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Archived News
25th January 2005
Ban on ministers lifted
Women protesters arrested
Call for independent review of voters' roll
MDC welcomes ANC's Zim salvo
Cosatu hails 'historic remarks'
Govt crackdown sows fear in Zimbabwe
We're not getting tough on Zanu PF, says ANC
SACP backs Cosatu plan for visit to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe breaks up South Africa spy ring
Link between ANC, Zanu 'rebels'
Zim authorities go after wife of jailed MP
Moyo loses appeal to stand in Zimbabwe election
War veterans invade Jonathan Moyo's farm
Chinotimba kicked out of party house
Ebrahim accused of blackmailing players
How SA spied on Mugabe
Quiet diplomacy versus harsh reality
Pro-government judge to head new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Ostracised Moyo sues own party chiefs
Cosatu to go ahead with Zimbabwe visit
Made wins, with a little help from GMB
Three closed banks to briefly re-open
SA spy captured and tortured by Zimbabwe forces
Goche speaks on spies
The worm turns
Can Zimbabwe polls be free and fair?
Banking sector full of holes
Zimbabwe spy story hits home for TV presenter
Pahad foresees no fallout over spy saga
MDC worried about Zimbabwe's election body
Confusion over who is to run Zim's next poll
The rise and fall of Mugabe's spin doctor
MDC legislator, 60 party activists arrested
Motorist in trouble for 'blocking' Mugabe's motorcade
Cosatu defiant on Zimbabwe
How SA spies on 'friendly' nations
Zanu PF probes Moyo
Cosatu goes cap in hand to Harare on visit
ANC gives cautious thumbs-up to Zim visit
Zimbabwe vows to unleash full wrath of state power on Cosatu
Price of disobeying Mugabe 'too high'
Zimbabwe board admits to player approaches
ZC director resigns over board's policies
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From The Herald, 19 January
Ban on ministers lifted
Herald Reporter
The Zanu PF National Elections Directorate has lifted the suspensions of Deputy Ministers Andrew Langa and Abedinico Ncube, but barred Mutare Central aspiring candidate Cde Shadreck Beta from participating in tomorrow's rerun of the primary election in the constituency over irregularities associated with the first poll. The directorate also announced that none of the appeals lodged with it by losing candidates in the weekend primary elections warranted a rerun of the polls. Chairman of the directorate Cde Elliot Manyika said they had overturned the decision by the Matabeleland South Provincial Co-ordinating Committee prohibiting Cdes Langa and Ncube from participating in primaries in their respective constituencies. The two had been suspended and barred from participating in tomorrow's primary elections for their alleged participation at a meeting which led to the Tsholotsho Declaration. Cde Langa - the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications - is the sitting Member of Parliament for Insiza, while Cde Ncube is the MP for Gwanda and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. "We have looked at the merits and demerits of their case and their level of participation and decided that it did not warrant further suspension," said Cde Manyika at a Press conference yesterday.
He said as for Mutare Central, Cde Beta had been held accountable for the irregularities that rocked the constituency. The announcement of the results of the primary election was subsequently deferred following the unearthing of rigging. "The National Elections Directorate has suspended Cde Beta for being at the centre of irregularities involving the availability of party membership cards not issued by the Zanu-PF Headquarters," said Cde Manyika, adding that Cde Beta would remain a party member unless and until a properly constituted party disciplinary committee decides that he be suspended. The remaining candidates in Mutare Central are businessman Cde Esau Mupfumi and Cde Charles Pemhenayi. They lock horns in tomorrow's rerun. Cde Manyika, who is also the Zanu-PF national political commissar, ruled out the possibility of a rerun on the appeals that have been lodged with the party so far. "The directorate felt that after a careful and thorough consideration of all the complaints, they do not warrant a rerun of the primary election in the respective constituencies. Subsequently, these results have been unanimously confirmed as announced," he said.
Among those who lodged appeals is the Minister of State responsible for Parastatals, Cde Rugare Gumbo, who lost to Cde Godwill Shiri in Mberengwa East constituency. Cde Gumbo polled 5 496 votes against Cde Shiri's 6 222. Sitting MPs for Murehwa North and Makoni West, Cdes Victor Chitongo and Gibson Munyoro respectively, were also challenging the election outcomes. Cde Chitongo lost to the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Cde David Parirenyatwa, while Cde Munyoro was trounced by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cde Joseph Made. The Deputy Minister of Industry and International Trade, Cde Kenneth Manyonda, and the chief officer, Cde Elasto Mugwadi, who lost to businessman Cde Kudakwashe Mutomba, were also understood to have appealed over alleged irregularities. Acting Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman Cde John Mafa said his office had not received the adverse Press reports against the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Cde Paul Mangwana, to the effect that he had burnt ballot papers in protest. Cde Mangwana lost to former Zupco chief executive officer Cde Bright Matonga.
"The information we have gathered is that all the people concerned agreed that the initial process that they had followed was irregular. They then agreed among themselves that the ballot papers be burnt and a rerun be conducted. So as far as we are concerned, Cde Mangwana has no case to answer unless new evidence comes forth," said Cde Mafa. He also commended women candidates whom he said did well in open races involving men, pointing out that four of them had so far won in such contests. Cde Manyika said the directorate had authorised the holding of primary elections in Chimanimani, Mutare Central, Gokwe North, Makonde, Chinhoyi, Kariba, Tsholotsho, Gwanda and Makoni East tomorrow. Four candidates - Cdes Maria Sithole, Josephine Moyo, Musa Mathema and Simbile Dube - will battle it out in Tsholotsho, which has been reserved for women. "The National Elections Directorate wishes to announce that Zanu PF will be officially launching its Anti-Blair Campaign on 22 January 2005 at the Harare International Conference Centre. Over 3 000 delegates are expected to attend the historic occasion," said Cde Manyika.
The ruling party was also considering seeking State assistance in some areas of Gokwe which are not passable to due to floods and bad roads to enable voters to cast their ballots in the primaries. The assistance would be in logistical support like helicopters to ferry voters who should express their democratic right by voting for a candidate of their choice, said Cde Manyika. Election results in Gokwe Central were still unavailable due to logistical problems, he said. The elections were pitting the sitting MP Cde Lovemore Mpukuta against Cde Shaddy Sai and Cde Japhet Jubane. Incumbent MP for Gokwe West Cde Esther Nyauchi prevailed over fellow woman candidate Cde Emily Magaracha when she garnered 5 358 votes against the 912 votes her challenger got. In Gweru Rural constituency (Vungu), Cde Joseph Madubeko Moyo beat Cde Makumucha Mbulawa Chidhakwa after polling 2 331 votes against Cde Chidhakwa's 1 412. There was no election in Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe, where the sitting MP, Cde Kenneth Mutiwekuziva, was nominated unopposed. The primary elections saw four ministers lose the right to represent the ruling party in the March parliamentary election. These are Industry and International Trade Minister Cde Samuel Mumbengegwi, his deputy Cde Manyonda, Cde Gumbo and Cde Mangwana. Cde Mumbengegwi lost to Cde Enita Muzariri in Chivi North.
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From Zim Online, 19 January
Women protesters arrested
Harare - The police yesterday arrested 11 members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) group after demonstrations here by the organisation. Two of the women were later released without being charged but after severe beatings by the police. A journalist, Frank Chikowore, who was picked up by the police while covering the protest by the about 300 women in Harare city centre was also released yesterday. WOZA co-ordinator Jenni Williams told Zim Online: "It appears those of our members who were arrested arrived for the demonstration late when we had already dispersed and they were picked up by the police who had been slow to react to our protest." The WOZA women were protesting against plummeting standards of education, skyrocketing school fees and prices of school uniforms. The local chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa and the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists condemned the arrest of Chikowore, who is accredited with the government's Media and Information Commission to work as a journalist in the country.
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From IRIN (UN), 17 January
Call for independent review of voters' roll
Johannesburg - Zimbabwean opposition parties and civic groups have warned that unless the voters' roll is reviewed by an independent body, the credibility of the March general elections could be called into question. The voters' roll was opened for inspection on Monday until 30 January. Zimbabwe has 5,658,637 eligible voters, according to the registrar-general's office. In an interview with IRIN, Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the pro-democracy NGO, National Constitutional Assembly, contended that the roll would be no different from the one used in the 2002 presidential elections, which were condemned as flawed by most western observers. "The roll is in shambles: over the years the registrar-general's office has added more names but not totally reformed the roll ... We have had cases of deceased people appearing on the roll; people being registered in the wrong constituencies; or others simply failing to find their names," said Madhuku.
Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede announced that his department would prepare the roll according to the new constituency boundaries drawn up by the Delimitation Commission. However, Madhuku alleged that it was impossible for the authorities to compile an accurate roll in time because of the lack of resources and in the absence of an independent electoral body, the authorities could manipulate the voting process. "We could have hoped for a credible roll if the proposed Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had been appointed ... Even if the ZEC were to be appointed, I don't think there would be any changes, since its head will be a presidential, and therefore partial, appointee," said Madhuku. The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has threatened to boycott the elections unless government agrees to reform of the electoral process in accordance with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) guidelines, which include the appointment of an independent electoral commission. The MDC is also demanding the repeal of a raft of laws affecting the media, NGOs and public security, which it views as an infringement of Zimbabweans' democratic rights.
Mudede has defended his department, saying: "Those questioning the accuracy of the roll are free to go and inspect it, with the rest of the country, during the inspection period." He added that, "The [registrar-general's] office has a mandate to conduct elections, and will do so until such a time that the new electoral commission is appointed. I cannot comment on statements alleging irregularities, because we have not gone through the inspection process as yet." South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has weighed into the debate on the fairness of upcoming poll. "We have been concerned about several things [in Zimbabwe]," ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe told a media briefing after the annual meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee at the weekend. "The fact that the opposition MDC is a properly registered political party, but it still requires police permission to hold its meetings ... impairs its ability to interact with its constituency - it's an anomaly," Motlanthe was quoted as saying. "Indeed, the playing field should be levelled, and the police should act in an impartial manner," he said.
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From The Daily News (SA), 18 January
MDC welcomes ANC's Zim salvo
Calls from the ANC for the levelling of the political playing field in Zimbawe were welcomed by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. But these needed to be supplemented by pressure on violent youth militias and the independence of election officials. The calls came as Zanu PF held primary elections that were marred by violence and complaints of vote-rigging. President Robert Mugabe tightened his grip by having loyalists re-elected and recent critics sidelined. MDC justice spokesperson David Coltart welcomed ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe's statement yesterday, in which the ANC rebuked its sister Zanu PF party for the first time in public. Coltart singled out criticism of the requirement to obtain police permission for political meetings. However, he said, "We would ask them to focus on... the absence of an independent electoral commission. The elections will, as in the past, effectively be run by the registrar-general's office and Zimbabwe will hold by far the most uneven elections in the region.
