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From The Guardian (UK), 13 December

Neighbour states give Mugabe their blessing

President rejects 'white men' of the EU as election observers

Harare - President Robert Mugabe's campaign to retain power and win re-election was endorsed yesterday by ministers from neighbouring states who ignored reports of political violence, chaotic land reform and media repression. In power for 21 years, Mugabe, 77, scheduled a vote in March, although he did not provide an exact date. Mr Mugabe's policies were backed by cabinet ministers from six states in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) who came to assess Zimbabwe's progress in returning to the rule of law. The ministers "welcomed the improved atmosphere of calm and stability" in their closing communiqué, despite reports from farmers and human rights monitors of widespread, state-sponsored, political violence. The glowing report on Zimbabwe is an abrupt turnaround for the regional body, whose leaders were highly critical of Mr Mugabe just two months ago, and contradicts recent tough statements made by the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, and the president of Botswana, Festus Mogae. "Such a positive report now is very disappointing. We feared they would be soft, but we did not expect them to praise the devil," said John Makumbe, head of the Zimbabwe Crisis Committee. "It gives Mugabe a green light to go flat out with violence and intimidation to win re-election."

Mr Mugabe made it clear that he would restrict international observation of the presidential poll. He said he would invite SADC observers, the new African Union (formerly the Organisation of African Unity), the Commonwealth, and the West African group Ecowas. Mr Mugabe said he did not want to invite the EU. "I will have some difficulty in inviting some white men here," said Mr Mugabe, according to the state-owned Herald newspaper. "I would rather invite Asians or the Caribbeans, but for the EU as a bloc, I doubt." Mr Mugabe's government said earlier this month that it would not allow independent monitors with the authority to stop intimidation at polling stations and prevent fraud at the count. Instead the government will select all monitors from the civil service, including the notorious Central Intelligence Organisation.

The upbeat SADC statement is contradicted by a damning report from the Human Rights Forum, released yesterday, which states that there were six political killings and 115 cases of torture in November. The pro-Mugabe "war veterans" have set up bases across Zimbabwe which they are using as intimidation centres, say eyewitnesses. But resistance to Mr Mugabe remains high, despite the climate of violence and intimidation, as borne out by the Movement for Democratic Change's triumph in the Chegutu mayoral election on Tuesday. Chegutu lies near Mr Mugabe's homeland, Zvimba. As well as restricting international observers and local monitors, Mr Mugabe is introducing a press bill that would prevent journalists from reporting on pre-election violence and voting irregularities. Such tactics may win him the presidency, but they risk alienating the international community. The US under-secretary of state for Africa, Walter Kansteiner, warned during a visit to Zimbabwe on Tuesday that the elections must uphold the basic conditions for democratic elections, as set out by the SADC. Mr Mugabe will kickstart his campaign with a speech tomorrow at Victoria Falls.

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From News24 (SA), 12 December

Militants force out mayor-elect

Harare - More than 50 pro-government militants on Wednesday stormed municipal offices in the Zimbabwean town of Chegutu and forced out the mayor-elect, who is a member of the opposition MDC, a party spokesperson said. The militants were singing and chanting slogans supporting the ruling party, and demanded that mayor-elect Francis Blessing Dhlakama leave the office, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesperson Learnmore Jongwe said. Dhlakama decided to comply with their demands to avoid any violence, Jongwe said. Police were present, but did not intervene, he added. "This seems to be the continuation of Zanu PF's violent campaign strategy," Jongwe said, adding that Dhlakama's house was attacked on the first day of polling on Saturday by militants armed with stones and axes. Dhlakama won the weekend election with 2 900 ballots to 2 452 for Stanley Majiri of the ruling Zanu PF. Although Chegutu is a relatively small town, about 100 kilometres west of Harare, it is only about 40km away from Mugabe's childhood home in the Zvimba area. Zanu PF has previously enjoyed strong support in that region. The MDC victory comes ahead of presidential elections set for March, when Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is expected to face his toughest-ever challenge from MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

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From Business Day (SA), 13 December

Zanu PF take opposition to court

Harare - Unable to stomach a third electoral defeat in a row, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party has threatened to go to court to set aside the opposition Movement for Democratic Change's (MDC's) victory in the Chegutu mayoral election. Zanu PF officials claimed yesterday that the December 10 poll, the outcome of which is likely to dampen the morale of Mugabe's party ahead of presidential election in March next year, was marred by violence and irregularities. This was despite official pronouncements over the weekend that the election was free and fair. The ruling party's Mashonaland West province chair Philip Chiyangwa said: "We want the courts to set aside the results because there was violence." He accused the MDC of using coercion to take over the town, situated near to Mugabe's rural home village. However, MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe said: "Zanu PF's angels of death and torture were deployed to Chegutu where they went on an orgy of violence in the surrounding areas.Rejecting Information Minister Jonathan Moyo's claims that Zanu PF was recovering lost ground in towns, Jongwe said the ruling party was the architect and author of violence.

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From ZWNEWS, 13 December

The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA)

We first published this article on 15 August 2001. It is as valid now as it was then.
A brief explanation

If you have read the state-owned newspapers over recent weeks, listened to ZBC, or watched ZTV, you would think that the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) - recently passed by the US Senate, and currently under consideration by the House of Representatives - is concerned with imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe, like those that were imposed on the pre-1980 Rhodesian government. You would be mistaken. It suits the government to foster this false impression, to garner sympathy for itself, to present Zimbabwe as the underdog being bullied by the United States. The ZDERA, however, is short and to the point. It makes an offer to the Zimbabwe government. Whether this offer is put into operation - or not - depends on a test.
The offer

To undertake a review of the sovereign debt owed by Zimbabwe to the United States and any of its agencies with a view to restructuring, rescheduling, or eliminating that debt. To instruct the US representative at multilateral development banks and financial institutions (such as the World Bank and the IMF) to propose that they also consider restructuring, rescheduling or eliminating Zimbabwe's foreign debt, and provide financial support for the stabilisation of the Zimbabwe dollar and the recovery of Zimbabwe's economy. To establish a Southern Africa Finance Centre, located in Zimbabwe, to facilitate commercial projects in Zimbabwe and the region. To financially support equitable, legal, and transparent land reform in line with the 1998 International Donors' Conference.
The test

In order for the offer to be put into operation, the US President must justify to the US Senate and House of Representatives that :

1. The rule of law has been restored to Zimbabwe, including respect for property rights, freedom of speech and association, and an end to lawlessness, violence and intimidation sponsored by the government, the ruling party, and their supporters.
2.

a. Either a presidential election has been held that is widely accepted as having been free and fair by independent international monitors, and the president-elect is free to assume his office; or,

b. If this certification is made before the presidential election takes place, that the pre-election period is consistent with international standards to allow free campaigning by the candidates for presidential office.

3. The Zimbabwe government has committed itself to an equitable, legal and transparent land reform programme consistent with the agreements reached at the International Donors' Conference of 1998.

