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 29
21-27 July 2001


CONTENTS:

ANGOLA: Oxfam voices concern about IDPs
ZIMBABWE: Opposition accuses government of assassination bid
ZAMBIA: Another politician attacked
MALAWI: Privatisation programme suspended 
SWAZILAND: King revokes decree and introduces new law 
SOUTH AFRICA: Eskom strike called off
SOUTHERN AFRICA: SADC launches anti-malaria plan


ANGOLA: Oxfam voices concern about IDPs

The international humanitarian organisation Oxfam said this week that the
Angolan government was responding inadequately to the needs of people
displaced by the civil war. Speaking at the end of a visit to Angola,
Oxfam's director Barbara Stocking said an end to the war was the only way
out of the humanitarian crisis in the country, and called on the
international community to support a negotiated peace. The Oxfam
delegation had just returned from Bié province in the central highlands,
where nearly 200,000 people are living in displaced people's camps and are
heavily dependent on aid. "The government must take responsibility for its
own people - its response to internally displaced people is completely
inadequate," Stocking told journalists in Luanda. "In particular in the
places which are insecure, where the humanitarian agencies cannot go, the
government must take responsibility for getting food to those people."

Stocking called on the Angolan government and the rebels to take part in
discussions that would lead to peace, saying that that the 26-year
conflict was the reason for the displacement of people. "People are on the
move because of war. They are being moved by the government, or moving
because of looting by UNITA, or because of food insecurity." The Oxfam
director also called on the international community - mentioning donor
countries and the United Nations - to lend their weight to peace efforts.
She also said Oxfam would start to lobby the multinational petroleum
companies, whose revenues comprise the Angolan government's main source of
income. Stocking singled out the situation in the central Angolan town of
Camacupa, which over the past two months has received thousands of people
from Cuemba, some 60 km away. Some had fled to Cuemba to escape attacks
and looting, only to be ordered on to Camacupa by the authorities. Others
were forced to leave since humanitarian agencies are not allowed to work
in Cuemba, and the government was providing neither food nor health care.

IDPs in Camacupa

More than 200,000 people are already living in huts or tents in the camps
around Camacupa. People began arriving in large numbers in March, when
there was no emergency feeding or health provision in the town. Reports
from the town at that point suggested that between six and ten children
were dying each day as a result of malnutrition and disease. In May, the
government declared the military situation to be secure enough to allow
humanitarian agencies to start work in the town. The situation has since
been brought under control, due largely to general distributions of World
Food Programme supplies, and the opening of a supplementary feeding centre
and more recently a therapeutic feeding centre by Médecins sans
Frontières. But the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) warned recently that additional food distributions would be
required, particularly given the continuing arrival of displaced people.

Government wants help for ex-Boavista residents

Meanwhile, the Angolan government this week called on the humanitarian
agencies to offer assistance to people who had been forcibly removed from
the inner-city Luanda district of Boavista.  According to a memorandum
circulated by CONGA (the Committee of Non-governmental Organisations in
Angola), social services minister Albino Malungo planned to invite the UN,
NGOs and donors to give their support. Although no formal approach has
been made yet, most of the major humanitarian organisations working in
Angola are aware of the plans, and are expecting to hear from the minister
soon.

Aid officials who spoke to IRIN indicated they would not respond
positively to the government's call for help. Some said the plight of the
people from Boavista was entirely of the government's own making, and that
it was now the government's responsibility to solve the problem. Others
said that feeding the former Boavista residents was not a priority, when
the need was so great elsewhere in the country. Already, more than a
million Angolans are dependent on emergency food aid, most of them having
been forced away from their homes by the civil war.

For an IRIN report on the plight of Boavista's residents please go to :
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/angola/20010724.phtml

EU donation for water project in Huila

The European Union announced this week that it would allocate just over US
$1 million towards the construction of four water catchments and pump
infrastructures in the southern Huila province. Abel Costa, Huila's
director of energy and water affairs, said on Monday that the four
projects were in the towns of Quipungo and Cacula, as well as in the Hoque
Lubango and Freixel Matala communal areas. Costa said the projects were
part of the provincial government's overall programme aimed at improving
the supply of potable water to residents. This included renovating water
catchments, treatment and distribution infrastructure, he added.

