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SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-Up 220
26 February - 4 March 2005


CONTENTS:

MOZAMBIQUE: Dry spell in southern provinces causes concern
SWAZILAND: Humanitarian crisis worsening, warn relief agencies
COMOROS: Curfew imposed after demonstration leaves two dead
ZAMBIA: Govt suspends export of maize
SOUTH AFRICA: Social exclusion traps people in poverty, report
ANGOLA: Transparency essential for credible polls
BOTSWANA: AU body calls for end to death penalty
MALAWI: IMF says country's economy improving
ZIMBABWE: Agricultural relief aid must improve, says study


MOZAMBIQUE: Dry spell in southern provinces causes concern

Unless rainfall improves, the food security situation in southern 
Mozambique could deteriorate, according to an official report released 
this week.

"Erratic rains caused significant damage to crops in various plantings 
... the dry spell severely affected crops, particularly maize," said the 
report, prepared with technical assistance from the Famine Early Warning 
Systems (FEWS NET), which is also part of the secretariat.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45927


SWAZILAND: Humanitarian crisis worsening, warn relief agencies

Swaziland is to standardise primary school fees as a first step towards 
meeting the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural 
Organisation (UNESCO) goal of education for all by 2015, Minister of 
Education Constance Simelane announced this week.

Education is not free in Swaziland. Those students who cannot pay school 
fees stay home, a condition prevalent among a growing population of 
children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45906


New education policy launched

Relief agencies warned on Monday that the humanitarian crisis in 
Swaziland, brought on by drought and aggravated by AIDS, is worsening.

"The food insecurity situation is going to continue for the next 12 
months - people are not producing enough. Many sectors of the 
population, especially the elderly, will remain dependent on food aid," 
Abdoulaye Balde, country representative of the UN World Food Programme, 
(WFP) told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45806


COMOROS: Curfew imposed after demonstration leaves two dead

A curfew was imposed on the Comoran island of Anjouan on Tuesday after 
clashes between police and striking teachers led to the reported death 
of two high school students.

A senior Anjouanese official told IRIN the curfew was imposed to prevent 
further instability, and dismissed accusations that the police had used 
heavy-handed tactics. "There is no problem on Anjouan and people can say 
what they want, but we must ensure that they respect the laws of the 
island."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45849


ZAMBIA: Govt suspends export of maize

The Zambian government has suspended the export of maize because the 
country is expecting a poor harvest, a senior official told IRIN.

"We are experiencing a drought situation in most parts of Zambia - we 
have had no or very little rainfall in the southern provinces," said 
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Maybin Mubanga.

Describing the expected output as "very bad", Mubanga added, "We will be 
able to put a figure to it when the results of a crop assessment are 
ready in the next two weeks."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45926


Congolese refugees in no hurry to return

As Zambia prepares to repatriate the last of the Angolan refugees on its 
soil by the end of 2005, the fate of thousands of Congolese refugees, 
sheltered in camps throughout the country, remains unclear.

Zambia hosts an estimated 55,000 Congolese refugees, most of whom fled 
the country at the height of civil strife in the Democratic Republic of 
Congo (DRC) in 2000. In Kala refugee camp, some 45 km from the 
DRC-Zambia border, sentiment about returning home ranges between 
confidence and uncertainty.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45820


SOUTH AFRICA: Social exclusion traps people in poverty, report

Although South Africa enjoys living standards that are, on average, 
significantly higher than its neighbours, racially imbedded inequality 
makes it extremely difficult for people to escape poverty.

This is because the poor, who are predominantly black, lack the 
connections to better-off people who could assist them with access to 
jobs, loans and other support, says a report 'Sense in Sociability? 
Social Exclusion and Persistent Poverty in South Africa'.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45929


ANGOLA: Transparency essential for credible polls

Transparency and a clearly defined role for an independent electoral 
commission are vital if Angola is to avoid the mistakes made during its 
last national poll more than a decade ago, a former election official 
told IRIN.

Onofre dos Santos, an Angolan lawyer with close links to the opposition 
FNLA, and director-general of the national election council in Angola's 
1992 elections, did not foresee a return to conflict.

But he feared that the lack of a transparent process could lead to 
delays in the electoral timetable, with frustration and unrest among 
opposition parties and, ultimately, political instability.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45815


Govt must act now on AIDS, warns UN envoy

Angola will have to make an epic effort in both preventing and treating 
HIV/AIDS related illnesses if it is to escape the dismal fate of many of 
its neighbours, a senior UN official told IRIN.

