Elephant tramples Vic Falls curio seller to death

A Zimbabwean man has been trampled to death by an elephant in the top resort town of Victoria Falls, the authorities announced on Tuesday. 

The 32-year-old man was a curio seller in the town. The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said in a statement that he was killed on Sunday.

The man, who was with a friend, came face-to-face with a female elephant with a calf. 

"It is reported that the elephant charged at them and the two tried to escape, [but] unfortunately one was attacked and killed," said the parks authority.

The state-run Chronicle newspaper identified the dead man as Member Ncube.

Ncube's friend and fellow curio seller, Cornwell Nkomo, told the paper that before the incident, they had taken refuge in a secluded spot to evade police officers. They were apparently not supposed to be in the area.

The two men stumbled upon the elephant while on their way back to the Big Tree – a large Baobab that is a local landmark popular with tourists.

Nkomo said he and Ncube fled in different directions after the elephant charged. Ncube’s body was later found by game rangers.

The Chronicle reported that vendors who sold their wares near the Big Tree are "usually involved in running battles with the police and [national parks] rangers as people are not allowed in the area without being accompanied by guides because of the dangers posed by wild animals". 

A Zimbabwean professional guide, Quinn Swales, was killed by a lion in Hwange National Park on Monday.

Source: Elephant tramples Zimbabwe curio seller to death (25/08/15)

Lion kills safari guide in Hwange

A safari guide was mauled to death by a lion in Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe on Monday, a lodge in the park announced.

Hwange National Park was home to Cecil the Lion before the animal was killed in an illegal hunt.

The man has been named as Quinn Swales, 40, according to a statement from Camp Hwange.

Swales was leading a group of tourists on a photographic safari when the male lion "unexpectedly charged", the lodge said.

"It is with deep regret and great sadness that we are able to confirm the death of Quinn Swales, a Camp Hwange Professional Guide, who was fatally mauled by a male lion whilst out on a walking safari this morning," the statement read.

It was posted to the lodge's Facebook page.

"We can confirm that Quinn did everything he could to successfully protect his guests and ensure their safety, and that no guests were injured in the incident," it added.

Users of the page have since posted condolences.

Swales's Facebook page said he was from Trelawney in northern Zimbabwe. Tragically the last photo he posted on August 10 was of Cecil the Lion, who was killed by a US dentist on an illegal hunt in Hwange National Park in early July. Cecil's death caused global outrage, reviving questions about big-game hunting and its sustainability in Africa.

Shelley Cox of African Bush Camps wrote: "Quinn's actions in successfully protecting the lives of his guests is heroic and reminiscent of his outstanding guiding skills, experience and training...

"It is certainly a tragedy and a loss to the guiding fraternity and tourism industry."

Camp Hwange said on its official website that all of its guides were "handpicked to the highest standards".

Source: Lion kills safari guide in Hwange (24/08/15)
More: Tour Guide Killed in Lion Attack Did Everything Right (26/08/15)

Kazungula Bridge to Cut Traveller's Nightmares

Like most travellers particularly between Zambia and Botswana I have always found crossing the Zambezi River by pontoon at Kazungula a terrifying experience because of many accidents in which hundreds of people, including former Southern Province Minister Maimbolwa Sakubita, lost their lives when the pontoon capsised in the 1970s.

Not only that about 15 more people mostly Zambians that included women and children perished when a South African heavy-duty truck tipped over, throwing passengers on board the pontoon into the crocodile-infested and fast-flowing Zambezi River some years later.

For the commercial transporter inordinate delays at Kazungula border crossing, where vehicles ferrying cargo to and from various countries in the region and beyond, are and could be marooned for days if not weeks, translate into huge financial losses and turn-around times.

While the adventurous tourist may often find crossing by pontoon pleasurable, the not-so-brave traveller is forced to cross the river by using the Livingstone-Victoria Falls Town (Zimbabwe)-Kazungula-Kasane route or Lusaka-Chirundu-Harare route and vice-versa.

So every stakeholder was elated in 2005 when it was announced that the Zambian and Botswana governments had agreed to jointly construct a permanent bridge to link the two countries.

Following the announcement I filed a news story from Gaborone and sent it to the late Human Rights Commissioner Arnold Kapelembi (who was still the News Editor at the time I left the Times of Zambia newspaper in 1992) in his elevated capacity as Times Printpak Managing Director) based in Lusaka.

Titled 'Botswana, Zambia agree to build Kazugula bridge' the report, which I reproduce here for the benefit of readers of this column, said:

'Good news to all Kazungula pontoon users - the Botswana and Zambian governments have finally agreed to construct a permanent bridge across the Zambezi/Chobe Rivers to link the two SADC countries.'

It went on: 'Inviting tenders for the project, which is regarded as a giant leap forward and a stimulus to regional economic integration, the Zambia National Tender Board (ZNTB) says the two governments have agreed to promote 'free and unobstructed movement of both cargo and people by 'providing an appropriate bridge structure across the Zambezi River and border control facilities at Kazungula border between the two countries.

