No contemporary African leader has been as controversial as Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. He is both loved and hated- hated so much that some people have wished him dead. He has been reported dead so many times that he even joked about it at his 88th birthday. “The day will come when I will become sick. As of now I am fit as a fiddle,” he said. “I have died many times. That’s where I have beaten Christ. Christ died once and resurrected once. I have died and resurrected and I don’t know how many times I will die and resurrect.” Mugabe’s survival and his rule in Zimbabwe have baffled many. He even wondered just before his 90th birthday how he had survived this long when his siblings that he had looked after had all died. A lot of people are also wondering how he has survived, especially in the face of the Western onslaught on him. How has he lasted so long in power when the West considered him their worst enemy after Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden-both now dead?
Mugabe’s story is not really about Zimbabwe. It is about his more powerful southern neighbour, South Africa. The West is worried that if Mugabe’s land reform and indigenisation programmes succeed, what would this mean for South Africa.
Mugabe’s story is not really about Zimbabwe. It is about his more powerful southern neighbour, South Africa. The West is worried that if Mugabe’s land reform and indigenisation programmes succeed, what would this mean for South Africa.
