Some of the reports suggested the ruling party would soon appoint a new party spokesperson and beef up security in the organisation.

The move is viewed as an attempt to position key people around Mugabe as he approaches retirement in 2008.

This, they hope, will result in a smooth take-over for Vice President Joice Mujuru.

However, senior Zanu PF officials have denied reports that Charamba is facing a probe.

Zanu PF national chairman and Speaker of the House of Assembly John Nkomo said: "I am not aware of any investigations being made on Charamba... However I cannot rule out the fact that the system would from time to time review how it operates as we would not want as a party to be at variance with our government."

The Minister of State Security, Didymus Mutasa, also shot down suggestions that Charamba is under investigation.

"I am not aware of the alleged probe that you speak about. Since we met in Esigodini, there has been no other Zanu PF meeting so I don't know where that emanates from. You should just disregard those reports because they are not coming from the party," Mutasa said.

Zanu PF deputy spokesperson, Ephraim Masawi, denied the ruling party was investigating Charamba and that they were scouting for a party presidential spokesperson.

Masawi, however, confirmed that Zanu PF was working on ways of "harmonising relations" between government and the party.

He said: "We have been saying it all along that the party is supreme so we want our policies to be implemented well by government and that is the harmonisation we are talking about."

Masawi said he, together with his boss Nathan Shamuyarira, would soon meet the Minister of Information, Tichaona Jokonya, to map out ways of harmonising the relations.

"How can we look for a new party spokesperson when there is Cde Shamuyarira and myself? We will only be removed at the next Congress," Masawi said.

Shamuyarira declined to speak to The Standard.

In a recent article published in The Zimbabwe Independent, Professor Jonathan Moyo, in whose constituency the Dinyane meeting was held, wrote: "… it is common cause among those who know what happened that Charamba, Mugabe's press secretary, actually drafted Emmerson Mnangagwa's speech that was delivered by Chinamasa at Dinyane School on November 18, 2004. I still have the original copy of Charamba's draft speech with his handwritten cover note attached!"

In the same instalment, Moyo suggests that there was nothing wrong with the Tsholotsho meeting as it reflected healthy competition for power.

When The Standard sought Moyo's comment yesterday, he recoiled, saying:

"I am in a meeting and I would rather return to that meeting."

Charamba denied allegations made just after the Dinyane meeting that he signed a cheque used to charter a plane to Tsholotsho.

The Tsholotsho gang had agreed that Thenjiwe Lesabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa would be the two Zanu PF vice presidents, a move which would have thrown Joseph Msika in the political wilderness.

Under the Tsholotsho arrangement, Patrick Chinamasa was to replace John Nkomo as party chairman.

Charamba's mobile phone went unanswered when The Standard telephoned him yesterday.

Mary Sandasi, the executive director of Women Aids Support Network (WASN), told The Standard that they had been particularly enraged that the national budget announcement and the elections for Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly were conducted on 1 December, the United Nations World AIDS Day.

Mugabe also officially opened the general assembly of the African Bankers' Forum in Harare on 1 December.

On the same day, several AIDS activists were arrested and detained by police for 29 hours after marching in commemoration of people who have died and those living with HIV and AIDS.

The activists also wrote separate petitions to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, John Nkomo, Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Gideon Gono.

"Such actions as to have a major gathering taking place in Harare on such a big day clearly show disregard of the plight of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe," Sandasi said.

She said with all prominent and opinion leaders gathered in Harare and the nation's attention focusing on the budget, the AIDS commemorations lost their impact.

However, the main commemoration was held in Chirumhanzu with little senior representation from the government.

In the petition to Mugabe, the activists wrote: "It is against this background that we feel an intervention by your Excellency will see everyone, including government ministers and MPs commemorate World AIDS Day in their constituencies. …we feel it is important that through your office, your Excellency that all government ministries are seen to actively participate on this day. MPs should be in their constituencies and deliberate on HIV and AIDS issues with the electorate so that these issues become high on the agenda of Parliamentary debates."

The petition further adds: "As declared by you your Excellency, President RG Mugabe, HIV and AIDS is a state of emergency and it should be treated as such by all."

Sandasi said as a result of the botch-up, MPs and government ministers had lost an opportunity to get the people's concerns on the pandemic.

