Tinomutenda Midzi

BIKITA – Chief Marozva of Bikita has resolved to impose fines on people who do not have toilets at their homesteads apparently as a way of improving the health and well-being of communities in his area, TellZim News can reveal.
The resolution will see headman without toilets at their homesteads paying a goat to the chief as a fine, while ordinary villagers will pay a chicken each for the same ‘offence’.
Speaking at a gathering at Gwindingwi High School last week, Chief Marozva, born Phillip Mudhe, said he will work hand in glove with the government’s to promote better health facilities in his area.
He was speaking during the launch of the fifth Mass Drug Administration on Neglected Tropical Diseases campaign.
“It is a good thing that the government remembered Masvingo and I surely will support the efforts. For that cause, every headman without a toilet should pay a goat as fine. After that, he will also see to it that anyone without a toilet in his villages will pay him a cock,” he said. 
Most rural households in Zimbabwe do not have toilets but the legality of punishing people who cannot afford to build toilets remains questionable.news

Jubilee Mahlamvana/
Exsto Makunzva

ZVISHAVANE – Members of the opposition coalescing under the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA) who had planned to stage a massive demonstration against the government last Saturday were left disappointed after police refused to authorise the demo, claiming the route that the demonstrators wanted to take was booked for another demo.
The demonstration, which was intended to start at 10:30 am from Mandava bus terminus and moving along Masvingo-Bulawayo road to Acropol, failed to kick off after the police wrote to organisers informing them of the prohibition.
The march was intended to coincide with demonstrations against government unwillingness to even the political playing field and address economic problems elsewhere in the country.
Speaking to TellZim News, secretary for defence and security for the MDC-T’s Midlands South province, Trynos Shava expressed dissatisfaction over the way police handled the matter.
“We booked for this area two weeks ago and we spent a lot of time discussing the demo with the police and we were initially granted permission to go ahead with the march. I was surprised see another letter barring us from proceeding with the demonstration,” Shava said.
The party’s secretary-general for Zvishavane district, Peter Hove accused the police of being partisan, saying Zanu PF gatherings are always sanctioned without any hassles.
“This must not happen again. How can the police reverse an authorisation for our demo simply to accommodate a Zanu PF gathering when we applied for clearance first? This is an act of gross injustice. Zanu PF only applied two weeks after we had been cleared yet they got first

preference,” said Hove.
Zvishavane has not experienced any of the numerous protests that have rocked the country in recent weeks.
In their letter to Hove, the police indicated that they could not sanction the demo because another demo convened by one Alfred Matayaya was scheduled to take place on the same date, time and following the same route.
The police also cited alleged failure by conveners to furnish them with information on the names and number of marshals as provided in section 25 (2) (g) of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) Chapter 11:17.
The conveners also, among many other things, allegedly failed to explain the manner in which participants were going to be transported to the place of assembly and from the point of dispersal.news

Tinomutenda Midzi

BIKITA – Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs, Shuvai Mahofa, gave Odzi-Neguvhe cultural dancing group, a combination of Odzi Secondary and Neguvhe Primary schools, a paltry US$50 after the dance group put up a stunning performance of an old dance move at Gwindingwi High School last week.
Mahofa was attending the launch of the fifth Mass Drug Administration (MDA) on Neglected Tropical Diseases campaign by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
Her act of ‘generosity’ came after the Odzi-Neguvhe dance group showcased excellent talent in Chokoto dance, a unique folk dance last witnessed decades ago.
Although the dance group seemed humbled by Mahofa’s gift, people who spoke to this publication said it was shameless for Mahofa to give such peanuts as appreciation of rare talent given that she is part of an elite class with access to vast wealth to spare.
“The old lady has been in the privileged ruling class for decades now and she, like many in her circles, has easy access to state power and resources and has made a fortune for herself. It is therefore a wonder when she gives such peanuts to a dance group made up of poor rural children,” said an attendant.
Another attendant described the offer as a mockery to the rural poor who often do their best to impress an insensitive leadership whenever given a chance.
“It is not surprising at all. She embodies the selfishness that characterises the country’s ruling class; they have everything, but do not want to give anything meaningful to the poor masses they pretend to lead,” said the attendant.
Others also criticised Mahofa for not learning from the philanthropic work of First Lady Grace Mugabe whom they said gives meaningfully to the poor. 
However, the mentors of the dance group; Betty Nemabwe and Isaac Sungandewo, said they were pleased that the minister had recognised their work.
“I am exceedingly contented by the minister’s offer because she has shown recognition of our work,” Sungandewo said.
Speaking at the event, Mahofa said the province of Masvingo had been honoured to host the launch of the MDA.
“I feel honoured as a leader because we have been chosen to host this important event and that makes us special,” she said.news

As the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC), we will be in attendance at this year’s edition of Masvingo Agricultural Show under the theme Family Planning for Sustainability.
Our main thrust this year is on Parent to Child Communication (PCC) which values effective communication between parents and children about comprehensive sexuality education. We maintain that PCC is much more than giving information, it is rather an opportunity to prepare young people for a healthy sexual reproductive health life as well. Sexuality education does not harm children but it can do a lot of good.
The manner in which young people are making decisions related to sexual and reproductive health is rapidly evolving. Research has found that good parent-child communication ON Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health (ASRH) leads to lower sexual risk behaviours.
Parent to child communication empowers parents with adequate information and tools for dialogue and knowledge and the needs of young people; it creates a rapport between adolescents and parents.
The benefits of parent to child communication are reduced teenage pregnancies, reduced maternity mortality rate and reduced child marriages. ZNFPC is therefore focusing on PCC this year. Besides the said services, we will be offering our services during the course of the agricultural show with free consultations also offered.