Mugabe's inner circle did not have to face turbulent primary elections at the weekend and were rubber-stamped as Zanu PF candidates for the general election, expected in March. Significantly, analysts point to the low turnout by Zanu PF supporters in most urban areas - but in one rural district in south-eastern Zimbabwe, the winning candidate in the Zanu PF primaries scored double the votes that the party scored in any previous general election. Surprisingly, agriculture minister Joseph Made won a massive majority over one of Zanu PF's most diligent MPs, Gibson Munyoro, in the eastern Manicaland province. Made has been strongly criticised on both sides of the parliament benches for failing to organise inputs for crops in time for the rainy season, which has massively undermined Zimbabwe's peasant farmers, and he has regularly provided inaccurate statistics on food security. He was the architect of legislation for seizure of more than 11 million hectares of white-owned land, which was routinely thrown out by the courts even after the composition of the bench was changed to include a majority of Zanu PF-supporting judges.
Mugabe's last "war" cabinet, including Made, was brought into parliament by a constitutional provision that allows the victor of general elections to appoint 20 non-constituent MPs and 10 tribal leaders. Absenteeism by Zanu PF in the last parliamentary session was so regular that the MDC often outnumbered Zanu PF in the House of Assembly. Brian Raftopoulos, veteran political analyst and academic from the University of Zimbabwe said yesterday: "There is still turmoil in Zanu PF and the succession battle continues. Mugabe feels he is needed now more than ever to keep (the party) together. "The longer-term future of the leadership is an issue as many of them are elderly. The young Turks are still smarting and the battle over succession isn't going to go away."
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From News24 (SA), 18 January
Cosatu hails 'historic remarks'
Thabang Mokopanele
Johannesburg - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday it noted "with pleasure" the comments of the African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General, Kgalema Motlanthe, and the statement of the ANC Lekgotla about the situation in Zimbabwe. "We are heartened by the secretary general's historic remarks, coming shortly before the forthcoming elections in our neighbouring country, on the need to level the playing field, the removal of restrictions on opposition parties and the call for the police to behave in an impartial manner," the union federation said in a statement. Cosatu, which is in a tripartite alliance with the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP), added that these comments go a long way to closing the gap between the union and the ANC that seemed to exist on the issue of Zimbabwe towards the end of last year, especially in the debate being conducted in ANC Today (on the ANC's website) following the deportation of Cosatu's fact-finding mission. The trade union noted that it does, however, object to the comment made by Kgalema Motlanthe on SABC TV news that Cosatu's agenda was motivated by the desire to attract headlines in the media. "This uncharacteristic comment borders on an attack on Cosatu's integrity when it addresses these important issues."
Cosatu pointed out that acting under a mandate from its National Congress, it has at all times been concerned only to defend the human rights and the economic well-being of its fellow-workers in Zimbabwe and to show solidarity with those in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). The federation has written to the Zimbabwe minister of labour, Paul Mangwana, about the fact-finding mission that it intends to resend to Zimbabwe and is awaiting a reply. "Unfortunately however, rather than respond to Cosatu, the minister has been quoted in the Daily Mirror, on January 15, as saying that 'if the Cosatu delegation bulldozed its way into the country, it was going to meet the same fate as in October last year and that they are unwanted people. Unwanted people are thrown away. If they come we will force them into the next kombi.'" Cosatu said that Mangwana also suggested that the union should be working through a bilateral structure, which does not exist. The general secretaries of Cosatu and the ZCTU, Zwelinzima Vavi and Wellington Chibebe, are to meet in Cape Town on January 22, to discuss how to move forward. "In the meantime, we shall continue to organise pickets of the Zimbabwe high commission and, together with the ZCTU, are looking at other possible actions including a blockade of the border. "We invite those who said we acted irresponsibly by sending a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe last year to tell us what we should do now, in face of the intransigence of the Zimbabwe labour minister."
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From Associated Press, 19 January
Govt crackdown sows fear in Zimbabwe
By Angus Shaw
A government crackdown against dissent was deepening Zimbabwe's climate of fear ahead of parliamentary elections due in March. Security forces shut bars and businesses perceived as hotbeds of opposition. Police punish a careless remark about the nation's autocratic leader with a stint in jail. Undercover cops eavesdrop on conversations in cafes and buses. "What we are seeing is undeclared martial law," said Alouis Chaumba, director of the Roman Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace. "It is tearing whole communities apart." President Robert Mugabe has tolerated little dissent since he took power in the southern African country in 1980. But with the looming elections, the government has been tightening its control apparatus, and opposition politicians said they are being hounded out of existence. At least 45 opposition party rallies and civic group meetings were banned last year, human rights groups said. Government critics were now routinely jailed, and the only independent daily newspaper was recently shut down. In Senate hearings, US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice cited Zimbabwe as one of several countries that remained "outposts of tyranny" in the world.
At least 200 people had died in political violence and tens of thousands had been chased from their homes since Mugabe's government began seizing white-owned farms for redistribution to black Zimbabweans, many of them presidential cronies, in 2000. The often-violent campaign helped plunge the country into its worst political and economic crisis. Mugabe has used his parliamentary majority, secured in elections which independent observers said were marred by intimidation and vote rigging, to pass sweeping security and media laws. Police and soldiers, once seen as protectors, had become "tormentors", Chaumba said. Security forces order bars and sidewalk markets to close early, claiming the opposition Movement for Democratic Change supporters who patronise them were fomenting resistance. Cars and buses are searched at checkpoints for any sign of support for the party. Those found with fliers or T-shirts were dragged out of their vehicles, and even their homes. Witnesses recounted how two men were forced to do push-ups at the side of the road while they were thrashed with sticks last week. Their offence was not clear to the witnesses, who gave the scene a wide berth, fearing they too could be targeted. One woman said she ran home and locked herself inside until morning. "I was frightened," she said, refusing to give her name.
At least three people had been arrested for insulting Mugabe. Two of them were overheard by secret police agents while travelling on public buses. Mishek Tirivayi, a janitor in the capital, said, like most of his compatriots, he would not take to the streets to protest government repression, fearing "they'll kill us or beat us". Church leaders, among the government's most outspoken critics, said the ruling Zanu PF party's youth militia has posted informers at state grain depots, police stations, post offices, district government offices, schools and clinics across the country. Militia members, estimated to number more than 50,000, and other informants were rewarded with food handouts and other commodities, according to local priests. Teachers, civil servants and even some police suspected of supporting the opposition had been fired for "defiling" the districts where they worked, Chaumba said. The Human Rights Forum, a coalition of 17 human rights and advocacy groups, had documented 7,591 cases in which they say government opponents were tortured last year. At least 12 people died in political violence, and thousands more were threatened or assaulted, the forum said in its annual report. Now even this group was under threat. Parliament had approved a new law that bans human rights groups and other non-governmental organisations from receiving foreign funding or engaging in "issues of governance". When Mugabe signed it into law, it was expected to destroy groups seen as "the last protection, the last referee" of accountability, Chaumba said.
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From The Star (SA), 19 January
We're not getting tough on Zanu PF, says ANC
By Angela Quintal and Christelle Terreblanche
African National Congress secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe has played down reports that the ANC was turning up the heat on the Zimbabwean government ahead of the March poll. Comments that he made at a press conference in Johannesburg on Monday - in particular that the treatment of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was not conducive to free and fair elections - were widely reported as a signal that the ANC was hardening its stance against Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF. This coincided with media reports that a South African intelligence agent had been arrested in Zimbabwe for spying. In parliament yesterday, Motlanthe deflected questions from Independent Newspapers about whether the ANC had in fact toughened its stance. "It is actually a fiction to claim there is something like quiet or loud diplomacy," he said. "We have dynamic discussions with both parties in Zimbabwe and we believe we are very diplomatic." Motlanthe, accompanied by the ANC's head of Presidency, Smuts Ngonyama, said the ANC was speaking to the parties in Zimbabwe "in a manner which they would listen to". "We should not conduct ourselves in a way where we shout and issue invections," he said.
Motlanthe held extensive discussions with ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe and addressed MPs in an informal caucus yesterday. Asked whether parliament would send an observer team to Zimbabwe, Goniwe said South African MPs intended getting involved in the election only under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) banner. Meanwhile the head of communications in the Presidency, Murphy Morobe, said he was not aware of any trip to Zimbabwe planned by President Thabo Mbeki. Rumours that Mbeki would visit Zimbabwe to lead a SADC fact-finding mission were fuelled by a statement from a group calling itself Concerned Zimbabweans, as well by as a statement from Democratic Alliance MP Joe Seremane yesterday. But several government officials said they were unaware of any proposed visit by the president. Mbeki and his cabinet ministers went into a three-day lekgotla today, in which Zimbabwe is among the issues to be discussed in the context of regional developments in SADC and Nepad. Seremane, in his statement yesterday, welcomed Motlanthe's comments that the MDC should be afforded basic democratic freedoms such as the right to hold public meetings and access to state media.
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From The Cape Times (SA), 20 January
SACP backs Cosatu plan for visit to Zimbabwe
By Karima Brown
Pretoria - The South African Communist Party has come out in support of Cosatu's second planned visit to Zimbabwe. The SACP says it is in favour of continual engagement to end the political crises in the neighbouring country. "The more visits, the more dialogue and engagement on the political crises in Zimbabwe, the better," said Jeremy Cronin, deputy secretary-general of the SACP. "Cosatu plays an important role in monitoring the situation in the run-up to the election and is an important, non-politically partisan organisation helping to watch developments in Zimbabwe." It was important to find ways to maximise the impact of the Cosatu visit and presence, especially considering that there were forces in Zimbabwe and in South Africa who were keen to provoke and see the delegation being booted out of the country, Cronin said. "The priority is not regime change, but the democratisation of Zimbabwe and there are forces that will seek to disqualify Cosatu's observer role. Tactically (the Cosatu representatives) need to think about how the visit will play out."
The SACP, which has repeatedly questioned whether the elections expected in March in Zimbabwe can be free and fair, also welcomed the ANC's tough stance on the ruling Zanu PF. The ANC has said that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) must be allowed the freedom to hold public meetings. This was an important message to get across before the elections, Cronin said. "The key is not so much only the election or even its outcome, but use of the election as part of a democratisation process. Beyond the political blockage, there remain huge economic and social challenges that need to be addressed." With less than two months to go, the MDC has yet to say if it is to take part in the polls. It has cited violence, increasing intimidation and the ruling party's control of the media as reasons why any election would be fundamentally flawed. The MDC also wants guidelines to be drawn up for the conduct of political parties and laws to curb and punish perpetrators of the violence and intimidation it believes has helped Zanu PF win other elections.
