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Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa

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SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 134
2 - 8 August 2003


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Traveller's cheques may not ease cash crisis
ANGOLA: Cabinda conflict a 'forgotten war'
ZAMBIA: Chiluba loses again
SWAZILAND: Activists threaten to shut down the country
MADAGASCAR: France says no extradition request received for Ratsiraka
MOZAMBIQUE: Local polls delayed by funding problems
SOUTH AFRICA: Global Fund money becomes available


ZIMBABWE: Traveller's cheques may not ease cash crisis

Zimbabwe's reserve bank on Friday launched local currency traveller's
cheques in a bid to ease the cash shortage crisis affecting the country.

The official Herald newspaper said the internal traveller's cheques,
ranging from Zim $1,000 to Zim $100,000 denominations, would "go some way
in alleviating the crisis ... traveller's cheques are safer and more
convenient to use than the large amounts of cash that people have been
moving around with".

However, Dennis Nikisi, director of the Graduate School of Management at
the University of Zimbabwe, told IRIN there was no guarantee that
merchants would accept the traveller's cheques as payment, especially on
the black market where many Zimbabweans were forced to shop.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35866

Feature on deadbeat dads and family support payments

A feature on deadbeat dads looked at the impact of the economic crisis on
family maintenance payments. With more men out of work, divorced women
were finding it harder to get their former husbands to make regular
maintenance payments.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35848

Assistance for drought-hit Matabeleland livestock farmers

Moves are under way to assist vulnerable families with livestock
development in the drought-hit Matabeleland South province of Zimbabwe.
Siboniso Moyo, director of the Department of Livestock Production and
Development, told IRIN on Tuesday that the government's drought mitigation
efforts were concentrated in Matabeleland as it was the hardest hit by the
recent drought. The department also has plans to begin cattle restocking,
since drought had claimed about 100,000 head of cattle in the province.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35796

Feature - Last commercial farmers hanging on

Zimbabwe's last remaining white farmers were examined in a feature by IRIN
on Thursday. The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) condemned the
government's continued acquisition of land, while struggling with a food
and foreign currency crisis, but Agriculture Minister Joseph Made
described the CFU as "irrelevant".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35859

MDC continues to challenge Mugabe's legitimacy

On the political front, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) told IRIN that it had not given up its challenge to the legitimacy
of President Robert Mugabe's election, and would continue with its court
action to have it reversed.

This follows speculation in the media on Monday that an MDC document
setting out issues for proposed talks between the opposition and the
ruling ZANU-PF, submitted to church intermediaries at the weekend, omitted
the issue of Mugabe's legitimacy.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35800

Irregularities alleged in voter registration process

IRIN reported on Wednesday that the MDC had instructed its lawyers to
investigate allegations that people were illegally registered for urban
council elections due to take place on 30 and 31 August. MDC legal affairs
secretary David Coltart said the party had uncovered "evidence of padding
of the voters' roll for urban council elections".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35821

ANGOLA: Cabinda conflict a 'forgotten war'

Although the government and separatist guerrilla groups in the Angolan
enclave of Cabinda have said they were willing to open a dialogue, a
precondition must be the cessation of hostilities, says a new report.

The conflict in Cabinda has been based on "two irreconcilable positions:
for the government, Cabinda is an integral part of Angola's territory ...
and it will not contemplate the secession of Cabinda; on the other hand,
Cabindan separatists claim that Cabinda has a distinct and separate
identity, history and culture from the rest of Angola".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35852

Govt says talks on Cabinda close

IRIN also examined the split between civil society in Cabinda and the
exiled political leadership, now apparently eager to negotiate with the
government.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35825

Further attacks could delay reconciliation, UNITA

Angola's former rebel group, UNITA, on Friday said investigations were
under way following an attack this week on two of its regional offices in
central Huambo province.

UNITA secretary for foreign affairs Alcides Sakala told IRIN that five of
their officials were attacked on Tuesday by armed youths wearing T-shirts
with the ruling MPLA party slogan. He added that the party's offices in
the towns of Bela Vista and Villa Nova had been looted.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35877

ZAMBIA: Chiluba loses again

Former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba on Wednesday lost an appeal to
have his US $40 million corruption case heard in a high court.

Chiluba told IRIN he doubted the capacity of a magistrate's court to give
him a fair and speedy trial, noting the "constitutional issues" likely to
emerge at his hearing. He also cited the fact that his bail was set at an
"unrealistic" $300,000, on the assumption that he had that kind of money
available.

However, Judge Japhet Banda rejected Chiluba's application, and an appeal
to the Supreme Court was also dismissed. Chiluba is to appear in a
magistrate's court on 27 August.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35828

Mwanawasa shrugs off MPs' protest

Opposition legislators boycotted parliament again on Wednesday to
demonstrate their disapproval of President Levy Mwanawasa's decision to
appoint an opposition leader as vice-president, a move criticised as
unconstitutional.

This is the fifth time that MPs, calling themselves the
Inter-parliamentary Caucus on the Defence of the Constitution and Good
Governance (ICDCGG), have stayed away from parliament, disrupting the work
of the house.

