By Zivanai Dhewa
The Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa, has corrected one of South Africa’s opposition parties; the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party’s misinformed position on the land question and the history of Zimbabwe, reminding them that they know nothing about the history of Zimbabwe, the Harare Post can report.
Following a press statement by the EFF criticizing President Emmerson Mnangagwa for signing the Global Compensation Deed with former White Commercial Farmers recently in Harare, the Embassy in South Africa said it can no longer remain silent, while the EFF continues to distort the history of Zimbabwe and processes of the Land Reform Program.
“The Embassy has, in the past, restrained itself from responding to the many provocative statements issued by the EFF about Zimbabwe, on this occasion, we cannot remain silent in the face of the EFF’s pretentiousness to know more about the history and politics of Zimbabwe than the Zimbabweans themselves.
“Even more, the EFF has the audacity to dare teach Zimbabweans, even our Head of State, about the land question in our country. Not only did thousands of our compatriots pay the supreme sacrifice for the return of the land to its rightful owners but even today our people suffer the burden of sanctions imposed by those opposed to our land reform programme.
“His Excellency the President has been consistent and firm on the land issue. He has, on countless occasions, reiterated that the land reform is irreversible and that Section 72 of the Constitution is very clear in this regard.
“In his own words, he has been very clear that “we fought for land and there is no way we will retract our position with regards to the land reform,” read the statement.
Setting the record straight on the EFF’s ill-informed claims about the Global Compensation Deed Agreement, the Embassy wrote, “For the record, the provisions of the Global Compensation Deed Agreement signed on 29 July 2020, between the Government of Zimbabwe and representatives of the former commercial farmers fully adhere to the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
“Section 72 which deals with the “Rights of Agricultural Land”, stipulates in paragraph 3 (a) that where agricultural land is compulsorily acquired for the public purpose, no compensation is payable in respect of its acquisition, except for improvements effected on it before its acquisition.
“This is what the signed compensation agreement provides for. The government of Zimbabwe will compensate the former farmers for the improvements on the acquired land ONLY. No more. There is nothing treasonous in upholding one’s own national constitution,” the statement further states
The Embassy strongly rebuked the EFF’s statement that bordered on it trying to re-write the history of Zimbabwe by seriously misrepresenting facts on its statement.
“It is highly mischievous of the EFF to attempt to rewrite history by seeking to distance the legacy of the late Head of State from the 2013 Constitution whose provisions circumscribe the agreement signed on 29 July 2020.
The EFF’s statements on Zimbabwe has now exposed the Zimbabweans living in South African to Xenophobia, as talks of Xenophobic attacks have been circulating in South Africa. On 31 July 2020 South Africans started burning Zimbabwean residents claiming they were sanitizing South Africa of Zimbabweans. While forcing Zimbabweans to go back home and do farming.
