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 261
10 - 16 December 2005


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Police raid independent radio station
ZAMBIA: Govt acts to speed up maize importation
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Renewed calls for culling in wildlife reserves raises
   alarm among conservation groups
SOUTH AFRICA: World Bank highlights investment challenges
SEYCHELLES: FAO gets recovery going after 2004 tsunami
MALAWI: Local NGOs critical of donor/IMF policy directives
NAMIBIA: Farmer to challenge expropriation of land
SWAZILAND: Dire consequences for economy in wake of EU sugar price cuts


ZIMBABWE: Police raid independent radio station

A police raid on a private radio station in Zimbabwe has been condemned 
as an attack on media freedom.

Police and officials from the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) 
on Thursday raided the country's only private broadcasting company, 
confiscated computers and arrested three Voice of the People (VOP) 
reporters in the capital, Harare.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said this showed the 
government's "utter intolerance toward anyone challenging the state's 
monopoly on news and opinion".

Jacob Mafume, a lawyer for the radio station, told IRIN that the 
reporters - Maria Nyanyiwa, Takunda Gwanda and Nyasha Bosha - were taken 
into custody and charged under the controversial Access to Information 
and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), and the Broadcasting Act.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50732


Health budget fails to address brain drain

Although Zimbabwe's ministry of health has received 12 percent of the 
national budget - its highest allocation to date - government officials 
and health experts agree that this will do little to address the brain 
drain afflicting the sector.

The newly created Health Services Board (HSB) received Zim $2 billion 
(US $22,000) of the requested Zim $30 billion ($330,000) in the 2006 
budget. The HSB was mandated with improving the salaries and conditions 
of service of health personnel, the major push factor in the ongoing 
exodus of medical staff.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50727


Operation Murambatsvina victims return to informal settlements

Many of those affected by the Zimbabwe government's controversial 
Operation Murambatsvina clean-up campaign are still waiting for the new 
houses the state promised them.

Among them is Munetsi Takadini, 57, whose two-roomed shack in Bulawayo's 
oldest suburb, Makokoba, where he had lived with his family of eight for 
over 20 years, was demolished during the campaign.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50687


MDC factions unable to resolve differences

The Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is headed 
for a messy divorce, with factions within the party citing 
irreconcilable differences.

"There is no possibility of us ever coming together," said Paul Themba 
Nyathi, spokesman for the pro-senate election faction on Thursday, when 
the MDC group led by President Morgan Tsvangirai announced that it was 
in the process of recalling elected "rebel" MPs from their 
constituencies.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50710


'Rebel' MDC members to appeal to Supreme Court in bid to oust Tsvangirai

Senior officials of Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic 
Change (MDC) party had said they intended to appeal a High Court 
decision against their bid to oust Morgan Tsvangirai as party president.

MDC deputy secretary-general Gift Chimanikire told IRIN that he would be 
consulting with secretary-general Welshman Ncube and other party leaders 
opposed to Tsvangirai. "We have a very strong case and we are definitely 
going to appeal to the Supreme Court today," Chimanikire said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50638


Authorities return media owner's passport

Zimbabwean authorities on Wednesday returned the passport of the 
country's only remaining independent publisher after seizing it last 
week.

"The attorney-general's office has conceded that the seizure was 
unlawful ... the passport is with my lawyer," Trevor Ncube, the 
Zimbabwean owner and publisher of the Standard and the Independent 
newspapers in Zimbabwe, and the weekly Mail & Guardian in South Africa, 
told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50684


Watchdog body condemns media owner's travel ban

Earlier in the week, the Zimbabwean chapter of watchdog body, the Media 
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), had condemned the government's move 
to withdraw Ncube's passport.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50598


ZAMBIA: Govt acts to speed up maize importation

Zambia's agriculture minister, Mundia Sikatana, said this week that the 
government had decided to waive a requirement that scientists check 
whether duty-free maize imported from South Africa has been genetically 
modified in order to speed up shipments.

This followed complaints by the Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ) and 
the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) that the requirement to test 
for GM organisms had delayed maize imports meant to avert hunger.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50651


US $20 million World Bank boost to fight malaria

The Zambian government signed a US $20 million loan agreement with the 
World Bank (WB) to fund a five-year booster project to combat malaria, 
which kills 50,000 of its people every year and causes 40 percent of 
infant deaths.

After signing the agreement with the WB on Monday in the capital, 
Lusaka, acting Finance and National Planning Minister Felix Mutati said 
the money would not only help the government fight the killer disease, 
but also free more funds for development programmes.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50682


New constitution protests continue

Pressure continued to build on the Zambian government to approve a new 
constitution ahead of next year's presidential polls.

