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


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 236
18 - 24 June 2005


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Annan to send envoy as US, EU condemn crackdown
MALAWI: Concerns over land reform must be addressed, says civil society
   leader
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Civil society coalition calls for end to forced
   evictions in Zimbabwe
SWAZILAND: Civil servants strike for more pay
ZAMBIA: More than a million in need of food aid
MOZAMBIQUE: 70,000 mt of food aid needed - FAO, WFP
LESOTHO: Numbers of people in need increasing, WFP/FAO
SOUTH AFRICA: Mbeki appoints woman as new deputy president
ANGOLA: EC closes humanitarian aid office
BOTSWANA: Immigrants despair as news of crackdown spreads


ZIMBABWE: Annan to send envoy as US, EU condemn crackdown

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to send a special envoy to assess the 
situation in Zimbabwe, where a government crackdown on informal 
settlements and markets has left about 200,000 people homeless.

The government has vowed to continue its 'clean-up' campaign, arguing 
that the operation is targeting criminal elements. The opposition 
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), however, has claimed that the 
crackdown is politically motivated, as it has focused on urban areas, 
where the MDC enjoys support.

Full 
report


EU extends targeted sanctions

Economists have warned that the recent extension of targeted sanctions 
against Zimbabwe by the European Union (EU) is likely to further isolate 
an already weak economy.

The EU bloc renewed its travel ban on ruling ZANU-PF party officials 
last week and extended it to senior executives appointed by President 
Robert Mugabe after his party's disputed victory in the March 
parliamentary polls.

Full 
report


No crop growing allowed in urban areas, say police

The Zimbabwean government has outlawed urban farming, sparking fears of 
a deepening food crisis, as poor families have relied on the practice to 
stave off hunger and generate an income.

Over the past three weeks, police have demolished illegal structures and 
arrested informal traders in the country's towns and cities in an 
ongoing crackdown the government has said is aimed at cleaning up urban 
centres. The operation has been condemned internationally, as about 
200,000 people have been left homeless and livelihoods have been lost.

Full 
report


MDC renews call for "political solution"

The Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) this week 
renewed calls for a "political solution" to the escalating crisis in the 
wake of the controversial clean-up campaign, which has left thousands of 
people homeless.

"We have to ask, 'Where is the country going?' We have been calling for 
talks all along," MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai told IRIN.

Full 
report


MALAWI: Concerns over land reform must be addressed, says civil society 
leader

The success of land reform in Malawi will depend on the cooperation of 
traditional leaders, who remain sceptical of the process because they 
believe the new legislation will erode their authority, civil society 
leader William Chadza told IRIN on Thursday.

Chiefs in Malawi have traditionally had the authority to allocate land 
to their subjects but, following recommendations by a commission of 
inquiry, the government plans to introduce new legislation to improve 
equity in land distribution.

Full 
report


Country may not have enough forex to import food

Malawi might not have sufficient reserves of foreign currency to import 
food to cover current shortages, according to a new UN report.

The International Monetary Fund has noted that Malawi needs US $80 
million worth of foreign exchange per month, but is holding a reserve of 
about $90 million - just enough to cover a month's imports, according to 
the Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission report by UN's Food and 
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). 
"This is a serious cause for concern," said the agencies.

Full 
report


New child welfare plan gives stakeholders common platform

Malawi has launched a comprehensive welfare plan to mitigate the impact 
of poverty and HIV/AIDS on its estimated one million orphans.

The National Plan of Action (NPA) for Orphans and Vulnerable Children 
(OVC), launched by President wa Mutharika last Thursday, provides a 
common platform for the government, NGOs and donors to address the 
myriad problems facing children.

Full 
report


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Civil society coalition calls for end to forced 
evictions in Zimbabwe

An African coalition of civil society groups appealed on Thursday for 
intervention by the African Union (AU) and the UN to stop the forced 
eviction of informal settlers and traders in Zimbabwe.

"We want the AU to pressurise the Zimbabwean authorities to stop the 
evictions and allow humanitarian aid agencies to assist those who have 
been left homeless," Arnold Tsunga of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human 
Rights (ZLHR) told IRIN.

Full 
report


New approach to aid required, says report

Development gains made during the 1980s and 1990s in Southern Africa are 
being rapidly reversed by the 'triple threat' of HIV/AIDS, erratic 
weather and weakened government capacity, requiring a new approach to 
humanitarian aid, argues a new UN report.

