security
conditions". The authorities should also safeguard the main roads "to
bring down the cost of humanitarian operations", he added.

More than 60 percent of the food and medical aid provided across the
war-ravaged southern African nation is transported by air.

NAMIBIA: Food pipeline breaks expected in new year

The World Food Programme (WFP) in Namibia warned this week of breaks in
the food pipeline in January if it did not secure donor funding soon.
Between 17,000 and 22,000 refugees, mainly from Angola, are accommodated
at the Osire refugee camp at any given time. Most rely solely on WFP food
rations.

Penelope Howarth, head of the WFP sub-office in Namibia told IRIN on
Monday 3 December: "We are going to be asking for renewed donor support to
allow us to continue feeding refugees in Osire in 2002. We have food to
last us until January, when we expect to start experiencing pipeline
breaks in key commodities."

In other refugee-related news, Namibia's National Society for Human Rights
attributed a reported drop in the number of Angolan men entering Namibia
since a curfew was imposed on the border in October to "forced
recruitment" into the Angolan army and rebel UNITA forces.

Zen Mnakapa of Namibia's National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) told
IRIN on Monday 3 December: "The answer (to why the number of male refugees
has decreased) is that males are separated from their families and taken
for conscription into the Angolan government forces. UNITA is also doing
the same thing." He said Namibian government and army sources had provided
the NSHR with the information. Thousands of Angolans have been fleeing
across the border, either to Zambia or Namibia, in recent months to escape
escalating fighting between UNITA and government soldiers in the southern
and eastern parts of Angola.

For the full story please see
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=16854&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=NAMIBIA

IBA lobbies support for Caprivi treason suspects

On Tuesday 4 December, The International Bar Association (IBA) told IRIN
it was liasing with a number of international bodies and non-governmental
organisations with a view to securing legal aid for 128 treason suspects
in Namibia.

Its human rights institute lawyer, Joanna Salsbury, said IBA president
Dianna Kempe's two-day visit to Namibia the previous week had resulted in
"fruitful, constructive" discussions with the Council of the Law Society
of Namibia and that the IBA was hoping to work with other parties who
wanted to ensure the suspects had legal representation when they go on
trial on 4 February 2002.

Kempe's visit was prompted by concerns about the fact that the
cash-strapped suspects were set to go on trial in the High Court at
Grootfontein next year without legal representation. The Namibian
government announced in October that it did not have money for the
suspects' representation and appealed for financial support.

For the full story please see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=17007&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=NAMIBIA

UNHCR concerned over Dordabis detainees

In another development, The United Nations refugee agency in Namibia on
Thursday 6 December expressed concern over the fact that 80 suspected
Angolan UNITA rebels being held in Dordabis, about 100 km southeast of the
capital Windhoek, had not appeared in court since their capture about 18
months ago.

UNHCR spokesperson David Nthengwe told IRIN the agency was supposed to
meet officials from the ministry of home affairs this week but that the
meeting was postponed indefinitely due to other commitments by the
government officials. "It is just a question of finding time. One of the
issues to be discussed will be why the people have not appeared before a
court. We have raised our concern before but will do it again," Nthengwe
said.

For the full story please see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=17265&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=NAMIBIA

PM's retirement 'will open up field in succession race'

Namibia's major daily, The Namibian, reported on Wednesday 5 December
Prime Minister Hage Geingob's decision to retire at the end of his term of
office, coupled with similar decisions by President Sam Nujoma and Deputy
Prime Minister Hendrik Witbooi, indicated that they realised they were not
indispensable.

Quoting University of Namibia lecturer Victor Tonchi, the report said the
decisions provided opportunities for "other players" in the ruling party
to emerge. Tonchi said that because the three, especially Nujoma, were
seen as the party's founding fathers, others were "inhibited" about
becoming players in the ruling of the country.

Among reasons Geingob cited for his planned retirement in 2005 was that he
did not want to be a target of the "character assassination" and
"bickering" that occurred during the last SWAPO Congress, when he stood
for the party vice-presidency.

It a report on Tuesday 4 December the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
predicted that SWAPO would face little threat from the divided opposition.
The EIU expected domestic political activity to focus on SWAPO's special
congress scheduled for 2003, at which the party will elect a new leader.
Analysts predict that Nujoma could remain at the helm of the party after
he leaves the presidency.

For more details on Nujoma's departure, please see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=16685&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=NAMIBIA

MALAWI: IRIN Focus on land reform proposals

Recently released government land reform proposals, which prohibit the
foreign ownership of land, have received a cautious welcome in Malawi.
Harry Potter, of the British government's Department for International
Development (DFID) summed up the common view when he told IRIN on
Wednesday 5 December: "Obviously the devil will be in the detail."

