GCCI signs co-op pact with Malawi and Belarus

The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) today entered into an co-operation pact with High Commission of Republic of Malawi and Belarus. An agreement of cooperation in the field of business and industry was signed today between the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the High Commission of the Republic of Malawi and Belarus in India today.

“This has been the first ever agreement between a chamber and High Commissions of foreign countries in India in the history of the chamber,” said a GCCI source.

Under the seven point agreement, both the parties have pledged to increase liaison and cooperation between the two countries in the field of export-import, investment, business information and other commerce oriented activities for the benefit of the business community of both the countries.

Moreover, the two countries have also been urged to give due consideration and weightage to the recommendation of GCCI for granting visas to its members.

The agreement of cooperation with Belarus and Malawi was signed today at a function in Ahmedabad in the presence of Ambassadors/High Commissioners of 15 countries in India.

Those who were present included Japanese ambassador Naoki Ito, Chinese ambassador Zang Yan, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner C. R. Jaysinghe and Nepal’s ambassador Durgesh Mansingh. Ambassadors/High Commissioners of Ukraine, Belarus, Peru, Russia, Kyrgyz, Senegal, Gambia, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Malawi and Laos were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion China’s Ambassador to India, Shri Zang Yan said there was bright scope to increase trade between China and Gujarat.

He emphasised the need for increased exchange programmes between businessmen and industrialists of Gujarat and China.

He said he was quite impressed by the high growth rate and rapid industrial development of Gujarat. Referring to the speedily expanding bi-lateral relations between India and China he said that the scope for increased cooperation in the field of business, investment and other sectors was extremely bright.

Islander helps save women's lives in Malawi

An African missionary named Lamec Msamange visited Islander Carol Sousa's church in Middletown in 1985. He told the congregation about Malawi, a small South African nation that was little known to the world outside its borders at the time. Knowledge of the country and the plight of its people have not greatly improved since.

According to Msamange, more than two million people had been killed in the neighboring country of Mozambique since 1970 due to civil war. Mozambique surrounds Malawi on three sides. Zambia and Tanzania share the northwest and northeast borders respectively.

Msamange told stories of unspeakable atrocities, torture, and mass murder. He said that millions of women were widowed and as many children were orphaned as a result of the war.

If they were not killed by soldiers, they died of disease and starvation because the government would not allow charitable or Christian organizations to bring in food and aid to help these unfortunate victims, he said.

"And they continue to die," Msamange said.

A Cuban-backed local army comprised of Frelinos tribesmen was trained to overthrow the Mozambique democracy and establish a communist government.

A group of Renamos tribesmen objected to the invasion and formed a freedom fighters army to save Mozambique from communist takeover. Unfortunately, the freedom fighters lacked funding, were poorly trained, and inadequately equipped.

The only group permitted by the communists to practice their religion were the Muslims. Indian Muslims considered the territory to be a good business investment and introduced Islam to the area. The Muslims formed a political and business bond with the communists and were left alone.

Christians were persecuted. Anyone caught with a Bible was generally killed immediately. The Frelinos soldiers would go to churches where people were worshipping and ordered all the women to go outside. They would then lock the men and children inside the churches and set the buildings on fire. Their wives were forced to stand outside and listen to their husbands and children scream as they burned and ultimately died.

Millions of refugees fled across the border to Malawi, a nation that was struggling to maintain a stable government and build an economy. The continual influx of refugees strained the tiny nation, its resources and infrastructure to its limits.

After talking to Msamange, Carol Sousa decided to go to Malawi to see if the allegations were true. Her maiden name was Carol Blount, from the family that owned Blount Seafood and Blount Marine. She thought she would use her resources to help the millions of widows whose husbands and children were murdered.

The first time she went to Malawi in June of 1985, she took her 14-year old son, Jonathan. To her horror, everything Msamange had said was true. The conditions were much worse than she ever expected or imagined.

Women were staying alive by eating water lilies. When the water lilies were gone, they ate grass. Those who only had grass to eat eventually died of malnutrition.

The first person Sousa met when she arrived in Mulanji, a town on the Mozambique border, was a man named Augustine. Mulanji is not on most maps.

She wondered why so many of the black population had Christian names. She learned that the Portuguese had settled in Mozambique years ago, long before the current unrest. Many of the natives spoke Portuguese as well as several local languages.

