Zimbabwe News, Vol. 27, No. 6

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Alternative title Zimbabwe News Author/Creator Zimbabwe African National Union Publisher Zimbabwe African National Union (Harare, Zimbabwe) Date 1996-05-00 Resource type Magazines (Periodicals) Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Zimbabwe, South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1996 Source Northwestern University Libraries, L968.91005 Z711 v.27 Rights By kind permission of ZANU, the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front. Description Comment: Prison conditions. Cover Story: Prison conditions deplored. Feature: Arms and peace in South Africa. National News: Government behind clean up efforts. Africa File: Stiff test for government and ANC over Amakhosi and weapons. Atomic agency turns to primary health care. Talking Point: Processes in Zimbabwe's politico-economic policies. Women's Forum: Patricia MacFadden on gender issues. I Write as I Like: Confidence in self determination. Special Report: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Business: Shot in the arm for local companies. Viewpoint: Pan Africanism and the second liberation of Africa. Democracy and democratic centralism in ZANU PF. Perspective: Contradictions in the Zimbabwe economy. News Update: DPRK warns USA, South Korea. Masvingo tops the list. Mugoba becomes army public relations director. Recent events in S. Africa add to stability. Arts: Theatre creates employment for youth. Obituary: Reverend James Charles Mtero passes away. Ron Brown - 1942-1996. Sport: Don Black profile. European football championship draw. Format extent 36 page(s) (length/size)

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http://www.aluka.org ews ews Official Organ o: ANU PF Depatment of ,oatlon and Publicity, 144 Union Avenue, Harare, T: 790148 Volume 27, No. 1t996, Registered at the GPRO as a Newspaper mAt 1996 '? tax)bl P~ I4~ us 1if'iir NMtero remembered

Zimbabwe News Official Organ of ZANU PF Contents COMMENT: COVER STORY: FEATURE: NATIONAL NEWS: AFRICA FILE: TALKING POINT: WOMEN'S FORUM: I WRITE AS ILIKE: SPECIAL REPORI. BUSINESS: VIEWPOINT: PERSPECTIVE: NEWS UPDATE: ARTS: OBITUARY: SPORT: Prison conditions ...... 2 Prison conditions deplored ...... 3 Arm s and peace in South Africa ...... 4 Governm ent behind clean up efforts ...... 5 Stiff test for government and ANC over Amakhosi and weapons ...... 6 Atom ic agency turns to prim ary health care ...... 7 Processes in Zimbabwe's politico-economic policies ...... 8 Patricia M acFadden on gender issues ...... 9 Confidence in self determ ination ...... 12 A friend in need is a friend indeed ...... 14 Shot in the arm for local companies ...... 16 Pan Africanism and the second liberation of Africa ...... 17 Democracy and democratic centralism in ZANU PF ...... 18 Contradictions in the Zimbabwe econom y ...... 20 DPRK warns USA , South Korea ...... 21 M asvingo tops the list ...... 22 M ugoba becom es army public relations director ...... 22 Recent events in S. Africa add to stability ...... 23 Theatre creates employment for youth ...... 23 Reverend James Charles M tero passes away ...... 24 Ron Brown - 1942-1996 ...... 25 Don Black profile ...... 26 European football cham pionship draw ...... 28 I-M Zimbabwe News is 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, Workinglon. Harare. World Copyright. Central Committee (ZANU PF) Editorial Council: Cde. N.M. Shamuyarira, Cde. C.C. Chimutengwende, Cde. C. Ndhlovu, Cde. S. Kachingwe, Cde.A. Sikhosana, Cde. M. Munyati. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6 C.

EDITORIAL Prison conditions THIS month's cover story is about the Report of the Parliamentary Departmental Committee on Security Ministries which was presented to Parliament on March 5, 1996. The.Report concentrates on prison conditions in Zimbabwe. However, the 12-member committee, chaired by General T.R.S. Mujuru (Rtd), presented liberation recommendatiors for prison inmates while avoiding to pin-point the areas needing corrective attention. "Your Committee", the report tells Parliament," feels that depriving inmates of their relish, which in most cases would be available, except for the efforts to serve it, is utmost inhumane abuse of inmates." When one reads this statement, one cannot escape from the impression that the Department of Prisons is unhumanely abusing the "rights" of prison inmates. In giving an overview of prison conditions, the Report says: "The acute shortage of the prisoners' provisions was sharply felt in all the provisions visited by your Committee. These shortages included tooth paste, bathing and washing soap, detergents, cleaning material, tissue papers and prisoners' uniforms. In most cases, the prisoners were left with no choice but to wear filthy, smelly and tattered rags which reduced them to some miserable and wretchedlooking lot." Yet, this generalised debasement of prison conditions is refuted by evidence gathered at some prisons which are well administered in the country. For example, the Report says about Mutimurefu Prison in Masvingo: "Although Mutimurefu, like all other prisons in the country, was experiencing a shortage of funds, consumables and other things, it was being properly administered and the inmates has nothing to say about the Prison Staff. Your Committee wishes to express its appreciation at the transparent manner the prison seemed to be operating." The Committee did not distinguish between properly administered prisons and those maladministered. Furthermore, the Committee did not bother to find out why some prisons had competent administrators while others had none. More importantly, the Committee did not investigate the following crucial areas: 1) the quality of training and recruitment of prison officers; 2) reasons for the increase in the prison population; 3) statistical ratio of minor offenders to hard-core criminals in order to determine forms of penal correction; 4) the nature of prison reforms needed for future programmes, etc. It is surprising that this august Committee, composed of wellknown and tested revolutionaries, could adopt ZimRights phraises like. "prisoners are subjected to the most humiliating experience of being paraded all the way to the courts each time they made an appearance." They talked about "rights" of prisoners. Once a person if made a prisoner, the major portion of laws protecting individual human rights is suspended automatically and replaced with mere privileges to be applied at the discretion of prison officers. Prisoners lose, upon imprisonment, their rights and freedoms regarding: movement, speech, assembly, the right to elect or to be elected to public office, the right of association, the right to be served one's favourite menu at dinner time, etc. The only rights which are universally not deprived of prisoners are the right to life and the right to to food and to shelter. Even these concessionary rights are limited according to certain prevailing circumstances. For example, a prisoner sentenced to death in courts of law loses the right to life and it becomes the prerogative of the Head of State to exercise mercy to save that condemned life. The Committee viewed it as the right of prisoners to be provided with "tooth brushes, tooth paste, bathing soap (presumably lux), washing soap (presumably perfection), detergents (presumably surf), tissue paper (presumably Carlton), etc., etc. It should be understood that most prisoners had no access to these luxuries before their arrest. In fact, most of them were arrested for stealing these luxuries from retail shops and these items are exhibits as evidence for the prosecution. It is, therefore, a far-fetched assumption to impute abuse of "prisoners' human rights" when prison officers fail to provide these luxury items. It is our view that prisons are institutions of correction for offenders against the law. Facilities at these institutions have to correspond to the overall stage of the country's level of development. Zimbabwe is a developing country whose level of development is still at a stage where even law-abiding citizens have no land, no shelter and no food security. At this stage of economic reconstruction and indigenisation, a Parliamentary Departmental Committee should not demand that prisoners have "rights" to luxuries which their law-abiding compatriots cannot afford.' ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6

I~~~ 0 A ga g AParliamentary Departmental SCommittee on Security Ministries A p-has deplored the state of affairs in most of the country's prisons. The Committee said there is an acute shortage of prison staff, overcrowding, shortage of prisoners' and officers' uniforms, consumables such as soap, tooth paste, brooms and utensils. The Committee further noted "the grim reality and true facts about AIDS cases" in prisons when it toured the sick bay at Khami Medium Security Prison. In its first report to the legislative assembly last March, the 12-member Committee chaired by (rtd) Army General Solomon Tapfumaneyi Mujuru stated: "Your Committee was thunderstruck to learn that despite the dangers of AIDS at Khami. where four to five deaths occured weekly, homosexuality was very rife. Inmates seemed to be oblivious of the scourge of AIDS and those interviewed on homosexuality openly and freely confirmed the rampant existence of this immoral and satanic practice.. " Added the report: "Further touring of the Khami Prison Complex led your Committee to Mlondolozi, an institution for the mentally ill and female inmates. Your Committee noted with grave concern that this institution did not have any professional personnel like the occupational therapists and psychiatrists to look after the mentally ill prisoners. As a result, the prison engaged ordinary members of staff." Because of the shortage of prisoners' uniforms, the Committee said inmates were left with no choice but. to wear filthy, smelly and tattered rags which reduced them to some miserable and wretched looking lot. And due to lack of brooms, prisoners were using their bare hands to clean up "the unsightly mess which is a permanent feature in most prison ablution facilities countrywide". The Committee also condemned prison staff for engligence. This stems from the officers' indifference to the dietary needs of the inmates such as serving them sadza without relish. Cde. Mujuru chairman of the Committee in most cases would be available, except for the efforts to serve it, is utmost inhumane abuse of inmates." At Beitbridge Prison, inmates were reportedly using "left over tea as relish for their sadza". Here, over 300 prisoners use one toilet, in one of the cells and it is constantly blocked. "Despite this blockage, some inmates sleepr in that cell while other prisoners continue to use it for answering nature's calls, while it is in that blocked state." "Your Committee strongly feels that The Committee stated that it was "exdepriving inmates of their relish, which tremely" shocked by the number of juveniles in Beitbridge Prison being kept in the same cells with hardcore criminals. The 12-member team was also disturbed to note that in the female 'ection of the Mutare Town Prison, some, teenagers of school going age were lartguishing in behind bars. incidents of homosexuality were also very rife at the Chikurubi Maximum rison which, with a holding capacity of 1 900, has about 2 300 inmates. Continued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6

Arms and peace in South Africa By Malachia M. Basvi Madimutsa eace and stability are prerequisites for sustainable economic development. For the last 35 years, Southern Africa has had one or the other of its ten countries embroiled in civil wars. This generalised civil violence has been retarding developmental programmes in one way or another. The attainment of majority rule in South Africa two years ago and the negotiated processps of reconciliation in Mozam- bique and Angola renewed hopes for peace and stability at last. However, the circulation of weapons of war in illegal hands is continuing to cause instability and retarding developmental programmes. There is an urgent need to establish a regional mechanism for control of weapons of war and the rehabilitation of demobilised personnel. This regional mechanism can only be established Prison conditions deplored Continued from previous page The Committee observed that like in all other prisons it visited, inmates with infectidus conditions like tuberculosis and AIDS-related illness were kept together in the overcrowded cells. "As a result, a lot of prisoners had contracted tuberculosis." At Gwanda Prison, the Committee felt that prisoners were being subjected to the most humiliating experience - that of being paraded publicly all -the way to, the court each time they made an appearance. Only Masvingo's Mutimurefu, amongst all prisons visited, was commended by the Committee for doing a good job although it was experiencing staff shortage like all the others. The shortage of accommodation and staff is so critical that, for instance, Khami Prison, with a holding capacity of 750 has about 1 422 inmates being looked after by 144 officers instead of the ideal 280. 4s a result, a lot of prisoners at Khami Prison spent a lot of time just seated, doing nothing because there was a shortage of manpower to supervise and guard them while doing some work. It was also noted that prison officers were, by-and-large, applying brutal force against the inmates. The Committee noted that prison staff must put humanity before criminality. it said those already incarcerated should not be given extra punishment. Even the convicted prisoners are still protected by '4e laws of this country - it added. The Committee now recommends the enactment of a piece of legislation which would provide for the caring of the convicts s uffering from AIDS and the provision of the early release of those sick inmates who already have a tenuous hold on life because, it argues, these inmates are more of a liability to prisons than anything else. It also felt that community service should be recommended for certain grades of prisoners as a way of providing relief to the already overstretched prison resources and also as a way of curbing -congestion in prisons. On the imprisoned teenagers of schoolgoing age, the Committee believes that the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs should make them pay fines, rather than deprive them of their education by slapping them with jail sentences for minor offences. "If their crimes are not that serious, alternatively, such students should be sentenced to do some community service." It also noted with concern that magistrates were no longer paying visits to prisons. This, observed the Committee, should stop and magistrates encouraged to pay frequent visits to the prisons. Members of the Committee comprise Cdes G.P. Hokoyo, J.J.C. Macheka, P. Mandebvu, F. Mugangavari, D.N.E. Mutasa, J.M. Ndlovu, Lieutenant Col.i. Shumba and Cde. A.S. Nyathi. The late Hurungwe East Member of Parliament, Cde. Ngonidzashe Mutyambizi was also a member of this Committee. D through a summit decision aimed at coordinating peace keeping efforts in each of the affected countries in an environment of a regional programme. Realities There are several realities which must be recognised before the people of Southern Africa can assure themselves of lasting peace and stability. The first reality is that each country has large quantities of unregistered weapons of war. It is obvious that the security forces of each country should embark on a programme of searching, finding and confiscating the unregistered weapons. The offenders should be brought before the courts of law. The programme should be simultaneous in all affected countries and be coordinated to pre-empt cross border smuggling of the weapons. The second reality is the existence of private "security" companies which are being used for laundering the weapons and are also conduits for illegal arms trading. At the time of writing, one such company was being investigated by the Zimbabwe Republic Police in Chitungwi. za. Its employees were alleged to have been putting on uniforms similar in colour to the uniform of the South African police. The third reality is that the end civil wars in Southern Africa has rendered redundant thousands of former armed com-. batants - both blacks and whites who know no other speciality besides wielding arms of war. These people cannot be absorbed into gainful employment in the economies of Southern Afri. can states. They suffer from a superiority complex arising from their past roles as feared fighters. They consequently nurse violence regrets that they were not absorbed into the mainstream economy. Whenever these former fighters have a chance to regroup, they plot to teach society some lessons by engaging in armed robberies, mugging anybody for money and other valuables and also offering their services to any mercenary cause which presents itself. An example of this destabilising developConwued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6

