Rhodesia: a Comment on John Holland's Commentary

John Hollandts piece on Rhodesia in The Week conres up a picture of hin standing on a traffic island somewhere in central Africa directing southwards the traffic in military armaments, preferably lahelled made in Russia or China, to the mass of expectant workers and peasants of southern Africa who will know that means the Revolution has begun. At the same time fron this commanding position he lashes out at random at the United Nations, Nyere; Kaunda, economic sanctions, Portuguese Africa, Rhodesia, Wilson, etce, etcs, and calls for industrial action in this country against Wilson!s Rhodesian policy. This is the sort of muddled-headed clap-trap which continually dares the left in this country. Hasn't Holland noticed the effective use made of the U.N. by the African states, as the only world platform they have, to demonstrate their oppositfon to Wilsonts Rhodesian tactics? Shouldn't we on the left help them by commenting on this, supporting their stand, and by boostine the principles of the U.N, Charter? Then we can castigate those who flout ite Do we really see the struggles in southern Africa simply in terms of winning the right to vote? Surely a constructive alternative policy for socialists in this country would begin by collecting evidence of the "nntional resistance movements of the whole of Southern and Central Africa", discovering their grass roots and aspirations; then we should seek ways to strengthen them with theoretical as well as physicel support to mobilise these movements. This can only be done by helping them to obtain information and advice on how to organise and control a vast national movement which has precise aims in view. They want much more help from us and other socialists with eress roots organisation work for political and industrial action, trade union structure, co-operative production, right through to full government planning with workers! control, At the same time, socialists in this country should be putting much more pressure on Wilson to release the national leaders in Rhodesia, and not ° just bemoaning negstively Wilson's sanctions tactics, Then we can begin to aid these leaders to weld their movements into a genuine national socialist group which understands its power, its strategy and its aims, and so overthrow the racist minority eovernments in order to put into their place a socialist alternative. The physical overthrowing process may require military help from outside in the end, but Russian or Chinese armaments alone can never produce 2 genuine nationnl socialist movament in any African nation. ’ 19/12/65