(STICKY) (NYASATIMES) Thyolo Residents Demand Land Redistribution - Police Arrest 11 Over Demo
January 15, 2014
Maurice Nkawihe, Nyasa Times National
COMMENT - This is becoming an issue all over Africa, especially after the IMF/World Bank have given the green light to handing over millions of hectares to 'foreign investors'. The people want and need their land and mines back, they don't need 'donor aid' or charitable giving. This also shows that land reform is not 'Mugabe's land reform', it is something people have been fighting for over a century. Also read: (MALAWI VOICE) Angry Thyolo Farmers Want Whites Off The Estates…March To Police
Written By: Malawi Voice on January 15, 2014.
Police in Thyolo have arrested 11 people who led a demonstration some irate villagers staged on Wednesday afternoon in a quest to repossess 250, 000 hectares of land from various tea estates in the district.
The demonstration, sprouted from Chibwana village, was organised by a Thyolo-based Peoples Land Organisation (PLO), which is leading calls to repossess idle land from tea estates to be distributed to some of subsistence farmers that have little or no land to cultivate.
Thyolo Police Public Relations Officer, Edith Kachotsa told Nyasa Times in an interview that the villagers did not seek permission to stage the demonstration.
According to Kachotsa, the villagers led by PLO staged another unlawful demonstration on Monday but they were forced to call it off after being advised by the police to seek permission before taking their grievances to streets.
However, on Wednesday the irate villagers decided to bypass the law once more and started protesting; chanting songs threatening authorities of civil unrest if not permitted to take over 25,000 hectares of land in some of the tea estates that has been idle for about 50 years.
“We have since charged those arrested with unlawful assembly and will be in court soon. They (eleven) are the ones who led today’s protest. They were advised to call it off but they ignored the advice, and they even threatened to set tea fields on fire if we don’t allow them to proceed; but we successfully defused the protest without any problem,” Kachotsa said.
She added: “This is a long standing issue; they (PLO) have been at District Commissioner’s (DC) office several times, but it seems they are failing to reach compromise as the villagers are not relenting on their mission to repossesses the said land, which they claim has never been cultivated for over 50 years”.
Kachotsa disclosed there were no riots or looting during today’s demonstration, which started at around 1pm and was stopped at around 4pm.
Labels: 2009 BUDGET, LAND REFORM, MALAWI, TEA
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(NEWZIMBABWE) 'Undesirable' Kasukuwere held in Germany
16/11/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
ENVIRONMENT minister Saviour Kasukuwere was detained Saturday morning at Munich International Airport in Germany after arriving on a flight from South Africa.
Kasukuwere said he was held for three hours after arriving in Germany on his way to Poland to attend the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention.
Narrating his ordeal to the Sunday Mail, Kasukuwere said: “Problems started when I landed at Munich International Airport around 6am (on Saturday).
“As we were walking from the arrival terminal, police details and security agents appeared as if they were carrying their usual airport checks but as soon as they got hold of my passport, they all swooped on me.
“They stopped searching all the other people and I suddenly became the centre of attraction as they escorted me to a police post within the airport and they detained me in a small room for two and half hours.
“As soon as we got into this room, they took away my passport and gave me some document saying I was supposed to be subjected to some security checks. The police details consulted with higher authorities and shuttled from one office to the other.
“I asked them what was the problem and they told me that their security system had alerted them that an undesirable element was about to enter into their country.
“They searched me and checked all my details and after a while, they left me to sit alone in this tiny room not knowing what was going on.
“It was quite some experience but I wasn’t surprised. I then spoke to the Germany Ambassador in Zimbabwe who made frantic efforts to call these police details to no avail. I sat in this tiny room on some bench and all I could do was just to read my prayer book.
“After about two and half hours of uncertainty, one of the police officials just came in and handed me my passport. He then hurriedly left and I was really taken aback by this treatment.
“I think this had something to do with the illegal sanctions but no one mentioned this to me. This was quite some experience.
Kasukuwere said he was only released just before 9am.
“After I had been released, the Germany Ambassador to Zimbabwe contacted me and he was very apologetic about the whole ordeal. He gave me assurance that this would never happen again.”
