While white farmers in Zimbabwe are still facing persecution and oppression, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of three Zimbabwean farmers today in the case dealing with the seizure of Zimbabwean assets in South Africa.

The case concerned an application brought by the Zimbabwean government last year to reverse the seizure of Zimbabwean assets in Cape Town by farmers who were assisted by AfriForum.

The legal battle started after the Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had ruled in November 2008 that Zimbabwe’s land-reform processes had been racist and illegal and that farmers ought to have been compensated for their farms.

The protocol introduced by the Tribunal makes provision for the registration and enforcement of the Tribunal’s orders in the member countries of the SADC.

Based on this protocol, AfriForum assisted three farmers, Louis Fick, Richard Etheredge and the late Mike Campbell, in having the ruling of the SADC Tribunal registered at the North Gauteng High Court.

Shortly after the ruling had been registered, the farmers seized three properties of the Zimbabwean government that were no longer used for diplomatic purposes.

In July last year, the Zimbabwean government instituted a series of court applications to have the seizure of its properties and the registration of the SADC’s Tribunal reversed.

AfriForum’s legal representative, Willie Spies, who acted as the farmers’ attorney, said in a statement that the door was now open for the sale of Zimbabwe’s properties in Cape Town that AfriForum seized last year.

“The ruling is of historic significance. For probably the first time in international legal history, a court has ruled that the assets of a country guilty of human rights violations must be sold at public auction,” Spies said.

“Arrangements will be made without delay to have the properties sold at public auction,” he added.

Meanwhile, AfriForum has learned that an 87-year-old farmer from Gweru, who is a South African citizen, will be sentenced on 13 June 2011 after he had been arrested and charged for not leaving his farm voluntarily.

If he is found guilty, his sentence could include two years’ imprisonment in a Zimbabwean prison. Several calls to the Department of International Relations in Pretoria and the South African embassy in Harare by his family to request humanitarian assistance were unsuccessful.

AfriForum is investigating the possibility of taking legal action against the South African government in this regard.

Submitted by / For further information:

Willie Spies

Legal representative

AfriForum

Cell: 083 676 0639

E-mail:  willie@hurterspies.co.za

Leané du Plessis

Head: Media liaison

AfriForum

Cell: 082 418 8508

E-mail: leane@afriforum.co.za

THE SUSPENSION OF THE SADC TRIBUNAL HAS SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE REGION

SADC Tribunal Rights Watch is deeply shocked at the decision taken at the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of SADC in Namibia on May 20 to dissolve the region’s internationally respected human rights court, the SADC Tribunal, for another year.

This is in flagrant disregard of the findings of the independent review commissioned by the SADC Heads of State, which confirmed that the Tribunal had the legal authority to deal with individual human rights petitions and that its rulings should be binding over member states.

Furthermore, the consultants, WTI Advisors Ltd, Geneva, an affiliate of the World Trade Institute, reported that the Tribunal was properly established and that its protocol entered into force in accordance with international law.

Instead of upholding the review findings, the Summit took the decision to dissolve the Tribunal.  This deals a devastating blow to the rule of law in the region because it denies individual people access to justice when they have no legal recourse in their own countries.

The Summit’s decisions were:

1. Not to reappoint Tribunal judges whose terms expired on August 31, 2010.
2. Not to replace Tribunal judges whose term of office will expire on October 31, 2011.
3. That the Ministers of Justice/Attorneys General would be mandated to initiate a process aimed at amending the relevant SADC legal instruments and would only be required to submit their final report to the Summit scheduled for August 2012.

1. That the Tribunal should not take on any new cases or have hearings of any cases until the SADC Protocol on the Tribunal has been reviewed and approved by the SADC Heads of State at the August 2012 Summit.

As a result, the urgent case lodged in March 2011 by Zimbabwean commercial farmers Mike Campbell (78) – who passed away in April as a result of injuries sustained during his abduction and torture in 2008 – and Luke Tembani (74), will not be heard by the Tribunal.

Their application asks for an order that ensures “the [SADC] Tribunal continues to function in all respects as established by Article 16 of the Treaty.”  It also takes to task the SADC Heads of State for not abiding by the SADC Treaty signed on behalf of the people of SADC in 1992 for their development  and protection.

The suspension of the region’s highest court serves no purpose but to allow corruption, the abuse of power and the erosion of human rights in southern Africa to become entrenched.

As the region celebrates Africa Day, SADC Tribunal Rights Watch calls upon the Southern African Development Community to initiate an urgent, wide-reaching consultation among civil society groups, legal experts and individuals to resolve this crisis and enable them to continue seeking legitimate legal redress at a regional level.

Submitted by / For further information:

Ben Freeth

SADC Tribunal Rights Watch

Zimbabwe

Cell:  +263 773 929 138

E-mail:  freeth@bsatt.com

Luke Tembani (74), one of the first black commercial farmers after Zimbabwean independence in 1980, lost title to his farm in November 2000 when it was unilaterally auctioned by the Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe (ABZ), to cover a loan.

Despite Tembani’s proposal to sell off a viable section of the farm to cover the debt, his entire property was sold to a third party at a fraction of the value estimated by an independent valuator.

Tembani took his case to the High Court of Zimbabwe, which eventually ruled in his favour, but the ABZ appealed to the Supreme Court whose members – apart from one judge – were recipients of “redistributed” farms, and in November 2007 the execution of the sale was upheld.

With no recourse to justice in Zimbabwe, Tembani took his case to the SADC Tribunal in Windhoek, Namibia, where it was heard on 5 June 2009.  He won the case and the Zimbabwe government was told to take all the necessary measures not to evict him from the property and to stop interfering with his use and occupation of the farm.

Despite the protection of the SADC Tribunal, in October 2009 Tembani and his family were evicted from the farmhouse where they’d been living and struggling to survive.  They were not allowed to remove any of their farm equipment, are now virtually destitute and want justice.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Tembani’s first job in 1954 was working in the garden of a private home.  Subsequently he took up an apprenticeship, but his objective was to become a commercial farmer.  Three years later, he enrolled at Chibero Agricultural College in Norton.  On completion of the course, he became a farm manager on a dairy farm in the Nyazura district, where he worked for 18 years.

Three years after independence, Tembani was ready to farm for himself and acquired a five-year lease of a farm called Minverwag, a 1,265ha property in Nyazura, with an option to buy.  The farmer, Helgard Muller, gave him a free lease to help him get established.

The Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC), subsequently renamed the Agriculture Bank of Zimbabwe (ABF), provided a loan and in 1985 Tembani became the registered owner.

He was appointed onto the Rural District Council and served as Provincial Chairman for the Indigenous Commercial Farmers’ Union.

Tembani built up Minverwag into a highly profitable enterprise comprising up to 100 hectares of tobacco, 80ha of maize, 5ha of marigolds, 10ha of paprika and 40ha of wheat/soya rotation.  He also invested time and resources to improve the farm’s irrigation system.

Over the years his beef herd was increased to 600 animals and he also developed a pig unit with 16 sows and an ostrich project with up to 89 breeding birds.

In 1986 Tembani decided to build a school and provide education for the children of farm workers from the area, but neither the Ministry of Education nor the Rural Council were able to assist.

He went ahead, using his own money generated from the farm, and the following year opened Chimwanda Primary School with four classrooms and free schooling for 321 pupils between grades 1 and 7, an office and accommodation for eight teachers.

He also sunk a borehole, improved his employees’ housing and built a church hall.

During the 1990s, when interest rates escalated sharply and there two were serious national droughts (1992 and 1994), many commercial farmers ran into financial difficulties.

Tembani, who had invested substantially in his school, was among them, so he met with the planning department of the AFC and arranged to sell off a viable 418 hectare section of the farm as a subdivision in 1996.

The AFC agreed that this would cover his debt and buyers were found while they waited for the title deeds to be issued.

Subsequently the renamed ABZ failed to verify the exact value of Tembani’s debt and reneged on the arrangement, auctioning the entire, undivided property in November 2000 for a mere Z$6 million although an independent valuator valued the property at Z$15 million.

“Only two buyers were present and the farm was sold to Takawira Zembe, a businessman who only paid 10 percent at the auction and who is believed to have as many as 18 farming enterprises in the country gained in this way,” said Tembani.

When Zembe took over Minverwag, he petitioned the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe to undertake the running of the school.

After Tembani’s eviction in 2009, Zembe refused to let his twins attend the school their father built, unless Tembani ceded total ownership of the farm to Zembe and withdrew his appeal against the eviction.

“Zembe is not operating Minverwag as a commercial farming enterprise but has cut it into plots for peasant farmers who are paying him for the use of the land,” Tembani said.

At the beginning of April 2011, Tembani joined commercial farmer Mike Campbell in signing papers to take the SADC Heads of State to the Tribunal for initiating its suspension.

In calling for the review, the SADC Heads of State denied Tembani access to the Tribunal to claim damages against the Zimbabwe government for refusing to comply with his SADC judgment.

Campbell died a few days after signing from injuries sustained during his abduction and brutal beating after the contentious Presidential run-off election in June 2008, but Tembani remains resolute. “The Tribunal must continue to function in all respects as established by the SADC Treaty,” he said.

Tembani, his wife and their two children now live in basic rented accommodation and are without an income.  They cannot afford the school fees of US$300 per term for their daughter, Mildred (15), or for their son, Luke (10) who requires US$70 per term.

Their other daughter, Terrylee, who was Luke’s twin sister, was killed tragically in March this year when she was electrocuted due to poor wiring in their rented accommodation.

“As I speak to you, at the age of 74, I’m sitting on an old stool with nothing, despite all the years of hard work,” said Tembani.  “We live hand-to-mouth selling little bags of sugar and other basics in a difficult and competitive environment, instead of contributing to food security.”

“When the hungry season comes, the food situation is going to be serious in Zimbabwe,” Tembani warned.  “There has been a major drought and between 75 and 80 percent of the people have been affected. The irrigation systems are not functioning and the land is lying idle.”

“My wife and I want our farm back but right now it’s too political,” Thembani said regretfully. “If we had the money to open a small shop and stock it with tools, hardware and other more profitable goods it would be easier to survive.  We had a lot of money in the bank before the Zimbabwe dollar crashed.  But when it collapsed and was replaced by the US dollar, we were left with nothing.”

For further information:

Ben Freeth

Spokesperson

SADC Tribunal Rights Watch

Cell: +263 773 929 138 (Zimbabwe)

E-mail:  freeth@bsatt.com

Mike Campbell on his Mount Carmel farm in the Chegutu district of Zimbabwe in 2008.
Photo Robin Hammond

Campbell never recovered from the abduction and brutal beatings meted out to him, his wife Angela and son-in-law Ben Freeth by Zanu-PF thugs late at night in a remote militia camp on June 29, 2008 just two days after the Presidential run-off election.

Eventually their captors forced them at gunpoint to sign a paper stating that they would withdraw from the SADC Tribunal court case, due to be heard in Namibia the following month.  They were dumped outside the town of Kadoma from where they were rushed to hospital.

Campbell sustained severe head injuries which resulted in brain damage, broken ribs and damage to his lower limbs caused by a crude and brutal torture method known as falanga.

This involves beating the soles of the feet with iron bars, logs or cables and can result in permanent disability or death due to kidney failure.  Campbell’s medical report noted that severe force had been used and that the possibility of permanent damage was likely.

A dedicated farmer and conservationist, Campbell purchased Mount Carmel farm in the Chegutu district in 1975 and spent the next 24 years paying back the loan.

The farm was transferred legally into the family’s company name in 1999 on receipt of a “certificate of no interest” from the Mugabe government which had the first purchase option on any sale.

Over the years Campbell built up the farm, stocking it with a wide variety of game long before the importance of wildlife conservation had become widely recognized.

He played an important role in forming the Wildlife Producers’ Association of Zimbabwe and was appointed its first chairman.

After independence in 1980, Campbell purchased the neighbouring farm to make his wildlife area viable and built what was to become a popular tourist destination, the Biri River Safari Lodge, on the property.

On Mount Carmel, Campbell grew tobacco and maize and built up a sturdy Mashona / Sussex cattle herd, providing valuable breeding stock for the region.

Later he experimented with mango growing and, by importing carefully selected varieties, he eventually developed those that would best suit their area and the export market.

Campbell became the first and largest commercial mango grower in Zimbabwe, generating critically needed foreign currency.  He was brought onto the committee of the Southern African Mango Growers’ Association and attended international mango symposia.

The Mount Carmel pack shed became one of the first to be accredited by EUROGAP for good agricultural practices that would assist with the export market.

