Sad. Especially with the food crisis.

Zimbabwe serves eviction notices on last few white farmers
New Zimbabwe

By Lebo Nkatazo
Last updated: 07/20/2007 04:49:25
ZIMBABWE has given the country's last few remaining whites commercial
farmers notices to leave their farms by September 30, it emerged Thursday.

The eviction notices, signed by the Didymus Mutasa, the Minister of Lands,
Land Reform and Resettlement, say the farmers should have left the
properties by February 4, but the government extended the period to enable
them to wound up operations.

In an interview Thursday, one of the lawyers representing the farmers, David
Drury of Harare law firm Gollop and Blank said: "We don't know anyone who
has been left out of the equation, apart from Dr (Timothy) Stamps."

Stamps, a former Health Minister, is President Robert Mugabe's advisor on
health policy.

The eviction notices say those who fail to leave their farmers would be
jailed in terms of the Gazetted Land (Consequential Provisions) Act.

"Your attention is drawn to the provisions of the Gazetted Land
(Consequential Provisions) Act whose effective date is 20 December 2006,"
reads part of the notice.

It said the said Act gave the farmers 45 days from the date it became
effective to vacate their properties. That day was February 4.

"In view of the above you should have vacated on the 4th of February 2007
following an assessment of operations on the farm by the district technical
committee and in line with guidelines drawn by my ministry authority is
hereby granted to you to wind up your business and harvest your crop or
dispose your livestock strictly up to the dates shown hereunder 30 September
2007," the notice added.

The Gazetted Land (Consequential Provisions) Act, which repealed the Rural
Land Occupiers (Protection from Eviction) Act makes it an offence to occupy
or to continue to occupy land without lawful authority after it has been
gazetted in accordance with section 16B(2)(a) of the Constitution.

Part of the Act reads: "If a former owner or occupier of Gazetted land who
is not lawfully authorised to occupy, hold or use that land does not cease
to occupy, hold or use that land after the expiry of the appropriate period
referred to in subsection (2)(a) or (b), or, in the case of a former owner
or occupier referred to in section 2(b), does not cease to occupy his or her
living quarters in contravention of proviso (ii) to section 2(b), he or she
shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level seven
or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both such fine
and such imprisonment."

Zimbabwe began a violent seizure of white commercial farms in 2000 after
accusing former colonial power Britain of refusing to honour its Lancaster
House commitment to compensate the farmers. At least 12 farmers were killed
in violence.

A few hundred farmers still remain on commercial farms but they too will not
escape the latest push by Mugabe's government.

Jim, I wonder how many viewers remember it was Henry Kissenger and the "political correctness" of the (USA) that helped put Mugabe in power.

Yea we really are good at helping out all around the world aren't we! God the last time O was in Zim there were two nice tractors sitting up on blocks with a big sign on them that said a gift of the American People. Oh well African politics whether practiced her or there always leads to the three D's Death Destruction and Despots.

I drove past one of the few remaining white owned farms in Zim about 6 weeks ago...as well as many unproductive farms and businesses that used to be white owned.

quote:

Originally posted by sevenmagltd.:
Jim, I wonder how many viewers remember it was Henry Kissenger and the "political correctness" of the (USA) that helped put Mugabe in power.

I doubt many. Yes, the US went a long way to isolating Rhodesia to the breaking point, while the Chinese were supporting Bob and his band of merry men. The Chinese are certainly very thankful for our foreign policy in Africa over the last 40 years.

Just the thing to do in a nation w. a food shortage...

quote:

the Chinese were supporting Bob and his band of merry men. The Chinese are certainly very thankful for our foreign policy in Africa over the last 40 years.

So Right!!! I am so ashamed of our country in this!

I have heard this year while in a neighboring country that a good number of white farmers were doing VERY well having worked out deals on some of the appropriated properties. It seems that they get WHATEVER they need in terms of fuel and utilities and a good value for the crops as well. Guess the "leadership" discoverd they could not operate without the white farmers. Some here will surely flame these farmers for taking the opportunity, but they are on the ground operating in the most difficult of circumstances.

els, I saw the tractors to which you refer. I couldn't believe it either. The one's I saw running were noted to be "farm aid" from the US and were being used by the game scouts as transportation.

AWA

quote:

Originally posted by sevenmagltd.:
Jim, I wonder how many viewers remember it was Henry Kissenger and the "political correctness" of the (USA) that helped put Mugabe in power.

I personally remember it very well, I was resident in Rhodesia at that time ..

