SADC Tribunal Summer 2012

The SADC Tribunal is still not in session. here is an excellent recap of the history and current status of the SADC Tribunal and its nullification by SADC.

Apparently, new efforts to control land are in the new draft Zimbabwe Constitution. Ben Freeth  is pursuing an appeal to the African Commission on Human and People's Rights. It registered  an application brought by Ben Freeth and another dispossessed Zimbabwean farmer, Luke Tembani, to be heard by the African Court on Human and People's Rights. They seek an order from the Court that will require the SADC Summit to reinstate the Tribunal.   


I think in life, just as in law, time is of no consequence. You hope to outlive your claim but you may not. The important thing is to persevere, whatever that means.


I respect the Campbell and Freeth dispute because they seem willing to die for what is right. Many peole the world over do this. Let's not diminish the effort of these men and women because they are white and living in Zimbabwe. That is intellectually dishonest. 


Instead,  honor their effort to work within the system, however flawed. We women have been doing that, universally, for years.


Shame on you for letting race cloud your insight.


These men and women are civil rights activists just like those in America in the 1960's. 
Honor their sacrifice just like the sacrifice of their black brothers in Zim who threw out the British.


Yes, let that bake your noodle for a bit.


        

SADC Heads of State Summit and 30 year Anniversary

SADC Heads of State meeting in Windhoek, Namibia postponed confronting Zimbabwe about non-compliance with the Tribunal’s ruling on land-reform for 6 months. Effectively, the decision is postponed until the next Summit meeting in 2011. In the meantime, the role of the SADC Tribunal will be reviewed.

The White farmers claimed that this is politics winning over justice. The entire situation is political however. Even the organization is political by its very nature but also specifically for historical reasons. SADC was previously the Front Line States, which was organised to coordinate liberation movements in Namibia and apartheid South Africa. August 17, 2010 was SADC Day and the Summit also celebrated the organisations 30^th anniversary. Given that heritage it is could be considered amazing progress that the SADC Tribunal rendered the judgment it did in 2008, declaring the land reform program in Zimbabwe discriminatory based on race.

Furthermore, the Summit was an opportunity to recognise everything that has been accomplished by SADC in those 30 years. I do not have the time or inclination right now to gather the empirical evidence necessary (even if that evidence were available at all) to prove or disprove the accomplishments of SADC since its creation. Perhaps it was only ever effective as support for the liberation struggle. Perhaps 30 years is not actually enough time in ‘Africa time’. Perhaps the entire problem NOW with how the West views Southern Africa or sub-Saharan Africa is that both function at different speeds. Africa is making progress but it is not in a New York minute and the West may feel that an intervention of some kind will help to improve the velocity of the progress. But it doesn’t seem to work out like that. Instead, progress continues to be slow or slower and instead the West has intervened and created the industry of intervention called the donors and aid agencies. This industry is now a source of income for locals and not much progress happens. But the news and reports out of SADC are very positive, regardless.

SADC reported that HIV/Aids were on the decline in the region. It reported that there is peace and stability. SADC spent time during the Summit considering the situation in Madagascar and supported the call for the international community to stop the debilitating sanctions on Zimbabwe which have caused so much havoc for the economy. (tee hee) But still, SADC is trying to focus on attracting investment and this does seem to be the proper focus for our globalised economy …yada yada.

So everything is actually in order and how much should we really worry that the Tribunal is not respected in the region? The proper functioning of the SADC Tribunal may not really be a priority for anyone other than the White farmers……

Unfortunately, for those who think the Tribunal is not a priority there is a reality that can be observed which is demonstrated by the lack of certainty created when court rulings are discounted. Maybe courts are a neoliberal construction by the West , I don’t know.

I do know that a complete lack of certainty is bad whether it is legal, economic or social. As I have said before, fine don’t have a working legal system or a functioning government but at least get the women and children educated and healthy. Keep things simple and see if things improve.

I would love to see the Tribunal become a priority because it was not White judges who ruled against Zimbabwe and international sanctions don’t hurt anyone except the elite. I think all aid should stop and let things develop without intervention. But that can never be the reality either.

So, I am disappointed with the postponement of the discussion about the Tribunal. And, I am endeavouring to see things in the long term. Perhaps the SADC nations need 6 months to sort out that whole Tribunal protocol thing and in the meantime the judgments in South Africa allow the Zim properties there to be levied.

I think about my life, my PhD, my son and Africa and remember the Norah Jones song Broken,

“He's got a broken voice and a twisted smile,
Guess he's been that way now for quite awhile,
He's got blood on his shoes and mud on his brim,
Did he do it to himself or was it done to him?

