Dont give them more credit than they are due.
The new leadership know that they need foreign investment to dig their country out of the economic pit that they have dug for themselves. How can they entice foreigners to invest in Zimbabwe?
First, they have to prove that investment once made is safe from government confiscation. The best way to do that is to return confiscated property to its rightful owners.
Second, the original owners will bring their money back in to the country to restore their farms to productivity. The owners will also employ local people to build and work the farms.
The new leadership do not necessarily believe that whites are more productive but they do recognize the reality that they do have money.
See my reply 7.... As the Zim prez sez, “It will never happen”.
I read the former owners were offered long term leases on their property; not ownership.
Charlie Brown and the football comes to mind.