ZIMBABWE'S $100,000.00 BANK NOTE.
Zimbabwe introduces $100,000 note
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| Zimbabwe is introducing a bank note worth 100,000 Zimbabwe dollars, to help consumers as inflation exceeds 1,000%.
The note will be worth about $1 at the official exchange rate, but only $0.30 on the informal market. The 50,000 Zimbabwe dollar bill, introduced only four months ago, is not enough to buy a loaf of bread. the government on Tuesday used its mineral exports to gain access to a $50m loan from a European bank, to pay for essential fuel and drugs.
"It is not the first and last time to see us introducing bearer cheques and we will not hesitate to introduce higher denominations," Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono said, according to the state-run Herald newspaper.
The bills are known as bearer cheques since they are promissory notes rather than official legal tender, but are used in Zimbabwe in the same way as money. The issuing of bearer cheques began with a note worth 10,000 Zimbabwe dollars, to reduce the need to carry large bundles of paper money. The government has announced a National Economic Development Priority Programme (NEDPP) in order to deal with the economic problems.
Zimbabwe is suffering from shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency. In April, inflation passed 1,000% per annum for the first time.
President Robert Mugabe blames domestic and foreign enemies for the problems, while his critics point to the collapse of agricultural exports following a controversial land reform programme. The country is struggling to pay civil servants and is thought to owe money to neighbours such as South Africa and Mozambique from whom it has been importing electricity and fuel.
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BBC NEWS REPORT.
NO SMOKING BILL SUSPENDED!
Kenya suspends public smoking ban
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| Kenya's High Court has suspended a controversial ban on smoking in public places which began on Monday.
It ordered the suspension for 30 days after tobacco companies challenged the health minister's authority to impose the restriction.
British American Tobacco and Mastermind said the ban, announced just over a week before it came into affect, did not give them enough time to comply.
The manufacturers were due to start printing health warnings on packets.
Health Minister Charity Ngilu argued that the ban was in line with the advice of the World Health Organisation.
Justice Joseph Nyamu issued the injunction until at least 30 June saying the tobacco firms had a "prima facie case", AFP news agency reports.
The ban would have required millions of cigarette packs without the new warning to be recalled from stores.
Vague
There has also been confusion about where people can smoke as the law is vague in defining a "public place".
Since Monday, the BBC's Noel Mwakugu in Nairobi says some of Kenya's 5m smokers have been in a state of panic, looking for somewhere safe to light up.
Under the ban, those caught smoking in offices, bus stations, airports and sports venue would face a fine of 50,000 Kenya shillings ($700; £375) or six months in prison.
Bars and restaurants without separate smoking areas were also to be affected.
Last year, Director of Medical Services (DMS) James Nyikal said tobacco killed some 12,000 Kenyans each year and a public ban would reduce that figure.
Kenya's 300,000 tobacco farmers, who grow about 20,000 tons a year, fear that when the ban comes into affect it could seriously hit their incomes.
Last year the government introduced a 140% tax on cigarettes.
Neighbouring Uganda banned smoking in public places in 2004 but the ban is not strictly enforced, reports the AFP news agency.
Tanzania has also outlawed smoking in public places.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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CATHY's weekly letter from Zimbabwe.
Dear Family and Friends,
They say that there is no smoke without fire and if that is true then there is
a big bonfire burning somewhere very close to home this week. It has been a very
confusing few days in Zimbabwe with a number of different media reports about
diplomatic manoeuverings that are going on to help us. First we heard that UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan was putting together a plan to rescue Zimbabwe from
its political and economic crisis. Then, insinuating that something was already
well underway by Kofi Annan, South African President Thabo Mbeki said "We are
all awaiting the outcome of his intervention"
Then came reports on South African television that Kofi Annan was going to
visit Zimbabwe and that international aid would be given in exchange for
President Mugabe's retirement. Those reports on SABC TV even went as far as to
say that President Mugabe would be given immunity from prosecution for human
rights abuses. As the days passed the reports seemed to become more speculative
than factual and the atmosphere got smokier. Things got confusing when
Zimbabwe's state owned TV announced that both Zanu PF and the MDC would accept
Kofi Annan as a mediator. Whew, I must have missed something, where did the
question of mediation come from all of a sudden? A few days later the mediation
theme popped up again but this time it wasn't Kofi Annan's name being fronted
but that of former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa.
Just as things had started getting interesting someone must have poured a
bucket of water on the fire. The smoke got thicker than ever and from all sides
came denials, back tracking and classic claims of "I Am Not The One."
Ibrahim Gambari, the UN under secretary-general for political affairs said : "I
think it is premature to talk about any package, and certainly even more
premature to talk about that package including the possible departure of
President Mugabe." Zimbabwe then said that the invitation extended to Kofi Annan
to visit the country was no longer valid or applicable. Full stop. End of
manoeuverings? Who knows, as they say there's no smoke without fire.
