Posted on 06/24/2006 7:05:03 PM PDT by blam
White farmers facing catastrophe as Zimbabwe reneges on property deal
By Stephen Bevan in Pretoria
(Filed: 25/06/2006)
Zimbabwe's white farmers' union has given warning of an impending "humanitarian catastrophe" after the government reneged on a promise to pay evicted white farmers the full value of the buildings and equipment seized along with their farms, leaving many of them destitute.
The government refuses to pay for the land seized from the estimated 3,800 white farmers forcibly evicted since 2000, but it had pledged to pay in full for the "improvements".
Last week, however, farmers were outraged to learn that they will receive a fraction of the value of improvements, to be paid over the next few years in instalments - which, with inflation running at more than 1,100 per cent, means that some will be almost worthless.
Eric Harrison, the chairman of Justice for Agriculture, said the compensation scheme was a "scam to show the world the government is treating the farmers properly".
Trevor Gifford, the vice-president of the Commercial Farmers Union, accused officials of pressuring farmers, many of whom have "lost everything and are now desperate", to accept deals they knew were unfair.
"They are waiting until people are desperate and then offering them between two and 10 per cent of what it would fetch at auction," said Mr Gifford. "They say, 'We can give you 25 per cent now, another 25 per cent in two years time and the remainder in five to seven years time.'
"But with inflation as it is, that's going to be eroded quickly. In two years time, you're not going to be able to buy a packet of crisps with the money, let alone restart your life. This is a humanitarian catastrophe."
Few of the 1,800 farmers invited to register for compensation have accepted. The government revealed last week that it had paid out a total of Zim$441 billion to just 206 farmers - an average of Zim$2.1 billion (£3,800) per farmer.
But it insisted it would not revise the payments. "Of course they (farmers) can do their independent assessments, but we will go by what is done by a government evaluator," Didymus Mutasa, the lands minister, told Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette. He dismissed the farmers' complaints as "statements from people who just want more money".
Ken Fraser, 59, said he was called to a "compensation hearing" on Thursday at which he was offered Zim$14.7 billion (£25,000) for one of the five farms he once owned. "What they were offering me was quite ridiculous," said Mr Fraser, who was almost beaten to death by "war veterans" two years ago.
"We had a shed put up there about five years ago that was worth Zim$13.9 billion (£23,000), but that's what they are offering me now for the entire farm." He lives on savings and some income from contract work and has refused to leave his last house.
Nicholas van der Bergh, who lost several farms, and was finally evicted from his last 1,250 acres in central Zimbabwe last November, said the compensation he has been offered for one farm was "just about enough to buy a 60-horsepower tractor".
Another farmer, who asked not be named, said he had rejected an offer of £38,000 compensation for buildings and equipment that he claims were worth £1.36 million. "The only people who have accepted are desperate and living in old people's homes. Anybody who is able to work is trying their damnedest to hold out," he said.
"We've been living by selling the furniture we managed to rescue from the farm, but we're reaching the end of our tether."
Mr Gifford contrasted the treatment of white Zimbabweans with that of foreign land owners, who were told last week they would be compensated for land and equipment in a currency of their choice. The government's reneging on its compensation pledge represents an extraordinary about-turn by a regime that a few months ago was talking about returning farms to their owners in an attempt to boost dwindling food production.
The government insists its land reforms were necessary to redress the legacy of British colonialism, which left 70 per cent of the most fertile land in the hands of a few thousand whites.
When, in the course of human events....
response of the year. wish I had thought of it as a tag line.
Seriously, I thought all the white farmers had been driven out or killed.
Power sharing. One man one vote. Tolerance, human dignity,equal rights, room at the table, the big tent, diversity is strength. George Orwell.
Oh, yes -- It's so much better to distribute that land to other people who can't grow squat and then count on other countries to feed your starving people.
It would be a start....but only a start!
Communists are notoriously inefficient, and the final holdouts are probably well-disguised.
They must be having a lot of economic growth and low unemployment since that is what we are always told causes inflation.
There was a story going around a month or so ago that the Zimbabwean government was so broke they couldn't afford to buy paper or ink with which to print money.
The government's reneging on its compensation pledge represents an extraordinary about-turn by a regime that a few months ago was talking about returning farms to their owners in an attempt to boost dwindling food production.
Typical, take it out of the hands of the producers and put it in the hands of the non-producers in the quest for fairness.
Can anyone point to an example of a well known liberal condemning the land siezures?
Nothing but silence from the Left in regards to Mugabe.
You forgot the last part:
One Time.
L
That was my thinking. This has been going on for the better part of the last decade. Imagine how different this would be if the races were reversed.
"It's so much better to distribute that land to other people who can't grow squat and then count on other countries to feed your starving people."
The Communist party has a very consistent and very predictable record. Elect Hillary and this is what the U.S. will get.
"Typical, take it out of the hands of the producers and put it in the hands of the non-producers in the quest for fairness."
Zimbabwe Shrugged.
"When, in the course of human events...."
And the USA is the biggest threat to the world!
Anyone shocked by the behavior of racist black dictators, has been successfully brainwashed by the PC lunatics..
All cultures are NOT equal..
All religions are NOT equal..
All people are NOT worthy of trust..
Shocked? Shame on you.
Semper Fi
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.