Dozens of white-owned farms reported seized in Zimbabwe

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Zimbabwe militants, mostly war veterans, have forcibly seized at least 60 white-owned farms, apparently on government orders, a farmers' representative said Tuesday.

Dozens of farmers have gone into hiding for fear that their land will be taken, according to John Worsley Worswick of Justice for Agriculture, a Harare-based group that supports farmers' rights in Zimbabwe.

"We've witnessed a backlash, an outright attack on commercial farmers," Worswick said. "There are 450 farmers and workers left. ... They're in the process of being driven off their farms."

The farm seizures began sporadically Saturday and Sunday, but they have spread in the last 24 hours, he said.

In some instances, Zimbabwe police have responded, but instead of helping, the authorities are making sure the ousted farmers don't come back, Worswick said.

"Police have moved in afterward and are guarding those properties against the return of the farmers," he said.

The veterans are hard-line supporters of President Robert Mugabe, who is struggling to remain in power after a close race with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Zimbabwe's electoral commission hasn't released results from the March 29 election, but Tsvangirai has claimed victory and warned that Mugabe will try to use violence to overturn what he says is "the people's win." Watch why tensions are rising in Zimbabwe »

Zimbabwe's High Court will resume deliberations Wednesday after hearing arguments on whether to force the electoral commission to release the results, a journalist inside the courtroom told CNN on Tuesday.

The state-run newspaper, The Herald, has indicated that neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai received enough votes in the election to avoid a runoff.

Without any results yet, it is unclear whether a runoff is required.

A candidate must receive 50 percent plus one vote to win the election without a runoff. Read more about the candidates »

Veterans have left alone about 80 farmers under court protection in Mashonaland West province, which Worswick said was another sign the government is directing the land seizures.

These farmers were granted temporary protection from the land seizures by a Southern African Development Community court based in Namibia, he said.

A government spokesman blamed the evicted white farmers for trying to oust black owners from land they rightly received under Mugabe's land distribution program.

"Those white farmers came back in the thousands," said Bright Matonga, Zimbabwe's deputy information minister, noting they were probably "euphoric" over the opposition Movement for Democratic Change's victory in the parliamentary election. "They've got to stop that activity."

Militias seized most of Zimbabwe's 4,600 white-owned farms eight years ago under Mugabe's controversial land reform plan. Mugabe said the purpose was to return land to black peasants, but in many cases, the farms went to party loyalists and their relatives who had no skill working the land.

Mugabe's land redistribution policies are widely blamed for causing food production and agricultural exports to drop drastically, sending the country into an economic free fall.

When pressed about reports of the evictions, Matonga indicated the veterans probably were responding to what he called a "provocation."

He denied that police were standing by, allowing such land seizures to happen.

Zimbabwe's state-run media reported last week that a veterans leader, Jabulani Sibanda, accused white farmers -- bolstered by the opposition's victory in parliament -- of ordering the black owners to leave the land.

Worswick said the government "falsified" those reports "to create an excuse for what they're doing at the moment."

"This is the propaganda machine working," he said.

Last month's election is the most formidable challenge Mugabe has faced during his 28-year rule, and Tsvangirai has said the president may use the delay in announcing the results -- as well as the possible runoff -- to find ways to cling to power.

The Herald reported Tuesday that charges are pending against five Zimbabwean election officials accused of tampering with election results and underreporting nearly 5,000 votes cast for Mugabe. The five will be charged with either fraud or criminal abuse of duty as public officers, the paper said.

Police are investigating problems in two other areas where they said another 1,400 votes were involved, according to the Herald. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Tricia Escobedo in Atlanta, Georgia, contributed to this report.

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