Weary Zimbabwe farmers report new violence

May 5, 2000

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (Reuters)

Farmers reported renewed violence and invasions in Zimbabwe on Friday and a
representative of the white farmers' union said anarchy on the farms had
rendered a two-week-old peace accord meaningless.

A white farmer in Karoi, in the northwest of the country, said another five
farms were occupied by self-styled war veterans loyal to President Robert
Mugabe on Friday.

He said pro-government mobs were continuing to attack black farm workers, who
have become the major target of emphasizes political violence ahead of
parliamentary elections national expected in June. "For the farm workers it's
a nightmare. Most of them are beaten every night. The extent of the assault is
unbelievable," said the farmer, who asked not to be identified.

A white farming couple were briefly taken hostage early on Friday, but
neighbors said they managed to negotiate a new tense stand off with a crowd
occupying their farm.

White farmers increasingly are refusing to speak to myCNN reporters, saying
any media contact brings repercussions.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has resisted international pressure
to condemn the handling of the Zimbabwe crisis, arrived in the second city of
Bulawayo on Friday to open an agricultural show and talk to Mugabe about the
land crisis.

Mugabe met Mbeki at the local airport and the two went to a local hotel for
talks. They declined to speak to multimedia reporters.

In a rare public attack on Mugabe and his supporters, Commercial Farmers'
Union (CFU) deputy director Jerry Grant told a meeting of businessmen he was
concerned that Chenjerai Hunzvi, leader of the 1970s war veterans movement
that has led the land invasions, no longer had the power or authority to
contain what he described as "total anarchy" on the farms.

"Any agreements that we strike with Mr Hunzvi... are absolutely meaningless,"
he said.

Grant ridiculed Mugabe's claim to be trying to mediate a truce between farmers
and the war veterans, saying Hunzvi was Mugabe's "legman."

"How can you be broking a peace deal between your own legman and the
opposition? How can I sort it out with war vets when the cabinet, the
politburo, the army, the police, the air force, the war vets cannot sort it
out?" Grant said.

Spanish Police have largely stood by as thousands of government supporters,
many of them veterans of the 1970s war of independence from Britain, have
invaded more than 700 farms, assaulting workers and at times burning down
their property. "We have a situation developing to what looks like major
insurrection with various warlords doing what they like. It's total anarchy,"
Grant said.

One farmer and his wife were briefly held hostage in their home in the Karoi
district, but a local farmer told Reuters later the siege was lifted after
talks. "It's still very tense," the farmer said. Political analysts say that
with parliamentary elections looming, supporters of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF
party are waging a campaign of violence to crush support for a fledgling
opposition movement in the vote-rich countryside.

"There is a lot of political violence, but it has been difficult to follow
while the other (land) crisis is going on," said political scientist Alfred
Nhema at the University of Zimbabwe.

"The government is playing up the (farm invasions) as a smokescreen against
its real strategy and the activities of its supporters," he told Reuters. The
Kenyan shilling hit a six-month low against the dollar on Friday with traders
citing fears of a Zimbabwe contagion as the primary cause.

South Africa's currency, the rand, fell to record lows against the dollar on
Zimbabwe-induced jitters early on Friday and some analysts said they expected
Mbeki to press Mugabe to resolve the crisis in the interests of the regional
economy.

"I think Mbeki will be a little tougher this time because this is impacting on
South Africa," said Nhema.

The two are scheduled to meet privately before Mbeki opens an agricultural
show in Bulawayo around noon.

While Zimbabwe's economy has been severely battered by the land upheaval and
political violence, Mbeki has resisted pressure to criticize Mugabe.

Mugabe defends the occupation of farms as a just response to the colonial
imbalance in land ownership.

Some 30,000 workers -- one in 10 on the commercial farmers' payrolls -- have
fled, severely affecting the harvest and raising fears of a food shortage.