Arms and peace in South Africa Continued from previous page ment was the formation of a company called "Executive Outcome" in South Africa soon after the attainment of black majority rule. The owners of Executive Outcome. are former soldiers of the South African Defence Forces (SADF) who, through temperament or other rejectionist reasons, could not fit into a restructure post-apartheid army. The Executive Outcome saw the need for their services in other areas of conflict on the African continent. They, therefore, established a mercenary, interventionist force to fight on the side of any belligerant prepared to pay the required money, in their pursuit for money, members of Executive Outcome were hired in Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia and Sudan. A few months ago, the government of Angola terminated its contract with Executive Outcome because of the end of the civil war. it is an open secret that the Executive Outcome's forces played a crucial role in the recapture of Huambo from Unita. Regional security As long as there are large quantities of unregistered arms in the hands of unauthorised persons, regional security will remain elusive. Attempts at arms con- trol by each country in the region have already proved unsuccessful yet instability in each state affects the collective security of other countries in this sub-region. The only solution open for the countries of the region is to adopt a policy on collective security at summit level. Security and law and order forces in each country could then formulate a strategy and follow common tactics in seizing all illegal weapons and bringing the culprits before the courts. Foreign donors are badgering African states with demands for the down-sizing of government machineries and cutting down on defence and security expenditure. Yet, reduction of expenditure on security is impossible as long as illegal possession of arms of war is wide-spread and ethnic ambitions take advantage of easy access to these weapons to forment civil strife. Historical experience has shown that civil wars in Africa are motivated by'ethnic power rivalries with little regard for national patriotism. Foreign weapons manufacturers and arms merchants are desirous of making money by selling weapons to ethnic belligerants under the innocent cover of world trade. This is why a regional summit conference on this subject is of strategic importance. The civil wars in Southern Africa attained their heights on the basis of arms supplies through apartheid South" Africa. As soon as the former apartheid regime was transformed into a democratic one, a beginning to the end of the civil wars was set in motion. However, the demobilisation processes were doprie without prior planning and large q uan tities of weapons and their bearers were unaccounted for. After the dust had settled down, it turned out that the weapons were later illegally channelled into the hands of criminals and dissident elements. This was not demobilisation but mere transference of organised violence into disorganised forms of destabilisation. Disporadic forms of destabilisation disrupt developmental programmes in the same way that orgahised violence does. Investors will not risk their money into an environment in which security of person and property is uncertain. Moreover, available material and financial resources are diverted om productive undertakings and allocated to the maintenance of law and order in the country. t I Government behind clean-up efforts Staff writer he world should come together in the clean-up campaign so that waste management problems can be fully addressed on the basis of "Think globally, act locally and make a difference" concept, deputy minister of Environment and Tourism, Cde. Edward Chindori-Chininga, told a Waste Management Workshop in the capital early last April. As such, he said, his ministry was happy with the various and pro-active advocacy role being played by Environment 2000 in the country. 'Today, Environment 2000 has brought together government, the private Sector and non-governmental organisations to address waste management problems in Zimbabwe in order to guarantee the nation a healthy and life giving environment which is pollution free," said Cde. Chindori-Chininga. recycling, it was not enough just to recover waste without sorting it out for recycling. "We therefore need to select recyclable waste and return it to the nearest informal return centre for recyclables." "Let me hasten to point out that not all cities, towns and rural centres in Zimbabwe have informal return centres for recyclables. At the moment, through the good work that Environment 2000 is doing ... informal return centres for recyclables have been established in schools, and church premises in Harare, with two structures having been established in Guruve and Kariba. "I would like to appeal to people in other parts of Zimbabwe to co-operate with Environment 2000 and work towards the establishment of return centres for recyclables so that we can recover more waste for recycling in Zimbabwe," said the minister. He however noted that in the world of He said his Ministry fully supported the recycling programme which he saio was aimed at developing a recycling and reuse culture in a litter-free Zimbabwe. "Anti-litter awareness campaigns are the way forward towards addressing waste management in Zimbabwe. "World problems such as water pollution, global warming and ozone depletion are all linked to irresponsible management of waste and this is what we are striving to correct and we should do so as a matter of urgency," Cde. Chindori- Chininga noted. He urged the workshop participants to ensure a litter-free Zimbabwe, a responsible appropriate waste management culture by the year 2000. Minister Chindori-Chininga rounded off his address by reminding the participants that the local industry had a vital responsibility to environmentally mnanage its waste for the benefit of fu"ture generations. F] ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6

Stiff test for government ai ANC over Amakhosi and weal By Philip Mtimkulu, a former journalist, now lecturer in the department of Political Science at the University of South -P i a. he position of.traditional leaders * l1and the issue of traditional _" weapons are close to the hearts of Zulus aligned to the Inkatha Freedom Party and this is where the South African government and the African National Congress are going to meet their -'stiffest resistance in the KwaZulu-Natal -, pTonce. "",i,"at are the vested interests of the amakhosi," one may ask? The amakhosi are fearful of the erosion of their powIUe00, the central government which they Identify with the African National Congress (ANC). They do not want to become "paid servants" without exercising any meaningful powers. The sugges'tibn that they would be paid by the central government does not go down well w ith chiefs in this area. "1MAndela revealed last year that he -13v-anted the traditional chiefs to enjoy * same benefits as MPs including uniforms salaries, official residences and transport, secretaries and drivers. This -move by Mandela was seen as an attempt to wrest control of the chiefs away from Chief Buthelezi. "The traditional leaders have always been strongly supportive of the monarchy and have also been firmly on the side bf Chief Buthelezi both as a chief and as leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). This relationship stretches further back than the days of the Bantustans. I was however strengthened during this ea. Unlike in other regions traditional leaders have always wielded enormous pow:Gei in KwaZulu-Natal. Their authority is rli-spected and they generally run their .areas like their personal fiefdoms. One of the causes of the political violence in ,.:KwaZulu-Natal is the dominance of the c Jhiefs over their areas. They brook no ,.,opposition in their areas. Yor the ANC and the government to "have any influence in the region they would have to contend with the tradi- Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi tional leaders Already the ANC is finding it difficult to penetrate or establish itse in rural areas which are under the control of traditional leaders. The ANC and the government are well aware that the strength of the IFP lies with the chiefs. The government wants to harness the chiefs while the ANC wants to make in-roads in their areas which are IFP strongholds. The traditional leaders in this province are not enamoured of Mandela. Even though he is the President of the country they identify him first as the leader of the ANC which wants to take over control of KwaZulu-Natal and ipso facto their powers. This they have resisted and this has resulted in violence between supporters of the IFP and the ANC. In order to address the issue of the violence in this region, Mandela mooted the idea of an imbizo to be attended by all Zulus. From the outset the suggestion of holding an imbizo came up against ,obstacles put by traditional leaders and I the IFP. The pre-imbizo meeting which -would have paved the way for the meeting ended in a shambles, inconclusive4y, and with Mandela being- booed by some of the traditional leaders who attended this meeting. In my view, contrary to the opinion of some media peo4e3l, this meeting drew Mandela, Buthele- zi and the traditional leaders fui apart. The strained relations between Ma la and Buthelezi have influence( shaped the attitudes of the traditi leaders. When the traditional lea went to attend the pre- imibizo meel I contend that they did not go there, an open mind. Not only did they r( what Mandela said but they subje :him to the indignity of booing I !resulting in him losing his temper Buthelezi has since that meeting spc out strongly against attempts by government to gain control of the cl in this region. Addressing an electior ly Buthelezi said the ANC wanted to troy the amakhosi and the auton of the traditional communities to ble central government in Pretori directly or indirectly control any 1ev government and exercise its politici fluence across the land. The show of strength by the traditii leaders at the pre-imbizo meeting i have strengthened Buthelezi's han the negotiations, but in the long n casts the Zulu leader in bad iJ Mandela would, appear as the reas ble person who went to extreme len in his search for peace in the area, v the conduct of the chiefs will reflect ly on Buthelezi as he will be seei leading people who are not conside and whom he cannot control. Traditional weapons While negotiations for a new cons tion were roceeding at the World T Centre, 'the carrying of' traditi weapons became a contentious iE The carrying of traditional weapor public places was prohibited. however did not prevent IFP-aligne( lus from openly carrying their tradit weapons in defiance of the ban. This left the then National Party govemr and the ANC frustrated. It was sit difficult to enforce the ban prevet the carying of traditional weapoy is not simple task to disarm thous of people. The ban on the carryir traditional weapons was never effe The new government recently gazi Continued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWSI

