During the struggle for independence, Rhodesian forces had on several times attempted to assassinate the Zanu PF leader, President Mugabe and Zapu leader, Joshua Nkomo. Below, a Rhodesian combat pilot, Petter-Bowyer, in his book, ‘Winds of Destruction’, gives an account of one suchnincident, when the Rhodesians’ plot to kill President Mugabe in Maputo in 1979 drew a blank despite some thorough groundwork.
“We knew the location of Robert Mugabe’s home on Avenida Dona Maria Segunda in the once-plush suburb of Maputo and a CIO undercover agent had been watching this house for some time, studying Mugabe’s movements and habits. Unlike Nkomo, Mugabe routines were easy to monitor and were highly predictable. So a small SAS team was assigned to take on the task of assassinating the ZANU President.
Opting for a sea approach to a beach that had been well known to holiday makers during the Portugese times, the SAS used inflatable rubber dinghies, powered by silent motors to avoid having to move around populated areas. Twice the team arrived at Mugabe’s house around midnight but on both occasions it was vacant, despite the fact that the agent had watched Mugabe arrive home a few hours earlier. This made it blatantly clear that someone ‘in the know’ in Salisbury had tipped off Robert Mugabe in time for him to get away to safety.
Both times the disappointed SAS team left the house untouched and returned silently to their hidden dinghies. The next day ZANLA and FRELIMO security personnel were observed to check out the rooms and garden before Mugabe himself returned home.
Though substantially annoyed by this, the SAS and COMPOS staff could not help being impressed by the fact that, unlike Nkomo, Mugabe had taken the trouble to get his entire household and security personnel to safety. We were also impressed by the fact that FLELIMO had not been called to ambush the house, obviously to safeguard their mole in Salisbury.
Having established modus operandi, thought was given to paying a third visit; this time to plant high explosives in the roof of Mugabe’s house that apparently had not previously been checked by security guards. The existence of these explosives would be withheld from CIO until the agent advised that Mugabe had re-entered his home when they would be activated by a highflying Canberra. This might have worked, had other priorities not overtaken SAS.”
