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 331
28 April - 4 May 2007


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Faith alone is not enough
SWAZILAND: Alternative crops take root
ZIMBABWE: Cops ban media freedom marches
COMOROS: Armed standoff in run-up to island elections
ZIMBABWE: Consumer watchdog warns against maize price increase
SOUTH AFRICA: HIV prevention services miss rape survivors


ZIMBABWE: Faith alone is not enough

A church-led mediation effort aimed at a negotiated solution to 
Zimbabwe's political crisis has been shaken by government claims that 
the clergy support the opposition, and that the interdenominational 
initiative has its own internal rifts.

A coalition of churches, under the banner of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, 
has been attempting to bring President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe 
African National Union Patriotic Front party and the opposition Movement 
for Democratic Change to the negotiating table, to bury their 
differences and solve the country's deepening political and economic 
crises.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71938


SWAZILAND: Alternative crops take root

After years of cajoling by nongovernmental organisations and Swaziland's 
ministry of agriculture to plant drought-resistant crops and diversify 
from maize, the staple food, small-scale farmers are finally heeding the 
message.

The drought that devastated crops in the first quarter of the year seems 
to have been the catalyst for small-scale farmers to re-examine their 
passion for growing maize and experiment with other plants, a move that 
food security officials hope will prompt an interest in alternative 
crops.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71936


ZIMBABWE: Cops ban media freedom marches

Zimbabwean police banned journalists from holding peaceful street 
marches on Thursday to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, while there 
were renewed calls to repeal harsh media laws and improve working 
conditions for journalists.

In its World Press Freedom Review report released on Monday, the 
International Press Initiative said although Zimbabwe was not the most 
dangerous country for journalists to work in, it was probably the most 
difficult. The ban came as local and international press freedom lobby 
groups called for the establishment of independent media organisations.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71934


COMOROS: Armed standoff in run-up to island elections

In an exchange of gunfire, national government troops stationed on 
Anjouan, one of the three semi-autonomous islands that make up Comoros, 
clashed with local police on Wednesday, according to local media. 
Elections for each island are scheduled in June, but the archipelago's 
delicate power-sharing agreement hangs in the balance.

This latest standoff between national and local authorities follows the 
start of electoral campaigning on Monday for the presidency of each 
individual island. There are now fears that voting, scheduled for 10 
June, will need to be postponed.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71930


ZIMBABWE: Consumer watchdog warns against maize price increase

The Zimbabwean government has raised the price of scarce maizemeal by 
almost 600 percent to stimulate production, but a consumer watchdog is 
warning that it will make the staple food unaffordable.

Agriculture minister Rugare Gumbo announced this week that the retail 
price for maizemeal would go up by 570 percent to support a 680 percent 
increase awarded to maize farmers.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71908


SOUTH AFRICA: HIV prevention services miss rape survivors

South African rape survivors are not receiving vital anti-HIV treatment 
due to ignorance and a lack of basic treatment procedure at government 
health facilities and justice departments, new research shows.

The National Working Group on Sexual Offences, a consortium of 25 
organisations that includes the Teddy Bear Clinic for sexually abused 
children and the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, which focuses on 
sexual abuse cases, submitted the findings of a recent survey to the 
South African Human Rights Commission.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71888


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