This evening at synagogue I saw Kate. She had returned from her conversion in Maryland. Her father has a farm with oranges. The government wants to confiscate it. They have 150 workers and a school on the farm. There is some law that whites can own less than 150 hectares. They own 120, so they are fighting th eviction.
I could tell the guy saying kaddish tonight was Israeli. After services I talked with Shai and his wife. They are on their 1 1/2 month honeymoon in Africa. They gave me good advice about visiting Vic Falls. They stayed at the place I have booked. They told me to see the river by canoe- a guy padels, I just sit and drink.
I'm not allowed to walk home in the dark. The gentleman who brought me home told me they are also trying to take his farm. I asked about the recent announcement that the govt is inviting farmers back. He said it's rubbish, but may relate to those farmers in Zambia who are growing wheat and maize that Zim now imports. He said there are massive grain silos in Harare that when the whites were farming were always full. Now they are totally empty.
On his farm he had 300 giraffes that he used for photographic safaris. He said they have now all been slaughtered for meat. The govt is desperate for cash.
He is fighting his takeover. He says he wants to be able to give his farm to his black workers. He has cattle. They have hoof and mouth disease now so he cannot sell them. If the takeover could be delayed by a year, the cattle would recover and then he could sell them and take the money. All the machinery would be given to his workers.
He said he had a foundry that he sold for a lot of money. But when the govt converted the currency to dollars, he lost all his savings.
I asked how are things going to get better. He said the black Zimbabweans are the cream of the crop. But right now they are gutless. They are not standing up to the corruption. I said they're scared they could be killed. He said certainly that is the case in this area, where M. massacred 20K people in the 80s. He said it is not just M. The party is corrupt. To get anything done, you need to bribe. He said the land grabs are just showing people that you can get something by not working for it. He actually said that he thought M wife could be good because she can control things. I didn't exactly follow that train of thought. He also said the oppostion- who I thought were the good guys- ordered a large shipment of T-shirts and did not pay for them...now the business is going bankrupt.
He said the NGOs are problematic. Near him, some charity is giving all the children bicycles, but the education system is atrocious. The NGOs want to keep their jobs. Many of them have very nice homes.
When I asked him what the US could do to improve things- he said bring in advisors to teach the people about good goverance and the rule of law. The new constitution means nothing if there is no law enforcement. Then he mentioned that the African society respects the elders- even if the elder is totally corrupt. So, in short, there are many factors and it will take a long time to change things. The man's daughter is in Australia. He and his wife will have residency there. But, he said the move would be hard for him. His family came to Zim 3 generations ago from Lithuania.
I'm so glad I decided to go to services tonight!
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