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From The Guardian (SA), 20 January
Zimbabwe breaks up South Africa spy ring
Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria
A South African spymaster has been arrested in Zimbabwe in a sting operation and is accused of running an espionage ring inside the country involving a number of prominent officials. The Guardian has been told that the agent was captured on December 15 in Victoria Falls after being lured into Zimbabwe from Zambia across a bridge spanning the Zambezi river. At the same time five prominent Zimbabweans were arrested, all of whom are closely linked to the inner circle of Robert Mugabe's ruling party, Zanu PF. All five have been charged with espionage. Sources close to the South African government confirmed the intelligence officer is being held by Zimbabwe's central intelligence organisation, and is providing information about the network he had set up. It is expected he will be returned to South Africa. The five Zimbabweans charged with espionage are: Philip Chiyangwa, a Zanu PF provincial chairman and MP, Godfrey Dzvairo, Zimbabwe's ambassador-designate to Mozambique, Kennedy Karidza, Zanu PF's security director, Tendai Matambanadzo, a director of Metropolitan Bank, and Itai Marchi, Zanu PF's director of external affairs. The identity of the South African has not been revealed but a South African source said he was a senior officer in the South African secret service who was 48 and white.
The secret agent, the Guardian was told, had travelled to Zambia's resort town of Livingstone where he was to meet a senior Zimbabwean intelligence officer. At the last minute the Zimbabwean persuaded him to come across to Victoria Falls where they would meet in a hotel. The South African was arrested when he crossed the border. He was allegedly paying Mr Chiyangwa £5,300 a month for information about the inner workings of Zanu PF, according to evidence emerging from Harare court hearings. Mr Chiyangwa and the others face up to 20 years in jail if convicted of the charges. The South Africans are trying to play down the arrest, saying the agent had been involved in routine intelligence gathering. But analysts believe South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, had launched a high-level spying operation against Mr Mugabe. "It shows that Mbeki has very bad relations with Mugabe," said Gail Wannenburg, a researcher for the South African Institute for International Affairs. "It shows that Mbeki is thinking that he cannot trust what Mugabe says to him. So far Mbeki has been outmanoeuvred by Mugabe. Mbeki expected some concessions from Mugabe in terms of election reforms, something that he could take to SADC [the Southern African Development Community, a regional body of 14 countries] as superficially acceptable improvements. But Mugabe has not done that." The revelations came as Mr Mbeki's party, the ANC, criticised the Mugabe government. Kgalema Motlanthe, the ANC's secretary general, said Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, should be allowed to hold meetings freely. It must apply to police to hold a meeting of more than five people, and the police routinely refuse permission. "You cannot have a registered party restricted in this way," Mr Motlanthe said this week.
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From News24 (SA), 19 January
Link between ANC, Zanu 'rebels'
Waldimar Pelser
Johannesburg - South Africa believed the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would destabilise Zimbabwe even further and therefore wanted to rather co-operate with "progressive elements" within Zanu PF to speed up reform in that country. This was the opinion of experts regarding the prosecution of five senior Zanu PF members on espionage charges after they allegedly sold "state secrets" to a South African spy. The five were generally seen as part of the "rebel" element in president Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party. Chris Maroleng of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria said the decision to send a spy to Zimbabwe was an attempt to get "inside information" about the "intrigues and scheming" within Zanu PF. "Government apparently believed that an MDC government would destabilise Zimbabwe even further, therefore they probably rather tried to use progressive elements within Zanu PF to encourage change within the party. "We have already lost credibility with the MDC earlier through 'quiet diplomacy' and now attempts to influence Zanu have also failed." Dr Nhamo Samasuwo, director of multilateral affairs at the Institute for Global Dialogue, said South Africa would have to "be very careful in its choice of words" and convince Zimbabwe that it wasn't planning to destabilise that country through espionage. "Quiet diplomacy might become even more quiet. Before the spy drama, it was already difficult for the ANC (African National Congress) to criticise Zanu. It could become even more difficult now. "The link between the South African and the Zanu 'rebels' is creating a serious diplomatic problem for the ANC."
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 19 January
Zim authorities go after wife of jailed MP
Harare - Zimbabwe authorities have resuscitated a three-year-old charge for a minor misdemeanour against the wife of a jailed opposition MP, her lawyer said on Wednesday. Heather Bennett, whose campaign for the release of her husband, Roy, has aroused international condemnation against President Robert Mugabe's regime, was summoned to appear in court Tuesday on charges of possessing two-way radios without a licence, said lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa. The radios were discovered during a police raid on a farm that Bennett, MP for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was living on in 2003, she said, and the summons that arrived last week was the first sign of official action since the raid. "One wonders why they are resuscitating this now," said Mtetwa. Said Mrs Bennett: "It's just harassment. It's definitely a political thing." On October 28 last year, Zimbabwe's Parliament, dominated by Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF MPs, voted to send the Bennett to jail for a year for shoving justice minister Patrick Chinamasa to the ground during a debate in chamber in which the minister called Bennett's ancestors thieves and murderers. The 47-year-old white MP, one of the most popular political figures in the country, said Chinamasa's insults were the final straw in a four-year campaign of lawless intimidation against him, his family and the workers on his farm in south-east Zimbabwe. Two of his staff have been murdered by security forces and scores of others were tortured and driven from their homes as the state illegally seized his farm and soldiers and police stole his cattle and crops.
The MDC says the imprisonment of Bennett was deliberate victimisation. Lawyers say that his assault on Chinamasa, which did not injure the minister, would earn the equivalent of a US$10 fine in a magistrate's court. Judges in the generally pro-Mugabe judiciary have refused him permission to appeal. Bennett said the radios were seized by police in one of several police searches of the property they were living in after they had been driven from their farm. "We bought them for our security guards," she said. "I had applied for a licence, but it hadn't come through when the police arrived." The offence of possession of an unlicensed radio carries a low fine. She was ordered to appear in court again on May 18. Observers say Bennett's campaign for her husband's release has won support all over the world, and its success has angered Mugabe's government. Bennett, who speaks fluent Shona and has been accorded status as a tribal elder, won his seat in the Chimanimani district in south-east Zimbabwe with overwhelming support from the black peasant farmers who live there.
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From The Cape Argus (SA), 20 January
Moyo loses appeal to stand in Zimbabwe election
Zanu PF has formally rejected an appeal by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo to allow him to stand in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the final blow to his bid to get sympathy from a ruling party which has rejected him. Moyo and scores of other candidates who lost in primary elections at the weekend had appealed to the ruling Zanu PF election directorate to either reverse the primary election results and do fresh re-runs or to re-consider the decision to reserve specific seats for women. But Zanu PF secretary for the commissariat Elliot Maniika announced after a meeting of the party's election directorate that the decision to bar Moyo would stand. A furious Moyo is still breathing fire and has sued party chairman John Nkomo and politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa for Z$2bn, accusing them of causing his downfall.
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From Zim Online, 20 January
War veterans invade Jonathan Moyo's farm
Harare - Ruling Zanu PF party militants were last night reported to have invaded Information Minister Jonathan Moyo's farm as a vicious power struggle within the party over President Robert Mugabe's successor appears set to break into open warfare. And in Manicaland province, some of the party's leaders openly demanded action against Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and two others who helped Moyo in a failed bid to block last year's appointment of Joyce Mujuru as party and state second vice-president. The vice-presidency is seen as a key stepping stone to the top job especially as Mugabe and his first vice-president Joseph Msika are set to retire at the same time in three years. Sources from Mashonaland Central province, Mujuru's home province and where Moyo's farm is located told Zim nline last night that the hordes of Zanu PF militia and self-styled veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s independence war had moved onto the property. They were reportedly demanding that Moyo leave the property and the province because of his opposition to Mujuru's appointment and that he goes and settle in his Tsholotsho rural home in the semi-arid Matabeleland North province. It was not clear whether Moyo himself was on the farm when the invaders arrived. He was unreachable last night.
Moyo last year convened a meeting in Tsholotsho to plot ways to block the rise of Mujuru, whom Mugabe had openly backed for the vice-presidency. He was publicly rebuked by Mugabe for calling the meeting and was subsequently fired from Zanu PF's key central and politburo committees. The information minister also appears set to lose his job after Zanu PF barred him from contesting March's general election. Mugabe has said he will not appoint anyone to his government who is not elected in the March poll. And from Manicaland, members of Zanu PF's national consultative assembly and war veterans leaders there sent a document to party chairman John Nkomo demanding action against Chinamasa, Agriculture and Transport Ministers Joseph Made and Chris Mushowe respectively. In the document that was also publicly circulated in Harare, the Zanu PF leaders accused the three ministers of closely working with Moyo to scuttle Mujuru's appointment. They also accused them of grabbing more than one farm each in violation of the government's one-man-one-farm policy. Both Nkomo and the three ministers could not be reached for comment on the document. Chinamasa was fired from the politburo for his involvement in the plot against Mujuru but Mushowe and Made appeared to have escaped without punishment.
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 19 January
Chinotimba kicked out of party house
War veterans leader Joseph Chinotimba was last week kicked out of his Mabelreign mansion for allegedly attending the ill-fated Tsholotsho meeting that sought to block the rise of Joyce Mujuru to the vice-presidency of Zimbabwe. Chinotimba was recently barred from contesting in the party's primary elections in Glen Norah. Zanu PF secretary for the Women's League, Oppah Muchinguri, last week told The Voice, the Zanu PF official newspaper, that they had decided to take over the party-owned house which Chinotimba is currently staying in, and turn it into a drop-in centre for orphans. Chinotimba moved into the house in 2000, at the height of the controversial farm invasions, which he was spearheading, after being involved in a shooting incident at his Glen Norah house with members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Zanu PF quickly offered the semi-derelict house to Chinotimba, who moved in together with his family. Chinotimba was informed of the party's decision and he is set to move out as soon as possible. Muchinguri said the decision had been taken by the Women's League after Chinotimba's suspension from the party's provincial executive. Chinotimba rose to prominence in 2000, when he led Zanu PF supporters in the controversial farm invasions.
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From cricinfo, 19 January
Ebrahim accused of blackmailing players
Max Ebrahim, Zimbabwe's controversial chief selector, has been accused of using his power to coerce players to defect from local sides and play for Universals, where he happens to be chairman. The claims have been made in a letter sent to Peter Chingoks, Zimbabwe Cricket's chairman, by Stephen Mangongo, the chairman of Takashinga and Ebrahim's predecessor as the head of Zimbabwe's selectors. Mangongo alleges that Ebrahim has been threatening Takashinga's players. "Alestair Maregwede and Chamunorwa Chibhabha have told Takashinga that they have been instructed to play for Universals by Ebrahim with immediate effect," Mangongo claimed. "As I write this letter Alestair and Chamunorwa have played for Universals for fear of victimisation and loss of playing contract. We have also been told that other six of our players who have not agreed to the kofve by Ebrahim have been threatened with withdrawal of contracts." Mangongo asked Chingoka to investigate the claims, concluding: "If there is any extortion, this is the extortion at its highest level. How the ZCU allows Macsood to bully people left, right and centre leaves a lot to be desired concerning the professional image of the organisation."
