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

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

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

7 OCTOBER 2010

LADIES and Gentlemen, it is with some sadness that I have to make a statement today about the state of this transitional Government. It relates to the Constitution and Sovereignty of Zimbabwe, and the principles of democracy for which my Party and I stand for. The MDC utterly rejects the notion of one-party or one-man rule. The MDC utterly rejects any suggestion that power is an entitlement through historical legacy, or that power is a God-given right of an individual or individuals.

The MDC firmly believes that political leaders should only serve and act on the basis of a mandate of the people. Lest we forget. The MDC was given that mandate on March 29, 2008, when the people of Zimbabwe clearly rejected the notion of one-Party and one-man rule. That mandate was to govern on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe. Nevertheless, in September 2008, I signed an agreement, allowing for the formation of a joint transitional government with those Parties which the people had rejected. I did so for several reasons that I outlined at the time. Not least, I did so to try to help end the needless suffering of the people of Zimbabwe which had been inflicted on them by the failed and corrupt policies and abuses of the previous regime.

I signed this agreement when the whole world was sceptical about the wisdom of working with Mr Mugabe. The world questioned his sincerity. They questioned his integrity and his ability to respect an agreement with anyone. They pointed to the abuses of power over a great many years. They pointed to the fact that he had reappointed himself President, in breach of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, and in defiance of the will of the Zimbabwean people. I shared their concerns but as a leader and for the sake of this country and the security and welfare of our citizens, I took a leap of faith and I signed the agreement.

I was prepared to work with Mr Mugabe to allow him to address the mistakes of the past, and to help him to rebuild his legacy. This is why, despite the challenges that I have faced in working with him, I have repeatedly said that whilst our relationship was not perfect, it was workable. This was meant to encourage Mr Mugabe to right the wrongs of the past. However, the events of the past few months have left me sorely disappointed in Mr Mugabe, and in his betrayal of the confidence that I and many Zimbabweans have personally invested in him.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when the MDC formed this Government with others, we did so on the basis of clear and public assurances that Mr Mugabe and his Party would now respect and abide by the principles of democracy. That they would now respect the freedoms of the individual. That they now understood that politicians should govern for the people and not for themselves. That they now accepted that the mandate to govern comes from a free expression of democratic will, not from a God-given right or from a campaign of violence and intimidation. I was prepared for the sake of our country to sit alongside my yesteryear’s enemies and tormentors to rebuild a stable and democratic country.

Ladies and Gentlemen, on Monday I met Mr Mugabe and DPM Mutambara to discuss the implications of the resolutions of the SADC Windhoek summit. The Troika’s report to the summit stressed the importance of the freedom to express political views, and of free and fair elections. It stressed that there was no place for violence in any democratic process in any democratic country… and least of all state-condoned or state-orchestrated violence.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in this respect, ZANU PF has sorely disappointed us all in the conduct of the constitutional outreach meetings. The activities of rogue elements of the security agencies alongside state actors directed by ZANU PF was clearly designed to deny citizens their right to have their views heard. As we have seen so many times, ZANU PF is determined to tell citizens what they should think, and to intimidate, bully and beat up any who disagree. This goes against the fundamental principles of democracy, and is utterly abhorrent to me.

I advised Mr Mugabe of this on Monday. As you are aware, we have also had a dispute over the appointment of Governors, along with a number of other unilateral and illegal appointments which the President has made following the signature of the GPA. The dispute over the former Provincial Governors effectively timed out when their term of office expired in July. The country needed to appoint new governors according to the law and the Constitution. The Constitution clearly says that such appointments must be done in consultation with the Prime Minister.

To my utter surprise, and shall I say disgust, Mr Mugabe advised me on Monday that he had nichodemously reappointed the former governors in the same manner in which he appointed the previous governors on a Sunday when most of us where at church. I say “nichodemously” because those who are supposed to be served by these governors – the citizens of Zimbabwe – knew nothing about it.

They were hoping for Governors to be appointed who would serve in the interests of the people of Zimbabwe, not in the interests of the President and his Party, as has been the case until now. The Prime Minister, who has to consent to their appointments, knew nothing about it.Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Mugabe publicly stated to African leaders in Windhoek as recently as August this year that he “has never and will never violate the Constitution of Zimbabwe”.Sadly, he has done so not once, but time and time again.

In March 2010, he appointed the Police Service Commission when the Constitution clearly says that all Service Commissions must be appointed in consultation with the Prime Minister. On 20 May 2010 , he unilaterally swore in five new judges to the Supreme and High Courts without consultation. On 24 July 2010, he unilaterally appointed six Ambassadors without consultation. On 24 September 2009 whilst in New York on CNN, Mr Mugabe stated publicly and unequivocally that he would swear in Deputy Minister Roy Bennett if Roy were acquitted of the absurd charges brought against him. He said categorically: “yes, yes, yes, if he’s acquitted, he will be appointed.”

