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 161
3 - 9 January 2004


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Exchange rate fluctuations could hamper aid delivery
ANGOLA: Rising expectations of a national poll
COMOROS: High hopes for peace deal
MADAGASCAR: Poverty reduction initiative, big business on board
MALAWI: The lean season brings food insecurity hot-spots
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Yearender - ARV rollouts in 2003 bring rising hope
ZAMBIA: Lusaka joins regional peace and development initiative


ZIMBABWE: The Daily News wins again

The Daily News, Zimbabwe's banned privately-owned newspaper, on Friday won
a legal order compelling the police to vacate the newspaper's premises and
stop interfering with its operations.

The urgent application was lodged with the High Court on Monday after
police had occupied the newspaper's offices in central Harare and its
printing factory on 19 December.

This was despite the fact that the newspaper's publishers, the Associated
Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), had just won another legal victory, allowing
them to continue publishing while the issue of its registration was being
fought in the courts.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38842


ZIMBABWE: Exchange rate fluctuations could hamper aid delivery

Humanitarian operations in Zimbabwe may be affected by a new measure aimed
at reversing the local currency's slide in value against the US dollar on
the parallel market.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is to begin foreign currency auctions on
Monday next week, because the current system of fixed exchange rates has
been overwhelmed by informal currency dealings.

The parallel market exchange rate of the US dollar is around Zim $6,000 to
US $1, compared to an official rate set by government of Zim $824 to US
$1.

However, there is concern that aid agencies might suffer, should the
auctions result in sharp fluctuations of the exchange rate, a senior
official at World Vision Zimbabwe told IRIN on Thursday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38819

Doctors and nurses return to work

Authorities in Zimbabwe on Wednesday told IRIN most doctors and nurses
were expected to be back on duty in public hospitals by the end of the
week.

This follows months of wrangling over a pay increase demanded by health
workers, who have complained that runaway inflation has severely eroded
their earnings. The crippling strike now seems to be over.

Hospital Doctors Association president Dr Phibion Manyanga told Radio
Zimbabwe that "doctors are returning to work, starting today [Wednesday] -
but we are going in order to help our patients, not because of the offer
that the government has put in front of us. What has been offered is all
right, but that is not what we expected. But we cannot abandon people to
continue suffering," he said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38782

Health woes set to worsen

Zimbabwe's already strained health sector will come under even greater
pressure after one of the country's biggest nursing schools failed to
open.

Harare Central Hospital has an annual intake of 180 nursing students,
recruited three times a year in groups of 60. This year the nursing school
could not open its doors to new students, due to a crippling shortage of
tutors.

Students who were to have started their training two weeks ago were turned
away on 4 January, when hospital authorities said they would be called to
return at a later date.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38835

Foot and Mouth threatens beef export industry

Fresh outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in parts of Zimbabwe
continue to threaten the beef industry's chances of resuming exports to
the European Union and other emerging markets.

Stuart Hargreaves, the national director of Livestock and Veterinary
Services, said the department, which is struggling to control recurring
outbreaks in the Harare area, had failed to get the US $25 million needed
for a two-year effort to free the country's herd of the disease.

Insufficient efforts to contain the swift spread of FMD resulted in an EU
ban on Zimbabwean beef, causing heavy losses to one of the country’s major
sources of foreign currency.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38755

Action needed to aid mentally ill

The knot of morning commuters in Bulawayo's working class suburb of Pumula
North scattered as a frail-looking woman in ragged clothes, wielding a
grass broom in one hand and a stick in the other, bore down on them
shouting obscenities at the top of her voice.

As she passed by, the inevitable conversations sprang up in her wake about
"those people" and what the government should be doing to protect "normal"
citizens.

However disturbing the encounter with the raging woman, what the
neighbourhood commentators failed to recognise was that the mentally ill
are usually the vulnerable ones.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38728

Land to be reallocated to "serious and committed" farmers

About 400 of the farms recovered so far from senior government officials,
who ignored a presidential directive and held multiple properties, will be
given to farmers who are "serious and committed" to agricultural
production, authorities told IRIN on Monday.

"The land will only be reallocated to farmers who have experience and are
able to prove that they intend to use the land for the sole purpose of
agricultural production. Property speculators will not be considered,"
government spokesman Steyn Berejena said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38725

High costs hamper access to ARVs

Almost two years after Zimbabwe's government declared a state of emergency
over HIV/AIDS to allow the importation and manufacture of generic
anti-AIDS drugs, accessing antiretrovirals (ARVs) remains a pipe dream for
almost a million people living with HIV/AIDS in the country.

