Zimbabwe background: Campaign to smash Mugabe

The sound and fury of the campaign against the present government of 
Zimbabwe and President Mugabe in particular, is obscuring the long history 
of Zimbabwe and the present struggle for land on the part of the people of 
that country. It is part of the long struggle of all African countries 
against European colonialism.

As far back as the fifth century, Bantu ironworkers discovered gold, copper 
and tin deposits. In a few centuries they developed sophisticated 
techniques for working these metals.

In the eighth century, the rise of Arab-influenced trade centres on the 
coast provided a market for their goods. The growth of trade resulted in a 
great expansion of their culture.

This civilisation established important trading connections with Asia which 
continued to develop until the mid-15th century.

At about this time, a Portuguese presence brought about the end of the 
prosperous trade with the east resulting in economic decline. Also, in 
reaction to the greed of the Europeans for gold, the Shona miners filled in 
their mines, keeping only their ironworks functioning.

In the first half of the 19th century, the territory was divided between 
the Shona peoples in the northeast, and the Zulu kingdom of Ndebele in the 
southeast.

In 1889, Lobenguela, the Ndebele ruler, received a visit from Charles Rudd, 
envoy of the wealthy English adventurer-entrepreneur Cecil Rhodes. In 
exchange for arms and a life pension, Lobenguela granted exclusive rights 
for the exploitation of the country's mineral resources to Rhodes' British-
South Africa Company (BSA).

The British Government gave the BSA control over trade, immigration, 
communications and the police in the Ndebele territory.

Since Matabeleland, as the British called it, was an independent state, the 
concession of these privileges granted by a foreign government, needed 
"formal and free" approval from ruler Lobenguela who lived in Bulawayo.

After Rhodes took control, British settlers were established in the Shona 
territory. They were protected by 700 police officers and were authorised 
to live there, founding a fortified camp which they called Salisbury. The 
settlers had no legal title deeds to the land other than the backing of the 
British Government.

Lobenguela withheld his approval for the BSA's activities. So Rhodes' 
agents created a situation of conflict with him to provide a "reason" to 
depose him.

In 1895, under the pretext of arresting some Ndebele who had stolen cattle 
from the Shona, Rhodes' "police" attacked Bulawayo, capital of Lobenguela. 
The ruler was driven into the bush and his nation and the Shona territory 
fell under BSA domination, under the name of Southern Rhodesia.

By 1960, settlers of European origin accounted for hardly five per cent of 
the population but owned more than 70 per cent of the arable land.

In Rhodesia, the African National Congress (ANC) intensified the struggle 
for independence. The colonial government of Prime Minister lan Smith 
reacted declaring a "state of emergency" in November 1965.

The British Government urged Southern Rhodesia to transfer power gradually 
to the African native majority. Smith flatly refused and proclaimed 
independence on November 11, 1965, in order to remain in power with his 
segregationist Rhodesian Front.

Smith's rebel regime faced an embargo declared by the United Nations, 
though the blockade was systematically violated by the Western powers.

Guerrilla warfare organised by ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People's Union) and 
ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union), was launched. The armed struggle 
grew increasingly intense and the Smith regime bombarded Zambia and 
Mozambique.

These countries together with Angola, Botswana and Tanzania, formed the 
group of Front Line Countries to fight racism. In Zimbabwe, ZAPU and ZANU 
joined to form the Patriotic Front under the joint leadership of Joshua 
Nkomo and Robert Mugabe.

In 1978 Smith and some African leaders opposed to the Patriotic Front 
signed an "internal agreement", which legalised their own political 
parties. In 1979, after fraudulent elections, Bishop Abel Muzorewa became 
Premier and changed the name of the country to Zimbabwe Rhodesia.

With the majority of parliamentary seats, the racist minority had the power 
to control the socio-economic and political system.

However, guerrilla pressure was mounting, and finally European governments 
and its African allies were forced to negotiate.

The British Government agreed to supervise free elections arranged for 
February 1980. Robert Mugabe's ZANU party won a landslide victory. Under 
the Lancaster House agreements, signed on April 18, 1980, Britain held 
power temporarily before transferring to the ZANU Party.

