Mugabe is their darling

Zim dictator regarded as hero by Africa’s upper middle classes

Aidan Hartley
The Spectator

25 October 2003

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Mugabe is seen as a leader who illuminated the path ahead for South Africa

In Johannesburg recently I hooked up with Mojo, an old drinking chum from Dar es Salaam, where in the 1980s I was an FT stringer covering the ‘frontline states’ and he was an officer in the ANC’s armed wing, Mkhonto we Sizwe. These days I’m a settler on the land in Kenya, while Mojo has risen to become Lieutenant-General Mojo Matau, South Africa’s chief of military intelligence. At our reunion the beers flowed freely into the night as we remembered the old days. Mojo and I slapped each other on the back and held hands for a bit. Then I asked my friend, this man in the kitchen cabinet of ANC power in the new South Africa, what he thought of Robert Mugabe. At his reply my heart sank. He described Zimbabwe’s President as a hero for what he’s done to white farmers, and a leader who illuminated the path ahead for South Africa. I remonstrated, as I always do, and ended by telling Mojo that I saw myself as an African first, a white second, and that it was my ardent wish to stay on the continent. ‘Your only home,’ countered Mojo, gently taking my hand again, ‘is England.’

Is this the real story behind Thabo Mbeki’s ‘quiet diplomacy’ towards Zimbabwe? Mugabe, to say it without beating around the liberal bush, is a hero to many of my black African friends. Most of the people I’m talking about are from the upper middle class, inheritors of the African kingdom after colonialism. According to one Zambian, who is among my very oldest of comrades, ‘Mugabe is Shaka Zulu.’

Mugabe is ‘speaking for black people worldwide,’ writes the South African journalist Harry Mashabela. Regarded as a solid liberal in his long career, and writing in the Helen Suzman Foundation’s September newsletter, Mashabela pointed to the adoration Mugabe won at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg last year: ‘The applause and standing ovation were a tacit expression of appreciation of the courageous stand Mugabe has taken in trying to resolve the critical land problems facing his country.’

African intellectuals see this in terms of Mugabe correcting historical injustices

Indeed, Mugabe and his lieutenants win ovations across Africa: at a summit of the Southern African SADC trade bloc in August, or at an ANC conference ten months ago, when President Thabo Mbeki got up and hugged Zanu-PF loyalist Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mugabe laps it up. During Zimbabwe’s sham elections in 2002, a correspondent asked him if he thought the violent land invasions hadn’t damaged his image. He replied, ‘If the perception is that of Europeans, well, I suppose you are right to say my reputation has gone down. But in terms of Africa, go anywhere and I am a hero.’

Mugabe’s pan-African admirers believe that his problems — Zimbabwe’s 400 per cent inflation, three million starving, violence — derive solely from the wish of the former colonial power and her allies to punish him for redistributing white land to indigenous Africans. Says Mashabela: ‘Not human rights violations, not absence of the rule of law and not bad governance as the British and American governments would like us to believe.’

‘African intellectuals see this in terms of Mugabe correcting historical injustices,’ my Zambian friend tells me. By now I don’t need to remind you of Zimbabwe’s colonial story, the forgotten promises of the Lancaster House Agreement, the building-land pressure and disproportionate ownership of commercial farms by the tiny white minority. ‘But surely it’s not about that,’ I say. ‘Surely it’s that Mugabe is at war with his own people. What about the MDC opposition?’ My friend says, ‘The MDC is regarded as a white-backed movement that has no credibility.’

The truth of what’s happening inside Zimbabwe doesn’t matter here.

The truth of what’s happening inside Zimbabwe doesn’t matter here. We’ve moved into the territory of black racial prejudice, which, just like its white counterpart, is rooted not in facts, or decency, or humanity, but in irrational nonsense. Among these black friends of mine in their tailored suits, drinking whisky and playing golf, I am simply reminded of those people in England who profess to be tolerant, civilised people, yet harbour ideas about niggers, yids and towelheads that make them bedfellows of the BNP.