Described as a model employer, Campbell had a large workforce and, with wives and children, the farm sustained more than 500 people.

After the farm invasions began in 2001, Campbell, his family, their workers and other farmers in the district became the target of unrelenting state-sponsored violence and intimidation. The safari lodge was burnt down, their wildlife slaughtered and their cattle rustled.

After getting no recourse from the Zimbabwean courts, Campbell took his case to the SADC Tribunal in October 2007 and in March the following year an additional 77 other white commercial farmers joined the case as interveners.

In November 2008, the SADC Tribunal ruled that the farmers could keep their land because the land reform programme was not being conducted according to the rule of law and was also discriminatory.

However, the victimization continued and the following year both the Campbell and Freeth homesteads were burnt to the ground, together with worker homes and their linen factory, an upliftment project initiated by Freeth’s wife Laura for the wives of farm workers.

Last month Campbell and an elderly black commercial farmer Luke Tembani, who has also been dispossessed, lodged an application with the Tribunal for an order that would ensure the Tribunal would continue to function in all respects as established by Article 16 of the Treaty.

This followed the Tribunal’s suspension by the SADC heads of state pending a review of its role functions and terms of reference, thus attempting to block further court action.

A documentary film about the court case and the family’s brave stand, “Mugabe and the White African”, has brought the plight of Zimbabwean farmers and their farm workers to the world stage and has won numerous international film festival awards.

“What Mike and his family have achieved for Zimbabwe and the whole of Southern Africa in setting an international precedent in property rights and the rights of white Africans in international law will only be realized by most people in years to come when we have a government that will respect the rule of law and the rights of people,” said Deon Theron, president of the Commercial Farmers’ Union in Zimbabwe.

Campbell is survived by his wife, Angela, their son Bruce, two daughters, Cathy and Laura, and 5 grandchildren as well as 6^th due to be born next month.

More information:

Ben Freeth

Cell:  +263 773 929 138

E-mail:  freeth@bsatt.com

4 April 2011

For the first time in legal history, a group of heads of state is being cited by an individual as the respondent in an application to an international court – in this case the Southern Development Community (SADC) Tribunal – located in Windhoek, Namibia.

Jeremy Gauntlett, SC, a leading South African advocate, filed the urgent application on behalf of two dispossessed Zimbabwean commercial farmers, both of whom ran highly successful farming enterprises, and both of whom are elderly.

The first applicant is William Michael Campbell of Mount Carmel farm in the Chegutu district of Mashonaland West province, and the second applicant is his company, Mike Campbell (Pvt) Ltd.

The third applicant is Luke Tembani of the Remainder of Minverwag farm at Clare Estate Ranch in the Nyazura district of Manicaland province.

The first respondent is the “Summit of the Heads of State or Government of SADC” and the Presidents of 15 countries, including Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe.

The second respondent is the Council of Ministers of SADC and the third is the Republic of Zimbabwe.

The application asks for an order that ensures “the [SADC] Tribunal continues to function in all respects as established by Article 16 of the Treaty.”

In the Preamble to the Declaration and Treaty of SADC, the SADC Heads of State agreed to be  “Mindful of the need to involve the people of the Region centrally in the process of development and integration, particularly through the guarantee of democratic rights, observance of human rights and the rule of law…”

According to the protocol establishing the Tribunal, a person can bring a case after exhausting all available remedies or when unable to proceed under domestic jurisdiction.

Despite this commitment, in August last year at the two-day SADC Summit in Windhoek, the SADC heads of state decided “that a review of the role functions and terms of reference of the SADC Tribunal should be undertaken and concluded within six months.”

The terms of the judges presiding over the SADC Tribunal were not renewed and the Tribunal was effectively disbanded pending the outcome of the review.

Responding to widespread criticism, SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao claimed that the Tribunal had not been suspended and that it could “deal with those cases at hand” although it “could not entertain any new cases.”

For the Mugabe government, the decision was of major significance as the Tribunal would no longer be able to hear controversial cases regarding Zimbabwe’s conduct with respect to human rights abuses and the disastrous land reform programme which the Tribunal had judged to be unlawful.

The Campbell case

In October 2007, after exhausting all legal remedies under domestic jurisdiction, Mike Campbell filed a case with the Tribunal contesting the acquisition of his farm which had been transferred legally in 1999 with a “certificate of no interest” from the Zimbabwean government.

In March 2008, 77 additional Zimbabwean commercial farmers were granted leave to intervene.  Interim relief similar to that given to Campbell on December 13, 2007 was granted to 74 of the farmers since three were no longer residing on their farms.

Eight months later, on November 28, 2008, the Tribunal ruled that the land reform programme was racist and unlawful and that the Zimbabwe government had violated the SADC treaty by attempting to seize the 77 white-owned commercial farms.

In response, Lands and Land Reform Minister, Didymus Mutasa said the government would not recognise the ruling.

The Luke Tembani case

Luke Tembani, a successful black commercial farmer, took his case to the SADC Tribunal in June 2009 after the farm he bought in 1983 was sold by the Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe in 2000 without any court hearings.

In August 2009, the Tribunal ruled that the repossession and sale of Tembani’s farm to recoup an outstanding loan during a period of soaring interest rates – to which the bank was unable to put an exact figure – was “illegal and void”.  The judges ruled that he should remain on the farm.

In defiance of the Tribunal ruling, Tembani and his family were evicted two months later and Tembani’s  two primary school-going children were forced out of the school he had built personally on the farm at significant cost for children in the area.

Commenting on the decision to suspend the Tribunal, the group legal representative of South African civil rights initiative AfriForum, Willie Spies, said it was cause for serious concern.  He warned that it was very bad news for the Southern African region if disregard for the rule of law was supported in this way.

“We do not want to be sending a message from Africa that we are disregarding human rights. We do not want to send a message that the rule of law is being trampled on when it does not suit the rulers in power,” Spies said.

In the Founding Affidavit for this new case, Campbell stated that the application was being brought on behalf of the commercial farmers who joined his case in March 2008 and their employees and their families.

“Many have been forced from their farms and are scattered around Zimbabwe….. With us they have suffered evictions, destruction of their homes and possessions, assaults, torture and other gross human rights violations,” Campbell said.

He said it had also not been possible to join hundreds of thousands of similarly affected farm workers, or to obtain separate affidavits from them.

