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

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Fax: +27 11 880 1421
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SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 147
15 - 19 September 2003


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Daily News staff shut out despite court ruling
ZAMBIA: Ruling party wins majority in parliament
ANGOLA: Massive agricultual assistance programme planned
SWAZILAND: AGOA privileges may be lost over workers' rights
LESOTHO: Continuing drought worsens humanitarian crisis
NAMIBIA: Pipeline breaks threaten Angolan repatriation
MOZAMBIQUE: ARV project brings improved health and renewed hope
MADAGASCAR: ADF approves loan for economic recovery


ZIMBABWE: Daily News staff shut out despite court ruling

Employees of Zimbabwe's Daily News were prevented from entering their
offices on Friday, despite a court ruling allowing the newspaper to resume
publishing, news reports said.

"Police are still denying us access. What they are doing is illegal in
terms of the court order," Associated Press (AP) quoted chief executive of
the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) group, Sam Sipepa Nkomo, as
saying.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36714


WFP to scale up operations as food need rises

Also on Friday the World Food Programme said it expected to scale up
operations as food needs increased sharply over the next seven months, the
UN news service reported.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36712


Court grants Daily News permission to publish

On Thursday the High Court granted an order sought by the Daily News
barring police from seizing equipment and giving it permission to continue
operating while its registration was being processed.

The chief executive officer of the newspaper, Samuel Siphepha Nkomo, said
the company would sue the police for loss of revenue. "We generate a lot
of money from sales and advertising, but the overzealous behaviour by
police deprived us of an opportunity to earn money."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36693

Sanctions affect only top govt officials - EU

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) this week denied any responsibility for
Zimbabwe's worsening economic crisis, saying that its policy of 'smart'
sanctions targets government officials and not the country's population.

"The measures adopted by the EU, as a result of the breakdown of the rule
of law and human rights abuses, are the freezing of personal assets of
senior members of government and other high-ranking officials, the
prevention of the same to travel to EU member states, and the embargo on
the sale of arms. None of these measures could affect or cause any
hardship to the Zimbabwean population," the EU said in a statement on
Thursday.

In 2002 the EU imposed smart sanctions against Zimbabwe's government to
protest against President Robert Mugabe's re-election.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36688


Fuel still scarce despite deregulation of industry

The recent deregulation of the fuel industry was supposed to ease acute
fuel shortages but there has been little discernable benefit arising from
the new policy, industry officials said.

On Wednesday IRIN reported on the impact of deregulation on the country's
oil industry.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36659


Impact of economic crisis on agriculture threatens recovery

Zimbabwe's major fertiliser companies have warned that unless the
government addresses the foreign currency shortage they will not be able
to supply the country with desperately needed agricultural inputs.
 
In a recent report the fertiliser industry said it would require at least
US $2.45 million a month for the next four months, beginning in September,
to reach maximum production capacity and satisfy the country's fertiliser
needs for the farming season that has just begun.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36661


Amnesty condemns closure of Daily News

Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday added its voice to a chorus of
disapproval over the closure of the Daily News, Zimbabwe's only
independent daily newspaper.

"This latest action by the Zimbabwean government sends a strong and clear
signal to regional and international leaders that human rights are under
siege in Zimbabwe. Sustained public condemnation of the repression of
fundamental rights in Zimbabwe is not an option but a must," AI said in a
statement.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36651


Newspaper closure heightens concerns over media freedom

Media rights groups on Monday continued to voice their concern over a
decision last week by Zimbabwe's government to shut down the offices of
the Daily News, the country's only independent newspaper.

"The shutdown is definitely a blow to media freedom in Zimbabwe and sets a
bad precedent across Southern Africa. It sends a signal to other regional
leaders that it is okay to close down media outlets who dare to challenge
the authority of the government," Media Institute of Southern Africa
(MISA) researcher Zoe Titus told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36604


ZAMBIA: Ruling party wins majority in parliament

The week ended in Zambia with the ruling party, the Movement for
Multiparty Democracy (MMD) having secured a majority in parliament,
following its victory in three of the four by-elections held on Thursday.

