Lawyer to wrestle South African gvt on Zimbabwe farmers’ case
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=15699
By A Correspondent
Published: April 2, 2010
(CAPETOWN) The lawyer representing farmers who have taken a move to attach Zimbabwe government assets in South Africa for payment of compensation, has threatened to wrestle the South African government if they oppose the move.
‘If they challenge this, then obviously we will oppose the challenge’ – the lawyer, Willie Spies said answering to questions after a South African government official had announced that they are now to launch an appeal to
defend Zimbabwe’s assets on what they have termed ‘diplomatic grounds’.
The state owned Herald newspaper was quick to state Thursday that the appeal now effectively ’stops the farmers, represented by a body that calls itself Afriforum, from attaching Zimbabwe Government property in South Africa’. However, the Zimbabwean government’s 2.5-million-rand (about 344,000 dollar, 254,000 euro) house in Cape Town had already been legally seized on Tuesday.
Zimbabwe’s government is relying on an announcement by Chief Director for Public Diplomacy in South Africa’s Department of International Relations Mr Kgomotso Molobi on Wednesday in which he said that they had appealed against the ruling.
“The South African government has studied the judgement and it is appealing against it. However, we can’t comment further because the matter is before the courts and it would be sub-judice,” Mr Molobi said.
The ruling, by South African judge, Justice Garth Rabbie, re-enforced a recent Sadc Tribunal judgement made in Namibia which ruled against Zimbabwe’s government on the illegal farm seizures.
Zimbabwe’s government has flouted local commercial and international laws while also ignoring ethical rules by expropriating land without following procedures of compensation to the farmers before being removed from their property. To date many farmers still have not been paid compensation for farmland taken since President Robert Mugabe began a controversial and chaotic land reform programme in 2000. Most Zimbabwean farmers, now displaced across the world are now set to launch lawsuits from different parts of the world.