In the midst of a confusing week, and to make everything seem even more
delusional, there was another earthquake. Most of us can't ever remember
earthquakes in Zimbabwe or at least not for the last thirty years but now all of
a sudden we've had two series of quakes and aftershocks in the past three
months. At around midnight on Sunday two earthquakes measuring 3.9 and 4.0 on
the Richter scale shook eastern parts of Zimbabwe. This time the epicentre of
the quakes was much closer to home and near the Nyamudzi River in Wedza. Some
people are saying that all these earthquakes are a sign that God is coming.
Others are saying that they are a sign from God. So from the country of smoke
signals and shaking beds and mysterious signs.
until next week,
love cathy
Copyright cathy buckle 27 May 2006 http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:
orders@africabookcentre.com
EX-ZIMBABWE MP DENIED S.A. ASYLUM!
Roy Bennett's farm has been seized by the government. Former Zimbabwean MP Roy Bennett has been denied asylum in South Africa, where he fled earlier this year, saying he feared for his life. The Zimbabwe police had said he was wanted in connection with an alleged plot to kill President Robert Mugabe. He is allowed to appeal against the ruling and remains in South Africa.
Mr Bennett, treasurer of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was jailed for eight months in 2004 after pushing a minister in parliament. Mr Bennett's asylum application was not approved in terms of South Africa's 1998 Refugee Act, Home Affairs department spokesman Nkosana Sibuyi told the BBC. He did not comment further on the merits of the case, but said Mr Bennett had the right to appeal against the decision.
Mr Bennett went into hiding in March and appeared in South Africa the following month, after being sought by Zimbabwe police in connection with a an alleged plot to assassinate Mr Mugabe during his 82nd birthday celebrations in February. Other MDC members who were arrested in connection with the same alleged plot were later released and charges dropped.
One man, Peter Hitschmann, on whose property the Zimbabwe authorities say an arms cache was found, remains in custody in connection with the same allegations. The MDC has denied links with Mr Hitschmann.
The Zimbabwe Exiles' Forum said it was concerned that South Africa was refusing asylum to Zimbabweans. "The South African government's stance regarding the self-evident case of Roy Bennett is not only callous, but also smacks of the hypocrisy that characterizes the government of President [Thabo] Mbeki's approach to the Zimbabwean crisis," ZEF executive director Gabriel Shumba said in a statement. Mr Bennett was in prison from October 2004 to June 2005: a sentence imposed by other MPs after he pushed a government minister during an argument in parliament. His farm has been seized under the land reform programme and several of his workers were beaten up by pro-government militias.
Human rights and opposition groups say government critics have often been beaten, tortured and even killed in recent years.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
DEMONSTRATIONS IN ZIMBABWE!
Tension high over Zimbabwe demos.
Tension is reported to be high in Zimbabwe after police banned rallies to mark the first anniversary of the controversial urban renewal campaign. Some 500 people gathered in the city of Bulawayo amid reports that a march was given a last-minute go-ahead.
In Harare, all public rallies remain banned as the capital is holding a key parliamentary by-election. The government's campaign, during which slums were cleared, left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
The crowds gathered in Bulawayo were to attend a march and prayers, Ray Motsi of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) told South Africa's Independent Online. Mr Motsi said the rally in Zimbabwe's second largest city - initially banned by police - was allowed by the country's high court on Friday. He said the march would be shorter than its organisers initially planned, adding that there was a heavy police presence in the city.
The ZCA is planning to hold prayer meetings for the victims of the urban renewal campaign across the country. Under tough security laws, the police must give permission for all demonstrations, and protests by groups not allied to the governing Zanu-PF party are rarely authorised.
On Thursday, police arrested about 100 people marking the anniversary of last year's slum clearance programme, in which the UN says some 700,000 people lost either their homes or their jobs.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
S.A. MAN SUES OVER 'COKE' DETENTION!
Eugene Coetzee was accused of stealing Coke worth $3. A South African man who was detained on suspicion of stealing three bottles Coca-Cola worth is suing the government for 350,000 rand ($60,000).
Eugene Coetzee says he was chained to a lamp post and jailed, and lost his job as the result of the incident in 2004.
He had bought three bottles of the drink at a shop in central Pretoria, but was accused of stealing them from another shop he visited later. Security guards there detained him and later handed him over to the police. Mr Coetzee told the Pretoria News he had a cash slip proving he had bought the drinks at the first shop. "The security guard refused to listen to me or look at my slip. He held my arm behind my back and more guards came to restrain me. I was cuffed to a lamp post outside the cafe [corner shop]," he said. He said he was refused permission to go to the toilet, and wet his trousers as a result.
