South African Church Council Accuses Zimbabwe of Obstructing Aid

The South African Council of Churches has accused the government of Zimbabwe of turning their efforts to deliver aid to victims of the government's slum-demolition programme into a political football by deliberately obstructing entry of aid trucks into Zimbabwe.

The Council has been attempting, since 1 August, to deliver two trucks of aid, including food and 6,000 blankets, to the homeless and dispossessed victims of the government’s controversial urban clean-up campaign, which ran from May to July.

Two food trucks carrying 37 mt of white maize, sugar beans and cooking oil, have been sitting in a South African depot for the last two weeks. Another truck remains in a bonded warehouse in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, unable to be freed unless a fee is paid.

Zimbabwe Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, in charge of food security, also questioned the church group’s sincerity, accusing South African clerics who visited the country last month of working for the British government.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has also barred Christian Care – a humanitarian organisation – from distributing the 6,000 blankets.

In an interview with Voice of America, Christian Care Deputy Director, Nyika Musiyazviriyo, said he hoped to have the issue resolved before the end of the week and that Christian Care would be making an application to the Zimbabwean government for exemption from tax duty charges.