MUTUNGAMIRI wenyika yeSouth Africa, VaThabo Mbeki, vakasvika muHarare nemusi weChitatu masikati murwendo rwakanzi nemutauriri wehofisi yenyika yavo muno, rwaive nechekuita nehurukuro dzekutsvaga kugadzirisa kushanda pamwe kwemapato ezvematongerwo enyika muno. MUTUNGAMIRI wenyika yeSouth Africa, VaThabo Mbeki, vakasvika muHarare nemusi weChitatu masikati murwendo rwakanzi nemutauriri wehofisi yenyika yavo muno, rwaive nechekuita nehurukuro dzekutsvaga kugadzirisa kushanda pamwe kwemapato ezvematongerwo enyika muno. VaMbeki vakatambirwa panhandare yeHarare International Airport nemumwe wavo, President Robert Mugabe, pamwewo nemakurukota ari kutungamira hurukuro idzi akamirira bato reZanu-PF, Cde Patrick Chinamasa naCde Nicholas Goche. Vachibva panhandare apa VaMbeki naPresident Mugabe vakabva vapfuurira kuenda kumuzinda weHurumende uko vakavharirana muhurukuro dzisina zvakaziviswa zvakabuda padziri. Musangano wezuva rimwechete pakati pevatungamiri vaviri ava unotevera mumwezve wakavepo neChipiri chadarika muguta rePretoria pakati paVaMbeki naVaMorgan Tsvangirai, mutungamiri webato reMDC. Mutungamiri weSouth Africa uyu, uyo akapihwa chidanho chekuyananisa mapato anopikisana muno, aitarisirwawo kuzopinda muhurukuro naProfessor Arthur Mutambara, mutungamiri wechimwe chikamu cheMDC. Hurukuro dzemapato idzi dzinotarisirwa kupedza kusagadzikana kwezvinhu munyika, kunyanya munyaya dzezveupfumi, zvichitevera zvirango zveupfumi zvakatemerwa ino nyika nedzekumavirira. VaMbeki vakazivisa vatori venhau kuti mushure mezororo remazuva mashoma iri, hurukuro idzi dziri kuzofambira mberi nemusi weSvondo, svondo rino kuSouth Africa kwakare. "Tangouya kuzozivisa President patasvika, asi vamiririri ava vari kuda kufambira mberui neSvondo," vakadaro VaMbeki.

HARARE – A prominent Zimbabwe human rights lawyer and top opposition official Douglas Mwonzora has petitioned the High Court to direct President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party to close torture bases in rural Nyanga North constituency, more than 200km east of Harare.

Mwonzora, who is Member of Parliament-elect for Nyanga North, also wants the court to order the police to dismantle all roadblocks put up by ZANU PF militia in Nyanga and that they stop war veterans from harassing and assaulting villagers or stealing livestock from members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

The urgent court application – which highlights the immense difficulty power-sharing talks between ZANU PF and MDC face over what to do with Mugabe’s henchmen accused of masterminding political violence that has left more than 120 opposition supporters dead since last March – was filed last week. It is yet to be set down for hearing.

Mwonzora says in the application that war veterans have been demanding food from villagers to feed themselves at their “torture bases” and as “protection fees”, adding that the extortion and harassment was rife in the areas of Nyakomba, Nyamaropa, Nyadowa Clinic, Mutetwa Village Magoshe and Avilla.

“The harassments and beatings have also been extended to MDC election agents in Ward 10, Nyanga North, while an elected councillor and the elected Member of the House of Assembly representing Nyanga North have had travel restrictions in the area imposed upon them.

“At least five councilors from Wards 5, 8, 9, and 10 in Nyanga North constituency have been forced out of their homes and continue to seek refuge outside the constituency,” the court petition reads in part.

Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi was not immediately available for comment on the matter.

The MDC and human rights groups say political violence and rights abuses have continued especially in outlying rural areas despite ZANU PF and the two MDC parties beginning talks two weeks ago aimed at forming a government of national unity seen as the best way to end Zimbabwe’s long-running political and economic crisis.

A memorandum of understanding on talks signed by Mugabe and MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara commits all parties to “take all necessary measures to eliminate all forms of political violence, including by non-state actors, and to ensure the security of persons and property.”

The talks resumed in neighbouring South Africa last Sunday after they were called off a week ago apparently because negotiators could not agree on what posts Mugabe and Tsvangirai would take in the government of national unity.

However, chief mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki, denied the talks had hit deadlock and instead said the dialogue was still firmly on track and negotiators had only returned to Zimbabwe to consult their principals on ground covered so far.

Analysts say along with the issue of who will wield real power in the unity government, the issue of security for Mugabe’s followers who masterminded his violent re-election in last June’s controversial presidential run-off election and in previous polls stands out as a major stumbling block to successful dialogue

HARARE – Long queues for cash persisted at Zimbabwe’s banks on Monday despite the country’s central bank injecting new money last week and slashing zeroes from the currency in a bid to end cash shortages.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono last Friday redenominated the Zimbabwe dollar, chopping off 10 zeroes from the near-worthless currency and also introduced new currency. The central bank chief also increased the maximum withdrawal limit for individuals to Z$200 (redenominated) or two trillion dollars in old currency.

But the measures appear to have done little to dampen the demand for cash in country where inflation is more than two million percent and consumers require several millions of dollars to make simple purchases such as buying household groceries.

“I was here at the first light of dawn but still I haven’t been served,” said Joseph Chirume, standing in a queue snaking about 50 metres outside a banking hall in central Harare.

“The bank officials spent the whole morning saying that they had not received their allocation from the reserve bank,” added Chirume, who said he had travelled from Beatrice farming settlement about 60km south of Harare to withdraw money to buy medication for his sick wife.