Towards evening, when the police had not yet arrived, he says he was taken to Church Square, elsewhere in the city centre, and handed over to police who told him to wait until a police van arrived. He was then taken to Pretoria Central prison and charged with shoplifting later that night. Mr Coetzee said the officer paid no attention to the cash slip he showed as proof he had bought the drinks. He was later freed on bail of 200 rand, but when he told his employer about the incident, "he dismissed me as I had a run-in with the law," he said.
He intends to claim damages from the minister of safety and security - the minister in charge of policing - for what he sees as unlawful arrest and detention and subsequent mental anguish. The High Court recently granted him leave to bring the lawsuit, despite the incident being nearly two years ago. Mr Coetzee, who is still unemployed, said the delay was because he had had difficulty finding legal assistance.
The minister's office has said it will oppose the matter.
KENYAN FIRST LADY IN AIDS STORM!
This not the first time that Lucy Kibaki has courted controversy. HIV/Aids activists in Kenya have been shocked by the first lady's comments that young people had "no business" using condoms. Lucy Kibaki called on students at a school prize-giving to abstain from sex in order to avoid infection with HIV. Her statement contradicts government policy that promotes condom use.
The BBC's Caroline Karobia says Mrs Kibaki is influential, as she chairs the Organisation of the 40 African First Ladies Against HIV/Aids. This stance puts her in line with Ugandan first lady Janet Museveni, who backs a campaign for young Ugandans to pledge abstinence until marriage. Sex is not for people who are still in school - Lucy Kibaki.
"Those who are still in school have no business having access to condoms. Those who are in university and are not married have no business having condoms in their halls of residence," she told schoolgirls in the capital, Nairobi, on Thursday evening. However, Aids activists say research shows that young people in Kenya are often sexually active from the age of 14.
Elsa Ouko, the national co-ordinator of the Kenya Network of HIV-Positive Teachers, says Mrs Kibaki's remarks come as a shock because in her opinion condom use is the only option. "Let us be frank, because I think abstinence is not there. If it was there, kids who are 15 years old would not have been giving birth," she told the BBC. "The truth is that in Kenya even a youth who is 12 years old knows what sex is."
On a visit to a Nairobi boys' secondary school on Friday morning, our correspondent says most pupils interviewed admitted to being sexually active. Some 1.5m Kenyans have died of Aids or HIV-related diseases since 1984, reports the AFP news agency. It is not the first time Mrs Kibaki has courted controversy. Last year, she stormed the offices of the Daily Nation newspaper to complain at coverage of her and slapped a cameraman filming the outburst.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE VOICES - MARY!
Mary is one of the thousands whose homes were demolished last year. Zimbabwe is in economic meltdown, with the world's highest rate of inflation of 1,000% and chronic unemployment. Here Mary, 41, an HIV-positive widow, whose home was demolished by the authorities last year, reflects on her life.
My husband passed away in 2000. He was a soldier, he was HIV-positive. My baby was born and then passed away. My husband, my three sons, they passed away - I'm the only one. In time I was tested and [when] the result was out, I just laughed - I'm HIV positive, then what can I do?
A loaf of bread used to be about 70 cents - Now we don't even have cents
The doctors said: "No, here we just test you, we don't have anything to give you." Then I said: "Why have you tested me - you have just put me on a death sentence because I'm scared now because I know I am HIV positive. If you test me, it was to give me tablets." Here in Zimbabwe we don't have something like that. We don't have tablets, even Panadol we can't get it here. You are under a death penalty.
If you want to be taken for a CD4 count [a key test of the immune system] these days, it costs 10,000,300 Zimbabwe dollars ($99). But first you must go to the doctor, you pay 1m just for the doctor to write the letter to get a CD4 count. After that you must buy some tablets. It's 4.7m per bottle now. I can't afford it because I'm not working,
I'm not strong enough. We have got a problem - where can I go? Where am I going to get some tablets? If I go to the doctors - at first I go to the hospital - the government hospital - they say they want the card for Zanu-PF [the ruling party] but I didn't have the card. I can't have my tablet, I can't have my Panadol, I can't have my ARVs [Anti-Aids drugs].
You know if you start the ARVs you mustn't stop. Then if I stop what else? I'm going to die. If you go to our graveyard, you can see five, six, seven, eight people be buried because of HIV. With HIV you must have food and live in a good house and have good water and then you can survive with HIV. But if you don't have food, you don't have tablets, the rents of the houses, the rents of the water. You are lucky I'm not crying but I'm very angry.
Last year, when Tsunami [slum clearance operation] came, they kicked in all our houses. I had a nice house. I was married to a soldier. My house was destroyed. That was my riches, that was everything for me. I have nowhere to stay. I sleep under the bed of my mother.
BBC NEWS REPORT
CATHY's weekly letter from Zimbabwe.
