Southern African leaders yesterday gave themselves six months to review a stand-off between Zimbabwe and a regional court that ruled against President Robert Mugabe’s land reforms.

The tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), whose leaders wrapped up a two-day summit in Namibia’s capital Windhoek yesterday, ruled in 2008 that 78 white farmers could keep their land, saying they had been unfairly targeted because of their race.

Zimbabwe has refused to respect the ruling even though Harare has signed the treaty creating the court.

“The SADC summit decided that a review of the role functions and terms of reference of the SADC tribunal should be undertaken and concluded within six months,” Joao Samuel Caholo, deputy executive secretary of the 15-member bloc, said at the close of the annual summit.

Zimbabwe insists that the SADC tribunal treaty was never ratified, but critics contend that signing it was enough.

About 4,000 white farmers have been forced off their land in a violent and politically charged campaign launched by Mugabe in 2000.

The chaotic resettlement process slashed food production, making the nation chronically dependent on foreign handouts.