In 2000, the government introduced Constitutional Amendment Number 16 which allowed government to take land without compensation for the land itself.  Prior to that there was no law against anyone of any race purchasing land.  The Minister of Lands has had the power to veto any sales of land by having the right of first refusal.

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On May 8, 2002 Amendment 16 to the Land Acquisition Act went through Parliament.  This was due to give all farmers with Section 8 acquisition orders[1] (these were exclusively on white-owned farms, 45 days to stop farming and a further 45 days to leave their homes.  This affected approximately 60 percent of white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe.

 

Ben Freeth - November 2012

 

[1] The government first had to issue a preliminary notice of acquisition, known as a Section 5. This was published in the newspaper and had to be delivered to the farm as well. When that was done, the farmer had thirty days in which to object. Then the government could issue a Section 8, which was an acquisition order. This had to be confirmed through the administrative court, in what was known as a Section 7.