Stephen Lewis, Kofi Annan's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, spoke 
to IRIN after spending a week in the southwest African country which, 
ironically, thanks to its 27-year civil war, has the lowest infection 
rate in the region.

"Angola is at the moment on the knife's edge - Angola will either plunge 
into the abyss of the devastation of the pandemic, or Angola will 
undertake a Herculean prevention effort and keep the prevalence rate 
low," Lewis said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45816


BOTSWANA: AU body calls for end to death penalty

The African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) has called 
on Botswana to end its enforcement of "inhuman and degrading" corporal 
and capital punishment.

Bahame Nyanduga, an ACHPR commissioner, was in Botswana last week, where 
he said the country had yet to report to the African Charter on Human 
and Peoples' Rights on the mechanisms it has put in place to promote and 
protect individual rights.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45878


Govt unveils plan to control FMD

Botswana has drawn up a contingency plan for controlling and eventually 
eradicating foot and mouth disease (FMD) as it battles to meet the beef 
export preconditions set by the European Union (EU), IRIN reported on 
Wednesday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45877


Miss Stigma Free 2005 crowned

An elated 22-year-old AIDS activist, Cynthia Leshomo, was crowned Miss 
Stigma Free 2005 at a glittering event on Saturday at Botswana's 
Gaborone International Convention Centre.

About 500 people attended the gala evening with the theme "Down with 
stigma, Down with discrimination", which was broadcast live on 
television.

Dressed to kill in a flowing floral evening gown, a glamorous Leshomo 
looked every inch a winner - a far cry from the stereotypical image of a 
person living with the virus.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45818


Academic successfully challenges expulsion order

The Botswana High Court ruled on Monday that Australian-born academic 
Kenneth Good may stay in the country while his lawyers challenge the 
constitutionality of a deportation order.

President Festus Mogae gave Professor Good, a political analyst at the 
University of Botswana, 48 hours to leave Botswana two weeks ago for 
lambasting Mogae's decision to handpick Vice-President 
Lieutenant-General Ian Khama as his successor.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45817


MALAWI: IMF says country's economy improving

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team this week lauded Malawi for 
its control of public spending and tackling corruption, and said that 
its economy was turning around.

"There are now signs that the economy is improving - the domestic debt 
situation has eased and credit to the private sector has begun to 
expand. We now expect growth to rise to just under five percent in 2005, 
in part because of a strong expansion in private sector activity," said 
John Green, an advisor in the IMF's Africa department and leader of the 
team, on Thursday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45904


ZIMBABWE: Agricultural relief aid must improve, says study

The efficacy of agricultural relief programmes, run in response to 
recurring drought and food shortages in Zimbabwe, could be greatly 
improved, says a report by the International Crops Research Institute 
for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

The report, 'The Distribution of Relief Seed and Fertiliser in Zimbabwe: 
Lessons Derived from the 2003/04 Season', highlighted the need for 
improved targeting and monitoring of agricultural relief programmes.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45907


Govt says it may soon de-register 30 NGOs

The Zimbabwe government may soon de-register at least 30 NGOs for 
failing to provide details of donor funds channelled into the country 
through them last year, a senior official told IRIN on Wednesday.

The minister of public service, labour and social welfare, Paul 
Mangwana, said the state had reasonable grounds to believe that the 
funds, meant for rural sanitation and infrastructure development 
programmes, had been redirected into supporting "anti-government 
activities".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45873


New farmers without workers

New commercial farmers who benefited from Zimbabwe's fast-track land 
reform programme are now hamstrung by a lack of labour to work their 
fields.

Unions representing farmers and farm workers admit that the shortage of 
labour is acute, and have warned that urgent action is needed to revive 
the agricultural sector, thrown into disarray by the land redistribution 
programme that began in 2000.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45854


Soya beans, the "wonder crop" transforming lives

They are calling it "the wonder crop". Nutritious, cheap and easy to 
produce, the soya bean has transformed the lives of poverty-stricken 
smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe's Mashonaland Central province.

At least 16,500 farmers were introduced to soya bean production through 
a project established by the US-based non-profit organisation, Africare.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45851


IRIN-SA
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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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