Cosatu members stuck in Zim
2004-10-26 19:10
Special Report
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says the government desperately needs revenue from diamond sales, after the lifting of a global ban imposed over military abuses.
A dusty road leads to the village of Wedza, where veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war eke out a meagre living on their farm cooperative, which after a promising start now brings only despair.
Harare - Thirteen members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions deported by the Zimbabwe government would not be leaving the country on Tuesday as planned due to the unavailability of flights, the union said.
"They will probable catch a flight on Wednesday, depending on the availability of flights," Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said on Tuesday night.
He said there were police at Harare airport, but that there were no cases of harassment reported.
The 13 executive members of Cosatu who arrived in Zimbabwe on Monday night, were arrested on Tuesday morning and detained at their hotel before being taken under police escort to Harare International Airport to catch a flight leaving for Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, foreign affairs minister Ronnie Mamoepa said the South African government accepted that Zimbabwe was an independent sovereign state that had an inalienable right to determine and to apply its immigration laws.
He said the government was in consultation with Zimbabwean authorities and would interact with Cosatu leadership to determine an amicable solution.
- SAPA