| The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
| |
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| AP | |
| Robert Mugabe | |
The decree by President Mugabe, which was published Monday, cannot be challenged through the courts for six months. The group "Justice for Agriculture" says the decree is "scandalous" and called it "legalized theft."
The decree, as of Tuesday, prevents any former farmer from selling all or part of any piece of agricultural equipment. Any contravention of the decree carries a penalty of up to two years in prison. The value of the equipment will be decided by government appointed appraisers.
The decree took effect immediately, but cannot be challenged until it is adopted by parliament in six months. Confiscation of the equipment will begin immediately, according to the state controlled press, which closely reflects government thinking.
A former white farmer in Harare, who was evicted from his land three years ago, said Wednesday that he has slowly been selling off his tractors and irrigation equipment to make a living.
About 90 percent, or more than 3,000, former commercial farmers - most of them white - have had their land and homes confiscated over the past three years. Only about 10 percent have received any compensation for the infrastructure, such as homes, irrigation systems, barns and fencing, left on their farms.
Property appraisers say the compensation received by the few hundred farmers who decided to leave Zimbabwe amounts to less that five percent of replacement value. There was no compensation for land.
But most farmers have refused to accept offers of compensation for their farming infrastructure, because they say it is too far below market value.
Lawyers in Harare who have been compiling loss statistics for former commercial farmers, say the replacement value of the agricultural machinery subject to the seizure decree adds up to hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.
As a result of President Mugabe's expropriation policy, only about 10 percent of Zimbabwe's arable land is being cultivated this year, and the United Nations says large amounts of food will have to imported to feed as many as five million people.
Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono is Thursday due to announce the
much-awaited
policy.
When he presented the 2004 budget last month, Finance
Minister Herbert
Murwerwa predicted the southern African country's economic
crisis would
deepen early next year, with inflation hitting 700
percent.
He projected that the economy would contract by 13.2
percent by the
end of the year. - AFP
China Cancels Africa's Debts
Cameroon Tribune
(Yaoundé)
December 17, 2003
Posted to the web December 17,
2003
Peter Efande
Beijing has fulfilled its commitment by
cancelling 31 African countries'
debts totalling US $1.27
billion.
During the second China-Africa trade summit held this week in
Ethiopia,
China said it would provide enhanced support for Africa, without
any
political discrimination. Both African and Chinese delegates agreed
that
there was vast potential for growth in trade between China and Africa,
and
that this was vital for Africa's development. Chinese and African
leaders
vowed to build stronger political and economic ties to counter
western
dominance in world affairs and improve the standing of poor
countries.
Attending the two-day summit in Addis-Ababa, Chinese
Primier Wen Jiabao
promised preferential, zero-tariff trade deals with 34
African countries.
Wen said China has taken further measures to increase its
imports from
African countries, and that the trade volume between China and
Africa has
been increasing at an annual rate of more than 20 per
cent.
"It is all too clear that world peace and development cannot
possibly be
sustained if the north-south divide grows wider and developing
nations grow
poorer," the Chinese Premier said. "Regional conflicts are going
on unabated
and non-traditional security problems, such as terrorism,
communicable
diseases have become prominent."
"The Chinese government
has fulfilled ahead of schedule its debt exemption
commitments and cancelled
31 African countries' debts totaling 10.5 billion
Yuan (US $1.27 billion),"
Wen Jiabao revealed.
Speaking to the conference, Zimbabwe's President
Robert Mugabe launched into
a tirade against Britain and the USA, calling on
African leaders to turn
their backs on western countries; and to focus on
better relations with
China, which he said respected African countries. It
should be recalled that
Cameroon actively participated in the summit.
Monetary Policy Creates Anxiety in Business Sector
The Herald
(Harare)
December 17, 2003
Posted to the web December 17,
2003
Harare
THE long-awaited monetary policy - to be announced
tomorrow by the Governor
of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr Gideon Gono -
has created anxiety within
the business community.
Almost all economic
sectors and the general public are pinning hopes on Dr
Gono to steer the
country's economy on the path to recovery.
Monetary policy entails
regulation of the money supply and interest rates by
a central bank to
control inflation and stabilise currency.
Some of the key areas to be
addressed in the monetary policy include
measures to reduce inflation,
possible exchange rate and interest rates
adjustment and pronouncement of
incentives for the productive and export
sectors.
