Post by AndyPost by EunometicThere would be a better way of land redistribution
Dear Andy, the Politically Correct, left wing half Jewish, half Black,
slightly mentally slow, White hater.
The Bantu, the majority of Blacks, are not native to most of Sth
Africa. They immigrated well after Whites had settled. They came to
take advantage of the economy White settlers had created. Before then
It was too cold for them. The small numbers of San are aboriginal but
are as before marginalised.
The "coloureds" were the descendants of the original Europeans in
South Africa. The pig government wouldn't even give them the same
rights as other Europeans.
I don't support the actions of the Zimbabwean authorities- at the end
of the day those accustomed to menial work are going to have problems
with management roles, which is what happened with farms there. And
the white farmers were born there too, so are as deserving of
Zimbabwean citizens rights as the blacks. But local people are going
to have a problem with "alien" populations owning the largest tracts
of the best land. What I was proposing was for the white farmers to
keep control of their own farms whilst the labouring population could
have a share in the direction and profits- a win win situation.
This stupid cow bears some of the responsibility:-
"5 November 1997
From the Secretary of State
Hon Kumbirai Kangai MP
Minister of Agriculture and Land
Dear Minister
George Foulkes has reported to me on the meeting which you and Hon
John Nkomo had with Tony Lloyd and him during your recent visit. I
know that President Mugabe also discussed the land issue with the
Prime Minister briefly during their meeting. It may be helpful if I
record where matters now rest on the issue.
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Tony Blair said that
he looked forward to developing a new basis for relations with
Commonwealth countries founded upon our government's policies, not on
the past.
We will set out our agenda for international development in a White
Paper to be published this week. The central thrust of this will be
the development of partnerships with developing countries which are
committed to eradicate poverty, and have their own proposals for
achieving that which we and other donors can support.
I very much hope that we will be able to develop such a relationship
with Zimbabwe. I understand that you aim shortly to publish your own
policies on economic management and poverty reduction. I hope that we
can discuss them with you and identify areas where we are best able to
help. I mentioned this in my letter on 31 August to Hon Herbert
Murarwa.
I should make it clear that we do not accept that Britain has a
special responsibility to meet the costs of land purchase in Zimbabwe.
We are a new Government from diverse backgrounds without links to
former colonial interests. My own origins are Irish and as you know we
were colonised not colonisers.
We do, however, recognise the very real issues you face over land
reform. We believe that land reform could be an important component of
a Zimbabwean programme designed to eliminate poverty. We would be
prepared to support a programme of land reform that was part of a
poverty eradication strategy but not on any other basis.
I am told Britain provided a package of assistance for resettlement in
the period immediately following independence. This was, I gather,
carefully planned and implemented, and met most of its targets.
Again, I am told there were discussions in 1989 and 1996 to explore
the possibility of further assistance. However that is all in the
past.
If we look to the present, a number of specific issues are unresolved,
including the way in which land would be acquired and compensation
paid - clearly it would not help the poor of Zimbabwe if it was done
in a way which undermined investor confidence.
Other questions that would need to be settled would be to ensure that
the process was completely open and transparent, including the
establishment of a proper land register.
Individual schemes would have to be economically justified to ensure
that the process helped the poor, and for me the most important issue
is that any programme must be planned as part of a programme to
contribute to the goal of eliminating poverty. I would need to
consider detailed proposals on these issues before confirming further
British support for resettlement.
I am sure that a carefully worked out programme of land reform that
was part of a programme of poverty eradication which we could support
would also bring in other donors, whose support would help ensure that
a substantial land resettlement programme such as you clearly desire
could be undertaken successfully. If is [sic] to do so, they too will
need to be involved from the start.
It follows from this that a programme of rapid land acquisition as you
now seem to envisage would be impossible for us to support. I know
that many of Zimbabwe's friends share our concern about the damage
which this might do to Zimbabwe's agricultural output and its
prospects of attracting investment.
I thought it best to be frank about where we are. If you think it
would be helpful, my officials are ready to meet yours to discuss
these issues.
Yours sincerely
Claire Short."