Other than for whopping the white settlers, which is sweet to see after centuries of oppression, etc., etc., why is Mugabe admired? He has stood up to Britain and the USA, and in the eyes of Third Worlders that’s commendable even if a nation is collapsing. (The walls of Africa, it should be noted, are scribbled over with graffiti that is pro-Saddam Hussein and pro-Osama bin Laden). Thirdly, Mugabe’s got charisma, a relentless energy in his septuagenarian’s dainty frame, and he deploys rhetorical powers with an eloquence rarely matched by any other leader in Africa’s independent history. He possesses the ‘perfume’ of power, as Christopher Hope describes it in his fine recent book about tyranny and Zimbabwe, Brothers Under the Skin. Mugabe is the archetypal African Big Man.

With great authority, certain British pundits claim Africa is in a mess because its citizens have a sort of genetically implanted admiration for the Big Men. Frankly, to me, this is like saying British commuters adore train delays, because this is the way things are today. The truth is that the majority of Africans deserve and wish for better leaders, but like British train commuters, they are often powerless to alter the status quo. It’s the upper middle classes — what we used to call the WaBenzi in Kenya, on account of the Mercedes Benz cars they drive — who like the Big Men. They’ve all got their snouts in the trough.

... the richer the black voters, the more likely they were to approve of Mbeki’s soft-pedalling on Mugabe ...

Kenya now has a true democracy — though still corrupt and rather useless — following a unique ‘velvet revolution’ in which millions of ordinary voters ended the reign of Daniel arap Moi, the ultimate Big Man, in polls last December. Is it any surprise, therefore, that Kenya is the single African nation to speak out forthrightly against Mugabe, while calling for him to remain suspended from the Commonwealth?

Lawrence Schlemmer, in a study for the Helen Suzman Foundation in April 2002, discovered that only 25 per cent of black South Africans approved of Mugabe’s white land seizures. In terms of Mbeki’s policy, 50 per cent either thought that he was correct to pursue his ‘quiet diplomacy’ or that he should have supported Mugabe more, while 37 per cent wanted a more critical policy. But the most interesting statistics show how the views of African voters depend on their class and income. Schlemmer found that the richer the black voters, the more likely they were to approve of Mbeki’s soft-pedalling on Mugabe. ‘Perhaps,’ Schlemmer speculated, ‘they include many members of the insider elite, compromised by their interests.’

We’ve been here before. Initially Idi Amin was hugely popular among educated Ugandan blacks when he expelled 50,000 Ugandan Asians in 1971. He was then treated to a standing ovation at a summit of the Organisation for African Unity, the club of dictators that was abolished in favour of a new, squeaky-clean African Union — which recently appointed Mugabe as its envoy to oversee, among other things, ‘good governance’.

‘The Zimbabwe-style explosion in South Africa over the land issue may be delayed ...but that it shall happen some time in the future is beyond question.’

Breaking up big farms for smallholders spells economic disaster; everybody knows that. But in Africa, the mystical issue of land befuddles all rational thought. ‘Land ...is central to African politics and any politician who masquerades otherwise and dangles IMF statistics on inflation to the electorate without promising land would lose hands down,’ wrote the commentator John Kamau in Kenya’s Daily Nation. In reality, of course, the main beneficiaries of redistribution are the black top dogs.

‘As patriots who occupied the same trench of struggle with Zimbabwe when we, together, battled to end white minority rule in our region, we will do what we can to enable Zimbabweans to enjoy the fruits of their hard-won liberation,’ Mbeki wrote in the Guardian last May. I know exactly what he means. To return to my friend Mojo, what is to become of South Africa? Mashabela promises: ‘The Zimbabwe-style explosion in South Africa over the land issue may be delayed ...but that it shall happen some time in the future is beyond question.’

