Zimbabwe plans to complete the first phase of its land seizure programme in the next 12 days, and white farmers whose properties have been targeted will have to leave immediately, the state-owned Sunday Mailreported.
In an interview with the newspaper, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said that the first phase of the fast-track land resettlement programme is expected to be completed in the next 12 days.
Commercial farmers still staying on land gazetted for resettlement are required to immediately vacate the properties to allow new settlers to move in, Made said.
Zimbabwe has been in crisis since February last year, when militants invaded white-owned land in what they said was a show of support for President Robert Mugabe's campaign to seize more than 5,000 farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
A Zimbabwean court is due to rule tomorrow on a bail application by 21 white farmers arrested on August 6th and charged with inciting public violence after clashes with self-styled war veterans occupying their properties.