Farm attacks on the rise again
By Alex Bell
24 March 2011
Attacks on the remaining handful of commercial farmers in Zimbabwe are once
again on the rise, as ZANU PF’s election campaign continues to intensify.
Most recently, Chegutu farmer Bruce Campbell has been fighting off land
invaders for several days. Details remain scarce but it is understood that a
mob of land invaders have been trying to force him off his property this
week.
Campbell’s father Mike, and brother-in-law Ben Freeth, led a groundbreaking
legal challenge against Robert Mugabe’s violent land seizures in the
regional human rights Tribunal in 2008. The court ruled in the farmers’
favour, saying that Mugabe’s land-grab campaign was unlawful. But the ruling
has done nothing to protect the remaining commercial farming community in
Zimbabwe, with Mugabe’s regime openly snubbing the rulings of the court.
John Worsley-Worswick from Justice for Agriculture (JAG) told SW Radio
Africa on Thursday the current threats and ongoing ‘jambanjas’ against
farmers are linked to talk of an upcoming election. He explained how “it has
always been a trend in the past in ZANU PF’s election campaign to start
grabbing properties.”
“There’s no reason to believe that it will be any different now, in fact it
is likely to be worse,” Worsley-Worswick said.
The JAG official explained how only about 100 original title holders are
still on their farms, while a majority of working farmers are leasing
properties. Along with other observers he feels that a portion of the
farmers have been deliberately left alone by land invaders, in preparation
for ZANU PF’s election campaign.
“There’s always a tremendous amount of political mileage with white farmers
being on these farms,” Worsley-Worswick said, adding: “It is one way of
feeding the patronage machine in an election, and it is what we are seeing
now.”
Meanwhile an elderly couple who own a small farm in Somabuhla, have been
forced to pack up their belongings and flee the property, despite numerous
court orders meant to protect them. Philip and Ellen Hapelt have been under
threat from local MP Jabulani Mangena, who has led a campaign of harassment,
vandalism and violence against the farmers since late 2009.
Many years ago the Hapelts voluntarily gave up the majority of their land
for the sake of ‘reform’, under an agreement that allowed them to remain on
their homestead with a small portion of farming land. They have two court
orders that entitle them to live on this farm, without fear of invasion or
persecution, but they were forced to seek two successive evictions orders in
an effort to get Mangena’s men off their land last year. Mangena has openly
disregarded the rulings of the courts and has previously threatened the
Hapelts with violence.
Last week Thursday, Mr Hapelt was forced to lock himself in his farm house
while a gang of about fifteen youths rampaged around the perimeter fence.
The youths had accompanied Mangena to the property, along with a delegation
from the Ministry of Lands, who insisted they had an eviction notice for the
Hapelts. The eviction notice, signed by Joseph Shoko from the Lands
Committee, was a poor photocopy of an old notice for another farmer. That
farmer’s name had been crossed out, with Mr Hapelt’s name written over it.
Mangena then told Hapelt he would arrive at the farm the next day to
forcefully remove him and his cattle from the farm, adding that if his men
decide to get violent, “he would look the other way.” Mangena also insisted
that the eviction notice he carried superceded all previous court orders
which stated that the Hapelts are the rightful owners of the property.
Last Friday, as promised, Mangena and his gang of youths arrived back at the
farm and once again besieged the farm house. Mangena said he had given the
Hapelts plenty of time to move and he would no longer wait for them. Mrs
Hapelt, who was in Gweru when she heard the news, immediately called the
police, who were dismissive and refused to help her. The police eventually
went to the Grasslands farm but returned to Gweru, saying they could not do
anything to help. The Hapelts, under duress and fearing for their safety,
eventually agreed to start vacating the farm.
Mangena meanwhile has insisted that the Hapelts attend a meeting this Friday
at the Lands office in Gweru. He warned them that if they did not show up
for the meeting the consequences would be ‘dire’. The Hapelts have said that
they are not sure why they have to attend this meeting but they are fearful
of what may happen if they don’t make an appearance.
Meanwhile, the Hapelts’ daughter has been trying to get intervention from
the South African Embassy, because Hapelt is a South Africa citizen and
Zimbabwe and South Africa have signed agreements that are supposed to
protect citizens. But the Embassy has so far done absolutely nothing to help
the family, only expressing their sympathies about the situation.
SW Radio Africa has been trying to contact the Embassy, with little success.