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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e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 175
17 - 23 April 2004


CONTENTS:

NAMIBIA: Floods claim livestock, crops and seeds
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Major destination for traffickers in women and children
MADAGASCAR: Cyclone Gafilo affects economic outlook
ANGOLA: Crop losses threaten 300,000 families in Huambo
MALAWI: Violence, allegations of rigging ahead of poll
SWAZILAND: New labour legislation passed to retain AGOA
ZAMBIA: More DRC refugees expected this year but Angolans to repatriate
ZIMBABWE: Malaria death toll still high
SOUTH AFRICA: Risking HIV to access grant
COMOROS: Assoumani trounced in legislative poll
BOTSWANA-ZIMBABWE: Alleged ill-treatment of immigrants causes acrimony


NAMIBIA: Floods claim livestock, crops and seeds

IRIN reported on Friday that Namibian officials were caught in a desperate
bid to try and save thousands of cattle from almost certain death as the
flooded Zambezi river closes in on them, while one of the country's most
populated areas is threatened by outbreaks of cholera, dysentery and
malaria.

"If we don't do something now - like getting pontoons from Zambia or
somewhere to drive the cattle out to dry land - then the stench of the
rotting cattle will become unbearable, and people will become seriously
ill from the infected water," Ndeutapo Amagulu, deputy permanent secretary
at the ministry of environment and tourism, told IRIN.

After successfully evacuating some 3,000 people with the help of the
Zimbabwean Defence force, Namibian authorities are now looking at how to
rescue at least 15,000 cattle.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40724


Farms with poor labour relations might be expropriated

Namibian farmers reacted strongly to the government's suggestion this week
that it might target farms with a record of poor labour relations for
expropriation.

In a statement sent to the Windhoek-based The Namibian daily newspaper on
Monday, the Ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, while
spelling out the criteria for expropriation, said that "aspects of
eviction and dumping of labourers, though not a criterion to expropriate a
farm", could be considered "because of the social aspect such action poses
to the Namibian people".

"The government should separate the land issue from that of labour
relations - it has no legal basis to mix the two. There are instances of
labour abuse, which should be dealt with under the labour legislation. We
have committed ourselves to cooperation with the government on its
expropriation policy, but it [the government] cannot mix it with labour,"
Jan de Wet, president of the Namibian Agriculture Union, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40661


Zambezi rises again

Relief workers in the Caprivi province were evacuating the last remaining
people from the region as water from the rising Zambezi claimed two lives
and reached the outskirts of the provincial capital, Katima Mulilo, in
eastern Namibia this week.

Two deaths were recorded in the flood-affected areas at the weekend. A
15-year-old girl drowned on her way to school when her canoe capsized, and
a six-year-old girl died from snake-bite while rescue workers were trying
to reach her, Ndeutapo Amagulu, the deputy permanent secretary at the
ministry of environment and tourism told IRIN on Tuesday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40663


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Major destination for traffickers in women and children

IRIN reported on Friday that South Africa is the major destination for
human traffickers, with women and children from more than 10 African
countries being smuggled into the country, according to a UN Children's
Fund (UNICEF) report released on Friday.

The report, "Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children,
in Africa", said South Africa was also a favoured destination for global
traffickers, who smuggled in women and girls from Thailand for
prostitution.

There are no reliable estimates on the actual number of people being
trafficked. The study, based on information from 53 African countries,
provides an analysis of the patterns, root causes, and existing national
and regional policy responses.

The women and children are either sexually exploited, used as labour or
their organs are harvested.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40730

Peacekeeping system in the spotlight

Also on Friday, IRIN reported that Rapidly changing trends in
international peacekeeping are likely to pose a serious challenge to
regional authorities intending to establish an emergency force for dealing
with conflict in Southern Africa.

In a paper entitled, "Towards a Common Southern African Peacekeeping
System", South African-based political analyst, Cedric de Coning, argued
that the fast pace of developments in the peacekeeping field over the last
decade had "complicated" efforts by policy-makers and researchers to
arrive at a common understanding of peacekeeping.

Current financial constraints and limited peacekeeping experience were
among the factors likely to delay the establishment of a peacekeeping
force within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), de Coning
pointed out.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40732


BOTSWANA-ZIMBABWE: Alleged ill-treatment of immigrants causes acrimony

The Botswana government has expressed concern at reports carried in the
Zimbabwean media, alleging that Zimbabweans in Botswana were being
ill-treated, IRIN reported on Friday.