Dear Family and Friends,
Shortly after Christmas a woman gave me a little parcel she had brought
from a friend in Australia. In the parcel was a hand knitted jersey and
matching wooly hat. There was nothing at all fancy about the garments,
they were just simple and practical and had been made with love and care
by someone who wanted to help a child in Zimbabwe. Made using little
scraps of left over wool, the jersey and hat were bright and colourful and
consisted of a series of yellow, blue, green and brown stripes. The
message which came to me with the parcel was that I should please find and
then give the jersey and hat to a child in need. That wasn't hard at all
and I didn't have to look far. In mid January I gave the jersey and hat to
a three year old boy. His mother, unemployed and living in basic and very
primitive conditions, was thrilled - these would be perfect for her son
this winter, she told me as she clapped in gratitude with cupped hands.
This week, just four months later, the woman buried her three year old son
on a cold and windy morning. The events of the past fortnight have been
utterly desperate, any mother's worst nightmare. Stomach cramps, vomiting
and then difficulty in breathing and at last the child was admitted to
hospital. Being admitted to hospital was a marathon which required a
rubber stamp in an exercise book and eight hundred thousand dollars before
anyone would even look at her son. This is a very far cry (more like a
desperate scream) from our government's promise of Free Health For All by
the year 2000. Four days later wearing the bright striped jersey which
came from a stranger in Australia, the little boy passed away in hospital.
For his mother the nightmare was just beginning. The hospital would not
release her son's body until four million dollars was paid. The cheapest
coffin was three million dollars, a grave site in a local cemetery was
seven million dollars. Now, overcome with grief, swamped with debt and
engulfed in the despair of it all, the little boy's Mum is struggling to
find the will to go on.
The statistics say that we have the lowest life expectancy in the world:
34 years for women and 37 years for men - and how do you measure what life
expectancy is for our children? With our monstrous inflation children are
dying here. Day after day children are not getting enough to eat and what
little food they have is mostly just maize meal porridge. Mothers cannot
afford the simplest foods to make their children strong - they cannot
afford milk, eggs, meat or even peanut butter.
People are dying here in Zimbabwe but it seems none of our leaders are
able to see or deal with the real priorities anymore. This week the
government is talking about building new complexes at borders and
airports. As I write both factions of the divided MDC, who both still
insist on calling themselves the MDC, and who both announced they would
not take part in elections, are taking part in by-elections in Harare. I
wonder if any of our leaders, from any party, care about a little three
year old boy who died this week. A little boy wearing a bright striped
jersey made with love by a woman who cares in Australia. Until next week,
with love, cathy.
Copyright cathy buckle 20 May 2006.
http://africantears.netfirms.com My books "African Tears" and "Beyond
Tears" are available from: orders@africabookcentre.com
MIGRANT INFLUX WORRIES CANARIES!
Migrant influx worries Canaries
The pressure of migrants is stretching Canary Islands resources. Senior Spanish ministers have been discussing the illegal immigration crisis facing the Canary Islands after a mass landing of immigrants. Nearly 1,000 people arrived in boats from Africa over the weekend - the largest number this year. Officials on the islands say at least 5,000 immigrants have made the journey this year and urged Madrid to give the issue greater priority.
The Spanish government says it will step up action to tackle the problem. Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said increasing numbers of illegal immigrants would be repatriated and joint patrols by Spanish and Mauritanian forces start on Monday to guard against illegal people trafficking to the Canaries.
Since Friday, 974 illegal migrants on boats heading for the Canary Islands have been intercepted by Spanish authorities. Thousands try to reach Europe through Spanish waters every year - most packed into narrow, open boats from north Africa that sometimes take weeks to arrive. Many destroy their identity papers before reaching Spain to hinder repatriation. Hundreds of would-be illegal immigrants have died on route.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
TV ALERTS FOR S AFRICA POWER CUTS!
The alerts will be screened during advertising breaks.South Africa's national electricity supplier is planning to flash warnings on television to alert consumers when the power supply is running low. The country has endured frequent power cuts recently due to increased demand and problems with a nuclear station. With winter beginning, more shortages are expected as South Africans turn on electric heaters.
Electricity company Eskom will issue colour-coded alerts, meaning users should turn off certain appliances.
"If we are in the green, everything is still OK, when we move to orange consumers will have to switch off non-essential appliances," Latetia Venter of Eskom told the BBC News website.
ELECTRICITY ALERTS
Green: No problem
Orange: Switch off swimming pool pumps, dishwashers, tumble dryers, kettles, water heaters.
Red: Switch off stoves and heaters
"Then there's the red zone. In this zone you will be requested not use stoves and heaters."
"The alert on TV will have a barometer on one side of the screen... with arrows indicating the zone we are in.
"At the bottom of the screen there will be an information bar with instructions on which appliances to switch off." The 15-second alerts, which will be screened during advertising breaks, are due to begin later in May.
