Zim farmers want to go on farming

“I HAVE lost all my three farms I bought since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, the last one two months ago, all highly productive farms,” says Deon Theron.

His voice falters, his strikingly blue eyes fill with tears, and the elderly man sitting next to him, Zach Freeth, puts his hand on Theron’s shoulder. Theron swallows, collects himself and continues.”We, the white farmers in Zimbabwe, are not against land reform, but it should be done according to the law and the change of ownership should not result in loss of productivity.Over 200 more farmers are facing eviction.”We don’t even get compensation.”The scene is a Windhoek law office where a press conference was held on Friday afternoon by a group of Zimbabwean farmers who attended a two-day session of the SADC Tribunal in Windhoek last week.A judgement in this landmark case, in which the farmers argue that farm evictions in Zimbabwe are unconstitutional and smacked of racial discrimination, is expected within a few weeks.Only about 400 farmers are left of Zimbabwe’s once 4 000-strong white farming community before the country embarked on its ‘fast-track’ land reform ten years ago.Zach Freeth, a retired British army colonel who spent two years in Zimbabwe straight after independence to train that country’s top defence force officers, never dreamt that his 38-year-old son, sitting next to Theron, would end up in a wheelchair.The soles of Freeth Junior’s feet were severely beaten by so-called Zimbabwean war veterans three weeks ago.He also suffered a 12-centimetre skull fracture and underwent brain surgery last week to remove a blood clot.Ben Freeth’s right eye is still bloodshot and bruises on his face are a grim reminder of the dreadful nine-hour ordeal, when he and his in-laws, 76-year-old Michael and 66-year-old Angela Campbell, were abducted from the family farm Mount Carmel near Chegutu, 100 km west of Harare.They were beaten, assaulted and forced to sign a piece of paper declaring that they would withdraw the court case at the regional tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).Freeth senior and his wife flew to Harare after their son was assaulted so badly that he can only walk a few steps at a time and will have to rely on a wheelchair for months to come.”We prayed during this ordeal, not for us, but for those who assaulted us,” Ben Freeth says quietly.”We thought we would die that night, there was a feeling of peace in me, no hatred for our assaulters, that can only come from God, humans usually do not act like that,” he adds.TESTING LEGALITY OF FARM SEIZURES Six years ago, as a regional official for the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union, Freeth told its annual general meeting that the accelerated land reform required a legal opinion, after over 1 400 farms were listed in a newspaper as being expropriated by the government in one go.At the same meeting, he quoted from the Bible’s Book of Deuteronomy, that a nation that does not regard God and does not maintain law and order would be destroyed.Unfortunately for Freeth, several Zimbabwean cabinet ministers attended the 2002 AGM and told its leadership: “That man must go.”Freeth was suspended without pay with immediate effect.His father-in-law, Michael Campbell, appealed to the Zimbabwean Supreme Court to keep their farm, but was turned down.In 2005, the SADC Tribunal was constituted.Campbell’s lawyers brought the case before the tribunal and the first hearing took place last December, granting himself, his family, his farmworkers and their families interim protection, ordering the Zimbabwe government not to interfere with their lives and farm activities until a final ruling was made.ORDER IGNORED In March this year, 77 more Zimbabwean farmers joined the Campbell case and the SADC tribunal gave them a similar protection order.This order was breached on Sunday afternoon, June 29 2008, when thugs calling themselves war veterans arrived on the farm, looting the Campbell farmhouse and abducting the couple in their own vehicle.Also abducted was son-in-law Ben Freeth, who drove from his house 1,5 km away to try and rescue them.Freeth’s wife, Laura, and their three children escaped through a window of the young family’s house and drove off through another farm gate, where the looters did not put up a ‘roadblock.’ “Amazingly, two of the main culprits have now been arrested,” Freeth said on Friday.On his left sat Richard Etheredge, 72 years old, of Stockdale Farm and neighbour of the Campbell and Freeth families.”We produce 500 000 cartons of oranges and kumquats for export annually; we have the most sophisticated equipment for citrus farming in southern Africa.Yet on June 15 2008 one of my twin sons phones me and says the war veterans have arrived,” Etheredge told reporters during Friday’s three-hour session.”We are only a few kilometres away from the police station, but we got no assistance.The looters stripped the three fully equipped houses of all their furniture, smashed all doors, all door and window frames, took 15 fridges and deep freezers along, some of which we later found buried in the soil, everything worth together about 980 000 American dollars (N$8 million),” the old man says.”A Denis Shepherd [painting by a famous wildlife painter] was smashed with an axe, so were my other paintings in the main house,” Etheredge continues.”Family photos collected over a hundred years, historic family documents, my prized collection of guns, everything gone.”His voice breaks, the old man sobs a few moments, but he is determined to tell his story.”They looted for 12 days and the police did nothing, my own workers were forced to loot our possessions, also large sums of cash were taken, we had the wages for the workers in the three safes,” Etheredge continues.He had to appear in the district court the day the ransacking started and was charged with trespassing.His ‘crime’ – continuing to live on his own farm, which was earmarked for a government senator.”Can you believe that? We produce for export only and bring foreign exchange to Zimbabwe, we have 25 permanent employees and 500 temporary ones from nearby Chegutu and now this…” His voice cracks again; he weeps.A few moments later, he has regained his composure.”We have started production again, harvesting the citrus trees and we might still export 140 000 cartons.We just want to go on with our lives and farm,” he ends his tale.Theron, Freeth and Etheredge are also very concerned about their farmworkers, who must attend ‘re-education’ meetings held by the ruling Zanu-PF leaders.There they are beaten and must sing party songs and slogans all through the night.”They sometimes must beat each other up with sticks,” the three men tell reporters.”If we, the farm owners, must go, they know it is night for them as well.”This