I am impatient, I admit it. However waiting for this Karoo Accountant to draw up the agreement was torture. After about seven days waiting, he produced a draft which was totally unsuitable. I complained to owner D who said he would get him to hurry up. Nothing happened. In sheer frustration I told owner D that the matter was now urgent and that I would draw up a draft agreement which would then be finalised by my attorneys; we had agreed that they would also do the conveyencing and transfer. I bashed out a first draft overnight and faxed it to him. Within a week we had a final agreement which only need to be signed. I was leaving for Zimbabwe on 15 December, so there was no time for a face to face meeting. We agreed that he would sign a copy and fax it to me as proof of his bona fides, and that we would sign a final agreement in the new year.
The urgency was twofold, firstly there could be no possible reason for the family to commit themselves to emigration without a place to go, and secondly, I wanted to take over the farming operation and business on 1 March 2004; the start of the new financial year.
The trip to Zimbabwe was uneventful, if sad. What had been a great country was now sinking fast. White farmers being beaten up and killed, their worker treated similarly, their crops stolen. Shortages of all basic commodities, but specifically fuel. MAD BOB has a lot to answer for. We agreed that the family would put their emigration papers in as soon as possible after new year, and that both R and G would come down for a week in mid January to visit the farm and become familiar with the operations. Better this than to arrive blind and try to run a farm without any knowledge of the place. I returned to Johannesburg just after Christmas and in early January set about getting the agreement actioned.
Johannesburg efficiency I had told owner D. Famous last words!
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