SW RadioAfrica

24^th November 2010

Part One of Question Time, where SW Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma speaks to the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart (pictured). Questions from the listeners centred on what his Ministry is doing to stop the harassment of teachers by ZANU PF youth militia, the alleged incompetence of the exam council ZIMSEC, incentives for teachers and his position on targeted sanctions, especially the international isolation of the cricket team.

Interview broadcast 24 November 2010

Lance Guma: Good evening Zimbabwe and thank you for joining us on our Question Time. Our guest this week is the minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Senator David Coltart. Senator, thank you for joining us.

David Coltart: Thanks Lance, good evening to you.

Guma: Now obviously you are in South Africa, can we just start off the programme by just letting people know what you are doing there?

Coltart: Yes Lance, one of the projects that I’ve started on is a thorough reform of Zimbabwe’s curriculum and the Curriculum Development Unit, which is located next to the university in Mount Pleasant in Harare, has degenerated. It has got equipment which is antiquated, most of it is over 20 years old and I’m down in South Africa meeting with Apple to see whether we can’t persuade Apple to come in and provide us with new technology which will form the technological basis for the redevelopment of our curriculum. So I’ve got a meeting all day tomorrow with Apple in South Africa for that purpose.

Guma: OK, well let’s hope that goes on well. I suppose we can start off with a question coming from Abe Nyoka who wants to know if it is true that kids are still being turned away from school for not wearing uniforms and if so, what is the Ministry doing about that?

Coltart: Lance I must admit this is the first time that I have heard this – that children are being turned away for not wearing uniforms. The government policy, certainly in government schools is obviously we have a uniform policy, we would like children to wear uniforms but we understand that in these difficult economic circumstances, there needs to be a bit of flexibility, so I will be surprised if children, especially orphans or vulnerable children, are actually being turned away.

It may be that this has happened in a private school or a mission school over which we don’t exercise the same amount of authority. But the policy is yes, we have a uniform policy, as far as possible it must be respected but no child should be turned away because through poverty they have been unable to comply with the uniform.

Guma: So are you saying it’s optional – the wearing of school uniforms is optional for all schools that are run by the government?

Coltart: No, it’s not optional. We expect children to, as far as possible, wear the uniform for the school. We need to try and maintain standards as best we can, but where through poverty, an orphan or a vulnerable child simply does not have the means to get a uniform then that child should not be excluded.

But obviously we can’t have a situation of children from wealthy parents just deciding to arrive at school in jeans – that would lead to a total breakdown of the policy – but where, as I say, through poverty, through force of economic circumstances children can’t comply, then headmasters know that they have to be flexible.

Guma: Isn’t that a bit of a grey area though? How do they prove and what mechanism is in place to separate those who are genuinely suffering poverty and those who are not?

Coltart: Lance it is a grey area and we rely on the headmasters to exercise discretion. They tend to know the background of children, the homes they come from. Obviously if a child pitches up carrying an iPod and in jeans there’s going to be very little sympathy but if a child is known to come from an impoverished family, well then the discretion will be exercised in their favour.

Guma: The next question comes from a listener in Hurungwe who wants to know what is being done about the constant leakage of exam papers by ZIMSEC (Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council), he wants to know if anything can be done to improve the competence of that council seeing there’s been a catalogue of blunders and they are failing to achieve even the basics?

Coltart: Well let me challenge that statement right at the outset – to say that there’s been a catalogue of blunders and, I forget the precise wording but, numerous leakages. That may have been the case several years ago. This year for the writing of the ‘O’ level and ‘A’ level and Grade Seven examinations at the end of the year in October, November, there was one break-in that occurred in Masvingo. It was done by a criminal element who broke into a school, broke the safe and stole the examination papers.

That was not ZIMSEC’s fault, ZIMSEC in my view cannot be blamed for that and so I don’t believe there has in fact been a catalogue of blunders. I think in fact that ZIMSEC’s performance and delivery has improved beyond all recognition in the last two years. It is delivering papers on time, the examinations are starting on time, they are being marked on time and the results are being delivered on time.

This was one very unfortunate event which as I say was not the fault of ZIMSEC, in fact was not even the fault of the school. It’s impossible for us to secure all 8000 schools in the country and ensure that every single one of them cannot be broken in by thieves. So I’m very encouraged by the improvement in ZIMSEC. I don’t for a moment say that it’s perfect, Lance, we’ve got a lot of work to do to restore the public’s confidence in ZIMSEC but I think it’s, as I say, it’s improved beyond all recognition in the last two years.

Guma: In November this year we did a story about how seven schools in Rushinga had closed after teachers there fled ZANU PF threats. ZANU PF youths are reported to have wanted to punish them for contributing to the constitutional outreach exercise which ended in October. Now ironically the Rushinga Member of Parliament, the deputy Education Minister Lazarus Dokora who is your deputy from ZANU PF, is believed to have a close relationship with these youths in the local community.

So when we advertised that we were having you on the programme, a teacher at one of the schools, asked us to ask you what is being done to stop the harassment of teachers by these militia youths and why the deputy Education minister of all people can actively encourage such harassment of teachers in his constituency?

Coltart: OK Lance, that’s a good penetrating question. Let me just clarify a couple of things: I’m not aware of seven schools having been affected in Rushinga. I’m aware of one school where six teachers have been threatened and suspended. That case has been brought to me by the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe and I’ve acted in the last week in support of those teachers.

They wrote to me personally to say that they had been intimidated, that they felt worried about going back to that particular school and I have authorised their transfer, just last week to ensure that they are kept safe and that they can transfer to new schools so that they can continue their teaching careers.

Regarding the allegation against the deputy minister – obviously that is a press report. I have not received any substantiated reports in that regard and quite frankly I can’t rely on press speculation and hearsay. I have not received any affidavit evidence, in fact in the case that these six teachers brought, these six teachers who were affected in Rushinga, they mentioned nothing about the deputy minister.

Obviously if I get credible evidence that the deputy minister or any other member of the Ministry of Education is involved in intimidating teachers, well then that will be viewed in a very serious light and I will take the necessary measures but I simply can’t comment on mere speculation.

Let me just end this question by saying that I’ve given very clear directions in the last year that schools are not to be used for partisan political activity. I have banned war veterans and militia and indeed members of any political party from using schools for political ends.

Schools are meant to be educational institutions, there needs to be security for children and teachers and it’s simply unacceptable that teachers or children for that matter should be subjected to political intimidation or threats of any kind.

I’m also working on a comprehensive review of the education regulations and when these are finally published it’s going to be made very clear that schools are not to be used for partisan political activity and I hope that we can even attach some criminal sanctions to ensure that any people who breach that policy will then incur the wrath of the law.

Guma: We move on to Tawanda Mhuriro – he wants to know what will happen after parents’ incentives for teachers are banned, will teachers be content with their base salaries and what’s in place to avoid the resultant chaos?

Coltart: Lance the incentives issue has been one of the most vexing problems that I have faced since becoming minister in February 2009. You will recall, when we came into government the teaching profession was in a state of chaos. 20000 teachers left the profession during 2007 and 2008 and even when the inclusive government started, teachers were only paid an allowance of 100 US dollars which is not befitting their status as teachers and is an unviable salary.

