A portrait of an economy under sanctions 1965-1975 (1976)
By John Handford
Mercury Press, Rhodesia

THERE are a lot of half truths and outright dishonesty when people compare Rhodesia and Zimbabwe.
Rhodesians inflate their capabilities with godlike imagery while some latter-worn out black politicians declare ‘Life was so much better under Rhodesia’ to seek some sort of political relevance.
A blinkered Western-inclined document the Econometer has released a six-page leaflet which spells doom for 2015 claiming the public believes that Zimbabwe’s only hope lies in the Bretton Woods institutions.
These half-baked projections and statistics attempt to give validity to white sentiment that black people are not naturally equipped to govern.
Which is the basis of Rhodesian economist John Handford’s defence of Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in his 1976 publication, A Portrait of An Economy Under Sanctions.
“If the governments of black Africa had their way, Rhodesia would exchange white rule and prosperity for dictatorship and the squalor and misery of much of the rest of Africa,” writes Handford.
The book, which was written as a toast to the Rhodesian, is about how the white population survived the sanctions by the United Nations (UN) post the 1965 declaration.
It was, “the will to govern, the ability to adapt, the aptitude for innovation, the reasonableness which underlies self discipline –in short the determination not be beaten,” gloats Handford.
Of course he does not add the cheap labour to this equation that saw a boom in Rhodesia despite the sanctions.
Other countries carried on to trade with Rhodesia despite the UN resolution.
The countries more sympathetic to Rhodesia politically, South Africa and Portugal (Mozambique), did not apply sanctions, shared common frontiers and had the ports that were used by the Rhodesian government.
It must also be remembered that during the time of the sanctions by the West on Rhodesia America continued to import particularly chrome and other minerals necessary for their industrialisation.
Again the sanctions had very little impact as the Rhodesian population in 1965 was 4,4 million with 4,2 million Africans and 210 000 Europeans.
“The standard of living of white Rhodesians was so high that a good deal of financial fat was available once the closed economy was instituted,” writes Handford.
It must be noted that outside of labour, there was no provision for black improvement in the economy of Rhodesia.
Blacks even in the public service were used as subordinate staff for a pittance.
The ordinary black citizen had only Christmas to enjoy the basics like bread and rice that were enjoyed by whites on a daily basis.
Again even though there were sanctions on commodities like fuel, the few cars in Rhodesia were only meant to cater for the whites, while the ‘happy cycling’ Africans were seen on bicycles.
It is a fact that cannot be disputed that the Rhodesian economy was tailor-made for the 200 000 white population with the sprinkle of Asians and coloureds.
Morgan Tsvangirai unashamedly backed by Simba Makoni pretends that they are bringing relevance to the political landscape that they and a majority of Africa indulged under Rhodesia.
Surprisingly Handford admits, “there was significant African unemployment, but it was due to sanctions and anyway even without sanctions, with maximum possible investment, no economy could grow at a rate sufficient to cope with population explosion.”
Fast forward to Zimbabwe, in 1980 with a 7,2 million population which was growing fast as education, health and opportunities were made available to the black population, there was an influx into the towns and the economy that once catered for just over 300 000 whites and suddenly had to take care of millions.
When Zimbabwe was handed over the economy, many like to point out that the dollar had the equivalent value of the British pound.
Many, however, do not realise that the country was also under debt.
Handford writes “Rhodesia was able to save large sums of foreign currency by defaulting on payments in London on loans incurred pre-UDI.”
This means that Zimbabwe in its infancy already had a 700 million dollar debt incurred by the Rhodesian regime.
The debt as pointed out by Handford had been taken from international banks mostly by farmers to develop their farms and improve production.
Yet the same institutions now refuse to loan black farmers because they were ‘not on what was rightfully theirs’.
While many countries continued to support the Rhodesian regime while publicly declaring their displeasure, Zimbabwe found herself totally isolated right after the highly successful Land Reform Programme with a doubled population unlike that of Rhodesia.
The US government has maintained that its Office of Foreign Assets Control law that stipulates the confiscation of money belonging to entities covered by sanctions under the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, shall continue to be applied.
In September 2013, the European Union (EU) lifted sanctions on the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe to allow free trade of Marange diamonds.
“We will not impose our powers or position on the EU, but if companies attempt to do business (on Zimbabwe’s diamonds) through the US financial system, US laws shall apply,” US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Bruce Wharton said.
Social media is awash with images of a pristine Rhodesia with jacaranda flowers lining the streets and an orderly market square.
Many are quick to condemn the government as a failure to bring order to the urban areas and yet condemn the Operation Murambatsvina exercise.
“Look at Rhodesia, life was better,” the ignorant youth are quick to post on social networks.
To this Handford writes; “If African wages were raised much faster, exports would collapse and the economy would be ruined: that if you do not control the influx into the cities, then appalling shanty towns would spring up.”
While the Rhodesians stood united against foreign intrusion which “by 1970 most of the steam had obviously gone out of sanctions” a decade and a half years after the Land Reform Programme, Zimbabwe continues to be marooned.
If we stand as a unit, we shall fight off sanctions albeit at a slow pace.