Rhosarian 2019

The Rhosarian 1/19
deliberately did not charge for overhead costs, nor
did we look for any payment for management,
either for myself or for our black managers. We
grew a good crop for them; which gave them a
gross margin of over Z$350 million, which in
2003 was a substantial amount of money. We had
kept our toe in the door, but they had
simultaneously put their foot in and were using
the agreement to play for time. They did not
occupy our house. They bought only a minimal
amount of their own equipment and did no capital
development at all, although that had been required
under their offer letter.
Scene 9
They then reneged on the terms of our
agreement and in September 2003 told us to get
out of the house and off the farm. They gave us 48
hours to pack up both farm houses (our own house
and that of our grandson Nicholas). They refused
to allow me or any of my family onto the farm to
pack up, so my secretary and our two black
managers had to do it all. In the haste a number of
documents were damaged or lost. I was glad that
Wendy was away in Australia and did not have to
go through that traumatic experience. We later
managed to get agreement that we could continue
farming our side of the farm, and I travelled out on
most days from Harare. But we still had the
Section 8 hanging over us, under which we could
still be displaced, invaded or kicked out at any
time.
During those first twelve months the situation
had gradually become more difficult, as the
occupants intruded more and more on to our side
of the farm. They were supposed, under the A2
scheme, either to live on the farm and run it
themselves, or to employ a manager. ...
Labour Legislation
In addition to all these problems, labour
legislation made farmers pay a very substantial
redundancy package to workers who had
previously been permanently employed and who
now had to leave because of the farm take-overs.
This package included items such as outstanding
leave pay, transportation to their homes, and one
month’s pay for every six months worked,
calculated at current wage rates with no ceiling.
People who had worked for us for many years had
LOOKING BACK
October 2019
37
enormous gratuities, far more than they could have
expected, and this was on top of the normal pension
scheme to which we had been contributing for
them for many years. After we made these
redundancy payments we still continued to employ
those workers who wished to stay on, but under a
new contract. ... On some farms the packages were
so crippling that farmers were unable to pay them
even after selling their assets. We had to payout
over Z$75 million in 2003 and 2004, at that time an
enormous amount of money. ...
Failure to Implement
In May 2003, the President appointed a
commission to advise government on land
settlement and to plan the future. In fact, it was
nothing more than a delaying tactic. Headed by Dr
Charles Utete, who, for many years had been the
Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, it had
some good men on it, though I would have preferred
fewer academics and more practitioners. ...
The Utete Commission did a thorough job and
exposed many people who were supposed to have
only one farm but had grabbed up to half a dozen.
They compiled a list of existing farmers who were
prepared to subdivide and co-exist and who were
working as far as possible on the original formula
- one farmer, one farm - within the maximum
hectarage allowed for that Natural Region.
We had two meetings with this task force,
constructive, congenial and forward-looking, and
they quickly realized the deficiencies of our two
occupants.
When they finished their report at the end of
2003, they presented it to the President, who
accepted it. It was put to the Politburo and Central
Committee of ZANU(PF) and eventually to
Parliament, all of whom accepted its
recommendations, though few were implemented.
The Final Blow
By 2004, I was living in Harare, so unsettled
and threatening had the situation become. Then we
were struck another blow, Wendy, my wife of 58
years, died on 20 January 2005. A few days later
the gates to Mount Lothian, the farm were finally
closed. I was warned by the Judge and the Retired
Colonel of violence should I attempt to get back
onto the farm.
(See MSASA MAIL pp 9-11)