Catholic bishops call for dialogue

On the political front this week, the Catholic bishop of Angola's northern
Uige province said the Luanda government was primarily responsible for
restoring peace to the country, urging "frank dialogue" with the UNITA
rebels. "Insistent appeals to end the war in no way indicate that the
government is responsible for the war, but rather, that it is most
responsible for peace", Bishop Francisco da Mata Mourisca said. "In this
militancy for peace, UNITA cannot be sidelined", he said, urging rebel
chief Jonas Savimbi "to collaborate" in "reconciliation". Da Mata
Mourisca, who leads the Angolan Catholic Church's Pro Pace peace movement,
said that reconciliation "implies frank dialogue, with truth and
confidence".

Zambia detains suspected Angolan government soldiers

Suspected Angolan government soldiers were detained in Zambia's
Northwestern province after 12 were detained at the weekend. News reports
said the soldiers who had crossed from Angola to search for food in
Zambian villages had been disarmed and detained. District administrator
Chris Kwalombota told the 'Daily Mail' that the soldiers were being kept
in Zambezi "pending instructions from higher authorities". A Zambian
foreign ministry official was quoted as saying that Luanda had already
been informed of the development. "We have already communicated with the
authorities in Angola through their embassy here," the official said.
According to AFP, the Angolan embassy in Lusaka confirmed receiving
reports of the detentions but declined to give details, citing an
agreement between the two countries not to discuss such matters in the
media.

ZIMBABWE: Opposition accuses government of assassination bid

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Monday
condemned as an assassination bid a weekend attack on the motorcade of
party leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the northern town of Bindura. The
violence began on Sunday afternoon when Tsvangirai and other top
opposition leaders arrived in the constituency. About 100 ruling ZANU-PF
militants attacked the 13-car motorcade with stones, and burned one of the
vehicles, according to the privately-owned 'Daily News'. The newspaper
quoted MDC's security director as alleging that shots were first fired by
the ZANU-PF supporters, prompting him to shoot into the air to allow the
motorcade to escape. Five people were injured in the melee, the latest
incident in Bindura ahead of next week's by-election. "We interpret
yesterday's barbaric attack on the convoy as a clear attempt on the life
of party president Tsvangirai," MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe told IRIN.
"The attack was carried out by a well-organised and well-paid group of
agents who took cover in a broad group of village vigilantes."

MDC leaders in talks with COSATU

Meanwhile, MDC leaders travelled to South Africa this week to hold talks
with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the ruling
African National Congress (ANC), signalling a significant change towards
rapprochement with Zimbabwe's opposition.

Government suspends BBC press accreditation

Media freedom came under the spotlight again this week with the suspension
of press accreditation for the BBC by the Zimbabwean government. A report
by the state-owned 'Herald' newspaper on Thursday said that the government
had accused the BBC's correspondent, Rageh Omaar of "deliberate unethical
and unprofessional conduct", in his coverage of President Robert Mugabe's
speech at the opening of parliament on Tuesday.

Moyo denied the BBC's report that Mugabe "vowed to continue with the
forcible acquisition of white farmland," the paper said. "It is apparent
that, as has happened before, the BBC approached the President's speech
with a preconceived view to distorting it, to give a false impression that
there is no law and order in Zimbabwe," Moyo was quoted saying. Milton
Nkosi, BBC's Johannesburg bureau chief told IRIN on Thursday: "The BBC is
disappointed with the decision. We will certainly be meeting with the
Zimbabwean government. We stand by Rageh Omaar's report."

Mugabe defends land reform programme

In his opening address to parliament Mugabe said that his campaign to
seize white farms would empower black people across Africa. Mugabe
described the government's nationalisation of mostly white-owned
commercial estates - ruled illegal by the courts - as "our last struggle
for the decolonisation of our country and our continent". Mugabe said his
land programme was accepted as necessary and just by fellow African
leaders and what he called "the majority of members of the international
community". Mugabe described the land program as "the basis for our
economic transformation" that would create better agricultural production
and improve general economic development.

