Published: 08 December 2017

A white Zimbabwean farmer kicked off his Rusape property at gunpoint in June has been told he will be going home within days, the first signs of the post-Robert Mugabe government making good on promises to respect agricultural property rights.

Rob Smart, a 71-year-old farmer from Manicaland province, said he understood his case had been taken up by new President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who heard of his violent eviction while at an investment conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"Apparently Mnangagwa saw that and flipped his lid," Smart told Reuters, saying new Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Monica Mutsvangwa had assured him the eviction would be reversed. "Our governor is getting us back on the farm," he said.

According to media reports at the time, Smart and his family were kicked off their Lesbury Farm by riot police armed with teargas and AK-47 assault rifles. 
- Reuters

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