Confabulation, Time and the Gathering Storm. I Reach Fifty.

Some clouds but no rain

“Confabulation is a memory error where a person unintentionally creates false memories, often without the intention to deceive.” - AI

When it comes to the years immediately preceding and following the land invasions, 1999 to 2001, I am finding it difficult to recall the chronological sequence of events. Yes, significant events are embedded, but some of those, still significant, their dates are not so.  Consequently, I resorted to referring to some of my old friends for assistance, including Vernon Nicolle, Graham Rae, and Chris Thorne, who, at one time or another, had been on some of my expeditions in search of opportunities in other countries within and outside the region, such as Angola and Tanzania. Other than my trips with Vernon to Australia, most were a little later than I remembered. 

On the subject of confabulation, it can be used to describe small lapses, such as the dates of events, or it can be caused by mental problems. In some instances, as a story is retold, it changes over time and becomes confabulated. As stories are retold, the teller often adds to their content in the telling. Tim Henwood sent me a text earlier this week after I shared a message with him, stating I did not understand the latest PROFCA EXCO communique. The story there has changed regarding the ability to trade bonds, but no mention of this was made, except to inquire if anyone holding bonds had traded them and to what value. In fact, as the service provider in the deal, they were admitting to not being sure who had received the bonds, nor if so, whether they were being traded and at what value. Then it finished with this strange statement: 

“There are ongoing negotiations regarding funding. GoZ’s ability to accelerate farmers’ payments, but we would warn that this could take several years to finalise” - Attributed to PROFCA EXCO

What the hell does that mean? Cash instead of bonds? Ability to redeem the bonds early, if so, at what rate? Such statements, in their ambiguity, create more questions than answers, and at a later date, provide massive opportunities for confabulation.

By 1999, I was now convinced that Mugabe would allow our farms to be confiscated, by force if necessary, for his political survival. In that year, I had many discussions with my peers, many astute businessmen and professionals among them, voicing my fears. The consensus I gathered from them was that the Government would take some farms. Was it paranoia that made me think differently? Unfortunately, my fears were proven right, much to my disappointment.

Having gained an Australian business visa, Australia was an option, if I had to leave Zimbabwe. But I felt my most valuable asset was my knowledge of African agriculture and the opportunities it might afford. For me, Europe was not an option; in fact, it was a dread, given the thought of having to return there to work.

Sally Sandeman, John Legat and Jane Crossman at my fiftieth.

By 1999, I began working with John Knight and Ernst & Young (E & Y) to establish a consultancy that would offer services beyond Zimbabwe, while also scouting for agricultural opportunities. I hope to have this person's name right: Keith Griffiths. I did refer to another friend, Grant Littleford, one of his ex-colleagues at E & Y, for some help in identifying him. Keith was our lead consultant at that time. I spent hours in E & Y offices writing proposals, which I did not really understand, let alone the recipients of my offer of services. Keith, on the other hand, was an old hand at consultancy and had a good understanding of what the client’s needs were. It appears many sought reassurance, not necessarily innovative ideas or solutions. For some reason, models were created from the top down rather than the bottom up, which differed from the approach I used in preparing my cash flow on the farm and the modelling tool created by Chris Thorne for our clients in Zambia, especially the farmers we were to relocate there. I was learning, albeit slowly. There is a lot more to consultancy than knowledge of the subject matter. It should be remembered at this time banks only accepted manually completed cash flows handed in physically; it would take a few years before they accepted electronic cash flows. In fact, when I moved to Zambia, I spent much time with various banks helping them produce cash flows.

One of our first trips was in either 1999 or early 2000 when we were invited to Malawi to look at the restructuring of the management of Press Farming, owned by a sovereign trust created by the late founding President of Malawi, Hastings Banda. For those who do not know, he was a Scottish Presbyterian. Hence, conservative rules applied in that country, such as skirts must reach below the knee and definitely no trousers or jeans to be worn by women. My sister Morag and her husband, Lindsay, lived and worked happily in that country for many years, including part of the time during Banda’s rule—a time they enjoyed greatly, not so much after his death. Like many dreamchild economic projects, Press Farming failed, in fact not once but many times, often being bailed out not just by the Malawian government but also international organisations such as the World Bank. Following our visit and the formulation of a business plan to introduce a new management structure for the farms, led by young Zimbabweans, the initiative ultimately came to nothing. There was no transparency in the review of the consultancy despite us feeling we had a good chance in winning it having seen the alternatives on offer. Any requests on why our plan was rejected were ignored. However, some of our suggested strategies seemed to be used after our presentations. Despite this, this huge farming enterprise eventually collapsed and was broken up. 