Mugabe appoints three new judges

Meanwhile Mugabe this week added three new seats to the Supreme Court by
appointing three judges seen as stalwarts tZANU-PF.  Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa said the additional judges were needed to handle
litigation by white farmers "who are contesting and indeed frustrating the
government's land reform programme", according to the report. White
farmers, through the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), have already won a
Supreme Court ruling declaring the violence-wracked land reforms
unconstitutional, but individual farmers continue to press claims to
retain their farms. Chinamasa did not say when the new judges - Misheck
Cheda, Vernanda Ziyambi and Luke Malaba - would take the bench. Under
Zimbabwean law, Mugabe has unrestricted powers to appoint judges or to
expand the size of the bench. His appointments are reviewed only by the
Judicial Services Commission, which is also filled with Mugabe appointees,
the report said. "The real reason for the new appointments is an attempt
to further ZANU-ize the judiciary in this country," said Tendai Biti, a
leading constitutional lawyer and an MP for the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC). "Fortunately the men and women who have been
appointed are men and women of integrity," Biti said. "The intended
subordination of the Supreme Court through the appointment of judges who
are perceived as sympathetic to the Mugabe regime is not going to
succeed," he was quoted saying.

Journalists oppose new committee

In a separate development journalists and editors from the country's
independent media have criticised the government over the formation of a
committee tasked with probing journalism standards and ethics. The
government announced on Monday it had formed a committee to look into the
professionalism of the local media. Harare Polytechnic media studies
lecturer Tafataona Mahoso chairs the panel, which has excluded even a
single representative from the independent media. "There has been an
obvious lack of credibility from the onset when so many of the members of
this committee are apologists of the ruling party," Iden Wetherell, editor
of the 'Zimbabwe Independent' was quoted saying.

Makoni acknowledges economic crisis

Meanwhile in London, Zimbabwean Finance Minister Simba Makoni said on
Tuesday the country's economy was in crisis and that poverty was spreading
at an alarming rate. "I would have to be foolish to deny what is evident
to everybody in broad daylight, even in the darkness of night - this
economy is in crisis," Makoni said in a BBC television interview.
Questioned about the impact on ordinary Zimbabweans in urban and rural
areas, he said: "Severe poverty is entrenching here at a rate that is very
alarming."

A new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said the country's
GDP was estimated to have contracted by six percent in 2000 and was
forecast to contract by 5.6 percent in 2001. Initially the main factor
behind the slowdown was the overvalued exchange rate, which caused foreign
currency shortages, made many imports unobtainable and prevented producers
from recouping their production costs in domestic currency terms. However,
the EIU said, these problems were now compounded by the ongoing political
crisis, poor macroeconomic situation, fuel shortages and electricity cuts,
all of which were placing severe constraints on the economy.

Health services crippled as doctors, nurses strike

And in a further development in the ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe, services
at state hospitals were crippled this week as a strike by government
doctors and nurses continued. The Hospital Doctors Association said about
350 doctors stopped work in the cities of Harare, the capital, and
Bulawayo, the second city, demanding better salaries and allowances. It
said some senior doctors and military officials were handling emergency
cases, and staff at provincial and rural health facilities still had to
decide whether to join the action, Dr Sibert Mandega, head of the doctors'
association, said. "This action is greatly regretted, but has been
necessitated by the consistent lack of progress in pay negotiations," he
was quoted saying. On Friday, Mandega said that the doctors would not go
back to work until they had received a favourable response from
government. He said: "We regret all the suffering and death of the
patients as a result of the arrogance of some people."

The Zimbabwe Nurses Association said about 80 percent of its 9,000 members
stopped work on Wednesday to protest against their salaries. According to
the report, nurses earned about US $320 a month, depending on seniority.
It said junior doctors earned about US $440 a month, of which about one
third went towards routine deductions and hospital accommodation. Mandega
said doctors were also demanding a review of emergency on-call allowances.
Government doctors stopped work for six weeks in late 1999 to press
similar demands. The government said at the time that the action cost
scores of lives.

