Media Monitoring Project (Zimbabwe)
Weekly Media Update No. 16
April 21st, 2003 – April 27th)

CONTENTS

1. PRESS FREEDOM DAY
2. FUEL PRICE HIKE FALL-OUT
3. HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
4. OTHER NEWS AND MEMORABLE QUOTES

1. Press Freedom Day
As the world commemorates Press Freedom Day, Zimbabwe’s independent media community will be highlighting the gross erosion of this essential democratic liberty in this country. The Media Monitoring Project joins them in their efforts to alert all Zimbabweans to the determined and systematic efforts by government to silence alternative sources of information critical of its excesses and authoritarian rule. MMPZ also condemns the government’s persecution of privately owned media institutions and their staff through the selective application of unconstitutional and anti-democratic legislation and its blatant abuse of the publicly owned national broadcasting station, ZBC, and Zimbabwe Newspapers titles as messengers of its own propaganda at the expense of the truth.

In the week under review, these government-controlled media clearly demonstrated their servile role as tools of the ruling party in their delivery of government threats against workers and employers while suffocating news of yet another murder, allegedly as a result of police brutality.
The extent of their subservience to government was reflected in the saturation coverage of President Mugabe’s interview, initially broadcast on ZTV on April 21st and rebroadcast again during the week on all stations. Zimpapers’ titles reported on the initial broadcast and followed that up with a full text transcription of the interview in The Herald (24/4) and a sycophantic analysis the next day attempting to convince readers of Mugabe’s secure tenure of the presidency.

These media also resorted to fabrication in order to portray the three-day national strike organized by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions variously as a failure, as epitomized in the Chronicle’s headline, ‘Workers ignore stayaway’, or as the result of a conspiracy between the ZCTU and the opposition MDC, as suggested in The Herald (24/4). The paper reported a government news agency “source” as saying that the two organizations had “hatched the plan” to bribe urban commuter bus operators to withdraw their services “so as to portray the strike as a success.” The Daily News (26/4) reported the two organizations dismissing the unsubstantiated allegations. The public media all peddled the notion that the strike’s success was a result of the lack of transport(‘Thousands stranded’, The Herald 24/4) and that employers had locked out those workers who had managed to get to their workplaces.

2. Fuel price hike fall-out

Coverage of the national strike and the government’s efforts to portray itself as committed to minimizing the effects of the massive fuel price increases announced the previous week dominated all the media. Although the privately owned media covered the progress of the strike well enough, they struggled to keep up with the government-controlled media because of the number of government announcements that were exclusively offered to ZBC and Zimpapers. MMPZ deplores this selective use of the media by the government in announcing important public information.

The week opened with a lengthy interview in The Herald (21/4) with Information Minister Jonathan Moyo promising that the government was working on measures to cushion workers against the fuel price increases. But in delivering this message The Herald reported him seeking to deflect culpability for the hardship the increases have caused away from government by saying the hike was “not the initiative of government alone…but was within the confines of the Tripartite Negotiating Forum in which government, labour and employers signed the Income and Prices Stabilization Protocol.” This was a misleading refrain the public media repeatedly publicized during the week until it became a claim that the ZCTU had actually agreed to the increases (The Herald, 23/4). The ZCTU’s denial could only be found in The Daily News the following day where the labour organization described the report as “a fabrication and misleading”.

Notably, The Herald’s Monday story reported Moyo as saying “there was a commitment within the TNF that a review in prices should be matched with a review of salaries and wages” but that “we must endure the pain designed to make our living better.” This appeared to be the first indication of plans for a new minimum wage, a story ZTV confirmed the next evening when it unquestioningly carried the comments from four government ministers. However, it mysteriously buried these, featuring the report as the last item of the bulletin following the weather and sports segments. The comments from Labour and Social Welfare Minister July Moyo were virtually incomprehensible and were “translated” the next morning (23/4) by The Herald in its story headlined, ‘ZCTU agreed to fuel price increase’. It reported that Moyo had said the TNF was in the process of determining minimum wages and an announcement was expected “this week”. The same story reported Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo saying government and commuter bus operators had agreed on new fares which would be gazetted soon. The paper misleadingly noted that the ZCTU had boycotted the wage talks and quoted “a source close to the TNF” accusing the trade union organization of “negotiating in bad faith” and of “pursuing a political agenda”.

