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 160
27 December 2003 - 02 January 2004


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: No interparty dialogue on the cards
SWAZILAND: Drought emergency hits food security
MOZAMBIQUE: Poor rains in south cause for concern
MADAGASCAR: Ravalomanana provides pardons to opponents
ZAMBIA: Mwanawasa warns of tough times ahead
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Poor rains delay planting


ZIMBABWE: No interparty dialogue on the cards

No talks between the ruling party and Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) have been scheduled to resolve the country's
political and economic crisis, an MDC spokesperson told IRIN on Tuesday.

"As far as [MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai] is concerned, nothing is taking
place," Tsvangirai's spokesman William Bango commented.

He said that Tsvangirai had met ruling ZANU-PF party chairman John Nkomo
over Christmas at the funeral of Ntombizodwa Sibanda, the wife of MDC
vice-president Gibson Sibanda, "but I don't think, because of the
occasion, anything came out of sitting together in one room".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38645

Yearender - chronology of an unremitting crisis

If last year Zimbabweans thought life could not get any tougher, 2003
robbed them of that faint hope. Ordinary people struggled to cope through
interlinked humanitarian, economic and political crises that provided no
let up, deepening their poverty and vulnerability. On Wednesday IRIN
issued a chronology of 2003.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38654

Govt threatens to prosecute schools that hike fees

The Zimbabwe government has threatened to prosecute and de-register all
schools that implement fee increases for 2004 without its approval.

Most schools last month notified parents and guardians that they would be
increasing tuition fees by between 200 percent and 2,000 percent when the
new terms begins in January.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38667

USAID donates sorghum worth $12 million to WFP

The US Agency for International Development on Wednesday announced a
donation of 30,000 mt of sorghum, valued at $12 million, for distribution
in Zimbabwe by the World Food Programme.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38680


SWAZILAND: Drought emergency hits food security

Drought has hit Swaziland and threatens zero crop yields in a quarter of
the country, humanitarian agencies are reporting.

"The current serious drought, which seems to be the worst in recorded
history, threatens severely diminished harvests and serious water
shortages in large parts of the kingdom," Ben Nsibandze, chairman of the
National Disaster Relief Task Force, said in a statement.

The task force is assembling government bodies and NGOs in the
meteorological, agricultural and humanitarian assistance fields this week
for planning sessions to deal with what Nsibandze called an "unfolding
emergency".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38665

Premier says judicial crisis must be addressed
 
Prime Minister Themba Dlamini admitted in a New Year's address that
national progress was hobbled by an ongoing "rule of law" crisis, that has
earned King Mswati's government international criticism.

"Anyone can see that we just cannot live like this. Whether you want to
admit it or not, the judicial crisis is right in front of us, we cannot
avoid it, we simply have to address it," the premier said in a statement.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38695

AIDS toll leads to flood of bogus "miracle" cures

The authorities in Swaziland are doing little to stem a flood of bogus
"miracle AIDS cures" in a country with one of the world's highest HIV
infection rates.

"In a blink of an eye, it seems, Swazis have gone from deep denial of the
existence of AIDS to panic as they realise all the people they are burying
are not dying of witchcraft. The plethora of AIDS 'cures' is a product of
that," AIDS activist Thembi Dlamini told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38632


MOZAMBIQUE: Poor rains in south cause for concern

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) says it is
increasingly concerned about the poor performance of the rains in southern
Mozambique, especially in Maputo province.

"After two consecutive drought years, the season looked like it was off to
a good start, but initial rains did not last, and now crop losses are
expected. The total rainfall in Maputo from 1 October - 10 December 2003
was only 30 percent of normal (30 years average)," FEWS NET's latest
report said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38651

Disaster contingency plans prepared

As Mozambique's cyclone season approaches, the national disaster authority
has presented its contingency plans and US $40 million budget to
humanitarian partners, the UN Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Support
Office (RIASCO) reported.

In a reminder of the damage that storms in Mozambique can cause, winds
gusting up to 75 km/h killed a child over the weekend, injured 78 people
and displaced hundreds of families in the southern town of Moamba. The
town was swollen with people who had been displaced by flooding in 2000
and 2001, news reports said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38652


MADAGASCAR: Ravalomanana provides pardons to opponents

Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana on Wednesday offered pardons to
prisoners convicted of lesser offences during a six-month power struggle
on the Indian Ocean island, and said he would consider amnesty appeals of
some of his more senior opponents.

Ravalomanana, who forced his long serving predecessor from power in July
2002 on the back of popular protest, said those sentenced to less than
three-years imprisonment for their part in the turmoil surrounding
Madagascar's disputed election results would get a total pardon.

"This, however, does not apply to those who committed major offences
affecting human lives, people's property, public funds and other crimes
that we cannot tolerate," Ravalomanana said in his New Year's broadcast.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38681


ZAMBIA: Mwanawasa warns of tough times ahead

President Levy Mwanawasa warned Zambians of a difficult year ahead as the
country returns to a belt-tightening International Monetary Fund programme
in order to qualify for further funding and debt reduction.

In his New Year address on Wednesday, Mwanawasa said his government would
exercise maximum budgetary restraint and fiscal discipline to revamp the
economy. "The year ahead is not going to be an easy one," he warned.

"Painful as this decision may be, in the medium and long term perspective,
it is in the best interest of our country," Mwanawasa said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38683


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Poor rains delay planting

Rainfall in much of Southern Africa has been "very low" to date, leading
to delayed planting in Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa and Mozambique,
the UN Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Support Office (RIACSO) said.

Farmers who planted despite the less then optimal conditions could face a
reduced yield, while the window for re-planting is closing, RIACSO's
Southern African Humanitarian Crisis update for 22 December warned.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38653


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

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