Atomic agency turns to primary health care By Anton Ferreira he Government agency that helped to give Africa its first weapons of mass destruction now says it is committed to fighting hunger, diseas and dust pollution. .Instead of churning out highly enriched uranium for neclear warheads, South Africa's Atomic Energy Corporation (AEC) today sees itself contributing to primary health care in developing countries, among other challenges. The AEC commissioned its research reactor, Safari 1 some 31 years ago as part of South Afirca's programme to defy anti-apatheid sanctions by making the country self- sufficient in energy and defence. But in 1993 South Africa scrapped its six warheads. The AEC's role as a mainstay of apartheid strategy became an albetross around its neck when President Nelson Mandela's black-led government took office over two years ago. So the AEC embarked on a public relations makeover, inviting journalists to its previously top secret headquaters at Pelindaba, 20km west of Pretoria, and opening public hiking trails through the thornbush surrounding its squat concrete blockhouses and towering chimneys. Continued from previous page legislation prohibiting the carrying of weapons in certain areas, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal. In response to this ban IFP members attending an election rally came armed to the teeth. This was more of a challenge to the government to "come and arrest us". The government issued statements condemning this open defiance but had to admit that it was simply impossible to enforce the ban by arresting those who were defying it. Besides the logistics of ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6 Visitors are now welcome to stand on a bridge over the giant waster tank in which the reactor vessel sits, giving off a ghostly blue light. As the new government cuts state spending on white-elephant projects of the apatheid era, the AEC is seeking tp position itself as an essential center of research and development for industrial and .medical applications of nuclear technology. Among these is an isotope of the metal molybdenum, cornerstone of a world nuclear medicine industry worth about Z$630 million a year. "This is really primary health care stuff," said Wouter Malan, manager of the AEC's isotope centre. "if you have a bus crash with dozens of casualties for 'example, yod-can scan all the injured and you'll immediately know which ones have broken bones, which have damaged organs, and so on. "it saves exploratory surgery and prevents wrong diagnosis," Malan said. The medically useful molybdenum isotope is formed by bombarding enriched uranium with radiation in the Safari Reactor. It is further processed to form an isotope doing so the government did not have the manpower. The carrying of traditional weapons is a sensitive issue among Zulus. The government would have to be circumspect if it could not enforce the ban as it would end with an egg on its face. With local government elections due within the next two months these two issues are now being used effectively by Buthelezi. The ANC seems to have played into the hands of Buthelezi who is now exploiting these two emotive issues. This may prove to be the ANC's Waterloo. El called technetium, which is injected in liquid form into the patient. The ispope shows up on scanners, forniing ani image which speeds diagnosis. AEC is holding talks with a foreign molybdenum producer with a view to breaking the world market in the isotope dominated by Canada's Nordion International Company. The molybdenum isotope and technetium both decay relatively rapidly, which means new supplies have to be made constantly. it also means a temporary reactorfailure at Nordio could interrupt world supplies. "We are very actively marketing our product, we are seeking to form an alliance with a partner and we are trying to make ourselves very well konwn in the market," said Don Robertson, AEC general manager for nuclear technology products. "The real big money in molybdenum is in exports, that's what makes it worthwhile," said Robertson, adding that AEC had tentatively begun exports in 1994. "We are looking to grow over a period of five years, in molybdenum, up to sales turnover of Z$45 to 50 million... but it could change markedly as molybdenum prices escalate." Robertson predicted prices would increase because Nordion was planning an expensive programme to replace its single ageing reactor. AEC has sold air intake filters to NATO's Eurocopter Project and providestractor filters that trap up to 98 percent of the dust swirling up from Africa's parched crop lands. In February AEC signed an agreement with the French company Cogema for joint development of a laser-baseduranium enrichment process which would be far cheaper that current methods. AEC chief executive Waldo Stumpf told reporters after the agreement was signed that Corporation hoped its exports would be earning around Z$900 million a year in foreign exchange by the year 2001. - REUTER El Stiff test for government and ANC over Amakhosi and weapons onflicts and tensions over Zimbabwe's political and economic policies characterise debates among our intellectuals to-day. During the past decade, Zimbabwean business people, economists, political scientists, politicians as well as the general public have praised and criticised political and economic decisions as they affect public life. Political and economic decisions in Zimbabwe are made in a complex environment with several factors to be considered.The complexities in the political and economic environment are the cause for the contradictions in policy decisions. Some of these decisions are prudent but others are questionable. One such complexity is the solution of problems through use of statistical determinants regarding employment patterns, the ratio of savings to consumption, and monetary share of investment, etc. It is not surprising, therefore that some recent policy dcisions have been the source of more frustrations than hope, and others very confusing as they appear having been muddled up. Interactions Politicians and economists are at fault in their interactions in the formulation of political and economic policies and in their perceptions of the ensueing processes. The task now is to analyse the nature of faulty areas and offer suggestions on what should be done to correct~the situation. In doing so, the onus liesheavily upon the shoulders of economists who are currently engaging in intellectual disputations instead of providing acceptable and sociallytapplicable guidelines for the achievement of economic sustainability. Policies As I see it, economists should be the wise and impartial advisers to the "philosopher king" (government leadership/political leadership) by providn g the best macro/micro-economic fdrecast options. The advice should dwell on what policies are likely to fail and what have the best chances of success. The ,philosopher king" can then a'pply the advice wisely and make everybody happy to applaud the "philosopher king" for a job well done. This should be the ideal relationship between economists and the "philosopher king". However, the current scenario is that, quite often, both economists and politicians miscommunicate and accuse each other of incompetence, slef-serving motives and playing anti-social roles. Politicians tend to look at things from a conservative or liberal point of view. On the other hand, economists have a propensity to come out with several confusing theories which are difficult to put into practical implementation. Fragmented In Zimbabwe, the decision-making process is the source of fragmented economic policies. There is rigid departmentalism in the separation of power between the Executive, the Legislature and the judiciary. Although these three branches of government are responsible for the smooth running of government machinery, they do not have a coordinating mechanism. The result is a tug-of-war between and among these branches. The friction eventually retard economic growth and dilute the thrust forward to economic upliftment of the generality of the populace. It is not surprising that critics of Zimbabwe's economic policies attribute present economic difficulties on policy mistakes. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe - the Central Bank - is restricting money supply through the application of monetary policies without coordinating with other interested parties who play crucial roles in macroeconomic management of the country. The Reserve Bank has only informal communications with the Ministry of Finance. The Bank is central to economic activities in the country but acts as if it were neutral while it should be accountable for its activities in society. While supporting some of the Reserve Bank's initiatives, it is important that the Bank's public relations department should devote its energies to educating the public on the effects of some of its policy shifts and the benefits likely to come out of those shifts. The success of By Nation Madongore public policies depends on the public readiness to absorb all the coldness at heat generated by those policies. While the Reserve Bank makes all tl important decisions about money su ply, fiscal policy by the Ministr Finance becomes an exercise in dama: control. This underlines the discordan between the fiscal policy- makit process and the management of mon supply. In order to avoid the discordance 1 tween fiscal policy-makers and mon managers, top executives at the Reser Bank should be compelled to report the treasury more often instead of mei ly making informal contacts on an regular basis. The relationship should I institutionalised and broadened to E compass the requirement to appe quarterly before a Parliamentary Sele Committee. Appearances before a Parliamenta Committee will have the effect of mz ing the Reserve Bank accountable for policies which are, in fact, decisive in c termining the course of economic acti ties in the entire country. As I see it, fragmentation imposes number of avoidable costs. The decisic making process becomes cumbersor because of passing through too ma layers. Each layer of bureaucratic o cials becomes a self-contained unit bE Continued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 271

Patricia McFadden on gender issues By Malachia M. Basvi Madimutsa n the SAPEM December/January 1994/95 issue, Ms Patricia McFadden makes some correct observa tions but draws the wrong conclusions. "in the political arena throughout this reglon,"she says "one will find that be. hind almost every successful African male politician there is a white woman." She goes on to cite only four African statesmen two of whom (Senghor and Khama) were married to white women and says the other two (Nkrumah and Nyerere) had white female secretaries. The examples she cites are far too short of being representatives to sustain the assertion that "behind almost every successful African male politician there is a white woman:' There are thousands of successful African male politicians who have made this achievement without having white women behind them. The fact that few of.them had white women behind them needs another explanation which is more congruent with realities than the facile assumption that African male success has largely been attained by riding on the backs of. white females. It is a truism needing no racial connotations that success in the modem world can only be attained bypthose with the requisite educational qualifications. Black males (as well as black women) who have remained illiterate since colonial times are still employed as servants of other people with no hopes of improving their station in life. Blacks like the late Sir Seretse Khama and Leopold Sedar Senghor who married white women did so under circumstances in which they were cut away from their black women for extended periods and thus fell for a white woman in whose society they moved. These black males had first gone to Europe for studies and extended their stay for reasons beyond their control. It is to their credit that they eventually settled for their life-time partners without succumbing to the African male temptation of relasping into polygamy. Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere en-gaged the services of white female secreZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6 taries for reasons of convenience and not out of a wish to enhance their status as Ms McFadden wishes the readers of this Magazine to believe. Secretarial services required by Heads of State demand high skills which few African women and men are able to attain within the short time when those skills are an urgent requirement. These skills include high speeds in short-hand and typing, fluence and literacy in a number of foreign languages, computer literacy, and familiarity with several foreign customs, ability to make faultless translations et cetera. Given the fact that colonialism did not provide black women with the skills necessary for assumption to high secretarial positions with Heads of State, it is not surprising that many black Heads of State engaged the services of white females if, and when, they thought it was advisable to do so. Ideological construct Ms McFadden correctly concludes: "...whiteness is an ideological construct which still lies at the centre of our societies and which still determines where we are at in gendered and class terms." After having made this correct observation, she goes off at a tangent and says: .we can see that sleeping with a white woman regardless of whether she is a feminist or an undeclared racist, is a political statement about what black men think about black women." The statement that "whiteness" is being superior to "blackness" as an ideological construct is valid to the extent that the white race historically enslaved the black race. Herein lies Ms McFadden's "ideological construct", which "still determines where we are in gendered and class terms." Racism and all that it connotes trace their source from the historical enslavement of the.black race by the white race. In ancient times, superiority of race colour was solely determined by the sword. As time went on, the sword combined with material resources to reinforce the superiority of the white race against other races. Over the centuries, this accident of history has 6ecome an ideological construct justifying a complex range of inhumanly abnormal treatment of the black race by the white race. This abnormality has been conditioned through practice to affect the thinking and behavioural attitudes of whole peoples and races. Mental liberation from this racial affliction occupies a whole historical period in which revolutionary transformations have to be consciously undertaken to cleanse the mentality of affected sections of society internally, externally and Continued on next page Processes in Zimbabwe's politico-economic policies Continued from previous page on the preservation of its own autonomy. In this way, decisions which may be made by all layers of one department sitting together take years to be made because the process has to pass through autonomous layers who wrangle at every stage over details. Decentralisation Democratic governance revolves around principles of centralism at the nucleus and decentralisation at the levels of outer concentric circles which spread out from the centre having relative powers of self-determination and the outermost circles being the source of aspirations. The nucleus is the Executive which is vested with authority over taxes, fiscal policy, budget control and other national matters in a single chain of command with a government Chief Economist in charge, backed by a team of professional economists including a permanent Budget Director. I feel that we should also have a streamlined Parliamentary Committee on economies to monitor the operations and activities of the Central Bank. In order to establish a more workable system for the management of macroeconomic policies, there is need for appointing professional economists at every level of the administrative chain of command. These should work as a team from the top to the bottom and they should be accountable to Parliament for the smooth running of economic activities throughout the country. -

Patricia McFadden on gender issues 98qnued from previous page abroad. To conclude, as Ms McFadden does, that when a black man sleeps with a white woman, it is "a political statement about what black men think about black women," is to reduce a very complex historical phenomen to banalities of sexual intercourse between black men and white women. Males and Females It is a fact of biology that the female species prefers a strong and powerful mating companion to a weakling and powerless one. This is true of the animal kingdom as it is true among human beings. Lesbians and modern feminists would deny this scientific truth in pursuit of impractical alternative assumptions. During colonial times, miscegenation was largely between white males and black females for the simple reason that black. females were readily submisgive to the stronger clout exercised by white males over them. In settler colonies like South Africa and Zimbabwe where there was greater social contact between blacks and whites by reason of greater populations of the later, more black women submitted to white males than elsewhere in this sub-region. Of course, there is the special historical case of Angola and Mozambique whose peculiar circumstances I will deal with below. In the former Portuguese colonies, racfsm as practiced by Anglo-Saxon colonisers was unknown. The Portuguese practiced the policy of assimila'do (racial assimilation) educated black men were theoretically accorded the same:rights enjoyed by white men. This Latin departure from Anglo-Saxon habits is manifested not only in Portuguese colonies but also in Spanish ones, and to a leter extent in French former colonies. Education was a qualification to a higher status -for blacks in their social contacts With whites in Portuguese colonies. To 4eep the majority of blacks below the reach of higher social status, the Portuguese strickly kept educational opportunities for blacks under pre-planned limits. This is why former Portuguese colonies have the lowest levels of literacy in Africa even though they ruled the countries for more than 4 centuries. Black females and whites I have already asserted that black females were overawed by the strength of the power of the white men and read- ily submitted. This is not to say black men did not sleep with white women. The laws in both South Africa and Zimbabwe provided for the death penalty when a black man was found sleeping with a white woman. Black men were too cowed in the presence of a willing white woman to propose. Mo6t of the few white women who are known to have slept with black men during colonial times took the initiative out of sexual curiosity or after real or imagined sexual frustration. Under the mood of sexual frustration, the white women invariably became easily orgasmic and secretly spread the false gossip among their female friends that blacks were ideal studs in bed. Many black male students in Europe have experienced the ambarrasment of being accosted by white women curiously wanting to confirm for themselves this false gossip. After the attainment of independence and the subsequent achievement of power by black men within ruling cirdes, white women, true to the universal maxim that a female is attracted to a strong and powerful mating partner, found it more advantageous to readily submit to black males. This is true in North America and Europe where rich and successful black singers and black sportsmen find white women climbing over each other in vying for the attention of famous black men. There is nothing racial in this typically female and feminine biologically conditioned modus vivendi. Female liberation Ms McFadden confuses patriarchy and racism. She says: "It is- not the same thing (when a black man sleeps with a white woman) as when black women sleep with white men. It could never be the same thing as long as patriarchy and racism construct men as being superior to women and racism privileges white people through whiteness." Patriarchy takes on McFadden's negative connotations when male society insists upon its assumed superiority over female society. Racism, on the other hand, is when one race insists upon its self-appointed superiority over another race. Patriarchy is a gender issue. Racism transcends gender issues and defines individuals and their chances of success on the basis of ethnological biochemistry and skull types. During the evolution of homo sapiens, patriarchism had an objectively positive role in the survival of the species. It is still playing a similar role in apes where the physically strong male defends the weaker members of the primitive tribe. As homo sapiens had reached a higher level of civilisation and attained the state of mutual interdependence, patriarchisin began to whither away leaving all members of the community in a state of controllable mutual self-protection. Modern human society has made great strides towards intemationalism and the only possible threats to its survival are injustice between and among people, hunger and disease; and the question of nuclear weapons. Under these conditions, it is superflous to perpetuate patriarchism. Societies which still squirm from oppressive patriarchism need urgent revolutions to lift them up from their anachronistic backwardness. The liberation of women from male oppression in the home and at the workplace is inseparable from the liberation of all humanity from its own age-old prejudices. As stated earlier, this epochal task needs the services of committed revolutionaries who are.able to stand astride the gender divide and do the work. It is one thing for women to champion their own liberation from male oppression but it is quite another thing when the so-called feminists embark on an indiscriminate crusade against all men. The degree of the freedom enjoyed by women in each country differs corresponding to the degree of overall freedom in each respective country and region. Class struggle Ms McFadden says: "For years, every time I saw a black man/white woman couple, I would get this rush of anger, fear, emotion and power/powerlessness, resentment and pain. I still do." This type of reactive anger and resentment is understandable only when one realises that the victim is militantly blind to realities. While studying in Russia in the early 1960s, I met an Ugandan political science student who thought he could eventually convince me to discard my Western-made suits for some "African" apparel which could make me look more communistic than, to use his phrase, "Saville Row-type of capitalist dresser.", His understanding of a communist was of one who associated with the poor by dressing shabily. To him, dressing smartly was synonymous with nostalgia for capitalist society. I have Continued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6

