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Invasion of Farm 30 - N & B Sugar Estates
Jessie Nesbitt
April 05, 2008

Digby and Jessie Nesbitt have been held captive on their Farm by the Commissioner of Police - Edmore Veterai. He has stated he is "above the law" and continues to defy court orders, to leave the Nesbitts and their farming operation, that supports the community and an orphanage in peace. This is Jessie-s story of the happenings in their house that they have not left for over a month.

The following is the story of our nightmare that began weeks ago with no end in sight as yet. We had numerous phone calls from various people wanting us to go public with what was happening on the farm. However, we were reluctant to do so, hoping that the justice system in this country would prevail because we had various court orders supposedly preventing this nightmare from happening.

Because we had not evacuated our farm by 30th November, 2007 we were summoned to court at 9 a.m. on the morning of 28th January, 2008 The reason we had not left our farm by that date was because we had been informed by four top government officials, one of which was a minister who informed us that the honourable minister Mutasa was coming down to the Lowveld on the 19th December to resolve our issue on the farm. On the 18th we were informed that the honourable minister Mutusa could not come down on that date due to other commitments but would come in early January. During the month of January my husband, Digby was asked to report to the Police Station in Chiredzi to be charged. He had to give a statement and was told to report to the court on the 28th January at 9 a.m. When he arrived there, he was told that the court case was postponed to 12 p.m. He went back at 12 p.m. only to be told that it was now postponed to the 10th March 2008. That afternoon when returning to work in Chiredzi from farm 30, Digby met up with Mr Veterai, the assist commissioner in the Police. He stopped Digby and said that he did not care about the court case as he was above the law and that he was taking over the farm immediately. He ranted and raved like a madman and said that he was going to kick Digby-s white arse of the farm no matter what. Digby drove to town and reported the incident to the member-in-charge at the Police Station, who said that they could only intervene if there was violence as this was a land issue and unless he had some kind of court order, they could do nothing. He then went straight home as he was afraid for my safety as we had had previous altercations with Veterai before and he has a temper on him and always walks around armed with a pistol and sometimes also a folding buttAK 47 rifle.

On the Tuesday morning at 6.30 Veterai arrived at our house with about 15 people including his wife and green bombers. Veterai showed us his new offer letter which said that he was taking over 71 hectares instead of the original 40 that he had been allocated. This meant that absolutely nothing was left for us. When I told the governor, Mr Chiwewe, he said that Veterai-s offer letter was fraudulent and he said that I should tell Veterai that he had said that. Veterai said that he did not care and that he was taking his 71 hectares and that no politician would stop him because they are all corrupt. Veterai had just broken into our office down at the compound and taken everything out and dumped it on the lawn. He also broke into my mother-s cottage and took all the keys with the result that every time I went to feed her cats, I had to climb through the lounge window where two louvers were missing. Veterai threatened our crocodile manager, Sam and said that he was going to kill him and throw his body into the croc pen. A couple of weeks before, Sam was told that he was going to be castrated if he did not move out of his house. While we were in South Africa during the month of December, his furniture was thrown out of his house into the mud as it had been raining. Since then he and his family had been living in the little cottage next to our house. He was scared out of his wits. Veterai came into our lounge and sat down, saying that he and his family and guards would be moving in with us that day, whether we liked it or not. When I said that I objected, he called me a racist and said that it was because he is black that we did not want him living with us. He shouted and ranted and raved like a madman again, saying that he knew how to eat with a knife and fork and that he knew how to use the bathroom properly. Anyway, he just made himself at home in the lounge for the rest of the day while his family moved their pots and pans etc into our kitchen. They took over the three guest rooms down the passage and the guards were posted in the lounge and dining room. Our front gate was locked and two booms were put up, one down at the compound and one just outside by the stables. We were prevented from leaving the house - just pure intimidation.

On the Wednesday morning-the guards unlocked our front gate obviously wanting us to leave everything and run. Our minister-s wife and another friend came to see how we were doing and we were sitting in the one section of the lounge, away from where the guards were. Veterai walked in from the bedroom where he had locked himself in until that time. He said that I had called him a baboon and started shouting and screaming and going beserk like a lunatic. I was flabbergasted as it was a total lie - I would never insult anyone like that, no matter what. Anyway, he calmed down eventually and went out of the room. After my visitors had left and I was walking back to the lounge, Veterai came walking out and as I passed him, my dogs (dachsi, jack Russell and two very gentle mongrel crosses) started barking at him. He immediately lashed out at me, saying that I had set the dogs on him and kicked them, at the same time pulling out his pistol and pointing it at them, saying that he would shoot them and anyone else who got in his way. That night we locked ourselves in our bedroom at about 5.30 and went to bed absolutely exhausted. My poor dogs and cats were absolutely terrified with all these strangers traipsing in out of our house like they owned the place.