The situation represents a remarkable decline in the fortunes of Takashinga. Less than a year ago it was Zimbabwe's leading club side, and with Mangongo an influential figure within Zimbabwe cricket, it carried tremendous influence and was at the vanguard of the politicisation of the game. In April, Telford Vice reported how the club's players had been "sent home from development clinics by the national coach Geoff Marsh for turning up in T-shirts and bandanas supporting the ruling party Zanu PF." One interviewee told him: "Every time they play against white or Indian clubs there are problems. There are always racial things said, and arguments on the field. They are so political it's frightening. The sledging is so aggressive." But in recent months there have been stories fed to the press alleging that all is not well, and Mangongo's recent demise within the ZC powerbase, and subsequent allegations of financial mismanagement with the club, have had an effect. In October, Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwe's captain, walked out on Takashinga for reasons that were less than clear. And the club was recently at the forefront of the attempted rebellion against ZC over its rebranding.
So much of the daily process inside Zimbabwe relies on who has the power. Mangongo did and now he doesn't, and Ebrahim, who can play these games as well as anyone, is taking full advantage. The most likely scenario is that Chingoka will ask Ozias Bvute, ZC's general manager, to investigate. But Bvute and Mangongo have a history. Back in May, they had a heated row in front of journalists over the make-up of the national side - Bvute wanted more blacks, Mangongo wanted to pick the best side. The discussion allegedly ended with Bvute forcing Mangongo into an arm lock to show who was in charge. Since then, Mangongo's star has rapidly waned. It doesn't take too much imagination to speculate what outcome any ZC investigation into his claims will produce.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 20 January
How SA spied on Mugabe
Godwin Gandu
Harare - The former Zimbabwean consul-general to South Africa, Godfrey Dzvairo, was the ringleader of a network of Zimbabwean spies that has been selling confidential Zanu PF documents, including minutes of the party's supreme organ - the Politburo - to the South African government. The intelligence, gathered by a senior South African Secret Service operative, was used to inform President Thabo Mbeki's policy and tactic in Zimbabwe. Constitutional law lecturer Dr Lovemore Madhuku said he wasn't shocked Mbeki was spying on Mugabe. "He was quietly studying the inner workings of Zanu PF, its policies and politics. It has always been Mbeki's intention to replace Mugabe without replacing Zanu PF. That explains why his intelligence was rooted in Zanu PF not government." Alois Masepe, a political analyst based at the University of Zimbabwe, said espionage is widely accepted as part of diplomatic business and only becomes a problem if you are caught. "South Africa would want to know the political and economic intentions and activities of its neighbour. Whatever Zimbabwe does has an immediate impact on South Africans. When your neighbour's house is on fire your property is at stake."
Zimbabwean intelligence sources said Dzvairo, who was based in South Africa since 1994, had been under surveillance for more than a decade. "We had no tangible evidence to prove that he was involved in any dirty work, hence his appointment in November last year as ambassador to Mozambique." But they had nonetheless bugged Dzvairo's telephone and took interest in his conversations with former Metropolitan Bank of Zimbabwe company secretary Tendayi Matambanadzo, with whom he had studied law at the University of Zimbabwe in the 1980s. The banker's phone was also tapped. He is a relative of the wife of Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial chairperson and central committee member Philip Chiyangwa, whom he brought on board the spy ring. Chiyangwa in turn recruited Zanu PF director of external affairs Itayi Marchi - often tasked with taking minutes at Politburo meetings - and party security officer Kenneth Karidza. Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) monitored the activities of the men who had frequent meetings at a four-star hotel in Victoria Falls during November and December last year. On one occasion, sources said, "They booked a room that they did not use for three days. On the fourth day they regrouped and all their conversations were recorded."
The name of the South African operative featured prominently. He was arrested in a sting operation when the CIO head of counter intelligence lured him into Zimbabwe. "He cracked under pressure and started singing, releasing five names," sources said. Also implicated in the spy wrangle is Erasmus Moyo, the Zimbabwean diplomat in Geneva, Switzerland, who evaded arrest after allegedly boarding a flight to Harare.The five Zimbabweans - Marchi, Karidza, Chiyangwa, Dzvairo and Matambanadzo - were subsequently arrested and, according to their lawyers, subjected to torture. Marchi was arrested at Harare International airport and taken to the infamous Goromonzi CIO torture chambers, about 34km east of the capital, where he allegedly "spilled the beans". Sources said Karidza is in a critical condition, unable to walk or eat as a result of the interrogation. "Karidza is a war veteran who is difficult to break down, he is very tough." Dzvairo, Karidza and Matambanadzo's application to have their initial guilty pleas altered was thrown out by the magistrate's court last week. Their lawyer Selby Hwacha has since appealed the ruling. If convicted, they face jail terms of up to 20 years or a fine or both.
During his first appearance at the magistrate's court, Chiyangwa told the court through his lawyer Canaan Dube that he was blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination and tortured for seven days until he had a "mild stroke". Harare had been abuzz with rumour that Chiyangwa had died. Chiyangwa and the four others only passed on "party secrets not state secrets, that's the sticking point", a source said. "Party minutes contained deliberations between the president and his Cabinet at party level. Such information would then be tabled at government level." In his submission to the high court last week, Chiyangwa's advocate, Chris Anderson, said: "It was impossible to infer South Africa as an enemy of Zimbabwe considering the relationship between the two countries." Chiyangwa, who backed Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa's failed bid for the Zanu PF vice-presidency, is reported to have received a $10 000 monthly retainer from his South African handler. The spy saga could be hugely embarrassing to the South African government. Madhuku said "Mbeki's preoccupation was 'Will Mugabe step down?' He has been dealing with young Turks in Zanu PF, not anybody senior because he knew the future belonged to them. He spoke to [Justice Minister] Patrick Chinamasa, who was spearheading the inter-party dialogue [with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change] and Mnangagwa, who was their preferred choice in the succession race. South Africa wanted to surprise the world with a deal that would see Mugabe's exit."
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From Business Day (SA), 21 January
Quiet diplomacy versus harsh reality
Absence of signs that there will be a free and fair election in Zimbabwe piles pressure on SA and neighbours
International Affairs Editor
Growing signs that Zimbabwe's elections in March will not be free or fair and that there is little chance in the short term of a Zanu PF reform candidate emerging as a successor to President Robert Mugabe are being seen as a setback to SA's policy of quiet diplomacy. The African National Congress's (ANC's) criticism of Mugabe earlier this week, and the arrest of a South African agent, show a deep deterioration in relations between Pretoria and Harare. For SA and the region the question is what their next move will be now that the underpinning of their diplomacy reform within Zanu PF has been swept away. That could partially be answered in the next few weeks after the delegation from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) visits Zimbabwe to find out whether the country's laws conform with the regional body's principles and guidelines on elections. Options are fast narrowing for the SADC, which ideally would like to see Zimbabwe brought back into the international fold. Laws restricting campaigning by the opposition, difficultly for suspected opposition members in registering to vote, and intimidation by the Zanu PF youth militia, make it impossible for the country to conduct a free and fair election.
There is little SA can do to try to ensure a free and fair poll, other than insist on a delay in the election by a number of months. If Mugabe were then to refuse to delay the poll in the face of SADC calls and a likely boycott by the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, the region would have to think seriously about what pressure to apply. And even if the poll is delayed, the SADC may, if it does not bring greater pressure to bear, be buying time rather than pushing for reform. Buying time for Mugabe to pass from the scene is an open-ended strategy which is becoming increasingly costly in diplomatic and economic terms. The recent sharp criticism by the ANC, which is its most shrill so far, shows a deep frustration at the course of events in the country and a popular discontent with Mugabe's policies within the ranks of the party. But at this stage the statement comes across as nothing more than a marker rather than a way of opening the debate within the party about what sort of pressures might be applied. According to Chris Maroleng, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, the arrest of a South African agent and a circle close to one of the top contenders to succeed Mugabe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is evidence that it will be difficult for a strong candidate to emerge within the party soon. The protests at the selection of Zanu PF candidates for the March elections are evidence of Mugabe undermining possible challengers.
SA's policy of quiet diplomacy has been based on the theory that reform could best come within the ruling party, as the armed forces have positioned themselves on its side. But the blocking of possible reform elements and the arrest of a South African spy has undermined the basic precept behind quiet diplomacy, says Maroleng. The SADC is paying an increasingly high international price in its diplomatic standing in the US and Europe in having achieved nothing so far in bringing about reform in Zimbabwe. In a sign that the second Bush administration may pay growing attention to bringing about change in Zimbabwe, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state-designate, said this week that Zimbabwe was one of six "outposts of tyranny". This is the first time the US has placed Zimbabwe into such a demonic category. The country was not placed in the original "axis of evil". And with signs of a new Group of Eight commitment to Africa on a significant scale when their summit reviews UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission for Africa report, the upside of standing up for Zimbabwe in international forums are fast eroding.
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From Zim Online (SA), 21 January
Pro-government judge to head new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Harare - Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday announced a new five-member Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) headed by pro-government High Court Judge George Chiweshe. Former secretary at the Ministry of Information, Sarah Kachingwe will deputise Chiweshe in the commission that will oversee elections in Zimbabwe. Other commissioners are academic and long-time friend of President Robert Mugabe, George Kahari, Anglican church cleric, Jonathan Siyachitema and Vivian Ncube. Chinamasa said the commissioners were appointed by Mugabe with the help of the Judicial Service Commission from a list compiled by Parliament's Committee on Standing Rules and Orders. The parliamentary committee includes legislators of the three political parties represented in the House but is dominated by the ruling Zanu PF party which is the majority party. Chinamasa said the commission will be independent and will have the objective authority to run elections in the country. But the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has criticised the commission saying it lacks independence because it is appointed by Mugabe. Before yesterday's appointment, Chiweshe, who is a former officer in the army, chaired the Delimitation Commission that drew up the country's voting constituencies. Meanwhile, Chinamasa also announced the appointment of Theophilus Gambe as the chairman of the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC). The Justice Minister said the ESC, which under Zimbabwe's Constitution must oversee fairness and transparency during elections, will remain in existence to monitor the ZEC.
