Mugabe says loyal whites can keep some land in Zimbabwe

yahoo.com ^ | Mon Aug 12, 2002 - 7:17 AM ET | Angus Shaw, AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

HARARE, Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe ordered white farmers defying eviction orders to pack up and leave but said Monday that loyal farmers willing to cooperate with his government would not be left completely landless.

"All genuine and well meaning white farmers who wish to pursue a farming career as loyal citizens of this country will have land to do so," Mugabe said.

After ignoring government orders throwing them off their land, hundreds of white farmers had anxiously awaited Mugabe's annual Hero's Day address to the nation, marking the guerrilla war that ended white rule more than two decades ago.

The deadlock between white farmers and the government continued for a fourth day Monday. Farmers remaining on their land reported no official action to forcibly evict them since the deadline midnight Thursday.

Mugabe stopped short of calling for immediate action against defiant farmers.

But those who "want another war should think again when they still have time to do so," he said.

Mugabe said no white farmer would go without land but his government would not allow whites to remain on large properties or own more than one farm while clinging to ties with Britain, the former colonial power.

"To those who want to own this country for Britain, the game is up and it is time for them to go where they belong. There is no room for rapacious supremacists," he said.

There was no immediate reaction to the speech from the Commercial Farmers Union, which represents the country's 4,000 white farmers.

Justice for Agriculture, a new group urging farmers to challenge the evictions in court, said at least 1,000 farmers affected by eviction orders owned only one property. The group took no solace from Mugabe's speech.

"We would be much happier if words were met with action on the ground," said Jenni Williams, spokeswoman for the group.

Nearly 3,000 white farmers have been ordered to leave their land as part of the country's often violent program to seize white-owned farms and give them to blacks. The government has targeted 95 percent of white-owned farms for seizure.

Several senior government officials have warned white farmers they face arrest and possible imprisonment of up to two years if they continue to defy eviction orders.

Mugabe did not directly refer to the eviction deadline. But in his fiery speech railing against colonialism and Britain, Mugabe strongly criticized white farmers opposing the government's policies.

"No farmer to our knowledge has been rendered landless. Only the greedy are complaining," he said.

Opposition officials, human rights workers and farm leaders say hundreds of farmers have been thrown off all their land.

The government says its "fast track" land seizure program was launched in 2000 as a final effort to correct colonial era imbalances in land ownership.

Critics say it is part of the increasingly authoritarian government's effort to maintain power amid more than two years of economic chaos and political violence mainly blamed on the ruling party.

The evictions deadline came as half of Zimbabwe's 12.5 million people face a severe hunger crisis, according to the World Food Program. The U.N. agency blames the crisis on drought combined with the agricultural chaos caused by the seizures of commercial farms, mainly owned by whites.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabwe farmers in defiant stand-off

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[Sungirl]

Well..how nice of them. If I were a white farmer there..I'd be putting up the for sale sign. It's only a matter of time before it's their turn to get slaughtered.

[MadIvan]

This is right out of the Stalinist playbook. Stalin said some kulaks could keep their land, and they got killed or starved to death anyway.

Mugabe thinks he's original, but he's just a poor imitation.

Regards, Ivan

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Mugabe is starving his own people***People are being starved in Zimbabwe by President Robert Mugabe's deliberate and systematic ploy of using food shortages to cling to power. Millions of people are going hungry not, as Mr Mugabe's government claims, because of poor rains but as a direct result of its policy of denying food to opposition supporters and enriching its loyalists. Last night, the deadline passed for the mass eviction of 2,900 of Zimbabwe's white commercial farmers, for decades the mainstay of the agricultural sector. Mr Mugabe ordered them to abandon their homes, land and livelihoods by midnight.

An investigation by The Telegraph found that control of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), Zimbabwe's state-owned monopoly supplier of commercial maize, was passed this year to one of Mr Mugabe's most loyal henchmen, Air Marshal Perence Shiri, an alleged war criminal. With Zimbabwe's economy in chaos, Shiri's mission was to spend a £17 million loan provided by Libya buying just enough maize to stave off food riots, which would then be supplied through the GMB. The organisation, which is meant to supply maize at subsidised prices to all Zimbabweans, has instead been selling maize only to supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF party. Backers of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change went hungry.***

[rintense]

"To those who want to own this country for Britain, the game is up and it is time for them to go where they belong. There is no room for rapacious supremacists," he said.

Gotta be the biggest case of PKB I've seen in a long time. Um, hello... YOU are the racist.

[MadIvan]

I heartily recommend David Blair's new book on the subject, "Degrees in Violence". Though he gets a little uptight about Smithy at the end, apart from that, it is brilliant at describing what chaos Mugabe has brought to a once beautiful country.

Regards, Ivan

[nygoose]

Do you think we'll ever have special privileges in the USA for people designated by the Feds as "loyal Americans"?

[MadIvan]

Do you think we'll ever have special privileges in the USA for people designated by the Feds as "loyal Americans"?

Not so long as you keep Hillary out of the White House.

Regards, Ivan

[Ronaldus Magnus]

(I'm new to this subject so please forgive me if someone else has thought of this before)

If I were a white farmer there, I might obediently turn over my land. I might also, however, arrange for several signs to be posted shortly after I leave the country. These signs would warn the new "settlers" about the dozens of non-metallic land mines set in the house and property. Although I might be vague about the number, I would be sure that some of them would be quite large and hard to find right away. Just a thought.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Thank you for the recommendation Ivan.