Tanzania’s President, Benjamin Mkapa, demanded the lifting of Western sanctions at the August summit of SADC — once formed by the ‘frontline states’ to isolate apartheid Pretoria. ‘I find it insulting that there are powers and people who believe food shortages in the region can only be averted when Africans become servants on white people’s land, rather than when they work on their own land,’ he thundered.

His words remind me of what happened 35 years ago, when Julius Nyerere, founder of Mkapa’s Revolutionary party, expropriated my family’s farm on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. Like the robbed white Zimbabwean farmers now wandering the earth, our lives were ruined for several years. My parents pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, survived and even prospered, as will the Zimbabweans. Our land, meanwhile, fell into ruin. Nyerere’s men brought North Koreans and Soviets to visit the results of my father’s hard work, holding it up as a fine example of socialist development. They feasted on the livestock. The borehole broke down. Into a business which my parents had once run out of a family bank overdraft the Swedes poured a million dollars of aid, in a ‘development’ project that quickly failed. Our former employees lost their jobs. Today our houses lie in ruins. The pyrethrum and dairy have been turned over to marijuana production. Most of the wildlife has been wiped out, the trees chopped down for charcoal. Occasionally the Maasai drive their cattle across the eroded plains, but in times of drought these proud people are forced to live on handouts of Western food aid. This story was repeated across Tanzania, thanks to Nyerere, who despite his disastrous attempts at ‘self-reliance’ is still revered as ‘Mwalimu’ — the Teacher — by Africa’s champagne socialists. Mwalimu, of course, died while being treated in a private London hospital, not a Tanzanian one.