And whilst their salaries have gone up somewhat most teachers simply cannot come out on what they’re paid and the amount the teachers are paid in Zimbabwe is way below what they can expect to be paid in, certainly private schools, in mission schools and indeed in schools in South Africa and Botswana and even in some schools in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia.

But the problem I faced was that the Minister of Finance, Minister Biti simply did not have sufficient money to pay teachers a viable salary. The policy of incentives had been introduced prior to me coming in as minister and I decided, in consultation with the trade unions, to continue allowing incentives to be raised from parents to ensure that there were these top-ups for teachers.

It has been unsatisfactory, I don’t like the policy, I would like to end it as soon as possible. It has caused tension between teachers and parents, it has even caused tension between rural teachers and urban-based teachers because of the discrepancies. Rural parents tend to have less capacity to pay incentives than urban parents and because of all of these problems it’s a policy that should have a short life.

It needs to be ended as soon as possible but it can only be ended when I can be assured that teachers will remain at their posts and will remain motivated to teach children. We simply cannot afford to revert to the situation that prevailed in 2007 and 2008 in which teachers went out of the profession in droves and that seriously undermined the entire education system.

I have lobbied as hard as I can, Minister Biti is very sympathetic, he understands the need to ensure that teachers are paid a viable salary but of course his ability to do that is constrained by the economy, by the state of the economy but the moment we can start paying teachers a viable wage I will move to end incentives but, I stress, only once I know that teachers will be paid a reasonable salary.

Guma: OK now as Sports Minister, your position on cricket has been very clear and you have been calling for Zimbabwe’s international isolation to end. Now Samson in Mutare wants to know whether you still stand by this position given the apparent collapse of the coalition government. He says the isolation was meant to be a pressure point and by seeking to have it removed, are you not doing ZANU PF’s work for them?

Coltart: Lance, my view on sanctions is as follows: I, there’re two main arguments – the first is that we signed up to the GPA and included in the GPA was an undertaking that we would move to lift sanctions. ZANU PF has not honoured the GPA. They have not put the governors in place, they have breached the GPA in a variety of different ways but quite frankly, we, in my view, need to honour our side of the bargain. That’s the first argument.

The second argument and it touches on the first because I’m sure many people will say well you’re simply being naïve to think that ZANU are ever going to honour their side of the bargain and that’s why the second argument is vitally important and it’s this – I believe ironically that sanctions actually benefit ZANU PF more than anyone else at present.

We’ve had these targeted sanctions in place since 2001 – we need to ask ourselves the question – have they affected the ZANU PF hierarchy at all? Perhaps it has prevented them from shopping at Harrods but it has not stopped them from abusing the rule of law, it has not stopped them from looting the country.

You’ve just got to go to Borrowdale to see the massive mansions that have been built by the ZANU PF hierarchy in the last decade and you will see that the financial targeted sanctions have not affected them one iota and the irony is that they now use sanctions as a pretext, as an excuse not to implement other aspects of the GPA such as the swearing in of governors and the like.

And my view is that we need to actually deflate ZANU PF, remove this excuse because it is not, it is simply a fiction, it is an illusion if we think that these targeted sanctions are having any, either physical or psychological impact on ZANU PF.

I think that they are cynically using the continuation of targeted sanctions as an excuse and we need to remove that excuse so that they are left naked and the region and the rest of the world can see in fact who is now to blame for the non-implementation of the Global Political Agreement.

Guma: But the argument of course used to counter that is that you remove that excuse, ZANU PF will find another excuse and history has shown us that at different political periods they have used different excuses for different things.

Coltart: Oh I have no doubt that they will try and use a different excuse but if you look at their rhetoric and their propaganda the last year, two years, they have been solely focussed on sanctions, sanctions, sanctions. It has been their mantra day in, day out. It’s very difficult to change that mantra if that excuse is lifted.

But then I come back to the other argument Lance, we have to seriously ask ourselves the question what effect have the sanctions had? Even if they do move on to some other excuse, what leverage have they in fact had on ZANU PF? Perhaps they’ve stopped one or two of them from travelling to Harrods but that is the only impact that I see that targeted sanctions have had on ZANU PF.

Guma: OK we just have to quickly round up the first part of this interview. I’ll just throw in one more question and if you can just answer briefly – when ZANU PF are asking to have these sanctions removed, and this is one question posed by our listeners, who do they want to remove them because does the MDC really have the power to have the sanctions removed?

Coltart: Well of course we don’t and in fact that’s been illustrated very clearly in my own ministry. As you know, as Minister of Sport I’ve been to Australia, New Zealand and Britain this year and in every country I’ve called for these targeted measures to be removed.

I as you know, I tried to encourage the Scottish cricket team to come out and the British government simply disregarded what I had to say and it’s a clear illustration of the fact that with all the good faith in the world there’s a limit to what the MDC can do in the removal of these sanctions.

Guma: So what does ZANU PF want you to do? What does ZANU PF want you to do if you have no power to remove them?

Coltart: Well exactly and that is why this excuse that they give for not implementing other aspects of the GPA must be removed.

Guma: OK we have to conclude Part One of the interview with the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture. We received quite a huge response from listeners in Zimbabwe and clearly I hope Senator you’ll join us next week to conclude some of the questions that hundreds of Zimbabweans have been asking. Many thanks for joining us this week.

Coltart: Thank you Lance.

Southern Times

22 November 2010

Harare – Paulus Ambunda takes to the ring on November 25 in defence of his World Boxing Organisation Africa title which he has so far managed to hold onto since claiming it in October last year.

With an impressive 13-0 record  (seven of his fights victories by KnockOut)  the 30 year-old Namibian pugilist faces a challenge from Zimbabwe’s Tawanda Chigwida who has partaken to the ring the same number of times.

However, the latter has succumbed to three defeats and drawn once in a professional career which spans close to a decade.

He is a product of the Fly High Boxing Academy based in Epworth, a boxing-rich poor settlement on the outskirts of Harare.

Chigwida is not a new traveller to Namibia, having undertaken his last assignment at the Kuisebmond Community Hall, where he fought and lost to Gottlieb Ndokosho by a unanimous decision in the fourth round.

This will be his third international fight. He has also lost to Zambia’s Godwin Mutampuka at home in Zimbabwe.

But the spotlight will next Thursday be on Ambunda who, since claiming continental supremacy in the bantamweight division, has so far sent three fellow countrymen to the canvass with his vernomous glove.

His first casualty was Tommy Nakashimba, followed by Tendani Munyai, before Klaas Mboyane became the latest victim in the champion’s last successful defence bid on July 24 this year.

Though he is yet to face an opponent from another country, life is expected to be a lot easier for him, given that he will be fighting on home soil and before a supportive crowd.

Confirming the grand forthcoming fixture scheduled for the Windhoek Country Club and Resort, WBO Africa President Andrew Smale, said from his Johannesburg base this week that he would be travelling to the Namibian capital this weekend to assess the preparations done so far ahead of the duel which will also be the main drawcard.

‘What I can confirm is that yes, we have given Zimbabwe a second shot at a WBO title, after the super middleweight being held by Tineyi Maridzo also from that country,’ said Smale.

