It is a tragic story.  Americans often think of Rhodesia as an essentially similar suburb of South Africa, but it wasn't.

Lots of the odious racial attitudes in the region came from the boers who had lived there for centuries, not the brits.  English Rhodesians were less than 2% of the population, while the white population of South Africa was 10-15%.

English rhodesians cultivated a fairly wide -- by african standards -- native managerial class who were smart enough to know they were doing well when so many other africans were not.  That class did not support turning the country over to "nationalists" -- in this context "nationalist" means those hostile to the independent rhodesian government.  Sadly, the UK was set on a policy that did not recognise Rhodesian independence until hostile parties ran the government.

It is sad for the settlers who built the country.  It is even more sad for the people trapped there.  It reflects the pattern seen too often when brit post-war government could not longer support its former role in the world: One man, one vote, one time.

Inflation devaluates money. 3700% inflation means you need 3700% more money to buy the same things, that is, your money is now 1/37th as valuable as it was last year.

Mugabe keeps it gully. Can't knock a mans hustle.

I visited Zimbabwe approximately 5 years ago and the situation was horrific then.

The theory behind Zimbabwe's land ownership policies were on the outisde similiar to that of Australia's Mabo legislation brought in, in the 80's. That is that the rightful owners of land should be able to reclaim it.

What actually happened in reality was completely different to any propoganda that the Mugabe government might want people to believe.

I will tell you a typical day in Zimbabwe 5 years ago. There would be a specific radio station set up for news and information from the Returned Serviceman League. The leader of the Zimbabwe RSL is as guilty as Mugabe of war crimes. He would broadcast on this radio station 9am sharp. "We have a farm in so and so district. Here is the address. All you returned service people are entitled to this farm. Go and take it now. Use as much force as you need to claim what is rightfully yours". Etc etc and so it went on.

Then you would get maybe 20 or so people getting in their car, loading up their rifles, and driving to the address. Many times they would kill the entire family, sometimes they would be merciful and kick them out. Then they would reclaim the farm.

Then the real monty python stuff would happen. Because the people who retook the farm had no education, or any idea on how to work farm machinery, they would have no idea on how to farm properly. Then they would ring up Mugabes minister of Rural Development. "Um, we took over so and so farm, but we have no idea how to work it, can you help us". They would reply "We have no idea, look in the farm for manuals, there must be some instructions on how to work it". You may laugh at this, but this scenario,happened time and time again. Many times, the farmers knowing that they would be kicked out would sabotage or destroy all equipment before they were kicked out or killed.

When I was there, there was a huge headline about this old white zimbabwean farmer. He was 70 years old or so. He had been told to move out or be killed and point blank refused. So he barred himself inside the house and loaded his rifle. It was like something out of a texas western. It took them two days to kill him but he killed about 6 guys in the process. He was seen as a major hero amongst all white farmers and anti mugabe activists.

Two points for everyone to note.

1)It is not solely a black/white issue. When I was in Zimbabwe there was just as many anti mugabe blacks as there were whites. Food shortages and a complete destruction of an economy affects every single person, no matter what colour skin you have.

2)In 2000, there were approximately 4500 white commerical farmers in Zimbabwe. In this present day there are fewer than 100.Many of the farmers were killed in horrific circumstances, many tortured.

3)Mugabe has a history of human rights abuses against blacks, as well as whites.

In view of all this, how he has been able to carry on such human rights abuses as well as the complete destruction of his country, while the rest of the world, did nothing about it, is unbelievable really.

Here is a good article about Mugabe and the recent history of Zimbabwe, taken from a newspaper in Ghana


http://www.modernghana.com/GhanaHome/NewsArchive/news_details.asp?menu_id=1&id=VFZSUk1FNUVTVEk9
 

One of the most remarkable stories regarding Zimbabwe's Mugabe era is concerning a man called Henry Olonga.

Henry Olonga was a black cricketer, who became famous with a white zimbwean Andy Flower, for wearing black armbands for Zimbabwe's first cricket match in the 2003 World Cup. When questioned in the press conference after the match, on why they wore black armbands, this was their statement.


Now, this was broadcast around the world, for all the world to see, in one of the most watched sporting events in the world.

Mugabe was absolutely furious. He was outraged at Andy Flower, but the main fury was directed at Henry Olonga, a black man, who in front of the entire world, was denouncing Mugabe and his regime.

So angry was Mugabe that the next week, Mugabe ordered that Olongo be arrested for treason, and given the death penalty.

The most unbelievable part of all this, is what happened next, and how it played out with the world to watch.
Zimbabwe, managed to reach the semi finals, and Mugabes henchmen were given the orders to arrest Olongo straight after the match, whereby he would be sent to jail, and executed for treason at a later date. In an amazing bit of planning, The British secret police got wind of this and put a plan into action. So, while the world was watching Zimbabwe play their semi final in Zimbabwe, Henry Olongo went off the field for a drinks break, and substituted for 5-10 minutes. Or that is what the crowd thought. What was happening, is that the British secret police, whisked away Olonga to a secret location where he went into hiding. At a later stage, he was transferred secretly to England and given political asylum. He now lives in Australia and has a brand new life.

Something also to note, there are at least 20 cricketers who represented Zimbabwe internationally, who are now living in other countries for fear of their safety and for political asylum reasons.

For further reading on Henry Olongo, a true Zimbwean hero, wikipedia has a good summary plus other links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Olonga