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 168
21 - 27 February 2004


CONTENTS:

NAMIBIA: Labour federation welcomes farm expropriation policy
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Humanitarian situation remains precarious
ZIMBABWE: Talks are 'taking place', claims ambassador
ANGOLA: Riot over generator leaves unknown number dead
MALAWI: Bumper tobacco crop could boost forex earnings
ZAMBIA: Cholera halts school feeding
SWAZILAND: Nurses' strike impacts on health care
SOUTH AFRICA: Observers for political rallies


NAMIBIA: Labour federation welcomes farm expropriation policy

As the week closed on a dramatic shift by the government away from its
land policy of willing seller, willing buyer, Namibia's labour federation
on Friday called for farms with poor labour relations to be targeted for
expropriation.

Welcoming the government's announcement this week that it intended
expropriating land to accelerate the land reform process, the National
Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) said that the land issue "continues to be
a source of social tensions".

Peter Naholo, NUNW's acting general secretary, urged the government to
include retrenched farm workers among the beneficiaries of the land
resettlement policy, and to incorporate tenure rights for farm workers in
the new Labour Amendment Bill.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39741


Farmers react cautiously to expropriation call

This week Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab announced that his government
intended expropriating land to accelerate the land reform process. He said
acquisition would take place in "accordance with the Namibian constitution
and the relevant legislation".

The Namibian parliament passed an amendment to the existing Agricultural
(Commercial) Land Reform Act last year, allowing expropriation against
"just payment".

Namibian farmers reacted cautiously to the government's announcement. "We,
as white farmers, must not over-react," said Jan de Wet, president of the
Namibia Agricultural Union, IRIN reported on Thursday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39715


Thirteen Caprivi treason trialists re-arrested

Thirteen of the 120 accused in the Caprivi treason trial were released on
Monday, only to be re-arrested the following day, but the grounds for
their arrest were unclear.

They were released by order of the High Court in Grootfontein, 500
kilometres from Windhoek, which said they had been held unlawfully.

The 13 were part of a group arrested for taking part in a failed uprising
led by the secessionist Caprivi Liberation Army at Katimo Mulilo, the
capital of Caprivi, in August 1999, when 13 people were killed.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39666


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Humanitarian situation remains precarious

Hopes that the growing humanitarian crisis in Southern Africa would be
checked are "fading fast", said UN aid agencies.

A mid-term review of the consolidated appeal for the region noted that the
food security situation was "again being severely threatened", while aid
for non-food items had not been forthcoming.

At the launch of the review, the eight UN agencies said they still
required US $318 million for a multisectoral approach to address the needs
of southern Africa and the "situation ... remains precarious."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39705


SADC commits itself to regional food reserve

The World Bank is conducting a study to help the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) develop a Regional Food Reserve Facility
(RFRF), reported IRIN on Monday.

Southern Africa agriculture ministers committed themselves to the
establishment of a RFRF to ensure food supplies during emergencies at a
meeting in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, on 14 February. Almost
the entire SADC region is in the grip of a three-year drought.

The ministers also reaffirmed the need to strengthen SADC's Early Warning
and Vulnerability Monitoring System as an additional measure of ensuring
food security.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39643


ZIMBABWE: Talks are "taking place", claims ambassador

Informal talks are being held between the ruling ZANU-PF and the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), a senior Zimbabwean
official told IRIN on Wednesday.

"Talks are taking place with a section of the MDC, who believe in moving
forward," said Simon Khaya Moyo, the country's ambassador to South Africa.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was quoted in news reports as having
told state television on Monday that, while he was willing to hold talks
with the MDC, he would not do so until the opposition party cut its ties
with Western countries.

The South African Council of Churches wrote to South African President
Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday, asking for his intervention in initiating formal
talks between the two Zimbabwean parties.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39687


ZCTU strike "unsuccessful"

A national stayaway called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
this week to bring about the reinstatement of its president and changes in
managing the national pension fund was "unsuccessful".

Mlamleli Sibanda, ZCTU's national spokesperson, told IRIN on Wednesday
that only "40 percent" of workers had heeded the strike call. "Most
workers came to work because of intimidation. Four of our regional leaders
were arrested in Bulawayo [the country's second city]".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39685


Health sector woes deepen

In a bid to keep up with escalating costs, Zimbabwe's medical aid
societies increased their monthly subscriptions by more than 500 percent
this week, further aggravating the country's health sector problems,
reported IRIN on Tuesday.

The latest increase follows a 400 percent rise in private doctors'
consultation fees last month, when they said rocketing inflation had left
them struggling to keep their surgeries open. Doctors also stopped
accepting medical aid cards and demanded upfront cash payments for
consultations with patients.

Consultation fees were raised from an average of Zim $26,000 (about US
$6.36 at Tuesday's auction rate) to Zim $46,500 (about US $11.26) - a move
commentators and economists said would effectively block access to health
care for most cash-strapped Zimbabweans.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39660


Voters' roll to be updated

The Zimbabwe government this week announced that it will embark on a
countrywide exercise to update the voters' roll ahead of parliamentary
elections, due in March 2005.

