Zimbabwe sends buses, trucks to fetch nationals in South Africa

May 30, 2008, 7:36 GMT

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's government has sent 10 buses and trucks to South Africa to take home Zimbabweans wanting to leave the country over a recent spate of xenophobic violence, Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo said Friday.

Speaking to South Africa's SAfm radio, Moyo also reiterated his government's earlier commitment to give land to the returning Zimbabweans.

Asked where the land would be found Moyo said there was still plenty of land to be 'resettled.'

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government has evicted around 4,000 white farmers from their land since 2000, mostly without compensation. The land has gone mainly to members and allies of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

The populist land seizures decimated commercial agriculture, plunging the country's economy into a downward spiral and sending millions of Zimbabweans fleeing abroad in search of work.

Most went to South Africa, where some residents of poor communities turned on African migrants earlier this month, accusing them of taking jobs and housing.

At least 56 people were killed and hundreds injured in the mob attacks.

At least 30,000 African migrants are estimated to have fled South Africa over the attacks, mostly Mozambicans but also large numbers of Zimbabweans and Malawians.