[President Mbeki mentioned something in a speech recently, which comes back to the very early days of AfricanCrisis, even before I had written my book: ‘Government by Deception’.

This evening (Sunday), I really expected TvNews to be really boring, when I was stunned when President Mbeki quoted from an article an old friend of mine in America had written some years back about Recolonising Africa.

In fact, let me tell you the whole interesting story behind that article which Mbeki was quoting.

But firstly, they had film footage of Mbeki on Tv talking about wrong perceptions historically, about Africa. Then he said lamented the fact that as recently as 2001 a writer, ‘Gordon Frisch’ had written this… What Mbeki then quoted was directly from Gordon’s article. In this article, Gordon had written that maybe, Mercenaries should be used to kick some semblance of order back into Africa, and that once this had been done, the United Nations could take over, and finally, the blacks in Africa could call on the old colonial powers to do some recolonising. That, very roughly was what the article said.

Mbeki pooh poohed the idea, and they even had the former speaker in parliament really having a go at that idea. They were very irate that ‘European history’ had completely misrepresented what had gone on in Africa, and that Europe had been built ‘using slave labour from Africa’. And so on… I’m not going to bore you with all the things they said from their twisted perception of the history of Africa!

But I had a really good giggle about that article.

Now here in S.Africa the Govt takes the issue of Mercenaries very seriously and there are very tough laws, which will be toughened even more to chuck people, especially whites, in jail if they engage in ANY kind of military ventures in Africa! (I’m sure you remember those supposed mercenaries who were stuck in Zimbabwe for a year).

Anyway, let me tell you about this whole Recolonisation business, and about Gordon Frisch. Jeff Rense was involved in this because Jeff dared to publish this article on his site. I know the article was not widely distributed at the time. The article spread from Jeff’s site.

I can’t find a copy of the original article. I’m not sure if Jeff Rense has it, but it was titled ‘Recolonise Africa’.

This happened within the the first month of African Crisis’s ‘birth’.

So who is Gordon Frisch? Well, he was (and probably still is) the Research Editor for the International Harry Schultz Letter, which is based in Switzerland. Who is Harry Schultz? Harry used to be regularly in the Guiness Book of Records as the World’s highest paid investment consultant. He has lived in more than 22 countries around the world, including S.Africa at one time. He did this so that he could get an understanding of these countries, and his internationally renowned newsletter reflects these experiences.

Harry Schultz is something of a Gold bug, and thus Gordon, his research editor is actually a geologist who has travelled and studied much of Africa. Gordon knows what real mineral wealth does and does not exist in much of Africa.

I was introduced to Gordon by Harry Schultz himself because I used to subscribe to Harry’s newsletter, and I corresponded with him a few times.

Gordon and I used to correspond a lot, especially in the early days of my website.

In those days – we’re talking about 5-6 years ago, we were very irritated by what Robert Mugabe had begun doing in Zimbabwe. We also discussed the topic of Recolonising Africa a lot. I’m sure I wrote some thoughts about that too.

Gordon came up with this idea of using mercenaries to restore law and order in Africa and then to have black Africans invite former colonial powers back for a new type of ‘recolonisation’. I can’t remember all the exact details. I do remember Gordon telling me in an email that part of the inspiration for this idea came from something written by Frederick Forsythe. Gordon built on these ideas, and ended up with that article which Jeff Rense dared to post! And it caused a quite few raised eyebrows at the time! I know quite a few Americans were shocked by this when Jeff Rense posted it.

Back then, people believed in African fairtales much more easily than they do now. Robert Mugabe had only just begun seizing the farms, and many people outside Africa actually believed it really would help the blacks in Zimbabwe. Voices like mine, and others who questioned whether Mugabe’s actions had any benefits, were pretty much ignored and shouted down. Now, 5 years later, people can see that everything we said about Robert Mugabe is true and that none of his actions actually helped the black people of Zimbabwe in any way whatsoever. Since that time, 90% of the whites, and millions of blacks have left the country, thanks to Mugabe’s actions.