On the Thursday morning we woke up, got dressed and went through to the kitchen to organize breakfast only to find about four women busy cooking sadza on our stove. We then proceeded to the lounge and found an absolute mess, obviously a party had been held the previous night as there were empty beer, liquor and coke bottles scattered all over the carpet and the furniture was in disarray. When Digby confronted Veterai about the mess and said that it was disgusting, he immediately twisted what he said and accused Digby of calling him disgusting. Later that morning the member-in-charge from the Police Station in Chiredzi came out to the farm and basically informed us that there was nothing they could do about the situation unless there was any violence as this is a land issue.

On the Friday morning no visitors were allowed to come out and see us at the house. We were sitting in the one section of the lounge listening to some Christian music and minding our own business. What happened next was just pure intimidation and when I think about it now I can-t believe what a cheek these people had - doing this to us in our own home where we have lived since 1983. One of Veterai-s green bombers came and put a C.D. player on the little table right next to me where I was sitting and plugged it in. He then put a C.D. in and turned the volume up, trying his utmost to really irritate and infuriate me. My immediate reaction was to get up and turn up the volume of my Christian music that we had been listening to. This carried on for some time and then we decided we would move to the other part of the lounge and turn our music down and just pretend that we could not even hear their music. They were trying their level best to irritate us and get us all worked up, so that we would say "enough, I am out of here" but they were wrong as it takes a lot more than that to get us out of our home where we have spent so many happy years. This is the house where our three children had grown up and also, it had taken us many years to pay the farm off when we bought it. We had to sell our transport business to pay the deposit.

Veterai carried his pistol with him at all times but when he arrived back from Harare which was normally late at night, he always arrived carrying his folding AK 47 machine gun as well. It was almost like he feared for his life and seemed to think that we might try to harm him during the night, as he always locked his bedroom door as well.

Our staff were prevented from coming to work for two days as they were told by the green bombers to stay away. My poor maid, Chipo, at this stage, was crying constantly and was suffering from severe headaches. She had also been chased away from her house in December and was having to share a room with a friend in the main compound.

On the Saturday we had a few visitors during the morning which we really appreciated as they brought us groceries which we really needed by this time and it was just no nice to see some friendly faces. While we were talking, the green bombers and Veterai-s relatives were playing their music loudly, trying to irritate us. That evening while we were sitting on the steps outside the lounge with our doctor and his wife ; our lounge had people coming in and out all afternoon- the doctor had come out to check our blood pressure just to make sure we were okay - men dressed in army uniforms started arriving as well as other people. Next minute we saw crates of beer, liquor and cokes being carried into the lounge so obviously a big party was being planned for that night. We just sat chatting, pretending we were not perturbed but knew we were in for a night of intimidation. As soon as our guests had left, we went through to the bedroom and locked ourselves in for the night. Fortunately the power that had gone out at 5 p.m. stayed off until 11 p.m. and it seemed that the party was a flop as the whole house was in darkness. We had our invertor on in the bedroom so we had a light and a fan. As you can imagine, we did not fall asleep for a long time as there were vehicles coming and going throughout the night and we heard people walking past our bedroom until late.

On the Sunday morning I went to my mother-s cottage (she is in South Africa with her sister and is unable to come back until things are back to normal) to feed her two cats. I had to climb through the window again. Veterai-s manager and another man have been sleeping in the lounge every night. On the way back I saw Veterai and about 12 of his guards sitting with him having a meeting. He was speaking on his cell phone at the time. Later that morning about ten or twelve members from our church tried to come and visit us after church but were not allowed in. They tried everything to persuade the guards to let them in and spent a couple of hours arguing with them until eventually our minister and his wife were allowed through. They gave us communion and were only allowed to stay for about 15 minutes.

On the Monday I went to my mother-s cottage to feed the cats and when I arrived there, I saw that the lounge door was open. I walked in, only to find Veterai sprawled on the couch in the lounge with three or four men around him having a meeting. I was taken aback but said nothing and just walked through to the kitchen and fed the cats. I then walked straight through the lounge again and pretended they were not there. They said nothing. The reason I did not say anything is because I had sworn on the Bible that I would never in my life say another word to Veterai because I had realized by this time that he was trying to provoke me and if I said nothing, then he could not accuse me of saying something I did not say, which was his way of provoking me and intimidating us.

By Tuesday our lawyers in Masvingo had managed to draw up a court order to have Veterai evicted from the farm until such time as the court case on 10th March. The court order stated that he had to evacuate the farm with immediate effect and that he could not come within 30 metres of the farm. Needless to say, this was totally ignored and nothing happened. By this time the guards were allowing us to have visitors but not more than two cars at one time. They wanted everyone-s names, I.D. numbers, vehicle registration numbers and the reason for visiting.