The 'Inter-Agency Regional Humanitarian Strategic Framework for Southern 
Africa' document, born out of consultations between UN agencies, NGOs 
and donors, noted that "every effort is needed to help stop and reverse 
the current downward trend in human development indicators".

Full 
report


SWAZILAND: Civil servants strike for more pay

Swaziland's public schools were either closed or being run by a skeleton 
staff on Thursday as teachers took to the streets to demand higher 
salaries.

A major complaint has been the discrepancy between salary increments 
awarded to members of the armed forces earlier this year, compared to 
those of teachers.

Full 
report


Theft derails electrification plans

The escalating incidence of copper wire theft has set back efforts to 
electrify Swaziland's impoverished urban townships and isolated pockets 
of the countryside.

"Copper wire is used to ground the transformers as protection against 
lightning strikes: the energy from lightning is channelled away from the 
transformer and down the wire into the earth. When the wires are cut off 
by thieves, the transformers are defenceless. We have lost several of 
them," said Meshack Kunene, General Manager of Operations at the 
Swaziland Electricity Board (SEB).

Full 
report


ZAMBIA: More than a million in need of food aid

More than 1.2 million Zambians will require food assistance for the next 
eight months, a senior official told IRIN on Monday.

"We will need 118,335 mt of cereal to feed the people from 1 July in 27 
districts," said Dominiciano Mulenga, national coordinator of Zambia's 
Disaster Management Unit, after a survey conducted by the Zambia 
Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) was released. He added that the 
government was finalising an appeal for food aid.

Full 
report


MOZAMBIQUE: 70,000 mt of food aid needed - FAO, WFP

Food and agricultural experts say more than half a million Mozambicans 
face shortages unless an estimated 70,000 mt of emergency relief aid is 
secured.

A joint crop assessment by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation 
(FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) estimate cereal production in 
2005 will reach about 1.92 million mt, 3 percent lower than last year's 
harvest. The areas hardest hit by the downturn are mainly in the 
southern and central regions of the country.

Full 
report


LESOTHO: Numbers of people in need increasing, WFP/FAO

Declining agricultural production and incomes have combined with 
HIV/AIDS to undermine the ability of Lesotho's poor to cope with 
external shocks such as drought, said a joint World Food Programme and 
Food and Agriculture Organisation report.

The recent WFP/FAO crop and food supply assessment mission conducted in 
Lesotho found that the country was facing a "triple threat of increasing 
chronic poverty, rising rates of HIV/AIDS and weakened government 
capacity".

Full 
report


SOUTH AFRICA: Mbeki appoints woman as new deputy president

Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was appointed on 
Wednesday as South Africa's second-in-command after the sacking of 
former deputy president Jacob Zuma last week.

Mlambo-Ngcuka is the country's first female vice-president and has been 
a member of parliament since 1994.

Full 
report


ANGOLA: EC closes humanitarian aid office

The European Commission (EC) will close its humanitarian aid 
coordination office in Angola at the end of June, as the need for 
emergency interventions has abated, a senior official told IRIN this 
week.

With the closure of the office of the European Commission's Directorate 
General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), which has operated in Angola since 
the end of civil war in 2002, the EC would shift its focus to supporting 
projects related to transition and long-term development, said ECHO head 
Maria Olsen.

Full 
report


BOTSWANA: Immigrants despair as news of crackdown spreads

A group of Zimbabwean immigrants outside a general store in Maun, a 
resort town in northwestern Botswana, react with shock to an article on 
the front page of a state-owned daily paper from home.

"What are we going to do?" a woman asks as the story in the 
three-day-old copy of The Chronicle grips them with despair. Instead of 
answering, her friend asks her the same question. A sense of 
hopelessness pervades the little group.

Full 
report


Court to decide on inspecting reserve for diamond exploration

The Botswana High Court is to consider an application to have a 
settlement in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) inspected, to 
determine whether the government is conducting diamond mining in the 
area.

State attorney Sidney Pilane's application, filed in response to 
affidavits by 243 San Bushmen claiming that the government has been 
carrying out diamond exploration at the Gope settlement in the reserve, 
will be heard on 2 August.

Full 
report


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