When Judith Todd was 10, her father Garfield Todd became prime minister of
Southern Rhodesia. “We then had a few short years in which we weren’t
ostracised,” she says. “When I first went to school and I was asked what my
father did, I would say, ‘He’s a New Zealander’, so as not to mention his
being a missionary, because missionaries were generally despised by whites
for being ‘kaffir-lovers’.”
As prime minister Todd planned to extend the franchise to blacks, which soon
made him hugely unpopular with white voters so Judith told classmates her
father was a missionary, not letting on that he was prime minister.
In 1958 Todd was ejected from power and ostracism began in earnest,
culminating with his being restricted to his farm by his successor, Ian
Smith, once Smith had decided to declare independence from Britain in 1965.
In 1972 both Todd and Judith were arrested for their continuing opposition
to white minority rule. Judith went on hunger strike, which was forcibly
broken, and was then allowed to leave for exile.
When Rhodesia became Zimbabwe and gained its independence in 1980 both Judith
and her father were feted as heroes of the liberation struggle. Gradually,
however, they both fell foul of Robert Mugabe and in 2002 Sir Garfield (he
had been knighted in 1986) was deprived of his citizenship and his right to
vote. Judith, though she had been born in Zimbabwe, was also deprived of her
citizenship and would have been stateless but for the generous grant of New
Zealand citizenship by that country’s prime minister, Helen Clark.
Judith’s new book, Through the Darkness: A Life in Zimbabwe, is a surprise to
many who expected it to be all about the traumas of the past few years in
Zimbabwe. Mercifully – for the story of the land invasions and subsequent
economic collapse has been told and retold elsewhere – she says little about
that. Instead the book deals largely with her life in the 1980s and 1990s as
she threw herself body and soul into the work of rebuilding the country
after its long civil war.
The effect is powerful because she knew the whole top political elite,
frequently interacted with them and is able to be detailed and accurate
about her dealings because she kept an extensive file of the memos and
letters. “The lucky thing was I had no computer, just an old manual
typewriter and I kept carbons of everything. In a way the book existed long
before I wrote it,” she says.
The book blows sky-high the usual picture of Zimbabwe as having been run more
or less reasonably by Mugabe, until his defeat in the constitutional
referendum of 2000 caused him to pull down the pillars of the temple. As
becomes all too clear, the worm was in the apple from the start, with the
new regime adopting a totali-tarian and often violent attitude towards
opposition.
Torture, corruption and disregard for the rule of law were the norm right away
– indeed, the real question is how on earth Lord Soames, Britain’s proconsul
in charge of the transition to majority rule, could have permitted the 1980
election.
Mugabe broke all the rules – his guerrillas roamed the villages when they
should have been at assembly camps, there was widespread intimidation and
open violence against many opposition candidates: one such candidate was
last seen pinned to the ground having red hot coals rammed down his throat.
What fooled many people was that once Mugabe had forcibly incorporated Joshua
Nkomo’s Zapu into his ruling Zanu-PF the country was so close to a one-party
state that Mugabe simply didn’t need to show the iron fist, but it was
always there. “As I try to show, there were a few people, like the guerrilla
veteran, Aaron Mutiti, who understood Mugabe from the start. Aaron said in
1980, ‘Family life, religious life and economic life as we know it will
progressively disappear if Mugabe gets to power’.
“But most people thought this was way over the top. That was the problem. The
opposition was naive about what Mugabe might do if challenged. They threw
themselves into elections, really believing that Mugabe would allow himself
to be voted out of office. Everyone underestimated the depth of his
ruthlessness.”
There are several oddities in this. So many of the politicians Judith helped
free from Smith’s clutches or, later, from Mugabe’s jails, soon joined the
government and became little Mugabes themselves.
How could Judith stay friendly with such people – and how to explain that the
patient, long-suffering Shona people have produced such a brutal and
ruthless regime? “None of those people are still friends of mine. I’ve lost
them all. It is a conundrum about the Shona producing such a regime – one
friend once asked me in horror, ‘How did all these monsters find one
another?’
“I spend a lot of time Googling Pol Pot, trying to understand. The opposition
leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, recently said that ‘Mugabe wants to push us all
into a hunter-gatherer subsistence mode of life and to scatter whole
communities in the countryside in search of food’. I think that’s about
right. Mugabe was friendly with Pol Pot, Ceausescu and Kim Il-sung while
Mengistu, the former Ethiopian dictator, is one of his advisers.