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From The Star (SA), 21 January
Ostracised Moyo sues own party chiefs
Harare - Zimbabwe's Minister of Information, Jonathan Moyo, has sued his two latest enemies for "defamation". He wants R2-million from Zanu PF chairperson John Nkomo and politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa. This follows Moyo's exclusion from all Zanu PF structures. In reaction yesterday, Nkomo laughed: "He is on a fundraising mission. When you go out fundraising, you do all sorts of things." According to The Herald newspaper, Moyo alleged in papers filed before the Bulawayo High Court that Dabengwa and Nkomo had told a public meeting last week that he (Moyo) tried to hatch a coup to remove President Robert Mugabe. Moyo was censured for calling a meeting ahead of the Zanu PF congress to rally support for Emmerson Mnangagwa as deputy Zanu PF president. But Joyce Mujuru was appointed by Mugabe instead. Moyo was appointed to parliament, and then to his ministry, by Mugabe after the 2000 general election, when the opposition Movement for Democratic Change almost beat the party.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 21 January
Cosatu to go ahead with Zimbabwe visit
Johannesburg - The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) does not require the Zimbabwean government's permission to visit their counterparts in that country, the union federation said on Friday. It was responding to comments made by Zimbabwe's Labour Minister, Paul Mangwana, that Cosatu should not seek to return to the country. "Really what is the problem of this animal called Cosatu?" Mangwana told The Financial Gazette weekly on Thursday. "We have our own labour unions and I don't think we need foreign labour unions to solve our problems," he added. Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven responded on Friday by saying: "We don't think we require permission. We've always maintained that missions of this kind don't require the permission of the government." He said Cosatu had not yet received a reply from Mangwana to a letter, "written out of courtesy" to inform him of the union's proposed second visit. Craven said of Mangwana's comment: "We hope that he's not speaking for the government as a whole." If that was the case, it illustrated the problem that trade unions faced on a daily basis in Zimbabwe. Cosatu's first mission ended on its first day when a 13-member delegation was unceremoniously deported from Harare on October 27. Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi will meet his counterpart from the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions, Wellington Chibebe, in Cape Town on Saturday to discuss the second visit to the country. The dates for the trip have not been fixed yet. "Cosatu is going to use the meeting to get an update of Zimbabwe as far as trade union rights are concerned," Craven said on Friday. "Our view is that under the current political climate, conditions for free and fair elections do not exist," he said. "We are also interested in talking about our planned visit to Zimbabwe. We want our fact-finding mission to take place as soon as it can."
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 21 January
Made wins, with a little help from GMB
Joseph Made, the Minister of Agriculture, has won the ticket to represent Zanu PF in Makoni West in the March election - thanks to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB). The GMB, a parastatal, distributed tonnes of agricultural inputs worth hundreds of millions of dollars to restive villagers in Makoni West as an inducement to vote for Made. The GMB falls under Made's ministry. He completely outpolled his opponents, Gibson Munyoro, the incumbent MP, and Mandi Chimene, a Zanu PF central committee member and war veteran, in the primaries held last weekend. Workers from the GMB allegedly moved around the constituency distributing an array of agricultural inputs to peasants and imploring them to vote for Made. The GMB workers, from the Rusape depot, reportedly promised to distribute more inputs if Made was voted in. Made is also being accused of mobilising youthful workers from the GMB Rusape depot to assault and intimidate villagers perceived to be supporting his opponents. "The GMB campaigned for Made," said a senior Zanu PF member based in Rusape. "Agricultural inputs were distributed like confetti in Makoni West." Another senior ruling party official in Mutare added: "There was nothing Munyoro and Chimene could have done because if you give villagers agricultural inputs for free then you are a God to them."
Although Munyoro and Chimene were not immediately available for comment sources close to both politicians said they were bitter at the manner in which Made abused the GMB for his personal gains. Several GMB workers in Rusape abandoned their work and camped in Makoni West campaigning for Made. Meanwhile, Oppah Muchinguri, the Zanu PF women's league boss, won the Zanu PF ticket in Mutasa South amid allegations she bused people from outside the constituency when she was faced with imminent defeat. Muchinguri beat Irene Zindi, a tough-talking former MP when she polled 4 126 votes against 3 203. Zindi is said to be livid after top Zanu PF officials ignored her pleas for a re-run citing irregularities. Zindi, is reportedly contemplating standing as an independent candidate in the March poll. However, Zanu PF insiders said Muchinguru could have easily lost to Zindi had she not resorted to underhand tactics. "Oppah could have lost but she bussed people from other constituencies to vote for her," said one source from Mutasa. "All was not well for her because how can she lose even at her own village, Zongoro. I do not know why she is unpopular among her relatives."
The sources said if the problems in Mutasa South were not ironed out before March then Muchinguri's quest to return to Parliament may be jeopardised. "These problems have to be ironed out because I can assure you that Oppah will not make it in March," said a Zanu PF activist in Mutasa South. He said Zanu PF was so polarised in Mutasa South that it was impossible for Zindi's supporters to vote for Muchinguri come March. Zindi was scheduled to address a press conference in Mutare on Wednesday to announce her future plans after her controversial loss to Muchinguri. However, she did not do so for reasons yet to be known. Attention has also been focused on Mutare Central where two Zanu PF central committee members, businessman Esau Mupfumi and top tobacco farmer Charles Pemhenayi, lock horns in fresh primaries after the Zanu PF national election directorate nullified Shadreck Beta's weekend victory. Beta beat Mupfumi but the victory was annulled amid allegations Beta dished out Zanu PF membership cards that were not sanctioned by the ruling party. Pemhenayi, who had earlier on stepped down in favour of Mupfumi, has thrown his hat into the ring. Beta, in the meantime, has urged his supporters to boycott the primaries, scheduled for yesterday.
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From Zim Online (SA), 21 January
Three closed banks to briefly re-open
Harare - Three commercial banks closed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) last year will from Monday re-open for five days to make payments to depositors who have amounts of Z$5 million or less. Balances exceeding $5 million will be converted into equity in the new Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group (ZABG) created out of the collapsed banks. The central bank is yet to announce when the ZABG will officially open for business. The three banks that will re-open are Royal Bank, Trust Bank and Barbican Bank. They were placed under management of RBZ-appointed curators last year after the central bank uncovered gross mismanagement and abuse of depositors' funds at the institutions. "Customers of these financial institutions will be able to access their funds up to $5 million during this period," reads a statement attributed to the ZAGB. Three other banks, Time Bank, CFX and Intermarket, which are also under RBZ curators, will not be re-opening. Time bank is embroiled in a bitter legal wrangle with the RBZ and Intermarket is expected to conclude merger talks with Finhold while the curator at CFX is yet to complete investigations.
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From SABC News, 21 January
SA spy captured and tortured by Zimbabwe forces
A South African spy captured by Zimbabwean counter intelligence is alleged to have been severely tortured before agreeing to co-operate with local officials, the Institute for Security Studies said in Pretoria today. The spy recently was nabbed by Zimbabwean Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives at Victoria Falls and under questioning, revealed the names of his collaborators within the governing Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu PF). Chris Maroleng, an analyst, said the spy would not have naturally agreed to work with the Zimbabweans as they had alleged and therefore must have reached his "pain threshold". "The Zimbabwean CIO are renowned worldwide for their torture techniques and for their ability to extract information," he said today. Maroleng said the spy, who had not been named, was involved in a high-risk operation to try and win over the head of the Zimbabwean Counter Intelligence. "It obviously failed," Maroleng said. This development would be a major blow for South Africa's foreign policy on Zimbabwe, which in the past could be described as "quiet diplomacy".
Maroleng said it would also severely dent personal relations between Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, and Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, which at best could be described as cordial. He said South Africa had adopted its foreign policy position following Zimbabwe's 2002 general election, after which the country's armed forces refused to support any non Zanu PF government. "South Africa realised it needed to create change from within the Zanu PF government as a government led by the opposition - Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - would not be backed by the military," said Maroleng. He said South African intelligence started creating support within the Emmerson Mnangagwa camp, who was widely seen as Mugabe's successor until he was effectively sidelined in the Zanu PF's December 2004 party conference. "Mugabe created a power axis during the conference that cut out all young progressive members. He then drew support from all those with proven liberation credentials," he said.
Six senior Zanu PF members including a Member of Parliament have been accused of taking part in the spy ring that was allegedly providing the South African government with information on the party's affairs. According to AFP, Phillip Chiyangwa, a provincial Zanu PF chairperson and former Zimbabwe consul-general in South Africa, was arrested in December on charges of selling state secrets. The state-run Herald in Zimbabwe reported Chiyangwa received US10 000 a month to pass on information to South Africa. Four other party officials are being held in Zimbabwe for violating the Official Secrets Act - Godfrey Dzvairo, newly appointed Zimbabwe's ambassador to Mozambique, Zanu PF's director for external affairs Itai Marchi, top security officer Kenny Karidza, and banker Tendai Matambandazo. The sixth person allegedly connected to the affair, Zimbabwean diplomat Erasmus Moyo, reportedly escaped while being moved from Geneva to Harare. Maroleng said South Africa would undoubtedly try and retrieve their spy but under current conditions it would prove very difficult. "The South African position is severely undermined by this development," said Maroleng adding it would mean that the hard core led by Mugabe would now view South Africa with increasing suspicion. The South African Department of Intelligence declined to comment today.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 21 January
Goche speaks on spies
Dumisani Muleya
State Security minister Nicholas Goche has broken his silence on the ongoing espionage saga, saying the truth will soon come out on the alleged undercover work by foreign-hired locals. Goche said the court proceedings and further investigations of accused Zanu PF members and a veteran diplomat facing charges of selling classified state secrets to foreign agents would reveal the truth. "People will definitely get to know what has been happening," Goche said. "We are still investigating and the matter is going on in the courts. The truth will soon come out. Investigations are going on and the matter is sub judice," he said. Goche dismissed reports that he was involved in the spy case. "I don't want to give lies any respect. Those are just lies," he said. "I have seen website stories saying I knew about this and did nothing about it. Those are lies. Who is investigating the matter now? "You are a seasoned journalist and I don't think you want us to discuss such stupid things. I have no personal views on lies."
