ZIMBABWE paid an undisclosed amount of money to save a luxury property in Cape Town, South Africa, from going under the harmer yesterday to pay former commercial farmers.
Nqobile Bhebhe Chief Reporter
South Africa’s civil rights group, AfriForum had instructed the sheriff of Cape Town to attach the property located in Kenilworth, but the process was stopped after the government hastily acceded to a punitive cost order on Friday.
Zimbabwe tried to have the process reversed in the High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Constitutional Court, but failed in every instance.
Willie Spies, a legal representative for AfriForum, said the Zimbabwe government move to pay an undisclosed sum was a breakthrough for justice in the region.
“The payment of the punitive cost order is a breakthrough for justice in the region,” he said in a statement . “This is but the first step in our struggle for justice for Zimbabwean farmers. That struggle will continue.”
The move to attach the property followed a ruling by the Sadc Tribunal that described Zimbabwe’s land reform programme was racist and illegal. Judges of the court also stated that Zimbabweans who had their farms expropriated during the chaotic land reform programme had the right to compensation.