“They live in daily fear of further attacks and dispossession, and of reprisals.  Many now live hand-to-mouth, scattered near relief centres and across the country.”

Campbell’s son-in-law, Ben Freeth, who has supported him in his quest to gain justice through the SADC Tribunal, was also abducted and tortured with Campbell and his wife immediately after the Presidential run-off election in June 2008.  They were forced to sign a paper stating they would withdraw their case, which was due to be heard by the Tribunal the following month.

Although Freeth has recovered fully from his injuries, which resulted in major brain surgery, the serious head injuries Campbell sustained have left him severely incapacitated.

“Despite this, Mike remains resolute and was able to sign the application – which will have far reaching implications for the sub-continent – with a quivering hand,” said Freeth.

“African leaders must acknowledge that they have a responsibility to their people,” Freeth stressed.  “ If they unilaterally decide to abandon them to a continent devoid of institutions through which justice can be sought, injustice and evil will continue to prevail, ordinary people will continue to suffer and the continent will regress.”

“There are encouraging signs though,” continued Freeth.  “Zambian President Rupiah Banda, who chaired the SADC double troika summit in Livingstone on Friday, said:  ‘If there is anything that we must learn from the upheavals going on in the northern part of our continent , it is that the legitimate expectations of the citizens of our countries cannot be taken for granted.

‘We must therefore continue at the SADC level to consolidate democracy through the establishment of institutions that uphold the tenets of good governance for human rights and the rule of law,’ Banda concluded.

ENDS

Background information:

The Declaration and Treaty of SADC, Article 16 – The Tribunal, reads:

1. The Tribunal shall be constituted to ensure adherence to and the proper interpretation of the provisions of this Treaty and subsidiary instruments and to adjudicate upon such disputes as may be referred to it.

2. The composition, powers, functions, procedures and other related matters governing the Tribunal shall be prescribed in a Protocol adopted by the Summit.

3. Members of the Tribunal shall be appointed for a specified period.

4. The Tribunal shall give advisory opinions on such matters as the Summit or the Council may refer to it.

5. The decisions of the Tribunal shall be final and binding.

For further information:

Ben Freeth – SADC Tribunal Rights Watch

Cell:  +263 773 929 138 (Zimbabwe)

E-mail:  freeth@bsatt.com

In what looks to be the start of the next phase of state-sponsored property heists in Zimbabwe, over 20 tourism facilities have been invaded in Lake Chivero Recreational Park (formerly Lake Mcllwaine), 37 km south west of Harare.

The lake is Harare’s main water supply and the surrounding land was declared a national park shortly after construction was completed in 1952.  The game park, currently home to some of the last white rhino in Zimbabwe, was opened in 1962.

The invasion was reported on Friday (January 21) when a mob of about 150 people arrived without warning on Kumba Shiri resort, where the renowned Larvon Bird Gardens are situated.

Larvon Bird Gardens has aviaries housing approximately 120 species of birds and, as well as being Zimbabwe’s bird orphanage, is also an education centre.

The invaders, wearing Zanu-PF regalia, put their own padlocks on the gates and residents in the 30 homesteads on the property were prevented from leaving.  They were also not allowed to arrange the removal of any of their movable property.

All of the workers in the bird gardens were also locked in, as well as a number of visitors.

Police from Marimba eventually arrived at Lake Chivero late Friday afternoon but no action has as yet been taken against the forced take-over.

All along the lake shore approximately 20 clubs and other tourist facilities with either freehold title or leasehold from National Parks have been similarly invaded with their gates locked.

Viv Baxter from Wingate went over by boat to check on the caretaker at Jacana Yacht Club, Des Fenner, who is blind.  He was taken hostage and only managed to return after several hours.

On Saturday afternoon National Parks personnel came out but the invaders have so far been allowed to continue their program.

The owners of the tourist facilities have been warned by the invaders that this is the start of a countrywide indigenisation campaign that will initially target all tourist resorts where white people are involved.

Kumba Shiri resort is owned by a South African investor, Gary Stafford.

BIPPA with South Africa

On May 15 last year, South Africa and Zimbabwe finally ratified a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) that was signed by Zimbabwe’s Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma and South Africa’s Trade Minister Rob Davies in Harare in November 2009.

“The purpose of the agreement is to stimulate individual business initiatives and increase prosperity in both countries through the creation of favorable conditions for investment by South African investors in Zimbabwe and Zimbabwean investors in South Africa,” the ministry said in a statement.

Negotiations for the deal started in 2002 as South African companies – the largest African investors in Zimbabwe – required reassurance that President Mugabe’s government would abide by international norms regarding property rights following the violent land invasions.

Aaron Mazvi, leader of the invasion, is district chairman of the war veterans in the Zvimba community west of Harare, President Mugabe’s rural home.

In Mazvi’s memo of January 6, 2011 to Minister Herbert Murerwa on “the take-over of properties along the lower and upper reaches of Lake Chivero”, Mazvi states the following on behalf of the “Zvimba community at large”:

“… In view of the government requisite that blacks should be empowered through the attainment of 51 percent shareholdings in foreign funded operations, I do hereby propose that the clubs be occupied and redistributed amongst community members and some be reserved for Ministers, top government officials, senators, Members of Parliament, Chiefs and those in the hierarchy of traditional leadership.”

Previous Invasions

Aaron Mazvi has played a leading role in violent farm invasions in the Mashonaland West area, including the property next door, RB Ranches, where he currently resides.  The first farm invasion in Mashonaland took place in 2000 on Saffron Waldon farm close by.

The murder of two well-known white farmers in the district occurred during the early years of the invasions, notably the high profile beating and then shooting of commercial farmer Terry Ford (51) on Gowrie farm at Norton in 2002.

Don Stewart, a 68-year-old dairy farmer from Norton, was beaten and burnt to death in November 2005.    Several of the farms in the area were taken over by the Mugabe family.

Numerous cases of violence against farm workers were also recorded.  Although in many cases the perpetrators are known, there is no record of any having been convicted.

Landmark SADC torture ruling

This month, in a landmark ruling that exposed Harare’s flagrant disregard for the rule of law, the Namibian-based SADC Tribunal ordered the Zimbabwean government to pay damages to nine torture victims who had successfully claimed compensation in the High Court of Zimbabwe.

The government had neglected or refused to pay compensation to the victims.

