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 155
25 Jun - 01 July 2005


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: UN envoy confirms deaths
MALAWI: Poverty alleviation programmes underfunded, says IMF
SOUTH AFRICA: Thousands of workers strike against job losses
ZAMBIA: WFP may be forced to cut rations without further funding
ANGOLA: Despite years of peace, challenges remain
MOZAMBIQUE: Low minimum wage rise squeezes the poor
BOTSWANA: Cash injection to revive ailing beef and ostrich industries
SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV/AIDS, hunger a security threat, WFP warns
SWAZILAND: Initiatives to diversify crops bear fruit


ZIMBABWE: UN envoy confirms deaths

A spokesman for the special UN envoy evaluating the impact of the 
controversial demolition of informal settlements in Zimbabwe confirmed 
on Friday that they had received reports of "two or three" deaths in 
areas where evictions had been carried out.

"But we are yet to establish whether the deaths were circumstantial or 
as a direct result of the demolition", said Sharad Shankardass, 
spokesman for the UN Secretary-General's special envoy, Anna Tibaijuka.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47927


Doctors demand better pay as inflation bites

Doctors at two of Zimbabwe's largest referral hospitals embarked on an 
indefinite strike, demanding a pay rise of more than 100 percent and a 
special allocation to cover escalating fuel costs caused by the ongoing 
petrol shortage.

Junior and mid-level doctors at Harare's Parirenyatwa and Central 
hospitals vowed on Wednesday not to resume work until the government had 
met their demands.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47896


Controversial draft proposal for senate to be tabled

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party has approved a draft plan proposing 
constitutional amendments to create a new senate, but political analysts 
warned that the election criteria for members will lead to more internal 
strife as cadres jostle for positions.

Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa told IRIN he intended tabling the 
approved draft proposal in parliament before the end of this week, 
saying the senate would "improve the governance and decision-making 
processes of government" by ensuring broader representation and 
exhaustive consultation.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47885


IMF urges policy reforms

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a bleak future for 
the Zimbabwean economy, saying unless there is a major shift in the 
government's fiscal policy and a change of attitude towards Bretton 
Woods institutions, the current inflation rate of 144.4 percent would 
continue to rise.

An IMF delegation visited Harare last week, where it held talks with the 
government about foreign debt and possible remedies for the country's 
ailing economy.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47876


Cholera outbreak claims 14 lives

At least 14 people have died and 203 have been hospitalised in eastern 
Zimbabwe as authorities battle to control a cholera outbreak that began 
in early May.

Zimbabwe has warned that it might not be able to control the disease 
without cooperation from the government of Mozambique, where the 
outbreak is thought to have originated.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47860


Govt allows NGOs to assist 'clean-up' victims

The Zimbabwean government this week agreed to allow aid groups to offer 
humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people being 
displaced in its controversial urban clean-up drive.

Authorities previously said the government had ample resources to cater 
to the needs of evicted families, but Local Government Minister Ignatius 
Chombo has now announced that the government had resolved to allow 
donors to provide assistance, mainly in the capital, Harare, and 
Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47835


AU inaction "distressing" says UN official

A senior United Nations official on Monday described the failure of 
African Union leaders to intervene in the forced eviction of informal 
settlers in Zimbabwe as a "distressing".

In an interview with IRIN, Miloon Kothari, Special Rapporteur on the 
Right to Adequate Housing with the UN Commission on Human Rights 
(UNCHR), was critical of African leaders' failure to respond to the 
crisis that has been unfolding over the past five weeks.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47833


MALAWI: Poverty alleviation programmes underfunded, says IMF

Malawi's poverty reduction programme was being affected by inadequate 
funding, a lack of human capacity and a weak economy, according to the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF), IRIN reported on Thursday.

"Limited funding will remain a key challenge" to implementation of the 
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) said the IMF, which suggested 
that the available money should be channelled into activities with a 
"direct impact in stimulating economic growth and poverty reduction".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47901


Political impasse reaching 'point of no return', warn analysts

Malawi's parliament, where opposition parties are trying to impeach 
President Bingu wa Mutharika, has adjourned without passing a national 
budget. This has prompted the United Nations to express concern about 
serious damage to the economy that would hit hardest at the poorest and 
most vulnerable.

IRIN reported on Tuesday that the office of the United Nations Resident 
Coordinator had urged parliamentarians to put aside their political 
differences to pass a budget for the country (see report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47865).

The political bickering between Mutharika and the leaders of the 
opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) of former president Bakili 
Muluzi, and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) of John Tembo, would not 
solve the social and economic problems facing the country, local 
analysts noted.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47884


SOUTH AFRICA: Thousands of workers strike against job losses

Thousands of South African workers demonstrated against job losses and 
poverty in a countrywide one-day strike called by trade unions on 
Monday.

"We are here to protest the thousands of jobs lost and the slow decline 
in the core of our economy; we are here to demand a development strategy 
to ensure that growth in the economy benefits all our people, creating 
jobs and overcoming poverty on a massive scale," said Zwelinzima Vavi, 
general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) 
in a speech in Johannesburg.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47836


Fallout as China sews up textile market

The South African textile industry says cheap imports from China are 
threatening to wipe out the local industry, where 75,000 jobs have been 
lost since 2002.