RBZ spokesman Kumbirai Nhongo was not immediately available for comment on the matter.

Bank executives, who spoke on condition that they were not named, blamed the persistent cash shortages on the RBZ that they said was releasing only small amounts of cash to banks.

“We are getting very small allocations from the RBZ and sometimes we get the allocations after midday and by then long queues would have formed,” said a manager with a Harare commercial bank.

Bulawayo-based economic analyst Eric Bloch said the cash problem was worsened by a low maximum withdrawal limit that he said was too little to cover basic daily cash requirements in Zimbabwe’s hyperinflationary environment.

Liquidity problems at some of the banks also compounded the problem because such banks were unable to request adequate cash allocations from the RBZ.

Bloch said: “The banks have their own liquidity problems and cannot fund their cash requests to the central bank. The other problem is to do with the level of the maximum withdrawal limit, which cannot buy daily basic needs. This means that people have to come to the bank for several days in order to be able to withdrawal just to meet basic supplies.”

However Bloch predicted that it would take “a few more weeks” before the situation at banks normalised.

Zimbabwe, which was once a model African economy, is in the grip of an unprecedented economic recession that in addition to hyperinflation is also seen in shortages of food, rising unemployment and poverty.

Western governments and the opposition MDC party blame President Robert Mugabe – in power since 1980 – for ruining the economy through repression and wrong policies such as his farm seizures that have led to food shortages mainly due to failure by new black farmers to maintain production on former white farms.

Poor performance in the mainstay agricultural sector has also had far reaching consequences as hundreds of thousands have lost jobs while the manufacturing sector, starved of inputs from the farming sector, is operating below 30 percent capacity.

Mugabe denies ruining the economy and instead says his country’s problems are because of sanctions and sabotage by Britain and its Western allies opposed to his land reforms.

JOHANNESBURG – Negotiations for a power-sharing government in Zimbabwe were likely to continue into the week after representatives from feuding political parties looked set to miss Monday's deadline to conclude the talks.

Mukoni Ratshitanga, spokesperson for South African President Thabo Mbeki who is Southern African Development Community's chief mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis, said after negotiations that resumed on Sunday following last week’s adjournment were likely to stretch beyond the two-week deadline set by Zimbabwe's ruling party and the opposition.

"The talks were on today (Monday) after they resumed on Sunday," he said.

"We should take note of the fact that the parties took five days off last week to discuss with their principals. So, logically there is no way they will meet their original deadline if you take that into consideration."

President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party began talks with the opposition MDC party to try to find a negotiated solution to a political and economic crisis that intensified after the Zimbabwean leader’s controversial re-election in a June poll boycotted by the opposition and denounced by both African and Western governments.

The talks adjourned last week amid reports that they had collapsed over what posts Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai would take in the government of national unity.

According to the reports, talks broke down after ZANU PF negotiators insisted that Mugabe should remain as executive president, while Tsvangirai becomes prime minister or a third vice-president in the unity government.

On the other hand, the MDC demanded that Tsvangirai should become executive prime minister of the unity government with Mugabe serving as a titular president.

Mbeki however dismissed talk that negotiations had collapsed insisting that the process was still firmly on track and that the negotiators had only returned to Zimbabwe to consult their principals on progress made so far.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai and the head of an MDC splinter branch, Arthur Mutambara, agreed on July 21 to a framework for negotiations, including the two-week deadline.

Tsvangirai has also hinted that the talks would extend beyond Monday, saying last week the timeframe was "not inflexible".

Mbeki, who has faced heavy criticism in the past over accusations of treating the Zimbabwe president with kid gloves, flew to Harare for talks with Mugabe after the adjournment last week and also met Tsvangirai in Pretoria.

Tsvangirai, who last week said he was “fairly satisfied” with the talks, has also said the deadline was flexible.

The talks are expected to agree the structure for a power-sharing government and to set out the objectives and priorities for the new government. 

Negotiators will also tackle the issue of a new constitution for Zimbabwe, land reform, Western sanctions imposed on Mugabe’s government and how to restore economic stability and growth.

Tsvangirai, who beat the veteran Mugabe in a first round presidential vote on March 29 but failed to garner enough votes to take over power, pulled out of the June 27 second round citing political violence against his supporters.

Mugabe defied worldwide calls to postpone the run-off and went on to win an election in which he was the sole contestant, earning himself widespread condemnation from Africa, the European Union and the United States.

Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai are under heavy international pressure, including from within Africa, to negotiate a national unity government to end a crisis that has ruined the economy and flooded neighbouring states with millions of refugees.

Harare – A bomb explosion shattered windows at Harare's main police station, Zimbabwean police said on Sunday, as talks on resolving the country’s political crisis were set to resume. No one was injured in the blast. "The army bomb disposal unit summoned to the scene recovered the remains of detonated explosives and one live explosive," senior police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said in a statement. The Saturday night explosion "destroyed several windows in the CID (Crinimal Investigation Department) administration block," Bvudzijena said, adding that no one was injured in the blast and investigations were under way. The blast came hours before negotiations for a power-sharing government between the ruling and opposition parties were due to resume in South Africa on Sunday. The talks mediated chiefly by South African President Thabo Mbeki began soon after Zimbabwe’s political leaders signed a memorandum of understanding on July 21 committing themselves to negotiations meant to set up a government of national unity that is widely regarded as the best way to end Zimbabwe’s political crisis. The negotiations had adjourned last week with party representatives returning to Harare to consult their principals before they resumed on Sunday. Bombs blasts are very rare in Zimbabwe despite the political instability in recent years, but last year the government accused opposition activists of petrol-bombing some police stations though no one was ever convicted. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change denied government accusations that it was behind the petrol bombings.