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SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-Up 239
9 - 15 July 2005


CONTENTS:

ANGOLA: Health services on stand-by after reports of polio
BOTSWANA: Drought relief measures announced
MADAGASCAR: Polio outbreak reported in southern Madagascar
MALAWI: Kaunda to help resolve political impasse
ZIMBABWE: Church leaders disturbed by suffering of homeless
NAMIBIA: Caprivians could face serious food shortages
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Region attractive to terror groups, says report
SWAZILAND: Parliament told to rethink sections of new draft
   constitution
ZAMBIA: Growing concern that internal strife may split ruling party




ANGOLA: Health services on stand-by after reports of polio

The Angolan health authorities have intensified medical surveillance 
after reports of two cases of polio.

The UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) has also notified neighbouring 
countries, following reports of the two cases - the first since 2001.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48101


UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme resumes

Some 500 Angolan refugees living in Botswana are expected to return home 
this week as a new phase of a voluntary repatriation exercise gets 
underway.

Sixty-two Angolans were repatriated in December last year under a 
tripartite agreement between the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) and the governments of Botswana and Angola, but that leg of the 
exercise was temporarily suspended after heavy rains in Angola.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48091


Changing role of civil society must be supported by donors, report

A new report by the World Bank says civil society organisations (CSOs), 
which have been forced to play a more prominent role in 
conflict-affected and fragile states such as Angola, need more support 
during the transition from an emergency to a development phase.

In the absence of credible or capable public institutions, "the 
development community relies heavily on CSOs to reach the poor", said 
the report, 'Engaging Civil Society Organisations in Conflict-Affected 
and Fragile States - Three African Country Case Studies".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48126


BOTSWANA: Drought relief measures announced

President Festus Mogae declared Botswana "drought stricken" after poor 
rainfall resulted in widespread crop failure, and has announced relief 
measures that will run until June next year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture only 72,500 ha - a quarter of 
the cultivable 325,000 ha - was planted. "This year's cereal production 
is now estimated at about 19,000 mt, about 10 percent of the national 
requirement and less than half of the 46,000 mt produced during 
2003/04", said Mogae.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48086


Trade unions and president to discuss cooling labour unrest

Botswana's largest trade union federation was to meet with President 
Festus Mogae on Friday in a bid to tackle ongoing labour unrest.

The Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) was expected to press the 
government for a review of the country's labour laws, which left 
employees vulnerable to abuse by their bosses, the unions claimed.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48129


MADAGASCAR: Polio outbreak reported in southern Madagascar

The Malagasy government and its UN partners are to launch a door-to door 
immunisation campaign after two cases of polio were reported in southern 
Madagascar in the last few weeks.

Oliver Rosenbauer, a spokesman for the polio eradication initiative of 
the World Health Organisation (WHO), confirmed that the cases were 
"vaccine-derived" and had been contracted from the weak live polio virus 
in the oral vaccine given to children. "These cases are very rare," he 
pointed out.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48123


World Bank releases $239 million for development projects

The World Bank Board has approved US $239 million in soft loans to help 
Madagascar reach its development goals, fight HIV/AIDS and stimulate 
economic growth.

Jocelyn Rafidinarivo, the World Bank spokesman in Madagascar, told IRIN 
the Bank was happy with the country's progress since the political 
crisis in 2002.

"So far, we are pleased with Madagascar's progress and we will try to 
put into Malagasy minds also the importance of transparency and good 
governance," Rafidinarivo commented.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48107


MALAWI: Kaunda to help resolve political impasse

Political analysts have welcomed former Zambian president Kenneth 
Kaunda's willingness to resolve the political crisis in Malawi.

Kaunda arrived in the capital, Lilongwe, on Wednesday to mediate between 
President Bingu wa Mutharika and his political rivals, former president 
of the country and now chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) 
party, Bakili Muluzi, and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader, John 
Tembo.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48104


Fertiliser subsidies come under scrutiny

The Malawian government has decided to subsidise fertilisers to 
small-scale farmers across the board - a decision that will benefit 
previously ineligible tobacco growers.

