The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 28 October

Tsvangirai’s push on Africa

Netsai Mlilo

Your decision to suspend participation in next year’s election did not have majority support in your party. How do you explain this?

First of all, one has to decide what informed our decision. Obviously, it is the electoral conditions that have been proven over the past five years to be flawed and to affect the sovereignty of the very people who are complaining that they want to participate regardless of the conditions. The people do support the position of the executive. They are anxious to express themselves through an election, but they know the obstacles and the result of participating in an election that has a pre-determined outcome. If [President Robert] Mugabe wants to run a one-party election, let him go ahead. We are very conscious that Zanu-PF may put on this brave face about ignoring national and international opinion. But eventually, they will come on board, because that is the only route to legitimacy and the resolution of the national crisis that we face.

What do you hope to achieve outside Parliament that you haven’t achieved in Parliament?

Parliament is one forum of engagement, of struggle. Surely the people are not going to give up their struggle and democratic resistance just because they are not in Parliament? We have been in Parliament when an adverse situation has prevailed, so it’s not a platform for resolving what we are talking about. The solution to this national crisis is not just about elections, it’s about the traditional mechanism of resolving the power contestations and structure of power beyond the elections.

You haven’t had much success in rallying people?

The allegation that the MDC [Movement for Democratic Change] is not mobilising Zimbabweans to fight for their own freedom and relies more on international solidarity is not true. What people should understand is that our capacity is hindered by the response of the state to any expression of discontentment by the people. People should look more at the extraordinary conditions under which the MDC has to mobilise the people in the face of this brute force.

So the withdrawal from the elections is to save lives. Is the MDC refusing to pay the full price for change in Zimbabwe?

When there is no pain, there is no gain — but we know that we have to make a responsible assessment about the risks we take. Any leader who takes a reckless attitude, that people must die to have their freedom — regardless of what price they have to pay — I think would be irresponsible. We are aware of the risks that we have to take and that risk is part of the game for freedom. After all, between 300 and 400 Zimbabweans have died for this cause and tens of thousands have either had their homes burnt down or have been raped. We are paying the price for freedom.

The MDC is widely perceived as an urban-based party that seems unable to crack the rural areas …

The disgruntlement in Zimbabwe transcends the urban and rural divide; it is inconceivable that this discontentment can only be expressed by urban voters. I want to emphasise that the MDC has wide support beyond the urban vote. Our MPs have the whole of Matabeleland, we have some representation in the Midlands, in the rural constituencies, and we have 50% of Manicaland. It is probably a perception because the base of the MDC comes from a labour background. There are no-go areas in Mashonaland province, but I want to tell you that the marginal vote in some constituencies there was narrow — just a thousand difference. So I dispute the fact that the MDC is an urban formation. It is a democratic formation. It is a post-liberation formation and, therefore, a totally new phenomenon.

Other than opposing Mugabe, does the MDC have policy on land and the economy?

Let me dispute the claim that our preoccupation is to remove Mugabe. We believe he is part and parcel of the whole institutional weakness that reflects a decay in our government — removing Mugabe without transforming the institutional base is not going to solve the problem. We know it is not just a change of personality that is required. It is a deeper transformation of the political culture in the country. Our solution lies with our policy programme called Restart, which is a reconstruction programme to ensure that there is sufficient confidence in rehabilitating industry, tourism, the mining sector, manufacturing of basic goods, including food. No one can accuse the MDC of not having policies on land — in fact, Zanu PF reacted to the MDC’s proposals that land is an unfinished national agenda and should be tackled. We believe you need a combination of commercial and small-scale farming. All the farms that have been taken away from white farmers are now in the hands of Zanu PF. Again he [Mugabe] has not solved the perpetual problem of inequality.

It is said that your advisers led you into the Ben Menashe trap that resulted in your treason trial. You’ve not had the smartest advisers, have you?

I have the best of advisers — it was an oversight not to check on the security background but not on advisers. I have the most competent advisers in all fields. I think the question was about an oversight in our security checks.

How do you contest Zanu PF’s assertion that the MDC did not participate in the liberation struggle? You can’t seem to shrug off your tag as Tony Blair’s messengers.

Well, let’s start with the liberation struggle. If somebody monopolises the struggle of the people and turns it into a party struggle, it causes confusion. The struggle for liberation has never been a Zanu PF struggle; it has been a people’s struggle. Why do they monopolise it? Because they don’t want this liberation tag to be owned by Zimbabwe. I can claim the fruits of our liberation struggle as much as any other Zimbabwean — it is our liberation struggle — not Mugabe’s, not Zanu PF’s. So this privatising the national liberation struggle and making it a party thing should be dismissed. This is part of the abuse of the patriotic commitment of Zimbabweans to a national cause. It is quite appropriate for Mugabe to demonise us — what else can he criticise us about? He has to find a bogey man called Blair and place it on the MDC. He has not accepted that the current crisis in Zimbabwe is not about Blair, it is not about [United States President George W] Bush — it’s about his mismanagement.

You are accused of hankering for the colonial days ...

That we [MDC] are reversing the revolutionary gains of Zimbabwe — that again is untrue. The MDC is pursuing the ideals of the liberation struggle which have been betrayed by Zanu PF — liberty, opportunity for everyone and sovereignty of the people. The MDC has taken the ideals of liberation to a higher plane — that is why we are a social liberation movement. We no longer need to free ourselves from colonialism but from subjugation and manipulation by the ruling elite, while at the same time responding to the social, political and economic needs of the people.

You seem to have changed tack by wooing African diplomats. Are they prepared to turn against an African liberation icon like Mugabe?

I wish he was an icon. He is a demon, because he has betrayed the very same ideals of the liberation struggle — from hero to zero, that is what he has turned out to be. How can a liberation fighter like that turn out to be such a dictator? Yes, we have been to Europe — but if there is any investment that we have done, it has been in the African region, particularly South Africa. We have emphasised the fact that the Zimbabwean crisis is an African crisis. Our engagement with our African brothers is to move away from this complicity with Mugabe to a situation where they must understand the root causes of the Zimbabwe crisis. It is not a land crisis, it is not a colonial crisis; it is a crisis of governance. Obviously this has taken a very long time, because the black-white issue is still very valid. But the real cause is not about white on black oppression, it is about black on black oppression.
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The Spectator

The madness of Thabo Mbeki

Jews cannot spit any more because they used up all their saliva spitting at
Jesus. Chinese women have horizontal vaginas. Africans have small brains,
huge genitals and uncontrollable sexual appetites. Is there any sane adult
today who takes the slightest heed of fantastic racial legends such as
these? Unfortunately, there is one: the President of South Africa.