In his budget
statement, Finance and Economic Development Minister Dr
Herbert Murerwa
indicated that priority in reining in inflation was reducing
it initially to
double-digit levels and ultimately to single-digit figures
through the
rigorous implementation of fiscal and monetary stabilisation
Some of the
specific measures to be outlined in the monetary policy, in line
with
containing inflation, include money supply targeting, defining
parameters for
use of confessional facilities and a new interest rate
policy.
Other
areas that need attention include the viability of enterprises
and
non-resident remittances of foreign currency.
Some members of the
public expressed knowledge about the impending monetary
policy
statement.
"I am holding on to my savings until and after the
announcement of the new
monetary policy. I have since retreated from the
stock market because I am
not too sure what will happen to my investments
when the new monetary policy
is announced," said an investor, Mr Jackson
Mberi of Harare.
Mr Mberi said he was hoping that the stock market
dealings would not be
subjected to unnecessary service charges.
Such a
development would curtail trading particularly on least performing
counters,
he said.
Several individuals have reportedly flocked to South Africa's
port city of
Durban to purchase used vehicles ahead of the monetary policy
statement so
as to beat currency fluctuation arising from a possible
devaluation of the
Zimbabwe dollar.
A devaluation of the local
currency against the United States dollar would
automatically lead to an
increase in import duty that would make it
expensive for Zimbabweans to
purchase imported vehicles.
Other members of the public said they
expected Dr Gono to come up with a
policy that will reduce
inflation.
"There is need to arrest the spiralling inflation. Prices of
basic
commodities have continued to rise to unaffordable levels. It is
incumbent
upon Dr Gono to come up with policy measures to alleviate the
suffering of
people caused by the galloping increase in prices," said Mrs
Mercy Patai of
Glen Lorne.
Dr Gono is faced with a mammoth task of
containing money supply growth,
which has been one of the major contributors
to the high inflation figure as
well as bringing lending rates down to
cushion, particularly, borrowing
businesses.
On the other hand, there
is need for an upward review of deposit rates
considering the high inflation
which has seen investors on the money market
realising negative real
returns.
Most people were not interested in the technicalities of how the
monetary
policy operates or its definition.
They major preoccupation
is to see Dr Gono putting in place policies that
put a leash on the wild
lending rates as well as stabilising the currency.
A continuation of the
dual interest rate is anticipated though the Governor
will have to come up
with clearer measures of how he is going to police the
productive sector
facility to protect it from abuse.
It is widely expected that the
Governor will announce a new exchange rate
policy possibly devaluing the
local currency, submitting to numerous calls
from most sectors of the
business community to review it.
The business sector also called on
the central bank to seriously consider
reopening bureaux de change which were
closed down in November last year
amid allegations of fuelling the parallel
foreign currency market in the
country.
Statistics, however, show that
there has been a decrease in the amount of
foreign currency remitted to the
Reserve Bank since the closure of the
bureaux de change.
17 December 2003
MDC STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI’S VISIT
TO ZIMBABWE ON 18 DECEMBER
2003
Following the abortive
Abuja Agreement of September 2001, at the December
2003 Abuja CHOGM, the
Commonwealth finally and formally identified and
recognized that the root
cause of the Zimbabwe crisis is a crisis of
governance and
legitimacy.
The MDC therefore hopes that President Thabo Mbeki’s
visit will fortify and
complement the latest CHOGM
position.
Successful brokerage in the resolution of the Zimbabwe
crisis will be
determined by even-handedness and the willingness to listen to
the views of
both sides of the Zimbabwean political
equation.
Hope and statements of intention are not enough to
resolve the crisis of
governance in Zimbabwe. Statements of intention must be
backed by concrete
and practical steps that create new facts on the
ground.
We believe that it is only in the context of such newly
created facts on the
ground that Zimbabweans, with the help of the
international community, can
put together an amicable, practical agreement,
with a specific timeline to
open up the country’s democratic space, allow for
free political activity,
institute the necessary legislative arrangements and
unblock the current
political impasse.
Any solution to
the Zimbabwean crisis that is based on an externally imposed
formula will
have no chance of success.
Paul Themba
Nyathi
Secretary for Information and Publicity
News24
'SA won't throw stones'
17/12/2003 15:15 -
(SA)
Pretoria - President Thabo Mbeki will visit his Zimbabwean
counterpart
Robert Mugabe on Thursday to discuss the worsening situation in
the
crisis-hit country, a presidential spokesperson said on
Wednesday.
