Grace Mugabe's dairy farm in deal with Nestlé

Boycott Nestle!

If the US$40 per month is true (I shudder to think it's Zim $) then this is a complete and utter dis"Grace".

Married to one of the wealthiest men in Zimbabawe Grace didn't pay a penny for the farms she has stolen. One would think that with such an amazing "windfall" that she's spread some of her ill gotten gains around with some other former oppressed and dispossessed Zimbabweans.

Instead she "rewards" an entire months labour with a wage that is a little more than our household pays a domestic to wash and clean our home for 48hrs. And in the eyes of Julius Malema we're white racists out to get black people as part of the Helen Zille counter-revolutionary underground movement!

It's like Alice in Wonderland!

At least the farm is functioning and not idle. With the price of the milk, I pay R7 for my Honeydew litre of milk and if its on special it will cost around R5,50. Now this is the average price of the cheaper milk range. I stand to be corrected but isn’t the Rand – U$ dollar exchange rate standing around R7 = $1? Which makes the milk price quite reasonable (now I know some economists will be thinking “argh man,he’s missed the whole point, it’s not just a matter of directly converting currencies, there’s difference in living standard to consider!”). About poor wage, that’s working in the farm for you, I mean, I can bet my last R50 that most farm workers are paid below minimum but where businesses are further away from the metropolitan and illiteracy is great, abuse of rights (this time in the form of poor pay) usually thrives.
Thandanani Umlaw

BOYCOTT NESTLE!!

We are sure to see the re-invigoration of Zim's Ag sector in the near term, and handouts to 5-7 million can be immediately cut. Have you seen their palace? Pardon my language, but fck this Swiss company, really, if shame exists, they should feel it.

Good info to know.
No nestle products will ever enter my home again.
Would be good to see the name of other companies doing business with the Zanu-Pf racist Nazis, so we can boycott them as well.

They can get nationalised like all other foreign-owned companies in Zim. If anything, I think they have made themselves more of a target for nationalisation as Mrs Mugabe's avarice will lead her to vertically integrate her holdings in the dairy business.

Please notice the bit about Mugabe having SIX farms indigenised to her under the ONE MAN- ONE FARM rule.

You can voice your displeasure at the nestle website-http://www.nestle.co.za/default.aspx?pid=2

I informed them of my atter disgust and that I will NEVER purchase anyone of their products again. Website gives a compete list of their products so you can be sure and give them a miss. Have also e-mailed my friends world-wide to join the boycott.

Boycott Nestle!

Welcome to the real Africa. This is not at all surprising. Mugabe declared that the land reform program was a success. Well, the reality is that it was - for two reasons:-

1. It was the emotive issue and propaganda tool that enabled him to stay in power.

2. He was able to dish out the most productive seized farms to his family and cronies whilst simultaneously keeping the patronage gravy train merrily chugging along. All for zero compensation. What a bargain!

So the success lies in the assets they gained and the retention of power.

As for the rest of the citizenry it was a disaster that saw the collapse of the agricultural sector and a dramatic increase in poverty including the shrinkage of the entire economy.

But, who cares? Certainly not Grace Mugabe or Bob for that matter. There is no need to lose any sleep over the plight of the lowly peasants. They can just grovel in poverty whilst the political elite continue to multiply their wealth. That way they ensure that there is an abundance of very cheap labour at all times. Maximize the profits and don't waste any of it on Zimbabweans.

Nestle probably pays Grace in US dollars, Pounds Sterling and Euros. After all she has no use for those useless Zimbabwe Dollars (when they were still around).

Zimbaweans deserve the government they have got. Mugabe's propaganda campaign has been remarkably successful. You can fool most Zimbabweans all of the time. Certainly enough to keep him in power for some time to come so that Grace can earn some more mega millions of $US or Euros (saved in a Swiss bank account of course).

As for me. I will continue to buy Nestle products. The poverty stricken Zimbabweans are really not my problem.

Thanks for the Nestle web-link Dennis. Let's get this boycott started. Let Nestle think twice about getting into bed with the devil and his wife.

