All parts of the farm are being auctioned off and now ironically a white farmer has taken the farm over with the one exception he is renting the land and does not own the land. Why would he want to own the land when at any time in the future it could be stolen away without compensation.
In January 2025, President Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 (often referred to as the 2025 Act) into law, replacing the 1975 legislation to accelerate land reform. The Act allows state entities to expropriate land for public purposes or in the public interest, providing a legal framework for "just and equitable" compensation, which may include "nil" compensation in specific, limited scenarios.
Land expropriation has failed miserably in Zimbabwe yet South Africa thinks they could make it work. The only reason for this being a big issue is the people are wanting land because they see land as wealth. Not just any land as it would be more desirable to have an operational farm because they believe it will provide an income. Without skills or finances this is doomed for failure.
Foyle Farm was a dairy farm and the appropriate word to take note of is "was" and it's heyday produced 500 000 liters of milk per month along with various other products like cheeses and yoghurts. The farm was located close to Harare and the farmer at the time was forced to sell or be evicted. The new owner was Robert Mugabe and not happy with the 1200 hectares of farmland he then went on to remove another 80 farms close by expanding the size of the farm. If that was not enough the Mazowe Dam was also seized for his farm requirements.
Foyle farm had the latest dairy equipment and a further investment of $15 million was spent expanding the facilities with more machinery. This was back in 2003 and fast forward to today the farm has been closed for 3 years already having shut in 2023. The closure resulted in over 120 jobs being lost and why you need to know what you are doing.
The equipment has been auctioned off along with the dairy cows and all the farming implements. You wonder what could go wrong so quickly from being the top dairy farm in Zimbabwe to becoming a debt ridden farm owing over $20 million. This is a prime example of seizing land to help with the land reform act giving back to the people. The problem in this case is Robert Mugabe owned or acquired 21 farms when the government stipulated a one man one farm policy.
There was another farm nearby that had over 1000 pigs and 6000 chickens and suffered the same fate due to neglect. The turning point for Foyle Farm was when the grazing land/fodder for the dairy cattle was turned into growing cabbages and as a result the farm now had to purchase food for the cows. Due to having no knowledge how a farm actually works the milk yields declined continuously and the once prosperous farm was no longer.
Many of the farms in Zimbabwe were taken by force with farmers being evicted without receiving a cent in compensation. The owner of Foyle Farm was forced into selling and would never have been offered the true value of the business.
Zimbabwe was known as the bread basket of Africa before it became Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) and exported it's products into neighboring countries and exported tobacco around the world. Today Zimbabwe is a net importer for it's staple foods like maize, wheat and sugar beans with a high percentage of the population living off subsistence farming growing enough for their own use and not enough for the rest of the country and definitely nothing to export.
Unfortunately this is the real world and seizing land and handing that once productive land over to the population will only result in misery and famine. If South Africa heads down the same road as Zimbabwe then the results will be no different as we all know how this works and how this ends. The people want the land, but do not have the expertise or knowledge how to farm the land and only see the land when it is being run successfully and not understanding that they will never achieve the same results.