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 55
17 - 25 January 2002


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Britain, EU go soft on Harare
ZAMBIA: Constitutional crisis looms
ANGOLA: IDPs increase steadily as army 'clean-up' rolls on
MALAWI: Imported maize arriving slowly
SOUTH AFRICA: SA sends aid to Goma
MADAGASCAR: Presidential runoff within 30 days
MOZAMBIQUE: High economic growth expected
MAURITIUS: Cyclone damage update
BOTSWANA: Khoisan told to move from ancestral lands

ZIMBABWE: Britain, EU go soft on Harare

Another tumultuous week ended in Zimbabwe with news reports that Britain
and the European Union (EU) were softening their stance against President
Robert Mugabe and his government.

The Financial Times reported on Friday 25 January that Britain had decided
that its main priority was to ensure that Mugabe allowed international
observers to witness presidential polls on 9-10 March.

Britain was concerned that if it pushed for immediate sanctions against
Mugabe, and Zimbabwe's early suspension from the Commonwealth, he would
reject international observers for the election, the newspaper reported.
Britain was also loath to give Mugabe political ammunition for his
campaign as he whipped up support by denouncing the United Kingdom as an
interfering former colonial power, the report said.

The newspaper said that an EU meeting on Monday 28 January, Britain was
expected to stop short of seeking the immediate imposition of sanctions
that could result in Mugabe's overseas bank accounts being frozen.
Instead, Britain was likely to press European foreign ministers to issue a
warning that sanctions would be imposed if international observers were
not allowed into Zimbabwe soon, it added.

Obasanjo visits on peace mission

The week began with the second city of Bulawayo enveloped in tension on
Monday 21 January, but there was no repeat of the political clashes and
running street battles that led to 39 arrests the day before.

A journalist in the city told IRIN that the police had denied reports that
four people had died in the violence on Sunday between ruling ZANU-PF
party militants and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
supporters. News reports said 20 people were wounded. There was no
independent confirmation of an MDC statement that 14 of its members were
missing. According to the journalist, the police said that all of the 39
people arrested belonged to the MDC.

The violence came as Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in
Zimbabwe on a peace mission ahead of presidential elections in March.
Obasanjo, who brokered the so-called Abuja Agreement on land reform
between Zimbabwe and former colonial power Britain last year, held talks
with President Robert Mugabe early on Monday and said progress on the
agreement was slow, AFP reported.

He also held talks with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC spokesman
Learnmore Jongwe told IRIN. "He assured us that Mugabe was saying he will
now stop the violence. Mr Tsvangirai pointed out that the very day he was
being assured the political campaign would be free and fair, we were being
stopped from campaigning in Bulawayo," Jongwe said.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19694&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZIMBABWE

Changes to media bill "cosmetic" - journalists

In another development, independent media groups and journalists told IRIN
on Wednesday 23 January that amendments to a controversial new media bill
were only "cosmetic" changes. While several other restrictive laws passed
through the parliament in the week, the amended media bill created
divisions among the ruling ZANU-PF party and was shelved yet again until
next week.

"The so-called amendments are cosmetic changes. The bill is still
draconian and is still an attempt to restrict the media," Abel Mutsakani,
head of the Independent Journalists Association of Zimbabwe said. Takura
Zhngzha, an advocacy officer with the Zimbabwe chapter of the Media
Institute of South Africa (MISA), told IRIN that the proposed changes
seemed only to relate to the accreditation of foreign journalists.

"From what we understand it seems that foreign journalists who are
permanent residents will be able to register. Also foreign journalists
will be able to register but to cover a specific event only," Zhngzha
said. The original bill barred foreigners from working as correspondents
in Zimbabwe. "We still condemn the bill in the highest form. As we see no
significant changes have been made and we think that it is still as bad it
was," Zhngzha added.

Signs of progress - ZimRights

At the same time a national human rights group in the country, ZimRights,
said on Tuesday 23 January there were signs that the Zimbabwean government
was trying to honour commitments it made to its neighbours at the recent
Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Malawi.

"We are seeing signs of the government respecting commitments it made to
SADC (because) at the last meeting SADC really came down heavily,"
ZimRights director Bidi Munyaradzi said. He added that in spite of
violence reported at an opposition rally in Bulawayo at the weekend, it
seemed as though the government was moving to clamp down on violence and
keep some of its promises.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19846&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZIMBABWE

WFP aid arrives

In a positive development for those facing hunger in the country, the
first consignment of food aid arrived in Zimbabwe on Wednesday 23 January,
a spokeswoman for the World Food Programme (WFP) told IRIN. "The first
three trucks of food for WFP's Zimbabwe emergency arrived yesterday
(Wednesday) by road. A total of 102 mt," said Brenda Barton from WFP's
regional office in Nairobi.

