text:
A Small Town in Africa
by Hannes Wessels
US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders recently lashed out on the campaign trail thus: "We have a racist society from top to bottom impacting health care, housing, criminal justice, education — you name it," he proclaimed. This, despite massive efforts to bridge the racial divide in America through billions spent on social and educational development, affirmative action programmes and countless political initiatives at every level of the power spectrum.
Simmering resentment is sweeping Western Europe as the natives struggle to deal with the real consequences of multi-culturalism which are turning out to be at variance with the optimistic blandishments they have been hearing for decades from their politicians.
The Germans, too cowed by their past to be too openly anti-immigration, were recently shocked by the news that over 70,000 women in the country have been subjected to female genital mutilation and 17,000 teenage girls are presently at risk of suffering the same fate.
In the UK, crime is rising, prisons are overflowing, inner-cities are becoming crime-ridden slums, the National Health System is floundering under the weight of non-contributing members and at least 30,000 potential Islamic terrorists stalk the streets of British cities.
It seems the harder Westerners and their leaders try to make multi-culturalism the social miracle they proclaim it to be, the more divisive and fractious the Western world becomes; and underlying most of the problems besetting these countries is the issue of race.
The picture that presents is a disturbing one that leaves me struggling for understanding and my search for answers takes me back over 40 years in time to the little Rhodesian border town of Umtali where I grew up.
At that time there were no more than 8,000 Europeans, about 1,000 Indians, and roughly 350,000 Africans resident in the town and environs. Any white American urbanite looking at these numbers would almost certainly assume, that being outnumbered by more than 40:1 we whites were under siege but that was very far from reality. Black on white violence was almost unheard of, as was the converse, rapes were rare, crime rates were ridiculously low, and the police were unarmed. Our home was never locked, there were no fences and as children, our parents cared little about our whereabouts because they knew we were safe. Education was divided along racial lines, but every child was at school. My best friend and mentor was the big black man who looked after our garden and on weekends walked me into the surrounding mountains in search of wild animals.
Materially, most whites were better off but there was little resentment from the black populace because they were acutely aware of how much their standard of living had improved and in so short a time under a white administration, using white expertise and capital. The town was divided along racial lines but the main football stadium and some of the best amenities were outside the white area. When the British Royal Family visited the town, they were shown around the African residential area by the white mayor of the town who glowed with pride.
In an early form of 'affirmative action', whites were forbidden to operate commercial enterprises in areas set aside for blacks in a bid to enrich and empower blacks, grow their own economy and encourage black entrepreneurship. One of the richest men I knew as a teenager was a black bus-owner who flourished under the protection afforded him by a 'racist' government.
Few whites were very poor, most were comfortably middle-class and only a very small minority were relatively rich; when I use the word 'rich', they could afford a Mercedes Benz and had a big house and a boat on the Mozambique coast. So successful was the system, many of the blacks were prosperous enough to eschew formal employment, creating a labour shortage in a rapidly growing economy which had to be filled through the importation of migrant labour from neighbouring countries already impoverished having been recently 'liberated' from white rule.
My father was a medical doctor who cared deeply for all his patients, who would probably be disbarred and criminalised if he were practising today because he ran two separate surgeries; one for Europeans and Indians and another, at a separate location, for Africans; a perfect fit for a racist. But it was a system based on pragmatism and realism; he needed to position a facility closer to where the Africans lived, and he charged them a much lower fee for his services. Everyone was happy.
At the government hospital where he worked, there was a European wing and a separate African wing. It would be condemned today. I remember the African Hospital well because at Christmas, we, as a family would celebrate some of the day there with the African patients who were wheeled out on to the breezy verandas to enjoy the festivities. The Prisons Band played in the shade under the purple Jacarandas and the patients sang while we children delivered presents to them. When my father died black people travelled from afar, many on foot, to bid him farewell.
Of course, the town described above, no longer exists, it has been destroyed by powerfully backed political opportunists, but I look back on this place and time and wonder why it was so successful an exercise in creating a harmonious, multi-racial society?
Human behaviour changes little over so short a period so this tranquil town could only have happened if some important fundamentals were imbued in the citizenry. I can only think these were predicated on the general acceptance of the fact that while we are all equal, we are certainly not the same; mutual respect between different racial groups, recognising innate and inherent differences and wanting to be separate is not sinful; and there is an immediate danger when integrating groups of diverse people of varying ethnicities, religions and histories because cultures ultimately collide and then societies collapse. I fear this is what beckons for Europe and America.
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60 thoughts on "A Small Town in Africa"
Alistair Hull says:
25. February 2020 at 19:15
Thanks Sinclair. All the very best to you.
Sinclair, don't worry about it. I am sure you have done a lot and have been through a lot. If you feel hard done by in respect of racial disparities during your life here, how do you think I feel as a white by the racial venom that has come my way for the last forty years, yet I am still here? I don't blame anyone for leaving if it's to make a better life for themselves but you need to understand that what happened in this country before and after "freedom" in 1980 is simply to do with the human condition. Endless conflict of one form or another is our lot in this life but it's sad that so many people only seem to get part of the picture of what/who caused it and start throwing stones at random and innocent targets of people who they perceive "are to blame." AnneE on 19th February, 2020, on this posting, in my opinion gives a very good analogy of the big picture of what afflicts this world at this point in history. I do believe I have at least average intelligence and a reasonable amount of common sense to work things out and with these two attributes I form my opinions, but they are just my opinions, which I do like to air on forums such as these because I believe much of the material posted here is of great interest and importance both locally and regionally and is of international significance. Let's call it a day. I wish you well.
Sinclair Roberts says:
Alistair, it gives me no satisfaction to express my views verbally or on fora such as this one. I am a laid back person who loves his country and all who love her, even if they have different political opinions. You think I don't understand your pain? How about being threatened with arrest and incommunicado detention by Mugabe's thugs for standing up to that tyrant? Having to leave the country of your birth without packing your belonging or having an opportunity to sell your real estate? Being declared an "enemy of the state," and officially informed that I face immediate arrest and detention if I ever return? I grew up in the bush. My siblings and I walked barefoot fearlessly among elephant herds in Sinamatella, Main Camp, Nantwich and Robins Camps, Binga and Sebungwe. We pulled out huge fish from Deka Mouth and Deka Drum. We found jellyfish in these last two areas. I wonder how many other people saw them. We revelled in the exquisite pain of getting hit by the jolts of the electric eel and electric barbeI. We hunted and chased small game from dawn to dusk, and I dropped my first kudu from the back of moving land rover at 14. I cannot live without being in the bush. But here I am, unable to return home for 30 years. My favorite sister in law passed away and my wife and I could not even think of attending her funeral. We have missed countless relatives' funerals, as well as those of some of our dearest friends, Imagine being denied entry to the ONE place you would give your life for. I would love to call it a day because, at the end of it, we all love the country that we were so fortunate to be born in. Take care and all the best to you and your family.
Managing Editor says:
25. February 2020 at 8:59
Thanks Sinclair. I read this with some relief and in a way I think this dialogue tells our story I suppose. I think most of us agree the world we grew up in was an imperfect one but we also all agree it has been replaced by a system that is far worse. And we all share an abiding love of the country and great sadness when we see what has become of it. I also suggest many of the problems confronting the world are worsened by a lack of frank discourse because people are constrained by the demands of being 'politically correct'. Polemics such as this are good for all of us.
I agree Hannes. Whatever our political stripes or spots, we can count ourselves lucky to have been born in that beautiful little hamlet. And yes, frank discourse is needed on subjects like this, although I feel gut-punched as I write, because I know I am hurting someone reading my opinions. But we all know, that despite our different memories, recollections and experiences, we are all inextricably linked by our love for country and people. Below I have posted two views of war viewed by two poets with differing opinions of its value to those fighting. The first is by Horace, and the next by Wilfred Owen. I loved reading both at school.
Odes (III.2.13)- Horace.
Angustam amice pauperiem pati
robustus acri militia puer
condiscat et Parthos ferocis
vexet eques metuendus hasta
vitamque sub divo et trepidis agat
in rebus. Illum ex moenibus hosticis
matrona bellantis tyranni
prospiciens et adulta virgo
suspiret, eheu, ne rudis agminum
sponsus lacessat regius asperum
tactu leonem, quem cruenta
per medias rapit ira caedes.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
mors et fugacem persequitur virum
nec parcit inbellis iuventae
poplitibus timidove tergo
Dulce et Decorum est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen
Thank you Sinclair.
Sinclair Roberts. Wow and wow again! Please forgive me for not having researched things properly. I apologise – humbly! Sorry man. If what you say about your bush skills is all true then surely you must be the be the man who taught Graham Wilson and Darrel Watt all they know. Come to think of it, you must also have taught Clem Coetsee all he knows about game capture and tracking seeing as you worked in Hwange National and gained 'bush skills that I am not familiar with.'
