VOA标准英语2009-Zimbabwe, South Africa to Sign Bilateral Inv

Governments attribute the delay to President Robert Mugabe's seizure¹ of white-owned farms, including hundreds which belonged to South Africans

Peta Thornycroft | Southern Africa 25 November 2009

Laborers² tend to tobacco crops on a white-owned tobacco farm near Centenary, 80 miles (129 kilometers) north-west of Harare (File)

After a decade of negotiations³, South Africa and Zimbabwe on Friday are scheduled to sign a so-called Bilateral⁴ Investment Promotion⁵ and Protection Agreement. Officials from both governments attribute the delay to President Robert Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms, including hundreds which belonged to South Africans.

Rob Davies South African trade and industry minister told VOA that the word land is not in the agreement even though land seizures⁶ in Zimbabwe have been central to negotiations towards the deal. But he did say that past events, such as what he called Zimbabwe's "land reform program" would not be addressed retrospectively.

Davies added that the agreement would protect South African interests only from the date it is signed.

This has angered hundreds of South African farmers who had their farms in Zimbabwe seized without compensation. They are even more angered because they have made countless⁷ unsuccessful representations for assistance to the South African government since the first of their farms was seized.

Now many are going to the Pretoria High Court early Friday to try and stop the signing of the agreement being signed later in the day in Harare.

Among them is Louis Fick, who this month was forced off his farm 80 kilometers north of Harare.

He told VOA his lawyers in Pretoria had drawn⁸ up an urgent application to the High Court for the signing ceremony to be put on hold because he said he and his colleagues suspect their constitutional rights and international law will be broken by this agreement.

He added that if South Africa signed an agreement that explicitly⁹ excludes assistance for South Africans for past injustices¹⁰ it would be a clear indication that South Africa condones¹¹ Mr. Mugabe's seizure of rural property from white farmers.

Fick says the agreement ignores a ruling by the Southern Africa Development Community's Tribunal last year that white farmers in Zimbabwe were victims of racial discrimination and that the few who survived should be left in peace. That court also ordered Mr. Mugabe to pay compensation to farmers already evicted¹³.

South Africa, like Zimbabwe, is a member of SADC.

Crawford van Abo, another South African farmer who is now 75, and who was forced off his ranch¹⁴ early in Mr. Mugabe's purge¹⁵ of white farmers, has an ongoing¹⁶ court case in South Africa. He says he hopes to eventually claim substantial damages from his government for his losses in Zimbabwe.

Earlier this year the World Bank's International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes awarded 13 Dutch farmers evicted from their land and homes in Zimbabwe nearly $12 million which the center said must be paid by Zimbabwe. The government of the Netherlands and Zimbabwe had a bilateral trade and protection agreement.

Although the agreement will provide relief, particularly to South African investors¹⁸ in Zimbabwe's mining, commercial and industrial sectors¹⁹, some western financial analysts²⁰ say the unresolved issue of eviction²¹ of thousands of white farmers and tens of thousands of their workers, will continue to undermine foreign investor¹⁷ confidence.

Many evicted white farmers or those still struggling to survive on-going attacks say they are disappointed with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change party, who support the agreement. They say white farmers provided considerable funding to the MDC shortly after it was launched in late 1999 and that many of them assisted the MDC fight elections.

In the political agreement which led to formation of Zimbabwe's unity¹² government in February, Mr. Tsvangirai committed his party to recognizing that nearly 10 years of seizures of land from white farmers, including South Africans, was irreversible.

A lawyer in South Africa who did not want to be named said the investment protection agreement was unusual. He told VOA it indicates South Africa has decided²² to put in the past what he described as Mr. Mugabe's racist²³ land seizures. He said this is inconsistent with South Africa's constitution.

Nearly 20 million acres of white-owned agricultural land was taken from white farmers and most of it was given to members of Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF. Satellite images of the seized land shows that about 80 percent of the land taken for crops is fallow.

Mr. Mugabe launched land invasions after he suffered his first political defeat at a referendum early 2000. He said white-owned land was taken to redress²⁴ the evil of colonialism.

Once the agreement is signed it will have to be ratified²⁵ by parliaments in both countries.

1 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

2 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

5 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

6 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

7 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

11 condones   

v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A morality that condones such bloodshed is totally unacceptalbe to me. 宽恕这种杀戮的道德是我完全不能接受的。 来自辞典例句
• When government condones evil, he insists, "the true place for a just man is a prison." 他坚持认为，当政府宽容罪恶时，“正直人的真正去处是监狱”。 来自哲学部分

12 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

13 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

14 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

15 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

16 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

17 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

18 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

19 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

21 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

22 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

23 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

24 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

25 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。