Concerns about food shortages

Bread shortages could be on the horizon in Zimbabwe after the decision by
some large milling companies to ration flour supplies to bakers, the
'Financial Gazette' said on Thursday. The newspaper quoted milling and
baking industry sources saying that supplies had been cut by between 15
and 40 percent because of shortages of locally grown wheat and the high
cost of importing supplies to meet the shortfall. "Currently one miller
(Blue Ribbon) is rationing flour," National Bakers Association chairman
Mark Prior was quoted saying. "The largest miller (National Foods) is
currently considering rationing but has yet to introduce rationing of
flour. The major reason for the introduction of rationing is the shortage
of wheat supplies in the country. Not all the millers are affected, but
the major mill has a shortage of stock."

Industry executives said the government's decision not to assist the
private sector with wheat imports, forcing millers to resort to the
parallel market, would force flour prices up in the next few months,
resulting in "astronomical" bread prices at a time when consumers could be
facing serious shortages. Bakers said bread shortages were inevitable if
flour rationing by large millers continued because smaller millers could
not meet the shortfall left by bigger companies. "The smaller mills have
just sufficient (stocks) to see them through to the next harvest at
current off-take levels. They cannot accommodate new customers or
increased off-take," Prior said.

ZAMBIA: Another politician attacked

Prominent Zambian politician and former cabinet minister Derrick Chitala
was attacked and beaten during a raid by 15 gunmen on his Lusaka home,
Zambian news reports said on Monday. A police spokesman was quoted as
saying that the armed men stormed Chitala's house in the up market suburb
of Ibex Hill early on Friday morning. He added that the politician managed
to disarm one of his attackers before others beat him on the head. Chitala
said the assailants had told him they had been sent to kill him, but did
not specify by whom.

Opposition leader's defamation case delayed

Meanwhile, A Zambian court on Friday delayed a hearing for a reporter and
a top opposition leader, after police said they were not ready to
prosecute them on charges of defaming President Frederick Chiluba. Edith
Nawakwi, secretary general of the two-month-old Forum for Democracy and
Development, and Bivan Saluseki, a reporter at the privately owned 'Post'
newspaper, are jointly charged with defamation. They were due to appear in
court on Friday to answer the charges, which stem from a 16 July story by
Saluseki in which Nawakwi was quoted as calling Chiluba a thief. Nawakwi
told reporters outside the court that the fact that the police were not
ready to prosecute her is an indication that they have no evidence against
her.

IRIN Focus on economic reforms

An IRIN focus report this week examined the economic reforms which have
taken place in Zambia during the last 10 years. Analysts told IRIN that
the lot of the ordinary Zambian has never been grimmer. Unemployment
levels have risen steadily, largely as a result of a public service
restructuring exercise to cut the government's wage bill. In addition,
jobs have also been lost as scores of small and medium-sized businesses
fold in the face of fierce competition within a new liberal trade culture.
At the same time, the delivery of key social services continues to suffer
from under-funding, administrative lapses and poor output by disgruntled
government workers.

The macro-economic figures have certainly been impressive: annual
inflation remains relatively low at 20.2 percent, and is expected to drop
to 17.5 percent by the year-end. The local currency, the kwacha, which
soared to a record high at 4,400 per US dollar last year, has remained
steady at around 3,600 over the past few months. At the same time, the
country's international reserves, which were targeted at the equivalent of
two months import cover, have crossed the three months threshold at US
$264 million.

However, analysts said the inadequacies of Zambia's economic performance
are glaringly apparent in its statistics: an estimated 80 percent of the
country's 1.3 million people live on less than US $1 per day, life
expectancy stands at around 37 years. Moreover, analysts say the
impressive figures bandied about by government officials are often
misleading. While they point to a gradual turnaround in the country's
economic prospects, the truth is that many of the gains the figures
project are unsustainable, they said.