Once again please forgive me.
Alistair. Your "apology" drips of puerile sarcasm. No, I did NOT work in Wankie National Park. I grew up there. I knew Clem Coetzee from an operation where Jake Harper-Ronald, ex SAS and author of Sunday Bloody Sunday with Greg Budd, Lt Colonel Lionel Dyke, Richard Leakey of Kenya Wildlife, two members of the British SAS, and myself worked to identify the largest ivory smugglers and elephant killers in Africa. With the aid of transponders we had great success in identifying a Chinese national in Pretoria, A.H. Pong as among the most prolific overlords in Africa responsible for elephant hunting by poachers for ivory. We were able to trace its source and destination as we did with rhino horn. We worked undercover in souks in Sanaa, Yemen, and dark back alleys in Hong Kong and Macau. We also identified one of the richest white businessmen in Africa smuggling coltan and uranium as an unintended consequence of the main operation. I'm sorry if I don't live up to your expectations, but at almost 60 years of age, I am proud of my achievements and don't really give a rats ass about what you think about me.
Gillian Chappell says:
Thank you for sharing your memories. We, who grew up in Rhodesia, were truly blessed!
Rhodesians may be the only people on Earth who understand that being equal does not
depend on being the same. Black or white. Male or female. Doctor or farmer. We are all equal
but, thank goodness, we will never be the same!
Sally Hatchwell (nee Hume) says:
I have often pondered how a society – supposedly so divided and disparate – could've flourished the way ours did.
Sadly, the liberal left (backed by ambitious Russia and China) came in and fomented discontent. Enormous changes needed to be made, obviously, but my overriding emotion is one of sadness when I reflect upon how ALL invested-Rhodesians/Zimbabweans were robbed of opportunities to evolve at their own, anomalous pace.
Bravo, Hannes!
Peta Thornycoft says:
We went to UJS and UGHS and there were only white kids at those achools. We didn't know black people other than servants. We didn't speak their language. And we didn't notice that, As long as the (nice) horse boy spoke English,
UDI and the war came because our parents had chucked out Garfield Todd and voted for Boss Lilford's Ian Smith.
That horrible war didn't need to happen. It did no one any good except money changers.
Sensible whites left the country.
A few stayed on but Rhodesian traitors and South African saboteurs made sure it would all be pretty difficult.
And there was and is corruption.
And only a few thousand whites including kids and pensioners, remain.
don munroe says:
When I look back now, my father and mother had five children, and I imagine the hardship they had bringing us up. I suppose we were middle class, and as you say Our childhoods were amazing and crime free and a lot of freedom.When you look at the 1960 constituion, the blacks did not want sharing they wanted majority rule straight away , so there was no chance of gradual transition with them. Ian Smith tried the gradual way to get a educated Gvt. but unfortunately could not pull it off.In the sixties when doing my apprenticeship , we had blacks, Indians , coloureds and whites. By about 1975 there were big changes every where , for every one. I still think if the blacks had taken over in 1960 or 63 etc the out come would still be the same as it is now, just sooner. I think Ian Smith took a big gamble to give everyone a chance. But it makes me wonder , that with the black population explosion that by now or say 2010 , the country would be stuffed because of the high population , everything unsustainable. A very good article thank you.
tongai says:
great article that sadly looks at only the good side of white governance. You state clearly that education was along racial lines and seem to accept this as ok. that in itself is the veiled contempt and patronizing that epitomizes many white rhodesian. you had to be a black man living on the other side to see the Imbalances. no amount of development and good governance should justify minority oppressive rule
Patrick Walsh says:
Tongai,
A simple question ! Are they better off now ?
Nothing wrong with Black school classes in Black areas and White school classes in white ares. I went to a Catholic boarding school and providing they paid the fee Black pupils were not discouraged.
Its astonishing that this fact – expressed by world champ boxer Muhamed Ali (Casius Clay) is the elephant in the room yet its just common sense: "Everyone prefers to live with their own. Black people prefer to live with Black people. Whites with White. Birds like to live with their own kind but they are all birds! Blue birds live with Blue birds. Hawks with Hawks."
Mohamed Ali was being interviewed by Michael Parkinson on the BBC who was attempting to manipulate Ali into promoting mixed racial partners. Instead Ali disagreed totally and called Parkinson a race traitor!. Ali said there was no one he would prefer to be with than his Black woman just as Chinese men prefer Chinese women etc.
This meme pathogen that 'its racist to prefer to be with your own race/culture/society' is a useful tool employed by marxist fanatics and the marxstream media. Only be destroying the essential pillars of White culture/society can they hope to move the first world (which is more or less 'the White world') into their intended World Communist Dictatorship (controlled though, by the international money power who fund and promote communism as a stepping stone).
It is the FRUITS of the successful first world that the 3rd world invaders covet. They arrive and prefer to live amongst their own, creating ghettos and gangs and no-man's lands. But the social benefits – freebies – quality standard of living is what they desire.
Why? Because in their own third world post-colonial nations the deterioration of the infrastructure (running water, sewerage systems, roads, hospitals etc) has been left to collapse. Why? Because the concept of 'maintenenance' is alien and because finances contributed are always pilfered in corrupted nations.
That is why you see the absurd reality that, in southern Africa, Blacks chant mindlessly "Africa for the Africans" and want Whites gone (to take their 'stuff') yet at the same time you see Blacks leaving their decrepit nations and flooding into Europe and Britain which are ethnic-Europeans' ancient Homelands.
AnnE-"Nothing wrong with Black school classes in Black areas and White school classes in white ares. I went to a Catholic boarding school and providing they paid the fee Black pupils were not discouraged."
This excerpt from your opening statement seems to suggest that Roman Catholic schools only accepted black students if they could pay the fees. While you are right, they similarly accepted white students who could pay the fees. Whites were not entitled to a Catholic education in Rhodesia. It was given to all races.
I'm afraid I don't really understand your point?
I was saying that I went to a private school and anyone, Black, White or Yellow, who paid the fees could attend. It was not racially segregated.
Really? Read your piece again. Slowly. I'm afraid you still don't get it. It DRIPS of racism. I am content with the way I look at other races and treat them. Hopefully, an event in your life will help you do the same. Bless your blissfully unaware heart.
Andre Kok says:
Absolutely correct.
I have questions and facts that i would like to ask
Anywhere anytime anyone
To have answered to understand peoples opinion/views
Which i never see or hear asked/ answered although i do see some of them in thie article reading between the lines
However publicly is not the right place
It should be but i cannot as i will be labelled
Irrespective …
They are old questions yer one does not bring them up publicly
Tony Morkel says:
Great contribution, Hannes. Thank you for the concise and accurate documentations you periodically circulate.
Piet Scott says:
Very well written. Journalist by any chance? If you haven't read them yet, may I suggest two books by Douglas Murray: 'The Strange Death of Europe', as well as his latest 'The Madness of Crowds' an eloquent and brilliant description of the toxicity of social justice politics in the social media age. Your Dad would have been a contemporary of Gert and Theunis du Plessis, am I right?
In response to Sinclair Roberts' posting, some points of which have merit, I think the following often overlooked points are pertinent and they frustrate me no end:-
We live in an imperfect and very often completely dysfunctional world, and, although I can understand his unhappiness about "the inequalities that existed for other races", if only Rhodesia had been allowed to address these problems in its own time, I believe race inequalities and issues would eventually have been sorted out by civilized means and this endeavour is proveable by Rhodesian government documents, press articles and other that this was the case, but no, they were having none of it, and there was a frenzied cry for everything to happen yesterday. Black emancipation in the United States was achieved through activism, but the call to rally for a full blown, bloody bush war to bring down a generally happy, unbelievably prosperous and stable country was nothing short of ludicrous. The Rhodesian government was by no means perfect and if only people like Sinclair could have had the foresight (and perhaps he did) to see what the consequences of the so-called "War of Liberation" would be, for so insiginficant a "cause", things might have turned out differently.
Sinclair's words, "A simple act could have prevented all this. Sharing", suggests a complete naivety and misunderstanding of the REAL reasons that led to the Rhodesian bush war or "civil war of liberation" as many still mistakenly refer to it as. So that's it. Simply because we didn't "share", that's what led up to a bloody seven year bush war! Unbelievable! This writer never fought in a "civil war" but I did fight in a war against communist terrorists, officially known as CT's by the Rhodesian security forces and which consisted of between 70% and 80% black Rhodesian volunteers many of whom very clearly understood who the bad guys were, thus their decision to fight for Rhodesia. Every bit of military hardware that I was on the receiving end of during that war was of communist origin and manufacture. Most of us who were caught up in that "civil war of liberation" now know what drove it and it certainly was not because of lack of "sharing" although that, amongst other reasons was what was pushed by our enemies and is somehow still being pushed and used as justification for the ongoing carnage unfolding in countries that are now "free." No, the real reason was communist expansion in Africa and greviances of black nationalists and white liberal activists about "white supremacy" and "white oppression" and "stolen land" were the very effective propaganda tools and window dressing they used to achieve their objectives.
