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Revision as of 10:37, 14 December 2020 by 80.233.48.239 (talk) (Fixed and sourced better removing far right propaganda)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)This article proposes a reading of white Zimbabwean narratives that takes cognisance of how the Rhodesian past and the Zimbabwean present inhabit shared time and place. This reading suggests that white Zimbabwean narratives are characterised by simultaneity. In these texts it can be seen that the (Rhodesian) past and the (Zimbabwean) present appear incommensurate but nevertheless coeval. Using Ian Smith’s The Great Betrayal: The Memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith (hereafter referred to as The Great Betrayal), I argue that in Zimbabwe, like in other former colonies, the colonial past exists alongside the post-colonial present despite persistent calls by the new post-colonial governments for former colonisers to forget. In Smith’s The Great Betrayal, the past inhabits the present in three forms: as an endurance of the founding principles of British Empire; as an indictment of the Zimbabwean present; and as a strategic emplacement of white Rhodesians within a new Zimbabwe.
History
The RF had fifteen founding principles, which included the preservation of each racial group's right to maintain its own identity, the preservation of 'proper standards' through a policy of advancement through merit, the maintenance of the Land Apportionment Act, which formalised the racial imbalance in the ownership and distribution of land, opposition to compulsory racial integration, job protection for white workers, and maintenance of the government's right to provide separate amenities for different races.
Following the elections leading to the country's independence in 1980, as the Republic of Zimbabwe, the RF won all 20 parliamentary seats reserved for whites in the power-sharing agreement that it had forged. On June 6, 1981, the party changed its name to the Republican Front, and on July 21, 1984 it became the Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe. Eleven of its twenty parliamentarians defected over the following four years, but the party again won 15 of the 20 parliamentary seats reserved for whites in the 1985 election. In 1986, the CAZ opened its membership to Zimbabweans of all races. In 1987 the ruling government abolished all reserved seats for whites. When these were abolished many white MPs became independents or joined the ruling ZANU party.
Electoral history
House elections
| Year | Popular Vote | Percentage | Seats | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 38,282 | 54.9% | 35 / 65 | RF |
| 1965 | 28,175 | 78.4% | 50 / 65 | RF |
| 1970 | 39,066 | 76.8% | 50 / 66 | RF |
| 1974 | 55,597 | 77.0% | 50 / 66 | RF |
| 1977 | 57,348 | 85.4% | 50 / 66 | RF |
| 1979 | 11,613 (White Roll) | 82.0% | 28 / 100 | UANC |
| 1980 | 13,621 (White Roll) | 83.0% | 20 / 100 | ZANU |
See also
Further reading
- Rhodesians Never Die, Godwin, P. & Hancock, I., 1995. Baobab Books, Harare, Zimbabwe.
- Pollard, William C. A Career of Defiance: The Life of Ian Smith, Agusan River Publishing Co., 1992. Topeka, KS.
- McLaughlin, John . "Ian Smith and the Future of Zimbabwe," The National Review, October 30, 1981, pp. 2168–70.
- Facts on File, 1984 ed., p. 574.
References
- Ian Smith Invites Blacks to Join His Party, The New York Times, July 23, 1984, p. A5.
- Zimbabwe whites lose special political status. End of reserved seats in Parliament brings one-party state closer, Christian Science Monitor, August 25, 1987
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