Last week in the South African Parliament, President Thabo Mbeki was asked a
detailed question about the government's policy on Aids and the effect of
South Africa's very high incidence of rape on the spread of the disease. It
had been given to him two weeks previously. Mbeki replied by ignoring the
question and saying that he would only address the 'central issue' of
racism. He said this:

'I for my part will not keep quiet while others whose minds have been
corrupted by the disease of racism accuse us, the black people of South
Africa, of Africa and the world, as being, by virtue of our Africanness and
skin colour, lazy, liars, foul-smelling, diseased, corrupt, violent, amoral,
sexually depraved, animalistic, savage and rapist.'

He also quoted a black American who said whites accused blacks of being
'rampant sexual beasts, unable to control our urges, unable to keep our legs
crossed, unable to keep it in our pants'. Of course none of Mbeki's critics
had ever made any such accusations. His words brought rapturous applause
from the ANC members, but they frighten me for the future of South Africa.
Mbeki's irrationality is disturbing and there is something chilling about
his lack of compassion for the victims of Aids. A vast tragedy is unfolding
over South Africa: young orphans are heading households and grandmothers are
burying children and grandchildren. But Mbeki is so immersed in his
disgusting racial fantasies that he cannot spare a drop of pity for them.

On 20 September 2000, asked whether HIV caused Aids, Mbeki said this:

'Does HIV cause Aids? Aids is an acquired immune deficiency syndrome. I don't
believe it is a sensible thing to ask if a virus causes a syndrome. A single
virus cannot cause a syndrome. A virus causes a disease. Aids is a
syndrome...including 29 different diseases. When you ask the question, does
HIV cause Aids, the question is: does a virus cause a syndrome? It can't.'

He said that HIV could contribute to Aids but could not cause it alone. He
is completely wrong. HIV causes Aids on its own as surely as the malaria
parasite causes malaria. HIV attacks the CD4 cells of the immune system,
wrecking it and leaving the body open to attack by other hostile organisms.
A person healthy in every other way but infected with HIV is almost certain
to get Aids and to die of it.

The HIV virus is very well understood. It is a bog-standard member of a
retrovirus family that infects apes and was passed to humans by them. Men
and animals have been exchanging diseases throughout history. HIV would have
passed from apes to men by the mundane procedure of Africans butchering apes
for meat and blood spilling on to their skin.

Unfortunately, the plague of Aids has attracted an army of professional
doomsters who are always looking for a scare to provide them with the two
things they long for most: Armageddon and conferences. My friend and
compatriot, Rian Malan, is quite right to criticise their wild predictions
of calamity. (Incidentally, Rian, despite his boasts to the contrary, is not
smelly.) But, if the global warming scare is 10 per cent science and 90 per
cent speculation, the Aids scare is 90 per cent science and 10 per cent
speculation. The only uncertainty is over infection rates, death rates and
the period between HIV infection and the onset of Aids.

Mbeki's mad stance on Aids has been ruinous for South African government
policy against the disease. Why has he taken it? There are various
suggestions.

One is that he himself has Aids. This is almost certainly nonsense. Another
is an economic conspiracy theory. In South Africa Aids does affect certain
professional people, notably teachers, but it seems most widespread among
the desperately poor and jobless, a large group that does not contribute to
the formal economy. The theory goes that the cost of supplying medical
treatment to these people would outweigh the economic gain. Indeed the
economy would be better without them. Corporations already supply private
treatment to their employees. So pretend there is no such thing as Aids, let
the poor die and save a lot of money. I do not believe that the South
African government is acting in this Machiavellian way. I do not believe
Mbeki is as cold-blooded as that.

On the contrary, I believe the reason is a hot-blooded one. Whereas Robert
Mugabe in Zimbabwe is concerned only about power and uses race purely as a
screen behind which he can crush his black population and maintain his rule,
Mbeki seems genuinely obsessed with it.

When Aids began to devastate Africa, Mbeki could choose between two opposite
conspiracies for blaming the white man. The first is that Aids is a deadly
killer and the evil global drug companies are deliberately raising the
prices of life-saving anti-retroviral drugs so as to make them unaffordable
in Africa and thus to depopulate the continent. (The Kenyan Nobel peace
prize-winner this year, Wangari Maathai, believes that the evil white man
actual invented HIV.) The second is that Aids does not exist and the evil
global drug companies are deliberately flooding Africa with deadly poisonous
anti-retroviral drugs so as to depopulate the continent. Either theory would
have suited Mbeki. Through a series of accidents, he latched on to the
latter, made a fool of himself in so doing, became furious and is now using
this anger to feed his racial phobias.

A vivid episode in this sorry story concerns Charlene Smith, a white
journalist and an anti-apartheid, pro-ANC activist, the last word in
progressive causes. In 1999 she was raped. She wrote a newspaper article on
her experience and urged other rape victims to speak out. She was inundated
by correspondence from such women, most of them black, thanking her,
congratulating her, telling her of their own much worse experiences and of
the dreadful prevalence of rape in their own communities. She wrote a book,
Proud of Me. It is excruciating in its political correctness (she was amazed
that anyone should think that the fact that her rapist was black should make
any difference whatsoever) but otherwise stark, brave and heartfelt; it
shines a bright light upon a dark area. She speaks at length of HIV and
Aids, which she says is greatly exacerbated by rape. Mbeki responded to her
arguments by saying she was 'blinded by racist rage'.

A mass of evidence backs Charlene Smith. Coerced sex, which can range from a
man forcing himself on a reluctant wife to the gang-rape of a child virgin,
is much more likely to spread HIV than consensual sex is. In consensual sex,
the vagina is likely to be lubricated and relaxed, presenting a natural
barrier to the virus. In forced sex, it is dry and tight, and much more
likely to tear, providing a doorway for the virus. It seems that in Africa
there is a lot of forced sex. Many men seem to feel it their right to take a
woman, and women tend to regard sex as at best a joyless duty, at worst a
compulsory ordeal.

I spoke to a white man who employs about 20 black women from the Cape Town
township of Guguletu. He was worried about Aids and gathered the ladies
together to educate them. He said, 'You must make your husbands and
boyfriends wear condoms.' There was a gale of derisive laughter. The stupid
white man was simply inviting them to be beaten up. A black friend told me
that at his school the final-year boys never courted the final-year girls
because they knew they were reserved for the teachers. There seems to have
been a recent rise in the death rates of young African women and middle-aged
African men, suggesting 'inter-generational sex' (dirty old men claiming
young girls). Young is becoming younger: a recent research study shows that
33 per cent of South African children have had sexual intercourse by the age
of 10 and 66 per cent by the age of 18.

