AfriForum to take on Zim govt
2010-01-11 22:17
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Johannesburg - The civil rights movement AfriForum will launch an urgent bid at the North Gauteng High Court to cite the Zimbabwean government as a party to a court application against the country.
AfriForum legal representative Willie Spies said on Monday that the purpose was to get permission from the court to send a citation to the Zimbabwean government to declare them as a respondent, in an attempt to enforce the ruling of the SADC Tribunal of 2008 against the country.
"As the respondent is another country, we need permission from the court to send the citation to their government," said Spies.
"This is basically just a first step in the legal process which will give us permission to send a lawyer to them to deliver the court papers," said Spies.
AfriForum intends to get the SADC Tribunal's ruling registered and enforced in South Africa.
Two aspects to ruling
"The SADC Tribunal ruled in November 2008 that the land reform process of President Robert Mugabe is illegal and racist, and ordered that compensation had to be paid to farmers who had already been expropriated, as well as that farmers, who still are on their farms, had to be left in peace," said Spies.
Spies said the ruling had two aspects to it.
The first was that Zimbabwe had to pay the farmers' legal costs and the other was that it had to pay compensation to farmers whose land had been expropriated.
Should the SADC ruling be enforced in South Africa and the Zimbabwean government refused to pay, Spies said it could theoretically mean that Zimbabwe's assets in South Africa could be seized.
"We want South Africa as a member state of SADC to recognise SADC's binding ruling," said Spies.
"This is just the first small step in the legal process."
Farmer facing criminal prosecution
Spies said that since the ruling, farm invaders had continued their actions, assaulting farmer Michael Campbell and chasing him from his farm.
Another farmer, Louis Fick, had also been driven from his farm and was facing criminal prosecution because he did not heed notices to leave his farm immediately.
"The Zimbabwean government meanwhile has stepped up its land-grabbing programme.
Bilateral agreement with Zim govt
The government's spokesperson, Temba Mliswa, yesterday [Sunday] indicated in the Zimbabwean Sunday Mail that his government is committed to driving all white farmers from the country," said Spies.
It had also indicated that it intended using the army to drive the remaining farmers from their farms, said Spies.
While the South African government signed a bilateral agreement with Zimbabwe for the promotion and protection of mutual investments (Bippa), the campaign included the targeting of South African citizens.
"AfriForum has already requested the South African government formally to use its newly obtained bargaining power with Bippa to protect South Africans in Zimbabwe, but the South African government has indicated that Bippa first has to be ratified by the Zimbabwean Parliament before this can happen."
- SAPA