Sporting relations in the area of boxing between Windhoek and Harare had of late soured bit following a medical reports scandal in which three medical documents of Zimbabwean boxers were alleged to have been tampered with.

It is mandatory – according to rules and regulations governing the sport – that boxers be tested for HIV and hepatitis B before they fight.

The trio of Isaac Phonkeni, Livingstone ‘Master’ Kachigwada and Tinashe Madziwana failed a second medical test done in Namibia ahead of an Independence Day Celebrations tournament which had been put together by Nestor Tobias of Sunshine Boxing Promotions.

Then, most Namibian promoters vowed to distance themselves from engaging in contracts with Zimbabwean managers for fear of exposing their boxers to ‘potential health hazards from uncertified opponents.’

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Education, Art, Sport and Culture in Zimbabwe, David Coltart, has instituted a second commission of inquiry into the incident, amid reports that more scandals bedeviling the sport of boxing in his country continue to be unearthed.

Coltart, who this week said he was ‘appalled’ by more new revelations, has asked the Director-General of the Sports and Recreational Commission, Joseph James, to compile a full report to be presented to him as soon as possible.

Zimbabwean

21st November 2010

By Mxolisi Ncube

JOHANNESBURG – An American non-governmental organisation says it is shipping more books to Zimbabwe for distribution in poor public schools where large numbers of pupils still have to share a single textbook.

The group known as Project Aspire: Textbooks for Zimbabwe and headed by Zimbabwean-born writer Bob Scott has previously supplied books to Zimbabwe’s schools and said the second shipment of books was expected in the country by the end of the year.

“The books are already on the way and should arrive in Zimbabwe before the end of this year,” said Scott late last week.

“We still have 14 pallets of books in our library, which is about half of another container and we are now waiting to hear from area schools about picking up more books before the end of this year.”
Scott launched Project Aspire last May following after meeting Education Minister David Coltart who asked the writer to help mobilise support for under-funded public schools.
Scott said last week that his organisation, which has been involved in various charity works meant to improve Zimbabwe ’s social services sector, also received “a wonderful donation” of student and teachers desks this month from a local Lutheran school in Kansas City, which he said shall also be brought to Zimbabwean.
Among other generous gestures, Scott’s organisation has also helped raise essential medical drugs for public hospitals that often do not have adequate supplies.

Herald

20 November  2010

Column

TIMES have certainly been hard in Zimbabwean football — the gloom brought by Asiagate, the chaos triggered by the abortive recruitment of Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet and a 2012 Nations Cup campaign that remains on the edge after four dropped points in two matches that ended in draws.

We still wait for the BancABC Sup8r Cup final to be played, almost a month behind schedule, the Premiership remains unbranded, its best players like Ashley Rambanapasi now play with a passport in their socks just in case a move appears on the horizon and the Division One leagues have turned into a big joke that teams can get as many as six walkovers in a season.

Ninety percent of the Premiership clubs are on the verge of bankruptcy, the smaller boys are unlikely to survive another season without a major sponsor coming on board, the bigger clubs have been feeling the heat for some time and their coffers are empty and fears that the top-flight league could collapse, if it doesn’t get a massive financial injection, are real.

Amid the gloom all that we can do is just to wait.

Waiting for Supersport Africa to finally see the light that the breeding grounds that gave the world Peter Ndlovu are still fertile and crying out loudly for the changes that follow when the pay-per-view television giant brands a domestic league the way they have done in Zambia, Kenya, Angola and South Africa.

Waiting for the domestic sponsors to see that, despite our Achilles Heel as a community blighted by a cancer that makes it virtually impossible for us to manage our affairs without a touch of controversy, we still have a massive market that is worth the risk of engagement and the big crowd at the Harare Derby last Sunday was a public show of our strength.

Waiting for someone to see that for all our shortcomings as a football community, and the destabilising impact that the lack of funding has on our growth into a powerful force, we still can produce a team that is good enough to be ranked among the six best clubs on the continent and force the continental leaders to reward us with four slots in the Champions League and the Confederations Cup.

Waiting for someone to heal the wounds inflicted over the past few months on a polarised domestic football leadership that was split along regional lines and building the bridges that will enable us to see that there is value in working as a united front, the way our brothers in Botswana are doing, rather than working as wayward platoons of rebellious militia.

But amid all the gloom, it’s difficult to ignore the rainbow of hope that has filtered through the dark clouds hanging over Zimbabwean football and the sensational performance of Knowledge Musona, in powering Kaizer Chiefs to a comprehensive victory in the Soweto Derby before 75 000 fans at Soccer City on Saturday, was a breath of fresh air to a community desperate for a feel-good story.

Never in the history of the Soweto Derby which officially started in 1985 when the South African league was finally turned, from a haven of rebellious fiefdoms divided by the ghost of the race relations that blighted their society, into an orderly national league, had this flagship fixture been so dominated by a 20-year-old, with such boyish looks of innocence, he would find it difficult to frighten a church mouse.

Never in the history of the Soweto Derby had one man, just out of his age of innocence having recently waved goodbye to his sweet teenage years, been so dominant that he shaped the game in his own image, giving it the goals that made the difference, terrorising the opponents as if they were second-grade foes and not the Mighty Bucs and when he wasn’t scoring goals, he was forcing them into errors to score own goals.

Never in the history of the Soweto Derby had a player, who had just played two Nations Cup qualifiers for his country and scored just one goal in those matches, turned on such an outstanding show that even the biggest selling South African football magazine, Kick-Off, were left with no option but to give him a perfect 10 out of 10 mark in their player ratings.

Never in the history of the Soweto Derby had a young assassin played with such a smile, but still with such devastating effect, it was simply difficult to hate him, even if you were in the opposition and bearing the brunt of his destructive force, and Musona’s performance last Saturday will remain embedded in the hearts and minds of all who were privileged witnesses to this beautiful story.

For the record it was the biggest winning margin, by either side, in the Soweto Derby in the last 15 meetings, going back almost eight years, between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates — the two giants who dominate the South African football landscape.

The first goal was made in Norton, Musona’s hometown, and delivered in the majestic surroundings of Soccer City, via a helping hand from a deflection from a winger from Cape Town called Diane Klate, after the Smiling Assassin had carved some space in the box, jinxed his way down the byline and then rolled a dangerous ball that was turned home by Klate for an own goal.

The second one was a penalty, after he was brought down by Lucky Lekgwathi who must still be having nightmares about that derby, in general, and Musona in particular, and it was hard to believe the composure of this 20-year-old as he took responsibility, in a team featuring World Cup stars like Siphiwe Tshabalala, and sending the goalkeeper the wrong way with a cool conversion.

The third was the best of the lot, a sudden burst of speed clearing him away from the defender and his searing pace giving him a slight advantage of the advancing goalkeeper but it was the touch, of class, that lifted the ball over the ‘keeper and the finish, with a diving header to beat the challenge of the rapidly advancing defender, was crisp and ended the game as a contest.

View From South Africa

Melissa Reddy writes for the South African website, Football365.co.za, and recently blogged on the impact that Musona and his fellow Zimbabwean forward, Nyasha Mushekwi, have made in football in that country.

