White farmers claim Zimbabwe's property in South Africa

White farmers expelled from their land in Zimbabwe have successfully seized property in neighbouring South Africa belonging to officials of President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe government. After a lengthy legal battle the Cape Town sheriff's office has attached a house worth 250,000 euros in the suburb of Kenilworth, which the farmers can now sell at auction.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe. Reuters

Willie Spies, a lawyer for the farmers, said the move represented an attempt by the farmers to cover their legal costs rather than get compensation for their lost land.

“We see it as a way to send out a message to show the Zimbabwean government that there are certain consequences to their abuse of human rights,” the Sapa news agency quoted him as saying.

"This is a process aimed at helping all the people of Zimbabwe in a way that creates hope and shows that it is possible for civil society to institute civil sanctions against a regime that does not help its people.”

From Cape Town, correspondent Alex Duval Smith told RFI that nearly 4,000 white farmers have been expelled from their properties since Mugabe began his land reforms a decade ago. She said their land was given to ruling party loyalists.

In November 2008, a South African Development Community tribunal ruled that Zimbabwe had wrongly taken land from about 80 farmers. Zimbabwe rejected the verdict but a South African court ruled last month that it should be applied locally.

Spies said three other properties in Cape Town have been identified for possible seizures.

Duval Smith said the properties are reported to be worth millions of euros and are owned privately by ruling party officials.

“They are not covered by diplomatic immunity,” she said.