“All these men seem to have had the same mindset. But there’s something else
too. When Mugabe was ruthlessly imposing himself on his party in the
guerrilla camps in Mozam-bique, the worst punishment was to be put ‘in the
pits’. No one who’s suffered that is willing to describe it; it just stands
for unimaginable horror and cruelty. It’s something to do with water. But
quite a few of his lieutenants are men who suffered that and that experience
has made them so frightened of him that they obey him implicitly.”
Judith willingly agrees that her own 10-year marriage to banker Richard (now
Lord) Acton, heir to one of Britain’s most famous Roman Catholic peers,
pales beside the way she has been married to Zimbabwe. “I was always wanting
to live up to my parents. My father was so brave and principled. My mother
designed the whole national school system. And they were such fun. Zimbabwe
has been my full-time commitment ever since 1965.”
But hasn’t what happened fully justified Ian Smith and the white racists who
predicted that black rule would mean dictatorship, corruption and chaos?
“You have to say they called it right. But if I had my time all over again I
would oppose racism just as strongly as I did then.
“The funny thing is that some of those old Smithites are friendly to me now.
They’ve changed too – they don’t want to be racists any more. Smith and
Mugabe are symbiotic, though. The fear of something like Mugabe created
Smith and Smith’s ruthlessness called forth a Mugabe, who has in turn now
validated Smith. It goes round and round. But Smith did love the country
which was why he gave way rather than see it destroyed. Mugabe is destroying
it rather than give way.”
Now is the hardest time. “I remember the Queen saying to me how during all the
time Smith’s Rhodesia was out of the Commonwealth ‘we kept a candle in the
window for Rhodesia’ – and how, while apart-heid South Africa was also
estranged, she kept a candle in the window for South Africa too.
“But all those years we could always look forward to the ultimate triumph of
majority rule. Now there’s no such inevitable light at the end of the
tunnel. And at that time Zimbabwe seemed to have so many friends – the
Commonwealth, at the UN, other African countries and so on. Now the
Zimbabwean people seem to have no friends.”
As if in confirmation, Gordon Brown threw the preparations for the forthcoming
EU-African summit in Portugal into turmoil last week by announcing that he
would boycott the meeting if Mugabe was welcomed. In response, African
leaders closed ranks, saying they would not attend if Mugabe was barred.
This sort of standoff just seems to justify Todd’s pessimism about Zimbabwe’s
isolation. “The EU invites Mugabe to Portugal, the UN says nothing, no
country in Africa is willing to stand up to Mugabe and Zimbabwe isn’t even
on the agenda for the coming Commonwealth heads of government meeting in
Kampala.”
But surely the Mugabe nightmare will be over one day? “Yes, of course. But
right now it’s a genocide. What else can you call it when you pull down
people’s houses, deprive them of the means to look after themselves and make
it impossible for them to find food? What are you trying to do then except
commit mass murder?
“I had a dreadful dream last night. I was in Bulawayo with my parents and
great big garbage lorries were being filled up with the bodies of dead
children. Actually that is pretty much what is happening.”
Will she go back? “Yes, of course. As soon as I can” – though her book may
well have made it very unsafe for her to do that: her forthright criticism
of the regime is unlikely to go down well.
In the early 1980s, when she had done far less to provoke its wrath, she was
raped as a punishment.
Doesn’t she look forward, when the nightmare is over, to helping reconstruct
Zimbabwe from the ruins? “At times I don’t think I can do that again. I came
back in 1980 to help rebuild the country after a civil war. When Mugabe goes
the rebuilding will have to start from a much lower level. It’s so
discouraging. But I know that in the end I will.
“It is my country and the minute I see people I know I can help – and
Zimbabweans are such lovely people – there’ll really only be one answer,”
she says.
As a former teacher of Dadaya Highschool, I have been reading your book with great interest.
But who could give me more information about the history of this school?
j. w. kelderman, Houten, the Netherlands
Good for you Judith Todd,
You must have been brave enought to go through HELL,
Three cheers also for the Black Bishop who in protesting against Mugabe, cut up his dog collar in front of the BBC TV Cameras.
I too as an ex Zimbabwean have been deprived if my identity and passport, and compared to some who have suffered, I have gotten off quite lightly,
A good new year to you.