What happened to Rhodesia was like hanging someone for a parking ticket offence.
Alistair Hull-Don't blow a gasket over facts you have not researched. I grew up in Wankie Game Reserve, Binga, Matetsi, Sebungwe, Deka, and Victoria Falls. I had bush skills you are not familiar with. I entered the BSAP in 1978 but did my share of bush call ups. I was a member of a small, specialized mounted unit. We trained our own horses, remounts from South Africa. Enough said about that one.
And, like all conflicts. If you deny land to its rightful owners or do not share it equitably, war and conflict are inevitable. Scores of blacks fought in both great wars. Upon their return, the white soldiers were granted land. The black soldiers were given a cheap watch and a wheelbarrow like they were after putting in 40 years of sterling service with a multinational. Just that. A wheelbarrow, a watch and sometimes a hoe. Wow. While I certainly do not condone the breakdown in civil society and the rule of law in Zimbabwe, can you REALLY blame the people for rising up in indignation?
Alistair, I do not blame the whites in their Utopia Rhodesia for enlisting in the Rhodesian Army en masse. They had everything to lose. Other races, who once were denied the right to vote if they did not own property had nothing to lose. You state, without evidence:
"This writer (meaning me) never fought in a "civil war" but I did fight in a war against communist terrorists, officially known as CT's by the Rhodesian security forces and which consisted of between 70% and 80% black Rhodesian volunteers many of whom very clearly understood who the bad guys were, thus their decision to fight for Rhodesia."
Let me tell you that the mixed-race or " Coloured" population in Rhodesia were conscripted into the Rhodesian army. Most of us did not see the value in fighting people who were trying to reclaim their ancestral lands, which had been misappropriated by earlier white settler regimes and the British South Africa Company. I do not believe that more than 20% of the mixed-race population would have volunteered for national service. We were fighting our relatives and secretly championed their cause. In 1976 I was elected President of the Archconfraternity of Stephen, the Roman Catholic altar boys guild at St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Bulawayo.
The Guild of St Stephen is an International Organisation of Altar Servers founded in England in 1904 by Father Hamilton McDonald when he formed a Society of Altar Servers at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in London. In 1905, Pope Pius X gave his approbation to the Canonical establishment of the Guild at Westminster Cathedral and in 1906, the Sacred Congregation of Rites made the Guild an Archconfraternity prima primaria enabling all the parish branches to be linked with it. The Guild spread, and in 1934, Pope Pius XI enabled all Guilds of Altar Servers throughout the British Commonwealth to be affiliated with the Archconfraternity at Westminster.
In January 1978, my Dad was killed by either pseudo terrorists (possibly Selous Scouts or a similar Rhodesian special unit) or ZIPRA or ZANLA guerrillas while enjoying an after-work beer at a hotel in Dett. That year I vowed I would follow through with what I had shared with my Dad-my passion to become a Roman Catholic Priest.
In November that year, I completed my GCE "O" Levels and was served with "call up" papers shortly afterward, to report to Inkomo Barracks for 18 months of military training. Archbishop Henry Karlen had already secured me a position with a Carmelite Friars seminary in the UK. The Rhodesian regime stubbornly refused to relinquish this cannon fodder to the Priesthood. Archbishop Karlen finally prevailed with help from up on high in the Church and certain sympathetic politicians from the RF. A compromise was reached and I was allowed to take the same tests as white patrol officers to join the BSAP. I was told that after three years of police service I could leave the country and pursue my seminarian training.
Scores of my fellow "coloured" friends and relatives were not so lucky. They sacrificed life and limb for a cause they did not benefit from before independence, or after. Conscientious objectors were jailed and denied employment. Rhodesia had a special document, much like The U.S. DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, which those who had completed military conscription would have to produce to prospective employers. If they could not, all job opportunities were denied to them. I was denied my dream of serving my Lord and those less fortunate.
Today, 41 years later, I still look at that selfish act by the Rhodesian regime as the one event that strengthened my resolve to fight for those less fortunate than myself. I'm sorry if I go on endlessly on this subject, but it was like tearing my heart from my body to be denied an opportunity of a lifetime. What difference would one 125 lb weakling have made to the final outcome of the war? As a Priest, I could have positively impacted hundreds, thousands, or perhaps millions fo people's lives.
Sorry, this was very difficult to write. It brought back a flood of memories, from leaving Umtali (now Mutare) at age 4, with my recently widowed Dad and two siblings. to resettle in the bush of Matabeleland. Having to attend boarding school 300 miles away because the primary school five minutes away was whites only. My Dad having to go to a hole in the wall in the back of the Halfway Hotel to order us food as the main entrance was white only. The pain of watching my Dad, one of the most brilliant people I have encountered, forced to work in an occupation he was overqualified for. A man who spoke better English than most white men in Rhodesia, or anywhere, for that matter. I am sitting here on a warm winter's day, in one of the most affluent counties in America, reflecting on my journey from Umtali (now Mutare) to my new home. I love it here. But only because I was declared an enemy of the state by a despotic regime that treated me no differently than the one that came before it. I don't understand the need to inflict suffering by a regime on its people. But I am comforted that many people of every race in our beautiful country indeed tried their best to create a Utopia for all and not just a chosen few.
Jerold (Jerry) Richert says:
Enjoyed your article, Hannes, and the wonderful memories it evoked. My father, Bill Richert, who had oner arm, worked under your father as the Malarial Control Officer in Umtali. Previously he was the Town Ranger. Halcyon days.
Tim Rowett says:
Excellent Hannes
Nick Meikle says:
Excellent description of times gone by Hannes.
My father was a farmer and over a 40 year period, I watched as his very stable labour force of Zambians, Malawians and then indigenous Rhodesians, become steadily more educated (on the farm) and thus empowered. The grandchildren of Dad's original workers were in the main only interested in jobs in the city and could compete for them. There remained a small handful whom my brother continued to employ until farming was impossible in the last couple of years. Today, he still employs one in a very trusted role and helpful to others for landing jobs.
It is easy to find fault in any political system and in retrospect blame the Rhodesian white for not preparing the Rhodesian blacks for the day they would run the country. They did not migrate to, and develop Rhodesia with the sole purpose of actively training and preparing the indigenous folk to run a country. They came to develop their own lives and businesses in a society that reflected the values and norms of their time and originating country – Great Britain, South Africa, Holland to name a few. However, in the process they did a huge amount of positive things and passed on an advanced economy in which the indigenous blacks were very integrated.
Instead of blaming the whites as Sinclair said, what stopped Mugabe and his government from actively seeking the assistance of the whites to help develop vital skills?
Mugabe is credited with advancing the education of the Blacks, this, on the back a very sound educational platform left behind by the Rhodesian government. Zimbabwe to this day remains probably the most literate country in Africa and yet most of the very well educated Zimbabwean blacks are living and working in other countries. Mugabe's reckless land policy and corrupt government, succeeded by Mnangagwa's equally corrupt government have seen fit to destroy most of what the Rhodesians left behind and leave people of all sectors of society and colour with no choice but to seek greener pastures elsewhere. The very people the liberation struggle sought to liberate are now the victims of political arrogance and inept government.
In the early 90s, I was engaged in a conversation with a prominent African businessman, and member of ZAPU, from Gweru. He expressed the view the white man in Zim owed the African nothing. We had left behind a positive legacy and fully functioning economy. You have to wonder how many others silently have that opinion..?
Sorry Sinclair, with 20/20 hindsight it is very easy to blame others for one's misfortune. It's time Africa takes responsibility for its failures, learn from them and stop harping on about the negative role that whites are perceived to have played.
Very pertinent points you make, Nick. My sentiments exactly. As an ex-Rhodesian (I never lived in Zimbabwe) I find it amazing – and very beneficial for the 2 warring Black tribes – that Rhodesia was created into a great modern nation in just 70 years! At that time when Ian Smith declared UDI.
I wonder what the U.S. looked like after 70 years and also Australia? Comparisons should be made.
Rhodesia's Black population soared exponentially under our new civilization which insisted on Law & Order for all. One cannot say the same about America and Australia whose native populations collapsed exponentially.
Yet we are 'the bad guys'? I don't think so. This race baiting is the new marxist tool – the old marxist tool was class differences, the proletariat vs the borgeoise. Today these same marxists (and their international financier supporters like George Soros and Rockefellers) stir up racial tension behind the scenes, aided by their marxstream media.
