> From: Michael Pollak <mpollak at panix.com>
> The farm invasions in Zimbabwe are essentially a political ploy, an
> attempt by Zanu-PF to terrorise and intimidate rural people in the run-up
> to the election. They are not really about land re-distribution at all.
> If the Mugabe Government were serious about giving land to the poor
> peasants it would not have given it to the rich and pwoerful -- of the 3.5
> million hectares the Government has bought from white farmers, over two
> million have gone to Mugabe cronies. Some has gone to the poor, but a
> million more hectares lie vacant and Mugabe could make a start by
> distributing some of those.
I'll have more on this within a few days.
(PLEASE NOTE TWO TELEPHONE # CHANGES BELOW)
Patrick Bond (pbond at wn.apc.org) home: 51 Somerset Road, Kensington 2094 South Africa phone: (2711) 614-8088 work: University of the Witwatersrand Graduate School of Public and Development Management PO Box 601, Wits 2050, South Africa work email: bondp at zeus.mgmt.wits.ac.za NEW work phone: (2711) 717-3917 work fax: (2711) 484-2729 NEW cellphone: (27) 83-633-5548