Thousands of Zambians participated in yet another protest at the weekend 
in the capital, Lusaka, demanding a constituent assembly to approve a 
new governing charter - the country's fourth since independence in 1964.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50635


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Renewed calls for culling in wildlife reserves raises 
alarm among conservation groups

Wildlife conservation groups in Southern Africa have united in rejecting 
calls by some governments for a return to culling as a way of 
controlling the region's growing elephant population.

The call comes amid fears that elephant populations were ballooning 
beyond the carrying capacity of national parks, leading to a scarcity of 
water and grazing.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50713


South Africa's fuel shortage hits neighbours, could affect humanitarian 
operations

The fuel shortage in South Africa has started affecting supplies in 
neighbouring countries dependant on exports from regional economic power 
and some petrol stations in Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and 
Mozambique have already run dry.

Airlines have been unable to refuel and the shortage has caused flight 
delays; motorists uncertain about supplies as they embark on the mass 
migration to the coast for the holiday season have been hoarding fuel.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50656


SOUTH AFRICA: World Bank highlights investment challenges

An assessment of South Africa's investment climate, jointly conducted by 
the World Bank and the department of trade and industry, has revealed 
that the business environment is favourable in many ways, yet some 
challenges remain.

'South Africa: an Assessment of the Investment Climate', released on 
Tuesday, showed that firms were particularly concerned about labour 
force skills and education, labour regulation, exchange rate instability 
and crime.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50686


Relations unaffected by spy scandal, says official

The arrest a year ago of a South African spy for running an espionage 
ring in Zimbabwe has not affected relations between the two countries, 
an official told IRIN.

Andrew Welken, a member of the South African Secret Service, who has 
been in prison in Zimbabwe for the past year, was escorted back to South 
Africa by Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils on Tuesday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50650


SEYCHELLES: FAO gets recovery going after 2004 tsunami

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is set to scale up 
post-tsunami recovery efforts in the Seychelles.

FAO fielded a mission to the Seychelles in April this year to assess the 
damage after the tidal wave that spread devastation across the Indian 
Ocean hit the archipelago in December last year, and appealed for a 
total of US $2.75 million.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50711


Arson attack on newspaper raises concern, Reporters Without Borders

International media rights body Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has 
condemned an arson attack at the premises of a pro-opposition weekly in 
the Seychelles.

The attack took place on Friday last week and damaged the printing press 
of the weekly newspaper, Regar.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50681


MALAWI: Local NGOs critical of donor/IMF policy directives

A new report by the Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN), a civil 
society organisation, questions the benefits of International Monetary 
Fund (IMF) and donor policy directives, noting that Malawi's poor remain 
marginalised.

'The Impact of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility on Social 
Services in Malawi' was compiled with the support of Norwegian Church 
Aid and commissioned by the African Forum and Network on Debt 
Development (AFRODAD).

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50712


DFID lauds country's improved economic performance

The British Department for International Development (DFID) has lauded 
Malawi's efforts to stabilise its economy, but warned against further 
reversals that could damage the country's reputation.

DFID economic advisor Alan Whitworth said by maintaining fiscal 
discipline and adhering to the conditions laid down by the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF) Staff Monitoring Programme, President Bingu wa 
Mutharika's administration had "stabilised domestic debt, started to 
bring interest costs down and started to restore Malawi's international 
reputation".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50649


NAMIBIA: Farmer to challenge expropriation of land

The Namibian government's expropriation of two more farms, as part of 
its ongoing land reform programme, is to be challenged before a land 
tribunal.

It will be the first time the tribunal has been approached by a 
landowner disputing the price offered by government for an expropriated 
farm.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50654


SWAZILAND: Dire consequences for economy in wake of EU sugar price cuts

They call it "the real Swazi gold" but sugar, the country's top export, 
has taken a financial hit this year, leaving thousands of workers 
retrenched, small-scale farmers embittered and confused, and the 
government warning of dire effects on the national budget.

"The drop in revenue from sugar sales will affect our economy, and even 
our ability to carry out some infrastructure projects," Prime Minister 
Themba Dlamini warned after returning from a meeting with European Union 
(EU) officials.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50637


Doubt over legality of protests keep Swazis at bay, for now

Ambiguity over the legality of protests kept Swazis away from most 
political rallies and anti-government demonstrations in 2005, say 
pro-democracy groups battling to prompt reform in a country run by 
sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch.

But the situation could change next year, when a bill of rights comes 
into effect.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50721


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