ZIMBABWE EVICTIONS WIN PRAISE COUNTRYWIDE

The Zimbabwean government put the extent of displacement under its urban
slum-clearance campaign at 130 000 families on Wednesday, saying it will not
re-accommodate them all.

Minister counsellor in the Zimbabwean embassy Pritchard Zhou told a seminar
in Pretoria the operation has "won praise countrywide".

The evictions, which he said are aimed at eradicating criminality and
improving living conditions, have been "grossly and deliberately distorted
and politicised".

They are simply targeted at "cleaning up" Zimbabwe's cities, "to try and
remove the dirt that has become a nuisance", and to "establish an
environment conducive to investment".

Zhou denied the operation is politically aimed against the country's mostly
urban-based political opposition, or that there is any heavy-handedness
involved.

Reports of deaths and injuries are being investigated, but Zhou said police
are not involved in such incidents "in any way".

Fatalities have occurred during the demolition of shacks, which he said is
mostly done by occupants themselves.

He denied reports of people falling off trucks transporting them to
resettlement camps, and said a child crushed to death by a vehicle during
the campaign had been left by its mother to cross a road alone.

Zhou said Z$3-trillion have been put aside for reconstruction, but could not
say where the money came from.

A "significant portion" of it will be used to erect 5 000 two-roomed houses
by August 17 for the most needy among those evicted. Owners of these houses
will be given a bond to extend their homes at their own expense.

Zhou added: "Clearly there are people [among those evicted] who will not be
able to get houses because they will be unable to pay."

The government's focus is on acquiring land and making available "recently
priced stands". Most people are able to afford their own houses, Zhou said.
A lack of access to land is the real problem.

The operation became necessary, he explained, as illegal businesses were
damaging the economy and townships had become a haven for criminals.

Illegal trading, street dwelling and loitering had reached "unacceptable
levels" and demanded a "decisive response".

Zhou confirmed that thousands of people were arrested, saying this forms
part of the operation's aim to "flush out criminals".

The Zimbabwean government has put in place "elaborate rehabilitation
measures", he said.

Temporary camps set up for the evictees are, however, not intended as
accommodation, but to process people before they "leave to go somewhere
else".

One option, Zhou said, is for people to migrate to the country's rural
areas.

"Almost everybody has a rural home."

On "illegal" traders who have lost their livelihoods, he said the informal
sector is not being obliterated but merely reorganised.

"We want to make sure that whatever trading is done is legitimate, that
people are registered and pay taxes."

He pointed to an apparent abundance of work on farms, saying "there is that
alternative that is available".

Zhou said illegal traders will be relocated to new sites, but did not
specify how many of them. "Many" sites are ready for construction, and some
have been finalised.

A total of 1 192 flea-market stalls in Harare are ready for occupation.

On alleged human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, he denied there is any
harassment of citizens, adding: "What human rights are there if people live
in these conditions?"

He said the ultimate objective is that "our places should look like Europe
or America".

The evictions have already started to yield positive outcomes, he claimed.

Most central business districts are now decongested, "clean and peaceful",
and crime has gone down by 25%.

"And basic commodities that have disappeared from the shelves of most shops
[due to black-market trading] are re-emerging."

He lamented attempts to "demonise" Zimbabwe, saying the West is seeking to
make an example of the country.

The destruction of townships is not an uncommon feature in the region, and
"happens in South Africa every day".

"The objective is to ensure Zimbabwe is taught a lesson so that its
neighbours get to learn that if you handle the land question in the way
Zimbabwe has handled it, you will be targeted," Zhou said. -- Sapa