I’m back: the return of the ‘real dictator’
Robert Mugabe, ending a long absence from SA, uses his state visit to damn the UN and the West
THE lions stood guard outside the lair of the Great African Dictator. Also outside, a large crowd armed with cameras, notebooks and recorders had gathered to see the pariah, destroyer of a country and general despot.
The year was 2008 and the reputation of Robert Gabriel Mugabe as the quintessential African dictator had been firmly entrenched.
It was said that one or more of every five Zimbabweans was an informer for the Central Intelligence Organisation, the country’s infamous secret police, known for making dissidents disappear.
Political opponents, even those within the ruling ZanuPF, were quickly discarded as the tin-pot dictator instilled terror across the nation.
For the first time in nearly a decade, Western and other media houses were allowed to enter Zimbabwe to cover firsthand the elections in which the then 84-year-old ruler was pitted against his bitter foe, Morgan Tsvangirai.
After the crowd had waited for several hours outside State House, Mugabe finally emerged, as always, a spring in his step and a stern look across his face. The journalists’ chatter fell silent.
“Are you afraid?” Mugabe asked in his characteristic raspy voice, a mischievous smile on his face. Silence. “They don’t bite,” he said, gesturing to the two stuffed lions on either side of him.
On his first state visit to South Africa in 21 years, Mugabe no longer has that pep in his step. He walks with a shuffle and struggles to navigate steps, often finding President Jacob Zuma a ready hand to lean on. Still, Mugabe is a nonagenarian, a word few have had need of.
The 91-year-old’s visit generated about as much media interest as the visit by the wife of the leader of the free world, Michelle Obama.
The last time the Zimbabwean leader visited this country was NEIGHBOURLY: Presidents Robert Mugabe and Jacob Zuma toast each other at the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria shortly after the newly democratic South Africa had been founded. President Nelson Mandela warmly welcomed this leader of the Frontline States, those who actively supported the anti-apartheid movement.
By the turn of the century relations between the two had soured, Mandela preaching national unity and becoming the darling of the world as Mugabe encouraged land grabs and invoked the anti-colonial stance of African leaders of the 1960s. Mandela did not hide his disdain for Mugabe.
In Pretoria this week, Zuma and senior cabinet ministers played host to their counterparts, signing the kind of vague, noncommittal agreements that go hand-in-glove with these events.
Speaking to the media, Zuma explained in broad brush strokes the brotherhood and co-operation between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Mugabe listened patiently, his eyes closed. Then it was his turn.
Africans need to take greater ownership of their resources, he said. African countries need to manufacture more to maximise the profitability of their minerals.
After starting
falteringly, Mugabe touched on Cecil John Rhodes, the pros and cons of tobacco and the desirability of Africans taking control of their destinies. The UN is inequitable, he said, and is run by five countries. And for how long can the developing world continue to bash against a closed door?
“Look at what they did to Libya. They said they wanted to prevent Gaddafi from killing civilians. But they wanted actually to get rid of him. They hunted and hounded him, killed even some members of his family and ensured that he was no longer there so they could suck the oil,” said Mugabe.
Zuma rested his head in his hand, looking despondent.
But statements like these, completely devoid of diplomaticspeak but delivered in impeccable English, have made Mugabe the darling of much of the
VINTAGE PERFORMANCE: President Robert Mugabe in Pretoria for a meeting with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa continent while being regarded as a pariah by most in the West.
Ironically, at previous African heads-of-state gatherings, only Gaddafi could rival the Zimbabwean leader for fanfare.
Whether attending an inauguration or driving down the street, the elder statesman was habitually mobbed by crowds singing his praises.
Among the estimated 5 million Zimbabweans living in South Africa the story is decidedly different, many feeling deep-seated anger at the man who led them from liberation to prosperity — and then, most recently, into economic ruin.
To hear Mugabe tell the story, it wasn’t his fault.
For close on 45 minutes at the Union Buildings Mugabe railed against Western imperialism and former British prime minister Tony Blair for reneging on the independence agreement to compensate white farmers for the seizure of their land.
With tongue firmly in cheek, Mugabe thanked the assembled journalists for paying so much attention to him.
“The publicity you have given me, those of you who focused on me as a real dictator,” he said.
Mugabe’s final trip during his time in South Africa was to the Hector Pietersen memorial, which commemorates the Soweto uprising during which the apartheid police opened fire on protesting school children. The exhibition immerses visitors in the sounds, sights and feel of the time.
As the children were marching in Soweto, a much younger Mugabe had just emerged from prison in the then Rhodesia and rejoined the struggle against the minority white regime there. When he emerged from the Pietersen memorial, he was asked what emotions the visit evoked. He looked at the assembled crowd, spotted a white face and said: “I don’t want to see a white man.”
As a disciple of Ghanaian liberation leader Kwame Nkrumah, as a fighter in the battle for his own country and as the leader of the Frontline States, Mugabe has seen much of contemporary African history at first hand. And the “real dictator” is angry. Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.timeslive.co.za ROBERT Mugabe did not come to beg. This is according to both South African and Zimbabwean officials who have shot down suggestions his visit was a fundraising mission aimed at bailing out his bankrupt government.
Director-general in the Presidency Cassius Lubisi said on Friday there was no truth to such reports, and Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, has also dismissed the claim, saying, “We are a bit unhappy that we are being portrayed as coming here with a begging bowl to ask for money.”
It was Mugabe’s first state visit since 1994, and it was seen as an attempt by President Jacob Zuma to smooth relations that had become strained due to differences between Mugabe and Zuma’s predecessors — Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki — over the resolution of Zimbabwe’s political and economic troubles.
But even before his arrival on Tuesday, speculation was rife that the 91-year-old leader was going to ask for help in dealing with his government’s cash crisis.
Zimbabwe has a budget of US$4.1-billion (about R50billion) and, according to that country’s finance department, 81% of it goes to paying 550 000 civil servants.
Zimbabwean media this week reported that the state was facing a serious cashflow problem. One newspaper, The Zimbabwean, said the country’s parliament had been forced to adjourn indefinitely because it was unable to fund itself. It is claimed to owe MPs hundred of thousands of dollars in unpaid food, accommodation and fuel allowance claims.
The newspaper also revealed that some local hotels were now refusing to accommodate local MPs because parliament had not settled previous accounts.
In South Africa, Zuma rolled out the red carpet when he welcomed Mugabe at the Union Buildings on Wednesday. While the two countries denied that financial assistance dominated talks, they did state that the economy was central to the discussions.
Mugabe and Zuma signed an agreement to establish a bi-national commission aimed at, among other things, encouraging South Africa to buy certain commodities from its neighbour.
Mugabe would not say which commodities Pretoria was refusing to import, but it is believed this could relate to diamonds.
Zuma said the countries would also work much more closely to root out crossborder crime.
“The memorandum of understanding on diplomatic consultations will establish a mechanism for regular consultations on issues of strengthening bilateral relations, security and cooperation in Africa and issues of mutual interest,” he said. —
He looked at the crowd, spotted a white face and said: ‘I don’t want to see a white man’