Zimbabwe Rhodesia

Press, 11 August 1979, Page 14

Zimbabwe Rhodesia

Sir, The 1 nket suggestion contained in today’s editorial that “Rhodesia will sink into economic ruin and political dictatorship that is the general rule in black Africa” is ambiguous. The implication is that Rhodesia is economically sound at the moment; it is not. Rhodesia is in economic disarray by its own count. Political dictatorship and economic ruin are not the yardsticks by which we should measure black African governments. It is a myth that there are fewer black democracies than dictatorships, though few Africans would deny that some administrations are bad. To imply that black African governments have a monopoly on dictatorship, brutality and so on is absurd. The same myths are used to perpetuate the fallacy that black African heads of government are in the mould of Amin, Mobutu and Nguema. Too many of us seem to ignore the fact that Africa’s white rulers are unpopular too. — Yours, P. KITCHIN, Director, Africa Information Centre Trust Board, Wellington. August 9, 1979.