Zanu PF provincial chairman and MP Phillip Chiyangwa, ruling party deputy security chief Kenny Karidza, external affairs director Itai Marchi, Zimbabwe's ambassador-designate to Mozambique Godfrey Dzvairo and ex-Metropolitan Bank company secretary Tendai Matambanadzo have been accused of spying for foreign agents in South Africa. As first reported in the Zimbabwe Independent on December 23, the five were arrested - some abducted - and detained by the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). They have been appearing in court facing charges under the Official Secrets Act and face up to 25 years in jail if convicted. Although Dzvairo, Matambanadzo and Marchi initially pleaded guilty, they have been trying to change their pleas. However, magistrate Peter Kumbawa last week dismissed their application for change of plea. Chiyangwa and Karidza, who have pleaded not guilty, appeared in court last Friday for a remand hearing. They were further remanded in custody. Karidza will appear in court again on January 24 while Chiyangwa will appear on January 28. Chiyangwa had judgement reserved last Thursday in his application to the High Court appealing against refusal of bail. His lawyer, Advocate Chris Andersen, told the High Court's Justice Charles Hungwe that the state was accusing his client of selling state secrets to a South African agent for US$10 000 a month without an iota of evidence.
The case has drawn South Africa into its murky vortex after it was alleged that an intelligence officer working for the South African Secret Service (SASS) - the country's foreign intelligence arm - had been arrested in connection with the issue. British and South African media have reported the arrest of a senior South African "spymaster" who was allegedly lured from Livingstone to Victoria Falls by one of his Zimbabwean contacts last month only to realise too late that it was a trap. He has been providing details of his network, press reports say. While South Africa's Ministry of Intelligence Services last weekend denied the country's involvement, saying only that it had seen media reports linking South Africa to the case, sources close to the government this week confirmed the arrest of a high-ranking officer in the SASS. The sources said they were confident the arrested agent from Pretoria would be released soon. They described his work as maintaining routine contacts and said the case was unlikely to affect relations with Zimbabwe.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 22 January
The worm turns
Donwald Pressly
An apparent about-turn by South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) on the burning Zimbabwe issue comes in the wake of the detention of an alleged South African spymaster by that country. The public change in stance towards Zimbabwe -- which has been associated until now with a policy of "silent diplomacy" and turning a blind-eye to humanitarian abuses in that country -- was picked up on Tuesday by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) which publicly welcomed the change of heart although it did not link it to the spy story. The Foreign Affairs department's spokesperson has declined to comment at this stage about the spy incident - but it is believed to have been pivotal in the ruling party's changed public stance towards Zimbabwe. Last week an Intelligence Ministry spokesperson said in a statement that it was aware of media reports but to "the best of our knowledge" the information did not provide any basis for concluding that South Africa was involved in illegally soliciting information about Zimbabwe. The statement noted that the intelligence services were in touch with their Zimbabwean counterparts at all times.
The Rapport newspaper reported on Sunday that a 40-year-old white South African who apparently tried to "turn" the head of the counter-intelligence chief of the Zimbabwe Central Intelligence Organisation had been taken into detention at Victoria Falls in December. It was also reported that other prominent Zimbabweans, including a ruling Zanu-PF Member of Parliament, Phillip Chiyangwa, a banker Tendai Matambonadzo, and a Zanu PF official Itai Marchi, had been also detained. It was reported that Chiyangwa had last week denied in the High Court in Harare that he had received about R60 000 ($10 000) a month from a South African agent in exchange for information about economic and political developments in that country. South Africa's eTV news on Monday night also made the link between the South African government's apparent change in stance towards Zimbabwe - and the spy story. It also reported that the South African authorities were not commenting on the incident. Meanwhile Cosatu, which is an alliance partner of the South African ruling ANC, has noted "with pleasure" comments made by a top party official which turned up the heat on the Zimbabwean government. Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven was responding on Tuesday to remarks made on Monday by ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe who expressed concern that the Zimbabwean official opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) required permission to hold public meetings.
Motlanthe made the remarks after a meeting of the ruling party's national executive committee. He said: "We have been concerned about several things. The MDC is a party that participates in Parliament and it controls several municipalities. This [having to ask for permission to hold meetings] impairs their ability to interact with their constituencies." Craven said: "We are heartened by the secretary general's historic remarks, coming shortly before the forthcoming elections [in March] in our neighbouring country, on the need to level the playing field, the removal of restrictions on opposition parties and the call for the police to behave in an impartial manner." This time the ANC will find it difficult to criticise Cosatu for attempting to carry out a second fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe. After its delegation was booted out of the country last October, Cosatu wrote to the Zimbabwe Labour Minister Paul Mangwana about a new mission and is awaiting a reply. However, Mangwana was reported in the Daily Mirror as saying that if Cosatu "bulldozed its way into the country", it was going to meet the same fate as last year. He was quoted as saying that "unwanted people are thrown away. If they come we will force them into the next Kombi."
The gap in approaches by Cosatu and the ANC over Zimbabwe, however, may have closed significantly - with both now acknowledging that the conditions for holding free and fair elections aren't exactly in place - but Craven did object to a comment made by Motlanthe on SABC TV news that Cosatu's agenda - to visit the country last year - was motivated by the desire to attract headlines in the media. Craven said on Tuesday: "This uncharacteristic comment borders on an attack on Cosatu's integrity when it addresses these important issues." "Cosatu, acting under a mandate from its national congress, has at all times been concerned only to defend the human rights and economic well-being of our fellow-workers in Zimbabwe and to show solidarity with our comrades in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions," Craven, who is also editor of the Shopsteward Journal, added. Pressure will now be on the African National Congress to resolve the remaining tensions with its alliance partner -- but the hands are now apparently outstretched publicly to find a common path over Zimbabwe. To mix a metaphor: An alleged spy seems to have turned into a fly in Zimbabwe's political ointment.
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From BBC News, 19 January
Can Zimbabwe polls be free and fair?
As Zimbabwe prepares for parliamentary elections expected in March, it has been fingered as one of the world's six "outposts of tyranny" by Condoleezza Rice, US President George W Bush's nominee as secretary of state. The government has promised to abide by a new regional code of conduct for ensuring elections are free and fair but the opposition says they have seen little change on the ground. Members of the Southern African Development Community have agreed that all elections in the region should feature:
Political tolerance Freedom of association Equal access to state media Independence of the judiciary and electoral institutions.
But there is no sign yet of political tolerance, or any of the other conditions, according to the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change. The police continue to stop the MDC from holding political rallies, while party activists remain at risk of being abducted, beaten and tortured by ruling party militias and members of the security forces, MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube told the BBC News website. But despite threatening a boycott, analysts say the MDC looks set to take part in parliamentary elections expected in March. Last week, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai seemed to be paving the way by saying there had been a fall in political violence. "Although pockets of rogue elements still exist here and there, by and large we have witnessed a decrease in cases of open violence against political opponents," he said. President Robert Mugabe, accused of using fraud and violence to win two elections since 2000, has signed electoral reforms into law, including the creation of an independent electoral commission. But two months before the elections are expected, the commissioners have not been appointed and preparations for the poll have begun, such as the publication of the electoral roll, which, has been a key way in which previous elections were manipulated, the MDC says.
The existing body in charge of drawing up constituency boundaries has reduced the number of MPs elected in the MDC strongholds of the capital, Harare, and the second city, Bulawayo, saying the number of registered voters has fallen, while giving extra MPs to Mr Mugabe's rural strongholds in the north-east. "This is a deliberate ploy to get everything ready and rig the election even before the commission is appointed," Mr Ncube said. The MDC further says that the state radio monopoly refuses to run its adverts, in direct contravention of the SADC protocols. A senior official in the ruling Zanu PF party said that the MDC would be allowed to advertise on state media but did not see why they wanted to. "They are advertising in their own media and denigrating the ZBC, so why should they want to use any other media?" asked Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa. While the only privately-owned daily newspaper has been closed down, at least three weekly papers are still being published. Mr Ncube says that the police often refuse the MDC permission to hold political meetings - required under tough new security laws. And he says that even when permission is granted, the police now insist that only those named in advance are allowed to speak - so members of the public who attend the meetings cannot make their own views known.
Furthermore, and in apparent contradiction to what Mr Tsvangirai said last week, Mr Ncube said that little had changed in terms of violence. "At the moment, the violence against MDC activists is sporadic but when the election date is fixed, we expect it to become systematic - as it always does during the election period," he said. "Zanu PF is holding primaries at the moment and so they are fighting each other but afterwards, they will turn on us." The MDC wants more time before the elections are held, so that reforms can be passed and says that legally, they can be held as late as September. In addition to the SADC code of conduct, the MDC wants the security and tough media laws to be scrapped. But Mr Mugabe has said the polls will be held in March and Mr Mutasa refuses to countenance any delay. "The requirements of SADC will be fulfilled and the election commissioners will be sworn in soon," he said. While international attention is focussed on the SADC rules, human rights activist Brian Kagoro says they will not make any difference. "Even in heaven, the reforms could not be introduced within two months. That's a joke," he said. Last year, the MDC said it was boycotting elections because all the odds were stacked against them. But the stakes are higher in these polls. If they boycott, Zanu PF will have enough MPs to be able to change the constitution - which could be crucial in preparing for life after Mr Mugabe. At present, elections must be held if the president dies or resigns but some ruling party officials would like Mr Mugabe to appoint a successor, who would then have a few years in power before facing the people with all the advantages of incumbency. But even if the MDC does take part, it may not gain the 50 seats needed to prevent Zanu PF have the two-thirds majority in parliament required to change the constitution. "They are dammed if they do take part and dammed if they don't," said Mr Kagoro.
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From The Financial Mail (SA), 14 January
Banking sector full of holes
By a special correspondent
Less than two months after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) had pronounced the CFX Banking group to be in "in sound condition", the central bank put CFX under curatorship. Just before Christmas it became the tenth financial institution to be closed out of a total of 40. Astonishingly, too, less than two months after it had declared CFX sound, the RBZ decided it was undercapitalised and guilty of poor corporate governance and unsound risk management. In January 2005, 13 months after Gideon Gono took over as RBZ governor, eight banks, including four large players - Trust Bank, Intermarket Banking Group, Time Bank and CFX Financial Services - are in curatorship, and two others - First National Building Society and Rapid Discount House - are in provisional liquidation. The closure of CFX, seen as one of the well-managed banking groups, shocked the markets. Hundreds of depositors have had their funds broken and customers have been unable to access their month-end salaries, though many were allowed to withdraw up to half of their December pay-cheques. The CFX debacle is blamed on fraud by some senior managers after the merger of CFX and the Century Banking group last September. In December, top management was astonished to be told it had made losses of more than Z$115bn. According to a report by RBZ supervisors, management accounts showed a surplus of Z$9bn because the $115bn loss had been unreported for 10 months - well before the merger.
