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 216
29 January - 4 February 2005


CONTENTS:

SOUTH AFRICA: COSATU plans to blockade Zimbabwe's borders
ZIMBABWE: Pro-democracy groups concerned over March poll
SWAZILAND: Huge job losses feared in garment industry
MOZAMBIQUE: Positive reaction to Guebuza's pledge to fight corruption
ANGOLA: Cabindans seek international awareness of their case
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Ministers meet to discuss challenges facing Africa's
   cities
MALAWI: Millennium Development Goals in jeopardy
ZAMBIA: Awareness programme for wandering villagers
SOUTH AFRICA: Begging to get off the streets
NAMIBIA: Rough seas ahead for fishing industry
MADAGASCAR: Recovery begins after cyclone strikes
COMOROS: Expectation of aid as president visits France


SOUTH AFRICA: COSATU plans to blockade Zimbabwe's borders

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the Zimbabwean 
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) have called for a blockade of Zimbabwe's 
borders, ahead of general elections next month.

The campaign has been prompted by the Zimbabwean authorities' decision 
to expel a second 18-member COSATU "fact-finding" mission earlier this 
week. The labour movement's first "solidarity" trip to Zimbabwe in 
October 2004 also ended abruptly after they were deported.

"The blockades will be held soon," COSATU spokesman Patrick Craven told 
IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45396


ZIMBABWE: Pro-democracy groups concerned over March poll

Zimbabwean pro-democracy groups have cautioned that the use of civil 
servants and the military to monitor next month's poll would throw its 
fairness and transparency into doubt.

In a report released last week, the Crisis Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) 
alleged that the deployment of civil servants, security personnel and 
the use of pro-government national youth service militia was designed to 
ensure a ZANU-PF victory.

It also said the controversial Public Order and Security Act, Access to 
Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Broadcasting Act of 
Zimbabwe, limited freedom of expression and assembly.

More details
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45404


"Govt has to import to improve food security situation"

Humanitarian workers are concerned about the food security situation in 
Zimbabwe, but told IRIN the extent of the problem hinges on the ability 
of the government to import enough grain to cover a production deficit.

The US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) last week 
said 5.8 million Zimbabweans - almost half the population - were in need 
of food aid.

In its overview of food security threats in sub-Saharan Africa, FEWS NET 
noted that the situation in Zimbabwe is "deteriorating", and "staple 
food availability is declining as market prices continue to rise".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45312


COSATU delegation deported again

A 15-member delegation from the Congress of South African Trade Unions 
(COSATU) was barred from entering Zimbabwe on Wednesday.

The delegation, led by COSATU secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi and 
first deputy president Joe Nkosi, intended to conduct a fact-finding 
mission ahead of Zimbabwe's legislative elections on 31 March.

"The aim of the visit is not to undermine the government of Zimbabwe, 
but to interact with the people of that country and listen to their 
concerns. We cannot announce the coming Zimbabwe national elections as 
being free and fair if we do not have a true reflection of the problems 
of the people of Zimbabwe. The aim of the trip is to experience these 
problems ourselves," COSATU spokesman Paul Notyawa said last month.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45352


Hospital in need of care

Lack of finance has left the Harare Central hospital, one of Zimbabwe's 
major referral centres, on the verge of collapse.

The superintendent of the 1,428-bed hospital, Chris Tapfumaneyi, told 
IRIN, "Most of our machines are obsolete and cannot be repaired - some 
of them have been like this for the past 10 years".

When IRIN visited the hospital last week, five elevators were broken 
down; many toilets and sinks were blocked; part of the ceiling leaked 
badly; the laboratory equipment and anaesthetic machines were not 
functioning; incubators were operating at reduced capacity; and three 
out of the five dialysis machines were not in working order.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45367


SWAZILAND: Huge job losses feared in garment industry

The Swazi government estimates that a third of all garment industry jobs 
will be lost by mid-year due to the crisis facing textile firms.

