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: 05:07:06 Posted By: Jan
16/04/2000 – Carte Blanche Derek Watts
Bloodshed, death and abduction pervade the dispute over land in Zimbabwe as
President Robert Mugabe returns from Cuba. The slaying of a Zimbabwe farmer
by so-called ‘war veterans' has marked a serious escalation in the violence
which erupted just over a week ago. Reports say there was chilling inactivity
from police, who are appealing against a court order on Thursday which ruled
that the invasions are illegal and they must take action against the
squatters. Carte Blanche was in Zimbabwe this week as the country stood on
the brink of chaos and bloody confrontation.
This volatile scene between a white Zimbabwe farmer and a group of so-called
war veterans took place a month ago when Carte Blanche first reported the
wave of lawless invasions that were wreaking havoc in Zimbabwe.
Now, a month later, around 1 000 farms have been taken over by groups –
calling themselves war veterans … demanding a share of the white man's land,
and the modus operandi has changed.
The situation was very tense a few weeks ago but there were no outright
clashes between farmers and the invaders. This all changed last week when the
so-called war veterans stepped up their campaign and farmers, along with
their workers, were brutally assaulted.
Alex van Leenhoff: “One of these guys walked straight up to me and punched me
in the head and in the nose, smacked me on the jaw and then later some
individual picked up a big stick, beating me on the kidneys, back and
shoulders, and behind me – as I knew – were my wife and my kids.”
And after Alex van Leenhoff was well and truly beaten, he signed over half
his 400-hectare farm. This happened last week in the Karoi area, north of
Harare. We paid a visit.
Well, the dogs are still here, but there are no family members to speak to.
The house is empty… it's been temporarily vacated. An eerie stillness
pervades the Van Leenhoff farm. Production has been halted, the labourers
given leave and only a skeleton staff remains.
An hours' plane ride took us to Alex and his family in the Zambezi River.
Flying over the land that is at the centre of so much controversy, we were
shown some of the 400 000 hectares that Mugabe's government bought last year,
yet still hasn't resettled. So why is he so intent on taking over commercial
farm land that is the biggest foreign income earner in the country?
Here, on the banks of the Zambezi River, the Van Leenhoff family is battling
to come to terms with what happened to them on their farm in Karoi, and what
the future holds for them in Zimbabwe. Alex's wife Pam and son Nick are still
too traumatised to speak to us.
Alex: “They wanted to give me three hours to get off the farm. Then they
wanted to give me two hours to get off my farm. Then they wanted to give me
ten minutes to get off and pack my bags. This is your total life, your
livelihood, it's your pension, your home. Everything has been violated.
Everything has been threatened.”
Kerry, their 14-year-old daughter, watched as her father was attacked.
Kerry van Leenhoff: “First of all they went around beating up all the
labourers and if they weren't, then they just hit them with sticks. They were
all walking around with iron bars and big sticks and knobkerries, and then I
personally went to my dad. They were shouting at him and then started
punching and hitting my dad.”
Derek: “How do you feel about your future in Zimbabwe now?”
Kerry: “I've always wanted to stay here… I don't know now.”
Alex: “It must have had an impact on her because the first night she brought
her mattress in and put it next to our bed. I woke up the next morning, and
that's where I found Kerry. It must have had an impact on her.”
Alex and Pam did not inherit their farm. They bought it a mere seven years
ago, after independence, with Land Bank Finance. With it came a Certificate
of No Interest, which means the government had originally been offered the
farm but had rejected it and signed the certificate … a certificate that
stood for nothing while Alex was being assaulted.
Alex: “I paid all my transfer fees to government, my stamp duties – which
amount to a lot of money – and therefore it's all done with the blessing of
the government. It was bought with a Certificate of No Interest… was legal,
everything's right, nobody can take it away, there it all is.”
With President Robert Mugabe openly supporting the invasions, police are
claiming they don't have the manpower or the mandate. Communities like Karoi
have had to find their own ways of coping and communicating.
Farmers and concerned businessmen in the area are on call day and night
through their radio systems and cell phones. So if there is an invasion,
support is immediately on hand – which doesn't mean rushing in waving guns,
but rather trying to keep the situation under control.
Derek: “When you were being beaten, there must have been a tremendous urge to
retaliate?”
Alex: “Well it's difficult. If you retaliate now, it could flame the whole
thing and be a lot worse. Maybe these guys are looking for an excuse to
create more violence to make it even more bloody than it is. Maybe this is
the cue they are waiting for to call for a state of emergency. That would
delay the elections that much longer.”
However, restraint has become a thing of the past as the invasions become
more violent and the law stands ineffectually by. Liz and Raul Retslaf's farm
just outside Harare was broken into and ransacked twice in a matter of days.
When we spoke to Liz she was still visibly shaken by recent events.
Liz Retslaf: “We were just waiting, wondering what was going to happen. I saw
people just running all over the place and it was chaos.”
Derek: “What was the worst moment for you?
Liz: “Probably the first time when we were locked in the office and there
were about 20 to 30 people trying to break in, but yesterday was just too
terrible and they were getting more aggressive.”
This second time things took a different turn when their workers stepped in
and fought back. While some ended up in casualty, the remainder now stand
guard, waiting for the next attack.
Farm worker: “Here I've got my axe.”
Derek: “So you are fighting the war veterans to keep your jobs?”
Farm worker: “To keep our jobs… that's the only solution because we've got a
lot of families on our ground and we can only survive through these whites.
So we need our job. If these white farmers go away we are going to suffer.”
Paul Retslaf: “I asked them, ‘What are you going to do with my farm?'. Oh
we've got 40 families we're going to put on your farm. So I asked him, ‘But
hang on… I've got 140 families employed on my farm. What about that?'. ‘Oh
well, we'll put the 40 families on and the other 140 will have to go'. ‘But
now you've created a balance of 100 families without either land or jobs,
what about them?' ‘ Oh no, they must now go and join the queue'.”
While Mugabe seems ready to sacrifice economic stability for power at any
cost, he can no longer count on the card of racism. Passions are running high
and Zimbabwe is on the brink of anarchy.
Derek: “I see women are involved. You're not going to fight are you?”
Female farm worker: “Yes, we are going to fight.”
Derek: “But shouldn't you leave it to the men?”
Female farm worker: “No. I'm also involved, so I must fight.”
Derek: “Do you think these are war veterans?”
Farm worker: “No. They are thieves. They are not war veterans, they are
thieves!”
Paul: “Something is surprising. You see a war veteran of 14 years of age, or
20 years of age. These guys are 20… claiming to be a war veteran. It's
impossible!”
Just before the weekend the High Court declared the farm invasions illegal
and Mugabe immediately responded, saying they would continue to take over
white farms despite the ruling and despite the threat of sanctions.
And last night events took a disastrous turn. A farmer was abducted and shot
in the head, another lies in hospital with head injuries and two more are
missing. While the vice-president, Joseph Miseka, is desperately trying to
restore order, the invaders say they will listen to nobody but the man who
supports them – Robert Mugabe, who returns from Cuba today.