Once again we see the total lack of moral fibre in corporate business. Make money is the bottom line irrespective of the consequences to others. Typical of the entire food chain......greedy profiteers!!!

If Nestle were forced to stop buying milk from Nazi Mugabe, they may have to dump it locally which just might benefit some Zimbabweans who are starving.

No Nestle product will ever enter the homes of myself, my family or friends. Living in the far northern Limpopo, we see the suffering of the Zimbabweans at the hands of Mugabe and his ZANU-PF on a daily basis. Let Nestle know how you feel at http://www.nestle.com/ - lets flood their system.

Shame Thandanani did you completely miss the point of this article? Try reading it again. Boycott Nestle, that's for damn sure..

Thanks Dennis, I've registered my displeasure; will start a boycott here in the frozen north; no nestle here for sure.

Alasdair; Grace has at least 6; Leo had goodness knows how many...it might be fun to figure out a family tree for the Mugabes, and see who owns what.

Les...no more Zim dollars; she would use US/ZAR in Zim

Mugabe destroyed one of the most productive farming sectors in the world to replace it with a what- a few heavily subsidised farms like Grace Mugabe dairy farm and Gideon Gono’s chicken farm whilst the rest of the farms lay idle. When the truth is finally uncovered, the world will be shocked to learn that not only how little the new owners Mugabe and Gono contributed to the national wealth in the form of paid tax but worse still how much these individuals actually received in direct or indirect public aid!

Les, I guess the reason to boycott Nestle is to wonder about 3 things:
Nestle controls a huge swath of products in the marketplace, and probably has more income per annum than Zimbabwe did in a good year:
Switzerland spend, now let me see, i've spent nearly an hour trying to find out how much Switzerland DOES spend in zim...no luck
The rest of the countries in the world will have to make up the funds to reconstruct Zim because we are such bleeding hearts, and Switzerland/Nestle will go on making more money because of the output of Grace/Leo/Bob's stolen farms.

If the world DOES say 'to heck with Zimbabwe they made their bed, let them lie in it" then the Africans will shout 'racism' and the comments will sound eerily like all the comments about the West's involvement (or not) with Rwanda.

heh. the high school i attended has the controlling interest in hershey's. i haven't touched nestle anything since... forever.

Thanks for the heads up, M&G, I will be sure to let all my friends here in the UK know about this disgusting partnership, and I will never, ever buy Nestle again. I know the Swiss are supposed to be neutral, but this is sleeping with the enemy.

Remove Nestle from your shopping list and ASA from your sport attendance schedule

and we need to find out if Sainsbury is still buying veggies from the infamous Jocelyn Chinwenga's stolen farms.

anybody else know other Pirates? Who's buying 'stolen' coffee?

I was thinking of opening a different sort of Fair Trade Coffee Shoppe; one which would feature David Wilding-Davis' coffee, and Trevor Giffords coffee & macademia...if they ever get their farms back.

@LA QUEBECOISE. Do you really believe that some puny noises raised by a few people protesting over the internet is going to make a difference? Most of the western world do not even know where Zimbabwe is, nor do they really care. From a news perspective, the bulk of Americans regard anything beyond the shores of the USA as being from a different planet.

The politicians are aware that the general public have very short memories and that it will all blow over in a few days. It will be business as usual and Nestle will not even notice a dent in their revenue and profits.

The giant companies like Nestle and many others sourcing raw materials from Zimbabwe are not concerned about the poverty. As long as the bottom line and profits look good. Just toss a bit of aid money their way to quieten them down when they make a little noise - and it's business as usual.

Much of African politics is about exploitation by the political elite over their own people. They have simply stepped into the shoes of the former colonial masters and perpetuated neo-colonianism. They benefit from disorder as is the case with Zimbabwe. And they have the support of the SADC.

Typical two faced money loving hypocrite Swiss company.
Giving refuge to Nazis during the last World War was also very profitable for Swiss Hypocrites, I see very little has changed.