"We have noted with growing concern the appearance in sections of the
Zimbabwe media of unbalanced, distorted and, on occasion, even openly
hostile reports directed against the government and the people of
Botswana," Clifford Maribe, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and International Co-operation, told IRIN.

This follows reports that Zimbabweans were subjected to beatings by
Botswanan authorities. As well as suggestions that Botswana's cordial ties
with Britain and the United States had jeopardised its relationship with
Zimbabwe.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40727


MADAGASCAR: Cyclone Gafilo affects economic outlook

Efforts to strengthen Madagascar's fragile economy were expected to suffer
a setback following the destruction of export crops by Cyclone Gafilo,
IRIN reported on Wednesday, quoting the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The cyclone ripped through the giant Indian Ocean island last month with
wind speeds of up to 300 km/h, leaving close to 200 people dead and
causing serious damage to vanilla and rice production.

According to the EIU, the export value of vanilla and shellfish, two of
the country's major foreign exchange earners, was set to fall to around US
$785 million from an earlier estimate of US $900 million as a direct
result of the adverse weather.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40679


Concern over rising child trafficking

Malagasy authorities this week voiced their concern over the increase in
child trafficking on the Indian Ocean island after the recent arrest of
eight men accused of running an illegal adoption ring.

During a raid last week on a house in the capital, Antananarivo, police
found 11 babies between the ages of three weeks and nine months in the
process of being sent abroad, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

Children, mostly infants, were stolen and sent to illegal adoption
centres, mainly in Europe, where they were then sold for about US $800
each. "The illicit acquisition and adoption of babies has increased during
the last four years in Madagascar," the director of Judicial Police,
Albert Rakotondravao, was quoted as saying in the report.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40668


UNICEF gets donations for aid to cyclone victims

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) expressed relief this week after receiving
donations to assist victims of a recent cyclone in Madagascar that left
scores dead and thousands homeless, IRIN reported on Monday.

UNICEF said that until last week, except for one donation from Norway, no
contributions had been received to support emergency activities outlined
in the agency's portion of a Flash Appeal, launched last month.

However, since then a number of foreign donors, including Canada and
Britain, had either pledged or confirmed funds to aid the ongoing
humanitarian operation.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40644


Reservists protest unpaid compensation

Madagascar's ministry of defence on Thursday said the government would
speed up payments to army reservists who supported President Marc
Ravalomanana during the 2002 political crisis.

About 1,800 reservists marched through the capital, Antananarivo, on
Wednesday to demand better compensation for their efforts, reported IRIN.
In a petition handed to the minister of defence, the reservists claimed
that "to date, they were not given the money they were promised, as well
as the various rights they were entitled to, such as medication and other
indemnities".

In February Ravalomanana offered the reservists US $175, but the
protestors were asking for up to US $2,000 to cover their expenses,
including a risk premium, and family and rent allowances.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40710


ANGOLA: Crop losses threaten 300,000 families in Huambo

Crop losses due to heavy rains have jeopardised the food security of more
than 300,000 families in the central Angolan province of Huambo, reported
IRIN on Monday, quoting the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS
NET).

In its latest food security update for the country, FEWS NET noted that
"excessive rainfall in December and inadequate farm inputs" had combined
to "seriously affect crops in large parts of Huambo", with an especially
negative impact on smallholder farmers, "who produce more than 80 percent
of crops and account for over 300,000 families in the province".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40648 


Few pregnant women access medical services

Despite the fact that Angola has one of the world's highest infant and
maternal mortality rates, few pregnant women are accessing the available
medical services, reported IRIN on Wednesday.

The maternal mortality rate in Angola is 1,000 deaths per 100,000 births,
while the mortality rate for infants reaches 250 per 1,000 births. Only
Sierra Leone and Nigeria have infant mortality rates worse than Angola's.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40690


UNITA calls for faster integration of its health workers

The former rebel group, UNITA, this week called on Angolan authorities to
speed up integration of its health workers into government services,
noting an acute lack of medical professionals in the country's ailing
health sector.

UNITA secretary for health and environment Carlos Morgado told IRIN on
Wednesday that despite an improvement in the number of ex-UNITA health
"technicians" enrolled at public hospitals last year, there were thousands
of trained health workers without employment.

"Since the end of the war [April 2002] about 5,000 UNITA health
technicians have been integrated into the hospitals and clinics. This is
very good, but there are also thousands who have nothing to do - they have
turned to other professions, such as agriculture, to survive. The
government needs to do more to get these qualified people into jobs, so
they can help others," he said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40681


MALAWI: Violence, allegations of rigging ahead of poll

Tensions are high as Malawi's third multiparty general elections draw
closer - the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) face accusations of bias,
while police shot dead two opposition supporters protesting the death in
detention of a comrade, IRIN reported this week.

