Chapter 2; Zimbabwe: an historical overview.

1. INTRODUCTION

What follows is an overview of the salient phases in Zimbabwe's eventful history, from early times until the present. It is a story of successive inflows of peoples, attracted by the natural wealth and equitable climate of the plateau land between the middle courses of the Zambezi and the Limpopo rivers. In the 20th century an economically strong state, called Rhodesia, was developed in the area by immigrants of European stock during an era of European imperialism. It was negotiated out of existence towards the end of that century to make way for a resurrected, independent Zimbabwean state. Modern Zimbabwe emerged in a world totally different from the one in which ancient Zimbabwe existed for several centuries. However, within less than two decades modern Zimbabwe landed itself in a national crisis, mainly of its own doing.

2. EARLY SETTLEMENT

In the course of the first millennium of the Christian era, Bantu-speaking groups from the north crossed the Zambezi River, replacing the Stone Age peoples roaming the area. The newcomers were the bearers of Iron Age culture and brought with them the skill of mining and smelting metals. At a later stage they were joined by the ancestors of the Karanga who founded a kingdom on the central plateau during the early centuries of the second millennium AD. The Karanga kingdom was the first significant state south of the Zambezi. The kingdom was known by the same name as its capital, Great Zimbabwe (Houses of Stone), built on terraces with granite foundations on which monumental stone walls were erected. The stone edifices were built through successive generations by what must have been quite large labour forces, directed by strong leaders. (1))

Located in a central position on the shortest route to the coast, Zimbabwe predominated in a large area where the king's subjects extracted gold from rocks and streams. This was exchanged, together with ivory, for cloth and other articles, supplied by Muslim traders plying the Indian Ocean coast as far south as Sofala (near present-day Beira).

Around 1450 the Zimbabwe kingdom had reached its zenith and began to crumble with different groups migrating in all directions, presumably because the area around the capital had become overpopulated and the land exhausted. A prominent group moved westward, founding the Torwa kingdom with its capital at Khami, near present-day Bulawayo. Similar to Great Zimbabwe the new capital had impressive stone structures.

The reigning king at Great Zimbabwe moved northward, across the plateau, with many of his subjects, founding a new kingdom along the Zambezi River valley. This kingdom became known by the dynastic name of its rulers, Munhumutapa (variants being Mwene Mutapa, Monomotapa). The new kingdom expanded in the direction of the Indian Ocean during the 16th century and the gold-mining industry and gold trade was resumed. The kingdom's capitals continued to be built with massive stone walls, though not on the same scale as at Great Zimbabwe. From the middle of the 16th century the Portuguese began to establish trade relations with Munhumutapa and eventually became a strong influence in the kingdom.

The inevitable fragmentation of Munhumutapa in the course of time led to the emergence of several independent groups under their own kings and chieftains. Examples were the Zezuru and Manyika of the northern plateau and others living in what eventually became Portuguese Mozambique. Sharing a common culture and speaking related tongues, these peoples were later classified by ethnologists as Shona (Mashona), speaking Chishona languages. (2)) An important development was the revival of the Zimbabwe kingdom under the Rozwi Changamire dynasty. Towards the end of the 17th century the Changamire kingdom controlled the entire region, including Munhumutapa, and played a key role in resisting Portuguese occupation of the land to the west of the Chimanimani Mountains (the present-day border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique).

By the early 19th century Changamire had fallen into disarray and became too weak to resist the onslaughts of Nguni warlords from south of the Limpopo during the period of the Mfecane (Difaqane). Zwangendaba and his followers crossed the Limpopo in the 1830s and destroyed the Changamire state before moving on to the Lake Malawi region. In contrast to Zwangendaba, Mzilikazi and his Ndebele (Matabele) came to settle in the area north of present-day Bulawayo around 1840. They soon brought much of the country north of the Limpopo under their control. King Mzilikazi died in 1868 and was succeeded by a son, Lobengula, at a stage when European explorers and prospectors were identifying the country's gold deposits, including the gold diggings of the early inhabitants. The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand (South Africa) in the mid-1880s stimulated further European interest in the perceived gold wealth to the north of the Limpopo.

Cecil John Rhodes, a diamond magnate based in the Cape Colony and a member of the Cape parliament, sensed that it was time to bring the interior of the Southern African subcontinent under British control in order to be able to exploit the region's natural resources. Acting on behalf of Rhodes, a group of agents, in October 1888, obtained a written contract from King Lobengula (the Rudd Concession) that conceded to Rhodes' syndicate "the complete and exclusive charge over all metals and minerals in his kingdom". Rhodes construed Lobengula's kingdom as to include all the land between the Limpopo and the Zambezi rivers as far east as Mozambique. When the king's advisers pointed out to Lobengula that he had signed away more than he intended, the king repudiated the concession but to no avail. Rhodes went ahead to establish the British South Africa Company (BSAC) that was granted a royal charter in 1889 to implement the concession.

An armed group assembled by the BSAC, the Pioneer Column, slipped into the land of the Shona and raised the Union Jack at a place they named Fort Salisbury (later Salisbury, now Harare) in September 1890. Thus a vast territory on both sides of the Zambezi River that had not been occupied by other European powers, came under BSAC (and British) control. (3)) The land of the Ndebele (Matabeleland) was annexed by the BSAC three years later. King Lobengula fled to the north but perished on the way. Some Shona groups, becoming aware that white people were settling in their territory, joined the Ndebele in a general uprising against the whites in 1896. It became known in later years as the 'First Chimurenga' (First Liberation War). Combined BSAC and British forces put down the rebellion. Rhodes made peace with the Ndebele in October 1896 but the Shona war ended only in late 1897 at great cost of life on both sides.

