Langt størsteparten af de kommercielle storfarme, ejet af hvide, er i forvejen beslaglagt i det sydafrikanske land – også erhvervslivet skal nu helt overtages af det store sorte flertal, tordner Robert Mugabe op til næste valg.
Ian Smith was prime minister from 1964 until 1979 in Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known, when ithe white minority rules forces battled Robert Mugabe’s guerrillas in the 1970s, BBC online writes Friday.
Most white-owned land has been confiscated for redistribution to black farmers since 2000. Mr Smith’s farm, known as Gwenoro, had been left alone.
The seizure came as Mr Mugabe addressed thousands of his supporters, ahead of elections expected in 2013.
Zimbabwe’s land-reform programme has been widely blamed for its economic collapse in recent years.
Gwenoro was perhaps the most symbolic of all Zimbabwe’s white-owned farms. It was where Mr Smith bred cattle and lived for most of his adult life, even after he lost power. His ashes were scattered there after he died in 2007.
The farm has been handed over to a local technical college. Land ownership remains a highly politicised, emotive issue, and seizing Mr Smith’s farm may be seen as a vote-winner.
Mr Mugabe, 88, is running for another term as President, and on Friday told delegates to his party conference that he wanted to seize full control of foreign-owned companies.
His government has already passed an indigenisation law (til gavn for de sorte), which forced companies to cede (afstå) 51 per cent of shares to Zimbabweans.
“I think now we have done enough of 51 per cent. Let it be a 100,” he told thousands of Zanu-PF delegates according to BBC.