Like its southern African neighbours, Malawi is under great pressure to
empower its impoverished, mainly rural population. Like its neighbours it
is looking at the ownership of land as one way of doing this.

In a draft policy released in September, the ministry of lands said it
aimed, among other things, to "remove most of the pressing land problems
that have created tenure insecurity and undermined speedy and transparent
land transactions in Malawi".

"In many cases," according to the draft policy, "the inadequacies of
existing laws, delays in land administration, arbitrary applications of
the public interest criteria, constraining inheritance laws and
uncertainty regarding the strategies for dealing with land pressure have
all operated to discourage needed investments and the nation's ability to
eliminate poverty and pursue social harmony. Fundamental measures and
processes contained in this National Land Policy will equip Malawi to
minimise, if not eliminate the most constraining land problems and bring
progress and prosperity to all".

The policy, covering a wide range of issues from ownership to inheritance
laws, and from land use to the development of customary land, has
generally been welcomed. However, its prohibition of foreign land
ownership has raised some questions.

For the full story please see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=17174&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=MALAWI

Youth launch anti-malaria campaign

With Malaria being one of Malawi's three biggest killers, The Chronicle
reported this week, the Youth Health Power Association (YOHEPA) had
launched a massive campaign aimed at halving the death toll due to the
disease by 2010.

According to the report, YOHEPA's campaign would complement efforts under
way by United Nations and other non-governmental agencies, and was one of
a number of health awareness programmes the organisation had embarked on
in recent months. According to UN statistics, countries in tropical Africa
bear the greatest brunt of malaria - with about 90 percent of all reported
cases coming from this region.

MOZAMBIQUE: Limpopo river level rises

Mozambican news reports said on Thursday 6 December that the level of the
Limpopo river in the southern province of Gaza had been rising in recent
days and was nearing the flood alert point in some places. The increase in
water levels, the report said, was mainly due to heavy rainfall in
countries upstream, such as South Africa. In recent weeks parts of South
Africa's eastern Mpumalanga, which borders Zimbabwe, and the northern
parts of the Free State have been experiencing heavy rains.

However, Inyene Udoyen spokesman for WFP in Maputo, told IRIN on Friday 7
December that there were indications that river levels had started
returning to normal. He said WFP planned to pre-position about 6,000 mt of
food in various parts of the country as part of the agency's disaster
contingency plans.

A South African disaster management official explained to IRIN that heavy
rains in countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe would impact on water
levels in Mozambique. "Most of the region's major rivers flow into
Mozambique, so heavy rains upstream will affect water levels further
downstream in Mozambique," he said. He added that officials would continue
to monitor the situation in Mozambique and in South Africa. "Experience
has shown that disaster management in the two countries are very much
interlinked," he said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) said in its appeal for southern Africa this week that it was
seeking an additional US $3 million in 2002 to support the Mozambican Red
Cross in disaster response, preparedness and rehabilitation programmes.
"We learnt from the two years of flooding (in Mozambique) that early
preparation paid off and helped us respond faster," a spokeswoman from the
IFRC's regional delegation in Harare told IRIN.

She told IRIN that so far the IFRC and the Mozambican Red Cross had
pre-positioned about 3,000 tents, 6,700 blankets, 3,000 kitchen kits,
3,000 mosquito nets and nearly 15,000 jerry cans. "We also conducted a
training workshop in Chimoio in central Mozambique in October to build
local capacity to respond to disasters. We are confident that should any
kind of flooding take place, we will be able to respond," she said.

Growth prospects promising despite floods

Meanwhile, Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano told parliament that the
country's economy would grow by an estimated 14 percent despite the floods
between February and April. "Economic growth in our country is real and is
beginning to make itself positively felt in the lives of our citizens,"
Chissano said in his annual state of the nation address.

Debt relief agreement with France

In a related development, the Mozambican and French governments this week
signed an agreement under which an estimated US $26 million of Mozambique
debt to France would be cancelled. The agreement takes the form of a
contract redirecting the money from debt servicing into poverty reduction
programmes. The contract is for an initial three-year period. Bernadette
Leforte, French ambassador to Mozambique, said France hoped to follow the
contract with another one after the three-year period, until Mozambique's
entire debt to it was wiped out.

Government targets corruption

This week the Mozambican government announced the formation of a special
unit to fight corruption. The new unit would be made-up of magistrates who
would be trained in Botswana, which has extensive experience and success
in fighting corruption, Attorney-general, Joaquim Madeira, was quoted as
saying. He said the new body would first focus on corruption in the
judiciary. Political analysts said the new body could lead to the
prosecution of many people within government who, up until now, have been
considered "untouchable".

International donors have in recent months placed increasing pressure on
the government to weed out corruption in government structures and to
treat the scourge as a national priority.

