CHARMAIN NAIDOO: When the fresh-faced revolutionary becomes the old dictator
'A very large percentage of the Zimbabwean population is under 40, which means that that a very large number of people have only ever known life under this dictator'
I was 21, in 1980, when Rhodesia became Zimbabwe and the handsome young guerrilla leader, Robert Mugabe, was sworn as Prime Minister. He’d fought long and hard in the gruesome Rhodesian Bush War, leading the charge, taking on Ian Smith’s white government and emerging victorious. In the end, it was a pyrrhic victory. So many lives were lost. And the man the world thought would lead his country out of the desert and into the promise of a better life for all proved to be a cruel murdering thug who simply, for 37 long years, refused to go.A very large percentage of the Zimbabwean population is under 40, which means that that a very large number of people have only ever known life under this dictator. When he became prime minister, Mugabe was loved and respected. He believed in education and his dedication to learning has left a lasting legacy: Zimbabweans, to this day, have a high regard for knowledge and study. Today, he – and his wife Gucci Grace who once told a reporter she had to ha...
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