There will also be radio announcements in some provinces indicating the colour-coded status of the electricity supply. Eskom had looked at international precedents, Ms Venter said, including Brazil where several years ago a drought caused a shortage of power from hydroelectric stations, and the alerts system had worked very well. "People were sensitised after a series of blackouts there. Up to 60% of people dropped their [electricity] load."
South Africa's electricity supply has lagged behind economic growth and the electrification of new neighbourhoods, causing regular power cuts in recent years. Cape Town suffered particularly severe cuts earlier this year, as the result of a malfunction at Koeberg, the country's only nuclear power station.
BBC NEWS REPORT
2010 NATIONS CUP
Caf names 2010 shortlist.
Caf has named a shortlist for the hosts of the 2010 Nations Cup. The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has named Libya, Angola, Nigeria and a joint bid from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea on its shortlist to host the 2010 Nations Cup. Caf heard a total of eight bids at its headquarters in Egypt on Sunday and eventually rejected those from Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Senegal.
Both Libya and Nigeria have hosted the African Cup of Nations in the past, while it would be a first for Angola as well as Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Inspectors from Caf will now visit all four of the shortlisted nations in between July and August this year. The inspecors will provide a detailed report on each country on such things as stadiums, security, transport and communications.
The eventual hosts for the 2010 Nations Cup will made by the Caf executive committee at its meeting in September 2006 Meanwhile Caf has also announced that Nigeria will be hosting this year's African Women's Championship after the earlier withdrawal of Gabon.
BBC SPORT NEWS REPORT
NIGERIA TO OFFER FREE AIDS DRUGS!
Many Nigerians do not get the right doses due to lack of funds Nigeria's government will provide all anti-retroviral drugs needed to fight HIV/Aids free of charge within two weeks, a health ministry official says. Dr Abdulsalami Nasidi told the BBC the government planned to have 250,000 people on the drugs within a year.
After India and South Africa, Nigeria has the most HIV infections at 4m. The BBC's Africa editor Martin Plaut says with such a high infection rate, fighting HIV has now become a national priority in the country.
Nigeria has been stung into action by criticism from the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) that the government was asking Aids patients to pay for their drugs, which it got free. The project will be financed by a $250m grant from the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria as well as from money released after Nigeria's international debts were cancelled. We hope people will not discriminate against people carrying the disease like before - Dr Abdulsalami Nasidi, Nigerian health ministry official.
Much of the rest of funding has been promised by the United States. This has meant that charges for administering the drugs, which put them beyond the means of the poor, have now been scrapped. "Those that are already receiving the treatment that were paying that token money will just be getting the drugs free of charge. [For new patients] all the drugs will also be given to them free of charge," Dr Nasidi told the BBC.
Medecins Sans Frontieres' research found nearly half of people on drug treatment in Nigeria did not receive sufficient doses due to lack of funds. With HIV patients having to pay for their drugs, many had been forced to beg or borrow to raise the money they needed, the medical agency said.
But Dr Nasidi said he hoped that providing free treatment would reverse this trend. "To survive if you are infected with HIV/Aids, you must take the tablet daily. So now that we are giving free we hope more people should come in for treatment. "And there will be less stigma in society, people will not discriminate against people carrying the disease like before," he said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ANC TO DECIDE ZUMA RETURN!
ANC meets to decide Zuma return
By Peter Biles - BBC Southern Africa correspondent.
Many feel the rape trial has damaged Jacob Zuma's image. South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) is to meet on Sunday to discuss reinstating Jacob Zuma as the party's deputy leader.
Mr Zuma asked to be relieved of his duties last year when a rape charge was laid against him. But last Monday he was found not guilty and he has made it clear that he now wants to resume his political career. Mr Zuma is regarded by his supporters as a possible successor to President Thabo Mbeki. Mr Zuma is not attending the session of the ANC's national executive committee. The outcome of the meeting is not expected to be announced until Monday.
The ANC has little choice but to reinstate Jacob Zuma as the party's second in command and allow him to resume his official duties. He was cleared of rape at the end of his trial in the Johannesburg high court but then forced to make a public apology for having had unprotected sex with an HIV positive woman. An opinion poll conducted by the Sunday Times in Johannesburg has found that nearly half of those questioned last week did not accept Mr Zuma's apology for his behaviour and 64% of the respondents were against him becoming the next president of the country.
Party leaders deny that the ANC is divided over the Zuma saga but the public perception is of a fierce battle now under way to decide who will succeed President Mbeki. On more than one occasion, Mr Mbeki has suggested that the next South African president should be a woman.
Mr Zuma's acquittal on the rape charge has strengthened his chances of mounting a challenge for the leadership of the party and the country but his suitability has been called into question and he also faces another trial, in July, on corruption charges.
