Farm demo turned back

POLICE yesterday blockaded the entrance to Ongombo West, forcing a trade union to abort its first planned Zimbabwe-style farm occupation.

About 500 marchers were left fuming, and some leaders gathered afterwards to review tactics for any future attempt at land invasion. The only success scored by yesterday’s campaigners at farm Ongombo West, 50 kilometres north-east of Windhoek, was that they read and then handed a petition over to Andreas Wiese, son of the farm owners, demanding that he reinstate workers evicted last year and allow them to live on the farm.The protesters gave Wiese 72 hours to comply with this demand.Alfred Angula, Secretary General of the Namibia Farmworkers’ Union (Nafwu) -who, vowed on Friday that the protesters would get onto the farm – told The Namibian yesterday: “There has been some adjustment to the plan.We will now allow [Wiese] the chance to reconsider”.Wiese has come under pressure to take back six workers, a court order for whose eviction he obtained before having them dumped by the roadside about a kilometre from Ongombo West last month.Angula said farm owners were taking advantage of the Government’s “slow pace of land reform” by “ill-treating and dumping workers into corridors along national roads”.On Friday Angula said: “If we are denied access there are a lot of ways to deal with issues.Nobody will scare us as long as we know the cause we are fighting for is a just cause.He must give us access so that we can solve this problem”.Angula said yesterday’s march and presentation of the petition to Wiese proved that the union had “tried all avenues”.A decision would be made on Wednesday about what course to pursue from here on in, Angula said.Several demonstrators, including union leaders, said they were expecting confrontation with the farm owners and Police if they tried forcing their way onto the property.Police sent in reinforcements over the weekend, an estimated 40 officers.In addition, farm Ongombo West is believed to have hired private security guards to prevent trespassers getting onto the farm.Paths to the farmhouse are signposted in red: ‘Private, no entry’.Yesterday Wiese was accompanied by two unidentified men in Government-issue overalls.Police Deputy Commissioner Hophni Hamufungu did not have any comment to make on the pair’s identity, but some of the campaigners suspected they were members of the security forces.Wiese declined to comment yesterday, but accepted the petition without promising anything.Several trade union and Swapo leaders who gathered under a tree in the riverbed, which is now home to Wiese’s ex-workers, vented their annoyance with senior Government politicians for threatening to prevent farm occupations.They argued that some white farmers continued to mistreat their workers in the belief that they would be protected so long as they used the pretext that they were upholding law and order.”The law is not on the side of the farm workers.It protects capital,” said one unionist.Union leaders referred to previous evictions at Kalkpan and Omitara, in the Omaheke Region, characterising their unmet grievances as a ticking time bomb.The only success scored by yesterday’s campaigners at farm Ongombo West, 50 kilometres north-east of Windhoek, was that they read and then handed a petition over to Andreas Wiese, son of the farm owners, demanding that he reinstate workers evicted last year and allow them to live on the farm. The protesters gave Wiese 72 hours to comply with this demand. Alfred Angula, Secretary General of the Namibia Farmworkers’ Union (Nafwu) -who, vowed on Friday that the protesters would get onto the farm – told The Namibian yesterday: “There has been some adjustment to the plan. We will now allow [Wiese] the chance to reconsider”. Wiese has come under pressure to take back six workers, a court order for whose eviction he obtained before having them dumped by the roadside about a kilometre from Ongombo West last month. Angula said farm owners were taking advantage of the Government’s “slow pace of land reform” by “ill-treating and dumping workers into corridors along national roads”. On Friday Angula said: “If we are denied access there are a lot of ways to deal with issues. Nobody will scare us as long as we know the cause we are fighting for is a just cause. He must give us access so that we can solve this problem”. Angula said yesterday’s march and presentation of the petition to Wiese proved that the union had “tried all avenues”. A decision would be made on Wednesday about what course to pursue from here on in, Angula said. Several demonstrators, including union leaders, said they were expecting confrontation with the farm owners and Police if they tried forcing their way onto the property. Police sent in reinforcements over the weekend, an estimated 40 officers. In addition, farm Ongombo West is believed to have hired private security guards to prevent trespassers getting onto the farm. Paths to the farmhouse are signposted in red: ‘Private, no entry’. Yesterday Wiese was accompanied by two unidentified men in Government-issue overalls. Police Deputy Commissioner Hophni Hamufungu did not have any comment to make on the pair’s identity, but some of the campaigners suspected they were members of the security forces. Wiese declined to comment yesterday, but accepted the petition without promising anything. Several trade union and Swapo leaders who gathered under a tree in the riverbed, which is now home to Wiese’s ex-workers, vented their annoyance with senior Government politicians for threatening to prevent farm occupations. They argued that some white farmers continued to mistreat their workers in the belief that they would be protected so long as they used the pretext that they were upholding law and order. “The law is not on the side of the farm workers. It protects capital,” said one unionist. Union leaders referred to previous evictions at Kalkpan and Omitara, in the Omaheke Region, characterising their unmet grievances as a ticking time bomb.