We need to all be acutely aware that Communism is about 2 goals and these bulldogs will never let them go:
1) No private property (to disempower and create dependence on the state)
2) A global communist dictatorship.
We need to be aware that while most of us have a balanced life – we work hard and play hard, there are many who are NOT like us. They are fanatics who spend every moment of their lives conniving and plotting behind the scenes to undermine our civilizations, cultures, traditional family values including christianity, and nothing else matters in their lives. They disdain our 'waste of time' playing sports etc. Read the book "You Gentiles". I bought mine from amazon.
AnnE. "Yet we are 'the bad guys'? I don't think so. This race baiting is the new marxist tool – the old marxist tool was class differences, the proletariat vs the borgeoise. Today these same marxists (and their international financier supporters like George Soros and Rockefellers) stir up racial tension behind the scenes, aided by their marxstream media."
Have you listened to yourself lately. You rant about political subjects you have frankly no knowledge of. You sound like you're quoting directly from far-right websites that are proliferating globally since the the racist but communist/socialist asset Donald Trump took power here. Relax. George Soros is less dangerous that Donald trump who works directly for Vladimir Putin. Where once the Democrats could be called "commies" the mantle now falls to the conservatives who serve Russia and the oligarchs. Trump has sold the United States of America to Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia for his own greedy and selfish reasons. And as for the Rockefellers….they are all retired or dead and the remaining few are Republicans as their grandparents all were. You also say with great but misguided confidence that people from Europe, and I assume all white people from the UK and Europe are the benchmark for civilization and progress. You say race-baiting is a new Marxist tool. The British were masters of divide and conquer or divide and rule which they used VERY successfully in Africa, India, and their division of Pakistan Pakistan and in fact everywhere they tainted with their presence. Be fearful of the new ultra-right wing whose poisonous rhetoric will lead to the undoing of western civilization as we know it. And please, before write about a subject as complicated as Marxism (which is abhorrent to me), do your homework so you don't sound like that ignoramus Donald Trump.
Life is good. Live yours and let everyone live theirs. Take care.
Nick. You have misrepresented what I wrote. I do not apologize for my belief that if Rhodesians had slowly begun giving equal opportunity, based solely upon merit, we would have the best country in the world. I'm not blaming anyone. I am merely stating facts.
I have not blamed whites. I have merely stated facts. Those who took the "chicken run" at Independence had a lot to offer. If only they had bided their time. Waited. Sussed out the political climate immediately after Independence. There were a lot of changes. Some unpalatable but necessary. We all had to make sacrifices. And resign ourselves to a new order. Whites could still have enjoyed weekends in Kariba with the company truck and boat. The secret of company-paid private schools and universities would have to be shared with the blacks, but white people would have had sufficient blocs of lobbyists to make a difference on countless matters of local and national governance.
Instead, the whites fled, leaving a brave few to guard the gates against the marauding "savages." The old saying " Give a dog a bad name and hang him" has never been truer. Whites in Rhodesia spent a disproportionate amount of time arguing that black people would ruin the country instead of working together to ensure that the country succeeded for the benefit of all. Now you have the benefit of saying "I told you so" from your little kayas in far-flung corners of the globe.
Hannes, thanks. There was NO PLACE on the planet that could compare to this complicated piece of the world from whence we came. I want to weep when I see what Mugabe and Mnangagwa and their goons have done to her. When I read that Mugabe, his wife, kleptocrat in chief Grace Mugabe and the Chinese had managed to steal 2 billion dollars worth of diamonds from the Marange diamond fields, I wanted to go over and shake some people back to reality. Where does the lunacy end? God Bless Zimbabwe ( or Rhodesia if you prefer), and all who call her Mother and love all her children.
mitch stirling says:
Great article, ndatenda Hannes. Reference Sinclair Roberts' comment: some of the coloured folks inherited the best of both racial groups – black and white. A night at the Queens Hotel, or an afternoon in the gardens listening to jazz, were wonderful mixed-race experiences. Others, of course, were just 'skollies.' But skollies with a great sense of humour. The Rhodesian army was full of them. Getting 'extincted ek se' ! hahaha… 🙂
Mitch Sterling-There were good and bad in all communities. I am reminded vividly 41 years after becoming a Patrol Officer in the BSAP, and being stationed at Waterfalls Police Station, that all races have their bad eggs. The trailer park trash that I had to deal with every Friday after white people got their paychecks is something I am sure the larger part of the white population will NOT want to hear about. In fact, of all the dangerous situations I have been in (4 years in the BSAP) and 7 years as a counterintelligence officer, the day I came closest to death was when I was called to a domestic dispute. The husband was a serial wife-beater and we had a roster at the station of who was up next to answer the domestic abuse call. I arrived to find Mrs.******** with a face swollen to the size of a watermelon. Her lips and nose were a gory bloody pulp. Usually, in those days, the husband was pulled aside and asked to behave or he would be arrested. He usually complied. On this occasion, he remained belligerent and continued to call for a white patrol officer to deal with the situation. To diffuse the situation, I led him towards the police vehicle with the goal of calming him down. Suddenly I felt a sharp, blinding blow that caused me to lose my sight and, apparently my consciousness. When I recovered a few minutes later, I found that Mrs. ******* had driven the metal exposed heel of her well-used stiletto shoe into the back of my head. After first aid was rendered I asked why she had done this. She replied she thought I was arresting her husband and they would have no food in the house if he went to jail. ASk me if you would like to hear about all the dirty little secrets that white people had in Rhodesia. Like the fact that most of your Fathers, and sometimes Mothers had extramarital relations, with people outside their own race. Look at mixed-race or " coloured" last names. Chances are you have an identical last name. That person could well be your Father's son or daughter. Frederick Courteney Selous the greatest big game hunter in history had mixed-race children whom he provided for. Their fortune was stolen by the government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Name any prominent white Rhodesian and he probably had coloured children. Some of the most prominent white people in Rhodesia, since its earliest days, often had two families, a white one and another that his supposed wife did not know about. Often, he married his black or coloured wife first, then had to marry a white woman and have children with her out of an expectation of respectability in the white community. As a kid, I hung around with all races. We pretty much ignored the rules about sticking with our own. My white friends dated black and coloured girls and my black friends and I dated your sisters, the most beautiful, educated and enlightened ones, that looked past colour and saw us for the intelligent equals of their brothers with whom we hung out. We did not see colour. And my friends were from the most moneyed families in Rhodesia, not trash who feared a black takeover because they would their CEO positions due to their inability to read properly or do basic mathematics. So…dont generalise because I know a HEAP of white skollies, while at the same time I know a HEAP of coloured people who could have risen to the tops of their professions given equal opportunity which was denied. Same for the black population. One of my friends, when I was growing up, was a black gentleman, three years older than I, who had passed 7 'O' Levels and could not get a decent job, while white kids walked into well-paid positions barely literate. But, we have no hard feelings. Rhodesia would have thrived if everyone was afforded equal opportunity. And our sense of humour arose from a sense of injustice against our community and that of the majority, that was so distorted that you had to laugh or you would cry. Take care ek se! I hope I dont get stopped by the fuzz on the way to the bottle store in Laguna Beach California to grip some dorps.
Great article, ndatenda Hannes. Reference Sinclair Robert's comment: Some of the coloured folk inherited the best of both racial groups – white and black. A night at the Queens Hotel, or a Sunday afternoon in the gardens listening to jazz, was a wonderful mixed-race experience. Of course, others were just 'skollies'. But usually skollies with a great sense of humour. The Rhodesian army was full of them.
Some more common sense from Hannes Wessels. Of course, the Libtards won't "get it"…….they rarely do as they're too busy being "politically correct" yawn yawn😴😴😴😴😴
Peter Whitfield says:
Well said Hannes. We had such a wonderful and peaceful upbringing. Smith was an incredible man of vision but alas the powers that be outside of Africa who did not live with our know the people as we did decided they knew better and destroyed a week working society and turned a thriving economy into a failed and starving state that it has become today. I love reading your blogs.
Thanks Spotted
Linda Harris (Fox) says:
Brilliantly explained Hannes, brought back many happy memories. Loved your Mum and Dad, and of course, your beautiful sister Helga, my best friend, in spite of the Nuns who were determined to keep us apart!!! Miss Umtali and the people so much! Do please put all your blogs in book, you make it all come back to life for all of us scattered around the world. Thank you so much xx
Thanks Linda. I read this with sadness. But thank you for your kind words.
Jack Hulley says:
My wife, Christine Hulley currently works in the office behind the fourth and fifth windows in the top row of windows above 'Standard Bank' as an accountant. I was born in Mutare in 1947, and still enjoy my life here. Jack Hulley.
Elizabeth Rawson says:
Beautifully composed and brings back lots of memories.
