Isn’t it funny how short-sighted some plans are shown to be under the harsh spotlight of time?

I don’t imagine many white farmers in Zimbabwe will be sharing a laugh, but they can at least take satisfaction in the knowledge that Robert Mugabe’s government has realised that their plan for repatriating the land of white farmers may have not been thought through properly.

For the first time the government is pondering giving official permission for a select few farmers to remain on their land. That is, of course, if their farms are deemed to be of ‘strategic economic importance’. Douglas Mombeshora, the Zanu-PF Lands Minister, quoted below in the Telegraph:

“We have asked provinces to give us the names of white farmers they want to remain on farms so that we can give them security of tenure documents to enable them to plan their operations properly,”

In addition, those who benefited from the land grabs will now have to pay a rental fee per acre, perhaps an effort to stimulate action on many farms that have been sitting unused for years whilst the country endures a food shortage. The proceeds from this rental system would then be used to pay compensation to evicted white farmers.

This is quite the turnaround given that Mugabe has consistently shown little regard for the concerns of white farmers across his country:

“Don’t be too kind to white farmers,” Mr Mugabe told supporters at a recent Zanu PF rally. “They can own industries and companies, or stay in apartments in our towns but they cannot own land. They must leave the land to blacks.”

It will all come as scant compensation for the families forced off their land who have moved abroad in search of a better life. It may be a step in the right direction for some, but perhaps many years too late for a large majority.

[source:telegraph]