It's true that Robert Mugabe is/was a communist. He had to have some sort of communist affiliation to establish his credentials as a revolutionary against the former Rhodesian regime. Nelson Mandela paid lip service to Marxist ideology early in his career with the ANC. However unlike Mugabe, Mandela had sense enough to jettison most of the Marxist nonsense as he became a responsible politician. Mugabe might still believe in Marxist-Leninism but it hardly matters. Mugabe is now just an ordinary tin pot tyrant and coincidentally a racist ruling an African kleptocracy. Stealing from an enemy/antagonist tribe to reward one's own tribe or political base is standard operating procedure in sub-Sahara Africa. This phenomena is one of the many reasons why Africa is an intractable mess. People like to worry about what a mess the MIddle East is. However compared to Africa, the Middle East is a place of tranquil calm and civil behavior. Fortunately for the developed world, sub-Sahara Africa has almost no strategic importance with the exception of South Africa. South Africa is by far the most important country in sub-Sahara Africa. However it appears that even South Africa is turning its back on the rest of Africa and trying to align itself more closely with Europe and Asia.

Gary