Commentators said the ruling could open the floodgates for other victims of armed forces brutality who have failed to get fair hearings in Zimbabwe’s partisan courts.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Lake Chivero Recreational Park

Lake Chivero Recreational Park was opened in 1962 and holds a variety of game, most of which had originally been brought in from Lake Kariba during the internationally acclaimed game rescue operation known as “Operation Noah”.

Game includes rhinoceros, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, kudu, eland, waterbuck, tsessebe, bush pig, porcupine, pangolin and ant bear.

The park was originally known as Lake Mcllwaine Recreational Park in memory of the late Sir Robert McIlwaine, a former judge of the High Court and founder of Zimbabwe’s Soil and Water Conservation Movement.

A popular destination for local and international birdwatchers, Lake Chivero has a wide variety of bird life, including African open bills, barbets, bee-eaters, buzzards, coots, cormorants, hamerkops, jacanas, kingfishers, grey herons, darters, Goliath herons, fish eagles, glossy starlings and lilac-breasted rollers.

Several of the kopjies (rocky outcrops) have San (Bushman) paintings on their sheltered surfaces.

Cholera

Despite Lake Chivero being Harare’s main water supply source, it was reported in August 2007 that the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) had dumped raw sewage into the lake. Public clinics reported they were treating about 900 cases of diarrhoea daily.

On 4 December 2008, the Zimbabwean government declared the cholera outbreak a national emergency and called for international assistance.

In September 2010 it was reported that raw sewage was being pumped directly into the Mukuvisi River, a tributary of Lake Chivero, and the situation was described as a “health time bomb”.

ENDS

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Ben Freeth – Spokesman for SADC Tribunal Rights Watch
Zimbabwe
Cell:  +263 773 929 138
E-mail:  freeth@bsatt.com

War Veteran:
Aaron Mazvi – Cell: +263 772 810 761

HARARE – More than 80 000 youth militia, war veterans and soldiers will be deployed across the country in an army-led drive to ensure victory for President Robert Mugabe in the next elections that, according to investigations by ZimOnline, look set to be the bloodiest ever witnessed in Zimbabwe.

A three-month investigation by ZimOnline that included interviews and discussions with Cabinet ministers, senior military officers and ZANU PF functionaries, revealed a desperate determination by Zimbabwe’s top generals to thwart Tsvangirai, with some even openly bragging that they would topple the Prime Minister should he somehow triumph against the planned violence to emerge the winner of the polls whose date is yet to be named.

Zimbabwe’s hardliner generals have long been regarded as wielding a de facto veto over the country’s troubled transformation process and as likely to block transfer of power to the winners of elections that Mugabe insist should take place this year should the victors not be the veteran President and his ZANU PF party.

According to our investigation the Joint Military Operations Command (JOC) that brings together the commanders of the army, air force, police, secret and prison services plan to intervene at an earlier stage in the process, well before foreign or even local observers are on the ground.

The strategy is to unleash enough violence and terror — worse than seen in the bloody 2008 presidential run-off poll in which at least 200 of Tsvangirai’s supporters died and tens of thousands of others were made homeless — to make sure a thoroughly cowed electorate will on voting day back Mugabe in enough numbers to save the veteran President from having to face another second round vote or do a Gbabgo.

The Ivory Coast leader, Laurent Gbabgo, has openly refused to hand over power to his victorious opponent after being defeated in elections.

Zimbabwe’s generals, who were behind the 2008 violence that forced Tsvangirai to withdraw from a second round vote he had been tipped to win after beating Mugabe in the first round ballot, fear that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is unlikely to accept another blood-soaked second round election victory for Mugabe or allow him to refuse – Gbabgo style — to hand over power to a victorious Tsvangirai.

The plan

With Tsvangirai and the MDC, civil society and even SADC seemingly distracted by the problems surrounding implementation of the power-sharing deal that led to the formation of the Harare unity government, the JOC has worked quietly to reactivate the structures that waged violence in previous polls – almost unnoticed, apart from the occasional report by human rights groups or the media of resurgent violence in some parts of the country.

According to information made available to ZimOnline, the JOC plans to deploy senior commanders from either the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) or the Central Intelligence Organisation in each of Zimbabwe’s 59 districts to coordinate the fight to retain Mugabe in power.

The ZDF comprises the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) while the CIO is the government’s secret service agency that has a reputation for ruthlessly dealing with Mugabe’s political opponents.

Air Vice Marshal Henry Muchena, a fierce Mugabe loyalist who has virtually taken over as ZANU PF elections director, will be in charge of the campaign that according to our investigation will be unrolled during the constitutional referendum but will reach peak momentum towards elections that are expected to follow the plebiscite.

Muchena is in charge of the campaign’s central command housed at ZANU PF’s national headquarters in Harare.

Other top soldiers of the ranks of major general, brigadier general or air vice-marshal and assisted by CIO agents will head provincial command centres that will direct the onslaught against the MDC in the provinces. Some of the senior commanders have already started work in the provinces meeting ZANU PF and traditional leaders to plot the way forward.

The JOC is convinced that Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party remain the biggest threat to Mugabe retaining power and while paying attention to smaller parties such as Welshman Ncube’s MDC, Simba Makoni’s Mavambo/Kusile/Dwan and Dumiso Dabengwa’s ZAPU will mainly focus on the former union leader and his followers.

According to a source — who is a senior official in the Ministry of Defence — Major General Engelbert Rugeje will be in charge of Masvingo province.

Rugeje is a notorious Mugabe fanatic who took part in atrocities committed by the army in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces in the 1980s.

At least 20 000 innocent civilians died in the army campaign in the Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces that was ostensibly launched to crush anti-Mugabe rebels but randomly targeted civilians from the Ndebele ethnic community dominant in the area and which mainly supported the then main PF-ZAPU opposition party of the late nationalist, Joshua Nkomo.

According to our information, Rugeje has allegedly already started terrorising MDC supporters in Masvingo where he has in recent weeks been blamed of several acts of violence and intimidation against the former opposition party’s supporters.

In Mugabe’s Mashonaland West home province Brigadier General David Sigauke will run the brutal campaign to keep ZANU PF leader in power, while Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba will be in charge in Manicaland province, said our source, who refused to be named for fear of possible reprisals.

