Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

A Zimbabwean woman escaped a life of sex slavery after “refusing to be submissive” to two men who allegedly trafficked her from Johannesburg to Cape Town. The Hawks’ anti-human trafficking team and the City of [...]

Dancehall chanter Enzo Ishall is back with another controversial song titled ‘Mutasvi’ which will set tongues wagging. ‘Mutasvi’ is a Shona word which means horse rider or jockey and in street lingo, big women or exquisite women are referred to as horses. ‘Bhiza rinoda rinoda mutasvi’ , he sings in the beginning of the song. […]

Source: 'Evacuate stranded cross-border traders from South Africa' | Daily News

THE government must urgently provide thousands of stranded Zimbabwean cross-border traders one-way bus tickets out of South Africa after a fresh wave of xenophobic attacks that left more than three foreigners dead in the neighbouring country, the Zimbabwe Cross-Border Traders Association (ZCBTA) has said.

This comes amid reports that several fearful and broke Zimbabweans are sleeping  at police stations and churches after unemployed South Africans forced them out of their homes in the night in protests also targeting shops, many of which are foreign-owned.

Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa’s Durban and Polokwane over the past week against a background of near-record unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs and women from citizens and involvement in crime.
A significant number of Zimbabweans cross borders daily to engage in informal cross-border trade, sustaining their families back home.

About 100 people attacked small food shops last Sunday night and into Monday morning, looting and burning the buildings.
One woman died when she fell through a roof while she was running away from protesters.
Another two people died from gunshot wounds, allegedly inflicted by a shopkeeper.

Killer Zivhu, the president of the ZCBTA, made an impassioned plea to government yesterday to help evacuate stranded cross-border traders, which he said had sent distress calls to the association.

“The government must provide transport to bring them back, some don’t have money to run away,” Zivhu told the Daily News yesterday.

South Africa’s minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Lindiwe Sisulu, urged the police in her country to act against people targeting foreigners.

“All criminal activities and looting of properties of foreign nationals will not be tolerated‚ and the police and other law-enforcement agencies must act without fear or favour,” she said in a statement.
Zimbabwean cross-border traders are a cosmopolitan, footloose group of cultural and economic entrepreneurs. They are a highly-gendered group, as they comprise mostly women. Cross-border trade as an occupation has given rise to the image of a strong, independent and mobile class of women involved in long-distance trans-border business.

Zivhu said: “The government must provide employment for its citizens so they don’t become  a problem in other countries.”
Several million Zimbabweans have fled the country, mostly to South Africa, after the economy shrank by more than a third from 2000 to 2008 following the collapse of the agriculture sector.

Unemployment rose to over 80 percent. Many in the diaspora said the change they hoped for after the coup has not happened, and the economic crisis continues to force them to continue with the transborder trade.

Zivhu called for an “urgent meeting government to government to avoid more deaths.”

This comes as the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa — which stands accused of exacerbating last week’s mayhem in Durban and Polokwane through some ill-considered electioneering comments — this week agreed to meet African diplomats in Pretoria to address growing concerns over the scourge.

Last week, hordes of mobs in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban poured onto the streets and looted goods from shops run by foreign immigrants, before they also destroyed haulage trucks driven by foreigners.

Zivhu said “for cross-border traders, they must use master cards to avoid robberies.”   Xenophobia against migrants from other African countries is not new in South Africa.

In 2015, unrest in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban claimed seven lives as immigrants were hunted down and attacked by gangs.

South Africa experienced its worst outbreak of violence against foreigners in 2008, when more than 60 people died.

The post ‘Evacuate stranded cross-border traders from South Africa’ appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Matabeleland  likely to lose  constituencies | Daily News

MATABELELAND region is likely to be the most affected as its constituencies are likely to be reduced if delimitation of boundaries set for 2022 is conducted, a survey carried out by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) has revealed.

Bulawayo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Masvingo are set to be the most affected.

