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Justice
For Agriculture - JAG Zimbabwe
August
03 , 2002
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Legalities
What is
JAG's position regarding the removal of commercial farmers by the
8th August under Section 8 Orders?
Legislation banning farming
Despite government promises to retain an undisturbed economic core
of 6 million hectares during its current 10-year plan, 95,2% of
land held by highly productive farmers in February 2000 has now
been, or is being, illegally acquired for hasty redistribution by
interested and, we believe, illegal self-serving groups.
It is believed that the entire commercial farming sector (black
and white) consists of 11,02 million hectares, of this 10,501 million
is being acquired. The bottom line, therefore, is that approximately
2 900 farmers and 232 000 farm employees, already under a ban on
farming, face arrest and forcible eviction on the 8th August due
to Section 8 compulsory acquisition
orders.
This is as a result of amendments fast-tracked through a special
summary session of Parliament in May (after the minister's initial
attempt in January to amend the law failed to get enough support
from MPs and was rejected, resulting in an illegal revote). This
session promulgated amendments to the Land Acquisition Act (LAA)
(Act 6 of 2002). The Orders,
including all those served before 10th May, transfer ownership of
the land to the State immediately, constituted a notice to stop
farming after 45 days, and to vacate the homestead within 90 days.
To exceed either of these time limits was made a criminal offence.
Sixteen farmers have already been arrested for farming illegally.
How this edict is to be administered in practice is not known, and
the implementation may vary from region to region. Government has
made little effort to pay even those farmers who have conceded their
farms, and many farmers have nowhere else to go. In spite of the
8th August deadline, many settlers are already visiting farms and
making overtures in the hopes of taking over the homesteads and
fully developed farms. JAG is taking these warnings very seriously.
Many farmers who had not received Orders before 10th May have since
received them. 1024 of those facing eviction now are single-owner
farmers. Others, for one reason or another (often necessity, as
the previous government also created some sub-economic land units
for racial reasons), are based on more than one title deed, but
have found the local land committee choosing their most productive
core land with its housing and infrastructure for seizure. All their
objections or offers of other land are still pending before the
land courts, which must be satisfied that it is reasonably necessary
to acquire the land and that it will be suitable for the purpose
intended. It has been accepted that many pieces of land have been
wrongly listed - but almost nothing has been de-listed - and most
court cases set down to date have been withdrawn because the Ministry
of Agriculture has not notified all interested parties.
Eviction without conviction
Many farmers will be evicted by force, without an opportunity to
argue their case in court: a clear violation of the Constitution
of Zimbabwe and a violation of their human rights and the government's
own programme promises. The prescribed penalty for STAYING IN THEIR
HOMES will be arrest and detention without warrant, a fine of Z$
20 000 or a two-year imprisonment, or both, and then obligatory
eviction, not because government has shown
their land is reasonably required for resettlement, but because
they ignored an arbitrary order to stop farming and leave their
homes. Unfortunately standing crops and livestock are not respecters
of Section 8 orders and the practical considerations of this have
not been taken into account.
JAG has already submitted a test case before the courts arguing
on eviction for farmer George Quinnell on constitutional grounds.
In a period of six weeks, (from March 2002 to end of April 2002)
653 owner/manager families and at least 15 154 farm worker families
have been evicted from their homes and have been unable to return.
This translates to 76 000 persons displaced.
Actions farmers are required to take
- Firstly,
JAG encourages farmers to visit their lawyers and to check the
legality of their section 8 notices. Several cases have already
been won and Sections 8 notices cancelled for non-conformation
to the compulsory acquisition law. It is impossible in this statement
to detail the extent of the unreasonableness and injustices involved.
There are test cases before the courts, which might provide direction
on this front. One of these was filed on the basis that the amendments
to the Land Acquisition Act were unconstitutional and that standing
parliamentary orders were disobeyed. In this case the farmer has
been granted interim relief and the full case is due to be heard
in September/October 2002.
- Legal options
to deal with the situation properly are being explored.
- JAG is in
the process of completing inventories of losses incurred by all
farming families for both farm owners and farm employees. Once
completed, it will look at a representative action. This could
be one of the biggest loss suits in Zimbabwe or externally under
applicable laws.
We expect the respondents in this case to be those settlers who
are ZANU PF loyalists who are grabbing land, war veterans, businessmen,
or people whose names just appear on a list of successful applicants
for land. Government ministers, MPs and any other individuals
who have ignored the human rights of farming families will be
noted and targeted for legal action.
- It must be
understood that farmers who do not take legal action will lose
their farms by default and may have acquiesced to the injustices
perpetrated against them. JAG urges farmers to sit down and communicate
with their staff and inform them that they too are targeted and
that JAG will take up their cases.
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