“When Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns began annexing Zimbabwe’s talent, the South African media was awash with headlines screaming ‘Buy one, get two free’, while fans coined the terms Zimba Chips and BraZIMilians to describe the purchasing trend of the glamour clubs,” wrote Reddy.

“The country’s award-winning writers, meanwhile, were furious that Amakhosi and Downs were paying for ‘cheap labour’ rather than investing in young South Africans or splashing the cash on one of the nation’s exports who were feeling a little homesick or grew tired of counting the scratches on the benches in Europe.

“Knowledge Musona arrived at Naturena after being scouted by a Chiefs party who were privy to a Division One game featuring Aces Youth Academy in Zimbabwe.

“Together with Thomas Sweswe and Zhaimu Jambo, the Smiling Assassin joined the Soweto giants at the beginning of the 2009/2010 season amidst disdain from the club’s legends and supporters.

“After the signing of the trio, former Amakhosi star Malombo Lechaba told the Daily Dispatch: ‘It is a major concern that a club with so many sponsors can fail to dig deep into its pockets and get quality players.’

“The criticism was no different in the case of Nyasha Mushekwi, who was tracked by Chiefs, but ended up at Chloorkop.

“When Amakhosi missed out on their target, Mushekwi was derided as a basketball player, something Sundowns goalkeeper Brian Baloyi warned the opposition’s defenders not to read into: ‘After Kaizer Chiefs lost him there were some negative reports that came out saying he is a basketball player, but you will see a different player,’ said the veteran stopper. ‘With what he’s got now he is going to be one of the best strikers in the league.’

“There may not have been a massive welcoming party to greet the players when they arrived at their respective clubs, but at the moment, the Premier Soccer League, the supporters and those hacks who suffer from short-term memory syndrome can’t get enough of the Zim duo.

“Why this story is important?

“The two young strikers serve as a reminder for the South African Football Association to heavily invest in development. If a country that has only just seen an upturn in its disastrous economic situation can produce such promising youngsters without any form of nurturing, imagine the pool of talent Bafana Bafana would be afforded if some emphasis was placed on harnessing our gifted youth?

“Anyone who doubted the Zimbabwe duo when they made the switch to South Africa must surely be eating several servings of humble pie at the moment.

“Vladimir Vermezovic has admitted that Musona is the best striker Chiefs have in their ranks, while Antonio Lopez Habas paid special tribute to the influential cameo role Mushekwi played on Saturday night. At the start of the season, Katlego Mphela was the favourite to land the Golden Boot, with Knowledge getting a punt or two, but his countryman wasn’t even given a mention.

“But we believe the duo will be more than just giving ‘Killer’ sleepless nights. Habas cannot afford to overlook Mushekwi in his starting XI much longer, while Vlad V has admitted he needs to build the team around his young gem. With both sides’ pushing for the title, the Zimbabweans have emerged as their trump cards.

“They don’t look so cheap now, do they?”

Goals, Goals And More Goals

Musona and Mushekwi, now known as the Double M striking force, were on target on Wednesday as Zimbabwe’s Warriors beat Mozambique 3-1 in their backyard in Maputo in an international friendly played under blustery conditions at the Maxaquene Stadium.

Mushekwi’s goal-scoring instincts are beyond question and the good thing about this partnership is that it offers contrast, which is important, with two vastly different players — one who is lightweight and relies on his brain, skill and pace and the other who is heavyweight and relies on his power, an eye for goal and lightning pace.

Both are strong in the air, which is another advantage, and with Mushekwi (23) and Musona (20), they are both young enough to keep learning and, crucially, to keep improving and turn into a fierce striking force that could destroy opponents and take the Warriors to the Promised Land.

The Warriors can rise again, no doubt about that, and the performance of the emerging crop of players, who are ready to fill in the void that is being left by the old guard, and long after the shadow cast by Asiagate has disappeared, we will rise as a strong and powerful football nation if we just get our cards right.

Of course, beating a weakened Mozambique can’t complete our fairytale in terms of our bid to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup finals and it is very clear that the Eagles of Mali will provide stiffer opposition, both in their backyard and here in Harare, and we will have to survive a storm on an Atlantic Ocean island when we go to Cape Verde.

But little Botswana have been showing us, day-in-and-day-out, week-in-and-week-out and month-in-and-month-out, that there is nothing to fear about the West or North African dinosaurs that used to control of our football, either by hook or crook, and the Zebras’ performance in their quest to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup finals has simply been brilliant.

On Wednesday little Botswana beat Tunisia 1-0 in Gaborone, the second time they have beaten them in these qualifiers after winning in Tunis, to virtually guarantee themselves a place at the 2012 Nations Cup finals — the first time the Zebras will be playing at the tournament.

Midfielder Jerome Ramatlhakwane scored the priceless goal in Gaborone, which moved the Zebras six points clear in the group, after a goalkeeping blunder by the Tunisian goalkeeper to heap further misery on the North Africans who were still reeling from Esperance’s 1-6 humiliation by TP Mazembe in the Champions League final.

But how the Zebras have rebounded from a team whose soul was torn apart by a crisis, torched by their 1-4 defeat at the hands of China in an international friendly on September 30 last year that sparked allegations of match-fixing, into a competitive team about to qualify for the Nations Cup finals in exactly one year, is what should act as a template as we try to rebuild the Warriors.

The Zebras have shown that, if you handle your crisis well, you can find the strength to rise from adversity and while the Botswana Football Association’s disciplinary committee ruled that the match in China was fixed, the BFA did not suspend the players who featured in that controversial game.

Instead the BFA board felt that their chief executive Mooketshi “Tosh” Kgotlele, who didn’t travel on that trip to China, was guilty of failing to adhere to procedure, concealing vital information and was generally dishonest in his dealings and was the fall guy in the challenges that faced the Zebras on that tour.

Kgotlele, who denies the match-fixing charges, was dismissed from his job in April this year and has since filed a lawsuit against the Botswana Football Association against unlawful dismissal.

We certainly don’t know what might have happened on other tours by Botswana to Asia or elsewhere in the world because the BFA’s investigations centred on that trip to China last September where the players ended up being stranded, needing money for an unbudgeted extra night’s accommodation.

The key point here is that for all the drama that has been happening in the corridors of the BFA, what the Botswana football authorities have done well is to make sure that the shape of their national team remains intact and they have been rewarded, of course, by the Zebras’ sensational campaign which has taken them within touching distance of a place at the 2012 Nations Cup finals.

The BFA leadership did not bring down their entire house, because they believed it had been invaded by a cockroach, but they searched for the insect, while keeping their structure intact, because they knew that they would soon need the cover of the roof when the rains start falling.

Parties exploded in Botswana on Wednesday following the Zebras’ 1-0 win over Tunisia and what mattered, in those celebrations, was the fact that the country was within touching distance of a place at the Nations Cup finals and certainly not the controversy that had plagued some of the players, who were now the heroes on Wednesday, during a trip to China last year.

So much has been written about Mushekwi and company because they happened to have been part of an unauthorised trip to Asia last year that turned out to be controversial and a number of experts have given their views with others even claiming that Zifa have been ordered by Fifa to suspend the players who would be found guilty of having featured in a fixed game.