For the rest of the week there were comings and goings of Veterai and his family and staff. The only way we were coping with this unbelievable invasion of our privacy and intimidation was through our faith in God and our many friends and family who prayed continually and sent many sms-s giving us encouragement and support. Many people brought us groceries which were accepted with gratitude because by this time we had very little food left in our kitchen. I just want to mention that we had incredible support from many blacks as well as whites. We had many visits and phone calls from black friends and people we hardly knew which we really appreciated.

On the Saturday afternoon we were in our bedroom when the dogs started barking like mad. We saw two black men walking past from our bedroom, one who was carrying a firearm. I thought "what now?" Digby went outside only to find that it was our groom who was bringing the war veteran by the name of Satan from the farm next door. He wanted to see Digby and said to Digby that he is on our side and that he does not want to us leave our farm. He also said that he does not want Digby to get BP (blood pressure) which I found rather amusing. This guy Satan is one of the genuine war vets and has been on the farm next door for about six years now. He said that all the local war vets support us as they do not want Veterai taking over our farm. He said that Veterai had approached him and other war vets in the area and asked them to help jambanja us and they refused as they have the utmost respect for Digby He said he knew how much we have done for the community in the Lowveld, such as building an orphanage in Chiredzi which has 47 orphans in at present. He also built a clinic on the farm (which has been occupied by some of Veterai-s staff for the past year)and he had helped many people over the years.

On the Sunday morning we woke up to the sound of rapid gun fire just outside our yard. We immediately panicked, wondering what on earth was going on.

The dogs were barking like crazy so I went through to the kitchen to find about four women cooking on my stove. I then went through to the dining room and there was Veterai sitting at my dining room table with about six other men, eating sadza and having a meeting. They stayed most of the morning and we had people all over the house and in the garden. Our friend, Leon Kruger came around for tea and a visit so we went to sit outside in the corner of the garden, far from the maddening crowd. While we were sitting there, I felt like I had such a weight on my chest and I put my hand on my heart which by this time was beating so fast, I thought I was on the verge of having a heart attack. I got up, went to the lounge, passed Veterai who was still sitting in the dining room with his children and another man, just ignored him and went to sit in the lounge and listened to my Christian C.D. I just needed something to calm my nerves - the green bombers stared at me as though I was mad because I was singing with the music. I then sat on the carpet, in full view of Veterai, and played with my dogs while listening to the music. The next minute Veterai disappeared down the passage and came back with two bags in his hands and went out the door. He must have gone to Harare because with the elections coming on so soon and with him being so high up in the Police, he no doubt has his work cut out for him. We discovered later that the gun shots that we had heard that morning was some of Veterai-s men doing target practice right outside our yard!! Pure intimidation!!

By the Thursday Leon Kruger, a director in our company and Johan Hundermark, a member of our staff at the head office were no longer allowed to come and see us - what the reason is, I don-t know but I can only guess it is because they always bring us papers from the office or come to discuss business and it seems that, according to stories we have heard from various staff members, mine and his, is that Veterai wants us to go off the farm, to work or church and then he has given his guards instructions to lock us out once we go through the boom. Another two people who were banned from coming to see us was our son Rory and also Mike Clark. Later that morning Veterai-s manager came up the driveway in his pick-up to ask Digby when the pump, which had broken a few days before, was going to be ready and he must hurry up and get it fixed. Incidently the quote Digby got for having the pump repaired, was$15 billion.

On Sunday morning at about 2 a.m. we were woken up to the sound of a vehicle coming up our driveway and car lights shining through our bedroom window. Digby peeped through the curtain and saw Veterai and his wife get of the vehicle which was a brand new silver twin cab. Veterai was armed with a pistol and his AK47. He and his wife came inside and went and slept in the guestrooms down the passage. The dogs were at this stage barking like crazy and needless to say, we hardly slept for the rest of the night. Thankfully he left early the next morning.

We could not believe that we had now been prisoners in our own home for almost three weeks. If it was not for the incredible support of our family, friends and church members, we would never have survived up to now. We had so many sms-s, phone calls and e-mails from people near and far. They were so worried about our safety especially with Veterai walking around armed all the time.

On the Sunday we were lying on our bed feeling very despondent as the court order had been totally ignored and we did know which way to turn now.

