Church aid trucks still held up

09 August 2005

Three trucks transporting aid to Zimbabweans displaced during a controversial government clean-up operation are still held up in Johannesburg , South Africa after the Harare authorities demanded permits before allowing in the aid. Ron Steel, a spokesperson for the South African Council of Churches (SACC) which organised the aid, said the Harare authorities were demanding a certificate that the food being transported to Zimbabwe was not genetically modified. "We are also waiting for a letter from the Zimbabwean government granting us a duty permit for the goods and clearance for the vehicles," Steele said. The latest bureaucratic hurdles for the South African churches to deliver aid are in sharp contrast to statements by Zimbabwean government officials that they would accept aid for victims of the clean-up operation. Last week, Zimbabwe 's State Security and Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa said Harare would not bar South African churches from delivering the aid to thousands of people displaced during the clean-up operation. But Mutasa accused the churches of pushing a political agenda under the guise of aid.
The churches dispatched about 6 000 blankets and 37 tonnes of food to be distributed to the most vulnerable groups throughout the country as part of "Operation Hope for Zimbabwe ."
Two separate South African church delegations visited Zimbabwe last month to assess the clean-up operation. They immediately announced plans to launch a massive humanitarian relief effort for the Zimbabweans. At least 700 000 people were rendered homeless after the government demolished thousands of homes and backyard cottages in a massive clean-up campaign the authorities said was necessary to restore order and smash a thriving parallel market in basic commodities and scarce foreign currency. The United Nations in a hard-hitting report issued last month criticised the military-style operation saying it violated the rights of the poor. South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki who met the church leaders after their fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe has also demanded a halt to the evictions. - ZimOnline