Zimbabwe: Self-government and Federation (1923 - 1963) (continued)

Updated January 2008

Even before 1923 attempts were made by the educated African elite to form political organisations to represent and extend their interests such as the Rhodesian Bantu Voters' Association and the Rhodesian Native Association, which attempted to reform rather than transform the colonial state. The Southern Rhodesian African National Congress, which emerged in the 1930s under the leadership of Reverend TD Samkange, was of the same mold (Gwisai 2002). As a result of resistance to the Land Apportionment Act the British African Voice Association, led by Benjamin Burombo, emerged and was involved in the 1948 strike as well as the 1951 Land Husbandry Act (Machigaidze 1991).

Concern about the deteriorating condition of the land in the Reserves, as a result of land alienation, population growth and population dumping, led to the passage of the Native Land Husbandry Act in 1951 through the Legislative Assembly (Stocking 1978, 137; Hanyama Undated). The Act attempted to impose destocking and other conservational practices (Stocking 1978, 137; Hanyama Undated). The measures were disruptive to the already fragile economies of the Reserves, flew in the face of traditional culture and increased poverty: not surprisingly they were deeply resented and resisted in every way possible (Selby 2006, 60-61; Machigaidze 1991).

The booming copper export driven economy of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) led to the emergence of settler-dominated situation similar to Southern Rhodesia and led by Roy Welensky in the north and Godfrey Huggins in the south, the notion of a union of the two colonies took root (Esterhuysen 2004). Advancing paternalist arguments for federation as a means to African upliftment through White led economic growth they persuaded a reluctant Britain to approve a federation, though Britain only did so on condition that the British Nyasaland form part of it (Esterhuysen 2004). In a referendum held in April 1953 the proponents of federation obtained a 63.5% endorsement from the overwhelming White Southern Rhodesian electorate in an 82% poll turnout and the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland formally came into existence on 1 August 1953 (Esterhuysen 2004; Encyclopedia of the Nations 2007). The Federation was presided over by a Governor-General who represented the Crown; executive power lay with a cabinet headed by a Prime-minister and a Legislative Assembly with 35 seats (six reserved for Africans; Esterhuysen 2004).

The economy of the Federation grew steadily and rapidly, stimulated by high copper prices internationally and Southern Rhodesia benefited strongly as a result of the stimulation of its manufacturing industry and the provision at Federal expense of infrastructure such as the rail link with Lourenco Marques (now Maputo) in 1955, the creation of the a university college in Salisbury (now Harare) in 1957 and the Kariba hydro-power project that was completed in 1959 (Esterhuysen 2004). The capital was in Salisbury and there also went most of the jobs in the Federal government (Esterhuysen 2004).

Southern Rhodesia maintained a high degree of autonomy and when Godfrey Huggins became Prime Minister of the Federation, Garfield Todd succeeded him as Prime Minister in the south (Esterhuysen 2004). At Federation only some 400 people out of 2.3 million Africans were entitled to vote (Esterhuysen 2004). Todd introduced measures to increase African access to education, housing and healthcare, but found himself at odds with an increasingly conservative and intransigent electorate and he was ousted from power in 1958 by his own party and replaced by Edgar Whitehead (Wikipedia 2007; Esterhuysen 2004. See Selby 2006, 57-62 for a discussion of the reasons for the growth of right-wing sentiment).

References

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE NATIONS 2007 "Zimbabwe: History", [www] http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Zimbabwe-HISTORY.html [opens new window] (accessed 6 Dec 2007).

ESTERHUYSEN, P 2004 "Zimbabwe: an historical overview", Institute of Strategic Studies, [www] http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9396258_ITM [opens new window] (accessed 6 Dec 2007).

GWISAI, M 2002 "Revolutionaries, resistance and crisis in Zimbabwe" FROM Zeilig, L (ed), Class Struggle and Resistance in Africa, New Clarion Press, Cheltenham, UK, [www] http://www.dsp.org.au/links/node/77 [opens new window] (accessed 12 Dec 2007).

HANYAMA, M UNDATED "Background to Land Reform in Zimbabwe", Embassy of Zimbabwe in Stockholm, [www] http://www.zimembassy.se/land_reform_document.htm [opens new window] (accessed 6 Dec 2007).

MACHIGAIDZE, VEM 1991 "Land Reform in Colonial Zimbabwe: The Southern Rhodesia Land Husbandry Act and African Response", IN Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review, January, [www] http://www.ossrea.net/eassrr/jan91/machigai.htm [opens new window] (accessed 2 Jan 2008).

SELBY, A 2006 Commercial Farmers and the State: Interest Group Politics and Land Reform in Zimbabwe, Doctoral Thesis, Oxford University, [www] http://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/493/1/thesis+final.pdf [PDF documnet, opens new window] (accessed 11 Dec 2007).

STOCKING, MA 1978 "Relationship of Agricultural History and Settlement to Severe Soil Erosion in Rhodesia"; Zambezia, 6 (2 ), [www] http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/Journal%20of%20the%20 University%20of%20Zimbabwe/vol6n2/juz006002006.pdf [PDF documnet, opens new window] (accessed 10 Dec 2007).

WIKIPEDIA 2007 "Colonial history of Southern Rhodesia", [www] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_history_of_Zimbabwe [opens new window] (accessed 6 Dec 2007).