[There are farms in Zimbabwe owned, mainly by South Africans, but also by French, Germans, etc. Its game over for them too… Note how little time the farmers get to respond…. 5 days… Clearly… Mugabe knows what he’s doing… and he is legally “ambushing” them… Jan]

By Peta Thornycroft

Harare – A Zimbabwean court began a new phase to fast-track confiscation of white-owned land on Monday, including scores of farms owned by South Africans and other foreigners.

Five years after President Robert Mugabe ordered his supporters to dispossess white landowners only about 450 farms have been processed.

That is to change. The first targets are ranches about 300km south of Harare. About 15 South African farmers’ names are on the February roll for the recently expanded Administrative Court, which has new judges and new laws to slash the backlog.

‘The reality is that the government wants a veneer of legality’
Zimbabwe’s legal fraternity say an amendment to land laws last year gives them only five working days to prepare a case for the defence.

“We are overwhelmed,” said a senior lawyer on Sunday. “With so many cases coming at us all at once there is no way that the affected farmers have a chance. The reality is that the government wants a veneer of legality, that’s all.”

Up to 5 000 title deeds for about 11 million hectares have to be processed through the Administrative Court. Since the Land Acquisition Act was changed last year all the government has to do to take a farm is publish a notice of “acquisition”. If farmers are not able to oppose the acquisition of their property it is forfeited to the state.

John Worsley-Worswick, a spokesperson for pressure group Justice for Agriculture, said on Sunday: “We are advised to expect a rash of deferred judgments from the Administrative Court which obviously means there will be no right of appeal to the Supreme Court.

“The state will then quickly issue farmers waiting for judgment with notices ordering their immediate eviction. This is particularly aimed at the few hundred farmers still on the land, including a large group of South African ranchers. If they don’t obey the eviction notice they can be prosecuted and sent to prison for up to two years. So they will leave.”

A “Bilateral Protection and Promotion Agreement” to protect South African assets in Zimbabwe has still not been signed and the next proposed date for its adoption is Wednesday, according to diplomatic sources.

This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on February 08, 2005

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>