SW Radio Africa (London)

Zimbabwe: Campaign Begins to Stop Nestlé Buying 'Blood' Milk

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AfriForum, a South African civil rights initiative, on Wednesday launched an international campaign calling on people to boycott all Nestlé products, until the company stops buying 'blood milk' from Robert Mugabe's wife Grace.

An outcry erupted early this week when it was revealed that the Mugabes own 12 farms between them and that the Swiss national food giant has been buying milk from Mrs Mugabe, who controversially 'acquired' Gushongo Dairy Estate. This was after the previous owner was forced to sell his farm at just a fraction of its value, after a prolonged campaign of violence in 2003.

AfriForum CEO, Kallie Kriel, told SW Radio Africa that the pressure group has launched a website, www.nestlebloodmilk.com, asking people around the world to boycott Nestle products, unless the company stops buying the milk from Mrs Mugabe by October 7th. Afriforum said it will embark on protest actions at Nestle offices around the world if there is no response from the company by that date.

The South African civil rights group has sent a letter to the headquarters of Nestlé in Switzerland and the affiliates of the company in Africa, demanding that the purchase of milk from Mugabe should be stopped.

Kriel said the milk produced on the farm can be described as 'blood milk' because the farm, as well as the production process, is a result of the oppression of thousands of Zimbabweans by the Mugabe regime. He said the regime has blood on its hand and for Nestle to support Mugabe's inner circle makes them complicit and should make them rethink.

A statement from AfriForum also said: "Nestlé's purchase of approximately 1 million litres of BLOOD MILK from the dairy farm which Mugabe had "obtained" under questionable circumstances, is a denial of the basic human rights of every Zimbabwean whose blood has been spilt, and is still being spilt at the hand of Mugabe's brutal security forces and vigilante groups. Nestlé owes the people of Zimbabwe an apology."


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Comments 1 to 5 of 8 Post a comment

  • TD
    Oct 1 2009, 03:58

    This is a crazy group like other groups whp pretend to know what Zimbabweans want and have no clue whatsoever. What Zimbabweans want is food on the table not this hogwash of boycotts and sanctions. Zimbabweans have suffered enough which is the reason why they celebrated the GPA. How come such groups never call for the boycott of USA products when they know very well that innocent people have been killed enmasse in IRAAQ and Afghanistan and this continues to happen.

  • emily_sorensen
    Oct 1 2009, 05:11

    TD, get off your high horse. You know Mugabe has destroyed Zimbabwe. Would you trade with a man who murdered 20,000 of his own people? Did you see Mugabe and Grace have 12 farms between them. So much for the 1 man 1 farm rule. As always with Mugabe, rules only apply to everyone else.

  • Phiri
    Oct 1 2009, 22:15

    Awt, yahaaa....Mugabe has murdered a lot of people in Zimbabwe, including 20,000 matebeles. My own mum is a ndebele. Yet Britons and white farmers never raised the issues when Mugabe was their friend. The Queen of England, even knighted Mugabe. How do you explain such behaviour to us black Zimbabweans who think you are just a batch of hypocrites and "sweet heart" talkers. That you are very selfish and not deserving of anything!!

  • kjrs120
    Oct 2 2009, 03:04

    Phiri you are a back-biting snake. No one heard YOUR cries. Where were YOU? Why should others always do your dirty work or pick up your trash as is happening right now? You sat there and poopooed Mugabe until MDC came along and when they did not give him his 2/3 majority when he tried to democratically change the constitution, that is when Mugabe went bananas beating and murdering white farmers and taking away their farms even though 80% had purchased them after independence. It is those white farmers who escaped that alerted the world not only by word of mouth but by camera and video reports for the whole world to see about his vengeance on them. That changed the whole perception of Mugabe and the whole world realized that a new Hitler was born and that racism and dictatorship would once more disgrace and be the curse of Zimbabwe. Off went his knighthood.

  • TD
    Oct 2 2009, 03:47

    Awt your reasoning is very shallow. You might as well say that Africa should not trade with the West because so many africans were butchered during the colonial era, Iraq might as well stop trading with USA because so many innocent IRAQIS were butchered by the USA, the same is happening in Afghanistan. Zimbabweans might as well stop eating maize produced by ZPF supporters etc...

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