I was born in Bulawayo and later moved to Chiredzi and later to Salisbury.
When Magabe came in to power I too left for South Africa and now live in Burlington Ontario Canada.
My sisters still live in Bulawayo and it is sad to see how things have degenerated. Canada is now asking for donations for food for Zimbabwe and any donations will match them 4 to 1.
Cry my beloved country.
Beautifully composed and brings back lots of memories
Mike Pimblott says:
Mike Pimblott. Mutate Board & Paper, Chamber of Industries, Round Table. Five years in in this bit of paradise. We were all as one, of all shades. They can't destroy the memories.
The whole world is now at war with itself, we just have to be very gratefull that we knew a different world.
Well written Hannes. How fortunate we all were to have grown up and enjoyed the efforts made by the vast majority of all races to make it utopia. I farmed in Odzi, Umtali was my home town and your father Penn, was my wife's family (Ross's) doctor for many years, my wifes mother helping him in the "townships".
There were mistakes yes, but they pale into insignificance by the results forced on that little nation by greed, and ignorance of a few politicians keen to hand over regardless of the results. Look where they are now.
Luisa says:
Thanks for this description of what once was a beautiful land. The world needs more Ian Smiths, that ruled for the Love of his country & not personal interest.
My family moved to Rhodesia with UDI when I was 8. I read a book, not so long ago, about life in Rhodesia in the early 50s & there was definitely a big change after UDI. I sympathise with Sinclair but also know that a lot changed for the positive under Ian Smiths rule, fir the Coloured Community.
Where I think the white man went wrong was by , "Giving the fish as opposed to teaching how to fish." Many Africans were our home servants, with the right to a kaya, meals, electricity, water & a salary. They did not learn the value of the cost of all those benefits. They just took it for granted.
When I moved to Europe & heard of friends struggling here, I often wondered… How they could have benefitted from having a kaya & all the other benefits.
I asked a Zimbabwean african lady, 4 years ago, what went wrong because when I left Zims in 1982, there was already a considerable qualified black force in all sectors, that should have permitted Zimbabwe a good start with success. Her reply was, that qualified force after 1985 had their salaries reduced & because they knew better, did what the whites did……
Leave to find better opportunities.
We left because we didn't belong there but they did & yet they also left. :'(
Daryn Murdoch says:
This reminded me of my time in Umtali living on upper 13th street and my dad and I exploring the Vumba and Inyanga the Leopard Rocks Hotel the Crocodile Hills Motel just before the Christmas Pass
Oh man just flooded my brain with memories!
My dad was the depot manager for Shell and BP oil in Umtali . We would cross the border to Machapanda station for beers and prawns ( logostinos) for $5 a jug with a plate of prawns ! God what a life ! ❤❤❤
Thanks for a well penned but simplistic account of life in Umtali ( now Mutare), an idyllic hamlet surrounded by the most splendid landscape, beautiful mountains and verdant hillsides.
As the British government and that of Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front party, Hannes forgets people like me. Born from white, black and Indian in my case, people of mixed race were known as " coloureds" and looked upon with embarrassment, often the progeny of strictly forbidden interracial relationships; some illicit and some from loving marriages or unions. We were the smallest group in the country but on par with the white population in education; although we were denied equal opportunity in every facet of society.
Yes, Umtali was the utopia described by Hannes. But only for white people. It would take a book to explain the inequities that existed for other races in Hannes' perfect world.
And yes, unbridled corruption, kleptocracy and gross mismanagement have brought about the current situation that has laid our beautiful country to waste. A simple act could have prevented all this. Sharing. The white people of Rhodesia refused to teach the incoming administration what had made Rhodesia so successful. They held on to every piece of knowledge that could've helped Zimbabwe to flourish. On the day Robert Mugabe's party won the election that ushered in black majority rule and Independence from Britain, I watched from Waterfalls Police Station as hundreds of cars, loaded with personal belongings, headed through the suburb en route to Beatrice Road and the South African border. Oh Hannes, if only the whites who claim to love our country so much had stayed to share their expertise. Zimbabwe could have still been the jewel of Africa. We have the kindest people. Humble and peaceful. That is why tyranny has flourished. We deserve better. We don't need blame. We all contributed by our actions or inaction, to the current situation. Again, a well crafted story, but one that does not contain my truth.
My name is Sinclair Roberts. My Dad was Irish and Indian. My Mother was Manyika and Portuguese. In December 1978 I was the first person of mixed race to train with the first multiracial squad of Patrol Officers in British South Africa. Police Equitation Squad 14/78. The BSAP was formed in 1889 by Cecil John Rhodes, after whom the country was named. Just as the Rhodesian government elected to finally allow me to become the first police officer of mixed race, 89 years after its formation of the BSAP , so Hannes has forgotten to include my community, in his description and breakdown of racial groups who made up Umtali's population, The mixed race community was the embarrassment to the white nobility in Africa and to the Crown.
By the way I now live in Southern California after having been declared an enemy ifbtgey state for my opposition to the dictator Mugabe. Things could have been so different for all Zimbabweans if we had thought with our heads and not our emotions. Hannes, we in the diaspora need to ensure that our beloved country does not continue to be plundered. Let's work together to restore what remains.
I appreciate your comments Sinclair and my apologies for being 'simplistic' and for not mentioning the 'coloured' community which which I should have done. And yes this was not a perfect world and there were injustices but I don't agree it was only beneficial to the whites. I stand by my view that the whites worked extremely hard to improve the quality of life for all and virtually every person I knew, no matter what they may have appeared to be, was aware of the fact that we would only prevail if we were mindful of the interests of all racial groups and I do believe very sincere and successful efforts were made in this regard. I also know, most of the whites, including me, (and Ian Smith) who decided to stay, wanted to bury the past and help make a success of the new dispensation although it was not what we chose. We received a very good kick in the teeth for our troubles. I think the moral of the Umtali story is, think carefully about what you are going to replace a system and society with before you destroy it.
The truth is, the end of Rhodesia had nothing to do with our race relations – which were very respectful mutually. The race issue was just a tool used to 'divide & conquer' Rhodesia. How do I know this?
British Oxford scientist Dr Kitty Little was part of a selected group of elite High School students 'selected out' for specific university genres (science, politics, economics etc) by the international financial oligarch structure, working with their vassels the Soviet Russia. (This selection occurs in US, SA, UK etc to continue the ranks of 'insiders in the know' for the New World Order elite).
Kitty Little, a friend of Rhodesia, exposed the plan. In 1940, future Prime Minister of Britain Harold Wilson (Soviet agent) was then a young man at Oxford and gathered together the new selected students. He informed them of the full plan to take down the west and already then – in 1940 – RHODESIA AND THEN SOUTH AFRICA WAS SINGLED OUT FOR TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE WHITE RACE. The international money power using their vassels the communists centre in the Soviet Union, planned the collapse and end of Rhodesia.
Kitty Little, a friend of Ian Smith, stated these powers were particularly very vindictive in their intent against Rhodesia.
Fact is, in 1940 at the start of WWII, while Rhodesians such as Ian Smith went to fight for 'the mother country's freedom', naively and with enthusiasm, the same powers who created WWII – who were NOT the Germans – had already pre-1940 planned Rhodesia's annihilation.
There are a few hundred wealthy, powerful bloodlines that create all our wars – and manipulate the consequences of all those wars – to achieve their long term goal which is total control of our lives, our natural resources, all food, water, our armies, our governments etc etc. They already control 98% of the mainstream media (all that counts) and hollywood and use these assets to keep us in a false matrix as portrayed by the movie The Matrix – they even tell us this way! Also, watch the older classic movie "THEY LIVE" and 'put on your glasses, folks.
The denial of our peoples (Black, White, Brown and Yellow) is what allows their agenda to proceed in leaps and bounds. We are constrained by the pathetic fear of being 'labeled' (racists, anti-semites, far right white supremacists, or any other label you can think of) ie their weapons turned against us are letters of the alphabet and so pathetically frightened are we to be called 'conspiracy theorists' etc we self censor and neuter ourselves into submission to this very satanic agenda that will make our children and grandchildren's lives a living hell.
Rhodesia was taken down by 'divide & conquer' race baiting. South Africa too. Now Europe and US.
I was brought up in Bulawayo and look back on my childhood as being idyllic. But I live in England now and look back with sadness on what has happened in Zimbabwe. We were pushed out by the black government of 1981, with threats. I have cried about having left and also about the people of all races that we had to leave behind. After leaving Zimbabwe we went to South Africa and my eye were again opened to both the good and bad perpetrated and done to all races there. Eventually I arrived in England and settled down in a country that has it's own problems.
