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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SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-Up 212
1 - 7 January 2005


CONTENTS:

MAURITIUS: Tsunami helps focus attention on needs of small islands
ZIMBABWE: A troubled 2004 - Yearender
ZAMBIA: The hard road to HIPC completion - Yearender
SWAZILAND: Opposition becoming more militant
MALAWI: Mutharika frees party leaders involved in "assassination" plot
SOUTH AFRICA: Too poor to access free AIDS drugs
BOTSWANA: UNICEF calls for expansion of orphan care programmes


MAURITIUS: Tsunami helps focus attention on needs of small islands

In the wake of the tsunami emergency in south east Asia, disaster 
management experts in the Indian Ocean region have stepped up calls for 
the development of an early-warning system, especially for small island 
nations.

"It is absolutely critical that such an operative system be put in place 
as soon as possible to avoid the catastrophe underway in the Asian region. 
Nobody can afford a repeat of what has recently happened," Philippe 
Boulle, UN Development Programme advisor in Mauritius, told IRIN on 
Friday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44972


ZIMBABWE: A troubled 2004 - Yearender

Zimbabwe's ongoing political impasse continued to impact negatively on the 
country's already weak economy throughout 2004.

Reports of a worsening humanitarian situation, triggered by food 
shortages, dominated news headlines, with the World Food Programme 
providing aid to 4.4 million beneficiaries in March. The UN food agency 
has forecast that an estimated five million Zimbabweans may not meet their 
basic food needs in the lean season before the April/May 2005 harvest.

The UN Children's Fund reported in June that malnutrition levels in urban 
centres had doubled over the past four years and significantly worsened in 
Bulawayo, the second city.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44934


Uncertainty over Moyo's fate

The Zimbabwe government has denied media reports that controversial 
information minister Jonathan Moyo has tendered his resignation to acting 
president Joyce Mujuru.

Moyo allegedly sent his resignation by fax from Kenya, where he is on 
holiday, but Mujuru reportedly refused to accept it, referring the matter 
to President Robert Mugabe, who is on vacation in Malaysia.

"I don't know anything about the alleged resignation. All I know is that 
he is in Kenya on holiday and he has not resigned," secretary in the 
ministry of information, George Charamba, told IRIN last Friday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44879


Centre to help vulnerable child deportees

The Zimbabwe government is planning to set up a transit centre in the busy 
southern border town of Beitbridge to assist vulnerable youths deported as 
illegal aliens from South Africa.

The centre, to be established with the help of Save the Children Fund 
(Norway), will help youths under 18 who have been expelled for crossing 
the border illegally, but have no money to return to their homes.

Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Paul Mangwana told IRIN 
that the idea of a transit centre followed reports that some deportees, 
especially girls, had been victims of abuse and sexual harassment in 
Beitbridge.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44975


ZAMBIA: The hard road to HIPC completion - Yearender

Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa weathered tough criticism in 2004 for 
his government's apparent kowtowing to the aid conditions set by the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Civic bodies were at loggerheads with Mwanawasa's administration during 
the year, accusing it of sacrificing too much in a bid to have the 
country's external debt reduced.

Although the aid-dependent country is now a step closer to the Highly 
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point after implementing a 
series of austerity measures prescribed by the international financial 
institutions, critics pointed out that cuts in government spending had 
seriously hampered Zambia's ability to tackle endemic poverty.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44950


Peaceful protests for new constitution before 2006

At least 3,000 Zambians reportedly gathered on Thursday in Freedom Square 
in the capital, Lusaka, to pressure the authorities to enact a new 
constitution before elections in 2006.

"It was a peaceful protest and we have had a very good response," Reverend 
Japhet Ndhlovu, a spokesperson for the NGO coalition, Oasis Forum, told 
IRIN. "At the same time, we are continuing with our efforts to hold talks 
with the government."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44945


SWAZILAND: Opposition becoming more militant

Swaziland's opposition groups are sounding a more militant note in 
preparation for the first mass action of the year against King Mswati's 
rule.

"We have irreconcilable differences with government on the issue of the 
draft constitution," Jan Sithole, secretary general of the Swaziland 
Federation of Trade Unions, told IRIN.

Sithole and other unionists, government leaders and officials attended a 
meeting called by the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Commission 
on Thursday to forestall a nationwide protest strike scheduled to begin on 
25 January.

Government told the union leaders it had made progress in restoring the 
rule of law in Swaziland. The workers' federation is concerned that jobs 
are being lost because of dwindling foreign investment as a result of the 
perception that the country's legal system is being compromised by the 
royal leadership.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44951


MALAWI: Mutharika frees party leaders involved in "assassination" plot

President Bingu wa Mutharika on Thursday ordered the police to free four 
senior ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) officials who had been 
arrested on treason charges, and dissolved Malawi's National Intelligence 
Bureau.

Mutharika told reporters at a press conference that he had decided to 
release the men for the sake of party unity, but believed they had been 
part of a plot to assassinate him. "I have decided that these people be 
forgiven for reconciliation purposes, but this does not diminish the 
gravity of the situation," he said.

The four are deputy transport minister Roy Commsy, former minister of 
environmental affairs, Harry Thomson, UDF Member of Parliament Alfred 
Mwechumu, and UDF district governor for Mangochi, Jordan Kanyerere.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44961


Food-for-work programme eases crisis

A food-for-work programme in Malawi has helped to address a significant 
household food gap, especially in the southern region, according to a 
report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).

"Our food-for-work programme has been concentrating on projects which 
create assets, such as roads, afforestation or any other requirements 
identified by communities, particularly in the southern region," World 
Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Antonella D'Aprile told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44971


SOUTH AFRICA: Too poor to access free AIDS drugs

Twenty-one-year-old Nonhlanhla Zuma (not her real name) lies on a mattress 
on the stone kitchen floor. Her bony, almost childlike body, weakened by 
HIV, makes standing up a major effort.

The mattress is next to the door of the tiny family kitchen. Relatives 
bustling in and out to tend a pot of maize cobs boiling on the stove 
prevent her from getting the rest she urgently needs; her child, not yet a 
year old, is sleeping naked next to her.

Over the past few months she has developed full-blown AIDS and is unable 
to work. Her mother takes care of her and her child, as well as other 
family members, some of whom are also sick. Only a few days ago Nonhlanhla 
lost one of her sisters to AIDS.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44973


BOTSWANA: UNICEF calls for expansion of orphan care programmes

Botswana's orphan population continues to grow as a consequence of AIDS, 
but just under half the children receive no official assistance, according 
to a joint United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Botswana government 
report.

The report, released in December, includes the results of a 2003 survey of 
living conditions and existing orphan support services, and observed that 
the country now has 78,000 orphans under the age of 15. Of these, 42,000 
are registered and receiving assistance from the Department of Social 
Services, in addition to support from community-based organisations, but 
an estimated 36,000 are not registered and fall outside the net.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44943


IRIN-SA
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Fax: +27 11 784-6759
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

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