The European Union (EU), of which Germany is a leading member, imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe which include travel bans against Zanu PF and top government officials.
The sanctions were suspended ahead of the July 31 polls, in a move the EU hoped would encourage the government to hold credible elections.
However, the EU has backed opposition claims that the vote, won with a landslide by President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party, was fraudulent.
Labels: GERMANY, SANCTIONS, SAVIOUR KASUKUWERE
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Widening gap between the rich and the poor
By Editor
Sat 16 Nov. 2013, 14:00 CAT
Chief Madzimawe of the Ngoni people of Chipata has raised concern about the widening gap between the rich and poor and the need to foster tangible development to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
Madzimawe says his main preoccupation is to see development. We also know that this is the main preoccupation of this government. And this being the case, there is greater scope and need for co-operation between the government and the traditional authorities.
Moving our people out of poverty is not going to be an easy thing which the government on its own can solve. And as we have stated before, not even the best government in the world, the best ministers, the best president can achieve much on their own. It would also be wrong to expect a general remedy from them only. We are all required to make a contribution. And moreover, democracy includes participation and therefore responsibility from all of us. If we realise this, the hope of a future without abject poverty will return to our hearts.
Today's traditional leadership should be about the search for a better life for our people. And we must build a wise and committed leadership at all levels of our society, including at the traditional level, that can help us move the great majority of our people who are today wallowing in abject poverty out of it. We must do it together. The traditional authorities should work and co-operate with the government in their effort to narrow the poverty gap. They need to work together because this can only be done together.
The painful truth is that, despite the goals to eradicate it, poverty persists and tends to grow in our country. But stopping and reversing it is today, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the most decisive contribution that can be made to the betterment of the lives of our people and to defending and promoting their dignity and humanity.
The existence of so many poor people in our country constitutes an affront to all of us. A permanent solution must be found for this serious problem. Our leaders, our chiefs cannot remain indifferent in the face of the tremendous social injustices existing in our country today, which keep the majority of their subjects in dismal poverty, which in many cases becomes inhuman wretchedness.
Poverty is an evil thing that should not be tolerated. Poverty should be fought as tenaciously as we fight other evils. Poverty, as a lack of the goods of this world necessary to live worthily as human beings, is in itself evil. The prophets denounce it as contrary to the will of the Lord and most of the time as a fruit of human injustice and sin.
This poverty places before our traditional rulers and other leaders a challenge that they cannot side step and to which they must respond with a speed and boldness adequate to the urgency of the times.
And we shouldn't forget that Christ, our Saviour, not only loved the poor, but rather "being rich he became poor," he lived in poverty. His mission centered on advising the poor of their liberation and he founded his church as a sign of that poverty among men and women.
The poverty of so many brothers and sisters cries out for justice, solidarity, open weakness, commitment, strength and exertion directed to the fulfillment of the redeeming mission to which it is committed by Christ.
The present situation in our country, then, demands from our traditional authorities and other leaders the spirit of poverty which stimulates them to order organically the power and the finances in favour of the poor and the common good. We ought to sharpen the awareness of our solidarity with the poor, to which charity leads us.
This solidarity means we make ours their problems and struggles, that we know how to speak with them. This has to be concretised in criticism of injustice and denunciation of corruption, in the struggle against the intolerable situation that a poor person often has to tolerate, in the willingness to dialogue with groups responsible for that situation in order to make them understand their obligations.
In this regard, those like Michael Sata who have openly devoted themselves and their work to the self-denying apostolate with the poor deserve our support and encouragement. And they deserve to be defended from the parties interested in distorting their work.
Human advancement has to be the goal of the actions of all our leaders, traditional and otherwise, on behalf of the poor. There has to be an option for the poor. Since, in practice, the common good is not sufficiently highly cherished, and since too many people fail to live in solidarity with the community, it is inevitable that there are those who suffer out of these failures. These are the poor, those living on the margins of the community, those whose interests have been neglected or ignored. As such, they are especially entitled to solidarity, to the special commitment of the rest of the community to remedy the situation in which they find themselves. It is this special commitment that is often called "preferential treatment of the poor". In practical terms, it means that our economic actions and decisions must not only avoid harming the interests of the poor, but must actually contribute to their upliftment. For this reason, economic efficiency is not the primary consideration; the poor must be given privileged treatment, even at the cost of some measure of technical inefficiency. The option for the poor can be exercised not only in favour of the materially poor, about whom we are mainly concerned here, but also towards those who have been marginalised because of disability, gender, race, or for whatever reason. Indeed, such classes of people often tend to be materially poor as well, as a direct result of being marginalised.