In his speech, President Mbeki merely referred to Gordon Frisch as ‘a writer’. But little does he know how well Gordon really knows Africa as he has travelled across it, and lived and worked in a number of African countries. If Mbeki thinks that Gordon is just some armchair theorist sitting in the USA, he couldn’t be more wrong!

So, as a result of President Mbeki’s speech, I searched my website to see if I could find any articles pertaining to Gordon’s original article. And I found this one, which was article number 156 (I now have over 7,000 articles on my site). This was a response by Gordon to both Jeff Rense and myself. The book Gordon was referring to me writing was Government by Deception.

I posted this on my site on: 9/3/2001 10:50:22 PM

A reader on Jeff Rense’s website, Alvin, accused the author of the RECOLONISE AFRICA article of racism. Alvin wrote:-

Jeff,
I must admit that this article has, initially and on the surface,
offended me; it smacks of some of the most racist bile I have seen
recently and part of me is surprised to see it on your website
(despite your disclaimer in the website’s intro pages).

Nevertheless; I am considering the spirit of where it seems to be
coming from as, if I am honest, I am forced to confront the fact that
I am NOT there and know far less about the land from where much of my
ancestry hails than most white people who DO live there (and many,
even abroad).

Still; as of late, your offerings on Africa and race strike me as
unbalanced: Where are the perspectives written by BLACK Africans? As a
descendant of a people (African and Aboriginal American) who have been
enslaved by Colonial rapacity (and a Black man who must STILL endure
institutionalized racial oppression from time to time in this country,
even now) you will understand my deep misgivings and ‘over
sensitivity’ regarding issues of race as presented almost exclusively
by people who are heir to the wealth, influence, and power shamefully
garnered by their ruling class ancestors at the expense of my own.

I will be deeply grateful if you find a way to include the
perspectives offered by Persons of Colour on the great issues of our
age more frequently.

You know I respect you.

Your Brother,
Alvin

Gordon Frisch, the original author replied to Alvin’s points as follows:-

Dear Jan,
Thanks for forwarding to me Alvin’s and your comments to Jeff Rense. I
would like to respond to Alvin to set the record straight. Alvin is not
the first person whose instant (completely mistaken) reaction to the
article was that it was racist. I assure you, and Alvin, and any others,
that nothing could be farther from the truth.

I have lived internationally for many years, on several continents,
including Africa. I met and developed many friendships in all those
places, including Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and many others from other
nationalities and ethnic origins. Many remain good friends to this day and
it has never occurred to me to differentiate between them on the basis of
race. They are all people, with individual personalities and cultures, who
receive or do not receive my respect on a case by case basis, depending on
the person, just as with Whites.

The article I wrote on Recolonizing Africa derived its inspiration
from several directions. Yes, I saw Frederick Forsythe’s article having a
similar theme, and I mostly agreed with it.

Also, a few years ago I spent a few hours (off the record) talking
with two Black Africans, who had quite lofty positions with the UN in
Geneva. They both had PhD’s, were highly educated, and they were greatly
concerned about the future of sub-Saharan Africa. One was from the Ivory
Coast, the other from Nigeria, and we had a totally frank talk about the
mess that is Black Africa.

Astoundingly, and with no prompting whatsoever from me, they said
sub-Saharan Africa’s only hope was a return of colonialism in some form.
We all agreed that apartheid-like attitudes should never play any part in
any recolonization. But there were many good aspects to the era of
colonialization in Africa, I saw it firsthand when I worked there. The
positive aspects should be welcomed and encouraged, the negative
discouraged and prohibited, simple as that.

Most of my views and inspiration for the article were derived from
personal experience. I lived in Africa for a number of years and worked
with Black, White and Arab Africans on a daily basis. My firsthand
observations led me to suggest recolonialization as a possible
constructive solution to sub-Saharan Africa’s problems. I was directly
involved in training Blacks in Africa and there is no question that most
are extremely eager and willing to learn and work. They just need the
opportunity and they are not receiving it under the utterly corrupt
leadership they must endure. Their own leaders are their downfall. This is
not racism, this is fact, it could matter less what color the leaders are.
There are similar faults in White-ruled countries too, it’s just that it’s
worst in Africa. The reasons are bound up in Marxism, corruption,
nepotism, etc, the many things we talk about on a daily basis.

