South Africa : SA social working group offers to help in Zimbabwe

By Bathandwa Mbola

Pretoria - Religious groups and the Council on Higher Education have made themselves available to help address the humanitarian crisis which has unfolded in Zimbabwe.

Members of South Africa's Social Sector Presidential Working Group met with President Kgalema Motlanthe on Tuesday at the Union Buildings.

Bishop Ivan Abrahams said the group had already been approached by the Department of Land Affairs and Agriculture to find out if they could assist in distributing seeds and fertilizer for people to farm, while the Council on Higher Education said several steps had been taken to offer moral support to colleagues in Zimbabwe's academic sector.

Zimbabwe's political parties, who signed a power-sharing deal almost two months ago, have failed to assign key Cabinet ministries as yet.

Nearly half the population is expected to need emergency food aid as soon as January, while the economy has been shattered by the world's highest rate of inflation, last estimated at 231 million percent in July.

A cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has killed almost 366 and sent hundreds streaming into South Africa to seek treatment as hospitals are unable to cope with the numbers. According to the United Nations, 1 600 new cases have been reported.

"There are strong indications that the systems in Zimbabwe have ground to a halt. There is practically no schooling," said Duma Malaza, who represented the council, adding that a meeting with Zimbabwe's Higher Education Council would be held soon to assess the extent to which help could be rendered from within South Africa.

The Social Sector Presidential Working Group, he said, was concerned about the plight of Zimbabwean students who were having problems paying their fees and meeting their schooling commitments.

At the briefing, Presidential spokesperson, Thabo Masebe said it had been agreed that assistance would be rendered, but only once a government of national unity was formed.

South Africa has taken a tougher line on the spiralling crisis, freezing R300 million in farm aid until a unity government is installed in that country.

The funds, which were aimed at rescuing Zimbabwe's collapsed agricultural sector, were budgeted and announced by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement last month.

The blocking of the life-line means that Zimbabwe's ailing agricultural sector will lack crucial agricultural investments, as the country has already reached its planting season.

The funds were to be used for farm inputs such as fuel, which is scarce in Zimbabwe, equipment and fertiliser, among other things.

"We are ready to go and help but once the conditions exist for us to go in there and work," said Mr Masebe.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe on Monday warned that unless a political deal is reached in Zimbabwe soon, the situation will "get worse and will implode or collapse altogether". - BuaNews