He may move slow,
That don't mean he's going nowhere,
He may be moving slow,
That don't mean he's going nowhere.”

http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/politica/2010/7/33/SADC-checks-stability-pledges-reach-customs-union,69a980f8-fe32-4677-ba8d-df27fc83f686.html

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/SADC-Summit-Delays-Decision-on-Zimbabwe-Land-Reform--100969484.html

http://www.sadc.int/content/english/speeches/SADC%20Day%20Message%202010.pdf

Newest Campbell case update

There has been some activity in Southern Africa regarding the SADC Tribunal ruling concerning land reform in Zimbabwe. The North Gauteng High Court in South Africa postponed the auctioning of the property owned by the government of Zimbabwe in South Africa. The postponement was due to an emergency application by the Zimbabwe Government. The application argued that because the properties were under diplomatic immunity the sale of the property could not be done legally.

There were two respondents in the case, a German Development bank, KFW Bankengruppe, and Afriforum. Both respondents separately won judgments against the ZIm government and now seek the sale of these properties in South Africa in satisfaction of those judgements. The bank won a judgment against the ZIm government for failure to pay back a loan. Afriforum is the civil rights group working with the farmers who won the SADC Tribunal ruling in 2008.

Concurrently, two of the white farmers involved in the ORIGINAL ruling by SADC, Louis Fick and Michael Campbell, applied to the tribunal for a further judgement based on the non-compliance of the government of Zimbabwe with the first judgement. In the current case, No. SADC (T) 01/2010, the Tribunal found that the Respondent, the Republic of Zimbabwe, was in continuous violation of previous court decisions. The 16 July judgment gave some pertinent case history. Mike Campbell brought the application based on two previous decisions of the Tribunal ruling in his and other farmer’s favour. [The first was Mike Campbell (Pvt) Limited and others v The Republic of Zimbabwe. The second was the case of William Campbell and Another v The Republic of Zimbabwe.].As a result of the non-compliance the Tribunal resolved to report the matter to the SADC Heads of State meeting to be held in Windhoek, Namibia in August 2010. It also ordered costs against the Respondent.

It remains to be seen if reporting to the Head of State of SADC members will have any consequences.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201007280627.html

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33035:zim-property-auction-in-sa-postponed-after-government-intervenes&catid=31:weekday-top-stories&Itemid=30

http://allafrica.com/stories/201007190347.html

http://greatindaba.com/issue/july-2010-vol-19/article/country-not-bound-by-sadc-tribunal-ruling-minister?utm_medium=newZimSituation&utm_source=newzimsituation.com

http://www.sadc-tribunal.org/pages/decisions.htm

Zimbabwe

How can legal research ever reflect what you see on the ground and hear people say in far, far away places? I wonder how I can communicate in words, adequately, things that are so cultural and embedded that you can only observe them with your eyes wide open and you can only see them if you have lived an aware life.

My research concerns stock exchanges in Africa. They have them and they are cool. They raise money, privatise companies, resolve disputes and even have trouble with fraud. While Africa is an awesome place, the raison d’être for my thesis is that I love exchanges-wherever they exist. This is important to state outright. Americans have a singular relationship with Africa and it is a long way away from thinking about stock exchanges.

My research does not focus on the Zim stock exchange directly but uses it as a contrast to what is happening in East Africa, which is my focus and equally cool but for other reasons. This year I went to Zimbabwe at the height of the cholera epidemic and not because I thrill seek. I just have a healthy disbelief of things journalists say. They serve a purpose in society, but it isn’t always to tell the truth.

I met my varungu friend there and he showed me a country that is gorgeous and vibrant. I met very many happy people who were out having lunch or taking care of kids, selling their tomatoes or having a beer. It just was not the tragic place described by the press. There is a sense of impending doom but I could never tell if this was reality or my overactive Southern California imagination.

We travelled in a Land Rover, far and wide, from Harare to Chimanimani and back. I almost died due to a gully or two. There is a strong sense of history-of happier (wealthier) times as well as of strife and oppression. What struck me the most is how deeply, deeply, he loved this place. He stayed in Zim for a reason and not because he could not join the Diaspora and this was significant. I wanted my posh American and English friends to visit and travel with him and appreciate the mountains and trees and understand what happened here. Not so that they would donate to the nearest charity, or adopt a baby, but because it would make them see and hear and feel. That is, of course, a luxury, but one that exists in my part of the world.

There is a great deal of talk at academic conferences about not romanticising the local. I have not tried to sell Shona art where I live-yet. I do want, however, my research to reflect the local.

Otherwise, what use is it?

Legally, Zimbabwe is peculiar and fascinating. It chooses to disregard SADC Tribunal rulings on land ownership and is soon embarking on the creation of a new constitution while the Unity government struggles.

I do not pretend to understand Zim, but I see it.

See http://allafrica.com/stories/200903040817.html.

See http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-04-13-zim-sets-up-committee-to-draft-new-constitution and http://www.zimtelegraph.com/news_article.php?cat=17&id=547.