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 154
1 - 7 November 2003


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Food security critical in urban areas
ANGOLA: Feeding to continue despite shortfall, WFP
NAMIBIA: Farm workers plan protest over evictions
SOUTH AFRICA: Special report on widening poverty gap
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Trans-Kalahari Corridor agreement signed
SWAZILAND: Commonwealth calls for democratic reforms
ZAMBIA: Chiluba loses application for further trial delay


ZIMBABWE: Food security critical in urban areas

Food security remains critical in Zimbabwe's urban areas and most
households are unable to afford basic food commodities because of
escalating prices, the latest Zimbabwe Humanitarian Situation Report has
warned.

The value of the low-income urban household basket for September was more
than six times the government-stipulated minimum wage for industrial
workers, the report said. Teachers and other public service professionals
were now taking home significantly less than the total monthly value of
the basket.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37726


Labour court declares doctors' strike illegal

Zimbabwe's labour court has declared a doctors' strike illegal and ordered
that they return to work, the Herald newspaper reported on Thursday.

The public service doctors went on strike in October, demanding that their
salaries be increased to keep pace with the country's high inflation rate.
Hospitals have since been functioning with a skeleton staff of nurses,
foreign doctors and redeployed military medical staff.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37680


Focus on Utete committee report on agrarian reform

Zimbabwe's "fast-track" agrarian reform programme has redistributed far
less land than has been claimed in a process dogged by administrative
shortcomings and interference by officials, according to a presidential
land review committee.

President Robert Mugabe set up the committee in May to examine the
implementation of land redistribution to black commercial and communal
farmers, as well as looking into its impact on former commercial farmers
and workers.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37693


Election result still in the balance

Zimbabwe's High Court on Tuesday reserved judgment on the petition by the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to have the results of the
March 2002 presidential elections annulled.

The MDC, whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai lost to Mugabe, alleges that
Mugabe's victory was due to a number of irregularities and are petitioning
the court to declare the election invalid. If the MDC is successful,
another election will have to be held within 90 days.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37654


Special report on deepening food crisis

Already dire, Zimbabwe's food crisis is set to worsen next year, the World
Food Programme (WFP) has warned.

"Millions of people are already facing massive food shortages and very
high prices in their local markets. And as we get closer to next year's
harvest - and particularly during the three 'hunger months' from January
to March - we are concerned that even more people will be unable to find
food, or will be unable to buy whatever is available, with prices
continuing to rise," WFP Country Director Kevin Farrell told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37638


Interview with WFP country director

Amid warnings that Zimbabwe's already dire food crisis is set to worsen
next year, IRIN spoke to WFP Country Director Kevin Farrell on the
implications for humanitarian aid.

In the interview, Farrell said millions of Zimbabweans were at risk due to
critical problems of both supply and access to food. He called for greater
levels of donor funding, otherwise WFP could be forced to cut back on
distributions.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37637


Taskforce to investigate forex leakages

Zimbabwean economists said on Tuesday that the formation of a government
taskforce to address foreign currency shortages would not resolve the
current economic crisis, and authorities should instead focus on trying to
raise the hard currency the country needed.

In a bid to improve foreign currency inflows into the state's coffers, the
government formed a special taskforce of nine cabinet members last week.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37634


Equipment breakdown hampers planting

Zimbabwe's chronic fuel shortages and a lack of spare parts for mechanised
farming implements are threatening the prospects for agricultural revival
in the new planting season, analysts warned.

According to the District Development Fund (DDF), which is charged with
implementing a tillage programme among resettled subsistence farmers, only
12,000 hectares out of a targeted 100,000 hectares for both communal and
commercial farmers has been tilled since the programme began officially
last month.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37606


ANGOLA: Feeding to continue despite shortfall, WFP

The WFP in Angola is expected to continue with its feeding programme in
November, despite an expected shortfall in cereals.

The UN food agency on Thursday said the cereal deficit was mainly due to
delayed or damaged international maize shipments. "Feeding under social
and nutritional programmes will continue to receive priority, and full
rations will be maintained," WFP said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37699


World Bank to disburse aid to ex-combatants

The World Bank (WB) on Tuesday said a US $33 million grant promised
earlier this year to assist demobilised soldiers in Angola would be
disbursed towards the end of November.

"There were a few difficulties in setting up the independent financial
procurement unit, but that has been sorted out now. We hope that by the
end of November the funds would become available for projects to assist
the demobilised soldiers," WB operations assistant, Lisa Maier, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37636


NAMIBIA: Farm workers plan protest over evictions

The Namibia Farmworkers Union (NAFWU) plans to highlight the plight of
evicted farm labourers by returning them to their homes, NAFWU
secretary-general Alfred Angula told IRIN on Thursday.

"We want to take all the workers who have been evicted back to the farms
they were evicted from," Angula said.

