For Urgent Action.
Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled
PO Box 2247 - Bulawayo – Zimbawe - Tel: 00263-9-69356/65701
- Fax: 00263-9-74398
- E-mail: [log in to unmask]
- www.safod.org
FROM: Alexander M. Phiri
Director General
Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD)
Date: 20 June, 2005
SUBJECT: DISGUSTED BY THE DEMOLITION OF POOR PEOPLE’S HOMES AND MARKET
STALLS BY GOVERNMENT OF ZIMBABWE
1. The Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD) is an
organization of national federations of organizations of disabled people
from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South
Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, with its offices in Zimbabwe and
Botswana. SAFOD was formed in 1986 and was registered as a non-profit
making and non-partisan organization in Zimbabwe in October 1989 and
Botswana in October 2004.
Since its formation, SAFOD has coordinated and implemented a number of
development programmes designed to address the socio-economic rights of
disabled people in Southern Africa.
SAFOD’s mission is: “To help society to transform itself into a new
society where all people, including disabled people, women and workers,
men and children are treated with dignity, respect and on the basis of
equality.”
2. It is in view of the above that as SAFOD we are appalled and
disgusted by the destruction of people’s homes and businesses by the
Zimbabwean Government in the so-called clean-up campaign “Operation
Murambatsvina” (translated as “drive out the rubbish”). The campaign
which has been in force for close on to three weeks now has seen
thousands of people living in the urban areas of the country being
evicted from their homes and market stalls. During the forced evictions
which are being carried out without notice and without court orders,
police and other members of the security forces have been using
excessive force to either burn or pull down homes and informal market
stalls, destroying property, and beating up individuals.
Botswana Office:
PO Box 10535 – Tati Town, Francistown – Botswana
Tel/Fax: 00267-241 2980
Member Countries: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique,
Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
In Harare alone, the capital city of Zimbabwe, an estimated 300 000
families have so far been displaced by the clean-up campaign, and there
are police threats that this campaign will spread to other areas beyond
the urban centres.
Thousands of informal traders were arrested during the crackdown for
“not possessing trading licences,” and their goods were either destroyed
or confiscated. Why on earth should a government do this to its own
defenceless law-abiding citizens?
As SAFOD we are particularly concerned with the situation of disabled
men and women, and their families, who have been affected by this
diabolic operation. According to World Health Organisation (WHO)
estimates, disabled people represent a significant percentage of any
population; they constitute not less than 10% of the population. Being
the poorest of the poor, and therefore unemployed, a majority of
disabled urban dwellers were living in the type of housing units that
were destroyed. For those who were running small businesses such as
fruit and vegetable stalls, hair salons, flea markets, etc, also had
their businesses destroyed. The forced destruction and/or closure of
informal businesses and settlements has obviously worsened the situation
of disabled people and their families in the country.
Some of the affected disabled people were women that had been assisted
with funding by SAFOD and other local and international agencies to set
up their own income generating projects that have now been destroyed.
These people no longer have the means to earn a living and are sleeping
out in the cold. Their future is bleak and there is no clear solution to
their predicament. What is clear is that government itself cannot offer
any meaningful solution to this problem as all they have done so far is
to either auction or abuse people’s property, and to remove some of the
affected people to some remote farms they have designated as “Transit
Camps.” These farms are not only just bush and crowded but also have no
suitable toilets and clean water.
At one such farm called Caledonia, for example, people are living in
small refugee-type of tents which are not suitable for human habitation.
People are living as refugees in their own country, and children of
affected families are no longer attending school. One shudders to
imagine the situation of HIV and AIDS patients who have been receiving
home-based care and were living in the homes that have been demolished
by the Government.
3. As “Operation Murambatsvina” or “Restore Order” is a nation-wide
campaign, there are fears that this exercise will spread fast to
outlying areas of the country, including smaller towns and growth
points. This, in our view, is a programme that is not in the interest of
anybody, whether rich or poor. Whereas the rest of the world is talking
about “making poverty history” through the realization of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), the Zimbabwe Government, through its policies,
is promoting impoverishment of its own citizens. Someone somewhere
should intervene to stop the on-going activities.
This is an urgent SOS to the SADC, African Union, and the United
Nations. We urge you to urge the Zimbabwe Government to immediately stop
this operation and assist the affected people, especially disabled
people, to get on with their lives and business operations without
interference. The international community is being further urged to
render any form of support that can help the affected people to start
all over again!
We thank you in advance for your support.
Alexander M. Phiri
Director General
SAFOD
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