Match-fixing has no role in any society and it has to be crushed, by all means possible, but the same Fifa rules that apply for Botswana, with all the problems they faced since last September, should also apply to Zimbabwe and if the players in that Zebras team were not suspended, why then are we seemingly so desperate to ensure that our players are suspended?

If the BFA disciplinary committee returned a verdict that the Zebras’ match against China was certainly fixed, why then did they not attract the Fifa sanctions by not suspending their players, who are now on the verge of creating history, while we are told day-in-and-day-out that Fifa is saying that our players have to face the music simply because they might have ended up being used as pawns?

I was reading a statement by the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart on the controversy surrounding Asiagate and the good lawyer seemed to strike the right baton by saying that he didn’t believe in the punishment of players whom he considered powerless pawns in the game.

I’m certainly not Mushekwi’s advocate but what I can see in this young man is a good future, not only for himself as a striker, but also for his country – the Warriors brand that he represents in the jungles of international football.

When we needed him most, during the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup final against Zambia at Rufaro last year, a half-fit Mushekwi rose to the occasion and scored twice against Chipolopolo in a 3-1 win for the Warriors to send a full-house into delirium.

This season he was leading the goal-scoring charts in the Confederations Cup, scoring at will for CAPS United, and taking them to their furthest spot in the competition, the final qualifying round, which they would probably have won had Mushekwi, Method Mwanjali and Lionel Mtizwa played against Al-Hilal who lost a penalty shootout semi-final contest against Club Sfaxien last week.

He has also made a storming start to his debut season in South Africa, scoring goals regularly, and on Wednesday he scored twice for the Warriors in their 3-1 win over Mozambique in an international friendly.

“It is good and, considering that our Fifa rankings will move up, it is a good result for us,” said Mushekwi after the match in Maputo. “I always want to score every time I play AND I AM EVEN MORE MOTIVATED WHEN I PLAY FOR MY COUNTRY.”

Certainly that is not the language of a match-fixing wizard and that is what the Botswana Football Association might have found in their players, who took part in that controversial game in China, to give them the benefit of doubt and we have all seen the benefits of their exercise.

Even a closer look at the Asiagate report never shows anywhere where Mushekwi was paid not to score goals during that tour last year and, that’s key, and that should guide us on how to deal with a talent that we need for the future rather than let it be swept down the drain by controversy from the past.

The BBC Panorama Controversy

This week the chief executive of the committee trying to bring the 2018 World Cup finals to England, Andy Anson, told the BBC that their plans to broadcast a Panorama documentary, that looks at allegations of corruption at Fifa, was “unpatriotic”, because it would damage their country’s chances of winning the bid.

The BBC said the programme, which is expected to be aired on 29 November “will be in the public interest”.

“I’m incredibly disappointed with the timing of what the BBC seem to be proposing with Panorama,” said Anson. “To do it the week before the vote — I don’t think think it’s patriotic.”

Anson insisted he would not want the coalition government to intervene over the Panorama broadcast given the BBC was publicly funded.

“It is not up to the government to stop the programme. The government has been unbelievably supportive of the bid. We have a free media in this country and the BBC can do what they want, I just have to make sure they understand my view of what they are doing.”

Former FA chief executive Mark Palios told BBC Radio 5 live: “It’s naive to think people will not be affected by this. It’s a small vote — there’s only 22 people — so one or two votes may make all the difference.”

While Anson believes the BBC have a right to broadcast material that exposes or discusses allegations of corruption at Fifa, his argument is that it has a danger of infuriating the Fifa chiefs and hurting the England bid which, in his argument, is more important than issues related to what is happening at Fifa.

To Anson, the massive benefits that are set to be accrued from hosting the 2018 World Cup by England outweight the benefits of airing a programme about Fifa’s corruption, which could affect the bid to bring the tournament to Wembley.

Anson, who has branded the Panorama programme “sensationalist,” even went to see the BBC director general Mark Thompson about the documentary, but made clear he had not asked for the programme not to be shown.

“I did not ask him to do that, I just told him what the potential implications of doing it would cause,” said Anson. “The issues seem to be things dealt with by the Swiss courts and by Fifa in the past. They’re not happy with someone raking over old issues but then, no one would be. Maybe we’re overreacting. I’m hoping it’s an uninteresting and uninspiring programme.”

So, from what I can read into Anson’s argument, it is clear it’s not only Botswana that appeared to put national interests ahead of everything else, when faced with controversy, but even in England – the so-called champions of democracy — it has become a very hot topic leading to accusations that the BBC is, in Anson’s words, “unpatriotic.”

I expected a BBC blog this week condemning Amos Adamu for bringing the name of African football into disrepute but I got none.

It appears all the veteran African football commentators are not comfortable with attacking Adamu, who had built his empire through his vast media connections, and we can only wonder.

Well Done Madinda Ndlovu

My assumption is that our continued use of players whose names have been named in Asiagate, in such key preparatory matches, can only suggest that they are the ones we are looking at to lead our quest for qualification for the 2012 Nations Cup finals in the remaining four games.

In other words I’m tempted to believe that if we didn’t need the players for the future, if we knew that we were going to suspend them soon, we might as well not have cared to draft them into the Warriors and play their crucial preparatory matches otherwise the games become a waste of time and resources.

I believe that we have a team competitive enough to qualify for the next Nations Cup finals, even after the horror of those two dropped points against Cape Verde, and — if we get our cards right — we can win in Mali and beat them here at home and we can win in Cape Verde.

We have an array of exciting talent that has emerged on the scene, led by an attacking genius called Musona with a range of extra-ordinary skills last seen from a local player when Peter Ndlovu exploded on the scene, and a supporting cast that can help him take the Warriors to greatness.

The Eagles of Mali have experience but they are ageing and they were beaten by Cape Verde and scrapped a 2-1 result, at home, to a disappointing Liberia that needed the helping hand of a referee to steal a draw against the Warriors at home in Monrovia.

It’s an open group — Mali will have to go to Liberia and come to Harare, Cape Verde will have to go to Mali and also go to Liberia and the Liberians will have to go to Cape Verde and also come to Harare.

There is no questioning our defence, which needed a controversial goal to break it down in Monrovia, but it is the creative midfielder that we lack, the Ronald Sibanda to provide the spark in the centre, to carve open the defence and provide the chances for Musona and Mushekwi.

We fine down the flanks, as long as we pick the right people, and — at this rate — the first-choice central attacking partnership has sorted itself out and all that we need is to give them chances, provide them with the opportunities and their pace, strength and skill can open any defence, including the Malian Eagles in their backyard.

Which brings me to Madinda Ndlovu, who got his cards right by playing the dream striking partnership, the Double M, which the nation wants and believes in, during the game against Mozambique and was rewarded with three goals by his forwards.

Well done Madinda, and this is coming from deep down my heart, because you represented your country well on this mission and that’s all that is wanted.

Without divisions in their camp, the kind of which characterised their build-up to the game against Cape Verde, the Warriors were focused and they played for their coach, who selected them, and their country with the passion of real ambassadors.

Madinda’s rise into the Warriors’ fold might have been controversial but noone can question his commitment to the team that he played for with such passion as a fiery winger and if you were to ask me to choose between Madinda and Tom Saintfiet, I would settle for Madinda.

Yes, I will do that!

