To Farm, or Not to Farm?

IPS News Agency

Moyiga Nduru

JOHANNESBURG, May 5 (IPS) - Recent moves by the Zimbabwean government to
allow white farmers whose land was confiscated to resume farming, have drawn
a variety of responses.

"They killed people; they threw them out of their farms, they destroyed the
economy. Now they want us to rescue them," Gerry Whitehead, whose land was
seized in 2002, told IPS.

However, Doug Taylor-Freeme -- president of the predominantly white
Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) -- said there appeared to be "a conducive
environment to progress with this matter."

In a statement issued last month inviting farmers to apply for land, he said
the CFU felt "the timing (was) right to build up a database and forward
submissions of all those farmers who may wish to consider the option of
applying for land."

Flora Buka, the minister of state for special affairs responsible for land,
land reform and resettlement, confirmed to the state-controlled Herald daily
last month that all Zimbabweans -- including white commercial farmers -- 
could apply for land. So far, she said, 500 white farmers had done so.

According to a 2005 report by Justice for Agriculture, a non-governmental
organisation based in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, the number of white
commercial farmers active in Zimbabwe is estimated to be less than 500. This
is down from some 4,300 at the end of 2000, notes the document: 'The
Zimbabwean Farming Crisis'.

From the early months of 2000, veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s war of
independence and other militants spearheaded occupation of white-owned farms
to rectify racial imbalances in land ownership that dated back to the
colonial era. These invasions later crystallised into an accelerated land
redistribution programme under which millions of hectares were confiscated.

The farm invasions began in the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary elections,
the first poll in which the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
Front (ZANU-PF) faced a credible opposition challenge. This sparked
allegations that the invasions were a government-sponsored ploy to use the
emotive land issue to shore up support for the poll. The 2000 election was
further marred by human rights abuses and alleged ballot rigging -- as was a
presidential poll in 2002.

In its report, Justice for Agriculture states that a number of Zimbabwean
farmers have since sought their fortunes elsewhere in the region: 35 to 45
in Mozambique, 130 to 150 in Zambia -- while approximately 50 went to
Malawi. Others left for South Africa and Botswana; 12 to 15 had even
traveled to Nigeria.

Joseph Made, Zimbabwe's minister of agriculture, denies that government's
land offer amounts to an admission that the reform programme has failed.

However, the Justice for Agriculture report paints a different picture.
"Once farms have been taken over by the government hierarchy they tend to
fall apart quickly. It's like a game of musical chairs: as one is destroyed,
they move on to the next," it says.

"There is no security of tenure -- no recognised leases, so tenure was not
bankable or transferable for tillage and inputs and they (resettled
households) were totally dependent on the state. And there is virtually no
seed, maize or fertilizer supplied."

In addition, there are allegations that certain properties have been taken
over by leading ZANU-PF officials and other influential figures, rather than
landless persons.

Once considered the bread basket of Southern Africa, Zimbabwe now faces
acute food shortages -- something attributed in part to drought, and the
effects of accelerated land reform. More than four million of the country's
estimated 13 million people require food aid, according to the United
Nations World Food Programme.

In a March 2006 report, the Harare branch of the U.S.-funded Famine Early
Warning Network said Zimbabwe's overall food security situation would remain
critical this year due to poor harvests.

"With generally normal to above normal rainfall in the 2005/06 (period),
preliminary indications of maize production this year are for improved
production compared to last year's harvest of 550,000 tonnes, but well below
the 1990s average, and well below national consumption requirements." the
report observed.

The situation is compounded by HIV/AIDS, which has undermined agricultural
production; according to the United Nations Children's Fund, HIV prevalence
in Zimbabwe stands at just over 20 percent.

The farm seizures have played a part in Zimbabwe's economic decline, which
has resulted in acute shortages of fuel, other basic commodities -- and the
foreign exchange needed to buy seed, fertilizer and agricultural equipment.
Triple-digit inflation has become the order of the day: according to
official statistics, inflation rose to 913.6 percent in March from 782
percent the previous month.

Daniel Molokele, head of the Johannesburg-based Zimbabwe Combined Civil
Society Organisation, sees cause for optimism in the government's latest
overtures.

"They are now accepting that they made a big blunder by chasing the white
farmers away," he told IPS. The organisation is an umbrella body for
non-governmental groups.

But, Whitehead said that instead of taking up the land offer, Zimbabweans
should "work hard until this government disappears."

