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 308
11 - 17 November 2006


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Rights activists allege crackdown on free speech
SOUTH AFRICA: Govt AIDS programme on course but people still dying
MADAGASCAR: Hoping for fair, transparent, uncontroversial elections
ZIMBABWE: Five-year plan to battle HIV/AIDS on farms launched
ANGOLA: Rights group calls for better protection of press freedoms
ANGOLA: Oil producer pins hopes on holidaymakers


ZIMBABWE: Rights activists allege crackdown on free speech

Human rights activists have accused the Zimbabwean government of a 
renewed crackdown on dissenting voices after two senior opposition 
members were recently charged with treason.

Two members of a Movement for Democratic Change faction were accused 
last week of distributing a pamphlet inciting security forces to rebel. 
Causing despondency among the security forces is a criminal offence. If 
convicted, the opposition officials risk a 20-year prison sentence.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56348


SOUTH AFRICA: Govt AIDS programme on course but people still dying

South Africa's Ministry of Health has confirmed that close to 6,000 
HIV-positive people have died while receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs 
since the government rollout began in 2004.

According to the health department the deaths were a concern, but 
constituted just below 3 percent of the number of HIV-positive people 
accessing treatment at government ARV sites during the same period.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56371


MADAGASCAR: Hoping for fair, transparent, uncontroversial elections

Campaigning for December presidential election kicked off throughout the 
island. The polls are key to Madagascar's recovery after the last 
election in 2001, which descended into violence that split the country.

Madagascar has the opportunity to show it can hold presidential 
elections that work. So far there have been minor tensions, but national 
reconciliation tops the political agenda of most candidates. Analysts 
have stressed the importance of transparent, free and fair elections to 
avoid disagreement over the results and a repetition of the unrest in 
2001/02.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56384


ZIMBABWE: Five-year plan to battle HIV/AIDS on farms launched

Zimbabwe's government is launching a five-year plan to combat HIV/AIDS 
in the agricultural sector after realising the negative impact of the 
pandemic on farming.

The initiative, 'Zimbabwe Agricultural Sector Strategy on HIV and AIDS' 
- coordinated by the agriculture ministry, with support by the UN Food 
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and other nongovernmental 
organisations (NGOs) - is seeking to mobilise financial and human 
resources to halt the spread of the disease on farms, reduce stigma 
against people living with HIV/AIDS, fight gender inequality and 
domestic violence, and facilitate treatment for infected people.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56402


ANGOLA: Rights group calls for better protection of press freedoms

As Angola began voter registration this week, ahead of its first 
elections in over a decade, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the 
government to do more to ensure that the press, essential to the 
validity of the poll, is able to operate more freely.

A new media law passed in May promised much-needed reforms but failed to 
protect press freedoms adequately, the watchdog reported, adding that 
freedom of the press in the election period would be compromised.


ANGOLA: Oil producer pins hopes on holidaymakers

Four years of peace and an oil-generated economic boom in Angola have 
done little to mask the scars of its war-torn past, but authorities have 
pinned new hope on reinventing the country as a holiday destination.

A host of tourism projects is already afoot, including hotels, a game 
park, safari and fishing lodges, and casinos. The government is keen to 
get investors - local and foreign - on board to help develop the 
industry. Despite its natural beauty there is no denying the mammoth 
task that lies ahead to get foreigners to pick Angola over neighbouring 
South Africa or Namibia as the spot to spend their holidays.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56419


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


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