The Warriors Have To Rise

This little nation is in love with its Warriors and the reaction in this country, to that victory in a friendly in Mozambique, was simply incredible.

It’s a nation that is in love with its few football heroes and the reaction in this country, to Musona’s magical performance in the Soweto Derby last Saturday, was simply incredible.

It’s a nation that is in love with its football and that 25 000 fans were able to come to Rufaro and watch the Harare Derby last Sunday, even though the Premiership remains unbranded, was simply incredible.

Let’s bury the imaginary divisions that divide us because on Wednesday in Maputo, Madinda and his boys didn’t represent a region or a tribe but played, with their hearts, for their fatherland Zimbabwe.

If the coaches and their players can unite under one flag, what then is dividing us in the corridors of power? We have a duty not to let down one of the golden generation to emerge on the domestic football landscape.

Chicharito!

Zimbabwe Independent

19 November 2010

THE bigger the lie the more people are inclined to believe it, Nazi Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels is reputed to have said.
There are a number of “big lies” currently circulating. Muckraker drew attention recently to the claim that Roy Bennett was a Selous Scout. We noted last month that Tafataona Mahoso was spreading the false rumour that Bennett was a member of the Selous Scouts when he was just a police reservist.
Now Joseph Chinotimba is doing the same thing. He claimed last week that David Coltart was a Selous Scout.
This was in response to a statement by Coltart that more than 20 000 people died in the Matabeleland disturbances of the 1980s.  Chinotinba’s veterans outfit has demanded a meeting with the minister and threatened to “invade” his office if he doesn’t accede.
“His utterances are unacceptable and an insult to our country’s liberation struggle,” Chinotimba claimed. It was “quite preposterous for Coltart to talk about human rights and post-Independence disturbances when taking into cognisance his background as a former member of the brutal and murderous Rhodesian Selous Scouts,” he said.
“Your utterances have given us second thoughts on those white farmers who are still on our land yet you benefited from the reconciliation policy,” he said.
So this is how it works. Chinotimba makes a false and ignorant claim about Coltart, who as a prominent Bulawayo lawyer with the Legal Resources Foundation brought to light in 1996 the atrocities committed by the Fifth Brigade in the 1980s. Chinotimba then uses that false claim as a pretext to cause havoc on the remaining white farms.
We hope Zanu PF’s methodology will be drawn to the attention of Sadc leaders who have been less than forthright on human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

And in this context it was interesting to note the hysteria last week over US human rights abuses in Iraq. This was in the context of George Bush’s autobiography.
What is interesting about these outbursts in the state media is the people shouting the loudest have never made a single complaint about atrocities in this, their own country.
Before they start pointing fingers at the US and Morgan Tsvangirai, couldn’t they first tell us what happened to Jestina Mukoko? Who was responsible for her arbitrary arrest, incarceration and torture?
Instead of reminding us about Abu Ghraib, what about reminding us of what happened to Morgan Tsvangirai and others at Machipisa police station in 2007?
We are still keen to know, by the way, who produced that fictional document described in court as “bedtime reading”, masquerading as a “transitional document” allegedly authored by Tendai Biti on changes the MDC would make in office.
It was a clumsy and childish production given acres of publicity by the Herald which ended up having to retract it. But we still want to know who forged it?
Then there was the iron-bar attack on Nelson Chamisa at Harare airport. Why have the details of that episode been kept quiet?
Those attacking Tsvangirai with such savagery should tell us about their own role in these events before excoriating others.
Meanwhile, Muckraker hears on the grapevine that one reason Biti is so unpopular with the Zanu PF aristocracy was his reported bid to prevent President Mugabe taking 86 hangers-on (one for each year) to the UN general assembly in New York. Biti was evidently thwarted in his bid to contain the costs of this trip!
And his advice that there are insufficient funds to stage a referendum and election next year seem to have fallen on equally deaf ears!

Muckraker’s attention was drawn to a front-page statement headed “Matter of Fact” in the Herald on Tuesday which apologised to Local Government minister Ignatious Chombo for publishing an “extensive” list of property which the paper claimed would be distributed at trial in the case involving the minister’s divorce.
It has now come to the Herald’s attention, we are told, that “the property to be distributed at trial was far less than what had been published and that such property was never part of the property for distribution and its existence was never verified.”
It is a pity that the Herald, never the most courageous of newspapers, should be clobbered in this way for simply doing its duty as a public watchdog.
Muckraker won’t get involved in the nitty-gritty of the case however tempting. But we can say this.
Newspapers have a duty to measure the wealth of public figures against the office that they hold. Newspapers have a duty to ask under what circumstances public figures became rich, especially when their wealth could not have been drawn from their official incomes.
Needless to say, reference will be made to wives, brothers cousins etc playing a helpful role.
But the question remains: How did this person become so rich so quickly? Newspapers must ask that. And just in case, dear readers, you thought we were focusing exclusively on Zanu PF functionaries, we remain acutely aware of MDC luminaries who have never worked a day in their lives and are now as rich as Croesus. Well, almost!
Talking of new-found wealth, Muckraker was extremely unimpressed by Obert Mpofu’s reported attempts to endear himself to the president by signing himself “Your ever obedient son” in correspondence with Mugabe regarding the Core mining affair.
Whatever the case, it did the trick. Mpofu’s detractors were investigated and arrested. And Mpofu is laughing all the way to Marange!!

Now it’s Muckraker’s turn to eat humble pie. Last week we referred to Brian Mushohwe as Chris Mushohwe’s son. In fact he is his nephew. Our apologies to all the Mushohwes except the farm invader.

Reflecting on the case of Core’s grand rip-off, Muckraker identified a national characteristic. How come a company so evidently ill-equipped to undertake sophisticated mining operations, without any capital or experience, is able to enter into a joint venture with a state company which also hasn’t got much to bank on, although its boss quickly became king of the castle?
Something rang a bell here. A young girl in Chinhoyi claiming special powers managed to hoodwink ministers, senior civil servants, and police officers into believing she could produce petrol from a rock.
It was truly pathetic to see chefs falling for that one and a whole cabinet committee mounting an expedition to explore what to everyone else in the country looked like a hoax. But now it seems they have fallen for more promises and illusions. Is it greed? Is it ignorance? Is it plain stupidity?
Whatever the case, we seem as a society to have these people very much with us.
Don’t we Didymus?

