Walter Mzembi warns RSA against following Zimbabwe and Marxism
by: Steve Johnson in Bangkok and Joseph Cotterill in Johannesburg
A Zimbabwean cabinet minister has warned South Africa against copying Harare’s disastrous land reform agenda. Zimbabwe collapsed into economic chaos after President Robert Mugabe implemented a land reform programme in 2000 that led to the seizure of white-owned commercial farms and the eviction of 5,000 mostly white farmers and 150,000 black farm labourers. This year President Jacob Zuma called for radical land reform in South Africa, abandoning “willing buyer, willing seller” policies and suggesting the country’s constitution be changed to allow land to be expropriated without full compensation. Julius Malema, the populist leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, who broke away from South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, often proposes seizing white-owned land with minimum compensation. However, Walter Mzembi, Zimbabwe’s minister of tourism, warned Pretoria: “Do not carbon copy our revolution, evolve your own model. Land was the bedrock of our struggle. It is a less emotive issue [in South Africa] than in Zimbabwe.” Speaking to the Financial Times in Bangkok, Mr Mzembi added: “I get the sense that our neighbours are a little bit more business driven. Black business economic empowerment has been more important and more successful [in South Africa].” We were left with something that didn’t work. Gorbachev abandoned it and we were left like this. It’s always better to have a homegrown solution Walter Mzembi, Zimbabwe minister of tourism Mr Mzembi, who chaired the parliamentary agriculture, lands and resettlement committee before becoming tourism minister in 2009, said “there could be more pressure [for land reform in South Africa] maybe from Malema [but] we copied Marxism for so long in Africa with dire consequences. “We were left with something that didn’t work at all. [Soviet president Mikhail] Gorbachev abandoned it and we were left like this. It’s always better to have a homegrown solution.” Land reform in South Africa has festered since the end of apartheid, with the ANC tabling a “just and equitable” expropriation bill. A target set in 1994 to return 30 per cent of South Africa’s farmland, around 24.5m hectares, to black farmers by the end of 2014 was missed. According to South African government figures, less than a tenth of land has been redistributed. Mr Zuma told traditional leaders in March “no one is saying let us go and grab land. We are saying let us do everything within the law and, if we don’t have the law or the constitution doesn’t agree, let’s correct the constitution.” Related article Zuma chided over ‘politics of patronage’ as ANC battle looms Control of party branches critical as ruling party gears up for leadership contest Analysts view Mr Zuma’s comments as an attempt to shore up his populist support in the face of growing calls on him to resign, appealing to the party’s rank and file who are frustrated over failures to accelerate black ownership of the economy. Mr Mzembi is attempting to rebuild Zimbabwe’s tourism industry — a vitally important source of dollars — following its near-collapse in 2009 in the wake of hyperinflation, a cholera outbreak and a violent crackdown on opposition activists. Tourism receipts have risen from a low of $294m in 2009 to $1.1bn last year, he says, as 2.5m tourists entered the country. Zimbabwe is aiming for 5m arrivals and $5bn of annual revenues, accounting for 15 per cent of gross domestic product, by 2020. The government has tripled capacity at Victoria Falls international airport to 1.7m passengers a year with the help of Chinese financing. It is easing tourist visa requirements and working on a single visa project for all 15 countries in southern Africa. Mr Mzembi, chairman of the UN World Tourism Organisation’s Africa commission, is one of seven candidates to be the next secretary-general of the UNWTO.