My regrets about leaving Rhodesia/Zimbabwe have never left me. But I had 2 young children who were born in Rhodesia but could not get Zimbabwe passports. Every move I have made has opened my eyes to both the good and bad aspects of the countries that I lived in. You leave a country and it's problems behind, yet in the new country there are different problems. All you do is exchange one set of problems for another.
I have seen so much violence, whether it was Black on White, Black on Black, White on Black etc etc. The refugee crisis has brought a different prejudice into play in Africa and the rest of the world. The only thing that can change our perception of other people is to see everyone as human beings without the colour factor coming into the equation. We all want the best for our families, our children. We all want violence to stop. Religion was never meznt to divide us, but to teach us to be tolerant and help one another. We are meant to love and respect each other. Anyone who has seen the consequences of hatred and violence in every form has had their eyes opened by it.
I am not religious. But I have seen what love can do. We can't change the past but we can move forward with hope and love. No one wants The Holocaust to be repeated, such a terrible lesson for us all as we watch other situations of hatred escalating today The genocide in Ruwanda was heartbreaking and left so many people scarred for life both mentally and physically. The fighting in Croatia, Sudan, Somalia, etc A lot of these conflicts have been going on for many years.
I pray for peace on this earth, but it will take a lot of understanding, tolerance, and Love for this to happen. I loved Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and my heart breaks for the poor people left behind, both black and white etc.
Brian Hayes says:
Nothing but the truth – and I always question and ask – "what is wrong with that".
Well done Hannes..
Thanks Brian
Bruce Spargo says:
Masterfully penned Hannes… as always.
Living in California, the hotbed of liberal American culture, I always share your articles with my more conservative like-minded friends and on more than one occasion they have mooted the idea of you putting your Africaunauthorised blogs into a book? What say you HW? :0)
Bruce Spargo.
Would not be difficult to do Bruce. Thanks for the thought.
Mel Garvin says:
So well written Hannes you were all so very lucky to be brought up in Umtali.
Yes I think we were Mel.It was a great lesson in values.
Bossau says:
A sad but excellent article. The situation was similar in may of the small towns in Rhodesia. It is probably the only way different race's and cultures could ever live close together in harmony where mutual respect was given to and by all. The racist tyrants of greed and corruption will never allow it to happen again though.
angela botha says:
Beautifully composed and so glad to hear that the reknowned Dr Penn Wessels was not a racist but a Philanthropist


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GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS 20 TEXTS RECOMMENDED BY LEGAL COMMITTEE, ADDRESSING DIPLOMATIC PROTECTION, UNITED NATIONS ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, TERRORISM
Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York
Sixty-second General Assembly
62nd Meeting (AM)
GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS 20 TEXTS RECOMMENDED BY LEGAL COMMITTEE, ADDRESSING
DIPLOMATIC PROTECTION, UNITED NATIONS ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, TERRORISM
Assembly Calls on States to Take Measures to Hold
United Nations Officials Accountable for Criminal Misconduct on Mission
On the recommendation of its Sixth Committee (Legal), and acting without a vote, the General Assembly this morning adopted 18 resolutions and two decisions, contained in 19 reports, and took note of another; it also decided by the text of one resolution today to call on States to take measures for holding United Nations officials accountable for criminal misconduct on mission.
Reports upon which the Assembly took action this morning addressed an array of issues including articles on diplomatic protection elaborated by the International Law Commission; administration of justice; the International Law Commission; and the 2008 session of the Special Committee on the Charter and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization. Others concerned the work of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and articles on the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts.
By a draft on criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission, the Assembly strongly urged States to take all appropriate measures to punish such persons for crimes, to consider establishing jurisdiction over serious crimes committed by their nationals on mission, and to cooperate with each other and with the Organization in their investigations and prosecutions.
By the terms of another draft on reforming the United Nations, the Assembly established an ad hoc committee to continue working on a new system for the administration of justice at the United Nations by January 2009.
Another resolution on the report of the Special Committee on the Charter called for voluntary contributions to the trust funds for updating the Repertoire and Repertory of Practice. According to the text, assistance to third States affected by sanctions would be considered on a priority basis during the Committee's 2008 session, from 27 February to 5 March, and on 7 March.
As has become commonplace during the Legal Committee's Assembly sessions, the week-long debate on the report of the International Law Commission was a highlight. By the terms of the 2007 resolution on that report, the Assembly drew the attention of Governments to the importance of sharing views with the Commission on the broad range of topics on its agenda, such as shared natural resources, expulsion of aliens, and the obligation to extradite or prosecute. Also, legal advisers were encouraged to participate in the commemorative meeting marking the Commission's sixtieth anniversary, to be held in Geneva from 19-20 May 2008.
A report on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) contained two resolutions, which were among those adopted today. By the terms of one, the Assembly reaffirmed the importance of the Commission's work on technical assistance in the field of international trade law reform and development. By the other, it welcomed initiatives for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. The Assembly called for the use of those events to promote wider adherence to the Convention, greater understanding of its provisions, uniformity in interpretation and effectiveness in implementation.
By the terms of a resolution in a report on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law, the Assembly called for the implementation of steps recommended by the Secretary-General to improve the administration of programmes being carried out, such as providing international fellowships and scholarships for 2008 and 2009. The Assembly also decided to appoint 25 States to the Advisory Committee on the Programme of Assistance to serve 4 year terms, beginning 1 January 2008.
In a resolution on the rule of law at the national and international level that was also adopted this morning, the Assembly called on the Secretary-General to prepare an inventory of the current activities of the United Nations system involved in the rule of law.
Addressing measures to eliminate international terrorism, another resolution adopted today called for the Ad Hoc Committee on the matter to convene on 25 and 26 February, and on 6 March, to expedite work. A related resolution, on the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, commended the draft article elaborated and adopted by the International Law Commission in 2001. The Secretary-General was asked to invite Governments to express views on what form the articles should take. He was also requested to update the compilation of decisions of international courts, tribunals and other bodies related to the articles for publication by the Assembly's sixty-fifth session in 2010. Governments were asked to submit information on practice for that compilation.
By the terms of six resolutions, a related number of organizations were invited today to be observers in the work of the Assembly. Those were: the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa; the Italian-Latin American Institute; the Energy Charter Conference; the Eurasian Development Bank; the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia; and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States in the Gulf.
By another text, the Assembly commended to Governments 19 articles on diplomatic protection and decided to include the item on the agenda of its sixty-fifth session in 2010. The question of formulating the articles into a convention would be considered until then in context of the Legal Committee.
A resolution on another 19 articles on the prevention of transboundary harm was adopted today, in which the Assembly called for consideration of their elaboration into a convention. Those articles address the concept of prevention in the context of authorization and the regulation of hazardous activities.
The Assembly adopted without a vote a draft resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the Eurasian Economic Community (EURASEC), by which it invited the United Nations system and international financial institutions to develop direct contacts with the Eurasian Economic Community for the purpose of undertaking joint implementation of programmes to achieve their goals.
In other action this morning, based on the recommendations of the Secretary-General in his capacity as Chairman of the United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), the Assembly appointed Enrique Roman-Morey ( Peru) as a member of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) for a five-year period, beginning on 1 January 2008 and expiring on 31 December 2012.
The Assembly decided not to discuss a report of its Third Committee on the item "advancement of women", but adopted, without a vote, a draft decision contained in it on the term of office of the members of the Consultative Committee on the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). It further decided to include on its agenda, an item entitled "Appointment of the members of the Consultative Committee on the United Nations Development Fund for Women" and consider it directly in plenary.
Finally, the Assembly filled the remaining vacant seat, from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, on the Committee on Conferences. Acting President Stuart Beck ( Palau) informed the body that the Assembly President had appointed Argentina as a member of the Committee, for a period of three years beginning on 1 January 2008.
Also this morning, the Assembly deferred to a later date action on its agenda item on "implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations".
The General Assembly will reconvene this afternoon at 3 p.m.
The General Assembly met this morning to consider a number of items on its current agenda: a report of its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), plus 20 reports of its Sixth Committee (Legal), which contain two decisions and 18 resolutions, including one which would call on States to take measures to hold United Nations officials accountable for criminal wrongdoing.
Some of the various reports of the Legal Committee cover issues such as articles on diplomatic protection presented by the International Law Commission; criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission; the International Law Commission; and the 2008 session of the Special Committee on the Charter and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization. Others address the work of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and articles on the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts.
The report of the Third Committee before the Assembly deals with the advancement of women, while the Assembly's own agenda items that will be taken up address the implementation of resolutions, cooperation and appointments.
Reports of the Sixth Committee
The report on Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts (document A/62/446) contains one resolution the Committee approved without a vote on 19 November (document A/C.6/62/L.20). By the terms of this text, the Assembly would again commend the articles on the topic to Governments and would ask the Secretary-General to invite them to submit their comments on any future action. He would also be requested to update the compilation of decisions of international courts, tribunals and other bodies referring to the articles, and to again invite Governments to submit information on their practice. The articles were adopted by the International Law Commission at its fifty-third session in 2001. The Assembly took note of them in resolution 56/83 of that same year.