Poor ZBC employees! While –– as reported by the Standard this week –– their senior executives are getting “obscene” salaries and allowances, they have to be grateful when they are lucky enough to get their measly salaries at the designated date. According to the Herald, they went three months without a salary.
It is sad to realise that presenters are putting up brave faces, parroting Zanu PF’s current mantra of empowerment yet they are getting the short end of the stick. Surely ZBC must be “indigenised”!
These sad revelations come at a time when there are shrill calls for the revamping of ZTV’s programming which has alienated viewers and advertisers alike. As viewership continues to slide it is quite evident that things will get worse before they get better.
As if working without guaranteed remuneration is not demoralising enough, they have to contend with obsolete equipment and cameras which constantly break down. Pockets Hill has become more of a junkyard –– with car wrecks sprawled around the compound ––than the home of the “one and only permanent choice” broadcaster.
Meanwhile CEO Happison Muchechetere, apparently unimpressed by this dire state of affairs, last month castigated journalists for being enticed to provide politicians with exclusive coverage of their events without the knowledge of the journalists’ superiors at the corporation. Isn’t it a no-brainer why they wouldn’t want to inform their grossly salaried superiors?
“Bribing journalists is not proper,” Muchechetere said on ZTV news, “and should be stopped because if you [politicians] continue with that habit, the journalists are the ones who will suffer the consequences, because anyone caught will be fired and other drastic measures will be taken against him/her.”
What more drastic measures can be employed beyond not paying people what is due to them, Cde Muchechetere?
Here is the clincher: “He explained that ZBC employees’ salaries are favourable compared to other media houses, saying that there should be no reason for them to be corrupt except that they are driven by greed.”
Radio DJs are not spared the agony as they are now compelled to play Zanu PF propaganda songs. Added to this, they are now required to describe “with passion” Zanu PF exploits. Lack of this so-called “passion” could result in dismissal.
Cry the less-than-beloved national broadcaster!

Readers may enjoy this story doing the rounds. A young police officer was taking his final exam at Police Staff Training College in Zambia .
He was asked: You are on patrol in the outskirts of Lusaka when an explosion occurs in a nearby township.
On investigation you find a large hole has been blown in the footpath and there is an overturned van lying nearby. Inside the van there is a strong smell of alcohol. Both occupants –– a man and woman –– are injured.
You recognise the woman as the wife of your Divisional Inspector, who is at present away on a peace-keeping mission. A passing motorist stops to offer you assistance and you realise that he is a man who is wanted for armed robbery. Suddenly a man runs out of a nearby house, shouting that his wife is expecting a baby and that the shock of the explosion has made the birth imminent. Describe in a few words what action you would take.
The officer thought for a moment, picked up his pen, and wrote: “I would take off my uniform and mingle with the crowd.”

Finally, Zanu PF’s incessant  propaganda seems to have wearied some of Africa’s statesmen. President Joaquim Chissano during his recent visit was asked by ZBC’s Judith Makwanya what he thought about sanctions. “I’m tired,” came the firm reply.
Join the club Joe!

Zimbabwean

19 November 2010

By Pauline Henson

‘The dictator only lets go of what he can control’ I read that comment somewhere as I was studying the reports of Aung San Su Kyi’s release from house arrest last week and I wondered how the generals were going to ‘control’ this woman. Were there any conditions attached to her release, she was asked. No, none, came the firm answer. She wanted a ‘revolution’ she told the BBC journalist who interviewed her after her release, but not through violence.

In most people’s minds, the words revolution and violence go together. History shows us that ‘the overthrow or repudiation of a regime or political system by the governed’, as the dictionary defines revolution, generally comes about through massive social upheavals accompanied by violence and bloodshed.

In Zimbabwe, Zanu PF boasts that it is a revolutionary party. The means whereby the system of white rule was overthrown was, in reality, a war of liberation from an unjust system where skin colour and racial identity were the deciding factors. In fact the ‘revolution’ did not change the system, it merely changed the colour of those in power. The war that the ‘revolutionary’ party is fighting thirty one years later is, so we are told, to defend that revolution. The MDC cannot be allowed to gain power, goes the ‘reasoning’ because they are no more than British-backed imperialists, nothing more than a cover for the return of the country to white colonial rule. No evidence is given to support this claim but as propaganda it serves its purpose – even though half the population was not even born when the whites ruled.

The ‘revolution’ Mugabe boasts of on every occasion, was won through the barrel of the gun, not through the ballot box and everything that is happening in Zimbabwe today as we head towards 2011 and possible elections shows that Zanu PF has not changed; violence and repression are still their weapons of choice. On Tuesday, we heard reports that Zanu PF has drafted the General Laws Amendment Bill to prevent public access to information such as court judgements, legislation, official notices and public registers – that would of course, include electoral rolls. Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba stated quite categorically this week that “he had no intention of issuing licences to private players (in the media field) until the government develops the capacity to monitor and regulate the new players.” Only let go of what you can control! Journalists are increasingly being picked up and any journo reporting police misbehaviour can be sure he will find himself in custody. Threats against citizens such as Minister David Coltart are issued openly by the likes of so-called war vet, Joseph Chinotimba and the police do nothing. Such is the absence of the rule of law in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. Strangely enough, even war vets themselves are liable to be turned off the farms they took from the whites if someone comes along prepared to pay a good price for the land. The Chinese, with Zanu PF approval, this week took over a resettled farm for a brick making project, leaving the war vets with no land, no homes and no crops – just like the white farmers the war vets kicked out. It’s dog eat dog in Zimbabwe.

As the Unity Government stumbles towards its almost inevitable demise, SADC meets today in Gaberone to discuss Zimbabwe – yet again. Mugabe says he will abide by the GPA but only when sanctions are lifted. Perhaps the time has come to put Mugabe and the regime to the test: lift the sanctions and see whether he will honour the Agreement he signed two years ago. Will Zanu PF call off their dogs of war; will we have free and fair elections with international monitors in place; will the media be free to report; will the ZRP once again uphold the rule of law and will the army stop their relentless violence against innocent civilians? Whether the lifting of sanctions will bring about that transformation in Zimbabwe so that citizens of all races can live together without fear in a truly democratic society is, as they say, the $64.000 question.  Never forget, the dictator only lets go of what he can control.

Herald

18 November 2010

All-STAR Southern Rocks – powered by explosive opener Sikandar Raza Butt and a half-century from Elton Chigumbura – finally posted their first win in the Stanbic Twenty20 series at Harare Sports Club yesterday to squeeze their way back into the race for a semi-final place.

Butt, the diminutive batsman who was born in Pakistan but is eligible to play for Zimbabwe, was the star of the show with a blistering 93 that built the platform for a big 221-6 and, ultimately, a 41-run victory over the Matabeleland Tuskers who fought with spirit.

“I am glad we got the win and someone had to do it and the team did it today,” said Butt who was named man-of-the-match.

“Sure I hope to play for Zimbabwe some day when the time comes.”

He was presented with his man-of-the-match award by the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart who watched his hometown franchise, which he was supporting yesterday, go down after being bowled out for 180.

This was the first defeat for the Bulawayo-based side and it was also the first win for Rocks having suffered two defeats to MidWest Rhinos and Mashonaland Eagles over the weekend.

After winning the toss, Rocks captain Steve Tikolo elected to bat first and this paid for his team as they posted a big total of 226/6.

Butt dominated the opening pair partnership with Lara (11) and then got help from Chigumbura (65) to build a total that ultimately proved a hurdle too high for the resilient Tuskers who were right in the chase after their 10 overs.

Butt fell just seven runs shot of a century and his score featured five sixes and 11 fours in 48 balls.

Chigumbura played his part with a half-century that featured seven sixes.

Both Raza and Chigumbura reached their half centuries in exactly 25 balls but former West Indies captain Brian Lara fell cheaply for 11 runs. Craig Ervine (unbeaten on 20) provided useful runs at the end as the Rocks completed their allotted 20 overs with the loss of six wickets after compiling an imposing 221.

Chigumbura was given a life when he was dropped by Mbekezile Mabuza when he was on 23. Moments later Butt then perished when he fired on to Neil Horton at extra cover, off Keith Dabengwa, in the 12th over for the highest score in this series.

