One killed and over 20 homes destroyed in Samora Machel

A fire left a man dead and dozens of people homeless on Sunday morning

 A man was killed in a fire that destroyed over 20 homes in Zwelitsha informal settlement in Samora Machel on Sunday morning.

According to a resident in Zwelitsha, the man who died was not from Zwelitsha. He was visiting a friend when the fire broke out.

The fire broke out at about 2:30am and destroyed 22 structures, according to the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service.

Khululwa Ncwadi, 42, who works at a pre-school in the area, said: “I really do not know what to do now. My grade 4 and 11 school children will not go to school tomorrow (Monday). They lost all their uniforms and books to the fire”.

“When I heard noise from neighbours it was too late to collect anything except my ID.”


Grade 12 learner Thobani Yozi from Zisukhanyo Senior School also lost her belongings. “All I can do tomorrow is visit the school and try to explain to my teachers what has happened. Maybe they will understand and allow me in their lessons.” Yozi,20, said it was too late to take any important documents. “When people shouted ‘Fire! Fire!’ I had to run for safety,” he said.

Siziwe Makhanco, a farm worker, was carrying her one-year-old baby on her back and crying. “Since morning I have not had any meal. My child is hungry. I have nothing to give her. Breastfeeding is not enough for her,” she said.

Most people who spoke to Groundup urged the City to build brick houses for them or rather provide electricity in the area.

People we spoke to were not sure of the cause of the fire but suspected someone left a candle burning. The fire brigade arrived within 30min.

By Bernard Chiguvare

Europe’s wall against African migrants is almost complete

Migrants abandoned on the Sudan-Libya border by smugglers in 2014. STR/EPA

A deal signed in Italy with tribes operating in southern Libya may be the last element of the barrier the EU has been constructing to exclude Africans from Europe. “To seal the southern Libyan border means to seal the southern border of Europe,” declared Italian foreign minister, Marco Minniti, following the signing ceremony in early April.

The deal, negotiated in secret with leaders of the Toubou and Awlad Sulaiman ethnic groups, holds real benefits for European politicians under pressure to halt the arrival of more African migrants and refugees. Minniti explained to the Italian newspaper La Stampa that:

The Libyan border guard service will be active all along the 5,000km [3,106 mile] long south Libyan border. And in the north, migrant sea traffickers will be dealt with by the Libyan coast guard which was trained by Italian experts, and which will be equipped with 10 motor boats from April 30.

The Libyan deal is the latest part of a barrier constructed to protect Europe’s soft southern underbelly – the Mediterranean. It may not be a physical barrier comparable to Donald Trump’s wall along the US-Mexican border, but it is nearly in place.

Avenues closing

The routes that Africans have used in the past to reach Europe are fast being sealed. There is currently next to no transit by sea from West Africa through the Canary Islands. Just 144 people made it to Spain by this route between July and September 2016 according to the most recent statistics from the EU’s border force, Frontex. More crossed from the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on Morocco’s northern coast, but they numbered just under 3,000.

The route through the Sinai and Israel also has been closed. The brutal treatment of Eritreans and Sudanese in the Sinai by mafia-style Bedouin groups, who extracted ransoms with torture and rape, was certainly a deterrent in the past. But this route was fully sealed in December 2013 when the Israeli authorities built an almost impregnable fence, blocking entry via the Sinai.

Libya and Egypt have remained possibilities for migrants, but both are now becoming increasingly difficult to cross. The latest African Intelligence report from Frontex makes this clear.

Egypt became more attractive following the brutal killing and enslavement of Africans attempting to use the Libyan route. Many are Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians, who are subjected to the most appalling abuse by members of so-called Islamic State (IS).

But even Egypt has its drawbacks. As Frontex makes clear, many refugees dodge the authorities to avoid being forcibly repatriated to their countries of origin. This has left Libya – dangerous as it is – as one of the few viable routes into Europe. Blocking this has been critical to the success of the EU’s strategy, as a recent official assessment by the European Commission made clear:

Libya is of pivotal importance as the primary point of departure for the Central Mediterranean route.

This is why the deal signed in Italy is so important. As Frontex has explained, having the co-operation of the tribes in the area is vital if the route through the southern Libyan border is to be sealed:

The Tuareg and Toubou groups dominate the local human smuggling business thanks to the fact that their clansmen are spread on both sides of the border.

Questionable co-operation

The Italian proposals are very much in line with agreements the EU reached with African leaders during a summit held in Malta, in late 2015.



The two sides signed a deal to halt the flight of refugees and migrants.
Europe offered training to “law enforcement and judicial authorities” in new methods of investigation and “assisting in setting up specialised anti-trafficking and smuggling police units”. The European police forces of Europol and Frontex will assist African security police in countering the “production of forged and fraudulent documents”.

This meant co-operating with dictatorial regimes, like Sudan, that’s ruler, Omar al-Bashir, is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. But al-Bashir is now seen as a friend to the West, despite his notorious record. One of Barack Obama’s last acts as president of the US was to lift sanctions against Sudan.

It is clear that Europe is determined to do all it can to reduce, and finally halt, the African exodus. But one point needs to be emphasised: the EU’s “wall” is by no means the only barrier Africans have to confront.

As Frontex makes clear, several African states have their own system of fences, or are planning to build them. These include the Moroccan wall (or “berm”) to halt the Sahrawis crossing from Algeria, as well as fences along the borders between Niger and Nigeria, Tunisia and Libya and a planned fence between Kenya and Somalia.

