Judge tells SA to pay for Mugabe sins
http://www.iol.co.za/
February 09 2010 at 06:49AM
By Karen Breytenbach
The South African government has been hauled over the coals by a Pretoria High Court judge for not protecting its citizens from Robert Mugabe’s land expropriations.
The government was ordered to pay damages to a South African farmer to whom it failed to provide diplomatic protection after Mugabe’s government seized 11 of his farms in Zimbabwe without compensation.
Although the damages have yet to be calculated, it could amount to R100 million.
Free State farmer Crawford von Abo, who began farming in Zimbabwe 50 years ago, was arrested for “trespassing” on his main farm in 1997 and even spent time in a Zimbabwean jail as Zanu-PF cracked down on white farmers and expropriated their land.
After trying unsuccessfully to negotiate with the Zimbabwean government, he turned to the government of then-president Thabo Mbeki for diplomatic protection and, later, out of frustration, to the courts.
In July 2008, Van Abo won a landmark judgment in the Pretoria High Court, which ruled that he was entitled to diplomatic protection from the SA government.
Judge Bill Prinsloo ruled then that the government should, within 60 days, take all necessary steps to have Von Abo’s violation of his rights remedied and to report back to court about the steps it had taken.
Despite a meeting in August 2008 with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry officials, and several follow-up meetings involving Zimbabwean diplomats and officials, Van Abo did not receive the protection to which he was entitled and had to continue his legal battle.
In a strongly worded judgment delivered last week, Judge Prinsloo threw the rule book at the South African government, taking issue with what he regarded as its contempt of court and failure to protect its citizens.