He urged farmers to wait until they could negotiate with a caretaker
administration tasked with organising an internationally-supervised election
to return Zimbabwe to the rule of law.

"Three of my farm workers were shot dead in 2002. There was an attempt to
shoot me too, that night," he recalled. "As far as I am concerned, I will
get my farm back when this government goes."

Initially farmers whose properties were seized went to court to challenge
the legality of the exercise, but government ultimately changed the law to
accommodate confiscations. Many acts of violence on farms have never been
investigated.

Under the new land policy, farmers will get 99-year leases.

"It would require at least four years for commercial farming to have an
impact on Zimbabwe," a farmer who requested anonymity told IPS.

He cited the need for new roads to be built on the farms, piped water to be
restored -- and electricity poles erected.

"Once that's done; you have other challenges. Farmers will need fertilizer,
irrigation equipment and chemicals -- (the) shops (which provide these) have
all closed."

What worries Whitehead more is the lack of trust between farmers and the
government: "There have been broken promises. The government has reneged on
all its promises -- we can't trust it."

Racially-charged debates about land ownership are also taking place in South
Africa and Namibia, where there are growing pressures to expropriate land
from white farmers and distribute it to landless blacks.

In South Africa, the government wants to put 30 percent of farmland
confiscated under apartheid in black hands by 2014 -- but land campaigners
say this process is moving too slowly. So far, government has distributed
just less than four percent of the intended amount of land to blacks.

Namibia's government plans to resettle about 250,000 landless persons, and
has started expropriating white-owned farms as part of this initiative.
(END/2006)

The AU-Era Breed of African Leaders Have Disappointed Africa

Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)

COLUMN
May 5, 2006
Posted to the web May 5, 2006

Kesitegile Gobotswang

I would like to add my voice to those of other patriotic Batswana who have
spoken against the botched policy of silent diplomacy pursued by the
government of Botswana on Zimbabwe. It is a policy that was bound to fail
because it is based on dishonesty and insincerity.

The policy of silent diplomacy or constructive engagement has a history in
this region and its failures are well documented. It first became popular in
the region in the 1980s. At that time, the war of liberation by the
patriotic forces in Namibia had intensified. On the other hand, the wars of
aggression by the apartheid white minority rule in South Africa against
neighbouring countries were also pursued with vigour. Consequently, the
international community through the United Nations decided to apply
sanctions on the apartheid regime of South Africa. The cold war between the
East and West was also at its peak. Using the cold war lens, the Americans
saw the conflict in Namibia as a war between capitalism represented by the
West and communism represented by the East. To them, the patriotic forces
led by SWAPO were their enemies because they were considered to be
communists and the apartheid regime were their friends since they were
anti-communism. For the reasons stated above , the American government under
the staunchly anti-communist President Ronald Reagan opposed sanctions. They
coined a policy called "constructive engagement" which is similar to the
policy of silent diplomacy adopted by the SADC countries over Zimbabwe
today. The arguments are also consistent with those advanced by the
Americans in the 1980s; that the Namibian people will suffer and the
apartheid regime will adopt a siege mentality. Simply speaking there was no
way the Americans were going to participate in a strategy that will end the
rule of their friendly white minority government in South Africa. It was not
in their geo-political interest to do so and so they opposed sanctions.
Chester Crocker, the then American Assistant Secretary of State for African
Affairs was the main proponent of the policy of constructive engagement.

Between 1981-1989, the name Chester Crocker was very much linked to the
policy of constructive engagement. In this scheme of things, issues of
democr acy, liberty, and human rights take a back seat. The majority of
member countries of the United Nations defied the mighty USA and applied
political, economic and cultural sanctions against the white minority regime
of South Africa. The rest is now history. Botswana was among a few countries
that did not implement sanctions against South Africa. That was not because
the country opposed sanctions per se. The main reason advanced was that
Botswana did not have the capacity and the means to apply sanctions on a
country upon which the country depended on for almost everything including
employment of Batswana migrant labourers in the South African mines. It is
disappointing that Botswana has made an about turn when it comes to taking
action against the Mugabe regime and instead hides behind a failed policy.
Suddenly you hear our Minister for Foreign Affairs Rraetsho Mompati Merafhe
speaking the language of Chester Crocker and Rraetsho Festus Gontebanye
Mogae talking the language o f Ronald Reagan.