4. The Zimbabwe government has shown good faith in trying to implement the terms of the Lusaka Accord to end the war in the Congo.

5. The armed services and the police are responsible to, and serve, the elected civilian government.

If the US President can justify that this test has been met, then the offer will be put into operation.

It's as simple as that. What the ZDERA says to President Mugabe is this - restore the rule of law, hold a free and fair election (including a free and fair pre-election campaign period), accept that land reform has to be legal, non-violent and transparent in line with previous agreements, do as much as you can to withdraw Zimbabwean troops form the Congo, and stop misusing the police and the army for Zanu PF's own ends, and there are benefits.

However, until the test has been met, no part of the offer will be put into effect, and the US representatives at the IMF, World Bank, etc will be instructed to oppose any of the financial benefits set out in the offer. But this is not a sanction, since the Zimbabwe government has already, by its own actions, alienated itself from these institutions. Zimbabwe is already in financial default, and IMF and World Bank funding will not resume until political and economic stability is restored - whether the ZDERA is passed or not. Humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe will not be affected, and the ZDERA also authorises the US President to support an independent free press and electronic media, and democracy and good governance programmes, in Zimbabwe.

The only sanctions in the ZDERA are specific and targeted. The final section of the legislation reads as follows:

It is the sense of Congress that the President should begin immediate consultation with the governments of European Union member states, Canada, and other appropriate foreign countries on ways in which to:

(1) identify and share information regarding individuals responsible for the deliberate breakdown of the rule of law, politically motivated violence, and intimidation in Zimbabwe;

(2) identify assets of those individuals held outside Zimbabwe;

(3) implement travel and economic sanctions against those individuals and their associates and families; and

(4) provide for the eventual removal or amendment of those sanctions.

This last section is what the ruling elite really fears. This will hurt them personally, and that is why they are threatening a state of emergency if the ZDERA is approved by the US House of Representatives and signed into law by the US President.

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From ZWNEWS, 13 December

True to God - Archbishop Pius Ncube

Unbowed by death threats and vilification in the state-controlled media, Archbishop Pius Ncube, the Roman Catholic prelate in charge of the Bulawayo diocese, ranks among the most fearless and outspoken critics of President Robert Mugabe's government. "I am not afraid of anyone but God only ," Ncube, speaking in his trademark hoarse tone, said in an interview with ZWNEWS. "What is radically wrong in Zimbabwe is that we no longer have a government for the people. All they care for are their luxurious lives and their appetite for power at the expense of the people." At a time when many Zimbabweans are disappointed at the failure by some church leaders to speak openly about human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, Ncube remains forthright in word and deed. Along with a number of church groups in Matabeleland, Ncube has defied a government edict that only officials of the ruling Zanu PF party can distribute food aid in an area where thousands face starvation. After two bad agricultural seasons, compounded by government-ordered invasions of white-owned farm, food supplies are dangerously low.

Ncube, 54, symbolizes the fact that there are still apolitical men and women who remain steadfast in their open criticism of state-sponsored violence, of the land invasions, and laws intended to disenfranchise supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change ahead of presidential elections due in March. Agents of Mugabe's dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation attempt to silence Ncube; the Chronicle, the state-controlled daily newspaper based in Bulawayo, announces that - among other things - the archbishop supports the MDC and homosexuals. When he responds, the newspaper never carries his replies. During last year's elections, Ncube received so many deaths that the Vatican demanded that Mugabe - who is also a Catholic - guarantee his safety. "Zimbabwe is headed for complete ruin,'' said Ncube. "Mugabe is holding the entire country to ransom … He is certainly going to rig the election next year." Not only has Ncube, in sermons and in media interviews, vigorously condemned Mugabe's abuses and excesses, but he has also come out in support of Zimbabwe's much maligned, small but economically powerful white community at a time when doing so earns the wrath of Zanu PF militants. "We did not tolerate racism when there was white rule here, and we will not tolerate this," said Ncube, adding that he has even received threats from his own congregation because of his stance toward whites.

Born on December 31, 1946 into a peasant family, Ncube attended primary and secondary schools in Gweru, and trained for the priesthood at Chishawasha Seminary, near Harare. He was ordained in 1973. In the 1980s he spent two years in Rome, studying advanced theology and social teachings. Returning home in 1985, Ncube was appointed Vicar-General, and in 1998 took over the Bulawayo diocese. "I have been wrongly accused of using my church sermons to campaign for the opposition. The fact is I am not a supporter of the opposition and I will never campaign for a particular opposition party," said Ncube. "What drives me is my desire not to see human rights being flouted. I don't care about who is in power. I will speak openly against any abuses regardless of who is in power." Ncube favours land redistribution, but not Mugabe-style - without compensation to the land owners, and without provided resources for people settled on the former commercial farms and ranches. "I don't think it's appropriate to grab people's properties without compensation. Some of these people only have their land as their source of livelihood … Mugabe's process is just a gimmick for his own political survival," said Ncube. "You can't talk of land resettlement without adequate back up infrastructural resources like clinics, schools and equipment for the resettled farmers."

Ncube warned of worsening pre-election violence, and said the international community should do more to rein in Mugabe. "Mugabe is desperate to win at all costs and he will rig the elections to ensure victory,'' said Ncube. "He is thus not prepared to listen to anyone who disagrees with him, including us as church leaders. We have tried to lobby him to change his ways but he keeps ignoring us. We can therefore only rely on God's power to save Zimbabwe from this mess." The priest who returned from Rome convinced that the most important thing in life is "the dignity of the human being," will not be silenced. "I will not be quiet as long as human rights abuses persist. I can't afford to be untruthful to God."

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From News24 (SA), 10 December

Anti-Mugabe activist found dead

Harare - The body of an opposition activist has been found at a dam in central Zimbabwe, after he was kidnapped near the town of Shurugwi at the weekend, the privately owned Daily News reported on Tuesday. Unknown attackers kidnapped Augustus Chacha, a member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), from his home in Gonye village, about 240 kilometres south Harare, late on Saturday. His wife and five children were present during the kidnapping. The attackers accused Chacha of supporting the MDC when they kidnapped him, the paper said. His body was found floating at the nearby Gonye Dam on Monday, the paper said. Chacha, 29, was the MDC's youth organiser in the town of Gokwe, 200km west of Harare, but fled with his family in August after a major outbreak of political violence there. Gokwe has suffered some of the worst political violence this year in Zimbabwe. Chacha's brother Lazarus told the paper he suspected that Augustus was killed by supporters of the ruling Zanu PF party. The MDC has posed the most potent challenge ever to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's 21-year rule. Rights groups have repeatedly blamed Muagbe's supporters for politically charged attacks that have left dozens dead in the last two years.

