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 232
21 - 27 May 2005


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: New report assesses impact of fast-track land reform
ANGOLA: Renewed clashes between govt and Cabindan separatists
SOUTHERN AFRICA: UN leaders call for urgent action
ZAMBIA: Provinces left behind in ARV rollout
SWAZILAND: AIDS orphans also stigmatised by poverty at school
SOUTH AFRICA: Land ownership remains racially skewed
NAMIBIA: Caprivi separatists still defiant
MADAGASCAR: MSF curtails homeless assistance in favour of emergency
   work
BOTSWANA: Red tape stymies media spreading anti-AIDS message
MALAWI: ARV delays could derail national rollout plan


ZIMBABWE: New report assesses impact of fast-track land reform

A new study points to critical policy errors as the main reasons for 
food and nutrition insecurity in Zimbabwe, in particular the 
government's fast-track land redistribution programme.

It is still unclear just how many Zimbabweans will face food shortages 
this year, although some estimates have been as high as 4.5 million out 
of a population of 11.6 million.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47300


Communities report widespread crop failures

A survey of communities across Zimbabwe points to a sharply 
deteriorating food security situation, with 82 percent of districts 
reporting widespread crop failure after poor rains in the 2004/05 
growing season.

"[This] is atypical for this time of year, and compares with 29 percent 
of districts reporting this [rise in food insecurity] in April 2004. In 
previous years April has been ... the period with the highest share of 
districts reporting improved food supplies, as harvest yields boost 
household supplies," said the latest report by Food Security Network 
(FOSENET), a national NGO.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47250


Filling food gap an "enormous challenge", says report

Meeting the needs of food-insecure Zimbabweans may prove to be a 
challenge, as the country's foreign currency shortage remains a 
stumbling block to importing adequate food stocks, the Famine Early 
Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) has warned.

"Given the current shortages, importing adequate food for the nation in 
the current consumption year is going to be an enormous challenge for 
Zimbabwe," the report concluded.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47278


Informal traders hit back at govt crackdown

Human rights activists in Zimbabwe have condemned the police for their 
heavy-handed tactics in an ongoing crackdown on crime.

In a campaign code-named Murambatsvina (a Shona word for 'clean-up'), 
police officers last week arrested and detained unlicensed 
street-vendors, accusing them of dealing in foreign currency.

Urban centres like Gweru, Bulawayo and Harare, the capital, were the 
hardest hit, with thousands of unregistered business owners arrested and 
their commodities confiscated. Public transport operators were also 
rounded up in the police blitz and asked to explain where they had 
acquired the forex to import their vehicles.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47251


ANGOLA: Renewed clashes between govt and Cabindan separatists

Civil society groups in Angola's oil-rich Cabinda province have again 
called on the government to enter serious negotiations with separatists, 
following reports of fresh clashes.

"We have tried to let the government know how important it is to begin 
serious dialogue with the separatists, but we have not received any 
response from them. Now we are receiving news that fighting has started 
again in the interior of the province. This shows us that the government 
is not really considering our calls for peace," Agostinho Chikaia, 
leader of the Mpalapanda Civic Association in Cabinda, told IRIN on 
Thursday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47329


Poor still waiting for peace dividend to trickle down

Angola needs up to US $30 billion to rebuild its war-shattered 
infrastructure over the next decade, according to a World Bank official, 
but analysts are warning that the basic needs of the poor must not be 
overshadowed by large-scale projects.

The Bank has earmarked a package of around $200 million for Angola, to 
be spent on reconstructing water and energy networks, roads, schools and 
hospitals in the next two years.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47282


SOUTHERN AFRICA: UN leaders call for urgent action

Three United Nations leaders issued a call in Johannesburg on Wednesday 
for the world to refocus its attention on Southern Africa, as the region 
faces the triple threat of HIV/AIDS, food insecurity and weakened state 
capacity.

UN Special Envoy James Morris, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) executive 
director Ann Veneman, and UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot warned in 
a joint statement that despite great strides made by governments and the 
international community in meeting the most critical needs of the 
region, the 'triple threat' still stalked Southern Africa, and more 
investment was needed if the gains of the last three years were to be 
sustained.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47302


Rising Indian Ocean temperatures will bring escalating drought - new 
report

A new study on climate change has warned of escalating drought in 
Southern Africa, directly linked to the warming of the Indian Ocean.

According to the US-based National Centre for Atmospheric Research, 
since 1950 the Indian Ocean has warmed more than one degree Celsius; 
"well beyond the range expected from natural processes", but consistent 
with projected increases in greenhouse gas emissions. This would result 
in Southern Africa becoming increasingly dry.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47297


Regional peacekeeping brigade ready by June, SA govt

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) peacekeeping brigade 
could be operational by 30 June, the South African ministry of defence 
has confirmed.

Ministry spokesman Zam Mkhwanazi told IRIN on Thursday the brigade, 
which would form part of the planned African Union (AU) continental 
standby force, could be ready for peacekeeping missions by then, but 
could not provide further details on where the brigade was likely to be 
deployed.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47327


ZAMBIA: Provinces left behind in ARV rollout

In the remote district of Zambezi, near the Zambian border with Angola, 
getting hold of anti-AIDS drugs is a major struggle for those living 
with the virus.