Sousa said that Augustine was covered in mud when she met him. He was nearly naked, and his left eye was missing. An empty socket covered in mud was where his eye should have been. Augustine told her that he was beaten because he was caught with a Bible. His eye was knocked out while the soldiers were beating him.

After they talked, she said the man looked so wretched, abandoned, and dejected that she hugged him. He wept. Sousa said that one little hug gave him hope that all was not lost. She met many of the refugees and the few children that escaped.

The widowed women had suffered every form of abuse imaginable. Many of them were impregnated by rape and bore the children that they desperately tried to nurture. Sousa said that she hugged as many as she could.

"The women were so unloved," Sousa said. "They were living proof that without love, there is no hope."

Sousa spent three months of each following year in Tingani until 1989. She brought her two daughters with her to help. With Msamange's assistance, she established an incorporated ministry. They named it El Shaddi, which means God Almighty.

Sousa gave as much as she could to provide the starving women with maize, their main staple. When cooked, maize is called msima (pronounced seema, the m is silent), she said. Msima looks like Cream of Wheat. It is not much more than ground corn and water.

The widowed women needed so much Sousa said she didn't know where to start. She quickly realized that her resources were limited and she needed to get help. If she gave away all of her money, nothing would be left to continue her work.

Whenever she returned to America she did what she could to raise awareness and send funds, clothing, and anything else of value to Malawi.

"We keep these women alive. That in itself is a daunting task," Sousa said. "But that is what we do. A bowl of maize and a hug brings smiles to their faces and a visible change to their personality. Again, we hugged as many people as we possibly could."

Sousa said that the children had nothing that even resembled a toy. They were happy to be alive. Since they had nothing, it took little to make them smile, she said.

Carol Sousa lives in Jamestown when she is not in Malawi. She will return to her home in Tingani, a tiny village at the southern

MALAWI: Solving health worker shortages

LILONGWE, 1 October 2008 (PlusNews) - A chronic lack of healthcare workers in Malawi has crippled the health system, but a different way of doing things has alleviated the shortages, bringing new players to the field.

Many Malawian doctors and nurses head to wealthier countries in search of greener pastures, so the government has been forced to come up with a plan driven by an idea known as "task shifting", in which some tasks performed by doctors are shifted to nurses, some duties traditionally performed by nurses are shifted to community health workers, and some responsibilities of community health workers are shifted to patients or their families.

The country was one of the first to introduce task shifting, and the results seem to be paying off: in 2007, around 625,000 HIV tests were performed, 95 percent of them by non-medical counsellors.

Clinical officers and nurses in Malawi can also prescribe HIV treatment and run clinics dispensing antiretrovirals (ARVs); by the end of 2007 there were about 97,000 patients receiving HIV treatment at 118 ARV clinics.

When Veronica Chabinga was admitted to Bwaila Hospital, a referral clinic in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, after doctors had diagnosed her with tuberculosis (TB), her main concern was the long time she was would have to stay there.

"But I was surprised that after six weeks only, the doctors discharged me, saying I was free to take the rest of my medication at home. I am a living example of people who successfully cured TB from the confines of my home," said Chabinga, a businesswoman and mother of three. "I think that I recuperated faster because I was treated in an environment that I am familiar with."

Professor Felix Salaniponi, director of the Malawi National TB Control Programme, told IRIN/PlusNews that task shifting had helped government reduce the number of patients, who had overwhelmed the clinics in the past.

Initiative paying off?

"Malawi is one of the countries in the southern Africa region that have been drastically affected by brain drain, but through task shifting the workload is slowly being reduced because communities are now able to care for the sick in their respective areas," said Salaniponi.

The government is also training Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) to perform some of the tasks normally carried out by qualified doctors and nurses as another way of dealing with the ongoing shortage.

Salaniponi said some groups, such as the Nurses and Midwives Association, had resisted the move because they were sceptical about the quality of services HSAs would offer. "But we told them that there was no need to worry because there are supervisors who go around making sure that quality is not compromised," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

A government survey conducted three years ago to find out if task shifting would work in Malawi revealed that most people preferred to be treated in their homes rather than being admitted to a clinic.

Adamson Muula, a lecturer at the Malawi College of Health Sciences, a government institution that trains clinical officers in the commercial hub, Blantyre, cautioned that while the initiative could be paying dividends in some areas, there should be careful identification of the tasks that could be transferred to lay counsellors.