“It is the dream of every African politician to be a farmer. In implementing this dream they misuse both power and state funds. Despite this, few if any succeed.” - Peter McSporran

The late Peter Horsman, Lady Daphne Powell, Kevin O'Brien and Sally Bouma at my fiftieth birthday party at Jane Crossman's.

Referring to the time of events, I return to a subject I have discussed before. The speed of time in your old age. Scheduled events come around before you know it. It does create some contradictions. Like my cancer reviews, dates come around really quickly, but the time in the waiting room really drags. The time spent travelling to a fishing trip drags while the time spent fishing flies. Despite this, overall time compresses in old age. Not so, back in 1999, every day brought hope, only to have it destroyed the next day. I was living on an emotional rollercoaster. Nick Swanepoel handed over the helm of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) presidency to Tim Henwood, the duly elected president. Unfortunately, by this time, the wheel of compromise had been put in place. The will to resist was gone; to do so would cause the loss of life we were told.

Furthermore, the farming community was divided, with those on the designation lists advocating for action. In contrast, those not on the lists wanted to remain outside this net, hoping to do so by remaining silent. Some with friends in high places thought they would be protected. How wrong most were in both cases. What a mess. Remember, this is just my view. I do know, however, that there were plenty of outsiders (outside the farming community) who were keen to warn our leaders in the farming world of the dangers of resisting the land invasions, despite our legal rights. One way or another, the removal of Bob Swift had inadvertently eroded our confidence in making choices and further exacerbated a north-south split. Tim’s job was impossible. How can you reconcile so many varied opinions, often driven by self-preservation? For myself, not only was I being contacted by Nick and Bredenkamp, but I was also advised by John Laurie and Alex Matterson to keep my views to myself. I had no views, other than if we did not at least go to the highest courts available, even internationally, all would be lost. We certainly were not in a position to keep our farms by force. I admired both John and Alex, I am sure they thought they were doing the right thing. 

Lee Vermaak chatting to Kate de Pyffer at my party.

One day, one of the few times I visited the CFU in those days, Alex took me aside to sit with me and inform me how futile it would be to go to the courts. He was a defeated man, his role was to work within the law, in his eyes this was broken. We now lived in a lawless state, and he was proven right on that count

Obviously, not only were the farms I owned in jeopardy, but also the companies on whose boards I sat, both public and private. All of them were related to agriculture, and even if they did not farm themselves, they relied on farmers as suppliers or customers. Of great concern for me, as chairman of the board of Blackfordby Agricultural College, was that without the support of the membership of the CFU and the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association it could not continue to exist. Just as importantly if the country did not want commercial farmers, what would the point be in training them? Who would want to be a farmer? Many a concerned discussion took place between Peter Richards, the chairman of the trustees, David Baxter, the director and myself. Once again, time is a problem for me, but I remember on one occasion, Rob Garvin, who had recently joined the college, called me for help in resolving a workers' dispute. This was just another symptom of the times, no doubt in my mind, politically motivated. Rob may remember the date; perhaps it was in 2000 or 2001. I can assure you, time did not stand still in that hectic year.

Wendy Whaley and I with the cake to go with my shirt.

On a lighter note, to many’s surprise, I reached my fiftieth birthday in November of that year. I personally organised a local party at Phil and Lee Vermaak’s lodge on the Gwebi River. This was attended by our local friends and neighbours, with the catering ably carried out by Lee. Unfortunately, I have no photos of this event. For many a bass fishermen, Phil and Lee's lodge on Darwendale Dam was the place to go. I was further spoilt with a second party with town friends and those from further afield, organised by Jane Crossman at Shirley Farm on the other side of the Great Dyke. Having these two parties made me realise that my life was now made up of many parts. My local friends and neighbours, my racegoing friends and business partners and finally a further group of business and professional associates, many made during the time at the CFU. Yes, there was some overlap, but their backgrounds, interests, and entertainment were highly diverse, making it hard to sustain links between them other than through me serving as the conduit. All were my friends, neither greater or lesser to me. As always, within given groups, some will be closer to you than others, and it was no different for me.

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