We think back to 1980 and where we are right now. The honourable president Robert Mugabe said in his speech that any whites who wanted to stay after Independence and help to build a new Zimbabwe, were welcome. In 1990 when he said "one man, one farm" we realized that land reform was inevitable and we did not contest it when our two ranches, totaling 15,000 acres was taken for resettlement. These ranches were in the Chiredzi River Conservancy which would eventually become part of the trans-frontier park and we had bought all the game that was on the ranch and built a safari camp and a compound for our staff. Both properties were totally resettled and we did not protest as we believed in land reform even though this safari camp would have attracted tourists and brought in foreign currency. We thought back to what the President had said about one man, one farm and accepted the inevitable.

After that, suddenly three A2 settlers were allocated 20 hectares of sugar cane each on my remaining sugar cane farm. This cane had just been replanted. The farm is only 126 hectares altogether so this left us with 66 hectares which included the houses, compounds, crocodile operation and a hill behind the house.

Then in March 2007 Veterai arrived on the farm with an offer letter for 40 hectares which would mean that we were only left with 26 hectares which we did not agree with but we thought at least our house, my mothers- cottage, our manager-s house and small compound and the crocodile set-up (a total of 8000 crocodiles) would not be included in the deal. Veterai said he wanted all the houses for himself, his family and staff and that afternoon he arrived at the house while Digby was at work and said that if we did not move out, he and I would sleep together that night. He then left and that night he returned at about 9.30 and said that he wanted the houses immediately. He got in his car and drove to our manager-s house where our operations manager was living and started harassing her and intimidating her, banging on the windows and scaring her half to death. Digby got a frantic sms from her and immediately got in his truck and drove over there. When he got there, there was Veterai at the house armed with an AK 47 and his wife was standing next to him, also armed and six armed guards were standing behind them. Digby, who was unarmed and had no weapon on him whatsoever, thought that this was the end of the road and expected to be shot any minute. Anyway he managed to get the operations manager out of the house and they came home shaken but thankfully unharmed, where she spent the night. She was totally traumatized by this event.

The next morning we found that our gates were locked and that we were unable to get to work. There were armed guards at the gate. At about 11 a.m. the D.A., the lands committee and about eight other people arrived to tell me that my manager had 24 hours to move out of her house because Veterai wanted to move in with his family. Digby kept asking them which 40 hectares was Mr Veterai taking over and they could not answer but they insisted that he was allowed to move into that house immediately. By this time our manager was so distraught that she just wanted to move out of her house and move into town where fortunately we had a little flat available.

Digby took the incident up with the local authorities and various ministers and was told that a meeting had been held with minister Mutasa and he had agreed that Veterai-s offer letter had been withdrawn and that he himself would come down to sort out the matter in December.

During the second week of December, we went to Pretoria to visit my brother for four days. While we were away, we got an urgent phone call from our manager to say that Veterai had chased all our senior staff and domestic staff out of their houses on the farm. Their furniture had been thrown out in the mud as it had been raining and they had to ask various friends if they had a spare room for them to move into. Veterai did this in the same way that he had conducted Operation Murambatsvina in Harare in 2006. He seemed to care very little about people-s feelings.

We left as soon as we could and wondered what was going to happen when we crossed the border at Beit Bridge as our staff had been told that Digby was going to be arrested and put in jail the moment we arrived in Zimbabwe. When we arrived home, there was a seven ton trailer parked in our driveway that prevented us from driving up to the house. We had picked up some of our staff from our office in town and they towed the trailer out of the way. Veterai had taken our landcruiser out of our garage and towed it to the compound and then parked his landrover in our garage in its place. He took our four vintage cars that were parked in our hangar and towed them to the compound too and then put some of his equipment there. He had also parked an old trailer full of old tyres on our lawn. Our staff took everything of Veterai-s out of our yard and left them outside our gate.

Our crocodile manager, Sam moved into the little cottage right next to our house where he and his family are still living.

Six weeks later Veterai moved into our house with his family and staff. And that is where we are now.

Continuation
On Saturday 16th February Veterai and family came to stay in our guestroom for the night. Thankfully they left quite early the next morning. He as usual locked the bedroom when he left.

From the Monday to the Friday there were no incidents - we just had the guard sitting in our lounge or should I say, sleeping on our chaise longue with his army boots on. We had a number of visitors and numerous sms-s and e-mails which was great.

On the Saturday night Veterai and wife arrived late yet again and spent the night in our guestrooms. They left early the next morning.

On Monday the 25th February Nathan and Tessa and Mark and Meghan came to visit us. We had a nice time and that was the last time we saw Mark and Meghan as they were leaving to go back to the States on the Wednesday.

On Tuesday morning Barry and Kim Styles and their little baby girl Brianna came to have tea which was lovely.

