Namibia land grab imminent
25/Feb/2004 22:28 - (SA)

Windhoek - The Namibian government announced on Wednesday that it will expropriate a select number of white-owned farms to accelerate its efforts at redistributing property to landless blacks.


"The land possession pattern in our country has been designed by colonialism to benefit a small group of minority settlers, at the expense of the majority," Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab said in an address to the nation aired on state television. "Our young nation still struggles to bring about balance and undo the effects of the unjust land redistribution."

Most of the wealth in this southern African country remains in the hands of whites who make up less than 5% of the population of 1.8 million.

Since 1995, the government has been spending up to N$20m (US$3.05m) a year on its "willing seller, willing buyer" programme that gives government first option on any arable land that becomes available.

But the programme has been widely criticised for being too slow.

Late last year, unions representing landless labourers began threatening to invade commercial farms if their grievances were not addressed.

The treats raised fears of the kind of violent land seizures that have plunged neighbouring Zimbabwe into political and economic turmoil.

Gurirab acknowledged the current land redistribution process was "cumbersome" and unable to meet demand. More than 240 000 people are still awaiting resettlement, he said.

Gurirab did not specify how many farms would now be expropriated, or when the process would begin. But he said land owners would be fairly compensated.

He urged Namibians to "exercise patience and not to engage in unlawful actions during the implementation of the reform process".

Land is a charged issue in Namibia. The country was first ruled by Germany, then South Africa, which imposed the same apartheid policies it applied at home. Blacks couldn't own land until the mid-1980s, and most of those working it today still can't afford to buy it.

The decision to start expropriating land comes after South Africa took similar steps to speed up its redistribution program a decade after apartheid ended.

Edited by Tisha Steyn

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1489513,00.html

I must say that I am not surprised! When one country starts it the rest will follow. Africa will continue to move backwards.

The "redistribution" situation in southern africa is generally so screwed up that it's amazing that the rest of the world sits back and lets it go on. Ok the past might suck in some regards, but there's no logic in forcing families off farms, whom usually have worked like hell for generations to make something out of it.

I always think of that frase "Money for nothing and chicks for free" from that old Dire Staits song when I read stuff like this... It's all about "getting" money instead of "making" money. Which is unfortunatly a mentality I've seen all too often amongst blacks in Africa.

Not to mention all the idiots who think these white people can just "go home to europe". Where they have had no connection for maybe a couple of hundred years...

Norway takes in a large amount of political and humanitarian asylum seekers. I suggest that any southern african farmers being forced off their land should come up here and seek asylum! We'd much rather have you, then all the riff raff we usually get! You would be welcomed with open arms, and we even have some good hunting up here if you don't mind the cold!

Erik D.

www.dunia.no

I know when all the problems started happening in Zimbabwe , a large amount of evicted farmers moved across the sea to West OZ. They fitted in well starting up farms and working in the mines. I suppose the same will happen with Namibians. I suppose we will be adding namibia to the long list of aid recipient countries soon. It would be a shame to see another good hunting country go down hill.

BTT to get above the troll threads.

Well at least one good thing may come out of this.
Cheaper Safari's and less price Gowging by wealthy land owners to stay on their accomodations while hunting state lands.
C

ErikD
Im my Town we already got ten "Boer" families from South Africa. They learn Swedish very fast since both a germanic laguanges.

I argee, I would much rather help white Namibians or South African's than the riff raff. The international community that normally raises cane over humanitarian rights bla.bla. does nothing I hope some country sends international troops to protect them or trials the Namibia's and Zimbabwe's leaders at the international court in Hague White's that been envicted and had their property stolen shall have the same international support as other minoreties and ethnic groups. The same arguments that these regimes uses to evict whites could be used to send back african's from Europe and USA, then it's called racism and is no no.

If this continues Africa will be back at the dark ages in a few years.

Cheers
/ JOHAN

I guess no one takes into consideration that the Blacks were beaten, enslaved, discriminted against and treated pretty much like crap for the last 150 years.
So if they are pissed off i guess it isn't really valid huh?
Or am I dealing with the White Aryan Nation here?
C

Is this definetly true?? With this in mind, would you book a safari in 2005?

I would go ahead and book it. This has been going on since the early 90s. It's not a land grab like in Zimbabwe. The government is paying those farmers willing to sell their farm fair market value. The majority of hunting operations will be uneffected.

Government knows the Zim situation and that is what they do not want to happen and what also is very important to them. Ministers in Namibia, who are also ranchers will loose too much !!

This is the reply from my PH in Namibia that I book for.