The current breed of African leaders (of AU era), are a big disappointment
to the African Continent - they have betrayed us. One would have thought the
generation of Festus Mogae President of Botswana, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda,
Bakili Muluzi of Malawi, Levy Mwanawasa, of Zambia and so on. would be
different from the generation of the OAU period. How mistaken we were. These
leaders continue to pursue the failed OAU policy of non-interference in the
internal affairs of AU member countries that give leaders the licence to
brutalise their own people with impunity. So far there is nothing that the
Government of Botswana can show as the positive outcome of their misguided
policy of silent diplomacy. What we have observed over the years of silent
diplomacy was heightened political tension in Zimbabwe, economic melt down,
introduction of repressive legislations such as the Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and Security Act
(POSA). Just last year, the government of Zimbabwe introduced another
anti-media law; the Criminal (Codification and Reform) Bill that makes it a
criminal offence to make public statements that insult or undermine the
authority of President Robert Mugabe.

As we speak, our television crew has become the latest victims of the
draconian anti-media legislation in Zimbabwe. Beauty Mokoba and Robert
Seofela from the Botswana Television are to be prosecuted for practising
journalism in Zimbabwe in breach of the Rhodesian type of laws. We are
seeing more and more Zimbabweans risking their lives to cross the
crocodile-infested Limpopo River running away from the economic and
political situation in their country. Something must have gone horribly
wrong with Africa when you hear that President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi
has decided to name a European Union-funded road after President Robert
Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Equally perplexing is when the first President of
Botswana Sir Serets e Khama is given the Zimbabwean Order of Munamutapa and
the award is received from a dishonourable man like Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe. It saddens me that principled political leadership is fast
becoming an endangered species in this our beautiful motherland of Africa.
Political leaders of the calibre of Nelson Mandela are an extremely rare if
not a nonexistent breed in Africa today.

Kesitegile Gobotswang is the BCP Deputy President

Women to spend weekend behind bars

zimbabwejournalists.com

      By a Correspondent

      AT LEAST 120 women arrested yesterday for participating in a Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) demonstration against the 1000 percent school fee
increment are still in police custody.
      Anne Sibanda, WOZA spokesperson told zimbabwejournalists.com that the
women were now sadly set to spend the weekend in the cells at four different
police stations in Bulawayo - Mzilikazi, Donnington, Bulawayo Central and
Hillside.
      "We have had tremendous messages of support from all over the world
for the women who are in custody," said Sibanda. "At least we are happy the
children are now at home though 120 women are still in police custody. Our
lawyers are still trying to get them released and if possible we would want
them to be taken to court as a matter of urgency," she said.
      WOZA expected the women, who include coordinator Jenni Williams, to
appear in court earlier today but that did not happen. They are likely to be
charged under the Miscellaneous Offences Act for "conduct likely to cause
breach of peace."
      School children in their uniforms joined their mothers in the
demonstration against the recent hike in school fees.  WOZA says the recent
fee increases of up to 1000 percent mean that many families across the
country can no longer afford the exorbitant fees. As a result, many children
will not be returning to school next week.

China donates construction equipment to Zimbabwe

Xinhua

      www.chinaview.cn 2006-05-06 04:12:20

          HARARE, May 5 (Xinhua) China has donated construction equipment
worth 1.5 million U.S. dollars to the Zimbabwe Defense Forces, a local
newspaper reported on Friday.

          The equipment will enhance the capacity of Zimbabwe Defense
Forces' housing construction project set to be launched later this year, the
state-run newspaper The Herald quoted Zimbabwean Secretary for Defense Trust
Maposa as saying.

          He said during the official handover of construction equipment on
Thursday that the Zimbabwean government is committed to the welfare of the
defense forces and will soon embark on a massive housing construction
project to alleviate accommodation problems the force is facing.

          Maposa also said the good bilateral relations between China and
Zimbabwe should continue to be strengthened.

          China, which has a fast growing manufacturing sector, enjoys good,
cordial and bilateral relations with Zimbabwe, he added.

          The equipment includes brick making machines, brick-layer, plaster
and carpenters' tool kits, surveying equipment and electricians' tool kits.
Enditem

A Surging Cost of Living Is Driving More Zimbabweans Into Poverty

VOA

      By Blessing Zulu & Sithandikele Mhlanga
      Washington
      05 May 2006

The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said the national bread basket index, a
measure of the monthly cost of living for a family of six, surged in April
to Z$41 million from Z$35 million in March, a rise of 17% in just one month.
The Council noted major increases in food and non-food components,
particularly education, sugar bread and health care.

