Zimbabwe farmers urge land talks

Mugabe has defied court orders to evict war veterans from white-owned farms

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe's white farmers are demanding talks with the government over President Robert Mugabe's land seizure programme.

The call followed indications of a split among the farmers over how to respond to Mugabe's drive to seize their land for black resettlement, which has plunged Zimbabwe into crisis.

The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), which represents 4,500 mainly white farmers, ended a closed-door meeting saying it had new proposals to discuss with the government.

A statement issued after Wednesday's meeting said the union's members "reconfirmed their absolute commitment to urgent dialogue with the government, without pre-conditions, and to assisting in the successful, orderly implementation of land reform."

Mugabe plans to confiscate five million hectares (11 million acres) of the 12 million hectares held by Zimbabwe's white farmers and has earmarked more than 3,400 farms for redistribution to blacks.

The president says white farmers have 70 percent of the best land and should receive compensation only for improvements, not for the land.

He has allowed supporters led by self-styled veterans of the 1970s independence war to occupy hundreds of white farms since February 2000 and has defied court orders to evict them.

Seven farmers have been killed in violence associated with the invasions.

Call for pressure on Mugabe

The CFU statement said it had endorsed new proposals that reflected "progressive thinking and which the consultative team would wish to discuss with government."

It said it had asked former president Nick Swanepoel, who heads a relatively pro-government group within the union, to work with a special team to facilitate dialogue with the government.

Swanepoel's group has called for compromise in the dispute, saying court actions and global pressure on Mugabe have hardened his attitude and are not serving national or farmers' interests.

They say the CFU executive led by Tim Henwood has become political and must be sacked to facilitate a negotiated settlement.

Swanepoel has argued that white farmers, who say they support land redistribution but oppose seizures, must accept the government's target and immediately resettle 20,000 families on plots of between two and five hectares with free tillage, seed and fertiliser.

They must also drop all legal challenges against the government to allow Zimbabwe to approach donors including Britain and the United States to unblock aid for compensation for the farmers and to help reverse Zimbabwe's economic crisis, Swanepoel said.

In a related development, Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge said on Wednesday that Zimbabwe and Britain must talk over the land issue which has strained their relations.

"We have a problem between the two of us over the land question. The problem will not be solved until we start to talk...," he told Commonwealth and Southern African foreign diplomats in Harare.

But Mudenge reiterated that the government would not allow the Commonwealth to send a team to Zimbabwe for talks on the government's crackdown on dissent and failure to halt the farm invasions.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Zimbabwe rejects Commonwealth move
March 21, 2001
Farmers split in Zimbabwe land row
March 20, 2001

Commercial Farmers' Union
Zimbabwe Government
Land Issue in Zimbabwe

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