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One Zim farmer shot, others forced off land as pre-election violence escalates
Commercial Farmers' Union - Zimbabwe
October 27, 2010

The shooting at point blank range of another white farmer in the Selous district of Zimbabwe again highlights the deteriorating situation currently being faced in the rural farming areas. This is a symptom of the flagrant disregard for the rule of law in these areas over the last ten years and the Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe (CFU) urgently requests that the authorities take immediate action.

Kobus Joubert, who was in his sixties and was a former president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA), was killed on Monday night by unknown assailants on his farm, Scotsdale, about 95 kilometres south west of Harare.

Joubert's wife, Mariaan, was awoken shortly after midnight by a noise and went to investigate. She was attacked by two armed men in the bathroom and shouted to her husband to warn him of the intruders.

The men then forced her to keep quiet and she heard a single shot being fired in the bedroom.

When she screamed, they assaulted her and demanded money. They then took her handbag, searched the cupboards and pocketed a sizeable amount of US dollars in cash. They also grabbed three cell phones and demanded that she hand over the laptop.

Fortunately the power failed, causing the lights to go out and the men immediately left the house without causing further injury or taking the laptop.

Mrs Joubert rushed to help her husband but he had already succumbed to a fatal gunshot wound. Neighbours called the police, who on this occasion arrived to investigate.

Prior to the land invasions, Joubert farmed 500ha of land but this year, given the insecurity of the situation in the commercial farming sector, he planted just 50ha of tobacco, down from around 70ha last year. He also grew a small crop of maize and sorghum and had a herd of beef cattle.

In August 2008, Joubert, his wife and some of their farm workers were evicted from their farm by a senior Zanu PF figure, and ended up camping on the roadside in a lay-by with their few meager possessions.

Later that month the Jouberts' application to the High Court was successful and the illegal orders granted to the beneficiary by a Magistrate's court were annulled, enabling the couple to return to their farm.

When Joubert was president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association, tobacco was the country's most important cash crop and the ZTA members used to generate 40 percent of the country's export earnings.

The Joubert's son is flying in from Australia on Friday to support his mother; his sister is already at her side.

Elderly Nyazura farmer faced with eviction

Tiennie van Rensburg (73) and his wife Yvonne who own Rubeni Farm in the Nyazura district east of Harare were forced by senior army officers mid month to pack up the remainder of their household goods and vacate the farm.

They are currently still struggling to gain access to the property in order to remove their farm equipment, 15 tonnes of maize and other goods.

The background to their case is that during mid August, a high ranking member of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and a family member of a senior government official arrived on the farm and presented them with a set of papers claimed to be from the Ministry of Lands.

The papers stated that they had been allocated the farm jointly and that the van Rensburgs must be off the farm by November latest, despite no eviction order having been issued.

Van Rensburg's lawyer took the matter to the High Court and a restraining order was granted on September 20.

However, on October 12, a colonel from 3 Brigade Army Headquarters arrived on the farm and ordered van Rensburg to vacate the property within 72 hours or face eviction by the army.

After a further letter emphasizing the restraining order was issued by their lawyer, a group of eight thugs was sent to the farm around midnight to remove the owners. They beat up van Rensburg's guard and then, armed with his gun, gave the couple 10 minutes to vacate the property.

The following week, when the van Ransburg's returned to remove their goods after protracted negotiations, they were warned against reporting the theft of household goods, cell phones and other items to the police.

CFU condemns new illegal onslaught

The Commercial Farmers' Union condemns the new illegal onslaught against these and other farmers, their employees and families.

The alleged beneficiaries of the farms and their hired thugs are taking the law into their own hands, breaking into homesteads using bolt cutters and locking the owners out, leaving them with nothing but the clothes they are wearing.

The refusal of the police to act against the intimidation, threats, violence, evictions and occupations signals the start of a renewed onslaught against rural communities in the build up to next year's elections.

We are concerned that the refusal by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to respect and uphold the SADC Tribunal Rulings "albeit in the interim" and to act in resolving the outstanding issues of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that they brokered, will result in a return to a pre-election terror campaign in Zimbabwe.

We are also concerned that Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs) and Zimbabwean High Court orders have been treated with contempt. This has resulted in thirteen former commercial farmers of Dutch origin, whose farms were seized by President Mugabe's government, approaching a court in America in an attempt to seek compensation for their losses.

Food shortages

On October 25, at least 80 000 people in the Masvingo province registered to join the government's food-for-work programme in the wake of acute food shortages.

Masvingo Provincial Governor and Resident Minister Titus Maluleke has warned that in the first quarter of next year, the number in need of food aid in his province could rise to about 80 percent or one million people.

It was reported earlier this month that hungry villagers in the food-deficit Beitbridge, Gwanda and Mangwe districts are resorting to exchanging livestock for maize.

Small-scale farmers in Manicaland have expressed grave concern over the government's late distribution of inputs and the acute shortages of Ammonium Nitrate (AN) fertilizer, saying it will affect the forthcoming cropping season.

According to the May 2010 Zimbabwe Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) rural livelihoods assessment, an estimated 1.3 million Zimbabweans will be food insecure at the peak of the 2010/2011 hungry season early next year.

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