Eswatini, Cameroon, Zimbabwe Updates October 2018

Evictions continue. On Wednesday 10 October the Times of Swaziland reported that over 100 homesteads at Moneni are to be demolished. The houses are situated on land that is under the administrative authority of the Tisuka TakaNgwane traditional council.
The deteriorating economic situation is leading to increased hardship. It was announced that bus fares would increase by 25% before the end of the year. At the same time, Mandla Ntshakala, of the Swaziland Consumer Council, reports that all government hospitals are now without basic medical supplies.

Elections were held on 30 September. It is widely believed that Prof. Maurice Kamto, of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, attracted the most votes. However, the government said it would take at least two weeks for results to be released. In the Anglophone parts of the country, less than 5% of registered voters cast their votes. It is widely expected that the election results will be rigged and that Paul Biya will once again be returned to power.

During the week of 8 October, shortly after announcing an “economic stabilisation program”, Zimbabwe plunged into its worst economic crisis in a decade, with almost all supplies (including food and petrol) running out. Most fast food outlets (including KFC) have closed their doors, and consumers have resorted to panic buying of the few consumer goods that are still available. This comes after a cholera outbreak in Harare, in September, resulted in more than 4 000 cases being reported, with over 40 deaths.

Johan Viljoen