The report on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law (document A/62/447) contains one resolution, also approved without a vote as orally revised on 19 November (document A/C.6/62/L.12), by which the Assembly would approve guidelines and recommendations in section III of the Secretary-General's report on the Programme, as well as the recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on the Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law, in particular those designed to achieve the best possible results in its administration. The resolution would also authorize the Secretary-General to carry out, in 2008 and 2009, activities specified in his report (document A/62/503), including the provision of international fellowships for both years and a minimum of one scholarship under the Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship on the Law of the Sea, all subject to the availability of new voluntary contributions made specifically to the Fellowship fund.
Further, the text would have the Assembly appoint 25 Member States –- six from Africa, five from Asia, three from Eastern Europe, five from Latin America and the Caribbean, and six from Western Europe and other States -- as members of the Advisory Committee on the Programme of Assistance, for four years, beginning on 1 January 2008.
Also approved without a vote on 19 November is the single resolution in the report on Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission (document A/62/448). By that text (document A/C.6/62/L.10), the Assembly would strongly urges States to take all appropriate measures to ensure that crimes by United Nations officials and experts on mission do not go unpunished, and that the perpetrators of such crimes are brought to justice, without prejudice to the privileges and immunities of such persons and the United Nations under international law, and in accordance with international human rights standards, including due process. It would also strongly urges all States to consider establishing jurisdiction, particularly over crimes of a serious nature, committed by their nationals while serving as United Nations officials or experts on mission, and at least where the conduct, as defined in the law of the State establishing jurisdiction, also constitutes a crime under the laws of the host State.
The report on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) (document A/62/449) contains two resolutions (documents A/C.6/62/L.16 and L.17), both also approved without a vote on 19 November.
By the terms of "L.16" on the Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its fortieth session, the Assembly would reaffirm the importance of the Commission's work on technical assistance and cooperation in the field of international trade law reform and development, particularly for developing countries. The Secretary-General would be encouraged to seek partnerships to increase awareness about the Commission's work, and to facilitate implementation of legal standards resulting from its work. The Assembly would consider helping officials from least developed countries participate in the Commission's work.
By the terms of "L.17" on the Fiftieth anniversary of the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, done at New York on 10 June 1958, the Assembly would welcome initiatives for its celebrations. It would encourage the use of such events to promote the wider adherence to the Convention, greater understanding of its provisions, and uniformity in interpretation and effectiveness in its implementation. Further, States would be invited to consider becoming parties to the Convention if they had not yet done so.
The report on the International Law Commission's work (document A/62/450) contains one resolution on the Commission's work of its fifty-ninth session. The resolution (document A/C.6/62/L.18) was approved without a vote on 19 November, and by its terms the Assembly would draw the attention of Governments to the importance of sharing their views with the Commission on the various topics on its agenda, particularly those included in the report. They are: reservations to treaties; shared natural resources; expulsion of aliens; and responsibility of international organizations and the obligation to extradite or prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare). Governments would also be invited to provide information on their practice vis-à-vis "expulsion of aliens", "the obligation to extradite or prosecute", and "effects of armed conflicts on treaties". By 1 January 2008, they should provide comments on the draft articles and commentaries on the law of transboundary aquifers. The Assembly would also decide that the Commission's next session (sixtieth) would take place in Geneva, from 5 May to 6 June and from 7 July to 8 August 2008. Legal advisers would be encouraged to participate in the commemorative meeting marking the Commission's sixtieth anniversary, to be held in Geneva on 19 and 20 May 2008. The Assembly would ask the Secretary-General to set up a trust fund for voluntary contributions to address the backlog in the Commission's Yearbook. The Assembly would recommend that the Sixth Committee's debate on the Commission's report commence on 27 October 2008.
The report on Diplomatic protection (document A/62/451) contains one resolution, approved without a vote on 19 November (document A/C.6/62/L.13), which would have the Assembly commend to Governments the 19 articles (annexed to the text) on the subject, which were completed by the International Law Commission at its fifty-eighth session in 2006. Governments would also be invited to submit written comments on the Commission's recommendation that a convention be elaborated on the basis of those articles. Further, the Assembly would decide to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fifth session in 2010 an item entitled "Diplomatic protection", and to further examine the question of a convention on the subject.
The report on Consideration of prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities and allocation of loss in the case of such harm (document A/62/452) contains a resolution that was approved without a vote on 19 November (document A/C.6/62/L.19), by which the Assembly would commend to Governments the 19 articles, as well as principles, on the subject. The articles and the text of the principles were completed by the International Law Commission in 2001 and 2006, respectively. The texts of the articles are annexed to the draft resolution. Governments would be invited to submit comments on the articles' future form, taking into account the Commission's recommendations for the elaboration of a convention on the basis of the draft articles, as well as on any practice in relation to the application of the articles and principles.
A resolution (document A/C.6/62/L.11) in the Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization (document A/62/453) was approved without a vote on 19 November. It would have the Assembly reiterate its call for voluntary contributions to the trust funds for updating the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council and eliminating the backlog in the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs, respectively, and for sponsoring associate experts to assist in the updates. The Assembly would decide that the Special Committee would hold its 2008 session from 27 February to 5 March, and, on 7 March, would continue consideration of, among other issues, all proposals on the maintenance of international peace and security. It would also consider, on a priority basis, the implementation of relevant United Nations Charter provisions on assistance to third States affected by the Organization's sanctions.
The report on the Rule of law at the national and international levels (document A/62/454) contains one draft resolution of the same title (document A/C.1/62/L.60), which was approved without a vote on 19 November. That would have the Assembly reiterate its request to the Secretary-General to prepare an inventory of the current activities of the various organs, bodies, offices, departments, funds and programmes within the United Nations system devoted to the promotion of the rule of law. The Assembly would express support for the Rule of Law Coordination and Resource Group, supported by the Rule of Law Unit in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, under the leadership of the Deputy Secretary-General, and would request the Secretary-General to provide details on staffing and other requirements for the Unit, without delay, to the General Assembly.
A report on Measures to eliminate international terrorism (document A/62/455) contains one resolution, again approved without a vote on 19 November (document A/C.6/62/L.14). By the terms of this text, the Assembly would strongly condemn all acts of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, and would call upon all Member States and appropriate international organizations to implement the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, without delay. It would reiterate its call to all States to adopt further measures, in accordance with the Charter and the relevant provisions of international law, to prevent terrorism and to strengthen international cooperation in combating it.
A report on the Revitalization of the General Assembly's work (document A/62/456) contains one decision, approved without a vote by the Committee on 19 November (document A/C.6/62/L.21). By it terms, the Assembly would decide to adopt the Committee's provisional agenda for the sixty-third session of the Assembly.
A report on Programme planning (document A/62/457) states that the Committee considered the item consigned to it by the General Committee on 19 November and decided no action was required.
A decision in a report on the Administration of justice at the United Nations (document A/62/458) was also approved on 19 November (document A/C.6/62/L.22). By it terms, the Secretary-General sets out the essential elements of the legal framework for the new justice system at the United Nations, expected to be implemented no later than January 2009. The elements include the nomination and selection of judges; draft elements of the Tribunal's statutes; and proposed details for disciplinary procedures, management evaluation and staff legal assistance under the new system.
The Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country (document A/62/459) contains one resolution adopted without a vote on 12 November (document A/C.6/62/L.15). According to this text, the Assembly would endorse the Host Country Committee's recommendations as well as conclusions, and would affirm the importance of the Committee being in a position to fulfil its mandate and meet on short notice to deal with urgent and important matters vis-à-vis relations between the United Nations and the host country.
Finally, the Assembly had before it six reports containing one resolution each, by which the Assembly would request observer status in its work for a number of organizations.
The resolution (document A/C.6/62/L.2/Rev.1) in a report on the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa (document A/62/460) was approved without a vote by the Committee on 23 October.
The resolution (document A/C.6/62/L.5) in the report on the Italian-Latin American Institute (document A/62/461) was also approved on 23 October without a vote, as was the resolution (document A/C.6/62/L.3 and Corr.1) in a report on the Energy Charter Conference (document A/62/462), and another text (document A/C.6/62/L.4) on the Eurasian Development Bank (document A/62/463).
Resolutions in reports were approved without a vote on 12 November for the Conference on Interaction and Confidence–Building Measures in Asia (documents A/62/522 and A/C.6/62/L.8) and the Cooperation Council for Arab States in the Gulf (document A/62/523 and A/C.6/62/L.7).
