via Upsurge in attempts to evict Zimbabwe’s last white farmers – Times LIVE 24 February, 2015
There is an upsurge in attempts to forcibly take over Zimbabwean properties still owned by whites 15 years after the launch of a land reform programme, a Zimbabwe farmers’ union said.
The Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) said there had been at least 20 “incidents” on white-owned properties in recent weeks, in most cases with farmers told to leave their farms.
Some had been given as little as one month’s “notice”.
“They are informing the owner that time is up; some people are getting 90 days, some people are getting 45 days, some people are getting 30 days to wind up their farming operations and vacate the property,” CFU director Hendrik Olivier told Sapa.
He said in some cases the demands were made “without any official correspondence from the [lands] ministry to wind up their farming operations. There’s no paperwork”.
He said many of the cases had occurred in southern Matabeleland province.
There are believed to be between 300 and 400 white farmers left on their farms — down from around 4000 15 years ago. Many of those still left have already ceded parts of their farms.
An unknown number of white farmers have also quietly returned to rent land from the new owners.
Last month Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa hinted that President Robert Mugabe’s government would take over more white-owned farms.
Mugabe launched the land reform programme in 2000 in what was described then as an attempt to correct colonial-era imbalances in land ownership.
Critics said it contributed to Zimbabwe’s economic crisis by sparking a drop in investor confidence and agricultural production.
Mugabe and his supporters say Western sanctions are to blame.
On the latest farm takeovers Olivier said: “It would appear that this is just more people who need farmland and they are just picking off the remaining couple of [white] farmers who have already lost land but are fortunate enough to still be on a small piece of land.
“Now they are taking that away too.”
COMMENTS
AL QAEDA/BOKO HARAM AT WORK!
Better for the whites to give up and start a new life elsewhere, then once these clots have all the land they can turn it into desert by overpopulation and their goats and sooner or later there will be no food for any of them and then they can all die or run to the Chinese for help! Its only the wildlife i feel so sorry for!
Ernestine, you have got it right first time. I especially agree with your last sentence regarding the wildlife.
I have black family in Chitungwiza, and white farming family now off their third-generation land, with 800 employees, in Harare, and am qualified to comment. The farm seizure issure is symptomatic of the ruling party’s need to retain utter control, by smashing the MDC and white supporters, even at the expense of 99 per cent of the population who have been horribly mistreated and starved for the last 15 years. Zimbabweans must unite without delay, because when Grace gets her hands on the prize, their dynasty will probably last longer than North Korea’s. Rise up people! This is surely your last chance at emancipation. Morgan seems to have lost it. A Luta someone. Step forward, our new hero.
The white farmers remaining should just pack up and Leave and Let Mugabe feed the people that voted him into power as for the whites going back to farm they are just going back to square one the government will remove them again.
I am always astonished by the greed, racism and self-destruction of Zimbabweans.
I agree, all white Zimbos should leave if they can and let the thieves and racists destroy the country. Decolonisation, back to the middle ages.
From what I saw on a recent visit, pretty well everything that actually works in Zim is run by “The Dreaded Whites”. It is so sad to see that white Zimbos who wanted to help build the country are relentlessly attacked.
Gentlemen (particularly Enerstine Wilson and MikeH)the majority of Zimbabweans, even some who support ZANU PF, are not racists and anti-white. They are decent, hard working people who are still guided by the age old philosophy of hunhu (ubuntu), which roughly translates as humanism and decency. They are, as a matter of fact, the most unfortunate victims of the murderous dictator’s destructive policies and do not deserve the unfair condemnation that you are generously dispensing. One day (mark my words), the people of Zimbabwe (Black, White, Coloured and Asian) shall sit down together again and build a prosperous, race free country free from the zanoids mafia parasites.