The union has since postponed its plan, pending the outcome of discussions
with the government and the Agricultural Union, media reports said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37701


Succession debate thrown open

President Sam Nujoma's exit from Namibian politics in 2005 is expected to
have a significant impact on the ruling party, SWAPO, analysts said on
Thursday.

In a recent interview with the London-based New African magazine, Nujoma
reiterated earlier comments that he would not seek re-election in the 2005
polls.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37697


SOUTH AFRICA: Special report on widening poverty gap

South Africa has made significant gains since the advent of democracy in
April 1994. However, the country still faces serious problems. The most
significant one - apart from the impact of HIV/AIDS - is the lack of
economic and social rights for a large sector of the population.

Research undertaken by a project team in the office of President Thabo
Mbeki, assisted by the Department of Social Development, has attempted to
capture the essence of the problem.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37596


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Trans-Kalahari Corridor agreement signed

Transport ministers from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa on Tuesday
signed the "Trans-Kalahari Corridor (TKC) Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU)" to improve the flow of commercial traffic between the three
countries.

The agreement, signed in the Namibian port town of Walvis Bay, was
developed with the support of the US Agency for International
Development's (USAID) Regional Center for Southern Africa (RCSA).

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37667


New HIV/AIDS monitoring test could cut costs

Scientists have come up with a faster and cheaper HIV/AIDS monitoring
technique which could make treatment more affordable in developing
countries.

A study conducted by researchers in Zambia's University Teaching Hospital
and the University College in London, has found that spots of dried blood,
filter paper and inexpensive commercially available chemicals, could be
developed into a "field-friendly alternative" to the sophisticated
technology required to carry out CD4 count testing. A CD4 count measures
the strength of the immune system.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37639


Greater cooperation with communities needed for successful de-mining

A new study has called for greater cooperation between de-mining teams and
the mine-affected communities they are supposed to serve. It notes that
de-mining, usually seen as a purely technical task, also affects the
social and economic well-being of the community.

"Communities affected by land mines have more trust in operations where
the level of communication, coordination and cooperation between de-miners
and villagers is high," said the study published by the South African
Institute of International Affairs titled "Mine Action in Southern Africa:
Instrument of Development."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37627


SWAZILAND: Commonwealth calls for democratic reforms

A Commonwealth team monitoring last month's parliamentary elections has
criticised the lack of basic democratic freedoms in Swaziland.

In a letter to Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, the
three-member team led by Barbados MP David Thompson, with Tanzanian
National Electoral Commissioner Hilary Mkatte and Nigerian election expert
Angela Odah, concluded that the 18 October elections were largely devoid
of meaning.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37698


IMF calls for improvement in governance

Improvements in governance, particularly the rule of law, should be
addressed if Swaziland hoped to emerge from "serious" economic
difficulties, a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report has said.

At the conclusion of a mission to the landlocked country in October, the
IMF noted that "an unresolved crisis in the judicial system, uncertainties
over the new constitution and concerns about governance" had fuelled
social tensions and weakened donor sentiment.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37660


Red Cross investigates prison conditions

Health and human rights groups are concerned about prison conditions in
Swaziland, where alleged torture, lack of basic hygiene and unsafe sexual
practices are spreading HIV among inmates.

"We want an end to beatings with metal chains when we are naked. The
chains get bloody, and this spreads AIDS when the next prisoner is
beaten," Boyce Gama, an inmates' spokesperson at Matsapha Maximum Security
Prison for Men, told a Swaziland Red Cross fact-finding meeting at the
weekend.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37608


ZAMBIA: Chiluba loses application for further trial delay

Embattled former president Frederick Chiluba this week lost an application
to further delay his trial on charges of theft and corruption.

Earlier this week a Zambian magistrate's court dismissed an application by
Chiluba's lawyers to delay the trial on legal technicalities. Chiluba's
defence team requested the court to force the government to release
sufficient details of the charges to enable the former president to
prepare his defence.

"It seems there is no law that can compel the prosecution to release the
details to the defence. Therefore, the application has failed," AFP quoted
Magistrate Mwiinde Siavapwa as saying.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37700


Rains delay repatriation of refugees to Angola

The UNHCR is suspending the repatriation of refugees from Zambia to Angola
from next Tuesday until the rainy season ends in May, UNHCR spokesman in
Zambia, Kelvin Shimo, told IRIN on Wednesday.

"The decision was made because the roads are inaccessible and in a poor
condition," Shimo said.  "When we repatriate, we must make sure the safety
of refugees is not compromised - and the poor condition of the roads does
leave the trucks prone to accidents."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37669


Attempt to halt tv station poses threat to media freedom

Attempts to shut down the only private television station in Zambia this
week have raised concerns over media freedom in the country.

On Saturday police officers raided the Lusaka-based Omega television
station and ordered staff to cease test broadcasts immediately.

Omega TV station manager William Kazoka told IRIN the police had cited
"orders from above" as the reason behind the closure.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37658


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 2003


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