With an estimated HIV prevalence rate of 27 percent, Zimbabwe is one of
the countries worst hit by the epidemic.

A recent survey conducted by the Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Information
Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) revealed that most single-drug therapies
cost more than US $122 a month (Zim $100,000 at the official exchange rate
of Zim $824 to US $1) in a country where a substantial number of those in
formal employment take home less than that every month. ARVs have not yet
been made available in the public sector.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38838


ANGOLA: Rising expectations of a national poll

While there is broad consensus that peace in Angola has finally taken root
after years of civil conflict, the proposed national elections next year
are being seen as a test of the government's commitment to democracy.

"The holding of a national poll is a formidable challenge, not only for
the government and the opposition, but for the entire country. The
successful staging of general elections will signal to the international
community and Angolans the return of the democratic process, and
consolidate peace," senior researcher Jaoa Porto at the Pretoria-based
Institute for Security Studies told IRIN.

While analysts agree that the elections in 2005 are a necessary step for
ensuring sustainable peace in Angola, they have also remarked that a
number of conditions need to be put in place before the poll is held.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38817

Human rights groups protest conditions in Cabinda

Human rights groups have once again called on the international community
to do more to address allegations of human rights abuses in Angola's
northern province of Cabinda, following reports that at least six people
were killed during recent clashes between government troops and
separatists.

The Luanda-based Catholic radio station, Ecclesia, this week reported that
two civilians had died at Mikuma village, about 100 km northeast of
Cabinda town, when government troops countered an attack by the Cabinda
Enclave Liberation Front (FLEC), the main separatist group in the
province.

According to the report, four men were killed in the nearby village of
Kaiu during an assault mounted by an army special forces unit in a
reprisal against the FLEC attack.

"The worst is that every time FLEC attacks, the army responds by attacking
civilians and, in some cases, routing entire villages. These are blatant
human rights violations which are largely ignored," Rafael Marques, a
representative of the NGO, Open Society Angola, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38815

A day in the life of a car washer

Luís Paolo's life revolves around four parked cars. They belong to senior
UN staff, and he washes and guards them each working day. For his labour
he earns 2,000 kwanzas (US $25) a month - not much to live on in Luanda,
one of the world's most expensive cities.

The young people on the streets of the Angolan capital all have a story to
tell of how they wound up there: out of school, out of formal employment,
and battling to survive by their wits. This is Paolo's story.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38759


COMOROS: High hopes for peace deal

Comoran officials on Wednesday were optimistic that a recent agreement
aimed at breaking the deadlock between political leaders would pave the
way towards permanent stability in the troubled Indian Ocean archipelago.

The deal brokered by the African Union (AU) was signed last month in the
country's capital, Moroni, and is expected to bring to an end months of
internal political wrangling.

"This agreement is on the right track because it is clear about who is
responsible for specific functions. Previous deals were not as clear,
which led to a lot of confusion," Comoros charge d'affaires in South
Africa, Bacar Salim, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38779


MADAGASCAR: Poverty reduction initiative, big business on board

Madagascar has called on local and international businesses operating in
the country to throw their weight behind efforts to tackle widespread
poverty.

The government recently launched the Growing Sustainable Business for
Poverty Reduction Initiative, aimed at encouraging greater partnership
between the public and private sectors in the country.

"The launch of the initiative is in line with the government's stated
commitment to fighting poverty in the country through various ways. In
other countries where similar projects have been launched there have been
positive results. With more than half of the population living in poverty,
it is important that all creative measures are taken to address these poor
living conditions," UN Resident Coordinator, Bouri Sanhouidi, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38780

US pleased with economic progress

Impressed by Madagascar's macroeconomic performance over the past year,
the United States this week cancelled part of the country's debts
totalling 27 billion Malagasy francs (about US $4.5 million).

"Firstly, we have been pleased with ongoing efforts by the government to
curb corruption. The United States is also particularly impressed with the
country's rapid economic recovery following the 2002 political crisis.
Based on these two factors and the government's commitment to tackling
poverty, we decided to cancel some of the debt," the US public affairs
officer in Madagascar, Paul Cunningham, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38836


MALAWI: Late rains drive up maize prices

The price of maize in Malawi has begun to creep up at an alarming rate as
"chizimalupsya" or pre-season rains have yet to hit the country.