However, the World Bank has sounded a note of caution over the expense 
involved and the possibly negative impact on funding poverty alleviation 
programmes.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48083


ZIMBABWE: Church leaders disturbed by suffering of homeless

A delegation from the South African Council of Churches (SACC), who 
visited Zimbabwe this week to assess the impact of the ongoing urban 
cleanup campaign, were "disturbed" by what they witnessed.

Thousands of informal settlements and markets have been demolished in 
the cleanup campaign, launched in May, and at least 375,000 people left 
homeless; the authorities have claimed it was part of an urban renewal 
strategy that will eventually build 10,000 homes at a cost of US $300 
million.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48068


In the face of hopelessness

With a child tied on her back and a plate in her right hand, Florence 
Chilufya joins a winding food queue in an overcrowded yard at a township 
in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city.

Although children, the elderly and the terminally ill are given first 
preference, the 39-year-old widow is confident that she will get a 
helping.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48125


NAMIBIA: Caprivians could face serious food shortages

The almost total failure of the maize crop in Namibia's northeastern 
Caprivi region could have "disastrous consequences" for the area's food 
security, according to a crop assessment report.

"The Emergency Management Unit is yet to conduct a vulnerability 
assessment, so we do not know the numbers in need of food aid in 
Caprivi," said Lesley Losper, an agricultural economist with the Namibia 
Early Warning and Food Information Unit (NEWFIU) of the Ministry of 
Agriculture, Water and Rural Development.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48069


Securing property rights for rural widows and their children

The Namibian government aims to introduce a new inheritance bill to 
protect the rights of widows and children, who are often dispossessed of 
land and homesteads.

Traditional practices following the death of a husband in the rural 
northern areas of the country have seen women and children lose most of 
their assets, including livestock and household items, to their in-laws.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48064


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Region attractive to terror groups, says report

Southern African countries are vulnerable to terror groups, as many 
nations lack adequate resources and legislation to tackle the problem, 
says a new report.

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) paper, 'Organised Crime and 
Terrorism: Observations from Southern Africa", argues that the region 
could be advantageous to transnational terror groups "if it can be used 
as a source, transit zone or market for high value narcotics" and money 
laundering.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48090


Transboundary cattle trafficking spreads disease

About half of Southern Africa's 47 million cattle are under threat from 
transboundary livestock diseases, despite improvements in regional 
surveillance and management, a new study warns.

'Livestock, Food and Agricultural Statistics' was launched by the 
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) secretariat in Botswana 
last month.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48067


SWAZILAND: Parliament told to rethink sections of new draft constitution

Less than a month after Swaziland's new draft constitution was passed, 
King Mswati III has ordered parliamentarians back to the drawing board 
to reconsider sections dealing with women's rights, religious freedom 
and the recall of MPs.

Mswati urged parliamentarians, the clergy and traditional leaders to 
meet in an emergency joint session to iron out their differences.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48108


Red tape thwarts job creation

A cumbersome bureaucracy is thwarting the Swazi government's attempts to 
attract investment and create jobs, says a new report.

"Several investors note that despite efforts to help smooth the way for 
investors, agencies frequently offer bureaucratic resistance and delay 
approval procedures," said a report by the Swaziland Investment 
Promotion Authority (SIPA).

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48070


ZAMBIA: Growing concern that internal strife may split ruling party

Zambia's ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) party kicked off 
its 5th convention on Wednesday amid growing concerns that recent 
internal wrangling could cause it to split.

The high-level gathering took place in the wake of accusations that 
President Levy Mwanawasa, keen to retain the party's top post, has been 
waging a campaign to sideline potential internal competitors. As the 
sole candidate, Mwanawasa would automatically become the party's choice 
in national presidential elections next year.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48109


IRIN-SA
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Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

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2005


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