Operation Quartz was a planned

military operation A military operation (op) is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operati ...

to be conducted by the Rhodesian Security Forces against

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

and ZANU-PF in the event that party lost the Southern Rhodesian general election, 1980. The operation was organised on the assumption ZANU-PF would attempt to violently seize the government should it lose the election. ZANU-PF ultimately won the election and Operation Quartz was never executed.

Planning

Operation Quartz had two elements. The first involved strikes against armed units of the

Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant African nationalist organisation that participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhod ...

(ZANLA, ZANU-PF's military wing) that had concentrated at 11 assembly points prior to the election, to be carried out by Rhodesian infantry and armour units supported by the

Rhodesian Air Force The Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) was an air force based in Salisbury (now Harare) which represented several entities under various names between 1935 and 1980: originally serving the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, it was th ...

. The second element was Operation Hectic, which called for the simultaneous assassinations of Robert Mugabe, Rex Nhongo, and

Simon Muzenda Simon Vengai Muzenda (28 October 1922 – 20 September 2003) was a Zimbabwean politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Deputy Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2003 under Preside ...

by the Rhodesian SAS. In addition to the Rhodesian Army and Rhodesian Air Force, it is believed that the South African Armed Forces was planning a supporting role in Operation Quartz. Some accounts of Operation Quartz have described it as a planned military coup against the extant government of

Abel Muzorewa Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa (14 April 1925 – 8 April 2010), also commonly referred to as Bishop Muzorewa, was a Zimbabwean bishop and politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement t ...

to prevent it from handing over power to Mugabe, alleging Peter Walls called off the operation three hours before H-Hour. The allegations may have originated in information leaked by the British government.

Aftermath

The ZANU-PF won a majority of votes in the election and Operation Quartz was never executed. Following the ZANU-PF victory, details of Operation Quartz came to light and Walls, who had initially been retained by Mugabe as head of the armed forces, was accused in parliament of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. On the advice of members of the government, Walls fled the country for his own safety.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quartz, Operation Conflicts in 1980 Aftermath of the Rhodesian Bush War 1980 in Zimbabwe Rhodesia–South Africa military relations Attempted coups d'état in Africa