Weary farmers throw in the towel

old goods and furniture headed toward towns, as farmers went to stay with friends or relatives or booked into hotels, said the Commercial Farmers Union, which represents most of the country’s white farmers. It was unclear if the exodus involved dozens or hundreds of farmers.
At least two farmers Daniel Nel and Gert Terblanche who attempted to challenge their eviction in a Karoi court last week were simply told that the lower court had no jurisdiction over the case. The two farmers had been arrested for defying government eviction orders. They were told by the district court to pack up and leave or face arrest again, said union officials.
The union did not say how many obeyed the orders to leave by Monday.
The government had issued eviction orders demanding that the remaining 400 white farmers leave their land by October 12 as part of a controversial land redistribution campaign. Around 60 percent of those farmers stayed on past that date – sparking the wave of arrests.
Among those arrested were foreign investors, who have since sought legal recourse through district courts.
Nel and at least 20 other foreign investors were challenging their evictions on the basis that they should be protected under bilateral investment treaties. In Banket and Karoi tobacco and maize district, farmers had been served by eviction notices despite the fact that they were transplanting their tobacco seedlings, said district union official Ben Freeth.
“It is a desperately sad situation. People are loading up their assets to move out. Many have nowhere to go and are looking for places to stay,” Freeth said.
Of 26 white-owned farms in the district, three were still operating Monday, Freeth said. Most of the displaced farmers each owned a single property but were forced off their land despite promises by the government none would be deprived of their only homes or livelihood.
“Ethnic cleansing is exactly what it is. There’s no other term for it,” Freeth said.
State Security minister responsible for Land Reform Didymus Mutasa said the land was being repossessed from white commercial farmers and redistributed to black farmers and peasants to correct colonial era injustices. He blamed the chaos and unrest that has followed on the white farming community.
Farmers’ lawyer David Drury of Gollop and Blank Harare law firm said the eviction orders violate constitutional rights of freedom from racial discrimination and contain technical errors, rendering them invalid.
The current evictions also threaten as many as 230,000 black workers – as well as their families – living on those farms. Another 120,000 workers live on other farms. – – Own correspondent