3. THE RHODESIA ERA

By 1895 BSAC control had been consolidated throughout the land that was now called Rhodesia, after Rhodes. Rhodesia was subsequently subdivided into Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). White settlement began in all earnest, especially in the higher-lying plateau areas. Towns were laid out and farms were made available in the rural areas. By the early years of the 20th century Southern Rhodesia's main centres had been connected with Beira in Mozambique, the nearest port, and with South Africa's railways via Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana). This greatly facilitated mining operations that had been going on since 1890. Rhodesia's railways would ultimately provide strategic links in the subcontinental railway network.

During the first 50 years or so of white settlement in the Rhodesias, exploitation of their minerals did not turn out to be as profitable as previously thought. The BSAC lacked the resources for the development and administration of the territories, leading to dissatisfaction among the settlers. They nevertheless rejected, in a referendum held in October 1922, an offer by the South African government to buy out the BSAC and to incorporate Southern Rhodesia. As a result, the British Imperial government assumed direct responsibility for both Rhodesias. Southern Rhodesia became a crown colony on 12 September 1923 with the BSAC administrator being replaced by a British governor. At this stage Southern Rhodesia's white population numbered about 35 000 while estimates of the black population ranged from 500 000 to 750 000.

3.1 Towards white supremacy 

Britain** granted a constitution with responsible self-government for the white population in October 1923. The small, partially elected legislative council that had advised the BSAC administrator since 1899 was replaced with a fully elected 30-member Legislative Assembly. A local politician, Charles Coghlan, was invited by the governor to serve as premier. Coghlan's Rhodesia Party won the colony's first general election in May 1924. Although the constitution provided for universal franchise, the black population was generally excluded from voting owing to rather high property and income electoral qualifications. In addition, the white government introduced a racially based system of land distribution. In 1930 the Legislative Assembly passed the Land Apportionment Act, based on the recommendations of the British Morris Carter Commission. The act formalised and slightly extended the Native Reserves, created by the BSAC administration, while creating an additional category of land, Purchase Areas, where black farmers would be allowed to own or lease land.

As a result of the first land apportionment legislation just over 50 per cent of the country's total area was set aside for occupation by whites and about 31 per cent (including the Purchase Areas) for the black majority. The balance was unassigned land such as nature conservation areas. Whereas whites acquired and registered land as private property, land in the Native Reserves was utilised according to traditional communal arrangements controlled by tribal chiefs. The white farms were generally located near towns and transport routes and tended to have the best farming potential. By contrast, the Native Reserves were in the more remote and drought-prone areas with lower agricultural potential. In the course of time rapid black population growth led to overpopulation in the reserves and deterioration of the land.

The decades of the 1930s and the 1940s were periods of political stability and economic growth. The whites utilised their access to technology and financial resources to improve their economic situation and the colony became comparatively prosperous. The emergence of a sizeable manufacturing sector made for greater economic diversification and stability. Following the Second World War, influxes of white immigrants boosted the number of white people and a white workers class emerged. There was also rapid immigration of black people from the Native Reserves to the urban areas where racial segregation was applied to urban society and to the economy through the Native Urban Areas Act and the Industrial Reconciliation Act. (4))

Meanwhile, from the late 1930s, Northern Rhodesia was making economic progress following the exploitation of its copper deposits. The copper boom attracted many thousands of white immigrants to Northern Rhodesia. They soon began to demand similar constitutional status as the Southern Rhodesian whites. Similar to the position in Southern Rhodesia before 1923, the white Northern Rhodesians were represented in the protectorate's Legislative Council by elected representatives. Prominent among these politicians was Roy Welensky, born in Southern Rhodesia, who became an influential trade union leader in Northern Rhodesia. Welensky initially wanted amalgamation of the two Rhodesias but when the British Colonial Office showed reluctance, he found a kindred spirit in Godfrey Huggins, the prime minister of Southern Rhodesia, whose United Party (UP) had been in power since 1933.

3.2 A decade of federation

Both Huggins and Welensky were advocates of a paternalistic kind of racial segregation, though, astute politicians as they were, they changed the plea for amalgamation to one for federation of the two Rhodesias in order to make the idea more palatable for British politicians who disliked the widespread racist attitudes in Southern Africa. Both Huggins and Welensky hoped that federation would lead to British dominion status on the pattern of Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. They contrived the policy of 'Partnership' to convey the idea that economic development, political stability and a British way of life could be promoted in the Rhodesias while opening avenues for black people's advancement. In the end, the obvious arguments in favour of a larger local market, more efficient use of regional resources and diversification of the economy, together with the prospect of a continued British presence in central-Southern Africa, swayed the British government behind federation to the extent that it now insisted on British Nyasaland being included in the proposed union.

Many Southern Rhodesian whites were apprehensive about federation and the vague Partnership policy, especially in view of the numerical superiority of the new state's black inhabitants (some six million blacks against less than 300 000 whites) at that stage. However, the postwar economic boom in the Rhodesias, in combination with Huggins and Welensky's forceful campaigning in favour of federation won the day. At a referendum, held in April 1953, 63,5 per cent of the predominantly white Southern Rhodesian voters approved federation in an 82 per cent turnout of the voters. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (sometimes referred to as the Central African Federation) came into existence on 1 August 1953. Godfrey Huggins (later Lord Malvern) became federal prime minister and was upon his retirement in 1956 succeeded by Sir Roy Welensky who had previously served in the federal cabinet.

