ZANU PF ZANU PF Unity. Peace and De-elomerOt Zimbabwe News Official Organ of ZANU PF Department of Informatit and Pulicity, 144 UnIon Aoerue, Harare, Tel: 790148 Volume 27, No. 4 1996, Registered at the G.P.O as a Newspaper APRIL 1996 $2.50(inc. sales tax) They our land for free why should we pay now Zimbabwe News Official Organ of ZANU PF Contents EDITORIAL (I): (1l): COVER STORY: SPECIAL FEATURE: CHURCH NEWS: DOMESTIC FILE: REGIONAL FILE: BUSINESS NEWS: TALKING POINT: HEALTHLINE: WOMEN'S FORUM: VIEWPOINT: NEWS UPDATE: BOOK REVIEW: Beyond the Presidential Elections ......................................... Freedom of the Press ........................................................... Zimbabwe's 16th Independence Anniversary ......................... The new cold war in Asia .................................................... Churches condemn statement by Minister Stamps ................. Black economic empowerment a must - President ............... The peace process ................................... Textile sector needs government move ................................. The South African economy in 1996 .................................... A post-mortem of Presidential Elections ............................... A policy for sustainable economic growth ............................ Out-of-court settlement for deadly error ................................ Women are their own problem ............................................. Indigenisation of the economy .............................................. Msika on campaign rallies .................................................... Peace plan for Korean Peninsula .......................................... Muluzi praised in Malawi .................................................... Ugandans urged to end rebellion...: ...................................... SADC urged to promote information exchange ..................... Pro-democracy movement growing in Swaziland ................... Poverty in South Africa too .................................................. "Democracy: The challenge of change" .............................. I-HM Zimbabwe Newsis the official organ of the ZimbabweAfrican National Union (ZANU PF) and is produced on the authority of the Central Committee by the Department of Information and Publicity, Jongwe Printing and Publishing Co., No. 14Austin Road, Worldngton, Harare. World Copyright. Central Committee (ZANU PF) Editorial Council: Cde. N.M. Shamuyanra, Cde. C.C. Chimutengwende, Cde. C. Ndhlovu, Cde. S. Kachingwe. Cde.A. Sikhosana, Cde. M. Munyati. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 4 C Beyond the Presidential Elections Now that the Presidential elections of 1996 are over, it is time to take stock of the mistakes made in the past, and how they should be corrected; and look at the road ahead to see how the material conditions of our people can be improved. Our leadership has the political will, the experience, and the dedication to make a correct assessment of the situation, and arrive at the right conclusions. ZANU-PF has been through many crises and difficult situations, but it survived because of wise leadership. And a dedicated cadreship. It is in this context that we so much welcome the return of Comrade R.G. Mugabe, First Secretary and President, to the helm of the Govern. ment. He has what it takes to lead a growing nation like ours - the ability to take wise decisions; a set of principies to guide him; and a capacity to unite the people. The Central Committee, the Parliament, the Politburo, and the Cabinet, should now chart the road ahead of the nation, dearly sign-posted with concrete steps that are being taken in order to forge ahead. Looking back one of the mistakes made was to embrace the concept of the ESAP in the belief that it would attract foreign investment, increase exports, and thereby reduce or remove unemployment. None of that has occurred; instead prices have gone up, inflation has also gone up, and the value of our dollar has gone down. Now, the same economists who were urging for the opening up of the economy in order to achieve growth, are now arguing for a drastic reduction in Government expenditure, and selling off the parastatal bodies to private companies. We should close our ears to these economists. They will simply lead us to financial bankruptcy, and political stalemate. The promises that were made during the election campaign must now be fulfilled, especially on the land, indigenisation of the economy, and building more and bigger dams. The expectations of our people al'e high. Any delay or hesitation would give our people a totally wrong impression of our Government, and its intentions. Those who own farms and companies should enjoy their property, but they should not be allowed to stop or hinder the Government and the Party from fulfilling the promises made to the people. In future the credibility and legitimacy of the Government will depend on its ability to deliver on the promises it has made. In the past, ZANU-PF has never failed to fulfill its promises to the Zimbabwean people. We delivered freedom and independence; we united our people and gave them peace and stability; we sharply increased the social services (education and health) to our people; we opened up to them what was a closed racist society; and, we improved their material conditions substantially. All this was done in the face of thick opposition from the same economists who are now advising us to sell the little silver left in the house. The Party has the popular base, the administrative capacity, and the political will to deliver on the promises of its principled leadership. [l Freedom of the press There has been much uninformed discussion about the freedom of the press. Unfortunately, even eminent legal minds that should shed much-needed light on the subject, have not done so. They have infact contributed to the confusion by repeating slogans that have no meaning. The campigners for press freedom have held up the 'Financial Gazette' as the example of a free, and independent press. Free and independent from what? They mean free from Government control. But freedom from Government control does not mean freedom from other forms of control, especially the paymaster. Every editor and journalist must adhere to the policy of the proprietor of the newspaper he or she is writing for. This point was made abundantly clear by Mr. Elias Rusike, the chief executive of Modus Publications. After dismissing the editor, Mr. Trevor Ncube, he said: "Editors are employees like any other persons. An editor does not own a newspaper but is hired by owners of the newspaper to implement their editorial policy." That statement is the truth of the matter. We have never accepted the view that a journalist working for the press barons is free and independent. There is pressure now to end the monopoly of the ZBC in the field of broadcasting. While some competition may be very good for the ZBC, but it does not follow that those journalists working for other broadcasting organisations will necessarily be free and independent. Freedom can never be absolute. But, we think the largest measure of freedom can be achieved in an institution like the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust. It is not perfect, and it has had many teething problems. But, the central idea is to have an institution that is not controlled by Government, and not dictated to by any press baron. Those distinguished Zimbabwean citizens who run it have no financial interest in the business, and no shareholders to please or placate, In that context, they should serve the interest of all Zimbabweans. The majority shares they hold in the publishing company, are held in trust for all Zimbabweans. The papers should be influenced by, and reflect all tections of the Zimbabwe public, the Government of the day, the opposition parties, the business groups, sporting associations et cetera, without fear or favour. That is the central objective of the noble idea of the Trust. It is a great pity that campaigners of various organisations have lost sight of this objective, and vilified the Trust unfairly. Some of the campaigners are sworn enemies of the Government, and only want to see a newspaper that attacks and discredits the present Government, even with false statements. Those people have their political objective, but they do not promote democracy in Zimbabwe. The central aim of the Trust is to promote democracy and tolerance among all sections of Zimbabwean society; and to represent all those sections in the structures of the Trust. ] ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 4 ibwe's 16th Independence anniversary By Zvenyika Kambizi 2 day we all became one big team in the governance of this country - Vice ident Cde. Muzenda his month on April 18, Zimbabwe- dependence Celebrations Committee. ans from all walks of life celebrate He added: "It is a day that marked a the country's 16th Independence new beginning to a new life for all Zimwersary. babweans, a day that we all became one abwe attained its national indepen- big team in the governance of this coune in 1980 on April 18 after 90 bit- try and in the shaping of our own ears of colonial rule. destiny." e new and all-important chapter in the Antry's history opened following a -year bloody armed struggle against oniaism. was the Second Chimurenga led by e:Joshua Nkomo (PF ZAPU), and Cde. bert Mugabe (ZANU) that finally disIged colonialism in this country. The it Chimurenga waged in 1896 and led Ambuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kagun Mashonaland and King Lobengula he Matebeleland region, failed mainly e to inferior