Nhema, Maluleke differ on Gonarezhou invaders
April 27, 2010
By Owen Chikari
MASVINGO – Environment and Natural Resources Minister Francis Nhema has clashed with Masvingo governor Titus Maluleke over the fate of over 720 families who invaded Gonarezhou National Park in Chiredzi district.
Maluleke insists that the invaders have to stay put in game reserve while Nhema says they must be removed.
On Tuesday, Maluleke said the settlers were only reclaiming their land.
“We have shelved all the plans to relocate these people, and anyone who thinks that they should go is just day-dreaming,” said Maluleke.
“These people are not interfering with anything in the park. After all they are just reclaiming their land.”
However, Nhema, who has been opposed to the invasion of sanctuaries by villagers, was adamant that the invaders had to be evicted before the end of next month.
Nhema said that the envisaged Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park would never be a success if the invaders remained in the park.
“I have always said that these people should go and be allocated land somewhere else before the kick off of the 2010 World Cup soccer showcase in South Africa,” said Nhema.
“The idea of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park was to attract tourists ahead of the 2010 World Cup. This means the invaders should be removed by the end of next month.”
The 2010 World Cup kicks off in South Africa in June.
Hordes of villagers, mostly Zanu-PF supporters, moved into the expansive animal sanctuary at the height of farm invasions about ten years go; they have since refused to move out.
Government had initially planned to relocate them to the nearby Chizvirizvi Ranch but the villagers resisted the move.
The villagers, from the Chitsa clan, say they are claiming the land because it belongs to them.
The Great Transfrontier Park would have seen the merger of Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park, South Africa’s Kruger National Park, and Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park.
The move to merge the three sanctuaries was designed with the intention of initially attracting tourists flocking into southern Africa during the 2010 World Cup.
Zimbabwe risks being left out of the project because of its failure to comply with certain requirements, among them the ejection of all the invaders from Gonarezhou.
The government is also expected to upgrade the Buffalo Range Airport so it meets international standards as well as constructing lodges in the Gonarezhou.
Of these requirements, Zimbabwe has only managed to construct the lodges.