White farmers’ initiative provokes blacks: Nafwu

A SUPPORT initiative launched by a group of white farmers at Mariental yesterday is a clear provocation to indigenous Namibians, says the Namibia Farmworkers’ Union.

Reacting to the launch of the Namibian Farmers’ Support Initiative yesterday, Nafwu General Secretary Alfred Angula charged that it had been established to deny blacks access to land. “I can’t see the logic [of them establishing the organisation].Sigi [Eimbeck] has got a problem.”The organisation, formed to defend the rights of commercial farmers, is headed by Eimbeck, lawyer Holger Sircoulomb and Joachim Schiffer.Eimbeck told The Namibian earlier that the initiative would raise funds for future court battles and launch a publicity campaign against statements and perceptions of the white farmer as a bad employer and as being unpatriotic.It will operate parallel to the mainly white Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU).Angula said white farmers had done little to assist Government with its resettlement programme.Instead they had pushed up farm prices, he claimed.Government announced two weeks ago that it would expropriate certain farms but did not name them.”It should be clear to them that land should go back to its rightful owners,” Angula said.”They should thank God that they are going to be compensated,” he added.The organisers of the initiative have criticised Nafwu, saying it had seized on “certain instances to agitate workers and mislead the nation”.”I can’t see the logic [of them establishing the organisation].Sigi [Eimbeck] has got a problem.”The organisation, formed to defend the rights of commercial farmers, is headed by Eimbeck, lawyer Holger Sircoulomb and Joachim Schiffer.Eimbeck told The Namibian earlier that the initiative would raise funds for future court battles and launch a publicity campaign against statements and perceptions of the white farmer as a bad employer and as being unpatriotic.It will operate parallel to the mainly white Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU).Angula said white farmers had done little to assist Government with its resettlement programme.Instead they had pushed up farm prices, he claimed.Government announced two weeks ago that it would expropriate certain farms but did not name them.”It should be clear to them that land should go back to its rightful owners,” Angula said.”They should thank God that they are going to be compensated,” he added.The organisers of the initiative have criticised Nafwu, saying it had seized on “certain instances to agitate workers and mislead the nation”.