Thread: The Zimbabwe Situation

Yet another telling example just how little political will, stomach and principled leadership we have in the region. SADC: The Joke Continues is the title of this episode, except the joke is on the people of Zimbabwe and people like Campbell and Freeth. One thing we can all be sure of, mark my words: SADC has not and will not hold the Zimbabwe Government to account.... the saga continues year after year after year......

Zim farmers: SADC Tribunal rules Mugabe govt persists in non-compliance
Saturday, 17 July 2010 12:34
The SADC Tribunal made another landmark ruling in Windhoek, Namibia, on July 16 regarding the Zimbabwean government’s continued violation of decisions made by the Tribunal with respect to commercial farmers affected by the country’s land reform policies.

Referring to violations in a further contempt order of June 5, 2009 after the main judgement of November 28, 2008 in the Campbell farm test case, the Tribunal said in today’s judgement:

“The Tribunal found that the Respondent (the Zimbabwe Government), had failed to comply with the decision in the former case (28 November 2008) and reported such failure to the Summit to take appropriate action…… Despite this the Respondent has continued to violate the decision of the Tribunal.”

The ruling listed three areas, “amongst others”, where the Zimbabwe Government has “continued to violate the decision of the Tribunal” and therefore the SADC Treaty.

Justice Mtambo said: “Firstly, there is abundant evidence before us to the effect that the lives, liberty and property of all those whom the decision meant to protect have been endangered.”

Secondly, the letter from the Zimbabwe Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, was cited. Chinamasa noted that “any decisions that the Tribunal may have made or may make in the future against the Republic of Zimbabwe are null and void.”

Thirdly, the refusal of Justice Bharat Patel to register the judgement in the High Court of Zimbabwe – announced by Patel on January 26 - was cited as a reason for Zimbabwe’s continued violation.

The ruling recalled that the Campbell case “directed the Respondent (the Zimbabwe Government) to take all necessary measures through its agents to protect the possession, occupation and ownership of the land of the applicants and to take all appropriate measures to ensure that no action is taken directly or indirectly, whether by its agents or others, to evict the applicants from, or interfere with their peaceful residence on the land.”

The applicants were given costs in the matter.

Expressing his appreciation to the SADC Tribunal, Mike Campbell said from Harare: “They have burnt my house with all its contents, they have looted my crops and my tractors, they have tortured my workers, they have killed my animals, they have stripped my farm, they have beaten me to within an inch off my life - from which I have never recovered - it is now time that SADC acted.”

Ben Freeth, who farmed Mount Carmel with Campbell, says his father-in-law is currently in very poor health as a result of his abduction and beating just two days after the Presidential run-off election.

During the vicious beating of Campbell, his wife Angela and Freeth, Zanu PF agents tried at gunpoint to force them to withdraw their case from the Tribunal.

Impact of land grab

The impact of the chaotic and violent land grab continues to be felt across Zimbabwe. This season’s wheat crop is set to be a mere three percent of the total crop grown a decade ago and the country continues to rely heavily on food aid.

The Commercial Farmers’ Union estimates a wheat crop of just 10,000 tonnes, down from 300,000 tonnes before the illegal farm invasions began in 2000.

Despite the SADC-brokered Global Political Agreement (GPA), invasions and looting have continued unabated.

This has destroyed the country’s ability to feed itself and ruined the entire commercial farming industry, depriving tens of thousands of additional farm workers of their jobs and livelihoods.

“Given that SADC has guaranteed the GPA and that SADC has put in place the Tribunal, it is up to SADC to take very stern measures to make sure the Zimbabwe Government – which includes Prime Minister Tsvangarai - addresses the collapse of the rule of law and the human rights abuses that continue unchecked in the rural areas,” said Freeth.

Freeth, who continues to monitor violations of the SADC rulings through a grouping called SADC Tribunal Rights Watch, is concerned at Tsvangirai’s lack of action regarding the ongoing violations of farmers and farm workers.

“To date we do not know of a single commercial farm or a single police station that the Prime Minister has visited while the Zanu PF elite continues to commit human rights violations and other crimes,” said Freeth

“If the Prime Minister is hamstrung by the GPA, it is his responsibility to call on peace keepers from outside to protect the Zimbabwean people,” he concluded.
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Hear, hear Norman Tjombe: "Evidence is piling up against Zimbabwe as a rogue country that doesn't adhere to court order and continues to violate human rights". I would say the ZANU-PF regime has not been committed to, never mind adhering to, the rule of law for over a decade now. GPA or not, doesn't make a blind it of difference and, yes, SADC continues to be little more than a talkshop.

Tribunal wants SADC to suspend Harare over land case
Fri Jul 16, 2010 5:54pm GMT

WINDHOEK (Reuters) - A Southern African Development Community tribunal has asked a regional summit of heads of state to consider a request by a white farmer to suspend the Zimbabwe government from the group over its seizure of his land.
The tribunal in 2008 ruled in favour of 78 white farmers fighting against the seizure of their land by President Robert Mugabe's government, but Harare has ignored the verdict.