"The public and policy makers look for simple solutions to complex problems. Some people think wound cleaning and giving injections are simple - so much so that they do not require a nurse - but inappropriate injection, or mere wrong shifting of a patient from one place to another can kill a person," said Muula.

He warned that it could be a grave mistake to put the lives of unsuspecting Malawians in the hands of people who had received only a few weeks' training.

"Task shifting, in my opinion, increases the number of health workers and not health professionals," he said. "It is the professional and not just the workers that we need."

Jackson Edward: "I may live longer than the people who talk ill about me"

BALAKA, 1 October 2008 (PlusNews) - Jackson Edward, 37, is an HIV-positive father of three who lives in Balaka, a small town in southern Malawi. He dedicates his time to educating communities about living positively with HIV and distributing condoms in local bars. He talked to IRIN/PlusNews about how discovering his status changed his life.

"I came to Malawi in 1982 from Zimbabwe where my father was working. It was not easy for us to cope here because my parents didn't have enough money. I was lucky to be picked by some Catholic priests who paid for my school fees.

"Somehow I was spoiled because they gave me lots of money. I started boozing and womanising and in 1992 my health began to deteriorate; doctors told me I had tuberculosis. I battled with it for months, but I was cured.

"The doctor who was helping me told me I was also HIV positive, but at the time I did not believe him. Honestly, I understood very little about HIV and AIDS at the time.

"Looking at how healthy I was then, one could not believe I was HIV positive. But I started suffering from diseases such as malaria and persistent coughs time and again. The Catholic priests who were assisting me advised me to go for an HIV test.

"For the second time the doctors told me I was HIV positive. My CD4 count [which measures the strength of the immune system] was so low that I was immediately put on antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. However, it took months for me to realise that I was on ARVs.

"My wife was shocked with the news. So, too, were some of my relatives, but doctors told me there is life after testing HIV positive. They told me I could live positively for years and I now believe it, because it's 16 years since I tested.

"My wife and our youngest child are [also] HIV positive. We go out together distributing condoms to communities [and] conduct awareness campaigns on the dangers of being promiscuous, and the importance of faithfulness and abstinence in one's life. I have a programme on a Catholic FM station, Radio Maria, on which I talk about AIDS and spirituality.

"It was such a challenge to come in the open and declare that I am HIV positive. Some people have even reached the extent of telling my children that I am positive and that I will die soon, but I have told [them] not to worry because I may live longer than the people who talk ill about me and my wife.

"I want more and more people to be aware about the dangers of AIDS but I can only reach out to a few because of lack of resources. My appeal to people is that they should know their status because that would help them to plan better for the future. I knew my status some years ago and that has helped me plan for my family in case something happens to me and my wife."

Potion kills three in Malawi

Blantyre - Three people died in Malawi after they were forced by a herbalist and a mob of villagers to drink a potion meant to cleanse them of witchcraft, police said on Wednesday.

"The three died after they were forced to drink the concoction. They collapsed and died within a few minutes," police spokesperson Dave Chingwalu said.

The herbalist who prepared the potion, identified as 41-year-old Patricia Chimutu, has been charged with murder, which can carry the death sentence in this poor southern African nation.

Two women aged 72 and 68, as well as a 64-year-old man, were suspected by villagers in the southern district of Mwanza of practising witchcraft and teaching it to children, Chingwalu said.




Chimutu had prepared the potion to prove if the three were witches, and a mob forced them to drink it, he said.

The herbalist had told the three that they would vomit if they were witches, but nothing would happen if they were not, he added.

After the deaths, Chimutu threatened that anyone who informed the police would also die and began preparing to bury the dead in secret. But a village chief reported the crime to authorities, the spokesperson said.

Belief in witchcraft runs deep in this conservative nation.

In March, two sisters allegedly torched to death two young children to exorcise them of witchcraft. They were arrested and charged with murder.

Maduka heartened by Malawi’s showing

Bloemfontein Celtic’s Malawian midfielder John Maduka has expressed his happiness about the performance of the Flames despite suffering a heavy defeat at the hands of Bafana Bafana at Germiston Stadium last night.

The Flames will return home to Blantyre with their tails down after being beaten 3-0 by the South Africans.

Maduka said even though the scoreline was embarrassing, the performance of his countrymen on the field was very encouraging.

“I think it was a very good game, played with lots of pace. It looked bad on the score board at the end of the game but the performance inside the field of play was satisfying although we conceded silly goals.