Patricia McFadden on gender issues Continued from previous page since discovered that most people in Africa think a comrade should be one dressed shabily to blend with mass poverty on the continent. Like my Ugandan friend who thought communism is associated with poverty, Ms McFadden confesses she still feels resentment at the sight of black male/white female couples because she still thinks in terms of only male/female couples of the same race. This attitude is far from the realities on the ground. Although racism gave birth to white oppression of the black race, overthrowing this oppression needs revolutionaries who are able to stand astride the racial divide. I lived in Cuba trom 1966 to 1971 and felt, and still feel, that the communist revolution started by Fidel Castro embracing the entire Cuban nation succeeded in uprooting the historical oppression of the black race by the white race. This was possible only because the grassroot masses were mobilised -in militant and non- racial class struggles. The non-racial class struggles have weeded out class enemies - both whites and blacks. The class enemies were going out to Miami, Florida, in the United States where conditions are always fertile for the continuation- of their mentally-conditioned racism. Black Cubans who go to Miami were those types that were thoroughly, mentally colonised that they became assimilated to their coloniser's way of thinking. Ms McFadden should also realise that we have, similarly, thoroughly colonised blaks who still think of themselves as being carbon-copies of their former colonisers. These are the blanks who dominated the ruling circles and continue the marginalisation of their fellow blacks as if they were only surrogates and representatives of former settler colonisers. Maginalised women Female intellectuals of the calibre of Ms McFadden should realise that complete liberation of women can only be accomplished through revolutionary class strugglqs as was done in Cuba. In Cuba, black/male/white female and white male/black female couples mix with black to black couples and white to white ones in an environment with an absence of racial consciousness and in. which Ms McFadden's present worries about race, appear an abnormality. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6 Cuba underwent a classless revolution from top to bottom and from bottom to the top, and left to right and vice versa. This revolutionary cross-section interreaction and reaction was on the basis of grassroot partcipatory involvement. No corner of the country was left out and no one was left unbaptised. Cuban renegades to the revolution, locally 'known as gusanos or worms, are ostracised socially or they end up seeking refuge in the United States and other foreign countries. The Cuban revolution was not patriarchial or male oriented because no genuine socialist revolution becomes a male chauvinistic affair. Since it was based on mass grassroot participation and was accomplished multi-racially, both racism and the oppression of women were swept away in one wave of the revolutionary tide. It is strange that feminist liberators in Zimbabwe confine their activities to among the educated elites of their own gender without carrying out political work among men and, above all, spreading the message to their sisters in the high density areas and in the country-side. They may succeed if they do this. Gender problems are a cultural fixation. In the villages of Zimbabwe, the majority of women need all the help they can get to bring relief to their burdened lives but will consider it disrespectful injury to cultural morality to call for gender equality. The socio-economic environment which formed and shaped their way of life is still in place. On it, they depend for their livelihood not being aware of any other mode of living. Feminist elites need to formulate ways and means of making this rustic female majority active participants in the movement for gender equality. Failure ,to achieve this most important political mobilisation of village womanhodd8signs women liberation to the narrow limits of pandering to the whims of the few women elites inso iety. Society should be culturally transforisd in its entirety as a pre-requisite to- the acceptance of gender equality. Even then, the parameters of gender equality will differ from country to couptry and region to region in accordance with the specifics of cultural changes in the rpspective areas. Cultural changes in'Islamic Somalia will have to differ from changes among the mudzimu worshippers of Zimbabwe. Women in Zimbabwe may entertain particular ideas about what roles they should be playing in their society in flfilment of the ideal of gender equality. They should contrast their present opportunities with those of their counterparts in Saudi Arabia where women mlionairesses are forbidden by law from driving their own cars unless they hire a male chauffeur or risk being flogged in the public square. There are many such cultural'peculiarities among countries and also difference w4ithin one and the same country. The struggle for women liberation should take cognisance of these practical realities which are found on the ground. When the elite among Zimbabwean women call for a majority of women in Parliament on the strength of demographic gender representativity,"'the logic of their argument becomes an illogicality when this view is not shared by the majority of women they assume to represent. Similarly, when Ms McFadden feels resentment at the sight of a black man on the hand of a white woman, her resentment is shared by few female elites and not by the marginalised women majority the liberation of whose gender she purports to represent. 0 For your detailed news behind the headlines, geta copy of your monthly Zimbabwe News now

Confidence in self determination Former head of State, Prof. Canaan Banana In recent weeks, newspapers were awash with lengthy accounts of mainly political and economic achievements made in the first sixteen years of Zimbabwe's independence. The four most notable gains on the political front were: (a-the party political unity of former PF ZAPU and the old ZANU PF into the new ZANU PF (b) introduction of the Executive Presidency (c) The redudance of the entrenched clauses in the Lancaster Housebrokered constitution (d) Land Acquisition Act qn the economic field, however, much iiiative has centred on the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, ESAP. All these efforts in my view, have been positive and people-oriented and an opinion poll- would suggest that all well meaning Zimbabweans share similar sentiments. Despite this wonderful state of affairs in self governance, it vould be less than accurate to believe -nd even to suggest that this view is accepted by all social and economic circles of Zimbabwe. Bedrock of peace The phenomenon of political unity has been the bedrock of peace and stability the country has enjoyed in earnest since the 22nd December, 1987, the Unity Accord Day. The architects of this enabling political environment are the First Secretary and President of ZANU PF Cde. Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Second Secretary and Vice President of ZANU PF Dr. Joshua Nkomo (then President of PF ZAPU). Due credit should also be accorded the Reverend Canaan Banana who facilitated the Unity process while serving as our country's titular Head of State. The Unity Initiative so often and so easily taken for granted is in itself worthy 50 percent of the development and progress made in self-determination since independence in April, 1980. Our esteemed neighbour, the republic to the South of the Limpopo is yet to experience the comforting peaceful dividend that can be ushered by reproachment between political parties and even different political and economic ideologies. Not only is Zimbabwe a graduate in the Peace Political Process but has already had to offer its statesmanship skills to Lesotho, Mozambique, Angola and Botswana and Namibia among other states. It, however, seems the territorial dispute between Botswana and Namibia over a strip of land near their common border may be headed for a judicial hearing at the Hague, the seat of the International Court of Justice because regional efforts for a mutual resolution have not been fruitful. One thing that South Africa needs would be to engage Zimbabwe's expertise in forging a lasting and accommodating in' ternal political pact between its substantial political entities among them, the African National Congress (ANC), Zulubased Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), white dominated Nationalist Party (NP) and ANC's co-liberation parties Pan African Milestone The introduction of the Exe Presidency through an amendmi the constitution in December, 198; a further milestone in political ma and transparency and accountabili cause the Executive President is c ly elected by the people. Pre. Mugabe had been bestowed wit honour to serve as Executive Pre through three elections. The first v .December, 1987 by the Electoral 0 of the Legislature to be followed in and 1996, quite recently, by po franchise. Other once Presidential fuls, Bishop Abel Muzorewa Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole cam ward but attempted to mar the EIE process and create apathy by with ing their candidature on the elei hour owing to frustration resulting lack of political following. It is worth noting that entrer clauses were a negative aspect c British inspired constitution. The Gc ment should have been tempted I the constitution of such features. I did not. Why? The ZANU-PF Govern restrained itself from such a cour action because it believes in respects the constitution. When th portunity to amend the constit came, the ruling party has not found wanting. One of the impo amendments has been to do with leading to the enactment of the Lan quisition Act through designation.

Confidence in sef determination Continued from previous page ing by the spirited rhetoric of ZANU-PF leaders on the need for giving land to the people land resettlement and the related 'fnfrastructure is likely to dominate President Mugabe's current term of office and when history is written, may be one of the greatest achievements of his political legacy. Talking of amendments to the Constitution, there are some activists even religious organisations, that do not want to be left out in the call to amend the constitution supposedly to level the playing field. On its surface, the demand looks objective. However, a closer look at the Constitution of Zimbabwe leaves one at pains to identify and pluck out from it any provision that hinders anyone from forming a political party, organise meetings and stand for elective office. Precisely! The pro-constitutional conference fraternity are bent on elbowing ZANU-PF from power not through the ballot box but through a strange constitutional decree of some sort. These activists are hoping and praying that someone will construct the right language for them to do this unpatriotic act. The rugged political opposition in our country has still to learn that it is not the constitution which votes but the people had that the electorate elect party and candidates of their choice. Then there is the issue of ESAP. Despite the hardships to many induced by the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, this is the economic initiative that will take Zimbabwe into the twenty first century. The only ingredients of success required are a belief in one's government and willingness to be resourceful. Already a lot of Zimbabweans especially the indigenous nationals who have seized on the opportunities offered by the new economic and general investment climate have transformed themselves within a short time from economic vassals to financial moguls. The sky is the limit but there has to be a desire to look up not down or sideways. In general terms, it is being proposed that chiefs should perform administrative, judicial, planning and development, traditional and cultural, as well as law and order functions. These functions and responsibilities will be given validity if a new Bill which will be tabled in Parliament by the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Comrade John L. Nkomo, is approved. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6 In the judicial field it is being proposed that the Customary Law and Local Courts Act of 1990 be amended to extend the powers of Chiefs to include the settling of minor disputes in respect of field boundaries, lobola, elopement, "chisi's burials etc In the field of culture, the chiefs should continue to lead in upholding the culture, traditions, and values of their respective communities. They will also take a leading role in Jhe appointment of Village Heads, and Headmen. and in supervising their work. The chiefs may also be given limited powers of arresting criminal elements, and reporting crime and criminals to the Police. They may also be given some law and order functions, such as collecting prescribed levies and taxes, enforce security on public properties such as schools, roads, fences, dams, dipping tanks, forests, meeting halls, etc, and generally safeguarding the physical security and health of persons and livestock within the areas of their jurisdiction. These functions would be carried out within the provisions of the Rural District Council Act and its regulations. The village assembly The powers of the Headmen and the village Head (often called "Sabhuku" will be those delegated by the Chief, and those stipulated in the legislation. Their jurisdiction will be limited to a single village comprising about 20 families in the case of a village head and to a collec. tion of villages in the case of the Headman. In that area they will exercise powers delegated to them by the Chief. One of the ideas being discussed is the new institution of a Village Assembly (or a Village Parliament). It will be an open forum for all adults to attend, to speak, and to raise any subject they like. The village head of each village will chair the Village Assembly. This is a new and imaginative idea to broaden debate on national issues at the village level. This innovation represents direct democratic representation of the people at the local level. One of the problems with the institution of Chieftainship and headmanship is that it is hereditary, and therefore perceived as being undemocratic. Only elective offices are considered to be democratic, in the sense that the concept of democracy is understood and applied by Western Europen civilisation. But our system of administration has to reflect our own cultural peculiarities. The key institution in rural district adminis tration is the Rural Distrit Council which is a democratically elected body. This insitution will continue to play its central role. But, other people further argue that chieftainship is rooted in our culture, and it is based on consultations and consensus. The Chief does not rule alone, it is agreed. That is yet another issue on which we invite comment and sugge - tions from our readers. . Land allocation One of the important functions of any district administration is the allocation and distribution of land for cropping and grazing. We would welcome ideas from our readers on the question: Who should allocate and distribute land? In the ideas being discussed, the matter has not been finalised. Some people think the Rural District Council should continue to be the sole distributor of the land. Others think that the enhanced position of the Chief should include this function too. After all, in traditional society all land was held in trust by the chief on behalf of his people. He did not own it in his personal capacity. The villagers could use what piece of land was allocated to them in perpetuity, but they could not own the land. The Rukuni Commission told us to change this land tenure system in ord. er to maximise the utilisation of the land. The Resettlement Areas In the present situation and legislation, there is no provision for the administration of the re-settlement areas. In the ideas being discussed, it is being proposed that they be administered by the Chief in the area adjacent to the resettlement area. The Chief will be given powers to appoint Headmen and village Heads from among the new settlers in a particular resettlement area. In general, that seems to be a good idea. These areas cannot be left in limbo, where they do not know Where they belong exactly. The Rural District Councils Clearly one of the difficult questions to be resolved in this re-organisation is the exact relationship between the Chiefs and the Rural District Council. A Parliamentary Delegation that visited Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia, recommended as follows: "in local government reform measures Zimbabwe should avoid the approaches of parallelism, non-regulated dualism, integration, and subordination, and instead adopt the apContinued on next page friend in nee isa friend indee £ qAn Interview with Gu Xiner, former Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe. Gu Xiner is a senior Chinese diplomat. He started his Africa-related work in the ea* 1960s. In the past 30 years, he has been over 30 African countries. He was Ambassador to Ghana and then to Zimbabwe. Last December, he gave an exclusive inteview to CHINAFRICA HINAFRICA: would you please brief us on the development of S Sino- imbabwean relationship? GUI: China and Zimbabwe have fostered aivery good relationship. Zimbabwe's Independence Day (April 18, 1980) also marks the establishment of formal diplomatic relationship between China and Zimbabwe. Since then, SinoZimbabwean relationship has been developing steadly. Even the profound changes which occured in the internati6nal situation and relations in the late 1980s sailed to have any negative effects on the relationship. China is always a sincere friend of Zimbabwe, which, in return, gives strong support to China in various fields. For Confidence in self determination Continued from previous page proach of harmonising traditional and tlected structures, by legislatively stipulating a quota for traditional leaders in all local government structures ural District Councils, WADCOs, and DCOs) and indeed at the national levas well." In its response to the deleation, the Ministry of Local Governljent agrees with this view. It stated its objective as the application of both taditional and democratic principles in the establishment of institutions at the local level. It is hoped that the new structure will move the recurrent friction between e VIDCO Chairman and the traditionleaders over issues of jurisdiction over land, burials, water etc. El Cde. Gu Xiner China's former ambassador to Zimbabwe example, Zimbabwe was elected to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1995 for the first time. When the United States brought up an antiChina draft resolution to the Commission for approval last March, Zimbabwe voted against the draft resolution unhesitantly in the two rounds of ballots. With the support of Zimbabwe and other friendly countries, China defeated the United States attempts to interfere in China's internal affairs. Moreover, Zimbabwe has always adhered to the "one China" stance and refused firmly to develop official relations with Taiwan. Zimbabwe attached great importance to Sino-Zimbabwean relationship. In my farewell meeting with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the president stressed, "I hope the ZimbabweanChinese friendly relationship, which was founded by leaders of the elder generations of both sides, will be developed from generation to generation. Zimbabwe will give all its youths lessons in the history and development of Zimbabwean-Chinese friendly relationship in future. We will tell our youths when Zimbabwe was in the most difficult stage in its struggle for independence, it was China that gave Zimbabwe strong help. A friend in need is a friend indeed." CHINAFRICA: Can you give some introduction to Sino-Zimbabwean economic and trade co-operation as well as in other fields? GU: The past years have evidenced remarkable echievements in Sinozimbabweab economic and trade cooperation. The stadium in Harare, fully financed by the Chinese side, is a symbol of co-operation. A I I 1 I What we should mention here is, v Zimbabwe won independence in 1 China's reform and openingpolicies just been put into practice. As a re beyond traditional method of assisu both sides have also jointly exp( some new ways. One is to develop joint funded proj, namely, the Chinese side provides of the investment in the form of inte free loan while the Zimbabwean raises the remainder itself. Inthis a teachers' college was finished in 1 in Zimbabwe, with the total invests shared by both sides on a fifty-fift) sis. A hospital is under construc now, the Zimbabwean side providin percent of the total investment anc Chinese side 17 pewent. Both sides have also undertaken s joint ventures, the largest of which cement plant scheduled to go, production in 1996. Considering the that annual market demand for cer in Zimbabwe is 600 000 tons and country's current total productior pacity is only 100 000 tons, this cer plant with an annual production ca ity of 250 000 tons is expected to a positive role in narrowing the gal tween supply and demand. Morec the plant has also created many jot porturfities for Zimbabweans. Labour contracts are an important of Sino-Zimbabwean economic operation. According to my knowle the total volume of labour contracts exceeded 200 million yuan (al US$23 million) by the end of 199 In culture, military affairs, educa medicine and many other fields, C and Zimbabwe have also condL fruitful co-operation. Taking cooper, in education for example, China ha, rently not only provided scholarshi Zimbabwean students,, but also teachers to work in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe suffered two severe drou one in 1992 and the other in 1 which brought great difficulties to babwean people's lives and inc huge losses on the country's indu and agricultural production. Chinm helped Zimbabwe overcome the di ties to the best of its ability. Continued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL 27JN

