Govt will 'bite' white farmers
2007-01-27 14:32
Harare - Zimbabwe's security minister warned white farmers resisting attempts to take over their farms that the government had "teeth and will use them to bite", reported the Herald newspaper on Saturday.
Didymus Mutasa made the remarks on Friday at a former white-owned farm on the outskirts of Harare, where a housing programme for civil servants was launched.
The Zimbabwean government accuses the former owner of the farm of resisting government attempts to acquire it. He is reported to be still trying to farm part of the land.
Mutasa said whites who resisted President Robert Mugabe's land reform programme, launched more than six years ago, "would be dealt with severely", the Herald quoted him as saying.
"Anyone who attempts to stand in the way will not be tolerated. May I warn those who want to derail the land reform that we have teeth and we will use them to bite when the need arises," said Mutasa.
Most of Zimbabwe's more than 4 500 white farmers have lost their farms in the past six years.
Less than 600 are believed to be still on their farms, and they are enduring an anxious period as evictions continue.
Earlier this month, Mutasa warned white farmers that only those who had shown goodwill towards the government would be allowed to keep part of their land.
- SAPA