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From The New York Times, 12 December

US Warns Zimbabwe That Next Year's Election Must Be Fair

Johannesburg - A senior Bush administration official met today with Zimbabwe's ministers of finance and foreign affairs and warned them that time was running out to create an environment for fair national elections next year. The mission, led by Walter H. Kansteiner, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, followed an overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives last week for a bill that would offer Zimbabwe economic incentives if it eased its recent authoritarian moves, but would urge President Bush to punish Zimbabwe if it failed to act. Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, who has held office since blacks won majority rule in 1980, announced today that national elections would take place in March. At 77, he is running again for office, and faces a major challenge from the Movement for Democratic Change. In recent months, his government has cracked down on opposition supporters and on the independent news media. The crackdown and Zimbabwe's efforts to limit international monitoring of the elections have alarmed many countries.

Mr. Kansteiner said the credibility of the elections was a principal topic of the meetings today. "Our message was, `You still have time to make this right,' " Mr. Kansteiner said by telephone. "If you have a free and fair electoral process, the election can reflect the will of the people and the voice of the Zimbabwean people will be heard." The response from Finance Minister Simba Makoni and Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge was, Mr. Kansteiner said, ambiguous. "It was clear they wanted to show some flexibility," he said, "but at the same time, clearly they are worried about their political future." News reports from Harare said President Mugabe had announced that he would allow election observers from the Organization of African Unity, and even from the Commonwealth, but that only Africans would be accepted. Calls seeking further comment from Jonathan Moyo, the minister of information, were not answered.

Leaders from the Southern African Development Community also concluded meetings today with Mr. Mugabe. Neighboring countries have become increasingly frustrated by Zimbabwe's mounting economic and political problems, and the development meetings today and Monday were an attempt to exert pressure. But the members of the development community have opposed sanctions, a step the European Union is considering. Southern African nations fear that punitive steps could unsettle the region further. Inflation in Zimbabwe is soaring, AIDS infection and unemployment are high and the country, once one of Africa's most self-sufficient, will need food aid for hundreds of thousands of people in coming months. Still, Mr. Kansteiner said he was encouraged by signals from regional capitals in recent weeks. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and others have increased their criticism of the Mugabe government, reflecting "a worry about the way this country is headed," he said. Mr. Kansteiner said he made little headway on the question of foreign news media, which the two ministers said have been unfair to Zimbabwe. Many international news organizations have been denied entry to Zimbabwe. "I suggested that if you allowed the international press to come to Zimbabwe, you might get more coverage and better coverage," he said.

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From The Financial Times (UK), 12 December

Presidential election set for March, says Mugabe

Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party will endorse Robert Mugabe as its candidate for next March's presidential elections when it meets at the holiday resort of Victoria Falls tomorrow. Mr Mugabe, who turns 78 weeks before the poll, said it would definitely be held in March, the first firm indication of the election date. It means that the Harare City Council and mayoral elections, scheduled for early February, will be held only weeks before the presidential poll. Since the opposition Movement for Democratic Change is tipped to sweep the board in the capital, the local government election is expected to give Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC's presidential candidate, a tremendous boost.

By the time the country votes, Mr Mugabe will have been in power - first as prime minister and for the last 12 years as executive president - since April 1980. Two recent opinion polls show him trailing Mr Tsvangirai by six percentage points. However, at least 20 per cent of those questioned were either unwilling or too frightened to state their preferences, suggesting that the race is wide open. The party congress, which will be attended by 7,000 party supporters, is expected to focus on three interlinked issues - the presidential elections, the country's increasingly chaotic land resettlement programme and international relations, especially with Britain. In the last few days, Harare has turned up the heat in its verbal attacks on Britain, with Patrick Chinamasa, the justice minister, telling ministers attending the Southern African Development Community's two-day review of Zimbabwe's land programme that the forces of colonialism are still alive on the continent. He warned his SADC counterparts of the dangers of falling into the "trap of the machinations of the British government" which he said is using "dollar diplomacy" to split SADC. There will be plenty of similar rhetoric at Victoria Falls this week, which is surprising given that it is increasingly apparent that the urban electorate is unimpressed with the government's efforts to blame foreigners, especially Britain, for the country's deepening social and economic crises.

The Mugabe government was embarrassed by one of the frankest statements yet from the country's largely white Commercial Farmers Union. In its evidence to the visiting ministers, the CFU said that the September Abuja agreement on land was not being implemented by the government. "The situation on commercial farms has continued to deteriorate, with ongoing incidents of violence, intimidation, extortion and disruption to farming activities," the CFU said. More farms were being shut down and an increasing number of commercial farmers are being systematically forced off their farms. The CFU confirmed media reports that the government had begun to allocate farms on 99-year leases, with an option to buy, to senior officials and politicians. Far from making the land available to landless peasants, the CFU said the list of recipients included the commissioner of police, other senior ranking police and defence forces personnel, ministers, members of parliament, senior civil servants and ruling party officials.

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From News24 (SA), 11 December

Zim farms go to top brass

Johannesburg - Among the "lucky applicants" who received white-owned farms in Zimbabwe are the country's police commissioner, other senior police and defence force officials, cabinet ministers, members of parliament and civil servants. This was disclosed in a presentation by the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) to a ministerial delegation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which visited Zimbabwe. CFU Deputy President D Taylor-Freeme said land was given to Zanu PF loyalists in accordance with the so-called A2 commercial resettlement scheme. The A2 scheme allows the minister of land, agriculture and rural resettlement to bypass official procedure by signing a letter granting an applicant land for 99 years with an option to buy. Moreover, the new "owners" force farmers to enter into "partnerships" with them: Work for the new master, or leave the farm.

Taylor-Freeme said this "alarming turn of events" made it ridiculously easy for the government to confiscate white-owned farms - even easier than the controversial presidential decree which compels farmers to leave their farms within three months after receiving a seizure order. At least 90% of all commercial farmers in Zimbabwe have already received such an order. It deprives them of any legal protection and those who do not comply could face a two year prison term. Taylor-Freeme told the SADC ministers that the situation on commercial farms had only worsened since the CFU's presentation to SADC heads of state on September 10. Violence, intimidation, disruption of agricultural activities and threats against farmers continue unabated. More than 20 000 farm workers had to be dismissed or were chased off farms, while more and more farmers are systematically being deprived of their land.

Furthermore, a judiciary bench in favour of Zanu PF had recently legalised President Robert Mugabe's accelerated land reform programme. "This ruling by the high court effectively depraved commercial farmers of every possible opportunity to appeal." Taylor-Freeme said that due to the disruption in the agricultural sector only about 220 000 tons of maize - Zimbabwe's staple diet - would be produced this year, in comparison with the normal yield of 850 000 tons. The tobacco harvest would only comprise 165 million kg, compared with the 235 million kg harvested two years ago. Farm invaders slaughtered approximately 30% of Zimbabwe's beef cattle. Many of these animals were cows from stud herds, which meant that the quality of the national herd would deteriorate. The wildlife industry was especially hard hit by poachers and the destruction of natural habitat. If 90% of Zimbabwe's farmers ceased production, the country would lose at least 13% of its gross domestic product and 34% of its export income.