A friend in need is a friend indeed Continued from previous page Sino-Zimbabwean co-operation is a twoway traffic. At present, the Zimbabwean side has launched an ostrich breeding programme in several provinces and cities in China, including Hainan, Shanghai, Guangdong, Shandong, Yunman and Fujian. China is currently working hard to deepen reform and open its doors still wider to the outside world, while Zimbabwe is also undertaking economic reform and improving its economic environment to attract foreign investment. It is certain that the Sino-Zirnbabwean relationship will develop apace in future. CHINAFRICA: Last July, Chinese VicePremier Zhu Rogil visited Zimbabwe. How about this visit? Gu: Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji and his party is the most important Chinese delegation to visit Zimbabwe in recent years. This visit aims at furthering the cooperation between both sides. During Zhu's five-day visit, views were exchanged on international and regional affairs and a series of agreements of total value of 200 million yuan (US$23 million) were signed. The implementation of these agreements are currently under way. Exchanges of experiences in economic reform are an important part of VicePremier Zhu Rongji's visit. China's reform has been crowned with success. Its experiences, either positive or negative, are valuable to Zimbabwe. On the other hand, China can also learn something from Zimbabwe. During his stay in Zimbabwe, Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji visited a tobacco auction market. Zimbabwe has cancelled state monopoly of tobacco. Tobacco growers and purchasers can sell and buy tobacco in the auction market at prices decided by market law. The vice-premier showed great interest in this way of using the market to balance supply and demand. The Chinese side prepares to conduct further study of this method in future. CHINAFRICA: What is your opinion about Zimbabwe's role in regional economic development? Gu: Zimbabwe has a comparatively balanced economic structure. Its manufacturing industry, mining industry and tourism develop especially well. Since the country won independence, ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6 Zimbabwe has given top priority to economic development. Thanks to the government's effective policies and the people's hard work, Zimbabwe's economy has made some progresses in the past years. Moreover, in dealing with racial affairs, Zimbabwe uses the experiences of other countries and takes reliable policies and measures, which guarantees the stability of Zimbabwe's domestic situation. To accomplish common development, regional economic groupings have been set up in Africa. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) also plans to set up an African Economic Community by 2025. I believe Zimbabwe will be able to make remarkable contributions to economic development in both southern Africa and the whole African continent. Meanwhile, its own economic strength will also be improved. CHINAFRICA: We are told your next post is director of the Chinese Centre for South African Studies. What is your comment on the development of future Sino-South African relationship? Gu: South Africa is an important African country. Since the collapse of Apartheid in South Africa, China and South Africa have developed successful cooperatons in- many fields. However, since the two countries have not established official diplomatic relationship, the depth and width of their co-operation are affected inevitably. The only obstruction to further development of Sino-South African relationship is the Taiwan question, The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate governnfent representing Chinese people in the world and Taiwan is a province of China. Since the establishment of formal diplomatic relationship is in the fundamental interests of the two countries, I am sure the prospects for Sino-African relation ship are bright. E- There are no birds of our eather Because we offer the truly definitive example of the printer's art. The total job: typesetting, origination, printing and binding utilising the latest technology and completed to the highest international standards. Our very competitive prices will also give you something to crow about JONGWE PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. (PVT.) LTD. 14 Austin Road, Workington, Harare Telephone 664749, 668428, 668431

Shot in the arm for local compani he Reserve Bank has subscribed Z$225 million worth of shares in the African Export-Import Bank which places Zimbabwe as one of the major subscribers to the capital of the Bank. The level of Zimbabwe's shareholding has a potential of being much higher as other financial institutions, companies and individual investors subscribe to the Bank's share capital. The decision to have the Reserve Bank as a shareholder rather than Government was made so as to avoid a direct impact on the fiscus and as the African Export-Import Bank is to be run on commercial basis, the Reserve Bank is better placed to take the leading role, but working very closely with the Ministry of Finance. Headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, the Bank was founded a couple of years back by African States after having identified a genuine institutional and financial gaps in Africa's trading framework. Its establishment comes in the wake of ever increasing difficulties faced by African exporters and importers in obtaining favourable trade financing terms from the international financial markets hence rendering them uncompetitive on the global markets. The Bank will have an executive branch office in Harare. Zimbabwe was selected to be the location of the Southern Africa executive branch office of the Bank against Namibia and Zambia. The two had interest in hosting the office. The selection criteria were based on infrastructure, human resources and accessibility to global markets through telecommunications air transport, and a well developed stock exchange market and financial system. Negotiations with the Bank for the establishment of the branch are reportedly at an advanced stage. Functions The African Export-Import Bank operates in the same manner as other such banks in other continents such as the ExportImport Bank of Japan, American ExportImport Bank etcetera, and its functions include extending indirect short- term credit to African exporters and import- By Zvenyika Kambizi ers through banks and otner financial institutions, and also laying ground for diversifying its operations into mediumterm trade financing; and extending direct credit to exporters through preshipment and post-shipment financing. It also endeavours to promote and finance the expolt of non-traditional African goods and services such as changing the focus from exporting raw materials to manufactured goods; the provision of finance for imports needed as raw materials or inputs for generating exports; and to act as an intermediary between African exporters and importers through the issuance of letters of credit, guarantees and other trade documents in support of export-import transactions. ' Promotion of a market for bankers' acceptances and other trade documents within Africa and the setting up of insurance and guarantee arrangements covering commercial and noncommercial risks associated with exports and imports are added functions, while the Bank will also seek to provide support to payment arrangements aimed at expanding the international trade of African countries. Other major operations include carrying out research and auxiliary services aimed at expanding African international trade and hnnqtino pvcnnrt , and hnr- Shareholding The Bank was established with a si capital base of about Z$6.8 billion,i shareholders divided into three clas Class 'A' - Comprises of African St (either directly or through thgir Cer Banks, or other designated institutic regional and sub-regional financial ii tutions and economic organisatii Minimum capital subscription for category is Z$9 million, Class 'B' - Comprises of African pi and private banks and financial ins tions and individual investors. Minir capital subscription is Z$4.5 millio Class 'C' - Comprises of internatb financial institutions and economic ganisations and non-African bai financial institutions and individua vestors. The minimum shareholdin Z$900 000. To ensure the African ownership of Bank, shareholding is structured in s a wqy that classes A and B hold majority of shares in the Bank. babwe is a Class A shareholder. Local economic observers feel that hosting of the Bank's executive o here will be advantageous to the babwean companies in the export E: ness. This development will also cri employment opportunities for locE rowing funds and undertaking any other The office will be headed by an e: activities including the provision of serv- tive vice-president who will havi ices that may be deemed incidental or powers to make some investment conducive to the attainment of its sions without reference to the I objectives. quarters in Cairo. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL an Africanism and ie second liberation of Africa By Chen Chimutengwende Part One It is quite clear that the African continent has become the sick man of the world. Africa's marginalisation n the international system, has be:ome depressingly total. But if Africa s to survive and prosper, then Pan Africanism and the Second Liberation itnaggle for a New Africa is the t is apparent that the ideology of marcet forces and economic dependence in the West has driven Africa to this present catastrophe. In order to everse this situation, we need what nay best be called the Second Liberition of Africa which means its second i-awakening, democratisation, unifi:ation, independence and development. This Second Liberation struggle based on Pan Africanism has already started. t is the only process which can stop the e-colonization of Africa. The origin of the Second Liberation for New Africa is both ocal and international. The progressive nternal and external forces combined, ire now spearheading this Second Liberition, This new historical period will take Africa deep into the 21 st Century. 'he First Liberation struggle led to the ndependence of most African countries nainly in the sixities and seventies. Durng those two decades the ideas of Pan&raniLm and hope had gained the upmr hand. The new historical period then vas aimed at the achievement and conao11tion of Africa's independence and levelopment. But incisive and patriotic friran leaders like President Kwame Ikrumah of Ghana, also warned of the angers of internal and external negaive forces combining their efforts to evrse or retard the process of African beration, its gains and consolidation. leaid that in order to prevent this, Afria needed to be mass-oriented, fully ornmitted to a human-centred developient process, vigilant and united nough. IMBABWE NEWS VOL 27 NO. 6 True, since the eighties, the gains of Afri can independence and the reality of independence itself have been seriously and visibly eroded. The achievements of Africa's First Liberation struggle have been found to be difficult to consolidate in most parts of Africa. Vigilance, unity, commitment and vision have been lacking. only a few African Governments like that of Zimbabwe have managed to keep on fighting against neo-colonialism, re-colonisation and for African unity based on collective self-reliance. They are engaged in this struggle in different ways. They are different levels and their paces are not the same either. But such forward- looking Governments must be supported and encouraged to widen and intensify the fight. Post-Colonial Much has been written on what has gone wrong with post-colonial Africa. But this is a passing phase of African history. It is a period in which Africa has been trying to consolidate its independence and push for its own socioeconomic advancement as separate, divided and small states according to the continent's balkanisation which was carried out at the beginning of the colonial period. That balkanisation was meant to be for the benefit of Western Europe and still serves this purpose. But post-colonial Africa has failed to reverse it for its own good. Without the unification of Africa, Africa will remain permanetly weak and vulnerable to western machinations and exploitation. This period, in many ways, has been a major disappointment in terms of both the pace and the results. It has been dominated by serious myths and illusions. Some essential elements have dearly been either missing or too weak. The achievement of independence has often been seen as the end of history. The independence leaders, structures and state procedures have also often been treated as permanent and sanctimonious. The international dependen- cy system has established an almost unshakeable grip on Africa. It has therefore been easy for the clock to be made to go 'backwards by the retrogressive forces which are a combination of local and international elements and powers. For a long time the general African population seemed to have accepted this state of affairs. But the African condition has now deteriorated to a political and economic catastrophe. The contradictions of this phase have grown to uncontrollable proportions. The per capita growth rate in sub-Saharan Africa between 1980 and 1991 was minus 1.2 percent. East Asia had 6.1 percent and 3.1 percent for South Asia. Africa's per capita income is below the levels of 1970. Africa has nine percent of the world's population, but its contribution to world's GNP is one percent. Out of every three children, one goes without any primary school education. Out of every eight children one is badly disabled. The number of malnourished children is nearly a third. More than four million African children die every year before they reach the age of five. Africa has the highest infant mortality rate in the world. This is 108 per every 1 000. The world's average is 63 per 1 000. The figure for the developed world is 12 per 1 000. About one third of Africa's high powered experts and professionals have lefL the continent for greener pastures or because of repression or non-recognition. Africa is loosing more than three million hectares of fertile land every year because of desertification. Poverty leads to deforestation and land degradation. Many rural areas are over-crowded because of unfair land policies and practices. Real wages dropped to between 30 to 90 percent. Continued on next page