The obstacles confronting African migrants and refugees en route to Europe are becoming ever more severe.

Martin Plaut, Senior Research Fellow, Horn of Africa and Southern Africa, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Zimbabwean women and men resort to Prostitution in South Africa

Thousands of women and hundreds of man from Zimbabwe stranded in South Africa are resorting to prostitution to earn living, Married or Single. Believe it or not.

Though natural l disagree with prostitution and I acknowledge its moral wrong. But l don't blame or ostracize them. They are trying to help their situation though in the wrong way.

Zimbabwean philanthropists should massively invest in charity to help our man, woman and children who have become victims of political, social and structural evil in Zimbabwe.

But ostracizing them is tantamount to blaming and hanging the victim of violence and political greediness. The right people we should blame and ostracize are our politicians who are adamant to bring political reforms.

I am embarrassed to be a Zimbabwean, that I am a citizen of a country with politicians that abuse their people for the seek of political power which is temporary. I am embarrassed to be a Zimbabwean, a country with people who abuse their weakest members and attack their fellow brothers and sisters instead of pursuing brotherhood and unity.

The problem in Zimbabwe is that our politicians are greedy and corrupt. Business opportunity is only allowed or granted to people with political affiliation. Protection before the law is only afforded to people who support the ruling government. All of us who believe in the rule of law and freedom of conscience are segregated and made vulnerable to attacks from sycophants of the ruling elites.

I will always maintain that Zimbabwe never gained true independence in 1980. What we had in the 1970s and 1980 was a communist revolution that overthrew a better government of Ian Smith. Call me a puppet of whites I don't care. Oppression under Smith was far better freedom under Robert Mugabe.

How can true freedom and liberation produce so much suffering like what we have right now in Zimbabwe?

If what we have in Zimbabwe is freedom please give death.

Collen Makumbirofa
Email: makumbirofa@protonmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/makumbirofac

South African Farmers cruel treatment of black farm workers

The mistreatment of black farm workers by Boer farmers is too much in South Africa. We hear that a 21-year-old has been thrown out of bakkie in North West, Man has been put in coffin alive, man has been thrown to lions and so many other stories.

I have worked in Farms and Game Reserve and I have first-hand experience of how some farmers treat their workers. 

On the other hand, I have condemned farm murders and crime that target farmers.

But I think farm murders and targeted crime on Farmers is God's judgement for farmer’s cruelty and mistreatment of black workers in South African farms. 

At least treat the workers with humanity. Don't beat workers, don't deliberately withdraw their wages, don't randomly shoot people for no reason. That is humanity and justice.

There are some good farmers but those are few. Workers also don't steal and deliberately destroy property.

The solution to racism is to defend what is right and condemn what is wrong. There is no race which is totally right or totally wrong.

Racial discrimination is a menace to any society. Racism by whites is evil. Racism by blacks is evil. 

Don't side with your race. Side with who is right and condemn what is unjust and defend peace. Love all.

BY Collen Makumbirofa

Email: makumbirofa@protonmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/makumbirofac

“SA, do your part to avoid further downgrades” – economist

With Moody’s expected to follow ratings agencies S&P and Fitch in downgrading South Africa’s credit rating within weeks, economic analyst Dr Iraj Abedian has warned that the country could soon see the full impact of the change from a split rating.

Addressing business leaders at the NMMU Business School in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, where he is a visiting professor of economics, Abedian called on the audience to make it their collective “national responsibility” to avoid further ratings downgrades.

“This is too important an issue to keep quiet about. Business, ordinary citizens and students must talk about it and make their voices heard in a non-violent way,” said Abedian.

In a hard-hitting talk on the risks and opportunities for Africa in the context of prevailing global uncertainty, Abedian said the South African economy was afflicted by structural blockages and rising political and policy uncertainty.

“Our politicians have neglected the economy and failed to put clear and coordinated policies, and the capacity to implement them, in place,” he said.

Describing the ANC government’s dominance as “constructive” during its first 15 years of rule, Abedian said in-fighting had undermined its ideological consistency and political unity and led to neglect of the economy and the misallocation of resources.

“This leads to a loss of confidence among the poor and among potential investors, who will follow the ‘when in doubt, sit it out’ rule.”

Although the rand is currently among the top four most volatile emerging market currencies, he said, South Africa was just one of many countries dealing with lacklustre growth and major structural imbalances against a backdrop of global systemic instability and volatility.

Abedian outlined what he called the top four “structural fault lines” in the global system, including a lack of ethical leadership, unsustainably high income inequality, rising indebtedness on a personal and global level, and technological disruption causing a disconnect between the skills base and the economy, leading to unemployment and unemployability of the youth.

“Technological change explains the deteriorating labour market prospects, while the lifespan of listed business entities is decreasing to matter of years in this era of ‘creative destruction’.”

However, he said all was not gloom and doom and that, to succeed, business leaders needed to adapt to this global systemic disorder and learn to take a new approach to business within this transitional climate.

“In Africa, there are massive opportunities for productive investment in infrastructure, where we spend less than the global average of 3.5% of GDP annually. By 2035, more Africans will live in cities than in rural areas, so we need to meet this growing demand.”

Holding 60% of the world’s potentially available arable land, the continent was well positioned to capitalise on agriculture, agro-processing and all the related services, but needed to invest in globally competitive production technologies, he said.

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