Police in the southern district of Nsanje shot and killed the two
opposition supporters on Monday for hurling stones at a police station,
after an opposition sympathiser died in detention. "I confirm that two
people were killed in the fracas," police spokesman Willie Mwaluka told
Agence France Presse (AFP).

He said the police had arrested a man for being drunk in public on Sunday,
who committed suicide in detention on Monday by "apparently hanging
himself, using pieces of his clothing".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40666


Battle over the airwaves goes to court

The opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has taken legal action
against the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Television Malawi
(TVM) for allegedly biased coverage of election campaigning, reported IRIN
on Thursday.

NDA attorney Ralph Kasambara said his client was seeking redress for the
alleged blackout of opposition parties by the public broadcasters.

"I am only hoping that the court will direct the two public media
institutions to comply with the Parliamentary and Presidential Act [on
free and fair elections]," said Kasambara. The NDA is also asking the
courts to rule that all competing parties have fair access to public
broadcasters.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40701


Pulses rerouted to avoid food pipeline break

Almost 2,000 mt of pulses are expected to be rerouted to Malawi to avoid a
break in the local pipeline in coming months, the World Food Programme
(WFP) said on Monday.

WFP Malawi was facing a pulses shortfall of 73 percent in May and a
complete break in June, the UN food agency said in its latest situation
update.

"The WFP regional office in Johannesburg is getting donor clearance for
the rerouting of 2,000 mt of pulses to Malawi. These pulses were not for
the country, but there is now a need here. Without the donor clearance we
could see a break in the pipeline, but we expect that it will be
approved," Abdelgadir Hamid, WFP reports officer in Malawi, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40647


SWAZILAND: New labour legislation passed to retain AGOA

The introduction of revised labour legislation in Swaziland is expected to
improve workers' rights and boost investor confidence in the tiny mountain
kingdom, reported IRIN on Thursday.

The Senate passed the amended Industrial Relations Act (IRA) this week,
despite the royal government's ongoing suspicion that workers' unions are
bent on undermining sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy.

The previous IRA was a revision of 2000 legislation that had been amended
by the royal council, causing a temporary suspension of trade privileges
with the United States.

The 2000 Act had been formulated with the input of the Swaziland
Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), the Federation of Swaziland Employers
and the government.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40711


Rights groups forced to hold protest outside kingdom

A human rights rally will be held outside Swaziland, after security forces
blocked a planned gathering at the weekend by pro-democracy groups who
intended to condemn the government's draft constitution, IRIN reported on
Tuesday.

"We will now restage [the event] in another country that recognises human
rights," said Kislon Shongwe, an official with the banned political party,
People's United Democratic Movement. South Africa or Mozambique were being
considered.

The human rights day commemoration was co-sponsored by the Swaziland
Agricultural and Plantation Allied Workers Union (SAPAWU), a member of the
Swaziland Democratic Alliance - an umbrella body of human rights, labour
groups, as well as banned political parties - and the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a civil society organisation that is
challenging the palace-sponsored draft constitution.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40650


Local press under pressure

Under intense criticism from government, the Swaziland press faces the
challenge of reporting the country's difficulties without infringing
proposed legislative constraints, reported IRIN on Monday.

Reports in recent years have covered issues ranging from the rule-of-law
crisis to criticism of plans to buy the king a multimillion dollar jet
amid grinding poverty, a largely unchecked HIV/AIDS epidemic and
widespread food shortages.

This has angered the authorities, who plan legislation that some fear
would gag the independent press.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40645


ZAMBIA: More DRC refugees expected this year but Angolans to repatriate

Although Zambia might receive more refugees from the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC), 40,000 Angolans are going home this year, a senior
official told IRIN on Wednesday.

Zambia is currently providing shelter to 208,000 refugees, mainly from
Angola, Rwanda and the DRC.

"We have already received 1,072 DRC nationals in the first quarter of this
year. Compared to the total number of DRC refugees recorded for the entire
2003, which was 1,200, it is some cause for concern that the figure for
this year could increase," Zambia's Commissioner for Refugees, Jacob
Mhepo, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40680


Pregnant adolescent refugees go back to school

Thirty pregnant teenage girls in a Zambian refugee camp were given an
opportunity to go back to school last July in a pilot project initiated by
the Office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
As the project nears completion, UN agencies are likely to extend it for a
further year, reported IRIN on Thursday.