"We're a very distressed industry at the moment. We're actually on our 
knees ... we've been devastated," the managing director of Gregory 
Knitting Mills, Selwyn Gershman, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47880


Govt plans to counter xenophobia

South Africa's new immigration regulations, which will help enforce the 
Immigration Amendment Act, come into effect on Friday, a government 
official told IRIN.

"The new immigration process will help counter xenophobia as the 
legislation calls on South Africans to combat it at a practical level. 
To fulfill the requirement we are setting up a Counter-xenophobia 
Directorate within the National Immigration Branch of Home Affairs," 
said departmental spokesman Nkosana Sibuyi.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47906


ZAMBIA: WFP may be forced to cut rations without further funding

A dire shortage of funds will force the World Food Programme (WFP) to 
reduce both rations and the number of people it is feeding in Zambia, 
rather than extending assistance to a total of one million people as 
requested by the government, the aid agency said on Tuesday.

Without an immediate injection of money, "rations to thousands of people 
would be slashed in July", WFP said in a statement.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47863


ANGOLA: Despite years of peace, challenges remain

Angola's 27-year civil war may have ended more than three years ago, but 
the need for peace-building initiatives is stronger than ever, according 
to humanitarian workers.

Peace is an ongoing process, they argue; the guns may have fallen 
silent, but peacetime has brought with it a host of other potentially 
conflict-creating problems. From disarming the civilian population to 
reintegrating returnees and educating people about elections and 
democracy, the need for peace-building efforts is clear.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47864


Pockets of need emerge after poor harvest

Pockets of deepening vulnerability are emerging in Angola as erratic 
weather and the resultant poor harvest force people to move to urban 
centres in search of food aid.

Manuel Cristovao, a World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman in the capital, 
Luanda, told IRIN on Monday that Mavinga town in the eastern province of 
Kuando Kubango was experiencing an influx of people from the southern 
regions of the province.

"Basically, the situation is that the whole region south of Mavinga is 
facing food insecurity, caused by a bad harvest as a result of irregular 
rains ... access problems caused by the danger of landmines, and 
destroyed bridges and bad road infrastructure," Cristovao said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47839


MOZAMBIQUE: Low minimum wage rise squeezes the poor

IRIN reported on Wednesday that Mozambican workers felt the recent 14 
percent increase in the statutory minimum wage was inadequate in the 
face of rising living costs.

While trade unionists pushed for a 16.6 percent rise in the minimum 
wage, employers were not prepared to go beyond 10.5 percent. The 14 
percent increase - the same amount workers received last year - meant 
the minimum wage across all sectors rose from 1,120,297 to 1,277,139 
meticais a month (about US$ 46.7 to $53.3).

Francisco Mazoio, a spokesman for the Organizacao dos Trabalhadres de 
Mocambique, the country's largest trade union, said the minimum wage did 
not even meet half the typical family's basic needs.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47887


BOTSWANA: Cash injection to revive ailing beef and ostrich industries

Botswana has unveiled a Pula 98 million (US $17.5 million) loan facility 
to overhaul the country's ailing beef sector and improve the 
increasingly poor quality of stock supplied for slaughter.

The announcement was welcomed by the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), the 
parastatal responsible for supplying European Union (EU) export quotas, 
which it has failed to meet for a number of years. The BMC was operating 
at 50 percent capacity due to a poor supply of slaughter stock, and 
pointed to the noncommercial mode of cattle production as largely 
responsible.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47893


SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV/AIDS, hunger a security threat, WFP warns

World Food Programme (WFP) executive director James T. Morris has warned 
that the 'triple threat' of chronic hunger, the impact of HIV/AIDS and 
weakened government capacity could lead to instability in Africa, but 
singled out Southern Africa as particularly hard hit and thus deserving 
of international attention.

"The greatest humanitarian crisis we face today is the gradual 
disintegration of the social structures in Southern Africa," Morris told 
the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47926


SADC peacekeeping brigade moves ahead

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) moved a step closer to 
forming a rapid response brigade for deployment in peacekeeping 
operations and hotspots on the continent and elsewhere.

At the end of the multinational Exercise Thokgamo (Setswana for 
serenity) in Maun on Thursday, the regional bloc's executive secretary, 
Dr Prega Ramsamy, said SADC had demonstrated its commitment to play a 
positive role in the establishment and maintenance of a peaceful, stable 
and secure Africa.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47854


SWAZILAND: Initiatives to diversify crops bear fruit

A government initiative to encourage smallholder Swazi farmers to 
diversify their crops as a counter to ongoing drought and rising food 
aid dependency is beginning to bear fruit, IRIN reported on Thursday.

Two years ago, Amos Tsabedze, a small-scale farmer in the southern 
Shiselweni Region, made the radical move of replacing maize cultivation 
with cotton. Now the government is encouraging him to switch to cassava, 
the starchy, semi-sweet tuber for which he has yet to develop a taste.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47903


Revised pricing, marketing policies could ease food insecurity

With almost 250,000 Swazis facing food shortages, agricultural experts 
are calling for urgent reform of the country's maize pricing and 
marketing policies.

A recent crop assessment by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation 
(FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) found that although maize 
production during the 2004/05 growing season was about 10 percent higher 
than last year's official post-harvest figure, it was still six percent 
below the average of the previous five years.

The WFP/FAO report warned that "from a longer-term perspective, maize 
production in Swaziland appears to be on the decline". Recurring drought 
and the impact of HIV/AIDS had contributed to the downward trend, but 
the report concluded that the maize pricing policy was worsening the 
situation.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47840


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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