Jimmy Carter

But in southern Africa we must recognise his role in the political transition that took Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. In 1976, Rhodesia was a country under UN Security Council sanctions, the first in history. In addition, we were fighting a liberation war on all fronts – Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia. China was backing Zanla and the Soviet Union, Zapu. We were left with few foreign friends and our deteriorating situation was being felt in South Africa, on which we depended for just about everything. In September 1973, a group of us from the private sector, met Ian Smith in a private home in Highlands, Salisbury. We had carried out a threat analysis of the situation and we told the Prime Minister in a meeting that lasted two hours, that in our view he had to seek a political solution to the War, we told him that he might win all the battles in what the Americans called a “low intensity guerilla war”, but he was going to lose the war. It was a lost cause.

He rejected our analysis and after that meeting, 80 per cent of the 35 young executives in that group, left the country. A handful of us stayed and struggled through the next 4 years to Independence. Among the white community ours was a minority view and to the very end Ian Smith remained the undoubted leader of the white Rhodesian Community. Had subsequent events been left to the combatants in that time, Rhodesia would have been totally destroyed and the liberation forces would have taken total control without constraints. US intervention came in the form of the US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, he recognised the global, and African threats of this conflict in a tiny State in southern Africa and concluded it had to be brought to an end. In September 1976, exactly 3 years since our meeting with Smith in Harare, Kissinger flew out to South Africa with a deal in his pocket. Smith and 6 of his closest associates flew to Pretoria to meet him at the request of the South African President.

Smith took the opportunity to watch a rugby match at Loftus in Pretoria and when he walked into the Stadium, all 40 000 spectators gave him a standing ovation. No doubt about support there and it was also a message to the South African President. In the subsequent meetings, the Rhodesian delegation rejected the Kissinger deal but were then told by the South African President that there was no alternative. Smith conceded majority rule and after that key event, lost basic control of the subsequent transition.

In 1977, Jimmy Carter was elected President of the USA and to his credit he appointed a small, but very competent team, to assist in the political transition that had been started in Pretoria. This was a crucial decision and the Team that was inserted into Rhodesia and for that purpose, had the full backing of the White House. Very little was seen or heard of these efforts but as representatives of the most powerful State in the world, they assisted the players in making progress. They recognised that the United Kingdom was the key player as the former colonial power, but those of us who were involved in the transition saw how crucial the US intervention was throughout the process. Eventually the talks in London took place and an election was held in which the Zanu PF took a clear majority, Zapu less than 20 per cent and 3 per cent for the rest, the die was cast, Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister. The final transition was bloodless, very largely a tribute to the Kisinger intervention and subsequent management under US and UK influence.

What I did not recognise at that time was the fact that the Kissinger/Carter intervention would subsequently lead to the transition to real democracy in South Africa. While this only came 14 years later, there is no doubt that President Carter started the process during his Presidency. He was only President for 4 years but what changes he wrought in those short years. After he stepped down, he formed the Carter Centre in the USA and though its activities he watched the evolution of the Zimbabwe and South African Democracies on a continuous basis. Even in 2023, the Carter Centre monitored what happened and could always be relied upon to give a professional and unbiased view.

I am a Christion – like Jimmy Carter and also someone who has tried to play a positive role in the country of my birth and adoption. He always brought his faith to the table in everything he did. It gave him perspective and principle. Above all he was a man whose integrity and faith could not be challenged in any position. He will be missed and his like are few and far between.

Eddie Cross

Harare 30^th December 2024