Roy was acquitted on 10 May, but again, Mr Mugabe has gone back on his word. He confirmed to me and DPM Mutambara on Monday that he has no intention of ever swearing in Roy. The matter of Roy Bennett has now become a personal vendetta and part of a racist agenda.

And these are simply the most obvious and most high-profile breaches of the Constitution and laws of Zimbabwe. They demonstrate that Mr Mugabe believes that the offices of the Government of Zimbabwe are there to serve him, not the people, which is what the Constitution seeks to ensure. We are all well-aware of the other breaches which occur all too regularly. Every extra-judicial arrest of citizens is a clear breach of the Constitution.

Every act of intimidation or violence by state or ZANU PF actors is a clear breach of the Constitution. In this respect, we urge South Africa to release the Report of the Retired Army Generals who investigated state sponsored violence and its implications on the electoral process and results in 2008. Every act of censoring or curtailing individuals’ or journalists’ freedom of speech is a clear breach of the Constitution.

Zimbabweans will know that I have desperately tried to avoid a Constitutional crisis in Zimbabwe. I have worked tirelessly to try to make this transitional Government work, in the interest of all Zimbabweans. I have worked and spoken in support of this Government. But neither I, nor the MDC, can stand back any longer and just allow Mr Mugabe and ZANU PF to defy the law, to flaunt the Constitution and to act as if they own this country.
Mr Mugabe was one of the leaders of the liberation struggle which led to our country’s independence 30 years ago. For those efforts, and for all the sacrifices of those who fell in that struggle, Zimbabweans will forever be grateful. But no actions of the past translate into a right to wield power in the present. That right derives solely from a mandate from the people. And citizens rightly judge their leaders on their record in office.

We are all – citizens, politicians, soldiers, policemen, workers, mothers, fathers and children – subject to the Constitution and laws of this country. None of us own that Constitution and none of us own this country. None of us, whatever our history, are above the law. We are all but caretakers for future generations. Ladies and Gentlemen, The MDC’s National Executive has today resolved that we must make a stand to protect the Constitution of Zimbabwe and to return it to the custodianship of the citizens of Zimbabwe. As a first step, we will refuse to recognise any of the appointments which the President has made illegally and unconstitutionally over the past 18 months.
That includes:

* the Governor of the Central Bank, appointed unilaterally by Mr
Mugabe on 26 November 2008
* the Attorney-General, appointed unilaterally by Mr Mugabe on 17
December 2008
* the 5 judges, appointed unilaterally by Mr Mugabe on 20 May 2010
* the 6 Ambassadors, appointed unilaterally by Mr Mugabe on 24 July 2010
* The Police Service Commission
* the 10 Governors, appointed unilaterally and furtively by Mr
Mugabe last week

As Executive Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe, I will today be advising the countries to whom these Ambassadors have been posted that these appointments are illegal and therefore null and void. I will be advising the Chief Justice of the improper appointment of the judges concerned, and that they are therefore null and void. I will be advising the President of the Senate of the improper appointment of Governors, and that they should therefore not be considered members of the Senate, which is therefore now unconstitutional. I will be advising the joint Ministers of Home Affairs and the National Security Council of the illegal appointment of the Police Service Commission..

We now similarly call on the people of Zimbabwe, at whose pleasure we serve, not to recognise these individuals as the legitimate holders of the posts to which they have been unconstitutionally and illegally appointed. In doing so you must all remain peaceful. I now call upon Mr Mugabe to return the country to Constitutional rule by correcting the unlawful appointments.

I invite SADC to join me in calling on Mr Mugabe to respect the SADC Resolutions, the SADC Charter and Protocols, the AU Charter, and the principles of democracy. I invite SADC to deploy observers before the constitutional referendum to help protect the rights of Zimbabweans to express their views freely and without violence or intimidation. And I invite SADC to urgently intervene to restore Constitutionality in Zimbabwe.

Mr Mugabe has tried to link many of these issues, including the appointment of the Governors of this sovereign country, to the lifting of restrictive measures on him and his political cohorts by other sovereign, independent countries. This is rank madness, and utterly nonsensical. It is tantamount to surrendering the sovereignty of this country. It is an insult to all those who fought, and all those who lost their lives, in the struggle for the independence of Zimbabwe.

