The Hay Festival has ended, but so much of this enormous festival went largely unreported. Here’s the final dispatch from George Binning:
Richard E Grant’s conversation with Peter Godwin about Mugabe’s regime and Godwin’s latest book, The Fear, gave us a nuanced insight into African politics that could not have been written by the
Western press.
Godwin, who fought against Mugabe in the civil war, started by describing the dichotomy of being a white African, especially when lecturing to audiences of predominantly black American students who had never been to Africa themselves, but still identified with the continent.
He argued that Mugabe had followed a consistently retributive agenda, hidden behind the fervour of national liberation and accusations of apartheid apologies. He also argued that Zimbabwe was in a state of “post-racial politics”, that the land grabs of recent years were aimed at persecuting the large population of unionised black farm workers and owners, who had refused to vote for him in the election. He mentioned that the white land owning population had accepted that land reform was long overdue, and had wanted a fair and orderly overhaul of the system.
Richard E Grant was born in Swaziland (“which people still have no idea of where it is!”), and had much to contribute to the conversation himself. They discussed the Chinese takeover of Africa, taking pains to point out that much of the investment was from private businessmen, not the Chinese government, and that it was not cause for alarm.
Then Godwin told a hilarious story of a friend who had bumped into Mugabe in front of the lipstick counter in a supermarket, during the UN Plenary Sessions, and had taken the opportunity to harangue the dictator, keeping a cautious 3 foot distance so as not to be clobbered by security.
During question time, a black Zimbabwean lady who had fled the country, stood up to call for racial unity against Mugabe, receiving a round of applause from the predominantly white audience.
I came away from Godwin’s talk with my understanding of British aid, the truth of power-sharing agreements, and the camaraderie of post-liberation governments in Africa utterly transformed. I am confident that the The Fear will make a very enlightening read.
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