Isabel Ndlovu

ZVISHAVANE – Violet Dziva of Ivhukuvanhu in Mberengwa under Chief Maziofa approached the magistrate court for help to recover a beast she paid as cover up for an alleged rape offence committed by her son.
The deal to conceal the alleged rape, however, turned sour after the family of the victim failed to maintain their side of the bargain after they took back their daughter against an earlier agreement that she would be allowed to stay with her boyfriend as his wife.
The court was told that the applicant had paid a cow to the girl’s father (name withheld to protect the girl) so that he could keep quiet about the rape and allow his daughter to become Dziva’s daughter in-law.
The court heard that the girl (name withheld to protect her identity) who is 17, had sex with Dziva’s son. Her father then noticed blood stains on her clothes and quizzed her about it until she opened up to his father that she had lost virginity to Dziva’s son.
Upon hearing that, the father sent his daughter packing. The daughter left home to stay with her boyfriend at Dziva’s homestead.
The two families then approached Chief Maziofa for a solution and the chief advised them to settle their matter amicably.
The girl’s father went on to demand a beast and two goats from Dziva so that he would not take back his daughter whom he said had stayed too long with Dziva’s family.
The applicant then paid the requested beast and offered US$200 in place of the two goats.
The magistrate Shepherd Munjanja ordered the respondent to return the beast and money to Dziva and advised him to report the rape case to the police.news

As AgriSeeds, we will this year spread further by exhibiting at the Masvingo Agricultural Show exhibition where we will be showcasing hybrid maize seeds ahead of this year’s farming season.
During this year’s Masvingo Agricultural Show, we will be focusing on marketing the newly available hybrid seed as we are moving from the traditional open pollinated varieties we have usually been offering.
Though the old Open Pollinated Varieties that consist of ZM 521, ZM401 and ZM 309 are still available on the market, AgriSeeds will unveil the advantages of four hybrid seeds which are given below:
ZAP 61 is an early maturing (120 – 135 days) white, hard grained, flinty hybrid that tends to double – cob. It is tolerant to maize streak virus, rust and cob rot with very good grey leaf spot tolerance making ZAP 61 very suitable for irrigation. Having good drought tolerance, ZAP 61 is widely adapted to all maize growing areas of the country – even areas of low fertility. Yeild potential is +10mt/ha.
ZAP 55 is an early maturing (120 – 132 days) hybrid with very white semi-flint grain. ZAP 55 has excellent adaptability to drought and low nitrogen levels (low fertility levels), along with good tolerance to leaf diseases where ZAP 55 can even be grown in parts of natural region 5. ZAP 55 has good grey leaf spot and maize streak virus tolerances, where this hybrid can be grown in both high and low rainfall areas where it can reach 9mt/ha.
R 201 is an early maturing (120 – 125 days) white dent hybrid which has excellent drought tolerance and flowering synchronization, making it highly suitable for dyer maize growing areas. R 201 tolerates the heat and drought stress of natural regions 4 and 5 well. Harvest reaches 9mt/ha.
R 215 is an early maturing (125 – 135 days) white dent hybrid that is higher yielding than R 201 in similar environments and harvests up to 7mt/ha. This hybrid should not be grown in areas of high humidity and heat.news

GUTU – Two non-governmental organisations, Care International and Oxfam have embarked on a programme to rehabilitate dip tanks in Gutu district, some of which had degenerated into ramshackle structures.
A veterinary department official said work had already started on some dip tanks in the Chiwara and Nyamandi areas of the district.
“At least three dip tanks have been rehabilitated but more work is yet to be done on other dip tanks. The organisations are assisting with roofing sheets, cement and timber products for the maintenance of the drying pens and other related infrastructure.
“The dip tank at Sote in the Nyamandi area is coming up next and will be rehabilitated with the assistance of the local community like what has been happening elsewhere,” the official said.
Members of dip tank committees and the local communities expressed gratitude for the work being done by the two organisations.
They commended the organisations for coming to their assistance at a time when they cannot maintain their own infrastructure due to the economic hardships that are being experienced across the country.
“We have been experiencing problems ensuring the regular dipping of livestock in the area due to the economic hardships. Unlike in the past, villagers have to folk out their own resources to procure the cattle dip but at times they fail to do that.
“The generous gesture by the two organisations will assist villagers to direct their efforts towards the actual dipping of livestock instead of the maintenance of the infrastructure,” said, Fidelis Mandishaya, a dip tank committee member at Sote.
He added that the maintenance of the dip tanks will go a long way in reducing the prevalence of tick-borne diseases in the area.news

TellZim reporter

MASVINGO – City of Masvingo has begun its annual budget consultative meetings to gather the views of residents ahead of the 2017 budget.
Speaking to TellZim News after the first consultative meeting for Wards 8, 9 and 10 held at the Civic Centre, City Treasurer, Thandiwe Dube encouraged people to come in their numbers as the meetings will direct the way revenue is used.
“There is a lot of apathy when it comes to people taking part in budget consultative meetings. As council, we urge people to come in numbers so that we plan together. That is very important as it gives room for people-driven development in our city.
“We have put announcements at schools, churches and other public places giving dates and encouraging residents to participate in these meetings. Our local councillors are also helping us to mobilise the people,” Dube said.
An official council communiqué in possession of TellZim News reveals that the Consultative Budgetary Meetings, that started on September 19, 2016, will continue to wards 5 and 6 at Building Brigade.
On September 21, 2016, the meetings will move to ward 1 and 2 at Mucheke Hall.
Ward 3 will have its own meeting on September 23, 2016 at Francis Aphiri Primary School while ward 4 will have its meeting on the same day at Runyararo Primary School.