The federal constitution created a Federal Assembly with 35 seats (later increased to 60), including six seats (later 12) reserved for black members. A governor-general, appointed by Britain, was the head of state, though executive power vested in the hands of the Federal government that was responsible for matters affecting the Federation as a whole. However, constitutional advances in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland remained Britain's responsibility. Southern Rhodesia remained a self-governing colony, retaining its Legislative Assembly and territorial government with sole responsibility for the administration of its black and white population groups. At this stage only some 400 persons in the black Southern Rhodesian population of about 2,3 million were eligible to vote in elections. (5))

The new Federal Party, formed by Huggins and Welensky, was joined by white leaders from all three constituent territories. However, having become concerned about the growing support for the rightwing Dominion Party (founded in 1956), the Federal Party leadership devised a merger of the Federal Party and the United Party, the ruling party in Southern Rhodesia, as a result of which the United Federal Party (UFP) came into existence in 1957. The UFP regularly won elections at the federal level and in Southern Rhodesia. The merger of the two parties coincided with a revolt against the liberal tendencies of Southern Rhodesian Prime Minister Garfield Todd who had succeeded Huggins in this post in 1953. A UFP congress meeting removed Todd in 1958 and Sir Edgar Whitehead became prime minister of Southern Rhodesia.

The federation period saw steady economic growth, though this was not necessarily attributable to the federal form of government. During the 1950s increasing copper production in Northern Rhodesia and the rising international price of the metal stimulated the entire federal economy. In Southern Rhodesia manufacturing expanded, in terms of both output and diversification. The Federation's most spectacular achievement was the completion of the huge Kariba hydro-power project in 1959. In addition, the new rail link with Lourenco Marques (now Maputo), constructed in 1955, and the establishment of a university college in Salisbury, in 1957, were commendable achievements. Undoubtedly, Southern Rhodesia, and particularly its white population, gained most from federation. The siting of the federal capital at Salisbury ensured that most federal government departments and employment opportunities were in Southern Rhodesia. Moreover, federal fiscal arrangements were to Southern Rhodesia's advantage as the federal authorities invariably spent more in this territory than it collected there. (6))

3.3 African nationalism

Fortunately for the creators of the Federation the formative years of the new colonial state were marked by generally peaceful conditions and political stability. This situation was to change radically with the decolonisation of the continent by Britain and France gaining momentum in the second half of the 1950s. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was affected by the emergence of African Congress movements in its constituent territories, fanning the flames of black nationalism, demanding freedom from white rule. Mounting black protest and sometimes violent demonstrations against the federal dispensation threatened internal security and prompted the British government to appoint a commission (headed by Lord Monckton) to investigate the political viability of the Federation. In 1960 the British government accepted the Monckton Report that was highly negative on the prospects of the Federation. This opened the way for independence in regard to Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, but not for Southern Rhodesia with its entrenched white minority rule. At the end of 1963 the Federation was formally dissolved and in the following year Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia were granted independence, first Nyasaland as Malawi, and then Northern Rhodesia, as Zambia. To the great dissatisfaction of the Southern Rhodesian whites there was no independence in store for them and their country's colonial status remained unaltered.

Meanwhile, in Southern Rhodesia, a railway union organiser, Joshua Nkomo, had emerged in 1957 as the leader of an African National Congress (ANC) movement. Its incitement of the rural black population led to the declaration of an emergency situation by the Whitehead government and the banning of the ANC in February 1959, at a stage when Nkomo was out of the country. However, in early 1960 Nkomo re-appeared in his home country as leader of the newly formed National Democratic Party (NDP).

At a constitutional review conference on Southern Rhodesia, in 1961, the ruling UFP agreed to the introduction of a Bill of Rights and reform of the electoral system providing for separate A and B voters' rolls. The Southern Rhodesian parliament was to be enlarged to 50 seats, elected on a constituency basis, with an additional 15 seats elected by black voters, eligible for the B-roll. The reason for this concession by the Whitehead government was the belief that it would help to convince Britain that Southern Rhodesia deserved independence too. Consequently, the white electorate endorsed the changes in a referendum, held in July 1961.

Having participated in the constitutional conference, Joshua Nkomo and his NDP colleagues initially agreed to the reforms, but when they were severely criticised by fellow nationalists for not having achieved enough for the black people, Nkomo rejected the 1961 constitution and the NDP began to dissuade black people from registering as voters on the B-roll. As this was accompanied by incidents of violence the Whitehead government banned the NDP under the existing security legislation in December 1961. Almost immediately the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) was formed, still under Nkomo's leadership and with largely similar aims and organisation as the NDP. The government retaliated, because Zapu disrupted the registration of black voters, by banning the organisation in September 1962.

In early 1963 the Zapu leadership regrouped in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). At this stage there was serious opposition to Nkomo's leadership that culminated in a party split and the formation of a new party, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in August 1963. Among the defectors were Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and Robert Mugabe who were later elected president and secretary-general of Zanu respectively. Nkomo then reconstituted the banned Zapu as the People's Caretaker Council (PCC). In 1964 both the PCC and Zanu were banned and their leaders, including Nkomo, Sithole and Mugabe were imprisoned for the next ten years.

3.4 White rebellion

By the 1960s a large number of African colonies was becoming independent, in some cases with grave consequences for white settler minorities, as in the former Belgian Congo. This led to uneasiness among white Southern Rhodesians about their future and they were becoming more ready to follow hard-line leaders. In March 1962 three opposition groups, including the Dominion Party merged to form the Rhodesian Front (RF), under the leadership of Winston Field of the Dominion Party. Field's co-leaders were Clifford Dupont and Ian Smith. With the Federation coming to an end the RF boycotted the April 1962 federal elections and began to prepare for the Southern Rhodesian general election at the end of that year. That election was to be contested under the provisions of the 1961 constitution with two classes of voters (A- and B-roll) and two types of seats (50 constituencies and 15 electoral districts). Prior to the election just over 90 000 white and nearly 11 000 black voters were registered. The country's total population at that stage numbered about 3,8 million of whom over 3,5 million were black and about 220 000 (less than six per cent of the total) white.

