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THE Government has waived
accreditation fee requirements for South African Press Association journalists
coming to cover Cricket World Cup matches in the country following
representation by President Thabo Mbeki to President Mugabe and for all
journalists from the six countries whose teams are playing in Zimbabwe.
At their meeting on the sidelines of the African Union extraordinary summit in Ethiopia, Mr Mbeki made the representation to Cde Mugabe on behalf of Sapa. The Sapa journalists had appealed to SA Sports Minister Mr Ngconde Balfour to inquire whether it was not possible for Zimbabwe to waive the fee requirement. This is in light of the fact that they have paid another fee of US$200 required by the International Cricket Council for all journalists covering cricket world cup matches in SA, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Foreign journalists intending to cover events in the country are required to pay US$100 application fee for accreditation and US$500 for the accreditation card. The Minister of Information and Publicity Professor Jonathan Moyo yesterday said the Government had accepted the request to waive the accreditation fee. "In the interest of promoting good neighbourliness and regional solidarity Government has accepted to waive accreditation fee for Sapa journalists. "Since the request from Sapa was made through their President we were only happy to accommodate the request," he said. The Government also extended the waiver to journalists from England, Australia, India, Pakistan, Namibia and Holland whose countries will be playing their Cricket World Cup matches in Zimbabwe. Prof Moyo said this followed a request by Cricket World Cup organiser Ali Bacher which was supported by Mr Balfour. Mr Balfour contacted his Zimbabwean counterpart Cde Aeneas Chigwedere who then brought the matter to the attention of Government. Government accepted to extend the waiver in the interest of equity and the sporting spirit of cricket, Prof Moyo said. "We want them to have a good time covering cricket and not have the regular accreditation fee as a barrier. "All other immigration requirements still apply," he said. However, Prof Moyo said the waiver would fall away for journalists from countries whose teams, for whatever reason, boycotted playing in Zimbabwe. The Government would not process visas for journalists whose countries boycotted playing in Zimbabwe. "We hope that will not be necessary because Zimbabwe, the region and Africa are ready to host the cricket world cup. "We welcome them with our open arms and trust they will be coming in the same spirit. The cricket fever is now everywhere in Zimbabwe and this is like the wonderful solar eclipse. It does not come everyday and so we must all do everything we can to make it a success." The Mulindwas
communication group
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