Pan Africanism and the second liberation of Africa Continued from previous page Unemployment in urban areas is now between 40 and 70 percent. The West and the western controlled international agencies always insist on continuous lowering of prices of Africa's raw materials and on the regular devaluation of Africa's currencies, They always succeed in this and they also put tariff barriers against Africa's manufactured goods. How can Africa achieve any economic growth under such neo-colonialist exploitation? It is not surprising that subSaharan Africa's share of total world trade has dropped from four to one percent. Sixty percent of this is accounted for by South Africa and North Africa. In order to pay for its imports and to service its debts, Africa is forced to sell more and more of its raw materials whose prices are Continuously falling. Africa has hardly any say on the prices of its exports and imports. The volume of the exports is always increasing and the value is always dropping. Clearly, Africa's trade relations with the North are 'therefore based on naked exploitation. As a result, more than 20 sub-saharan countries had debts in excess of their GNP in 1993. Out of the 20 world's poorest nations, sixteen are in Africa. Mass poverty Conservative estimates put the financial outflow from Africa to the West at about US$200 million per day. Out of every one US dollar put in Africa the West receives four. These depressing statistics and facts are far from being exhausted here and this African condition, that is, mainly mass poverty and the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor, has become a catastrophe. The West even owns the processing plants and resources in Africa. All that Africans own are their Parliaments and the power to legalise and facilitate the exploitation of their own people and their resources by the West for the benefit of the West and a handful of well-placed Africahs. During the last 30 years, the gap between the richest and the poorest has dramatically increased in Africa. The richest fifth now gets 150 times more income than the poorest fifth. The situation is more than pathetic and explosive. This is why President Mugabe strongly, consistently and rightly talks about the need to indigenise African economics. It is also therefore not difficult to find out why the economies of most African countries are in shambles. Economic mismanagement and corruption have reached unimaginable proportions and there is a fast deepening leadership and direction crisis in most African states. Most of the leaders have lost vision and no longer talk about the type of society they are striving for. They only talk about the survival of Africa as it is and its administrative policies. They are just trying to'manage the crisis. The number of civil wars and other political upheavals is increasing. Africa has more countries in a state of war or near a state of war than any other region in the world. The internal and external progressive forces are together no longer in the ascendancy on African affairs. Since the eighties, the marginalization of Africa as a region in the global socio-economic system has developed fast and to frightening proportions. Africa has emerged, in socio-economic terms, as the most backward, divided and foreign dominated continent in the world, and it remains so today. In fact Africa is now being recolonized. It is loosing its sovereignty. Re- colonization is taking place through the nature of Africa's relations with the West and the Western controlled international agencies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Africa is moving from neo-colonialism to re- colonization which is a worst from of neo-colonialism. All this has been in the name of freedom and democracy which are a distortion of thd concepts because in reality it does not mean the freedom of Africa and its people. They also call it inter. dependence or globalisation which in this case are mere euphemisms for the dependency, westernisation and dehumanisation of Africa and its peoples. The West insists on democracy, human rights and free competition at the national level because they know their sup porters and companies will get an unfair advantage. Their definition of human rights excludes economic rights. During colonialism they were opposed to human rights in the colonies. But now they insist on them. At the international level, they unequivocally oppose democracy to this day! Their attitude to the UN is a good example for this. But as history teaches us, whenever there is unfairness or oppression, there will be, sooner or later, a resistance. This resistance starts small and weak but inevitably grows and becomes unconquerable. As the wise saying goes: a long journey has to start with one step. As a result, Africa's internal and external progressive forces have started regrouping, and networking and strategising for the second phase of the liberation process. This re-grouping and networking is bound to grow into a victorious movement. To be continued Democracy and democratic centralism in ZANU PF By Malachia M. Basvi Madimutsa here are a number of ZANU PF Cde. Irene Mutumbwa into Parliament, provinces where the party's all male contestants had to be prohibitdemocratic traditions have been ed from standing against her in the Bineroded by soi/e elements who have suc- dura constituency. cumbed to 'dictatorial impulses. A Undemocratic revival of democratic practices is need- The Politburo overruled this uned to safeguard the masses from the democratic practice on two major concaprices of individuals with dictatorial siderations of policy. First, the party's tendencies. Constitution rules against discrimination During the primary elections in on the grounds of gender. The five male Mashonaland Central, the provincial candidates for the Bindura constituenelection directorate had to be overruled cy had effectively been discriminated by the Politburo after it had prohibited against by the provincial election direcCdes. Elliot Manyika, Canisio Dengu, Ed- torate. This gender discrimination also ward Muchenje and Martin Muchenje meant that the Bindura voting public from contesting against Cde. Irene had been denied their inalienable right Mutumbwa, a female candidate. The to be represented by a Parliamentarian provincial election directorate had ruled of their own choice. that there was a necessity to increase Second, the provincial election directhe number of women Parliamentarians torate had appointed itself the decider and to ensure the unchallenged entry of Continued on nextpage I ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6

7ocracy and democratic centralism in ZANU PF odued from previous page te ratio of female representation in L ent from its location base in Binira This preposterous selfniltment to the position of distribuParliamentary seats between Zimwean men and women was outside eBindura Provincial election Direcate's terms of reference. When teams rorming political assignments on belI of the electorate go beyond their mis of reference, the public should be erted to the enchroachment of dictorial tendencies within the party. lChihota, Mashonaland East, a group people was reported to have demandI that no candidate should be allowed contest against Dr. Sidney Sekernayi because he is a member of the )htburo. In Mutare, the provincial elec)ni directorate attempted to prevent le. Shadreck Beta from standing lainst Ambassador Moses Mvenge. ,ompt intervention by Cde. Enos Chikoore, a Politburo member who had .en appointed the Provinces supervie-in the primaries, saved the electorate SMutare Central from a dictatorial fait :compli by the election directorate. iese examples of electoral gerrymanering have been reported in several aces covering many provinces. This w undemocratic occurrence is alien to ie democratic traditions of ZANU PF. 'hen democratic traditions are allowed 1 lapse among revolutionaries, the peoe concerned should know that someing is going wrong with the revolution. gns of departure from revolutionary aditions within ZANU PF are reflected widespread accusations and countercusations among aspiring candidates. tses of "dollar power" (bribery), intimiition, factionalism and regionalism ave been reported throughout the rantry. Solutions 'hen analysing the causes of malaise ithin ZANU PF, several facts stand out early. The first and most important fact the treatment of elected leaders as otentates. An elected leader is not a )tentate but a servant of the public id their representative. The duty of an ected leader is not a comfortable one. !rving the public calls for making perinal sacrifices including deprivation of imforts, This is how the country's liberors and their "Mujibhas" and "Chimbdos" managed to get independence id majority rule. Few thousands out of millions of Zimbabweans sacrificed comforts for the cause of the Chimurenga war for national liberation. Those few were closely knitted together by a bond of comradeship in which selfish pursuits were unknown. Failures were mutual responsibilities and victories were celebrated as collective achievements and not acts of individual heroism. Candidates aspiring to public office should know that they are aspiring for heroic performance and not for individual importance. Heroic performers do not demand rewards for their performances. But, our aspiring candidates have avarious appetites for monetary and other material benefits to be got from being elected officials. This is why they stampede over one another, decampaign one another ruthlessly. If elected officials knew that public office is an assignment for personal sacrifices, few would volunteer as was the case during the Chimurenga war. Our nation should limit salaries, allowances and other material benefits given to elected officials. This will help in making our revolution a cause for sacrifice and not a race for mercenary benefits. This will greatly reduce the growing stampede for public office. Party image The public has, of late, witnessed their political party, ZANU PF, being associated with unbridled struggle for power and influence at all levels of the organs of the party. Newspaper articles have been written about a dozen men and women, each wanting the vacant posi- tion of Chairperson of the Party's Harare Province following the death of Dr. Her bert Ushewokunze. Here is the long list of men and women who want the position of chairperson of Harare Province: Rodrick Nyandoro, Forbes Magadu, Tony Gara, Phillip Chiyangwa, Mrs Florence Chitauro, Alois Mangwende, Witness Mangwende, Joseph Macheka, and others. In the Hurungwe East Constituency, the vacant Parliamentary seat left by the late Ngonidzashe Mutyambizi aroused the aspirations of three candidates two of whom were ordered to stand down by higher Authority. This ruling did not please the disqualified aspirants. Opponents of ZANU PF take advantage of these developments to tarnish the party image by saying the ruling party's membership is dictated to by its Politburo. They say the ruling party is a dictatorship in which the rank and file are mere surbordinates. Incidents of unbridled power-struggles have surfaced in Masvingo,Manicaland, Bulawayo, Gweru and Marondera. It appears that the disease is fated to spread to other areas. A few monts ago, the party's leadership issued a circular seeking the views of party members on the conduct of ,primary elections to choose candidates for public office. Observers are anxiously waiting for the final decision to be announced. However, the rank and file members need to be assured that the party is not straying from its traditional practice of democratic accountability. NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6

Contradictions in the Zimbabwe economy By Malachia M. Basvi Madimutsa very country 'has policy makels whose duty is to regulate macroeconomic policies in line with the overall economic plans outlined by government. In Zimbabwe, there are contradictions between economic intentions as stated by government and the actual performance of the economy. The contradictions point to an illogical relationship between planners and those charged with implementing the plans. There should be a logical way out of this contradictory state of affairs. The obvious missing link is the set of punitive measures which macro-economic planners can put into force to compel implementers to operate within the orbit of stated macro-economic polices. Inflation If we may take the case of inflation as an example in our analysis of this state of contradictions, we clearly see that the macro-economic planners have the objective of lowering inflation. But, inflation is refusing to be brought down to the desired levels. In September 1995, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe projected a decline in the rate of inflation from 28 percent to 16-18 percent by June 1996. Now, the same Reserve Bank is saying inflation "is likely to be between 20-23 percent by June 1996." Why are the mechanisms for lowering inflation being so elusive? There are many reasons for fueling inflation. However, the central source of inflation is consumption beyond the capacity to produce. Such a scenario is like a man who earns only $1 000 but consumes goods and services worth $1 500 every month. The man will practically be in debt and will have to live by borrowing. This is the case of Zimbabwe to. day. Zimbabweans are consuming more than they are able to produce. Solution The solution to inflation is to produce more and consume less. This may look too simplistic but it is the solution. At present, the largest portion of the consumption bill is taken up by government. Given the fact that government is, by its nature, non-productive and parasitic on the productive sector, it is common sense that available financial resources be channelled towards the productive sector instead of being gobbled down by a non-productive government bureaucracy. In the 1994/1995 fiscal year, the collectivity of banking institutions gave out a total of $12 billion in loans throughout the country. The government took $9 billion or 75 percent of the loans, leaving only $3 billion to the productive sector and individual borrowers. The ideal situation should have been the reverse and the productive sector should have created new employment opportunities three times more than it did. As it is, the government is crowding out the productive sector from the money market. This causes intensities in the demand for loan money when the supply is severely constrained. The economic law of supply and demand pushes up interest rates and this causes inflation. The problem of finding a solution, centers on sorting out certain areas of government expenditure which need to be identified and then be cut out. This is a political problem which should be confronted politically. Unnecessary areas The National Economic Panning Commission is at present a deparment with full Cabinet status in the President's office. Considering that the President's office has two Vice-Presidents whose functions are not clearly outlined, why should the National Economic Planning Commission not be scraped off or put under the two Vice-Presidents? In fact, one wonders what area of national economic planning is the responsibility of the National Economic Planning Commission when the economy is now virtually a secretive preserve of the private sector under the aegis of the international Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The private sector is now completely free from government controls as far as macro-economic trusts are concerned. Economic liberalisation under the IMFimposed ESAP programme has largely freed the economy from government control and the National Economic Planning Commission has become a redundant department which formulates national economic policies that no one is compelled to implement. Other Cabinet rank government departments which could be scrapped off and have their responsibilities assigned to. other appropriate Ministries are: Lands and Water Resources which can be combined with the Ministry of Agriculture; Ministry of Sports, Recreation and Culture which can be combined with the Ministry of Education; Ministry of National Affairs, Employment Creation and Co-operatives which can be combined with the Ministry of Public Construction and National Housing. Deputy Ministers are 16 at present and their number could be reduced. There is one Minister of State and eight Provincial Governors and all of them are not of Cabinet rank. If we add these to the 16 Deputy Ministers, we have 25 Ministers below Cabinet rank and 24 Ministers of Cabinet rank. This totals up to 49 Ministers in a country of 11 million people, Zimbabwe should now review the necessity for the offices of Provincial Governors. Provincial Govenors are ranked as both Deputy Ministers and Resident Ministers. Their work is, in fact, a duplication of duties which are clearly the respons~bilities of substantive Ministries at Central Government level. Evey Central Government Ministry has its own programmes for the Provinces. The task of co-ordinating these diverse programmes is the logical responsibility of Provincial Governors yet there is no institutional mechanism for coordination. Instances abound where one Provincial Governor pursues a policy option which contradicts that being pursued by another in the next province. Private sector While the Central Government formulates macro-economic policies for implementation by all sectors of the economy, the private sector is recalcitrant and ironically very inconsistent. Before the adoption of the ESAP programme, the private sector was lambasting the government for intervening into the economy. They demanded to be left autonomous to manage their own operations in a way they saw it fit in the interest of bigger profit margins. In making their demands, owners of private sector companies called for market Continued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL 27 NO. 6

