The Zimbabwe and Swaziland governments continue their brutal attacks, arbitrary arrests and general use of force to clamp down and silence the trade union movement in general and their leaders in particular, said the leaders of National Trade Union Centres/Federations from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The leaders met from 6th to 7th November, 2003 at the 9th Labour Symposium in Zimbabwe.

In one of the most brutal operations in recent days riot police in Harare swooped on the demonstrating ZCTU leaders and activists and arrested 50 people.

"All of a sudden, the men took out grass slashers and knobkerries from their overalls and started to attack me. Three other men appeared from the corner of the security fence where they were probably hiding behind the thick hedge. They were holding what looked like containers. The attack continued and I tried my best to dodge and block. It appeared that the men had not planned well as, everyone was in very close contact and they appeared to be getting in each other's way in their attempts to find a killing blow. At one stage though, a pick handle caught me on my left shoulder and I staggered, landing on the ground with my right hand. As I struggled to get up, a can of petrol was poured over me and it spread all over my whole body. With petrol splashed in my eyes I could hardly see but I heard one of them calling for the matches."

1 loaf bread $2,800
1 dozen eggs $3,500
2kg sugar $2,000
500g powdered milk $18,000
1kg mince $25,000
2kg chicken portions $20,000
750ml cooking oil $7,500
1 packet cerevita cereal $8,000
2 litres mazoe orange $10,000
4 pack toilet rolls $3,500
1 packet of 5 tomatoes $1,000

What we saw today is something very inspiring. We witnessed a new spirit in the workers of Bulawayo; the spirit of defiance and a new readiness to make the ultimate sacrifice. We saw the spirit that breeds martyrs and heroes of the struggle.

The threat of a damaging split within the Commonwealth loomed on Monday after Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe insisted he was determined to secure an invitation to a Commonwealth summit of leaders next month.

It is the middle of the month and the buses headed from Zimbabwe's Bulawayo to Francistown, the border town in neighbouring Botswana, 160km away, are leaving half full. But vehicles driving in the opposite direction, back to Zimbabwe, are overcrowded. That is because traders, mostly women, are returning home.

The ongoing world-wide fight for the democratization of communities and states has been conducted through the prisms of many different historical experiences. But a simple question has to be asked: Why keep on keeping on with the struggles for democracy, not to mention all the other isms? The answer lies in the stark reality of the violent greed of imperialist expeditions and authoritarian local elites under whom even bare life can only be defended by a fight for the right to live. Africa is no exception. Memories of wars against colonial domination and the taste of virtual victory are still so fresh yet the continent is riddled with authoritarian and comprador elites and so teems, as it must, with virbant struggles to constitute counter-power, writes Hopewell Gumbo in an article on the website of the Centre for Civil Society at the University of Natal, South Africa.

A new Zimbabwean resistance has been created to overthrow current leader Robert Mugabe's regime by force. The Zimbabwe Freedom Movement is a network of underground cells made up of guerrilla fighters, soldiers and spies who believe Mugabe should be deposed and then tried for genocide.

A special edition of This Day newspaper distributed on the streets of Harare this week lambastes South Africa's "shameful silence" on the crisis in its northern neighbour. An editorial in the edition says: "Mugabe must free himself of power. Zimbabweans of all classes, allegiances and hues should help him out."

The publishers of Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper began legal action Wednesday seeking to resume publication after twice being shut down by the government. Associated Newspapers Zimbabwe applied to the Administrative Court for permission to immediately resume publication of the Daily News, company lawyer Gugulethu Moyo said.

The government in Zimbabwe has ordered police to arrest all doctors on strike at government-run hospitals. Last week a tribunal ruled that the action was illegal, but doctors say they will not return until their demand for large pay rises is dealt with.

Since the Supreme Court refused to hear The Daily News' constitutional challenge to the Access to Information Act until it registers with the Act's Media and Information Commission, the paper's publishers, the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, have suffered a number of legal setbacks in its efforts to obtain justice from the country's courts, details the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe.

The Provincial Manager will play a key role in the programming of all GOAL's activities in Hurungwe District in Mashonaland West Province. The Provincial Manager will be responsible for the day-to-day management of all of the activities in the province, and in particular that the activities meet the donors' and GOAL's standards for humanitarian assistance activities.

Already dire, Zimbabwe's food crisis is set to worsen next year, the World Food Programme has warned. "Millions of people are already facing massive food shortages and very high prices in their local markets

Zimbabwe's High Court on Tuesday reserved judgment on the petition by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to have the results of the March 2002 presidential elections annulled. The MDC, whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai lost to President Robert Mugabe, alleges that Mugabe's victory was due to a number of irregularities and are petitioning the court to declare the election invalid. If the MDC is successful, another election will have to be held within 90 days.
Related Link:
* Read the MDC legal team's reports on day one and two of the trial by visiting http://www.zwnews.com/electionchallengedaytwo.doc

The situation of Zimbabwe's women farm workers, always one of the most exploited sectors of the workforce, has been worsened by the current land reform programme, said a study prepared by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.

In less than two weeks there have been three major incidents of police brutality. Write to the police and government departments reminding them that the police are meant to protect the public, not brutalise them on behalf of the government in power.

Zimbabwe's chronic fuel shortages and a lack of spare parts for mechanised farming implements threatens the prospects for agricultural revival in the new planting season, analysts warn.

Mbulawa Shiri grimaced on the 30th October 2003 as he lay on a hospital bed at Parirenyatwa Hospital, Zimbabwe's largest referral health facility. Zimbabwe's doctors had gone on strike, demanding higher salaries. The doctors argued that such a hike was needed to keep pace with inflation in a country where the black market sets the real cost of living.