At the crucial December 1962 elections Southern Rhodesia's white voters terminated 29 years of United Party--United Federal Party (UP-UFP) rule by giving the RF 35 A-roll seats against 15 for the UFP. The latter party won 14 of the 15 B-roll seats and the RF none (an independent candidate took one B-roll seat). This left the UFP with a minority of seats (29) out of a total of 65 seats. Compared with the turnout of A-roll voters of around 76 per cent, less than 30 per cent of the B-roll voters (just over 3 000) cast their votes. Winston Field became prime minister but when he failed to make progress in negotiations with the British government on independence for Southern Rhodesia, his party ran out of patience and he was forced to resign. His deputy, Ian Smith, became prime minister in April 1964.

Smith continued negotiations with the British but found the new Labour government even more tough on the independence issue than the Conservative Party. Prime minister Harold Wilson set five principles on which his government would have to be satisfied before independence would be granted. Among these were guarantees for "unimpeded progress to majority rule". Smith had no intention to provide such guarantees. The country's black nationalist movements had, indeed, already been banned and their leaders detained. Instead, Smith went to the white voters who endorsed independence in a referendum, held in November 1964. At a general election, called for May 1965, the RF wiped out all white opposition against the concept of independence through unconstitutional means by winning all 50 A-roll seats and two B-roll seats. The Rhodesian Party (successor to the UFP) won 10 B-roll seats, though only 14,4 per cent of some 11 600 registered black voters participated in the polls.

Prior to the RF's overwhelming election victory several business organisations expressed concerns about the economic consequences of a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). Being overshadowed by RF propaganda, these assessments had little impact on the elections. (7)) In October 1965 prime minister Wilson visited Salisbury warning the RF government and its supporters that economic sanctions would be imposed on Southern Rhodesia in the event of a UDI. He nevertheless conceded that Britain had no intention of using military force against the country should there be a rebellion against the Crown. In early November the RF government declared a country-wide emergency giving it sweeping powers to control all aspects of society. Smith's dramatic radio announcement that the country had become a sovereign independent state, remaining loyal to the British Crown, followed on 11 November 1965.

The country was officially renamed Rhodesia, though Britain continued to refer to it as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia. Queen Elizabeth II was recognised as head of state of Rhodesia and the post of British governor was replaced with the post of Officer Administering the Government with RF stalwart Clifford Dupont being appointed to it. However, incumbent governor Sir Humphrey Gibbs annoyed the Smith government by refusing to vacate his post and residence for the next three years. None of the world's countries gave diplomatic recognition to the Rhodesian state. Britain responded by expelling Rhodesia from the sterling area and imposed a range of selective sanctions. These measures were applied by the other Commonwealth nations as well and by the United Nations (UN). Initially Britain attempted to cut off Rhodesian oil imports through a naval blockade of Beira port in Portuguese Mozambique, where oil was normally unloaded into a pipeline running to Rhodesia. The blockade failed because South Africa, which did not impose sanctions on its neighbour, allowed oil to be transported across its territory to Rhodesia. (8)) Neither did Portugal participate in the sanctions drive and later allowed oil shipments for Rhodesia to be railed from Lourenco Marques (now Maputo).

Although sanctions failed to bring white Rhodesia down, they did change the structure of the economy and patterns of trade. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew steadily after an initial slump; the tobacco industry was hit hard but there was diversification into other crops; manufacturing's share in GDP increased because the country's factories began to produce goods that were formerly imported; trade with Britain and Zambia dropped dramatically while trade with and via South Africa increased sharply; the balance-of-payments position remained satisfactory because Rhodesia imported less than in the pre-UDI years, but the lack of foreign exchange curtailed the importation of capital goods needed for maintaining and replacing factory equipment; and the expansion of the economy was hampered by the lack of foreign investment.

Before his government was voted out of power in 1970, prime minister Wilson had two rounds of fruitless discussions on British warships in Britain's Gibraltar naval base: first on the HMS Tiger, in December 1966, and then, in October 1968, on the HMS Fearless. After the Tiger talks Wilson postulated the so-called NIBMAR principle (no independence before majority rule) in regard to Rhodesia. Prior to the Fearless talks the RF had already started working on a new constitution that would renounce Rhodesian allegiance to the British Crown completely. Following the Fearless talks the republican issue and a draft constitution was put to the electorate in a referendum in June 1969. The voters responded with a massive 'yes' vote and the Republic of Rhodesia was unilaterally declared on 1 March 1970. Dupont was elected president by parliament, replacing the British monarch as non-executive head of state. As well, the new republic adopted new national symbols and the currency was decimalised and renamed the Rhodesian dollar. The United Kingdom (UK) and Rhodesia closed their reciprocal diplomatic missions and most foreign countries shut their offices in Salisbury.

The 1969 republican constitution replaced the 1961 constitution and vested the republic's legislative authority in a House of Assembly and a Senate. The initial membership of the House of Assembly would be 50 whites, elected in constituencies, and 16 blacks of whom eight would be elected by black voters and the other eight by an electoral college of traditional leaders. The Senate was to be a house of review comprising 10 whites and 10 tribal chiefs and three senators appointed by the president. This arrangement was to remain in place until the black population paid at least 24 per cent of the national revenue raised by direct income tax. Once the blacks' contribution to national income tax exceeded 24 per cent, black representation in the House of Assembly would be gradually increased to 50 members, that is parity with the white members. Considering the fact, however, that in 1970 tax revenue from black taxpayers accounted for only about 0,5 per cent of national tax revenue, it was highly unlikely that parity with the whites would ever be achieved.