Of course, the option for the poor is not an option against the rich.
As we have stated before, we are bound together and what serves the interests of the common good also serves our interests and individuals. Therefore, the option for the poor is a call to the rich to participate in the upliftment of the poor and reduce the widening gap between the rich and the poor to the benefit of the whole society.
And when we speak of "the economy", or "an economic system", we are speaking of the policies and plans which control the wealth and resources of a country, about how resources are distributed between people, and about how the means of production - such as land, factories and technology - are owned and controlled. It is also sometimes suggested that economic laws, like the basic laws of nature, are beyond human control; that we can no more influence them than we can defy gravity or stop the motion of the planets. Therefore, it is argued, the existence of poverty and inequitable distribution of wealth, are the result of inescapable economic laws, and must be accepted as such. When suffering and even death flow from these "inevitable facts of economic life," that is simply unfortunate, it is said, just as it is unfortunate when suffering and death result from a natural disaster.
Although we sympathise with the victims of an earthquake or a flood, we do not consider such natural occurrences unjust or immoral. In the same way, the argument continues. We should not regard an economic system as unjust or immoral, though we regret the suffering that may be part of such system. Some people will be poor and some rich, inevitably and unavoidably, just as some will be the victims of earthquakes and floods, and some will not.
This argument, this type of reasoning must be rejected. It fails to take into account the fact that economic consequences come about as a result of human urgency. At the heart of every economic system lies human needs, human abilities and human decisions, and it is the choices which we make in addressing those needs, sharing those abilities, and making those decisions, that determine the justice or injustice of a economic system. There is thus a moral quality about an economy, a quality which has its roots in the morally correct or incorrect choices by people; and it is the moral quality of the economy that enables us to make choices about whether or not it is a just economy.
It is therefore very important for our chiefs and other leaders who want to see their people out of poverty to pay attention to the decisions and actions being taken by the government. If a decision or an action is taken that disadvantages the poor, they must speak out without respite. And if a decision or an action is taken that defends or promotes the interests of the poor, that needs to be supported and defended openly and without respite. Corruption and other abuses of power disadvantage the poor and deserve to be fought without respite by the defenders and supporters of the poor. We would therefore like to see a day when Madzimawe and other chiefs join, without reservations, the fight against corruption and other abuses. And a government that fights corruption deserves their support.
Labels: POVERTY
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PF officials' lives in danger - Chumbwe
By Roy Habaalu, Alan Mulenga, Kombe Chimpinde-Mataka and Abel M
Sat 16 Nov. 2013, 14:00 CAT
PF Lusaka Province chairperson Geoffrey Chumbwe says some senior party officials are on a mission to destroy the Patriotic Front. And Chumbwe says PF thugs have put the lives of party officials in danger.
Commenting on Robert Chikwelete's statement that the people he worked with to champion the removal of party secretary general Wynter Kabimba want him dead, Chumbwe said there was a clique within PF working with "criminals" to destabilise the party.
"They are on a mission to destroy this party. We are not going to allow that. They are not genuine people. They are being paid to destroy this party. What is surprising is that when we work hard, they want to bring in confusion. If they were genuine members of the party they should have been mobilising the party, but when we mobilise the party they bring in confusion so that we don't work," he said.
Chumbwe wondered why some senior party officials were sponsoring violence, if they were genuine PF members.
"We are working under a lot of threats. There is a group of people that is working with criminals to destabilise the party. Personally, my houseboy told me that some two weeks ago about four vehicles went to my house. They wanted to force their way in but the garden boy stood his ground, they slapped him and beat him up and started throwing stones at him. But when they noticed that he was uncompromising, they left the house," he said.
And Chumbwe asked the police to protect the lives of party officials.