Behind all of this lies the greatest tragedy of black people in the world:
the breakdown of the black family. This is the supreme taboo. Even to
mention it would have Mbeki foaming at the mouth. In the USA in 1965 the
liberal US Senator Daniel Moynihan was denigrated when he reported that half
the black population suffered from 'social pathology' because of black men
deserting their wives and children. But he was right. Why has the black
family broken down?

During slavery in the US, most black children lived with their mothers and
fathers. From the ending of slavery in the 1860s until about 1940, black
family life was faithful and stable, by some counts better than white family
life. It was almost unknown for black children to be born out of wedlock.
Mother, father and children lived happily together. Then after 1940
something happened. Today about 70 per cent of black children are born out
of marriage and only 40 per cent of black children live with both parents.
Some explanations include the migration of people to the cities and the
corrosive influence of 'progressive' policies in inducing young single black
girls to become dependent on state handouts for their babies.

In South Africa many black children, perhaps a majority, do not know who
their father is. A recent study showed that only 20 per cent of children in
Soweto and Johannesburg were living with their fathers by the age of 12.
Apartheid, with its forced separation of male workers from their homes, must
bear much of the blame, and also such factors as the effect of modernity on
traditional African polygamy. I do not understand all the reasons but I
believe it is desperately important to find the cause.

In the US, black scholars such as Professors Thomas Sowell and Walter
Williams are leading a moral crusade for the black family. The wonderful
Bill Cosby has joined them. In Africa, President Museveni of Uganda has led
a highly successful campaign against Aids mainly by preaching in favour of
sexual faithfulness and family values.

I wish one of these gentlemen would have a chat with President Mbeki.
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Zim Online

CIVIL SERVANTS FORCED TO FUND ZANU PF CONGRESS
Sat 30 October 2004

      HARARE - The ruling ZANU PF party has deducted $100 000 from each
civil servant's  October salary in a desperate bid to raise $25 billion to
fund the party's watershed December Congress.

      ZANU PF was thrown into crisis after the party's funds budgeted for
the congress were trapped in three financial institutions which were shut
down earlier this year as part of the government's clean up exercise in the
troubled banking sector.

      The ruling party needs to raise $25 billion for the congress and has
unilaterally sought to raise the funds from members of the army, police,
teachers and newly resettled farmers, ZimOnline established.

      ZANU PF secretary for finance David Karimanzira said: "Just like any
other sector, we were affected by the closure of banks. We are making
efforts to raise the money but I can't disclose the means through which we
will do so," Karimanzira said.

      But a civil servants' representative body confirmed the deductions
which were done without their consent.

      Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general
Raymond Majongwe said the union had received complaints from teachers who
had had money deducted from their salaries without their prior knowledge nor
consent.

      "We have received reports from teachers especially in the rural areas,
who are being forced to donate money to things they are not aware of or
interested in. Some of our members say they had been told the deductions are
for the ZANU PF congress," he said.

      Zimbabwe National Army spokesman Ben Ncube refused to shed more light
on the deductions on soldiers' salaries saying the issue was confidential.
"That's a confidential matter. We can't discuss why and how money is
deducted," he said.

      Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena also refused to discuss the
matter.

      A farmer based in Mashonaland West, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, yesterday confirmed that some farmers were being asked to donate
money to fund the ruling party's congress and had already started doing so.

      ZANU PF has in the past forced civil servants to contribute funds
towards its party's activities as well as national events such as
independence and heroes day celebrations.

      The ruling party argues that the civil servants should be grateful for
their jobs which it claims are a result of its efforts in winning the
liberation war. - ZimOnline

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Zim Online

Mugabe rules out postponing March poll
Sat 30 October 2004

      HARARE - President Robert Mugabe has told the ruling ZANU PF party's
supreme body, the politburo, that next year's parliamentary poll will go
ahead as planned despite attempts by the opposition to get regional leaders
to persuade him to postpone it.

      Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai met
President Thabo Mbeki and Mauritian Prime Minister Paul Berenger this week
and lobbied them for support to force Mugabe to postpone the poll.

      Tsvangirai tried to convince the two leaders that there was simply not
enough time to implement electoral reforms that comply with the new Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) norms and standards on free and fair
elections before the March
      poll.

      Berenger is also chairman of SADC.

      It is unclear what prompted Mugabe to raise the issue in the Politburo
meeting on Wednesday but authoritative sources said he immediately ruled out
accepting any request to postpone the polls.

      A senior Politburo source said Mugabe was of the view that Tsvangirai
is wasting his time by trying to approach regional leaders on the matter.

      Tsvangirai told a Press conference in Johannesburg that he was indeed
telling regional leaders that next year's poll should be postponed to a
later date. Mugabe told the Politburo to ensure the ruling party was fully
geared for the election as there was no possibility of any postponement.

      Postponing the elections would give the MDC an opportunity to buy time
and organise to regain lost ground, Mugabe is said to have argued. Mugabe
feels his party will easily defeat the opposition in March, the sources
said.

      "He (Mugabe) argued that the ruling party would have made the most
serious mistake by allowing the MDC more time to organise by delaying the
election," a source said.

      "This, he said would be like surrendering victory to the MDC. He
believes the ruling party has at this stage a good chance of heavily
defeating the MDC."

      Another source close to the Politburo said Mugabe told the meeting to
forget about any postponement and concentrate on campaigning as the election
would go ahead as planned.

      The MDC has so far rejected proposed changes to the electoral law
arguing that they don't go far enough to guarantee free and fair elections.

      The proposed changes include the establishment of an "independent"
electoral commission appointed by Mugabe himself, one day polling and the
use of transparent ballot boxes.

      The MDC wants a commission that is totally independent and access to
public media and a new voters' roll among other demands. - ZimOnline.

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Zim Online

Top government law officer takes swipe at women
Sat 30 October 2004

      HARARE - Permanent secretary in the Justice Ministry David Mangota has
said women working in the ministry are big under-achievers who have failed
to meet expectations.

      Mangota, the most senior civil servant in the ministry, made the
comment during presentations to Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Justice
on the draft Electoral Bill.