"We are in the process of mobilising manpower and material resources for
the exercise - we want to ensure that all eligible voters are registered
in time for the general elections," home affairs minister Kembo Mohadi
announced over the weekend.

The government-appointed Electoral Supervisory Commission will also
complement the registration process with a voter education programme. The
ECS is a small office with a meagre budget and staff seconded from the
Ministry of Justice.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39654


Daily News lays off staff

Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper, The Daily News, and its
sister publication, The Daily News on Sunday, announced that was to lay
off the bulk of their staff by the end of the week.

The publishers, Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), have bowed to the
financial pressure caused by the regular closure of the pro-opposition
newspapers by the authorities, reported IRIN on Monday.

ANZ chief executive officer Sam Nkomo told workers that the company was
facing viability problems and had been left with no option but to lay off
250 staff out of a total workforce of 300.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39644


Nkomo seeks to end "confusion" in land reform

The Zimbabwe government has suspended the acqusition of farms and the
issuing of further land offer letters in a move it says is aimed at
cleaning up confusion in the land reform exercise, reported IRIN on
Monday.

John Nkomo, special affairs minister responsible for the land reform
programme, said in interviews published in local newspapers that he would
also investigate compliance with the government's one-man, one-farm
policy.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39642


No longer among the top six tobacco exporters

Zimbabwe no longer features among the world's top six exporters of
tobacco, reported IRIN on Monday.

According to January's global production figures from the US Department of
Agriculture, the top six exporters are now listed as Brazil, the United
States, India, Malawi, Italy and China.

Historically Zimbabwe has been the world's second largest exporter, but
began to fall through the ranks three years ago, following the
government's controversial land reform programme.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39638


ANGOLA: Riot over generator leaves unknown number dead

IRIN reported on Thursday that at least three people were killed in riots
on Monday in the remote Angolan town of Cafunfo, where residents accused
the local administrator of selling the town's only electricity generator
to a diamond company.

Police said three civilians were shot dead, but the leading opposition
party in the region alleged that 16 people, including three police
officers, were killed when the demonstrations turned violent.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39710


Savimbi's ghost still haunts UNITA

Last weekend saw the second anniversary of the death of Jonas Savimbi,
founding president of Angola's former rebel movement, UNITA.

The slaying of the charismatic Savimbi by government forces marked the end
of one of Africa's longest civil conflicts and set the wheels in motion
for a peace accord signed with UNITA's arch-foe, the ruling MPLA, just two
months later. IRIN took a closer look at UNITA after Savimbi's death in a
report on Monday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39629


MALAWI: Bumper tobacco crop could boost forex earnings

Malawi looks set to increase valuable foreign exchange earnings from its
tobacco crops this year, according to the latest production estimates,
IRIN reported on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Agriculture told IRIN that production of various types of
tobacco - burley, flue-cured and western - was likely to rise
significantly above last year's output.

The Tobacco Association of Malawi predicted a further 900 mt of tobacco
from the southern highlands, bringing the total estimated tobacco crop to
around 141,700 mt.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39693


Tensions heighten ahead of elections

Fears have been raised that Malawi's upcoming May elections could be
marred by violence, following reports that police had fired shots during
an opposition rally at the weekend.

News reports said two people were wounded when riot police fired live
rounds at a crowd to stop a rally by opposition parties in the southern
city of Blantyre, reported IRIN on Monday.

Agence France Presse quoted Kholiwe Mkandawire of the "Mgwirizano"
("unity" in the local Chichewa language) coalition, an alliance of six
small parties, as saying that scores of heavily armed riot police
"resorted to firing live bullets" on Sunday at the crowd of 5,000, which
had refused to disperse from a public park in the township of Mjamba.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39631


ZAMBIA: Cholera halts school feeding

The cholera epidemic in Zambia has forced the World Food Programme (WFP)
to suspend 107 of its 179 school feeding programmes, IRIN reported on
Monday.

WFP spokeswoman Lena Savelli told IRIN that the decision to "suspend the
feeding in these schools follows reports from government and local media
that these areas are affected by cholera".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39637


SWAZILAND: Nurses' strike impacts on health care

This week a nurses' strike shut down most of Swaziland's health care
system, drawing attention to financial and technical shortcomings, and the
problems besetting the nursing profession.

Nurses are striking over the government's inability to pay salaries on
time, back pay and salary increases.

Dr. John Kunene, principal secretary of the Ministry of Health, said the
nurse's strike action over pay was premature, as the ministry had promised
to settle salaries by the end of February.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39692


SOUTH AFRICA: Observers for political rallies

South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission is considering expanding a
mediation panel and deploying observers to political rallies in the
province of KwaZulu-Natal, ahead of general elections in April, IRIN
reported on Tuesday.

Mounting tension has been reported in the province, which is jointly run
by the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha Freedom Party
(IFP). An ANC activist was killed last Friday in the Edanganya rural area
in the Umkhomazi district, south of the port city of Durban. The ANC
claimed their activist had been killed by alleged IFP members.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39665


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