Viewed by regional watchers as probably Africa's first step on the road to hosting, for the first time, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010, the governments of Zambia and Botswana, through the Ministry of Works and Supply (Zambia) and the Ministry of Works and Transport (Botswana) have approved the development of the bridge project using Build-Operate Transfer (BOT) method.

ZNTB says BOT is one of the modern methods of financing and administering public infrastructure services through Public-Private Partnership initiatives (PPPs). According to ZNTB advertisement (which appeared) in the government-owned Botswana Daily News, this method has been successfully used in developed countries and some parts of Africa.

As a result, the Ministry of Works and Supply, for Zambia, and Works and Transport, for Botswana, intend to carry out design and construction of the following structures at Kazungula:

Road bridge, approximately 800m, and approach roads with high embankments at bridge approaches; and Border control facilities.

ZNTB, on behalf of the Ministry of Works and Supply, for Zambia, and Works and Transport (Botswana) 'now invites eligible consortiums' having proven track record in similar works involving modern techniques to submit their 'express interest'.

The consortium would normally comprise financial institutions, engineers, construction experts, and qualified/experienced concession operators. It says successful BOT bidders will be expected to carry out intensive technical and financial studies in collaboration with the ministries of the two countries, who are the executing agencies,' the article concluded.

However, the project ran into unexpected difficulties when Zimbabwe, which was reeling under economic sanctions imposed by most Western countries (following the controversial 2007 presidential election run-off that President Robert Mugabe won against MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai) but on whose territory part of the Bridge Project was to be constructed, objected unless Harare was guaranteed a stake as one of the major participating countries.

The project was further delayed by 2008 political changes that took place in the two principal cooperating countries - Botswana saw the retirement of President Festus Mogae and accession to power of Lieutenant-General Seretse Khama Ian Khama; and in Zambia - the death of President Levy Mwanawasa and his replacement by former vice president Rupiah Banda.

Although both governments remained stoutly committed to getting the project off the ground, progress was slow in that in Zambia president Banda, who had been elected to finish off Dr Mwanawasa's two years of his five-year term, lost his bid for what would have become his first five-year term to President Michael Sata whose Patriotic Front (PF) scooped the 2011 general election.

The project suffered another setback as President Sata, who initiated unprecedented infrastructural development projects across the country, died in November 2014 - and like Dr Mwanawasa - after only three years in office. But before his demise in a London hospital he had been receiving treatment, however, President Sata and Lt. Gen Khama had dispatched their respective Vice presidents Dr Guy Scott and Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe (who has since retired) to Kazungula for the ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of the road and rail bridge in August, 2014.

This was after the project had gone through tender and three companies out of the 26 that had expressed interest had been short-listed in March to undertake construction works. The companies were China Major Bridge Engineering Corporation, Shimizu- Stefanuti Joint Venture and Daewoo E & R of South Korea. A South African bidding company that felt marginalised, if my recollection is correct, protested prompting some would-be sponsors to threaten pulling out.

So, the arrival on the scene of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was greeted with a great sigh of relief by government officials, transporters and travellers like myself because their move ensured that the US $60 million financing gap that the project faced would no longer be a hindrance.

I do recall that upon his return to Gaborone, former Lusaka-based civil engineer Herbert Murray, who, according to him, was among the engineers that were pivotal in the construction of the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway in the 80s, told me he was in Kasane on private business when the Botswana-Zambia Joint Steering Committee met in the tourist resort town, to tie up a few loose ends.

Zambian officials had indicated that their target date for commissioning of the project that should benefit rural communities in senior chiefs Sekute's and Mukuni's chiefdoms, was August 13, 2014.

The bridge across the Zambezi River at the point where the borders of Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia meet has been the vital missing link on Sub-Saharan Africa's North-South Trade Corridor.

The plan is for the construction of a 923-metre long and 18.5-metre wide bridge with provisions for both rail and road transport. Two one-stop border facilities-one at each end - and access roads will also be built at an estimated total cost of US$259 million, according to initial estimates.

When he visited Zambia at the end of June last year AfDB president Dr Kaberuka pledged that his financial lending institution would work closely with the Botswana and Zambian governments to accelerate construction and that his bank would also accelerate financing procedures because the project was not only important to the economies of Zambia and Botswana but to Africa as a whole.

Source: Kazungula Bridge to Cut Traveller's Nightmares (22/08/15)

Zimbabwe hunting quotas set

ZIMBABWE has the capacity to remove an average of 500 elephants worth more than $30 million per year through export or trophy hunting quotas allocated through the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks), it has emerged. Wildlife is a lucrative industry across the globe and Zimbabwe is one of the countries with the finest animal species for the enterprise.

Wildlife hunting came under spotlight recently after the killing of the iconic Cecil the lion by an American dentist, Walter Palmer, at Antoinette farm in the Gwayi area, sparked global outcry over conservation concerns.

The dentist-cum-hunter “illegally” killed the Oxford University’s research-monitored lion after paying about $50,000. The matter is pending before the courts.

Every year the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority conducts workshops with wildlife farmers, hunters, local authorities, tour operators and photographers from across the country to decide on the number of wild game to be put on hunting quotas.