"The textile industry created 45,000 jobs in 2001 and 2003. Fifteen 
thousand jobs will be lost from last year to June this year [2005]," 
Enterprise and Employment Minister Lutfo Dlamini told a meeting of the 
Swaziland Textile Exporters Association last week.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45303


Storm highlights need for disaster preparedness

The clean-up after the worst storm to strike Swaziland in the last 20 
years has exposed the need for a disaster preparedness programme, said 
residents and agencies.

"The [last big storm in] 1984 took days to create the damage caused in 
15 minutes by the storm that struck [the commercial city of] Manzini. 
Like the '84 disaster, the storm showed the lack of preparedness for 
dealing with natural disasters here," business owner Sibusiso Fakudze 
told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45377


MOZAMBIQUE: Positive reaction to Guebuza's pledge to fight corruption

Reaction to President Armando Guebuza's inaugural speech this week has 
mostly been positive, with Mozambicans agreeing that poverty, corruption 
and crime are the key challenges facing the country.

"It was good speech, and was in line with what he said in his campaign - 
what we hope now is that this is not only a speech," Lorenco Jossias, 
editor of the Independent Zambezia newspaper, told IRIN on Thursday.

Guebuza, who was sworn in as Mozambique's new president on Wednesday, 
pledged an "unrelenting fight against poverty".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45379


New president pledges "unrelenting fight against poverty"

Armando Guebuza was sworn in as Mozambique's new president on Wednesday, 
in an inauguration generally seen as ushering in a fresh, reformist 
agenda for the country.

Fernando Goncalves, editor-in chief of Savana, an independently weekly, 
told IRIN he was cautiously optimistic that Guebuza could deliver. "We 
will judge him by his actions, but what we can say at the moment is, it 
is a good sign that he has identified corruption as a major problem in 
Mozambique."

Guebuza, one of Mozambique's wealthiest businessmen, is a veteran of the 
country's liberation struggle, and has been at the centre of politics 
since independence in 1975.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45379


Pungue begins flooding

The Pungue river in Mozambique's central province of Sofala has begun 
flooding and could affect at least 7,000 people, a disaster official 
told IRIN on Tuesday.

"We have begun relocating some of the residents in the two affected 
districts of Dondo and Nhamatanda to higher ground," said Rita Almeida, 
spokeswoman for Mozambique's National Institute for Disaster Management 
(INGC). "But if the water level continues to rise we will have to move 
all the people who are in the flood plains - 3,000 in Dondo district and 
4,000 in Nhamatanda."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45316


ANGOLA: Cabindans seek international awareness of their case

Alleged human rights abuses by government troops against civilians in 
the Angolan enclave of Cabinda are continuing, according to a new report 
issued by the province's main civil society organisation.

The document, prepared by the Mpalapanda Civic Association (MCA), 
details around 70 alleged violations, including murder, rape, 
intimidation and illegal detentions committed against men, women and 
children between September 2003 and December 2004.

"I wouldn't say things are getting worse, but they are certainly not 
changing for the better. The situation is still very, very bad," MCA 
spokesman, Raul Danda, told IRIN this week.

Cabinda is the only Angolan region where armed conflict between 
government forces and secessionist groups persists. Separatists, who 
argue that they have a different identity and culture from Angola and 
should never have been lumped together with the mainland when Portugal 
granted Angola independence, have been waging a low-intensity struggle 
for self-determination since 1975. Observers have pointed out that the 
protracted struggle has been sharpened by the region's substantial oil 
deposits, which account for about 60 percent of Angola's oil revenues.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45333


Transparency on oil money delaying donor conference

Angola has yet to provide the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with 
details of its windfall from high oil prices, delaying the Fund's 
mission to the country and raising doubt among donors about concluding 
an agreement any time soon, IRIN reported on Wednesday.

An IMF mission scheduled to come to Angola in November last year was 
postponed to January 2005, but would not take place before the end of 
February, sources in the capital, Luanda, told IRIN.

