Harvey Ward

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Harvey Grenville Ward (1927—1995) was born in Southern Rhodesia to an English father and a German mother. His parents went as European settlers in Africa and were engaged in enterprises such as the financing of railroad construction and the building of numerous hotels. His parents owned and the family resided in the Victoria Falls Hotel. In his adult life, Ward became known for his anti-communism and for his support of white minority rule in Rhodesia and South Africa.

Harvey Ward chose a career in journalism, in which time he was a sports editor, foreign correspondent, and political columnist. He eventually became Director-General of the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (today's Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation) which, in effect, put him in charge of government propaganda. Ward is said to have removed references to black sporting achievements from sports programmes carried on state television (The Herald, 6 April 1999).

Following an armed insurrection and several years of negotiations, the white minority government of Rhodesia was replaced by African majority rule in 1979-80. Ward described this as "the betrayal of western nations to their own kin". As a prominent supporter of the white minority government, Ward was forced to leave the new country of Zimbabwe. He and his family departed for South Africa, and advised the white minority government there on avoiding international economic sanctions.

Subsequently, Harvey Ward served as a political adviser to many African leaders and was involved in international intelligence. His watch-word became "dedicated to fighting communism" and he travelled world-wide lecturing on counter-insurgency and terrorism. He described the Soviet Union as run by "gangsters" and totally untrustworthy.

He supported the anti-communist revolts in the former Soviet Bloc saying that it was "a simple matter of good versus evil". In Africa, Ward saw no hope. "Africa is the most exploited of all the continents, and it will stay that way. There has never been any peace in Africa, and I see no end to tribal conflict, spreading of diseases and other plagues", he said.

Harvey Ward was the centre of a minor sensation in on the 26 July 1977 when immigration officials at Heathrow Airport held him for seven hours, before formally refusing him permission to enter Britain, and placing him on board another plane to Munich. He was due to address a meeting of the Africa Committee of the Conservative Monday Club at the House of Lords, organised by the former Tory M.P.,Harold Soref, on the 29th, and visit family in Gloucestershire. On being asked why entry had never been refused on previous journeys to Britain by Mr.Ward, a Home Office spokesman said "I don't know. It may have been a mistake or oversight". Formal protests were made to the Home Office by Tory M.P.'s John Biggs-Davison, Patrick Wall, and Teddy Taylor. (Daily Telegraph, and Daily Mail, 27 July 1977).

In 1986, his wife died and though three of his four children lived in South Africa, Ward decided to move on to Britain.

At the October 1988 Conservative Party Conference, Western Goals (UK) held a fringe meeting on the subject of "International Terrorism - how the West can fight back". Harvey Ward, Sir Alfred Sherman, Rev Martin Smyth, MP, and Andrew Hunter, MP, were the speakers. The latter spoke concerning top-level links between the IRA and ANC.

In 1989, Harvey Ward was working for his old friend James Gibb Stuart at Ossian Books Ltd., in Glasgow. He continued to travel and lecture, and joined the Conservative Party. He was an active member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Conservative Monday Club.

Ward was a supporter of the Western Goals Institute.

In 1991, Ward worked in conjunction with South African security policeman Paul Erasmus to secretly leak false accusations against Winnie Mandela and her daughters, accusing them of being nymphomaniacs and drug abusers. The reports were described as having come from dissidents in the African National Congress, and were issued in an effort to divide the ANC's leadership. They were subsequently taken up by papers such as The Independent, the Sunday Times and Vanity Fair. Erasmus later acknowledged profound regret for his actions in this and other matters, and affected a reconciliation with Mandela. He revealed Ward's role in the propaganda campaign during the late 1990s (Irish Times, 27 March 1999).

In the early 1990s, Ward's fourth child, who had been in the British Police Service returned to live in South Africa and Ward followed, taking up residence in Port Elizabeth, where he later had a heart attack during a game of bowls, and died.

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