But the main opposition party, the United Party for National Development
(UPND), which fielded candidates unsuccessfully in two constituencies in
Western province and a third in North-western province, rejected the
results. The party maintained its pre-election stance that the MMD was out
to rig the polls and alleged that national identity cards, a requirement
for being issued with voter's cards, were issued in a partisan manner.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36710


Violent clashes ahead of crucial by-elections

On Wednesday IRIN reported that the run-up to the by-elections had seen
sporadic violence erupt between ruling party and opposition supporters.

Analysts said the clashes were a measure of how much was at stake in the
by-elections. At least one parliamentarian was arrested, scores of people
were injured and property damage estimated at millions of Kwacha was
caused.

More details: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36662


ANGOLA: Massive agricultual assistance programme planned

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Friday that almost
2 million Angolans would receive much needed agricultural emergency
assistance ahead of the rainy season.

Over the next few weeks "FAO will provide agricultural kits to farmers in
14 of the 18 provinces in Angola. The kits will include locally adapted
varieties of maize, beans, vegetable, millet and sorghum seeds, and
agricultural tools such as hoes and machetes," the organisation said in a
statement.

While other humanitarian organisations working in the country would
provide "an additional 300,000 [agricultural] kits, the total will be some
600,000 kits".

In what the organisation said was its largest operation in Africa, about
5,000 mt of inputs will be distributed to "the most remote and isolated
villages, where pockets of extreme vulnerability still exist".

More details: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36711


Funding shortfall threatens recovery programmes

IRIN reported on Tuesday that although the humanitarian situation
continues to stabilise in Angola, the United Nations has received just 39
percent of the funds needed for continuing its operations there.

The UN requested US $313 million in its revised 2003 Consolidated
Inter-Agency Appeal, but only US $121 million had been covered by the
beginning of September 2003.

The most underfunded sectors include those focussed on supporting Angola's
recovery from decades of civil war, such as: demining action; agricultural
development; and education. Recent figures indicate that agricultural
programmes had received a quarter of the US $22 million required, while
only US $2.6 million had been donated to cover health projects budgeted at
US $28.6 million.

More details: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36630


Govt says resettlement and reintegration of ex-soldiers on track

Despite initial complaints that not enough was being done to assist
thousands of demobilised soldiers following the end of the civil war in
Angola, the government has announced that already US $125 million has been
spent on its resettlement and reintegration programme, IRIN reported on
Tuesday.

The Angola Peace Monitor (APM), produced by the NGO, Action for Southern
Africa, this week reported on government claims that it was running a
programme budgeted at US $230 million. The four-year programme, expected
to last until December 2006, will provide vocational training and assist
with the reintegration of 530,000 former soldiers and their relatives.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36631


SWAZILAND: AGOA privileges may be lost over workers' rights

Swaziland is the only African country with US trade privileges that the
American Trade Department has been asked to remove from a list of
countries eligible for such economic benefits, according to a petition
filed by the American Federation of Labour-Congress of Industrial
Organisations (AFL-CIO).

"The AFL-CIO petitions for the withdrawal of Swaziland's status as a
beneficiary developing country, on the grounds that the government of
Swaziland has not been and is not taking steps to afford
internationally-recognised worker rights," reads the document that was
accepted by the US government after nine months of debate.

The government and business community fear that the end of Swaziland's
participation in two US trade schemes, including the African Growth and
Opportunities Act (AGOA), will reverse recent growth in manufacturing.
AGOA, which allows Swazi-made goods tax-free entrance into the American
market, has encouraged foreign industrial investment.

More details: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36715

Heightened political tensions over monarchy's rule

The People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), a banned Swazi political
party opposed to the rule of sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch,
King Mswati III, has announced more aggressive tactics to achieve
political reform, IRIN reported on Tuesday.

"We have tried peaceful marches, but they have been dispersed brutally and
violently by the state. No unreasonable person can blame us at this point
in time if we engage means of preventing the aggressor from being
aggressive," PUDEMO spokesman Bonginkosi Gama said in a statement.

This week, riot police and army patrols converged on the southern
provincial capital, Nhlangano, to prevent a PUDEMO rally marking the
group's 20th anniversary.