HIV-positive Zambians in need of treatment have to travel more than 500 
km on potholed roads once a month to receive the life-prolonging 
medication at a health facility in Solwezi. The provincial capital is 
the only centre providing antiretrovirals (ARVs) in this impoverished 
region.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47349


Country on the brink, says UN envoy

After two years of surplus agricultural production, Zambia has 
experienced a dramatic downturn and will need significant international 
assistance, said James Morris, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy 
for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa.

Prolonged dry spells during the last growing season had resulted in crop 
yields being reduced by up to 90 percent in some districts, the World 
Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement at the end of Morris' two-day 
visit to the country.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47280


SWAZILAND: AIDS orphans also stigmatised by poverty at school

Twelve-year-old Mfanfikile looked forward to going back to school after 
nearly a year and a half of absence following the death of his mother. 
He wanted to look his best, and had found an old beige jacket in a 
wardrobe. Although several sizes too large, Mfanfikile thought it an 
improvement on the threadbare shorts and T-shirts he usually wore.

"I got to school; the other children had nice clothes. They laughed at 
me; they called me 'rags boy'," he related in a soft voice, still 
smarting from the shame.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47303


New UNICEF head sees extent of orphans crisis

The new executive director of the UNICEF, Ann Veneman, wrapped up her 
first official visit to Swaziland on Tuesday, having seen at first hand 
the scope of the tiny country's poverty and the magnitude of its AIDS 
orphan problem.

"I've been on this job a little more than three weeks, and this is my 
first trip to the field. Because of Southern Africa's HIV situation we 
are particularly concerned about the impact on children," Veneman told a 
press conference.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47293


SOUTH AFRICA: Land ownership remains racially skewed

Eleven years into democratic rule, South Africa's white minority 
population still controls most of the productive agricultural land, 
government officials acknowledged earlier this week.

The land affairs department told parliament's budget committee that 
whites still owned about 82 percent of commercial farmland, despite 
ongoing efforts to get more land into the hands of the black population.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47279

Rising pressure on govt to deliver quicker

More than a decade after winning power in South Africa's first 
democratic elections, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) faces 
increasing pressure to deliver promised social services.

During the past two weeks angry protestors have blocked roads, set up 
burning barricades, sung liberation struggle songs and demanded that 
local authorities in the coastal cities of Cape Town in Western Cape 
province, and Port Elizabeth in Eastern Cape province address their 
needs.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47366

Remedying the medical brain drain

The migration of doctors and nurses from Africa has taken a heavy toll 
of the continent's desperately overstretched health sector, according to 
a new study published in the British medical journal, 'The Lancet'.

Each migrating African health professional represents a loss of US 
$184,000 to the continent; the financial cost to South Africa, 600 of 
whose graduates are in New Zealand alone, is estimated at $37 million.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47364


NAMIBIA: Caprivi separatists still defiant

A group of Caprivi separatists accused of treason sang protest songs and 
waved placards demanding independence for Namibia's remote northeastern 
region when they arrived in court on Thursday.

Arriving in a police truck, the 29 men sang that they would "liberate 
our Caprivi" in a show of defiance. As they stepped into the yard of the 
high court, some of them had placards demanding secession for the narrow 
strip of land that borders Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47345


BOTSWANA: Red tape stymies media spreading anti-AIDS message

Journalists in Botswana say the government's lack of cooperation with 
the media is threatening to undermine ongoing efforts to reduce the 
spread of HIV/AIDS.

While there have been some successes in the decade-long response to the 
disease, Botswana has been unable to keep pace with the number of new 
infections. Reporters allege that it is difficult to gauge the success 
of the anti-AIDS strategy because of the reluctance of the authorities 
to release information to the media.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47330


MALAWI: ARV delays could derail national rollout plan

A year after the Malawian government launched its HIV/AIDS treatment 
programme, the numbers of people awaiting treatment are stretching 
hospitals to their limits, IRIN reported on Tuesday.

In May 2004 the government began providing free antiretroviral (ARV) 
medication at public health facilities, hoping to reach 44,000 people 
living with the virus by June 2005.

But the country's rollout has been plagued by delays of "up to eight 
months" in supplying the drugs, which had led to people in urgent need 
of treatment being forced to wait before accessing the life-prolonging 
medication, said Victor Kamanga, programme manager of the Malawi Network 
of People living with HIV/AIDS (MANET+).

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47267


Top UN officials see for themselves

The remote village of Malemia, in drought-stricken southern Malawi, had 
never seen anything quite like it as a convoy of vehicles, accompanied 
by a police escort with sirens wailing, arrived in a cloud of dust.

Although fairly large, Malemia, about 100 km from Malawi's main 
commercial capital of Blantryre, does not get many visitors. On 
Thursday, however, it played host to James Morris, the UN 
Secretary-General's Envoy for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa, and 
the newly appointed UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director, Ann 
Veneman.

They had come to see the work of the 'Village to Village AIDS Community 
Better Life Organisation' - which targets orphans, vulnerable children 
and people living with HIV/AIDS - and assess the impact of Malawi's 
looming food crisis.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47369

World Bank approves US $37m loan to revamp irrigation systems

Malawi's ageing irrigation schemes will be getting a revamp following 
the approval of a US $37 million World Bank loan, a senior official 
confirmed on Friday.

Director of Irrigation Sandram Muweru told IRIN the funds would go 
towards rehabilitating and establishing new irrigation sites in 11 
districts across the country. "Work has already been undertaken on 
restoring four schemes in certain parts of the country - most of these 
were established in the 60s and 70s and are overdue for repair," Muweru 
said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47363


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

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2005


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