Last week the BBC had a report that groups of MDC supporters returning from South Africa were carrying out reprisal attacks against Zanu PF war veterans who had beaten up their relatives. The link to the piece was emailed to us by a few people with different messages ranging from “It’s about time someone did this”, to “I hope Sokwanele will condemn this as much as you do Zanu PF-led violence”.

The incidents, close to Zimbabwe’s border with South Africa, followed accusations of torture and arson attacks by war veterans.

Youths loyal to the opposition have now launched retaliatory attacks against the veterans.

Sokwanele campaigns for non violence, and that includes all forms of violence so we condemn these sort of actions completely.

I delayed my response to this because we’ve been adding more violence data to our map and I wanted to see if this latest sample included violence against civilians perpetrated by MDC supporters. It does: out of the total of 2094 cases mapped so far, there are four cases in Harare denoted by four bright pink map pins. These were not, as you might imagine, all MDC reprisal attacks against Zanu PF thugs - three of them are cases arising out of infighting between the two MDC formations and only one was of a Zanu PF supporter who came forward to report his experience at the hands of an MDC supporter. (more…)

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Food shortages and hyperinflation are forcing people to take desperate measures to survive. Some extremely hungry people have taken to buying animal feed intended for cattle and chickens by the cupful  (because a full bag is too expensive) for their own consumption. It’s a worrying development because there is no telling what additives might have been added to the feed. For example, if hormones have been added, what would the long term impact be on humans or on child development?

The military, however, are not eating animal feed. They have been seen buying animals for slaughter in some rural areas. Reports we’ve received say that the soldiers are using foreign currency to buy the meat. The big question is, where are they getting the cash? In addition to the ‘forex’ clanger, we’ve been told that the Bakossi shops are being used primarily for Zanu PF card holders. So Mugabe loyalists receive privileged treatment yet again. (more…)

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Well Bob couldn’t let the opportunity to speak go by and what a fool he made of himself. The first thing that was obvious and apparent is that he sounds really, really old, slow and weighed down.

He opened his rant after Gono’s budget statement was over by claiming that Gono’s written statement ended with the words that he “committed the monetary statement to God’s hands”, but Bob insisted he didn’t hear Gono say it.

Well we heard it, over the radio, clear as day. Will somebody please turn up Bob’s hearing aid! (more…)

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This is YT, who came in for medical treatment yesterday from Mteta village, Mudzi.

On Saturday 19th July, 2008, he and two others were taken from their homes to Chimkoko Militia Base in Mudzi and beaten with sticks by the Zanu PF militia. They were kept there overnight and after being beaten again on the Sunday, were “released” and told to go home.

The militia said “where were you all along, we’ve been waiting for you, you want to sell land to Morgan Tsvangirai, he’s not good, he’s a donkey”.

Where is the commitment of the Zanu PF regime to dialogue when they are not prepared to stop the violence, torture, abductions and arrests and detentions of our officials and members?

The ripple effect of the displacements (and burning peoples homes) is that there are many very sick people coming in for medical treatment as a result of being in the cold. Many of those sick will be immuno-suppressed and therefore more susceptible to opportunistic infections.

There cannot be a way forward until the war against the people of Zimbabwe has been stopped. The war is being viciously waged against the people of Zimbabwe, who exercised their democratic right to vote for a new President and a new Zimbabwe.

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Zimbabwe talks set to resume Sunday: Mbeki (AFP / Reuters)
South African President Thabo Mbeki said, after meeting with Robert Mugabe, that power-sharing talks between the MDC and Zanu-PF would resume on Sunday. Mbeki said that talks were “progressing”. He said that he had come to brief Mugabe on how far negotiations have gone. The meeting between Mbeki and Mugabe lasted an hour.

Tsvangirai denied new passport (The Zimbabwe Times)
Morgan Tsvangirai leader of the MDC has again been denied a new passport by the Zimbabwean authorities. Tsvangirai was given an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) instead, which confines his travel to Africa. The ETD is only valid for six months.

The Zimbabwe Times reports that the decision to deny Tsvangirai a new passport was made at a Joint Operations Command (JOC) meeting, held at the Mukwati Building on June 16. Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede was allegedly summoned and instructed to withhold Tsvangirai’s passport for “security reasons”.

Tsvangirai used the ETD to travel to South Africa on Monday to meet with his negotiators after inter-party talks reportedly became deadlocked over disagreements over power-sharing arrangements. (more…)

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MDC Press Release

In spite of the on-going SADC-brokered dialogue in South Africa, two MDC activists were last week murdered by Zanu PF supporters.

The body of Fungisai Ziome, an MDC activist who was abducted at her home on 23 July 2008, was discovered in a maize field on Saturday morning in Glendale, Mazowe South constituency, in Mashonaland Central province.