All Zimbabweans know that Mr Mugabe and his colleagues brought the restrictive measures on themselves through the flagrant abuses of human rights and the economic disaster which they inflicted on this country. All Zimbabweans know that these restrictive measures are the result, not the cause of that economic disaster. They know that these restrictive measures affect the individuals concerned, not the country as a whole, as the economic turnaround since my Party joined the Government has shown. Nevertheless, I undertook to work with ZANU PF towards the lifting of restrictive measures, and I have abided by that promise. At every turn, I have reminded Mr Mugabe and his colleagues that my commitment to do so is part of my commitment to abide by and to implement the GPA.

Sadly, they have demonstrated so far that they have no similar commitment either to abide by the GPA and to a host of other undertakings which they have made. In these circumstances, it makes my job of arguing for the lifting or even the suspension of the measures extremely difficult. But because I believe in the GPA, and I believe in sticking to my word, I will continue to work for the implementation of the GPA in its totality, including the lifting of restrictive measures.

Mr Mugabe and his colleagues know that the keys to them achieving this are already in their hands. All they need to do is to abide by their promises, to abide by the laws and Constitution of this country, to respect the rights and freedoms of Zimbabweans, and to accept that Zimbabwe belongs not to them but to the people of Zimbabwe and the restrictive measures will go.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I do not want to understate the nature or extent of the current crisis. It is nothing short of a Constitutional crisis, which is why I have urged SADC to intervene as a matter of urgency. But we cannot allow this crisis to derail our efforts to change Zimbabwe but as I said when I signed the agreement to join this Government two years ago, my Party and I remain committed:

* To serve you, so long as that is your will
* To ensure that your children can go to school and learn
* To ensure that you have access to medical care
* To protect and promote your rights to free speech, movement and
political assembly
* To empower each and every citizen, economically, socially and
politically
* To end privilege, patronage, abuse and corruption
* To turn Zimbabwe into a country ruled by the law, not by decree.

When it comes to pursuing these principles and these goals, no amount of dishonesty, insincerity, intimidation, or abuse will move me.

* You can count on me to ensure that you will be able to participate
in a free and fair election to choose who should lead your country
* You can count on me to ensure that you will write your own, new,
pluralistic constitution.
* You can count on me to stand up for your rights at each and every
turn.
* You can count on me to work for the empowerment of each and every
citizen and not an elite few.

I will not win every fight in the short-term, but I assure you that I am as committed as you are to winning the war and win we shall.

This is a war which we must continue to fight bravely together: a war which pits all Zimbabweans who believe in the principles of freedom and democracy against those who seek to maintain and abuse privilege. I appeal to all Zimbabweans, our loyal civil servants, our loyal police, and our loyal armed forces, to work with us in this new struggle for freedom.

To ensure that Zimbabwe becomes a Zimbabwe for everyone, not just the self-annointed and chosen few who seek to exploit this country – as did their colonial predecessors – for their wealth and their own ends. I therefore urge my team at every level of government and every level of society to rededicate yourself to serving the people of Zimbabwe. The road ahead is not going to be easy, but our collective future will be better than our present challenge. I will not rest until I fulfil my mandate from the people of Zimbabwe to build a new Zimbabwe to which I, alongside so many of you, have committed our lives.

This is my promise to you for real change.

I thank you

12 June 2010

Torture Feared As Zimbabwean Human Rights Defender Farai Maguwu Illegally Taken from Harare Remand Prison by Police. Lawyers Denied Access

Prominent Zimbabwean human rights defender, Farai Maguwu, was last night taken from Harare’s Remand Prison under orders of notorious Criminal Investigating Department Detective Henry Dowa and removed to Harare’s Matapi Police Station, sparking fears that Maguwu is being tortured. His lawyers have thus far been denied access to him.

Maguwu’s lawyer, Tino Bere, was today launching an urgent high court application to secure access, explaining that he had reason to fear that Maguwu’s removal from the remand prison was for purposes of torture.

“We prevented Farai’s possible torture or harassment last week by being present at almost all normal times at the police station. We stopped the costly surveillance and visits because normally, once remanded, the police no longer have control or access to the accused.”

Maguwu had been placed in Harare’s Remand Prison after being denied bail in respect of charges that he communicated false statements prejudicial to the state.

The charges follow a police raid of and seizure of documents from the Mutare-based Centre for Research and Development, of which Maguwu is the director and on Maguwu’s home. Maguwu’s brother and nephew have also been detained.

The Centre for Research and Development monitors activities in the nearby Chiadzwa diamond mining fields, where government security forces moved in to secure the area following a property ownership dispute in 2006 and then forced local residents to work the fields under often brutal conditions.

Prominent human rights groups have alleged severe and recurring abuses, including extrajudicial killings, on the diamond fields and that diamonds are being smuggled out of the area with the knowledge and participation of officials.

