[Yep… White South Africans who own farms in Zimbabwe will lose them now… And… give it a bit of time… because later, they will lose the land they own in South Africa too!!! Rumour has it… Mugabe is also going to go after houses in the cities… Jan]

White South African farmers fear they could lose their land in neighbouring Zimbabwe after officials failed to sign a deal today intended to protect them from controversial land seizures. Several South African farmers have already lost land under Zimbabwe’s policy of confiscating white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks and other farms have been earmarked for expropriation. Pretoria has tried to negotiate a pact with Harare to protect them, but South Africa’s Star newspaper said today the signing had been delayed for a third time. Officials in South Africa and Zimbabwe were not immediately available for comment. But Lourie Bosman, president of farmers’ union Agri South Africa, said Zimbabwe officials had on several occasions indicated they did not believe South Africans should be exempted. “I think the statements that we received from the Zimbabwe government is that the land reform process doesn’t take citizenship into account. That is what worries us,” Bosman said. Bosman also said hundreds of South African farmers owned land in Zimbabwe, drawn by its favourable soil and climate.

South Africa’s Trade and Industry minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said in November the pact, first mooted three years ago amid fears that South African-owned property would be confiscated, was close to being signed. But The Star newspaper reported that the signing was put off twice last year due to the unavailability of officials from both countries. It did not say why today’s signing, due to take place in Cape Town, had been called off. It added that 15 South African-owned properties in Zimbabwe had been earmarked for expropriation. South Africa is Zimbabwe’s most important trading partner. Officials say the agreement would allow South African farmers to take legal action if their property was seized. They would also be allowed to refer any investment related dispute to international arbitration. Critics of Zimbabwe’s land-seizure policy say it has ruined the country’s agricultural sector which was once the backbone of the economy.

Source: WWW.ZwNews.Com