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THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 10 2012 22:03 | LAST UPDATED Feb 10 2012 22:03 |
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Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is to meet on Friday with South African President Kgalema Motlanthe to discuss a R10-billion aid package to revive Zimbabwe's shattered economy, Business Day reported. Motlanthe, who heads the 15-nation Southern African Development Community, had promised to rally economic support for Zimbabwe in the region once a national unity government was established in the crisis-wracked Southern African country. The formation of the government was completed with the swearing into office of Tsvangirai as prime minister last week. Zimbabwe is buckling under economic meltdown, characterised by the world's highest inflation, which came to 231-million percent in July. Most essential civil servants, including teachers, nurses and doctors, have been on strike since last year over poor pay. The prime minister will be accompanied at the talks by Finance Minister Tendai Biti and Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, the report said. The R10-billion aid package will be facilitated by South Africa through the African Development Bank, it added. The meeting comes ahead of the first official visit next week of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to South Africa, during which he is expected to discuss Zimbabwe with Motlanthe. Motlanthe and Tsvangirai will address a joint press conference at the end of the meeting in Cape Town, a spokesperson for the Presidency, Nomfanelo Kota, told Agence France-Presse.  CONTINUES BELOW Zimbabwe's new government this week took its first step towards rebuilding the shattered nation, honouring a pledge to civil servants by paying them in United States dollars to counter the impact of hyperinflation. Last month, Mugabe's regime announced that Zimbabweans can now legally use foreign currencies alongside the local dollar when presenting the 2009 budget in both foreign currency and the local unit. Trading resumed on Thursday at the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange after a three-month suspension but transactions were carried out only in US dollars, the first time in President Robert Mugabe's 29-year rule. Meanwhile, the UN health agency says the number of cholera cases in Zimbabwe has soared above 80 000. The World Health Organisation said on Friday that the death toll is now 3 759 out of 80 250 cases. Spokesperson Fadela Chaib said those figures include all reported cases and deaths since the outbreak began in August through to Thursday. Cholera has spread rapidly in the African nation because of Zimbabwe's poorly maintained infrastructure and crumbling healthcare system. -- AFP, Sapa-AP TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE
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