"I still believe both parties are keen to reach an agreement, so it's a 
bit of brinkmanship going on, with the government saying, 'let's see how 
far we can go' - the result is that everything gets delayed," said one 
foreign official.

The government told Reuters news agency in November that it expected a 
total of US $600 million extra from the high oil prices during 2004. 
Donors in Luanda said the IMF had put off its mission because the 
Angolan finance ministry had so far failed to provide it with data about 
the whereabouts of the extra funds.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45351


Luanda likely to fair badly at an African peer review, says analyst

If Angola were subject to a peer review today, it would perform badly on 
a number of counts, particularly its non-existent electoral preparations 
and dismal social standards, according to a New Partnership for Africa's 
Development (NEPAD) analyst.

"While all countries are not expected to reach the same base-level of 
review ... Angola would fare very poorly on the political governance 
scale, and on the economic management scale, and probably abysmally in 
terms of social and economic delivery and poverty alleviation issues," 
said Ayesha Kajee, speaking on the sidelines of a recent NEPAD workshop 
in the capital, Luanda.

Angola languishes at the bottom of almost every social development 
ranking. Figures from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) show that one 
child in four is likely to die before their fifth birthday, life 
expectancy is 40 years, around half the population has no access to 
clean, safe drinking water, and almost 50 percent of Angola's children 
do not attend school.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45356


ANGOLA: Facing a season of preventable malaria deaths

Although Angola applied for funding to fight malaria, the money will 
arrive too late to switch to more effective combination drugs and avoid 
another grim season of preventable deaths.

"We're looking at another bad year," said Angus Spiers, country 
coordinator for Angola at Mentor Initiative, an NGO focusing solely on 
preventing and fighting malaria.

Stamping out the scourge - one of the biggest killers of Angolan 
children - is considered a top priority by many in the health ministry 
and the humanitarian community, but events have undermined the good 
intentions of the government.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45398


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Ministers meet to discuss challenges facing Africa's 
cities

Housing experts from across Africa are meeting in South Africa this week 
to tackle some of the challenges facing the continent's cities.

According to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), Africa is 
the fastest urbanising continent in the world: by 2030 half of its 
population will be living and working in towns and cities.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45332


Clothing and textile industries need a rethink, say economists

Southern African clothing and textile industries need to restrategise if 
they are to compete in a quota-free global market after the Multi-Fibre 
Agreement (MFA) expired last month, economists told IRIN this week.

"They should market their products regionally, availing the benefits 
from tariff-free zones created by the Southern African Customs Union, 
and those being negotiated by the Southern African Development 
Community," said Eckart Naumann, an economist and associate of the 
non-profit Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45354


MALAWI: Millennium Development Goals in jeopardy

A critical lack of resources is jeopardising Malawi's efforts to achieve 
its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, according to a joint 
report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the government.

The assessment showed that while progress had been made in reducing 
child mortality and improving access to safe drinking water and basic 
sanitation, the country lagged behind on all the other development 
targets.

"Progress is being made towards the achievement of some goals ... on the 
other hand, there are goals for which there is serious retrogression," 
the report noted.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45397


Small-loan scheme to combat poverty

President Bingu wa Mutharika has launched a US $9.3 million small-loan 
scheme - one of his key election pledges - in a bid to tackle rural 
poverty.

"I promised the people of this country the loan, and I have fulfilled 
this promise," Mutharika said in response to political sniping over the 
delay in rolling out the programme.

The loan scheme, administered by the Malawi Rural Development Fund, will 
not only provide business grants but also training to would-be 
entrepreneurs. Mutharika said the programme would favour projects 
involving women and youth.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45335


Political infighting could destabilise govt

Political divisions in Malawi were set to deepen after a meeting at the 
weekend to discuss the possible expulsion of the country's president 
from the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) party for alleged 
misconduct.

"The meeting is intended to fire [President Bingu wa] Mutharika for 
being ungrateful to a party that sponsored him to become president," UDF 
secretary-general Kennedy Makwangwala reportedly told Agence France 
Presse late on Sunday.

