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Cape Town – Villagers from Zimbabwe's Manzou Estate in central Mazowe district are leading a difficult life after animals were released on a farm they are living on - which President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace reportedly wants to turn into a game park.
In a video posted on YouTube by News Day, one villager tells how the animals were giving them a torrid time as they strayed into their homes.
Watch the video below.
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) released about 100 into Manzou Estate last week in an apparent bid to force over 200 families settled at the farm to vacate, according to reports.
A lawyer from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) representing the villagers was reported as saying children were afraid to go to school after they met a herd of zebras and had to run for dear life.
The Zimbabwe High Court on 12 January ordered police to stop evicting farmers from their land.
The court made the decision after police had already allegedly burned some houses there.
"@NehandaRadio: Grace Mugabe's animals wreak havoc - http://t.co/7lHto3OVIU pic.twitter.com/oTLYi5hmik"
— barbra matarutse (@applematarutse) January 26, 2015Zimparks said a day after the court order was granted that they intended to move wild animals, including lions, buffalo, leopard, elephant, and rhino, onto the farm.
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party initially denied that Grace had anything to do with the evictions, saying the farm was a national heritage site.
