The newly appointed Deputy Information Minister in Zimbabwe, Bright Matongo, and a group of 15 war veterans have violated a court order and invaded farmland, the first such incident since the March parliamentary elections.
Tom Beattie has had his possessions thrown out of his farmhouse and has been given an ultimatum to completely vacate the land by the weekend.
The Mail & Guardian is in possession of a government notice dated August 31 2004 in which the Administrative Court of Zimbabwe issued a ‘notice of withdrawal†by the minister of lands, agriculture and rural resettlement to interests in ‘Tom Beattie family farmsâ€.
Beattie claims he has already voluntarily allocated a ‘sizeable portion†of his land for resettlement purposes.
‘The new deputy information minister is causing all the trouble here,†Beattie fumed.
‘They don’t have proper letters and I’m wondering why this is happening to me. Matonga doesn’t even belong to this district; he is not even an MP of this area.
‘A lot of land is lying idle, nobody is doing anything on the farms, why can’t they go to the underutilised farms instead of disrupting farming operations here,†he said.
He summoned the police, who temporarily restored order on the farm on Tuesday, but Matonga and the war vets returned the next day and forcibly removed workers from the workshop where they were processing and packaging produce.
Beattie is seeking a high court order to stop the ‘illegal eviction†and to compel the police to remove the war veterans from his Chigwel farm in Chegutu in the prime commercial farmland in Mashonaland west, about 100km outside Harare.
Chigwel estate employs 1 200 labourers and exports, among other things, oranges to the Middle East, Russia and Europe, raking more than $1-million a year.
Beattie, who has been on the property since 1983, donates generously to community projects and has a framed letter from President Robert Mugabe prominently displayed in his office.
‘On behalf of my wife and family, and indeed my own behalf, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to you for a handsome gift of three beasts and two sheep given to us during our wedding ceremony. The gift would certainly constitute part of the founding herd of our family’s future livestock,†the letter reads and is signed off as ‘Yours Sincerely RG Mugabe President of the Republic of Zimbabweâ€.
When the M&G visited the farm this week, several of the farm workers were wearing Zanu-PF T-shirts.
Senzeni Zuze (24) has lived and worked on the property for the past six years. ‘We are not opposed to the land reform programme but what is happening is unfair,†she said. ‘There are a lot of farm around the area that the ministers could have, but we are wondering why they are focusing on this one.
‘We are shocked the land reforms are still continuing, we are sick and tired of violence,†she said.
In September 2002, Matongo was allocated the 607ha Mpandaguta farm in Banket in the same province. The previous owners, Vincent and Monica Shultz had run a successful horticulture business. They exported flowers generating millions in foreign currency. ‘You go to Mpandaguta now, there is nothing on the ground. But he wants to come here and do the same,†Beattie protested. ‘I will take this matter up with the provincial governor Nelson Samkange.â€
Matonga could not be reached for comment.