The Unleashing of Violence:
A report on violence in Zimbabwe
as at May 15, 2000

Olds was murdered by a gang of about 100 members of a "hit squad" that attacked his farmhouse. The attack lasted for three hours as gunmen, armed with AK47 assault rifles with armour piercing cartridges, fired on Olds from six positions surrounding the property. Earlier the police had let the convoy of "war vets" through a roadblock close to the farm. And apart from uplifting two of the assailants wounded during the attack, the police took no other action – except to let the convoy leave after Martin Olds had been slain.

Evidence suggests that Olds was wounded prior to being murdered. Under fire and surrounded by his attackers, he fashioned a splint to bind his leg while he fought a brave and lonely battle.The murderers set his house alight, forcing Olds to retreat, a room at a time, towards the end of the building. As he ran out of ammunition, he stripped his rifles and threw them into the blazing flames of his destroyed homestead. Towards the end of the gunfight, Olds fought from the bathroom, running the taps in an attempt to douse the inferno.But the relentless attack continued without respite and Olds was forced to escape, despite his wounds, through the window. It was then that the mindless and brutal murder took place.

The hit squad then removed all the evidence, collecting spent cartridge cases from their firing positions. They left as they arrived, in convoy. The police took no action and at the time of going to press, no arrests had been made.

Martin Olds went out of his way to help both the school (George Silundika) and ex-combatants. He helped ex-combatants to establish themselves as farmers on neighbouring farms, giving generously of his time and experience. It was therefore with a deep sense of shock that I learnt that Martin Olds has been murdered on his farm in a racist attack by purported ex-combatants. I would like to place on record that this murder of one of the strongest supporters of ex-combatants, not only in words, but in deeds, and must be condemned without reservation.

He said that Olds allegedly shot and wounded two war veterans when they came to his farm to discuss the land issue. The wounded ex-fighters, Cde Abton Ncube (62) and Cde Pritchard Ndlovu (44), were taken to Nyamandlovu Clinic and later transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital. Cde Ncube said "We wanted to talk to the owner of the farm about the need for him to apportion part of his farm for resettlement of landless villagers. When we got to the gate, he suddenly opened fire on us. We were caught by surprise. I was hit on the left part of my face while Prichard was hit on both legs. Our colleagues immediately rushed us to the clinic. We don’t know what transpired after we left." Somewhat in contradiction to this version the same Herald story also asserted that Olds had been warned five days previously that he was a prime target and had moved wife and two children into town on the previous Sunday.

War veterans are alleged to have arrived at the farm in 12 vehicles and was said to be armed with AK 47 automatic rifles. They tried to force their way into the farm. There was an exchange of gunfire.

Farm worker Jukumani Sibanda says he saw the war veterans arrive at Compensation Farm in convoys of 12 vehicles shortly after 6.00 am on Tuesday. "They surrounded the farm and the next thing I heard was the sound of gunfire. He was a good man who did not deserve to die like a dog. What’s wrong with these war veterans? They are coming for the farms and murdering whites. They will soon come again for our wives", said a sobbing Sibanda who had worked there on the farm for 10 years.

For Martin Olds it was a chilling wake up call. At around 6 am yesterday more than 100 squatters gathered at the white farmer's gate in Nyamandlovu, about 50 miles from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city. They had come in a convoy of 14 cars and a tractor trailer, many of them carrying hunting weapons. By 6.15am Olds, 42, was radioing the Commercial Farmers' Union in a state of panic. "They're cutting through my fence," he said and warned the CFU that it looked as though the situation might turn ugly. Within minutes it was out of control. The protesters had broken down his gate and were at his door. The homestead, which Olds had named Compensation, was surrounded. The next time he called the CFU his message was short. "I've been shot, call an ambulance." According to one local couple, last month he took "trespassers" on his land to the police station and had them arrested after a court ruled that the land occupations were illegal. The squatters warned him they would get even. No sooner had the word gone out that one of their number was in trouble than white farmers in the area climbed into their pickup trucks and raced to Old's cattle farm to offer their assistance. One flew his private plane over the house to see what was happening. But whenever they got close to the homestead they were shot at by the veterans who also, say the farmers, opened fire on an ambulance. Back at the house Olds was engaged in a shootout with the squatters which some locals say lasted for three hours.

A spokesman for Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, which has supported the squatters, said that Olds had fired at the veterans, hitting five of them with pellets, and it was only then that they shot back. Farmers insist that Olds, a father of two, was simply defending his house by the same means that the squatters were trying to take it - through the barrel of a gun. The police arrived at the scene while the gunfight was in full throttle but did not stop it. The stand-off ended when squatters threw molotov cocktails into the house. Olds's home started to burn and when the heat became too intense inside he stumbled out into the hands of the veterans. They beat him severely and then shot him twice in the face at close range. "They killed my son," said Gloria Olds, Martin's mother. "They beat him to a pulp."

White farmers in the area still do not know quite how to react. They have accused the government of arming the protesters and claim it proves that the occupations are acts of political intimidation, prompted by Robert Mugabe's government, rather than a misguided policy to help the landless. "If land invasions were demonstrations for land, why are people being given weapons?" asked Mac Crawford, the chairman of the Matabeleland CFU. "This is a deliberate ploy to escalate violence." Crawford believes that the police's inaction makes them complicit in the occupations but he can provide no proof beyond anecdotal evidence.

The home affairs minister, Dumiso Dabengwa, denied knowledge of anyone supplying arms to protesters. He agreed that the state of law and order in Zimbabwe left much to be desired but insisted that the police were doing all they could to stop the violence. White farmers are not convinced. Despite the fact that they are hopelessly outnumbered and have little political clout, they have started issuing scarcely-veiled threats that they are ready to fight back. "The farmers are now on alert and standing by," Crawford said, adding that his members were taking "necessary security measures.

There is evidence that the group who raided Olds came from outside the area, possibly from Harare. Local Zipra war veterans have strongly condemned this attack and dissociated themselves from it.  TOP