Mwanawasa has described the walkout campaign of the opposition as
"foolish" and called on them to either resign or start sitting normally.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35829

Strike threat if wage deal rescinded

There was good news and bad news for Zambia's economic managers who hope
to grow the economy by 4 percent this year and cut inflation by four
points to 17.9 percent.

The good news is that a surplus in the production of maize, amounting to
1.2 million mt, will result in a drop in food inflation, while an increase
in copper and cobalt production - the country's main foreign exchange
earner - may see better economic growth figures.

The bad news, however, is that a projected 600 billion kwacha (about US
$124 million) budget overrun and looming mass action by unions may reverse
most of the gains, analysts warn.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35803

Role for civil society in constitution process

The Zambian government has pulled the rug from under the feet of its
critics by agreeing to a more representative body to review the country's
constitution.

The decision means that after submissions have been made, the government
and civil society will simultaneously be given documents to review. The
government will produce a white paper to be considered by cabinet, while
civil society will develop a green paper for debate, and the two will then
be merged.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35887

SWAZILAND: Activists threaten to shut down the country

King Mswati III's hope of turning next week's Global 2003 Smart
Partnership International Dialogue into a celebration of his reign is
facing a challenge by pro-democracy groups intent on using the gathering
of Commonwealth heads of state as an opportunity to expose what they say
is the lawlessness of royal leadership.

"The time has passed for modest demonstrations that are ignored by
government," Jan Sithole, secretary-general of the Swaziland Federation of
Trade Unions (SFTU), told IRIN.

"We have been demonstrating since 28 November [2002], when the prime
minister overturned the rule of law in this country. The Smart Partnership
delegates and heads of state must know the truth about their hosts,"
Sithole said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35886

Feature - Reining in the private press

The glamour seems to have gone from being a journalist in Swaziland,
sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy, thanks in part to proposed
new laws intended to limit media ownership and penalise reporters that
offend the royal establishment.

"Only a handful of students taking university journalism courses want to
specialise in the print media," University of Swaziland lecturer Maxwell
Mtembu told a meeting of the Swaziland chapter of the Media Institute of
Southern Africa (MISA) this week. "They don't see much future in the local
press."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35802

MADAGASCAR: France says no extradition request received for Ratsiraka

France said on Thursday it has not received an extradition request for
exiled former Madagascan president Didier Ratsiraka, who was sentenced in
absentia to 10 years of hard labour for theft of public funds, news
agencies reported.

"If new developments occur, they will be looked at in compliance with the
conventions currently in force, and in accordance with French law," the
French news agency, AFP, quoted foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous
as saying in Paris.

Ratsiraka's 10-year sentence followed a series of political trials of
those involved in the power struggle between current President Marc
Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka last year, after disputed election results. The
country was split - with two governments, two capitals and two presidents
- until Ratsiraka was forced to flee to France in July 2002.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35860

MOZAMBIQUE: Local polls delayed by funding problems

Despite funding problems, the general-director of the Mozambican Electoral
Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), Antonio Carasco, is
determined to ensure the success of local elections, due in November.

"We must make sure these local elections go well, and not like the last
ones," Carasco told IRIN. The country's last local polls in 1999 were
beset with logistical problems and boycotted by the main opposition party,
RENAMO. Preparations for this year's elections have been far from smooth.
They have already been postponed once, from the original date in October
to 19 November.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35855

World Bank to support rail rehabilitation

The World Bank has agreed in principal to support the Mozambique
government's plan to rehabilitate an important railway line in the central
Sofala province.

World Bank operations officer in Maputo, Aniceto Bila, told IRIN on
Thursday that the "assistance is part of the Bank's support to the
government [to stimulate] commercial and economic activities in that
region of the country". The Sena railway line connects the strategically
important port city of Beira with the interior of the country and
neighbouring Malawi.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35850

SOUTH AFRICA: Global Fund money becomes available

South Africa's National HIV/AIDS Programme received a boost on Thursday
with the signing of an agreement between the government and the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria, committing US $41
million to the country over two years.

The country was awarded a total of $165.2 million over five years, of
which $72-million was awarded to KwaZulu-Natal by the Fund in April last
year in response to their proposal.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35862

Generic AIDS drug production underway

South Africans living with HIV/AIDS will now be able to benefit from a
cheaper, generic AIDS drug produced in the country, a local manufacturer
announced this week.

Pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare on Wednesday launched the drug,
Aspen-Stavudine, its version of Zerit, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb,
saying it would be immediately available to any South Africans who need
it. Stavudine is one of the key drugs used in a triple therapy cocktail,
Aspen Pharmacare group chief operating officer Linda Philip told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35854

Signs of progress on ARVs

It has become clear to delegates attending South Africa's national AIDS
conference that the provision of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs through the
public health sector is no longer a distant possibility.

According to Department of Health Director-General Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba, the
findings of a controversial joint finance and health departments' report -
commissioned to investigate the state's provision of ARVs - had signalled
a shift from "if, to when and how ... and at what pace."

But, as Ntsaluba warned during a press conference on Tuesday, this would
not be a "PR exercise", and the country had to be in a position to sustain
the drug rollout.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35801


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

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