"What is happening to Chikwelete might spread to innocent people if it is not checked. The most disappointing thing is that the police know very well who these people are. On several occasions, I know my party officials have gone to the police to complain about these people, but nothing is being done," he said.
Chumbwe accused the police of being comfortable when dealing with members outside the party structures.
"If these people go to the police to complain against our party officials, the police are quick to move in and start questioning our party officials. We have a group of thugs and a group of party officials," he said.
"It seems the police are more comfortable to work with thugs, who are working with a few senior party officials, as compared to working with people who are in structures in the party. What is happening is disappointing and believe me, this thing when it is not checked properly, we are going to be in trouble."
Chumbwe urged the police to be professional in their conduct.
"I don't understand the motive because it is like party officials who are in structures, including Chikwelete, are enemies of this country. We are asking the police to be professional. We have complained already to the police. We told them our concerns and even names were mentioned. The police should protect us, we are Zambians, we are not enemies," said Chumbwe.
"It is not only Chikwelete alone; I have received so many complaints from people who are being harassed by well-known thugs. Even the places where they hold meetings are known places. If the people could sit down with Chikwelete, he will give them more information, because even where the meetings take place we have told the police. I can't understand why the police are not moving in. Our lives are in danger."
Meanwhil, Malimba Mashake has implored President Michael Sata to save the Patriotic Front from violent elements.
In an interview, Masheke, a former prime minister in the UNIP government, said he knew that if President Sata strongly stood against the infighting in the party that last week claimed one life, the violence would end immediately.
"I know that if the President stood up to stop it himself, it will stop at once," he said. "The violence we are seeing in PF is not by accident. Those that are doing it know that they are doing it. The only thing that is wrong is that they are using our young people. They have no remorse...they see people bleeding just to get an upper hand in politics, but that is not good."
"All that is fighting for leadership but a tall tree will always be there. In a forest you will always find one. You don't force yourself to be a leader. It seems there are people in there who are trying to be tall trees when they are not."
Masheke said violence should not have a place in the country today.
"We should focus on building the nation, uniting the people," advised Masheke.
And Ng'andu Magande has advised opposition political party leaders to stop celebrating the intra-party violence in the PF leadership because it affects the governance system.
In an interview yesterday, the National Movement for Progress president, said the PF could use people outside the party to resolve the infighting.
"Although, we opposition political parties might be celebrating that they the PF are failing, it is the country which is suffering. It is not only themselves there quarrelling, in particular it erodes confidence of the citizens in the country. Obviously, some foreigners are sacred visiting Zambia where people are running in the streets with machetes," he said.
Magande said the intra-party violence if not properly handled would negatively affect the PF's popularity.
"Depending on how the popularity was built, this will affect them. If it was build on promises of free money, some people are also fighting in order to see that free money wherever it is coming from and whose pockets it is going to. They might still be popular but obviously it is not the party that becomes unpopular, it is the leadership," he said.
"It means the leadership is failing to control and that unfortunately affects confidence of the people in the leaders. I think those are the things they must consider as they continue to fight amongst themselves."
Magande said the PF leadership should shoulder the blame over the violence that had rocked the party.
UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa said the PF should cleanse itself of bad elements that were funding 'thuggery' and 'hooliganism' as quickly as possible.
He said the recent violence which left one party cadre dead should not be entertained and President Michael Sata, as commander in chief and chief executive, should stamp his authority.
President Sata has since condemned and stopped the violent acts from going on in the party. The Head of State directed Home Affairs Minister Edgar Lungu to investigate the violence incident and ensure culprits were brought to book.
However, Mweetwa said the PF should tackle the root cause of the violence by identifying people that were financing such ugly acts in a country that had enjoyed continued peace over years.
"Political fanaticism and factionalism should not be allowed in a country which is at the advent of 50 years of independence, this state of affairs is extremely embarrassing and should not be entertained because it has economic connotations in that, we are beginning as a country to appear as though we are sliding into political instability and anarchy, something capable of frowning upon and frightening foreign direct investment," he said.
"So we think this political violence should not be left unattended to and it is high time President Sata really put a stop to this fanaticism in the PF."
He reiterated that the issue of a tribal clique in the PF and tribalism as alleged by Kabimba must be addressed fairly, squarely and in a sincere and magnanimous manner.