Action on the Drafts of the Sixth Committee (Legal)
ADAM MULAWARMAN TUGIO ( Indonesia), Committee Rapporteur, introduced the reports of the Sixth Committee in sequence.
The Assembly first took up the Committee's report on Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts (document A/62/446), containing one resolution. The draft (document A/C.6/62/L.20) was adopted without a vote.
Next the Assembly took up the report on the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law (document A/62/447), which also contained one resolution. The text (document A/C.6/62/L.12) was adopted without a vote.
Next, a report was taken up on Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission (document A/62/448). The single resolution it contained (document A/C.6/62/L.10) was adopted without a vote.
The Committee's report on the Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) (document A/62/449) was then taken up, containing two resolutions (documents A/C.6/62/L.16 and L.17).
"L.16" on the Commission's work at its fortieth session was adopted without a vote. "L.17" on the Fiftieth anniversary of the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, done at New York on 10 June 1958 was also adopted without a vote.
The Committee's report on the International Law Commission's report on the work of its fifty-ninth session (document A/62/450) was taken up, and the single resolution (document A/C.6/62/L.18) on the report was adopted without a vote.
The Assembly then took up the report on Diplomatic protection (document A/62/451). The single text (document A/C.6/62/L.13) in the report was adopted without a vote.
Next to be taken up was the report on Consideration of prevention of transboundary harm from hazardous activities and allocation of loss in the case of such harm (document A/62/452). The single resolution (document A/C.6/62/L.19) on the matter was adopted without a vote.
A report on the Special Committee on the Charter and on strengthening the Organization (document A/62/453) was taken up. The single draft (document A/C.6/62/L.11) in the report was adopted without a vote.
The report on the Rule of law at the national and international levels (document A/62/454) was taken up, and the single resolution (document A/C.1/62/L.60) in it was adopted without a vote.
Continuing, the Assembly then took up the Legal Committee's report on Measures to eliminate international terrorism (document A/62/455). The single resolution (document A/C.6/62/L.14) contained in the report was adopted without a vote as orally amended by the representative of Canada on a procedural matter.
The report on Revitalization of the Assembly's work (document A/62/456) was taken up, and the single decision (document A/C.6/62/L.21) it contained was adopted without a vote.
The Assembly then took up the Committee's report on Programme planning (document A/62/457) and took note of it.
Next, the Assembly took up the report on Administration of justice at the United Nations (document A/62/458) and without a vote adopted the draft decision (document A/C.6/62/L.22) contained in it.
A report on the Committee on Relations with the Host Country (document A/62/459) was next taken up. The single resolution (document A/C.6/62/L.15) it contained was adopted without a vote.
Finally, six reports on requests for observer status in the Assembly were taken up and adopted without a vote. Those related to the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa (documents A/62/460 and A/C.6/62/L.2/Rev.1); the Italian-Latin American Institute (documents A/62/461 and A/C.6/62/L.5); the Energy Charter Conference (documents A/62/462 and A/C.6/62/L.3 and Corr.1); the Eurasian Development Bank (documents A/62/463 and A/C.6/62/L.4); the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (documents A/62/522 and A/C.6/62/L.8); and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (documents A/62/523 and A/C.6/62/L.7).
Plenary Items
The Assembly then took up several plenary-generated items, including action on a number of outstanding decisions and one plenary-generated text. It also filled vacancies on several of its subsidiary bodies, and took action on one part of a report of its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).
It deferred consideration of an agenda item on "implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations" to its sixty-third session and decided to include it on the provisional agenda of that session.
Next, the representative of Tajikistan, on behalf of the member States of the Eurasian Economic Community (EURASEC), introduced a draft resolution on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Eurasian Economic Community (document A/62/L.14), saying that the Community had held observer status with the Assembly for the past three years, and had worked closely with the United Nations on many issues at the core of the Organization's work, including trade and economic development, environmental protection, education, health care and disaster risk reduction.
He went to highlight other efforts EURASEC had taken to strengthen its interaction with the United Nations, including the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) last September. At the same time, it was becoming clear that it was necessary to further enhance practical cooperation with the Organization on a more systematic basis, especially vis-à-vis coordination of national activities in the socio-economic fields, such as timely achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development objectives. That was the purpose of the draft before the Assembly today, he said, hoping the text would be adopted by consensus.
Speaking before the vote, the representative of the Russian Federation supported statements by Tajikistan and the Eurasian Economic Community, saying that the outcome document from the 2005 World Summit had decided that the collective approach to consolidating peace and other issues required constant cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations. More than 50 per cent of trade carried out today was done through regional trade agreements.
Regional integration was indeed necessary, and its success had a direct impact on the economic prosperity of regions around the world, he went on to say. Among the most successful regional mechanisms was EURASEC. Since its establishment in October 2000, it had grown into a dynamic and effective union with an institutional basis, and had become integral to multilateral relations. The Community's founding treaty had asserted States' commitment to the Charter and international law. The Community was an important partner of the United Nations, he continued, adding that it had achieved observer status in the Assembly in 2003. At the same time, the existing level of interaction between the United Nations and Community did not match its potential. It was time to work on a more systematic basis and enhance the synergistic effects of achieving common objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals.
He said interest in addressing cooperation had been seen in the regular report of the Secretary-General, which would be submitted at the next Assembly session. The resolution introduced would be considered.
The representative of Belarus said there was no doubt that expanded cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations would enhance overall effectiveness in solving economic development problems. The Community was a union of nations involved in socio-economic cooperation, particularly in the areas of energy, finance, health, education and environmental protection. The resolution would provide an impetus for increasing direct contact between the Community and the United Nations, he continued, noting that opportunities for interaction involved the question of access to energy sources. Cooperation held promise for countries to access energy, and United Nations assistance was important in that regard. Also, the entry of EURASEC nations into the world economy, as well as the global trading system, was important, and cooperation with the United Nations would help the rapid inclusion of those States into the World Trade Organization.
T. A. MANSUROV, Secretary-General of EURASEC, thanked the Assembly for considering the draft and highlighted the areas in which the Community had been cooperating with the United Nations system. Among the most important areas of that cooperation had been the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action for landlocked developing countries. In that context, EURASEC had helped to carry out transport development programmes, as well as programmes for increasing the efficiency of Europe-Asia transit traffic. The Community was also emerging as an important institution for regional interaction, ensuring stability and expanding economic cooperation.
He said that EURASEC believed its priorities for the future required enhanced cooperation in areas such as sustainable socio-economic development, energy, water supplies, development of science and technology, transport infrastructure and transit potential, as well as labour markets and the private sector. The Community was ready to discuss those and other important issues with the relevant United Nations agencies and present its proposals, so that cooperation could be further enhanced. He was convinced that today's resolution would contribute to the intensification of joint efforts aimed at strengthening interaction in Eurasia; socio-economic development of EURASEC States; the prosperity of their populations; and, of course, achieving internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.
The Assembly then adopted the resolution without a vote.
Next, acting on the recommendations of the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chairman of the United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), the Assembly decided to appoint Mr. Enrique Roman-Morey ( Peru) as a member of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) for a five year period, beginning on 1 January 2008 and expiring on 31 December 2012.
The Assembly then took up the report of its Third Committee on the item "advancement of women" (document A/62/433 (Part I)).
Before action, Cuba's representative asked for an explanation as to why the item had been included on today's agenda, as she had understood that it would have been discussed on 18 December, when the plenary was set to take up all of the Third Committee's reports.
Assembly Vice President STUART BECK ( Palau) responded that the decision had been taken at the request of the Secretary of the Third Committee.
After deciding not to discuss the report, the Assembly adopted without a vote a draft decision (document A/C.3/62/L.18/Rev.1) contained therein on the Term of office of the members of the Consultative Committee on the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), by which it decided that the two new members of the Consultative Committee, who were to be designated by the President of the General Assembly Srgjan Kerim (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), "shall be granted a full term of three years, commencing on 1 January 2008 and ending on 31 December 2010, and that the remaining three members of the Consultative Committee would continue to serve their three-year terms through 31 December 2009."
The Assembly also decided to include in the agenda of its sixty-second session an item entitled "Appointment of the members of the Consultative Committee on the United Nations Development Fund for Women", and to consider it directly in plenary.
Finally, the Assembly filled the remaining vacant seat, from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, on the Committee on Conferences. The Assembly had taken note on 15 November of the President's appointment of Austria, China, Kenya, Tunisia, and the United States as Members of the Committee. He had informed the plenary at that time that consultations were required to fill the remaining seat. Today, Acting President Stuart Beck ( Palau) informed the body that the Assembly President had appointed Saint Kitts and Nevis as a member of the Committee, for a period of three years beginning on 1 January 2008.
[Later, the Secretariat informed the Plenary that the Assembly President had actually appointed Argentina to fill the vacant seat on the Committee on Conferences.]
* *** *
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