Ziome, of Ward 13 in Glendale, was an active MDC supporter who was abducted by Zanu PF supporters who then mutilated, burnt and dumped her body, which was later, discovered in the early hours of Saturday by passers-by in the area.

A report was made about the murder to the police but no arrests have been made. The MDC and Ziome’s relatives are waiting for a post mortem before burial arrangements are made.

Meanwhile, Kingsley Muteta, a police officer, died at Harare’s Avenues Clinic on Saturday after being beaten by a mob of 12 Zanu PF supporters at his parents’ homestead in Mudzi.

Muteta who was working in Harare, had visited his mother when he was attacked by the mob, which accused him of visiting his mother when he knew she was a known MDC activist.

He was taken to Kotwa Hospital in Mudzi and later transferred to Harare where he died on Saturday due to the injuries that he sustained.

His body is also waiting for a post mortem before he is buried.

The MDC has asked Zanu PF to show its sincerity to the dialogue process by stopping violence, disbanding all militia bases and prosecuting all perpetrators of political violence.

The deaths show that there is no sincerity on the part of Zanu PF. The death of the two brings to 122 the number of MDC activists who have been murdered since the March 29 harmonised elections.

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This blogger listened to the radio today in amazement…

Part one aired on the radio this morning was a brief monetary statement from Gono – a digestible 20 minutes. Part two was a long, boring, dragged out drone from Robert Mugabe.

“Food Security: the Answer to Disinflation”  - this grand statement is the title for Gono’s mid-term budget.

Gono started, with his normal salutations to the representatives of government, journalists and diplomats. He even had the grace to thank representatives of both formations of the MDC when he said to them, “Welcome, this is how it should be”. But he showed his true sycophantic colours with his demand that a special round of applause be awarded to Mugabe, the special guest, whom he admitted is under extreme pressure.

Gono went on to emphasise that the future of the economy is dependent on political stability. Predictably, he laid the blame of the country’s economic woes on sanctions, the tired and worn excuse dredged up by those in power at every possible opportunity to absolve themselves of any responsibility. He ended with the hackneyed warning that those in the international community, our enemies, are keen to see Zimbabwe fail.

Finally Gono got to the meat of the budget. (more…)

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This report draws upon 3320 formal interviews with victims of human rights abuses over the last three months. This figure represents a fraction of those directly affected by violence, the majority of whom are likely to have failed to access appropriate medical assistance.

Download and read the report here.

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Mbeki: Zimbabwe power-sharing talks ‘going well’ (AP)
South African President Thabo Mbeki insisted that talks between the political parties of Zimbabwe are going well, despite reports of disagreements. “The negotiators are negotiating. They are continuing to meet. … They are doing very well,” said Mbeki on Tuesday.

Sources said however that talks had reached an impasse on Monday. Reportedly, the MDC negotiators were unhappy with Zanu-PF’s insistence that Robert Mugabe remain the president of Zimbabwe, with full executive powers, and that Morgan Tsvangirai leader of the MDC should take the position of third vice-president.

Mbeki said that the teams had needed time to consult with their respective parties before continuing talks. “They have not concluded; they will be adjourning shortly for a few days because they want to do back to Harare to go and consult with their principles about the work that is being done and then come back by the end of the week to resume the negotiations,” he said. “But they are proceeding.”

Zimbabwe negotiators fly home as crisis talks break up (AFP)
Negotiators flew home on Tuesday to resolve a deadlock over power sharing between Mugabe and the MDC.

George Sibotshiwe spokesperson for the MDC said, “We cannot discuss the main issues, we can only say that they are in a deadlock and that the parties will consult with their principals,” he said. “If the sticking points are resolved then the talks will resume.”

South African President Thabo Mbeki insisted at a news conference on Tuesday that talks were “going very well”. “In the memorandum of understanding they said they will try to conclude negotiations within two weeks … ,” said Mbeki.

“They are indeed very determined to keep to that commitment and so they are continuing to talk among themselves and indeed to reach agreements about various matters that are on their agenda.” (more…)

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Zimbabwean industry and commerce is on its knees as inflation accelerates at an alarming pace with some pundits placing the figure as high as 30 million percent per annum.

Industrial capacity utilisation continues to decline and may well have reached single digits expressed as a percentage if the available economic data production is keeping keep up with events.

A large fertiliser organisation is operating at between 1 and 2% of capacity.

Businesses struggle to pay their employees as they are only allowed to draw 100 billion cash a day to fund their household expenses and this is not enough to even buy a loaf of bread. By the time the salary is drawn from the account much of it is eroded by inflation of around 20% per day further compounding the crisis.

