Zimbabwe marks first year with plea to S.A.

Press, 20 April 1981, Page 6

Zimbabwe marks first year with plea to S.A.

NZPA-Reuter Salisbury Zimbabwe, the former Rhodesia, celebrated its first year of independence at the week-end : with 1 its. leaders expressing concern (about South Africa and offering an olive, branch to’the white Government in Pretoria. ' The- Prime Minister (Mr Robert Mugabe) told a television ? interviewer that his Government was greatly worried at South Africa’s “aggressive and hostile’’ attitude to its black-ruled northern neighbour. ■ South Africa controls Zimbabwe’s trade outlets and has recently sought to underline, this reliance by ending a preferential trade agreement, tightening visa regulations, and withdrawing badly-needed railway waggons and locomotives from Zimbabwe. Mr Mugabe said his Government opposed apartheid in South Africa', but added: “This is no reason'why South Africa should embark on aggressive and hostile activities towards us.” Referring to Pretoria's recent economic moves. Mr Mugabe said: “We expect that she (South Africa) might

:pro£eed to take even sterner measures against us.” ' Mr Mugabe said: “Our own position is that we shall continue to maintain trade relations with South Africa to the extent that South Africa makes it possible for us to do so. j ; i“We would hope that South Africa would reciprocate and not resort unduly to hostile acts against us. “Why South Africa has decided to embark on these hostile acts one just does not know ... We are pledged to peaceful co-existence with it ... We are opposed to the politics of South Africa, but we do not regard the people of South Africa as our enemies at all. The surprisingly moderate tone of his comments was apparently intended to head off further South African economic measures, political sources said. Mr Mugabe is a supporter of three groups opposing the Pretoria Government S.W.A.P.O. (South-West Africa People’s Organisation), the A.N.C. (Afrticanist Congress), and the ■ P.A.C. (Pah Africanist Congress). Leaders of all three nationalist had been invited to attend the independence celebrations,

but as the festivities got under way there was no sign of them. In his interview, Mr Mugabe was asked about thismonth’s announcement by Andre Holland,- a former member of lan Smith’s Rhodesian Front, that he was forming a breakaway white group called the Democratic Party. The Prime Minister said the Rhodesian Front had a “racial imprint” and gave the impression that the entire white community was opposed to the Government. “It is desirable in my opinion that some other forum be found for representing whites in Parliament,” he said. Mr Mugabe said formation of the Democratic Party was desirable provided it did not work on racial lines. He said he did not believe the country's 200,000 whites had yet gained enough confidence in his own Z.A.N.U.-P.F. party to join it. “If in due course we have engendered enough confidence in them (the whites) and they feel it is better to be in Z.A.N.U.-P.F. and work with us, we certainly would be delighted to enrol them,” he said. “It is not an issue I would force. I think we

should leave it to the whites to decide.” The week-end’s celebrations, a year after the Union Jack was furled for the last time,, were low-key. Few foreign dignitaries were invited and public bars in hotels were closed in an apparent move to prevent high spirits from getting out of hand. While towns and cities were decked with bunting, there was little pomp or pageantry as the country’s 7.2 M people commemorated • independence. Celebrations centred on beer-drinking at home, rock bands in stadiums, and spectator sports including soccer, paratroop drops, and stockcar racing. “We want to keep this a Zimbabwean affair and let people enjoy themseles in a relaxed and traditional way,” a Government spokesman said. The celebrations caijie after a turbulent year marked at times by political violence in which more than 400 people were killed, an economic boom and a display of confidence at an international donors conference last month that , raised pledges of $1.2 bilion in foreign aid.