She added that because of other parallel events on 1 December, the media was bound to focus on the government programmes where influential people in government were in attendance, resulting in inadequate press coverage for activities marking World AIDS Day.

"December 1 is the main day that we have and we would have wanted a situation where the whole nation would have directed its energies on debating issues related to how best we can fight HIV and AIDS and its effect on Zimbabweans," reads the petition. Sandasi said staggering figures provided by the Ministry of Health indicated that more that 2 million Zimbabweans were living with HIV and AIDS with between 300 000 and 500 000 in need of urgent Anti-Retroviral drugs.

However, of these, only 20 000 are accessing treatment. "Figures provided by the ministry indicate that Zimbabwe has 1.2 million children orphaned by HIV and AIDS while one child dies of AIDS every 15 minutes," said Sandasi, adding that this impacted on the economy.

Government spokesperson, George Charamba, was not immediately available for comment.

In coming up with the percentage increase, Mahere estimated that the November to December Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is calculated by the Central Statistical Office (CSO), would not exceed 50 percent.

Mahere said: "…hence all proposed fees and levy increases should not exceed 150 percent of what they were in term 3 of 2005 for the first term of January 2006 in order to make education affordable."

However, the chairman of the ATS, Jameson Timba, insisted that school fees levels for this term of 2006 can only be determined when the CPI for December is published.

Timba said: "Until the CPI for December is published we can not with certainty determine the percentage increase of fees between the third term of 2005 and first term of 2006 in the spirit of the new amended Bill."

But Mahere insisted that all schools should adhere to the new prescribed fees regardless of the fact that the CPI for December has not been published.

"We agreed on a new formula and that's what all schools should adhere to," Mahere said.

In 2004, Chigwedere closed down 46 private schools after they increased fees. However, the High Court ordered the Ministry not to close down private schools that increased fees without the ministry's approval.

In a landmark judgment, Justice Tedious Karwi declared that all private schools in the country could increase fees without the consent of the parent ministry.

Timba said ATS had already made representations to the Minister of Education, Sport and Culture, Aeneas Chigwedere, on how fees for the first term of 2006 should be dealt with pending the enactment of the Education Bill.

"We are yet to receive an official response to our proposal," said Timba, without disclosing the ATS' proposals.

Already, some schools had increased fees for the first term for 2006 by more than 150 percent. St James Girls' High School near Bulawayo has raised its fees from about $4.8 million last term to $13 million, an increase of about 250 percent.

Mahere yesterday said all schools that had increased fees by more than 150 percent should credit the remainder to next term.

"We know some have already increased beyond what we set but we have instructed those schools to credit the fees to next term," Mahere said.

This is despite the fact that last year alone, the DFID spent more than £40m on projects meant to provide food stability and fight the spread and effect of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Zanu PF's strongholds, the rural areas.

Late last year DFID donated an additional £10 m, about Z$1.23 trillion, to the World Food Programme, which will be used to buy food supplies for starving Zimbabweans.

Other NGOs that are on the list are the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) and Bulawayo Agenda, a pressure group.

"The opposition is also grouped in the form of NGOs and civic groups all sponsored by the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. NGOs such as DFID, NCA, HOZA (sic) and Bulawayo Agenda are clear cases in point. Stern action shall be taken against them," reads part of the report, which was adopted by Zanu PF.

The government has in the past tried to regulate and monitor the operations of the NGOs by the introduction of the NGO Bill. However President Robert Mugabe declined to assent to the Bill after it was passed in Parliament last year.

A DFID spokesperson last week said the UK Government had been providing development assistance to Zimbabwe since independence and expects to continue providing aid for the foreseeable future.

The spokesperson revealed that the organisation would provide about £30m in 2006 and similar amount for 2007, depending on the level of humanitarian need.

DFID is committed to using it's funding as effectively as possible to contribute to tackling the Millennium Development Goals, and in Zimbabwe focuses on food security, HIV and AIDS and some of the health MDG targets, said the spokesperson.

DFID mainly channels its funding through UN agencies and NGOs and works with those agencies and relevant government ministries to support food security and HIV and AIDS programmes, including those which aim to increase access to anti-retroviral therapy and help the growing numbers of orphans and vulnerable children.

Lovemore Madhuku, the NCA chairperson, said they were unmoved by the revelations.

