The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
Within my soul, within my mind,
There lies a place I cannot find.
Home of my heart. Land of my birth.
Smoke-coloured stone and flame-coloured earth.
Electric skies. Shivering heat.
Blood-red clay beneath my feet.
At night when finally alone,
I close my eyes - and I am home.
I kneel and touch the blood-warm sand
And feel the pulse beneath my hand
Of an ancient life too old to name,
In an ancient land too wild to tame.
How can I show you what I feel?
How can I make this essence real?
I search for words in dumb frustration
To try and form some explanation,
But how can heart and soul be caught
In one-dimensional written thought?
If love and longing are a "fire"
And man "consumed" by his desire,
Then this love is no simple flame
That mortal thought can hold or tame.
As deep within the earth's own core
The love of home burns evermore.
But what is home? I hear them say,
This never was yours anyway.
You have no birthright to this place,
Descendant from another race.
An immigrant? A pioneer?
You are no longer welcome here.
Whoever said that love made sense?
"I love" is an "imperfect" tense.
To love in vain has been man's fate
From history to present date.
I have no grounds for dispensation,
I know I have no home or nation.
For just one moment in the night
I am complete, my soul takes flight.
For just one moment.... then it's gone
and I am once again undone.
Never complete. Never whole.
White Skin and an African soul.Michelle Frost
Tuesday, 18 June, 2002, 18:21 GMT 19:21 UK
Dozens charged in Zimbabwe after
rally
Dozens of Zimbabwean opposition activists arrested at a
rally on Sunday have been charged with violating strict new public order
legislation.
A police spokesman told the BBC that 62 members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had been charged at a court in Harare and later released on bail.
The detainees included three journalists who work for the independent Daily News. The newspaper says police broke the arm of one of the journalists, but officials have not confirmed this. Also among the detainees was an opposition member of parliament, Munyaradzi Gwisai. He told the BBC that women had been beaten up by police in MCD premises on Sunday, and that they had been made to crawl on the ground. He said that people had been blindfolded and tortured in the police cells, describing the conditions as "savage". 'Humane police' But a police spokesman told the BBC that he was not aware that any opposition activists had been injured. He said the opposition was prone to exaggeration and that Zimbabwe has a "very humane" police force. All 62 people released on Tuesday will go back to court for a remand hearing on Thursday. Meanwhile, another magistrates' court in Harare has deferred until early July a decision on whether to proceed with charges against an American journalist who works for a British newspaper, The Guardian. Andrew Meldrum is charged with publishing falsehoods under drastic new press laws. He could face a hefty fine or a prison sentence of up to two years.
Last week, state-run media reported that President Mugabe had put security forces on high alert to crush any mass demonstrations calling for a re-run of the March presidential elections. At the weekend, the Zimbabwean Government introduced more restrictions to the work of national and international reporters in what critics see as an attempt to limit foreign media in the country. An amendment to the new media law says that foreign media companies will need to pay the equivalent of a total of $12,000 US to be registered. |
This report does not
purport to cover all the incidents that are taking place in the commercial
farming areas. Communication problems and the fear of reprisals prevent farmers
from reporting all that happens. Farmers names, and in some cases farm names,
are omitted to minimise the risk of reprisals.
NATIONAL REPORT IN BRIEF
REGIONAL
NEWS
MANICALAND
Chipinge –
Cattle, in the
process of moving from one farm to another for grazing, had some go astray. In
his search for the strays, the owner found one had already been
slaughtered.
Chimanimani - Continuous snaring.
All other districts are quiet.
MASHONALAND CENTRAL
No report
received.
MASHONALAND
EAST
Macheke/Virginia – a DDF tractor was ploughing on one farm and there was fencing stolen on another farm. A farmer, who was meant to have been delisted, had tractors ploughing up seedbeds. One farmer encountered a roadblock on his way home, but the issue was resolved. Various items were stolen on another farm.
MASHONALAND WEST
(SOUTH)
Selous - On Exwick Farm a Mr
Ruinga from the C.I.O, who has been threatening the owner with an AK47, got the
keys to the sheds. Several hundred thousand dollars worth of property was
stolen. After high-level intervention, the police recovered much of the
equipment, but no one was arrested. Mr Makoni, another of the "war vets" who
has been causing problems on the farm, demanded the keys to the second homestead
and threw out the manager with all his belongings. Nobody was arrested. This
is a de-listed farm.
Suri-Suri - On Kasama Farm
three cattle were discovered killed, and there are signs of more cattle killed
recently as well.
Chakari - On Deweras Farm
C.I.O individuals continue to use pipes commandeered from the owner. They are
growing twelve hectares of wheat, and have prevented the owner from growing
wheat on the other 70 hectares. They now want the owner’s boom sprayers and
other equipment. The owner previously gave up two farms to Government and this
is now his only farm. On Chevy Chase the owner has still not been allowed to
plant any wheat despite doing land prep and being on an unlisted farm. On
Blackmorvale the owners were not allowed to plant any of the 600 hectares of
wheat they were due to plant, and settlers have not planted either, despite
receiving free seed. The owners have offered half their farm to Government, but
have not been allowed to farm for two seasons now.
Battlefields - On Railway Farm
5 the owner was told he is growing his winter cereal crop illegally.
General - Farmers are
pressurised to make deals. The international banks demand letters of comfort,
which are not issued by the authorities, although the authorities state that if
farmers give land to Government a letter will be issued. We, the regional
Office, do not know of any cases where a letter has been issued by the acquiring
authority to date. The local banks appear to be happy to still give loans. In
Kadoma, district officials visit farmers and tell them to stop production and to
be out of their houses within the 90-day limit from the issuing of the Section
8.
MASVINGO
Masvingo East and Central – in
general, there have been teams under the Land Committee’s and Agritex’ auspices,
going around to certain properties over the weekend. These teams collected
owners’ details on farming background, hectarage previously planted, cattle
previously stocked, water supplies, dams etc, and in some cases enquired how
many bedrooms are in the homestead. Bon
Air Farm is experiencing an upsurge in snaring of game. A snare was removed from
one Brahman bull. There are reports of plenty of fencing stolen. At Shallock
Park Farm, a person driving in a vehicle approached the owner and threatened him
and the labour with eviction within 24 hours. This person was believed to be on
his way to the beer hall on Yettom Farm. This incident was reported to the PA
and the Police. Police have reacted and have said that they will follow
up.
Save Conservancy - The
promised group of 40 people from Support Unit arrived on the night of 12.06.02,
but only 22 members were dispersed. Since then six of them have been pulled
back. To date 28 arrests have been made.
Poaching escalation continues.
Gutu / Chatsworth – the
Nuwejaar Farm owner reports an upsurge in stock theft this past week. Two beef
and two dairy cows were stolen. There is a corresponding increase in wire theft,
which has led to the manufacture of snares, some of which were recovered in the
farm paddocks. A dairy cow and the owner’s farm dog recently had snares removed
from them. Bath Farm reports occupants in an unregistered vehicle visited the
owner and made requests for soil samples, figures, amounts of equipment etc for
“resettlement purposes”.
Mwenezi - Ongoing cutting and
clearing, movement of people, theft and continued poaching. At Lot 21A the owner caught a man by the name of
James Mhlanga, in possession of a firearm; a rifle with the butt cut off. The
offender is said to be working for the Farm Development Trust, and drives a
vehicle with registration number 672-542B.
The owner followed Mhlanga to the end of his property, where Mhlanga
resides on an allocated plot of ground.