For a more in depth report on the economic reforms in Zambia please go to:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zambia/20010725.phtml

IRIN Focus on agricultural reforms

IRIN also this week looked at reforms within the agricultural sector in
Zambia. The World Bank has agreed to support a government plan to
reinvigorate Zambia's shrinking agricultural industry, but the two parties
look headed on a collision course over the radical reforms the government
proposes. The government sees the future of the industry as lying at least
partly in the reintroduction of some protection for local producers and an
expansion of its own role in agricultural marketing. However, the World
Bank disclosed on Monday that it would oppose the reintroduction of
protectionism and a stronger government hand in the industry. "The World
Bank is willing to assist in the development of the competitiveness of
Zambian agriculture," World Bank deputy representative Mehrnaz Teymourian
told IRIN. "We are not aware that the government plans to reintroduce
protectionism or play a greater role in marketing, but the bank would
oppose both," she added.

Agriculture minister Misheck Chiindi last week launched a study on
Zambia's agricultural competitiveness with a call for "legitimate defence
measures" to counter alleged unfair trade practices by some Common Market
for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) producers. "The World Bank has
also expressed interest to participate in the study directly and
contribute to the resulting analytical work that will be needed to develop
required policy adjustments and institutional support mechanism that
improve Zambia's agricultural competitiveness," the agriculture minister
said.

For a more in depth report on the agricultural reforms in Zambia please go
to: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zambia/20010723.phtml

Food shortages loom say farmers

In a separate development the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) said
this week that the country was likely to experience a huge shortage of
maize, the country's staple food. "A maize shortage is expected this year.
ZNFU estimates a shortfall of 120,000 to 150,000 mts," Songowayo Zyambo,
ZNFU executive director said. News reports said that the Zambian
government had no official estimates of the shortfall, but had set up a
committee to find solutions to the crisis to prevent market distortions
and food riots. "This year ZNFU is convinced that there will be a
shortfall expected to be experienced around December 2001 and January
2002," Zyambo was quoted saying.

About two million Zambians already faced starvation because their crops
were washed away by floods which ripped through southern Africa earlier
this year, the report said. According to Zyambo, 40 of Zambia's 73
districts would have maize deficits. Zambian Vice President Enoch
Kavindele told AFP earlier in the week that about 98,000 mts of grain was
needed to avert a hunger crisis in rural areas. The Zambian government had
issued an appeal to donors for help, and so far two countries had provided
about US $750,000 in food aid, the report said.

MALAWI: Privatisation programme suspended

Malawi announced this week that it had suspended efforts to privatise
state-owned industries. "It's a moment of soul-searching," Charles Msosa,
Malawi's secretary for privatisation, told journalists. "We want to look
back at what we have done and see whether we are in the right direction."
Malawi has privatised 36 of its nearly 100 money-losing state-owned
companies since the programme began in 1995. Msosa said the cabinet had
suspended the initiative earlier this month and asked for an update to see
if it was helping Malawi improve its economy. The state-owned companies
employ over 500,000 people and account for 20 percent of the country's
total income. Supporters of the programme say it would help attract
foreign investment. Critics say it will lead to massive job losses and the
sale of most state assets to foreigners, AP said. The programme was
suspended just as Malawi was to choose a partner to buy a 30 percent stake
in Malawi Telecommunications Limited, the state-owned telephone company
struggling to provide telecommunications to the country.

Clerics meet Muluzi to voice concern over violence

Meanwhile, Malawian religious leaders met with President Bakili Muluzi to
voice their concern over political violence allegedly perpetrated by
pro-government militants. "We are concerned with inter-party political
violence, and we also expressed our concern on the expulsion of the
opposition MPs," Constantine Kaswaya, an Anglican minister, told AFP.  
Kaswaya leads the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) alliance of religious
organisations, which held closed-door talks with Muluzi late on Tuesday at
his hilltop residence, the Sanjika Palace. Kaswaya was quoted as saying
that religious leaders were also concerned over the expulsion of Malawi
Congress Party leader Gwanda Chakuamba and his top aide Hethrwick Ntaba
from parliament. Speaker Sam Mpasu declared their seats vacant because the
two had associated with another political party, the Alliance for
Democracy (AFORD). Malawi's High Court on July 16 temporarily overruled
Mpasus declaration and reinstated the two MPs. Kaswaya said Muluzi did not
comment on the expulsion, saying the court will rule on legislation
enacted last month which allows the speaker to declare seats vacant.

