It has been confirmed that yet another farmer in the Kwekwe area situated in the Midlands is being harassed and intimidated.

Three days ago the mechanic on the farm was beaten on the nose and the perpetrators also attempted to burn him with hot porridge and stuff a dead rat in his mouth.

It seems incredible that these invaders will stoop to such abhorrent behaviour to oust a family that gave up the bulk of their farm, currently working a fraction of the land, and has peacefully co-existed with 53 families who were resettled on the land in 2002.

It is not these families who are at war with the Grove family, it is a local Kwekwe lawyer, Martin Makonese of Makonese and Partners who is heading this new onslaught.

The case has been reported repeatedly to the police, who have not responded. The land dispute is set to be heard in the Bulawayo Supreme Court after Makonese lost his bid to have it heard in the Kwekwe courts.

April closed with the recurrent themes of wanton violence, continued farm invasions and harassment through the courts of MDC MPs, politicians and activists, as well as high profile legal figures and journalists.

Their actions demonstrate that Zanu PF have had no change of heart. Rather, their activities are clearly and increasingly geared towards intimidating, frustrating or otherwise weakening their former opposition and with it, the inclusive government. Their antics in twisting the law to suit their own ends – often with the complicity of the police – indicate that Zanu PF – or the arrogant diehards within the party – are not going to give up their positions of wealth or power without a fight. (more…)

I’m watching the Gideon Gono fiasco feeling faintly repulsed. In ordinary circumstances, his recent letters would have made me cringe on his behalf – but I think I cringed so much last year (when he declared that the World Bank admired him so much they wanted to give him a job) that my skin has forgotten how to crawl where Gono is concerned! I am however struck by how selfish and self-engrossed he is.

Our country is on its knees – millions are suffering and millions are forced to seek employment elsewhere. He is the architect of the country’s economic ruin but his desire to stay in his job supercedes his desire to see ordinary people throughout the country survive and thrive. He is one man – one lowly man in our nation – how can he or anyone else possibly think he takes priority over everyone else? I know he lacks a sense of dignity – clearly revealed in the whining letters seeking to re-write reality on his terms – but his lack of honour is what’s shining through for me at the moment. (more…)

This was sent to us by a Zimbabwean refugee who visited Zimbabwe after years of being a refugee in South Africa.

My trip to Zimbabwe was good except here and there. I went through Botswana. When I left Botswana I found myself that I am in another continent that is run by Mugabe. I had never been in Plumtree so it was my first time to be there. There is no developement that Zanu PF has done in this area.

I came across quite a number of roadblocks. Police are asking for bribes – if you don’t pay them they don’t let you go until you give them something. If you are coming from South Africa or Botswana, they ask you to pay them with soap, sugar, cooking oil or money. If you ask why are you doing this, they will tell that the ‘government has no money and this is how we are surviving’. From Plumtree to Harare I came across more than fifteen roadblocks.

Police in Zimbabwe are no longer the police that I used to know. Whenever you come across them at the roadblocks they make sure that you leave something for them. If you don’t give it willingly to them, you can be searched and if they find you do have stuff, they will take what you got. The treatment from police is very bad. They behave like they are militia of Zanu PF.   Some of these police, they are so young so I suspect that they are Zanu PF militia. (more…)

Via Justice for Agriculture (JAG) email. View “Flagrant violation of the rule of law on Mount Carmel farm” here

Last night [26 April] at 11 pm approximately 15 invaders arrived by vehicle singing and chanting and hurling verbal abuse came around our house on Mount Carmel Farm again wanting us out. Big metal objects were clashed together around the windows and an old ships bell that they had taken from inside my parents-in-laws house was rung.

They broke into the house through different places and burnt tyres – one of the burning tyres being pulled through the front entrance and into the courtyard. I was on the phone to police and they took the phone away. Landmine the leader was armed. (more…)

Forex traders are back on the street because there is a greater demand for the South African Rand at the moment than US$, and Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a shortage of Rands.

Forex traders are buying Rand at the official rate of 8.50 to the $ and selling them for up to R10. Some feel that this has been exacerbated by the Indian Premier League cricket, as South Africa has been flooded with US$. There are two more big sports events coming up in South Africa: the Confederation cup and Lions tour.

Word on the street also is that the Harare Singapore flight is very busy with Chinese traders flying out with the cheap US$ they get from forex traders to buy goods in the Far East. They then sell the goods for Rands which they use to buy US$.

Via SW Radio Africa:

Emailed report from an MDC official
26 May 2009

PASTOR BEREJENA was abducted in a white vehicle

The MDC received a message today that at 4pm on Monday PASTOR BEREJENA was abducted in a white vehicle. No further details available.
Pastor BEREJENA has been a close spiritual friend of the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and has also been a spiritual strength to so many of the victims of policital violence over the past 14 months.

He has been concerned for some time about strange people and vehicles shadowing him. Is it a crime to be a man of God in Zimbabwe today? Have we stooped so low that the legal and Church fraternity cannot do their job???

Please pray for his safety. Please pray that the word of GOD will reach the abductors, through him, and that the abductors will SEE THE LIGHT, that they will see that brutality and torture is NOT THE WAY.

A recent traveller through Beitbridge border post commented that there are some delays on Zimbabwean side, but that he found the South African side to be far worse since the visa restrictions were dropped. There are streams of young adults walking along the road from Musina towards Johannesburg carrying small bags and water bottles.

With the visa restrictions dropped, Zimbabweans can stay in South Africa for 90 days, renew in South Africa for a further 90 days, then leave for a few days and repeat the process. The general view is that  South Africa seems to be  doing all it can to attract cheap Zimbabwean labour. (more…)