Cape Town - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who in the past has made it clear he has little time for whites, has reportedly appointed one of the country's last white civil servants to a senior position within the presidency.
The Telegraph reported on Thursday that Stuart Comberbach, 62, was this week appointed senior secretary to the president and cabinet.
Comberbach is one of the last senior white civil servants left in Zimbabwe, according to the report.
This comes a few weeks after Mugabe told a gathering in his rural Zvimba home area that the remaining whites in the country should go back to England.
"Don't they [whites] know where their ancestors came from? The British who are here should all go back to England," Mugabe was quoted as saying.
In July Mugabe made headlines when he vowed whites would never be allowed to own land in Zimbabwe. He said they could only be allowed to own companies, industries and apartments.
Mugabe's critics, however, said his statements were retrogressive to the country's development as they undermined efforts to attract foreign investment.