In reply the Tuskers started strongly and were going well and had some useful contributions from the top with Gavin Ewing (36), Neil Carter (30) and Charles Coventry (37).

Most of them got good starts, appeared to settle but then perished and the middle and lower orders offered very little in resistance.

Chamu Chibhabha, who is yet to fire with the bat, was the hero with the ball and his four-wicket haul restricted the Tuskers.

By the time Chris Mpofu was the last man to go, run out, with the score on 180 in the last over, the match had long been lost.

Ewing could not hide his disappointment but believes his side showed the right character in their fight yesterday.

“While they (Rocks) played, we let ourselves down. I am obviously disappointed to lose and that was unlucky for us.

“We came up against a strong team that hadn’t won a match in two games and they just came right today.

“But we showed our character in the fightback although we still fell short. It was not a bad performance from us and hopefully we will bounce back tomorrow (today),” said Ewing.

Tuskers take on defending champions Mountaineers today.

“Both sides are coming from defeats and we expect a competitive match and no major changes are expected in our side as we have a few guys with knocks who still have to be assessed by the physiotherapist.”

Herald

16 November 2010

Bulawayo Bureau

Ambassador Pilar Fvertes of Spain has urged the European Union to normalise its relations with Zimbabwe.

In an interview at Nyandeni Pre-School in Gwanda at the weekend where she was donating toys and stationery, Ambassador Fvertes said Spain and the EU were not fully supporting development initiatives in Zimbabwe because of sour bilateral relations.

She said her country understood the challenges facing Zimbabwe’s education sector.

“We are still trying to engage the EU to engage Zimbabwe and normalise our relationship so that we can support developmental projects in the country.

“When these relations are mended we will be able to support infrastructural projects in schools. However, you are aware that the Minister of Education, Senator David Coltart — through Unicef — has tried to engage the EU by setting the Education Transition Fund to provide books,” she said.

Illegal EU and American sanctions have eroded Zimbabwe’s economy and efforts to bridge the soured ties have so far failed with the West accused of insincerity in the re-engagement. The West has tried to claim that it does not have sanctions against Zimbabwe as evidenced by its frequent humanitarian and other donations.

However, Government has pointed out it would rather have the embargo lifted than depend on hand-outs.

Handing over the donation, Ambassador Fvertes said her office had bought more than 7 000 toys and nursery equipment worth about US$50 000 to be donated to 30 primary schools, 20 orphanages and five centres that cater for disabled children countrywide.

“For a child to develop fully it is not a matter of giving them food only, but it is necessary that they play because playing is their basic right.

“Playing enables the child to have a greater capacity to think, learn to share with others and to work as a team,” said Ambassador Fvertes.

Receiving the donation, the pre-school’s patron, Mrs Lackel Nyathi, said they appreciated the gesture and emphasised the importance of allowing children to play as part of their social development.

The school has an enrolment of 150 children.

Schools such as the Jairos Jiri Centre, Dimpamiwa Primary School in Nkayi, Minda Pre-School in Matobo district, and some schools in Tshabalala, Pelandaba and Nkulumane have already received such donations.

Industry Minister Welshman Ncube and his Regional Integration counterpart Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga accompanied Ambassador Fvertes.

Swradioafrica

By Alex Bell

15 November 2010

Education Minister and Senator David Coltart is facing threats by war vets, which he has said are equally a threat to the MDC and the entire unity government.

Coltart has been on the receiving end of written threats by war vets, led by Joseph Chinotimba, since the start of the month. The group has demanded that Coltart retract statements he made in a recent speech, suggesting that the Gukurahundi massacres were akin to genocide. The speech, made last month at the National Gallery in Bulawayo, came in the aftermath of this year’s arrest of Gukurahundi artist Owen Maseko.

Maseko’s exhibition at the Gallery was banned this year, after the Home Affairs Ministry announced that the “effigies, words and paintings on the walls portraying the Gukurahundi era as a tribal biased event”, was an offence under the Censorship and Entertainment Control Act.

Coltart told SW Radio Africa on Monday that his speech, which followed the Maseko case, was designed to show “the role that art can, ironically, play in reconciling a nation.” He clarified what he said in the speech, that “what happened in Matabeleland in the 1980s was politicide, if not genocide.” The comments were used in an article published by NewsDay, who headlined the story “It was genocide – Coltart.” The Education Minister said on Monday that the headline was not “an accurate representation of what I said.”

In reaction, the chairman of the Harare Province of the war vets association wrote to Coltart almost two weeks ago, demanding he retract the statements. The letter was co-signed by Chinotimba, telling Coltart to apologise or face an invasion at his office.

“Coltart, your utterances have automatically invited war veterans to your office and we are therefore coming to your office for explanations,” reads the letter. “Indeed, you owe us and all Zimbabweans an apology.”

The war vets also allege that Coltart was a member of the notorious Selous Scouts, saying that “even fools know very well that your hands are dripping with blood of many freedom fighters.” The letter also says Coltart is “least qualified to comment on the Matabeleland post-independence disturbances and the so-called human rights violations — which in actual fact do not exist.”

“Why are you poking your nose in matters that concern blacks? Remember there is an adage which says; if an owl lives together with chickens, it does not mean that it is also a chicken,” the letter continues.

Coltart wrote back, with a full copy of his speech, explaining that there was nothing inflammatory or divisive about his comments. He also insisted that there was nothing to apologise for.

“The irony is that my speech was designed to seek reconciliation,” Coltart said Monday. “My letter obviously hasn’t satisfied them and they have reiterated their demands for an apology.”

Coltart said on Monday that  the war vets are seeking a meeting with him, saying that such threats “cannot be taken lightly, because we know what Mr Chinotimba and his colleagues have done in the past.”

“These threats against me are also leveled against my party, and are consequently threats against the GPA (Global Political Agreement),” Coltart said. “For individuals to be making threats like this against a cabinet minister is very serious.”

Coltart’s comments about the Gukurahundi, however misquoted, are accurate. An international expert on genocides confirmed in September that Gukurahundi was genocide, in line with the definition of the word. Dr Gregory Stanton who heads Genocide Watch in Washington, said that the Rome Statute, set up the International Criminal Court (ICC), had established a clear set of definitions.

Standard

By Lesley Moyo

14 November 2010

THIS year will turn out to be a memorable year for the Tonga people in Zimbabwe, following the writing of the first Grade Seven Tonga language paper under the Provincial Education Office.
This is a pilot run to assess whether the pupils are ready to sit for a public examination set and written in their own language.
If government is satisfied, the examination will be made official at the next public examination next year.
It will become the first minority indigenous language to be written under the Zimbabwe School Examination Council.
Since independence minority groups in the country have been limited to the two most dominant local languages, Ndebele and Shona, in the school’s curriculum.
In an interview Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart, blamed his predecessors for taking long to give recognition to minority indigenous languages.
“I do not know why it has taken all these years to get recognition. I have made the recognition of marginalised indigenous languages a priority,” said Coltart.
Early this year, the ministry of Education, the United Nations Children’s Fund and other donors entered into a partnership to procure millions of textbooks and stationery kits for schools nationwide.