Dear farmer,
Firstly thank you to everyone who supported our meeting with the SA ambassador on the 17 Feb 2011. I would also like to thank Willie Spies and Hannes Botha who attended this meeting.
I hope that you were able to make use of the opportunity given by the SA Embassy to sort issues re passports and Id doc’s. The head of this department Mr. Kgatedi Makola tell no 04 251843/52, email [email protected] .
We have come a long way since we started this initiative – SA Nationals farming in Zimbabwe – from a none existence to being acknowledged, but there is still a long road ahead of us, your continuous support will help us get and maintain a momentum that is growing. Our SA Embassy since Sept 2010, after the ratification of the BIPPA, stepped up in reaching out to some of our farmers and normalizing their situations, this is still far from ideal and some might say they have not enjoyed this reaction, but 18 months ago there was no reaction at all. I said in the beginning that this will be a long and hard road. We need to be realistic about our initiative, any initiative like this takes time to deliver results and it takes a lot of determination to keep it going. Keep on sending your emails to the SA Embassy requesting for compensation and protection. We have a good team in SA batting for us but we need to keep on doing our bit on this side. Willie Spies on his return to SA once again used the media to refocus on our plight .
Legal – our legal team is waiting for the Von Abo case to be finalized, judgment has been reserved, a positive ruling will speed up our drive and will add a lot of momentum to our initiative.
The 51% indigenisation drive has also crossed paths with SA Nationals, more in the business environment, I am meeting with the SA Embassy on this issue on Monday and will report back. I have also asked Willie Spies to get a position on this from Pretoria state Advocates. Any SA National facing problems in this regard please send a report through to the SA Embassy and myself. Send to Imran Simmins [email protected] or Gary Smith [email protected].
Lastly, the SA Embassy will be hosting our S.A. National Day on the 27 April 2011 at the Ambassador residence and has asked me to invite SA Nationals to join them in celebrating this day. They would like to have names and numbers of interested citizens. I think it is very important that we do support this day, it will give us the opportunity to interact with our SA Embassy staff on a more casual basis. The SA Embassy is also asking for donations for this function – specifically meat (beef, pork, chicken) wine, cheeses and flowers. They are also asking for a display of produce or products produced by SA citizens in Zimbabwe. Need a good response here…………….
Lastly our Ambassador Prof. Makalima is leaving Zimbabwe in a week or so, please stop emailing him as today was his last day in the office, contact Imran Simmins and Gary Smith until the new Ambassador arrives.
Mooi loop
Louis