P. 0. BOX 20128,

P. 0. BOX 20128, DAR ES SALW4X Tanganyika 15th November, 1962 Dear Sons and Daughters of , Time has now come that you should be told in the clearest of laniages the truth about Sir Edgar Whitehead. There are a few among you who may still think that Sir Edgar Whitehead is for the Black Man. I wish therefore -to explain the position clearly and honestly so that you may judge for yourselves as to what is right or wrong. 1. At the United Nations Sir Edgar Whitehead has stated that he looks forward to an African majority government in 15 years' time. He might as well have said he does not look forward to an African majority government. Why does he suggest 15 years? He wants you to accept that and wait patiently for the next 15 years. He wants you to do nothing now. He wants you to believe what he is saying so that you do nothing about your political independence now. He wants to kill the fire of freedom in you by making you wait for the next 15 years. But what will Sir Edgar do during the next 15 years ? Will he wait as you will ? No. He will work very hard. He will build his army, build his police force build his air force, build his police reserves, arm every able-bodied European so that in 15 years' time he will be too strong for you. He wants to use this period of 15 years to strengthen his position so that he can safely ignore the freedom demands of the 4,000,000 Africans in Southern . 2. At a recent U.P.P. Congress held in , Sir Edgar frankly said he was only interested in enfranchising "certain educated and civilised groups inadvertently omitted at present". He is not interested in giving the majority of the Africans the vote as has happened in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanganyika and elsewhere. He wants to preserve for the white man. 3. Sir Edgar has been responsible for most of the violence in the country by deliberately going against the majority wishes of the people. He has created extremely frustrating conditions in the country. He promotes violence, and claims to suppress it, and thus makes himself look like a man who is really interested in the peace of everybody in the country. Sir Edgar has sent the police to set dogs on peaceful demonstrators, hurl teargas on peaceful strikers, break up political meetings, make unwarrntable arrests, detain people without trial and raid peoplets houses time and again. He does this to promote violence in order to claim to suppress it, and hence appear in the eyes of the white settlers as their real saviour, when, in fact, he is writing off their future in Southern Rhodesia, and causing the economy of the country to grind to a halt. 4. Sir Edgar is a European leader. He looks after the interests of the whites only. Those Africans who think Sir Edgar Whitehead cares for their interest migIA as well think that a leopard cares for the interests of a goat. Sir Edgar was chosen by whites, and he is therefore responsible only to whites. Make no mistake about this. In 1959, the whites asked him to ban the A.N.C.' and he did it. In 1961, they asked him to ban the N.D.P. and he did it. In 1962, they asked him to

- 2 - ban ZAPU and he did it. Why? Because the whites elected him, and because he is responsible to them. Sir Edgar has never tried to remove the political grievance of the franchise which worries the Africans so much. Europeans do not want the majority of the Africans to have the vote, and therefore their leader acts accordingly. Sir Edgar is a European leader, not an African leader. By banning the African-led parties Sir Edgar wants the 4,000,000 Africans to remain without an African leader of real stature. He wants to impose himself as their leader, but of course Sir Edgar cannot be an African leader. He can only be an African driver which he now is. He uses his army, police, air force, and legislation, not to lead them, but to drive them where he wants them to go. If I were a cartoonist, I would draw Sir Edgar with a long whip driving millions of African people away from the House of Franchise, and for my caption I would have "tYou are too many to vote". And this is the greatest fear of Sir Edgar. If there were only 20,000 Africans in Southern Rhodesia all Africans would be given the vote. 5. Sir Edgar claims that he has the confidence of the majority of the African people, and yet he fears to give the vote to this majority which has confidence in him! The truth is that he knows that he doesntt enjoy the confidence of the majority of the African people. Heknows that if he gave them the vote, they would not vote for him. The African people want an African leader, not a European leader. The British want a British leader and not an African leader. The French want a French leader and not an African leader. The Russians want a Russian leader not an African leader. The Americans want an American leader not an African leader. This is plain common sense anywhere in the world, and Sir Edgar should know better. African people would be utterly unnatural to rally behind a European leader for whom they are not even allowed to vote. 6. Sir Edgar claims to be very popular with the African people. He even claims to be called "Tandabantu" - lover of black people. But why does "Tandabantu" need such " an enormous police force equipped with helicopters, spotter planes, armoured cars, and riot squads, a reservist system capable of putting virtually all able-bodied male Europeans into uniform at a few hours' notice, and a large Federal Army in the background to put down a few malevolent agitators?" The truth is that Sir Edgar knows deep down in his heart that he is most unpopular with the African people and hence the need for this semi-military arrangement. The very fact that after the banning of each African-led party a new and more powerful African political movement has arisen from the ashes of the old one shows that Sir Edgar is most unpopular with the African people. Sir Edgar is a minority leader, and as such he is naturally unpopular with the majority of the people of the country. No sane African can entrust his future to a white minority leader. 7. Sir Edgar Whitehead is a political coward of the worst order. He promised the country that he was going to get at least 50,000 Africans to register as voters, but he only got 10,000. He was frustrated. So he called in the police to cause trouble among his African political opponents. Then he got ZAPU banned. He got Mr. Nkomo in restriction. He got moro than 300 ZAPU leaders also in restriction. He got more than 2,000 ZAPU men arrested. Having thus chained them politically, and before the restriction period of Nkomo and his lieutenants ends he calls for elections on 14th December. A coward of cowards! A fake political leader afraid of true leaders!

- 3 - 8. Sir Edgar has constantly maintained that he is waging a war against "enemies of law and order", and therefore he needs the support of every "law-abiding African". The so-called "enemies of law and order" are the African nationalists who demand here and now full independence in the land of their birth. The real "enemies of law and order" are those who deny the majority of the people of Southern Rhodesia the right to vote. The European minority, led by Sir Edgar, is the real "enemies of law and order" since they do not want the vote to be extended to the 4,000,000 Africans in Southern Rhodesia. They want it to remain the monopoly of only 250,000 whites. In this way they are prqpared to go to any length to oppress the African majority in order that the white minority rules Southern Rhodesia indefinitely. They are the oppressors. The Africans are the oppressed. A minority which oppresses the majority is indeed the real "enemies of law and order". Sir Edgar is indeed the arch enemy of law and order since he disregards completely the wishes of the majority. Since he became Premier of Southern Rhodesia the country has moved from one political crisis to another because he has made laws that are subversive of, and immical to, law and order. 9. I appeal to you, sons and daughters of Zimbabwe, to think seriously about what I have said in this letter. Do not be deceived by love of money, or cheap politics, and sell your country by participating in the next elections. Sir Edgar is really not for you. The British Government has privately told him to change the franchise but he has refused. The United Nations which comprises 110 nations has told him to suspend the new constitutin, but he 4as refused to listen. How then can you listen to a man who won't listen to the advice of Britain, and to the international advice of the United Nations ? Sir Edgar is only interested in the white-people of Southern Rhodesia, not in the African people. Have nothing to do with the next elections. You will be committing suicide if you votd-. We demand majority elections, and not minority elections. The country is ours by birth, not by inigration or naturalisation. We shall not help immigrants to establish their racialistic rule over us. We want majority rule based on free elections by most of the adults of our country. Yours in the struggle, NDABANTNGI SITHOLE

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