Rebuilding Foundations Caring for People
Meet the remarkable former Zimbabwean farmer turned land restitution activist Ben Freeth, whose victory in a SADC Tribunal court case contesting Zimbabwe’s violent land grab triggered the Mugabe/Zuma axis’s abolition of the highest court for 400 million Southern African Development Community citizens. In this powerful interview with BizNews editor Alec Hogg, unbowed Freeth explains how a recently promulgated South African law has parallels with Zimbabwe’s initially ignored 1992 Act which was the foundation for events that transformed his country from bread basket to basket case.
Prisoners sleeping on empty stomachs, without blankets, jerseys exposing them to pneumonia
Most prisoners are malnourished while a considerable number are suffering from pneumonia as a result of sleeping on cold floors without adequate blankets and warm clothing. The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that most prisons countrywide are overcrowded and inmates survive on a single meal daily. In 2009, an exposé by investigative programme Special Assignment stated they had never anything as horrific as the conditions in Zimbabwean jails. What shocked them most of all was footage of a man who was so ill that he was too weak to wash himself and you could count his ribs.
200 ambulances for all 10 provinces
The government, in partnership with Discovery Ambulance Services, has commenced a free medical service rollout, with at least 200 ambulances expected to be disbursed to ailing health facilities across the country’s 10 provinces. “We have ambulances and emergency units in which children and adults are being trained to deal with emergencies at the household level,” said the Zanu PF Harare province chairperson. “So, if a person collapses, a person has a medical emergency, you know that within the community there are people who have been trained through these outreach programmes.”
Swapping green soap for food
“… Imagine this: To grow your maize crop you have to pay in US dollars to buy the diesel and pay a contractor to plough your land. You buy the seed, fertilizer and chemicals in US dollars. When the crop is mature and dry and you have carried the harvest home you pay in US dollars to have a contractor with a sheller to come ….. [But] the government stipulates that all maize must be sold to the state-owned GMB (Grain Marketing Board) [which] will not pay you all of the money in US dollars …..” they will only pay you 200 dollars in US dollars and the balance will be in ZiG’s, [our unwanted] local currency…”
The Centre for Natural Resources Governance (CNRG) demands urgent government intervention in Magunje mining crisis
The Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) calls for immediate government intervention following documented human rights abuses, forced displacements (without compensation), and environmental destruction linked to the Magunje cement and mining projects being developed by Labenmon Investments in partnership with China-based West International Holding. The promise of economic opportunity is being undermined by allegations of land grabs, community exclusion, rights violations and pollution in the Magunje district of Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West province.
Expropriation of Sipho Malunga and partners’ farm unlawful
The High Court in Bulawayo has ruled that the expropriation by the state of land owned by prominent human rights lawyer Siphosami Malunga and his business partners, Zephaniah Dlamini, and Charles Moyo, through their company Kershelmar Farms (Private) Limited, was unlawful and unconstitutional. “This acquisition represents a blatant disregard for the principles of legality. The constitution and the Administrative Justice Act demand procedural fairness and substantive compliance. None of these were observed here,” Justice Bongani Ndlovu said in a judgment delivered on Monday 30 June 2025.
Land, Lithium, Lime and Lies: Magunje’s Unequal Bargain
Lives in the rural district of Magunje have been ruined following the discovery of lithium and lime. Almost overnight, large lorries and heavy machinery began rolling in, armed with paperwork and police escorts for the Lebanon Investment Cement Project, a Chinese-backed industrial undertaking. Some came under the cloak of the night. Local people were called squatters on their own land. Crops have been flattened and irrigation systems compromised by cement dust and dam pollution. Those who protested were arrested. “This involves powerful people,” they say. And food insecurity has set in.
END LEARNING POVERTY CAMPAIGN
Zimbabwe has launched the End Learning Poverty for All in Africa (ELPAf) Campaign. Officially launched at the African Union Conference on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in September 2024, in partnership with UNICEF, under the theme “Read, Write, Count Foundation4Life”, the ELPAf campaign is a continent-wide initiative to mobilise resources, expertise, and political will to tackle the learning crisis by enhancing the foundational learning provision across Africa. Zimbabwe becomes the third country, following Zambia and Malawi, to join the continental movement.
