nein51 said:
You're assuming they want to leave. The worst part is that [in large part] the black farmers don't have the resources to run a large scale farm so it's likely all a waste. They aren't even gaining anything.
I really wanted my 15 3/4 yr old to go visit his homeland for graduation but, right now, I'm just not sure that's safe enough to do.
When I got to Zim in 1989, ZANU govt had in inventory over 1.5m acres of farm land purchased under "willing seller - willing buyer" terms but had ceased acquisitions until further notice.
After the first 5-6 years of resettlement, ZANU govt realized it had invested hundreds of millions of ZD to acquire, redevelop, and resettle commercial farms that had generated several million USD a year of agricultural export (Zim's primary export product). I.E. projects for road networks, public schools, electrical service to each village, water supply, etc...... In return, they had created farming entities which were not profitable business entities, essentially over-large gardens for the residents which did not generate enough taxation to cover the cost of social services provided. So they stopped the programme. Did not resume it for over a decade until Mugabe needed something popular to hold onto power. The Shona peoples were a crop/livestock culture, so there was tremendous public appeal for land. In a sense, the whole Zim revolution was about land reform, in that it was what tugged most at the (particularly Shona) heartstrings. Whites owned all the best land title deed, while indige continued to live in communal(largely non-arable) areas.
Not sure the degree to which land reform is an issue in RSA. Doesn't seem to really be what's driving the current violence against farmers.
Even during the war in Zim, violence against farmers was highly selective. As a general rule, the farmers that treated their staff well were left alone. Met lots of farmers who lived way out in the sticks in undefendable areas that never had a problem. My best Rhodie friend lived over 200km from Harare, near a very small mining town with almost no white residents. Most farms were actually ranches. Yet the only guy in the area who got whacked was a notoriously outspoken ******* known for mistreating farm labor. EX: The guy who owned the farm where I shot my leopard lived on the west side of the Great Dyke right up at the northern end. Very exposed to a major infiltration route. If they'd have really wanted him gone, he'd have been an awfully easy target. They kinda had to walk thru around his place routinely. Only issue he ever had was a mine placed in his (1 mile long) driveway. His staff warned him & helped him dig it out.
