Zim assets in SA face seizure over land ruling

By Alex Bell
08 March 2010

Four properties in South Africa that belong to Zimbabwe’s government could be sold to compensate farmers, who have lost land as a result of Robert Mugabe’s chaotic land ‘reform’ campaign.

South African civil rights group AfriForum is expected to announce the details of civil proceedings to be taken to ‘attach’ the Zimbabwe government-owned properties, in seeking compensation for the farmers. This follows a landmark decision by the High Court in Pretoria to enforce a regional ruling declaring Mugabe’s land grab campaign ‘unlawful’, the same ruling that has been dismissed in Zimbabwe.
Judge Garth Rabie ruled in favour of the South African commercial farmers who have been victims of Mugabe’s land grab campaign in Zimbabwe. The farmers had approached AfriForum to help them have enforced the 2008 ruling made by the human rights court of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The same ruling, which said that land ‘reform’ was unlawful, has been openly ignored by Zimbabwe, which by law is meant to adhere to the Tribunal as a SADC member state.

Justice Barack Patel last month also dismissed the SADC Tribunal ruling, refusing to register it in Zimbabwe. Justice Patel said the regional Tribunal’s ruling would have no effect in Zimbabwe because of the political upheaval that reversing 10 years of land seizures would cause. He added that enforcing the Tribunal’s ruling would be against Zimbabwe’s domestic laws and agrarian policies, noting that ‘the greater public good must prevail.’

The Pretoria High Court however ruled that the Tribunal’s findings would be registered in South Africa and that an order to pay costs of an estimated R160 000 was enforceable in South Africa. AfriForum has since identified four properties owned by the Zimbabwe government in Cape Town, which were bought for between R525000 and R1-million, 15 years ago.