Foes in a Black vs. Black Struggle

With majority-rule government, the Rhodesian struggle will increasingly become one of blacks against blacks. In this new conflict, two fiery opponents will be Abel Muzorewa, almost certain to become Rhodesia's first black Prime Minister, and Nationalist Guerrilla Chief Robert Mugabe, leader of most of the Patriotic Front forces fighting inside the country. In interviews with TIME, Muzorewa and Mugabe spoke of themselves and their land:

MUZOREWA: "A lot up my sleeve"

On the large black turnout in the election: Every thinking African knows that this is what the political parties were all about. We only had to encourage the people against intimidation. We didn't have to urge them to vote, vote, vote. I went to one area five days after the guerrillas had killed five people only two miles away. A woman said, "They killed our people, they are telling us not to vote, but we are going to vote." That is the spirit that is triumphant.

On why the guerrillas should now give up: The armed struggle has not gone on for the sake of hurting one another. It was for the sake of forcing our oppressor to accept majority rule. The most important thing is that we are getting that power we have been fighting for--to improve our constitution, improve our people, uplift them. We know that it is because of our children's sacrifice that we are in this position today, but these are the children of Zimbabwe, not Nkomo or Mugabe, and we want to welcome them back, not condemn them to go on fighting.

On keeping whites in Rhodesia: A lot of African countries have become banana republics because they tend to be emotional, to Africanize just for the sake of it. We are going to concentrate on a real prosperity for all. Some want us to regard these people who have been here for five generations as strangers because they are white. I would not want to be part of that meaningless independence. Ours will be an evolutionary process in which a black government will have to train itself, not in an emotional way and without causing friction.

On the first task of the new head of state: Whoever becomes the next Prime Minister has got a frightening job because the country is so confused and messed up, overrun by guns. It is a most challenging thing. The first government, I think, would need emergency powers to clean up the mess there is now, but such legislation would absolutely not be in order once the place is cleaned up.

On declaring amnesty for the rebels: What will happen is that Mugabe is going to be shocked. He is going to find himself a general without an army. The fighters are overcome by fear. They are not sure of Smith or the elections or their future with Mugabe and Nkomo. After the installation of a new government, we will have some weeks to let them return. If a man doesn't come back, he will be regarded as a straightforward terrorist and will be declared an enemy of the state.

On recognition of the new government: I don't like for any government to have to prove itself before it can be internationally recognized. An act of election, an installation of a new government should be sufficient. How many questions are other countries going to ask the new government in Uganda?

On his style as a leader: I consult as much as possible. I see that as a source of compromise, though my critics take it as a weakness. I am very human. I get very happy, I get very angry, I get very cheerful. But I do have a sense of holy anger. Anybody who says there is never a time when he is not motivated by anger should never be a leader. I want to leave a lot of things up my sleeve. But my aim is to avoid the mistakes of other countries who say they will be a jet flying, but only go up and soon crash. You just watch us: we shall teach the rest of the world how to be sober about independence.

MUGABE: "Their last card"

On why the guerrillas boycotted the vote: Smith's invitation to take part was, of course, a propaganda ploy. To participate would be to accept the internal settlement. This is an enemy regime we are determined to overthrow. We cannot achieve that by working within schemes contrived by the regime. We can only accept from it surrender terms.

On disagreements with Nkomo: ZAPU is less revolutionary than ZANU. They may have promised that Western vested interests will continue to be respected, which we cannot do. I do not like to speak ill of my partner, but we have not taken kindly to the deviationism that Nkomo has demonstrated in the past. He departed from the accepted position of the Patriotic Front to negotiate with Britain and Britain alone when he met with Ian Smith without our knowledge last August.

On whether Cubans will join the war: I do not see any possibility of that. When I was in Havana [last July], Castro emphasized that he will not intervene in respect to the choice of leaders inside the country.

On aid from other Communist countries: What we have been appealing to our Eastern Socialist friends for is that they support us on the same basis that they are supporting ZAPU [which gets arms from the Soviet Union]. There have been positive replies, but we have not received any material aid yet. Missiles and other sophisticated weaponry would be a good answer to the present firm dominance which the enemy enjoys, but we don't have any missiles just yet.

On the role of the U.S.: I think [the new regime] is going to appeal to the outside world as much as possible to recognize the result of the election no matter what it might be. This will probably be their last card. It will be a do-or-die offensive, with appeals to Britain and the U.S.-especially the U.S.*#151;and visits or promotions by conservative American Senators like S.I. Hayakawa and Jesse Helms.

On Western goals in southern Africa: Western powers, if they had their own choice, would like to create a neocolonial state [in Rhodesia]. So they stand behind South Africa, so South Africa can prop up Ian Smith. [The West's] entire strategy is to create a buffer out of Zimbabwe and Namibia [to protect South Africa].

On his program for Zimbabwe: It is based on scientific socialism. In general, a one-party state with built-in democratic mechanisms would be preferable to a two-party or multiparty system. Land, land, land, land has been the main source of grievance in the country. We have got to make land the people's property and distribute it. China did not wait, and Russia did not wait--they started as outright Marxist. We have got to develop ourselves along those lines. We don't have to hide anything.

On fighting a black Rhodesian regime: We've said that our war is not aimed against whites as whites, but because they constitute the oppressive class. If blacks are going to step into the shoes of the whites, they too are going to become our target. They will be perpetuating the old system and will have to go. There will be no prolongation of the war because a black stooge is now in power.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.