Farmers file contempt of court charges against govt

Posted on April 1, 2010 | Category: Politics; Business, Sport

http://www.theindependent.co.zw

A GROUP of white commercial farmers who were dispossessed of their land
during the chaotic land reform programme have filed an urgent application
with the Sadc Tribunal against the government for contempt of court. The
commercial farmers want the Sadc Tribunal to grant an enforcement order
urging Sadc leaders to take measures that might include the suspension or
expulsion of Zimbabwe from the regional bloc.

The Sadc Tribunal ruling allowed white farmers, whose farms were acquired by
government for resettlement purposes, to remain on the farms because they
had legal title to them.

Justice Luis Mondlane, the president of the Tribunal, ruled in 2008 that the
white farmers had a clear legal title to their farms and should receive fair
compensation from government for the properties lost during the land reform
programme.

The farmers’ application to the Tribunal comes barely a month after the
Pretoria High Court ruled that the farmers could attach Zimbabwe government
properties in South Africa and have them auctioned to get their
compensation.

The lawyer representing the commercial farmers, Norman Tjombe, said in a
statement released on Wednesday that they will push ahead with the case
until a judgment has been granted in favour of the farmers.

“The case is essentially another contempt application against the Zimbabwe
government and against the High Court of Zimbabwe which refused to register
the Sadc Tribunal judgment on the basis that it was against public policy,”
Tjombe said. “We were also asking for an enforcement order from the Tribunal
that would have urged the Sadc leaders to take measures that might involve
suspension or expulsion of Zimbabwe from Sadc.”

The three white commercial farmers who took the Zimbabwe government to the
Sadc Tribunal are Louis Fick, Mike Campbell and Richard Etheredge.

Last month the Pretoria High Court ruled that the white commercial farmers
have a right to approach courts in South Africa to seek redress over the
land issue.

Four properties belonging to the Zimbabwean government were identified and
were set to be auctioned to recover their money for the land and
developments on the farms acquired during the controversial land reform
programme.

According to reports in the South African media, AfriForum, a civil rights
group that brought the application on behalf of the farmers, the properties
are in Zonnebloem, Wynberg and Kenilworth in Cape Town.

The properties were bought for between R525 000 and R1 million by the
government in 1995. Reports from South Africa said deeds records show that
the properties are registered under the name of the Government of the
Republic of Zimbabwe.

The properties are non-diplomatic and are therefore not protected by any
immunity from legal action. The Pretoria High Court judgment however does
not affect properties that are being used by the Zimbabwean Embassy in South
Africa as they are protected by diplomatic immunity.

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