In October, Gono promised to clean up the banking system by merging most of the failed banking institutions into a new state-owned bank, Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group (ZABG), which was to have been operational already. Officials now say they expect it to open in the next few weeks, though there is little detail as to how it will be financed. Bankers say it needs capital of at least Z$2 trillion (about R2bn) and even if smoke and mirrors are used to capitalise the bank (possibly by converting RBZ loans into capital), this is unlikely to be adequate. No money was set aside in the 2005 national budget for this purpose and bankers say that unless government comes to the party with a substantial stake, depositors are unlikely to support the new institution. The current plan is for anyone who has more than Z$5m in one of the closed institutions to convert this into equity in ZABG, but this could be challenged in the courts. The net result of all this has been to leave Zimbabwe with a fractured, three-tier banking system. The top tier comprises the international banks - Barclays, Standard Chartered, SA-owned Stanbic and MBCA Bank. On the next level is the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, in which Absa has a 26% stake, and the state-controlled Zimbabwe Banking Corp. The rest are lumped together (unfairly, their owners and managers feel) on the third tier as institutions that are suffering to varying degrees from a "flight to quality" in the market as a whole. This is most unfair to some sound, well-managed banks that have become victims of systemic risk through no fault of their own.
RBZ supervisors have been criticised for failing to detect weaknesses in failed banks, but where, as was the case with CFX, four different due diligence reports by auditors and others apparently failed to uncover the problem, RBZ supervisors alone cannot be held responsible. That said, it is now more than a year since the RBZ's supervisory department published what used to be regular quarterly reports on the health of the banking industry. Furthermore, it is nearly two years since an IMF team warned government and the RBZ about the health of the banking industry. Gono hopes that the ZABG initiative, plus the requirement that all financial institutions be rated by a reputable rating agency, will rehabilitate the industry. With a strong economy and access to IMF support, this might have been possible. But the economy is very weak. Government's hopes for a strong agriculture-led rebound in 2005 have been dented by reduced and late plantings and patchy rainfall; and IMF support looks to be at least a year away, depending on how the politics evolve during 2005. All of which suggests that Zimbabwe's banking sector is not yet out of the woods.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 23 January
Zimbabwe spy story hits home for TV presenter
Rowan Philp
The scale of the nightmare he was caught up in struck Tich Mataz in a Zimbabwean prison this week when he was ordered to taste the food he had brought for his brother. The radio and TV presenter had to prove that the Chinese takeaway he had taken to Harare's Remand Prison was not poisoned. Reeling, Mataz walked to a double-chicken-wire fence and stared in disbelief at his wealthy older brother, shackled to another prisoner: an unshaven man in khaki overalls, accused of betraying his country. This week, the "relatives and friends" of he and two others accused of spying on Zimbabwe for the SA government wrote to the Sunday Times declaring: "The constitutional rights of the accused are being sacrificed [for politics]." No individual family member would make statements critical of the espionage trial for fear of intimidation. However, Mataz, a former 5FM DJ and presenter of SABC's Woza Weekend TV show, said yesterday that his brother had nothing to gain from spying. Mataz whose christened name is Tichafe Matambanadzo - claimed that brother Tendai Matambanadzo, a former executive with the Metropolitan Bank of Zimbabwe, had grown wealthy from his profession and didn't need "any espionage money".
Mataz flew to Harare from England two weeks ago in a panic, believing his brother had been kidnapped by criminals. Matambanadzo was seized by security police outside his home in Harare's luxury suburb of Chisipite on December 13, and held without charge for 11 days. Like four high-profile members of the ruling Zanu PF, he has been accused of selling "state secrets" to a SA spy-master. His wife, also named Tendai, described the family nightmare: "The day before his birthday, someone came and threatened the guard at our home. By the time I arrived home, Tendai was gone without a trace. I filed a missing persons report. I went to every hospital and every mortuary in this town; I did not believe real policeman had taken him away." Mataz said: "I thought it was a robbery or kidnapping. But after I arrived [in Zimbabwe], he phoned [his wife] to say, 'I'm fine. It's not what you think; it's these security guys - they're doing an investigation. But I can't say where I am.' " Matambanadzo signed a confession and pleaded guilty to espionage on December 24, along with Godfrey Dzvairo, former Zimbabwean consul-general to South Africa, and Zanu - PF director Itai Marchi - having been denied access to a lawyer.
However, the three, newly represented by attorney Selby Hwacha, have applied to change their plea to "not guilty" on the grounds that their confessions were won through intimidation. A final appeal to the Supreme Court will be filed this week. On Friday, Hwacha did not deny that some of his clients gave or sold information to SA government employees. However, he said such information was not a state secret and "therefore no offence has been committed". He said that even the defence team had no idea of the identity of the SA agent who fingered their clients to Zimbabwean police, and that the court had agreed it would be kept secret. Zanu PF central committee member Phillip Chiyangwa and party strong-man Kenneth Karidza, also charged with selling secrets, will make separate, belated appearances in court after suffering mental and physical abuse in detention.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 23 January
Pahad foresees no fallout over spy saga
Cosatu plans protest action to focus attention on Zimbabwe
Charmeela Bhagowat and S'Thembiso Msomi
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said yesterday that he was "almost convinced" there would be no diplomatic fallout between Harare and Pretoria over the busting last month of a South African spy ring in Zimbabwe. Pahad explained: "That's the world of intelligence. Everyone expects that every country has declared and non-declared agents in operation, but we [South Africa and Zimbabwe] are not enemies." This remains to be seen, however. A senior Zanu PF members is to go on trial for selling state secrets and the South African spy is languishing in jail incommunicado. Pahad also denied that an ANC statement last week saying that the environment in Zimbabwe was not conducive to free and fair elections indicated a shift in its public approach to the Zimbabwean crisis. It rather underscored what the party and the South African government had been saying for a long time: that they wanted to work with the Zimbabweans to ensure an election result that would be accepted by all. A team of lawyers will visit Zimbabwe this week to assess its compliance with regional election guidelines ahead of parliamentary polls expected in March.
Pahad said that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) delegation would examine Zimbabwe's electoral laws and institutions, compare these with the principles and guidelines adopted by the SADC in Mauritius in August, and consult state, political and civic organisations on further initiatives needed to ensure free and fair elections. Harare was a signatory to the SADC guidelines and as such will come under immense pressure to comply with them. On Thursday, the Zanu PF government announced the creation of an independent electoral commission, which goes some way towards meeting the SADC guidelines. However, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused the government of making cosmetic changes to appease its neighbours. Pahad said: "There is still going to be consultation. There is some question mark about whether the new electoral commission is independent because the President [Robert Mugabe] chooses the chairman. But that is the prerogative of the president in many countries and it will be our task as observers, and that of Zimbabweans themselves, to identify where they think [it] can be improved." Dismissing suggestions that the election could be postponed because Harare had already contravened some key rules, such as those governing freedom of association and the registration of voters, Pahad said "no one expects 100% adherence to the guidelines". The MDC said recently that violence against state opponents had been decreasing, emphasising positive changes were taking place, Pahad said.
Meanwhile, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) looks set to abort its second fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe after Harare failed to grant the federation the right to enter the troubled country. Cosatu, whose mission in November ended abruptly when its 13 members were bundled out of Zimbabwe, was last night locked in talks with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the Southern African Trade Unions Co-ordinating Council (Satucc). Speaking ahead of last night's meeting, Cosatu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said it was unlikely that the federation would go ahead with a second visit to Zimbabwe, but would plan other protest action. "We are thinking very hard about it and our meeting with the ZCTU and Satucc will deal with the way forward," said Vavi. "Basically we have two options. We can either defy the Zimbabwean government and go ahead with the mission, in which case we are likely to be kicked out again. The alternative would be not to go ahead but rather embark on other mass campaigns. Personally, I think that going back there would not serve any further purpose ... We know exactly what people are going through," Vavi said.
Earlier this week, Zimbabwean Labour Minister Paul Mangwana denied receiving Cosatu's request, filed in December, to revisit Zimbabwe, according to the government-controlled Financial Gazette. "Really, what is the problem of this animal called Cosatu? What interests does it have in our politics? We are not a province of South Africa and as such Cosatu should confine its labour politics to that country," Mangwana said. But Vavi said the federation would not be "intimidated into silence" by the Zimbabwean government and that the federation would go ahead with its plans to blockade the Zimbabwean borders as part of its protest action. Cosatu's fact-finding mission last year sparked much controversy in both Zimbabwe and South Africa and put the federation movement on a collision course with the ANC, its alliance partner, and the South African government. Vavi and other Cosatu leaders were criticised by the ANC and ANC Youth League for the mission, which they said was tantamount "to interfering with the affairs" of a sovereign country. Vavi said that following the harder line taken by the government, there were no longer any disagreements between the two allies on the matter. Some members of the ANC's national executive committee say Zimbabwe would not have been on the agenda of last weekend's meeting had it not been for the uproar over Cosatu's visit.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 22 January
MDC worried about Zimbabwe's election body
Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition party has "serious reservations" about the credentials of the man chosen to head a new election commission to supervise crunch legislative polls in March. But the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in a statement issued late Friday, said it hoped the body - aimed at bringing Zimbabwe in line with southern African regional standards for transparent elections - would do its job without fear or favour. MDC secretary for information and publicity Paul Nyathi said his organisation "has serious reservations in respect of the impartiality and independence of the person appointed as the chairperson". He said High Court judge, George Chiweshe, appointed on Thursday to head the five-member panel, was "not known for the impartiality in the manner in which he has handled cases relating to MDC and its members". He alleged that MDC members had been "falsely implicated" in an abduction and murder case by Chiweshe, adding that it hoped he would now "return to the ideals ... of fairness, impartiality and integrity". The MDC, which is threatening to boycott the upcoming elections, has dismissed the poll reforms as cosmetic and meaningless. The MDC, rights groups and foreign experts had branded Zimbabwe's last two elections in 2000 and 2002 as marred by fraud, intimidation and violence. Nyathi said his party however hoped that the new poll commission would ensure that Zimbabweans "for so long denied the democratic right to choose a government ... have at least the opportunity to participate in elections ... beyond reproach in every respect." It called upon the body to ensure that all contesting parties have equal and fair access to the public media, end a police crackdown on opposition meetings, and guarantee that the voters' rolls are properly compiled and made available to the public. President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, hopes to strengthen its hold on power in the March polls.