Last 25 Visitor Comments

Name Email Subject Date

floarcoda denenvide_at_mail.ru I love you all! 1/14/2008
Make love, not war!
kolinka manya_at_mail.ru Your site's design is really tremendous. 12/15/2007
Nice site
Denik kanya_at_yahoo.com It's great. 12/14/2007
Nice site
Annemesnave enuntaibepype_at_uastar.net Workers in EU needed 8/7/2007
Job announcement. Regional manager vacancy in Germany. Salary 800 - 1400 EUR per week. Work time - 12 hours per week. ( 2-3 per one day). Demands: 21 years and older, male and female, PC available. Please send your questions and CV according this address: mchmoore1973@yahoo.com Regards Mikhael Barnett, head coordinator STEKMARK INC.
HelloWorld ethwtbwt4bgr_at_bk.ru Hello people 5/4/2007
Peace people We love you
bob bobsmadhouse_at_zim.org Pay me 3/23/2007
I'll wack Bob for a small fee, and if i am guaranteed support.
FrEeXxXTgPI harry.spotter_at_miaoweb.net Sexy story :) 2/11/2007
Sexy storie… My 18-year-old sister Megan came bounding into the kitchen wearing her black bikini. I had little time to react before she jumped up and wrapped her arms and legs around me. She squealed loudly in my ear and I had to grab onto the counter to keep from falling over.
marcuswotznika filaret-veprev_at_mail.ru Amazing site 2/4/2007
Just want to say that you have a really informative and amazing site. Really helped me further, much thanks :-)
cornelius washington cornw_at_stlouis.missouri.org Harry Mashabela 12/31/2006
Hello, I am trying to make contact with Harry. He and I met in SA about 15 years ago. Please send me his email address if you have it.
Jill Paul-Graham Anonymous Zimbabwe 12/31/2006
Look behind and stumble... Look forward and SEE... There is a future, it's inFRONT! 'The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light'...Isaiah 9v2 Only the God of the universe can show the way for all people. After all, He created it. If our leaders look to Him for guidance...we, all the people of Zimbabwe, have a wonderful future. HE is THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIGHT. All else is pure folly... May God bless Zimbabwe.
Green_Monkey23 green_monkey_at_paymailpro.org Small problem... 10/11/2006
Sorry for your time.... Why i can't see images on this resource? My Browser is: Opera. Thank you.
James james_at_dodgeit.com JUST FIGHT BACK 9/6/2005
Whites in SA should form thier own Al Qaeda like terrorist organization. Target and kill key leaders--behead them and film it; make road side bombs and the like. Do it, or die. Don't be afraid to die--better to die standing then to live on your knees!
GRINGO gringo_at_yahoo.com whites in africa 5/26/2005
frik hefer your arse is free to go coz you are such a crass idiot....people like mugabe are tyrants just like hitler & stalin,they do not define an entire people
Frik Hefer frik_hefer_at_comcast.net Advise to the white man in Africa 4/6/2005
My dear white Zimbabwean friends, I have not seen one success story of black majority rule in Africa yet, 20 years later Mugabe chases us white "compatriots" out of OUR land of birth.Get the hell out of the rubbish situation, you are wasting your time there , things will only GET worst . This black regime is so open about their hate for whites, white ideas, white technology and whites in general that it is a disgrace that this lunatic has not been brought to book for gross humanitarion violations! The last one to leave, please turn the lights off, so that the goverment can be in DARK forever!
taffy manutaffy_at_yahoo.com African Leadership Crisis 2/17/2005
The major problem afflicting Africa is that we lack visionary leaders who are able to plan for their continent's future. Look at Mugabe's land reform program - it's as if it was implemented on a whim. No plan,no clear strategy,no study to evaluate the impact of farm seizures on the national economy,the environment,our curreny etc. Fine, 'the people' now have the land but can they farm it productively and on a large scale? Do they have the capital? Do any of them know that there is a market called Europe? or Japan or USA? apart from the local farmers' market? Do they have the neccessary knowledge to improve farming techniques to produce better crops?Do they want to be farmers at all? these are the hard facts which Mugabe and Co. do not want to face. Societies and cultures enrich one another although sometimes this might not happen in a cosy/cordial fashion (eg colonialism with all its evils ushered in more knowledge to Africans than that wich we could muster on our own in our often reclusive societies) Africa should concentrate on increasing its industrial capability by focusing on science education and research (medicine,engineering,agriculture etc) and learn from the white people why their societies are so succesful.It is called 'migration of best practice' in some organisations - if something works,copy it!!!! Our societies were behind in terms of technology before the white people came but instead of looking at the big picture - that of becoming major players on the world stage we are still living in yester year (you poke me in face 100 years ago now i poke your face!!!) I am a black Zimbabwean living in the UK because my leaders do not value my views unless they tally with theirs. I really want to be back home to contribute to national development but the very people who lead Zimbabwe are preventing me from doing so by their unproductive policies.
