British foreign minister for Africa Peter Hain told the Sunday Independent, published in Johannesburg, "I sometimes wonder whether the leadership of southern Africa understands the gravity of the situation." In a reference to the refusal by South African president Thabo Mbeki and regional governments to publicly denounce Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, Hain declared that "constructive engagement seems to have failed."

In the interview, conducted at Hain's holiday home in South Africa's Western Cape province and published as the front-page lead story on January 7, the British official implied that London would like to see Pretoria bring pressure to bear on Harare--and if not, the consequences would be bad for southern Africa, particularly in terms of capital investment. "What you have is a crisis for a subcontinent, not just one country," he said. "The truth is, no matter how frustrated I am that no differentiation is being made between South Africa and Zimbabwe, in boardrooms where they make the decisions they don't distinguish."

Hain said, "What Mugabe has done is turn his back on probably £100 million of donor assistance."

The article said: "While [Hain] told investors that South Africa had taken the tough decisions...investors said: 'yes, yes, but if they grab other people's land in Zimbabwe, will they grab my company across the border?'"

This was a reference to the occupations of about 1,600 commercial farms in Zimbabwe over several months last year. The farm occupations were largely organized by the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). Some occupations continue.

The land question remains at the heart of the crisis in Zimbabwe. While more than 6 million peasants--about half the population--live in rural areas with poor soil and little rainfall, about 4,500 mainly white capitalist farmers dominate agricultural production and as much as 80 percent of the arable land.

The battle for land was key to the liberation struggle that ended British colonial rule and established independence in 1980. However, since then there has been no radical agrarian reform. Over the past year Mugabe has organized a bureaucratic campaign of "land seizures" benefiting government officials and supporters of the ruling party. Even though the actions don't advance the interests of Zimbabwe's workers and peasants, the actions have brought the ire of London and Washington on the Mugabe regime.

An International Monetary Fund report predicts that the country's gross domestic product will shrink by 10 percent this year. The IMF, dominated by Washington, urges Harare to respect the "rule of law" and implement a land reform plan that "donors"--the imperialist governments that dole out loans and aid--can support.

A similar note was struck by a United Nations official. According to a report in the January 5 Zimbabwe Independent, "UN Development Program administrator Mark Malloch Brown told Mugabe in a letter dated December 15 that government should stop the haphazard land redistribution exercise, which was already spawning massive unemployment and reducing agricultural production, if it seriously wanted international financial support." The article noted that Washington and London are withholding billions of dollars from Harare.

The combination of the imperialist financial squeeze and the unequal terms of trade it receives on the world market are hammering the Zimbabwean economy: unemployment is more than 50 percent and inflation and interest rates exceed 60 percent. More than 800 manufacturing companies closed last year.

Meanwhile, Mugabe, 76, has stepped up his rhetoric on land reform, vowing to push ahead with redistribution this year. "I will not let you down. The struggle must be won," he told delegates to the ZANU-PF congress in December. "Next year must close the land chapter and see the people as owners of their land and not as semi-slaves and serfs." Singling out whites, he said, "The white man is not indigenous to Africa. Africa is for Africans. Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans." The congress gave Mugabe full support to continue in office.

Within the ruling apparatus, however, there are divisions on how the "fast-track" land program is being carried out. In December the Supreme Court, for the second time, ruled the farm occupations to be unconstitutional. Even the judges noted that the government's moves on land had so far been discriminatory in favor of ruling party supporters. Mugabe vowed to ignore the court.

The ruling party suffered two blows last year. First, it was defeated in a referendum that would have expanded presidential powers and allowed the government to seize white-owned land without compensation, ostensibly for redistribution. The vote reflected growing popular dissatisfaction with the economic crisis and ZANU-PF rule. Then, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by former trade unionist Morgan Tsvanigari, won 57 of 120 parliamentary seats in a June election.

While many working people see the MDC as an outlet for opposing Mugabe, its leadership has cozied up to capitalist interests in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States in the hope that workers and peasants will not be allowed to upset existing property relations.  
 
 
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