Barton said the food being brought into Zimbabwe was maize meal, a staple
food for many Zimbabweans. "Overall 5,200 mt of maize meal is to be moved
over the coming weeks, followed by 600 mt of beans, groundnuts and 110 mt
of vegetable oil," she added.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20012&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZIMBABWE

ZAMBIA: Constitutional crisis looms

Zambia looked headed for a constitutional crisis on Friday 25 January,
after its new parliament closed unceremoniously only hours after it
started sitting following sharp differences over the election process for
a Speaker, political analysts said. Police were called to restore order
after indignant opposition members turned on parliamentary officials,
including Clerk of the National Assembly Mwelwa Chibesakunda, in an unruly
protest against the manner in which the voting was to be run.

Chibesakunda had planned to conduct the poll by secret ballot - a move
opposition parliamentarians feared was intended to manipulate the ballot
in favour of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD).

The parliament is for the first time in its history dominated by the
opposition, which holds 81 of the 158 seats. Opposition members have
resolved to vote as a bloc to ensure that one of them is made Speaker.

However, it is widely suspected that the MMD has "paid" some opposition
members to vote for its candidate, and is therefore anxious that voting be
secret, analysts say. The suspicion that the ruling party is up to no good
has been reinforced by a government decision to ban the media from
observing the election. The constitution stipulates that voting for the
Speaker be done by affirmation.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20065&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZAMBIA
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20007&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZAMBIA

President Levy Mwanawasa's government also faces a challenge on the
economic front. Zambia's prospects looked increasingly uncertain this week
as a key investor in the strategic copper mining sector contemplated
pulling out of the country.

Zambia Copper Investments (ZCI) suspended trading in its shares on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) late on Wednesday 23 January on
instruction of its directors amid speculation that Anglo American
Corporation, which owns 50.9 percent of ZCI stock, planned to write down
its investment and leave the country.

ZCI's major investment in Zambia is a 65 percent stake in Konkola Copper
Mines, one of the most important of the country's mining assets. Zambia
depends on copper and cobalt exports for around 80 percent of its foreign
receipts.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20021&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZAMBIA

ANGOLA: IDPs increase steadily as army 'clean-up' rolls on

Insecurity in the southeastern province of Moxico has sent thousands of
people fleeing into the capital, Luena, and aid workers expect more people
to flock to the town for humanitarian aid in coming weeks.

"During the last weeks of December and the first week of January, more
than 5,000 people arrived in Luena. Expectations for the next few weeks is
that there will be a continuing influx of people from the southern part of
Moxico province," an OCHA source said on Friday 25 January.

The source said there were concerns that the IDP facilities in Luena were
overcrowded, and that increasing numbers and infrastructural problems -
like the poor condition of the Luena airstrip - would "eventually limit
the capacity to assist" those seeking help.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19445&SelectWeekly=Weekly&WRegion=Southern_Africa

Russia endorses peace process

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Wednesday 23
January that the so called "troika" three nation observer group on the
Angolan peace process should remain active "to regulate the situation" on
the ground in Angola. The countries involved in the troika, formed in
1991, are the United States, Russia and Portugal.

Ivanov was speaking in Lisbon, where he had arrived for short talks with
Lisbon's Foreign Minister Jaime Game. "We have confirmed our availability
to take an active role in the Angolan peace process", said Ivanov, who
declined to give further details.

In a related development, a senior US official said this week that the
United States, "in the capacity of members of the troika, is already
involved in the peace process of Angola and will give a full support",
according to Angolan news agency Angop on Friday.

MALAWI: Imported maize arriving slowly

In Malawi this week, maize finally started trickling in after a lengthy
delay caused by transport and other logistical problems.

Henry Gaga, general manager of the country's National Food Reserve Agency
(NFRA), told IRIN on Tuesday 22 January that between 1,200 mt and 1,400 mt
of the staple was arriving into the country daily from South Africa. "The
shortages are particularly in the southern parts of Malawi. We are
diverting all the imported maize into those regions," he told IRIN.

Gaga said that of the 150,000 mt of maize ordered from South Africa in
August, only 60,000 mt had arrived so far. The rest was expected to be
delivered by the end of February. In addition, another 30,000 mt ordered
from Tanzania was expected to arrive "any day", he added.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=19843&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=MALAWI

SOUTH AFRICA: SA sends aid to Goma

In an effort to help with relief efforts in Goma, the South African
government said this week that it expected to fly its first consignment of
relief aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday 27 January
to assist victims of the Mount Nyiragongo volcanic eruption.

In addition, according to ministry of foreign affairs spokesman Ronnie
Mamoepa, the government would "make a financial contribution to the
relevant international organisations co-ordinating relief efforts". He
told IRIN the money would come from the African Renaissance Fund aimed at
consolidating democracy, stability, peace and security on the continent.
The government was in the process of determining how much it had in the
fund and how much it could afford to donate, he said.

Conflict over payment for basic services

On the development front, a new Canadian study found that poverty was the
new enemy in post-apartheid South Africa, and the government's policy of
cost recovery and privatisation of basic services had created new areas of
friction with the country's poor and marginalised.