      He was responding to a question by the Women in Politics Support Unit
(WIPSU) group on why the draft legislation, which is before Parliament, did
not have provisions to ensure the participation of more women in national
politics.

      Mangota said: "As the head of the justice ministry, I have made sure
that women get a certain number of positions when we are appointing people
to the bench.

      "They are not performing at all. Reasons being given by the women are
that they are failing to play the effective roles of being a mother, a wife
and a professional magistrate or judge.

      "Some judgments are sitting for a long time without being delivered
while some cases go on without an end in sight."

      Director of the women's lobby group, Tsitsi Matekaire, had also
queried why there was no woman sitting on all the commissions dealing with
elections in Zimbabwe like the Delimitation Commission and the Electoral
Supervisory Commission.

      Matekaire's group was among a number of organisations which gave
presentations to the justice parliamentary committee on the proposed
electoral Bill at Parliament on Thursday.

      The report will be tabled before parliament in two weeks time.

      Although women constitute about 51 percent of Zimbabwe's population of
12 million, they remain marginalised in the major political decision-making
processes in the country. - ZimOnline

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Daily News online edition

      Government hauled to labour court

      Date:30-Oct, 2004

      BRUSSELS - The Federation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) is taking the
Zimbabwean government to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) over
the deportation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions mission on a
fact-finding mission to the country on Wednesday.

      ICTU director for trade union rights, Janek Kuckiewicz told Daily News
Online that they are finalising their complaint which they will submit to
the ILO in "a few days time" to organisation's committee on freedom of
association.

      A 14-member COSATU delegation was kicked out of the country by the
Zimbabwean government accusing it of being agents of the British government.

      "We have a deep feeling of solidarity with the Zimbabwean workers and
the brief of the COSATU mission was to investigate what we have always
raised against the government in that country," said Kuckiewicz.

      He added: "The ILO cannot send troops to Zimbabwe, they can't invade
or prosecute, but its condemnation of Zimbabwe can be used by other bodies
such as the African Union or SADC to increase pressure on the government."

      This would be the second time that Zimbabwe has been dragged to the
ILO this year by the ICFTU after another complaint in July over the
dismissal of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions president Lovemore Matombo
from the Zimpost.

      The All Pakistan Federation of United Trade Unions (APFUTU) secretary
for International Relations, Zia Syed said it would protest to the ILO
against the expulsion of COSATU by President Mugabe's government.

      APFUTU with all its 250 affiliates condemned the Zimbabwean government
for its actions.

      The COSATU mission whose objective was to investigate the violations
of trade unions, workers' rights and human rights and assess whether the
government had put in place conditions for a free and fair election was
kicked out of the country after only holding one meeting.
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Daily News online edition

      Economic turnaround so far not too visible

      Date:30-Oct, 2004

      MOST economists use such arcane language the layperson is left
confused.

      Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is no
different. His quarterly review of the economic programme anchored on the
new monetary policy would not respond to the one universal question people
have asked: Why has life for ordinary people not improved?

      The economy is expected to grow by 3.5 to five percent by 2005. The
government was targeting an annual inflation rate of from 150 to 160
percent.

      Other measures were to be taken: errant commercial banks are to be
brought under tighter control. But why is there no mention of the
reintegration of the economy into the international community?

      Recently, the International Monetary Fund stated clearly that Zimbabwe
"needs to reintegrate itself into the international community to reclaim its
credit-worthiness and donor support".

      There is not much love lost between the IMF and the government of
President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe came within a whisker of being expelled
from the IMF for reneging on debt repayments.

      As it is, the country has not been fully rehabilitated for a return to
full membership. All this is not to say that Gono's programme has failed.

      There are a number of positive achievements outlined in the governor's
review and clearly he has every confidence that the turnaround programme
will eventually succeed, albeit after much pain and struggle.

      But this still doesn't explain why the international factor in the
crisis is not being given the attention it deserves. At the beginning of the
programme, Gono did announce that he would re-engage the international
financial institutions - and he did.

      But both the IMF and the World Bank seem to have set down certain
conditions which Gono's political bosses appear to have found unacceptable.

      This is very unfair to the people of Zimbabwe, who have endured much
suffering because their government is obsessed with sticking to its
so-called revolutionary politics.

      So far, this brand of politics has given the political leaders a life
of luxury while the rest of the population struggle to find food, jobs,
shelter, health services and even freedom of expression.

      Gono, this time around, sounded more like a Zanu PF political activist
than a hard-nosed economic manager.

      What the people would dearly love to hear him say is that he has
"normalised" Zimbabwe's relations with the international financial
community.

      It's all very well for the politicians to swear not to compromise the
country's sovereignty under any circumstances. But if the turnaround
programme is not yielding the anticipated results, then it is folly not to
re-engage the IMF and the World Bank.

      Sovereignty is great, but can be of little real worth if all it brings
the nation is more hunger and more poverty. - Editorial
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Daily News online edition

      Bennet*s cardinal sin

      Date:30-Oct, 2004

      THE ruling by Zanu PF MPs on Thursday to send the Chimanimani MP, Roy
Bennet jail for an effective 12 months clearly shows how vindictive the lot
are.

      That Bennet erred and erred grossly in assaulting two members in the
august house during debate on the StockTheft Amendment Bill in May is not
debatable at all.

      It is also not debatable that he should be punished but for the
honourable members to mete out such a severe and outrageous punishment is
beyond anyone's imagination.

      Bennet lost his cool during debate in Parliament and charged at the
Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa,
shoving him to the floor and then pushed the Minister of Special Affairs
responsible for Anti-Corruption and Anti-Mopololies, Didymus Mutasa to the
ground.

      On Thursday, 53 Zanu PF MPs voted in favour of the ruling to send
Bennet to jail for 12 months while 42 MDC MPs voted against adopting the
recommendation.

      But perhaps the irony of it all is that Bennet came into politics on a
Zanu PF ticket. He cultivated excellent relations with people around his
Chimanimani farm such that he was nicknamed Pachedu, the term he always used
when giving assistance to his workers and members from the

      neighbouring community.

      Stories abound of how Bennet would spend the night with mourners at a
local funeral and how he would offer his tractors to plough the fields of
the rural community for very little charge.

      He endeared himself so much to the entire community that the people
put forward his name as their Zanu PF representative in the 2000
parliamentary elections. Zanu PF told him he could not stand as the people's
representative.

      Zanu PF bigwigs could not countenance a whiteman and a former soldier
in Rhodesia for that matter, representing a black constituency in modern day
Zimbabwe. Left with no option, as he sincerely wanted to serve his
community, Pachedu mobilised his supporters and told them that he was
crossing the floor.

