For thousands of Zimbabweans who flee their troubled country, the Methodist church in downtown Johannesburg is the only home they know. After five years with up to 2 000 people a night sleeping on pews, floors and stairwells, the church is now overcrowded, filthy and reeking due to inadequate sanitation - decidedly not the image that SA wants to present during the World Cup. Claims that children were sexually abused by a teacher and fellow migrants emerged late in 2009, triggering a new drive by authorities to close down the church - though no one has put forward any alternatives for the homeless foreigners. "It is not my fault that I'm here," said Nokuthula Ndlovu, a 29-year-old Zimbabwean mother.

 

A secret airstrip is being built in a diamond field illegally seized by the Zimbabwean army 14 months ago which would enable clandestine weapons shipments. Diplomats and analysts believe that the mile-long runway is intended for arms shipments, probably from China, for which troops loyal to President Robert Mugabe would pay on the spot with gemstones from the Chiadzwa diamond mines.

Aerial pictures show construction work is well under way, with a newly built control tower apparently complete and the runway nearly ready for surfacing.

 

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has come under fire for failing to take advantage of the World Economic Forum underway in Davos, Switzerland, to speak out against the West's illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. PM Tsvangirai's address to journalists in the resort of Davos on Thursday did not make any reference to sanctions, in stark contrast to Deputy PM Arthur Mutambara who made it clear that the embargo hampered the economic turnaround drive and must be lifted. Pressure has been mounting on the PM to decry the sanctions following revelations by British foreign and Commonwealth secretary David Miliband last week that any changes to the widely discredited policy would be largely predicated on advice from MDC. Zanu-PF subsequently said it would not make any more concessions in current Global Political Agreement talks until the embargo is lifted.

 

Zimbabwe's beleaguered white farmers will ask the Supreme Court to order registration of a SADC Tribunal ruling outlawing government land reforms after a High Court judge conceded that the regional court’s ruling was binding but declined to register it. One of the lawyers for the 79 farmers said they would ask the Tribunal to take the matter before South African Development Community (SADC) leaders should the Supreme Court – Zimbabwe’s highest court – fail to order registration of the land reform ruling. Harare advocate Lewis Uriri said the farmers will in the coming weeks file an appeal in the Supreme Court against High Court Judge Bharat Patel’s ruling last week in which the judge ruled that registering and enforcing the Tribunal judgment would have a negative impact on Zimbabwe’s agrarian reforms.