Party spokesman Salule Masangwi on Monday confirmed the UDF National 
Executive Committee meeting, saying it had been called to "explore" ways 
of "dealing with the wrangle between President Mutharika and the party".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45309


ZAMBIA: Awareness programme for wandering villagers

The restoration of peace in Angola has not proven beneficial to some 
rural Zambians on the other side of the border. At least four Zambians 
are arrested for illegal entry into Angola every month, according to 
Zambia's home affairs permanent secretary, Peter Mumba.

The Zambian government now plans to launch an awareness campaign for 
communities living along the frontier in North Western province, with 
the immigration department responsible for ensuring that residents are 
sensitised to the dangers of entering Angola without proper 
documentation.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45373


SOUTH AFRICA: Begging to get off the streets

Sarah Mudzingwa does not remember the last time she had a decent meal, 
and it's been more than three years since she and her three children had 
a proper roof over their heads.

A cardboard shack in an alley off Joubert Park in Johannesburg's city 
centre was not what she bargained for when she left Zimbabwe looking for 
a better life in South Africa.

A blind single parent, her expectations could arguably have been a 
little too high but in comparison with Zimbabwe, the past three years 
have been extremely tough.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45334


NAMIBIA: Rough seas ahead for fishing industry

Battered by two years of a strong Namibian dollar, the country's fishing 
sector - a key foreign exchange earner - is now in trouble, with 
retrenchments and factory closures on the horizon.

After mining, fishing is the largest industry in Namibia, bringing in 
just over US $52 million in export earnings each year and contributing 
around 8 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP). Approximately 
600,000 mt of fish are landed annually, of which 90 percent is exported 
to Europe, the US and Asia.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45308


MADAGASCAR: Recovery begins after cyclone strike

Almost 65 people are still missing a week after Cyclone Ernest lashed 
southwest Madagascar, killing 15 people and leaving thousands homeless, 
aid workers told IRIN this week.

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday said it had already started 
sending emergency supplies of rice to thousands of people affected by 
the cyclone and the ensuing tropical storm that struck the southwestern 
part of the country last week with wind speeds of up to 100 km/h.

WFP said food aid would at first be targeted toward "5,285 of the worst 
affected people while assessments ... are being conducted to determine 
the extent of the damage". It added that all victims would eventually 
get food, and more than 50 mt of rice was expected to be distributed to 
those most affected.

UN Resident Coordinator Bouri Sanhouidi told IRIN, "the town of Toliary 
has been the most affected ... through the assistance of local officials 
and NGOs the nearly 5,000 people who lost their shelter have managed to 
find accommodation with their families, or are housed in churches," 
noted Sanhouidi.

Last year Cyclone Gafilo battered the northeast coast with wind speeds 
of up to 300 km/h, leaving 241 people dead and causing serious damage to 
vanilla and rice production.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45358


COMOROS: Expectation of aid as president visits France

A stronger flow of development aid from France to the Comoros is 
anticipated as the coup-prone Indian Ocean island settles down after 
years of political instability, IRIN reported on Monday.

President Azali Assoumani arrived in Paris on Monday on the first 
official visit by a Comoran leader since the country's independence in 
1975. His tour is expected to mend relations between the island nation 
and the former colonial power, which cooled in 1999, the year Assoumani 
came to power in one of the islands' numerous coups.

French aid to the Comoros plunged from US $19.5 million to around $5.2 
million per year after Assoumani took power.

Since then the archipelago has held presidential and legislative 
elections, leading to the establishment of a federal government of the 
Union of the Comoros in 2004. "The political situation has improved 
considerably, and now it is time for economic recovery. France is 
willing to help the Comoros become integrated into international 
activities because the political climate is good," a senior French 
diplomat in the Comoran capital, Moroni, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45310


IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 895-1900
Fax: +27 11 784-6759
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

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2005


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