"As long as the sponsors of thugery and hooliganism in the PF remain looming large and are not addressed to stop this syndicate, divisions and wrangles will continue to consume the ruling party," he said.
He said the violence in the PF was now diverting the attention of the country from addressing real issues of economic development and other issues affecting it in a meaningful way.
"All of us are just focusing on political violence being orchestrated by the PF, so really, this should not be left to continue anymore," said Mweetwa.
Labels: GEOFFREY CHUMBWE, PF
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Good governance a crusade for every Zambian - Chikwanda
By Gift Chanda
Sat 16 Nov. 2013, 14:01 CAT
GOOD governance should be a crusade for every Zambian, says finance minister Alexander Chikwanda. Speaking in Lusaka yesterday when the Zambian and United States governments, through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, exchanged letters to mark the commencement of the five-year implementation period of the Lusaka Water Supply and Drainage (LWSSD) Project, Chikwanda said America, which is financing the project, had raised concerns on governance issues in Zambia.
The water and drainage project, established through a bilateral agreement between Zambia and the US, is supported by the American people with a commitment of $354.8 million (K1.95 billion) of US government funding.
The project focuses on rehabilitating and upgrading water supply, sanitation and drainage infrastructure in select areas of Lusaka, with sustainability of investments supported through institution-strengthening activities.
"The implementation of this project could not have come at a better time," Chikwanda said.
"The existing water and sanitation infrastructure in Lusaka is dilapidated and its capacity has been overwhelmed by the rapid population growth of over two million people compared to 134,000 at independence."
He said the investment would cushion this heavy burden by rehabilitating, and in some cases, building new infrastructure.
"However, there has been issues which have been raised like governance and it is for our own benefit that these issues have come up because good governance is good for any country, if it wants to develop," Chikwanda said.
He said the danger with bad governance is that it diverts resources meant for development.
"So the concerns that the American people have raised are concerns which ourselves, should embrace," Chikwanda said.
"They are concerns which should be a crusade on our part because we all have to benefit from good governance."
Earlier, United States embassy Charge d' Affairs, David Young, explained that reliable water, sanitation and drainage systems would improve the health of Zambians as well as catalyse economic growth and poverty reduction.
The grant for the project, which has been channelled through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government agency, has to be utilised within the five-year period or risk being returned to the US treasury.
Secretary to the Treasury, Fredson Yamba, said there was need to expedite works to ensure that no single dollar was returned.
"Work starts now. The compact period cannot be extended," said Yamba who is also the board chairperson of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Zambia.
Labels: ALEXANDER CHIKWANDA, CORRUPTION, GOVERNANCE
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Vedanta chairman in Zambia over KCM, govt standoff
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe and Joan Chirwa-Ngoma
Sat 16 Nov. 2013, 14:00 CAT
VEDANTA Resources chairman Anil Agarwa is in the country to help resolve the standoff between its subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines and government.
And former mines minister Dr Kalombo Mwansa says mining companies should be made to pay appropriate taxes to the government.
Meanwhile, Dr Mwansa says allowing mining companies to export copper concentrates without adding value is unacceptable.
Vedanta Resource which is London-listed owns a majority stake in KCM.
On November 2, KCM announced plans to lay off over 1, 500 workers in the next three years as it migrated towards automation and mechanisation at Nchanga Underground.
The move by KCM unnerved President Michael Sata who said embattled chief executive officer Kishore Kumar would be sorted out for attempting to blackmail Zambia.
"If he's threatening us that he wants to lay off people at Konkola Copper Mine let him lay off one person, then we take away the licence from him; that's the best way of laying him off because investment should be for the people," said President Sata on November 5.
"And if that Mr Kumar wants to threaten us, to blackmail us, he can go to hell. We shall sort him out."
Mines minister Christopher Yaluma confirmed that Agarwa arrived in the country yesterday to help the troubled mine.
"Yes, I am supposed to meet him Agarwa this evening," said Yaluma.
And Yaluma said no miner would be retrenched at KCM.
"We had told them that that was non-negotiable and the President made it clear that whoever laid off even a single worker at KCM...and obviously you saw what happened," said Yaluma.