He said: "They can not take any sterner action more that what we have experienced in the past. We know that they only want to intimidate the civic society by resurrecting the NGO Bill."

The report also says Zanu PF is very happy over the state of the opposition as represented by the factious Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

"The opposition as represented by the MDC has given our party great joy as it drove itself into a suicide mode and finally committed suicide over the much awaited Senatorial elections," says the report.

It also said that the MDC's influence fell from 48% in 2000 to 34% in the March 2005 general elections.

Bakshi interviewed a number of people during his stay in the country. These included staff from the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH), the Ministry of Information and Publicity and other broadcasting houses.

Bakshi also says he had an interview with Information and Publicity Secretary, George Charamba.

After completing his research, Bakshi decided to leave the country on 30 December but was arrested by officers from the Law and Order section who confiscated all his tapes.

Rangu Nyamurundira, who represented Bakshi, said his client was arrested after he had boarded a plane back to the United States.

"He spent four nights in police custody after he was arrested for allegedly stealing from ZBH. The alleged tape had recordings on the Hondo Yeminda jingles, Liberation songs and clips on the Selous Scouts," Nyamurundira said.

He said after the investigations the police established that Bakshi was a "genuine student and had no any other motives".

"We went to court on Tuesday, but the Attorney-General's office said the matter did not constitute any theft and the charges were withdrawn before plea," Nyamurundira said.

He said Bakshi had received permission from ZBH to get the information from the archives for his thesis.

"Bakshi said when he went to library, he was told to buy his own tape for the recordings, which he did," Nyamurundira said.

However, when Bakshi returned to collect his tape on a Friday, the day of his departure, he was asked to wait while consultations on whether giving the American student the tape was the right thing to do.

After waiting and since time was running out he left with the tape without informing the person he had spoken to earlier, his lawyer said.

Bakshi flew back to the USA last week.

In his letter dated 23 December 2005, Chombo said the councillors should resume duties on 1 November 2005.

However, one of the reinstated councillors has since been convicted by the courts and is serving sentence.

Interestingly police investigations into the cases over which the councillors had been suspended are still pending.

Chegutu residents view Chombo's reinstatement of the suspended councillors as a brazen act of bringing back "a highly corrupt group into the fold again".

Francis Dhlakama, who is the only MDC executive mayor to last his term in the northern region of the country, disclosed that he had been through "hell".

Dhlakama was arrested twice and on one occasion spent 10 days in police custody without charges being levelled against him.

He was also suspended for two months for what Chombo described as a move to facilitate an investigation into "gross mismanagement of the council affairs".

But Dhlakama told The Standard he was uncomfortable with the status quo. "I no longer have the mandate of Chegutu residents to run the council as my term expired on 10 December 2005," Dhlakama said.

No elections have been called for although unconfirmed sources said elections would be held in February.

With the reinstatement, indications are that Chombo may pursue an ouster of the mayor in a fashion similar to that which has enabled him to get rid of Dhlakama's opposition colleagues in Harare, Mutare and recently Chitungwiza even though the Urban Councils' Act clearly states that a mayor can only be replaced by an elected one.

A spokesperson for the Department of Meteorological Services, said the worst affected area was Beitbridge, which has so far recorded only an accumulated total of 54 millimetres of rain as of 4 January 2006. This is 37 percent of its normal rainfall in an agricultural season.

The Meteorological Services said most parts of Matabeleland South have received below 75 percent of their normal rainfall.

The spokesperson said the systems that bring rains to the region, the westerly cloud bands, normally active in October through to December, this year only became active towards the end of November resulting in insignificant rains in the drought-prone region.

However the Met Department could not confirm whether Zimbabwe's climate has changed in light of the extreme weather events such as drought and floods which are becoming more frequent.

"Our long-term historical records are too short and few to conclusively conclude that the climate of the whole of Zimbabwe is changing. What is not debatable is that the extreme weather events (floods and drought) are becoming more frequent and severe," the spokesperson said, adding that "research is still going on".

Meanwhile, despite significant inflows into the five Bulawayo water supply dams, the water situation remains critical, says Bulawayo City Council spokesperson, Pathisa Nyathi.

The dams - Lower Ncema, Upper Ncema, Insiza, Inyankuni and Umzingwane - have only received 26.8 million cubic metres of water, leaving a huge deficit.

