Hunger is giving a brutal edge to the alleged work of militias implementing Operation Mavhoterapapi (Who did you vote for?), a campaign launched by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government in the wake of the ruling party's loss of its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence in 1980.

"We do not have any one way of dealing with Zimbabwe," said the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s acting director for the African department Benedict Christensen last month.

The Mineworkers Union of Namibia has given Skorpion Zinc Mine notice of an industrial stayaway effective today at midnight.

GOVERNMENT will use K13.6 billion the Task Force on Corruption has earned from the sale of seized properties to build maternity wards at various health centres countrywide.

SA's rapid pace of economic growth over the past three years was well above a sustainable level of about 3,5%, a team of international experts said yesterday.

THE battle between parallel market dealers and the banking sector for the little foreign currency in the country intensified this week as exchange rates galloped ahead.

THE floatation of Zimbabwe's troubled currency is indeed welcome news for a country grappling with an economic crisis for the past nine years.

The Omaheke communal farming community cannot sit idle while the issue of auctions with Agra and Karoo remains unresolved and is compelled to look for alternatives as livestock selling is their only source of income, said deputy chairperson of the Omaheke Regional Farmers Union (ORFU), Pieter Kazongominja, reacting to Agra's Chief Executive Officer, Peter Kazmeier.

THE official foreign currency market burst into life this week as Zimbabweans trooped to banks and money transfer agencies (MTAs) to offload their hard currencies, rocking the once-thriving parallel market, the major beneficiary of the country's currency crisis.

ZIMBABWE'S retail outlets continue to grapple with shortages as the economy remains on a recession path, with the manufacturing sector still battling against power outages and foreign currency shortages.

Commuters who often spend hours in peak traffic between Pretoria and Johannesburg are to receive a business express train.

THE Ramatex textile company and its main subsidiary in Namibia were declared bankrupt by the High Court yesterday.

NINE workers yesterday sustained serious burns following an explosion at Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) Nkana smelter in Kitwe.

ROAD carnage statistics in Zambia tell a grim tale of the horrors on our roads nearly each day that passes. The situation is unlikely to get better for several reasons.

AMERICAN artist Andy Warhol asked : "Why do people think artists are special? It's just another job." Clearly, given his reputation, the Prince of Pop was being sarcastic -- or perhaps he simply never met anyone like Barbara Jackson.

RIGHTLY or wrongly, further increases in interest rates appear inevitable.

AS SOME of the mining companies report, the terrible truth is becoming clear: the electricity outages hit sentiment more than they hit production. Both Lonmin yesterday, and AngloGold-Ashanti the day before, announced production figures higher than expectations. Profits of both companies jumped, and were outside the market's expectations, resulting in two consecutive large share price jumps.

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has warned banks that are deliberately delaying the processing of customer Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payments that they face immediate closure while urging the public to use formal systems in their foreign currency trading, saying these provide a safe, convenient, transparent and reliable platform.

JOHANNES Fredrick Fick, the Beatrice farmer who was convicted of breaching the Land Acquisition and (Consequential) Act by refusing to vacate Victory Farm, has been ordered to leave the farm within 45 days.

The northern Bengo Province government is to invest 201 million Kwanzas, from May to December, to execute eight projects in Kissama District, in the ambit of improving citizens' living conditions, announced Thursday, in Cabo Ledo commune the local director of planning office, Garcia André.

IN last week's monetary policy statement (MPS), the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), Gideon Gono very courageously sought once again to address the devastatingly negative consequences of foreign currency shortages.

ZIMBABWE's tobacco auction floors opened last week after protracted squabbles between the farmers and government over price and exchange rates to be used.

AFRICA First ReNaissance Corporation Limited (Afre) is seeking shareholder approval for the creation of a capital redemption reserve fund, to be appropriated out of revenue reserves.

CUSTOMS clearing agents have begun manually processing duty after a systems failure hit the industry following the depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar on the official market.

MONEY market investment rates have remained subdued, forcing hot funds out of the banking system and intensifying buying pressure on non-cash assets, as investors battled to preserve wealth against the backdrop of escalating inflation.