SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 311 for 2 - 8 December 2006
08 Dec 2006 12:27:10 GMT Source: IRIN
JOHANNESBURG, 8 December (IRIN) - CONTENTSSOUTH AFRICA: No
escape from debt trap
ZIMBABWE: Government reports 150% drop in living standards
MALAWI: Each migrating nurse costs country up to US$26 million
SWAZILAND: Has Swaziland turned the corner in the fight
against AIDS?
MADAGASCAR: So far, so good in presidential election
ZIMBABWE: Govt enforces price controls as IMF comes to town
SOUTH AFRICA: Black gays the target of hate crimes
ZIMBABWE: Women
refugees in South Africa claim rape and torture at home
ZIMBABWE: No legal way outSOUTH AFRICA: No escape from debt trapMany South Africans are borrowing money simply to buy enough food to eat,
according to the findings of a study commissioned by the country's major financial institutions and the national treasury.The study found that in the richest country on the continent, one in five
South Africans do not have enough to eat. At least 17 percent of South Africans said they had no income at all, and nearly half of the more than 3,000 people interviewed said they sometimes or often
went without a cash income.See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56639ZIMBABWE: Government reports 150% drop in living standardsZimbabwe's living standards have declined by
150 percent within the last decade, says a poverty assessment survey complied and published by the public service and social welfare ministry.The survey revealed that between 1995 and 2003, more
than 63 percent of rural people could not obtain enough money to meet both basic food and non-food requirements, while the figure in urban areas was 53 percent. Gender was also recognised as having an
impact on poverty levels, and figures for malnutrition in children and access to healthcare also deteriorated.See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56641MALAWI: Each migrating
nurse costs country up to US$26 millionMalawi, one of the world's poorest countries, is losing up to US$26 million for every nurse who leaves the country in search of greener pastures, according to
a new research paper.The paper attempts to quantify the financial loss to the country. Besides the obvious impact on its health services, salaries and working conditions are among the contributing
factors for these nurses' migration.See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56618SWAZILAND: Has Swaziland turned the corner in the fight against AIDS?The Swazi government
expressed cautious optimism after a survey found that 39.2 percent of women visiting antenatal clinics tested positive for HIV, indicating that the infection rate was dropping.Medical data from
pregnant women is used as a barometer of HIV/AIDS prevalence among the country's about one million people and although the figure was above the 38.6 percent recorded in 2002, it was down from the 42.6
percent reached in 2004.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56629MADAGASCAR: So far, so good in presidential electionFears that the presidential poll might rekindle the political
animosities of the previous presidential election, which plunged the island into a near civil war, have so far proved unfounded.Incumbent president Marc Ravalomanana thanked the population for their
"wisdom" and for "democratic, free and fair elections". Initial results suggest that Ravalomanana obtained 70 percent of the vote.See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56610ZIMBABWE: Govt enforces price controls as IMF comes to townAs the International Monetary Fund (IMF) kicks off its assessment mission in Zimbabwe this week, the country's courts sent two officials of
a well-known bakery to prison for breaking the price control law. The IMF has repeatedly called for price deregulation, among other measures, to manage the economic crisis in Zimbabwe.Bakery
executives received prison sentences and fines for breaching the Pricing of Goods Act by selling bread above official prices. A price freeze on essential goods and crackdowns on the parallel market
are the government's preferred methods of trying to keep basic items affordable. The IMF has warned that inflation in Zimbabwe could exceed 4,000 percent in 2007 if current policies were maintained.See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56611SOUTH AFRICA: Black gays the target of hate crimesBlack homosexual men and women are increasingly encountering a variety of hate
crimes in South Africa, despite legislation protecting the rights of sexual minorities.In 1996 South Africa became the first country on the continent to adopt a constitution protecting people from
discrimination based on sexual orientation, and legally recognised same-sex marriage on 1 December 2006. Although the constitution works on paper, it does little to guarantee acceptance or tolerance,
especially for gays and lesbians living in townships where there are increasing reports of physical violence and expressions of homophobia.See report:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56661ZIMBABWE: Women refugees in South Africa claim rape and torture at homeThe South African government has been condemned for its "complete silence"
over the high level of rape at the hands of the security forces in their country reported by Zimbabwean women applying for asylum.At least 15 percent of the Zimbabwean women refugees who visited a
counselling centre run by the Zimbabwe Torture Victims/Survivors Project (ZTVP) in Johannesburg over the past 20 months alleged they had been raped.See report:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56659ZIMBABWE: No legal way outPassports are no longer available in Zimbabwe. The office of the Registrar-General has stopped producing them because
the cost of importing the special paper required has become unaffordable.The country's economic meltdown in recent years has seen more than 3 million of its about 12 million people seeking
employment opportunities abroad and the demand for passports - the latest item to become unavailable - already has a four-year backlog. Although millions of Zimbabweans are believed to have left the
country illegally, mostly to neighbouring southern African states, the unavailability of passports will mainly affect students who have secured places at foreign universities, people seeking formal
employment outside Zimbabwe and cross-border traders.See report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56658
