Bulawayo

Fuelled by a burgeoning Aids problem, tuberculosis (TB) is experiencing a resurgence in Southern Africa where health officials are beginning to talk of integrating programmes to fight the two diseases. In the past decade, there has been a four-fold increase in the number of TB cases in the sub-region, the present global epicentre of HIV/Aids. Southern Africa has 70% of the continent’s TB cases.

A recent crackdown on men who frequent prostitutes in Zimbabwe has left human-rights activists there a little confused. Is the new approach a victory for those who claim that it is unfair to punish sex workers, if similar penalties are not handed down to their clients? Or is it simply a diversionary tactic by a beleaguered police force that fears it has lost credibility in the public eye?

Even within its own ranks, Zimbabwe’s ruling party has shown it is intolerant of ambitions hinting at expansion of the country’s tiny independent press. It counts for very little that the government already controls all broadcast media. As the international community marked World Press Freedom Day, Zimbabweans were reminded how their media have been emasculated.

Education for all was the policy Zimbabwean authorities pursued diligently for much of the first decade after independence. The goal was to extend education to the previously disadvantaged black majority. Scores of schools were built and the training of thousands of teachers speeded up. It did not take long to bear fruit. Sadly, those classroom gains are now in jeopardy.

”Deliver us from evil”, a simple prayer from the Book of Matthew in the New Testament — yet one that resonated powerfully in Zimbabwe this weekend. Shaking off interdenominational differences, church officials and members met in two cities on Saturday to intercede against hunger, poverty, corruption and HIV/Aids.

It was once celebrated as a rare African success story — an example of what committed leadership can do. Education for all was the policy Zimbabwean authorities pursued diligently for much of the first decade since independence from Britain in 1980. But then it all started to go wrong.

He could well be a lawyer, what with his reputation for having more to do with legal affairs than most people in that profession. In fact, many people in town think he is — a label that no doubt enhances his business profile. But Khoza is a debt collector, with clients that include a hospital, a bank, a high school and a major pharmacy.

For many subsistence farmers in the semi-arid regions of southern Africa, dependence on drought relief is tantamount to serving a death sentence. Many have been encouraged to expand their production of maize, which is the dominant cereal crop in the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

Women were among those badly beaten during a demonstration held in Zimbabwe’s second-largest city of Bulawayo on Wednesday. Some were unaware of the protest until it was too late. Others, however, were there for a reason — including Jenni Williams, head of the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise.

Up to 20% of Zimbabwe’s population is estimated to have sought sanctuary and a living wage in neighbouring countries. Mozambique now has an estimated 400 000 Zimbabweans. Botswana says it cannot cope with high numbers of illegal Zimbabwean immigrants and South Africa has announced new visa requirements.