Harare,
Zimbabwe
– Guy
Watson-Smith
felt
hurt
and
betrayed
when
his
5,000-hectare
(12,355-acre)
farm
in
Beatrice,
in
Zimbabwe’s
Mashonaland
East
province,
was
violently
invaded
by
three
armed
men
in
the
early
2000s.
The
then-51-year-old
white
commercial
farmer
was
not
just
losing
his
land;
he
was
leaving
behind
hundreds
of
workers
and
their
families,
many
of
whom
he
had
known
since
childhood.
“We
cried,”
the
75-year-old
told
Al
Jazeera.
On
the
morning
of
September
18,
2001,
Watson-Smith,
his
two
farm
managers,
and
his
unwelcome
visitors
sat
at
a
table
on
the
patio.
Watson-Smith’s
wife,
Vicky,
offered
them
a
cup
of
tea.
But
the
message
was
simple:
leave
or
die.
His
family
was
given
two
hours
to
pack.
They
fled
to
the
capital,
Harare,
54km
(33.5
miles)
away,
seeking
refuge
at
his
father-in-law’s
home
in
the
Avenues,
an
inner-city
suburb.
Watson-Smith’s
ordeal
was
not
an
isolated
incident.
Across
the
country,
war
veterans
armed
with
pistols
led
similar
land
grabs,
together
with
their
children
and
with
assistance
from
the
police’s
elite
units.