Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Don't look now but South Africa is starting down the same path as Mugabe. The current South African president Tambo Embeke has been been one of Mugabe's staunchest supporters. Without South African conivance Mugabe would have been displaced years ago. Recent political manouverings within South Africa's ANC party mirror Mugabe's Zanu PF 20 years ago, the movement towards a one party state! I think relying on South Africa to bring about an orderly change to a free and fair government in Zimbabwe is a forelorn hope. Rather than stand by wringing their hands over Mugabe's tyranical treatment of the people of Zimbabwe the west should adopt a more pragmatic approach. There is currently a UN travel ban on Mugabe and his cohorts. Next time he attends an international venue in Europe arrest him - using maximunm force!

Misterbee wrote: There is currently a UN travel ban on Mugabe and his cohorts. Next time he attends an international venue in Europe arrest him - using maximunm force!

The ban is made by countries which are members of the UN. However, every country is entitled to attend UN official functions and no country is allowed to interfere with the movement of an official representative attending such an event.

Apartheid was an abhorrent regime and yes there is a moral / ideological question about a minority of one race governing a majority of another race which was the case with Smith in Zimbabwe (and Rhodesia before that) pre Mugabe.

(Ironic that a Scottish cabal now rules the English!. I don't hear the left pontificating about the morality of that or the anomaly of the West Lothian question. I digress...)

However inequalities still exist under "majority rule" in Zimbabwe and arguably are greater than before. The "riches" that remain following years of his incompetence now belong to Mugabe and his henchmen rather than the white minority population. The "ordinary black" is now starving and living in absolute poverty. In the Smith years although the living standard of blacks was considerably below that of whites nobody starved.

I wonder whether ordinary blacks would prefer to be governed by a paternalistic white minority as before rather than a tyrant like Mugabe?

Sadly because of Mugabe's iconic status with the left nobody is going to intervene and help those ordinary blacks get the opportunity to choose for themselves anytime soon.

Mid A 15 wrote:I wonder whether ordinary blacks would prefer to be governed by a paternalistic white minority as before rather than a tyrant like Mugabe?

Long after I left the country I ran into an ex-Minister of Finance of Ghana. His comment on the question was that Britain made many mistakes in Ghana but only one big one; that was to leave the country.

Ghana has about 7 major tribes but the British treated every one equally and (apparently) honestly. As in many / most / all otherindependent African nations, subsequent presidents gave all the plum jobs to members of their own tribe (and often family) to the detriment of well qualified people who were of the "wrong" tribe..