trauts trauts_at_biel.co.za reality 1/22/2005
Cosatu and the comrades will bring sanity to Mugabes tyranny
Shirley van Zyl gerrieandshirley_at_yahoo.com Mugabe is insane 12/19/2004
Tinashe you say you live in Zim. but your e-mail adres is in the UK - the country you hate. All I can say about Zim. is that their leaders can not organise a kindergarden teaparty without killing some of the party goers. The USA and Canada were both colonies of the UK and look at them today. They have also outgrown their dependance on the UK - within years after gaining independance. They prosper through true democracy. Australia is still a colony and it is one of the strongest economies in the world. There is none as dangerous as an half educated person and the ruling parties of Africa is saturated with people like that. I am not talking about university degrees - any fool can study for a piece of paper. I am talking about the true education of human nature and what it takes to make a success of a country. Africa is lead by jeolous leaders who will do and say anything to stir ratial hatred - may Zimbabwe pick the fruits of their labour for years to come.
Simon Reader simon_at_winwin.co.za Bongani 8/10/2004
Bongani, this is perhaps the most pathetic answer or retort to a conversation. YOU BLACKS must learn the dynamics of governance before suggesting that the 'ruler' is in charge of the money. Or else go.
Bongani q_at_q.com Africa is normal 8/6/2004
You whites must understand that when the leader of an African country takes all the countries money that is normal, there is no such thing as corruption in Africa, the leader (or chief) is in charge of the country and it is his right to take anything that he wants, this has been the normal thing to do in Africa since the beginning of remebarance, our ancestors did it and now our current leaders are also doing it. If you whites dont like it you can leave. We are more than happy to support our leaders thro everything even when they beg from the white man we smile because we know that our leaders needs more than we can give and the white man helps us. Thank you white men. Bongani
Pamela walker pamela.walker4_at_btinternet.com No white autochthons 3/29/2004
I feel indebted to Aidan Hartley for confirming what I feared but,have been unwilling to accept, that however much we, as Whites, may deceive ourselves into believing that we have earned a permanent place for ourselves in an African country, the people themselves can never accept that. Perhaps at very best, we can hope to be accepted and tolerated for a period, as the purveyors of certain benefits -- but that is where it ends. Their view is that, what we have gained by living in Africa has heavily outweighed our contribution For us, as individuals, to love and identify with Africa and the people is not enough -- for them.There are no white autochthons.
Jaco Strauss feedback@strauss.za.com Teen Insanity 1/23/2004
Tinashe, you say "Zimbabwe has outgrown the age of dependance on the West", but why does it beg for food, money, investment, aid, etc from the West? What is your understanding of "independence"? MAybe nobody "dictates to the UK or USA about their monetary policies", but they don't have to depend beg food from Africa to keep their citizens from starving. When a rebellious teen burns down his father's house, he will not only experience the wrath of his parents, but suffer the legal consequences too. Why allow mad robber mugarbage to get away with murder?
Tinashe chimangotc@yahoo.co.uk Teen Insanity 1/22/2004
Do we not fail to see that Zimbabwe is just the stubborn teen growing up and realising that its parents don't understand its needs, and can no longer hold it back. Zimbabwe has outgrown the age of dependance on the West, and as much as we may not like it, its the way that people should be headed all over Africa... Every man (or woman) should one day hope not to need their parents and live under their rule and laws, or even under their roof. Why can't we just let the country rule itself? Who dictates to the UK or USA about their monetary policies and way of ruling (Look at Bush), but because it is tiny Zimbabwe in Africa, it becomes an international crime. I Live in Zim, and my whole family is there too. We suffer, but hey, one day we be ok! Mugabe or no Mugabe, we need to live our own lives in Africa!
Wynand de Beer wdebeer_at_yahoo.com African insanity 12/2/2003
This is enough to make any civilised person want to vomit with disgust. The tragedy is that South Africa will undoubtedly go the same route if the population does not rid itself of the power-crazed ANC/SACP/NNP alliance, which in view of African history is highly unlikely. The more things change, the more they stay the same...

