JOHANNESBURG, 9 April 2007 (IRIN) - JOHANNESBURG, 9 April 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Extreme weather threatens over a million people MADAGASCAR: Successive cyclones bring country to its knees NAMIBIA: Flood water keeps displaced in camps ZIMBABWE: Both sides claim victory over stayaway SWAZILAND: Tuberculosis still killer number one

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Extreme weather threatens over a million people

Following months of erratic weather local authorities and aid agencies warn they are stretched beyond capacity in Southern Africa, where unusually heavy rains, a string of cyclones, severe flooding and extreme drought continue to threaten the lives of over a million people.

Communities in Madagascar, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia are struggling to recover. "The region has been exceptionally hard hit this year. The rains were early and heavier than usual and there have been more cyclones in a shorter period than in recent memory, in particular in Madagascar," Kelly David, head the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Southern African regional office, told IRIN.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71204

MADAGASCAR: Successive cyclones bring country to its knees

As the sixth major cyclone to hit Madagascar this season tears across the northeast of the impoverished Indian ocean island, a relentless succession of natural disasters has left nearly half a million people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

Tropical cyclone Jaya made landfall on Madagascar's northeastern coast on Tuesday on a projected trajectory that will see it rage through areas already devastated by cyclone Indlala just over two weeks ago.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71170

NAMIBIA: Flood water keeps displaced in camps

Water levels are still keeping thousands in camps after flooding in Namibia's northern Caprivi region in early March, and aid agencies warn it could take months before displaced residents can return home.

Torrential rain in neighbouring Angola caused the Zambezi River to burst its banks and spill onto the floodplains. Villages outside Katima Mulilo, regional capital of the Caprivi Strip, have been submerged, and parts of the constituencies of Kabbe, Linyanti and Kongola in eastern Caprivi are flooded.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71186

ZIMBABWE: Both sides claim victory over stayaway

The Zimbabwe's Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has declared its two-day job stayaway to protest deteriorating standards of living a "major success", but by midday on Wednesday shops and banks had begun to reopen.

"The workers heeded the call to stayaway while some companies contributed by shutting down although we are aware that some of them were forced to open their business premises by security officials," said ZCTU information officer Last Tarabuka.

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71188

Constitutional reform basis for mediation, say activists

Civil society groups in Zimbabwe have revived calls for constitutional reform as South African President Thabo Mbeki begins mediation between the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition to help resolve the country's political and economic crisis.

Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a pressure group advocating constitutional reform, said, "Even though we don't expect Mbeki to dictate terms, it should be realised that constitutional reform is paramount in any dialogue that might take place and as a mediator he should stress that."

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71203

Govt accused of using 'trumped up charges' against opposition

Human rights activists have dismissed the recent arrest of several members of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for allegedly playing a role in the recent spate of petrol-bombings across the country as an attempt to discredit the main opposition party.

"It does not take a rocket scientist to see that the MDC activists were arrested by the police, which is increasingly becoming a political arm of the government, on trumped up charges," Jacob Mafume, a human rights lawyer working with Crisis in Zimbabwe, a coalition of more than 300 civil society organisations, told IRIN.

More details:

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71169

SWAZILAND: Tuberculosis still killer number one

Tuberculosis (TB), aggravated by HIV/AIDS, remains chief cause of death in Swaziland, which holds the dubious record of having the most TB infections in the world per population.

Cesphina Mabuza, Director of Health Services for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, told IRIN there were 186 TB patients per 100,000 people, and "of the 8,500 reported cases in the country, all are on some form of treatment."

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71139

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