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/ 4 September 2007
Officials from soccer’s governing body, Fifa, will visit Zimbabwe next week to assess capacity to host fans from the 2010 World Cup to be held in neighbouring South Africa, Zimbabwe’s tourism authority said on Tuesday. The country hopes to cash in on its proximity to South Africa — the first African country to host the event.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader said on Wednesday a government price freeze was unsustainable and had left inflation-battered consumers worse off. Zimbabweans have struggled to buy basic commodities since President Robert Mugabe’s government ordered businesses to cut their prices to mid-June levels in a bid to rein in inflation.
Zimbabwe may stop publishing inflation data for one year, an effort economists say is aimed at shielding the government from embarrassment over its failure to rein in soaring prices in the economically depressed nation. President Robert Mugabe’s government has failed to release inflation figures for May and June.
It pays to get up early in a country where even the most basic goods are disappearing from shop shelves. Long queues of shoppers now form early in the morning at many Harare supermarkets and shops, hoping to grab essentials such as sugar and oil amid a price crisis that has sharpened already desperate consumer shortages.
Zimbabwe’s government on Monday threatened to close businesses defying its order to halve prices, accusing them of working to topple President Robert Mugabe. Mugabe’s government last week ordered a 50% cut in the prices of basic goods and services after prices shot up by as much as 300% in a week.
Zimbabwe’s white commercial farmers have reported an increase in invasions on their farms ahead of a deadline for them to leave land due to be taken by President Robert Mugabe’s government. Mugabe’s government has given hundreds of white farmers until August to vacate the farms.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party remains committed to negotiations with the government despite an intensified crackdown in which many of its members have been arrested or detained, it said on Friday. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says more than 600 opposition supporters have been abducted and tortured by government agents since February.
Zimbabwe’s state power utility sought to allay fears on Thursday of wide power cuts, saying households would not automatically see daily power cuts but would not be guaranteed supplies during the winter cropping season. Zesa Holdings said the cuts would be subject to demand from wheat farmers who need electricity to irrigate their crops.
Zimbabwe’s government announced 20-hour daily electricity cuts for households across the country on Wednesday as supplies are shifted to irrigate the winter wheat crop amid persistent food shortages. The country has already been experiencing power cuts due to the declining capacity of its aging power plants.
Zimbabwe’s state data agency on Wednesday postponed ”indefinitely” the release of March inflation figures, which were expected to show prices in the shattered economy spiralling to another record high. Soaring inflation has become a hallmark of the economic crisis in Zimbabwe, once one of Africa’s most prosperous and stable nations.