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Last 25 Visitor Comments
Name	Email	Subject	Date
floarcoda	denenvide_at_mail.ru	I love you all!	1/14/2008
Make love, not war!
kolinka	manya_at_mail.ru	Your site's design is really tremendous.	12/15/2007
Nice site
Denik	kanya_at_yahoo.com	It's great.	12/14/2007
Nice site
Annemesnave	enuntaibepype_at_uastar.net	Workers in EU needed	8/7/2007
Job announcement. Regional manager vacancy in Germany. Salary 800 - 1400 EUR per week. Work time - 12 hours per week. ( 2-3 per one day). Demands: 21 years and older, male and female, PC available. Please send your questions and CV according this address: mchmoore1973@yahoo.com Regards Mikhael Barnett, head coordinator STEKMARK INC.
HelloWorld	ethwtbwt4bgr_at_bk.ru	Hello people	5/4/2007
Peace people We love you
bob	bobsmadhouse_at_zim.org	Pay me	3/23/2007
I'll wack Bob for a small fee, and if i am guaranteed support.
FrEeXxXTgPI	harry.spotter_at_miaoweb.net	Sexy story :)	2/11/2007
Sexy storie… My 18-year-old sister Megan came bounding into the kitchen wearing her black bikini. I had little time to react before she jumped up and wrapped her arms and legs around me. She squealed loudly in my ear and I had to grab onto the counter to keep from falling over.
marcuswotznika	filaret-veprev_at_mail.ru	Amazing site	2/4/2007
Just want to say that you have a really informative and amazing site. Really helped me further, much thanks :-)
cornelius washington	cornw_at_stlouis.missouri.org	Harry Mashabela	12/31/2006
Hello, I am trying to make contact with Harry. He and I met in SA about 15 years ago. Please send me his email address if you have it.
Jill Paul-Graham	Anonymous	Zimbabwe	12/31/2006
Look behind and stumble... Look forward and SEE... There is a future, it's inFRONT! 'The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light'...Isaiah 9v2 Only the God of the universe can show the way for all people. After all, He created it. If our leaders look to Him for guidance...we, all the people of Zimbabwe, have a wonderful future. HE is THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIGHT. All else is pure folly... May God bless Zimbabwe.
Green_Monkey23	green_monkey_at_paymailpro.org	Small problem...	10/11/2006
Sorry for your time.... Why i can't see images on this resource? My Browser is: Opera. Thank you.
James	james_at_dodgeit.com	JUST FIGHT BACK	9/6/2005
Whites in SA should form thier own Al Qaeda like terrorist organization. Target and kill key leaders--behead them and film it; make road side bombs and the like. Do it, or die. Don't be afraid to die--better to die standing then to live on your knees!
GRINGO	gringo_at_yahoo.com	whites in africa	5/26/2005
frik hefer your arse is free to go coz you are such a crass idiot....people like mugabe are tyrants just like hitler & stalin,they do not define an entire people
Frik Hefer	frik_hefer_at_comcast.net	Advise to the white man in Africa	4/6/2005
My dear white Zimbabwean friends, I have not seen one success story of black majority rule in Africa yet, 20 years later Mugabe chases us white "compatriots" out of OUR land of birth.Get the hell out of the rubbish situation, you are wasting your time there , things will only GET worst . This black regime is so open about their hate for whites, white ideas, white technology and whites in general that it is a disgrace that this lunatic has not been brought to book for gross humanitarion violations! The last one to leave, please turn the lights off, so that the goverment can be in DARK forever!
taffy	manutaffy_at_yahoo.com	African Leadership Crisis	2/17/2005
The major problem afflicting Africa is that we lack visionary leaders who are able to plan for their continent's future. Look at Mugabe's land reform program - it's as if it was implemented on a whim. No plan,no clear strategy,no study to evaluate the impact of farm seizures on the national economy,the environment,our curreny etc. Fine, 'the people' now have the land but can they farm it productively and on a large scale? Do they have the capital? Do any of them know that there is a market called Europe? or Japan or USA? apart from the local farmers' market? Do they have the neccessary knowledge to improve farming techniques to produce better crops?Do they want to be farmers at all? these are the hard facts which Mugabe and Co. do not want to face. Societies and cultures enrich one another although sometimes this might not happen in a cosy/cordial fashion (eg colonialism with all its evils ushered in more knowledge to Africans than that wich we could muster on our own in our often reclusive societies) Africa should concentrate on increasing its industrial capability by focusing on science education and research (medicine,engineering,agriculture etc) and learn from the white people why their societies are so succesful.It is called 'migration of best practice' in some organisations - if something works,copy it!!!! Our societies were behind in terms of technology before the white people came but instead of looking at the big picture - that of becoming major players on the world stage we are still living in yester year (you poke me in face 100 years ago now i poke your face!!!) I am a black Zimbabwean living in the UK because my leaders do not value my views unless they tally with theirs. I really want to be back home to contribute to national development but the very people who lead Zimbabwe are preventing me from doing so by their unproductive policies.
