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Sunday 25 December 2005


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IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 252 for 8-14 Oct 2005

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

CONTENTS:

MALAWI: Opposition attacks govt on food crisis
ZIMBABWE: Govt slams claim that rejected UK asylum seekers are at risk at home
BOTSWANA: Govt denies claims of ethnic cleansing
SWAZILAND: Draconian anti-terrorism bill resubmitted after fire bombings
NAMIBIA: Rising demands for action against gender-based violence
SOUTH AFRICA: Immigrant numbers a misperception - new report
ZAMBIA: UNHCR goes all out to get Angolan refugees home before rainy season

MALAWI: Opposition attacks govt on food crisis

Malawi's food security crisis fuelled a fierce battle in parliament on Thursday, with the opposition approving a motion urging government to declare a state of national disaster.

An opposition Malawi Congress Party member of parliament (MP) proposed the motion criticising government's handling of the food crisis, which was opposed by MPs aligned with President Bingu wa Mutharika.

Full report

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Malnutrition rising in south and north

Aid agencies are concerned about the rising number of malnourished children admitted to nutritional rehabilitation units (NRU) at clinics in Malawi.

Although southern Malawi has been the area worst affected by food shortages this year, the steep uptick in admissions to NRUs in the northern part of the country has raised alarm among aid workers.

Full report

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Input delays could affect next year's harvest, warn experts

Malawi could face yet another crop failure if its small-scale farmers do not receive promised subsidised fertiliser this month, and escalating maize prices have further jeopardised food security, warned humanitarian workers on the ground.

"We are standing at the crossroads at the moment - the food security situation could go either way, depending on the amount and the timing of the humanitarian aid," said Sam Chimwaza, country representative of the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-NET).

Full report

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ZIMBABWE: Govt slams claim that rejected UK asylum seekers are at risk at home

The Zimbabwe government on Friday condemned a ruling by a British tribunal accepting that failed asylum seekers face persecution at home.

Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa said the ruling by Britain's Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in a test case was as fraudulent as the unnamed failed asylum seeker's claim that he would be at risk if he were deported.

Full report

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MDC divided over senate poll

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is divided over participating in the upcoming senate elections, with MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai publicly disagreeing with the party's spokesman, Paul Themba Nyathi, and its national council.

"We are not going to participate in the senate elections [scheduled for 26 November]," Tsvangirai announced on Wednesday. "The senate fails to address the people's basic needs; the senate is an expensive project we can ill afford when millions are starving - living in a shrinking economy with a hyperinflationary environment; when millions yearn for support against HIV and AIDS."

Full report

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Court fends off second eviction of Harare families

Some 250 Zimbabwean families facing forced removal from their makeshift homes for the second time in three months have been granted a last-minute reprieve after a High Court ruling nullified their eviction notice.

The group of families were first evicted from their homes in Mbare township in the capital, Harare, earlier this year when the government embarked on its urban clean-up campaign, Operation Murambatsvina, or Drive out Filth. Two weeks ago they were again instructed by the police to leave their new shelters.

Full report

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Teachers urge free ARVs as AIDS thins their ranks

Teachers in Zimbabwe have urged the government to provide free AIDS treatment after a survey revealed the profession was struggling with the highest infection rates in the country.

According to a report by the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), the country lost 566 teachers to AIDS-related illnesses last year. In the first six months of 2005, the death toll had already hit 362.

Full report

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BOTSWANA: Govt denies claims of ethnic cleansing

The government of Botswana says accusations that Bushmen are being evicted at gunpoint from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) are "absolute rubbish".

In a damning statement, 'Ethnic Cleansing Reaches Final Phase', the London-based rights group, Survival International, said police carried out forced removals of Bushmen from the CKGR at gunpoint at the weekend.

Full report

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SWAZILAND: Draconian anti-terrorism bill resubmitted after fire bombings

A post-9/11 anti-terrorism bill submitted to the Swazi parliament but then suspended without passage has been tabled again in the wake of two recent fire bombings in the capital, Mbabane.

Full report

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New anti-AIDS campaign targets young people

Swazi health authorities on Wednesday launched an ambitious anti-AIDS campaign targeting people between the ages of 20 and 30 years - the group most affected by the virus.

The R3 million (US $458,000) programme, supported by private-sector health and social welfare NGOs, was underpinned by a strong abstinence message.

Full report

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Successful anti-parasite campaign for children spurs expansion

Swazi health authorities have announced plans to make deworming sessions a regular part of the education ministry's school health programme after successfully ridding young children of ringworm and other parasites in highly affected areas.

Full report

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NAMIBIA: Rising demands for action against gender-based violence

Outraged gender rights groups in Namibia have urged authorities to take decisive action against the perpetrators of a recent spate of violent attacks against women and children.

Juanita Mabula, 21, a single mother and commercial sex worker, was found naked and beheaded nearly three weeks ago along a main road in Windhoek West, a suburb of the capital, Windhoek.

Full report

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SOUTH AFRICA: Immigrant numbers a misperception - new report

The actual number of foreigners living in South Africa differs sharply from widely held perceptions, according to a new study on migration.

Recent research by the Geneva-based Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM) concluded that there were serious methodological flaws in the estimated numbers of migrants in South Africa.

Full report

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Ex deputy president casts long shadow

Former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma appeared before a magistrate on Tuesday to face charges of corruption, bolstered by the support of chanting, ululating crowds outside the courthouse.

Zuma's supporters gathered overnight at the Durban Magistrate's Court, in coastal KwaZulu-Natal, and burst into song upon his arrival, chanting 'Zuma, my president'. They pledged solidarity with the ruling party African National Congress (ANC) stalwart who has been embraced by the 'left wing' as their champion.

Full report

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Civil society to keep close watch on peer review process

Despite some initial hiccups, civil society groups in South Africa say they are committed to ensuring that a national self-assessment conducted under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) will be transparent.

Civil society representatives have complained about the tight timetable, perceived government dominance of the process, and a lack of information about how the South African review will be managed.

Full report

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ZAMBIA: UNHCR goes all out to get Angolan refugees home before rainy season

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that it would pull out all the stops to ensure that some 22,000 Angolan refugees living in three camps across Zambia returned home before the end of the year.

UNHCR's deputy representative in Zambia, Vedasto Mwesiga, told IRIN on Tuesday the agency had secured a second plane to repatriate those Angolans who wished to return home.

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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