The Telegraph
By David BlairÂ
19 April 2000
A SCORCHED and bullet-scarred farmhouse showed the struggle mounted by a white Zimbabwean farmer during a two-hour siege yesterday before he was killed by 70 armed attackers.
Martin Olds, 43, died after gunmen launched a dawn raid on his home at Compensation Farm in Matabeleland, 400 miles south-west of the capital, Harare. He was repeatedly wounded during a gun battle that left his right leg shattered. However, he continued to fight his assailants and wounded two before succumbing.
Mr Olds’ death came barely a day after President Robert Mugabe assured the Commercial Farmers’ Union that the crisis, which has seen squatters occupy more than 1,000 farms, would soon be over. The tragedy also followed the murder on Saturday of David Stevens, another white farmer.
Four people were being questioned in connection with the murder of Mr Olds, Chief Supt Wayne Bvudzijena said last night, although no arrests had been made. Local farmers said Mr Olds had been a target for murder by fanatical supporters of Mr Mugabe who were brought by bus to the area.
Mr Olds told a neighbouring farmer during a desperate radio conversation at about 6am: “I’ve been shot and I need an ambulance”. His attackers had arrived about 30 minutes earlier with automatic weapons. They burst through his security fence to surround the house. A local farmer said: “He had already said, ‘If anyone comes on my property I will shoot them’.”
Mr Olds defended himself with a shotgun and a hunting rifle. His right leg was broken but he made his own splints and continued to fight back. As the alarm was raised, nearby farmers tried to establish the situation. Guy Parkin, 20, approached the farmhouse at 6.45am. He said: “When I got there, there were lots of cars outside his gate. When I asked one of the war veterans what was going on, a shot was fired over me.”
Mr Parkin, fearing for his life, hastily retreated. He said most of the attackers were drunk and waving empty beer bottles. About 45 minutes later, Mr Olds was dead. Craig Wood, a local farmer, saw his body and said he had been “severely beaten”. Police did not appear until 9.30am, when the attackers immediately fled.
Mr Olds was described as a character who might have become a target because of his fiery temper. Wally Herbst, another farmer, said: “He was a very strong-willed man who knew right from wrong. That was probably why they went for him. Much as we mourn Martin’s death, we are afraid of the situation now, especially as these guys seem to be armed.”
David Coltart, legal secretary for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and a prominent lawyer in Matabeleland, said the attack was organised by Comrade Jesus, a notorious leader of farm invasions who had been brought into the area. Most of the assailants were from the majority Shona tribe.
The local people are Ndebele speakers with a deep loathing for Mr Mugabe’s government. Local farmers suspect that shock troops of the ruling Zanu-PF party are being brought into the area to cause renewed unrest. Mr Olds was alone in the farmhouse when he was attacked, but he leaves a widow, and two children, Angus, 14, and Martine, 17. Kathy Olds, who was disabled by childhood polio, had been looking forward to their 25th wedding anniversary.
She described her husband as “a rock, a moral man of very high principles”. She said he had no idea why he had been made a target. Mrs Olds was first told that her husband had been injured and that his assailants had thrown a cordon of roadblocks around the house to stop an ambulance from reaching him.
With his telephone and radio disabled by the attackers, Mr Olds was left alone to face his death. He fought with the elite Grey Scouts during the bush war of the Seventies and was well equipped to defend himself. His armoury consisted of a hunting rifle, a shotgun, a 9mm handgun and a Magnum revolver.
An ambulance treated two of his assailants for shotgun wounds to the legs and the crew confirmed that their patients were from the Shona tribe. Mr Olds farmed cattle on 12,000 acres in the Matabeleland. The farming community is in shock but many are determined to stay. Craig Wood said: “We can’t give up. There’s no way I can go. I’ve never been out of Africa.”
Matabeleland has seen few farm invasions since the crisis began in February. Farmers are shattered that one of their number could have been targeted for murder. Mr Herbst said: “These guys were on a mission. They picked on him to provoke a reaction and get a result – perhaps to get the president to declare a state of emergency.”