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

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


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-Up 240
16 - 22 July 2005


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Stinging UN report condemns evictions
MALAWI: IMF welcomes budget approval
ZAMBIA: Urgent need to cover food gaps
SWAZILAND: NGOs want law to provide operational guidelines
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Spare the rod, create a human being
BOTSWANA: Hereros wait in vain for reparations
INDIAN OCEAN: Inter-island summit to strengthen ties and economies


ZIMBABWE: Stinging UN report condemns evictions

Despite a UN report condemning the Zimbabwean government's programme of 
forced evictions that has affected 700,000 people, Local Government and 
Housing Minister Ignatius Chombo has defended the operation.

Chombo, a key proponent of Operation Murambatsvina ('Clean Out 
Garbage'), told IRIN that the people evicted from their homes were in 
illegal settlements, "and I don't think the UN can sanction illegality".

The report by UN-HABITAT Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka called on the 
government to stop the demolitions of homes and markets, pay reparations 
to those who had lost housing and livelihoods and punish those who, 
"with indifference to human suffering" carried out the evictions, 
according to the UN news service.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48260


Police forcibly remove homeless from church compounds

Zimbabwean police on Thursday forcibly removed hundreds of homeless 
people from churches in Bulawayo and banned religious groups from 
providing humanitarian assistance to those seeking shelter at 
Hellensvale, a transit camp north of Zimbabwe's second city.

The camp was set up as a temporary measure to house hundreds of 
desperate families who lost their homes in the government's crackdown on 
illegal settlements in urban areas.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48239


Man-made tsunami engulfs urban poor

The physical evidence of the scale of destruction in Zimbabwe's informal 
settlements is plain to see: row upon row of what were once the homes of 
the urban poor demolished by government bulldozers or the bare hands of 
the residents on the orders of the police.

What is less clear are the numbers of people affected nationwide by 
Operation Murambatsvina ('Clean Out Garbage') - colloquially known more 
evocatively as "the tsunami".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48240


Loan request gives SA leverage to press for change

Amid news reports that Zimbabwe is seeking a massive loan from South 
Africa to offset chronic food and fuel shortages, political analysts 
said it is an opportune time for President Thabo Mbeki to push for 
political dialogue in the troubled country.

Although South African treasury officials confirmed meeting with their 
Zimbabwean counterparts in Johannesburg on Friday, both parties were 
tight-lipped about the possible loan.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48173


Training intensified to ease nurse shortage

The Zimbabwean government has stepped up efforts to train more primary 
healthcare workers amid growing concern over deteriorating healthcare 
delivery in rural areas.

According to the official Herald newspaper, rural hospitals and health 
centres urgently needed 3,337 nurses.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48197


More fuel deregulation as shortages bite

Standing for hours by the roadside waiting for a bus, or stranded in a 
queue outside a petrol station that snakes for several blocks, 
Zimbabweans are increasingly used to a fuel crisis that has defied the 
government's efforts to resolve.

The latest stab at the problem was an announcement last week, further 
deregulating procurement and distribution and throwing the doors open to 
private business to import and sell fuel at a gazetted price - an 
admission that the forex-starved authorities have been unable to keep 
the pumps supplied.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48199


MALAWI: IMF welcomes budget approval

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has welcomed the parliamentary 
approval of Malawi's budget late last Friday.

"Successful implementation of a strong budget is critical to sustain the 
improvements in economic and fiscal policies during the last 12 months, 
as is continued donor support," said Thomas Baunsgaard, the IMF's 
resident representative.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48172


Impeachment debate postponed till September

The debate on the controversial motion to allow MPs to impeach President 
Bingu wa Mutharika is likely to continue in September when parliament 
resumes, according to official sources.

Political bickering between Mutharika and his political rival, former 
president of the country and now chairman of the United Democratic Front 
(UDF), Bakili Muluzi, has been raging since last month, when the UDF 
proposed the motion because Mutharika had left the party after it 
sponsored him in the national elections.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=4821


ZAMBIA: Urgent need to cover food gaps

Unless efforts are made to close the gaps in Zambia's maize-deficit 
areas, the price of mealie-meal will keep on rising, an economic and 
social justice advocacy group has warned.

More than 1.2 million Zambians were in need of food assistance, 
according to a Zambia Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) report, 
and the country needed at least 118,000 mt of cereals to bridge the food 
gap.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48169


SWAZILAND: NGOs want law to provide operational guidelines

The lack of a national policy to guide the operations and provide legal 
parameters for the activities of the numerous NGOs working in Swaziland 
has raised some serious concerns among civic bodies.

Civil society groups say they have lobbied the government for the past 
20 years to consider a draft NGO bill, but without much success.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48238


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Spare the rod, create a human being

Rapelang Segale will always bear a remainder of when, as a 
seven-year-old, she was hospitalised after a teacher assaulted her with 
a rubber hose. She had to undergo surgery to reset the bones in her left 
palm, after being lashed for misplacing her exercise book.

The incident took place two years ago, soon after Botswana decided to 
retain corporal punishment in its school system.

The majority of Southern African countries adhere to the line from 
Samuel Butler's poem, 'Hudibras', "... spare the rod, and spoil the 
child".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/S_report.asp?ReportID=48259


ACP sugar producers' concerns legitimate

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) sugar producers have legitimate 
concerns over the compensatory aid being offered by the European Union 
(EU) after its proposal to cut sugar prices, suggests a new research 
paper.

Previous experience of EU compensation when the prices of bananas, cocoa 
and rum were cut "have been unpleasant, so they have reason for 
concern", said Calvin Manduna, a researcher with the nonprofit Trade Law 
Centre for Southern Africa, who wrote the paper.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48195


BOTSWANA: Hereros wait in vain for reparations

For over 20 years descendants of the Herero, wearing traditional dress 
ironically modelled on German military uniforms of the early 20th 
century, have gathered in Botswana each July to pay homage to thousands 
of their people killed in neighbouring Namibia after an uprising against 
German settlers.

It is estimated that up to 65,000 Hereros, or 75 percent of the 
population, died when German forces under Lieutenant-General Lothar von 
Trotha tried to quell the rebellion. Historical evidence has revealed 
that others were forced into the desert to die of thirst and starvation, 
while settlers seized land and cattle.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48214


INDIAN OCEAN: Inter-island summit to strengthen ties and economies

A two-day inter-island summit in Madagascar is expected to further 
strengthen ties among five Indian Ocean countries in their battle 
against growing economic marginalisation.

Host President Marc Ravalomanana, presidents Azali Assoumani of the 
Comoros, James Michel of the Seychelles, and newly elected Prime 
Minister Navin Ramgoolam of Mauritius are attending, with French 
President Jacques Chirac representing Reunion, a French overseas 
territory. At least 1,000 participants are expected at the meeting, 
which kicked off on Friday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48237


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

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
2005


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