Although the Europeans maintained some economic and political privileges, 
they lost their veto over possible constitutional changes.

Meanwhile, because of war, the country's cattle herd had shrunk to a third 
of its previous size; many roads had been rendered useless, and some 
schools had remained closed for seven years. The medical and sanitary 
systems were also in serious disrepair, and various diseases, such as 
malaria, were increasingly in evidence among the population.

Prime Minister Robert Mugabe offered generous cabinet participation to the 
ZAPU leadership, also calling on segregationist politicians to form part of 
the government team. These steps were aimed at preventing old rivalries 
from interfering with national reconstruction, especially the ambitious 
National Development Plan.

Farm production broke all records and consumption reached higher levels 
than expected.

However, Robert Mugabe had to face two major difficulties: South Africa's 
blockade on Zimbabwe's agricultural exports and political dissent between 
ZANU and ZAPU. [Note: South Africa was still ruled by the apartheid regime 
at that time — Ed.]

Pressure from African farmers, who had hoped for a true agrarian reform 
after independence, clashed with the limitations imposed by the Lancaster 
House agreement.

This treaty impeded the expropriation of European land-holdings and the 
British and Americans avoided giving Zimbabwe the resources promised for 
the purchase and distribution of land.

Towards the end of June 1985, Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union 
obtained a comfortable victory in parliamentary elections throughout the 
country, except in Matabeleland where a majority of whites voted for the 
Rhodesian Front, created by lan Smith.

This led President Mugabe to remind them that the privileges granted to 
former colonists under the Lancaster House agreement should not be 
considered unalterable.

The political privileges enjoyed by whites were subsequently eliminated, 
though there were extensive privileges in other areas. For example, 4500 
farmers (most of them white) owned 50 per cent of the country's productive 
land while the 4.5 million peasants lived in communally-owned rural areas 
known as "tribal lands", where the black population were moved to during 
the colonial era.

The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) of white farmers blocked many 
initiatives for rural relocation. They controlled 90 per cent of all 
agricultural production, paid a third of the country's salaries and 
exported 40 per cent of the country's goods.

In 1990, Parliament approved land reform authorising the Government to 
expropriate land held by Europeans, at a price fixed by the State, and to 
redistribute it among the poor.

The majority of the African population supported the law, deeming it an act 
of racial and economic justice. The white farmers, on the other hand, 
criticised it as a violation of the civil and human rights established 
under the Constitution.

By the middle of 1993, the Union of Commercial Farmers, supported by 
minority parties of European origin, accused the government of 
expropriating unproductive land.

In 1999 the "Movement for Democratic Change" was established. The MDC was 
primarily the creation of the (white) Commercial Farmers' Union and a 
shadowy international body called Zimbabwe Democracy Trust. Although it had 
a black person as its leader the white farmers switched their political 
allegiance from the Rhodesian Front which was no longer a viable option.

Rupert Murdoch's "Sunday Times" last August made everything clear. It told 
British Prime Minister Tony Blair to organise "a world-wide economic 
blockade and the country's diplomatic isolation".

It went on: "The opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, 
should be supported and military intervention should not be ruled out." And 
then: "Until decisive action is taken, the whole region is a high-risk area 
for investors."

If effective land redistribution was to take place in Zimbabwe the movement 
could spread to other African countries where the land is still in the 
hands of the European settlers who seized it during the colonial period.

This is what lies behind the virulent campaign against Zimbabwe's 
government. As the British Telegraph reported at the beginning of 
this year: "... the South African Rand has dropped to record lows, as 
international markets fear that the regional superpower [South Africa] will 
contract the Zimbabwean 'infection'".

This fear of the land being returned to those who had worked and owned it 
for centuries lies at the heart of the hysterical campaign against Mugabe. 
Some of the best agricultural land in Africa is to be found in Zimbabwe. It 
is a country with rich mineral wealth as well.

The open jackbooted colonialist methods are no longer practical. Instead 
support for local politicians who will implement policies decided by the 
imperialist countries is now the favoured method. Savimbi in Angola, Mobutu 
in the Congo and now Morgan Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe are but three examples.

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Acknowledgement to The World Guide A View from the South, 
published by "New Internationalist Publications Ltd" for much of the 
material in this article.