On November 9, Kumar 'voluntarily left' Zambia after home affairs minister Edgar Lungu demanded a meeting with him to discuss his "rhetoric" taunt targeted at President Sata on November 8.
Kumar, who is also chief executive officer for Base Metals Africa, left the country aboard South African Airways.
And Dr Mwansa said Zambia had room to collect enough revenue from the mines through proper taxation.
"We don't get enough from the mining industry. Whatever revenue we can get, we must get it. We must do everything possible to maximise revenue," he said in an interview yesterday.
With an industry that is estimated to be worth around US $10 billion, Dr Mwansa said it was unacceptable for the mines to contribute below US $600,000 (about K3 million) to the treasury in form of taxes.
"On the revenue side, we are very low. Every avenue we can get to increase revenue from the mines should be looked at," he said.
The government recently raised mineral royalty tax on copper from three per cent to six per cent, but shelved plans to re-introduce windfall tax on copper that was suspended by Rupiah Banda's regime.
Dr Mwansa said the country's efforts in the mining industry must be towards value addition, and supported President Sata's statement that mines "should not be allowed to export soil".
Finance minister Alexander Chikwanda on October 4 signed statutory instrument (SI) 89 which allowed mining companies to export copper concentrates tax free.
But President Sata cancelled SI 89, saying mining companies should not be allowed to export copper without adding value.
SI 89, which was to be in force up to September 30, 2014, was to reverse the November 2011 decision of the PF government to impose a 10 per cent export levy on copper concentrates and ores to encourage value addition and to improve accountability in the vast mining sector.
SI 89 has since been replaced with SI 99 to reinstate the 10 per cent export duty on copper concentrates and ores, which Chikwanda briefly abolished after being lobbied by First Quantum Minerals and Lubambe Copper Mines.
"It's not good to export soil, like the President put it. We have to add value… Mining companies can also put resources together to put up a big smelter," he said, and advised the government, mines and mine workers unions to promote dialogue in the industry.
His comments follow KCM's plan to lay off over 1,500 workers as the company seeks to switch to mechanisation.
"If they (mines) have a problem, they should sit down with the government. There is need for government, mines and the unions to find time to sit and exchange ideas. They should not only meet when there is a crisis," said Dr Mwansa, adding that the current government's policies on the mines and job creation were good.
Labels: KCM, STATUTORY INSTRUMENT 89, TAX EVASION, VEDANTA
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Fr Mpasa encourages more pro-poor policies
By Henry Sinyangwe
Sat 16 Nov. 2013, 14:00 CAT
CATHOLIC Church Vicar General for Mansa Fr Mambwe Mpasa has implored leaders to have the wellbeing of the people at heart. Commenting on chief Madzimawe of the Ngoni people of Eastern Province who recently expressed concern at the widening gap between the rich and the poor, Fr Mpasa said it was saddening that the gap was so wide.
He said there was need to encourage pro-poor policies to address the challenges facing the majority of the population which was poor.
"So I think if the government would come up with policies which would be pro-poor, like creating job opportunities and then creating the environment where the national wealth is equally distributed, instead of concentrating in some areas and putting the national wealth much more into few individuals," Fr Mpasa said.
He said there was need to also address the salary differences among the employed.
"When people are employed, how much money are they getting? Because you find that very few people get very high salaries while the majority get very low salaries. Those are the things which need to be addressed. If the government can come up with policies which would balance the gap, then that will be good. Indeed, the poor will always be there, but there is need to bridge the gap," Fr Mpasa said.
He said there was need for a caring attitude for the poor and to look at what could be done to reduce poverty levels.
"Those in leadership should have the wellbeing of the poor at heart. They should be concerned and acknowledge that the majority poor would like to live better lives. If they get concerned, then they will be putting in place policies which would favour the poor," said Fr Mpasa.
Featuring on Feel Free FM's 'Big Issue' programme recently, chief Madzimawe said there was need to foster tangible development to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
Labels: MAMBWE MPASA, POVERTY
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(EYE WITNESS NEWS) Malema Slams Capitalism, Praises Mugabe
* Julius Malema (C) surrounded by other senior EFF leaders at a media briefing in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 9 January 2014. Picture: Govan Whittles/EWN.