The state-funded Council warned consumers to brace for more price increases
in the wake of salary raises of up to 300% granted to civil servants -
economists say wage increases will blow out the fiscal deficit and fuel
already roaring inflation.

The Council said hyper-inflation which ran at a 12-month rate of over 900%
in March is driving an increasing number of Zimbabwean families into abject
poverty.

In evidence of this, the Bulawayo City Council this week disclosed that 29
children died in January in the Matabeleland capital from
malnutrition-related causes. Officials there had suspended release of such
statistics last year after the central government challenged their accuracy
and pressured the city to stop issuing them.

For perspective on the fearsome rise in the cost of living, reporter
Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe turned to independent economist
James Jowa.

Reporter Sithandikele Mhlanga asked Bulawayo Mayor Japhet Ndabeni Ncube
about government charges that his administration's malnutrition death
figures are wrong.

Zanu PF succession war plays out in court

New Zimbabwe

By Lebo Nkatazo
Last updated: 05/06/2006 08:09:32
ZANU PF's internecine succession struggle is expected to come to the fore
Monday when a court hears arguments over a defamation suit filed by former
information minister Jonathan Moyo against Zanu PF national chairman John
Nkomo and politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa.

The $2 billion lawsuit is a culmination of a power struggle that rocked the
ruling party in 2004 ahead of its congress in which two camps -- one loyal
to Emmerson Mnangagwa and the other to Solomon Mujuru -- battled to have
their candidates fill the post of vice president left vacant following the
death of Simon Muzenda.

The Mujuru camp won that bout after Zanu PF members were arm twisted to
endorse Joice Mujuru at the back of suspension of six provincial chairmen
who had thrown their weight behind Mnangagwa's candidature.

Moyo has indicated in court papers that he would call TWENTY FOUR witnesses
including one of his closest allies while in government, Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa, war veteran Joseph Chinotimba, a civil servant in the
ministry of information and Zanu PF members in Tsholotsho to vouch for him
that he never plotted to dislodge President Robert Mugabe and other member
of the presidency, an allegation he claims was spread by the two ruling
party members he will face in court.

Nkomo and Dabengwa claim that Moyo was never defamed. They also contend that
they never said the Tsholotsho MP, who angered Mugabe by entering the 2005
Parliamentary race an independent, had hatched a "coup", as he claims.

Those cited as witnesses by the two include, Bulawayo governor Cain Mathema
and his wife Musa Mathema who stood against Moyo together with an MDC
candidate and lost.

The case will be heard at the Bulawayo High Court.

Mexican Firm Clinches Money Transfer Deal

The Herald (Harare)

May 5, 2006
Posted to the web May 5, 2006

Harare

CRONOSPRINT Zimbabwe, a subsidiary to Mexico-based Latin Financial Services
(LFS), this week signed a money transfer agreement with CBZ Bank Limited.

The agreement is now subject to Reserve Bank approval. LFS president Mr
Martin Diaz said the deal would seek to establish Zimbabwe as the
springboard for expansion across the region.

"Our team is exploring the possibility of establishing Zimbabwe as the main
hub for money transfer routing in Africa because of its highly developed
financial services capacity," he said.

Cronosprint projects yearly earnings of between US$100 million and US$200
million from this venture principally designed to capture funds from the
Diaspora. This will also go some way in beefing up the country's weak
foreign currency receipts. LFS is the largest hard currency operator in
Latin America with operations in Canada, the US, Europe and parts of Africa.
Annually, the group's trading volume runs in excess of US$60 billion.

LFS' local partner, Mr Philip Chiyangwa, said: "Cronosprint is working
towards the establishment of by-products in the property sector while
inroads should also be made into the touri sm industry." Mr Diaz says
through his experience in tourism he will also attempt to forge links with
Zimbabweans with the hope of selling Zimbabwe as a tourist destination to
Latin America.

Consumer basket shoots up 17.4 percent last month in Zimbabwe

Xinhua

      www.chinaview.cn 2006-05-06 03:06:07

          HARARE, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The cost of living for a Zimbabwean
family of six for the month of April surged to 41 million Zimbabwe dollars,
up 17.4 percent from the March figure of 35 million, figures released by the
country's Consumer Council showed on Friday.

          The council said notable increases were recorded in both food and
non-food components of the basket.

          Major movers were the cost of education, which rose by 20.3
percent for the new term beginning May 9, sugar whose price rose by 60.1
percent to 265,000 Zimbabwe dollars for a 2-kilogram packet, health costs
which went up 40.7 percent, while the price of bread went up 29.9 percent to
85,000 Zimbabwe dollars.

