In Zimbabwe
After Rhodesia gained independence under majority rule as Zimbabwe in 1980, Palley argued that meaningful land reform would not be as expensive as some were suggesting because the government had previously been subsidizing farmers, and therefore ordinary commercial procedures would make land available to Africans. In 1981 he urged Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front party to fight the seats reserved for European voters on the grounds that there was considerable support for him there.
Palley remained at work both in medicine and law until his sudden death (of a heart attack). He had never been in good health through his political career, and had a colostomy at the age of 24. Palley married his wife Claire in 1952, although they separated in the early 1960s and divorced in 1985. Claire Palley is a leading South African academic specialising in foreign affairs who was United Kingdom representative to the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities from 1988 to 1998 and Constitutional Consultant to the President of Cyprus from 1980 to 2004. They had five sons.
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