      That was his cardinal sin, his political undoing. Crossing the floor.
Its unAfrican and Zanu PF will never forgive anyone who does that.

      And Bennet did cross the floor in style, taking with him most of his
former Zanu PF supporters.

      Come election time he trounced the ruling party and made history by
becoming the first whiteman in Chimanimani to represent the people in
post-independence Zimbabwe in parliament on an MDC ticket.

      The battle lines had been drawn and Zanu PF swords were drawn against
him and his workers. Everything was thrown in to remove him from his farm, a
farm he bought with money from his own sweat.

      As he stated in parliament before he was sent to jail on Thursday, he
and his workers were subjected to untold suffering and harassment at the
hands of Zanu PF as if they were never bedfellows at one stage.

      But Parliament is not a court in itself and its decision can be
challenged in the courts of law.

      Despite the partisan nature of the judiciary in this country, Bennet
should be given an opportunity to appeal and seek justice. It will be
another test case for the judiciary. - TALKING POINT

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IPS

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE:
A Tumultuous Week

Ken Ntuli

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 29 (IPS) - In recent years, political developments in
Zimbabwe have been as hot a topic of conversation in South Africa as they
were in Zimbabwe itself. The past week has not proved an exception to this
trend.

Thursday saw the head of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, give his first major press conference in
South Africa since a two-year travel ban on him was lifted. Previously, his
passport had been confiscated while he was facing charges of plotting to
assassinate President Robert Mugabe.

Following an acquittal on Oct. 15, Tsvangirai immediately embarked on a tour
of South Africa and the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, two key members of
the 13-nation Southern African Community Development (SADC) - which includes
Zimbabwe.

"I have spent the past week engaging political leaders and key players
within civic society in the SADC, updating them on the current situation in
Zimbabwe," the MDC leader told journalists in South Africa's commercial hub
of Johannesburg.

Accompanied by the party's secretary-general, Welshman Ncube, Tsvangirai
held talks on Monday with South African president Thabo Mbeki, who also
heads the SADC organ for defence, politics and security. Two days later he
met Mauritian Prime Minister Paul Berenger, the current chair of SADC.

The purpose of these discussions was to persuade the two leaders to put
pressure on Zimbabwe to implement fully the SADC Protocol on Principles and
Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections. Adopted in Mauritius by regional
heads of state in August, the protocol is aimed at ensuring that all polls
held in the region are free and fair.

Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections in 2000 and a presidential poll in 2002
were marred by widespread violence ahead of voting - the brunt of which was
borne by the opposition - and irregularities in the electoral process. State
media were biased in favour of the ruling ZANU-PF party.

Since then, the situation in Zimbabwe has not improved. The Public Order and
Security Act allows police to restrict freedom of assembly, while the Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act is widely seen as a bid to
muzzle independent journalists. Both laws were enacted after the 2002 vote.

The SADC electoral protocol stipulates that all parties contesting a poll
should be allowed to campaign freely, while enjoying equal access to
state-run media. Amongst other things, it also calls for the establishment
of impartial electoral institutions.

"We explained how Zimbabwe's democratic deficit continues to widen at an
alarming rate, making a free and a fair election impossible under the
current circumstances," said Tsvangirai.

"Since the SADC Protocol was signed by all member states on Aug. 17 there
has been no serious attempt by the Zimbabwe government to implement measures
which will ensure full compliance with the new SADC electoral standards," he
added.

Fearing a repeat of events in 2000 and 2002, the MDC suspended participation
in all elections on Aug. 25 - including the next parliamentary poll,
scheduled to take place by March 2005. However, the party has left the door
open for rejoining the campaign.

"We explained (to Mbeki and Berenger) how the timing of our decision was
deliberately aimed at giving the government sufficient time to address the
severe deficits that exist with regards to complying with the SADC
standards," observed Tsvangirai.

"Prominent deficits such as the absence of the rule of law, political
violence, repressive legislation that curtails basic civil and political
liberties and an inaccurate voters' roll cannot be addressed immediately
prior to polling day," he said.

"They need to be tackled at least six months or more prior to an election if
public confidence and legitimacy are to be harnessed to the entire electoral
process."

Tsvangirai also painted a gloomy picture of Zimbabwe's economy, putting
unemployment at almost 80 percent and inflation at 280 percent. While the
country has experienced financial difficulties for several years, matters
took a turn for the worse after the start of a controversial land
redistribution programme in 2000.

Veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s war of independence and government militants
began occupying hundreds of farms owned by minority whites in what was
originally portrayed as an attempt to rectify racial imbalances in land
ownership that dated from the colonial era.

However, government critics claimed the farm seizures were orchestrated by
Harare in a bid to deflect attention from its track record ahead of the 2000
parliamentary election.

The land redistribution programme has since contributed to severe food
shortages in Zimbabwe that have affected millions.

In May, Harare began cutting down on food aid to the country, claiming that
a good harvest was anticipated for Zimbabwe.

However, the London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International said
in a report earlier this month that local and foreign civic groups believed
the government was preparing to use food aid to coerce people into voting
for it during the upcoming parliamentary poll. The report in question was
entitled 'Zimbabwe: Power and Hunger - Violations of the right to food'.

Seven million people, more than half of Zimbabwe's population, now need food
aid, according to aid agencies.

Tsvangirai's concerns about the economy were echoed by Wellington Chibebe,
secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, during an
impromptu press conference held in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Chibebe said economic decline in Zimbabwe had resulted in a massive, and
ongoing exodus of citizens from the country - many of them
desperately-needed doctors and nurses.

"Five million Zimbabweans are out of the country. This is scary, given the
fact that Zimbabwe's population is only 13 million," he noted.

Also caught up in the Zimbabwean quagmire this week was a 13-member
fact-finding delegation from the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU), which found itself deported from Zimbabwe on Wednesday.

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo described the COSATU delegation as
working for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and anti-Zimbabwean,
pro-western interests. Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonizer, is routinely
accused by Harare of trying to undermine Zimbabwe.

The influential 1.5-million-strong COSATU is in political alliance with
South Africa's ruling African National Congress, which has adopted a policy
of "quiet diplomacy" towards Harare.

While Tsvangirai commended Mbeki this week for what he termed a more
"robust" approach to dealing with events in Zimbabwe, Pretoria's response to
the expulsion of COSATU members was muted.