"It's merely consultations that are ongoing with the
government of Zimbabwe
on our part to assist Zimbabwe to find a solution to
their own problems,"
said Bheki Khumalo.
"It's a broad agenda ... a
consultation about the situation going on there
and how we can assist," he
told AFP.
Mbeki did not have any plans to meet with the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change on his one-day visit to South Africa's
northern neighbour,
Khumalo added.
Mbeki has promised that a solution
to the political and socio-economic
crisis in Zimbabwe would be forthcoming
by June next year, but to date there
has not been any sign of
change.
Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth in March last year,
after
Mugabe was re-elected in polls that observers said were marred by
violence
and vote-rigging.
It faces massive food shortages because of
drought and the government's
controversial land reform programme, under which
white-owned farmland has
been seized and redistributed to
blacks.
Zimbabwe pulled out of the 54-nation Commonwealth earlier this
month after
the group announced that it intended to uphold a suspension of
the southern
African country despite fierce opposition from
Mbeki.
Mbeki believes in a policy of so-called "quiet diplomacy" toward
Zimbabwe,
meaning he does not publicly criticise Mugabe's
regime.
Political parties, church leaders and independent observers have
slammed his
approach, saying it had not yielded any concrete
results.
Khumalo reiterated on Thursday the government would stick to its
policies.
"We think engaging the Zimbabweans rather than excluding them
will assist
them in finding a solution.
"There is not going to be any
change in the South African government's
policy toward Zimbabwe; there will
be no change.
We are not going to throw stones from the sidelines,"
Khumalo said.
Mail and Guardian
German MP in secret talks with Zim
opposition
Johannesburg, South Africa
17 December 2003
16:36
Germany's deputy opposition leader in parliament, Christian
Democrat Arnold
Vaatz, met with members of the Zimbabwean opposition Movement
for Democratic
Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
Following secret
talks with MDC chief Morgan Tsvangirai and Pius Ncube, the
Bishop of
Bulawayo, Vaatz criticised South Africa for acting as an advocate
for
Zimbabwe's controversial President Robert Mugabe during the
recent
Commonwealth summit in Nigeria.
The German politician entered
Zimbabwe on a tourist visa.
Following the Nigerian summit, Western
diplomats had expressed shock at
South African President Thabo Mbeki's
defence of Mugabe's government, which
has been internationally criticised for
repressing the opposition and
bringing economic ruin to the
country.
Vaatz urged Germany's Social Democratic chancellor, Gerhard
Schroeder, to
use his upcoming visit to South Africa -- scheduled for January
21 to 23 --
to point out to Mbeki that his stance towards Zimbabwe will have
negative
consequences.
The German parliamentarian said a meeting by
Schroeder with MDC
representatives could send a clear signal in the
region.
"The impression that South Africa poses as a kind of protective
power for
this regime will have immense consequences for the reputation of
the country
[South Africa] and will certainly also impact on German
investments," Vaatz
said.
"It has to be expected from a country like
South Africa that it distances
itself from machinations such as those of
Zimbabwe," he added. -- Sapa-DPA
BBC News, 16 December
Kenya hunts for missing billions
The
authorities in Kenya are seeking to retrieve at least $1bn (£570m)
siphoned
out of the country by former officials. A six-month inquiry by
investigative
group Kroll has tracked the stolen money to accounts in
big-name banks, and
shares in London hotels. The money may already have
passed on to less
co-operative places such as Zimbabwe, Kenyan ministers
believe. But experts
say recovering the loot - possibly as much as $4bn -
could be much more
difficult than tracing it. The money in question is
thought to have been
embezzled during the previous administration of former
President Daniel arap
Moi, who ruled for 24 years before stepping down
following election defeat in
December last year. "Identifying the assets is
just the first step," Gladwell
Odieno, Executive Director of anti-graft
group Transparency International
(TI) Kenya, told BBC News Online. "Getting
the money back is a much more
questionable proposition. The people who got
the money out obviously had
enormous resources, and it's not easy for
developing country governments to
conduct these cases. The odds are stacked
against them."