In the latest application to the tribunal, farmer Louis Karel Fick wants SADC leaders to suspend Zimbabwe until it upholds the tribunal's order to return confiscated land or compensate farmers for lost property.

Zimbabwe's government has refused to comply with the SADC tribunal's rulings and is challenging its legitimacy. The government's lawyers have stopped attending tribunal hearings.

Zimbabwe's courts have declined to register the tribunal's decision, saying it violates the country's constitution.

This is the third time the SADC tribunal has referred Zimbabwe to the highest regional body for non-compliance with court orders, continued human rights abuses and violation of the SADC Treaty, of which Zimbabwe is a signatory.

Earlier referrals did not result in action against Zimbabwe. The heads of state will meet in Windhoek on 16-17 August, but analysts doubt they will take any drastic action against Zimbabwe.

Critics accuse African leaders of taking a soft stance on Mugabe, slammed by the West over controversial policies like his seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution among blacks.

"Evidence is piling up against Zimbabwe as a rogue country that doesn't adhere to court order and continues to violate human rights," Fick's lawyer Norman Tjombe told Reuters.

"The writing is on the wall. The summit must take action, otherwise the bodies of SADC are expensive white elephants."

SW Radio Africa reports that another white commercial farmer has been shot and killed in Chegutu

Tererai Karimakwenda

27 October 201

A 67 year old white farmer was killed at his Scotsdale Farm in the town of Chegutu, west of Harare, just after midnight on Monday as lawlessness on commercial farms continues. Ben Freeth, spokesperson for the SADC Tribunal Rights Watch, told SW Radio Africa that Kobus Joubert was shot in the head after he awoke to his wife Mariaan's screams. She had been attacked by two men in the bathroom as she investigated a noise. But Joubert never reached her, because another thug already in the bedroom pulled the trigger and took his life.
Click to learn more...

Freeth said: "They shot him straight in the head and he obviously died instantly. Then they took a few things and left. So we do not know yet whether it was a political incident, whether it was just plain criminal, but it's another great tragedy."

The gang assaulted Mariaan and took about US$10,000 and mobile phones. They had also demanded her laptop but the power went out and the attackers ran away without any further incidents. There are reports that two pistols were stolen and that the attackers accused her and her husband of being members of the MDC. This would suggest that the attack was indeed political and the robbery was just a cover up for murder and the ongoing intimidation of the few remaining white farmers.

A frustrated Freeth expressed deep concern about the fact that there remains no rule of law in Zimbabwe.

The Commercial Farmers Union issued a statement that said: "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 urgently requests that the authorities take immediate action."

Unfortunately it is senior officials in the police and the army that have been grabbing the last few remaining white owned farms in Zimbabwe. Known chefs in the Mugabe regime have also been using ZANU PF thugs to violently remove white farmers from their properties.

This was not the first time that the Jouberts have been attacked. Back in 2008 they were evicted by a gang loyal to a ZANU PF official who wanted their farm. The couple wound up camping out along the side of a highway for several weeks, with just a few belongings.

Freeth recalled that incident: "The workers were really good. They protected them and helped them to get water. They got back in the house partly due to publicity and partly through the courts. Maybe that was not good. White farmers are not safe these days."

And there are several ongoing cases. According to the CFU, 73 year old Tiennie van Rensburg and his wife Yvonne are currently struggling to gain access to their Rubeni Farm in the Nyazura district east of Harare. They were forced by senior army officers in mid October to pack up their household goods and vacate the property within 72 hours. But their farm equipment, 15 tonnes of maize and other goods, are still on the farm.

Not surprisingly, it is a high ranking member of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and a family member of a senior government official who presented papers, allegedly from the Ministry of Lands, claiming ownership of the elderly couple's farm.

Attacks against white farmers have not stopped even though the regional SADC tribunal in Namibia issued a legal ruling stating that the Zimbabwe government must not interfere with activities of farmers. The same tribunal then found the Zimbabwe government in contempt of court after this ruling was ignored. But violence and illegal evictions continue and SADC have taken no punitive measures.

Instead, the regional grouping decided to 'review' the tribunal and said it would not be hearing any current cases and would also not take on any new ones. Without any activity in the court, the SADC tribunal was effectively suspended. This protects Mugabe and his close associates who continue to loot the few remaining commercial farms.

SW Radio Africa

If Eddie Cross is right and Mugabe is too sick to stand for president then Zimbabwe is in for a rough ride as his cronies try to keep in power. But chances are equally good that this time around the elections will be managed better by SADC...

Eddie Cross says events are increasingly leaving Zanu-PF behind

Zanu just does not seem to understand that suddenly the world has moved on and in the process left them behind. They now understand that the President, Mr. Mugabe, cannot be the next candidate for Zanu PF simply on health grounds. The mirage of an election in 2011 under the same conditions that prevailed in 2008 has dissipated and the reality that they are going to be held to their signatures on the GPA road map is dawning on them.

