 Gjems-Onstad strongly opposed the African National Congress and the Norwegian government's support of the group, as he believed their agenda would lead to civil war and a government led by revolutionary socialists—as had happened in other African countries.He later pointed to the development in former Rhodesia, Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.He arranged several study trips to South Africa, and was part of a group of eight Norwegians who toured the country in 1987 and issued an "apology" to the South African government for the Norwegian government's policy towards the country.