Southern Rhodesia
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Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated immediately to the north of South Africa, known today as Zimbabwe. The "Southern" was dropped from normal usage in 1964 and Rhodesia became the name of the country until the creation of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979.
Named after Cecil Rhodes, the British empire-builder who was one of the most important figures in British expansion into southern Africa, the original Rhodesia was created in 1888 after Rhodes obtained mineral rights from the most powerful local traditional leaders through treaties such as the Rudd Concession and the Moffat Treaty signed by King Lobengula of the Ndebele. Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) separated from Southern Rhodesia in 1910.
In 1965, Rhodesia unilaterally declared itself independent under a White-dominated government. After a long civil war between the white government and two African guerrilla organisations (ZIPRA and ZANLA), Britain resumed control for a brief time and then granted independence to the country in 1980, whereupon it became Zimbabwe.
[edit] Naming
On October 7, 1964 the Southern Rhodesian government announced that when Northern Rhodesia achieved independence as Zambia, the Southern Rhodesian government would officially become known as the Rhodesian Government and the colony would become known as Rhodesia. [1] On October 23 the Minister of Internal Affairs notified the Press that the Constitution would be amended to make this official. The Legislative Assembly then passed an Interpretation Bill to declare that the colony could be referred to as Rhodesia; the Bill received its third reading on December 9, 1964, and therefore passed to the Governor for assent.
However, no assent was granted to the Bill. The Southern Rhodesia (Annexation) Order in Council 1923, section 3, provided that Southern Rhodesia "shall be known as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia" and the Southern Rhodesia (Constitution) Act 1961 and the Order in Council which followed it both referred to it as such. These were United Kingdom measures and it was ultra vires for the Southern Rhodesian institutions to amend them. [2]
The Rhodesian government, which had begun using the new name anyway, did not press the issue. The Unilateral Declaration of Independence was in the name of Rhodesia. While the new name was widely used, 'Southern Rhodesia' remained the colony's formal name in United Kingdom constitutional theory: for example, the Act passed by the United Kingdom Parliament declaring the independence a legal nullity was entitled the Southern Rhodesia Act, 1965. When the rebellion was formally declared at an end by the passing of the Constitution of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia (Amendment) (No. 4) Act 1979, the United Kingdom resumed the governance of the colony under the direct control of the Governor under the name of Southern Rhodesia.
[edit] References
- ^ Southern Rhodesia Information Service Press Statement 980/64 A.G.C.
- ^ See "The Constitutional History and Law of Southern Rhodesia" by Claire Palley (Oxford University Press, 1966), at pages 742-3.
[edit] See also
- British South Africa Company
- Pioneer Column
- Prime Minister of Rhodesia
- Shangani Patrol
- Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)
- Flag of Rhodesia
- Albert John Lutuli, famous South African born in Southern Rhodesia
