Extracts from "This Land is my Land?"

Strong and diametrically opposed views are held on the colonial occupation of Zimbabwe. When you know with absolute certainty that dreadful wrong has been done to you, to those close to you, or to your social or ethnic group as a whole, it is difficult for you to entertain the possibility that the perpetrators have any justification, any argument, any case at all. Unfortunately, there are few absolutely right sides in human conflict. It is necessary for even the most righteously angry of us to attempt to see the overall picture. If we want to be fair, to reach reconciliation, we must try to see the other side's point of view.

In particular, this is required as regards a settlement of the land issue in Zimbabwe. It is vital that a solution to this problem is found very soon as, at the moment, our economy is disintegrating rapidly and irreparable harm is being done.

It is in the interests of all the affected parties to recognise the important truth that they have a considerable amount of common ground, and more to gain by working together than by opposing one another. Here we will attempt to state clearly and separately the arguments for opposing sides. The contradictory views expressed are not necessarily ours, but what we consider to be those of the protagonists...

A Black Zimbabwean's View
The view of the black Zimbabwean is that the white settlers under Cecil John Rhodes tricked their way into Zimbabwe. They negotiated with Lobengula, the leader of the Matabele, who was based in the south-west of what later became Zimbabwe, and obtained the right to mine in Mashonaland, in the east of the territory.

Once in, the settlers used the excuse of the Matabele making one of their routine raids on Shona-speaking Karangas in the Fort Victoria (Masvingo) area to fight a war with the Matabele. This, the newcomers won, largely because of their superior weaponry.

They then settled down to enjoy the fruits of their conquest.

The land allocated for blacks, who were always much more numerous than the whites, became inadequate for their requirements as their numbers increased. Land hunger became intense, and became one of the major factors which ignited the liberation struggle, eventually concluded in 1980, with the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in control of the government of the newly independent state.

The nationalist would say that the title to land in the commercial farming areas in Zimbabwe is fatally flawed.

This so-called "right" was that of the thief or the robber, right of conquest, which is not recognised by any society in dealings between its own people, as opposed to its relations with outsiders.

It cannot be denied that black Zimbabweans were the victims of prolonged and marked racial discrimination for nearly a century...

A Conservative White Zimbabwean's View
A conservative white Zimbabwean could claim that the pacification of the Matabele by the Pioneers (as the early white settlers were known in Southern Rhodesia), was necessary and long overdue. It was primarily to the benefit of the Mashona majority, and even to that of the bulk of the Matabele themselves, who were freed from the brutal, bloodthirsty and arbitrary dictatorship of kings who ruled with appalling cruelty.

The settlers saved the local people from the scourge of witchcraft, which, in traditional Zimbabwean society, had caused the death of countless innocents.

The Pioneer would have claimed, and would have believed deeply and sincerely, that the British were entitled to invade and occupy African land, and to parcel it out to whites. The natives, he would have maintained, should be grateful that the British had arrived to bring them all the benefits of a superior civilisation and culture, and to develop their country for them. That was the way most Europeans in general, and the British in particular, thought during that era...

...Zimbabweans have come to realise that we can co-operate in the cause of progress, that we need to harness the talents of all our people for our mutual benefit, and not handicap ourselves by arbitrarily excluding whole segments of our population on spurious racial grounds. We know we must resist the schemes of those who wish to create divisions among us for their own gain, in order to divide and rule. We know that in unity there is strength.

The people of Zimbabwe are truly becoming one nation. We are tired of being divided and defined as black or white Zimbabweans, as though colour were the ultimate and infallible guide to character. All we want is to be Zimbabweans, working together to build a prosperous, peaceful and united country.