Judith Todd.
You were right!
Edward Bloomhill, Salisbury, England
I read Judith Todd's article with much interest. It's amazing how such degradation and trauma can change one's opinion and quite remarkable how strong she is after what she went through.
That said, Ian Smith "called it right" ok..he was wonderful man who ran a great ship. he engendered loyalty and the commitment and dedication of a small but unique country. I was last back in Zim in 95 having left after my national service. I visited my boarding school REPS to show my wife and saw names on the Role Of Honour that I had no idea had died for Rhodesia. At that moment my heart was filled with both sadness and pride..let's NEVER forget them.
What Ian Smith saw was exactly what happened. The letter about if Garfield Todd had remained in power "there would still be a Rhodesia" , forgive me but what absolute rubbish. That beautiful country was SOLD down the river by those lefties including Carrington, Harold Wilson and Henry Kissinger. Sadly Todd and Savory & co assisted! RIP ID SMITH
Derek Perkins, Sunshine Coast, Australia
It was a great honour for me to have personally know the Todd family since childhood. the greatest family I have ever met. Had we listened to Sir Garfield Todd,when he was Prime Minister, there would have still been a Rhodesia today, abrilliant brilliant man, he knew and understood the people he had worked with for so many years. He was such a fair man -did unbelievable work for the poor. I remember my late Dad telling me, he went to every talk that Garfield Todd gave to packed audiences, he spoke so well, crowds went mad for him, until they started understanding what he wanted to do . they then threw him out. what an opportunity we had, and how foolish of the people . Sadly life teaches us, we had the chance which we never took, and the suffering now is horrific. we could have all been in our beautiful country Thank you Garfield, Grace, and Judith. your parents would be so proud of you. they will live in my heart forever... Lynette Effren
lynette Effren, Los Angeles , USA
My parents arrived in South Africa in 1946. When Jan Smuts was defeated by the Nationalist he & his wife left to then Northern Rhodesia. He thought he could see his dream of a new southern Africa re-created where racism was irradicated. My parents went about their lives doing what they could to bring about change as immigrants. My sister & I lived through Southern Rhodesia / Rhodesia / Zimbabwe Rhodesia & then Zimbabwe. My father was not in Garfield Todd's league but he sure espoused his beliefs & did amazing & unpublished things to bring about change! I am sure that Garfield, Grace & my parents enjoy great discussions in the eternities. My father died in Zimbabwe from a broken heart. Disgusted with Mugabe & his chefs. As his children we continue to hold to his ideals, seeing as we do, from the diaspora, the devistation but believing that Zimbabwe will be re-created one day!
Thank you Judih for articulating your journey. Thank you Garfield & Grace for your investment!
B K Nelson, Blenheim, New Zealand
So what happens to the other communities that were born in Africa? - that where the leaders in Africa go wrong - its about acceptance when a leader steals for his own greed and destroys a country to fill his own belly - where is the sanity
don, crawley UK, UK W. Sussex
Regarding John Iteshi's sweeping statements... I am white, and a major part of my concern regarding Zimbabwe - where I grew up - is what has happened to many thousands of black farmworkers and their families who were thrown off the farms when their owners were driven off. Those workers have been specifically excluded from being given land. Likewise, I am concerned about the many thousands of black children who were denied food because their parents are MDC supporters. In passing, I was at a function the other day and spoke to a black Zimbabwean who is deeply worried about what Mugabe has done, and very scared, since if she is heard to criticise him, she would end up in prison or dead. She is also very deeply frustrated that black Africans from other countries, and who don't live in Zimbabwe and therefore don't have a clue, are so pro what that murdering maniac has done. So, it's not just whites - but also many blacks - the ones who actually are in the thick of it, who condemn Mugabe.
Rod, Cape Town, South Africa
Judith Todd, Cape Town, South Africa
You were only born in Zimbabwe... Fine, but the circumstances of your birth in Zimbabwe must not be ignored! You and many other people want Black people to accept inferiority... that they can never do it right without White men. I think not so! I appreciate (unlike millions of educated but ignorant Black people) that without white people, most of us would have been exterminated and or remained slaves. However, I will never accept that my people should accept that they can never build their own civilised societies and that they cannot even feed themselves without White farmers. I want my people to succeed like the Asians. The world will be a better place with successful Black societies. Zimbabwe is about white racists insisting that Black people should not even attempt to break the jinx of inferiority. If you love Zimbabwe more than natural Zimbabweans, you must see things from the perspective of enlightened Black people!
