The Creation of the Federation of Central Africa

Sir Roy Welensky (1907-1991) was prime minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland from 1956 to 1963

Ted Eustace continues

 In my official travelling round the Rhodesias and Nyasaland, there was little to be noted that was exciting economically. I had though seen a lot of East Africa while I served in those parts and the low levels attained locally were thus not surprising. The Capitals in my new sphere of operation were mere villages or very small towns and not exciting ones – the standards of government, both central and municipal were far from high. The agriculture in Southern Rhodesia though showed very high knowledge 1n Virginia tobacco culture, and the marketing methods ware an eye-opener. Here too the minerals produced, including gold, asbestos and chrome, were becoming very important to the economy, bringing in some twenty million pounds sterling per year, In Northern Rhodesia, copper mining was at last recovering and there was a good deal of planning to open at least two new and big mines. Hera though, agriculture was completely indifferent. The very poor member of the area was Nyasaland, her exports were limited to tea -- her tobacco production was small and not of good quality. Then too she was overpopulated in no small way.

It was hardly to be wondered at that the United Kingdom began to consider the advisability of bringing the three territories together in some form of federation. Southern Rhodesia did  not regard the concept with any enthusiasm. NyasaIand would be as much of a burden in the federation as it had been to the United Kingdom for many years. Northern Rhodesia had, it is true, her copper mines, which were very important; but the colony had very few whites in it that could be regarded as permanent settlers - the miners and the Government officials plus a large percentage of the trades-people were temporary sojourners and they would not permanently enrich the white group that was steadily increasing in importance in Southern Rhodesia.     .

Britain, however, insisted that "union is strength" and all had to agree in the end that a federation should be tried. When the federation was more or less forced through, the obvious one to lead the Government was thought to be Sir Godfrey Huggins. Leadership in the two Northern territories had be largely been restricted to Civil Servants who not only administered the countries but also provided most of the persons for their own limited forms of legislature. Their leaders in the mining field, in agriculture and in commerce, had very limited experience in the truly public sphere. So Huggins was made the Prime Minister and had no easy task to find colleagues. From Northern Rhodesia came Sir Roy Welensky and Sir Malcolm Barrow came from Nyasaland - these two seniors ln their own land were soon to prove of indifferent calibre In the new Federal Cabinet but their countries had to be given a part in the new set-up. Southern Rhodesia provided several members of the Cabinet who soon proved their quality. The sector to gain strength and great strength was the new C1vil Service.  Senior Government officials from Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, did a lot to enrich the capacity of the Federal administration.

The Federatlon proved much more credit-worthy so new and bigger loans were secured by the Government and the private sector too managed to find more, much more capital. The Railways were aided by the Anglo American Corporation to the tune of about ten million sterling, in a loan of some four thousand railway trucks of various kinds, but in the main ones that would make the transport of copper and coal more certain. The collieries at Wankie were revamped to provlde the greater needs of the Copper Mines of the North. The Kariba dam and its hydro-electric power station was finished. The Iron and Steel Corporation at Que Que, in Southern Rhodesia, had a big dollop of new capital so that more iron and steel could be produced. The first step were taken to turn local chrome into ferrochrome. The farming community received e big boost and several industries began to be consolldated– cement, fertiliser and several others. The very good electric power grid was much strengthened. All the parts of the Federation began to enjoy almost boom conditions, relatively.

The small diplomatic and consular corps began to have some real meaning - and socal life began to be really hectic. My trips that I had to make to thes other two parts of the Federation took on a completely different meaning. Staying at the two Government Houses at Lusaka and Zomba and spending a day or two at several of the superbly run Copper Companies' Clubs was a real experience, where Federal/South African relations were built up. It was on one such occasion in Zomba that I was able to do a little more for W.N.L.A. and our mining labour requirements. The Southern Provincial Commissioner discussed the poverty in his Province with me and mentioned that he would be glad to see the number of miners that went to South Africa increased. I asked if I might talk about this matter to the Governor and the suggestion was welcomed. That night after a very good formal meal held in my honour I discussed the proposition with the Governor. He was to hold an Executive Council meeting the next morning and promised to recommend that our quota be  increased from five to ten thousand per annum. Ex-Co agreed to this, to my delight.

When the Federation had been in existence a couple of years a whispering campaign commenced against Sir Godfrey Huggins, who had by that stage become Lord Malvern. He was very old -  and he was almost stone deaf - both these points were true but the conviction was that Lord Malvern provided a leadership that no one else could give and this was a conviction that I knew  the Governor General,  Lord Llewellyn, supported. Sir Roy Welensky. badgered Malvern to retire, but was fobbed off with the statement that Malvern was not ready to retire. Both of these leaders discussed their problem with me and possibly with others. Malvern accused that Welensky had very little savolr faire -Welensky complained that Malvern had given an assurance that he had every intention to retire but did not do so. I chortled but side-stepped offering any views to either of them.

.l did, however, come to the assistance of Sir Roy when he announced to me that he wanted to go to South Africa to pay his respects to the Prime Minister and to several Members of the Cabinet. I asked the Department to ensure that Welensky got very special treatment, which was in fact accorded. The Press of both countries highlighted the visit and the stock of Sir Roy undoubtedly received a boost. He had formerly been regarded as the Northern Rhodesia Labour/Union Leader or the ex-Boxer or even the man of mixed origin - a Jewish father and an Afrikaner mother. It must be recorded that Welensky showed his gratitude to me in several ways thereafter.

