Zimbabwe thugs kill white farmer and attack wife
Sunshine
Zimbabwe thugs kill white farmer and attack wife
By David Blair at Skelton farm, Trelawney District
GRIEVING relatives gathered in a modest Zimbabwean farmhouse yesterday
after thugs armed with automatic pistols murdered another white farmer
and injured his wife.
Tony Oates, 65, was the fifth landowner killed since April. Although
squatters, who now occupy at least 950 white farms, are not thought to
have been involved, his family and friends blame his death on the
"atmosphere of lawlessness" caused by the land invasions, which
President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly encouraged.
Two men broke into Mr Oatess home at Skelton farm near Trelawney, 50
miles north of Harare, on Wednesday night. Brandishing guns, they burst
into his bedroom and tried to tie him up with wire. During the ensuing
struggle, Mr Oates was shot through the side.
His wife, Elaine, 63, was in the living room when the men struck.
Hearing the shot, she ran into the corridor, where they seized her and
hit her over the head with a pistol.
Mrs Oates bit one of her attackers, forcing him to relax his grip, while
her husband, even though dying, struggled into the corridor and made a
desperate attempt to rescue her.
Mr Oates shot his wifes assailant dead with a gun he always kept beside
his bed. As the surviving man fled, Mr Oates died on the floor of his
bedroom. He leaves two children, Jason, 26, and Lee-Anne Fuller, 38, and
two infant grandchildren. Jason Oates, who works as an accountant in
Britain, will return to Zimbabwe today.
He has played representative cricket for Zimbabwe and is a friend of
some members of Zimbabwes Test team who wore black armbands during the
Second Test at Trent Bridge yesterday. Relatives gathered in the
spacious, single-storey farmhouse.
Bloodstains were visible on the walls and a maid was cleaning the carpet
in the bedroom. Peter Marchussen, a brother-in-law of Mr Oates, said: "I
just wonder when this is going to stop. This thing is getting out of
control. Its lawlessness pervading the whole country." Elaine Oates is
still recovering from severe bruising and a head injury that required
six stitches. Mr Marchussen said: "She really is not well at all."
As her husband lay dying beside their bed, Mrs Oates was able to raise
the alarm and Brian Fuller, her son-in-law, who manages Skelton farm and
lives in an adjacent house, arrived. He said: "I circled around the
house to see if I could catch the guys, but they had got away."
Asked whether he thought the killing was linked to the farm invasions,
Mr Fuller said: "Yes, definitely, because of the state of lawlessness
that has crept into this country. They were just criminals who were
taking advantage of the prevailing situation."
Neighbouring farmers reached the house in minutes. Mrs Fuller said:
"They were here very quickly. It was incredible, we had a wonderful
response." But a neighbour said security in the area had suffered since
the authorities prevented the white-dominated local Neighbourhood Watch
scheme from mounting night patrols.
The farmer said: "They said we were intimidating people." Similar
tactics have been used to stop other such schemes across the country. Mr
Oatess family is weighing up the risk of staying in Zimbabwe. Mr Fuller
said: "I would like to think we will stay, but if this state of
lawlessness goes on it will not be safe for anyone. But this is my home,
I was born and bred here."
As the family mourned their loss, 300 supporters of Mr Mugabe marched
through Harare in a "demonstration of solidarity with our president in
his struggle for our land". Waving placards saying "Peter Hain, Robin
Cook, stop lying about Zimbabwe", they handed in a petition at the
British High Commission demanding money for the resettlement of white
farms.
The document accused the British government of "lying to the land hungry
people" and of "economically sabotaging Zimbabwe". It said: "The days of
colonialism are over . . . Zimbabwe cannot accept imperialism from any
state . . . You have no mercy for the landless Zimbabweans."
White farmers who resisted resettlement were "free to leave".
Mr Mugabe called Britain "wicked" yesterday, accusing it of trying to
stop fuel from reaching Zimbabwe. Britain was "tracking down ships
delivering our fuel, offering them money to try to divert them", he
claimed.
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email: zim_su...@yahoo.co.uk
When someone is honestly 55% right, that's very good and there's no use
wrangling. And if someone is 60% right, it's wonderful, it's great luck, and
let him thank God. But what's to be said about 75% right? Wise people say this
is suspicious. Well, and what about 100% right? Whoever says he is 100% right is
a fanatic, a thug, and the worst kind of rascal.
An old Jew of Gallica
Miguel
Sunshine <Suns...@milibizi.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:n3esbPAC...@milibizi.demon.co.uk...
> Telegraph (UK)
> Zimbabwe thugs kill white farmer and attack wife
> By David Blair at Skelton farm, Trelawney District
>
> GRIEVING relatives gathered in a modest Zimbabwean farmhouse yesterday
> after thugs armed with automatic pistols murdered another white farmer
> and injured his wife.
>
Tsuro in action?