@Les and @Ahed...yebbo you're right. But, les, when there was a HUGE boycott of Nestle products over their agressive marketing of milk substitutes and discouraging of breastfeeding there was a turnaround.

I couldn't agree more; "Much of African politics is about exploitation by the political elite over their own people. They have simply stepped into the shoes of the former colonial masters and perpetuated neo-colonianism. They benefit from disorder as is the case with Zimbabwe. And they have the support of the SADC." You are entirely right:

BUT, we the donors, have an obligation to take a careful look at how we spend our ever-decreasing funds available for Humanitarian Assistance and Development (OK, the laughter can stop now).

I have just learned that Canadian corporate tax will decrease from +/- 24% to 19%, so there will be less of everything to spend, both at home and abroad. The question will be; how do we reconcile less money in our piggy banks, with the starving children in Africa, when bracketed by the obscene wealth of a small % of the African population including the Mugabes, the Mbekis, et al, comments by Kenyan journalist, Binyavanga Wainaina, that there is no misery in AFrica and the eternal bleating about colonial/post-colonial oppression.

Help me here. BTW Quebec isn't in America.

Quebec, ma cherie, est en Amérique... du Nord. Fallait plutôt dire que Le Quebec n'est pas aux Etats Unis!

What I said was, La Quebecoise, seems to have misunderstood that America is a continent not a country. The country she lives in is Canada which has province called Quebec, both of them in North America, with the United States ...of America taking up what is left of the continent!

well Howard, I guess I was getting just plain snippy about Les' comment:"...the bulk of Americans regard anything beyond the shores of the USA as being from a different planet."

Nice French though; haven't been called 'ma cherie' in a while. :-))

And while we're talking boycotts, I wonder if we shouldn't try to do a 'name and shame' of Mercedes and BMW? and what about Phillip Chiyangwa's Hummers...Phillip as we all know is the humble cop who made it big in Real Estate in Zim by having friends in right places. He has a computer assisted wardrobe...he doesn't have to stare at the tie rack in the morning, just presses a button and the computer tells him what shirt/tie/shoes to wear with his custom made suits. Wow, Zim really suffered under the whites, eh?

Dennis Hoines - Check well, it could mean two thirds of what's available out there, even dog food.

yep. look closely at what we won't buy: from San Pelligrino mineral water, to the candy bars, dog foor (Purina), powdered milk...and hey lookee here: their mission statement...

Our mission statement

Nestlé’s mission, in the words of our founder Henri Nestlé, is to: “...positively influence the social environment in which we operate as responsible corporate citizens, with due regard for those environmental standards and societal aspirations which improve quality of life.”
-- Henri Nestlé, 1857.

Our vision and values

To be a leading, competitive, Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company delivering improved shareholder value by being a preferred corporate citizen, preferred employer, preferred supplier selling preferred products.

heheheheh

Well, this storyline has become one of the a most read articles on BBC news...hope something happens. I for one will not touch Nestle again until they change their ways.

Then they go around claiming sanctions and the African succers actually believe it! We will not say we told you so. These corporations will deal with the devil and not care. Nestle is one of many in Zimbabwe including banks that kept extending loans to ZANU PF; money that was then taken by the corrupt leaders at bank rate and flooded onto the black market. How do you think the likes of Chiangwa have made money?

I always felt that Cadbury had more of a social conscience than some of their competitors, now I KNOW it and will continue to support them and not the Nestles of this world.

Werent the Swiss..also brought to court..and told to release "ill-gotten gains" they held during the WW2 !!?
Makes one think!
Will definetly be BOYCOTTING NESTLE,from now on.