At full capacity, the dams hold 362.6 million cubic metres but at present they only have 126.7 million cubic metres.

Yeovil used to be a preserve for the rich but was opened to the public in recent years. Now, the only space left at these cemeteries is that reserved for people who bought their burial space years ago.

Stenard Mapurisa, Mutare city housing director, confirmed that the two cemetries in Yeovil and Sakubva had both filled up but was quick to say the situation was "under control".

"There is no need to panic as Dangamvura cemetery has enough space," said Mapurisa. Dangamvura is about 15 kilometres south west of the city centre.

Mapurisa said they were in the process of developing the south wing of Yeovil cemetery but were waiting for budget approval.

Mutare has an estimated population of 300 000 people.

For Mabonga, the one room which she shares with her three grand children has become her new home after being dumped by government security agents nine months ago during "Operation Murambatsvina".

Since then, life has become unbearable as she does not know when the police will raid the Spring Farm House, once owned by a prominent commercial farmer before the chaotic farm invasions of 2000.

"I have been occupying this room for nine months without any joy from government which dumped us here without any means of survival. We have no source of income, no land, no food or other basic necessities. There is no hope that we will ever be allocated houses under Operation Hlalani

Kuhle," says the dejected widow who lost her son, Patrick, soon after arriving at the state farm.

Mabonga is among 11 families who were evicted from Killarney Squatter Camp in May last year and dumped at the Agricultural Rural Development Authority's Balu Estate transit camp.

The families were then forced to leave the temporary shelter to face the harsh winter season without proper shelter and food supplies in Chief Sigola area, 22 kilometres northeast of Bulawayo.

The fresh eviction followed the release of a damning report by United Nations (UN) special envoy, Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, which noted that "Operation Murambatsvina" left nearly one million Zimbabweans homeless.

"The government does not care about us. We were dumped here after we were only given 5kg of maize-meal and 500g of kapenta fish and told to look for temporary shelter among villagers.

"We have become a burden to villagers and church organisations that are looking after us," says Miriam Sibanda cuddling her malnourished six-month old baby, Silethemba Ndebele (2).

Sibanda shares a hamlet with five other families who have no hope of ever benefiting from "Operation Hlalani Kuhle", underway in Bulawayo's high- density suburb of Cowdray Park.

The government claims that more than 400 houses have been constructed at the housing scheme, which was commissioned by President Robert Mugabe in the run-up to last November's Senate elections.

Beneficiaries of the housing scheme, widely believed to be mostly civil servants and supporters of the ruling party, who were not affected by the clean up campaign, have not yet occupied the houses, because the houses were built on unserviced land.

"I am a poor woman entirely dependent on well-wishers. I do not foresee a situation in which I will benefit from Operation Hlalani Kuhle. I will die homeless," says Beauty Ngwenya, who stays with an official of the village development committee at Spring Farm.

"This is a temporary arrangement I made with this villager and there is no way I can claim that it is my new home. Killarney Squatter Camp was far much better than living here where I am struggling to make ends meet. I used to be a vendor while staying at the squatter camp but now I am just a homeless and an unproductive human being," says Ngwenya, a widow and mother of three-year-old son, Liveson.

For the abandoned former squatters, life has become unbearable that they have ventured into a business that has given the police and local authorities in most of Zimbabwean cities a headache.

Estelle Gumede says: "This is far much better than prostitution as we are struggling to make a decent living. We have not been allocated houses, let alone stands for tilling the land. There are three of us running this stokvel.

"Our main worry is that police will raid us and possibly move us out of this place. We thought that government would provide agricultural inputs in order for us to take advantage of the rainy season. Nothing has been forthcoming. How are we expected to make a living?"

Most of the former-squatters have not been allocated land at Spring Farm. There is no hope that their lives will improve as government officials in Umguza Rural District Council are tight-lipped over their plight.

Josephine Mhlanga, one of the former squatters says: "We were once addressed by the police, state security agents and representatives of the local authority who promised us land but eight months later, there is no hope that we will get the land."

She says their lives are in the hands of Churches in Bulawayo, a non-governmental organisation providing makeshift shelter and food to the abandoned families.

