Zim to prosecute White farmers

Still they persist. Still Mad Bob and his cronies are snaffling the last few pieces of silver left in Zimbabwe. Considering that the chaotic state of Zimbabwe today is directly correlated with the removal of White farmers, that 5 million people are facing starvation, it is incredulous that the malevolence and greed of ZanuPF persists regardless.

This party of thugs, not unlike our own ANC cares little for its people, of that there is absolutely no doubt and so hearing about more White farmers being booted off productive land is no shocker. What is mind-boggling is that you'd think someone somewhere would say "hold on, maybe we should leave these last few stragglers behind, y'know, just in case". But no, the greed for land, the need to put Whitey in his place is palpable, the consequences be damned.

Another question that needs to be asked is, where's the outcry, where's the outrage? Where are the Hollywood liberals? Oprah? Sean Penn? Bono, Geldof, surely you guys..no, hmm..not interested..? That's right, Mad Bob bites. Better to beat up on a Western democracy somewhere where your rights are protected.

Can you imagine if this had been a White government kicking Black farmers off their land? Oh the inhumanity, the outrage...!

I can tell you why there is no outcry from liberals. Liberals do not admit mistakes because that would mean having to accept consequences for their actions. To acknowledge the fuck-up that is Zimbabwe (and South Africa) would also mean that they must accept that their core belief system is flawed, that it DOES NOT WORK in practice (like communism). To admit weakness in their political thinking is seen as more harmful than actually trying to save real lives in real time. Jane Fonda when asked after Vietnam collapsed whether she felt any remorse for the three million south Vietnamese slaughtered by the communists said, "No, it is America's fault for being there in the first place".

Yes, it is better to propagandise ideas that may work (with collateral damage along the way) than risk people seeing leftwing ideology for the mish-mash rubbish that it is.

Harare - Zimbabwe will prosecute 140 white landowners on charges of failing to vacate their farms under the country's controversial 2000 land reform programme, state media reported on Sunday.

"A total of 140 farmers are to be prosecuted for failing to vacate farms after being issued with eviction notices," The Sunday Mail said, citing a report presented at the ruling Zanu-PF party's national conference.

The government ordered the group off their properties by September 30 to make way for resettlement by landless blacks, under often-violent land reforms that critics blame for causing chronic food shortages in this one-time regional breadbasket.

The report did not specify what charges the farmers would face but law experts said it could be trespassing for failing to comply with the government ultimatum.

The report to the just-finished conference said another 278 farms owned by 13 countries would be spared from government seizure and prosecution under a Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements (BIPAs).

This provision involves more than 522 000 hectares owned by Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Mauritius, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States, it said.

The government also recommended that 341 white farmers be allowed to continue farming across the country, and is drafting documents to give them a 99-year security of tenure on their properties "as the land reform programme nears conclusion", the report said.

A further 97 white farmers will be allowed to continue running conservancies or private game parks in six provinces, it said.

This brings to 438 the number of white farmers allowed to retain their land out of 6 708 operating in Zimbabwe before the reforms were launched eight years ago, The Sunday Mail said.

A total 1 530 new black farmers have received land offer letters from the government as of September 30 and the figure is expected to rise 1 800 by the end of this week, it added.

Under President Robert Mugabe's programme, at least 4 000 properties formerly run by white farmers have been seized for redistribution to blacks, the majority of whom lacked the skills and means to farm.

The chaotic programme is held largely responsible for the country's economic crisis, which has saddled Zimbabwe with the world's highest inflation rate and left nearly half the population in need of aid.