On Wednesday morning at 3.00 we were woken by the sound of a vehicle and saw the headlights shining through the window of our bedroom. The dogs were barking like mad. Veterai came in and went down the passage to the guestroom. The power went out at 5 a.m. so the house was in total darkness. Veterai left at about 6.30 after having used our house like a guesthouse where he can just come and go free of charge. His family has been in our manager-s house for a year and he has not paid one cent towards rent, lights, water and repairs and maintenance of pumps etc. The audacity of the man boggles the mind.

Tore, Leon and Nathan came to visit and to give us some moral support. At this stage all we know is that Vet is in the wrong and we are in the right and are fighting for what is right in God-s eyes and our eyes. On Thursday we had lights and power and cellphone signal after having had none the previous day. We had had no rain for five weeks and everything was starting to look dry and wilted.

I was just sitting there thinking that we could not get on with the every day running of our business because all we were doing was fighting to stay ino ur house and trying to hold onto what is rightfully ours. How absolutely absurd!!

We spent our days sitting in the garden under the trees because we did not want to sit in the lounge with the guards. We spent much of our time on the cellphone trying to keep our businesses from falling apart. At night we would go through to the bedroom and lock ourselves in for the night. We have a drink and some snacks before retiring to bed early, exhausted even though we were not doing much - I think it was just pure mental and emotional exhaustion. This we had been doing for six weeks now.

Gina, Julie and Brian came for tea and to see how we were doing. Lucy sent all our groceries that she had bought for us in S.A. with Brian which was so kind of her as we now at least had some fruit, vegetables and various other groceries to carry us through. Gina brought us some muffins and some lovely homemade lemon juice.

On Friday morning Norton came for coffee. Val and Susan came out to bring some cheques for signing and to go through various documents. Tommy and Molly sent us some mealies, bananas and avos which was so sweet of them. Gary and Theresa sent us some meat and biltong which we received with much appreciation. Alex Gagiani popped around in the afternoon - it was great to see him. At about 4.30 Tracy and Matthew arrived to visit us and spend the night. We had snacks and drinks outside as we were not using the lounge because of the guards.

Saturday 1st March, Noeline, bless her soul, arrived to do my hair which was by now showing the grey hairs profusely. She very kindly coloured and trimmed my hair as well as giving me a blow dry. I felt a different person afterwards! Tracy and Matt left at about 12.30 as we did not want them spending another night in case Veterai arrived which he had been doing every Saturday for five weeks already.

That afternoon Paul and Christine came for tea - they are now living in Mocambique and just came to Chiredzi to collect their deep freeze. They had lost their sugarcane farm in the Lowveld a couple of years before.

On Sunday 2nd March Tessa, Nathan, Norton, Noeline and Leon all came for lunch. They all brought a dish of some sort which was great and we had a nice lunch together. Rory arrived just after lunch from Bulawayo. That afternoon Zebedee, Fran and Tore came for tea and to see how we were doing. So it was a very busy day with all the visitors but most enjoyable. That night the phone rang and somebody asked to speak to Veterai, obviously expecting him to answer the phone.

On Monday 3rd March Norton phoned to say that he had heard that Veterai was trying to get the war vets in the area to come and jambanja us, but they did not want to know his troubles.

We had now been prisoners in our home for five weeks but it is amazing how the time flew by. Rory went to the office to do some work. Greg, Claire and Mac came for tea about mid morning.

On Tuesday 4th March Veterai and wife arrived at 2.00 a.m. and spent the night. He left early the next morning as he had to be in Masvingo for the court case re the farm. Rory left at 5.00 a.m. as he was going up to the court case on behalf of Digby. At about 8.00 a.m. Veterai-s guards were waiting to see Digby. They complained that our staff were stealing and eating "their" sugarcane. This was the very sugarcane that they had taken from us and they were complaining about theft. The mind boggles! Anyway, Digby said to them they must report them to the police but that our staff would lay assault charges against them as apparently the guards had beaten our staff and the one had a very sore hand. When Digby asked the guards if they had hit them, they said they had not and that they had chased the guys and they had fallen, hurting themselves in that way. We knew that was not true. They left the matter at that and did nothing.

We managed to get hold of Rory in the afternoon to find out how the court case went and he said it went well. The court ruling was that Veterai had to get out of our house and Digby-s mom-s house with immediate effect. Theoretically the guards had to move out too.

On Wednesday the guards were still here. Veterai had not given them instructions to move out. The court order was supposed to be ready on Thursday afternoon. Penny and Maureen came for tea and to see how we were doing.

On Thursday Noeline, Sally and Eric Bemont came for tea. Had a lovely time together. We had no cellphone signal in the afternoon.