John Iteshi, London, UK
I grew up in Zimbabwe from 1981to 1984. My family left Britain for a new life that proved to be horrific and depressing. We lived on a mine between Bulawayo and Gweru, isolated in the bush. One night Mugabe's militia invaded the black miners' township and terrorised the Matabele community living there. They raped the schoolteacher and other women, beat children and tortured mine workers by cutting off their ears, lips and noses. They murdered, too, and weeks afterwards we found shallow graves in the bush when out walking.
The people were silenced because they were of the opposing tribe, the southern tribe of Zimbabwe. When we returned to England for holidays we tried to tell people what was going on but they refused to countenance that a black African "socialist" leader could be a fascist dictator, from the onset of his power. We got out as soon as possible.
Zimbabwe is on the consciences of those who refused to listen to all those who "got out".
Larissa Perry, Bath, UK
Mugabe would never happened had it not been for American President Jimmy Carter and SoS Andrew Young, both somewhat closeted Marxists. As an American, I am deeply ashamed of this fact.
John Capozucca, Parsippany , New Jersey USA
I am afraid I see nothing but evil when I think about the betrayal of Rhodesia by the British Government of the time. When I consider the complicity of Sir Garfield Todd (and many others) with the treachery that motivated the winds of change that were not so much blown as passed, I feel anger. The absurdity of Judith Todd's hunger strike to gain the world attention was simply beyond the pale in the 70s, and time has not eroded the palpable wrongness of its intent. I appreciate she has recognised the evil of Mugabe. But by defining his shortcomings sufficiently narrowly she stops way clear of recognising the inescapable problem that she, her father and many, many others fail to accept. Both then and now, Zimbabweans (as with the rest of the sub-Saharan continent) are unfit for self-government. Does Judith genuinely think that things would have been different with, say, Zvobgo, Shamuyarira, Kangai or even Nkomo in charge? If anyone cherishes these ideas, they are more than mistaken; they don’t understand Africa or the management of a sophisticated economy that Rhodesia bequeathed them When Zimbabwe’s one, albeit remote, hope, Bernard Chidzero (Min of Economic Affairs)left the country in the early 80s, the writing was on the wall. Incidentally, they were not guerrillas that were teeming beyond the assembly points about while Lord Soames ignored the reports received from Commonwealth Monitoring Team observers. They were terrorists - I know - I was there and I saw what they did. I don't deny Judith is a patriot, and I also have no doubt she intends well. But intention has nothing to do with effect. Judith Todd has stopped short of recanting: the concept of “The right idea, but the wrong president†remains as misguided as ever and moreover, remains invalidated anywhere in Africa to date. I travel widely and frequently within the continent; the only possible exceptions are those that have utterly stagnated after independence (such as Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire), but at least not completely regressed. Majority rule, particularly in Africa, is not necessarily a triumph, as stated above – it is merely a misinformed mob gullibly believing someone out making promises.
Marc, Bloemfontein, South Africa
It would be so good, if through your forum, Mr John Iteshi could tell us all about Ndidenyi in Ijigban District of Benue State of Nigeria.
It sounds to me as though that is the place where he comes from, and which he loves. Most of us love the place we were born in. I was born in Zimbabwe.
Judith Todd, Cape Town, South Africa
The thing I want to know is who the whites of former Rhodesia, and the relatives of the murdered farmers in South Africa can send their bills to? Who is going to pay damages and go to jail for the destruction of Zimbabwe and post-Apartheid South Africa? Surely it's not enough to try Mugabe! What about Todd & co.?
Liberals can argue this thing any way they like, but eventually through the legal mechanisms bills have to be paid, and forensics will lead to accountabilities.
dirk, pretoria,
"...how, while apart-heid South Africa was also estranged, she kept a candle in the window for South Africa too."
Maybe the Queen needs to understand that the Boer republics, which her forbears took through a war of aggression (i.e. theft) in order to plunder the gold and diamond fields, never belonged to Great Britain or the Commonwealth. How about asking the original owners of the Boer republics whether they really wanted the Queen in charge? And how about an apology for the concentration camps, the 2 boer wars and the 30000 whites who have died since the ANC took over? Maybe reparations?
