BuaNews (Tshwane)
12 December 2008
South Africa on Thursday declared a cholera disaster on its border with Zimbabwe, but, President Robert Mugabe insists his country is now in control of the epidemic and that western powers are only using cholera as an excuse to topple him.
According to the Limpopo Provincial Government, the country now feels the strain of a spill-over from the epidemic, with more and more Zimbabwean refugees said to be crossing into the South African borders.
"The provincial government took a decision that the whole of the Vhembe district should be declared a disaster area," northern Limpopo Provincial Government Spokesman Mogale Nchabeleng told the media on Thursday.
The declaration also follows Wednesday's visit by South African Health Minister Barbara Horgan to the district, to assess the situation. Eight people are so far reported to have died of cholera in Limpopo province, while 664 cases are said to have been treated, so far.
An intestinal infection that spreads through contaminated food or water, cholera causes vomiting and acute diarrhoea, and can rapidly lead to death from dehydration.
The disease spreads fastest in situations with poor sanitation such as those found in Zimbabwe's cities where sewers have broken down while garbage piles up in the streets and a shortage of clean water means residents have to rely on unprotected shallow wells for water.
The epidemic is also reported to have spread into neighbouring Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi and Botswana, but at lower scales. Also here, most cases are connected to Zimbabwean immigrants. According to the United Nations, more than 16 000 cholera cases have been reported in Zimbabwe but, the UN also holds that the number of cholera cases is strongly underreported.
Nonetheless, in a statement Thursday, President Mugabe continued his attack and mockery of Western leaders saying cholera was "no more in Zimbabwe". And therefore "now that there is no cholera there is no cause for war," the Zimbabwean President said. Mr Mugabe said his doctors, with the help of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and others had cured the outbreak, despite latest reports by the same UN agency that the situation was worsening.
Mr Mugabe's pretentious statement has been interpreted by his critics as another ploy to anger Western powers and create a new attention on his country that would play down on the political pressures. Some close to 800 people are reported to have died from the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe - officially, that is - with most agencies fearing the real numbers could be thousands of deaths.
Regional and international agencies meanwhile are hitting high political hurdles in their missions to help bring the Zimbabwean humanitarian crisis under control.
A power-sharing deal, signed in September between President Mugabe and his political rivals has not yet produced any fruits with talks always reaching a dead end on the allocation of ministerial positions, and, regional bodies divided on tougher action against Mr Mugabe.
Analysts says a unity government between Mr Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai would help ease the political situation and allow the country to focus on tackling the economic crisis and food shortages.
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What a total Crock. It would be a good laugh if so many people weren't dying (800+), the plague is still spreading and the government is totally incapable of doing anything about it. Methinks the Herald has brought a group of North Korean propagandists in to write their editorials. It sure sounds like the garbage that comes out of Pyongyang, which normally is always delusional. I wrote the Herald off long ago as a propaganda rag, read only by fools.
Dude, you are completely off your rockers. Who are these North Koreans rocking your boneheaded 'brain'? You must be completely naive: you did read the Herald, otherwise your would not be making the xenophobic comments about the North Koreans.
Have you met all North Koreans, dude?
Who gives a rat's tail if some dude from DixieTexas "writes off the North Koreans."
May I remind you that Condo, neo-con Rice meets with "the North Koreans."
Or, do you imagine, in your volcanic delusional self-apperception that you are 'better' than Condo?
Yes or no: are you 'better' than Professor Rice?
My name is Bob, I'm a Texan. I've spent a lot of time in your country before you were born...Knock off the Dude crap
DUDE from DixieTexas, I don't give a rat's tail if you spent centuries in "my country" before I was born.
Here, we reflect, argue, throw rhetorical bombs, and engage in reflective catfights.
Here, we care not about your origin or your age. Get it? Dude, back off the country of origin and age crap! We DON'T OR SHOULD NOT care about such ephemeral matters in Africa; perhaps, you do in Texas. If you do, then its your bag, not mine: put a dip in your hip, and a funky stroke in your stride and style with us: Africans, for we are a cool people, despite THE CENTURIES OLD REACTION.
What, in the name of the defeated Confederacy, does YOUR TIME SPENT IN ZIMBABWE have to do with the price of tea even in Odinga's Kenya?
What will you do if I refuse "to knock off the Dude crap"?
Nicht; Nada; Natin.
Accordingly, I WILL NOT KNOCK THE DUDE CRAP, A DETERMINATION OR PREDICATE OR WHATEVER that, IN MY OPINION, perspicuously and objectively applies to you, D U D E; DUDE---AND NOW---all together: DUDE.
Cheers from Comedy Central in Harare, the city of the hardest, TOUGHEST people of Africa, Zims, IN MY OPINION.
"Here, we care not about your origin or your age. Get it? Dude, back off the country of origin and age crap! We DON'T OR SHOULD NOT care about such ephemeral matters in Africa"
More lies Shallow-head? How can you say that when clearly the land policies of Mugabe are 100% based upon these "ephemeral" matters?
Another one to add to your lie about 1 million children getting raped in the UK this year already?
A reply on topic please. Else we will simply see you have no substance or argument to back up anything you say once again.
BONEHEAD, I finally got you to fess up, dude.
Your real beef with the AFRICAN is that he took back BY FORCE what the REACTION stole, under Rhodes and company.
Glory to the African warrior, then!
It has always been about the land, dude. Did you imagine I did not know that, bonehead?
May I assure you BONEHEAD that THE LAND WILL NEVER REVERT. GET IT?
NEVER.
The land ain't no ephemeral matter. Right, a zillion times.
It belongs to Africans, and the Africans got it now: and, there ain't crap YOU OR THE TAILS OF THE TAILS OF THE TAILS OF THE REACTION CAN DO ABOUT IT.
GET IT, BONEHEAD?
So you are saying that your statement:
"Here, we care not about your origin or your age. Get it? Dude, back off the country of origin and age crap! We DON'T OR SHOULD NOT care about such ephemeral matters in Africa"
Is wrong? Clearly where people come from does matter to you, as clearly you are against a white person owning land in Zimbabwe. So your statement is clearly hypocritical.
So tell us, why do you condone and support that beats and rapes and murders your fellow Zimbabweans? Why do you support someone that willingly altered the GNU agreement without informing the other parties? Why do you support someone that allows human rights activists to be abducted? Why do you support a leader who does not allow freedom of speech to reign in Zimbabwe? Why do support a leader that denies the very existence of cholera when so many of your brothers and sisters are dying from it? How much are they paying you?
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Active Discussions: UN Chief Says Cholera Epidemic Not Over