16 subjects with 16 messages.
The AfricaNews articles of Justice Zhou
Tsvangirai reports boss to SADC chief
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe on Monday met South African President Jacob Zuma to discuss escalating tensions that threaten to wreck Zimbabwe's inclusive government. They held discussions at Chief Albert Luthuli House, the ANC party headquarters, in central Johannesburg. - Zuma assured support of the MDC grievances. He undertook to help address the latest stalemate concerning implementation of outstanding issues in the six-months-old unity pact, pledging to express his worries with SADC and his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe pertaining to his intransigence.
"The prime minister is here to talk about what progress has been made in Zimbabwe and what issues are difficult …MSF lures doctors back in Zimbabwe
Medical humanitarian assistance group Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) is expanding its operations in Zimbabwe to help improve the country's collapsed health delivery system. The non-governmental organisation also known as Doctors Without Borders, has launched a massive recruitment drive to lure back health professionals. - "We have continued to advertise vacant posts for medical doctors especially in Southern Africa and other countries. At present there is a critical shortage of skilled personnel and that is affecting our operations severely," said an MSF official in Johannesburg.
MSF has since 2007 been offering basic primary health care and emergency medical treatment to victims of violen…Tsvagirai to woo investors in SA
In a new campaign to clear the country's image and woo investment, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will deliver a keynote address at a business initiative forum gala dinner to be held on 31 July 2009 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. - Tsvangirai is expected to brief delegates on the conditions and merits of investing in a new Zimbabwe at the banquet organized by Mlilo Projects Building and Civil Engineers.
The indaba will focus primarily on matters to do with the business climate, investment opportunities, and property protection rights.
Zimbabwe’s image as a safe investment destination had been dented by years of dictatorial laws by R…Zim: Hope for new constitution after fracas
Progressive forces within Zimbabwe's volatile coalition government have vowed to press ahead with efforts to bring about a new democratic constitution for the country despite threats by hardcore politically-motivated elements to derail the process. - An All-Stakeholders Conference to discuss the constitutional –making process was last Monday disrupted after a group of Zanu-PF extremists stormed the Harare International Conference Centre, the conference venue, demanding the removal of Western-imposed sanctions before their party could seriously partake in the process.
Riot police had to intervene to quell the flaring tempers as delegates from the rival MDC and Zanu-PF parties went b…Zimbabwe: Human rights groups save prisoners
Humanitarian organizations have stepped forward with aid to help save alarming conditions at Zimbabwe's 55 prisons that have been reported to be death traps. - The International Red Cross Society along with other human rights groups have in recent months committed assistance to cover food, medical care and other basic facilities to rescue prisoners who faced death as prison authorities had run out of funds to meet the running costs.
Administration at Zimbabwe's prisons had been undercut by years of political and economic turmoil before a coalition government was formed a few months back following a disputed election in March 2008, but rights groups hope their direct initiatives will help …Zimbabweans in SA rush for passports
Thousands of Zimbabweans have in recent days been braving cold and rainy weather conditions to apply for passports at the Zimbabwe Consulate in Johannesburg. Home Affairs officials from Zimbabwe have resorted to processing Emergency Travel Document (ETD) from an open basement outside the embassy building. - The move is to deal with the overwhelming applicants as the office at number 20 Anderson Street in Marshalltown is too small.
“I came here early in the morning and I have submitted my application .It’s very chilly out here but I would rather wait here and get my papers sorted than risk being bothered by police,” said Sakhile Ndlovu.
AfricaNews reporter said condi…SA: COSATU outraged at workers abuse
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has expressed outrage at the abuse of migrant Zimbabwean workers by Gavin Radcliffe who owns the Kingfisher, a boat that capsized and sank with 19 fishermen on board, killing 14 of the crewmen in the Indian Ocean last December. - The Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) which is affiliated to COSATU said the owner of the Kingfisher exploits desperate immigrants, offering inadequate training and subjecting them to poor working conditions.
“Instead of meeting workers demands, vessels’ owners are employing poorly trained workers and skippers thereby risking their lives,” said FAWU spokesperson Katishi Masemola. He also dem…"Probe right violations in Zimbabwe"
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has urged the African Commission to dispatch a delegation to Zimbabwe to assess the country's ongoing human rights violations. It has also requested that the United Nations Human Rights Council take all necessary measures to get hold of the situation there. - In a statement released to the media, the SAHRC said life remains precarious for millions of Zimbabweans despite calls from various quarters for drastic steps to be taken to address the dire state of affairs.
It cited the recent cholera outbreak which is weighing heavily on the “country and on SADC’s already over-burdened health care system” as clear proof that there…SA: Appeal for probe into racist attacks
The Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CORMSA) has petitioned the South African Human Rights Commission to hold an inquiry into the May 2008 xenophobic violence which left 62 foreigners dead and thousands others displaced. CORMSA believes the carnage was politically aroused. - Duncan Breen, a spokesperson for the refugees and migrants watchdog, said local leaders were actively involved in fuelling the violence. "Therefore their involvement in strategies to address xenophobia is of grave concern. Unless these leaders are held accountable, they will continue to base their campaigns and positions on an agenda of hate and violence," he said.
The reluctance by government to …SA: Disabled refugees struggle to survive
Disabled Zimbabwe immigrants escaping hardships in their country turn to face even more difficulties in South Africa. Not only do they struggle to put food on the table, handicapped refugees fail to access safe accommodation and health facilities too. Some sleep in the open on street pavements. - Others illegally occupy abandoned apartments, sharing the squalid buildings with potentially dangerous strangers. They risk evictions and live in constant fear of police and criminals.
Since 2007, the number of blind beggars and amputees of Zimbabwean origin has been swelling significantly on the streets of Johannesburg. Their only meaningful alternative source of income is by soliciting aid from…Zim: Smuggling syndicates surfacing in SA
Truckloads of children of schooling age are being secretly smuggled each night through the porous borders to the crime hotbed city of Johannesburg. A syndicate of human traffickers is cashing in on Zimbabwean youths escaping hardship into neighboring South Africa lured with false lucrative job offers. - Once there, the refugees are held hostage, to their surprise, in isolated bungalows where money is extorted from them. At times hostages are ordered to surrender their belongings, raped or beaten up. The coyotes would then free boys whilst girls, some as young as 12 years of age are kept and traded to brothel magnates operating in the notorious central Johannesburg suburb of Hill brow.
The…