Demonstrating the extensive manipulation of government’s media outlets, this was a theme ZTV had explored the previous evening (22/4, 8pm and 3FM, 23/04, 6am). The public broadcaster misleadingly alleged that “business has criticized attempts by the ZCTU to call for a mass stay-away in protest against the fuel price hike agreed at by the Tripartite Negotiating Forum at which labour was represented, as sinister and counterproductive”. Business was alleged to have accused the ZCTU of “negotiating in bad faith” by reneging on its TNF commitments in “favour of pursuing agenda (sic) at the expense of national development”. However, ZTV undermined these assertions when it quoted Witness Chinyama of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce as having said business was against stay-aways but then said, “However, it depends on which social partner is looking at it. As far as labour is concerned that is the only way they can speak …”
CZI president Anthony Mandiwanza (ZTV, 23/04, 8pm) was also quoted the next night saying “…what is understood by business is the burden on employees and we have made a recommendation …to our members on a proactive basis, please initiate a programme or facility to ease the burden on the employees by awarding … transport allowances.” ZBC did not question why government claimed the increases were agreed by the TNF when one of its “social partners” was apparently making independent decisions in response to the fuel price hike.

Ironically, in an editorial calling for fair fares, The Herald (22/4) noted that most of a worker’s wages would be gobbled up by the fare increases, a fact pointed out by the ZCTU and reported in the Zimbabwe Independent (25/4). ZTV dedicated a significant 50 minutes (37%) to news on the strike and related issues out of 2 hours 17 minutes in its six main evening news bulletins from Tuesday when it began covering the stay-away. But the television station’s bias is best revealed by the distribution of voices it aired on the strike and issues surrounding it.. Considering government’s constant reference to the TNF resolutions as the basis for increasing fuel prices, it was surprising that while government ministers and officials were quoted 10 times (77%), business was only quoted twice (15%) and labour was not quoted at all except for unsubstantiated and vague references to “ZCTU insiders” (8%). A similar trend was observed on 3FM.

Not surprisingly the public media were first to report the details of the new fares (ZBC all stations 23/04, 8pm; Radio Zimbabwe & 3 FM, 24/04, 6am and in Zimpapers’ titles 24/4). The stories merely stated that the new fares ranged from $60 to $300 and quoted Chombo saying, “We think these fares are fairly reasonable to a good commuter operator. They should be able to make a reasonable profit”. None of the public media asked Chombo why government was announcing fares lower than those currently in place. The Herald (24/4) simply reported that “calculations from figures supplied by omnibus owners suggested that fare rises of 15% and 40%, depending on (the type of) fuel used and the size of vehicle were justified,” but provided no details of the calculations. And to demonstrate government’s commitment to commuters’ welfare, the paper noted that the Transport Ministry had gazetted lower fares than those recommended by transport operators “to cushion members of the public”. But it didn’t try to provide a similar explanation for its news of government’s decision to double the fare for the so-called ‘Freedom Train’ service between the city and some high density suburbs.

The Daily News (25/4) reported that urban commuter bus operators were ignoring the new fares and that they believed government was “using them to subsidize commuters”. It also quoted the ZCTU’s Lovemore Matombo as saying the new fares still meant workers were paying between 20% and 50% of their wage packet on fares.The Chronicle (25/4) also reported that Bulawayo bus operators had vowed to ignore new fares, and even ZTV quoted a commuter operator the previous evening (24/4, 8pm) saying, “Some of these fares announced today would mean that we go back to fares that we were charging fours years ago which had actually been revised upwards way back”. But ZBC simply ignored the significance of what the man was saying.

The Herald’s editorial (24/4) attacked the ZCTU for boycotting the TNF and for calling the “illegal” job stay-away, and declared that the organization should be lobbying the employers’ association, Emcoz, to pay transport allowances. This was an idea that The Daily Mirror’s editorial of the same day developed into a racist attack on white employers. It accused the ZCTU of “helping the cause of the opposition…” and of being afraid to demand pay increases “because it threatens the white ‘baas’ who doesn’t want to pay his workers more money…ZCTU has never called for mass action against white employers. This is so because the white employers have long bribed the ZCTU officials in foreign currency…”

The Herald and the Chronicle and all of ZBC’s morning bulletins (25/04) relayed, without any analysis, July Moyo’s announcement of new minimum wages for the three sectors of organized labour “to cushion workers against price increases”. But there was no comparison with the previous minimum wages to provide some yardstick to measure the value of the pay increases. The Herald simply quoted Moyo as saying “the social partners took cognizance of the recent fuel price increase”, and then reported him as saying that “in implementing the new minimum wages, the National Employment Councils including the government, may consider or negotiate the staggering of such cost of living adjustments to reach the new levels.”
Had Moyo awarded the minimum wages with one hand and deferred them with the other? The Herald provided no clarification for this statement.

