Mugabe is the harbinger of things to come

How the hell has Robert Mugabe got away with it this far? It is because in Africa he is a massively popular hero; more popular than Mandela. Not only did he defeat the whites in battle but also, uniquely, he has seized back the land they stole and publicly humiliated them ­ - something which no other African leader has had the guts to do.

It is a unique achievement. No doubt sophisticated Africans love Mandela for his saintly forgiveness and reconciliation. But the great mass love Mugabe as a leader who has exacted sweet revenge.

Yes, you will say, but what about the terrible things he has done to his own people? The trouble is that so many of the wronged Zimbabweans are not his own people, since many of them are of a different tribe and therefore, ­ to the

African man in the street, ­ fair game.

So in reality it is not surprising that Mugabe survives in power, just as it would not have been surprising if in 1945 Churchill had survived in power here. The surprise then was that so many of us were ungrateful enough to kick him out.

Britain needs to wake up to reality. One of the main stories of the 21st century is going to tell the tale of how the coloured peoples reversed the wrongs that were done to them by the white race in the previous two centuries; and Africa, make no mistake, is going to be part of that story as much as Asia and the Arab world.

In other words, Mugabe is not the odd man out; or the savage throwback; he is the harbinger of things to come. We have seen nothing yet.