Southern Rhodesia Has Still To Meet Problems

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30393, 18 March 1964, Page 8

Southern Rhodesia Has Still To Meet Problems

Europeans in Southern Rhodesia accepted that the territory would ultimately be controlled by Africans, and the colour' bar was breaking down, but there could be a lot more trouble in the future, said a New Zealand missionary, the Rev. A. W. Ladbrook, in Christchurch. Mr Ladbrook (originally from Gore) and his wife have worked among the African people of Southern Rhodesia for 13 years, and will return next month to begin another five-year term.

Unlike Europeans in countries in the north (such as Nyasaland) which had gained their independence, many of the 250,000 Europeans in Southern Rhodesia had a stake in the country in the way of farms or industries, and would not be very happy to “go under a black government,” Mr Ladbrook said. Although they knew their country would be run by Africans eventually they did not think the Africans were yet politically mature enough for selfgovernment. The African, on the other hand, said, “I want it now.”

The colour bar, although disappearing, was not going fast enough in the eyes of the African people. When he had first gone to Rhodesia there were separate counters in post offices for whites and Africans, but this had now disappeared, said Mr Ladbrook. Some hotels and most shops now accepted both races. The remaining restrictions were greatly resented by the Africans. The word “native” was no longer used officially, as this was seen as a slight. “African” had replaced “native” in all titles of officers and positions in Government. Self-government could affect the return of tribal disunity. There were two main Afri-

can races—the Amandbele, an off-shoot of the Zulu race, and the Mashonas. Tribal fighting between the two groups had almost disappeared after Europeans had come to Southern Rhodesia, but a recent split in the African Nationalist movement had been along tribal lines. A group led by the Rev. N. Sithole, a Mashona, had broken from the movement which was led by Joshua Nkomo, an Amandbele. He thought that this split could possibly be an indication of a revival of tribal rivalry, and this could be aggravated by the advent of self-government. Mr Ladbrook said that his family felt no tension—such as existed in the town—where they worked on the Lundi African Reserve, 108 miles from Bulawayo. They were one of three European families working on the reserve. No whites are allowed to live in the reserve unless they are connected with the welfare of the Africans, and the other two men were Government officials helping the Africans in their farming. Primitive Conditions Most of the 30,000 Africans living on the reserve were subsistence farmers. All had up to eight acres of arable land as their own property, and grazed their animals on the communal grazing land. Many of the people still lived under primitive conditions, and under the leadership of their chief men. Difficulties arose when the Africans went to the towns looking for work, as it took them a long time to adjust to living away from the control of their head men. Moral problems also arose through the separation of men from their wives. When the men went to the towns their wives were left behind to look after the crops at the reserve, Mr Ladbrook added.