Under pressure from South African Prime Minister B. J. Vorster , Smith accepted in principle that white minority rule could not be prolonged indefinitely . He oversaw the 1979 general election which resulted in Abel Muzorewa , a politically moderate black bishop , being elected Prime Minister of the reconstituted Zimbabwe Rhodesia . Both ZANU and ZAPU had boycotted the election , which did not receive international recognition . At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1979 , held in Lusaka , the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher surprised delegates by announcing that the UK would officially recognise the country 's independence if it transitioned to democratic majority rule
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1979
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1979
Robert Mugabe