Government says there is nothing more it can do to help end xenophobia in South Africa other than appealing to that country’s government to sort out the problem.

Chief government spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili says the xenophobic attacks being perpetrated in South Africa is that country’s internal security matter and therefore the onus of resolving it remains on its government.

Mr. Kambwili who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Minister has told Qfm News by telephone the only help the Zambian government has given in this case is to request SADC to intervene.

He says SADC has to this effect taken an initiative in addition to the statement that AU has made with respect the attacking of foreign nationals in South Africa.

Mr. Kambwili has also disclosed that the Zambian government since been reliably informed of the pledge that South African President Jacob Zuma has made to the rest of SADC member states of sorting out the said problem.

ZIMBABWEAN sex workers have invaded the country masquerading as cross-border traders selling a variety of merchandise.

At night, however, the women shift from being respectable business persons to sex workers parading in the streets of Lusaka townships and patronising lodges and guest houses.

The Zimbabwean sex workers have particularly found a haven in Chawama and Kuku townships where they lodge at two guest houses commonly known as Katete and Bulawayo.

Residents of the two townships said men from Chawama, Kuku and other parts of Lusaka had been flocking to these guest houses in a bid to have a good time with the Zimbabwean sex workers.

Many of these sex workers prefer Chawama which for them has become more like a gold mine because men there prefer the Zimbabwean prostitutes to their Zambian counterparts.

A Zambian sex worker, Judith Mwila of Chawama, who has been in the business for years, said many men no longer went for locals, claiming that Zimbabwean sex workers were ‘more active and sweet in bed’.

Ms Mwila said the other unfortunate thing was that the Zambian sex workers had lost business to their Zimbabwean counterparts who had proved to be extremely cheap.

An undercover survey by the Sunday Times found that while Zambian sex workers were charging at least K50 per session, Zimbabweans were charging as low as K15.

Incidentally, this illicit business is not only conducted at the so-called Katete and Bulawayo lodges but exists in other townships as well such as Chibolya, Kanyama, Garden and Chaisa.

Zimbabwean sex workers can be found in these other townships selling their bodies cheaply, and this has compelled more and more Zambian men to prefer them to their Zambian counterparts.

Ms Mwila called on the law-enforcement officers to ensure that foreign female visitors in particular had legal documentation because many of these were sex workers were making the lives of Zambian prostitutes difficult by pushing them out of ‘business’.

“I am urging the Immigration Department to move in and check if these people have legal documents to be in the country because they are making our lives hard,” Ms Mwila said.

Another resident, Henry Ngoma, called on Lusaka City Council to move in and close ‘Katete’ and ‘Bulawayo’ lodges in particular, which he
said had been turned into brothels similar to what previously were
known as ‘midadadada’.

Mr Ngoma said the issue was getting out of hand because even young men were flocking to the two brothels because there services were affordable.
“It is outrageous because boys are also flocking to these brothels and paying for cheap sex,” Mr Ngoma said.

“I am hereby urging the council and other relevant authorities to ensure that they close them down.”

Immigration public relations manager Namati Nshinka said some of these women may have valid documents although they ended up doing something else.

The Immigration Department had in the recent past conducted operations to remove sex workers from Chawama.

Mr Nshinka said the department would soon carry out another raid and clear sex workers that might have returned to the township.

He was aware of sex workers that were operating at ‘Katete’ and ‘Bulawayo’ and warned the owners of the two places that they risked being closed down.

“We are going to carry out an operation to remove and deport all the sex workers operating at the named brothels,” he said.

VICE-President Inonge Wina is expected in Indonesia tomorrow for the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African conference and 10th Anniversary of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP).

This is according to the programme released by acting Zambian high commissioner to Malaysia Martha Lubemba.

Mrs Wina is scheduled to attend the Asian and African leaders’ summit in Jakarta on April, 22-23, 2015 before proceeding to Bandung city for the commemoration of the event and historical walk.