          One U.S. dollar equals about 101,000 Zimbabwe dollars.

          However, there were invisible improvements in the supply of roller
meal and this might have resulted in the price decreasing by 22.2 percent.

          The consumer watchdog commended the government for making a
positive step in awarding its workers salaries in line with the high cost of
living.

          The watch dog also urged consumers to conserve and monitor their
usage of water and electricity as it anticipated an increase in tariffs with
effect this month.

          Many workers in the country are currently living in abject poverty
as they earn salaries far below the poverty datum line, the watchdog said.
Enditem

Pretoria: No evidence of persecution in Zimbabwe

From The Weekender (SA), 6 May

Ntandoyenkosi Ncube

The South African government has discarded as "manifestly unfounded" claims
of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Eight former employees of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) treasurer Roy Bennett, who sought
political asylum in SA, were recently turned down on the grounds that their
fears of persecution in Zimbabwe were "not well founded." Bennett has also
applied for asylum, citing political persecution in that country. The
decision, relayed to the eight by the Refugee Status Determination Office in
Pretoria, confirms long-held suspicions it has scant regard for the human
rights crisis in Zimbabwe. It also exposed its ignorance on what is
happening on the ground in its neighbour. The Determination Office's
decision casts doubt on whether Bennett's application will succeed - since
his tribulations can hardly be separated from those who worked for him. Home
Affairs department spokesman Nkosana Sibuyi acknowledged Bennett's
application two weeks ago, but said he was not going to be treated
differently from other Zimbabwean applicants. He said Bennett had to join
the queue of Zimbabweans who had applied for asylum. There is a backlog of
103 000 applications.

Bennett had a coffee farm near the border town of Chimanimani, expropriated
during Zimbabwe's controversial land-grab. His employees organised
themselves to fight off the war veterans invading the farm. They were
subsequently the victims of vicious attacks by the ruling Zanu PF militia,
often with the complicity of the police and other state organs. Bennett
served a one-year jail term last year for contempt of parliament after he
pushed Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa to the
ground in the National Assembly. This followed a heated verbal exchange
between the two after Chinamasa ignored court orders for the government to
return Bennett's farm. The severity of the sentence, after an unconditional
apology by Bennett, seems to highlight the high levels of intolerance
Zimbabweans are living with. Bennett was forced to flee the country
following allegations of complicity to murder Mugabe. An arms cache was
allegedly found in the border town of Mutare, a few days before President
Robert Mugabe was due in the town to celebrate his 82nd birthday. On his
arrival in SA, Bennett said the allegations were trumped up to weaken the
opposition.

"I regret to inform you that refugee status cannot be granted because your
fear of persecution is not well founded . the determining officer has
rejected your application, taking into account the relevant criteria after a
thorough assesment of your claim and careful scrutiny of the available
information. The office has come to the conclusion that your application be
rejected in terms of Section 24 of the Refugee Act as manifestly unfounded,
as you claim you left your country because of political risk and economic
instability," a letter to one of the employees said. Among other
requirements for a successful application was proof that the persecution had
been reported to the police - a clear impossibility, as allegations of
police complicity were raised. The Wits Law Clinic has taken up the case of
Bennett's former employees and has lodged a High Court case against the home
affairs minister. Head of Refugees at the law clinc, Abedu Bhanjee, said
that the South African government was not taking the Zimbabwean human rights
crisis seriously. "The circumstances have been tough for Bennett's employees
and we are working with the home affairs department to acquire a fresh
chance to apply with legal representation. Some of the decisions which (the
department of) home affairs has been giving (against) Zimbabweans since
November last year were not lawful," he said. "We want the court to rule
that all applications rejected from November last year up to now get a fresh
chance to apply. "It is difficult for Zimbabweans to get asylum in SA as
long as the home affairs department believes that there is no political risk
in that country."

From Zim Online (SA), 6 May

Zimbabwe security agents step up use of torture: report

Harare - Zimbabwe state security agents stepped up the use of torture
against civilians with 19 cases of torture reported in the month of March
alone against only three cases recorded the previous two months, the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum (ZHRF) said this week. Torture is outlawed in
Zimbabwe and the Harare government has in the past denied reports by the
ZHRF, churches and pro-democracy groups that its army and police routinely
commit torture against perceived opposition supporters. "The month of March
saw a rise in the incidents of torture," said the Forum, in a report on
political violence in the month of March that was released earlier this week
but made available to Zim Online on Friday. The ZHRF, which brings together
17 of the biggest human rights groups in the country, said in addition to
rising torture there were also several cases of assault and unlawful arrest
of citizens committed by state secret service agents and security forces
while carrying out their duties. "The Forum further urges all government
officials to adhere to international norms on torture, stipulated under the
Convention Against Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
or punishment," said the Forum.

