The farmers would launch the application against the Zimbabwean government on Tuesday, Willie Spies, their attorney from AfriForum, said in a statement.

The move followed the government’s scrapping an initial urgent application against the farmers without offering to compensate them for wasted expenditure.

Spies said the Zimbabwean government brought the action against the farmers because it was apparently under the impression that the auction of its properties in Cape Town was organised by AfriForum and the farmers.

“Although the farmers were the first ones to seize the properties, the auctions were organised by German banking group KFW Bankengruppe.” The auctions had been scheduled for July 27 and August 10 by the bank, which was the legitimate holder of significant claims by a group of white farmers contesting the seizure of their Zimbabwean farms.

“Despite the fact that the correct facts had been widely reported in the media, the Zimbabwean government erroneously lodged an urgent application against the Zimbabwean farmers Louis Fick, Richard Etheredge and Michael Campbell.” The initial urgent application against the farmers was to be heard on Wednesday in the High Court in Pretoria.

But Zimbabwe launched another urgent application in the High Court in Johannesburg last week, a day before the first auction of its South African-owned properties was held, in a bid to stop it.

Bank spokesman Axel Breitbach said the auctions had been suspended until the court process was finalised. Spies said it was clear the Zimbabwean government was trying to further jeopardise the three farmers with random court applications.

“Although they were deprived of their income by the Zimbabwean government, they have to incur high legal costs for their court cases against the Zimbabwean government.” That country’s government, in turn, was refusing to honour orders to pay costs older than one year, including one by the Southern African Development Community tribunal, Spies said.

By SAPA