3.5 The liberation struggle

While the top nationalist leaders were languishing in prison from 1964, some of their colleagues were pursuing the two movements' cause in Zambia, Tanzania and later Mozambique. With all avenues for peaceful protest closed since UDI the exiled leaders resorted to armed struggle, creating military forces for the banned political movements. Thus the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was associated with Zanu and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) with Nkomo's Zapu. Both military wings operated from Zambia, though Zanla moved its bases to Tanzania and Mozambique in the 1970s. Led by Shona-speaking commanders like Herbert Chitepo and Josiah Tongagara, Zanla recruited primarily in Rhodesia's Shona-speaking communities. Initially led by Jason Moyo, Zipra was largely Ndebele oriented, recruiting members from Matabeleland. Zanla insurgents were the first to clash with the Rhodesian security forces in April 1966. However, both armed forces generally spent the 1960s on training activities and arms procurement. From 1967, into the 1970s, a South African paramilitary force assisted the Rhodesian security forces to guard the country's borders.

In 1971 Britain's new prime minister, Edward Heath, sent Sir Alec Douglas Home, then foreign secretary, to Rhodesia to negotiate the UK out of the onerous Rhodesia problem. Sir Alec and prime minister Smith reached agreement but in terms of previous British commitments the settlement would have to be endorsed by the Rhodesian population as a whole. For this purpose a British commission, chaired by Lord Pearce, visited Rhodesia in 1972 to hold meetings with representative groups of black and white Rhodesians. Shortly after the commission's arrival the situation in Rhodesia deteriorated with black people going on the rampage, causing widespread disorder and damage to property. A new political organisation, the African National Council, suddenly emerged to fill the leadership vacuum and help stabilise the situation. Led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa and Reverend Canaan Banana, the African National Council in a remarkably short time mobilised the black population for a peaceful, though negative response to the Anglo-Rhodesian proposals. In the end, only the white minority responded positively to the proposals. Consequently, the Pearce Commission reported that the majority of Rhodesians were not in favour of the settlement. Thus the umpteenth Anglo-Rhodesian attempt to reach agreement ended in failure.

From the early 1970s the armed insurgent forces launched ongoing onslaughts in Rhodesia's rural areas. The 'Second Chimurenga' or Second Liberation War (the first one having been the war against the British in 1896-1897) was to stretch the resources of the Rhodesian security forces in the course of that decade. By the mid-1970s all available white manpower was being called up for military service, with about 16 000 troops on active duty at any given time. Black volunteers also served in the security forces under white officers. Owing to the arms embargo, the Rhodesians generally had to make do with obsolete equipment, though South Africa's arms industry provided in much of their needs. The Rhodesian forces nevertheless successfully defended the country but their task was made more difficult from around 1973 with the Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) winning the war against Portugal in Mozambique. Co-operation between Frelimo and Zanu greatly facilitated the task of Zanu's Zanla forces in gaining access to the eastern and northern parts of Rhodesia. Zanla units infiltrated into the rural communities gaining their support for the war against the white man while recruiting troops. The Rhodesian government responded by placing many thousands of black people in guarded camps, out of reach of the Zanla insurgents.

From the mid-1970s Rhodesia's principal ally, South Africa, began to exert pressure on Ian Smith to begin talking with the nationalist leaders. Already in 1974 prime minister John Vorster had discussions with Zambian president Kaunda that convinced Smith to release the nationalist leaders, including Nkomo, Sithole and Mugabe, who had been incarcerated for the last ten years. In August 1975 Vorster hosted a meeting between Smith and the nationalist leaders in a South African railway carriage parked on Victoria Falls bridge. Among those present were Joshua Nkomo, Ndabaningi Sithole and Abel Muzorewa. The outcome of the conference was inconclusive. Meanwhile, Robert Mugabe had fled to Tanzania, rejoining his colleagues at a Zanla base. Three years later, in 1977, Mugabe was elected leader of both Zanu and Zanla, replacing Ndabaningi Sithole who did not accept his dismissal. Until his death in 2000 Sithole led a faction of Zanu, supported by a section of the Ndau Shona in the far south of Manicaland Province.

3.6 The end of white rule

The emergence of Mozambique as an independent state in June 1975 proved to be the nemesis of white minority rule in Rhodesia. One of the first acts of the Frelimo government was to close its border with Rhodesia, in early 1976, a move that blocked Rhodesia's access to the nearest ports and made the country even more reliant on South Africa's ports and transport routes. As a result of South Africa's military involvement in Angola on the side of the opposition to its MPLA (Movimento Popular de Libertacao de Angola) government and the rapid build-up of a large Cuban military presence there, the independence of Namibia was delayed. The Western countries, led by the US, became engaged in diplomatic initiatives to end the racial conflicts in Southern Africa, in order to prevent the expansion of Soviet influence in the subcontinent. These powers saw the intransigence of the Smith government in solving the Rhodesian domestic conflict as a major obstacle to peace and stability in Southern Africa.

By 1976 US Secretary of State, Henry Kissenger, was putting great pressure on both the South African and Smith governments to end the Rhodesian civil war. The South African government was expected to use its leverage on Rhodesia to push Smith in the desired direction. Smith announced on 28 September 1976 that the RF would accept majority rule in Rhodesia within two years. Shortly afterwards Smith attended his first meeting with the full array of nationalist groups, hosted by the British government in Geneva. As the Geneva conference failed to reach agreement Smith proceeded to negotiate with a group of moderate leaders: Bishop Muzorewa, who had changed the name of his party to the United African National Council (UANC), Reverend Sithole, leader of a Zanu faction, and Chief Jeremiah Chirau, leader of the Zimbabwe United People's Organisation (ZUPO), who was already serving in the cabinet as a deputy minister. These leaders became known as the 'internal' leadership as opposed to the 'external' leaders, comprising the leaderships of Zanu and Zapu. The internal leaders reached agreement on a power-sharing system of government in March 1978. In the following month a transitional executive council consisting of Smith and the three black leaders took over the government. The name of the country was changed to Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

Following the adoption of a new constitution for the power-sharing dispensation, in February 1979, elections were held (in April) in which 65 per cent of the black and white voters participated. As the UANC won a majority of seats for the multiracial voters' roll, Muzorewa became prime minister. The RF won all the seats reserved for whites and Smith became Minister without Portfolio, a position that gave him leeway to influence matters from behind the scenes. Josiah Gumede, a former government official, was elected as the non-executive president. The new republic was proclaimed on 30 May 1979, ending more than half a century of exclusive white rule.