Here's a THOUGHT ...

Maybe you guys in USA can arrange to deport Henry Kissenger at the same time as the one's below, Henry can have a (one way ticket) all expenses paid to vist UNCLE BOB

Cheers, Peter
--------------------

U.S. to Expel Zimbabwe Government Children

Zimbabwe Standard, Posted: Jul 17, 2007

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- The United States government will deport the children of Zimbabwe government officials by the end of the year, reports the Zimbabwe Standard.

U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell announced that President Bush will soon make a proclamation facilitating the deportations. In protest of a crisis-level lack of education and health services for children back home, Zimbabweans abroad not associated with the government called for foreign governments to expel the more than 300 children of Zimbabwe government officials studying abroad.

In a report earlier this year, the International Crisis Group recommended that in order to put pressure on Mugabe to solve the Zimbabwe crisis, the European Union and United States should issue travel sanctions and cancel visas for the family members and business associates of Mugabe.

Chimhete writes that these deportations may put pressure on Mugabe to address Zimbabwe’s slide into economic, social and political decline.

The announcement came on Dell’s last day as ambassador to Zimbabwe. Dell, who is leaving for a post in Afghanistan, has been a fierce critic of Mugabe.

Hello,
It was mentioned that shame was felt due to the way our Government's policies were conducted in Africa, Zim in particular, and no question mistakes were made, being made as we speak I am sure; however, the funds we as a nation have poured into Africa are staggering to put it mildly. If there is shame to be felt, it should be for the amount of funding, effort, aid, etc. and no real return on the invstment.
The funding America provides for the HIV issues in Zimbabwe(second largest infected nation on the African continent I beleive) are huge as in other locations, but there must be some responsibility of those on the receiving end to make any program work.
Was there any sort of funding, assistance given to the white land owners forced to vacate their homes?? Who is going to support the white members of society there when the nation collapses?? Probably not going to happen and that is what one would call a shame.
If you review the remarks just made yesterday by former Secretary Gen'l UN, K. Annan, it will become quite clear the support of other African nations is about to end for Zimbabwe's current government and that is the final blow. Those remarks were made to former South African leader and of course SA is having one hell of a time on the border keeping control of the refugees from Zimbabwe and are soon going to be screaming for help from the U.N. I'll let you guess who will be giving the most funding for the money South Africa will be seeking. It costs a lot of money to maintain those electric fences along that border. We are all going to find out just how much for probably end up with the same system along the Rio Grande. Works for me.

quote:

Was there any sort of funding, assistance given to the white land owners forced to vacate their homes?? Who is going to support the white members of society there when the nation collapses?? Probably not going to happen and that is what one would call a shame.

That was my point exactly when I used the word shame. We, as a nation, have just stood by and watched a nation much as our own (Rhodesia) be torn apart. We did it for 2 reasons: 1) Our civil rights movement had just happened and we did not want to labeled as rascists. 2) We had just got done with Viet Nam and did not want to get involved in a civil war. But not only did we not help, the likes of Jimmy f@(king Carter aided the factions opposing Ian Smith's government. Now that is worth being ashamed of!

quote:

It costs a lot of money to maintain those electric fences along that border. We are all going to find out just how much for probably end up with the same system along the Rio Grande. Works for me.

F@(k building a fence!!! Stupidest thought we as a nation ever had.

If you read the history, especially near the end when Bad Bob was out of jail while they were trying to negotiate the end .... it was the Jesuit's who spirited him away when it looked like he was about to have an "accident".

The result we have now is what happens when people with good intentions don't understand the consequences of their "good" deeds.

An additional article:

Zimbabwe kicks out more white farmers
Harare, Zimbabwe

18 January 2007 06:06

The Zimbabwe government this week ordered 15 of the few white farmers remaining in the country to vacate their properties, despite announcing earlier this month that it was in fact calling back expelled farmers to help resuscitate the collapsed agricultural sector.

The largely white-representative Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) said the government -- whose land-reform programme is well-known for chaos, violence and policy flip-flops -- had in fact stepped up displacement of farmers, with the latest eviction notices bringing to about 80 the number of farmers ordered to leave in the past five months.

Between 400 and 600 white farmers remain on land out of the about 4 000 who were farming in Zimbabwe before the controversial land-redistribution exercise began seven years ago.

CFU spokesperson Emily Crookes told ZimOnline: "There has been an increase in the issuing of eviction notices and the majority are in Chiredzi (sugarcane-growing region in south-eastern Zimbabwe)."