If the
money is still in Europe, then freezing it may still be possible with
such
means as the Mareva Injunction - a legal tool which allows assets to
be
frozen without the target being notified in advance. But Justice
Minister
Robinson Githae told the BBC that the money may already be
elsewhere. "What
we have been told is that this money, most of it, was in
Switzerland, in
Monaco and in the Cayman Islands," he said. "But now the
intelligence
information we have is that this money is now being moved to
some African
countries like Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botwsana." Mr Githae
said scams
during the 1990s included one where the government was allegedly
defrauded
of millions of dollars worth of official payments designed to
encourage
exports. The main conduit is thought to be a firm set up to
encourage gold
and jewel exports called Goldenberg International, now the
subject of a
massive public inquiry. Other alleged scams involved government
officials
allowing their associates to borrow money from the central bank
only to
re-lend it at much higher interest rates.
The total figure
for corruption has been put as high as $3-4bn, according to
testimony to the
inquiry into Goldenberg. Such a large sum, the inquiry
heard, could have
funded universal primary education for a decade - and is
not far off the
entire government budget for the current year. "Kenyans are
seeing what they
have lost, the years of development that have been stolen
from them," Ms
Otieno said. Among those targeted by the investigation are a
number of
serving and former officials and ministers, who served under
former President
Daniel arap Moi, and Kenyans are expecting them to face
sanctions when the
inquiry reconvenes in January. Mr Moi relinquished power
after 24 years at
the top after his Kanu party lost an election in December
2002. A coalition
of opposition parties, Narc, took over, and new President
Mwai Kibaki put
John Githongo - Ms Otieno's predecessor at the head of TI
Kenya - in charge
of ethics and anti-corruption. In this case, the resources
allegedly diverted
as part of the Goldenberg International operation ended
up in European and US
banks.
Foreign exchange transactions at a number of banks, named at
the inquiry in
Nairobi, helped launder the proceeds. According to the
Financial Times, they
also funded the purchase of assets including shares in
two London hotels,
the Kroll investigation has found. In the future, it could
be easier to
recover this kind of money. On 9 December the United Nations
formally
unveiled its International Convention against Corruption, signed by
a number
of countries including Kenya and the UK. The Convention commits
signatories
to repatriate resources looted in this manner. But it will not
come into
force till 30 countries ratify it, a process which could take at
least two
years.
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE
COMMUNIQUÉS - December 17, 2003
Email:
justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Legal Communiqué and Press Statement
2. PR
Communiqué
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Legal Communiqué and Press Statement
Herewith the full text of
yesterday's draconian Presidential Powers Decree
relating to the acquisition
of farm equipment and materials.
Needless to say this is totally
unconstitutional on a number of grounds not
least of which is the
infringement on the individual citizen's rights to
own property in Zimbabwe.
That this targets and racially prejudices a
minority group that has already
been victimised and illegally dispossessed
of its agricultural land and
improvements with neither fair compensation of
any sort nor confirmation of
acquisition by any competent court is
indisputably fact. That this minority
group is surviving economically, to
a large extent and sometimes solely by
virtue of the ability to trade these
moveable assets is further indisputable
evidence of the illegal,
unconstitutional, inhumane and draconian nature of
this regime. That this
can be passed into law by presidential decree and as
such cannot be
challenged in law until enacted by parliament after the
prescribed
six-month period is further indication of the draconian nature of
this
latest move by the regime.
Commercial farmers who are vulnerable
to the application of this latest
statutory instrument should contact JAG for
advice and assistance as a
matter of urgency.
Statutory Instrument
273A of 2003.
[CAP. 10:20
Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures)
(Acquisition of Farm Equipment or
Material)
Regulations,
2003
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section
1. Title.
2.
Interpretation.
3. Prohibition on destruction, etc., of farm equipment or
material.
4. Identification of farm equipment or material.
5.
Acquisition of farm equipment or material by acquiring authority.
6.
Valuation of farm equipment or material.
7. Compulsory acquisition of farm
equipment or material.
8. Application for an order to acquire farm equipment
or material.
9. Payment for farm equipment or material.
10.
Impersonation.
Title
1. These regulations may be cited as the
Presidential Powers (Temporary
Measures) (Acquisition of Farm Equipment or
Material) Regulations, 2003.
