(12 aug 2005 RV) The Zimbabwean government has refused entry to humanitarian aid
provided by the South African Council of Churches, (SACC), unless it can prove that
maize in the consignment has not been genetically-modified. Earlier this week, a shipment
was still being held in trucks at a warehouse in Johannesburg. The consignment
should have left for Zimbabwe last week but Zimbabwean authorities refused to issue
clearance permits unless the SACC furnished proof that the maize was not genetically
modified. The consignment consists mainly of blankets, cooking oil, beans and
maize for the 700,000 victims made homeless by the government's Drive Out Trash slum
demolition programme. Earlier we spoke to Ron Steel of the SACC.