However, the Republic of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia enjoyed little international recognition as only South Africa recognised it. The Frontline States (FLS) and the UN backed the external parties' condemnation of the internal settlement as not being a true reflection of the aspirations of the country's black people. The internal arrangements were vehemently criticised as being a sham with whites still in control. Moreover, armed attacks continued, prompting prime minister Muzorewa to order attacks on Zanla and Zipra bases in neighbouring countries. The fact that sanctions were not lifted was a bitter disappointment to the multiracial regime. In the eyes of the world Zimbabwe-Rhodesia remained a recalcitrant British colony.

Meanwhile, Margaret Thatcher had been elected to office at the head of a Conservative government. She responded to an appeal by the August 1979 Commonwealth summit that Britain assume responsibility for its Rhodesian colony, by inviting all the parties concerned, both the internal and external actors, to a conference with the British government at Lancaster House in London from 10 September 1979. Foreign secretary, Lord Peter Carrington, represented the British government and acted as chairman and facilitator of the conference. The Zimbabwe-Rhodesia government was represented by Muzorewa and Smith. Mugabe represented Zanu and Nkomo Zapu but they acted as a team under the umbrella of the Patriotic Front (PF), formed at the time of the 1976 Geneva conference.

Carrington employed a systematic step-by-step procedure for the talks in terms of which agreement had to be reached on an item before moving on to the next. The negotiators did not try to 'reinvent the wheel', and they built on the constitutional and electoral foundations already existing in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. It was agreed that the cease-fire would come into force on 28 December and that the country would revert to the de jure status of a British colony before that date. Independence would be granted once elections had been held in terms of the agreed new constitution. To prevent the negotiations from stalling on the costly issue of land redistribution, Britain and the US promised to provide funds for the compensation required in acquiring land for redistribution.

Although the Lancaster House Agreement was signed on 21 December 1979, British governor, Lord Arthur Soames, arrived in Salisbury before the time, as agreed, to take over the government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. This day, 12 December 1979, marked the end of the UDI era. Following the cease-fire, on 28 December, the troops of the combatant forces assembled in assigned camps to await demobilisation or integration into a new Zimbabwean national army. At the same time, a Commonwealth peacekeeping force of some 1 350 members arrived in the country to take charge of the security situation and supervision of the forthcoming elections. British instructors completed the training of a number of integrated army brigades in 1982, except for one brigade (the Fifth Brigade) that was trained by North Korean advisers.

By late February 1980 the country was ready to hold its pre-independence elections. First was the election for the 20 reserved seats for whites. (9)) As expected, the RF won all 20 seats. At the subsequent election for the 80 common roll seats Zanu won 57 seats, Zapu 20 and the UANC three seats in a 94 per cent turnout of the voters. Observers of the country's politics were astounded by the weak performance of Muzorewa's UANC and the fact that the liberation movements won a combined 87 per cent of the votes. Zanu leader Robert Mugabe thus became prime minister in the parliamentary system of government. Canaan Banana (a former ally of Muzorewa but now a Zanu member) was elected to the non-executive presidency. Mugabe appointed four Zapu members, including Nkomo, to his cabinet and three white men (who joined Zanu) were appointed to the cabinet as well. The new state chose new national symbols, though the existing currency was retained. Numerous place names were changed in the following years, including that of Salisbury which became Harare. The state was called Zimbabwe, after the ancient Shona kingdom of Zimbabwe. Once the new Republic of Zimbabwe came into existence, on 18 April 1980, the sanctions imposed on the country over the last 15 years were lifted.

4. INDEPENDENT ZIMBABWE

4.1 The first decade

The early post-independence period saw an economic boom in Zimbabwe following the end of sanctions, though recurrent drought affected the revival. Yet the departure of many thousands of white people caused a shortage of skilled workers in the economy. The white minority shrank from its 1975 peak of about 275 000 to less than 100 000 by 1985. This created the opportunity for rapid Africanisation of both the public and private sectors. The proportion of black officials in the civil service doubled to over 60 per cent in the first year of independence. Black workers benefited from the raising of minimum wages, but, by and large, the white-controlled economy was left intact as it provided government with the resources needed to improve social services.

Nevertheless, the Zimbabwe African National Union--Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government showed a tendency to bring all aspects of society under its control. It displayed intolerance of public criticism and eventually succeeded to control most of the country's media. When signs of revolt emerged in Matabeleland Mugabe used the security legislation he inherited from the Rhodesian government to suppress the Zimbabwe African People's Union--Patriotic Front (ZAPU-PF) dissidents. Suspecting Joshua Nkomo of being behind the revolt, Mugabe demoted him in 1981 and in the following year dismissed him from the cabinet. Further upsurges of violent acts by Zapu-PF supporters in the Bulawayo area prompted the Zanu-PF government to deploy the army's Fifth Brigade in the area, in 1982. Trained by North Korean instructors, the Fifth Brigade used excessive violence, killing many thousands of Ndebele (mass graves were later discovered). By 1985 the dissidents had been suppressed, though a resurgence of the violence occurred in 1987.

Following the 1985 elections, at which Zanu-PF increased its tally of seats, there were intermittent negotiations between Zanu-PF and Zapu-PF that culminated in agreement between Mugabe and Nkomo on a merger of their two parties. In terms of the Unity Pact, signed in December 1987, the two parties merged under the name of Zanu-PF with Mugabe as the party president and Nkomo as one of two party vice-presidents. At the same time the seven-year guarantee for separate representation in parliament of the white minority expired. The 20 reserved seats for whites were abolished and the same number of seats was added to the 80 common roll seats, creating a total of 100 House of Assembly seats. The ten white senators were replaced with ten Zanu-PF nominees, including four whites.

