Nyazura farm looted by invaders
By Alex Bell
27 July 2011
A farming family that was evicted from their Nyazura property last week is
now counting the cost of their loss, after farm invaders looted their home.
The Smit family from De Rust farm was forced to flee the property last week,
after days of harassment and intimidation from a self-confessed CIO agent
named Onisimas Makwengura and a gang of thugs.
The situation turned ugly last Friday after farm owner Koos Smit was
arrested. SW Radio Africa was told that Makwengura gave police a false
statement saying Smit had assaulted him. Smit was arrested and held at
Nyazura police station on assault charges for most of Friday morning.
While he was being detained, Makwengura and his gang broke into the De Rust
farmhouse, where Smit’s wife, Mary Anne and two sons, Michael and Adriaan,
were taking shelter. The sons were forced to fire warning shots in an
attempt to keep the mob away from them. But when police arrived at the
property, after being alerted by a neighbour, they refused to arrest the
mob. Instead they told the family to leave because they could not guarantee
their safety.
Over the weekend, Makwengura’s men were seen carting furniture and other
valuable items from the house. The family has only been allowed back onto
the property this week, with a police escort, to pack up what remains of
their belongings. The police, who previously refused to assist the family or
arrest Makwengura and his thugs, have now indicated that they will lay
charges of theft, if the family makes a list of everything stolen from them.
The Smits are the third family in Nyazura to be evicted from their
properties in this fashion, with Makwengura said to be working for the
so-called ‘beneficiaries’ of the property.
It’s understood that the ‘beneficiary’ of De Rust Farm is Marshall Nkono
from Rusape, who recently took Koos Smit to civil court for refusing to
vacate the property. The court instructed Nkono to wait until the High Court
had made a decision as to whether the Smits should leave or not.
An irate Nkono told the Magistrate that he would take the law into his own
hands and use his own means to remove Smit from the farm. Nkono was then
cautioned in court and told to contain himself or face arrest for contempt.
But despite these threats from the court, Nkono sought assistance from
Makwengura, who has helped other ‘beneficiaries’ get rid of the owners of
the farms.