However, to the contrary, provinces like Harare, Manicaland, Mashonaland West, and Mashonaland Central are likely to have more constituencies.
Constituencies in Mashonaland East and Midlands will largely remain unchanged, according to Zesn.

Zesn estimates that the proposed number of constituencies is based on currently registered voters, as at February 2019.
The total number of registered voters’ is 5 686 121, as in the February 2019 voters’ roll.

Harare has the largest number of registered voters at 899 333, then Midlands with 760 615, Manicaland — 732 292, Mashonaland West — 654 272, Mashonaland East — 632 013, and Bulawayo had the least number of registered voters at 257 924.

“Applying the +/- 20 percent threshold provided for in the Constitution gave these figures; the lowest number of registered voters expected for any constituency would be 21 662, the average will be 27 077 and the highest number of registered voters expected would be 32 493. For the purposes of this research, the average was used to provide an overall picture.”

According to Zesn, Bulawayo, which currently has 12 constituencies, would most likely end up with 10. Matabeleland North is likely to reduce from 13 constituencies to 12 while Matabeleland South will end up with 10 constituencies from 13. Harare with 29 constituencies will increase to 33.

Delimitation of boundaries is critical to the electoral outcome as it would map out constituencies and wards in which people exercise their right to vote.

Zimbabwe last conducted the delimitation exercise in 2007, shortly before the harmonised elections held in March 2008.
The 2018 harmonised elections used the constituency boundaries mapped in 2007.

The 2013 Constitution provided a new legal framework for delimitation, and Section 161 of the Constitution provides for Electoral boundaries to be delimited once every 10 years after a population census.

The next population census will be conducted in 2022, a year before the next electoral cycle.

To calculate the proposed number of constituencies, Zesn used a formula which involved dividing numbers of registered voters by the total number of constituencies to obtain the average registered voters per constituency.

Zesn said delimitation of boundaries is a key aspect of the electoral process as it has an effect on numbers that are in a constituency and ward since the country’s predominant system of voting is the First-Past-the-Post system based on voters electing their representatives based on constituencies and wards.

 

The post Matabeleland  likely to lose  constituencies appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Mavhaire faces arrest | Daily News

A HARARE magistrate yesterday issued a warrant of arrest against former Energy minister and now MDC politician Dzikamai Mavhaire after he failed to pitch up in court.

Mavhaire is a State witness in a matter where Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) chairperson Stanley Nyasha Kazhanje is accused of receiving $10 000 bribe from controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo.

Prosecutor Brian Vito told the court that Mavhaire wrote an affidavit indicating his aversion to testify on behalf of the State.
Mavhaire’s name was called three times and when he did not appear, senior regional magistrate Hoseah Mujaya issued him with an arrest warrant.

Mujaya postponed the matter to today for commencement of trial after Kazhanje’s lawyer, Sylvester Hashiti, was engaged at the High Court.

Allegations are that on October 23, 2015 and while Kazhanje was still chairperson, ZPC signed an Engineering Procurement and Construction of a 100-megawatt solar project with Intratek.
It is alleged that between December 11 2015 to January 20 2016, ZPC paid Intratek $1 263 154 in advance for the implementation of the project.

However, the State alleged that Intratek did not fulfil its obligation, resulting in the management suggesting termination of the contract.

On January 21, 2016 and under unclear circumstances, Kazhanje allegedly received
$10 000 into his personal Barclays Bank account from Intratek’s CBZ bank account.

It is the State’s case that in his capacity as ZPC board chairperson, Kazhanje presided over a meeting where it was resolved that ZPC must pay services directly to Intratek subcontractors instead of terminating the contract.
This resulted in ZPC paying $4 387 849 as advance payment despite the fact that Intratek had not fulfilled its obligation.

It is the State’s case that the $10 000 deposited into Kazhanje’s account and the subsequent resolution not to terminate Intratek’s contract gave rise to reasonable suspicion that Kazhanje was influenced by this payment to decide in favour of Intratek.

By so doing, the State alleged that Kazhanje failed to declare any interests upon his appointment as the ZPC chairperson.

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