Retired Brigadier General Victor Rungani will be in charge of the campaign in Mashonaland East province while Air Vice Marshal Abu Basutu will oversee matters in Matabeleland South province.

Brigadiers General Sibusio Bussie Moyo, Sibangumuzi Khumalo, Etherton Shungu will oversee matters in the provinces of Midlands, Matebeleland North, Mashonaland Central respectively.

Colonel Chris Sibanda and Air Commodore Mike Tichafa Karakadzai will, respectively, run the campaign to neutralise opposition to Mugabe in the smaller metropolitan provinces of Bulawayo and Harare that are seen as the strongest bastions of Tsvangirai support.

Junior commanders and hundreds of lower ranking soldiers, some of who have already been deployed in recent months in villages in some districts, will be at the disposal of the senior commanders. But our source was unable to say exactly how many out of Zimbabwe’s ±40 000 soldiers will be put to work campaigning for Mugabe. (See below story full list of senior and junior commanders who will run the campaign)

Torture camps

Hundreds of war veterans who have taken part in previous ZANU PF campaigns including farm invasions will also feature prominently this time round and will along with the youth militia run torture camps at strategic locations in the districts and will also conduct pungwes (all night political education meetings) that will be primarily used to intimidate villagers and warn them about the dangers of voting for Tsvangirai or his MDC party.

The torture camps will be used as centres to punish and breakdown prominent supporters, activists and leaders of Tsvangirai’s MDC in the districts and villages as part of a drive to disable and render dysfunctional the party’s grassroots structures.

Soldiers and war veterans will play major roles in the campaign but the youth militia trained under a controversial government national youth service programme will be the principal agents of violence, according to our sources.

The youths that are fanatical supporters of Mugabe and ZANU PF have in previous polls sealed off whole districts to the opposition and are once again expected to turn most of Zimbabwe’s rural areas into virtually no-go areas for the MDC.

While reports in the press last weekend quoting documents from the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment said the ministry was looking to revive the youth service programme and to train 300 000 militia members annually, a Cabinet minister in the unity government whom we spoke to last December said at present there were about 80 000 youths ready for use in ZANU PF campaigns and programmes.

Gov’t funded-bases

The minister, who only spoke on condition he was not named, said many of the youths had been absorbed into the civil service while a smaller number remain at the government-funded youth training camps where they are from time to time assigned work by ZANU PF which controls the youth ministry.

He said: “80 000 had passed through the national youth service by the time it was stopped two years ago. The majority of those who had already graduated before the suspension of the programme have been absorbed into the system.

“Government ministries which absorbed these youths are the ministry of defence through the Zimbabwe National Army, the Ministry of Justice through the prisons service, the home affairs ministry through the police and the ministry of youth.

“Those who have failed to get jobs have remained at the training centres. I know some remain at Dadaya, Guyo, Eaglesnest, Mashayamombe and Mshagashe. These are the most dangerous because this is a group that is readily available to do any sort of work. The centres have remained a crucial structure of violence because they provide government-funded bases.”

Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and Youth Minister Saviour Kasukuwere repeatedly refused to take questions on the plans by the military to takeover ZANU PF’s campaign and the role of the youth service in the army-led drive to secure victory for Mugabe and his party.

But ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo dismissed the reports that the party had virtually outsourced its electoral campaign to the generals as unfounded and an attempt to smear Mugabe’s party.

Gumbo told ZimOnline: “That is unfounded. ZANU PF is fully in charge of its programmes. We have the capacity to run our own campaign without involving soldiers. We have seen a pattern to smear ZANU PF and its leaders by falsely claiming that there is violence out there and that we are behind the violence. Now we are supposed to have surrendered our campaign to the army. There is no basis.”

Do-or-die affair

But our investigations have established that ZDF commanders and CIO agents have been holding high-level strategic provincial meetings to plot how to secure Mugabe’s victory in the next elections even before a single ballot is cast.

Analysts have advanced several theories as to why the generals would want to prevent a possible Tsvangirai poll victory.

Others have said the men in uniform fear an MDC government will prosecute them for human rights abuses including the Matabeleland and Midlands massacres, while others say the generals — or some of them genuinely believe — rightly or wrongly, that Tsvangirai is a puppet of the West and that they have to stop him to protect the revolution.

And yet others say the generals want Mugabe or a successor appointed by him in power because the veteran President or his appointee will not only protect the commanders from prosecution but will ensure that they retain access to national resources, not least the rich Marange diamond deposits.

But whatever their motive or motives, our investigations showed a group of committed military men who believe that the next elections — that Mugabe has said must take place this year although they may yet be postponed possibly to 2012 or 2013 — are a do-or-die affair and that they are better off taking matters in their own hands.

The generals are absolutely convinced that a lethargic ZANU PF that is riven by factionalism over Mugabe’s succession cannot on its own win an election against an MDC party that remains hugely popular with the electorate despite the mediocre performance of some of its leaders in the unity government or the WikiLeaks disclosures that painted Tsvangirai as flawed and of questionable executive ability.

For example at a meeting in Manicaland last November, Nyikayaramba and Air Commodore Innocent Chiganze told the ZANU PF provincial leadership that the military was taking over the party’s campaign in order to be able to stop Tsvangirai from winning.

Senior ZANU PF politicians among them Diydmus Mutasa, who is minister of state in Mugabe’s office; Patrick Chinamasa, who is justice minister; deputy economic planning minister Samuel Undenge; former minister Munacho Mutezo, party provincial chairman, Mike Madiro and provincial spokesman Kenneth Saruchera attended the meeting with the two soldiers.

Safe hands

Chiganze told the politicians that the elections were just as crucial as the 1980 elections that ushered in independence from Britain and in which the same military commanders actively campaigned for ZANU PF.

He said the ZANU-PF leadership had failed to effectively campaign because of factionalism and it was now the duty of the army to lead the campaign to defeat Tsvangirai.

According to a source who attended the meeting, Chiganze told the meeting that military generals were ready to retire, but would only do so when they were certain that the country was in the “safe hands” of a ZANU-PF leader.

Chiganze, according to our source, openly told the meeting that the military would never allow Tsvangirai to takeover power and would rather depose him than salute a leader they viewed as an American front.

The Air Commodore told the meeting that soldiers would be deployed in all districts well before the announcement of the election date to seal the off areas and mobilise people.