Govan Whittles & Vumani Mkhize | 4 days ago
JOHANNESBURG – Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema on Thursday said his party plans to win this year’s general elections, despite what he calls an uneven playing field. The controversial politician along with senior party leaders held a media briefing in Braamfontein in central Johannesburg.
EFF revealed campaign plans while using the event to slam capitalism and praise Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe. Malema says his fighters are ready to galvanise support for the EFF.
“Since the official launch in Marikana, fighters, commissars and organisers of EFF have been on the ground establishing structures.”
He says they have been preparing the election machinery in order to conduct “one of the most vigorous” campaigns this year.
Malema says the EFF has been inundated with support from all over the country.
“We can now announce that all provinces have no less than 10,000 EFF volunteers who will be engaged in community meetings, door-to-door [campaigns], motorcades, mini-rallies, rallies and house meetings.”
At the same time, the EFF leader hit out at capitalism, saying the system failed the people of South Africa.
He said the system further widened the gap between rich and poor in South Africa resulting in increased poverty levels.
Malema also argued in favour of Mugabe and the land reform programme adopted in that country.
Defending Mugabe’s rule, Malema said detractors should remember the effects of capitalism in the country before criticising other nations such as Zimbabwe.
“There’s no system that has worked successfully for Africans, except the Zimbabwean system. The Zimbabweans today can be hungry and poor, but at least they own property. You are eating pap and vleis here in South Africa, [but] you have nothing to show as proof that you belong to South Africa.”
Malema also suggested struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela should be made president of the country to lead it through a long cooling-off period.
He says he regrets ignoring warnings by Madikizela-Mandela ahead of the 2009 polls not to support President Jacob Zuma.
But he dismissed rumours the party would try to recruit Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife.
While the ANC launches its manifesto in Mbombela, Mpumalanga at the weekend, Malema says his party will be doing something more tangible by opening a house built by the EFF in Nkandla - Zuma’s hometown.
He says EFF will launch its election manifesto on 22 February in Tembisa on Gauteng’s East Rand.
(Edited by Craig Wynn)
Labels: ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS, JULIUS MALEMA, LAND REFORM, WINNIE MANDELA
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(STICKY) (HERALD ZW) Malema lauds Zim’s land reform
January 13, 2014
Tichaona Zindoga Herald Reporter
COMMENT: Also see (EYE WITNESS NEWS) Malema Slams Capitalism, Praises Mugabe -
MrK
South Africa’s opposition Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema says Zimbabwe’s land reform is a model system for Africa as it empowered people to own property. SA media last week quoted Malema, who is championing a radical cause for the nationalisation of mines and land expropriation without compensation, effusive in praise of the Zimbabwean system.
He said: “There’s no system that has worked successfully for Africans, except the Zimbabwean system. Zimbabweans today can be hungry and poor, but at least they own property. You are eating pap and vleis here in South Africa, (but) you have nothing to show as proof that you belong to South Africa.”
He said whites should not be compensated for the land they will lose because the stalled land reform since the end of apartheid in 1994 should be regarded as compensation enough.
“The 20 years of not taking the land should have been regarded as compensation because the land should have been taken in 1994. So we have compensated them (white people) enough,” he said. This is not the first time that Malema, ex-president of the ANC Youth League, has urged South Africans to take a leaf from Zimbabwe.
Addressing the media last year at the launch of his party in Johannesburg’s Constitution Hill, he told South Africans to brace for a painful revolution, as happened in Zimbabwe with white capitalists punishing the country if it dared redress the land question.
“There will be a time when you will wake up without bread and that will be the day you will know how to make to your own bread at home and you will realise that you do not need these people,” he said.
Malema visited Zimbabwe in 2012, to attend the wedding of Zanu-PF youth league members Tendai Wenyika and Mike Gava in Harare.
South Africa is saddled with the land question as the minority white population continues to hold on to land at the expense of the black majority.
A willing buyer-willing seller model of land reform has not been able to address the skewed land ownership.
Labels: ANC, ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS, JULIUS MALEMA, LAND REFORM, WINNIE MANDELA
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