A monthly Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) report said the
delay in the onset of the rains had slowed down planting in several
regions of Malawi.

"The annual inflation rate had continued to increase slightly for the
fourth month in a row," said the FEWS NET report. Annualised inflation
rose to 9.5 percent in October 2003, up from 9.2 percent the month before.

"The inflation rate is heavily influenced by food prices that are now
rising as the number of households running out of food from their own
production increases," said the report.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38841

The lean season brings food insecurity hot-spots

Pockets of food insecurity are emerging in Malawi as the country enters
the traditional "lean season" between harvests, when food stocks generally
run out.

In its latest situation report the World Food Programme (WFP) noted that
"field reports from the Blantyre sub-office indicate that the food
security situation in [the surrounding districts of] Thyolo, Mbawela and
Thukuta is deteriorating, with food insecurity affecting 58 to 70 percent
of farming households".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38756


MOZAMBIQUE: Cholera death toll may rise

A cholera outbreak in Maputo, capital city of Mozambique, has killed six
people since Christmas, and there is concern that the number could
increase dramatically.

The government is set to have a meeting with international aid agencies
and donors to put forward its concerns and possibly appeal for assistance.

"Up to this morning there had been six people who have died. The outbreak
started on Christmas Eve, and yesterday there were 86 new cases admitted
to the cholera treatment centre [in Maputo]. The day before it was 73, so
the outbreak is still ongoing - and with rains the number will increase
dramatically," Dr Pierre Kahozi of the World Health Organisation (WHO)
told IRIN on Wednesday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38781


NAMIBIA: UN aid will target orphans and vulnerable children

The plight of orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia would have to be
addressed through targeted interventions, the UN coordinator in the
country told IRIN on Monday.

Namibia is in the grip of a humanitarian crisis fuelled by HIV/AIDS and
consecutive droughts, which have combined to erode household coping
abilities and raised concern over the status of orphans and vulnerable
children.

UN Development Programme Coordinator Jacqui Badcock told IRIN on Monday
that the UN would be looking at providing "targeted food assistance,
particularly for orphans and vulnerable children, due to [the impact of]
HIV/AIDS".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38721


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Yearender - ARV rollouts in 2003 bring rising hope

The year 2003 saw several African governments rolling out national
anti-AIDS drug treatment programmes, suggesting a significant shift
towards improving access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

In a dramatic finish to the year, the World Health Organisation (WHO)
unveiled its much anticipated "3 by 5" plan to treat three million
HIV-positive people by 2005.

Government officials are hoping the WHO target will strengthen existing
treatment initiatives and accelerate what has been regarded as a slow
response to the pandemic by African countries.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38822


SWAZILAND: Rising evictions as town councils boost earnings

Gogo ("Granny") Simelane is about to be made homeless, joining thousands
of other urban Swazis who are being evicted by cash-strapped town councils
eager to make more productive use of neglected public land.

"I built my house 20 years ago on land my husband bought and paid for. Now
I am told I am a squatter, and I must leave. Where will I go? I am 71
years old," she told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38786

Unions plan more pro-reform protests

Swaziland's labour unions have vowed to stay at the forefront of the
pro-democracy movement in sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy,
promising more street demonstrations for 2004.

"When bad government policies result in price rises, so wages cannot keep
up, then you cannot separate shop floor issues from political issues. When
R28 million (US $4.3 million) is wasted on a deposit for a luxury jet for
the king - and this is money that should go to schools and clinics used by
our members - then we are obliged to make our voices heard," Swaziland
Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) Secretary-General Jan Sithole told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38760


ZAMBIA: Lusaka joins regional peace and development initiative

Zambia's admission to the six-country International Conference of the
Great Lakes region on Wednesday was a step towards "formalising the role
the country has already been playing" in the peace process, a senior UN
official told IRIN.

UN Development Programme's (UNDP) regional co-ordinator, Enya Chuma, said
Zambia's membership was an acknowledgment of the country's mediation
efforts over the long-running conflict in the neighbouring Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC).

The conference has been established to ensure peace, democracy and
development in the Great Lakes region, in the wake of the withdrawal of
foreign forces from the DRC and last year's agreement creating a
power-sharing transitional government in Kinshasa.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38820


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

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