"Zimbabwe is an independent, sovereign state that has an inalienable right
to determine and to apply its immigration legislation as it may deem
appropriate and in its own interest," said Ronnie Mamoepa, spokesman for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A visibly unhappy Violet Seboni, leader of the fact-finding delegation, said
Thursday, "We respect their (government's) rights of quiet diplomacy, if
they think it's the right thing to do."

Acting COSATU spokesman Patrick Craven signaled that the organisation would
not necessarily follow government's lead, however.

"We will not accept (that) we can be banned. This is a normal trade union
visit. Trade unions visit countries and they don't need to get permission
from government," he told IPS, adding that COSATU would persist in its
efforts to investigate the situation in Zimbabwe. (END/2004)
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Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2004 3:01 PM
Subject: Judge and Jury

Dear Family and Friends,
This week Zimbabweans watched with shock and amazement as our government
seemed determined to score an own goal. It has been a week of roller
coaster rides with hopes soaring one day and then plummeting back to earth
the next day.

The South African trade union movement was coming to Zimbabwe on a fact
finding mission to see for themselves what was happening inside our
country. They were to meet their counterparts in the ZCTU and
representatives from a wide range of civic society organisations. We were
delighted and felt sure that COSATU would say it like it is. They are not
the sort of organization who would be intimidated or harassed or who would
wrap their findings in diplomatic words. With bated breath we followed
every step of the saga. COSATU were told by our government that their
visit was unacceptable and that they would not be welcome but the Union
representatives said they were coming anyway. Everyone was convinced that
the COSATU delegates would not be allowed into the country and it was
touch and go for a while. The 13 member COSATU delegation arrived in
Harare but were detained by state security agents at the airport for
almost two hours. It seemed that the COSATU delegates were being told that
they would only be allowed in if they agreed in writing not to meet
certain Zimbabwean groups on the grounds that these organizations were
opposed to the Mugabe government (one of the groups mentioned was the
Council of Churches!). The COSATU delegation stood firm, refused to sign
anything and were eventually allowed into the country.

The COSATU visit did not last long.  The next morning CIO agents
descended. They were soon joined by riot police who helped enforce a
Cabinet ruling to deport the COSATU team. And that was it, as easily as
the light of hope had been ignited, so it was extinguished.  Then it was
all over bar the shouting and propaganda. Our Ministry of Information
attacked the COSATU''S visit describing it as ' a treacherously calculated
assault..a challenge to (Zimbabwe's) sovereignty... a provocative visit
(by a group) with alien interests,' ZBC TV news said the COSATU delegates
had been sent by British prime Minister Tony Blair and described them as:
"aristocrats who were pro capitalist."

While the propaganda fumed and spat, the COSATU delegation were being
shoved unceremoniously out of the country. There were no farewells from
the airport but a six hundred kilometer drive in the middle of the night
to literally dump the Union leaders at the Beit Bridge border. Exhausted,
hungry and stressed, the COSATU vice president said it had been a "nasty,
horrible experience " and that "There is simply no law and order in
Zimbabwe."  Just for one day COSATU held the torch high for us and for
that we thank them. We hope that what they saw in their very brief visit
will not be forgotten but used to help all Zimbabweans who have been
desperately struggling to get this message across for almost five years.

Zimbabweans are also holding up a torch this week for MDC MP Roy Bennett.
Parliament has just voted to jail the opposition MP for 15 months with
hard labour for pushing and knocking down Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa in Parliament in May. Roy Bennett did not deny shoving the
Justice Minister and apologised to the Speaker of The House. There is no
doubt in anyone's mind that the incident was the culmination of almost
five years of extreme provocation. Events which represent a litany of
horror and abuse which include repeated violent farm invasions, illegal
arrests; murder of one man, shooting of another, rape of three women,
slaughter and theft of cattle; theft and sale of over 150 tons of coffee;
the looting and trashing of his home, six court orders that had been
ignored. and the death of Mr and Mrs Bennett's unborn child.  ZANU PF did
not waste any time debating these horrors, their parliamentary majority
turned them into judge and jury and already MP Roy Bennett has been locked
up. Zimbabweans are with you Roy Bennett. You have shown us all the
meaning of courage and of true patriotism and we thank you for the hope
you have given us for the last five years. When the New Zimbabwe is born,
Roy Bennett will be hailed as the man who gave us inspiration, hope and
courage and showed us the way. We salute you. Until next week, with love,
cathy. Copyright cathy buckle 30th October 2004.
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"African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available  from:
orders@africabookcentre.com ;  www.africabookcentre.com ; www.amazon.co.uk ;
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In view of the recently passed Ex-political Prisoners, Detainees and Restrictees Bill, it is instructive to re-examine some prominent War Victims and their Disability Claims and Payments, investigated by the Judge Chidyausiku Commission in 1998. 
 
Note that the amounts paid should be multiplied by at least 417 to get the equivalent at today's rate of 7 500 - 1, assuming the amount was granted in 1998 at the rate of 18-1.  If payment was made in 1980, you would probably have to multiply by around
10 000 - unfortunately that detail is not available in the Commission Report.
 
The full list of claims investigated appears in the Report, and was also published in both the Financial Gazette and Zimbabwe Independent in August 1998.  The list below is available in Excel attachment if preferred - please request.
 
 
Name Total % Disability claimed Total % awarded Amount (at 18-1 or less)
Chigudu, Tinaye Elisha 119 84 490 779,78
Chihuru, Augustine 20 20 135 645,04
Chikwinya, Nyasha 130 100 369 522,14
Chinamasa, Mishek 50 50 264 035,53
Chinengundu, R 99,4 86,4 585 986,07
Chipanga, Shadreck 25 25 188 629,71
Chiwenga, Constantine 66 59 225 584,36
Dongo, Margaret 90 48 89 720,00
Hunzvi, late Chenjerai 117 85 361 630,86
Kangai, Kumbirai 62 62 117 834,00
Mahofa, Shuvai 70 12 29 301,98
Malaba, Herbert 99 74 273 026,15
Marufu, Reward 95 95 822 668,55
Matanga, Godwin 94 92 618 076,83
Mathema, Cain 30 30 65 244,75
Matongo, R Mataruse 30 30 63 698,09
Mau Mau, Stalin 26 26 239 390,32
Mhlanga, Robert 65 65 237 592,69
Mohadi, Kembo 43 35 174 147,43
Mpofu, Griffiths 65 45 362 924,03
Mpofu, Obert 50 50 138 495,22
Muchechetere, Hapison 85 85 619 334,60
Mudzimbamuto, Daniel 85 70 333 839,66
Mujuru, Teurai Ropa 55 55 389 971,13
Mutsvangwa, Christopher 78,7 40,7 209 580,72
Muzonzini, Elisha 40 40 73 409,42
Mvenge, Moses 45 45 244 543,30
Mwashita, Vivian 94 64 585 220,06
Ndlovu, Charles 35 35 306 680,45
Nkomo, John 55 55 254 153,92
Nyambuya, R 50 50 231 246,61
Pasipamire, Christopher 75 75 487 139,12
Rushesha, Oppah 90 75 477 908,17
Shiri, Perence 50 50 90 249,20
Sibanda, Gerald 94 84 428 267,00
Siziba, Chemist 30 25 37 2.1,32
Tekere, Edgar 90 90 262 162,38
Tungamirai, Josiah 7 7 300,00
Tungamirai, Pamela 55 55 71 066,95
Zimondi, Kennedy 97 24 148 490,12
Zindi, Irene 91 7 408 379,58
Zvinavashe, Vitalis 55 55 224 395,80
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SABC

