WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2001-08-28 Time: 04:59:40 Posted By: Jan
This is an old piece that was shown on the Carte Blanche TV show in
South Africa it was dated 12/03/2000. Journalist Derek Watts talks
to a so called War Veterans and a farmers:
According to reports from Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe said this weekend
that the squatters on white farms will be allowed to stay and that the
farmers should realise that the land is for Zimbabweans. He has, up to now,
refused to take action against the groups that have invaded more than 200
farms, saying that it is a peaceful protest. We headed for Zimbabwe this week
to see just how peaceful it is.
War veteran: “We are taking the things which was captured by the whites, but
we have come back to recapture our land.”
Over the last two weeks, 200 Zimbabwean farms have been invaded. The
occupiers are spearheaded by war veterans from the war of independence. It’s
not the first time the land issue has erupted in the country, but this time
it looks like things may be turning nasty.
Ant Wells owns a 1000 hectare farm in the Karoi district north of Harare.
Last Saturday he was the first farmer in the area to be invaded by the war
veterans. A crowd of about 50 people came knocking on his gate. Clearly they
meant business.
Ant Wells: “While we were standing there negotiating, the one guy had me by
the nose and another was slapping me across the face. They said, ‘If you
don't open this gate we're going to smash it'. I was nervous… helluva
nervous… and then the association chairman, Gary Hobbes said I'd better open
the gate. Then they all sat around here and then the six main guys came and
introduced themselves as the committee – and the main guy said his name was
Jesus.”
Jesus and the committee wanted to see a map of the property. They demanded
that Ant measures out half of his farm and writes out a signed agreement that
he would give them the land.
Ant: “You got to understand they were sitting there pointing their axes at us
saying, ‘You whites have come here and you've done this to us and this to
us', and they said, ‘Look at all this – the bricks, the lawn, the swimming
pool, the flowers – all belong to us. We're being kind by doing you a favour,
by leaving you half'. And they said, ‘Right. Which half are you giving us?
Under absolute duress – I mean I felt like I was a hostage in a take-over – I
suggested they take the arable land outside the game fence.”
Because Ant locked his perimeter fence during the night, the invaders became
convinced that he had an arms cache stashed somewhere on his property. The
next morning the whole group of 50 forced their way into the house and
searched every room for these weapons. Ant had to display what he had: a
shotgun, a hunting rifle and a revolver.
Ant: “I picked up the revolver and handed it to them to have a look and then
they wouldn't give it back. Then I looked Jesus in the eyes and said, ‘Look,
we cut a deal here. Can I have my revolver back?' And then the guy wasn't
concentrating, so I snatched it from him and put it back in the gun safe and
locked it as quickly as possible.
The police never came and assisted us. There was no police presence anywhere.
It was complete lawlessness; it felt like there was no law-abiding citizen on
the face of the earth.”
Since then, another ten farms in the area have been invaded. In each
instance, once negotiations with the farmer were complete, the main group
move to the next farm and a small group is left behind to keep some kind of
presence. It is clear that these invasions are highly organised.
War veteran: “We were there, but we cannot explain anything about that, with
the exception of Jesus – he is the one who can explain.”
The leader of the war veterans in the Karoi area is Rex Chakwana, otherwise
known as Jesus. We met him later that day at an emergency meeting convened by
representatives of the farmers and the war vets. Rex maintains that there is
enough land available and that whatever land is standing idle should be
handed over to the war vets.
Derek: “How do you decide which farms to take over?”
Rex ‘Jesus' Chakwana: “Those which we see are not being fully utilised; some
are not being utilised properly. There is one old white farmer who is sitting
on four farms. I want you to see the portion of tobacco and all the thousands
of hectares lying available. We do not say we want the whole farm, just some
land here, as it was given to the white man after the Second World War. We
should share it equally. He made his money but I do not want his money. Let's
share the land that is there today.”
On some farms the invaders have cut down small trees and started building
wooden structures on the land. And clearly it is not just war veterans that
are involved – it appears many local people are also joining in.
Understandably, farmers are feeling nervous.
George Ormerod: “I think when they arrive at the fence – however long it's
been – if anyone steps past that fence, I'm going to shoot them.”
George Ormerod has been living on his farm all his life. On Wednesday he
received information that his land was next in line to be taken.
On the way back from a neighbouring farm, we came across yet another group of
invaders. They were marching to the homestead, chanting war songs. We got out
to try and speak to them, while George got involved in a heated argument with
one of the war vets. Very soon, the mood turned ugly on both sides.
George: “I would have pulled that bastard … I was close.”
Derek: “But that would have started a whole war!”
George: “Well, maybe it should start!”
George knows that his farm is next. It could be in half an hour, it could be
in two days – but that an invasion is coming is certain. Everyone fears that
sooner or later something is going to blow.
Farmer: “I think the inevitable is going to happen. People must just keep
their cool and not always try and have their own way.”
Derek: “What do you think is going to happen?”
Farmer: “I think it will be a blood bath.”
And the pressure is mounting. The land issue is as old as Zimbabwe itself and
it has been mishandled by the Mugabe government time and again, with idle
threats to white farmers on the one hand and empty promises to the war vets
and landless on the other.
Meanwhile, the economy has never been in a worse state. The Zim dollar has
crumbled, inflation hovers around 60%, people queue for hours to fill their
tanks and the poor are desperate – a fertile breeding ground for old
resentments.
War veteran: “You can't have three or four farms to one man where people are
starving on the other side. During the war these Boers they did some bad
things to us, so that's why we are advancing.”
But observers point out that the land issue seems to be in the headlines
every time there is an election on the horizon – as is the case this year in
April. And president Mugabe appears to be supporting -or at least condoning –
these invasions as a desperate attempt to regain favour with voters.
War veteran: “If we cannot get the land from the people, then they will get
it without us. They will seize it.”
And for the first time in 20 years, Mugabe’s Zanu-PF has a serious challenger
in the form of the MDC – the Movement for Democratic Change. But farmers fear
that if the land issue erupts into violence, it might give the government an
excuse to declare a state of emergency and postpone or even cancel the April
elections.
Ant: “Someone is going to crack somewhere down the line. You know we've had a
hands-off approach. We don't argue, we let them do what they do, and that's
the way we've been handling the situation.”
The question is – for how long? Land is an emotional issue here. Much of
Zimbabwe's wealth is generated through farming. Attitudes around land are
hardening on all sides.
Ant: “We've known there's been a land problem since 1980, but the
government's done nothing about it. It's not our problem. It's not our fault
that they haven't resettled the people. The land is available.”
George: “Now, I’ve got a farm and you guys are advancing on my farm. What am
I supposed to do? Look here… I've got holes in my legs from the war – from
you guys.”
War veteran: “We fought for that, no matter what land. Now he's showing us
his holes which he … we are going to go ahead, that's our policy.”
George: “I was born on this farm in 1948. I've spent my life on this farm and
I do not intend to give it up.”
War veteran: “I am taking back what they were promised when they went to war.
But they forget I also went to war to get that land which they took from
me.”
Derek: “So you want your reward?”
War veteran: “Not my reward! That's my right, it's my land!”