Pete and Morag came to visit on Friday morning. It was good to see them as they had been away in S.A. for about a month. They had smsed us daily while they were away to see what the situation was on the farm. Ben Fayd-herbe came around too to chat to Digby about crocodile food. Tore popped in during the afternoon - he has been so good to us and has visited about a dozen times already. Still waiting for court ruling which has not yet arrived.

On Saturday 8th March Lucy and Rob came to see us and we had a great time chatting. In the afternoon Penny, Gerry and Rose came to visit. No sooner had they arrived, when Norton, Noeline, Nathan and Tessa came so we all had a wonderful time together. We were able to sit in the lounge for the second time in a very long time as the guards had now moved out of the house.

On Sunday we had a quiet uneventful day. At about 5.30 Brian and Sally and kids came around to see how we were doing. They had lost both their farms where they farmed sugarcane, citrus and various other crops and they had the only dairy in the Lowveld. They were planning on going to the U.S.A. They will be a great loss to the community.

That night we were watching "The last king of Scotland" when we looked out the window and saw Veterai-s vehicle parked outside. He and his wife and another couple came and spent the night, totally defying the court ruling which said that he was not allowed to do so. As usual Veterai came in armed with his AK rifle. They left quite early the next morning. Our court case which was postponed from the 28th January to 10th March was due to be held that morning, but we had not yet had the summons for it. We got hold of our lawyer and he said that they had managed to postpone the court case to the 7th April which we were pleased about. We still do not have a copy of the court ruling from last Tuesday-s court case but have been told that it will be here tomorrow.

Since Veterai-s stay here on Sunday night, his guards have moved back to outside the house. Apparently Vet told his guards that they must spit in our faces when they see us.

On Tuesday the 11th March we finally received the second court ruling which stated that Veterai must move out of our house and my mother-s house and that everything must revert to the way it was in 2007, meaning that Veterai must move back to the manager-s house which is a big three-bedroomed house where he has been for a year already.

I informed the guard who was sitting outside our lounge that we had received the court order and told him to call his supervisor so that I could tell him as well. They did not return and still had not done so by the evening.

We were feeling very positive about everything when we received the court order and really thought that the situation on the farm would now change and we would be able to go back to work. It was already over six weeks that we had been virtual prisoners in our home.

However, that night we went to bed at 8.30 only to be awakened at 10.30 by voices in our passage. I got out of bed and went to see who in their right mind would have the nerve to come into our house at that hour of the night. Lo and behold, there was Mrs Veterai and her children plus a number of guards walking down the passage. I asked them if they realized that they were contravening the court order and they said that it did not matter and they were going to spend the night. They then went down the passage to the guest bedrooms and proceeded to make themselves comfortable for the night.

The next morning I saw Veterai-s manager coming out of our guest bathroom so he must have spent the night as well.

This came as no surprise to us as this is the second court order that we have received that has been totally defied by Veterai. We received a court order for the 5th February banning him from coming within 30 metres of our house. This was ignored by him and he and his family continued to come and stay at our house on numerous occasions. And his guards were still posted outside our lounge.

This latest violation comes one day after we received the new provisional court order.

The court case which was due on the 7th April has now been suddenly moved to the 19th March. A summons was received on Friday. Our Lawyers now unprepared.

That night Veterai-s manager and wife and children as well as the guard came and slept in our house yet again. We did and said nothing as they left early the next morning. All we knew was that they were totally and blatantly defying the court order that had been issued the previous day.

That afternoon Veterai-s senior guard came to see me together with their tractor driver. When I asked him about he and Veterai-s manager and wife staying in our house for the two previous nights and said that they were contravening the court order, he just said that he was taking instructions from Veterai and that he was just doing his job. That night nobody came to stay. I think he was beginning to feel afraid as we had heard that four of his security guards had run away the previous day and two had run away the previous week. I think they were getting fed up and were obviously not paid enough to want to stay.

On Thursday morning we were sitting outside in the garden when two youngsters came walking through the gate. The older one shook hands and introduced himself very politely as Veterai-s nephew. The younger was Veterai-s maid-s son. The older one sat and chatted and said that he has just written his O levels and that he has many ideas as to what he wants to do with his life. He asked if he could please borrow our cellphone charger which we lent him. He said that he would bring it back as soon he was finished with it and could he please come and chat to me and get some advice from me about various business ideas that he had. He spoke very good English and was a nice-looking and extremely pleasant young lad. I thought how bizarre that was and we think he must take after his grandfather who we have heard is a very nice and respected gentleman.

On Friday Penny came to visit and to give us some moral support. She was been so supportive and has been praying constantly for us. On the Saturday Pete and Morag came to see how we were doing and then Tore and Smithy arrived for tea. Everyone has been so wonderful to us that we feel absolutely overwhelmed by the kindness and prayers from friends near and far. It has really touched our hearts in such a big way and made us realize again just what an incredible place the Lowveld is because the people are so special and care so much for one another.