Muluzi reshuffles cabinet

In a separate development Muluzi this week reassigned four ministers in a
surprise cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday night - the first since he sacked
his entire cabinet last November following various graft scandals. In one
of the more significant moves, former health minister Aleke Banda was
returned to his post as minister of agriculture and irrigation, replacing
Leonard Mangulama. Mangulama was appointed minister for poverty
alleviation, replacing Alice Sumani who was appointed labour minister.
Sumani replaced Yusuf Mwawa, who replaced Banda as health minister.

SWAZILAND: King revokes decree and introduces new law

Bowing to international pressure, Swaziland's King Mswati III revoked a
royal decree late on Tuesday night that had stripped the courts of their
independence and muzzled the press. Reports said the monarch openly
admitted he was acting in the face of a threat by the United States to
withdraw preferential trade benefits enjoyed by Swaziland. The revocation
of the decree was announced by Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini on the
king's behalf on the state radio station.

"I am now informing the nation that his majesty has accepted the concerns
about the decree," Dlamini said. "A new law in the light of the concerns
and other considerations has been processed." A new decree issued on
Wednesday restates that bail may not be granted to serious offenders, and
repeals the section of the constitution prohibiting such a practice. The
decree also declares valid all actions by government ministers and
officers carried out in their official capacities under previous laws,
including the old decree. Such actions may also not be challenged in court
solely on the grounds that they were carried out by government officials,
the new decree states.

SOUTH AFRICA: Eskom strike called off

Power workers have called off their three-day strike on Thursday after
accepting a revised wage offer from Eskom. "Based on the information I
have received, the workers have accepted the offer. The strike will end on
Thursday when we make a formal announcement," said Moferefere
Lekorotsoane, a spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM),
the largest union at Eskom. Some 7,500 workers belonging to the
Mineworkers Union (MWU) returned to work at Eskom early on Thursday, but
about 16,000 members of the NUM and the National Union of Metalworkers
remained on strike as they considered the new offer, reports said.  An
estimated 80 percent of some 23,500 workers went on strike on Tuesday over
Eskom's unilateral 7-9 percent wage increase and demanded 9-11 percent.
Lekorotsoane said the new offer would see the lowest paid workers
receiving 10% wage rises while the highest paid would receive a 7.5
percent increase.

More people, more unemployment, more progress

Meanwhile, the country's unemployment rate was still rising because new
jobs were not being created fast enough to keep pace with the growing
number of young people entering the job market, the government said on
Wednesday. According to Statistics South Africa, the unemployment rate had
reached 36.2 percent by 1999. The report said the figure was based on a
five-year study from 1995 to 1999, in which an "expanded" definition of
jobless was used. It was the first time the government had estimated the
jobless rate for 15 to 65-year-olds at that level, according to the
report. The official jobless rate had risen to 23.5 percent from 15.7
percent in 1995, it said. "South Africa's population has the typical
pyramid structure for a developing market - there are a lot of young
people who are unable to find jobs," Statistics South Africa chief
director of research and development, Ros Hirschowitz, was quoted saying.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: SADC launches anti-malaria plan
 
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Malaria Action Plan,
which aims to reduce the effects of the disease in the region, was
launched by South Africn Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang at
Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe on Wednesday.

Sapa reported that Tshabalala-Msimang launched the plan at the southern
Africa malaria control annual meeting, where the main focus was to create
measures to half the number of malaria deaths in southern Africa from
300,000 to 150,000 per year by the year 2010. Tshabalala-Msimang told
delegates the plan was conceived because of fear of an outbreak in the
region after last year's heavy rains. "Ministers from the flood-affected
countries, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, met
in Maputo and established the malaria task team," she said.


IRIN-SA - Tel: +2711 880 4633 Fax: +2711 447 5472 e-mail:
irin-sa@irin.org.za


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