trauts	trauts_at_biel.co.za	reality	1/22/2005
Cosatu and the comrades will bring sanity to Mugabes tyranny
Shirley van Zyl	gerrieandshirley_at_yahoo.com	Mugabe is insane	12/19/2004
Tinashe you say you live in Zim. but your e-mail adres is in the UK - the country you hate. All I can say about Zim. is that their leaders can not organise a kindergarden teaparty without killing some of the party goers. The USA and Canada were both colonies of the UK and look at them today. They have also outgrown their dependance on the UK - within years after gaining independance. They prosper through true democracy. Australia is still a colony and it is one of the strongest economies in the world. There is none as dangerous as an half educated person and the ruling parties of Africa is saturated with people like that. I am not talking about university degrees - any fool can study for a piece of paper. I am talking about the true education of human nature and what it takes to make a success of a country. Africa is lead by jeolous leaders who will do and say anything to stir ratial hatred - may Zimbabwe pick the fruits of their labour for years to come.
Simon Reader	simon_at_winwin.co.za	Bongani	8/10/2004
Bongani, this is perhaps the most pathetic answer or retort to a conversation. YOU BLACKS must learn the dynamics of governance before suggesting that the 'ruler' is in charge of the money. Or else go.
Bongani	q_at_q.com	Africa is normal	8/6/2004
You whites must understand that when the leader of an African country takes all the countries money that is normal, there is no such thing as corruption in Africa, the leader (or chief) is in charge of the country and it is his right to take anything that he wants, this has been the normal thing to do in Africa since the beginning of remebarance, our ancestors did it and now our current leaders are also doing it. If you whites dont like it you can leave. We are more than happy to support our leaders thro everything even when they beg from the white man we smile because we know that our leaders needs more than we can give and the white man helps us. Thank you white men. Bongani
Pamela walker	pamela.walker4_at_btinternet.com	No white autochthons	3/29/2004
I feel indebted to Aidan Hartley for confirming what I feared but,have been unwilling to accept, that however much we, as Whites, may deceive ourselves into believing that we have earned a permanent place for ourselves in an African country, the people themselves can never accept that. Perhaps at very best, we can hope to be accepted and tolerated for a period, as the purveyors of certain benefits -- but that is where it ends. Their view is that, what we have gained by living in Africa has heavily outweighed our contribution For us, as individuals, to love and identify with Africa and the people is not enough -- for them.There are no white autochthons.
Jaco Strauss	feedback@strauss.za.com	Teen Insanity	1/23/2004
Tinashe, you say "Zimbabwe has outgrown the age of dependance on the West", but why does it beg for food, money, investment, aid, etc from the West? What is your understanding of "independence"? MAybe nobody "dictates to the UK or USA about their monetary policies", but they don't have to depend beg food from Africa to keep their citizens from starving. When a rebellious teen burns down his father's house, he will not only experience the wrath of his parents, but suffer the legal consequences too. Why allow mad robber mugarbage to get away with murder?
Tinashe	chimangotc@yahoo.co.uk	Teen Insanity	1/22/2004
Do we not fail to see that Zimbabwe is just the stubborn teen growing up and realising that its parents don't understand its needs, and can no longer hold it back. Zimbabwe has outgrown the age of dependance on the West, and as much as we may not like it, its the way that people should be headed all over Africa... Every man (or woman) should one day hope not to need their parents and live under their rule and laws, or even under their roof. Why can't we just let the country rule itself? Who dictates to the UK or USA about their monetary policies and way of ruling (Look at Bush), but because it is tiny Zimbabwe in Africa, it becomes an international crime. I Live in Zim, and my whole family is there too. We suffer, but hey, one day we be ok! Mugabe or no Mugabe, we need to live our own lives in Africa!
Wynand de Beer	wdebeer_at_yahoo.com	African insanity	12/2/2003
This is enough to make any civilised person want to vomit with disgust. The tragedy is that South Africa will undoubtedly go the same route if the population does not rid itself of the power-crazed ANC/SACP/NNP alliance, which in view of African history is highly unlikely. The more things change, the more they stay the same...

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