Authur Furgurson, was arrested and detained at Beitbridge police station, after he refused to leave a farm owned by his father, Ian, during its hostile take-over by a group of war veterans last Thursday. He had refused to leave without his family and three children.
The Furgusons own two farms a citrus farm and an adjacent 17 500 ha game farm, which are situated 46km from Beitbridge. The farms have an estimated value of R88m. The farmers harassment happened despite a bi-lateral trade agreement with the South African government that properties with South African interests would be protected. Zimbabwe police sources at the border town on Friday evening told The Zimbabwean that they had been told to release Furgurson, while the South African government confirmed on the same day that it had influenced the release.
We engaged our Zimbabwean counterparts immediately, after we heard about the arrest and got assurances that Furguson would be released this (Friday) afternoon, said an official from South Africas Department of International Relations. I have not yet heard the latest about the issue, but I am sure that he has been released by now. I still have to get more details about what really led to his arrest.
A South African pressure group, AfriForum, which has been very vocal about President Robert Mugabes continued harassment of white farmers, gave pressure to the South African government to intervene in the case.
This is good news, said AfriForums Legal representative, Willie Spies. We appealed to the South African government to intervene urgently and the Department got in touch with the Zimbabwean government.
AfriForum was happy with the Departments expeditious intervention. The human rights group is in the process of attaching property belonging to the Zimbabwean government in South Africa, after winning a court interdict to seizure Zimbabwean assets in Cape Town.
Post published in: News