Chiganze advised the Manicaland ZANU PF leaders that once a date for national elections was announced they should move with speed to organise internal polls to chose candidates to represent the party in the various constituencies in order to give time to soldiers to mount an “effective campaign” well before international observers arrive in the country.

Mutasa and Chinamasa, the most senior ZANU PF leaders at the November meeting, urged all party members to cooperate with the military as was the case during the constitutional outreach programme during which Mugabe’s party was able to push its views and drown out those of other parties.

Revolutionary credentials

The meeting between Nyikayaramba, Chiganze and the ZANU PF leaders was a follow up meeting to another one held earlier by Nyikayaramba and over 200 traditional leaders whom he summoned to his army barracks to warn them of the fatal consequences of allowing MDC activities in their areas.

A traditional leader, who agreed to speak to our reporters on condition he was not named, quoted Nyikayaramba as saying: “Some people are saying that Mugabe should be removed from power but that will never happen when we are here. No one without any revolutionary credentials will rule this country. We have no regrets over this statement because a lot of our people sacrificed their lives for the liberation of this country.”

Other senior commanders assigned to the various provinces have also met ZANU PF leaders there to inform them to leave campaigning in the hands of the military.

Zimbabwe’s elections have in the past been blighted by violence and charges of vote rigging, which saw the European Union and United States slapping sanctions on Mugabe, top ZANU-PF members and the security forces commanders.

The country’s last election in 2008 ended in a stalemate that only ended when Tsvangirai and Mugabe bowed to regional pressure to form a government of national unity in February 2009.

The two former foes have appointed a new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to run new elections expected once a new constitution is in place.

But ZEC chairman Simpso Mutambanengwe has complained that the commission lacks resources to fix a chaotic voters’ roll and implement other measures key to ensuring the next polls are free and fair.– ZimOnline

List Of Soldiers

The list shows the province, district or constituency in which the soldier will be based and the name of the soldier:

Harare Metropolitan Province – AVM Karakadzai

Bulawayo Province – Col. C. Sibanda

Bulawayo central – Maj. J. Ndhlovu, Maj. J. Ncube

Manicaland and Mutare South – Brig. Tarumbwa

Buhera Central – Col. Morgan. Mzilikazi (MID)

Buhera North – Maj. L. M. Svosve

Buhera South – Maj. D. Muchena

Buhera West – Lt. Col. Kamonge, Major Nhachi

Chimanimani East – Lt. Col. Murecherwa

Chimanimani West – Maj. Mabvuu

Headlands – Col. Mutsvunguma

Makoni North – Maj. V. Chisuko

Makoni South – Wing Commander Mandeya

Mutare Central – Lt. Col. Tsodzai, Lt. Col. Sedze

Mutare West – Lt. Col. B. Kashiri

Mutare North – Lt. Col. Chizengwe, Lt. Col. Mazaiwana

Mashonaland Central – Brig. Gen. Shungu

Bindura South – Col. Chipwere

Bindura North – Lt. Col. Parwada

Muzarabani North – Lt. Col. Kazaza

Muzarabani South – Maj. H. Maziri

Rushinga – Col. F. Mhonda, Lt. Col. Betheuni

Shamva North – Lt. Col. Dzuda

Shamva South – Lt. Col. Makumire

Midlands Province – AVM Muchena, Brig. Gen. S. B. Moyo, Lt Colonel Kuhuni

Chirumhanzu South – Maj T. Tsvangirai

Mberengwa East – Col. B. Mavire

Mberengwa West – Maj T. Marufu

Matebeleland South – AVM Abu Basutu

Beit Bridge East – Group Cpt. Mayera, Rtd. Maj. Mbedzi, Lt. Col. B. Moyo

Gwanda South – Maj J. D. Moyo

Gwanda Central – Maj. B. Tshuma

Matopo North – Lt. Col. Maphosa

Matebeleland North – Brig. Gen. Khumalo

Binga North – Maj E. S. Matonga

Lupane East – Lt Col. Mkwananzi

Lupane West – Lt Col. Mabhena

Tsholotsho – Lt. Col. Mlalazi

Hwange Central – Lt. Col P. Ndhlovu

Masvingo Province – Maj. Gen. E. A. Rugeje,

Bikita West – Maj. B. R. Murwira

Chiredzi Central – Col G. Mashava

Chiredzi West – Maj. E. Gono

Gutu South – Maj. Chimedza

Masvingo – Lt. Col. Takavingofa

Mwenezi West – Lt. Col. Muchono

Mwenezi East – Lt. Col. Mpabanga

Zaka East – Maj. R. Kwenda

Mash West Province – Brig. Gen. Sigauke

Chinhoyi – Col Gwekwerere

Chegutu East – Lt. Colonel W. Tutisa

Hurungwe East – Lt. Col. B. Mabambe

Mhondoro Mubaira – Col. C. T. Gurira

Zvimba North – Cpt. T. Majongwe

Mashonaland East – Rtd. Brig Gen Rungani

Chikomba Central – Lt. Col. Marara

Goromonzi North – Lt Col. Mudzimba, Maj F. Mbewe

Marondera Central – Maj. Gen. Chedondo (COSG), Lt. Col B. Kashiri

Marondera West Squadron Leader – U. Chitauro

Murehwa South – Maj. Gurure

Murehwa North – Lt. Col. Mukurazhizha, Lt. Col. Chinete

Gutu North-Retired Colonel Mutero Masanganise

Gutu South-Colonel Muchechetere

HARARE – The SADC Tribunal has awarded damages of nearly US$17 million  to nine Zimbabwean torture victims, in a landmark ruling that yet again exposes Harare’s flagrant disregard of the rule of law.

The judgement handed down on 9 December 2010 followed a case in which the victims of organised violence and torture (OVT), assisted by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, sued the Zimbabwean government for failing to comply with the orders of the country’s High Court.
The victims – Barry Gondo, Kerina Gweshe, Nyaradzai Katsande, Peter Chirinda, Phanuel Mapingure, Ruth Manika, Sophia Matasva, Trust Shumba and Mercy Magunje – had previously successfully claimed compensation in the High Court of Zimbabwe but the government of Zimbabwe refused or neglected to pay compensation.

