White Rhodesian farmers have been given a virtual carte blanche by the regime to murder intruders or others whom they suspect of attacking farm property or stealing livestock. The Minister of Law and Order, Hilary Squires, told farmers at the annual congress of the Rhodesian National Farmers Union (RNFU) in July that they or their employees would not face prosecution if they killed anyone in the course of protecting themselves or their property. Similar assurances appear to have been given by the regime's premier, Ian Smith, in a confidential briefing to the congress on the political and security situation. Under the Indemnity and Compensation Act, which became law in October 1975 and is retrospective to 1 December 1972, members of the security forces and other employees of the regime are protected from legal proceedings being taken against them as a result of acts committed "in good faith for the purpose of or in connection with the suppression of terrorism or the maintenance of public order." This kind of protection is now to be extended to white private citizens i.e. farmers, under provisions of the Emergency Powers Act.
Many white farmers, disturbed at the deteriorating security situation and impatient with what they see as the regime's "no-win" approach to the guerilla war, have begun to hire foreign mercenaries, often ex-servicemen, to serve as strongarm men and home guards on their estates. (This is in addition to the "Bright Lights" of the Police Reserve, who undertake guard duty on many farms in the operational areas.) D.C. "Boss" Lilford, vice-president of the Rhodesian Front, one of the richest men in the country and a close friend and confidant of Ian Smith, is one such employer. Two British mercenaries, one a former member of the Coldstream Guards, have been employed as vigilantes on his 100,000 acre farm, Sanuka, north of Chiredzi, since June 1977. According to Lilford, both men fought in the Lebanese civil war at the height of the street fighting, and came to Rhodesia from South Africa. They were now receiving board and lodging in addition to their salaries, plus a bonus of R500—$1000 "to make them keen". "As far as I am concerned", Lilford said, "they are mercenaries. They don't speak the native language, but they know how to shoot." He revealed that there was a 'stick' of about six such private guards in the area, while farmers in Chiredzi, Nuanetsi, Gona-Re-Zhou and Gonakudzingwe were considering getting more of them. The guards kept in touch with each other by radio and worked together in the event of a cattle theft.
Farmers who employ such private vigilantes will from now on be helped to obtain weapons. Law and Order Minister, Hilary Squires told the RNFU congress that there would be no problem if guards joined the Police Reserve, but even if they did not, the problem of equipping them was one on which his Ministry was working. The vigilantes would gain the same legal protection from murder charges as their employers, he said.
Stock thefts from white farms have increased dramatically over the past two years, so much so that some farmers are even considering painting their cattle with luminous paint so that they can be more easily spotted from the air by security force patrols. Others in the west of the country are known to have been violating the Botswana border in pursuit of rustlers suspected of stealing their stock. The situation is in part a consequence of the distorted division of the country into European and African areas under the Land Tenure Act. Huge areas of "white" farming land have always lain unused, while in more recent months many white farms have been abandoned in the face of guerilla attacks. These empty areas are now posing an acute security problem for the regime.