“Despite the absence of senior players like Jimmy Zakazaka and Fischer Kondowe, I was also very happy to see Malawi fielding a number of youngsters which, for me, is very important especially if we are to build a strong team for future.”

Maduka who retired from international football a few years ago is set to miss Phunya Sele Sele’s Absa Premiership game against Ajax Cape Town at Athlone Stadium tonight due to an ankle injury.

“I picked up the injury during a friendly game recently hence I missed the game against Maritzburg United last weekend. But I am hopeful that I will be back at training next week,” he adds

Malawi Muslims celebrates Eid-Ul-Fitr

Malawi Muslims, splendid in their flowing attire, on Wednesday joined fellow faithfuls all over the world in celebrating Eid-Ul-Fitr, a Holy occasion to mark the end of the month-long fasting period of Ramadhan.

According to Sheikh Dinala Chabulika of the Malawi Islamic Bureau, millions of the country’s Muslims have gathered in various places to pray and celebrate the end of Ramadhan.

But the country’s main event will take place in Mangochi, a lakeshore resort district in southern Malawi with the theme, “Unity: A Muslim is a Brother to Another Muslim.”

During the celebrations, he said, the guest of honour will be the former president of Malawi, Bakili Muluzi, who is a Muslim.

"We are happy that government remembered us Muslims by setting aside the day to be a national holiday so that all Muslims and non-Muslims alike can celebrate together during this day of Eid," he added.

Eid-Ul-Fitr is only celebrated after the sighting of the moon.

Journalists leading in the fight against AIDS

Despite being the ones disseminating HIV and AIDS information through various media outlets, journalists are not immune to the pandemic.

From observations, they may even be at high risk of contracting the virus due to the nature of their job.

It is no longer a secret that there is a tendency among journalists in many countries that when they go out of their duty stations for a workshop or to gather information, they forget their spouses.

Some are in the tendency of having a one night stand with fellow journalists while others prefer to have prostitutes of that particular area.

Yet when they go back home, they pretend to their spouses as if nothing happened.

It is so pathetic to note that sometimes they misbehave like that after attending an HIV/AIDS awareness session at a seminar.

However, others may be infected through means other than careless behaviours.

Others were raped, infected by a spouse or other accidental exposures to the HIV virus.

Considering that even though they may have more knowledge about the pandemic, they are just like anybody else and may catch the virus and develop AIDS, a group of journalists living with HIV and AIDS who gathered in Zambia last June agreed to form networks for journalists living with HIV/AIDS in all countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region to supplement government`s national response programmes in their respective countries.

Malawi was one of the countries represented at the conference and it has just launched its organization called Network of Malawi Journalists Living with HIV and AIDS (MJLWHA).

According to MJLWHA national coordinator, David Kamkwamba, the birth of the network is an initiative aimed at promoting effective participation of journalists living with HIV and AIDS.

``Specifically it aims at advocating for rights of people living with HIV and AIDS which include journalists and those affected like orphans and vulnerable children,`` says Kamkwamba in a press statement.

The statement points out that the initiative would also yoke the power of media through experiences of journalists living with the virus.

``In this drive the initiative shall advocate for mainstreaming of HIV and AIDS by advocating for workplace policy development, implementation and strategies against stigma at different levels. The network hopes to maximize on the support of local and international stakeholders and partners in media work,`` reads the statement in part.

Even though many companies and other government departments have recently launched HIV/AIDS workplace programs, many media houses do not have such programmes.

Among others, Ministry of Information and Civic Education which is the mother of Malawi News Agency (MANA), Weekly News newspaper, Bomalathu (a Chichewa language) newspaper and This is Malawi magazine has a policy which supports HIV positive patients.

It gives supplementary nutritious food stuffs to its employees who declared their status and this is done confidentially.

But even though there is this provision, it seems many people still do not want to declare their HIV status to their employers.

This is the case because despite massive information dissemination about the pandemic, discrimination is still common.

Very few people make their status known to the society as well as to their family members and very few support groups/organizations work openly.

Malawi is one of the developing countries highly hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Malawi National Aids Commission (NAC) 2007 statistics indicate that there are 1 million HIV positive people in the country, making a prevalence rate of 15 per cent.

According to AVERT international charity website, Aids is the leading cause of death among adults in Malawi and is the major factor in the country`s low life expectancy which is now 43 years.

The pandemic has caused over 650, 000 deaths and continues to kill around ten productive citizens every hour.