The possibility for economic recovery dwindles by the day. "The infrastructure is more or less still in place and there is still time to recover, but soon there will be no turning back." Taylor-Freeme said the government also failed to honour its agreement with the SADC to negotiate with farmers. "The CFU was not consulted on recent issues such as new legislation and price control." Despite the extremely difficult circumstances of the past 21 months, commercial farmers were still adamant to continue production, and the CFU was committed to orderly and lawful land reform, Taylor-Freeme said.

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From The Star (SA), 11 December

Zimbabwe declares war on press

Zimbabwe's government has declared virtual war on the media a head of next year's presidential election, labelling some reporters terrorists, expelling several foreign journalists and refusing to let most others in. Dozens of local reporters have been arrested by police and beaten by ruling party militants. Proposed legislation would ban all foreign reporters from Zimbabwe and expand the government's power to arrest the journalists it does not like. "We are treating Zimbabwe as a war zone," said Zoe Titus, an official at the Media Institute of Southern Africa, which campaigns for press freedom. Titus accused President Robert Mugabe of seeking an "information blackout" that would allow his government and its supporters free rein to intensify their campaign of intimidation and violence before the election, which has been tentatively marked for March next year. Human rights workers accuse the government of trying to frighten people away from voting for the opposition, which poses the strongest threat to Mugabe's rule since he led the country to independence in 1980.

Presidential representative George Charamba did not return repeated calls from The Associated Press this week. The government has refused requests from many foreign reporters, including several representing Associated Press, to enter Zimbabwe. Officials have described previous attempts at regulating the media as aimed at making sure reporters act responsibly. The crackdown on journalists has coincided with government threats against opposition officials and some judges. In the election, Mugabe will face Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party won 57 of 120 elected parliamentary seats last year after an election campaign rife with political violence, mainly blamed on ruling-party militants.

Mugabe tightened his government's clampdown on journalists earlier this year, warning foreign reporters to keep their "dirty, interfering hands" out of Zimbabwe's affairs. An anonymous presidential representative, quoted in the state-owned Herald newspaper last month, accused journalists who reported on an attack by ruling-party militants against whites and opposition officials of aiding the "terrorist" opposition. "We would like (reporters) to know that we agree with US President Bush that anyone who in any way finances, harbours or defends terrorists is himself a terrorist," the representative said. A week later, details of Zimbabwe's proposed Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill were revealed.

The bill would require journalists to get an annual license from a government-appointed panel. The legislation also allows the government to ban foreign reporters from the country and imprison journalists who violate as-yet unspecified standards. "It's a fascist piece of legislation," said Basildon Peta, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists and special projects editor of the independent Financial Gazette. "It's in my opinion, the final nail in the coffin of the media of Zimbabwe." But it is only the latest nail. Just this year, the journalists' union has recorded more than 40 cases of reporters from Zimbabwe's five independent newspapers being attacked by ruling party thugs or being arrested by police. Many independent journalists are too frightened to report on political violence in the countryside, Peta said.

The government has deported three foreign correspondents, banned the British Broadcasting Corporation and implemented regulations forcing foreign reporters to get accreditation before entering Zimbabwe. It also passed legislation effectively banning independent radio stations, thereby preserving the government's monopoly on disseminating news to rural areas. The Daily News, the most popular newspaper in the country and the only independent daily, has perhaps suffered the most. Its printing press was destroyed in a bombing in January after the government called the paper a threat to national security. The paper continued printing - in greatly reduced numbers - on other presses. Daily News reporters have been beaten or detained; editor Geoff Nyarota was arrested twice, but charges were quickly dismissed. "It's an ongoing campaign of harassment," Nyarota said. "Journalists can't run away from their work because the government has become hostile. We have an obligation to our readers, an obligation to the public, an obligation to our country."

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From The Cape Times (SA), 11 December

You'll suffer too, Harare warns SA

Harare - Zimbabwe has vowed not to bow to international sanctions or African pressure to stop its plans to seize white-owned farms. Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge, speaking to southern African officials visiting Zimbabwe to assess its land programme, cautioned neighbouring countries on Monday against siding with "foreign players" who called for sanctions, including "smart" sanctions targeting government and ruling party officials. "There can be no sanctions smart enough to affect Zimbabweans alone. Our destinies are intertwined," Mudenge told the six-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) ministerial team.

It also emerged on Monday that President Robert Mugabe's cabinet had already decided before the visit to stop negotiating with international bodies which did not endorse its land programme, and to squeeze white farmers even more should sanctions be instituted. The Commonwealth will meet within two weeks to discuss a possible embargo against Zimbabwe. The US House of Representatives has endorsed a bill that threatens sanctions against Zimbabwe. The visiting SADC team is likely to leave empty-handed after a decision last week by Mugabe's cabinet not to consider international arbitration of its land policies. Authoritative sources said a cabinet meeting convened by Mugabe had agreed that Zimbabwe would only accommodate international bodies which endorsed the planned reforms.

Mudenge confirmed this, and said on Monday that the SADC team should not monitor or judge Zimbabwe's land reforms, but should merely support what he described as Mugabe's "efforts to eradicate neo-colonialism" in Africa. The cabinet also resolved to react to any sanctions from the Commonwealth with more drastic action against white farmers, sources said. The Zimbabwe government has already passed two decrees. The first was that farmers should leave their farms within three months after being listed for acquisition by the government, and the second was to cut all farms to 2 000ha, with the remaining land to be seized without compensation.

At the start of the visit on Monday, Mudenge called on African states to rally behind Mugabe, saying Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party was fighting for the interests of the black majority against Western interests that backed white colonial rule in the former Rhodesia. "We are being opposed for not accepting the mini-dosages of justice being offered our people, when in fact doing so would perpetuate the deprivation of our people." Lilian Patel, the Malawian foreign minister and head of the SADC team, said the regional economic bloc was concerned about the situation in Zimbabwe. "We are here as your friends because we are greatly concerned. We do not support sanctions." Political analysts say Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, is using the land programme in a bid to retain power in elections due by April next year.

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From SAPA (SA), 10 December

SADC ministers meet on Harare crisis

Harare - Ministers of five Southern African nations began a meeting in Harare on Monday in a bid to resolve the country's political crisis. Lilian Patel, the Malawian foreign minister and chairman of the Southern African Development Community's task force on Zimbabwe opened the conference, saying members of the 13-nation economic bloc were "greatly concerned by what is going on in this country". There was also a tacit admission by Zimbabwean foreign minister Stan Mudenge that his government was for the first time facing strong criticism from African states demanding Mugabe end political violence and ensure presidential elections due by April are free and fair.

