Zimbabwe -- Cathy Buckle -- In Memory of Paul

Letters written by Cathy Buckle ^ | 2006-02-11 | Cathy Buckle

[Clive]

Dear Family and Friends,

There has been a lot of talk this week about an article in an English newspaper which said that white commercial farmers were about to be given the chance to lease back farms that were seized by the government over the past six years. It is an article in which sources aren't named, quotes aren't given and Ministers were "not available for comment" but everyone knows there is no smoke without fire so something is very likely going on.

Almost as soon as the article appeared in print there was a flurry of denials from Zimbabwe. On Thursday night on State TV, Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa poured scorn on the article saying it was "nonsense." The Minister went on to say that any whites still on their farms were actually there illegally and should immediately come forward and ask the government for permission to keep growing food.

The Commercial Farmers Union then stepped into the fray and issued a statement to " the government and people of Zimbabwe." I am not sure who the Commercial Farmers Union represents now that 90% of the country's farmers have had their land seized by the government, however they obviously thought now was a good time to do a bit more grovelling. Calling for the government to "bring all stakeholders together," the CFU said, and I quote: "Whilst current conditions are indeed tough and testing, it is not the time for recrimination or going back - it is the time to draw the line and go forward, learning from the past."

It took less than a day for Zimbabwe's Minister of Agriculture to trash the CFU's statement and spit on the hand the CFU were holding out - if that is what they were doing. Minister Made said that only dreamers would make such calls and said: "The white farmers have suddenly realised their irrelevance in the current agricultural set-up and have decided to write statements instead of accepting reality."

To complete the confusion, the week ended with a statement by Justice for Agriculture - the organisation whose name describes their function. JAG said they "noted with concern" the CFU statement.

JAG had the guts to do what the CFU didn't do. JAG spelled out the facts that every Zimbabwean is only too painfully aware of. JAG said that 90% of seized farms were lying idle and that this years national production levels would be the lowest ever recorded despite an excellent rainy season.

JAG said that there continued to be a breakdown of law and order in farming areas, no respect for property rights,moveable farming assets, livestock, crops and personal household effects in farming areas.

JAG also pointed out one critical fact that almost all these media reports leave out. The fact that it wasn't just 4000 white farmers who were dispossessed when the government grabbed the farms, it was thousands of farm workers together with their wives, children, unemployed relations and members of their extended families.

I write my letter this week in memory of Paul who died at 4am on Monday morning. Paul's life began to fall apart three years ago when he lost his job in the land seizures. I pray he rests in peace and am glad he has been released from the struggles of pain, hunger and penury he endured these last three years.

Until next week, love cathy

[agere_contra]

Thanks for posting.

[Clive]

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[Clive]

I have taken the liberty of adding you to my Zimbabwe ping list.

Please let me know whether or not you agree.

Regards, Clive

[Theo]

How much lower can Zim fall? I pray for the day when Mugabe and his administration and his culture of corruption are gone.

[ccmay]

I pray for the day when Mugabe and his administration and his culture of corruption are gone.

I don't expect much better from whoever succeeds him. There has never been a more potent prescription for human suffering than the combination of militant black African nationalism and Marxist economic policy.

-ccm

[Sundog]

Thanks for keeping me on your ping list.

I work very closely with three white South African families here who managed to leave a few years ago, as you know Zimbabwe is ahead of the curve SA is going down.

[Clive]

I was predicting a two decade lag between what is happening in Zim and what will happen in SA.

JanL thinks that I was being unduly optimistic. His estimate is one decade.

We are seeing initial indicia in Namibia and SA.

[MyDogAllah]

I have a feeling that Cathy Buckle's name and writings will be studied for half a millenia. The work she's doing in mugabe-stan (zimbabwe) is phenomenal and really gives the reader an intimate taste of the horrors occurring in that corner of Africa. For me at least, even one of her columns shows more depth into life in mugabe-stan than any 4 years of liberal media coverage.

Mugabe-stan = another reason the united nations should be closed down permanently.

[Dante3]

Interesting.

[SauronOfMordor]

There has never been a more potent prescription for human suffering than the combination of militant black African nationalism and Marxist economic policy.

It's not just Africa. It's South America, and good chunks of Asia.

Democracy depends on the majority of voters being middle-class property owners. If that's not the case, then it turns into a game of "Let's use the ballot box to steal from the productive, then all starve together in an orgy of violence"

[Dante3]

How true.

[calljack]

Democracy depends on the majority of voters being middle-class property owners. If that's not the case, then it turns into a game of "Let's use the ballot box to steal from the productive, then all starve together in an orgy of violence"

That's pretty damn profound. I am sitting in my chair stunned at your ability to boil it down to 2 sentences. Bravo.

[SauronOfMordor]

In the early days of the Roman Republic, the average Roman citizen had his own plot of land. He farmed his land, raised his family, and when called he strapped on his sword and served his Republic, with his life if need be.

In later centuries, Rome's conquests resulted in great wealth. The wealthy acquired slaves, and used them to farm their vast estates. Those who had been the Roman middle class found it hard to compete with the cheap labor the wealthy imported, but they could be bought off with free bread and circuses. The Republic ultimately became the Empire. And finally fell

When the American Republic was founded, the average voter was a small farmer or tradesman, owner of his own property, and having more interest in keeping the fruits of his own labor than in preying upon the fruit of others labor.

We will see how this plays out

[RFEngineer]

"There has never been a more potent prescription for human suffering than the combination of militant black African nationalism and Marxist economic policy"

Amen. Mugabe makes colonialism look like utopia to the average Zimbabwean.

[RFEngineer]

"There has never been a more potent prescription for human suffering than the combination of militant black African nationalism and Marxist economic policy"

Amen. Mugabe makes colonialism look like utopia to the average Zimbabwean.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Think me not cruel or harsh, but Cathy should join Paul.

It is damned long overdue for a Boer to make a plan.

[ladyjane]

We will see how this plays out

We're already seeing it. In spades.