The eviction notices issued to farmers this week are dated December 20 2006 and recipients are ordered to surrender their properties "within 45 days from the 20th of December".

Under the government's land-seizure laws, once the government formally notifies a farmer of its intention to acquire the land he/she immediately loses all rights to that property, which automatically becomes state land.

But the government's latest move to grab more land from white farmers comes barely two weeks after Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa published a notice in state-owned newspapers saying his department would offer land to "former [white] farm owners who are genuine farmers who desire to continue farming in this country".

The government, which at one time vowed never to return land it seized from whites, last November also gave land to about half a dozen white people, who were part of a group of about 100 black farmers who were given 99-year farm leases by the state.

Mutasa, who is also Minister of State Security, was not immediately available to take questions on the matter.

Zimbabwe, also grappling with its worst-ever economic crisis, has since 2000 relied on food imports and handouts from international food agencies, mainly due to failure by new black farmers to maintain production on former white farms.

Poor performance in the mainstay agricultural sector has also had far-reaching consequences as hundreds of thousands have lost jobs while the manufacturing sector, starved of inputs from the sector, is operating below 30% capacity. -- ZimOnline

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=296153&a...eaking_news__africa/

Harare says only 'lucky whites' will remain on farms
Harare, Zimbabwe

22 January 2007 09:01

White farmers have no future in Zimbabwe and the government will seize more land from the last few white farmers, Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa said at the weekend.

"Only the lucky ones among the outgoing [white] farmers" could hope to keep their farms, said Mutasa. He was replying to questions by ZimOnline whether eviction orders served on 15 white farmers last week meant the government was revoking its promise earlier this month to allocate land to former white farmers.

Besides publishing notices in the state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper saying it would return land to some white farmers, the government last November also gave land to about half a dozen whites who were part of a group of about 100 black farmers given 99-year leases by the state.

But Mutasa -- a close confidante of President Robert Mugabe as well as being in charge of state security -- said despite whatever policy pronouncements or other actions taken in the past, the government was clear about the future of farming in the country and that future was black.

He said: "The confusion is being caused by those who can't read the future. There are black people still landless out there, and as long as those people remain, we will continue to take farms for resettlement.

"White farmers do not represent the future of farming in this country, blacks do. At the end of it all, I don't expect to see any more white farmers, just successful black farmers. But of course like with everything in life, there are the lucky ones. Only the lucky ones among the outgoing farmers could remain."

Mutasa’s comments should send alarm bells ringing among white farmers still entertaining hopes of continuing farming in Zimbabwe.

Between 400 and 600 white farmers remain on land out of the about 4 000 who were farming in Zimbabwe before the government launched its chaotic and often violent land-redistribution exercise seven years ago.

The largely white-representative Commercial Farmers Union last week said that the government had stepped up displacement of the remaining farmers, adding that eviction notices served on 15 farmers from the south-eastern Chiredzi district had brought to about 80 the number of farmers ordered to leave in the past five months.

Zimbabwe, also grappling with its worst ever economic crisis, has since 2000 relied on food imports and handouts from international food agencies mainly due to failure by new black farmers to maintain production on former white farms.

Poor performance in the mainstay agricultural sector has also had far reaching consequences as hundreds of thousands have lost jobs while the manufacturing sector, starved of inputs from the sector, is operating below 30% capacity. - ZimOnline

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=296398&a...eaking_news__africa/

quote:

government was clear about the future of farming in the country and that future was black.

How true. jorge

Hello ledvm,
I take it the fence idea is not viewed by you as a good one?? If not a barrier above ground, how about a trench, moat if you will, filled with all types snakes,'gators, and such?? Probably would not stop the crossing either and you can bet fair amounts of coin that land mines (Bouncing Betty would sure discourage crossings) are not going to be planted. None of the above seems to work, got any good ideas just what would stop the flood of people coming across our borders just as they are in South Aftica from Zimbabwe?? Lot of people in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico,and California would love to hear a solution to the problem.

quote:

got any good ideas just what would stop the flood of people coming across our borders

Yes, quit prosecuting border patrol agents for shooting a worthless drug agent in the ass. Then give the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Rangers the same authority to deal with this problem that they had in the 1920's and you will see a stop ASAP. Personally I think the 2 Border Patrol agents that shot the druggy in the ass should have gotten a promotion.

The US citizenship just does not have the stomach to fix the problem the only way it "can" be fixed. Just like they don't have the stomach to stay with a war in Iraq.