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Farmers, workers flee Hwedza

    JOHANNESBURG

    About 2,000 families had been evicted from 14 commercial farms in Hwedza, southeastern Zimbabwe, by alleged war veterans and ZANU-PF supporters who rampaged through the rich farming community last week, the ‘Daily News’ reported on Friday.

    Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) President Colin Cloete said at least 19 commercial farmers in the area had experienced serious work stoppages following visits from alleged war veterans, while 14 farms were virtually deserted and another five had experienced sporadic work stoppages. According to the report, groups of rowdy war veterans had taken over the farms under the government-sponsored fast-track resettlement programme. “The farmers in Hwedza are negotiating with the local district administrator, the police and the war veterans so that they can be allowed to go back to their farms and continue farming,” he was quoted as saying.

    Isiah Kufa, a worker at Fels Estates, was quoted as saying that a group of so-called war veterans had descended on the farm and evicted all the workers. Kufa had been living on the farm for the past 10 years and said he had no other home.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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