Ian Smith - Retirement

Retirement

After his retirement from active politics, Smith became an outspoken critic of Mugabe's government. Smith's 1997 autobiography, The Great Betrayal (later reissued as Bitter Harvest), is as much a criticism of Mugabe's governance as it is a memoir. The book received mixed reviews. Longtime admirers of Smith were confirmed in their view of him as a man of integrity. His critics saw in the book a stubborn refusal to acknowledge the need for any form of change. He accused many, such as British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, of purposely trying to cause harm to Rhodesia. Smith's bitterness at his government's international isolation is a central theme in the book.

Unlike most of his contemporaries from the UDI era, such as P. K. van der Byl, Smith remained in Zimbabwe when he retired. His son Alec returned from Europe and became his business partner, taking over the running of the family farm. Smith said in a 2002 interview that he was always met with friendliness by black people he met in Harare streets: "They say to me, 'Please keep going Mr Smith. We lived better when you were around.' Policemen salute me, people shake my hand. I've got more black friends than Mugabe.'" When militants attempted to take over the farm in September 2001, Smith called the regional governor, who promptly sent police to intervene on his behalf and force the invaders off. According to Smith, the trespassers were shocked to learn the police were coming to his aid and, in his own words, "beat it" before law enforcement even arrived.

Smith contributed regularly to both local and foreign media reports on current affairs. Those contributions became increasingly critical of his successor Robert Mugabe, whom he described as "mentally deranged" while overseas in 2000. Mugabe reacted with a threat to have Smith arrested and tried for genocide should he ever return to Zimbabwe, which the former prime minister mocked: "I will give him the date and time of arrival of my plane so he can meet me at the airport," he said. When Smith did return a few days later, he was met by a mass of reporters waiting to witness his arrest; however, the former prime minister was greeted warmly by immigration officials at Harare airport and went home unhindered. He was neither arrested nor prosecuted.

In 2001, the Zimbabwean government passed a law making multiple citizenship illegal. Smith refused to disavow his right to British citizenship—he said Mugabe's government, which he called oppressive, had no right to take his Zimbabwean citizenship away—and therefore had his Zimbabwean nationality stripped in March 2002.

Shortly before his death, Smith was interviewed by the journalist Heidi Holland, who was working on Dinner With Mugabe, a book based on psychology and politics, focusing on Mugabe. Chapter 7 of her book, "I told you so", is based on Holland's encounter with Smith. In the book, Mugabe claimed to be a forgiving person, and said it was a good thing that he was; "Otherwise, I would have slaughtered lots of people, including Ian Smith. I always used to joke with Smith that he had borrowed hair which rightly belonged to us, but he could continue to wear it …”