That night about six guards arrived and took over the lounge. I asked them what was going on and they said that Veterai was coming. Quite early in the evening Veterai, his wife and family and the manager and his family arrived and made themselves at home in our house. Then about four more guards arrived. At about midnight the guards started playing the bongo drums and singing just outside out bedroom and this carried on for about two hours. They were trying their best to scare and intimidate us but fortunately with our air conditioner on, we hardly even heard them. Needless to say, we did not get much sleep as the dogs barked throughout the night.

The next morning which was the Sunday we were having breakfast in the dining room as it was drizzling outside. We noticed that there were election posters on the lounge walls, on the trees outside, on the bonnet of our car and on the table where we always sit outside in order to keep away from the guards. The guards were sitting in the lounge eating huge bowls of sadza that had been cooked in a half drum right outside the dining room. Two of the guards got up and came and sat down at the table with us. They began talking to us and one of them asked me if I had a spare bible for him. I said that I did and went through to the bedroom to fetch it for him. When I tried to hand it to him, he said that he had better not take it then as he would get into trouble. I said that I would leave it on the table and he could take it when he felt it was safe to do so. Just shows how petrified these guards are of Veterai and how intimidating he is to them.

The next minute Veterai came strutting through from the bedroom, walked past us and went outside, with his AK rifle over his shoulder. Then our maid who was in a state of panic came to me and said that Veterai had gone into their little guestroom next to our house where her husband was. I asked him what he was doing and then he started screaming and shouting and asking why we had locked the one interleading door in the house. When I asked him to show me which door it was, I explained to him that the door sticks and it looks like it is locked, but it is not. He then ranted and raved saying that we were planning all kinds of things to harm him. He swore like a trooper and called Jessie "that stupid girl" because of the article that had appeared in the newspaper. Jessie did say a word as she had sworn that she would never say another word to him again. He then stormed off. Just then our friends, Rob and Lucy arrived so we went outside and had tea with them in the garden.

It started raining so we went into the lounge. No long afterwards two policemen arrived to ask Rob and Lucy why their new single twin cab did not have licence plates. Rob explained that they had just bought the vehicle and that the papers were at Croco Motors whom they had bought the truck from. The one policemen asked them to go with them to the police station and prove that what they said was true. This they did and everything was in order. Veterai had phoned the police to tell them about the truck and was wanting to get them into trouble.

That afternoon our friends Norton and Noeline came for tea so again we sat in the lounge because it was drizzling outside. We sat on the one side of the lounge and the guards sat on the other side. That night it was fairly quiet but the guards and Veterai-s family were still using our house like it was theirs. They were using our bathrooms, leaving them in a mess by not cleaning up after they had bathed or used the toilet. They stole my soap and my candle out of the bathroom. I also noticed a number of other items missing too. One of my brass ornaments in the lounge went missing, a carving knife and bread out of the kitchen as well as the soap that was next to the basin. Almost every day there were things being taken.

On Monday afternoon our friend Penny came to see how we were after the traumatic weekend as she knew we were feeling down. That night the power went out and we were sitting locked in our bedroom when at about 7.00 p.m. there was a knock at our door. It was our maid Esnat with her son and they said that the guards were in the dining room waiting to see me. I went through and there were about 16 guards all in all and they said that they had been given instructions by Veterai that our crocodile manager who was living with his family in the little guestroom next to our house had to move out immediately. I could see that some of the guards had been drinking and smoking dagga as they had a glazed look in their eyes. They needed something to give them the courage to confront me. I said that we would sort something out the following day, but I knew that Sam was afraid for his safety and his family-s and would have to move him the next morning.

Two of the guards and their families moved into the outside guestroom. Poor Sam and his wife have to come in from town every morning, do their work and then return to town in the evening. Rather expensive considering that diesel is now 60 million dollars a litre.

On Tuesday Tore and Smithy came to have tea and to give us a bit of moral support. We really appreciated our friends coming around as it always brightened our day.

That night Veterai arrived just after midnight. We knew he was coming because suddenly their were a lot more guards in the lounge and dining doom. We also knew he had to come for the court case which was being held in Chiredzi the following morning.

The next day I got dressed and left for the court case at 7.30 a.m.- this was the first time I had left the house for over seven weeks. Eight of our friends came to the house so that they could keep Jessie company while I was at the court case. I got to the court room and my lawyer, Mr Rodney Makausi was already there. Veterai arrived with his wife but without a lawyer, so he must have been very sure that he was going to win the case. The magistrate said because not enough time had been given to prepare for the case, the court case was postponed to the 9th April. I was very relieved to hear this but could see that Veterai was furious.