The organisation provides each family with at least 30 kg of maize meal, 10 kg of beans, washing and bathing soap and meat every month. The response by the churches has gone a long way in alleviating starvation among the former squatters who survive by the grace of God.

Life, for all the former squatters living at the once commercially viable Spring Farm reduced to a dustbowl during the past five years due to exploitation of natural resources by resettled war veterans, is set to remain unbearable for some time.

"There is no hope here. We have been reduced to beggars. Our lives were far much better in Killarney than at Spring Farm. We need urgent help and those houses that we were promised when our shacks were destroyed by government security agents," says Sibanda.

Her son, Silethemba (literally meaning we have hope), stares at the cloudless sky and suckles from his emaciated mother's breast before tiring and taking a nap. To him, life goes on but for her mother, the future looks bleak.

The Small-Scale Miners' Association (SSMA), which represents the interests of small-scale miners, has also moved in to block Ncube's takeover of the mine.

A source close to the association told The Standard: "They have a syndicate and interests in that mine. They are also protecting the interests of the panners…from the way things look, the dispute has now turned political."

When contacted for comment, Ncube could neither deny nor confirm that the dispute over the mine was assuming new dimensions.

"There are a lot of disputes over that mine," he said promising to give The Standard a detailed comment later.

However The Standard established that in November last year, Rusere held a meeting with the Small-Scale Miners' Association representatives, Ncube and mining inspectors during which he ordered that operations cease at the mine.

The meeting was reportedly held at Gwanda DDF offices, where Ncube told inspectors to stop any pegging at the Mine.

Repeated efforts to obtain comment from both Rusere and Ncube were fruitless. Officials in the mines ministry were not keen to discuss developments at Caesar East Two Mine.

Matabeleland South Deputy Mining Commissioner, Raphael Moyo, said: "I have nothing to say about that Mine...you have to contact the Head Office in Harare."

But the chief mining commissioner at the head office, identified as Fredson Mabhena, referred this newspaper back to Matabeleland South.

"He (Moyo) is the man responsible for that region. He should be able to give you the complete picture of what is taking place. I am in the capital and I think if I comment on what is happening there, I will be misleading you," Mabhena said.

Ncube acquired the Mine on 30 September, after he allegedly booted out gold panners with the assistance of the police.

He is said to have applied and acquired the licence in Harare, shortly after gold panners had struck a rich vein of gold, and used it to claim ownership.

The mine was however shut down in October last year following a visit by inspectors from the Ministry of Mines who ruled that it did not meet basic safety requirements.

The split in the MDC that has seen the six-year old party broken into two roughly equal blocks, is expected to drag on for months as none of the factions appears ready to give in to the other. As long as the opposition party remains in disarray, say the analysts, Zanu PF can now focus on other areas it is unhappy with, and the media is of particular interest and is next on the ruling party's radar screen.

Over the past few weeks, the government has descended on the private media, the only section of society, which has remained critical of the increasingly paranoid regime.

Information and Publicity minister, Tichaona Jokonya, fired the first salvo at a function organised by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe during which he described journalists as "weapons of mass destruction".

"These journalists masquerade as independent journalists despite the fact that we all know that they are paid by the enemies of the people through such payments as monthly incomes, medical aid assistance, indeed pension funds, car allowances, business trips," Jokonya said when he launched his attack of journalists from private newspapers.

"Some journalists have indeed become not public opinion formers but character assassins, malinformants to the point of having become embedded warmongers or to use a much abused term, they have become weapons of mass destruction," Jokonya said, ominously accusing the journalists of serving foreign interests.

A few days earlier, delegates to the Zanu PF conference, held at Esigodini in Matabeleland South, resolved and adopted recommendations that all aspiring journalists should undergo national service before enrolling at tertiary institutions offering journalism studies.

Observers say the youth training centres are "brainwashing-institutions" where young people are drilled to unquestioningly pander to the whims of the ruling party and sing praises of its leadership.

There have been allegations that some of the "graduates" have perpetrated murder, gang rape and have wantonly beaten up opposition MDC supporters. The government, however, insists that the youth are taught the country's history and patriotism.

Zanu PF deputy secretary for information and publicity, Ephraim Masawi, told Zanu PF supporters at the conference that the party was not happy with the way some journalists were writing their stories on Zimbabwe.