Henry Olonga: Zim legend who made cricket’s bravest stand now sings on cruise ships
Henry Olonga was the first black Zimbabwean Test cricketer, and also the youngest, when he made his debut aged 18 as a fast bowler. He has no regrets about his black armband protest against President Mugabe’s ruinous policies in 2003, despite having been exiled from his country and his brave stand having cost his career dearly. He moved to Australia in 2015 where, after his superb performance in “The Voice Australia” 2019, he now makes a living by picking up music gigs and singing on cruise ships etc. It’s been a long struggle to keep going but he’s revisiting the music path to see where it ends up.
The unspoken debt: How South Africa benefited from Zimbabwe’s collapse
History and data shows people from Zimbabwe, who are not asking for handouts, have given a great deal to South Africa. When Zimbabwe’s economy crumbled in the early 2000s, thousands fled to South Africa in search of work and safety. Though some entered undocumented, the overwhelming majority contributed meaningfully to society. These migrants — teachers, nurses, engineers, gardeners, builders and domestic workers — helped fill vital gaps in South Africa’s labour market, often for lower wages. This not only benefited households and employers but bolstered entire industries.
Schools warned against expelling learners over fees
Schools across the country have been warned against expelling learners from school due to non-payment of fees, with indications that this is a violation of their rights to education. Schools opened for the second term on Tuesday 13 May. National Association of Schools Development and Committees (Nasdac) Chairperson Max Mkandla said schools must not expel learners. "Some schools were locking the gates to prevent the pupils from entering the premises on account of failure to pay fees. We are saying this is a violation of children or learners' right to education," he said.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights takes govt to court over PVO Act
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has filed a landmark application at the High Court, seeking to have several provisions of the amended Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Act declared unconstitutional, arguing that the law infringes on fundamental freedoms and criminalises the work of non-governmental organisations. This legal challenge marks the most comprehensive legal attempt yet to dismantle the repressive provisions of the PVO Act, which regulates the registration, governance, and funding of NGOs and charities operating in Zimbabwe.
Cathy Buckle reports: By the light of the nurse’s cellphone
For countless months we’ve been ringing the alarm bells, saying that hospitals have no medicine and equipment for even the most basic procedures but government aren’t listening. We’ve been saying that if you get sick you have to buy your own pain medication and pay for every single tablet, syringe, injection, cannula, catheter, bandage, cotton wool and everything else before you will be treated. The bottom line is if you get sick and don’t have money it’s a death sentence and if you arrive at a government hospital after an accident nothing is guaranteed
Amid Zimbabwe’s political crisis, hope and frustration brew - 16 April 2025
Zimbabwe was brought to a standstill on 31 March – the streets were quiet as businesses and schools shut and Zimbabweans stayed home. Despite police assurances that the situation was “peaceful”, many feared violence. Blessed “Bombshell” Geza, a veteran of Zimbabwe’s war of liberation, called for the mass demonstrations. “Personally, I would love to participate in protests, but there was no clear plan of coordination,” a shop assistant explained. Without this, he thinks “fear gripped people” who wanted to protest, and the arrests show that the police won’t tolerate any form of dissent.
Mnangagwa accused of ‘publicity stunt’ to woo Trump over white farmer compensation
As Zimbabwe angles for a thaw in relations with Washington, its claim of having compensated white farmers under a landmark US$3.5bn deal has been slammed as a calculated deception designed to impress US President Donald Trump and global lenders rather than reflect any real restitution. The majority of white commercial farmers who were dispossessed of their land during Zimbabwe’s chaotic Land Reform Programme have dismissed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s recent US$3.1m compensation announcement as a publicity stunt aimed at currying favour with Trump.
Newsletter from Cathy Buckle in Zimbabwe
In Cathy Buckle’s latest newsletter, written on the banks of the beautiful Runde River in the lowveld of Zimbabwe, she avoids the disturbing topics of a failed attempt to introduce an impeachment of President Mnangagwa in parliament, or calls for an ‘indefinite stayaway’ by war veteran Blessed Geza - which didn’t happen - or the continuing whispers of a constitutional amendment to extend the Presidential term of office to 2030. Instead, she describes the abundance of wildlife along the river banks, the proliferation of birds, the sky alive with stars, and the overarching serenity.
CSOs slam repressive PVO law
A coalition of Zimbabwean civil society organisations (CSOs) has strongly condemned the recent enactment of the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Act, describing it as a repressive law that poses a serious threat to democracy, civic space, and human rights in the country. The law was pushed through without adequate public consultation. The joint statement was endorsed by more than 40 organisations, including Amnesty International Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, and Transparency International Zimbabwe.
