Elderly Nyazura farmer faced with eviction
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Commercial Farmers’ Union
Wednesday, 27 October 2010 09:23
Tiennie van Rensburg (73) and his wife Yvonne who own Rubeni Farm in the
Nyazura district east of Harare were forced by senior army officers mid
month to pack up the remainder of their household goods and vacate the farm.
They are currently still struggling to gain access to the property in order
to remove their farm equipment, 15 tonnes of maize and other goods. The
background to their case is that during mid August, a high ranking member of
the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and a family member of a senior
government official arrived on the farm and presented them with a set of
papers claimed to be from the Ministry of Lands.
The papers stated that they had been allocated the farm jointly and that the
van Rensburgs must be off the farm by November latest, despite no eviction
order having been issued. Van Rensburg’s lawyer took the matter to the High
Court and a restraining order was granted on September 20. However, on
October 12, a colonel from 3 Brigade Army Headquarters arrived on the farm
and ordered van Rensburg to vacate the property within 72 hours or face
eviction by the army.
After a further letter emphasizing the restraining order was issued by their
lawyer, a group of eight thugs was sent to the farm around midnight to
remove the owners. They beat up van Rensburg’s guard and then, armed with
his gun, gave the couple 10 minutes to vacate the property. The following
week, when the van Ransburg’s returned to remove their goods after
protracted negotiations, they were warned against reporting the theft of
household goods, cell phones and other items to the police.