HIV/AIDS has affected many other public officers apart from journalists.

In 2000, the then speaker of parliament, Sam Mpasu disclosed that 28 parliamentarians had died of AIDS in just four years.

Recently Secretary for Nutrition and HIV/AIDS, Dr Mary Shaba lately told the media that Malawi government loses an average of K200, 000 (about $1,429) on each funeral in the country through loss of productive hours, transport costs and food.

``We have also discovered that government spends about K60, 000 (about $428) each year on a person to get Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and it spends K120, 000 (about $858 to keep a person at the hospital.

To treat opportunistic infections, government spends K120, 000 a year, per person.

Dr Shawa says according to the study that reveals this, as a direct result of the HIV/AIDS deaths, government has lost about 20 years of development.

The first HIV case in Malawi was reported in 1985 when Malawi was under Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda`s regime.

After the first case was reported, his government established a short term AIDS strategy which included blood screening and HIV education programmes.

In 1988, National Aids Control Programme (NACP) was created to coordinate the country`s AIDS education and HIV prevention efforts.

Even though these efforts were in place, Dr Banda`s puritanical beliefs made it very difficult for AIDS education and prevention schemes to be carried out since public discussions of sexual matters were generally banned or censored and HIV and AIDS were considered taboo subjects.

The Malawi society opened up to discuss HIV matters and other risky behaviours when it became a democratic nation in 1993.

The establishment of MJLWHA is a milestone that HIV prevention and information sharing is going on well in the country and other key professionals such as parliamentarians and other leaders should do the same since people count on them for such information.

If prominent people are to declare their HIV status, their subjects would be encouraged to do likewise.

The organisation`s press release says the primary mobilisation process and growth would be openness through membership to the network saying membership is open to all practicing journalists living with HIV in print and electronic media.

In Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Union of journalists (ZUJ) representing journalists in the country recently launched a programme to provide life prolonging ARV drugs to its HIV positive members.

Media reports indicate that the drugs would be free to union members and their immediate families.

Chamayuka Bosha, ZUJ national Coordinator says journalism is a poorly paid profession in Zimbabwe with some practitioners earning as little as US $5 per month saying: ``A month`s supply of ARV drugs costs about $50 which would make ARV therapy beyond reach of our community.

If journalists across the continent are to follow this new fashion, HIV and AIDS messages through testimony and experiences would be more fruitful.

Academy sticks its oar in for Malawi

PUPILS and staff from Forres Academy will be spending the final day of term in pursuits a bit more strenuous than they would normally expect, when the Lake Malawi Rowing Challenge takes centre stage.

Luckily, nobody has to travel to Africa to take part; they will simply take their turn on a rowing maching in school and knock off a few hundred metres from the overal target of 590 kilometres. There will be three rowing machines, and the distance for each volunteer will be 500 metres, but that will still involve 1180 stints.

The challenge will take place in the Academy hall, from 7am until 6pm, and the aim is to raise enough money to help build a new classroom for a poor school in Malawi.

Academy teacher Mrs Liz Drawbell, who has visited Malawi, said: "Forres Academy has supported Malawi as a nominated charity in the past, and the Academy has a partner school in Malawi, Luchenza CDSS.

"Bright, a teacher from the school, recently visited Forres and discussed with the Academy's Malawi group how best the group could help the school with the funds it had already raised.

"The students in Luchenza have few classrooms and few computers or books. Sadly, one in four of the students are orphans because of AIDS, and they have to work to pay to go to school.

"We were all touched by Bright's professionalism during his time in Forres," said Liz, "and his desire to make life better for his students. We asked him to cost a new classroom, and the Luchenza community have already started to make the bricks. However, they can't afford to do the work.

"We have made the pledge, and now we need to deliver. This room will be called the Forres Academy classroom, and it will have wiring for computers, which a charity will provide if we can provide a secure building. They also need help to get the other things they need, like chairs, desks, computers and books.

"The Forres Academy room would allow our students and teachers to communicate with Luchenza. It will be life-changing for Luchenza students, and beneficial to us to in terms of communication and development of global citizenship links."

Mallaig High School and the Moray Steiner School are also involved, and a number of sporting and community groups and businesses have expressed an interest in taking part or contributing to the Malawi development.

The challenge will be restricted to school students and staff between the times of 9am and 3.20, but outside community groups will be given the opportunity to take part outside school hours. The cost of entry will be £1 per challenge.

