This was emailed to me a few days ago:

“Many news articles on the late Ian Smith contain inaccuracies that need to be corrected. It is neither fair nor honest that some portray him as a white supremist. His policy was “Responsible Government” with a “qualified franchise.” The vote in Rhodesia was not limited to whites, but was a qualified franchise, which required either educational qualification or property ownership.

The fact that the Soviet-backed ZAPU and Red Chinese-backed ZANU terrorist groups murdered black candidates, officials and voters to intimidate the black citizens to withdraw from the electoral process, resulted in an increasingly white government.

However, that was not the policy of Ian Smith who was seeking to move the country to a position where 50 percent of the parliament was black.

As someone who knew Ian Smith well and met him regularly over the past 20 years, I have been surprised to see him described as “embittered and disillusioned”. He was most certainly not!

He had a very positive attitude, stayed in Zimbabwe through the horrific farm invasions and lawless upheavals caused by Mugabe’s dictatorship, and continually worked for the good of the country.

He regularly spoke with great hope and vision for the future.

Whether one agreed with his policies or not, one could only admire his courage, tenacity and integrity.

Also, it should be noted that no one starved in Rhodesia. Even in war time, life under him never degenerated to anything close to what there is now.

Smith was immensely popular with many black Rhodesians as well.

Many black Zimbabweans went to him for advice on how to free the country from Mugabe’s dictatorship.”

Take care.

‘debvhu