The consequence is an election in a years' time, time they simply do not have, reforms to the electoral process that will prevent the essential rigging they had planned and therefore seals their fate. Zanu PF simply cannot win any election in the near future.

Discussions in the Cape this week will almost certainly produce a proposed road map to an election in 2012 and will bring with it essential reforms to the whole process, supervised and guaranteed by the region as a whole. I have been saying to people for some time now; do not underestimate the commitment of the region and wider African leadership to the GPA process. This is an African construct and they are going to see it through.

I spent the afternoon today at the opening of the Trade Fair in Bulawayo. This was attended by Mr. Mugabe and it was clear as he drove into the Stadium with full pomp and glory; outriders, armed soldiers, brass bands and a spectacular honor guard, that he was greeted in almost silence except for the rent-a-crowd sitting in one part of the stadium and a few loyalists behind the podium. The heads of the Army and the Police were there and this may be the last time that we will see them in their uniformed splendor. Both are listed for immediate, compulsory retirement in the road map.

The Trade Fair was a pleasant surprise - they had pulled out all the stops and it was packed with people and nearly all stands were taken up. Much different from the dismal affair in recent years and giving me hope that our private sector is not yet totally dead.

The previous weekend was our Congress and contrary to all the expectations, it was a great success. There was no violence and the elections were properly managed and the whole process democratic. Several senior leaders lost their posts and accepted defeat gracefully. Resolutions were adopted and speeches made - and in particular the keynote address by the President, Morgan Tsvangirai, was in my view one of the best he has ever made.

Not far behind was the opening speech by the Prime Minister of Kenya who pressed all the right buttons. That was followed by the heaviest storm of the season when nearly 100 mm of rain fell on the grounds, soaking everyone and all the equipment. Rain is always welcome in Bulawayo and it did not spoil the mood. In the morning we woke up to a brilliant clear blue sky and the final day was weather perfect.

There was one interesting development after Congress - in a two page comment in the local State controlled paper, one of their many 'analysts' wrote about efforts prior to Congress to influence the elections in our lower structures (branches, wards, districts and provinces) to support an effort to weaken the power base and support for the Party President.

This was interesting because it confirmed what many of us had seen first hand in the field for several months now - a concerted effort was made to try and subvert the whole process and very large sums of money were spent in doing so.

We allowed it to carry on because we did not want to subvert the democratic process as a whole and because we simply did not have the time or the resources to counter it effectively. But now that Congress is over, the MDC has resolved to investigate the whole thing and to take action against the many who were responsible for violence and vote buying in the lower structures of the Party.

Building a democratic system in any country is not an easy or a quick process. Like an internal combustion engine, all parts must be working and no part is less important than another - tyres may not be glamorous but you cannot move without them. You cannot mix oil, fuel and water - but you have to have all of them in close proximity for the engine to function properly.

If the Parties representing the people in a democratic State are not themselves democratic it undermines the whole system. The democratic system itself is a complex structure with many parts - each of which has to function properly to yield a result that the people will accept.

I doubt that we have had a single real democratic vote in this country since Independence. Zanu PF has used every trick in the book and a few of their own invention, to ensure that they retained total power in the past 30 years.

Despite this, our people have never lost faith in the system and for me, one of the great experiences that I have had in recent weeks was supervising elections at Ward and District level in remote areas on the country. Driving into a village after a 150 kilometer journey to find 300 men and women sitting under a tree waiting to conduct their own secret ballot elections for new leadership. Many walked 20 or 30 kilometers and then walked back when we finished. Simple farming families who revel in the opportunity to influence how they are to be governed in the next five years.

All this effort (perhaps 10 000 branches, 2000 wards and 210 districts) led up to the Congress where several thousand elected delegates sat patiently in the sunshine in an open stadium, to listen to the speeches, participate in the electioneering and campaigning and then to line up and vote for the leaders of their choice.

Not a policeman in sight. Zanu sent two truckloads of young people past the Stadium - perhaps to try and incite some violence and I was so proud of our people as they simply laughed at them and gave them the MDC open hand and then turned back to the business in hand.

Nothing terrifies a despot more than the freedom of his subjected people and if the recent tough stance by SADC and the AU was not enough to rock their world, believe me the sight of those events in the Stadium in Bulawayo, would be enough to totally discourage them. Zanu is trying to work out just what to do. They are deeply divided, their strategies in the past two years have not shaken off the grip that MDC has taken on the political process and now they are tied into an exercise in self destruction.

A glance at the international news shows that the game has changed - the events in Pakistan, the Ivory Coast, Angola, Sudan and Kenya, all show a new resolve to build and enforce democratic practice in the world around us. The world has moved on rapidly in recent months and we are part of the process. Those who stand still, are simply left behind as yesterdays men.

Eddie Cross is MDC MP for Bulawayo South. This article first appeared on his website www.eddiecross.africanherd.com