Zimbabwe -- Who will pay the debt left by white farmers?

SABC News (SA) ^ | August 22, 2002

[Clive]

As Zimbabwean farmers leave their properties - the question is who now is going to pay the many mortgages they have left behind. This debt runs into an estimated R2 billion.

The banks refuse to about it - but a leading economist warns that it could be serious. This as the farmers grapple with their lot - including Sias Vosloo who is closing up his farm in Gutu to the south of Harare.

Vosloo, born in Zimbabwe of South African grandparents, today watched his farm and life as he knows it go under the hammer. In the town of Chatsworth not far from his Gutu home 200 of his cattle are sold. He wants the money to pay for his retirement. "I am old now I just want to retire," he says.

Buying the cattle is war veteran Passmore Chanyuka. He led farm invasions for the last two years and has been given a plot and wants to become a farmer. "I want the government to give us money so that we can be successful farmers," he says.

However, as the farms change hands - the question remains who is going to pay the mortgages that were left behind. Tony Hawkins, an economist, says, "The banks cannot be expected to write off the loans. This is a political matter and there are negotiations going. The banks don't know whether to write it off or not."

The cash strapped government is not prepared to pay for the farms. The possibility of President Robert Mugabe courting the international community to finance the land reforms has been ruled out. Donors are not prepared to fund land reforms in their opinion it is not sustainable. President Mugabe has been left with no option except to arm twist financial institutions into funding the programme.

[Clive]

In the common law a mortgagee owns the land subject to redemption by the mortgagor.

But in Zimbabwe, force majeur trumps the common law.

[Clive]

-

[blam]

Angolian Elite Accused of 'Squandering Oil Billions'

[Numbers Guy]

"I want the government to give us money so that we can be successful farmers,"

Dang, why don't more people think of that? "I want the government to give me money so I can be a successful lawyer". "I want the government to give me money so I can be a successful downhill skier".

[LibKill]

Mugabe has turned a food-exporting nation into a food-importing nation. Soon to be followed by a no-food-at-all nation.

That's marxism in action.

[Bob J]

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[balrog666]

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!

Let the banks try to repossess the farms and let the central back make the loans good with Zimbabwean currency or toilet paper, whichever is worth less.

[Southack]

Zimbabwe's national pastime: begging for food, money, medical, and technical aid.

In the vein of the striking results of Communism in North Korea and Cuba, Zimbabwe proves that once again wealth redistribution results in poverty for all as well as in a society that can no longer take care of its self.

Communism makes beggars of them all. They have become leeches on society. They can no longer contribute to the geater good, and they can only beg for their daily needs to be met out of the kindness of more successful societies.

Such is life under Mugabe, and the ICC isn't going to bring him up on charges for his self-created famine, either...

[gcraig]

The possibility of President Robert Mugabe courting the international community to finance the land reforms has been ruled out.

You have got to be kidding me. The international community? I'll bet they have an eye on my wallet. Don't even think about it, Mugabe.

[jackbill]

the question is who now is going to pay the many mortgages they have left behind.

I really don't give a damn. I'm just glad to hear that maybe some of the white farmers were able to get some equity from their farms - and stick the banks. As Martha would say "That is a good thing".

[lewislynn]

Who will pay the debt left by white farmers?

American taxpayers no doubt.

[okie01]

Buying the cattle is war veteran Passmore Chanyuka. He led farm invasions for the last two years and has been given a plot and wants to become a farmer. "I want the government to give us money so that we can be successful farmers," he says.

Ol' Passmore, he's got a lot to learn...

[BlueDragon]

To any and all;
Please forgive my shallow selfishness---BUT---I used to part-time as a specialty grade coffee roaster. And the very BEST cup of coffee I ever tasted? A roasted sample of Zimbabwe "Smaldeel", sent to me by one of the S.F. Bay Area's green coffee importer/broker, West Coast Specialties.
There were others that were unique also, such as the coffee originating in Malawi. But that Zimbabwe was something else!
I was fortunate enough to be able to roast and brew (for sampling) coffees from all over the world. (I never really did utilize the traditional "cupping" methods, using instead a small, hand pour "drip" cone)
That "Smaldeel" is still the winner, in my book. So---what ever happened to the coffee plantations?
I hear the quality of the processing went "South".
I believe it too, for good trees and locations are only part of the equation. There were other coffees associated with that country that could be very fine in years past, too. I hope they again find their way to market. My last conversation with various green importers was all bad news for that country, though. Closer to home, it's almost amazing much decent coffee finds it's way out of Columbia. That place, and the people, so torn up by years of war.
And on the shallow end (again!)--it's hard to get good "Columbian" green coffee nowadays, too!
It's not like 25-30 years ago...much of the really good trees, in the really good locations, are long gone...
The "blue dragon" name came from my ability to roast extremly small amounts of coffee (sent as samples) on a roaster designed for 25 lb batches. Turned down real low, the flames would burn blue...It didn't always work out---for doing it that way, is an extremly touchy business.
There are many varibles---and that's the LAST thing one wants when "inspecting" or sampling coffee (before buying large amounts of green).
If any body has a sample roaster they wanna sell cheap, I could be in the market! I still own a small piece of that coffee roasting company...
We doubt Mugabe understands much as towards all the actual care it must take to produce fine ag products. Didn't they used to be a part of the economy of that struggling nation?
Ooh--that's right! The farmers that were successful---they're the bad guys now! Mugabe has his head in a dark place.

[gunshy]

The answer to this is simple. The white farmers whose land was stolen should continue to make the payments to the banks. After all, they are the ones who took out the loans. DUH.

[Humidston]

Yeah. And next, they'll be begging the U.N., on bended knee, for free hand-outs from us.

Let them starve, let that corrupt regime die a long, slow and painful death! They earned it.

You reap what you sow.

[45Auto]

"I want the government to give us money so that we can be successful farmers," he says

Then he ought to come to the US where he can get paid for not farming.

[RightOnline]

"Buying the cattle is war veteran Passmore Chanyuka. He led farm invasions for the last two years and has been given a plot and wants to become a farmer. "I want the government to give us money so that we can be successful farmers," he says."

Hey, Passmore............why bother buying the cattle, you sick f**k? Why not just rip 'em off and kill the farmer like you did others? You want the government to "give you money", do you?? Stupid, ignorant, Stone-Age motherf**ker.

The only solution for Zimbabwe is rampant AIDS wiping out the indigenous population. Those of European descent can then come back in and rebuild...........again.

[Non-Sequitur]

Oh darn, now I'm going to be up all night worrying about this. </sarcasm>

[tcostell]

What's happening in Zimbabwe is right out of an Ayn Rand novel with a little racism thrown in for (forgive me) color.

In two years the average American will have enough cash in their pocket to double the Zimbabwe GDP.

Mortgages are a tiny part of the problem. Wait till the rest of the infrastructure goes to hell, and there is no one left to blame.

[Billthedrill]

They're worried about mortgages? Unless Zimbabwe has edible money that's not going to be the biggest problem coming down the pike...