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 20 covering the period 15-21 May 1999
ANGOLA: UN official deeply concerned
The UN's senior humanitarian coordinator in Angola told IRIN this week the international community would soon face a new "human tragedy" in Africa if the Angola crisis became another "forgotten emergency". Francesco Strippoli said he was concerned that the Kosovo crisis, while every bit as dire, was diverting attention away from Angola.
Country on the edge of a human tragedy
Strippoli warned that the country was now was "on the edge of a human tragedy" in the coming months. With most displaced people sheltering in besieged government-held cities, he said they depended more than ever on aid flown in because most roads in the country were too dangerous to use. "There will be a human tragedy if security now prevents us flying in," he said. Donors, he said, were still to meet the UN's appeal last December for US $67 million. In the meantime, the magnitude of the crisis was now such that the appeal would have to be revised upwards to US $100 - 115 million.
Malanje shelled
UNITA rebels this week again shelled the besieged government-held town of Malanje in what witnesses described as a devastating artillery barrage. Malanje, some 450 km east of the capital Luanda, is one of the few remaining cities to which WFP has been able to supply food by road, despite a spate of recent hit and-run attacks.
Fresh tensions in the south
Meanwhile, the Angolan authorities this week reported heightened tensions in the southern Huila province where UNITA have stepped up attacks in recent weeks. The official daily, 'Jornal de Angola', quoted Huila Province governor Ramos da Cruz as saying UNITA forces, "have stepped up assassinations, abductions, ambushes and the mining of farm roads as well as attacks on unprotected areas" creating what he called a "worrisome" situation.
Food pipeline faces disruption
Humanitarian sources in Angola told IRIN the food pipeline to the Huila provincial capital, Lubango, 700 km south of Luanda, now faced disruption because of a lack of donor funding, and that what little there was to go around would have to be distributed more carefully to ensure the most vulnerable people did not go hungry. The sources said there were currently an estimated 76,000 people in Huila who had been displaced by recent fighting between government forces and UNITA.
South Africa pledges to curb UNITA aid
The South African government this week assured the Angolan authorities that they would move to curb covert aid and trade with UNITA. A government spokesman told IRIN the pledge was made by Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo in response to charges by his visiting Angolan counterpart, Joao de Miranda, that UNITA was still enjoying the support of its one time apartheid-era allies in South Africa.
"The South African government knows what has to be done and we have received positive signals about their efforts to diminish the resources of individuals who still support UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi," Miranda told a news conference.
UNITA downs Russian plane
UNITA said this week it had downed a Russian military transport plane and was holding three crew members hostage. According to news reports the plane was shot down in the northern province of Luanda Norte last week.
UN Security Council calls for the immediate release of the airmen
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council this week condemned UNITA's actions and demanded the "immediate and unconditional release of the Russian crew and all other foreign nationals held hostage by UNITA," the Council said in a statement. Council President, Ambassador Denis Dangue Rewake of Gabon, said UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi carried "full responsibility" for the safety of the hostages.
ZIMBABWE: Donors back land reform
International donors this week signed an agreement to fund technical support for the "inception phase" of Zimbabwe's land reform and resettlement programme. The United States, Sweden, Norway and The Netherlands provided US $920,000 through the UN Development Programme to assist the ministry of agriculture in working out the details of the inception phase of the land scheme which plans to resettle 77,000 rural families on a million hectares of farm land over two years.
"It's a good start, we've been waiting for this. We hope it's the key to open bigger doors to resource flows," Emerson Zhou of the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union told IRIN. But technical support "cannot be the end in itself," he said. "We need resources for the settlement of people and for infrastructure development."
New political movement launched
Zimbabwe's political landscape underwent a change this week with the launch of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In a press release received by IRIN, the MDC said it is "a united front of Zimbabweans representing various interests and constituent organisations to pursue common objectives and principles that advance the interests of all people in Zimbabwe".
The launch of the MDC was the result of the broad-based National Working People's Convention, formed in February, which grouped together a wide range of organisations, including trade unions, civic groups, opposition parties and academics. The convention was charged with the task of forming a "strong and vigorous political movement for change in Zimbabwe".