Mugabe says Zimbabwe to step up war on corruption

October 30, 2004, 15:45

Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, vowed today to root out and jail
all those involved in corruption, stepping up a campaign launched earlier
this year meant to stem an economic crisis. "By their very deeds, they have
declared war on the nation and they should, and will be, thoroughly dealt
with," he told a cheering crowd at the funeral of a senior official of his
ruling Zanu(PF) party. "They will be uprooted from our midst and confined
with those of their kind," he said.

Zimbabwe police have arrested dozens of businessmen since January along with
some top government officials, including the country's finance minister,
mainly on charges of illegal dealings in foreign currency and defrauding
bank depositors. Mugabe said his government's crackdown on corruption would
not spare anybody. He said he was particularly angry with "heartless"
bankers accused of defrauding depositors because they had ruined many lives.

"Let it be known that we will not let such culprits go unpunished. We have
decided to deny peace to such elements and have declared an all-out campaign
against corrupt practices."

Zimbabwe's central Reserve Bank has placed nine banks and financial
institutions under curatorship over the past year for having inadequate
capital, having accumulated huge insider loans or on suspicion they had been
defrauded by their managers. Some directors of these black-owned banks -- 
many formed in the 1990s when the government liberalised the sector -- have
been forced to step down. Others have been arrested on corruption charges,
while some have fled the southern African country.

Mugabe (80) in power since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980,
rejects accusations that he has run down one of Africa's potentially richest
countries through policies largely designed to serve the ruling elite and
his political supporters. Critics say Zimbabwe's economy has shrunk 30% in
real terms in the past five years largely due to problems in the key
agricultural sector after Mugabe's controversial seizures of white farms for
redistribution to landless blacks. Mugabe denies mismanaging the country and
accuses his local and foreign opponents of sabotaging the economy in a bid
to overthrow his Zanu(PF) government. - Reuters
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Zim Observer

      Bennett strips naked
       (10/30/2004)

 Zimbabwe's Member of Parliament Roy Bennett on Thursday stripped naked at
the entrance to Parliament Building, protesting against being searched by
security personnel as he entered the building.He bared all at Parliament's
Kwame Nkrumah Avenue entrance at around 2.15pm, when the bells for
commencement of business in the House were tolling.

Parliament Thursay adopted a recommendation by the committee, which
investigated his assault on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Patrick Chinamasa in May, that he should be sentenced to 15 months
in jail with labour.

As he entered the building, the MDC MP removed his tie, shirt and jacket
before he drew his trousers and underwear to the ankles in anger after a
female member of the security staff, Susan Matsika, demanded to search him
"for security reasons".

An agitated Bennett shot back: " I'm not a criminal! What have I done to be
searched?"
Security officials at the entrance ordered him to put on his clothes, and he
obliged.

Matsika refused to divulge what action would be taken over Bennett's action.

She said: " I am not authorised to talk to the Press about Bennett's
conduct. Let me go and seek permission from the deputy director of security
(Eric Katesera)."

Katesera said he also needed permission to talk to reporters on the issue
from Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, who refused to speak to the paper.

 " You have written articles I don't like. I will never talk to you. I am
busy."

Efforts to interview Bennett over his conduct were thwarted by policemen who
said he was under arrest. Attempts by Parliament's public relations
personnel to facilitate an interview were also shot down.

When Bennett was brought into the chamber to respond to the report of the
Privileges Committee, which found him guilty of contempt of Parliament, the
legislator apologised for his conduct.

However, he blamed it on what he termed "emotions", which had been caused by
the loss of all his five farms. He said he had bought the farms over a
period of nine years after independence.
He added that what was more hurtful to him was that the government had gone
to defy six court orders which declared the occupation of Charleswood Estate
unlawful.

"It is something that happened because of all the hurt and emotion that had
been bottled up for four years, (caused) by the very person who has
continued to personalise these issues against me."

After he gave his submissions, he was asked to leave the chamber while his
colleagues deliberated on his fate. The House went on to vote 63 to 42 in
favour of the custodial sentence.

He was called back and informed that the House had adopted the committee's
recommendations.
As the Sergeant-at-Arms escorted him out of the chamber, two MDC MPs -
Paurina Mpariwa (Mufakose) and Nomalanga Khumalo (Mzingwane) - wailed. In
the Zanu PF camp, there was no celebratory mood among the MPs who voted for
the incarceration.

All the MDC legislators who debated the report before its adoption had
pleaded for mercy and leniency from Zanu PF legislators, to no avail.

They also drew parallels with a 1998 incident in Parliament when former MP
Solomon Mujuru threatened to pounce on Margaret Dongo after she had provoked
ruling party legislators.
Dongo was fined $1 000 and Mujuru $750.

Welshman Ncube, a member of the committee, distanced himself from the
report.
"There is nowhere in the world, where you can find one incident in the world
where an individual has been sent to jail for a year. We must stop and
think, otherwise we will be putting our nation into history books."

Source: Daily Mirror By Clemence Manyukwe
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JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM 29th October 2004

Email: jag@mango.zw ; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com

Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the subject line.

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JAG OLF 306
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

As you reach a certain point, you have to empower other people and build on
their strengths to make your own weakness irrelevant.

Stephen Covey
_____________________________________________

OPEN LETTER FORUM

Letter 1.  Subject: Open Letter Forum

Dear JAG

This opinion was presented by "It's your choice" of Greendale in the Daily
News, 10 May, 2000:

Five-year plan to run down Zimbabwe's economy

It would appear that ZANU PF have a new 5-year plan for our country.

