Mandela
calls on Zimbabweans to resist Mugabe with weapons 
By Gus Constantine
THE WASHINGTON
TIMES May 12, 2000
Former South African President Nelson
Mandela has brought a quiet feud with Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe into the
open, urging Zimbabwe's people to take up arms against the
"tyrants" who rule.
Ordinary people, Mr. Mandela said, should
depose leaders who enrich themselves at the expense of their countrymen
by "picking up rifles and fighting for liberation."
Speaking in Johannesburg at the inception
of a new UNICEF initiative for impoverished children on Saturday, Mr.
Mandela departed from his prepared text to level the unusual broadside.
In the process, he has placed himself at
odds with his successor, President Thabo Mbeki, who has publicly
embraced Mr. Mugabe in an effort to end a wave of violence in advance of
elections for Zimbabwe's parliament.
Mr. Mandela said South Africa was
committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, in which
supporters of Mr. Mugabe have beaten and killed opposition-party
supporters and seized all or part of more than 1,000 white-owned farms.
But he also said ordinary people were not
bound by the diplomacy of South Africa and other nations.
"That is the lesson of history. The
tyrants of today can be destroyed by you, and I am confident that you
have the capacity to do so," Mr. Mandela said.
Asked whether the remarks were directed at
Mr. Mugabe, he replied: "Everybody knows who I am talking
about."
About 4,000 white farmers have held
one-third of Zimbabwe's most fertile lands since before British colonial
rule ended in 1965.
In the so-called Lancaster House accords
of 1980, Britain and the nation's black independence leaders agreed that
after 20 years, the farms could be redistributed to landless blacks,
with the consent of whites and adequate compensation to be paid by
London.
The redistribution has long been under way
but, instead of going to landless blacks, much of it wound up in the
hands of well-to-do, well-connected blacks.
So Britain balked on paying compensation.
Mr. Mandela and Mr. Mbeki also differ on
Britain's response to Mr. Mugabe's land grab, namely to suspend all new
export licenses for arms and military equipment to Zimbabwe and to halt
the supply of 450 Land Rovers to Mr. Mugabe.
The British say Mr. Mandela supports their
policy. Mr. Mbeki is critical, but the British believe his public
remarks mask his real feelings.
Mr. Mandela's call for Mr. Mugabe's ouster
was rejected by Mr. Mbeki, who has urged a softer approach to the crisis
and solidarity among Zimbabwe's neighbors in southern Africa.
Immediately after Mr. Mandela's remarks,
Parks Mankhahlana, Mr. Mbeki's spokesman, said: "That is Mr.
Mandela's view. Mr. Mbeki has explained his position."
Herman Nickel, a former U.S. ambassador to
South Africa, said in a telephone interview: "Mr. Mandela's call
for the overthrow of tyrants is clearly in contrast with the
pronouncements and show of friendship toward the Zimbabwean leader by
Mr. Mbeki.
"When Mr. Mandela went to London,
[Prime Minister Tony] Blair issued a statement noting that the former
South African president supported the British position on
Zimbabwe."
Britain has pledged to contribute to
compensation to the white farmers provided the illegal farm occupations
stop.
Asked how he viewed Mr. Mandela's remarks,
Mr. Nickel said, "Mr. Mandela has always been his own man and at
times a bit of a loose cannon."
Reports of a feud between Mr. Mandela and
Mr. Mugabe — two of the continent's best-known leaders of liberation
movements against white domination — have long been whispered.
However, Mr. Mandela's latest remarks are believed to be the first time
either has so openly criticized the other.
For Mr. Mandela, Mr. Mugabe represents a
type of African independence leader who fought successfully for
independence, then drifted toward tyranny by clinging to power, said
Joseph Sala, a former State Department official who served in the
region.
Mr. Mandela did the opposite, assuming the
leadership of his nation and then stepping down after one term in
office.
"There are leaders in Africa . . .
who have made enormous wealth, leaders who once commanded liberation
armies. But rubbing shoulders with the rich, the powerful, the wealthy
has made some leaders despise the very people who put them in power, and
they think it is their privilege to be there for eternity," Mr.
Mandela said in Saturday's speech.
Mr. Mbeki, meanwhile, is preparing for a
two-day summit next week in London with Mr. Blair.
Mr. Mankhahlana, the South African
president's spokesman, said it was critical for the British to hear the
voices of the southern African leaders.
After the recent meeting between Mr. Blair
and Mr. Mandela, a senior British official suggested that Mr. Mandela
was speaking with Mr. Mbeki's blessing.
"He is free to say what everybody
feels. Do not underestimate how tough Mbeki is in private talks with
Mugabe," the official told a British newspaper.
Mr. Mbeki is also reported to have offered
Mr. Mugabe a deal: Public backing by southern African leaders for a
land-resettlement deal in exchange for the calling off the
confrontation.
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