Zimbabwe at it again

[Springbok]

This from the South African "Sunday Times". The final statement by the Vice President is a real classic!


'Not all white farmers unwelcome'

Friday October 28, 2005 10:45 - (SA)

The Zimbabwean government does not intend chasing all white farmers out of the country, Zimbabwe's Herald Online reports.

It quoted Vice President Joseph Msika as saying: "Our policy is not to drive all whites out of their farms."

The policy of "one-man one-farm" should not be used against legally settled productive white commercial farmers, he told a farmers union congress in Bulawayo.

"We have situations, like the one in Esigodini, where some ex-combatants are unilaterally trying to push out some white farmers producing tomatoes in Esigodini for sale here in Bulawayo," Msika said.

"That is not our policy."

It was unfortunate that the social and economic justice programme was being wrongly interpreted by some people to justify displacing white commercial farmers.

"What I know about the land reform programme is that it says, if a white commercial farmer has five farms, then we take four so that he remains with one," Msika said.

"If again that one farm is too big we then apply the concept of maximum farm sizes and we take a portion of the farm and leave him with the right-sized portion. The intention is not to grab everything."

Both new farmers and the white commercial farmers should work together to achieve food security in the country.

"The whites used us during the colonial era. We should also use them this time around. One obviously cannot just wake up a good farmer, you need to learn," Msika said.

Sapa

[Scuba_Steve]

There still are white farmers in Zim? crap I figured they would have packed up and left as soon as possible with all that BS going on. I guess some just don't wat to give up everything for mugabe cronies to turn into shit.

SO basically they are goign to allow productive white farmers keep some small portion of their land, so they can train farmers for zimbabwe, who can then kick them out in a few years once they feel everyone has had enough 'training' ? Is that a correct asumption on my part?

Cheers

[Springbok]

There still are white farmers in Zim? crap I figured they would have packed up and left as soon as possible with all that BS going on. I guess some just don't wat to give up everything for mugabe cronies to turn into shit.

SO basically they are goign to allow productive white farmers keep some small portion of their land, so they can train farmers for zimbabwe, who can then kick them out in a few years once they feel everyone has had enough 'training' ? Is that a correct asumption on my part?

Cheers

You nailed it spot on. Zim government is trying to turn white commercial farms into white subsistence farms in order to get back to self sufficiency again. What a joke! Believe it not but Zimbabwe used to be agriculturally self sufficient not too long ago before they embarked on this white farmer murder and hatred campaign. Now they import almost every basic food commodity from South Africa and this includes their staple maize food products The white SA farmers are smiling all the way to the bank!! At least for now as the radicals in SA are also starting to stir up the shitpot!

This from todays paper in SA:

Slow land claim sparks tension

Monday October 31, 2005 11:53 - (SA)



The dragging on of a land claim process involving a group of farms near Heidelberg, Gauteng, has fuelled tensions and disrupted agricultural production, according to a committee of land owners.

In a statement released at the weekend, the land owners said that while farmers were usually blamed for delaying the restitution process, they had done everything in their power to expedite the process and had accepted valuations done by the Land Claims Commissioner.

The Kudung community are claiming the 10 farms, said their lawyer Henri Bonsma.

At the beginning of this month, the farmers said they had received correspondence from the Land Claims Commissioner informing them that the commissioner had requested Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza to speed up the submission.

However, the farmers have heard nothing since. In the meantime, the claimants have become impatient, the land owners said.

"On October 19 the fences of one of the farms were cut, and cattle were allowed onto the land. This action, whether caused by the claimants or occupants of the neighbouring farm, caused a confrontation between the claimants and the farmers."

They said someone, believed to be one of the Kudung community, had threatened to torch one of the farmers' property if they did not receive immediate occupation of the farms.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the new farming season, some of the farmers whose livelihood depended on the outcome of the claim had already disposed of their equipment.

"Not only the lives of the farmers are affected, but also the lives and future of farm workers staying on these farms," the land owners said.

"The land owners are suffering damages because of the failure of the Land Claims Commissioner and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Affairs to finalise this matter."

The farmers' committee said it had on various occasions requested the Land Claims Commission to provide them with reports of the progress.

"Up until now, no feedback has been received."

Congress Mahlangu, spokesman for the regional land claims office for Gauteng said: "We acknowledge that there has been a lack of progress."

This was because there was an influx of claims waiting to be finalised by the chief land claims commissioner and in relation to that particular claim, new information was presented and it had to be redone.

The claims also had to be personally vetted by Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza, he said, who was "very busy".

There were about 120 claims waiting to be finalised, he said.

The parties met on September 19 to address the delays.

"At the meeting we resolved that the commissioner will go personally to head office and make sure the process moves with the speed of light," Mahlangu said.

"We go to the head office and make sure that we keep them on their toes - we continually remind them."

He urged farmers who had not sold their equipment yet to continue farming. There would be discussions regarding the harvests, when transfer of the land comes up.

Mahlangu said he could not give an estimate of when the claim would be finalised.

Gauteng regional land claims commissioner Blessing Mphela was not immediately available for comment.

Sapa