DPRK warns USA, South Korea By Zvenyika Kambizi he Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has accused the United States and South Korea of violating the Armistice Agreement signed in Paris in 1954 following the Korean War of 1950-1953. A DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman stated on April 12 that thousands of USA and South Korean troops armed with heavy weapons, canks and cannons of varying calibre marched into the demilitarised zones - violating Article 13- (d) of the Korean Armistice Agreement. Article 13 (d) prohibits the introduction of heavy and automatic weapons and, the entry of more than 1 000 military personnel into the demilitarised zones. Contradictions in the Zimbabwe economy Continued from previous page A, competition, removal of price \controls and the lowering of company taxation. The government conceded by adopting the ESAP programme to open doors for free competition on the market place. Over 80 percent of companies in the provate sector were adversely affected by the removal of government controls. Foreign companies began to flood the local market with goods sold below cost. The idea was to capture the local market and then raise the selling prices af,ter the market has been captured. This tactic is universally used by all capitalist modes of production to disadvantage rival competitors. Local manufacturers suffered heavily at the hands of foreign companies which dumped cheap goods on the local market. Instead of sticking to their earlier demands that the government should not intervene in the operations of private companies, they made a bee-line for government intervention. This was in contradiction to their usual insistence that the government should keep its hands away from the operations of the private sector. Again the obliging government listened to the woes of the private sector and granted it the promise to review the tariff structure with a view to raising tariffs to protect local industries. It is now clear that the government will have to raise tariffs on selected items which have suffered from unfair dumping by foreign competitors. Long term prospects It is clear that development programmes in Zimbabwe cannot be sustainable if we do not make the policies ourselves. The present scenario is that our policies are being made for tis by the IMF and World Bank. These Brenton Woods institutions impose programmes which have no ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6 long term prospects tor developing economies like our own. The IMF and World Bank are influenced by the present international economic order which marginalises all developing countries. The developed countries control 85 percent of all voting power in the IMF and World Bank. All African countries, put together, wield about 2 percent of the vote with Asia having about 10 percent and Latin America about 3 percent. The developed capitalist countries have the latest production technology and produce mass goods in the shortest time possible. These goods have to have markets in developing countries. Yet, the developing countries, on their part, produce their own goods with outdated machinery and have to raise tariffs to protect their own industries. The developed countries are not happy with the tariff structures operating in developing countries. This is why they have to use the IMF and World Bank as instruments to force developing countries to remove or lower the tariff walls. The struggle between the developing countries and the developed ones is intensifying and developing countries are bound to be the losers in the end. This is the international scenario in which the Zimbabwe economy finds itself. It is an unequal world in which Zimbabwe and other developing countries have no chance for sustainable development programmes in the foreseeable future. The only chance left for developing countries is to trade among themselves in a concerted South-to-South arrangement. This calls for cutting down economic ties with all developed capitalist couniries. This option, however, has imponderable political problems which have to be resolved before embarking on this road to self-reliance. F] rf cstimated 1Q 000 USA and South Korean troops mr..,hed into the demilitarised zones which run parallel to the Korean Wall at a width of about 2 000m on both sides. The DPRK also alleges that the South has constructed large scale military installations only I00m away from the military demarcation line. "Thus, the demilitarised zone has completey lost its original obligation as a buffer zone and turned into an armed zone to invade us . ..." noted the spokesman in a statement. "To cope with this situation . . . the Panmunjon Mission of the Korean People's Army was authorised to proclaim that our side would be no longer bound by the obligation governing the maintenance and management of demilitarised zone : . . "The step taken by our armed force is a natural self- defensive one to prevent the outbreak of war and to safeguard peace and security," noted the statement. DPRK authorities now feel that the Armistice Agreement is nothing but an empty paper which can no longer make any meaningful contribution to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. DPRK ambassador to Zimbabwe, Cde. Li Myong Chol, has since said that the manoeuvres by the USA and South Korean troops have plunged the Peninsula into potentially dangerous depths. But the ambassador hastened to warn the United States and South Korean authorities of dire consequences in the event of provoking his country militarily. "We want to resolve the Korean problem peacefully. That was the position of the late (Great Leader) Cde. Kim II Sung, and it remains our resolution. However, should America lead South Korea into war against the DPRK, we will not hesitate to defend our sovereignty. We will fire bullet for bullet," stated Cde. Chol. The DPRK recently put forward a peace proposal to the United States with a view to coming up with a tentative peace agreement to replace the Armistice Agreement. Nonetheless, the USA is understood to have turned down the proposal on the basis of what Cde. Continued on next page he province of Masvingo topped the list of the number of people who voted in the last Presidential Elections. The list of the number of votes cast in each province is given below for the information of our readers: Masvingo tops the 1ih Presidential election results of the Republic of Zimbabwe - Province by province for elections held on 16th and 17th March, 1996 Masvingo Mashonaland East Mashonaland Central Mashonaland West Midlands Harare Manicaland Matebeleland South Matebeleland North Bulawayo Total ZANU PF United Parties ZANU Ndonga 212902 5231 3549 180304 5247 2557 164139 4323 2183 146612 6651 2907 144,841 5621 2901 127954 12997 2874 119152 7689 9274 95004 7852 4285 62306 6288 2904 54678 8827 1994 1307890 70726 35418 Valid Votes Spoiled Papers 221 614 188488 170645 155 912 153 363 141 588 139 575 107 143 71 528 67 387 1 414034 6428 24522 14870 1'4048 14045 1,264613460 1:4104 127821992 31 602 1 4, ]Vltgoba becomes armypuiblic relationis director .Start Writer olonel Trust Mugoba has been appointed public relations director pf the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. His appointment came last March following the recent restructuring of the defence forces into a single command structure. The director's duties include disseminating policy to the soldiers and promoting good civil-military relations. Trust Mugoba was born in 1958 in Mberengwa District of the Midlands DPRK warns USA, South Korea Continued from previous page Chol said were unspecified politically. linked 'reasons. "It is no secret that America wants to destroy socialism in our country. It will stop at nothing to achieve this goal but it is quite unfortunate for the Americans to hold this view against my country because we are prepared to defend our ideological principles to the last man in defence," said Cde. Chol. The DPRK is, in spite of the military manoeuvres across the border, still hopeful that the Peninsula will be reunited by the year 2000. Province where he also went to school. He left to join the armed liberation struggle in Mozambique 19 years ago (1-977). He trained at Chimoio the same year -1977, and went for further military training in Tanzania at Nachingwea (1978 1979). Upon his return home in 1981, he was attested into the Zimbabwe National Army with the rank of major and was appointed Second-in-Command of 404 Infantry Battalion based in Kwekwe. The following year, he was posted to Army Headquarters as Quartermaster Staff Officer (Grade Two). In 1983, he volunteered for parachute training and was posted to the Parachute Group as Company Commander in 2 Parachute Battalion. He subsequently got appointed as Commanding Officer of the same Group in 1984 - 1985. From November 1985 to December 1987, he was Commanding Officer of One Parachute Battalion before being appointed Deputy Commander of the Parachute Group in 1988. He commanded the Group until 1990 when he was appointed Army Training director that same year.. In 1992, he was reappointed Parachute Group Commander. He then enrolled at the University of Zimbabwe for a diploma in War and Strategic Studies. On his I it events in South Africa add to stability By Denis Worral n both the constitutional and economic fronts, South Africa has moved to a situation of greater ibility. The recent budget showed a lady - although not inventive nd on the country's economy. od news for foreign investment is that rtainty with which the constitution i ing process is going ahead. May 9 the deadline, with all parties agreed at a constitutional deadlock resulting a referendum, must be avoided. They ed to achieve compromise and nsensus. wever, parliament will be asked to iend the interim constitution to allow "deadlock-breaking" process to come :o operation on issues which may reain. unresolved on May 9. This effecdy extends the process, without the reat of a referendum or dissolving irliament for a new election. e consequence is a greater sense of emal political stability, with an assurce the Constitutional Courts will be ked to endorse a new and permanent rstitution in June. In a crunch situain, the political parties are working gether. This cooperation is evident at other levels of government. In the Western Cape, where the National Party rules and there is little love between the NP and the ANC, all parties have agreed not to make the RDP a political football in the May 29 local gqvernment elections. Secondly, the regional leaders have signed an agreement to-support the lobby for Cape Town to remain the seat of parliament in the new constitution. In Kwazulu/Natal, where, the ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party are virtually in a state of running warfare, the parties agreed on a draft constitution for the province. In view of the enmity between them, this was a significant achievement, due largely to armtwisting by FW De Klerk's NP. The downside in Kwazulu/Natal is that there has been no breakthrough in the planned imbizo, a royal gathering attended by all the amakhozi or traditional leaders, to seek peace in the province. A pre-imbizo meeting revealed that IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi carries more political weight in the province than either King Goodwill Zwelithini or President Mandela. The threat of heightened tension in the run-up to the May 29 local government elections in that province is real. There appears to be no visible movement in respect of President Mandela's undertaking with the IFP in April 1994 to have international mediation on "outstanding political issues." It would also seam politically impossible for Mandela to back down on thejeve of the elections. So the. -impasse remains. The Mandela divorce is also a factor in internal stability. It has been hanging over the President's head for two years now, and contributed to uncertainty about his health. Now the divorce is granted, that concern is largely removed. President Mandela turns 78 on July 18. But after the adjustment of the rand in the wake of rumours about his health, the market seems to have adapted to the fact that his control of day-to-day government is nominal, while his influence remains morally significant. These events indicate a shake-down within government, based on the need to get the economy moving first. The political .arguments. can wait. [] A Cabinet Minister who was on a recent tour of his, AProvince to assess the extent of unemployment ! among the youth, and what can be done about it, was surprised to be informed by some youth leaders that what they wanted was training in theatre. They wanted to employ themselves in this way. They argued that good performances that could attract many people could easily give them money to live on, but they would also be taking part in development by entertaining and educating the population. Turn to Ngugi wa Miri This fact has been stressed before by the executive Director of the ZimZMABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6 babwe Association of Community land but also capital grants and Theatre (ZACT), Ngugi wa Miri. ZACT equipment, our efforts are regarded was born out of the cultural and as mere entertainment and luxury. educational experiences in the refu- The artists have never received any gee camps during the struggle for in- subsidy worth mentioning. They dependence. It is an independent urn- have been left on their own." brella organisation for community- Of the five million dollars set aside based theatre groups. b Government for inh reatina .- ZACT argues that Government should be funding theatre in the same way it finances other recognised job creation enterprises. Ngugi wa Mirii told President R.G. Mugabe, recently, that the efforts of the artists are hindered by lack of government financial and moral support. "Unlike other employment and job creation enterprises like agricultural cooperatives which receive from Government not only deavours, nothing has been earmarked for the performing arts and for culture. The cultural division of the Ministry of Education, as well as the National Arts Council, also do not receive adequate funding for im,plementing their plans in this field. Importation of foreign cultures Ngugi wa Mirii complains of the imContinued on next page I A rts I