Zimbabweans will go to the polls next year to elect new legislators, while presidential elections will take place in 2002.
Concerns over proposed broadcasting bill
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said this week it was concerned that a new broadcasting bill in Zimbabwe would serve to further tighten government control over the airwaves. John Barker, Regional Programme Coordinator for broadcasting at MISA's headquarters in Windhoek, said Zimbabwe's new Broadcasting, Posts and Telecommunications Bill approved by a cabinet committee on legislation two weeks ago had been amended only to allow for private participation in sports and entertainment broadcasts. "This bill reflects a more hard line attitude of the government," Barker said.
MALAWI: Election date to change again
Malawi's parliament reconvened this week to amend the electoral law, paving the way for the date of the elections to be changed. Sources in Malawi told IRIN the High Court ruled that President Bakili Muluzi should convene an emergency session of parliament to amend the electoral law postponing the elections to 8 June. This was in keeping with the constitutional provision that elections should be held three weeks after the close of voter registration. It would mark the third postponement from the original election date of 17 May. Registration was extended to 14 May following the non-arrival of materials at over 100 centres.
ZAMBIA: Country's only fuel refinery hit by fire
A devastating fire at Zambia's only fuel refinery at Indeni, in Ndola, the provincial capital of the copperbelt region this week threatened fuel supplies to the country's copper mines and to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Eric Silwamba the presidential affairs minister said: "The damage is quite extensive. We estimate that the plant will be shut down for between seven and eight months. It will be necessary to import finished products." Indeni produces an estimated 24,000 barrels a day.
Fuel price increase feared
The effects of a fire would be felt in about a month when the current stocks run out, an economic expert told IRIN this week. "As soon as the current stocks are depleted, which is expected to be within a month, there is bound to be a fuel price increase because of the need to import oil," he said.
LESOTHO: SADC withdrawal sparks concern
Last weekend's withdrawal of South African and Botswana peacekeeping troops from Lesotho risked leaving a security vacuum in the politically volatile mountain kingdom, analysts warned this week. "There is still some concern on the part of the government," a diplomatic source in the capital Maseru told IRIN. "Frankly, it is still a dicey situation."
"The government would be nervous about the [SADC] withdrawal in terms of having the muscle to discourage political instability," Sagran Naidoo of the South African Institute of International Relations told IRIN. A small contingent of SADC troops has remained in Lesotho to retrain the army, historically a politicised institution, and a rapid reaction force of South African and Botswana troops is reportedly on standby should instability re-emerge in the run up to next year's election.
NAMIBIA: Government spurns AIDS programme
The Namibian health ministry has refused to participate in a US $100 million regional AIDS prevention programme funded by a multinational pharmaceutical company. The programme, 'Secure The Future: Care and Support for Women and Children With AIDS', aims to expand medical research focusing on women and children and to improve community outreach over the next five years. 'The Namibian' newspaper quoted a health ministry official as saying: "We have just launched our own National AIDS Coordination Programme and we are very committed to it." However, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in the HIV/AIDS sector were quoted as saying the government's programme, inaugurated in 1990, has had very little impact on the prevention of the spread of HIV.
SWAZILAND: EU aid to cushion the effects of SA trade deal
The European Union (EU) has given Swaziland an estimated US $1.3 million as part of a regional initiative to help the country deal with the economic impact of a South Africa - EU trade agreement signed earlier this year. Pierre Bide an economist with the EU in Swaziland told IRIN this week: "The idea is help Swaziland cope with any fall out or effects from the South Africa - EU free trade agreement. We want to help build economic capacity in that country."
JOHANNESBURG, 21 May 1999 15:30 GMT
Contact IRIN-SA (Tel: +27 11 880 4633, e-mail irin-sa@ocha.unon.org) for more information or free subscriptions.
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: listproc@vita.org sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org appeal fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Southern Africa - http://www.vita.org/humanitarian/safrica