Zimbabwe -- Cathy Buckle -- If Only

Cathy Buckle Newsletter ^ | July 20, 2002 | Cathy Buckle

[Clive]

Dear Family and Friends,

In less than 3 weeks time 3000 commercial farmers will be forced to leave their properties on the orders of the Zimbabwe government. 3000 men and women who are still willing and able to grow food for the nation will no longer be able to do so.

In a desperate attempt to prevent this disaster, the leaders of the Commercial Farmers Union held a Press Briefing a few days ago. Farming President Colin Cloete said: "We appeal to our State President for an audience."

This urgent plea for dialogue where Cloete hoped to beg the government to allow farmers to continue growing food was categorically turned down. The Minister of Agriculture said that he was not prepared to talk to the farmers and that he would not go back on the programme of mass farm seizures.

A couple of days later, speaking from Cuba, President Mugabe also refused to speak to our farmers saying they should talk to the Vice President instead.

Clearly both the President and Agriculture Minister do not take seriously the cold and ugly reality that 6 million Zimbabweans are starving. It would seem they would rather accept handouts from the west than allow our own farmers to grow food and help get us out of this disastrous situation.

Management, governance and advance planning in Zimbabwe today appears to be completely non existent.

When all these farmers and their workers are thrown off their land, the ripple effects to the whole country are going to be enormous. The first and obvious effect will be the immediate loss of daily, perishable produce - eggs, milk, cheese and vegetables.

Within a month there will be huge losses to the economy in the form of income tax, drought levy's and Aids levies.

Farmers are huge users of electricity - to run water pumps, cool fresh produce and use irrigation equipment - the loss of revenue to the electricity authority will be enormous.

All farmers pay rates to the country's rural councils - rates which build clinics and dams, maintain roads and sink boreholes. The loss of revenue to all of Zimbabwe's rural councils will bring these authorities to an immediate and grinding halt.

The human price of Zimbabwe's land reform programme is almost too staggering to comprehend, not only for the farmers and their workers but also for 13 million Zimbabweans.

These are desperate days in Zimbabwe and looking out for each other is the only way to survive. I have an 84 year old man living two doors away from me and he stood at my gate again this week. He calls me his Guardian Angel and begged that I give him $60 for a loaf of bread.

He is white and his need is as great as the 14 year old black boy who runs alongside my car when I turn in at the supermarket. He too begs for money to buy a loaf of bread.

If only the men and women in our government would stop their motorcades, get out of their chauffeur driven limousines and see this immense tragedy, see the huge suffering of all black, white and brown Zimbabweans. If only.

Until next week, with love, cathy.

[Clive]

-

[Bahbah]

Cathy, the men and women in your government DO NOT CARE. The human tragedy going on here is beyond words. What a dilemma. Sending aid only props up those who are perpetrating this horror.

[backhoe]

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[Jonathon Spectre]

Africa is what Africans have made it.

I love, LOVE Florida. But if Florida's government decided, and made apparent that they'd decided, that Florida was going to die, I would GET OUT.