"Members of the public are very welcome to come along," said Mrs Drawbell, "when they can also see a video of life at Luchenza. This exercise will do a lot for the young people in Africa, and will also let our students see what can be done when a community works together.

"We hope to be able to say to some of the poorest pupils in the world, 'we were able to help give you an education'. That would be a very signifcant thing for the pupils and our school to do, as we approach our 40th anniversay in this building."

Soccer-South Africa end miserable run with 3-0 win over Malawi

World Cup hosts South Africa arrested a run of five matches without a win when they beat Malawi 3-0 in a friendly international at Germiston in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

An experimental side, made up of home-based players, provided relief for beleaguered coach Joel Santana in a match designed to allow the Brazilian further opportunity to side up local talent.

Bernard Parker opened the scoring with a header from a corner in the 32nd minute and added a second 10 minutes from time. Substitute Daine Klate scored the third goal at the end of the game.

South Africa have put together an extensive programme of friendly matches as they build a team for their hosting of the 2010 World Cup finals.

Bafana demolish Malawi

Bafana Bafana finally ended their goal drought and scored a much needed 3-0 win over Malawi in a friendly international played at the Germiston Stadium on Tuesday night.

The highlight of the game was the two goals by striker Bernard Parker who scored in each half and a superb goal in the 90th minute by super sub Daine Klate. It was Klate's first goal for his country.

This was a much needed morale boosting win but Malawi are no world beaters and coach Kinnah Phiri brought a side that looked to be ready for the slaughter. They tried hard but could not match the home side in any department.

It was Bafana's first win since they defeated Equatorial Guinea 4-1 in an African Nations cup qualifier at home in June.

But a win is a win and after only one win in seven matches under head coach Joel Santana both he and the country will be happy with this much needed result with what was a Bafana team made up of Premier Soccer League players.

The positives were that Parker looked good and stretched his goal-scoring form in the PSL into the national side and Santana gave the unknown Orlando Pirates defender Rooi Mahamutsa his debut when he replaced one of the stars on the night Siboniso Gaxa in the 75th minute.

There were few bad performances in this Bafana side. Gaxa, Teko Modise, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Robyn Johannes at centre back were all solid. All the players on the bench expect for reserve keeper Moeneeb Josephs got a run and that was the aim of the game for Santana to watch his fringe players under competitive match conditions.

Bafana finally broke their long goal drought when Parker headed home Tshabalala's corner for the only goal of an otherwise uninspiring first half in the 32nd minute.

Bafana coach Joel Santana has finally got the message that attack is the best form of defence when he ditched his conservative system that employed two defensive midfielders in the past seven games he has been in charge and opted for a more attacking and sensible 4-4-2 formation.

But it was the Malawi Flames who did the early attacking. Bafana 'keeper Itumeleng Khune was forced to make two saves within the sixth minute.

He was unable to prevent Noel Mkandawire's shot going for a corner and from the set piece the Kaizer Chiefs star did well to stop a long range shot from Chiukepo Msowoya.

But after that attack it was all Bafana who looked like they were going to struggle get the ball past Malawi goalkeeper Trust Lunda.

Eleazar Rodgers failed to connect a great cross form right back Gaxa in the eighth minute and a minute later Lunda denied Parker a goal with a good save.

Bafana skipper on the night, Modise who had a free run in the midfield shot wide after 17 minutes.

Then came in-form Parker's goal to the relief of the large crowd. It was the Thanda Royal Zulu striker's first goal for his country and his fifth goal of the season.

Phiri made two surprising substitutions four minutes from half-time when he replaced Mkandawire and Davie Banda with Orlando Pirates star Josephy Kamwendo and Peter Wadabwa.

Modise tried his luck with a long range shot that flew over the Malawi crossbar in the 53rd minute as the home side looked for that second goal to take the game away from the visitors.

Modise had his shot on the hour mark blocked on the way to goal by Malawi skipper James Sangala, the former Free State Stars defender. Lunda smothered a Parker shot three minutes later as Bafana looked for that second goal.

Substitute Daine Klate wasted a glorious chance to make it 2-0 in the 77thminute when he was set up by Parker but the SuperSport United winger shot wide when he had the goal at his mercy.

But Parker made it 2-0 when he finished off a pass from substitute Katlego Mashego in the 81st minute.

Klate then added the cherry on top when he blasted home goal number three in injury time.