I arrived back home with my lawyer as I was not sure if I would be allowed back through the boom. Everyone was overjoyed and relieved about the outcome of the court case. I just want to mention that we had three anonymous calls warning me that I must make sure that I attend the court case as the police had been given instructions to arrest me if I did not do so. We also a visit from one of the A2-s who lives near us, just to see how we were doing.

On Thursday morning Tommy and Mollie Warth arrived to visit with us. They are an elderly couple who live on a ranch about 50 kilometres out of Chirdezi. Shame, they got stuck on our road and had to get our tractor to pull them out. Poor Mollie had to walk about two kilometers through the mud to call the driver and then got on the tractor with the driver and drove back to their vehicle where he managed to pull them out. Then there was nobody manning the boom so Mollie who is in her mid seventies, had to get out the truck and open the boom herself. Needless to say, they were exhausted by the time they arrived at the house. They stayed for lunch and caught up with all the news from the past two months.

At lunchtime on Friday our son Rory and our daughter Tracy arrived from Bulawayo to spend the night and to see how we are doing. They brought us some meat, vegetables and various groceries as we were beginning to run out - have not been to town for almost 8 weeks now. It was so wonderful to see them as we are a very close family and they have been very worried about us. They did not bring their spouses and our granddaughter as we never know how safe it is. Also, most of our guestrooms are being used by Veterai, family and guards. I only have one guestroom that we are able to use for our family and it is does not have a lock on it - that is why they do not use it.

That night Rory, Tracy, Jessie and I locked ourselves in our bedroom and had a few snacks and just chatted about all the good times we had had on the farm when the kids were young. We had so many happy memories and now some total stranger had come along and wanted to take all this away from us. This makes us even more determined to stay and not be intimidated. Although I must admit, the invasion of our privacy gets us down at times.

I slept on a mattress on the floor that night so that Tracy could sleep in the kingsize bed with Jessie. Rory slept in the guest room. Rory and Tracy both wanted to sleep on the floor instead of me but I would not hear of it.

When we woke up the next morning and looked out of the window, as sure as eggs, there was Veterai-s twincab vehicle. Then I heard him right outside of our bedrom door talking on his cellphone. I am sick to death of the audacity of this man who keeps blatantly defying all the court orders and thinks that he is above the law and openly says so. His day of reckoning is coming, it is just a matter of time.

The next morning, Saturday, we got up and had breakfast in our bedroom. There were guards all over the house again because of Veterai-s presence. Thankfully he left early and we could relax and enjoy one another-s company. We had an early lunch and Rory and Tracy left soon after to go back to Bulawayo.

Then we just lay on the bed most of the afternoon, feeling rather down since the kids had left. The guards and their wives and babies were sitting in the lounge talking and making themselves right at home. I felt angry but tried not to let my emotions get the better of me.

On Easter Sunday our minister, his wife and another friend, Noeline came to have lunch with us. We had been feeling very down and welcomed the visitors with open arms.

On the Monday we had a very quiet day with no visitors and were feeling terribly isolated and cut off from everybody. This was definitely the worst Easter we had ever experienced. It was now exactly eight weeks that we had been virtual prisoners in our home. We are hoping that the situation will change after the elections which are in three days time. This and the SADC tribunal outcome is the only hope we have left.

On Tuesday Rory drove down from Bulawayo to Masvingo for the court case re Veterai-s failure to the two previous orders. He met our lawyers, Rodnay Makausi and Miss Maposa who are representing us at the court. To the disgust of both lawyers, they were told that the decision was postponed to the 3rd April, and no reasons were given, although we had overwhelming evidence that he had contravened the court orders.

On Wednesday I noticed that some sugar had been stolen out of the kitchen. I mentioned it to one of Veterai-s staff and he assured that it would be replaced. Another one of his staff came to me in the afternoon and asked me if we had any old clothes for her because her house in the T.T.L. had burned down. I said to her that if she worked for me, I would willingly help her but told her that she needs to ask her boss, Veterai, for help. She could not understand why I declined to give her any assistance.

Later that morning one of my staff came to see me and told me that Veterai said that if things did not go according to plan in the upcoming elections, then he would shoot Jessie and I. When I told my brother in Jo-burg what he had said, he said that we should pack our bags and leave. Of course we would not do that and that is when he said that if anything should happen to us, then he would get the best lawyers and fight this case to the bitter end.

We have just had a phone call from a total stranger in Harare, a lady by the name of Agnes who goes to the Celebration Centre Church. She said that she and the other ladies in her church are getting together to-morrow morning to pray for us. I thought that was just so amazing and can just see how God is working in our favor and so many people-s lives because of what we are going through.

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