OVER 120 villagers from Beitbridge West last week evicted Schweppes Pvt Limited from Sunrise Farm in the border town claiming the company was occupying grazing land for their livestock.
The company was allocated a commercial 25-year lease of the farm.
The villagers first dispatched seven female emissaries to the farm before deploying 127 youths to drive away Schweppes employees.
The villagers hired four trucks to ferry the youths to the site — the 4 000 hectares government allocated to Schweppes to grow citrus fruits to feed its concentrate fruit juice plant.
After a brief conversation with Schweppes employees where they asked them about their places of origin and what they were doing on their “grazing land,” some youths went on to uproot the tents of the Schweppes workers.
The youths ordered the workers off the land together with 123 cattle kept at the farm. They escorted them for about five kilometres towards Beitbridge Juicing, a company owned by Schweppes.
On Tuesday, two of the villagers appeared before Beitbridge resident magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba facing a charge of public violence.
Vigilance Rich Baloyi (35) and King Welly Nuguluvhe (25) were not asked to plead. They were remanded in custody pending bail application.
- Zanu PF official dies on campaign trail
- Beitbridge West: Zim’s island of poverty amid plenty
- Villagers evict Schweppes from farm
Keep Reading
Over 100 other youths, seven women and seven village heads believed to have been part of the eviction plot face arrest.
Ronald Mugwagwa prosecuted.
A few years ago, President Mnangagwa, sent a team to Beitbridge to negotiate the allocation of 4 000 hectares of land to Schweppes to expand its orange farms to cater for its factory, a deal that was concluded by the allocation of the farm.
The deal was signed by the late minister Air chief Marshal Perrance Shiri (Rtd).