year alone, over 40 000 Zimbabwean farmworkers and their families were left homeless and without income after their employers – commercial farmers – were forced off their farms.Theron swallows, collects himself and continues.”We, the white farmers in Zimbabwe, are not against land reform, but it should be done according to the law and the change of ownership should not result in loss of productivity.Over 200 more farmers are facing eviction.”We don’t even get compensation.”The scene is a Windhoek law office where a press conference was held on Friday afternoon by a group of Zimbabwean farmers who attended a two-day session of the SADC Tribunal in Windhoek last week.A judgement in this landmark case, in which the farmers argue that farm evictions in Zimbabwe are unconstitutional and smacked of racial discrimination, is expected within a few weeks.Only about 400 farmers are left of Zimbabwe’s once 4 000-strong white farming community before the country embarked on its ‘fast-track’ land reform ten years ago.Zach Freeth, a retired British army colonel who spent two years in Zimbabwe straight after independence to train that country’s top defence force officers, never dreamt that his 38-year-old son, sitting next to Theron, would end up in a wheelchair.The soles of Freeth Junior’s feet were severely beaten by so-called Zimbabwean war veterans three weeks ago.He also suffered a 12-centimetre skull fracture and underwent brain surgery last week to remove a blood clot.Ben Freeth’s right eye is still bloodshot and bruises on his face are a grim reminder of the dreadful nine-hour ordeal, when he and his in-laws, 76-year-old Michael and 66-year-old Angela Campbell, were abducted from the family farm Mount Carmel near Chegutu, 100 km west of Harare.They were beaten, assaulted and forced to sign a piece of paper declaring that they would withdraw the court case at the regional tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).Freeth senior and his wife flew to Harare after their son was assaulted so badly that he can only walk a few steps at a time and will have to rely on a wheelchair for months to come.”We prayed during this ordeal, not for us, but for those who assaulted us,” Ben Freeth says quietly.”We thought we would die that night, there was a feeling of peace in me, no hatred for our assaulters, that can only come from God, humans usually do not act like that,” he adds. TESTING LEGALITY OF FARM SEIZURES Six years ago, as a regional official for the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union, Freeth told its annual general meeting that the accelerated land reform required a legal opinion, after over 1 400 farms were listed in a newspaper as being expropriated by the government in one go.At the same meeting, he quoted from the Bible’s Book of Deuteronomy, that a nation that does not regard God and does not maintain law and order would be destroyed.Unfortunately for Freeth, several Zimbabwean cabinet ministers attended the 2002 AGM and told its leadership: “That man must go.”Freeth was suspended without pay with immediate effect.His father-in-law, Michael Campbell, appealed to the Zimbabwean Supreme Court to keep their farm, but was turned down.In 2005, the SADC Tribunal was constituted.Campbell’s lawyers brought the case before the tribunal and the first hearing took place last December, granting himself, his family, his farmworkers and their families interim protection, ordering the Zimbabwe government not to interfere with their lives and farm activities until a final ruling was made.ORDER IGNORED In March this year, 77 more Zimbabwean farmers joined the Campbell case and the SADC tribunal gave them a similar protection order.This order was breached on Sunday afternoon, June 29 2008, when thugs calling themselves war veterans arrived on the farm, looting the Campbell farmhouse and abducting the couple in their own vehicle.Also abducted was son-in-law Ben Freeth, who drove from his house 1,5 km away to try and rescue them.Freeth’s wife, Laura, and their three children escaped through a window of the young family’s house and drove off through another farm gate, where the looters did not put up a ‘roadblock.’ “Amazingly, two of the main culprits have now been arrested,” Freeth said on Friday.On his left sat Richard Etheredge, 72 years old, of Stockdale Farm and neighbour of the Campbell and Freeth families.”We produce 500 000 cartons of oranges and kumquats for export annually; we have the most sophisticated equipment for citrus farming in southern Africa.Yet on June 15 2008 one of my twin sons phones me and says the war veterans have arrived,” Etheredge told reporters during Friday’s three-hour session.”We are only a few kilometres away from the police station, but we got no assistance.The looters stripped the three fully equipped houses of all their furniture, smashed all doors, all door and window frames, took 15 fridges and deep freezers along, some of which we later found buried in the soil, everything worth together about 980 000 American dollars (N$8 million),” the old man says.”A Denis Shepherd [painting by a famous wildlife painter] was smashed with an axe, so were my other paintings in the main house,” Etheredge continues.”Family photos collected over a hundred years, historic family documents, my prized collection of guns, everything gone.”His voice breaks, the old man sobs a few moments, but he is determined to tell his story.”They looted for 12 days and the police did nothing, my own workers were forced to loot our possessions, also large sums of cash were taken, we had the wages for the workers in the three safes,” Etheredge continues.He had to appear in the district court the day the ransacking started and was charged with trespassing.His ‘crime’ – continuing to live on his own farm, which was earmarked for a government senator.”Can you believe that? We produce for export only and bring foreign exchange to Zimbabwe, we have 25 permanent employees and 500 temporary ones from nearby Chegutu and now this…” His voice cracks again; he weeps.A few moments later, he has regained his composure.”We have started production again, harvesting the citrus trees and we might still export 140 000 cartons.We just want to go on with our lives and farm,” he ends his tale.Theron, Freeth and Etheredge are also very concerned about their farmworkers, who must attend ‘re-education’ meetings held by the ruling Zanu-PF leaders.There they are beaten and must sing party songs and slogans all through the night.”They sometimes must beat each other up with sticks,” the three men tell reporters.”If we, the farm owners, must go, they know it is night for them as well.”This year alone, over 40 000 Zimbabwean farmworkers and their families were left homeless and without income after their employers – commercial farmers – were forced off their farms.