BBC NEWS REPORT
CATHY's weekly letter from Zimbabwe.
Food or freedom
Saturday 13th May 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
Life has become so difficult in Zimbabwe that the daily struggle for survival is all consuming in these early weeks of winter. Every day now the electricity goes off, sometimes it's just for an hour, but mostly the cuts last for three to four hours in the evening and sometimes in the early morning too. On one grinding day this week the power went off for two long stretches leaving homes, institutions and businesses sitting on their hands for ten hours, barely able to function. People have taken to cooking their evening meal in the middle of the day, doing their ironing in the middle of the night and getting up long before sunrise to boil the kettle, have a bath and cook breakfast before the power goes off at 6am. Even worse though, is the fact that when the power comes back on, we all heave a sigh of grateful relief when we should be phoning, emailing and writing letters of complaint to the electricity authority. Zimbabwe has huge coal mines at Hwange, massive hydro electricity from Lake Kariba and the potential for more solar power than we could use and yet our homes, schools and businesses are in the dark this winter. Our silent acceptance of the situation is almost as bad as the power cuts themselves.
In a supermarket this week I watched half a dozen people standing staring sullenly at a closed door and wondered what was happening. A few more people joined them until maybe 20 men and women stood together in a group. No one talked or moved, they all just stood, staring intently at a closed door. After a while a woman wearing a white dust coat emerged pushing a shopping trolley which contained 10 bags of maize meal. There was a scramble, almost a scrum, and the first ten people to get to the trolley each grabbed a 10 kilogram bag and headed for the check out counters. That was a pretty shocking sight, seeing the scramble, the grabbing and the desperation for staple food, but it wasn't as shocking as the woman in the white coat who stood back and laughed at the people who were struggling to get to the food. I watched for a while longer. The woman in the white coat pushed her trolley back behind the door, more people gathered and waited and then the whole thing happened all over again. This time the woman in the white coat had been joined by two male employees.They were obviously not there to help either their colleague or the customers as they too just stood back and laughed. When I got to the check out counter the teller was also laughing at the food scrambling which had almost bought the whole supermarket to a standstill. I asked the teller why on earth they didn't just put out all the bags of maize meal on the shelf or at least get people to queue. For sure someone was going to get hurt but the teller just shrugged and his boredom with the situation and lack of empathy was palpable. It is almost impossible to understand why people don't complain when things like this are happening but it seems survival is the only thing that matters now. Food is more important than freedom, than fairness, than principles and even more important than dignity.
And while people begin scrambling for food before winter has really even taken hold, and when food from summer cropping should be plentiful, (but isn't) the protests in Zimbabwe are increasing. In the last fortnight 185 WOZA activists, including 73 children, were arrested for protesting about unaffordable education. 19 students from Bindura university were arrested for protesting over tuition fees and 48 NCA activists were arrested for protesting over the dire need for constitutional changes. The week ended with the news that inflation has reached 4 digits and now stands at 1042%. I cannot take that figure in and do not know how we will survive and so I stand outside in the winter sun, the sky is gorgeous and blue and the grass yellow and golden - this at least does not change.
Until next week, love cathy
NIGERIA'S LATEST FUEL BLAST!
Scores die in Nigeria fuel blast.
Smoke from the blast was seen from Lagos More than 150 people have been killed in an explosion at a petrol pipeline near Nigeria's largest city, Lagos. Police and Red Cross officials at the scene of the blast, on Atlas Creek Island, said many of the bodies had been burnt beyond recognition. Eyewitnesses in Lagos said they had seen thick black smoke rising from a nearby area. A fire at the scene was put out, the Red Cross said, but no injured people have been recovered.
An AFP news agency reporter at the site of the blast said he had seen bodies strewn over a 100m area of the coast and the charred remains of a boat on the water containing corpses. There are some reports that the blast, which happened early on Friday morning, may have been caused by people stealing petrol from a pipeline. There have been hundreds of deaths in Nigeria in recent years in similar circumstances.
"We found that vandals have drilled holes on [into] the pipeline, from where they have been stealing fuel," said Nigerian Red Cross Secretary General Abiodun Orebiyi. "We advise strongly Nigerians to desist from this dangerous act." Local people were apparently gathered around the site of the leak when the fuel ignited. Mr Orebiyi said that 500 jerry cans had been found at the scene. The BBC's Sola Odunfa in Lagos says the villagers who survived fled in case they were arrested for stealing petrol.
He says Atlas Creek is a small fishing community but some people have moved there because rent is cheaper than Lagos, where they commute by speedboat.
