NORTON - War Veterans at Nyadgore farm have been accused of exploiting former labourers by using them at their farms and paying them slave wages. Over a hundred farm labourers are still at the farm whose previous owner was chased by war veterans in 2000. “We do not have anywhere else to go as most of us are from foreign countries and do not have the money to take us home. The rest of us were born in Zimbabwe and yet we do not have anywhere we can call home apart from this farm,” said Takesure Sixpence.
With nowhere else to go the farm labourers have been left at the mercy of the war veterans who are now their masters. “We are given US$10.00 for our labour per acre and it is very little since we have to share it amongst at least five other people. We are actually living on the grace of God and our children have dropped out of school. The previous owner had a truck that took children to a nearby school at Kent but with his departure our lives have been wrecked with no future for our children,” said another farm labourer, Rebecca Banda.
Since the land reform began the new farmers have not been paying farm labourers well and they have used their political muscle to cow the workers. They have made the lives of farm labourers worse than it was before the land reform when the white land owners catered for the needs of the labourers, said Tapiwa Zivira a GAPWZU spokesperson.
According to the farm labourers, none of them ever benefited from Mugabes land reform which was ostensibly meant to give land to the landless blacks. “I do not know of anyone who benefited from the land reform among us and we cannot have our own fields save for those on our yards. The previous owner used to give us groceries but with him gone we have been left with nothing but these walls,” said Florence Million.
Post published in: News