In my view, boycotting Nestle is a knee-jerk reaction. Whilst having five farms is reprehensible, in a twisted but unacceptably way of zimbabwe revolutionary thinking, its a better for a black politician to have 5 farms than for a white farmer to have the land. Certainly not in Zimbabwe. People do not know how white farmers used to arrogantly behave towards their workers as well as the local black population. I certainly do not have sympathy for them.
The significant upside of the Zimbabwe land reform, chaotic and at times self-serving as it was, is that in 20 yrs time an entire new generation will grow up aspiring to be commercial farmers and commercial farming will no longer be synonymous with being white. Truly truly Zimbabwe now belongs to its people. Black people own the land, Black people started and run their own banks, manufacturing companies, construction companies. Black people run the show in Zim, All thanks for to our fearless politicians. Our politicians are fearless because they waged a war in the bush and blood was spilt. Whereas in South African, freedom was negotiated and not through the bullet of an AK 47. Hence SA can afford to be wishy washy in having the most advanced and liberal constitution and yet 80% of the people live in shacks and no water no schooling.
South Africa needs to sort itself out. Black people do not own their country here and thats a problem. The politicians are too weak and timid to effect real change. SA needs a local equivalent of Bob Mugabe

Much as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth,at least the farm is productive and our hatred of Grace should not blind us from seeing that she is providing a product/service to the populace directly from her farm and indirectly by way of employment through Nestle and further downstream industries/suppliers etc.We are beyond debating how it was acquired because that "train has since left the station"

But Mr Hoines you used to be a friend to Bob those days when you used to lend him your classic 1969 vintage? What changed your mind? Did he take your farm as well? As for nestle gentlemen it's business as usual.

as long as nestles isn't using the milk to make white chocolate!!!!!

gerald cubitt

We have started a Facebook Group to boycott Nestlé

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=nestle&init=quick#/group.php?gid=141596343986&ref=ss

Have a look and feel free to join.

Let’s see if we can make a difference.

Nestle uses cocoa beans from Siera Leone which uses child labour and now Nestle uses milk from proceeds of crime.

It's like me stealing Hypermarket and Woolworths and other supermarkets and exporting the goods.

And who needs calorie filled Nestle foods.

Grace Mugabe is contributing positively towards Zimbabeans and the Zimbabwean economy. What is the issue?

Nobody is up in arms at the terrible conditions that our miners work under and they're meagrea salaries while they rake in billions.

Nobody is pointing fingers at the Ackermans for paying Pick n Pay casual employees R1500 per month whilst they rake in billions.

Nobody questions the accumulation of white wealth...

Nobody is busy rambling about the fact that De Klerk owns a farm and God Knows how many more properties.

Are the people of Zimbabwe being affected negatively by Grace's business.

Or is it better that the white man owns 20 farms and sells the milk?

Would you have questioned this business if the white man owned it?

What is the problem here?

I have started a group on FB to boycott Nestle for their dealings with the Mugabe's. Please feel free to join and comment

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=137009729569

2boy The One, the problem is not because of a race. The issue is that the country has sanctions placed on it due to Mugabe's crimes against humanity etc. The Mugabe's are being punished yet here they continue to trade. Nestle is continuing trade with them because they are not part of the EU.

@SD; it seems to me that Zimbabwe has ALREADY had 30 years in which to begin to prove itself; instead it destroyed what it had and plundered whatever was in the till. I don't hope for any miraculous turnaround any day soon. And do you really think that in 20 years, neophyte black farmers will be able to achieve what it took dedicated white farmers over 100 years to achieve? Wow. Oh and when I was in Zim, farming was 'women's work'...so maybe that's why Gracie has the farm. Yep, Black people run the show in Zimbabwe, as you say; no comment needed if you think SA needs a Bob Mugabe.

"People do not know how white farmers used to arrogantly behave towards their workers as well as the local black population." well, I'm sure some behaved arrogantly towards their workers & anyone else; but the head of the CIO in Chimanimani, who 'took' David Wilding-Davis' farm, also 'took' the blankets and food he had provided for HIS employees, and tried to sell them back to those who would remain to work for the new owner. And during Murambatsvina, when the soldiers bulldozed the orphanage for children with AIDS, in Hatcliffe, and the German Ambassador arrived with a truckload of donated blankets, the soldiers burnt them before her eyes; and the traders who sold bread, eggs and soft drinks outside my office, well the 3 of them (all women) were beaten with sjambocks by 5 police (2 women officers) who laughed heartily as they went about their work...no more space, or I'd give more examples.