NIGERIA PIPELINE DISASTERS
Dec 2004: At least 20 killed in Lagos
Sept 2004: At least 60 killed in Lagos
June 2003: At least 105 killed in Abia State
Jul 2000: At least 300 killed in Warri
Mar 2000: At least 50 killed in Abia State
Oct 1998: At least 1,000 killed in Jesse
The pipeline serves the Atlas Cove petrol depot, which supplies south-western Nigeria. Despite being the eighth largest oil exporter in the world, Nigeria has to re-import refined oil products, such as petrol, because of decades of neglect of its own refineries. The pipelines often pass through poor communities, who break them to steal the precious fuel. Militants have frequently targeted the centre of Nigeria's oil industry in the Niger Delta, further to the east.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
CROSSING JOBURG'S RED LINE!
Thato is comfortable in her flat - but is looking to buy a house. As part of a series on housing in South Africa, Justin Pearce looks at two approaches - one government, one private - to upgrading Johannesburg's run-down neighbourhoods. "The best thing about it is the security," Sam Maleka, 27, says of the flat where he lives in the Brickfields complex, in Johannesburg's inner-city Newtown district. "It's nice to have peace of mind, and no thugs around."
Peek through the bars of the card-operated security gate that gives access to Brickfields and you see children playing on a green lawn in the middle of the red-brick flats, while adults wander home from work or carrying shopping. It looks like a bubble of calm amid the decay and insecurity that has come to characterise much of central Johannesburg in the last 20 years. What's more, these are not wealthy people: some earn as little as 2,000 rand ($300) a month. Brickfields was designed to provide housing in the inner city without creating ghettos, says Dombolo Masilela of the Johannesburg Housing Company - a non-profit urban development company which built Brickfields on land provided by local government.
"It's a project that will deliver mixed income housing," she says. At Brickfields, 40% of the flats are available to people earning between 1,500 and 3,500 rand ($250 and $600) a month, who qualify for a government rent subsidy. The rest are available at market-related rents. The location, near city-centre offices and a rank from where minibus taxis fan out across the city, is a draw card. Tatho Takalo, 24, was drawn to Brickfields "because it's close to taxis and shops".
Sam says security is the best thing about Brickfields.
"The neighbours are fine, though these days there are more foreigners - I'm not happy about that but there's not much I can do about it." When she applied for a flat, the developers checked her payslips - she works as a supervisor at a cinema - and allocated her a unit that matched her income. But many would rather move into a house, and use the monthly payment that currently goes on rent, to pay off a mortgage - known in South Africa as a bond.
Critics of Brickfields and similar schemes say they offer nothing to the poorest inner-city residents, who are occupying dilapidated buildings and threatened with eviction as property speculators buy them up. Even in the complex, some residents are getting disillusioned that living there is costing more than they originally anticipated.
"If I'm paying 2,500 a month [in rent plus service rates], that's the price of a bond and I might as well be paying something that I'm investing in," Thato says. Dombolo Masilela admits that it's a challenge to keep up with inflation, and with the rising prices charged by companies that provide services.
She also says there are no plans to sell off the flats, since South Africans looking to buy property tend to be more interested in free-standing houses. But she is encouraged by the fact that private investors have provided loans and equity for the project, in addition to the government subsidies for the poorer residents.
"Brickfields is the first project that has broken red lining," she says, referring to the practice whereby financers would shun property in areas seen as a risky investment - a decision that pushed the inner city into a downward spiral.
Elsewhere, red lining continues despite a court ruling that it is illegal, according to Ethel Williams and Guy Oliver. Ethel and Guy believe their side of town is missing out on investment. The couple have adopted the name "The Red Line" for the building they are currently renovating in Troyeville, east of the city centre. A bright red painted wall underlines their point: that banks and city authorities are still selective about where they put their money. "The Red Line is where the struggles begin - last week they didn't even collect our rubbish," Ethel says. Troyeville is one of Johannesburg's oldest residential areas. Within a kilometre of the Red Line are illegally occupied slum buildings with no running water, and miners' hostels left over from the days of apartheid migrant labour - as well as a number of artists working from home in a low-rent neighbourhood.
Guy and Ethel - he's a journalist, she's a filmmaker by profession - are developing the Red Line as a community centre and cafe for everyone who lives in the neighbourhood, and as a gallery that will allow the local artists and craftspeople to exhibit and sell their work. Their security fence - a hand-welded fantasy of metal stars and foliage - already stands as testimony to local creative talent. Ethel hopes that the 2010 World Cup - with matches being played at nearby Ellis Park - will help end the neglect: "Ninety minutes can't change people's lives - but we're prepared to show off in 2010 and we'll capitalise on that." But for now, as private investors they feel they are on their own.
"Banks see this as the seventh circle of hell," says Guy, who believes that the investment being made in Newtown is linked to the presence of corporate headquarters nearby. "They don't see the value of what is one of the oldest suburbs in Johannesburg, and has potential. In other cities in the world this would be highly sought after." But he adds on reflection: "Maybe it's better that it's not," arguing that the gentrification of the area would only serve to drive out the poorest residents.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
AFRICAN UNION PARLIAMENT BROKE!
