Call for cool heads

FOR 37 years, Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe with an iron hand, ruthlessly beating off all challengers, weathering all storms – but taking the country into uncharted, difficult waters.

Now it seems a coup will bring an end to his rule – and destroy the political ambitions of his wife Grace.

Things were so different on April 17, 1980 when a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation newsreader announced: “Zimbabwe will become a new state from midnight tonight. Among the ceremonies will be… the swearing in of the President-elect Mr Banana and Prime Minister-elect Mr Mugabe.”

Mugabe’s Zanu-PF had won in a landslide – polling more than 90% of the vote.

White Rhodesians reacted with shock, with John Meiring, a member of the Psychological Operations Unit of Ian Smith (last white leader of the country), declaring that “his ass fell on the ground that could be heard with a thud around the room”.

In the beginning, Mugabe made all the right noises. But political difficulties and natural disasters swept the country into difficulties from which they could not extricate themselves.

Mugabe’s response was ever-growing paranoia. Political enemies were sidelined and popular opposition was ruthlessly crushed.

And as the Zimbabwean economy lurched from crisis to crisis, Mugabe opted for populist policies. He ordered the seizure of most white-owned farms, passing these on in many cases to cronies in his governing party.

The Zimbabwean dollar collapsed, and thousands of citizens crossed into South Africa to escape starvation, torture and imprisonment.

Now it appears that the military has taken control of this sad country. It has declared Mugabe safe, but warned ominously that it was targeting people close to the president.

It made this move shortly after Mugabe had sacked Deputy President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Instability in a neighbouring country holds grave implications for South Africa, where more than a million Zimbabweans are already believed to be living in exile. We cannot afford another influx of refugees.

Our call therefore is for the South African government and the African Union to act coolly and decisively to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

We believe this should be a solution in which the people of that country play a decisive role in who governs them – and how.