Municipal services such as water, sanitation and electricity, are many
people's main contact with government, said the latest issue of Reports, a
publication of Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

It quoted David McDonald of the Municipal Services Project (MSP) of
Queen's University, Ontario, as suggesting: "The crisis of cost recovery,
I would say, is enormous ... In many ways, it has undermined the ANC's
[ruling African National Congress] otherwise impressive infrastructure
programme."

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20014&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SOUTH_AFRICA

MADAGASCAR: Presidential runoff within 30 days

The political crisis in Madagascar seemed to worsen this week after the
High Constitutional Court (HCC) confirmed on Friday that neither President
Didier Ratsiraka nor Marc Ravalomanana, mayor of the capital Antananarivo,
had won an outright majority in last month's presidential election.

UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Adama Guindo told
IRIN on Friday 25 January that the court rejected Ravalomanana's requests
for official national electoral council tallies to be compared with those
of the opposition.

Ravalomanana claimed he won about 52 percent of the vote in the 16
December poll, while provisional results showed he scooped 46.59 percent
and Ratsiraka took 40.59 percent of the vote, making a runoff necessary.
Four other candidates took part in the election.

For more details:  http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20034

MOZAMBIQUE: High economic growth expected

The economic outlook for Mozambique is favourable, with a growth rate of
between 8 and 9 percent expected in 2002-2203, the Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU) said in its latest country overview.

"Growth will be underpinned by high levels of foreign direct investment
including two large-scale projects: the expansion of the Mozal aluminium
smelter and the construction of a gas export pipeline to South Africa,"
the EIU said. According to the EIU, the government's main economic policy
goals will be to achieve "high rates of sustainable, poverty reducing"
growth and to consolidate macroeconomic stability so as to increase the
delivery of social services.

On the political front the unit said that the ruling FRELIMO party was
under growing pressure to take action against organised crime and
corruption, "with which it is perceived as having close links".

The EIU noted that Mozambique's partners in the international community
were viewing governance issues with "growing concern", particularly the
issue of corruption in the banking sector. However, it added that support
for the government remained "strong" because of the government's "sound"
economic policies, the favourable conditions for economic growth and
poverty reduction, and the belief that Mozambique is a success story which
the international community needs to support.

Cyclone Dina not yet a threat

Meanwhile, humanitarian officials told IRIN on Thursday 24 January that
Cyclone Dina was heading towards the Mozambique Channel in the Indian
Ocean, but was unlikely to affect the Mozambican mainland.

"Thanks to the cold water in the south, Dina is decreasing in intensity
and will disappear in the south without reaching either Madagascar or
Mozambique," Jean-Cedric Meeus, UNICEF logistics officer in Maputo told
IRIN.

However, the Mozambican government, forced to cope with two successive
years of flooding and storm damage, said it was not taking any chances.
Mozambican news reports on Wednesday 23 January quoted Mussa Mustafa, head
of Mozambique's National Meteorology Institute (INAM) as saying that even
though the cyclone was "likely to weaken" and currently did not pose a
threat to Mozambique, if atmospheric conditions were right then the
cyclone could intensify again. Mustafa said that if this should happen
then the southern Mozambican coast, particularly Inhambane province, would
be at risk.

MAURITIUS: Cyclone damage update

In its latest situation report on the damage caused by Cyclone Dina on the
island of Mauritius, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday 25 January that sugar production would be
affected with an estimated loss of US $40-47 million. It added that there
would be a deficit of 15-20 percent for the next season.

OCHA said that most schools had sustained serious damage and that for
security reasons, the government has decided to temporarily close all
schools. Classes are scheduled to resume on Tuesday 29 January. The
situation report noted that 1,000 people have been temporarily
accommodated in community and social centres.

It reported that there was "considerable" loss of food crops and that the
government had authorised the importation of vegetables. According to
OCHA, no request for international assistance has been received by the UN
system in Mauritius so far.

BOTSWANA: Khoisan told to move from ancestral lands

The government of Botswana has threatened to cut off water and other
essential services to the Basarwa (Khoisan) still living in the central
Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), the BBC reported this week.

The government, since 1996, has been trying to persuade the Basarwa
remaining in the reserve to move to relocation camps hundreds of
kilometres away. The authorities' initial argument was that their removal
would allow better wildlife conservation. That has since changed to stress
that better services can be provided to the estimated 600-700 Basarwa in
the CKGR if they move out of the reserve.

"The government says that it is very expensive to provide services in the
reserve and accuses the Basarwa of wanting to remain in the stone age
rather than developing," a human rights activist in Botswana told IRIN.
"The government claims that those that remain are not enough to warrant
the expense of taking services there."

She said that the resettlement camps to which the Basarwa who chose to
move out of the CKGR were sent are "not pleasant", and some Basarwa have
returned to the game reserve. "There's not much to do there, they are not
educated and are not farmers. They are hunter-gatherers and you tend to
find they turn to alcohol because there is a lot of despair."


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 2002


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