Real income for many people is now as low as 10 – 14% of what it was 3 years ago and salaries and wages, expressed in Rand, would ensure that virtually everyone is now earning at the lowest legal level in neighbouring South Africa.

The banking system is being crushed by the massive figures associated with hyperinflation and transactions are being slowed down even further, raising again the spectre of further losses to business as money loses its value whilst trapped in the system.

Many companies are paying up to 40% premium for cash and cheques a 50% premium to cover the period of time up to the point the cheque is transacted from the account.

The Old Mutual Implied Rate sits at 498 billion to 1 and the hard Boiled Egg Index Fair Value Rate, 210 billion.

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Tsvangirai arrives in SA (AFP)
Morgan Tsvangirai leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) flew to Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday afternoon. An MDC source said that Tsvangirai was to consult with his negotiating team. MDC spokesperson George Sibotshiwe told reporters that Tsvangirai was there on private business.

Officials say Zimbabwe talks have broken off (AP)
Talks between negotiators of the MDC and Zanu-PF broke off on Monday and the Zanu-PF representatives returned to Harare for consultations with their leadership. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche have reportedly gone home to consult with Mugabe about their mandate. It is unclear at this stage whether talks have broken down completely or are only in recess. Few details are forthcoming, as the parties have agreed to a media blackout during the talks in South Africa. (more…)

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Wilson Jori (65) from Ward 28, Jori Village, Headman Chimombe, Chief Nyashanu in Buhera South was fined 8 goats and 18 chickens for being an MDC sympathiser before being severely assaulted and tortured after he was forced to attend a ZANU PF rally on 17 July 2008.

Jori said ZANU PF militias forced all people in Chimombe Village to attend what they termed ‘victory celebration meeting’ at around 10.00hrs. It was during the meeting that the militias demanded the goats and chickens from all MDC sympathisers and later beat them severely on their back and buttocks using electrtric cables, wire, logs and sjambocks ‘to be certain that they have rejoined ZANU PF’. (more…)

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Two MDC activists, Witness Maambire, who was Chief Election to Samuel Muzerengwa (MDC senator for Buhera), and a friend were abducted at gun point by Colonel Morgan Mzilikazi at Chapanduka Business Centre on 24 July 2008. The MP elected for the area Mr. Naison Nemadziwa, who was in the company of the abductees, had to run into the mountains for his safety.

The three had gone to fetch 17 MDC activists who were tortured on 17 July 2008 and were injured with  bad cuts all over their bodies and broken legs and arms.

When they were at Chapanduka Business Centre, they parked their open pick up truck. The MP, Mr. Nemadziwa, got off the truck and went into the nearby village to fetch the injured persons leaving Witness Maambire, who was behind the wheel and his assistant in the truck. (more…)

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SA objects to new Zim sanctions (AFP)
South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said that South Africa could not understand the need for new sanctions on Mugabe’s regime and said it was “outside interference”.

“For us, it is difficult to understand the objectives of new sanctions,” said Pahad. “The Zimbabweans are meeting; let them sort out what they want for their future. We should not allow outside interference.”

South African President Thabo Mbeki had told news reporters on Sunday that negotiations were continuing. Mbeki refrained from disclosing more details other than saying, that the South African cabinet had expressed the hope that the Zimbabwean political parties would act with urgency to ensure an early settlement.

UN assists Mujuru’s venture (M&G)
African Management Service Company (Amsco) is a public management company constituted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and it is providing assistance to River Ranch Diamond Mine that is owed by the Mujuru’s. Joyce Mujuru is vice-president of Zimbabwe and Solomon Mujuru, a former commander or the Zimbabwean army and currently a member of Zanu-PF’s politburo. The mine has been in the possession of the Mujuru’s since 2001. Solomon Mujuru is one of the Zanu-PF officials targeted by US sanctions. (more…)

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This article in The Sunday Times outlines the agreement that the paper claims will emerge from the talks  currently going on between leaders of Zimbabwe’s main political parties:

… The Sunday Times has learnt that Mugabe, who has vowed that Tsvangirai will never be in government and that “only God can remove me from power”, faces humiliation over the terms of the deal that he will be forced to sign next month.

He will remain as president in name only and all real power will be held by a 20-member cabinet under Tsvangirai as prime minister. The opposition MDC will have 11 cabinet posts to nine for Mugabe’s Zanu-PF.

Apparently Sydney Mufamadi read the riot act to Zanu PF officials to force them to engage in talks:

According to the officials who were present, he told them bluntly: “You don’t have a government. You can’t summon your parliament. You have no legitimate president and thus you can have no cabinet. You cannot behave as you have been doing. Real talks have to start right away.”

The article also claims that Thabo Mbeki warned Robert Mugabe that he could no longer protect him from the threat of prosecution for crimes committed against the Zimbabwean people.

We recommend you read the full article here.

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