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 233
28 May - 3 June 2005


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Govt admits food aid required
ZAMBIA: Community group project funds ARVs
MALAWI: Mutharika's new party faces stiff challenges - analysts
SWAZILAND: Jobs summit to tackle unemployment, boost business
SOUTH AFRICA: Concerns over intelligence agency probe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: New research questions link between food crisis and
   AIDS


ZIMBABWE: Govt admits food aid required

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe told visiting UN Special Envoy to 
Southern Africa, James Morris, on Wednesday that the country requires 
food aid to cope with a drought-linked food crisis.

Speaking to journalists in the capital, Harare, after he had met Mugabe 
at the headquarters of his ruling ZANU-PF party, Morris said: "The 
president said that he welcomed food assistance, and food assistance 
that comes with a humanitarian commitment."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47442


Thousands homeless after crackdown on shanty settlements

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has endorsed an ongoing crackdown by 
the police on illegal settlements and the parallel economy, in a 
controversial campaign to clean up the country's major towns and cities 
that has affected thousands of people.

In just one squatter camp, Tongogara Park at White Cliff Farm, a few 
kilometres outside the capital, Harare, thousands were forced to sleep 
out in the open on Thursday after their homes were destroyed by police.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47378


Livelihoods and shelter go up in flames

Thousands of Harare residents are still fleeing the capital after armed 
police continued demolishing illegal dwellings and stalls belonging to 
informal traders on Monday.

Clouds of teargas mixed with smoke from burning shacks in Mbare, 
Harare's oldest township, as men, women and children watched their 
flimsy homes go up in flames. Some risked the fires to save what 
belongings they could, while others, overcome by emotion, simply stood 
and cried.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47396


Operation 'Clean-up' could tighten food shortages

Aid agencies in Zimbabwe were gearing up on Tuesday to assist the 
thousands of people leaving the capital as a result of the government's 
crackdown on illegal dwellings and street vendors.

Although it is still not clear just how many families have sought 
shelter in rural areas, an estimated 17,000 people have been arrested 
since the police blitz that initially started as an attempt to rid 
Harare of illegal foreign currency dealers and informal traders.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47416


Human rights body files for stay of forced evictions

A leading human rights organisation has filed for a stay of the forced 
eviction of informal settlers in and around the Zimbabwean capital, 
Harare.

"About 200,000 people have been affected in the demolition drive - and 
many of them have papers to prove that they were legal occupants with 
lease agreements," said Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) 
director Munyaradzi Bidi.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47435


Taxi drivers roped in to boost tourism

Zimbabwe's Tourism industry, once the country's second largest foreign 
currency earner, has declined sharply in the past few years as a result 
of the ongoing economic and political crises.

In 2003 the tourism sector shrank 13 percent, and a further 4 percent in 
2004. In a bid to combat negative perceptions about the country and 
encourage visitors to return, tourism officials and the government have 
roped in an unlikely ally - taxi drivers.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47421


ZAMBIA: Community group project funds ARVs

A group of HIV positive people in Solwezi, the administrative capital of 
Zambia's Northwestern province, is helping its members access 
antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) with the proceeds from its income-generating 
activities.

The hammer-mill project of the Network for Zambian People Living with 
HIV/AIDS (NZP+) in Solwezi, about 700 km northwest of the capital, 
Lusaka, is also making it possible for members to go for viral load 
testing.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47394


Lusaka to send peacekeepers to Sudan

Zambia is to send peacekeepers to Sudan by the end of June, according to 
official sources in the capital, Lusaka.

"We will send a company, which is about 180 to 200 soldiers," a defence 
official told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47431


Angolan refugees reluctant to return home now

The volunatry repatriation of Angolan refugees in Zambia has made a slow 
start, acknowledges the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

"It could be [due to] a number of factors: many refugees have planted 
crops and are in the middle of the harvesting period, so are reluctant 
to leave now," said Josiah Ogina, IOM's head of mission in Zambia.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47449


HIV/AIDS affecting quality of education

HIV/AIDS is having an impact on teacher absenteeism in Zambia, which in 
turn is affecting the quality of education, according to a new World 
Bank study.

'Teacher Shocks and Student Learning: Evidence from Zambia', found that 
when teachers were absent as a result of illness, the level of learning 
was affected.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47451


MALAWI: Mutharika's new party faces stiff challenges - analysts

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika can expect to face some major 
challenges for the remainder of his term in office after deciding to 
formally sever ties with the party that brought him to power, analysts 
warned on Monday.

Mutharika launched his own political party on Sunday, three months after 
a bitter fallout with the United Democratic Front (UDF) forced him to 
resign from the former ruling party.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47392


Sweden resumes aid

In a vote of confidence in the Malawi government, Sweden has broken a 
four-year aid freeze and provided about US $5.5 million in budget 
support.

"Malawi has made considerable progress on macroeconomic stabilisation 
and maintaining control of public expenditure," noted the Swedish 
International Development Cooperation (SIDA). It also welcomed the 
government's "strong anticorruption stance".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47430


SWAZILAND: Jobs summit to tackle unemployment, boost business

Creating more business opportunities to counter rising unemployment is 
expected to take centre stage at an upcoming jobs summit in Swaziland.

The summit, scheduled to take place in July, follows a pledge by King 
Mswati to initiate a R1 billion (US $150 million) public-private fund to 
bankroll the development of small- and medium-scale enterprises.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47393



SWAZILAND: Environment law enforcement gets new teeth

Swaziland now has a national enforcement agency to ensure that its 
environmental laws are implemented: the kingdom, known for its lush 
forests, this week reconstituted the Swaziland Environmental Authority 
(SEA) and equipped it with some teeth.

"The previous board did not have the power to take action against 
offenders - we do not want to close down businesses, we only want them 
to comply with environmental regulations," said Minister of Environment 
and Tourism Thandi Shongwe.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47467


SOUTH AFRICA: Concerns over intelligence agency probe

South Africa's National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was tight-lipped on 
Friday after news reports that it had launched an official probe into 
recent protests over poor service delivery.

The Sunday Times last week reported that the intelligence agency was 
called in to investigate demonstrations that have taken place around the 
country, but the NIA has been reluctant to confirm its involvement.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47469


Media groups slam newspaper gagging order

Media rights groups have expressed concern over a court order gagging 
one of South Africa's leading investigative newspapers, saying the 
ruling set an "extraordinarily dangerous precedent".

Hours before the Mail & Guardian (M&G) was scheduled to go to press on 
Thursday evening, the Johannesburg High Court barred it from running a 
follow-up to the previous week's expose alleging that the state-owned 
oil company, PetroSA, had channelled R11 million (US $1.6 million) of 
taxpayers' money to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) ahead of 
the 2004 elections.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47417



SOUTHERN AFRICA: New research questions link between food crisis and 
AIDS

The link between HIV/AIDS and hunger in rural communities has received a 
great deal of attention in Southern Africa, where HIV/AIDS seems to have 
added a new dimension to the region's four-year-long food crisis.

But a new report has argued that although HIV/AIDS constitutes a 
humanitarian catastrophe, the impact of the epidemic was not a major 
cause of the region's food crisis during 2001 and 2004.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47426


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