[SantosLHalper]

(I'm new to this subject so please forgive me if someone else has thought of this before) If I were a white farmer there, I might obediently turn over my land. I might also, however, arrange for several signs to be posted shortly after I leave the country. These signs would warn the new "settlers" about the dozens of non-metallic land mines set in the house and property. Although I might be vague about the number, I would be sure that some of them would be quite large and hard to find right away. Just a thought.

I had a similar thought, but I would burn and salt the land, burn the house down and slaughter the livestock right before I boarded a plane headed to another country, Afghanistan might be a step up from Zimbabwe the way things are going right now.

Or you could just start spreading rumors that the farm is haunted by the souls of the farmers already killed by Mugabe and his gang and they want revenge. As backward and superstitious as the people are they wouldn't dare come within ten miles of you.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Thank you for your post. Here is a thread with LINKS that just scratch the surface and could bring you up to date. Zimbabwe court rules seizing of white-owned land legal

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I'll try that again.

Zimbabwe court rules seizing of white-owned land legal

[LarryLied]

John Bredenkamp's and the Oppenheimer family holdings are safe now. As everyone knew they would be.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Not so, they've been taking those too.

Larry (R) and Sara (L) Norton with their 6 month old daughter Madeline visit the grave of their third child Oscar for the last time before they vacate their farm, August 8, 2002. Behind them are huts that war veterans and new settlers have constructed close to the burial site. Robert Mugabe's government ordered almost 3,000 white farmers to vacate their farms by midnight August 8 in order to make way for landless peasants. (Paul Cadenhead/Reuters)

Thu Aug 8,12:08 PM ET A group of war veterans and settlers watch as farm laborers load Ben and Jenny Norton's household goods onto a truck on August 8, 2002. Robert Mugabe's Government has ordered almost 3,000 white farmers to vacate their farms by midnight tonight in order to make way for landless peasants. REUTERS/Paul Cadenhead.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

(Mugabe) Decries Salt Mining Company - Threatens seizure*** HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - President Robert Mugabe has accused mining giant Anglo-American Corp. of hoarding salt amid Zimbabwe's hunger crisis and threatened to seize the company's local assets, state media reported Sunday. Mugabe said his government "will not tolerate companies bent on causing unnecessary suffering to the people by creating unnecessary shortages," state radio reported. The radio said ruling party officials last week found 2,000 metric tons (2,200 tons) of salt in warehouses belonging to National Foods, a company partially owned by Anglo Zimbabwe, a subsidiary of London-based Anglo American.

A National Foods executive said the salt had not been put on the market because it had been imported from neighboring Botswana at the parallel exchange rate of 300 Zimbabwean dollars to the U.S. dollar. At that rate, nearly six times the government's fixed exchange rate, the company would take a huge loss if it sold the salt at the market price set by the government, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The company had been negotiating with government officials to find a compromise price for the salt. In a speech to ruling party officials Friday, Mugabe attacked National Foods, which he described as "an Anglo American company of Nicky Oppenheimer," the chairman of the mining giant. "They have been hoarding salt. ... They want people on the streets against our government. What kind of mischief is this?" he said, according to the state-owned Sunday Mail. "We will take over their enterprises."***

Zim to seize more farms (Including Oppenheimer lands)

Cowardly whites who help Mugabe*** A less abashed co-operator is John Bredenkamp, a former member of the Rhodesian rugby team and husband to ex-Miss Rhodesia, who was revealed last Sunday to be the 33rd richest man in Britain with a £720 million fortune and a home in Berkshire. Mr Bredenkamp is thought to be close to Mugabe, but especially to Emmerson Mnangagwa, the speaker of the Zimbabwean parliament and Mugabe's heir-apparent. Mr Bredenkamp's mining operations in the Congo benefit greatly from the incursion of Zimbabwean troops, which is a kind of joint-stock venture by Zanu-PF and its business friends. Has Bredenkamp ever raised his voice in protest at anything done by his chums? On the contrary. He is going round offering to buy up some of the most beautiful white farms, on the understanding that he can get the acquisition orders lifted. Then one might mention another Zanu-PF crony, called Billy Rautenbach, who is wanted by Interpol. And then there are the really big players, the ones who should have had the guts to speak out, but who have kept silent. Prime among these is Anglo-American, the giant South African conglomerate, which is now supposed to have a good liberal conscience.***

[RightOnline]

How long before Mugabe catches a bullet? Anyone? A pool here, maybe??

[LarryLied]

The Zimbabwe Independent says most white farmers believe Mugabe's moves against Bredenkamp were for show and were "designed to protect the business tycoon's investments in Europe where the Zanu PF elite's assets are under threat of confiscation." Imagine the same holds even more true for the Oppenheimers. They are already busy shifting assets all over the world due to indictments against DeBeers by the U.S. government. The Oppenheimers don't need more threats to their assets. So both "lose" some land. Mugabe can pay them back ten-fold without anyone becoming aware of the transaction.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Maybe. But maybe he's just stringing them along for their silence before he gets around to draining them dry too.