The initiative is being implemented by the Young Men's Christian
Association, as part of a UN Population Fund (UNFPA) programme to address
the reproductive health of adolescent refugees.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40695


ZIMBABWE: Malaria death toll still high

IRIN reported on Friday that the death toll from malaria remains high in
Zimbabwe, with 393 deaths recorded this year.

In its latest situation report, the UN Relief and Recovery Unit (RRU)
noted that "the problem of clinical malaria is still ongoing, particularly
in Matebeleland North and Mashonaland Central", but "cumulative figures
now stand at 25,511 reported cases and 393 deaths" for the country.

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and a number of partners,
including the World Health Organisation and the UN Children's Fund, had
developed a malaria preparedness plan, which, when implemented "should see
a significant reduction in the clinical malaria cases".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40735


Disabled groups call for more assistance

The Zimbabwe government has been urged to release Zim $4 billion (about US
$866,000) in funding pledged for grants and projects aimed at benefiting
the increasingly vulnerable disabled population, IRIN reported on
Wednesday.

Chrispen Manyuke, the executive director of the National Council for the
Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe, said it was "high time government followed
up" on the pledge it made four months ago.

"We are always inundated with calls from people concerning the
distribution of those funds - the sooner it is done the better," he said.

Disability groups have said the rapidly rising cost of living, coupled
with a lack of employment opportunities, had increased the vulnerability
of disabled persons.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40677


Think-tank calls for new strategies to resolve crisis

An international political think-tank has called for a "new" strategy to
address Zimbabwe's deepening political crisis, arguing that previous
diplomatic attempts have largely failed, IRIN reported on Tuesday.

In a new report, "Zimbabwe: In Search of a New Strategy", the
International Crisis Group (ICG) recommended a shift in policy focus from
an interparty settlement, which it claimed appeared unachievable, to "the
promotion of a free and fair process for the March 2005 parliamentary
election".

The Brussels-based organisation noted previous attempts to kick-start
stalled talks between the ruling ZANU-PF party and the main opposition
Movement Democratic Change (MDC), but said these interventions had either
failed or were on "life support".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40664


SOUTH AFRICA: Risking HIV to access grant

IRIN reported on Friday that the South African government expressed
concern this week after a news report highlighted the story of a young
woman who admitted she was thinking of contracting the HI virus to access
a disability grant.

The young woman, Thato, said she had ten 'boyfriends' with whom she slept
for money. She was supporting two nieces, her own child and a grandmother
suffering from diabetes on the money she made, by being what she described
as a "prostitute in disguise".

The national spokesman for the department of social development, Vulelo
Musi, expressed his shock and sadness, and acknowledged that the
government had substantial work to do. "This is an incredibly serious
matter, with far-reaching social and economic consequences," Musi told
IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40723


Challenge to polls in the offing

Authorities declared the recently concluded South African elections as
"free and fair", but an opposition party this week lodged a challenge to
the polls in court.

IFP spokesperson John Aulsebrook told IRIN that his party had lodged 46
complaints of election irregularities with the commission. "The IEC did
not even process these complaints, and went ahead and declared the results
on Saturday. But we cannot be certain that the elections were free and
fair - the complaints could have had a material impact on the results," he
said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40646



COMOROS: Assoumani trounced in legislative poll

Comoran President Azali Assoumani suffered a crushing defeat in the
legislative elections held in the Indian Ocean archipelago at the weekend,
according to provisional results released on Tuesday.

The preliminary results of the first round of voting on Sunday, for the
federal assembly, indicated that parties aligned to the three regional
presidents took eight of the 18 elected seats in parliament, against two
for the federal president's party.

No candidate won a majority in the race for the remaining eight seats and
a runoff has been scheduled for 25 April.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40667
 

BOTSWANA-ZIMBABWE: Alleged ill-treatment of immigrants causes acrimony

The Botswana government has expressed concern at reports carried in the
Zimbabwean media, alleging that Zimbabweans in Botswana were being
ill-treated, IRIN reported on Friday.

"We have noted with growing concern the appearance in sections of the
Zimbabwe media of unbalanced, distorted and, on occasion, even openly
hostile reports directed against the government and the people of
Botswana," Clifford Maribe, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and International Co-operation, told IRIN.

This follows reports that Zimbabweans were subjected to beatings by
Botswanan authorities. As well as suggestions that Botswana's cordial ties
with Britain and the United States had jeopardised its relationship with
Zimbabwe.

"Botswana's relations with Zimbabwe are not guided by any
extra-territorial power, nor is she in cahoots with any foreign government
or power to cause the demise of the government of Zimbabwe," Maribe said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40727


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

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