The Forum records cases of human rights violations in Zimbabwe which it
compiles into reports. But the rights body says its reports do not capture
all cases of human rights abuses in the troubled southern African country.
The forum said 46 people were unlawfully arrested in March by police or
agents of the state's spy Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to bring
to a cumulative total of 366 such illegal arrests since the beginning of the
year. A further 32 people were illegally assaulted in the month under review
and again mostly by state agents to bring the cumulative total of such
assaults since January to 71, the ZHRF said. Detailing one case of gross
human rights abuse which it described as "unprecedented" the Forum said a
group of Zimbabwe National Army soldiers and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
officials in March raided a hotel in the eastern border city of Mutare and
heavily assaulted and tortured workers at the hotel after accusing them of
hoarding sugar and maize-meal. "The employees were forced to 'stand on their
heads' and to do press-ups on their knuckles while the security agents
continued to assault them. One of the victims John Saungweme, who is
elderly, fainted during the ordeal," the Forum report reads in part.

The Forum also deplored the arrest and torture of three opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party activists, three ex-policemen and private
arms dealer, Peter Hitschmann over allegations they had plotted to kill
President Robert Mugabe during his 82nd birthday celebrations held in
Mutare. The MDC activists have since been released for lack of evidence
while Hitschmann remains in custody but now faces charges of illegal
possession of weapons because the state could not make the treason charge
stick. Political violence and human rights abuses have become routine in
Zimbabwe since the emergence of the MDC in 1999 to become the biggest threat
ever to Mugabe and his ruling Zanu PF party's decades-old grip on power.

May Day

No way, no choice

Saturday 1st May 2006

Dear Family and Friends,
I'm sure it won't come as a surprise to hear that it's all off - again - and
the denials have begun, regarding who is allowed to grow food in our hungry
country. Zimbabwe made international news a fortnight ago with the
announcement that the government were asking white commercial farmers to
return to the land and get some food growing. Minister of State Security,
Didymus Mutasa said that he had held meetings with the Commercial Farmers
Union (CFU) and that they (the CFU) now understood how to work with
government. Mutasa was quoted as saying: "we asked them to submit
applications for land and these will be treated favourably. They are
Zimbabweans like everyone else."

The Vice President of the CFU, Mr Gifford, then agreed that they had indeed
been talking to Minister Mutasa about the future of agriculture in Zimbabwe.
Gifford said: "In fact, we have just submitted to the government 200
applications for land from our members."

Hardly were the words out of Gifford's mouth when Minister Mutasa was quoted
in the media again but by now there was clearly some difficulty with the
numbers. Mutasa said: "Some farmers have applied and their papers are being
considered like any application, but we do not have a number like 200
applications."

In the same week that all this was happening 20 farmers in the Midlands were
being given 48 hours to vacate their farms. At this point Justice for
Agriculture (JAG), whose name explains their function, were asked what they
thought the CFU was doing. JAG were damning in their condemnation of the CFU
and said: "the leadership (of CFU) is still on their farms and have
politically been left alone. Some individuals in the CFU have expanded their
operations on the back of this crisis acting as agents for the government.
They have chosen to go this lucrative route at the demise of their members."

And now, barely a fortnight later, it seems it's all off, and Minister
Mutasa is being quoted on South African television. Mutasa said "No white
farmer is being invited back." The Minister said he had not spoken to any
foreign journalists and that all their claims about farmers being asked back
were wrong.

In the two weeks that this has been going on a lot of people have asked me
if I would go back to farming on the back of this information. It' a simple
and obvious answer - No, not a chance. The reason is just as simple and
obvious - nothing whatsoever has changed. Until property title is restored,
until compensation is given, until law and order is restored, until
accountability is enforced - nothing whatever has changed. At this point in
time the chances of an arbitrary man walking past a farm and deciding he
wants it, and the crops, implements and infrastructure - and then taking it
all and having his theft supported by police and government - are as a
strong as ever. No way, no chance. Not sour grapes, just plain and honest
common sense.
Until next week, love cathy

http://africantears.netfirms.com/may2006.shtml