More details: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36633


Economic recovery tied to political reform

On Monday IRIN reported that the Central Bank of Swaziland took the
unusual step of recommending that government enact political reforms to
improve the business environment and attract much needed foreign
investment.

"The negative perception by the international community that there is a
breakdown of the rule of law in Swaziland, deepening bad governance and
lack of political direction in the country, should be dealt with
promptly," said the central bank report.

Such sentiments have never before appeared in the bank's usually
data-filled report on the state of the economy. The nation's business
community supports the call for political reform.

More details: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36605


LESOTHO: Continuing drought worsens humanitarian crisis

On Thursday IRIN reported that up to 800,000 people in the tiny mountain
kingdom of Lesotho could face food shortages as the country's Disaster
Management Authority (DMA) said there was an almost complete failure of
this year's winter crop.

The country has a population of 2.2 million, half of whom live in poverty,
according to government estimates. However, a recent UN Development
Programme report stated that independent estimates of unemployment reached
up to 70 percent.

Coupled with the impact of HIV/AIDS, rampant poverty had exacerbated urban
and rural vulnerability to shocks.

More details: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36689


Culture undermines prevention efforts in Lesotho

Meanwhile, IRIN reported on Tuesday that government officials were
concerned that certain social and cultural norms and traditions in Lesotho
were hampering efforts to combat the rising HIV/AIDS epidemic.

A particular problem has been the plight of teenage girls, who often have
not been empowered to make their own decisions regarding unprotected sex.
A government-sponsored public awareness campaign, aimed at primary school
learners aged from 6 years old, will attempt to address this problem by
educating children about HIV/AIDS.

Another cause for concern were traditional circumcision schools. "A part
of the problem is that they use a sharp knife to circumcise boys, that
[knife] is shared by everybody," an official told IRIN.

More details: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36632


NAMIBIA: Pipeline breaks threaten Angolan repatriation

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday warned of a possible break during
October in the pipeline for pulses unless the agency received urgent
support for its emergency operation (EMOP) to assist Angolan refugees in
Namibia.

WFP Namibia head, Abdirahman Meygag, told IRIN the aid pipeline was
threatened "basically due to a lack of financial support from donors". He
said the one-year EMOP, which began in June 2003, had received just 43
percent of the total US $1.2 million needed.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36606


MOZAMBIQUE: Feature - ARV project brings improved health and renewed hope

A pilot project providing antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to HIV-positive
people in Mozambique has had a constructive effect on the quality of life
of its beneficiaries.

One such beneficiary is 31-year-old Graça Neves, who rejected assertions
that it would be difficult for Mozambicans, many of whom are poor and
uneducated, to maintain the drug regimen.

"I always take my tablets on time and even my daughters remember them.
They always ask [me if I] have taken [the] tablets," she said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36594


MADAGASCAR: ADF approves loan for economic recovery

The African Development Fund (ADF) this week approved a loan of US $34.4
million to assist the country's humanitarian and economic recovery
programmes, following the political crisis that crippled the island nation
in 2002.

On Wednesday the ADF announced that financing for the Fourth Structural
Adjustment Programme in Madagascar was meant to "alleviate the effects of
the post-electoral crisis of 2002 and create the necessary conditions for
strong growth in order to reduce poverty".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36690


Feature - Downside to rising vanilla prices

While the price of vanilla in Madagascar has reached an all time high -
about 10 times what it was a decade ago - the financial windfall has a
downside, with farmers reporting an increased number of robberies,
assaults and murders in the region where the valuable commodity is grown.

The vanilla industry in Madagascar currently employs about 70,000 people.
While this figure may not be impressive, one analyst points to the decline
of other industries in Madagascar following the 2002 political crisis that
crippled local industry.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36685


Feature - Gem industry in need of regulation

The chance discovery of sapphires in Madagascar five years ago has brought
in its wake a frantic scramble for the precious stones. But there are
concerns that the industry has had little regulation.

Consequently, the Malagasy government wants to clean up the industry,
regulate the trade in precious stones and, above all, ensure that
Madagascar reaps the rewards of its own resources.

In May, the World Bank approved a US $32 million loan agreement to help
the country manage its mineral resources more effectively.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36649


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

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