Interpretation
2.(1) In these
regulations^×
"acquiring authority" means the Minister of Lands, Agriculture
and Rural
Resettlement;
"designated valuation officer" means a person who
is designated as a
valuation officer in terms of section 6;
"farm
equipment or material" means movables used for agricultural purposes
on any
agricultural land acquired for resettlement purposes under the Land
Reform
Programme, including irrigation equipment not embedded in the
ground,
tractors, ploughs, disc harrows, trailers, combine harvesters,
pumps not
permanently attached to the land, sprinklers, risers, movable
storage
facilities, Modrho tobacco curers, chemicals and fertilisers;
"identify", in
relation to farm equipment or material or any item thereof,
means include in
an inventory compiled in terms of section 4;
"Land Reform Programme" means
the Land Reform Resettlement Programme and
Implementation Plan (Phase 2),
published in April, 2001 (as re-issued and
amended from time to time), in
connection with the programme of acquiring
agricultural land for resettlement
purposes which commenced under the terms
of the Land Acquisition Act [Chapter
20:10] on the 23rd May, 2000;
(2) Any word or expression which has not
been defined in subsection (1)
and to which a meaning has been assigned in
any provision of the Land
Acquisition Act [Chapter 20:10] shall have the same
meaning when used in
these regulations.
Prohibition on destruction, etc.,
of farm equipment or material
3.(1) No owner or holder of farm equipment
or material shall wilfully
demolish, damage, alter or in any other manner
impair the farm equipment or
material, or cause any other person to demolish,
damage, alter or in any
other manner impair it, without the permission in
writing of the acquiring
authority.
(2) An owner or holder of farm
equipment or material who contravenes
subsection (1) shall be guilty of an
offence and liable to^×
(a) a fine^×
(i) equivalent to so much of the
amount of the impairment caused to farm
equipment or material as is
ascertainable in monetary terms; or
(ii) not exceeding level ten;
whichever is the greater amount;
or
(b) imprisonment for a period not
exceeding two years;
or to both such fine and such
imprisonment.
Identification of farm equipment or material
4.(1) Any
duly authorised representative or employee of the acquiring
authority may
enter any land or premises at any reasonable time and do such
acts thereon as
are reasonably necessary to ascertain^×
(a) whether there is on the land or
premises any farm equipment or
material not currently being used for
agricultural purposes on any
agricultural land; and
(b) the owner or
holder of such farm equipment or material; and
(c) the items of such farm
equipment or material on the land or premises;
and
(d) the condition of
such farm equipment or material and its suitability
for agricultural
purposes.
(2) The acquiring authority shall provide each of its
authorised
representatives or employees with a certificate indicating his or
her
authority for the purposes of this section and the
authorised
representative or employee shall produce such certificate to any
interested
person on demand.
(3) Upon entering any land or premises the
duly authorised representative
or employee of the acquiring authority shall,
if he or she has reasonable
cause to believe that there is any farm equipment
or material on the land
or premises not currently being used for agricultural
purposes on any
agricultural land, request the owner or occupier thereof to
compile an
inventory of such farm equipment or material on the land or
premises:
Provided that^×
(a) the owner or holder of any farm equipment
or material shall have the
burden of proving, to the satisfaction of a duly
authorised representative
or employee of the acquiring authority, that such
equipment or material is
currently being used for agricultural purposes on
any agricultural land;
(b) if the owner or occupier thereof refuses to
compile an inventory in
terms of this subsection, the duly authorised
representative or employee of
the acquiring authority may proceed to compile
an inventory of items which,
in the opinion of the representative or
employee, comprise farm equipment
or material not currently being used for
agricultural purposes on any
agricultural land;
(4) Any person who, after
farm equipment or material has been identified
in terms subsection (3),
sells, donates, demolishes, damages, alters or in
any other manner impairs or
disposes of such farm equipment or material
without the permission in writing
of the acquiring authority, shall be
guilty of an offence and liable
to^×
(a) a fine^×
(i) equivalent to so much of the amount of the
impairment caused to, or
loss of, the farm equipment or material as is
ascertainable in monetary
terms; or
(ii) not exceeding level ten;
whichever is the greater amount;
or
(b) imprisonment for a period not
exceeding two years;
or to both such fine and such
imprisonment.
Acquisition of farm equipment or material by acquiring
authority
5.(1) Subject to these regulations, the acquiring authority
may, either by
agreement or compulsorily, acquire any farm equipment or
material not
currently being used for agricultural purposes on any
agricultural land,
where the acquisition is reasonably necessary for the
utilisation of that
farm equipment or material on any agricultural
land.
(2) The acquiring authority shall give not less than seven days' notice
of
the intention to acquire any farm equipment or material to the
person
owning or holding the farm equipment or material.
(3) The notice
referred to in subsection (2) shall be served in person:
Provided that, where
the owner or holder of the farm equipment or material
cannot be located after
diligent search, the notice shall be published in
the Gazette and in a
newspaper circulating in the area in which the farm
equipment or material to
be acquired is situated.
