LAST week, The Patriot focused on how the whole of the Matopo Hills and World Heritage Site has been annexed by Cecil John Rhodes as his personal property and not allowing anyone to be buried in the locality within a radius of two kilometers as well as leaving a water-tight will that is still being religiously followed by his so-called Rhodes Trust administering funds derived from the properties while the rightful owners reel in poverty on the fringes of ‘his’ properties.
This week we look at how Cecil John Rhodes annexed the Eastern Highlands in Nyanga. Some of the properties were forcibly occupied by dispossessed Zimbabweans during the historical Land Reform Programme though.
While the rest of the properties that number more than 17 in total are still held under the Rhodes Trust, with tourism, fisheries, forestry and fruit farming taking place in some of the designated properties under the management of the Trustees, there are increasing calls to have them designated.
According to Rhodes’ will, the total area of the Nyanga Estates shall not at any time be reduced below 41 605 hectares while the Matopos Estates shall not at any time be reduced below 38 821 hectares.
Although some properties have been occupied, the following properties remain in force and are administered under the Act.
According to the Rhodes Act, Cecil John Rhodes annexed the Inyanga Estates and claimed more than 17 prime properties in the Nyanga area namely Gaeresi 1 176 hectares, Inyanga 1 581 ha, Nyanga Slopes 1 448 ha, R/E Nyanga Valley 1 427 ha, Placefell 1 700 ha, Pungwe Source 10 958 ha, Wicklow 1 894 ha, Nyangombe 6 089 ha, Bideford 1 837 ha, Erin 6 110 ha, Fruitfield 2 732 ha, Warrendale 1 806 ha, S/D “A” Pungwe Falls 224 ha, Lot 1 of Nyanga 185 ha, Holden A 2 495 ha, Nyanga Block A 3 199 ha, and the Pungwe Falls B 109
4 970 hectares. The Trustees are compelled to administer the Estates in accordance with the will and the Rhodes Act.
The Trustees are restricted as they shall not exercise any of the powers conferred by the will or by some sections of the Act unless there has been prior consultation with the Rhodes Nyanga Committee or Rhodes Matopos Committee, as the case may be.
General Powers of Trustees in relation to Estates notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the will, the Trustee may, subject to certain sections in addition to using the Estates in the manner set out in the will, like using portions of the Estates for agricultural purposes, including forestry, fisheries and the conservation or management of wildlife.
This is evidenced by the number of lodges, forestry, aquatic and other such recreational places in the Nyanga National Park. The will also stipulates that portions of the Estates be used for sites such as hotels, shops, stores, garages, rest huts, camps, playing fields and such other amenities as deemed desirable in the interests of visitors or persons residing on, the Estates.
The will also has provisions for the lease of any portion of the Estates to the State or to any local authority, statutory body or other person for the purpose of — “(i) giving effect to the will; or (ii) agriculture, or (iii) enabling the development or use of such sites.
Although the will saliently stipulates that the lease of any portion of the Estates to the State or to any local authority or statutory body where the Trustee considers necessary for the provision of facilities for administration, a post office, police station, aerodrome, school, hospital, cemetery or other like purpose as may be required from time to time in the interests of Zimbabwe.
Political analysts said it must be borne in mind that these properties are legitimate Zimbabwean possessions leased to the Government of the day. They have cast doubts on the sincerity of the legislature in dealing with colonial remnants that seem to be reversing the gains of the struggle.
Subject to some subsections of the Rhodes Act, the selling or otherwise disposing of any portion of the Estates which, in his opinion, (Trustee) is not suitable or convenient for giving effect to the purposes of the Will or this Act; the acquisition of any land which is adjacent or close to the Estates and suitable or convenient for giving effect to the purposes of the will and the Rhodes Act. Such land should be incorporated into the Inyanga Estates or Matopos Estates, as the case may be.
This arbitrary acquisition of land adjacent to the Rhodes ‘properties’ has been a cause for concern among communal farmers, who could do nothing but watch their land being grabbed.
The Rhodes Will further states – “And I direct that my Trustees shall forever apply in such manner as in their absolute discretion they shall think fit the income of the Inyanga Fund and any rents and profits of my said landed property at or near Inyanga in the cultivation of such property and in particular I direct that with regard to such property irrigation should be the first object of my Trustees.
“For the guidance of my Trustees I wish to record that in the cultivation of my said landed properties I include such things as experimental farming forestry market and other gardening and fruit farming irrigation and the teaching of any of those things and establishing and maintaining an agricultural college,”
The Trustees have administered Rhodes properties according to his will much to the disgruntlement of the ordinary Zimbabweans whose appetite for land has not been satisfied.