Posted on 09/30/2007 6:30:26 PM PDT by blam
Zimbabwe's last white farmers face final push
By Peta Thornycroft in Harare
Last Updated: 2:05am BST 01/10/2007
Farmer Charles Lock is determined to fight for his land in the courts
Ringed by a clutch of Zimbabwean soldiers clicking automatic weapons, Charles Lock handed over the keys to his farm and drove off his land for the last time.
Scores of white farmers, the last survivors of President Robert Mugabe's land grab, and thousands of their black workers are going through similar agonies.
They now face the final deadline. As from today, any white farmer still on his land will be deemed to be trespassing on state property.
All agricultural land was officially nationalised last year — with the seizure to take effect from Oct 1 this year.
In advance of this deadline, Zimbabwe's army and the Central Intelligence Organisation have been tormenting the last handful of white farmers and their workers.
About 50 have been summoned to appear at magistrates' courts. Some have surrendered their farms and homes in despair in the last few weeks.
Mr Lock, however, is determined to fight on. "I may have been forced to go but I will continue to fight in the courts," he said. "I have five court orders allowing me to stay."
Four years ago Mr Lock was given permission to stay on Karori Farm in Headlands district, about 90 miles south-east of Harare, after two thirds of its land was made available for resettlement.
Earlier, Mr Lock had surrendered another 5,000-acre farm to the government.
But the last portion of Karori's land still in Mr Lock's hands caught the attention of a senior army officer, Gen Justin Mujaji and his wife, Pauline.
He sent his soldiers to evict Mr Lock, along with all of the farmer's black labourers, and take over the property.
"They came with their guns and fired a few rounds," said Mr Lock, 45. "I was forced to pay off 158 workers. The soldiers drove them and their families off in the space of 24 hours. They vanished."
"The farm school is deserted. I had to move my four farm managers and their possessions off as they were in danger, and while I was away my house and equipment was looted. I was alone on the farm then, and so I just had to go."
Last week, Mr Lock brought a contempt of court application against Gen Mujaji and his wife.
Mr Justice Charles Hungwe heard the case and made a remark to the effect that the courts were being abused. He promised a ruling this week.
But Gen Mujaji insists that he will stay on the farm regardless of the law. "I will only leave Karori if the minister of lands orders me. He is senior to the courts," he told The Daily Telegraph.
Before the onset of the land grab, Zimbabwe had about 4,000 white farmers. Perhaps a few hundred are left — and the great majority are only able to cling to portions of their land.
Hardly any still possess all the acres they owned before the seizures. The latest deadline could dislodge the remaining handful.
"The military are heavily involved now," said John Worsley-Worswick, spokesman for the pressure group Justice for Agriculture. "We always knew that eventually the government would go for the final push, and here it is."
The United Nations says that about four million Zimbabweans will need food aid next year. Until the land grab, Zimbabwe exported food.
Zim Ping.
What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is my own. And if a few million people starve in the process because the western countries don’t get food aid to them fast enough, well that’s just too bad.
I understand the sentiment to make a last stand for my land but that picture shows two things more precious than the most fertile piece of farmland on earth. Mr. Lock needs to get his family out of Dodge.
bttt
Charles Lock handed over the keys to his farm and drove off his land for the last time.
Meanwhile, what was the breadbasket of Africa starves.
The communist thugs will let it all go back to wilderness.
U.S.of A. Circa 2025.....
It is very shocking and sad to see how Mugabe has systematically sought to eradicate caucasian farmers. We know he is a brutal dictator aside from these racist policies. However, he’s a case in point of problems in sub-Saharan Africa. Can anyone seriously look at what’s happened in Zimbabwe and say that their problems are the result of colonialism? The poltically correct crowd parrot back that line that the vestiges of colonialism is the reason that sub-Saharan Africa is in such sad shape.
At one time, Zimbabwe was self-sufficient in food and farming, and exported crops. Now they are dependent on the handouts from the racist evil western world. How ironic is that.
These folks are more than welcome to come here.
My God,even from 5000 miles away I know that this guy is living in a dream world.If he's smart he'll gather up his family and as many of his possessions as possible and leave the country.But he shouldn't go to South Africa unless he wants to relive this scenario in about 3 years.
You’d better believe this story would have wheels if the races were reversed...
Sickening.
Are they really welcome here? I'd imagine they might be able to claim political asylum, but maybe not?
While they have expertise in farming, they don't have any credit history, equipment or land. And I'm not sure exactly how different farming is in Zim than in say Kansas, although I guess they could figure it out...
We should welcome them...
You are so wrong. We are importing people to Maine and Minnesota who come from the tropics. We are teaching them how to deal with indoor plumbing and electricity. These people from Zimbobwe already know how to be productive. They are not eligible.
Independence has sure done a lot of good for Zimbabwe — from the richest country in southern Africa to the poorest in one fell swoop. I do hope that the leftists are satisfied now.
The Democrats wouldn't allow it. Open borders are only for potential leftist voting groups.
Sadly, they are.
If there was any respect for the rule of law, let alone private property, this would not be happening at all. But, it is. So, Mr. Lock needs to understand this and leave while he and his family are alive, while they can. It’s only going to get worse.
Wow, what a fool.
Anybody white should have left that place five years ago with whatever they could carry. Memo to white farmers in Sooth Africa: Get out NOW. Don't be like these knuckleheads in Zimbabwe.
Ah, yes . . “Majority Rule” . . remember how we were told it was the only fair thing to do?
Flaming “necklaces” are just another act of freedom of speech.
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