In addition, there was a change-over to a presidential system of government at the end of 1987. The House of Assembly elected Mugabe as executive president for the unexpired term until 1990; thereafter he was to be directly elected by the voters for renewable six-year terms. Zanu-PF vice-presidents, Simon Muzenda and Joshua Nkomo, became the country's first and second vice-presidents respectively. When, at the end of 1989, the ten-year guarantee for the life of the Senate elapsed, this body was abolished and parliament became unicameral. However, the House of Assembly was enlarged from 100 to 150 members, including 120 elected members and 30 nominated by the president. (10))

4.2 Opposition to Zanu-PF

The first decade of independence ended with little meaningful improvement in the economic situation of the masses. The situation gave rise to mounting opposition to the Zanu-PF government. Encouraged by the absorption of its main rival, Nkomo's Zapu, president Mugabe made matters worse by stating in public that Zimbabwe should become a single-party state informed by Marxist-socialist principles. Already in 1988 Edgar Tekere, secretary-general of the ruling party, was expelled for speaking out on behalf of the impoverished masses and for criticising the government. Rejecting the notion of a single-party socialist state, Tekere formed an opposition party, the Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM), that contested the 1990 legislative and presidential elections. Despite violent intimidation of his supporters by Zanu-PF, the ZUM won two parliamentary seats and the party received about one-fifth of the votes cast. The 1995-1996 elections were also marred by the ruling party's flagrant intimidatory tactics.

The country's trade unions developed into a formidable opposition force from the late 1980s. From 1997 onwards the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), with Morgan Tsvangirai as its general secretary, joined forces with the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) that comprised a wide array of civic groups and churches. They stimulated ongoing public discourse on a more democratic constitution with less powers for the president. Both the ZCTU and NCA voiced concerns about the widespread corruption in government. A case in point was the alleged squandering of a state fund set aside to assist veterans of the liberation war. When the War Veterans Association (hereinafter the war veterans) demanded that the veterans be paid the pensions and gratuities to which they were entitled an embarrassed government undertook to make good the shortfall of about Z$2,5 billion, but also introduced additional tax to finance the unbudgeted expenditure. However, mass action, organised by the ZCTU in the form of stayaways and strikes, forced the government to scrap the taxes.

Morgan Tsvangirai became the leader of a new political party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), founded in September 1999 by the ZCTU and the NCA. President Mugabe decided to submit constitutional proposals to the voters in a referendum, held on 13 February 2000. The proposals would enhance presidential powers and legalise the government's controversial land redistribution plans. The MDC was successful in its campaign for a no vote as 55 per cent of the voters rejected the government's proposals. Shortly after the referendum large numbers of landless people, led by the war veterans leaders, began to invade white-owned farms, squatting there. The MDC was not against land reform, though it called for an orderly, planned and lawful process, supported by foreign funding. However, having been angered and shaken by the referendum result, the government condoned the farm invasions, despite court rulings that these actions were illegal. Indeed, having realised that its position had become vulnerable, the Mugabe government used the emotive land issue to mobilise support for Zanu-PF before the next general election.

The run-up to these elections, scheduled for June 2000, saw unprecedented levels of intimidatory tactics and violence against opposition candidates and their supporters. Despite the intimidation, the urban voters voted en masse for the MDC, giving it 57 of the 120 available seats. Zanu-PF won 62 seats (down from 117 in 1995) and Sithole's Zanu faction retained its single seat. However, the 30 presidential nominees increased the Zanu-PF total in parliament to 92, eight seats short of a two-thirds majority. The MDC nevertheless emerged from the 2000 election, not only as the strongest opposition party since independence, but also as an alternative government. (11))

4.3 National crisis

The government response to the MDC threat caused a national crisis. President Mugabe was determined to stay in power at the next presidential poll, due in 2002. Within Zanu-PF the voices of moderation were silenced and the party structures packed with Mugabe loyalists. The war veterans and Zanu-PF youth brigades worked together in disrupting MDC gatherings and threatening opposition supporters with violence. Shortly after the parliamentary election Mugabe accelerated his land redistribution programme and allowed judges to be intimidated by unruly mobs during court sessions. The replacement of judges, giving rulings against the farm invaders, with judges biased towards government made a mockery of the Rule of Law principle. Strong measures were introduced to curb the freedom of speech and foreign journalists who would not comply were deported. The premises of an independent newspaper, The Daily News, were bombed to stop its publication, and, when this failed, the paper's editorial staff were subjected to ongoing police harassment.

The government's clamp-down on the opposition aggravated the economic decline that had been evident since the late 1990s. As Zimbabwe entered the 21st century the disruption of commercial agriculture and businesses dependent on agriculture led to a contraction of this sector and the economy as a whole. Tobacco sales (the country's principal export) shrank by 75 per cent over the next four years. At the same time gross domestic product contracted by 30 per cent and continued to shrink. Unemployment rose to an estimated 70 per cent of the labour force and abject poverty became endemic. The government's inability to significantly reduce its huge annual budget deficits led to rising inflation, peaking at over 600 per cent at the end of 2003. The currency became practically worthless and shortages of foreign exchange caused problems in paying for imports, notably imported fuel and electrical power.

The economic crisis affected social services as well. School enrolment dropped to 35 per cent by 2004 and the departure of qualified medical personnel led to a deterioration in health services. As well, Zimbabwe was not doing enough to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with its adult population suffering from a very high rate of the disease (25 per cent of the 15-49 age group in 2001). From 2002 the situation was made worse by severe drought, leading to shortages of staple food for more than half the country's population. International humanitarian agencies, notably the World Food Programme (WFP), supplied large-scale food aid, but they experienced difficulties with the Zimbabwe government's tendency to channel the donated food to its supporters, deliberately ignoring the needs of its political opponents.