Few had any doubt about the success of the Federation and all was nearly as merry as the proverbial marriage ball. There were senior Africans, like Dr Benda who resented that his land was not progressing to a Black State, some such people were put inside and little notice wes paid to the disturbances created by individuals.

At this stage though the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom decided to visit several parts of the

Empire and Commonwealth 1n Africa - Kenya, the Central African Federation end South Africa were certainly included. His talks to leaders in the first two countries mentioned, caused some storms.

There were to be big changes in Africa - the whites could not expect to control for aver - in fact, there were already signs that the blacks were determined to use their numerical preponderances to grasp power. He must have carried his views to Caps Town. In no small way for it was there that he made his historic speech about the "Winds of Change”.  The thinking was revolutionary for a man in his position, especially the implied warning that the British possessions in the Continent would be part of the predicted change. We got to know in Salisbury that the British High Commissioner in South Africa had virtually written the speech for his Prime Minister, Mr Harold MacMillan, and pretty certainly it was the High Commissioner who coined the phrase "the Winds of Change.

The full implications of the warning though were far from clearly seen, at that stage. Towards the end of 1955 I again made a visit to Northern Rhodesia for our exports to the mines and the country generally were rising rapidly. I took with me our Trade Commissioner, Mr. W. Barnard and Mr J. Eyssen, the Information Officer. We stayed a couple of days at Government House in Lusaka and the Governor was full of vague thoughts of how the whites could continue to play a big part in the different colonies when the real effect of the "Changes" started.

It was at Government House that I began to have my own personaI worries. Our M1n1ster, Mr Erlc Louw knew that I was in Lusaka and he directed a letter to me on an urgent basis at that address. He wanted me to agree to come to Head Office in Pretoria as a kind of personal assistant to him to begin new work that would concern better South African relations with several parts of Africa. New parts on the continent in the main were in his thinking.

I would have to do a lot of travelling to such parts. He seemed to lay special stress on the idea that I would work directly under him and not be an ordinary member of the Department. This seeming divorce from the Secretary of the Department rather bothered me. There was too the unusualness of his not sending me his letter through Mr D.D. Forsyth in the conventional way. He mentioned my service in Kenya and in the Federation and implied that I was the.one person who had `experience of a rather special kind in Africa. I had been zestful about our general relations with other states in Africa as the Departmental records would prove. From Kenya, after seeing the real values of the Nairobi office, I recommended that an office should also be opened in Salisbury and perhaps other capitals In Africa. To this letter I had no reply but General Smuts told me that he did not favour this suggestion at that stage for he and Huggins were in such close contact that a mission in Rhodesia was unnecessary. From Washington I made a further recommendation officially that some form of diplomatic mission should be opened in all three High Commission Territories and I offered myself as the chief of one such offlce. Again I had no reply from the Department, not that I feIt sure that there would be immediate reaction to my suggestion. My reply to the Minister, to his communication, which had in some ways excited me greatly, was that I had a mere three years to go, would it not be better to train someone that was younger. I mentioned also that I had been hoping that I might be allowed to stay on longer in Salisbury, where our High Commission was really beginning to pay good dividends.

But my chief worry was that l could not discuss the problem with anybody and I was perturbed that the Secretary of the Department would not regard the idea, of a form of special assistant to

the Minister, with favour. This feeling was in part confirmed when I had a chance of talking to Mr Forsyth - he bluntly stated, I felt, that my problem was one between my Minister and myself*.

So I tried to get en appointment to see the Minister to discuss the matter and was told to appear in Pretoria one day when I was en route to Natal for a family holiday - but Mr Louw had been forced to go to Durban unexpectedly on the day arranged and I missed him. It was a period of very mixed thinking and I was sensitive about my indecision.

Fate treated me unkindly - the Minister pretty obviously resented what he might have regarded my vacillation, and within a few weeks decided that as I was not keen to come to him in Pretoria, he would have to use me elsewhere and I was posted to Brazil, much to my distress, real distress. Things might have been so different had I been able to have a talk to Mr Louw, with whom I had, from Rome days onwards got on well.

 Hindsight makes me realise that when faced by a most unusual puzzle. ensure that the matter is discussed with the person chiefly concerned. I should have flown to Pretoria as soon as I returned to Salisbury from Northern Rhodesia.

On our departure from Salisbury to Brazil we were seen off by a great number of people, official end unofficial. Three such people were Sir Roy Welenskv, Lord Robbins, the Chairman of the British South Africa Company and Colonel Sir Ernest Lucas Guest. All three of them tried to extract a promise from me that when I went on pension - I had three years to go - I would return to Rhodesia where they assured me plenty of remunerative work would be found for me. 

My five and a half years in Salisbury had been a great experience and one that both officially and privately I felt warm  about.

A further note may be of interest. When I left Salisbury South Africa’s exports were topping 40 million South African pounds per annum.

 Note added in 1992:

*Mr Forsyth shouted that in no circumstances would he allow me to go to Mr Louw in such a manner that I would be out of his, Mr Forsyth’s, jurisdiction.