Aw Shit!!! 2000 - The Year Zimbabwe Gave Up the Rule of Law and Its Reputation as “The Bread Basket Of Africa.”

With the hot, dry, windy weather, wildfires have returned to Portugal. Some 2,400 firefighters have been mobilised today, Thursday. - Picture from the Bombeiros

Just over three weeks ago, as I mentioned earlier, I caught up with some of my old friends to jog my memory about dates surrounding events that took place in the early 2000s. One of these was Chris Thorne, who was of great assistance. He promised to review his archives and get back to me. Knowing him, I knew he would have records kept, certainly much better than my non-existent ones, which leaves me to rely on an ageing memory. We agreed to chat the following weekend, but this did not happen as Chris texted me to say he had been rushed into the hospital with fluid on the lungs and a lung infection. I subsequently spoke with him, and at that stage, he believed his lungs were his primary concern. After all, during the time I have known Chris, he has been a heavy smoker. But, today, the Sunday before posting this blog, on chatting to him, he informed me that he has the dreaded ‘C’ in the form of pancreatic cancer. Aw shit, and shit again! Chris sounded pretty upbeat despite his being diagnosed with advanced cancer and opting out of treatment. He is now at home with his family around him. When living with cancer, it can be a lonely battle, some thoughts you just do not want to share, partly for your own well-being but also to protect your family, as I have previously written, they are the ones that carry the stress and the burden of concern for their loved one, Chris, in this case, has very strong ties with all his kids and Rose, his loyal wife who has stood with him through thick and thin. Those who know Chris will know him first as a family man; he likes nothing better than having his children close by, and importantly, he is also one very tough guy. An excellent and successful farmer, a good but no-nonsense businessman, and for a while, my partner at Agricultural Advisors International in Zambia. In my timelines, I was going to write about some of our experiences from 2001 onwards.  He is someone who should write a book about his life; it has been extraordinary.

Chris Thorne, some sixteen years ago, at my sixtieth. That is not beer, Chris only drank whisky and water.

Chris is a meticulous record keeper and a tech enthusiast. Therefore, unlike many of us who lost our farms, he had the ability and bravery to record the actions of the farm invaders as they beat on his farmhouse doors and windows while he was trapped inside, sometimes for days. For those who have not experienced it, having a large gang of thugs armed with axes and pangas (machetes) threatening to kill you is a very scary experience. His recordings are well worth a watch if you want an idea of what it was like to be jambanjaed (sic). Sorry, I do not know the past tense of jambabja, but it literally means chaos and aptly describes the violence and destruction during the farm invasions, becoming the word used when your farm was invaded. I have known Chris for many years, and he will fight this new battle stoically. With the support of his family, he is not one to call on others for help. Positive thoughts to you, Chris. I will write about our joint adventures at a later date. Knowing him, he will likely remain around for a good while, even without treatment.

“1 in 2 people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime.” -  NHS

I now return to the fateful turn of events that began in 2000, not just on Zimbabwean agriculture but in the country as a whole. It is extremely hard for the vast majority of Zimbabweans to understand, let alone accept, these events. Logic cannot be applied unless one considers them as pure acts of revenge fueled by jealousy over the farmer's success, which was achieved through hard work and prospered in the post-Independence environment despite the many challenges faced. 

“Perhaps Mugabe and his henchmen thought the white farmers would just leave following Independence, as the vast majority did in other colonial African countries post-Independence. Unfortunately for him, hostile rhetoric was not enough and the Zimbabwean whites were and saw themselves as loyal Zimbabweans, not colonials and therefore deserved the right to stay.” - Peter McSporran

While initially it seemed to be a direct attack on white farmers, these actions of state-sponsored terrorism would bring about the economic collapse of Zimbabwe. To enable Mugabe to do what he wanted, he had to break the independence of the judiciary and in doing so, brought about the breakdown of law and order. By the one action of a man desperate to stay in power despite being unable to govern democratically, let alone manage the economy, he destroyed the jewel he inherited, Rhodesia, some twenty years earlier. 

