" We tried to, treated it [land invasions], mostly, from the humanitarian perspective on the impact of farm workers, the impact of famers, you know, farmers being driven out of the country, farmers being killed etcetera. I mean, look, there were not a lot of white farmers being killed and a lot of people had drawn comparison in this country [South Africa] where there have been something like 3 500 farmers, white farmers killed since 1994 versus how many Zimbabwean white farmers, like ten or twelve or something , maybe as many as that. So from the perspective of violence and murder, it wasn't such a big story but it was politically, as we believed that it was part of a strategy to remain in power and also it reflected here [South Africa]obviously because people, a lot of people, our readers included said this is what is going to happen in South Africa. Down the line, are we going to see farm invasions here sanctified by the government? We heard the minister of lands just the other day basically warning, as some of his predecessors have also warned, that if white farmers here do not put more effort into distributing their land to black farmers, then we are going to have a Zimbabwe here and it would be worse" Peter Fabricious, foreign desk editor, Independent Media Group.
Julius Malema was quoted in the Daily Nation Thursday April 2010 in an article titled "ANC youth leader will not be silenced" advocating for Zimbabwe style land invasions. The nation online reported that "The firebrand youth leader of South Africa's ruling party made clear on Thursday he will not be silenced, demanding Zimbabwe-style land seizures from white farmers and vowing to keep singing a controversial song Kill the Boer." Malema was speaking after his return from a visit to Zimbabwe, where he met President Robert Mugabe and hailed the seizure of white-owned farms to give to landless blacks as a success that South Africa should emulate."We are in a serious economic struggle that seeks to redistribute the wealth to the people. This is what we need the ANC to champion." Malema, who has no direct influence over party policy, also champions mine nationalization. He argues that "Land reform in Zimbabwe has been very successful" and called for South Africa's reforms to be "aggressive" and "militant" but he was not calling for violence.
The fears expressed about the Zimbabwe style land invasions are therefore real but far much complex. This is due to the fact that the land invasions in Zimbabwe are actually a symptom of decaying democracy, characterized by corruption, lack of accountability and proper leadership. This is manifested through unfair democratic practices during elections such as violence and intimidation coupled by a culture of vote rigging. In a sense, all this factors dovetailed to what has now been commonly referred to as economic collapse - the South African economic-ruling-class fear that the economic challenges in Zimbabwe will spill-over to South Africa.
I argue that economic collapse in Zimbabwe is, partly, driven by the political uncertainty characterized by the lack of strong democratic institutions of governance such as an independent electoral body, judiciary and legislature to guarantee free and fair elections. In contrast, these systems are well established in South Africa and it would be interesting to see how South Africa would deal with situations like land invasions were they to erupt. On the other hand, what currently constitute the institutions in Zimbabwe are colonial apparatuses inherited from Ian Smith’s government that protected white minority interests.
With no proper institutions of governance in Zimbabwe, then the potency for political instability, often witness before and after elections, creates low investor confidence. However, I would like to indicate that economic instability or economic downturn is not necessarily created by the ZANU-PF regime, as the selected South African press that I analyzed in my study seems to suggest, but certainly enhanced through the chaotic nature of electoral campaigns. The chaos led to poor policies on land reforms where land is utilized as a tool to win political support. This has cultivated sporadic land conflicts between white commercial farmers and black settlers often viewed as war veterans and the ZANU-PF youth Brigade.
Poor land redistribution programs and policies are often blamed for sporadic land conflicts, especially during elections, that they have precariously dominated land restitution discourses in that country, especially, among the political and economic class in South Africa. It is important that such discourses be scrutinized to formulate a way forward for equitable land restitution in Zimbabwe and to address the benign national question of redistributive justice for posterity.
It is clear that land is a source of wealth based on how it is utilized and therefore, there is a direct relationship between land utility and economic growth. It is quite unclear on how the South African economy can be, potentially, greatly damaged by pockets of land conflicts, especially, amongst white and black farmers due to the fact that the country's economy is basically technological and industry driven as opposed to Zimbabwe's - where investments heavily relied on raw material and semi-finished production. However, politics should show sober leadership by addressing land issues in a manner not likely to harm the economic gains and the democracy that South Africa has realized so far.
Regarding the situation in Zimbabwe, there are several issues that accounted for the economic free fall. Apart from the legacy of colonially inherited debts , failed Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (neo-liberal macro - economic policy shift), some of which south Africa is still experimenting on - like the willing-seller willing-buyer principle of land redistribution that 'failed' in Zimbabwe - unbudgeted government decision to intervene in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the payment of war veterans, the nature of elections in Zimbabwe is, thus, partly responsible for the 'economic collapse'.
The representation of the economic situation in Zimbabwe by the South African press suggests that Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and Mugabe are the key architect of economic problems in that country. Election politics are presumed to have led to severe food shortages and high inflation, where in some instances, food has been used as a political weapon for votes while operations such as Murambatsvina, have been unleashed destroying the economic livelihood of many urban settlers. These events coupled by the cholera epidemic are said to have negatively impacted on the economy.
The representation of the economic situation by the selected South African press, therefore, suggests that for Zimbabwe to recover economically, then ‘Mugabe must go’. The MDC, on the other hand, is represented as the new ‘Moses’ who will take Zimbabwe to the ‘Promised Land’ economically. The assumption is that a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) victory will resurrect investor confidence given its backing by the donor community.
However, I argue that economic recovery and development is not achieved by creating debt dependent nations. In fact, the land question, which is at the center of electoral violence and economic turmoil, should be equitably addressed by all parties committed to ensure a political, economic and socially sound Zimbabwe. This equally applies to South Africa. Although the economic situation in Zimbabwe is more complex than the superficial manner in which the selected South African press represents it, it sheds light into how bad politics can destroy a nation and acts as a strong warning to South Africa - these are the fears expressed by the AB press that I studied in my doctoral research. The newspapers studied were: The Sunday Independent, The Sunday Times and The Mail & Guardian
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