Apart from that, how pathetic must liberals be to take so long in understanding the basics of the African mindset? The Afrikaners and Rhodesians had it right all along. It's a pity all those brave soldiers died for people like Todd and Mugabe and the ANC to take those countries on silver plates.
diedre, pretoria,
This is just the rats jumping the sinking ship. Liberals need to reposition themselves now w.r.t. Zimbabwe, and in 10 years they will have to do that w.r.t. mandela and the ANC.
Because now their folly is becoming clear for all to see, and any sane person will ask the dreaded question why it was necessary to defame and destroy whte rule in southern Africa only to get the result which the white "racists" there had predicted would come about under black rule. Todd is only doing that which is known in all companies and ministries as CMA (Cover My Ass). Because the next thing on the platter will be culpability. Eventually criminals like Mugabe will be tried and connecting the dots will inevitably lead to the likes of Todd.
dirk, stellenbosch,
The Zimbabwean situation seems to be part of a global idiocy where reason and sensibility is totally absent. A certain numbness of spirit and subsequent inaction prevails.
Marthinus van der Westhuizen, Chwerry Valley, California
Problem is that the opposition is on the same platform as Mugabe propogated 25 years ago and will likely breed a similar replacement. Perhaps Mugabe's biggest liability is that Zim has no oil - the oil-endowed African countries are, generally, equally 'free'.
lou capetown, capetown, south africa
Judith Todd says above: "But Smith did love the country which was why he gave way rather than see it destroyed. Mugabe is destroying it rather than give way.†I now have renewed respect for her and the courageous stance she adopted. The fact that her father was even elected into ofice back in the 1950s is quite remarkable, when you consider how brutal South Africa was at the time. Erroneously people equate Rhodeisa with South Africa. It was a very different place, despite the excesses and foolhardiness of Smith and co. But Mugabe is a disaster, we know this, and Smith's intransigence and Britain's acquiescence led to that monstr ruining which was once God's own country. I truly admire Ms Todd - it's hard to be fair minded and hold on to your values, when they've been challenged so profoundly, especially by the very people whose rights she struggled for. Defiance against Smith must have been quite clear cut, byt defying Mugabe must have been much more painful on various levels.
Wilhelm, Cape Town, South Africa
What a fascinating set of circumstances. Is this one of those cases where what goes around comes around, or be careful what you rail against or wish for, it could turn out to be worse than what you had?
Kenneth, Suffolk, England
Could someone tell me why white people all over the world, including openly racists are more concerned about Zimbabweans than Zimbabweans themselves or the rest of the Black world. If Zimbabwe is not about white supremacy as I have suggested several months ago, why is the White world and British people in particular not equally worried about Dafurians or even my people in Nigeria who are far worse off than Zimbabweans? Where I come from in Nigeria is ten times worse off than Zimbabwe, but because we never had white farmers, no one, not even the government of Nigeria has ever recognised our existence. Could any white adventurer help the world discover Ndidenyi and other izzi speaking villages in Ijigban District of Benue State of Nigeria? It is important to face the fact that Zimbabwe is not the worst case of the failure of the Black race. I understand that most British racists cannot stand Mugabe, but my concern is for the proper enlightenment and development of the Black race!
John Iteshi, London, UK
People that were once treated like slaves in their own country are striving to be on their own. Why not the white world, reserve its generosity for Dafurians? We all know they are crying more than the supposedly starving people of Zimbabwe. People who have been starving since year 2000 and still living, must be super humans! Are my people so sub-human that they cannot indicate that they are starving or suffering?
God Bless Mugabe! Long live Zimbabwe!! God save the Black race!!!
John Iteshi, London, UK
The problem is that so many African leaders are concerned about themselves, not their people - and even less about the people of Zimbabwe. We see the same in the dealings with Sudan. Everyone can see that Mugabe should be removed from power by any means possible, and African leaders are the only group who could do this bloodlessly - but they worry about setting a precedent which could end up coming around to themselves.
Denis O'Sullivan, Brussels, Belgium
"But if I had my time all over again I would oppose racism just as strongly as I did then"
Well you go on an oppose it meanwhile Africa's "racism" is loud and clear. You must just love abuse.
"In response, African leaders closed ranks, saying they would not attend if Mugabe was barred."
Ernest, Roanoke,
An African leader who is corrupt?! Why I never!!
Jack Warren, New York City, USA