Delivering judgement in Case No. SADC (T) 05/2008 (Gondo and 8 others vs the Government of Zimbabwe), presiding judge Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay said Zimbabwe has acted in contravention of various fundamental human rights. “We hold, therefore, in light of the authorities quoted above, that the Respondent is in breach of Articles 4(c) and 6(1) of the Treaty in that it has acted in contravention of various fundamental human rights, namely the right to an effective remedy, the right to have access to an independent and impartial court or tribunal and the right to a fair hearing,” Pillay said.

He also ruled that Section 5 (2) of Zimbabwe’s State Liabilities Act, which protects the Zimbabwe government’s internal property from being attached, was not only in contravention of the Treaty but also violated Article 3 (2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights which provides that “every individual is entitled to equal protection at law”. “We therefore hold and declare that section 5(2) of the Liability Act (Chapter 8:14) of the Respondent is in contravention of the fundamental rights to have an effective remedy; to have access to the courts; to be entitled to a fair hearing, to equality before the law and to equal protection of the law; in so far as it provides that property of the States may not form the subject-matter of execution, attachment or process to satisfy a judgment debt,” the judgment said.

The ruling could open the floodgates for other victims of police and army brutality who have failed to get fair hearings in Zimbabwean courts. The case of originally 12 victims was brought before the SADC Tribunal in April 2009 via the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. Only one victim has been paid so far while the lawyers of nine of the 11 remaining victims have been forced to turn to the SADC Tribunal.

The victims allegedly suffered bullet wounds, beatings and even paralysis as a result of the physical violence at the hands of the police and soldiers about eight years ago. Lawyer Jeremy Gauntlett told the bench of three judges that not only should the Zimbabwean government pay compensation to the victims but must also adjust the awards which were made during the heady days of Zimbabwe’s world-record inflation.

Gauntlett further asked that the compensation should be adjusted since Zimbabwe had introduced the US dollar and the South African rand as currencies. In Gweshe’s case, she was awarded damages of Z$10 million in March 2006 by former High Court judge Justice Rita Makarau after she sued then Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi for Z$50 million for the assault she and her husband suffered at their Glen View home at the hands of soldiers during the “Final Push” demonstration organised by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party in June 2003.

Due to the hyperinflation experienced in Zimbabwe over the past years, the original compensation amounts laid down years ago by the Zimbabwe high court would today be worth next to nothing. According to the SADC Tribunal ruling, the Harare government should pay Gondo US$5 650 000, Gweshe US$810 000, Katsande US$133 144, Chirinda US$3 264 000, Mapingure US$950 000, Manika US$8 552, Matasva US$4 850 000, Shumba US$1 085 000 and Magunje US$9 030.

It also ruled that the government must pay interest on each of the awards from the date of the original High Court judgments.

The oldest judgment was the one for Katsande which was handed down in February 2003, followed by Chirinda in August of the same year and Shumba in 2004.

Submitted by AfriForum

22 November 2010

Auctioning of Zimbabwe government property in Cape Town to proceed

The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg today ruled that the Zimbabwe government-owned property situated at 28 Salisbury Road in Kenilworth, Cape Town, is of a commercial nature and may therefore be attached and auctioned to satisfy part of the Zimbabwe government’s debts.

Zimbabwean commercial farmers Louis Fick, Mike Campbell and Richard Etheredge attached the property in March this year following an order of the North Gauteng High Court enforcing a ruling by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal against the Zimbabwe government.

After the attachment of four properties by AfriForum’s lawyers on behalf of the Zimbabwean farmers, a German banking group, KFW Bank Gruppe, also attached the properties and went ahead with arrangements for an auction.

The Zimbabwe government brought the court application against KFW Bank Gruppe as well as the three farmers.  The banking group is owed more than €40 million by the Mugabe government.

The farmers and their workers have suffered relentless victimization and the destruction of their farms and livelihoods, despite the SADC Tribunal ruling that they should be allowed to continue farming operations unimpeded by the Zimbabwe government.

The significance of today’s judgment is in the fact that once the Kenilworth property has been auctioned, a proportional part of the proceeds will go to the Zimbabwean farmers.

Although their claim has been diluted as a result of the huge judgment debt enforced by the German banking group, the sale in execution will have significant symbolic meaning for the beleaguered farmers.

ENDS

For further information:

Willie Spies
Legal representative:  AfriForum
Pretoria, South Africa
Cell:  +27 83 676 0639
E-mail:  willie@hurterspies.co.za

Deon Theron
President
Commercial Farmers’ Union, Zimbabwe
Tel:  +263 4 309 800
Zim cell:  +263 912 246 233
SA cell:    +27 72 109 0125 (only works when in South Africa)
E-mail:  dtheron@cfuzim.org and pres@cfuzim.org

Louis Fick
Vice President
Commercial Farmers’ Union, Zimbabwe
Zim Cell: +263 773 434 924
SA Cell:    +27 82 628 8127 (only works when in South Africa)
E-mail:  lfick@cfuzim.org

Note:  AfriForum is an independent initiative of the South African trade union Solidarity. AfriForum offers a forum for the constructive activation of minorities to participate in public debate and action, in order to ensure a future for all in Africa.  www.afriforum.co.za

A Zimbabwean government-owned property in South Africa has been cleared for auction, as part of efforts to seek justice for South African farmers who lost their farms in the unlawful land grab campaign in Zimbabwe.

The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Monday ruled that a government-owned property in Cape Town is of a commercial nature and may therefore be attached in the farmers’ case. This means the property, which the Zimbabwe government argued had diplomatic immunity, can be auctioned to satisfy part of the government’s debts.

Zimbabwean commercial farmers and South African citizens Louis Fick, Mike Campbell and Richard Etheredge have been seeking legal recourse in South Africa, because Zimbabwe has refused to compensate them for the loss of their land. The farmers’ legal team attached the Cape Town property in March this year after the North Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of the farmers, enforcing a ruling by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal.

The Tribunal ruled in 2008 that the land grab campaign was unlawful and ordered the government to compensate farmers for the stolen land, and protect the remaining commercial farming community from further invasion. But the government has completely ignored these orders in open contempt of the court, and land attacks have continued to intensify. The farmers in this particular case turned to South Africa in the hope that the country’s courts would respect the rule of law.

Four Zimbabwe government-owned properties have been identified and attached for auction in the case, with the auction proceeds set to go to the farmers. Meanwhile a German banking group, KFW Bank Gruppe has also attached the properties, in their case against the Zimbabwe government because of a multi million dollar debt.

Zimbabwe meanwhile is likely to appeal to court’s decision.