There is much negativism in today’s world against multi-national
corporations, and some of the criticism is indeed well founded. But the
flip side is that multi-national corporations also probably offer the last
best hope many Third World countries have to conquer poverty, disease and
corruption. Multi-nationals bring money, expertise, opportunity, jobs and
build infrastructures. No alphabet agency in the world — IMF, World Bank,
UN — can offer a fraction as much.

I would encourage any Blacks to communicate with others through your
site. The only ‘apparent’ Blacks that I have ever seen doing so were
obviously so tainted with Marxist bias that they made a laughingstock of
themselves. A few ‘apparent’ Whites also had similar outlandish leftist
views and made outright fools of themselves, because the historical
failures of Marxism are indefensible. Nonetheless, let them try; throw all
the cards on the table, let’s see how they can manage to defend their
views. Simple truth is more powerful than all the lies in the world, if
exposed. That is what your site does, much to its credit. Of course, not
all who contribute things to your site have what might be considered
unprejudiced views, but let them speak, they will learn along with all of
us.

I might add that the greatest racism and prejudice I have ever seen
anywhere in the world is in Africa, by Blacks. There is a Black on Black
apartheid at work in Africa today that is infinitely more devastating than
anything Whites foisted on Blacks. As you rightly point out, at the peak
of apartheid in South Africa, Blacks from the rest of Africa were still
busting across the borders into White-ruled South Africa because that’s
where the greatest opportunity was. Today, Mugabe’s Zimbabwe is one of the
most racist and corrupt spots on Earth. And Blacks are suffering as much
or more under his brand of Marxist totalitarism than Whites.

Sometime in the next 2 months, I will see Dr. George Ayittey, a
renowned Ghanian professor at American University in Washington D.C. He
will speak to an international forum where I live and I was instrumental
in getting him here. We share many similar views on Africa, and I hope to
talk with him about the idea of some form of neo-colonialism as a solution to Africa’s problems. He has alluded to this before, but never addressed the issue head-on that I am aware of. I respect his views greatly and want to hear what he, one of the most respected Black African nationals, has to say on the issue.

Meanwhile, I probably understand as well as anyone Alvin’s knee-jerk
reaction to the very idea of ‘recolonization’ as abhorable. America has
its ghosts of slavery, which amount to much the same thing. And there are
still many bigots left in the USA and everywhere today who live in that
bygone era. If the world is ever to move on, it must come to grips with
issues of importance and bury the ghosts of racism. Regrettably, I see
racism surging in today’s world, not subsiding, and that saddens me.

But the idea of ‘recolonization’ in sub-Saharan Africa (perhaps it
should be termed something else more appropriate without negative
connotations) is meant to be a constructive solution, not a return to a
bygone era laden with many negative attributes.

I certainly left a part of my soul in Africa. It is a wonderful
continent with many wonderful people and I have mostly very fond memories
of it. Regrettably, it is deterioriating beyond anything imaginable and I
am immensely saddened to see it. I do what I can to help the situation,
through talks, articles, correspondence, etc. But until Africa gets its
politics sorted out, no amount of external help will accomplish anything
significant.

Jan, through your site and the book you are writing, hopefully a few
more people will begin to see the ‘REAL’ nature of what’s going on in
Africa. The world media sugarcoats everything to the point that virtually
no one sees the utter travesty that is ‘really’ occurring in Africa.
Understanding is the first step to solving a problem. Thus far the world
does not even understand Africa’s problems, so we haven’t yet arrived as
step one in solving them. I am very heartened to see people like Jeff
Rense give you a hearing as this is vital to really solving Africa’s
problems. Thank you Jeff!

Take heart Alvin, I’m not a racist and I’m most certainly not
anti-African. I would dare say I love Africa more than almost anyone …
including yourself. I’ve been there, I’ve experienced it firsthand, and I
came away loving it forever. It’s a wonderful, mystical place that will
always be a part of me.

Respectfully,
Gordon