A minority of the 4,000 large white landowners expropriated in the 2000s on orders of former president Robert Mugabe, have been compensated, says chairman of the Zimbabwe Compensation Steering Committee, Deon Theron, after the government’s announcement of a first payment. “There's a small fraction that have accepted a side deal, so we are just trying to correct that misconception that a deal has been done and compensation is taking place and everyone is happy, that's not the true fact,” says Theron. Following the fall of Mugabe in 2017, his successor’s government, Emmerson Mnangagwa, signed an agreement in 2020 to raise $3.5 billion in compensation for these large landlords, but many are still waiting, according to Theron. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES