The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube Sunday News Reporter
MANY resettled farmers on A2 farms in the Matabeleland region have abandoned the land while some have opted to take the illegal route of leasing the land to white farmers or selling it and the forthcoming land audit is keenly awaited as it was expected to expose those under-utilising land. Investigations carried out by this publication revealed that a number of farms in the region had literally been abandoned by their owners, some are under-utilised while in some cases the farms are being leased to white farmers, a move that was condemned by President Mugabe.
One farm in Nyamandlovu that has now been rented out to a white farmer is located 50 kilometres along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway, with farm workers in the area already identifying it using the white farmers name — Ray’s Farm.
The black farmer, a Mr Mpande, is said to be renting out the piece of land to Mr Raymond Smith.
In an interview with Sunday News, Mr Smith confirmed that he was leasing the farm from Mr Mpande saying this was all through a mutual agreement.
“I am renting a section of Mr Mpande’s farm which is the section where there is irrigation. I understand Mr Mpande got this farm years back and I simply came in to rent just a small section of the farm,” said Mr Smith.
A farm manager, who identified himself as Mr Ndlovu, confirmed that the farm was being rented out to Mr Smith, saying they had been working at the farm for just over a year.
“We have been working under Mr Smith for just over a year, we understand he is renting from Mr Mpande,” said Mr Ndlovu.
Another farm that has since turned into a white elephant, with neighbouring farmers alleging that it had since become a breeding ground for pests, is one of the Umguza Irrigation lots owned by Mrs Shandu Gumede, who at one point was the biggest tobacco farmer in the region.
A visit to the farm revealed that there is no activity, the houses within the farm are falling apart while in the fields there is no crop at all, save for a few ailing tobacco plants to suggest that this was once a tobacco farm.
Farmers who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that farmers who are part of the irrigation lots had since lodged a complaint with Government noting that Mrs Gumede’s farm had since become a breeding ground for pests which were affecting their crops.
Mrs Gumede is in the United Kingdom where she says she is seeking medical attention, with workers alleging that she was raising funds to plant a new crop.
In an interview from her United Kingdom base, Mrs Gumede laid the blame on the low prices of tobacco in the country.
“I am currently in the United Kingdom seeking medical help after I broke my leg in an accident in 2009 and they had inserted a piece of metal on my leg but I still could not walk but right now I am much better as I can walk and I am ready to run things at the farm. I expect that I will be back by July.
“Also the price of tobacco was very low and it really affected me. I got very little from that venture but I will continue this season and try again. I have found an investor who has promised to work with me,” she said.
Mrs Gumede said the challenge with farmers was that they were not making an effort to seek private partners who would assist in funding their projects.
“People are afraid to seek investors who can finance their activities, but that is not good. I for one, have found assistance and I have an investor who is helping such that I can even venture into small grains such as sorghum and millet,” she said.
