A2 settlers steal a billion Zim dollars at knife point at Mkwasine Estate

By Tererai Karimakwenda
11 August 2006

The violent campaign to remove white farmers still on their properties in the sugar growing lowveld area has gained new momentum. Two weeks ago an A2 settler named Hove forced his way in to the main offices of Mkwasine Estate looking for the manager who happened to be out at the time. Hove and a gang of 8 other settlers then assaulted the estate accountant named Takavarasha instead. According to Chiredzi farmer Gerry Whitehead they held a knife to the accountant’s throat, forced him to open the safe and took Z$1.4 billion saying Hove had not been paid the full price for his sugar cane.
Whitehead said the estate security were ‘prevented’ from assisting Takavarasha. What is even more shocking is that the police who were nearby at the time did nothing to assist. Their excuse was that Hove was only taking what was owed to him.

Whitehead told us when the Estate manager returned and found out what had happened he immediately shut down all the estate’s operations and informed the Provincial Governor that he would not re-open until authorities had dealt with this vicious theft. Apparently the police were forced to act. But they only arrested Hove and not the other 8 settlers. Whitehead said this was the second time that Hove had forced his way into the estate offices with a gang of settlers. The first time they assaulted the estate manager and Hove was served with a restraining order. Instead of charging him with the latest assault and theft, the police are prosecuting him for breaking the last restraining order. Mkwasine Estate opened for business the next day.

A2 settlers in the sugar growing lowveld area of Zimbabwe have been trying to evict all remaining white farmers illegally for years now, using violence with impunity due to their connections to top officials in the ruling party and the police. Most white farmers still in the areas around Chiredzi, Mwenezi and Triangle have lost 75% of their properties to settlers who were given the land by the government and to others who invaded illegally with government approval. They now live in constant fear of assaults by the A2 settlers who do the dirty work for top chefs who want the commercial farms. They are allowed to harass the white farmers who have resisted this violent campaign while a partisan police force idly stands by.

According to a statement released by Whitehead condemning the theft: “Mkwasine Estate subsidizes and assists all settlers black and white in many ways, including helping them to move their cane from Mkwasine to the mills in Chiredzi and Triangle some 50 kilometers away for no charge at all. If the Estate size is reduced anymore it will not be able financially to assist new farmers and this will close down the production of cane in this area completely. Only two white cane farmers from the original ten remain in the Mkwasine area and their holdings have been reduced by 75%, which is not a viable set up now and they have been forced to transport cane for the Estates to be able to survive.” Whitehead said the latest incidents are just two among many that have occurred over the past 6 years. Some have been even more violent.

In a separate incident at Turkey Heart Farm, an A2 beneficiary named Clemence Ranganai recently forced his way onto the property of the internationally renowned wildlife expert Clem Coetzee. He then unloaded his furniture onto the verandah and parked a caravan in front of his gate, teling him much harm would be done if he moved anything. Gerry Whitehead told us Ranganai has been trying to remove the elderly couple from their homestead for years and has already taken over four other homesteads on this property. He has never been prosecuted for his violent efforts because he is a businessman from Masvingo who has bragged about having connections higher up. The situation has remained tense and unresolved for a very long time despite many promises from the powers that be.