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Sunday 25 December 2005


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IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 233 for 28 May-3 June 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Govt admits food aid required
ZAMBIA: Community group project funds ARVs
MALAWI: Mutharika's new party faces stiff challenges - analysts
SWAZILAND: Jobs summit to tackle unemployment, boost business
SOUTH AFRICA: Concerns over intelligence agency probe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: New research questions link between food crisis and AIDS

ZIMBABWE: Govt admits food aid required

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe told visiting UN Special Envoy to Southern Africa, James Morris, on Wednesday that the country requires food aid to cope with a drought-linked food crisis.

Speaking to journalists in the capital, Harare, after he had met Mugabe at the headquarters of his ruling ZANU-PF party, Morris said: "The president said that he welcomed food assistance, and food assistance that comes with a humanitarian commitment."

Full report

Thousands homeless after crackdown on shanty settlements

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has endorsed an ongoing crackdown by the police on illegal settlements and the parallel economy, in a controversial campaign to clean up the country's major towns and cities that has affected thousands of people.

In just one squatter camp, Tongogara Park at White Cliff Farm, a few kilometres outside the capital, Harare, thousands were forced to sleep out in the open on Thursday after their homes were destroyed by police.

Full report

Livelihoods and shelter go up in flames

Thousands of Harare residents are still fleeing the capital after armed police continued demolishing illegal dwellings and stalls belonging to informal traders on Monday.

Clouds of teargas mixed with smoke from burning shacks in Mbare, Harare's oldest township, as men, women and children watched their flimsy homes go up in flames. Some risked the fires to save what belongings they could, while others, overcome by emotion, simply stood and cried.

Full report

Operation 'Clean-up' could tighten food shortages

Aid agencies in Zimbabwe were gearing up on Tuesday to assist the thousands of people leaving the capital as a result of the government's crackdown on illegal dwellings and street vendors.

Although it is still not clear just how many families have sought shelter in rural areas, an estimated 17,000 people have been arrested since the police blitz that initially started as an attempt to rid Harare of illegal foreign currency dealers and informal traders.

Full report

Human rights body files for stay of forced evictions

A leading human rights organisation has filed for a stay of the forced eviction of informal settlers in and around the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.

"About 200,000 people have been affected in the demolition drive - and many of them have papers to prove that they were legal occupants with lease agreements," said Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) director Munyaradzi Bidi.

Full report

Taxi drivers roped in to boost tourism

Zimbabwe's Tourism industry, once the country's second largest foreign currency earner, has declined sharply in the past few years as a result of the ongoing economic and political crises.

In 2003 the tourism sector shrank 13 percent, and a further 4 percent in 2004. In a bid to combat negative perceptions about the country and encourage visitors to return, tourism officials and the government have roped in an unlikely ally - taxi drivers.

Full report

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ZAMBIA: Community group project funds ARVs

A group of HIV positive people in Solwezi, the administrative capital of Zambia's Northwestern province, is helping its members access antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) with the proceeds from its income-generating activities.

The hammer-mill project of the Network for Zambian People Living with HIV/AIDS (NZP+) in Solwezi, about 700 km northwest of the capital, Lusaka, is also making it possible for members to go for viral load testing.

Full report

Lusaka to send peacekeepers to Sudan

Zambia is to send peacekeepers to Sudan by the end of June, according to official sources in the capital, Lusaka.

"We will send a company, which is about 180 to 200 soldiers," a defence official told IRIN.

Full report

Angolan refugees reluctant to return home now

The volunatry repatriation of Angolan refugees in Zambia has made a slow start, acknowledges the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

"It could be [due to] a number of factors: many refugees have planted crops and are in the middle of the harvesting period, so are reluctant to leave now," said Josiah Ogina, IOM's head of mission in Zambia.

Full report

HIV/AIDS affecting quality of education

HIV/AIDS is having an impact on teacher absenteeism in Zambia, which in turn is affecting the quality of education, according to a new World Bank study.

'Teacher Shocks and Student Learning: Evidence from Zambia', found that when teachers were absent as a result of illness, the level of learning was affected.

Full report

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MALAWI: Mutharika's new party faces stiff challenges - analysts

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika can expect to face some major challenges for the remainder of his term in office after deciding to formally sever ties with the party that brought him to power, analysts warned on Monday.

Mutharika launched his own political party on Sunday, three months after a bitter fallout with the United Democratic Front (UDF) forced him to resign from the former ruling party.

Full report

Sweden resumes aid

In a vote of confidence in the Malawi government, Sweden has broken a four-year aid freeze and provided about US $5.5 million in budget support.

"Malawi has made considerable progress on macroeconomic stabilisation and maintaining control of public expenditure," noted the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA). It also welcomed the government's "strong anticorruption stance".

Full report

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SWAZILAND: Jobs summit to tackle unemployment, boost business

Creating more business opportunities to counter rising unemployment is expected to take centre stage at an upcoming jobs summit in Swaziland.

The summit, scheduled to take place in July, follows a pledge by King Mswati to initiate a R1 billion (US $150 million) public-private fund to bankroll the development of small- and medium-scale enterprises.

Full report

Environment law enforcement gets new teeth

Swaziland now has a national enforcement agency to ensure that its environmental laws are implemented: the kingdom, known for its lush forests, this week reconstituted the Swaziland Environmental Authority (SEA) and equipped it with some teeth.

"The previous board did not have the power to take action against offenders - we do not want to close down businesses, we only want them to comply with environmental regulations," said Minister of Environment and Tourism Thandi Shongwe.

Full report

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SOUTH AFRICA: Concerns over intelligence agency probe

South Africa's National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was tight-lipped on Friday after news reports that it had launched an official probe into recent protests over poor service delivery.

The Sunday Times last week reported that the intelligence agency was called in to investigate demonstrations that have taken place around the country, but the NIA has been reluctant to confirm its involvement.

Full report

SOUTH AFRICA: Media groups slam newspaper gagging order

Media rights groups have expressed concern over a court order gagging one of South Africa's leading investigative newspapers, saying the ruling set an "extraordinarily dangerous precedent".

Hours before the Mail & Guardian (M&G) was scheduled to go to press on Thursday evening, the Johannesburg High Court barred it from running a follow-up to the previous week's expose alleging that the state-owned oil company, PetroSA, had channelled R11 million (US $1.6 million) of taxpayers' money to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) ahead of the 2004 elections.

Full report

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SOUTHERN AFRICA: New research questions link between food crisis and AIDS

The link between HIV/AIDS and hunger in rural communities has received a great deal of attention in Southern Africa, where HIV/AIDS seems to have added a new dimension to the region's four-year-long food crisis.

But a new report has argued that although HIV/AIDS constitutes a humanitarian catastrophe, the impact of the epidemic was not a major cause of the region's food crisis during 2001 and 2004.

Full report

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[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Other

Other recent SOUTHERN AFRICA reports:

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 262 for 17-23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

Volume of food aid causes transport bottleneck, 19/Dec/05

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 261 for 10-16 December 2005, 16/Dec/05

Renewed calls for culling in wildlife reserves raises alarm among conservation groups, 15/Dec/05

South Africa's fuel shortage hits neighbours, could affect humanitarian operations, 13/Dec/05

Other recent reports:

RWANDA: Body found in Brussels canal confirmed that of ex-minister's, 23/Dec/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 23/Dec/05

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 309 covering 17 - 23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 51 covering the period 17 - 23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 262 for 17-23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

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