The Asian-African forum is aimed at bringing Asian and African nations to stronger partnerships and to share experiences in enhancing both regions’ economic development.

The conference, which starts on April 19, 2015, will have a series of meetings with the senior officials meeting on the first day followed by a ministerial meeting the next day.

The leaders’ meeting will be held on April 22-23, 2015 alongside the African Business Summit before the delegation moves to Bandung city for the commemoration of the anniversary of the event on April 24, 2015.

The theme for this year’s conference and NAASP is `Strengthening South-South Co-operation to promote World Peace and Prosperity’.

Delegates from 109 Asian and African countries, 16 observer countries and 25 international organisations are expected to attend the conference, which ends on April 24, 2015.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Saturday expressed shock and disgust at attacks on immigrants in neighbouring South Africa and said his government was working to bring back home affected Zimbabwean citizens.

At least four people have been killed in a wave of anti-immigrant violence in South Africa that started two weeks ago in the port city of Durban and spread to Johannesburg.

Mugabe said during a speech at a football stadium in the capital Harare to mark 35 years of Zimbabwe’s independence that all Africans in South Africa should be treated with dignity.

“I would want now to express our sense of shock, disgust as we abhor the incidences which happened in Durban,” Mugabe said.

“The act of treating other Africans in that horrible way can never be condoned by anyone,” said the 91-year-old, speaking on behalf of the regional Southern African Development Community and African Union, both of which he currently chairs.

An estimated one million Zimbabweans live in South Africa having escaped an economic crisis and political violence at home over the last 15 years.

Periodic outbreaks of anti-immigrant violence in South Africa have been blamed on high unemployment, widespread poverty and glaring income disparities.

The Malawian government has hired buses to repatriate 500 of its nationals, Information Minister Kondwani Nankhumwa said on Friday. He urged South Africa to provide greater protection for immigrants, echoing demands from China and the African Union.

Mugabe said his government had put in place measures to bring back its citizens but did not give details.

The state-owned Herald newspaper reported that Zimbabwe planned to repatriate 1,000 citizens and was setting up a receiving centre at Beitbridge, the biggest border post with South Africa

The Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) says it is wrong for chiefs to request President Edgar Lungu not to enact the constitution.

ZDDM vice president Charles Kafumbo says some traditional leaders do not want the constitution to be enacted because of the fear to lose jurisdiction over traditional land.

Mr Kafumbo said traditional leaders should not be selfish but instead put the interests of the people before their own.

He said it was unfortunate that chiefs have u-turned when they were part of the consultative meetings at both district and provincial levels over the constitution making process.

Mr Kafumbo said such sentiments are disturbing to the Zambian people who by now should be scrutinising the draft constitution as government earlier promised.

He maintained that the constitution should be passed at the national referendum.

Some traditional leaders have called for the removal of a clause in the draft constitution that they perceive will take away their jurisdiction over traditional land.

People in the country have been cautioned not to allow xenophobic attacks being perpetrated in South Africa temper with their Christian values of forgiving.

Former prime Minister under the United National Independence Party (UNIP) government Malimba Masheke is appealing to Zambians to remember that it is not their nature as Christians to retaliate when they have been wronged.

General Masheke has told Qfm News by telephone that President Edgar Lungu is right and people in the country should heed his counsel not to take a tit for tat approach over what is happening in South Africa.

He has stressed the need for people to remember that they have brothers and sisters living in other countries and therefore the same treatment they expect their relatives to be given in foreign land is what they too should render to other foreign nationals.

The former prime Minister however notes that this does not on the other hand mean that the xenophobic attacks happening in South African should not be condemned or protested against.

He says if people are to protest against the said attacks such expression of displeasure should not be violent.

General Masheke who is also a retired Zambia Army Commander has also appealed to SADC to intervene by not allowing what is happening in South Africa affect the region’s peace and unity.

He states that SADC should ensure that all its member countries continue interacting with one another.