the first stuff on Zimbabwe

[Simon Fairlie]

Whoops, sorry, I got muddled up between the two tlio e-mail lists.

Anyway, here is the original message on Zimbabwe, first sent to  
Legacy of Colonialism

Simon



Begin forwarded message:

> From: Djehuti Sundaka <Djehuti_Sundaka at hotmail.com>
> Date: 5 April 2008 21:23:18 BDT
> To: Legacy of Colonialism <legacyofcolonialism at yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [LegacyofColonialism] White former Farmers Threaten Blacks  
> with Eviction
> Reply-To: LegacyofColonialism at yahoogroups.com
>
> White former farmers threaten blacks with eviction
> http://maravi.blogspot.com/2008/04/herald-white-former-farmers- 
> threaten.html
> Herald Reporters
>
> AN increasing number of white former commercial farmers are reportedly
> threatening resettled black farmers throughout the country with  
> eviction
> from
> their farms or face the wrath of an anticipated "incoming MDC  
> government".
> In Chiredzi, white former sugarcane farmers and conservancy operators
> have reportedly returned in their droves, threatening to repossess  
> their
> plots in anticipation of an MDC victory. This has raised fears and
> apprehension among a host of newly-resettled farmers who benefited
> under the Zanu-PF Government's land reform programme.
>
> Some of the sugarcane farmers who spoke to The Herald yesterday
> expressed concern over incidents of white former farmers in Mkwasine,
> Hippo Valley and Triangle who were threatening to return to plots
> they previously owned.
>
> The newly-resettled farmers said the white former farmers were
> allegedly camped at Malilangwe Conservancy on the outskirts of
> Chiredzi town where they have been staying since the run-up to
> harmonised elections.
>
> Zimbabwe Sugar Milling Industry Workers' Union secretary-general
> Cde Admore Hwarare last night warned the white former farmers
> against any attempts to repossess land in Chiredzi, saying that such
> moves would be fiercely resisted.
>
> "Let no one fool himself or herself that they can repossess land in
> Chiredzi because we are going to resist that. The land was allocated
> to us by the Government and we have got security forces who are
> prepared to defend the right to our land.
>
> "Let it be known that there is nothing like that going to happen in  
> the
> Lowveld as we are prepared to defend ourselves," said Cde Hwarare.
>
> White former commercial farmers in the Lowveld have been resisting
> the land reform programme where they had maintained a stranglehold
> in the multi-billion-dollar sugar industry.
>
> In Mashonaland East, the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC faction's
> proposed Agriculture Minister and newly-elected House of
> Assembly representative for Marondera Central, Mr Ian Kay,
> reportedly told workers at his former Chipesa Farm that he
> would soon be repossessing the farm that was acquired by the
> State at the height of the Land Reform Programme.
>
> While Mr Kay could not be reached for comment yesterday, workers
> at the farm said that he had told them that he would be demanding to
> be paid rent for the past seven years since his eviction from the  
> property.
>
> Yesterday morning, a rifle-wielding Mr Thomas Beattie is said to
> have gone to Cde Bright Matonga's farm in Chegutu with a gang
> of five or six men and told workers that he would soon be
> "reclaiming his land".
>
> Mr Beattie only left when farm workers organised themselves and
> made it clear that they would not tolerate his presence on the
> property.
>
> Cde Matonga, a ruling Zanu-PF MP and Deputy Minister of
> Information and Publicity in the last Cabinet, confirmed the incident.
>
> Reports of white former commercial farmers threatening new owners
> with eviction started emerging early this week following reports  
> that the
> MDC was likely to win the harmonised elections.
>
> Such cases have been reported at Paarl, Impofu and Bougainvillea
> farms in Mashonaland West as well as in Norton where the former
> farmers were seen taking pictures at various farms.
>
> Speaking at a Press briefing yesterday, Zimbabwe National Liberation
> War Veterans' Association chairman Cde Jabulani Sibanda said: "We
> have received reports from villages and farms that there are white  
> former
> farmers moving around the country threatening to invade the farms.
>
> "This is a second invasion after the first one in 1890 (but) then the
> whites had some guns and we only had spears.
>
> "If these elections result in an invasion of the country instead of  
> a fight
> for parliamentary seats, then these people must know that there are
> other freedoms outside democracy," he said.
>
> Cde Sibanda said Zimbabweans had a right to their land, minerals,
> natural resources and if need be their freedom to choose their  
> leaders.
>
> "Under these conditions, we do order those involved in sanctions,
> supporting and funding the invasion of our land to know that we have
> the capacity, strength and, far and foremost, willingness and
> determination to defend our revolution and sovereignty," he said.
>
> The war veterans' leader said although Zimbabwe had had free, fair
> and credible elections, the process was done under the pressure of
> sanctions to reverse the gains of independence.
>
> "The West has organised and imposed illegal sanctions against
> Zimbabwe and we want to tell people to ignore activities of Europe
> in supporting the opposition and employing sanctions to weaken
> the party, Government and revolution," he said.
>
> "Our country was taken away in 1890, we fought a protracted struggle
> to recover it and the process is still on. We gained political  
> independence
> in 1980, got our land after 2000, but we have not yet reclaimed our
> minerals and natural resources.
>
> "The fight for freedom is still on until everything is recovered  
> for our
> people."
>
> Cde Sibanda said the war veterans are still solidly behind  
> President Mugabe.
>
> "This is a battle between revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries,
> Zimbabwean people represented by President Mugabe and foreign
> interests through the MDC and we will continue supporting him," he
> said. However, the MDC-Tsvangirai party said it had no intentions
> of reversing the gains of the liberation struggle by handing back  
> farms
> to white former commercial farmers.
>
> Reacting to the reports that some white ex-farmers had threatened to
> repossess farms in the event of a Morgan Tsvangirai victory,  
> opposition
> spokesperson Mr Nelson Chamisa said they would not undermine the
> agrarian reform.
>
> "Land is a national heritage and asset which belongs to all  
> Zimbabweans.
> No people-centred government would seek to undermine the desire and
> need for land reform. As the MDC, we have underscored that there is no
> going back to the pre-2000 era," Mr Chamisa said.
>
>
>
> Use video conversation to talk face-to-face with Windows Live  
> Messenger. Get started!
>
> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20080408/441af7cc/attachment.html>