Mugabe 'giving farms to cronies' - claim
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is being accused of forcibly taking farms to give to his cronies.
The land resettlement exercise is planned to take farms from white farmers to give to landless peasants.
But political friends of Mr Mugabe are reportedly taking the pick of the farms for themselves.
Top army, government and officials from the President's Zanu Party have all allegedly benefited. None have farming expertise and it's claimed many immediately sold the land and equipment on.
The scheme is supposed to redress years of British colonial rule where land was taken and farmed by whites.
By giving the land back to locals, many supposed war veterans, it is ostensibly meant to promote black commercial farming.
Zimbabweans have generally agreed that land redistribution is necessary to correct the inequities in land ownership created by decades of colonialism.
But there is now a growing consensus that the president is merely using the land issue to benefit his supporters and friends, according to the reports in the South African press.
It's alleged the gifts will also ensure their loyalty ahead of a crunch presidential election next year.
Most of Mr Mugabe's supporters who were allocated land under the fast-track model are said to have had no farming expertise.
