Africa - Congo (DRC)

"Moise Tshombe cropped" by U.S. Air Force photo - cropped version of http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/odom/odom.asp. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moise_Tshombe_cropped.jpg#/media/File:Moise_Tshombe_cropped.jpg

Johan von Gernet writes

What could have been.....

It was, I think some time in 1964 when I as a young third secretary in the Embassy in Madrid, received a visit from a South African.  My head of mission, Ambassador Roy Coaton, was on home leave and I was the only other member of the mission.

The visitor introduced himself as Jerry Puren and said he had come to see us at the behest of his employer, Moise Tshombe, one time premier of the province of Katanga and presently in exile in Madrid.  He asked if it would be convenient for me to go and see him, since he wanted to send a message to the South African authorities.

I accompanied Puren (he was an ex mercenary with Tshombe during the breakaway of Katanga - like mad Mike Hoare) to Tshombe's villa in the Puerta del Hierro where Tshombe received me with courtesy, explained that his eyesight was not good as a result of having had acid thrown into his eyes and told me that he hoped soon to be able to return to the Congo as Prime Minister. 

In the light of this expectation he would like to establish a line of communication with then Prime Minister Verwoerd.  He then gave me a draft letter addressed to the PM, which I helped to edit, and  he spoke of the communist threat to Africa and in particular to his country.

Sometime later I received a reply - signed by Don Sole - to the effect that the Prime Minister had taken note of the contents and that he would be willing to take the matter further as soon as Tshombe had re-established himself in Katanga.

None of this happened, of course, since Tshombe's flight en route, probably to Ibiza, was hijacked on 30 June 1967 and flown to Algiers where he died in June 1969, supposedly from a heart attack.

I mention this incident since it could have been - if things had played out differently - the beginning of what was to become the "outward movement." to Africa. 

From the little I knew of Tshombe he was a charismatic person, well-spoken and educated.

Prime Minister Verwoerd was assassinated in parliament on September 1967 at more or less at the same time as Tshombe's plane was hijacked and taken to Algiers.  

Much later I met Tshombe's  successor and arch-enemy Mobuto Sesi Seko on three occasions in the Eighties as part of South African delegations to the Congo  to press for payment of long outstanding debts for the provision of fresh produce. 

On one of these we were taken to the presidential palace (actually a military encampment) situated on a hill outside Kinshasa.  Mobutu was accompanied by some of his military brass and appeared very friendly. 

The third occasion was when the later president PW Botha was invited for a one day trip to Zaire. This must have been in 1988 or thereabouts.

The plane landed in the early hours of the morning on Kinshasa airport where a large bemused crowd - probably rent a crowd - awaited us and followed the two presidents on a walkabout. 

The whole group of South Africans (civilian, military etc) then left for Gbadolite in the north of the country where Mobuto had established his billion dollar (palace in the jungle a la Tarzan of the Apes)   estate with a faux Versailles fountain,  golden taps, Belgian crystal chandeliers, private game serve, gardens laid out by Keith Kirsten in almost unbelievable opulence. 

The formal lunch consisted, among others, of choice French wines and fresh baked Belgian pastries.

Mobutu was presented with a grandfather clock made of South African hardwood. 

The South African party returned the same seemingly satisfied with the results of its excursion.

Mobutu was driven from power in May 1997 and died in Morocco in September of the same year.

Those interested may care to look at the photographs of the ruined palace which was stripped and vandalised after his departure. (Google Gbadolite) 

Thus ended a triangular relationship which could have changed the history of Central Africa.