Below is a layman's prediction of the outcome.

Year 1: Land, both productive and unproductive, is seized from the
experienced large scale farmers and given over to small-scale farmers, most
of whom have no access to capital and little or no equipment. Within a very
short time agricultural input deceases by half.

Year 2: Foreign investment, vital to the survival of the economy, has dried
up as Zimbabwe's pariah status holds. Tourism all but disappears, as the
country's international image remains negative. Agricultural output
deteriorates further as more land is turned over to subsistence
agriculture. These factors together deliver the deathblow to the economy.
Investors and capital alike flee, and three out of four workers lose their
jobs.

Year 3: Resettled land begins to deteriorate due to poor farming and
conservation practices. This is compounded by a flood of urban to rural
migrants who have lost their jobs.

Year 4: Periodic droughts visit the country. Food stocks dwindle and
harvests are poor. Imports of food are impossible as foreign exchange
reserves have ceased to exist along with the economy. Mass starvation
ensues. The grip of the AIDS menace tightens as Zimbabwe sees her darkest
days.

Year 5: Having delivered Zimbabwe to this pitiful state, the ruling elite
leaves for greener pastures. The country is now heavily reliant on foreign
aid for its survival and has become another sub- Saharan disaster.

The above is not politics, It is logic.

Anon.
_____________________________________________
Letter 2.  Subject: ZM PRODUCE

Dear JAG,

Tricia Gush here - ex Dragon Marine - we are now in Uk - East Sussex and I
see that Tesco supermarket are selling fresh produce from Zim.  Namely
green chillie peppers.

I have asked them who they are dealing with - they said that they were
dealing with Kondonzi and then stopped the contract and say that the
farmers they are dealing with are new approved by the E.T.I. (Ethical Trade
Initiative) and that is all I can get out of them.

I am concerned that they are not dealing with genuine farmers and will
throw all my support in, if it turns out they are not.

How can I find out who is exporting from there??  I cannot get much further
here.

Lyn sends his regards.

Tricia Gush

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for Agriculture.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE JAG TEAM

JAG Hotlines:
(091) 261 862 If you are in trouble or need advice,
(011) 205 374
(011) 863 354 please don't hesitate to contact us -
(011) 431 068
                                we're here to help!
263 4 799 410 Office Lines
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JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE LEGAL COMMUNIQUÉ - 29th October, 2004

Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Today's Herald Newspaper (29th October 2004) has no Section 5, 8, or 7
listings.

However, a new form of listing appears involving 779 properties that
reads;)

NOTICE
LAND ACQUISITION ACT (CHAPTER 20:10)

MINISTRY OF SPECIAL AFFAIRS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET
RESPONSIBLE FOR LANDS LAND REFORM AND RESETTLEMENT

The schedule below summarizes details of farms who have outstanding
compensation in terms of Section 29B of the Land Acquisition Act (Chapter
20:10).  the former owners or representatives should contact the Ministry
of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement as a matter of urgency, so that they
are paid their compensation.

Please Contact any of the following;

Mr S Moyo
Mrs T Million
Mr J Mukiwa
Ministry of Lands, Lands Reform and Resettlement
Block 2, Makombe Complex
Corner Harare Street and Herbert Chitepo
Tel 04-797325 up to 30
(Previous listings of farms along compensation lines read;)
MINISTRY OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT

DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT

PRESS ADVERTISEMENT

The below schedule summarises details of farms whose owners or
representatives should contact the Department of Lands and Rural
Resettlement discuss the position of their farms as a matter of urgency.

Contact Details:

The Principal Director, Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural
Resettlement, Department of Lands,
Ngungunyana Building, No. 1 Borrowdale Road, Ground Floor, Tel 797325 - 30
(Those farmers who complied in the past and contacted the Department of
Lands and Rural Resettlement were made ludicrously low verbal offers which
was highly irregular and unproceedural in terms of the act.

We will be publishing this list on Monday (1st November 2004) and recommend
that farmers act with an abundance of caution and in the meantime
familiarise themselves with the legal procedures in the relevant section of
the Act (29B) which we include with this communiqué for listed farmers
attention.

In the meantime legal opinion is being sought and feed back from those
listed farmers who make contact with the Ministry is essential to be able
to make informed decisions on this new listing and offer guidelines to
affected farmers.  Those farmers listed wishing to make contact with the
Ministry should first contact JAG or their legal practitioner for advice
and the Valuation Consortium for an updated valuation on the property. 29B
Procedure for assessing compensation (1) As soon as possible after a
preliminary notice has been published in respect of any agricultural land
required for resettlement purposes, a designated valuation officer shall
prepare a preliminary estimate of the compensation payable for improvements
or the land, as the case may be, in terms of this Part in respect of the
acquisition, and shall transmit his preliminary assessment to the
Compensation Committee. (2) For the purpose of preparing a preliminary
estimate of compensation in terms of subsection (1), a designated valuation
officer may exercise the powers conferred by section 11 upon an authorised
representative of an acquiring authority. (3) On receipt of a preliminary
assessment of compensation in terms of subsection (1), the Compensation
Committee, after carrying out such further investigations as it considers
necessary, shall without delay^× (a) prepare its own estimate of the
compensation payable in terms of this Part in respect of the acquisition
concerned; and (b) give written notification^× (i) of its estimate to every
person who is entitled in terms of section 16 to be paid compensation in
respect of the acquisition concerned; and (ii) inviting every person whom
it has notified in terms of subparagraph (i), if he disputes the
Compensation Committee's estimate, to submit, in such manner and within
such reasonable time as the Compensation Committee may specify, any
representations, whether in the form of a claim for compensation or
otherwise, that he may wish to make in regard to the Compensation
Committee's estimate of compensation payable to him. (4) After considering
any representations submitted in response to an invitation in terms of
subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of subsection (3), the Compensation
Committee shall, subject to sections 21 and 29C, fix the compensation
payable for improvements or the land, as the case may be, and shall give
written notification of its assessment to the owner of the land concerned
and every other person who is entitled in terms of section 16 to be paid
compensation in respect of the acquisition concerned.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE JAG TEAM

JAG Hotlines:
(091) 261 862 If you are in trouble or need advice,
(011) 205 374
(011) 863 354 please don't hesitate to contact us -
(011) 431 068
                                we're here to help!
263 4 799 410 Office Lines
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