"Some journalists are currently not writing issues of public interest…If they go for national service, they will know what to write and how to compile stories," Masawi said.

The move was immediately condemned by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) vice president, Njabulo Ncube."The decision to send aspiring journalists to national youth training institutions is very unfortunate. The kind of environment at the national service training centres is known and we will not be happy with a situation where aspiring journalists will have their critical abilities interfered with."

The director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Zimbabwe), Rashwheat Mukundu, said the decision to make green bombers out of aspiring journalists was an unfortunate development.

"What is important is to produce journalists who are able to criticise and offer solutions to the development of the country and not vicious propagandists who will be blind loyalists."

The crackdown on the media has also been extended to limiting the movement of journalists across borders.

Trevor Ncube, who owns The Standard, Zimbabwe Independent and South African Mail and Guardian, had his passport seized last month.

The seizure received local and international condemnation from media and human rights organisations. Ncube's passport was returned after it emerged that there were no provisions under Zimbabwean law, which allowed the State to confiscate citizens' travel documents.

Other journalists whose passports are listed down for seizure include founding Editor-in Chief of the banned Daily News, Geoff Nyarota, and reporters Lloyd Mudiwa, Carol Gombakomba and Basildon Peta.

Three journalists from the privately owned radio station, Voice of the People, (VOP), spent four days in police cells after their offices were raided by police in December.

They were released with no charges being laid against them.

VOP executive director, John Masuku spent five days in police cells and was released on $4 million bail on Christmas Eve.

Political commentator and human rights activist, Lovemore Madhuku condemned the media crackdown saying the government's actions were symptomatic of an unrepentant regime determined to crush any views contrary to its own.

"This is the same government that has had clashes with the United Nations, the Commonwealth and has had its elections declared not free and fair and they just don't care," Madhuku said adding: "They believe in suppressing any forms of freedom that could undermine their hold on power.

"There is nothing new about the current attacks on the media; this has always been the case," he said.

Under the new fees, patients paying cash now fork out $2 900 000 to consult a general practitioner while those on medical aid pay a shortfall of $2 000 036.

Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) executive director, Itai Rusike, described the increase as "too much" and called on Zima to reconsider its position as the hike compromises national health delivery.

"We appreciate that doctors, just like any other people are going through a difficult time, but for them to increase by 100 percent is not moral because it will scare away patients from visiting health facilities," Rusike said.

CWGH is an organisation that strives to promote active community participation in health issues through advocacy in order to improve the quality of human life.

About 75 percent of Zimbabweans are living below the poverty datum line (PDL) and struggling to access health services.

The increase comes at time when the majority of Zimbabweans are struggling to pay the old tariffs of about $60 000 to consult a general medical practitioner.

Rusike called on Zima, National Association of Medical Aid Societies (Namas), labour and the Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) to urgently convene a meeting, in the mould of the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF), to come up with agreeable consultation fees.

Women and Aids Support Network (WASN) executive director Mary Sandasi said the increase closed the door on women and children who needed to access medical treatment.

"We are aware that women are the poorest of the poor and for them to get $2 million for consultation is almost impractical," Sandasi said.

But Zima said the hike was necessitated by the hyper inflationary environment, currently topping 500 percent.

Arnold Chapera of Kuwadzana in Harare described the doctors as "money mongers".

"They know people are very poor and yet they want to further impoverish them. Most people will resort to traditional medicine," said Chapera, a mechanic who works in Harare's Workington industrial area.

Moses Mazhande of Chitungwiza said doctors should consider that an average worker in Zimbabwe now earns about $6 million starting January this year.

He said the increase would result in the majority of Zimbabweans not visiting health centres due to the prohibitive costs.

"We are going back to the pre-independence era where only a few privileged people could access health care," Mazhande said.

The increase by doctors comes at a time local authorities are also contemplating hiking their service charges. This would effectively shut out the ordinary person from seeking cheaper health services.

With effect from this month, medical Aid societies have also increased monthly contribution rates by 80 percent for general hospitals and 87 percent for private hospitals, further impoverishing the ordinary person already struggling to access health services.

Sandasi accused medical aid societies of ripping off workers by charging them high contributions and never promoting their welfare.

"Some of them talk of investing in properties neglecting the welfare of the workers who contribute monthly. This is the time when they should come in and help," she said.