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 250
8 - 14 October 2005


CONTENTS:

MALAWI: Opposition attacks govt on food crisis
ZIMBABWE: Govt slams claim that rejected UK asylum seekers are at risk
   at home
BOTSWANA: Govt denies claims of ethnic cleansing
SWAZILAND: Draconian anti-terrorism bill resubmitted after fire
   bombings
NAMIBIA: Rising demands for action against gender-based violence
SOUTH AFRICA: Immigrant numbers a misperception - new report
ZAMBIA: UNHCR goes all out to get Angolan refugees home before rainy
   season


MALAWI: Opposition attacks govt on food crisis

Malawi's food security crisis fuelled a fierce battle in parliament on 
Thursday, with the opposition approving a motion urging government to 
declare a state of national disaster.

An opposition Malawi Congress Party member of parliament (MP) proposed 
the motion criticising government's handling of the food crisis, which 
was opposed by MPs aligned with President Bingu wa Mutharika.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49539


Malnutrition rising in south and north

Aid agencies are concerned about the rising number of malnourished 
children admitted to nutritional rehabilitation units (NRU) at clinics 
in Malawi.

Although southern Malawi has been the area worst affected by food 
shortages this year, the steep uptick in admissions to NRUs in the 
northern part of the country has raised alarm among aid workers.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49512


Input delays could affect next year's harvest, warn experts

Malawi could face yet another crop failure if its small-scale farmers do 
not receive promised subsidised fertiliser this month, and escalating 
maize prices have further jeopardised food security, warned humanitarian 
workers on the ground.

"We are standing at the crossroads at the moment - the food security 
situation could go either way, depending on the amount and the timing of 
the humanitarian aid," said Sam Chimwaza, country representative of the 
USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-NET).

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49490


Govt slams claim that rejected UK asylum seekers are at risk at home

The Zimbabwe government on Friday condemned a ruling by a British 
tribunal accepting that failed asylum seekers face persecution at home.

Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa said the ruling by Britain's Asylum 
and Immigration Tribunal in a test case was as fraudulent as the unnamed 
failed asylum seeker's claim that he would be at risk if he were 
deported.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49568


MDC divided over senate poll

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is divided 
over participating in the upcoming senate elections, with MDC president 
Morgan Tsvangirai publicly disagreeing with the party's spokesman, Paul 
Themba Nyathi, and its national council.

"We are not going to participate in the senate elections [scheduled for 
26 November]," Tsvangirai announced on Wednesday. "The senate fails to 
address the people's basic needs; the senate is an expensive project we 
can ill afford when millions are starving - living in a shrinking 
economy with a hyperinflationary environment; when millions yearn for 
support against HIV and AIDS."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49541


Court fends off second eviction of Harare families

Some 250 Zimbabwean families facing forced removal from their makeshift 
homes for the second time in three months have been granted a 
last-minute reprieve after a High Court ruling nullified their eviction 
notice.

The group of families were first evicted from their homes in Mbare 
township in the capital, Harare, earlier this year when the government 
embarked on its urban clean-up campaign, Operation Murambatsvina, or 
Drive out Filth. Two weeks ago they were again instructed by the police 
to leave their new shelters.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49479

Teachers urge free ARVs as AIDS thins their ranks

Teachers in Zimbabwe have urged the government to provide free AIDS 
treatment after a survey revealed the profession was struggling with the 
highest infection rates in the country.

According to a report by the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe 
(PTUZ), the country lost 566 teachers to AIDS-related illnesses last 
year. In the first six months of 2005, the death toll had already hit 
362.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49561


BOTSWANA: Govt denies claims of ethnic cleansing

The government of Botswana says accusations that Bushmen are being 
evicted at gunpoint from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) are 
"absolute rubbish".

In a damning statement, 'Ethnic Cleansing Reaches Final Phase', the 
London-based rights group, Survival International, said police carried 
out forced removals of Bushmen from the CKGR at gunpoint at the weekend.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49455


SWAZILAND: Draconian anti-terrorism bill resubmitted after fire bombings

A post-9/11 anti-terrorism bill submitted to the Swazi parliament but 
then suspended without passage has been tabled again in the wake of two 
recent fire bombings in the capital, Mbabane.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49563


New anti-AIDS campaign targets young people

Swazi health authorities on Wednesday launched an ambitious anti-AIDS 
campaign targeting people between the ages of 20 and 30 years - the 
group most affected by the virus.

The R3 million (US $458,000) programme, supported by private-sector 
health and social welfare NGOs, was underpinned by a strong abstinence 
message.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49511


Successful anti-parasite campaign for children spurs expansion

Swazi health authorities have announced plans to make deworming sessions 
a regular part of the education ministry's school health programme after 
successfully ridding young children of ringworm and other parasites in 
highly affected areas.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49560


NAMIBIA: Rising demands for action against gender-based violence

Outraged gender rights groups in Namibia have urged authorities to take 
decisive action against the perpetrators of a recent spate of violent 
attacks against women and children.

Juanita Mabula, 21, a single mother and commercial sex worker, was found 
naked and beheaded nearly three weeks ago along a main road in Windhoek 
West, a suburb of the capital, Windhoek.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49559


SOUTH AFRICA: Immigrant numbers a misperception - new report

The actual number of foreigners living in South Africa differs sharply 
from widely held perceptions, according to a new study on migration.

Recent research by the Geneva-based Global Commission on International 
Migration (GCIM) concluded that there were serious methodological flaws 
in the estimated numbers of migrants in South Africa.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49540


Ex deputy president casts long shadow

Former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma appeared before a 
magistrate on Tuesday to face charges of corruption, bolstered by the 
support of chanting, ululating crowds outside the courthouse.

Zuma's supporters gathered overnight at the Durban Magistrate's Court, 
in coastal KwaZulu-Natal, and burst into song upon his arrival, chanting 
'Zuma, my president'. They pledged solidarity with the ruling party 
African National Congress (ANC) stalwart who has been embraced by the 
'left wing' as their champion.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49481


Civil society to keep close watch on peer review process

Despite some initial hiccups, civil society groups in South Africa say 
they are committed to ensuring that a national self-assessment conducted 
under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) will be transparent.

Civil society representatives have complained about the tight timetable, 
perceived government dominance of the process, and a lack of information 
about how the South African review will be managed.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49456


ZAMBIA: UNHCR goes all out to get Angolan refugees home before rainy 
season

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that it 
would pull out all the stops to ensure that some 22,000 Angolan refugees 
living in three camps across Zambia returned home before the end of the 
year.

UNHCR's deputy representative in Zambia, Vedasto Mwesiga, told IRIN on 
Tuesday the agency had secured a second plane to repatriate those 
Angolans who wished to return home.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49480


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


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