Farmers union faces split over land issue

Zimbabwe’s embattled white farmers met on Wednesday to discuss land seizures amid indications of a split and the emergence of a government-aligned faction, Reuters reported. The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), which represents 4,500 mainly white farmers, called the conference to discuss how best to respond to President Robert Mugabe’s controversial drive over the past year to seize their land for black resettlement. He has allowed his 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, five of them among 31 mostly opposition supporters killed ahead of parliamentary polls last June. But some farmers believe their problems have been compounded by CFU leaders who appear confrontational. A group has emerged within the CFU recently calling for a “compromise”, saying that court actions and global pressure against Mugabe had only hardened his attitude and were not serving national or farmers’ interests.

Former CFU president Nick Swanepoel, who heads the compromise faction, said the current executive led by Tim Henwood should be sacked because it has become political. “The previous stance of the CFU leadership indicates that a new team is vital to facilitate a negotiated settlement,” Swanepoel said in a series of newspaper advertisements on the eve of the one-day congress. He said white farmers - who had always expressed support for land redistribution but opposed seizures - should accept the government’s target and immediately resettle 20,000 families on 2-5 hectare plots with free tillage, seed and fertiliser.