@2Boy The One: when 'whites' owned the land, they bought and paid for it; when Grace (and Leo and Bob and all the rest of the family) 'own' the farm, it means they took it from the rightful owner and didn't pay for it; what do you call that?

LA QUEBECOISE

what a load of rubbish, white people did not buy the land they shoved it's inhabitants off their own propert and made them human machines (cheap labour)! if you follow african history you will see the same strategy throughout Africa!

You have an amazing sense of entitlement and you express it by feeding us high school history written by the very same people who colonised africa! you couldn't avoid the facts any more than you are...

For you to suggest that you "bought" the land is beyond me... If you bought the land then you bought it from the first "settlers"(actually invaders) who enslaved us. The system was designed to starve africans of wealth, heritage and land in order to speed up European development!!

Even some white people would bge shocked to hear you say you bought the land cuz you definitely did not buy it from us africans!!

2BOY The one, you are so biased, two wrongs do not make it right.
Stop holding all generations of whites guilty for things that happened a long time ago.
It is bad enough that all whites must apologise for slavery, not all the whites had or supported slavery in the previous centuries.
If it is to be totally fair; then the Arabs and African that sold their people to the white slave traders should apologise as well.
So start apologising mate, because just like me, you do not know if one of your ancesters was part of the whole process of slavery????

2boy: "white people did not buy the land they shoved it's inhabitants off their own property"

When the 'white man' set up farms, there was nothing there.

Like I said, after 1980, land was sold, by ZanuPF to white farmers.

Which Mugabe, then eventually kicked them off, not to 'give the land back to the people', but to give to his wife and Zanu PF top dawgs.

How DOES Grace Mugabes farms help the Zimbabweans? She SELLS the milk, makes HUGE profit. Nestle sells the milk makes HUGE profit.

Zimbabwean buys the milk, and wonder when his brother working in South Africa, will send his next pay cheque through. So that he can buy some coffee.

But 2boy, your type of politics, no matter how detrimental it is to Zimbabwe (no more food, crazy interest rates, no business, no work), you are happy, just as long as somebody, 'stuck it to the white man'.

And you still have the nerve, to preach about 'Transformation'.

Scary 2boy The One; it is ignorance of your sort that perpetuates the myths which feed the fire of racism and deflect people from problem solving. You have a lot to answer for my friend.

In the first instance in the late 1890s people 'bought' the land by entering into contracts with chiefs, a process which was continued for a while. The people currently having their land stolen from them by blacks at all levels, and it is not only white commercial farmers having their land stolen, it is prosperous black farmers as well, in any event, approx 80% of these farms have certificates of no interest issued by the same Mugabe government which is now seizing the farms.

The problem was never about land per se; when the white farmers tended to their farms and paid their taxes into ZANU PF's treasury all was well, for the white farmers, and their employees who lived in proper houses with sanitation on these farms, with a clinic and a school and often a workshop where the wives could do embroidery or bottle jams and earn some of their own money, which they could take to market on the roads the white farmers graded and tarred; for the rest of the population life wasn't so rosy.

Then in the mid 90s the white farmers began to support both morally and financially, a new movement started by the ZCTU, headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, and around whom coalesced all sorts of Zimbabweans, black, white, coloured, Asian and others who had suffered under ZANU PF. When this support became evident, and the 2000 referendum was defeated, then, and only then, did the Land Issue re-surface.

You read YOUR history. 2boy The One

LA QUEBECOISE

keep talking emotional drivel to make yourself feel comfortable!

2Boy the One; they are not 'emotional' they are facts; ink on paper facts, title deeds in the bank facts. tarred roads, empty schools on farms, decaying clinics on farms, empty farms.

keep ranting 2Boy You are The One

Mugabe and his tart Grace are plain common thieves. Rotten human beings, period. There are other rotten people everywhere but this fact does not reduce or dilute these two's plain rottenness. When you steal from strangers is bad enough but when you steal from your own, you cannot go lower.