Looming Zimbabwe ‘uprising’ echoes overthrow of Mugabe as calls mount to oust Mnangagwa
Zimbabweans are bracing for a repeat of the events of November 2017 de facto coup that led to the ousting of Robert Mugabe who had ruled the country for 37 years. President Mnangagwa’s second and last term in office is hanging by a thread after former freedom fighters backing his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga, called for an “uprising” on 31 March, demanding Mnangagwa’s resignation. Former finance minister Tendai Biti is on record calling for a transitional government to extricate the country from economic collapse and implement key democratic reforms before fresh elections are held.
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Zimbabwe’s Agenda 2030: Legal manoeuvring or political power play? The fight for democracy unfolds
Musa Kika, a Zimbabwean human rights and constitutional lawyer and jurist, writes: “Law has no inherent value, but its value is in compliance and honouring its sanctity — the idea that what is contracted is upheld and the contract’s rules are not shifted to suit sectarian interests. This too, goes for constitutions. The piercing reality in Zimbabwe is that law has lost its currency to guardrail … against the destructive political manoeuvres…. If man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, human rights should be protected by the rule of law.”
Commentator Tendai Ruben Mbofana accepted as member of the prestigious George Ayittey Society
Zimbabwean commentator Tendai Ruben Mbofana has been accepted as a member of the prestigious George Ayittey Society, a distinguished network of African scholars committed to advancing individual liberty, democratic governance and economic empowerment across the continent. This Africa-centered intellectual society is named in honor of the great free-market proponent, Ghanaian-economist Dr. George Ayittey. Dr Ayittey believed in an Africa that works, where politicians do not sign away the rights to their people’s natural resources and economic future in exchange for expensive loans.
Trump dismantles Voice of America | VOA Broadcasts Studio 7 News in Zimbabwe
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to cut funding to the federally funded news organisation Voice of America (VOA). The primarily radio service was established during World War II to counter Nazi propaganda and now reaches hundreds of millions of people worldwide every week. This includes the popular VOA Studio 7 which has long been a crucial alternative news source for Zimbabweans, where state-controlled media largely dominates. The station has provided important coverage of political developments, governance, and social issues impacting the country’s citizens.
World Food Programme to close office in southern Africa after Trump aid cuts
The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) is closing its southern Africa office in the wake of President Trump’s aid cuts. In a statement, a spokesperson said the office in Johannesburg would close and the WFP would consolidate its southern and east Africa operations into one regional office in Nairobi, Kenya. The WFP provides food assistance to more than 150 million people in 120 countries, including Zimbabwe. The WFP did not say how much funding it had lost from USAid, but it received $4.4bn (£3.5bn) in assistance from the US last year, about half its total annual budget.
Catholic bishops warn Zimbabwe ‘doomed’ if corruption left unchecked
Catholic bishops have warned that Zimbabwe is “doomed” if authorities fail to arrest rampant corruption, while also urging the government to focus on “bread and butter issues” instead of the preoccupation with extending President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term of office. Rising poverty across the country is “not accidental,” the bishops said in a scorching March 3 pastoral letter, but a result of poor management of the country’s resources. They expressed deep concern that businesses are closing and many people are losing their jobs.
UAE becomes Zimbabwe’s biggest export partner
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has overtaken China to become Zimbabwe’s biggest export partner and since 2022 has ploughed US$1.4 billion into everything from gold trading to real estate. Gulf states are increasingly using their petrodollars to build influence in Africa, as China pares back loans to the continent, Europe scales back its presence and the US becomes more domestically focused. This is viewed as a lifeline for Zimbabwe’s ailing economy. The UAE has become the country that routinely pledges the most foreign direct investment into the continent.
Mnangagwa is a failure and must go now, his 2030 agenda is illegal and treacherous’— say war veterans
A group of veterans of the 1970s war of liberation have come out guns blazing demanding President Mnangagwa’s immediate exit for reneging on the founding virtues of the struggle for independence and for his failed leadership, which has resulted in massive levels of corruption, cronyism and nepotism. “This man and those around him have failed us, they have failed all Zimbabweans, who believed that the [defacto coup] of 2017 would bring an end to nepotism and privatisation of the nation and its people,” said their leader, Blessed Geza. “This is not the Zimbabwe we envisioned when we took up arms.”
