Under the terms of the internal settlement, little change is envisaged in the organisation of the white-dominated economy or in prevailing patterns of income and wealth distribution. The kind of relations which exist between some employers and their African workforces is graphically illustrated by a case before the Gwanda Magistrates' Court earlier this year when Kenneth Drummond (23), a white section manager on a cattle ranch owned by Liebigs at West Nicholson, received an 18 month prison term on conviction of culpable homicide.
Drummond, a former lieutenant in the security forces, had been appointed to the ranch after his predecessor had been killed by guerillas. He was guarded at his work by six bodyguards and told the court that, with the help of his military training, he had "disciplined his section in a regimental fashion and achieved a high level of efficiency". The African workforce, however, who normally received between R$15 and R$25 a month (less than £20), had not been paid for two months. At a meeting with about 170 African workers to deal with their grievances, Drummond had, according to witnesses and indeed his own statement, grabbed a farm foreman. Josiah Ndhlovu, by the collar, tripped him and punched and kicked him while he was on the ground. He had then "thrown" Ndhlovu by one leg into the back of his landrover and driven off to keep a dinner appointment at a neighbour's farm. Police, who later arrived to take Ndhlovu to hospital, found him dead.
