With no impending elections, no tangible explanation seems clear for the politically motivated violence that is still persisting in Zimbabwe. The post election period has witnessed a sustained attack on known or suspected supporters of the opposition, Movement for Democratic Change by state agents and supporters of the ruling party Zanu PF.
To an even greater extent the attack on commercial farmers and their workers has intensified with incidents of violence and evictions on the increase countrywide. These evictions are illegal and are not being carried out by any government officials, which would perhaps lend the process some level of legitimacy, but are instead being enforced by Zanu PF militia and war veterans.
Farmers and farm workers are evicted from their homes with at times as little as an hours notice. The process has involved high levels of intimidation, property damage and looting. The police have taken no positive action to curb the evictions and have been reported to merely observe evictions as they took place as has been reported of Asst Inspector Mafu, the Officer In Charge at Marondera Rural Police Station.
The situation created for farm workers by these evictions is bleak. Most have worked at their respective farms all their lives and have no alternative rural homes to go to. The are essentially internal refugees with no access to any essential resources, that is, food, water and shelter.
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