Players in the sector met parks officials at Hwange Main Camp on Thursday where they made their presentations and applications for hunting quotas for 2016.

“Different countries have different hunting quotas for different species. In Zimbabwe we’ve a hunting quota for elephants, leopards, cheetahs and crocodiles,” a senior parks official said after the closed door meeting.

“This means we can remove or export certain numbers of species but not exceed a given level. The cap for elephants is 500, leopards 500, crocodiles 200 and cheetahs 50. We’ll conduct a separate meeting to decide quotas for lions.”

Zimbabwe has an elephant population of more than 20,000, according to the 2013 census. Regional estimates indicate elephant hunting can fetch between $50,000 to $100,000 with an average of $25,000 and above for a lion and $17,000 for a leopard.

The parks official said the consultation process with interested parties in the hunting industry was the first stage of acquiring a hunting quota. “The meeting is meant to set sport hunting quotas for the following year to registered properties upon request. As parks we need to know how many animals can be hunted or removed on an annual basis.

“Each farmer brings his/her proposal and reports on what happened in the prior year. We check if the farmer used the given quota fully,” said the official.

“Data captured from the consultative meetings is critically assessed at national level when we look at hunting trends and the animal population.”

The official said the scientific review looks into factors such as poaching, trophy quality and size and aspects of natural mortality and problem animal control in surrounding communities.
Consideration of international regulations governing sport hunting in relation to national laws is also part of the process.

“We use these meetings to share developments in the global hunting industry. After submissions a report is sent to the minister for approval. After that the farmer can start marketing his products,” said the official.

“Any hunting outside this process is illegal, it’s poaching. We’ve conducted meetings in Bulawayo, Chinhoyi, Kwekwe and we will also be going to the Lowveld on Saturday.”

Source: Zimbabwe hunting quotas set (22/08/15)

Police retrieve body of Makumbi boat captain from Zambezi River

THE body of Makumbi boat captain Ephraim Daka who drowned on Saturday has been retrieved. A combined team of police and Livingstone fire brigade’s marine officers retrieved Daka’s body from the Zambezi River late Sunday afternoon. Daka, 36 slipped and fell into the water. A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said Daka may have drowned because the Makumbi boat engines were running, causing the current to increase around where he fell. The officer said Daka had a deep cut on the forehead, which could either have been caused by the boat’s propeller blades or after he hit a rock.

Source: Police retrieve body of Makumbi boat captain from Zambezi River (11/08/15)

Kazungula Bridge construction starts

CONSTRUCTION of the multi-million dollar Kazungula Bridge across the Zambezi River has started with the laying of a temporary bridge.
The US$259.3 million bridge is being undertaken by Zambia and Botswana with financial assistance from Japan International Co-operation Agencyand the African Development Bank.
In an interview, Kazungula District Commissioner Pascalina Musokowane said the project is on course and that construction work will take four years.
“The contractor [Deawoo Engineering and Construction of South Korea] is already on site and has so far employed 300 workers from both Zambia and Botswana.
“There is another company on board supplying fuel to the contractor which has also employed local people,” she said.


Ms Musokotwane said the bridge will facilitate effective trade with Botswana and other Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries through reduced transit time for freight and passengers.
She said the project, which has been in the making for over a decade, will transform the economy of not only Kazungula district but the country, too.


She said the pontoons currently being used on the Zambezi River are inadequate to meet the increased traffic demand.


“The project will facilitate quick movement of products within the region, create jobs and increase opportunities for intra- and regional trade activities,” she said.


Ms Musokotwane said the 923 metres long railway and road-bridge will also have two `one-stop border posts’ on either side of the bridge in Zambia and Botswana.


She said the contractor is working on construction of access and approach roads to the bridge and the one-stop border facility.


“The tender for the construction of the one stop border facility to house the Immigration department and Zambia Revenue Authority offices has been awarded. The contractor has started mobilisation,” she said.


She said there is increased activity in the area, which has resulted in job creation.


She cited construction of the Kazungula district hospital, which is nearing completion, a police station, Natsave bank, a post office, administrative office for civil servants and housing units as some of the on-going infrastructure projects in the district.

Source: Kazungula Bridge construction starts (11/08/15)

Victoria Falls to avail 1,000 housing stands

VICTORIA Falls Municipality, which faces shortage of land for expansion, plans to avail close to 1,000 housing stands. The stands will be between Mkhosana and Chinotimba suburbs along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls main road and along Kazungula-Victoria Falls road. The place had over the years been reserved as an animal corridor with no development allowed. The local authority has a housing backlog of about 10,000.

Town Clerk Christopher Dube recently told a full council meeting that high demand for housing had forced the council to seek clearance to develop the buffer zone for housing development.

“The buffer zone is the area between the main road and Mkhosana stands, which is not supposed to be developed. It’s 300m in width and now we would have to reduce it to only 70m and develop stands on the other end,” said Dube.

He said the development had been pushed by high demand for housing in the resort town. The Town Clerk said for nearly five years the local authority had tried to get authorisation to change the land use which was only granted recently.

Source: Victoria Falls to avail 1,000 housing stands (12/08/15)