SWAZILAND: Opposition rejects constitutional exercise

In Swaziland this week, the main opposition party rejected the latest
constitution drafting exercise, calling it a circus. King Mswati III on
Saturday 1 December announced a team to draft a new constitution within
the next 18 months.

Secretary-general of the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO),
Bong'nkhosi Dlamini, was quoted by AFP as saying that foreign countries
should show their opposition to totalitarian rule in the country by not
supporting or funding the process. "If the sham is supported, this would
be seen as giving legitimacy to an illegitimate process," Dlamini said. He
added that the exercise was intended to deceive the international
community into thinking that Swaziland was pursuing democratic reform.

An earlier constitutional review commission took five years to collect
submissions from the kingdom's estimated one million people and handed its
report to the king in August. The commission recommended that the absolute
monarchy continue in its present form and that political parties remain
banned.

Dlamini said the opposition believed negotiations towards democratic
elections should be launched. "We want a national convention which shall
conduct the negotiations. This process shall establish an interim
government or authority that will see to the affairs of state and
government during the period of transition to democracy," he said.

SOUTH AFRICA: Arms deal report scrutinised

The report on South Africa's controversial arms procurement package came
under further scrutiny this week, as various parliamentary committees
prepared their preliminary reports. Responding to questions from the
defence committee, public prosecutor Selby Baqwa said there may well have
been a "potential risk" of an individual affecting the contracts that were
finally chosen in the arms deal.

Shauket Fakie the auditor-general said suspended defence acquisitions
chief Chippy Shaik was shown in the arms report to have played a leading
role in various decision-making committees that dealt with the deal. He
added, however: "We could not find anything beyond reasonable doubt that
he (Shaik) influenced the process."

Meanwhile, Barbara Hogan, chairperson of the defence committee, called on
the cabinet to reconsider the costing of the deal and to think about
cancelling the second and third stages of the packages. By cancelling the
last two stages of the package, the cost could drop by an estimated 29
percent.

ZAMBIA: Attempts to curb maize prices

Zambian media reports said this week that the government had begun
importing cheap maize in an attempt to stabilise soaring prices. Maize
prices in Lusaka have doubled over the past two months.

Floods in some areas of Zambia, and drought in others over recent months,
have devastated harvests and left up to two million people in danger of
going hungry. The Times of Zambia quoted President Fredrick Chiluba as
saying it was the government's duty to keep maize prices under control.

"Maize is a staple food and no matter how expensive it becomes, people
will still buy - they do not have a choice," he was quoted as saying.
Zambia needs an estimated 250,000 mt of maize until the next farming
season.

Legitimacy of elections questioned

Zambian human rights and church groups this week questioned the legitimacy
of this month's presidential election, saying its timing would
disenfranchise many voters. Zambia goes to the polls on 27 December.

Election analysts and monitors have been critical, saying that a further
deterrent to voters was the fact that the election came at the height of
the festive and rainy season. They said holding the election during the
rainy season, when roads were generally impassable and most rural areas
inaccessible, would impact negatively on voter turnout.

Eleven contest Zambian presidency

In a related development, BBC said this week that 11 candidates had
successfully filed their nominations to stand in the presidential
election. The report said the candidates included three former Zambian
vice presidents - Levy Patrick Mwanawasa of the ruling Movement for
Multiparty Democracy (MMD), Christon Tembo of the opposition Forum for
Democracy and Development, and the Heritage Party's Godfrey Miyanda. Five
other nominations were rejected for not fulfilling all the requirements.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IFRC appeals for US $13 million

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) is appealing for more than US $13 million to fund its humanitarian
programmes in southern Africa.

A statement from the IFRC's regional delegation in Harare on Wednesday 5
December said that the IFRC had allocated US $44 million to programmes in
Africa. In its global appeal, launched in Geneva on Tuesday 4 December,
the IFRC said it needed US $162 million to fund it's programmes
world-wide.

"Despite the diversity of the 10 countries served by the Federation's
regional delegation in Harare - Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi,
Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe - the
region (southern Africa) is characterised by a proneness to natural
disasters, poor health standards and the disproportionately high numbers
of people living with HIV/AIDS," the IFRC said.

In its appeal for southern Africa, priority has been given to supporting
health and care programmes, with an allocation of US $5.4 million to this
sector. Special emphasis has been placed on HIV/AIDS activities to help
prevent the further spread of the disease and to "mitigate the impact of
those infected and affected by it".

For the full report please go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=17166&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SOUTHERN_AFRICA


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

[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-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.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this
item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2001


distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International Disaster Information
Volunteers in Technical Assistance
                                          web: www.cidi.org
                                     listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Southern Africa                  www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/safrica