Guy Watson-Smith on his farm in Zimbabwe before it was seized by land invaders in 2001 [Courtesy of Guy Watson-Smith]
Harare, Zimbabwe – Guy Watson-Smith felt hurt and betrayed when his 5,000-hectare (12,355-acre) farm in Beatrice, in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland East province, was violently invaded by three armed men in the early 2000s.
The then-51-year-old white commercial farmer was not just losing his land; he was leaving behind hundreds of workers and their families, many of whom he had known since childhood.
“We cried,” the 75-year-old told Al Jazeera.
On the morning of September 18, 2001, Watson-Smith, his two farm managers, and his unwelcome visitors sat at a table on the patio.
Watson-Smith’s wife, Vicky, offered them a cup of tea.
But the message was simple: leave or die.
His family was given two hours to pack.
They fled to the capital, Harare, 54km (33.5 miles) away, seeking refuge at his father-in-law’s home in the Avenues, an inner-city suburb.
Watson-Smith’s ordeal was not an isolated incident.
Across the country, war veterans armed with pistols led similar land grabs, together with their children and with assistance from the police’s elite units.