In a lengthy speech at the opening of the two-day meeting, Mudenge repeated the government's charge that the British government was "managing and manipulating" international action against Zimbabwe. "We are aware of strategic decisions in Brussels to try and conscript other players to turn the entire African continent against us, and the sinister effort to turn our SADC friends against us," he said. He said he believed SADC was in support of Zimbabwe's case, but, he added, "even if not," the government would win. "We would face anybody, because might is right," he vowed. His remarks referred to criticism in the last two weeks from South Africa, including President Thabo Mbeki who appealed to the international community to "act urgently" to ensure free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. Mbeki said the situation in Zimbabwe was "deteriorating" and warned of an outbreak of civil war if people were denied the right to vote freely.

The SADC meeting follows the passing in the US Congress last week of the "Zimbabwe Democracy bill" which imposes sanctions targeted specifically against Mugabe and other officials responsible for "the deliberate breakdown of the rule of law." The European Union has also started diplomatic mechanisms that will allow it also to impose sanctions against Zimbabwe. Patel said the meeting was part of a series of diplomatic initiatives to end the crisis in Zimbabwe, but she clearly separated SADC from the stronger Western form of sanctions. "We in SADC would like to make it clear that we do not support sanctions," she said. "Sanctions would cause untold suffering to scores of Zimbabweans, as well as to other people in our region." US officials have pointed out that the Zimbabwe Democracy bill, yet to be signed into law by President George Bush, will stop Mugabe and senior aides and their families from travelling to America, and freeze their bank accounts there.

Last week South African officials confirmed that Mbeki was "losing patience" with Mugabe and said he should not any longer expect protection from South Africa. The SADC meeting in Harare was a follow up to a two-day regional summit here in September where the presidents of five nations listened to representatives of several bodies linked to Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party, as well as to civic rights bodies and farm union officials. It ended with what diplomats said was an ambiguous conclusion that softened the pressure on the government. However, they say that following Mbeki's strong remarks, Harare is likely to be delivered with much firmer demands for compliance with international calls for the restoration of the rule of law. The SADC task force is one of a series of international diplomatic initiatives that have brought Mugabe's regime into widening isolation over state-driven lawlessness that began in February last year with violent invasions of white-owned farms by Mugabe's militias of war veterans, and a campaign of repression that has continued since then.

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From News24 (SA), 9 December

SAIIA: 'Pull the economic plug'

Cape Town - The Zimbabwe crisis could deteriorate to a point where that country could become "another battlefield like the Democratic Republic of Congo," the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) has warned. In a critical and frank assessment of the political situation brewing in South Africa's northern neighbour, SAIIA deputy chairperson Moeletsi Mbeki said the time had come for more drastic measures to defuse the looming danger. One of the ways this could be achieved, he said, was for South Africa to pull Zimbabwe's economic plug. Speaking on SABC's newsmaker programme on Sunday, the day before a Southern African Development Community (SADC) ministerial task force meeting in Harare, Mbeki said he did not think the meeting would make any difference. SADC ministers are flying into the Zimbabwean capital on Monday to review and deliberate on political and economic developments in that country. But Mbeki warned SADC was "a very weak organisation", and many of its member states did not have the "muscle" to stand up to Zimbabwe. It would be up to South Africa to take the initiative.

"South Africa is the one country that is going to be hurt the most by the Zimbabwe crisis, so it is the country that has to take most of the action." One example of the South African government's failure to act was "the whole issue of the electricity bill payment". "There's been comings and goings about the (electricity) debt owed to South Africa. But instead of pulling the plug, South Africa has looked for ways of, for example, turning the debt into equity, or becoming a shareholder in the Zimbabwean electricity supply. The overall perception on the Zimbabwean side is that the South African government is weak - from 1996 to now this has been the perception in the mind of Zimbabweans." He said the time had come for more drastic measures on the part of South Africa. "You know, most of Zimbabwe's trade goes through South Africa. We must be their biggest trading partner. So we can stop the Zimbabwean economy tomorrow if we wanted to. We have the muscle." Asked if this would be in South Africa's best interests, he said: "I suspect it will, because if the (Zimbabwean) government is not able to deliver a modicum of welfare to its population, then there is only one way of staying in government, and that's through force." Asked to comment on the prospects of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe next year, he said the ruling Zanu PF's "invasion" of Bulawayo two weeks ago - by so-called war veterans, who burnt down opposition party offices - had been a "dress rehearsal" for 2002.

"Elections will definitely not be free and fair. I understand the Libyans have moved elements of their military there, and the Angolans are sending small-arms to Zimbabwe to arm the militias that Zanu PF is training. It looks like there is preparation for a major onslaught against the population, and against the supporters of the opposition movement," Mbeki said. Zimbabwe had been interfering in the affairs of other countries in the region - its involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was an example of this - and although it enjoyed the support of countries such as Angola and Libya, it also had enemies. "So Zimbabwe could, in fact, become another battlefield like the DRC, with armies from all over the place slogging it out. Because if there's a firefight in Zimbabwe, you can't expect Rwanda and the countries that are opposed to Zimbabwe not to take advantage of that situation."

Mbeki said the South African government had a long history of doing nothing in the face of provocation by Zimbabwe's Zanu PF government. "So in a way it has backed itself into a corner where it is now difficult for it to do anything." He cited as an example of this President Robert Mugabe's handover of the SADC chairmanship. "He handed over the chairmanship to former president Nelson Mandela, but kept the committee on security and politics. It now turns up, according to articles in that country's Herald newspaper, that in the view of the Zimbabweans they didn't think the South African government was in any case legitimate enough to look after the security of the SADC region." In the eyes of the Zimbabwean government, there was a "legitimacy problem" with the South African government. The mistake South Africa had made was to allow this situation to "fester unresolved", and to allow former president Nelson Mandela to take over the chairmanship, "without forcing Zimbabwe either to be kicked out of SADC, or South Africa to leave SADC".

Asked what he thought would happen if Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe won next year's election, he said in his view the situation would get "worse and worse". "The only way he can win is if the elections are not free and fair, and all indications are that they will not be. I think the United States and the European Union will impose sanctions; South Africa will have to do something; and the situation in Zimbabwe will deteriorate," he said. On Tuesday last week, the US House of Representatives passed legislation allowing the imposition of sanctions against Zimbabwe, including personal sanctions against Mugabe and his ruling elite.

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From The Financial Gazette, 6 December

Has Mbeki done a policy U-turn on Zimbabwe?

The Sunday Times of December 2 2001 had a screaming headline: "Mbeki turns up the heat up on Bob". The article claimed that President Thabo Mbeki had now abandoned his "quiet diplomacy" approach on Zimbabwe. The article cited the three occasions at which Mbeki had publicly reprobated President Robert Mugabe and had emphasised the need for free and fair elections. They also cited the fact that Mbeki had made a call to Malawi President Bakili Muluzi and apparently reiterated the urgency of the crisis in Zimbabwe. A spokeperson for Mbeki, Bheki Khumalo, is quoted as saying: "If the elections are not legitimate, the situation will be far worse that it is now. The President therefore wants to double the efforts to seek a resolution to the crisis."

