Is South Africa Set To Follow The Same Route As Zimbabwe?

[Don Rizzle]

S African white farm to be seized
South Africa says it will for the first time force a white farmer to sell his land under a redistribution plan.
The decision was announced by the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, set up to return to black people land lost under apartheid.

An official said talks to agree on a price for the farm had failed and the farmer has vowed to challenge the move.

South Africa's government says it wants to hand over about a third of white-owned farm land by 2014.

The commission on Thursday said an expropriation notice would be served on Hannes Visser, the owner of a cattle and crop farm in North West province.

The government offered to buy the 500-hectare (1,250-acre) farm for $275,000 but Mr Visser said it was worth almost twice as much.

'Too slow'

Mr Visser told the South African news agency Sapa he intended to fight the decision in court.

"Should the courts turn out to be my final recourse, I will go that route," he said.


 Two-thirds of the country... remains in the hands of less than 60,000 people who unfortunately in this case are white farmers
Blessing Mphela
Regional land claims commissioner 

The government argues that Mr Visser's father bought the land from a black farmer through a forced transaction in 1968.

Regional land claims commissioner Blessing Mphela said the seizure was a last resort.

But he added that South Africa must speed up land reform or face chaos.

Eighty per cent of agricultural land is owned by white South Africans, who make up only 10% of the population - the legacy of apartheid laws.

Since coming to power in 1994, the current government has adopted a "willing buyer, willing seller" approach to land redistribution, paying market prices for land that white owners are prepared to sell, and then distributing it to landless blacks.

But Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says the pace of reform should be speeded up - as in neighbouring Zimbabwe, where most white-owned land has been seized by the state.

"There needs to be a bit of oomph. That's why we may need the skills of Zimbabwe to help us," she said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/4273890.stm

If they start copying zimbabwe voilently forcing people from their land it will ruin their country just like in zimbabwe

[Real American]

They are just going to drive all the white people out of South Africa and it will end up a shithole like Zimbabwe.

No white people = big trouble

[J Bananas]

No white people = big trouble

shhhhhh most people cant handle the truth theyll get mad

[J @ M @ L]

No white people = big trouble

Tell that to the indigenous people of "the New World".

[Sikotic™]

Oh dear sweet Jesus, they're taking the white man's land!!! 

What's the world coming to? How unfair.

LOL @ the outrage

[Don Rizzle]

Oh dear sweet Jesus, they're taking the white man's land!!! 

What's the world coming to? How unfair.

LOL @ the outrage

yea i know people who lost most of their family in zimbabwe because of mugabe so don't give me that shit

[Sikotic™]

Hey, my heart and condolensces goes out to those people who lost loved ones.

It's just, I find it funny people make a big deal about this when not so long ago, the native people were getting fucked out of their land. Call me insensitive, but what goes around, comes around.

[BizzyR.I.P.]

white people also went to war with Mexico, Spain, and the English 4 land 

[Real American]

Hey, my heart and condolensces goes out to those people who lost loved ones.

It's just, I find it funny people make a big deal about this when not so long ago, the native people were getting fucked out of their land. Call me insensitive, but what goes around, comes around.

I am assuming you are an American. So if a Native American comes up to your house and knocks on your door and says he wants his land back, are you going to pack up your things and just hand him the keys?

[Sikotic™]

I am assuming you are an American. So if a Native American comes up to your house and knocks on your door and says he wants his land back, are you going to pack up your things and just hand him the keys?

No, of course not, what kind of question is that? You know what though, the Native American would have every right to remove me from my property if the US government backed them.

I'm not even blaming the people for contesting the Commission. I'm not going to BS you, I would do the same thing. In my opinion, its a karma thing and the people who were mistreated are getting what they rightfully deserve at the unfortunate expense of the farmers.

[Don Rizzle]

I understand the need for land reform but there are ways of going about it and following zimbabwe is not one of them, 20 years ago zimbabwe was africas most sucessful country, it had the best education system and a healthy agricultural industry which could feed its people, then mugabe told his black goon squads to occupy the white farms and force them off their land so it could be given back to the blacks. They then put poor innexperienced black farmers on the land, who didn't have the skills or the money to develop it properly and subsequently their havests have dwindled so much so the country is starving, mugabe's solution to that is selling out his country to china.

now south africa is africa's most sucessful country and they have been following the best course for giving their land back to the blacks, but forceful evictions could ruin the country.

[Don Rizzle]

todays zimbabwe.....

No fuel for Zimbabwe ambulances
Ambulances in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, have run out of fuel, along with fire engines, council vehicles, buses and even undertakers' vehicles.
Prison authorities say they cannot transport suspects to court because they have no petrol.

Burst sewer and water pipes are not being repaired because council workers have no transport, said Bulawayo's mayor, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube.

Zimbabwe is experiencing an economic crisis, with a lack of basic goods.

Supermarkets often run out of sugar and the staple food maize meal, while unemployment and inflation are rampant.

Black market

The BBC's Themba Nkosi in Bulawayo says thousands of people are walking to work due to the lack of public transport.

But he says cars can still be seen on the road - because people can buy petrol on the black market.

Government and court officials are also using the black market, he says.

Of the city's 12 ambulances, five had run out of fuel, Mr Ndabeni-Ncube told the South African Press Agency, Sapa.

"The general services of council are not being carried out," said the mayor, who is a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

The MDC accuses President Robert Mugabe of ruining what was one of Africa's most developed economies.

Mr Mugabe says the problems have been caused by a western plot to oust him.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/4274342.stm

Published: 2005/09/23 08:57:54 GMT