Robert Mugabe

===Race relations===
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten. If ever we look to the past, let us do so for the lesson the past has taught us, namely that [[oppression]] and racism are inequalities that must never find scope in our political and social system. It could never be a correct justification that just because the whites oppressed us yesterday when they had power, the blacks must oppress them today because they have power. An evil remains an evil whether practised by white against black or black against white.|salign=right |source=— Mugabe's speech after his 1980 victory{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=15}} }}

Mugabe initially emphasised racial reconciliation and he was keen to build a good relationship with white Zimbabweans.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=14|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=41}} He hoped to avoid a white [[Emigration|exodus]] and tried to allay fears that he would nationalise white-owned property.{{sfn|Tendi|2011|pp=313–314}} He appointed two white ministers—[[David Smith (Rhodesian politician)|David Smith]] and [[Denis Norman]]—to his government,{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1pp=14–15|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2pp=42, 44|3a1=Holland|3y=2008|3p=107|4a1=Norman|4y=2008|4p=74}} met with white leaders in agriculture, industry, mining, and commerce,{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=15|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=45}} and impressed senior figures in the outgoing administration like Smith and [[Ken Flower]] with his apparent sincerity.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1pp=13, 15|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=42}} With the end of the war, petrol rationing, and economic sanctions, life for white Zimbabweans improved during the early years of Mugabe's rule.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=45}} In the economic boom that followed, the white minority—which controlled considerable property and dominated commerce, industry, and banking—were the country's main beneficiaries.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=46}}

Nevertheless, many white Zimbabweans complained that they were the victims of [[racial discrimination]].{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=50}} Many whites remained uneasy about living under the government of a black Marxist and they also feared that their children would be unable to secure jobs.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=46}} There was a growing exodus to South Africa, and in 1980, 17,000 whites—approximately a tenth of the white Zimbabwean population—emigrated.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=46|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=75}} Mugabe's government had pledged support for the [[African National Congress]] and other [[Internal resistance to apartheid|anti-apartheid]] forces within South Africa but did not allow them to use Zimbabwe as a base for their military operations.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=47}} To protest apartheid and white minority rule in South Africa, Mugabe's government banned Zimbabwe from engaging South Africa in any sporting competitions.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=47}} In turn, South Africa tried to destabilise Zimbabwe by blocking trade routes into the country and supporting anti-Mugabe militants among the country's white minority.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=51|2a1=Holland|2y=2008|2pp=36–37|3a1=Norman|3y=2008|2p=76}}

[[File:Persconferentie Robert Magabe , president Zimbabwe, op Schiphol na driedaags bez, Bestanddeelnr 932-1957.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Mugabe in the Netherlands, 1982]]
In December 1981, a bomb struck ZANU–PF headquarters, killing seven and injuring 124.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=52|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=77}} Mugabe blamed South African-backed white militants.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=52}} He criticised "reactionary and counter-revolutionary elements" in the white community, stating that despite the fact that they had faced no punishment for their past actions, they rejected racial reconciliation and "are acting in collusion with South Africa to harm our racial relations, to destroy our unity, to sabotage our economy, and to overthrow the popularly elected government I lead".{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=52}} Increasingly he criticised not only the militants but the entire white community for holding a monopoly on "Zimbabwe's economic power".{{sfn|Meredith|2002|pp=52–53}} This was a view echoed by many government ministers and the government-controlled media.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=50}} One of these ministers, Tekere, was involved in an incident in which he and seven armed men stormed a white-owned farmhouse, killing an elderly farmer; they alleged that in doing so they were foiling a coup attempt. Tekere was acquitted of murder; however, Mugabe dropped him from his cabinet.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=49}}

Racial mistrust and suspicion continued to grow.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=53}} In December 1981, the elderly white MP [[Wally Stuttaford]] was accused of being a South African agent, arrested, and tortured, generating anger among whites.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=53|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=77}} In July 1982, South African-backed white militants destroyed 13 aircraft at [[Gweru-Thornhill Air Base|Thornhill]]. A number of white military officers were accused of complicity, arrested, and tortured. They were put on trial but cleared by judges, after which they were immediately re-arrested.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=54|2a1=Holland|2y=2008|2p=37|3a1=Norman|3y=2008|3p=78}} Their case generated an international outcry, which Mugabe criticised, stating that the case only gained such attention because the accused were white.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=54|2a1=Holland|2y=2008|2p=37}} His defence of torture and contempt for legal procedures damaged his international standing.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=55|2a1=Holland|2y=2008|2p=38}} White flight continued to grow, and within three years of Mugabe's premiership half of all white Zimbabweans had emigrated.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=55}} In the 1985 election, Smith's [[Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe]] won 15 of the 20 seats allocated for white Zimbabweans.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=56}} Mugabe was outraged by this result,{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=56|2a1=Holland|2y=2008|2p=115}} lambasting white Zimbabweans for not repenting "in any way" by continuing to support Smith and other white politicians who had committed "horrors against the people of Zimbabwe".{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=56}}