The raid and arrest warrant for Maguwu followed closely his meeting with Kimberley Process monitor, Abbey Chikane, a South African businessmen undertaking assessment of whether Zimbabwe has met the minimum standards of the Kimberley Process, a UN-backed initiative intended to halt illegal trade in diamonds.

Earlier this week, Chikane reported that Zimbabwe had met the minimum standards and should be allowed to export diamonds.

Said Nicole Fritz, director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre: “That Farai Maguwu has been taken illegally to the Matapi Police Station and held in cells which the High Court has declared unfit for human habitation; that recurring episodes of torture take place within its cells; that he has been denied access to his lawyers; and that this has been done under orders of Detective Henry Dowa, so renowned for perpetrating abuses against Zimbabwean detainees that he was the subject of an international complaint while stationed in Kosovo under UN authority and so had to hastily return to Zimbabwe; warrants the most serious alarm for the safety and security of Maguwu.

Fritz adds: “There is considerable irony in the fact that as Zimbabwe seeks to show that conditions have changed, that it deserves admission under the Kimberley Process, it makes clear how little has changed: human rights defenders and government critics continue to be silenced and persecuted. It is déjà vu again and again.”

ENDS

Issued by:

The Southern African Litigation Centre
Johannesburg

Further info:

Nicole Fritz
Executive Director
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre
Johannesburg
Tel:  +27 11 587 5000
Cell: + 27 82 600 1028
E-mail:  nicolef@salc.org.za
www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org

Epworth residents (names supplied) all spoke emotionally about how people in Epworth have been ordered by Zanu PF thugs to report for political meetings against their will.

The message, they told us, has been a very simple one: ‘Shut up and leave the task of responding to questions to those who have been selected to do so.’

In the unlikely event of ordinary residents having to respond to questions, they told us, they are to answer in a particular fashion. In particular they have been instructed to emphatically state that the new constitution must not put any limit on a president’s term of office. Clearly, the intention is to confirm Mugabe as president for life.

There will be more ‘educative meetings’ chaired by loyal Zanu PF supporters to ensure that people understand how the constitution-making process is to be handled. Landlords have been instructed to keep watch on their tenants and to either summarily evict anyone perceived to be sympathetic to the MDC or refer their names to ‘chairpersons’ for handling.

Meanwhile, residents have been given a month to acquire Zanu PF membership cards which, like Identity Documents, they have been ordered to carry at all times.

They have been warned that election violence this time around will be much worse than in 2008.

The Union for Sustainable Democracy views this fresh wave of intimidation with alarm and condemns it in the strongest possible terms. It is outrageous that thousands of innocent people can be forced to live in fear simply in order to guarantee the realisation of the unconstitutional and evil ambitions of a handful of people.

We urge the unity government to swiftly and decisively denounce this act of repression.

Issued by the Information & Publicity Department

The Union for Sustainable Democracy

Yet Britain continues to be unfairly censured from a most unexpected quarter. The Elder’s Graça Machel has told Britain to ‘keep quiet’ and let SADC deal with Zimbabwe (The Guardian, 16 April 2009). We ask Machel: What has SADC, and South Africa in particular, done for the Zimbabwean people? It has kept quiet. For a whole decade it has refused to restrain a brutal and dictatorial regime that has bought nothing but violence, ruin and misery to its own people. In one election after another, SADC and South Africa have sanctioned violence-stained and rigged elections that have maintained Robert Mugabe in power. South Africa has taken an obtuse pleasure in defending Mugabe’s malevolent government while Britain and its allies in the United Nations were trying to isolate and restrain it.

Let the truth be told. If Britain has acted as ‘big brother’ – as Machel avers – it has been to care for and feed Zimbabwe’s hungry and destitute. It has been to protect the people of Zimbabwe against its bullying leader by supporting human rights, democracy and the rule of law. And what have SADC and South Africa done? They have sided with the bully. They allowed Robert Mugabe to sit at the high table of Presidents even when they did not recognise his election to office in June 2008. It was SADC and South Africa that pushed through an undemocratic inclusive government that handed back power to their despotic ally to continue his gruesome handiwork. It is they that have insisted that Zimbabwe must sort out its own problems, knowing full well that Mugabe’s only methods of negotiation is with an iron bar and through the barrel of a gun.

If anything, the Voice for Democracy believes that Britain has been too soft on those SADC countries which it supplies with huge amounts of aid. Britain and its allies in the European Union and the United States should be exerting much more diplomatic pressure on SADC and South Africa to ensure that violence-free and fair elections bring about a democratic transition in Zimbabwe. If Machel wants Britain to keep quiet then SADC and South Africa must bring an end to the brewing state-sponsored violence that will inevitably erupt during the run-up to elections. We are watching and waiting.

Dale Doré

VOICE FOR DEMOCRACY
Harare