The Unbearable Whiteness of Being: Farmers� Voices from Zimbabwe

2. No Country for White Men: White Farmers, the Fast-Track Land Reforms and Jambanja, 2000–2004

43 How does a man decide in what order to abandon his life? – Anton Chigurh1 Introduction The increasing hostility of ZANU-PF – which was exacerbated by the rising popularity of the MDC – meant that white farming communities entered the new millennium in a cautious manner. Unsure of how the land issue would develop, many farmers became active participants in the political upheavals around them. Central to this was their lobbying for a ‘No’ vote against ZANU-PF’s constitutional proposals in the referendum of 2000.2 The ruling party saw this defeat as a direct affront to their continued rule and feared the repercussions it would have for the general elections due to be held later that year. ZANU-PF and Mugabe were not prepared to chance another electoral setback, and so began a campaign of violence and terror to ensure victory.3 Much of their hostility was focused on white farmers. In the urban areas there was a massive crackdown on the MDC and other opposition movements. In the countryside, widespread and coordinated land occupations began within a matter of weeks. On 24 February 2000, the first occupations were reported in Masvingo. From there: occupations spread to Mashonaland and Manicaland in the next few weeks, and involved not just veterans but also people from communal areas, chiefs and urban residents. Mashonaland rapidly came to the fore, spurred on by the increasingly prominent and fiery Provincial Governor Border Gezi, and a number of influential veteran leaders, and thereafter this region dominated in terms of numbers of occupations and violence. Matabeleland only later entered the fray.4 No Country for White Men White Farmers, the Fast-Track Land Reforms and Jambanja, 2000–2004 2 44 The Unbearable Whiteness of Being: Farmers’ Voices from Zimbabwe At the forefront of these land occupations were veterans of the liberation war. Under the leadership of Chenjerai Hunzvi and Joseph Chinotimba, vice-chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA), veterans began occupying commercial land across the county. However, as Nelson Marongwe pointed out, it was very rare for the occupiers to consist entirely of war veterans. By his estimates, they constituted only 15-20 per cent of land occupiers and were supported by numerous other populations, such as those from communal lands, rural and urban landless, other ZANU-PF supporters and various opportunists .5 Nevertheless, war veterans became figureheads of the movements onto white land. Many of the occupations were peaceful, but some were highly confrontational and violent. This initial period saw the beginning of what has come to be known, by both farmers and occupiers, as jambanja. 2000–2004: Jambanja The word jambanja, apparently popularised by a chart-topping song ‘Jambanja Pahotera’, about two couples caught in extra-martial affairs, became synonymous with the land occupations.6 With no precise definition , the word was, and still is, used to encompass a range of violent and angry confrontations on the land, which varied in degree, severity and manner. The journalist Tagwirei Bango summarised the spirit of the word in the Daily News newspaper: For new words to get accepted into a language, they must reflect the mood of the time, fill in a vacuum in the standard lexicon and be accepted as an appropriate form of expression. Thus, the word jambanja which became part of our vocabulary in the past two years, helped people to accept their confusion with an executive order directing the police to ignore crimes classified as political. Jambanja means state-sponsored lawlessness. The police are not expected to intervene or arrest anyone in a jambanja scene because those taking part will have prior state blessing and approval. But, only one interest group, war veterans and ZANU(PF) supporters, is allowed to engage in a jambanja.7 From these early jambanjas and land occupations, there was substantial evidence that many were supported and co-ordinated by government and state officials. Jocelyn Alexander and JoAnn McGregor found that many of the war veterans occupying farms ‘consistently maintained that 45 No Country for White Men they had received direction from the national level of their association regarding which farms to occupy’. Government officials supplied lists of farms.8 In addition, army personnel, members of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and police were directly involved in some occupations , while local politicians and their employees were often seen assisting ‘settlers’ to remain on the land with...