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 341
7 - 13 July 2007


CONTENTS:

SWAZILAND: A winter marked by cold and hunger
ZAMBIA: Civil society warns against more borrowing
ZIMBABWE: Malawi provides maize lifeline
ZIMBABWE: Forced price cuts drive down production
ZIMBABWE: Diarrhoea outbreak claims 34
MOZAMBIQUE: Murders point to police brutality, raising human rights
   concerns
SWAZILAND: Stretched health system leaves home care as only alternative


SWAZILAND: A winter marked by cold and hunger

As winter deepens, hardship following Swaziland's worst-ever harvest is 
fastening its grip on growing numbers of people. The World Food 
Programme (WFP) predicted that Swazis would be hard pressed by inflation 
in food prices, while the poor would be unable to purchase basic 
foodstuffs.

A prolonged dry spell left around 400,000 vulnerable people - about 40 
percent of the population - in need of approximately 40,000 metric 
tonnes (mt) of food assistance until the next harvest in April 2008.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73198


ZAMBIA: Civil society warns against more borrowing

Zambia's decision to keep borrowing could slip the country back into 
indebtedness even before social expenditure improves, civil society 
activists warn.

Civil society has been against the government taking non-concessional 
loans - carrying normal interest rates and conditions - as opposed to 
concessional borrowing, which offers poor countries more generous terms.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73193


ZIMBABWE: Malawi provides maize lifeline

Malawi has started selling much-needed maize to Zimbabwe under an export 
agreement that includes a US$10 million line of credit.

In the past two and a half months, 90,000 metric tonnes have already 
been exported. Malawi's agriculture sector has had a second successive 
bumper harvest, making an almost complete recovery from a drought in 
2005 that left close to five million people in need of food aid. What 
remains uncertain is how Zimbabwe's crippling fuel crisis will affect 
the distribution of the maize once it is in the country.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73170


ZIMBABWE: Forced price cuts drive down production

A government operation forcing businesses to reduce prices by 50 percent 
will drive manufacturing under, push unemployment up and bolster the 
informal market as basic commodities become scarcer, analysts have 
warned.

Over the past two weeks, teams comprising the police, ruling ZANU-PF 
militias and other government employees have been raiding factories, 
wholesalers and shops, and forcing them to sell at reduced prices.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73169


ZIMBABWE: Diarrhoea outbreak claims 34

A diarrhoea outbreak has claimed the lives of 29 children and five 
adults in the last two weeks in Zimbabwe, which has been experiencing 
water shortages as a result of frequent disruptions of supplies, 
according to a UN official.

A severe shortage of foreign currency means service providers cannot 
maintain or replace ageing water purification and distribution 
equipment, or import power from neighbouring countries to keep 
waterworks functioning. Urban residents are being forced to use water 
from streams into which raw sewage and industrial effluent are being 
discharged.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73145


MOZAMBIQUE: Murders point to police brutality, raising human rights 
concerns

The arrest of three detectives in May for the execution-style murders of 
civilians has compounded the notoriety of the police in Maputo, 
Mozambique's capital city.

On 4 April the bodies of three men, each shot several times in the head 
at close range, were discovered on a football pitch near the city's 
Costa do Sol beach. Three officers of the criminal investigation unit 
reportedly confessed to the killings, but alleged that superiors had 
ordered them to commit the crimes.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73143


SWAZILAND: Stretched health system leaves home care as only alternative

Facilities and staff are being stretched beyond capacity as Swaziland's 
public healthcare system buckles under a surge of HIV/AIDS patients, 
leaving many with home-based care (HBC) as the only alternative, says a 
new report.

A study commissioned by the ministry of health and social welfare 
reported that health centres and hospitals were under strain as patient 
loads attributed to HIV/AIDS increased. But the alternative - HBC - was 
not capable of lightening the load.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73237


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