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From The Sunday Independent (SA), 23 January
Confusion over who is to run Zim's next poll
Harare - South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission would be perplexed and perhaps even infuriated trying to discover who is supposed to run Zimbabwe's next general election, expected in March. There is no similarity, apart from the jargon, between polls in South Africa and those held by its turbulent northern neighbour. Zimbabwe's constitution says a five-man Election Supervisory Commission, plus a chairperson, shall "supervise registration of voters and the conduct of elections". It is appointed by President Robert Mugabe and has run all elections since independence in 1980. Its budget dwindled over the years and it lost its ability to manage the voters' roll, surrendering it to Mugabe's close associate Tobaiwa Mudede, the registrar-general. At present, as in the presidential poll of 2002, the commission is two commissioners short and its new chairperson was announced only on Thursday. After the Southern African Development Community's electoral principles were adopted last August, the words "independent electoral commission" heaved their way into Zimbabwe's political lexicon. So Patrick Chinamasa, the justice minister, formulated a new law, finally signed by Mugabe last week, called the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act. On Thursday Chinamasa announced the names of four members of the Zimbabwe Election Commission who were "agreed to" in a Zanu PF-dominated parliamentary committee this month. Mugabe alone appointed the chairperson, high court judge George Chiweshe, who came to the bench via the army. Chiweshe made legal history when he denied a critically ill opposition MP bail saying the state did not have to provide prima facie evidence to support his continued detention. He was also recently appointed by Mugabe to chair the Delimitation Commission that delivered its map before Christmas and excised three constituencies in urban strongholds of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the official opposition, and added three to traditional Zanu PF rural areas.
Mudede set the election ball rolling by opening the voters' roll on Monday for inspection for 14 days. But few turned up to check if they were registered, at least in urban areas, because Mudede only advertised the exercise in two state newspapers that only a minority in towns can afford to buy. No postal votes are allowed except for security services on election duty, and permanent residents have been deprived of their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. Priscilla Misihairabwi, an MDC MP, laughed in exasperation this week recalling her eight-day slog to get a copy of the voters' roll for her constituency in Harare. Welshman Ncube, the MDC secretary-general, a Bulawayo MP, and Paul Themba Nyathi, the party spokesperson and MP for Gwanda, asked her to pick up voters' rolls for their constituencies but she was told they had to personally collect. Thoko Khupe, MDC MP for Zimbabwe's oldest township, Makakoba, in Bulawayo, who has seen much of her constituency erased from the map this election, lamented that she no longer knows who her constituents are because she was told she can't buy a voters' roll in Bulawayo. The voters' roll exists on two CDs but Mudede won't let opposition parties have copies. He says the national roll is available only on printouts that would fill a small shed and cost R12 000 per copy or the equivalent of the annual salary of an MP.
So what will the new Zimbabwe Election Commission do? Well, it is supposed to supervise the voters' roll but that has already been done by the registrar-general. It has powers to design ballot papers and boxes, and conduct voter education. It only has 32 days left before nomination courts if elections are going to be held before the end of March, as expected, and it has neither offices nor staff. It can "supervise" elections, but that role is already assigned to the Electoral Supervisory Commission. The new commission will have no powers over observers or monitors as they will be selected by the Electoral Supervisory Commission, and invitations to foreign observers will be made by a committee appointed by Mugabe and a small cabinet committee. Which of the commissions - if either - will prevail? In theory the original one - the Electoral Supervisory Commission - as it is protected by the constitution, but the constitution is regularly ignored. However, Chinamasa said on Thursday the old commission will "monitor" the new one. A new Electoral Act emerged in the frenzy of new legislation late last year that was also signed into law by Mugabe last week. A significant difference from the previous Act is that the military can now legally do what it did covertly in the presidential election three years ago - run the elections. The new Act allows military, police and prison officers, and thousands of youth militia at present being inducted into the security services to run both voting and counting at 6 000 polling stations which, for financial reasons, will largely be unattended by opposition parties. The military recruited to run the elections will be answerable to the original Electoral Supervisory Commission, not the new one. And voting will now take place on one day instead of two.
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From BBC News, 21 Juanuary
The rise and fall of Mugabe's spin doctor
By Joseph Winter
Jonathan Moyo's rise from academic critic to information minister of Zimbabwe was meteoric but it seems as though he may have a rocky landing. After being sacked from his senior position in Zimbabwe's ruling party, he has taken two of Zanu PF's top officials to court for defamation. Having spent four years firing off personal insults at the opposition, he has now redirected his poison pen and has called his two supposed colleagues "primitive liars" after they allegedly accused him of plotting to oust Mr Mugabe. The sharply dressed, suave professor with an acid tongue first made his name at the University of Zimbabwe as an outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe. As recently as May 1999 he wrote in a national newspaper of the president: "His uncanny propensity to shoot himself in the foot has become a national problem which needs urgent containment." Little over a year later, he had transformed himself into Mr Mugabe's chief spokesman, taking great delight in pouring vitriolic personal abuse on the opposition as "plagiarists, sell-outs, shameless opportunists and merchants of confusion". Attacks such as these, coupled with the extra intellectual rigour he brought to the government meant he became "the most hated man in Zimbabwe" in opposition circles.
But Mr Mugabe, who is also does a nice line in personal abuse, took a shine to his chief spin doctor and he became one of the closest presidential advisors and was even mentioned as a possible future president. He maybe wasn't quick enough to stamp out such speculation and he has definitely now fallen from grace. He has always been a close ally of Parliamentary Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had been seen as Mr Mugabe's heir apparent. But in a reshuffle of the ruling Zanu PF party hierarchy last December, he and his allies such as Mr Moyo, lost out. As a newcomer to Zanu PF, Mr Moyo was always dependent on Mr Mugabe for his seat in parliament, the cabinet and the party's top body, the politburo. He had hoped to be elected as an MP in elections expected in March but after being sidelined, the seat he had targeted was reserved for women, leaving him little time to seek an alternative powerbase. This time, Mr Mugabe says he won't name any of the 20 MPs he is allowed to appoint in his cabinet and so Mr Moyo's stint as Zimbabwe's information minister looks set to end soon.
Mr Moyo's legacy is undoubtedly one of media repression. His 18-track CD advocating patriotism and land reform is unlikely to live on as long as the tough media laws he introduced to stifle criticism of the government: Foreign correspondents were expelled; The only daily paper which criticised Mr Mugabe was shut down; Any journalists who work without a state licence now face the threat of two years in prison. As information minister, he has kept journalists at the state media on a tight lease - ensuring that every article or transmission tows the party line and rewriting them if necessary. Mr Moyo has always denied doing a U-turn, saying he had consistently advocated African nationalism and had criticised Mr Mugabe when he had followed liberal economic policies backed by donors. But most Zimbabweans could never fathom his abrupt change of tack. Some suggested he was an opposition mole, sent to bring down the Zanu PF house from the inside. If so, he now seems to be doing a good job. He is at the centre of what observers say are the most serious split in Zimbabwe's ruling party for 30 years. His court case against Lands Minister and Zanu PF Chairman John Nkomo and party politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa shows that Mr Moyo has no intention of going quietly. He has also washing the party's dirty linen in public, making bitter public complaints about the decision to exclude him from the race to be MP for his home town Tsholotsho, in western Zimbabwe.
I remember speaking to him just after he had been appointed to cabinet and coming away with the impression that he may have decided to enter the political arena as something of a research project. After years writing about politics from the safe distance of academia, the only way of finding out how the levers of power really worked might be from the inside. So what next for Mr Moyo? He has hinted that he may contest the elections as an independent, saying: "There are many tickets to heaven" but without the backing of a party machinery, this is unlikely to succeed. Assuming his political career is at an end, it is difficult to see how he can return to a quiet life lecturing in political studies. A book revealing the inner workings of Mr Mugabe's government would be an extremely interesting read, albeit at great personal risk to the author.
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From Zim Online (SA), 24 January
MDC legislator, 60 party activists arrested
Bulawayo - Police yesterday arrested opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legislator, Thokozani Khupe, and 60 party activists for meeting without permission from the law enforcement agency. At least 31 of the opposition activists were released by yesterday evening without being charged. Khupe and the other 29 activists were expected to spend the night in police custody with the legislator expected to be brought to court today to answer charges of breaching the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). An MDC official, Victor Moyo, told ZimOnline that Khupe, who is the Member of Parliament for Makokoba constituency, was holding a "private meeting" with her supporters at her restaurant in Bulawayo city centre when the police arrested them. "What really bothers us is that this was not a public meeting. That is why it was not being held in a public place like a stadium or a hall. As far as we are concerned, there was no need for police clearance because it was strictly private," said Moyo. Under POSA, it is illegal for Zimbabweans to meet in public in groups of three or more people to discuss politics without seeking police approval. The MDC, which has had several of its public meetings cancelled by the police, says the security law has been used by the government to derail its campaign ahead of a key general scheduled for March. The police have not cancelled meetings by President Robert Mugabe or his ruling Zanu PF party. The MDC wants the security law repealed as part of moves to level the political playing field before it can agree to participate in the March poll.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 23 January
Motorist in trouble for 'blocking' Mugabe's motorcade
By our own staff
Armed police escorting Presidents Robert Mugabe and visiting Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzanian yesterday savagely assaulted a motorist after accusing him of obstructing the Presidential motorcade along Julius Nyerere Way in Harare. Mkapa arrived in the capital yesterday morning. The Standard witnessed the incident in which three armed police details forced the motorist to park his car, an Isuzu twincab (registration number 785-003N) in front of Time Bank at the corner of Julius Nyerere Street and Nelson Mandela Avenue. Two policemen then began to interrogate the unidentified motorist, during which time they confiscated his driver's licence, while another officer could be seen radioing for help. A Mercedes Benz emblazoned with the ZRP logo, which was part of the motorcade immediately arrived on the scene of the incident. The driver of the police vehicle began assaulting the motorist shouting, "Kana wanga uchiti uchauraya President Mugabe, wairasa. Ungatouraya inini (If you thought you could kill President Mugabe, you are wrong. I would rather you kill me)" One of the police details also accused the motorist of being an assassin. "Tiudze, ndiani akakutuma kuzouraya President, wakapiwa marii? (who sent you to kill the president, and how much did you get for the job?)"
The visibly frightened motorist could only plead his innocence saying: "Please, I am innocent, I did not even obstruct your escort." A crowd of about 100 people witnessed the incident. One woman, who was among the onlookers said: "This man was not even in the way when the motorcade passed, and the police are just being brutal for nothing." According to the amended Road Traffic Regulations (2002), it is an offence for the public to say or do anything "within the view or hearing of the State motorcade with the intention of insulting any person travelling with an escort or any member of the escort." The police forced the motorist into the escort vehicle (registration number G-PHS19), before whisking him away in the direction of the Central Police Station, while one of the police details drove the Isuzu. It was not immediately clear where he took the vehicle. Efforts to locate the whereabouts of the motorist were fruitless by the time of going to press. An Assistant Inspector Robert Chikura, the Controller at Harare Central Police, professed ignorance of the incident. "I am not aware of the incident, and that man was definitely not brought here, but it's a good thing that you have the car's registration number," he said. The police unit in-charge of VIP protection, the Police Protection Unit (PPU) could not be reached. Their phone went unanswered.
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From The Cape Times (SA), 24 January
Cosatu defiant on Zimbabwe
By Angela Quintal
Cosatu will send another mission to Zimbabwe next week and believes this time around |