“It would appear that his obvious failures directly opposed to the success of the farmers, only fueled his angst against white commercial farmers.” - Peter McSporran

Mugabe, rather than stopping the invasions, openly promoted them, and from February 2000 onwards, white commercial farmers and their workers' lives became a living hell. In February 2000 alone, approximately 1,500 farms were illegally invaded violently. Every day brought the fear of being included in the jambanja, the loss of your farm, your property, including livestock and farm machinery and worse, beatings, rapes and within a month, even murders. Tim Henwood, the president of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), deplored the invasions and was urgently seeking an audience with the state president. When I spoke to him around that time, his primary concern was for the safety of his CFU members and their workers. It seemed only the president could ensure that, as it was beyond the power of the police or the security forces' leadership. The killings would be recorded, but the majority of beatings went unrecorded, as did many of the rapes and other atrocities. Strong men would openly weep when interviewed on TV, recounting some of the events encountered during their forced eviction. As I say, in many instances, the people who were meant to protect us and record instances of lawbreaking would only stand by and watch an incident in progress, or at worst, join in or abet the criminals in their actions. The workers' only crime was that they were employed by farmers. They too saw their houses and worldly goods destroyed, often by fire, while suffering severe beatings. 

Some of the thugs who invaded our farms. Picture credit unknown.

As it was, my farms in February 2000 had not appeared on the designation lists, but by then I was sure that it was just a matter of time before their notice of designation would appear in the Friday newspaper. The Zimbabwe Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) was now in full swing. Despite this, some farmers believed they would be spared. In early March, I had some friends over for Sunday lunch to discuss the situation and explore any options we might have to counter the events. Included were two of my late friends, Ian Gordon and Strath Brown, two very influential men. Previously, Ian had the ear of the president through Mugabe’s late wife, Sally, as did John Laurie through their charity work. I think those connections were lost with the arrival of Grace, Mugabe’s second wife, a very uncharitable lady. Strangely, many of our locals referred to Ian’s farm, Hilbre, as Mugabe’s Farm. Indeed, there was a connection there through John Bredenkamp, Ian’s past employer at Cassallee and rumoured sponsor. Despite this, Ian was later to abandon his farm. Who will be able to know the truth now? It certainly did not save him from the farm invasions.

"If nothing else works in Zimbabwe, the rumour mill has always been vibrant and continues to flourish."- Peter McSporran

Whatever, both were driven men building impressive farming empires. Ian, in particular, through his export horticultural production and export business, employed thousands of Zimbabwean men and women, while his good wife Carol employed many women in her bespoke embroidery business. They are all past. To this day, I remember what was said so well. Strath Brown, while sitting on my lawn, said, “Do not worry, this will blow over, and we will be sitting here next year wondering what all the fuss was about.”  Ian agreed. My view was contrary; I did not have the same optimism, and unfortunately, my pessimism was to be proven right. We all had our farms taken.

Ian and Carol moved to Australia, only being allowed to return to Hilbre for Ian's final years, suffering from Parkinson's. I just read this past week that Carol is being hassled again, no peace, no matter your connections, it seems. Strath continued to run his non-farming operations until their death, two men who made significant contributions to Zimbabwean agriculture.

During the early days of the FTLRP, I spoke to as many people of influence as I could, both black and white, but all seemed to come to the same conclusion: Mugabe was the problem and his true colours had emerged as his reputation regarding democracy diminished, especially so since Nelson Mandela had replaced him as the leading statesman in Africa. He had now reverted to his true colours, a racist, self-proclaimed pseudo communist.

“Mugabe’s ire at the British for withholding funds, Blair’s intransigence on the issue, his obvious loss of popularity with the people and his fear of the war vets drove him to condone the illogical action of farm invasions.” - Peter McSporran≈

√As farmers were kicked off their farms, their property stolen, and even worse, destroyed in wanton vandalism, it was obvious the president was openly promoting these actions and verbally supporting the thugs loosely given the name ‘War Vets.’ Most who took part in these initial actions were the street kids and unemployed from the cities, malcontents looking for an illegal dollar or pillage.

‘Mugabe encouraged the illegal occupation of white-owned farms even after High Court rulings ordering the so-called war veterans, many of whom are too young to have fought in the war, to leave.’ - Time Magazine.

The verification of the facts of this last sentence was put succinctly to me by my friend, the late Joe Whaley, “These war veterans must have been in the Zimbabwean navy, as they were still ‘semen’ during the war of independence.”

Not only did agricultural production fall below self-sufficiency, but the economy also plummeted. In less than a year, we went from net exporter to net importer of agricultural commodities. From bread basket to empty pantry.

Disclaimer: Copyright Peter McSporran. The content in this blog represents my personal views and does not reflect corporate entities.