JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE 30 ____________________________________________________________________ same report, he said: “The land question is a deep political question that no sane judge can hope to solve through laws of trespass or court orders.” “Let it be known that the courts in independent Zimbabwe do belong to the people and will, whatever it will take, be placed at the service of those same people for whose convenience and protection they were set up in the first instance.” And addressing a party congress, he said: Our party must continue to strike fear in the hearts of the white man, our real enemy.” He also vowed that his government would continue to ignore court rulings declaring seizures of white-owned land illegal.45 Eviction of commercial farmers in defiance of court orders Jean Simon is the owner of Erewhon Farm, a commercial farm in the Raffingora area. She obtained a High Court order in early July setting aside orders on her farm under secs 5 and 8 of the Land Acquisition Act. The government did not oppose her court action, and copies of the judgment were served on the Minister of Agriculture, the Police Commissioner, and the local Chinoyi police station. However, Ignatius Chombo, the Minister of Local Government, and ZANU (PF) Member of Parliament for the area, allegedly held a meeting on 14 July 2002 at nearby Katawa village. At this meeting the Minister is said to have warned Ms Simons and her workers to leave the farm, or face being beaten up by the Support Unit. He instructed his supporters to ignore the High Court order, and said that if Ms Simon and her workers continued to resist the eviction he would send in the Black Boots, the unofficial name for the Support Unit, to beat them up. He gave similar warnings to the owners and workers on Chinomwe Estate and Nyarugwe Farm. Ms Simon has been harassed allegedly at the instigation of Minister Chombo on previous occasions. She was once abducted and escaped a second abduction attempt. She was also jailed along with others for helping to monitor the presidential election, although charges were never brought to court. She has obtained a provisional order from the High Court calling on Dr Chombo and other government officials to stop harassing her. Nevertheless Ms Simon’s 340 staff and their families face eviction. Her workers have not been allocated land on the farm. According to the lists of farm beneficiaries