Valuation of farm equipment or material
6.(1)
The acquiring authority may designate as a valuation officer any
member of
the Public Service who, in the acquiring authority's opinion, is
qualified to
carry out valuations of farm equipment or material and to
exercise any other
functions of a designated valuation officer in terms of
these
regulations.
(2) The acquiring authority shall provide every designated
valuation
officer with a certificate indicating his or her appointment and
the
designated valuation officer shall produce such certificate to
any
interested person on demand.
(3) A designated valuation officer shall,
at the request of the acquiring
authority or his or her duly authorised
representative or employee, carry
out the valuation of any farm equipment or
material identified in terms of
section 5.
Compulsory acquisition of farm
equipment or material
7.(1) After the identification and valuation of
farm equipment or material
in terms of sections 5 and 6 respectively, the
acquiring authority may, if
there is no agreement for the purchase of the
farm equipment or material
concerned^×
(a) acquire the farm equipment or
material by making an order compulsorily
acquiring the farm equipment or
material for compensation equivalent to the
value placed on the farm
equipment or material by the designated valuation
officer; and
(b) serve
on the owner or holder of the farm equipment or material a copy
of the order
referred to in paragraph (a).
(2) An acquisition order made in terms of
subsection (1) shall contain^×
(a) a description of the farm equipment or
material to be acquired; and
(b) the compensation payable for the
acquisition of the farm equipment or
material.
(3) An acquisition order
made in terms of subsection (1) shall be
accompanied by a notice in writing
inviting the owner or holder to indicate
within fourteen days whether he or
she contests the acquisition of the farm
equipment or material or the
compensation fixed therefore.
(4) Upon service of an acquisition order on the
owner or holder in terms
of subsection (1), ownership of the farm equipment
or material shall vest
in the acquiring authority, who shall thereupon have
the power to take
immediate possession of the farm equipment or
material.
Application for an order to acquire farm equipment or
material
8.(1) Where the owner or holder of any farm equipment or
material
compulsorily acquired in terms of subsection (1) of section 7
contests the
acquisition of the farm equipment or material or the
compensation fixed
therefore, the acquiring authority shall, not later than
thirty days after
the acquisition, apply to the Administrative Court for an
order confirming
the acquisition of the farm equipment or material.
(2) An
application in terms of subsection (1) shall be accompanied by^×
(a) a copy
of the acquisition order; and
(b) copies of the notices served or published,
as the case may be, in
terms of subsection (2) of section 5 and subsection
(3) of section 7.
(3) The Administrative Court shall grant an order referred
to in
subsection (1) where it is satisfied^×
(a) that the acquisition of
the farm equipment or material is reasonably
necessary for the utilisation of
that farm equipment or material on any
agricultural land; and
(b) that
the farm equipment or material was not, on the date of its
identification,
being used for agricultural purposes on any agricultural
land; and
(c)
subject to subsection (4), that the compensation fixed by the
acquiring
authority is reasonable in the circumstances.
(4) In granting an order
confirming the acquisition of farm equipment or
material, the Administrative
Court may fix any compensation that it deems
reasonable in the
circumstances.
(5) Where the Administrative Court refuses to grant an order
confirming the
acquisition of farm equipment or material, it shall order the
acquiring
authority to return the farm equipment or material to the owner or
holder
thereof.
(6) Where the owner or holder of the farm equipment or
material concerned
or the acquiring authority is dissatisfied with any
decision of the
Administrative Court, whether in relation to the acquisition
of the farm
equipment or material or the compensation fixed therefore, either
party may
appeal to the Supreme Court against that decision.
Payment for
farm equipment or material
9.(1) The acquiring authority shall pay to the
owner or holder of any farm
equipment or material acquired in terms of these
regulations the
compensation offered, agreed or fixed therefore, as the case
may be, within
a reasonable time and, in any event, where the farm equipment
or material
is compulsorily acquired^×
(a) at least one quarter of the
compensation payable shall be paid at the
time the equipment or material
concerned is acquired, or within thirty days
thereafter; and
(b) the
balance of the compensation payable shall be paid within^×
(i) five years
after the acquisition thereof in the case of farm
equipment;
(ii) one
year after the acquisition thereof in the case of farm material.
(2) The
compensation to be paid to the owner or holder of any farm
equipment or
material in terms of subsection (1) shall accrue interest at
the prescribed
rate from date of acquisition thereof.
