Links ~ 2 October 2008

S.Africa wants Mbeki to continue Zimbabwe mediation (Reuters)
Thabo Mbeki should continue as chief mediator in Zimbabwe’s stalled power-sharing negotiations despite stepping down as South African president, his successor said on Thursday. “Mr. Mbeki’s facilitation efforts in Zimbabwe have proven his dispassionate vision for a lasting political solution to the challenges facing Zimbabwe,” new South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said in a statement. “Accordingly, our government has full confidence in Mr Mbeki’s ability to build on the historic successes already made in the power sharing negotiations under his mediation.” Mbeki mediated agreement on the outline of a power sharing deal two weeks ago but the two sides are now deadlocked on cabinet posts.

ZANU PF rejects opposition calls for Mbeki’s intervention (ZimOnline)
Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal looked increasingly in danger of unraveling after President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party on Wednesday rejected opposition calls for ex-South African President Mbeki to intervene to break a deadlock over formation of a government of national unity. As ZANU PF rejected outside help to break the stalemate over sharing of posts in the unity government, a senior South African official raised fresh doubt whether Mbeki – who brokered the power-sharing deal – would be willing to help, telling reporters that the ex-president had not yet agreed to keep mediating in Zimbabwe’s crisis.

MDC thinking of pulling out of deal (The Zimbabwe Times)
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is seriously mulling a withdrawal from the current negotiations on the formation of a power-sharing government until Zanu-PF agrees to conditions that ensure a fair sharing of Cabinet posts in terms of the political agreement signed on September 15. Following a meeting held by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his six top advisors there are strong indications that a pull-out from the talks on establishing a coalition cabinet is under serious consideration until President Mugabe’s party commits itself to sharing power equally in the proposed new government.

Cabinet deadlock linked to fear of prosecution (SWRA)
The fear of prosecution for human rights abuses and looting of state coffers by ZANU PF officials and security chiefs is at the root of the current deadlock over allocation of cabinet ministries. According to a senior official in the MDC, several ZANU PF bigwigs who were responsible for this year’s election violence which claimed the lives of over 131 opposition activists are reluctant to have their party concede ministries which have a direct bearing on their prosecution or immunity. In a series of meetings held before and after Mugabe’s trip to the United Nations summit, the ZANU PF leader has been warned against conceding the Home Affairs, Justice, Defence and Prison ministries.

UN warns over Zimbabwe food aid (BBC)
About half the population of Zimbabwe could soon be in need of constant food aid and medical assistance, the UN’s humanitarian chief has told the BBC. John Holmes said three million people were already reliant on aid, and that figure could rise to five million. He said the situation was already grave and deteriorating.

Zimbabwean children endure the worst poverty as political leaders dilly-dally on key decisions (Canada Free Press)
From a distance, tiny bodies make swift movements on branches of a huge wild fruit tree. One would mistakenly think they are wild animals scavenging for food, but a closer move to the tree shocks one’s life. Children as young as five years hang on branches as they make and search for today’s meal. The first conscience at such a touching sight is the children’s safety. What if the little kids fall 15 metres down the tree, one ponders It is summer season and snakes are active, what is to become of the kids if they cross the path of vicious and poisonous snakes? As a concerned adult, you attempt a word of advice on the dangers of climbing trees, but with stunned faces the kids stare at your ignorance. You are just coming from town and not well versed with what is happening in this rural set-up. The kids climb down with pockets full of the fruit meal. It is them now lecturing you on the biting poverty, they and their parents face on a daily basis.

Life in Zimbabwe: Wait for Useless Money (New York Times)
Zimbabwe is in the grip of one of the great hyperinflations in world history. The people of this once proud capital have been plunged into a Darwinian struggle to get by. Many have been reduced to peddlers and paupers, hawkers and black-market hustlers, eating just a meal or two a day, their hollowed cheeks a testament to their hunger. Like countless Zimbabweans, Mrs. Moyo has calculated the price of goods by the number of days she had to spend in line at the bank to withdraw cash to buy them: a day for a bar of soap; another for a bag of salt; and four for a sack of cornmeal.

Farm animals bartered to stave off hunger (The Zimbabwean)
In Dongamuzi village, in the Lupane district of Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province, Jestina Moyo, 56, is making a deal she knows is unfair, but she also knows she has little choice but to barter one of her few remaining cows for six buckets of maize to feed her family. As in many other villages, people like Moyo have steadily seen their livestock depleted this year as animals are exchanged for grain in a bid to survive the country’s acute food shortages. There is an air of despair in rural areas.

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