SouthScan Reports every two weeks. v19/01 9 Jan 04 For subscription details ... PDF file Full text file CONTENTS Angola Calls grow for more SA trade involvement Congo Donors pledge $3.9 billion in new money in display of confidence International New 'Millenium' aid will not deflect US security criteria Namibia Overspend on DRC war despite diamond promise Region Burundi killing weakens remaining rebels Italy gives E350,000 to peacekeeping force in Burundi SA development Instant fingerprint technique at all SA borders SA economy Unions may seek to regroup to face chill labour future SA politics Mbeki to see judge's report on Zuma affair Zambia Chiluba trial teeters on brink of debacle Zimbabwe Mugabe gleans more support in SE Asia

Congo: Donors pledge $3.9 billion in new money in display of confidence [© SouthScan v19/01 9 Jan 04] The Consultative Group meeting of the World Bank on the DR Congo, which took place on December 17 and 18 in Paris, was an undeniable success for the transitional government. Some US$3.98 billion in new money was pledged for the 2004-2006 period to finance the country's reunification and recovery. Since only a third of the $1.74bn Emergency Multisectoral Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Programme (EMRRP) for the 2002-2005 period, which only covered the regions under government control until mid-2003, have been spent so far, total available funds should exceed $5bn. In 2004 new and confirmed financial contributions will reach $1.08bn, says the World Bank. This will increase to $1.2bn in 2005.... East and north-east targeted... Last chance to stabilise... More than 4,000 leave... Namibia: Overspend on DRC war despite diamond promise [© SouthScan v19/01 9 Jan 04] Namibia's involvement in the war in the DR Congo added ND53 million of unbudgeted expenditure to Namibian taxpayers in 1999-2000, according to the latest report from the auditor general. Lack of financial control was blamed and there was no offset in the accounts from the profits made from the war. When the government announced its military incursion it denied it had any commercial motive, but in March 2001 Namibia's mines minister, Jesaya Nyamu, admitted that the country had commercial interests in a diamond mine. ... Region: Burundi killing weakens remaining rebels [© SouthScan v19/01 9 Jan 04] The assassination in Burundi of the papal nuncio, Mgr Michael Courtney, on December 28 seems bound to have an impact on the negotiations between the government and the only rebel group still refusing to sign a ceasefire - the National Forces of Liberation (FNL) led by Agathon Rwasa - which has been universally accused of the murder in a country with a strong Roman Catholic background. Those who have been seeking to inveigle the remaining rebel group to come into the ceasefire arrangement have seen an opportunity to put them on the defensive. ... Hutu suprematicists... Burundi rebels return... Region: Italy gives E350,000 to peacekeeping force in Burundi [© SouthScan v19/01 9 Jan 04] Hard on the heels of news that the Vatican's envoy in Burundi had been assassinated, the Italian government last week announced it had donated another 350,000 euros (US$437,500) to the African Union's peacekeeping force there. Italy had several months ago contributed E200,000 ($250,000) to the force and this brings its contribution to the mission to E550,000 . The AU force in Burundi, which has soldiers from South Africa, Ethiopia and Mozambique, has been experiencing funding problems. The European Union has set aside some E25 million ($31.2 million) for the mission.... International: New 'Millenium' aid will not deflect US security criteria [© SouthScan 9 Jan 04] The US congress is expected to approve $1 billion in foreign aid, some of directed to Africa, after it reconvenes this month. It will be part of the new Millennium Challenge Account, which President George W Bush outlined in March 2002. The scheme contemplates $5 billion annually for the programme starting in 2006, a 50 percent increase over the base foreign aid budget of $10 billion, and all directed to 'succeeding states' rather than to the 'failing states' traditionally recipients of aid. In the first round only Ghana and Lesotho among African states are likely to benefit.... The administration has made a special case of Angola, of growing security concern for Washington because of its massive offshore oil wealth. ... Angola: Calls grow for more SA trade involvement [© SouthScan 9 Jan 04] The South African Institute of International Affairs (Saiia) has called on both the government and business to do more to increase two-way trade with Angola. The institute, which enjoys close relations with the SA foreign affairs department, acknowledges the constraints on SA companies and the preference given to competitors from to Portuguese and Brazilian companies in the construction sector. This and the extensive Angolan bureaucracy are disincentives well understood by SA firms.... Ugandans in diggings... Zimbabwe: Mugabe gleans more support in SE Asia [© SouthScan v19/01 9 Jan 04] President Robert Mugabe has again been touring South East Asia to find financial and diplomatic support for his crisis-ridden country. This time he had hints of support from Indonesia, after a tour through Malaysia, which has invested in Zimbabwe before, but where his chief ally was the newly retired prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad. His trip has come in the midst of a domestic banking crisis that threatens his country's financial sector and is adding to pressure for talks between the government and opposition.... Mbeki visits... Banking crisis... Zambia: Chiluba trial teeters on brink of debacle [© SouthScan v19/01 9 Jan 03] The trial of former president Frederick Chiluba is not going the way it was planned, with potential repercussions not just inside Zambia but also in the wider region. All 13 witnesses called to testify cleared Zambia's former president. They told the court that the former president and his six co-accused had not stolen any money from state coffers. Chiluba and other former government officials face charges of stealing more than US$40 million from the state during his 1991 to 2001 presidency.... SA development: Instant fingerprint technique at all SA borders [© SouthScan v19/01 9 Jan 04] The instant fingerprinting technique introduced this month by US immigration authorities for travelers arriving there is already being used in South Africa, ostensibly to monitor criminals, but also to check the waves of refugees and illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe and other neighbouring states.... SA politics: Mbeki to see judge's report on Zuma affair [© SouthScan v19/01 9 Jan 03] The final report of Judge Joos Hefer's commission has been completed. The document will be handed to the office of Justice Minister Penuell Maduna early next week. Maduna will then submit the report to President Thabo Mbeki.... SA economy: Unions may seek to regroup to face chill labour future [© SouthScan v19/01 9 Jan 04] The South African labour movement, faced with increasing unemployment and falling membership lists, is contemplating forming a united front, joining up rival union federations to make a super federation of two and a half million workers. It is part of a strategy aimed at stemming the loss of jobs in the formal sector and building more protection for casual labour, but also of increasing its negotiating strength with government. Joblessness high... De-industrialisation?... Deal with government... Union confederation?...