Impersonation
10. Any person
who, for the purpose of gaining entry into any land or
premises, falsely
holds himself or herself out to be a duly authorised
representative or
employee of the acquiring authority or designated
valuation officer, shall be
guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not
exceeding level ten or
imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years
or
both.
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-
2.
PR Communiqué
Tutu 'baffled' at Zimbabwe debacle
Cape Town -
Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said on Monday that
he was baffled
at events at and comments following the recent Commonwealth
Heads of
Government Meeting (Chogm) in Nigeria. The retired cleric was
commenting in a
statement on the ongoing furore regarding decisions on
Zimbabwe. President
Robert Mugabe pulled his country out of the 54-nation
group of former British
colonies two weeks ago after the Commonwealth
decided at a summit in Abuja to
extend the suspension of the Southern
African state. "I respect the African
leaders who participated in that
meeting, some more than others," Tutu said.
"But I have to confess that I
have been baffled with what appears to have
happened there and the
reactions of some of the participants." Tutu explained
he was also at a
loss to understand the reasoning for a lifting of the
suspension of
Zimbabwe. He presumed Zimbabwe was in the first place suspended
to persuade
Mugabe to change his policies, to respect the rule of law and to
curb
violence against non-Zanu PF members. "What most observers seem to say
is
that at best the unsatisfactory status quo, which led to the
suspension,
remains unchanged. Many more contend that things have got worse.
I am
afraid I do not understand on what grounds an appeal for the lifting of
the
suspension could have been made."
He also questioned how it could be
claimed that a majority vote on the
question could be labelled undemocratic.
"It seems heads of state voted and
in terms of the votes, if reports are to
be believed, the decisions appear
to have been arrived at in the
time-honoured manner as in the re-election
of the Commonwealth secretary
general when an overwhelming majority voted
for him. "It seems that the
normal voting procedure was followed also in
deciding on whether to lift
Zimbabwe's suspension or not," Tutu said. He
also expressed his sadness that
South Africa declared the last elections in
Zimbabwe legitimate if not free,
saying that had been a distressing
semantic game. "Had we had something
similar in 1994 here at home with the
NNP [New National Party] being declared
a winner despite the elections not
having been free but legitimate we could
have quite rightly shouted foul."
He added that while nations did not
normally interfere in the domestic
affairs of other sovereign nations, it had
made a difference in South
Africa's case.
"Had the international community
invoked the rubric of non-interference
then we would have been in dire
straits in our anti-apartheid struggle. We
appealed for the world to
intervene and interfere in South Africa's
internal affairs. We could not have
defeated apartheid on our own. What is
sauce for the goose must be sauce for
the gander too," Tutu said. "We have
great expectations of the peer-review
system of the African Union but it
will be a futile exercise if we are not
ready to condemn human rights
violations unequivocally without fear or favour
whatever the struggle
credentials of the perpetrator. Human rights are human
rights and they are
of universal validity or they are nothing. There are no
peculiarly African
human rights. What has been reported as happening in
Zimbabwe is totally
unacceptable and reprehensible and we ought to say so
regretting that it
should have been necessary to condemn erstwhile comrades.
"The credibility
of our democracy demands this. If we are seemingly
indifferent to human
rights violations happening in a neighbouring country,
what is to stop us
one day being indifferent to that in our own?" Tutu
asked.
After the Chogm summit, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the
Southern
African Development Community (SADC) contradicted each other on
Zimbabwe's
suspension. Blair told his House of Commons that the "fact is that
every
single Commonwealth member signed up to the Abuja statement on Zimbabwe
-
including the other 19 African members of the Commonwealth, despite
the
strongly held doubts of some of those countries". But the SADC
expressed
"strong disagreement" with the decision, saying the "Commonwealth
has
always operated on the basis of consensus". The weekend press also
reported
that President Thabo Mbeki had shocked foreign diplomats and some
local
observers by justifying Mugabe's forcible seizure of white farmland
as
"perhaps inevitable". The Sunday Independent newspaper said they
also
reacted with "dismay" to what they called Mbeki's "deeply
offensive"
remarks written in his weekly electronic letter in his party's
website
journal, ANC Today. These included the charge that Britain
opposed
Zimbabwe's readmission to the Commonwealth this week merely to
protect its
"white, settler, colonial kith and kin" and that Western powers
were using
the demand for Mugabe to respect human rights simply as a tool for
"regime
change".