Like its print stable-mate, ZTV was content to regurgitate government’s position. There was no attempt even to access comment from the other TNF partners (labour and business). But The Daily News did (26/4). It quoted the ZCTU’s Wellington Chibhebhe saying: “This is just a fire-fighting measure by government…to hoodwink workers into believing that they are addressing the plight of the workers.”
The privately owned daily, the Independent, The Financial Gazette and Short Wave Radio Africa also provided more credible coverage of the strike itself. The Daily Mirror (24/4) too, reported that the strike had brought business to a halt. The Daily News (25/4) repeated its earlier claims that security forces in Masvingo were forcing shops to reopen and upped an earlier report of ZCTU officials arrested and detained in Gweru and Bulawayo from 12 to 16. Strangely though, it allowed this story to be subordinate to news in South Africa of Winnie Mandela’s conviction for fraud. The Zimbabwe Independent reported the figure of ZCTU officials arrested to be “at least 20…held by police since Wednesday” and the Chronicle of the same day reported that 21 ZCTU members had been arrested “for allegedly threatening workers who defied the labour body’s stay-away call.”

The Herald’s report on the first day of the strike (24/4) reported Transport Minister Witness Mangwende threatening to withdraw the permits of commuter bus operators who had withdrawn their services. The next day, under the headline, ‘State slams economic saboteurs’ the paper quoted Jonathan Moyo threatening employers: “…relevant authorities in government are compiling data on those industries that have illegally locked out workers for reasons that are manifestly political…,” and labour officials: “Those elements of labour who have called and encouraged the illegal stay-away would have to be criminally prosecuted…and held liable in terms of Section 109 of the Labour Relations Amendment Act.” The law would be applied “vigorously”, said Moyo. The story unintentionally served as an enlightening insight into the repressive nature of Zimbabwe’s recently amended labour legislation – and the vindictive nature of government.

3. Human rights abuses

News of the death of Tonderai Machiridza as a result of injuries allegedly inflicted by the police failed to appear in any of the government-controlled media. Reporting his death, The Daily News (21/4) said he had been one of four MDC activists in Chitungwiza who had been arrested, detained and tortured by the police. It followed this story with news of five more arrests (23/4), confirmed by the police and a post mortem report confirming the assault.
This was followed by reports on SW Radio Africa (24/4) and in The Daily News (25/04), the Zimbabwe Independent (25/04) and The Standard (27/04) that police had arrested relatives mourning Tonderai’s death. SWRA made strenuous efforts to persuade police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena that it was his public duty to provide some explanation for the arrest and detention of 55 mourners including Machiridza’s mother and widow, who had also been assaulted, according to the radio station. They were unsuccessful. But the Independent obtained a detailed statement from Bvudzijena concerning the circumstances of the man’s death and the arrest of “55 MDC supporters”. It also stated that two police officers were facing murder charges. MMPZ deplores this selective boycott of media organizations and the manifest censoring by the public media of serious allegations of brutality by members of state security agencies.

The Daily News also reported that Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge had barred the paper from interviewing Mudenge’s Angolan counterpart, Joao Bernado Miranda, who was in the country to meet President Mugabe and MDC leader Tsvangirai over Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economic and political situation.
Altogether, The Daily News reported a total of 10 different rights abuses in the week. The Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard, The Sunday Mail and Chronicle carried one story each involving rights abuses.

4. Other news and memorable quotes

“The majority of the people are a happy lot despite the hardships we are going through.” – President Mugabe, referring to the nature of Zimbabweans in his interview with Mighty Movies’ Supa Mandiwanzira broadcast on ZBC.

“Currently a litter of petrol (sic) is fetching $1500 to $2500 (on the black market) and diesel is being sold at $500 to $750 a litter (sic).” – The Daily Mirror (21/4).

“Teachers’ unions have vowed not to return to work when schools open on May 8th if their demands for a pay increase are not met by the end of this month (April)…” - The Daily Mirror (23/4).

“Postal rates will go up by as much as 650% with effect from next month (May)…Consumers will now pay $100 for letters…whose destination is within Zimbabwe” – The Daily News (25/4)
Ends.

The MEDIA UPDATE was produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702, E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Feel free to write to MMPZ. We may not able to respond to everything but we will look at each message. For previous MMPZ reports, and more information about the Project, please visit our website at http://www.mmpz.org.zw