Basic HTML Version
September 1971
EXCLUSIVE JNTERVIEW
With
IAN SMITH
Prime Minister ofRhodesia
(Contin11ed from page 8)
Western powers. We've fought with
them in the two last world wars. We
were one of the first to rush in when
war was declared
to
offer our services.
We now find that apart from being
attacked by our enemies in this world,
and those are the Communists, we are
being attacked to an even greater extent
by our friends in the world as a result
of sanctions. So, it's difficult for Rho–
desians to understand why this should
take place.
Q .
In your view do you feel the
administrations of both of these coun–
tdes - Britain and the United States
- were somewhat stampeded by world
public opinion or by the United Na–
tions' overwhelming African Bloc?
A.
1 think to a certain extent this was
the position. 1 think as far as America
was concerned they adopted the attitude
that this was a British problem and they
therefore should go along with the
British decision. But there's no doubt
they were stampeded; 1 can tell you,
l've seen this in public before. l 'm not
revealing any intimate secrets when I
say that in one of the discussions that 1
had with Harold Wilson when he was
Prime Minister, he said to me: "It would
be easy for you and me
to
solve this
problem if we were the only two con–
cerned." He said, "That isn't the prob–
lem. The problem is for you
to
give me
a solution which 1 can sell to the Afro–
Asían Bloc." Now those were Harold
Wilson's words.
Well,
unde~
those circumstances it
was impossible. I had to tell him that
we weren't interested in the Afro-Asían
Bloc; we were interested in a solution
which would best suit Rhodesia, our
country.
Q.
Mr. Smith, since the sanctions
has tourism dropped off markedly in
Rhodesia?
The
PLAIN TRUTH
A.
No. l'm very happy to say that over
the last few years there has been a tre–
mendous change as far as tourism is
concerned. For the first few years of
our independence few people carne here.
1 believe they were frightened away.
They were given false information. We
have many examples of this, but most
of them have seen through this bogey
man now, and tourists are coming to
this country in greater numbers than they
have ever come in our history - in fact
1 think we have broken all records.
If
my memory serves me right I was given
sorne facts a few months ago which indi–
cated that every night on an average over
ten thousand tourists sleep in Rhodesia,
and of those ten thousand at least two
hundred come from the United States of
America, so things are definitely looking
up in the tourist world.
Q .
Then Americans are wekome to
come here
to
see condi tions for them–
selves?
A.
We love everyone. Americans or
anyone else, 1 assure you, can come and
see Rhodesia for themselves. We've.
nothing
to
hide. In fact our case goes by
default. The only thing we ask is that
people should tell the truth about Rho–
desia, aod then we're quite happy.
Q,
What about American newsmen,
representatives of the Press, say major
magazines such as
Time, Newsweek,
Life,
Look,
or CBS or sorne of the
other television networks? Are they
given free access to Rhodesia?
A.
As far as l'm aware these people
are welcomed.
Q.
And are American tourists, re–
gardless asto color or religion, equally
welcome?
A.
Certainly. 1 have met American
tourists here both black and white.
Q.
Is
there a difficulty for an Ameri–
can black traveling in Rhodesia so
far as restaurants and accommoda–
tions are concerned?
A.
No, not that l'm aware of.
Q.
Now, in South Africa this situa–
tion is somewhat different than in
Rhodesia. The apartheid policy fos–
tering, 1 speak for the moment as a
layman and a tourist, distinct segre-
45
gation in restaurants and hotels as
well. Many people have said that
your Government is drifting toward
apartheid
in
this country - do you
feel that is t rue ?
A . l t is a fact, as you have mentioned,
that our policies are not the same. Many
people do associate us with South Africa,
but this should not be. I'm not being
critica! of the one or the other. It just
so
happens that we have different policies.
1 don't want to get involved in discuss–
ing the pros and cons. We' re experi·
menting with a very diffi.cult problem in
this part of the world. But in our coun–
try, for example in our Parliament, we
have one Parliament for the whole of
Rhodesia, and there are both blacks and
whites in that Parliament. They have a
white Parliament
in
South Africa and in
the Bantustans they are developmg black
Parliaments. That is the basic difference
between our two policies. Ours is one
country and South Africa is really
divided into different countries now.
Q.
Sorne time ago Sir Roy Welensky,
who was a former Prime Minister
during the Federation days of Rho–
desia, made the statement and I
quote, concerning the new Constitu–
tion, "lt's a very sad day. We never
closed the door to Afrkan develop–
ment, but this new Constitution must
lead to confrontation." What is your
response to that charge?
A.
Well, of course, Roy Welensky is
a party politician and he is in opposition
to my party. In fact, he even stood
against us in one election, so this is party
politics, and we will just have to agree
to diifer on this. I would say that the
facts in Rhodesia today would counteract
the point he has made. 1 reiterate, and
statistics prove, that Rhodesia is quietet
and more peaceful today than it has ever
been in its history. It's diffi.cult to argue
against facts like that.
Q,
Wbat about your northern neigb–
bor Zambia, formerly a part of the
old Federation? There were many
whites there - farmers, ranchers, even
businessmen and so on. Have sorne of
them left the country or do many still
live there?
A.
Many have left. There are still
sorne whites tbere certainly, but even