South Africa, Libya, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt provide 75% of AU funds. The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) may have to call off its next session because of a lack of funds from the African Union (AU), officials warn. Wycliffe Oparanya, chairman of the PAP's finance committee, blamed the shortfall on countries that had failed to pay their dues to the AU.
He singled out Libya, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt, which together with South Africa provide 75% of AU funds.
The PAP was inaugurated in 2004, and sits in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.
"I'm not sure if the sixth session scheduled for October will go ahead," Mr Oparanya said.
The AU is meant to provide half of PAP's 2006 budget of $24m (£12.8m), with individual member states paying the other half. But AU has approved only $5.9m - $6.1m short of the $12m (£6.4m) that it owes. Mr Oparanya said he had approached the AU in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, to hear if the shortfall would be met, but came away empty-handed. "They are saying that they have no money because some AU member states have not paid," Mr Oparanya told reporters.
"This year five countries are supposed to pay 75% of the AU's budget - namely South Africa, Libya, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt ... of those, only South Africa has paid its contribution," he said.
"If these countries do not pay how do they expect the AU to operate?" he asked, saying that the PAP might have to look to donor nations to make up the funding shortfall.
BBC NEWS REPORT
ZIMBABWE'S WORLD FIRST!
Zimbabwe's inflation tops 1,000%
The poor state of the economy is having an effect on infrastructure. Zimbabwe's inflation rate has surged past the 1,000% mark signalling that the African country is struggling to keep its economy functioning normally.
The annual rate of price growth was 1,042.9% in April, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said, having risen 129 percentage points from March. It means average goods are about 11 times as expensive in April 2006 as they were 12 months earlier.
Zimbabwe is suffering from shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency. President Robert Mugabe blames domestic and foreign enemies for the problems. Business quotations are not valid for more than two days.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Zimbabwe suffers the highest rate of inflation in the world.
Many analysts put the responsibility firmly at the ruling party's door, claiming the government made the situation worse when it seized control of land owned by white farmers, which triggered a sharp drop in production and exports of agricultural goods.
Zimbabwe is a country that is blighted by crumbling urban infrastructure. There are regular water and power cuts, while the cost of everyday foods has surged.
ZIMBABWE BREAD PRICES
December 2004: Z$3,500
(3 US cents)
August 2005: Z$7,500
(7 US cents)
December 2005: Z$44,000
(43 US cents)
March 2006: Z$65,000
(64 US cents)
May 2006: Z$80,000
(79 US cents)
Surviving on a low income.
A loaf of broad now costs between Z$80,000 - Z$110,000 (79 US cents - $1.08) up from about Z$7,500 (7 US cents) last year, when the price was controlled by the government. A carton of orange juice costs about Z$500,000 and a kilo of beef up to Z$1m.
"Business quotations are not valid for more than two days," an office manager in Harare told the BBC News website. "Actually I have one in front of me which says it is valid for 24 hours. Prices can literally double overnight," she said.
In January, the government introduced a Z$50,000 "bearer cheque" worth 49 US cents, to become the highest value currency note. It is not enough to buy a copy of the daily Herald newspaper at Z$80,000.
Housing, education and transport costs also have jumped, while the unemployment rate means that almost two out of every three Zimbabweans are out of work. The country is struggling to pay civil servants and is thought to owe money to neighbours such as South Africa and Mozambique from whom it is been importing electricity and fuel.
The latest inflation data was to have been released on Wednesday, but the announcement was postponed, which only led to further panic about the economic crisis. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international bodies are calling for reforms, but Mr Mugabe is unwilling to accept outside help or interference.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MBESUMA TOLD TO PACK HIS BAGS
Mbesuma made just four appearances. Zambian striker Collins Mbesuma has been told to find a new club by Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp. Mbesuma joined the Premiership side on a three-year deal in August 2005 from South Africa's Kaizer Chiefs. But the twenty-two-year-old's time on England's south coast has been plagued by injuries. He made just four substitute appearances for the first team, all of them under former boss Alain Perrin.
Since Redknapp took over in December, Mbesuma has been frozen out and the Zambia international has now been informed that he is not part of the manager's plans for next season. Given his lack of first-team action, Portsmouth have accepted that they will be unable to recoup the US$800,000 they paid to acquire Mbesuma at a time when he was one of the hottest prospects in African football. Redknapp is also not expected to offer a new deal to Senegal midfielder Aliou Cisse, whose two-year contract has expired.
The Pompey boss is planning trips to France and Italy in the next few days to look at potential new signings. But his main transfer priority is reportedly the planned purchase of Senegal forward Henri Camara from Wigan.
BBC SPORTS NEWS.
