Land
By the mid-1990s it is thought that around 120,000 white people remained in Zimbabwe.[43] In spite of this small number, the white Zimbabwean minority maintained control of much of the economy through its investment in commercial farms, industry, and tourism. However, an ongoing programme of land reforms (intended to alter the ethnic balance of land ownership) dislodged many white farmers. The level of violence associated with these reforms in some rural areas made the position of the wider white community uncomfortable. Twenty years after independence, there were 21,000 commercial farmers in the country of whom 4,000 were white and 17,000 were black.[44]
In 1999 the government initiated a "fast track land reform" programme. This was intended to transfer 4,000 white farms, covering 110,000 km² (42,470 mi²) of mostly prime farmland, to black ownership. The means used to implement the programme were ad-hoc and involved forcible seizure in many cases.[46]
By mid-2006 only 500 of the original 5,000 white farms were still fully operational
In February 2010, the international media reported that new government regulations stipulated that all white business owners must sign over a 51% majority share of their business to black Zimbabweans. A penalty for those that do not comply could result in imprisonment.[154] Most recently, the law has been abandoned pending further discussion.[155]
In March 2010, a group of dispossessed white farmers were handed the ownership documents of a valuable property in Cape Town owned by the Zimbabwean government. A South African court had earlier ruled that land grabs in Zimbabwe were unlawful and that property owned by the Zimbabwean government (and not protected by diplomatic immunity) could be seized as compensation for victims of the land grabs. It is anticipated that other assets such as Air Zimbabwe jets in South Africa could be seized.