PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has once again accused the late South African iconic leader Nelson Mandela for failure to grab land and industries in the leaving his black countrymen poor.

Mugabe recently attacked Mandela during the Heroes Day celebrations in Harare for failure to forcibly take land from whites.

On Friday, speaking at the Gweru youth interface rally, Mugabe bluntly blamed Mandela for allowing the whites in that country to have everything to themselves in the name of equality.

“I was in South Africa recently talking to a minister in President Jacob Zuma’s office and I did ask him how they have handled the land issue after attaining independence.

“I did ask him why they left the whites with everything (land and industries). He answered my question in English and said; ‘ask your friend Mandela,” said Mugabe.

Mugabe said Mandela selfishly excluded everyone from participating in negotiations after his release from prison after serving 27 years.

According to Mugabe, Mandela bulldozed others and led the negotiations blundering on the land issue.

“Look at what he produced. Is this what they agreed upon with the whites? Remember he was coming from prison. What was the most important thing for him was his release from prison and nothing else. He cherished that freedom more than anything else and forgot why he was put in jail (land).

“Mandela believed to be equal with the whites and made the biggest mistake of ignoring the land issue.

“What sort of equality was that? These whites had long back given everything to themselves since 1652 when they arrived in Cape Town.

“Today, everything is in the whites’ hands. They are in control of land, industries and companies and are now the employers of the blacks. These blacks have failed to liberate themselves from white supremacy all because of what Mandela did. The whites claim that everyone is equal in South Africa so why would blacks want to grab the land now.

“The industries are untouchable and all blacks can do is to work in Johannesburg industries and also in mines,” claimed Mugabe.

During the address, Mugabe urged Zanu PF youth leaders to identify those who have not yet benefitted from the land distribution programme so that they also get something from the remaining land that was taken from whites.