Despite this tale of woe, president Mugabe was re-elected to office in March 2002. He received nearly 1,7 million votes (53,8 per cent of the total vote) against almost 1,3 million votes (40,2 per cent) for his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC. There was a repetition of Zanu-PF's intimidatory tactics witnessed at previous elections, though it was flagrant manipulation of the electoral process by the authorities that gave Mugabe the edge, and made the MDC complain that the election was 'stolen' from it. It was noted, for example, that disproportionately more polling stations were provided in the rural areas where most Zanu-PF supporters voted than in the urban areas where the MDC's strength lay. As a result, there were crowding and delays at urban polling booths that discouraged prospective voters. (12))

Mugabe's return to power brought no relief to the hard-pressed Zimbabweans, except for a small ruling elite who benefited from the status quo. The presidential election was followed by persistent speculation, first, that talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC to resolve the crisis were imminent and, second, that Mugabe intended to retire before the end of his present term in 2008. By mid-2004, more than two years after the election, none of these scenarios have materialised. On the contrary, government has continued its harassment of opposition leaders by taking Tsvangirai and Ncube, the MDC's top leaders, to court on spurious charges of treason. By mid-2005 Zimbabweans will be facing another parliamentary general election and it can be taken for granted that Zanu-PF will be determined to win that election too and that it will continue its intimidatory and manipulative electoral strategies.

5. CONCLUSION

At the height of British imperialism towards the end of the 19th century white people of British extraction came to settle permanently in what became Southern Rhodesia. Similar to African peoples settling in the country during earlier centuries, the newcomers were the bearers of superior skills and technology. Although both the white settlers and the indigenous black population grew in numbers over the years, the white settler community never constituted more than a small alien minority in the colony. Racial prejudice and the fear of being swamped prevented the whites from treating the blacks as equals, let alone granting them meaningful political and civil rights.

By the time European imperialism was retreating from Africa, during the mid-20th century, the white Rhodesian minority found itself confronted by black nationalist aspirations, as was also the case in other white settler colonies. The white Rhodesians then attempted the impossible by resisting the demands of a new era. In the end they had to concede defeat, not because of economic sanctions or military pressures, but because, fundamentally, minority rule in Rhodesia was an anachronism in a totally changed world.

The Zanu-PF movement that led the country's black population to freedom succeeded in the first decade of independence to consolidate majority rule, though it gave early notice of its militaristic and authoritarian character by its ruthless suppression of the Ndebele dissidents. Once the Zanu-PF government became threatened by formidable opposition, arising mainly from the black workers, it allowed its feelings of insecurity to cloud its better judgement. It used the emotive land redistribution issue to mobilise electoral support for itself. The chaotic confiscation of white-owned farmland destroyed the country's vibrant commercial farming sector and did irreparable harm to the economy at a stage when the country could least afford it.

Zanu-PF succeeded to stay in power at the 2000 and 2002 elections by clamping down on media freedom and by using forceful and manipulative measures to make people vote for the ruling party or to abstain from voting with human rights being disregarded. With another national election approaching, the government continues to clamp down on all forms of opposition, justifying the general perception that Zimbabwe has come to be ruled by one of the most repressive regimes in contemporary Africa.

**The term Britain is hereinafter used with the understanding that it refers to the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), as the country is officially known.

REFERENCES

1. There is little doubt among scholars that the Karanga kings built the stonewalled city of Zimbabwe. See: Bourdillon, M F C, The Shona Peoples, Mambo Press, Gweru, 1976, p 21; and Garlake, P S, Great Zimbabwe, Thames and Hudson, London, 1973, pp 7-14.

2. Rubert, S C and K Rasmussen, Historical Dictionary of Zimbabwe, Scarecrow Press, London, 2001, p 299.

3. The Anglo German Treaty of 1890 and the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1891 formalised boundary arrangements in the northern part of the Southern African subcontinent, that is the region to the north of Bechuanaland Protectorate and the South African Republic (later Transvaal), reaching northward to the Congo Free State and German East Africa, and flanked by Portuguese spheres of influence on the east and west. See Davenport, T R H, South Africa: A Modern History, Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, 1987, p 205.

4. See Rubert, S C and K Rasmussen, op cit, pp 124 and 225.

5. Bowman, L W, Politics in Rhodesia: White Power in an African State, Harvard University Press, 1973, p 20.

6. Ibid, p 24.

7. Ibid, p 79.

8. To counter transport embargoes against Rhodesia a direct rail link with Rhodesia at Beit Bridge, across the Limpopo, was constructed in 1974.

9. The Lancaster House constitution retained Zimbabwe-Rhodesia's 100-seat House of Assembly but reduced the reserved seats for whites from 28 to 20, with 80 seats to be elected by voters registered on a common voter's roll. This provision was guaranteed for a period of seven years. Likewise, the existing Senate was retained, but its membership was increased to 40 with 10 seats reserved for whites for a period of seven years. The existence of the Senate as an institution was entrenched for a period of ten years.

10. In terms of the constitution the president nominates eight provincial governors, ten traditional chiefs and 12 persons of his own choice, a total of 30 members, to serve in the House of Assembly.

11. As Tsvangirai failed to win a seat at the 2000 parliamentary election, the MDC's deputy leader, Gibson Sibanda, who had won a seat, became the party's leader in the House of Assembly.

12. Economist Intelligence Unit, Zimbabwe: Country Report, March 2002, EIU, London, p 14.

Pieter Esterhuysen*

*Pieter Esterhuysen is a political analyst at the Africa Institute of South Africa.