O Level Revision : History - The  Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

There were several different Federation options: 

• Southern  Rhodesia  to  be  joined  with  Northern Rhodesia and Bechuanaland (now Botswana.)

• Southern Rhodesia to be joined with South Africa as the fifth province.
• Southern  Rhodesia  to  be  joined  with  Northern Rhodesia.
• Southern  Rhodesia  to  be  joined  with  Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

The  origins of the  Federation of Rhodesia and  Nyasaland

• The  British   Government   believed   that   there was need to strengthen Central Africa to stop it from falling to the Afrikaners who were pushing northwards from the Transvaal, the Germans from Namibia,  and  the  Portuguese  from Angola  and Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique).
• The unit would be stronger on the military level.
• It would  enable  the  Central  African  region  to economically           prosper    –    Southern    Rhodesia would provide agricultural products and minerals, Northern Rhodesia would provide copper and Nyasaland would provide labour.
• It was argued that it would enable the Africans and Europeans to work in partnership in which Europeans would be senior partners (horse-rider partnership).
• The whites saw it as a way of perpetuating their supremacy by denying the political advancement of Africans in the two northern territories whose constitutional position was different from Southern Rhodesia.
• The Southern Rhodesia Prime Minister, Godfrey Huggins, pressed for a federation because he feared African Nationalism.

Federal system of government

All states were represented. There was a federal government, as well as territorial governments which had their own constitutions.

Functions of the  Federal Government

It was responsible for a number of functions:

• The general economic development.
• External/foreign trade.
• Defence.
• Federal taxation and borrowing.
• Supply and distribution of electricity.
• Broadcasting/communication.
• Higher education for all races.

Functions of the  territorial government

The territorial governments were responsible for:

• All African affairs like land, agriculture, health and education.

• Local administration.
• Housing, labour, mining.
• Local roads.
• Territorial income tax.
• Law and order maintenance.
• Game and fisheries (wildlife).
• Water development.

The  Judiciary system

(a)  The Supreme Court

• It was the highest court of authority in the federation.

It consisted of:

-     The Chief Justice of the Federation.

-     Two Federal Justices.

-     The Chief Justice of each of the three territories.

(b)  The Federal Supreme Court

• The  Federal  Supreme  Court  had  the  following functions:

-     To deal with disputes between the Federation and other countries.

-     To deal with disputes between territories.

-     To deal with election petitions.

(c)  The Territorial Courts

• The territorial courts did the following:

-     Maintaining the constitution.

-     Enforcing  Federal  Laws  in  both  civil  and criminal matters.

Developments during the  Federation

The  condition of Africans during the  Federation

• The British Government forced white settlers to make constitutional changes because they were afraid of an armed conflict.
• There were two voters’ rolls, namely the ‘A’ roll for whites and the ‘B’ roll for blacks with a voting ratio of 1A to 3B.
• For  the  first  time  the  Federation  allowed  elite Africans to vote.

• Age restriction was 21 years (i.e. the legal age of majority).

• The position of the Africans was greatly weakened in the Federal Assembly.
• In Southern  Rhodesia,  Garfield  Todd  amended the Land Appointment Act to allow African professionals, e.g. the lawyer Herbert Chitepo, to operate in urban centres which were designated white areas.

Economic developments

• The Kariba Hydro–Electric Power Station was built on the Zambezi River on the Southern Rhodesia side.
• The dam made it possible to start irrigation projects like the growing of wheat.

• Revenue from Northern Rhodesian mines was used to develop economic projects in Southern Rhodesia

– secondary manufacturing developed.

• Southern    Rhodesia    provided    80%    of    the Federation’s manufactured goods.

• Nyasaland provided the largest labour reserve for farms and mines.

• In 1956 the Bulawayo Airport was built.
• The main roads were widened and tarred.
• High-level and low-level bridges were built.
• Rural roads were also improved so as to carry farm produce to markets.

• Bulawayo became the headquarters of the railways of the Federation.

• In 1954 the Land Apportionment Act was amended to make it possible for hotels, clubs and restaurants to become multi-racial.
• In August 1956, Sir Roy Welensky announced that driving cars and trains was now open to all races.

Social developments

(a)  Education

• Primary  and  secondary  schools  were  built  (for whites) mostly in Southern Rhodesia.

• The Cambridge Examination board was used.
• Modern libraries, museums, concert halls, cinemas and theatres were opened.

• A modern art gallery and archives were opened in Salisbury.

• The University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was opened in 1957.

• The  Copperbelt Technical  Foundation  started  in 1957.

• Teacher training schools were started in Mutare and Mkoba in Gweru.

• A medical school was opened at the University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

• State Registered Nurse (SRN) training started.

Dissolution of the  Federation

• The Federation performed poorly in view of its intended goals.

• It  failed  to  create  a  state  where  Africans  and Europeans could live together as equal partners.

• Only the white settlers benefited from the economic developments.

• Southern Rhodesia benefited a lot and the Northern territories began to complain that development only favoured Southern Rhodesia, e.g. Salisbury was the capital and the University College, financed mainly by exploitation of copper from Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) and the headquarters of the railways were in Southern Rhodesia. Salisbury, in Southern Rhodesia, was labelled Bambazonke (take all).
• The  upsurge    of    African    nationalism:    The nationalists in the north feared the extension of Southern Rhodesia’s segregatory laws to their territories. Harry Kumbula of the ANC in Zambia declared, “We know that our brothers in the South are slaves.”

• The two northern territories saw federation as a barrier to their aspirations for advancement towards self-determination.
• The British Government opposed federation and accepted that the two northern territories could separate or secede. Thus in 1963 the Federation broke up mainly because Britain had lost the will to rule in Central Africa.
• Africans were  greatly  concerned  by  Huggins’ explanation of the partnership between Africans and Europeans as that of “a horse and rider’. It meant that Africans were to be exploited. Huggins’ idea of a partnership was that of a horse and a rider where the African was the horse and the white man the rider.

(a) Identify   any   six   economic   and      social developments in Southern Rhodesia     during the federal period.                                        [6]

(b)  Outline  the  reasons  for  the  creation  of  a federation in 1953.                                     [11]

(c)  To what extent did Southern Rhodesia benefit from the Federation of 1953-63?                 [8]