The War Continues – 1977

The War Continues – 1977

Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (19 June 1917 – 1 July 1999) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary, guerrilla leader and trade unionist, who founded and led the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) from 1961, as well as Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) forces.

Extracts from an interview with Joshua Nkomo – President of ZAPU – 1977

John Vorster is being portrayed in the Western press as the key figure in the solution of the Zimbabwe problem. How do you see Vorster’s role in Zimbabwe?

“How could you see the role of a hyena in relation to that of a jackal? Can a hyena in fact act in a different way from a jackal? They both eat the flesh of other animals, and he, (John) Vorster, and the jackal, (Ian) Smith, are two sides of the same coin.”

“If the hyena says to a goat, ‘I will save you from the jackal’, you cannot believe it. Can any goat believe this? How much more can we, the people, expect Vorster as a force for change when he is himself a very big force for the maintenance of the status quo. When Kissinger was in Libertas discussing with Vorster, Vorster’s forces were shooting young children, women and men hardly a mile away in Pretoria, and who in this world can believe that Vorster will change when in South Africa men of Black skins are supposed to be jumping out of windows while in detention. They do not do it when they are free.”

“We are asked to believe that they do this only after they are arrested. They claim arrested men are hanging themselves. Where do prisoners get things to hang themselves with? I’ve been in jail for what, eleven years. I never got anything with which I could have hung myself. They remove everything that could be used to commit suicide once a person is arrested.”

“Is this the man who could promote peace and understanding in Zimbabwe? How can it happen? It’s impossible. He’s the man who helped, and still helps, to save Smith. He is Smith’s broker: for Smith’s economy and Smith’s army. The French helicopters that are used by Smith are from South Africa, manufactured there under licence. The Mercedes and other vehicles come through South Africa to Zimbabwe. They are all used against us.”

The white Rhodesian forces are not fighting with bows and arrows. They have modern weapons, supplied through South Africa by their imperialist allies. So, how can Vorster or for that matter Smith be a force for change – what do they promise him in return. What are they going to do for Vorster to defend his brutal racist regime against the people of South Africa. How can Vorster promote a people’s government in a free Zimbabwe across the Limpopo and remain as Vorster in South Africa, without some promise from the United States of America and Britain?”

Source:
M. P. Naicker, “The War Continues: Interview with Comrade Joshua Nkomo – President ZAPU”, Sechaba, Vol. 11, Third Quarter 1977.

Castro Khwela
Good morning fellow Compatriots!