South Africa’s High Commissioner to Zimbabwe was on Thursday barricaded into a former white-owned farm by angry black settlers, state television reported.
The television said the incident occurred when High Commissioner Jeremiah Ndou visited a farm in Mashonaland West, northern Zimbabwe with a television crew from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
Ndou was later allowed to leave the farm, formerly owned by a white South African, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) reported.
South Africa is one of Zimbabwe’s closest allies and has maintained a policy of quiet diplomacy towards its northern neighbour. It has not criticised Zimbabwe’s controversial three-year-old land reform programme.
ZBC said the settlers on the farm were wary of the South African television crew because ”there had been a number of stage-managed situations in Mashonaland West aimed at portraying lawlessness in Zimbabwe.”
A member of the SABC crew accompanying Ndou refused to comment late on Thursday.
Ndou was later summoned to Zimbabwe’s ministry of foreign affairs ”where it was discovered that he had not been given clearance to visit the area,” ZBC said. He was supposed to attend a meeting with the new farmers and the former owner.
The Zimbabwe government embarked on a fast track land redistribution programme in 2000, which has seen thousands of white-owned farms seized for redistribution to new black farmers. – Sapa-AFP