So has there been a substantial policy shift in the ANC-led government? The truth is much more complicated than that and the jury is still out. There is no doubt that Mbeki has become impatient with his Zimbabwean counterpart and he sees the Zimbabwe political and economic imbroglio as an albatross on both his country's economy and on his legacy to the continent, the Millennium African Recovery Plan (MAP). What is becoming clear is that beyond the novelty of sloganeering on land there is a realisation by black South Africans that the problem in Zimbabwe is not about land but about governance. There is some recognition that the land issue has been hijacked for the sake of cheap political opportunism.

A Richardson Mzaidume writes in the Sowetan Sunday World (December 2 2001): "I am pleased that our president has at last come out of his shell and has condemned Robert Mugabe, something he should have done long ago...Mugabe is not doing what he does because he cares about the people of his country, but because he cares about himself. If Mugabe were genuinely concerned about the well-being of Zimbabweans, he had ample time to do something about it. But he failed at a time when he had no opposition. Now that there is opposition, he is behaving like a man possessed by evil." There has been a steady stream of such letters in various publications and on radio stations Zimbabwe is discussed on a regular basis.

On Tuesday December 4 Metro FM had Kaiser Nyatsumba, associate editor at the Independent in London. Nyatsumba lauded Mbeki for his change in approach to Mugabe. He argued that in the 1980s then President of the United States of America Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, had used the same "velvet glove" or "constructive engagement" approach to apartheid South Africa when activists were calling for sanctions. When sanctions were imposed, they hastened the fall of the apartheid regime. Nyatsumba felt that limited sanctions against Zimbabwe would help in resolving the Zimbabwean crisis. He, however, cautioned Mbeki at going against Mugabe alone as he would be demonised by the Zimbabwe government and its media. Instead he advocated for a regional approach that would bring on board Angola and Namibia, which are perceived as supportive of Harare.

However, Nyatsumba's celebration of the shift in policy by Mbeki does not seem to be shared by other journalists. In an editorial headlined "Oppose media gag" which obliquely referred to Mbeki's new approach The Star had this to say: "President Mbeki may be harbouring a forlorn hope of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe if the Harare government follows through on its threat to muzzle the local press and foreign media...The South African government, in its attempts to ensure free and fair elections, must make it plain to President Mugabe that a free, unfettered media is a prerequisite." One senses through the editorial some element of cynicism that Mbeki would speak directly to Mugabe and tell him the brutal truth: restore law and order or face the music.

Compounding the issue of the direction the ANC government should take on Zimbabwe are the different ideas within the ruling party about how to handle the Zimbabwean situation. It seems there is one group that feels a certain sense of loyalty to Zanu PF because of their liberation war links and those that were in exile in Harare have fond memories of their stay there and the government's largesse then. Another group seems to be wary of the Movement for Democratic Change's (MDC) agenda and believes that Zimbabwe's situation can only be resolved when Mugabe goes and is replaced by a more level-headed leader from within Zanu PF. The ANC's Alliance partners, the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) are clear in their support for the MDC. As to which grouping has the upper hand that will certainly become clear in the coming weeks as South African business and the international world apply further pressure on Mbeki to ensure matters in Zimbabwe do not come to a head. We shall soon know what Mbeki means by "doubling" his efforts on Zimbabwe.

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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 9 December

War vets deny food relief to villagers in Matabeleland

Bulawayo - Life has become a living hell for hundreds of villagers in Matabeleland North where warlords and vigilante groups have taken over the distribution of food relief. The vigilantes operate with the blessing of senior ruling party leaders in the province who include a member of the politburo, Zanu PF's supreme decision-making body. Hundreds of starving villagers who are not members of the ruling party in Lupane have been denied food aid by the war veterans and vigilante groups. The worst affected are the children and the elderly. The war veterans, most of them former Zipra guerrillas who were themselves victims of the same party and government in the 80s, have made sure that only members of Zanu PF obtain food relief.

About 100 000 people are in urgent need of drought relief food in Lupane and Nkayi districts but food is not reaching them. The plight of the villagers has been worsened by the recent decision by the government to ban local and foreign aid agencies from distributing food to the starving people in the rural areas. The government banned the aid agencies after accusing them of using food to campaign for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Matabeleland is the political powerbase of the MDC which swept all but two seats during last year's legislative elections. A local aid agency in Bulawayo said it was receiving weekly reports of starving people in the Lupane and Tsholotsho areas but that there was nothing it could do because of the new government regulations. "Every week, I get disturbing reports that hundreds of people are being denied food by Zanu PF supporters and officials," said the official who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

War veterans have banned journalists and human rights officials from visiting Lupane. Two weeks ago, three officials from Zimrights were threatened with death by war veterans in the presence of Zanu PF officials. The officials had planned to visit victims of political violence and assess the situation on the ground. This Standard reporter, however, passing himself off as a rural school teacher, managed to sneak past two makeshifts roadblocks manned by war veterans. On arriving at three villages which included the Gandangula area, The Standard discovered that there was widespread suffering among the local population. Villagers appeared traumatised by the daily harassment they have been undergoing which has included beatings by war veterans and vigilante groups armed with traditional weapons.

"My son, I have not eaten isitshwala for six days because me and my family were accused of being MDC supporters," said one old man who looked frail and weakened by hunger. He said he had been surviving on wild fruits which are now in abundance in the district because of the rains. Scores of other villagers accused the government of trying to starve them to death because of their unwavering support for the MDC. The villagers told The Standard that the main problem lay with a senior Zanu PF leader. "Whenever this man comes here, there is always trouble because he moves with thugs who beat us and our families up," a villager in Gandangula said. The official who is known to this reporter denied he was controlling a group of gangsters to terrorise MDC supporters. When asked to comment on reports from the villagers, the official, who is believed to be a member of the security service, threatened to beat up both reporter and his "imperialist" employers. "Who told you those lies. How can you believe people who are used by whites and foreigners to destroy our government," one war vet fumed when I tried to ask questions.

As I was interviewing the villagers, some fearfully advised me to leave in case the vigilantes killed me. "My son, you are risking your life. We are living in hell here. Life is now worse than during the white man's rule," said Simon Mhlanga of the Insuza area, where in 1982, six western tourists were abducted by the so-called dissident guerrillas. The villagers in Insuza said when they went to register for relief food at the district administrator's office in Lupane, they were told to go and ask for food from MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai, and his vice, Gibson Sibanda. Every week, Zanu PF officials address villagers in the area and physically threaten MDC supporters.

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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 9 December

MDC team to probe Nkala murder

MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai, has dispatched to Matabeleland a team of intelligence officers from his party to investigate circumstances surrounding last month's killing of two Zanu PF members, The Standard has learnt. The team has been tasked to carry out independent investigations into the murder of provincial war veterans' chairman, Cain Nkala, and of Limukani Luphahla of Lupane. The Zanu PF government and its allies in the police have already charged that the MDC was responsible for the murders, but the opposition party has denied this. According to the sources, evidence gathered during the investigations will be used by the team defending the 14 MDC members facing charges of murdering the two activists. Among the 14 are Lobengula-Magwegwe MP, Fletcher Dulini, and Simon Direen Spooner, a personal adviser to David Coltart, the MP for Bulawayo South.

