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 265
7 - 13 January 2006


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Heralding new economic dawn premature, say analysts
MALAWI: Malnutrition rising as food shortages bite
ZAMBIA: Ration cuts for refugees as food aid pipeline dries up
SWAZILAND: Year in Review 2005 - Constitution tests opposition's
   staying power
SOUTH AFRICA: Govt to regularise Zimbabwean farmworkers
MOZAMBIQUE: Officials concerned over cholera outbreak
ANGOLA: Oil rich but dirt poor


ZIMBABWE: Heralding new economic dawn premature, say analysts

Zimbabwe's economy is unlikely to recover in 2006, despite reports of a 
new deal between government, business and labour aimed at improving 
prospects for stability, IRIN reported on Thursday.

While the official Herald newspaper reported that the Tripartite 
Negotiating Forum (TNF) - comprising representatives of government, 
business and labour - had reached an agreement on a Price and Incomes 
Stabilisation Protocol, both labour and business officials denied an 
accord.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51081


Outbreak of voracious armyworm potentially devastating

An outbreak of armyworm threatens Zimbabwe's already fragile 
agricultural sector and experts warn that a shortage of foreign currency 
may hamper importation of much-needed pesticides.

Zimbabwe's Agricultural Research and Extension Services (AREX) director 
Shadreck Mlambo told IRIN, "We do have an armyworm situation here, and 
we're still trying to consolidate all the reports that are coming in 
from different parts of the country to be able to judge the extent of 
it. For now, all I can say is that all provinces except Matabeleland 
South have been affected."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51107


Year in Review 2005 - Hard times felt by all

The enduring symbol of Zimbabwe's economic woes is the queue. A patient 
line of grim-faced people interminably waiting to get their hands on the 
most basic of everyday items summed up 2005.

At the beginning of the year it was fuel. The forex-starved government 
could not afford to import all of the US $700 million a year the country 
needed. Motorists became accustomed to parking their cars in lines that 
snaked blocks away from the filling stations - sometimes for days.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51082


Year in brief 2005 - A chronology of key events

Over the course of 2005 the Zimbabwean government strengthened its 
political grip with landslide victories in parliamentary and senate 
elections, and a split in the main opposition party. However, the 
country's humanitarian and economic crisis deepened, with worse expected 
in 2006.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51080


Persistence pays off for border jumpers looking for better life

Crossing the border from Zimbabwe to South Africa is a hazardous 
journey, but rocketing numbers of people are braving rapids, crocodiles 
and watchful border guards as they flee the economic and political 
crisis in their homeland in search of a better life.

The container truck grinds down the gears as it gets into position in 
the heavy vehicles queue. A pregnant woman climbs out of the passenger 
door and after some hurried instructions from the bearded driver 
approaches the security guard at Zimbabwe's Beitbridge border post, the 
gateway to neighbouring South Africa.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51053


Water crisis hits major cities

Despite an unusual abundance of water after recent heavy rain, taps have 
continued to run dry in several of Zimbabwe's major cities.

Some residents in the capital, Harare, have gone without water for as 
long as two weeks, while areas of Bulawayo, the country's second city, 
have experienced water cuts lasting for several days at a time. Old, 
unreliable water reticulation equipment has been blamed.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51020


MALAWI: Malnutrition rising as food shortages bite

Preliminary results of a recent nutrition survey in Malawi have revealed 
alarming increases in malnutrition levels, with the central and southern 
regions hit hardest.

According to the study, conducted by the Ministry of Health with support 
from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the National 
Statistical Office and a number of local NGOs, there is a "serious 
nutrition situation", with global acute malnutrition (GAM) at 13 percent 
in some districts.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51056


Villages get cracking to become MDG achievers

The UN Millennium Village Project is giving 11 Malawian hamlets the 
chance to break free from the cycle of poverty.

About 55,000 people in the settlements, spread across the country, are 
participating in the five-year project aimed at finding practical 
solutions to the problems preventing countries from achieving the UN's 
poverty-slashing Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51103


Year in Review 2005 - Signs of hope after a troubled year

After a year of living dangerously, Malawian President Bingu wa 
Mutharika and the opposition might sit down to negotiate a way out of 
their tense standoff in 2006, say analysts.

A power struggle between Mutharika and his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi, 
who leads the United Democratic Front (UDF), resulted in politicians 
from either side spending a large part of 2005 trading threats and 
insults.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51005


ZAMBIA: Ration cuts for refugees as food aid pipeline dries up

The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that its assistance to 
refugees in Zambia is being jeopardised by a lack of funding.

Despite urgent appeals for international aid by both the government of 
Zambia and WFP in December 2005, no new donations have been received and 
refugees have been on half-rations since 1 January 2006.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51004


'Shamelist' lands Oasis Forum in hot water

A parliamentary committee has found that the Oasis Forum, an influential 
civil society movement comprising church bodies and the Law Association 
of Zambia, has a case to answer regarding adverts denouncing MPs who 
voted against a bill backed by the forum.

The MPs had voted against the establishment of a constituent assembly to 
pass a new constitution for the country.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51003


SWAZILAND: Year in Review 2005 - Constitution tests opposition's staying 
power

The Swazi government will start 2006 with a publicity campaign for its 
new constitution, a document that has been at the centre of much 
controversy, but which few people have actually seen.

Signed in July by Swaziland's absolute monarch, King Mswati III, the 
constitution comes into force later this month. But legal commentators 
are still unsure whether its wording can be interpreted to legalise 
opposition political organisations.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51054


Political activists flee as arrests continue

The ongoing arrests of members of an outlawed political party in 
connection with a series of petrol bombings has had a chilling effect on 
pro-democracy groups in Swaziland.

Well-known political activist Maphadlana Shongwe on Wednesday became the 
fifteenth person to be arrested. He has been charged with destruction of 
government property, attempted murder and high treason.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51038


SOUTH AFRICA: Govt to regularise Zimbabwean farmworkers

A government-run facility that will regularise Zimbabwean farmworkers 
employed in South African farms is to be established next month in a 
reception and support centre for undocumented immigrants.

"It is not going to be a recruitment agency - but we will provide work 
permits to Zimbabwean farmworkers [already employed] in the northern 
South African province of Limpopo, many of whom are currently illegally 
employed," Mokgadi Pela, a spokesman for the Ministry of Labour told 
IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51024


Falling final year pass rate sign of a deeper malaise

The commotion about last year's dismal matric results has subsided, but 
experts warn that merely focusing on final year pass rates hides the 
deeper problems facing South Africa's education system.

After a three percent drop in each of the last three years, the 2005 
pass rate hit 68.3 percent. Although cause for concern, staggering 
dropout rates and the declining quality and quantity of educators point 
to a larger crisis.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51105


MOZAMBIQUE: Officials concerned over cholera outbreak

The death toll from flooding in Mozambique over the past few days 
climbed to 22, and officials are now faced with the threat of waterborne 
diseases like cholera.

"About 200 cases of cholera have been reported across the country," a 
spokesman for Mozambique's National Institute for Disaster Management 
(INGC), Rogerio Manguele, told IRIN on Monday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51002


ANGOLA: Oil rich but dirt poor

On the back of record oil prices, Africa's second largest producer, 
Angola, has one of the continent's fastest growing economies while its 
people remain among the poorest, IRIN reported this week.

After 27 years of civil war a peace agreement signed with UNITA rebels 
in 2002 is slowly beginning to translate into a better life for ordinary 
Angolans, who increasingly blame the government for the delay in turning 
the oil revenue into much-needed development.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51023


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