OBITUARY Rev James Charles Mtero Staff writer The death of Reverend James Charles Mtero in Harare on February 21, 1996, removed one of the leading educationists in this country, both before and after independence. He was buried on Sunday, the 25th February, 1996. Vice President Simon Muzenda, who was his schoolmate at Marianhill College in Natal, South Africa, spoke at the funeral service about his outstanding role as an educationist. President Cde. Robert Mugabe spoke at the graveside about the work James Mtero did in the public service as one of the first batch of black permanent secretaries. He was the first permanent secretary in Nhe Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. V The late Cde. Mtero James Mtero was born in Zvimba Communal area in 1926. He did his primary education at Kutama sion; secondary education at Marianhill College in South Africa; and a B.A. degree by private stu He taught at many schools in the Midlands and in Bulawayo. He was among the first Africans to b pointed a schools inspector in Victoria Province (now Masvingo); and then promoted to regional dir of Masvingo and Midlands Provinces. He devoted his entire life to teaching and education. Although he was a civil servant. James Mtero was active in the struggle for the freedom and indE dence of this country. In Masvingo Province, he teamed up with Dr. Simon Mazorodze (the late) t ganise food supplies, clothing and medicines for the guerillas who were very active in that Prov When "keeps" or the so-called protected villages were introduced, the guerillas were cut off fron villagers, it became difficult to supply them especially in Nyajena communal area. James Mtero an Mazorodze took great risk with their lives by continuing to organise and ferry supplies to the gue using Cde. Mudondo's lorry. With the coming of independence in 1980, he was given a key role in building the new nation i public service. He was one of the first black Zimbabweans to be appointed to the post of perma secretary in the newly-created Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. He is survived by his wife Betty. and three children. Betty has been active in women's organisatio0 many years. In his later years. James Mtero had become a priest of the Methodist Church. R.I.P Theatre creates employment for youth Continued from previous page portation of foreign cultures into Zimbabwe, especially Western European culture , through television broadcasts, video cultures, and electronic media. He says "over 90 percent of our national TV programmes are foreign because we do not invest in the promotion of relevant cultural programmes. ZBC's over dependence on foreign cultural programmes is not only detrimental to our cultural industry, but it is also a reflection of an unconscious national self-hatred *.. ZBC fails to produce viable and competitive national programmes.. Ngugi wa Mirii speaks of a cultural industry tnat must be nurtured and supported. He believes and says culture can enhance economic and physical development of a people a nation. City Councils have no centres designated for the indigenous performing arts. The Harare City Council has actually turned down several requests by ZAC to set aside a piece of land for the indigenous performing arts. Schools and colleges, let alone the Universities, do not promote indigenous art and culture. On the other hand, the culture of the minority white population is fed into the community through the large chain of cinema houses throughout our cities and towns. Foreign films are shown two or three times z Theatres depicting foreign ci are also available. Video clu growing rapidly in the low 0 some of them showing porn ic films. No national cultural cen There is need for a national centre where Zimbabwean art exhibit their art works from t time. At present they have to their work in cultural exhibit foreign countries and organis here in Harare and Bulaway( bitions by Alliance Francaise, Institute, British Council etc. 1 also a need for a regional c centre to be organised and SADC. ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27

OBITUARY Ron Brown - 1942-1996 The untimely death of Ron Brown, the former Minister of Commerce and Industry in the USA Government, has removed a figure who played a very important part for Africa and Africans in the American system. He was the leading black American in the Clinton administration. And, he did a lot for the black people, both privately and publicly. His sudden death in a plane crash in Croatia (formerly part of Yugos-. lavia) was a real tragedy. Ron Brown grew up in Harlem (the overcrowded black township of New York City, similar to Mbare in Harare or Makokoba, in Bulawayo.) His father ran a famous hotel in Harlem called Hotel Theresa. It was the hotel where President Fidel Castro of Cuba stayed in 1960; and most black dignitaries who came to New York used to stay. Ron Brown grew up at the nerve centre of the politics of black America, and where they interacted with black people from other parts of the world. He was a brilliant student who excelled in all his school work at primary, secondary, and university levels. He studied law and passed with distinctions. But, the pre-occupation in his working life was business and politics. In 1988 he took over as Chairman of the Democratic Party (one of the two large parties in the American system. The other party is the Republican Party). In 1988 Brown took over a Democratic Party that had been roundly defeated in the presidential as well as congressional elections. The morale of the members was at a low ebb. Leaders in Congress and in the States were quarrelling openly on many issues of policy. it looked as if Bush would have an easy fight to win a second term in November, 1992. After all, he had presided over the ending of the cold war, and had won the war against Iran by building a large circle of allied states. But, all these advantages for the Republicans were confronted by one confident. intelligent, and hardworking Democrat, Ron Brown. As Chairman, he set about the task of re- building the Party, raising funds, and restoring lost morale. He also started looking at and supporting the candidate most likely to defeat the formidable George Bush. Among the many aspirants he supported then was the unknown former Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. As President Clinton himself stated at the funeral, the one man to whom he owed a great debt of gratitude was Ron Brown. Without Brown, Clinton would not have been in the White House to-day. In an obituary published in The Guardian (the international edition) on April 14, 1996, Martin Walker revealed that Brown had wanted to be the first black Secretary of State (or Foreign Minister), and told President Clirton that. But, Clinton appointed him as Minister for Commerce because in the post cold war era, more emphasis was to be placed on geo-economic problems of the world. As Minister of Commerce he did a sterling job, and largely succeeded. His major success was to harmonise relations, and to build closer economic relations with China. Inspite of the anti-China rhetoric from the White House, Brown worked on and got approval for a bill that gave China Most Favoured Natioh trading status. Brown made a historic trip to China, taking with a number of leading businessmen. He brought $50 billion worth of export contracts. He fought hard to get other contracts for American business in many parts of the world. He travelled to Africa three times in the three years he was in office. He established a fund to assist postApartheid South Africa rebuild its economy; and another fund to assist the states of Southern Africa; and proceeded to boost trading relations with the rest of Africa. Both black America, and Africa were close to his heart, and he worked hard to promote their economic development. Being the man of action that he was, he wanted to be helpful to Africa with hard and concrete assistance, and not with rhetoric At the time of his death, he was working on improving trading relationships with Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. He wanted to open a free trading zone with these countries, and also with the other Pacific Rim countries. He was a shrewd negotiator, and some called him a wheel-dealer. He relished his job at the centre of global commerce, and his ability to influence world trends. He was totally committed to free trade and global commercial links. Because of his immense capacity for hard work, he was an aggressive campaigner and a very competitive man. Ron Brown has left his mark on the Ministry of Commerce in the USA, and, on the politics of black America. As the highest ranking black American in the Clinton administration, he left an indelible mark on African-American relations. N.T. 0 ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL 27 NO. 6

Don Black (left) holding the Zimbabwe Sportsperson of the Year trophy won by his son Byron in 1987 on Black holds a unique place in lawn tennis history in the country. Besides being father to the country's top three tennis player, Byron, Wayne and Cara, Don became the first tennis player to be selected among the five finalists for the inaugural Sportsman of the Year award in 1956. He also became, in 1953, the first tennis player in the country to play at Wimbledon. Don played at Wimbledon six times between 1953 and 1963. Naturally gifted at all ball games, agile and extremely mobile and with the strong, flexible wrist of the good rackets player, Don quickly grasped the fundamentals of tennis at the age of 6. At that time his father, a farmer at Gadzema near the then Hartley (now Chegutu) town, had tennis courts so it became easy ior the young Don to develop love for the game. "Almost all of my time was spent on the courts at Gadzema before I went to Prince Edward Junior school," Don recalls. The man was born on December 2, 1927, at the then Hartley District Hospital. "My father, from Scotland, was a farmer at Gadzema, near Chegutu, while my mother was a school teacher from England. They met at the Queens Hotel which was like Meikles Hotel then. On the day I was delivered they almost failed to get to the hospital as the Mupfure River, which they had to cross to reach Hartley Hospital, was flooded. It later subsided and they finally got to the hospital," Don says. ed him to follow in his toots a farmer. But not Don, a bookl had other ideas. After comp junior education at Prince (which had a junior school ,went on to study at Plumtre 1941. He was at Plumtree for b efore enrolling with Witw University in Johannesburg. Here he attained a degree in p and pyschology. His love for t faced again at this college whe tinued playing the game befoi to the United Kingdom's Leec sity. Once at Leeds, he becami volved with tennis. In 1953, Don started his c Wimbledon. He lost in the thi 7-5, 10-8, 6-3 to Jackie Brichar His father, Don says, would have want- Continued on next page ZIMBABWE NEWS

Don Black Profile Centinued from previous page :tered again the following year but fell at the first hurdle. In 1956, he reached third round again only to be dispatched by Ashley Cooper, who won the Wimbledon singles two years later in 1958. "Cooper was the most difficult opponent l ever played. I nearly beat him but lost in the fifth set 7-9. The final result was 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 4-6, 9-7," Don recalls. He added that during those days, he used to admire a Yugoslav player named Jairoslav Drobny, who won Wimbledon in 1954. It was after his performance in 1956 that he was selected among the first batch of the newly launched Sportsman of the Year Award. The award was won by hockey player Margot Boileau. The other finalists were David Lewis (cricket) Percy Mansell (cricket) and Gerry Povall (billiards). Don was to play Wimbledon three more times in 1957, 1961 and 1963, but was unsuccessful on all occasions. In 1963, he was a member of the Rhodesia Davis Cup team which beat Holland 3-2 before going down by the same scoreline to Sweden in Stockholm. "I won quite a few tournaments during my playing days but it was different from what it is now. I won the Rhodesian Closed in 1958 and the Open in 1960 when I beat Adrian Bey but I can't remember the scoreline." Don recalls. He attained a teaching certificate and diploma in physical education at Leeds, taught at Hatfield Boys School, Mt. Pleasant and Ellis Robins before retiring. He has been a pensioner ever sincethen. 'I have been farming avocados which I started at my residence 35 years ago. I could have done the farming at my father's farm but unfortunately when he got tired of waiting for me while I was playing too much tennis in Europe, he - sold the farm. He had thought of handing over the farm to me. So when I returned i tound the farm had been sold and went back to do my teaching certificate," says Don. "Since I didn't become a Wimbledon champion I thought I could make my own Wimbledon champions and started teaching my kids. "To be a champion is not easy. it is hard work. I have been getting up at 5.30 am for the past 20 years to start practising with my kids. All three have gone through this strenuous work. It takes something like 20 000 hours to become a champion. 'I was among the Sportsman of the Year finalists in 1956, Byron won it in 1987 and was again among the finalists in 1988 while Wayne was a finalist in 1989. it has got to be a family record," Don boasts. Commenting about the game today, Don said it is better than when they played because "now they have better rackets and competition is high as more and more players come up." Don commended the work being done by the Tennis Association of Zimbabwe (TAZ) in as far as tennis development is concerned. "I think the TAZ are doing a great job in as far as development of the sport is concerned. South Africa is now copying us which means the TAZ is going great." The 67-year-old former tennis player, who displays a great sense of innovation, urged the authorities to help develop the sport by building more tennis courts in the high density suburbs. "We have a lot of youngsters out there who have fallen in love with tennis in the high density suburbs but they cannot develop their talents fully because of lack of facilities. We need more courts in these areas," he said. As a parting shot he advised up and coming players to work hard to become champions. "There is no shortcut to be a champion. Aspiring champions should get up early and start practising. Like I said earlier you need about 20 000 hours of serious practice to become a champion," Don, who is married to Velia, said. l ZIMBABWE NEWS VOL. 27 NO. 6 THE People's Voice Subscription Rates (Please tick a box to select your term) ZIMBABWE r'l 52 issues (1 yea) $78-00 []26 Issues (6 months) $39-00 REGIONAL 0 52 Issues (1 year) US$88-40 0]26 issues (6 months) US$44-20 OVERSEAS (Europe) 0 52 isues (1 year) US$135-40 []26 issues (6 months) US$67-70 NAM E: ...... ADDRESS ...... IGNA.URE...... - ...... _...... S IG NATU R E ...... THE RATES INCLUDE POSTAGE AND HANDLING. I enclose my cheque (3 Postal order rFor the amount indicated above Mail to: The Circulation Manager, The People's Voice, P.O. Box CY3206, Causeway, 144 Union Avenue, Harare, Tel: 790148/9

!, I Children representing the 16 countries taking part in the European Football Championship - Euro-96 grapple giant soccer ball at a Birmingham conference centre where the draw was made. Televised worldwide simultaneously by the BBC and 17, the children introduced each country in their own langh the selection was made last December Countries participating in the championship include Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic, Denmark, England, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. The major international sporting i the biggest football competition held in the UK since 1966. Euro-96 begins with England playing Switzerland on 8 June at Wembley where the final playoff will be held on 31 One of the most dramatic games is likely to be the England versus Scotland match at Wembley on 15 June. Thet teams, who face Switzerland and Holland- the favourite team to win - later in the todrnament, last met in 19 Besides London, matches will be played in Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool and Notti) Besides attracting thousands offootball fans to the UK, the championship will be seen by soccer enthusiasts thro thc world on television. ZIMBABWE NEWS VC imbabwe News Subscription Rates (Please tick a box to select your term) MBABWE 12issues(1year)$30-00 L 6issues(6months)$15-00 EGIONAL [ 12 issues (1 year) US$37-20 r 6 issues (6 months US$18- 60 VERSEAS (Europe) El 12 issues (1 year) US$57-60 r7 6 issues (6 months) US$28-80 AME: ...... ADDRESS...... S PLEASE PRINT IGAUE...... ;IGNAT U R E ...... THE RATES INCLUDE POSTAGE AND HANDLING. I enclose my chequer] Postal order [] For the amount indicated above Mail to: The Circulation Manager, The People's Voice, P.O. Box CY3206, Causeway, 144 Union Avenue, Harare, Tel: 790148/9

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