The Standard understands that the team has been able to speak to various people who were associated with Nkala and Luphahla. Among those interviewed are members of the Guta RaJevoha Witness Congregation to which Nkala belonged. Said a source within the MDC: "We are still in the process of gathering evidence and we have new leads which we hope to finish compiling as part of our evidence." While the government has branded the MDC a terrorist organisation allegedly for "murdering" the two Zanu PF activists, members of the Nkala family who spoke to The Standard soon after his death said they believed the murder to have been an inside job by Zanu PF stalwarts who saw him as a stumbling block to their political ambitions.

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From The Sunday Independent (SA), 9 December

MDC appeals to Mbeki for help

With political tension at an all-time high, Zimbabwe's opposition leaders are appealing to South Africa to put pressure on President Robert Mugabe to accept a framework agreement for next year's presidential election. Mugabe was flying home on Saturday night with his wife and three children from a trip to an expensive eye clinic in Madrid, Spain, to escalating conflict at home in the wake of a threat of a new crackdown by Augustine Chihuri, Zimbabwe's commissioner of police. Chihuri, who is emerging as a key member of the Zimbabwean kleptocracy, recently visited a farm in the country's prime Shamva farming region - accompanied by his wife - to notify the farmer that he was taking over the farm as part of the government's policy of redistributing land to the landless poor. The order granting him the farm was signed by Joe Made, the agriculture minister.

Chihuri told a police graduation ceremony at the weekend that he would "descend hard on perpetrators and collaborators of terrorist activities", terms used by the government to refer to elected opposition politicians and the media. MPs from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) told The Sunday Independent that there appeared to be no prospect of free and fair elections, and called on the South African government to act immediately. "It's unrealistic to expect a free and fair election under these conditions," said Paul Themba Nyathi, an MDC MP. "To restore law and order you need a police force. Besides corruption, the undermining of the economy means there will be logistical problems. The government has created a system that feeds off violence. If Mugabe bludgeons his way into power, what will the reaction be? Should the MDC win, what will the reaction be? There will have to be massive overseas support to stabilise the country. Pressure must be placed on Zanu PF to negotiate. I'm not sure we can do it ourselves." The United States congress this week approved "smart sanctions" against Zimbabwe that will allow President George Bush to freeze Mugabe's assets, and prevent his advisers, members of his cabinet, and their families from entering the US, where many government ministers' children are studying. Some European countries are taking up the same issue. Had Spain had such rules in place this week, Mugabe and his family would not have been able to visit the eye clinic.

"South Africa will need to enter into a partnership with the European Union to get a framework agreement for the elections that includes the setting of standards for the poll, and makes clear what will happen afterwards," said Priscilla Misihairabwi, another MDC MP. Mugabe has imposed a set of laws that restrict different categories of people from voting, and there is no independent electoral commission. People without electricity accounts or any other means of proving that they reside in the country are not allowed to register to vote, and neither are Zimbabweans who are abroad, except for soldiers. In addition, Zimbabweans who qualify to become citizens of other countries are being forced to renounce their right to do so. The government's threats against the independent local press and foreign correspondents have escalated, and a draconian new press bill has been published. "In my constituency, people can't register. The election is already unfair. In the event of a struggle, what will happen?" asked Misihairabwi. A delegation from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is scheduled to arrive in Harare on Monday, but Nyathi said Mugabe was not adhering to recommendations made by the body, and that the SADC had failed Zimbabwe. For the past two weeks, President Thabo Mbeki has been publicly criticising Mugabe. He briefed the ANC's national executive committee last Saturday about Mugabe's failure to co-operate after each of the SADC meetings at which he had undertaken to end the illegal land invasions by his supporters.

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From ZWNEWS, 8 December

Bail refused for Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, MDC MP

Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, MDC MP and Treasurer, was yesterday refused bail by the High Court. Dulini-Ncube, who was arrested nearly a month ago, is 60 years of age and a diabetic. He has been denied adequate supplies of insulin and medical attention during his detention, with the result that both his sight and his hearing are now failing rapidly. Judge Chiwesha, before whom he appeared, is a former Advocate-General in the Zimbabwe National Army and a member of the War Veteran's Association. Simon Spooner, 48, who was granted bail by the High Court on Thursday and freed from his four-week detention, was re-detained less than 24 hours later, when, in compliance with one of his bail conditions, he reported to the Hillside police station in Bulawayo. Police said the reason for his re-arrest was that the Attorney-General was appealing against the High Court order granting him bail. An urgent application for his release from this second arrest was turned down.

Dulini-Ncube, Spooner, and dozens of other MDC members were originally arrested in the wake of the murder of Cain Nkala, a leader of war veterans in Matabeleland. Two MDC members were paraded on state TV confessing to their part in Nkala's murder, and implicating senior MDC officials. These confessions were the only evidence the state has produced as justification for the charges laid against a number of MDC members. However, the two witnesses last week retracted their confessions in court, saying that they had been extracted under police torture. The state's case against all those they have accused of complicity in Nkala's murder has therefore collapsed, and in the order granting bail to Spooner, the judge said there was no evidence against him.

Legal sources described the vigour with which the Attorney-General has pursued the prosecution of all the MDC members arrested in the sweep following Nkala's murder as "simply astounding". Biggie Chitoro, a Zanu PF supporter who was heavily implicated in brutal political violence in the Mberengwa constituency during last year's parliamentary elections, is free on bail. Mberengwa district was reported by human rights organisations as being one of the areas worst-affected by government and Zanu PF brutality against opposition supporters. Chitoro has resumed his "political" activities in violation of his bail conditions. Few, if any, prosecutions have been brought against those accused of murders in politically motivated violence since February 2000, which now stand at almost 120. Those responsible for the abduction and probable murder of Patrick Nabanyama, who disappeared in June 2000 and has not been seen since, have also not been prosecuted. Nkala was one of those charged with Nabanyama's abduction, and had been due to appear in court shortly after he, too, was abducted and murdered. Matabeleland war veterans, and members of Nkala's own family have said that Nkala's murder was an "inside job", related to fears that he was about to reveal that senior members of Zanu PF in Matabeleland had ordered the killing of Nabanyama.

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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 7 December

US Black Caucus ditches Mugabe

President Robert Mugabe's claims of support from the Black Caucus in the United States congress evaporated on Tuesday night after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted for tough measures against his regime. A last-minute attempt by lobbyist Andrew Young to sway the vote failed. Gregory Simpkins, vice-president of the Foundation for Democracy in Africa, a Washington-based think-tank, said there was irresistible consensus in favour of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Bill. "Everyone voted for the Bill," Simpkins said. "The Republicans and the Democrats voted for the Bill, nearly all Black Caucus members voted for the Bill, all Black Caucus members in New York voted for the Bill, conservatives and liberals alike voted for the Bill," he said.

Simpkins said House of Representatives members - including Congressman John Louis who replaced Andrew Young and others who initially gave Mugabe the benefit of the doubt such as John Conyes, Charles Rangel and Maxine Waters - voted for the Bill. Simpkins, an African-American, told the Zimbabwe Independent it was a fallacy that black congressmen were opposed to the Bill. "Blacks know what is right and what is wrong. It was not a matter of black and white but what is happening in Zimbabwe," he said. "Silence is not consent...Just because they haven't been saying anything doesn't mean they supported Zimbabwe." Simpkins said the silence of developing countries does not mean support for Harare either. US congressmen were anxious to act, he said.

"An overwhelming majority voted for the Bill, much more than those who voted in the Agoa (Africa Growth and Opportunity Act)," Simpkins said. Zimbabwe was excluded from Agoa. Simpkins said the breakdown of the rule of law, official pursuit of "political justice which is not justice at all", and the land crisis swayed the vote against Zimbabwe. Congress passed the Bill by 396 to 11 votes. It was unanimously approved in the Senate earlier this year but will now return to the upper house to approve minor amendments. A last-ditch appeal by former Atlanta mayor and US ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young to members of congress cut no ice. Now the head of GoodWorks International Inc, a firm of lobbyists, Young claimed Mugabe is a "Christian socialist who has focused on the distribution of wealth but less on generating wealth through foreign investment, which should be the strategy of the debt-ridden Zimbabwean government".

Repeating remarks he made in Harare earlier this year, Young said there had been much less violence in Zimbabwe than in Britain, Ireland or South Africa. "Fewer than 50 people in two years of struggle over land reform have been killed," he said. "I hope you will do everything in your power to oppose this Bill," he pleaded - in vain. Young told the Independent in July that he was not being paid for his work on behalf of the Mugabe regime. In a statement after the passage of the Bill, Africa subcommittee chair Ed Royce said Congress had acted on dictatorship. "Today, the US House of Representatives acted against tyranny in Zimbabwe," he said. "I foresee the US working closely with the European Union, South Africa, and other regional states to address this crisis. The US congress is watching Zimbabwe. I hope President Mugabe gets the message."

Zimbabwe, Simpkins said, squandered opportunities to block the Bill. "There were a lot of attempts to talk to Zimbabwe but that didn't work," he said. "But Zimbabwe still has a chance. The ball is in government's court. This Bill is a plea for dialogue. I hope it will not result in more intransigence." Simpkins observed the Bill is aimed at the regime and not the people. "It's strictly targeted at government and the leadership. We want Zimbabwe to be a partner in democracy. We are looking at how to get Zimbabwe back on track and not how to destroy it." US assistant secretary of state Walter Kansteiner is expected in Zimbabwe next week for talks on the local crisis. He has already visited Kenya and Ethiopia and is currently in South Africa.

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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 7 December

Ebrahim blasts fast-track land programme

Supreme Court Judge Justice Ahmed Ebrahim differed sharply with his colleagues on the Supreme Court bench who this week ruled that the government had re-established the rule of law on the country's white-owned farms and had implemented a proper programme of land reform. In what appears to be a stinging rebuttal of remarks made in the majority ruling, Justice Ebrahim said it was not the duty of the court to support the government of the day but to uphold the law. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku together with Justices Misheck Cheda, Vernanda Ziyambi and Luke Malaba agreed that the government's land reform programme was a matter of "social justice and not, strictly speaking, a legal issue". However, Justice Ebrahim, the fifth member of the bench handpicked by Chidyausiku to hear the case, said it was "impossible" to state that the rule of law had been restored on the country's white-owned farms or that there was a land reform programme. "It is not the function of the courts to support the government of the day," he said in his dissenting judgement. "The court's duty is to the law and the law alone. They may never subvert the law. To act otherwise would create huge uncertainty in the law," he said.

The majority overturns an order given last year by the previous Supreme Court bench, led by internationally respected former Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay, which declared that Mugabe's fast track land reform programme was chaotic and illegal. Justice Gubbay resigned after threats of violence by Mugabe's supporters and Mugabe appointed Chidyausiku in his place. Justice Ebrahim said that the state lawyers were "repeating the arguments previously rejected by the Supreme Court under Justice Gubbay. "All the points were carefully considered and that court came to the conclusion it did," said Justice Ebrahim. "Haphazard squatting cannot form part of a lawful programme of land reform. It is not lawful for any occupier to be on the land at all, let alone cut down trees, build homes, till land, graze their cattle. It is a criminal offence. It is impossible to accept that the rule of law has been restored." Apparently responding to the view of Chidyausiku and the other three that land reform was a matter of social justice rather than the law, Ebrahim said "the courts' duty is to the law and the law alone. Judges, as individuals, have their own political, legal, and social views and opinions. But it is the sworn duty of every judge to apply the law, whatever he or she may think of the law."

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From The Mail & Guardian, 6 December

Union boss calls for Mugabe to be ousted

Zimbabwe can be saved from economic collapse only if its President, Robert Mugabe, is removed from power at the next election, general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Zwelinzima Vavi said this week. Speaking after a three-day meeting of the Southern Africa Trade Union Co-ordination Council (Satucc) in Johannesburg, Vavi asked: "How do we save Zimbabwe? Remove Mugabe in the next election." He said Mugabe's sole aim was power, and that he was "desperate and does not care how many corpses he leaves behind". The council, of which Vavi is president, unites union federations in countries of the Southern African Development Community, except the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritius.

His comments coincide with a visible toughening of the South African government's stance on Zimbabwe, including three public attacks by President Thabo Mbeki, and a propaganda assault on Mbeki in Harare's state-owned Herald. Relations between the two countries are more strained than at any time since 1994. Vavi said he was not sure the South African government could do anything about the near-collapse of the Zimbabwean economy "seeing that we are facing similar problems -though not on the same scale - of poverty and escalating unemployment. We do not have our fundamentals right in this country." He said, however, that Mbeki is now "making the right noises, which is encouraging ... We need more of these noises, but would have preferred stronger statements earlier. It might have helped a bit."

Vavi said Afro-pessimism might be playing some role in the slide of the rand. However, he did not believe the theory that the currency was rapidly devaluing because of South Africa's initial "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe. "You cannot blame every problem with the rand on Zimbabwe. Our economy is unstable; there is chronic rising unemployment and slow delivery. Which country is going to listen to South Africa when the rand is R11,10 to the dollar?" An investment strike by South African business and huge capital flight was affecting the local economy, Vavi said. Regional unions at the Satucc meeting decided to write a letter to Mugabe asking him to curb the "anarchy" in Zimbabwe and stop intimidating unions and opposition parties. The federation decided that free and fair elections in Zimbabwe are not possible if the current climate of lawlessness persists. "We should be doing more than sending a memorandum, though, as this will probably be ignored. We should be mobilising workers to defend democracy actively," Vavi said.

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