 |
|
|
 | | |  |
Zimbabwe – or was it Rhodesia? |
 |
Talks sink
Good progress was made for a time, but, after five days an acrimonious argument over a formula that the British team had put forward changed everything. It was to give "weight" to African votes – meaning that at election times, one Black African vote would be made worth four White votes - Ian Smith saw this as devious and drew the negotiating to a sharp end.
Brian recalled other distractions: 
What were the prayers for at the HMS Fearless talks?
© Brian Oliver |
"Marcia Williams, later Lady Falkender, was on board, and she was far too disconcertingly attractive to be allowed to remain in the plenary sessions; we felt she may have been a secret weapon the British Government had brought to disarm us."
The Rhodesian negotiating team were increasingly sceptical, remembered Brian: "The third talks ended in failure too, with the British party being unable to explain to a now highly suspicious Ian Smith how their proposed voting system was going to work fairly. Despite the British officials being surprisingly well informed in their specialist areas concerning Rhodesia, none were capable of the sort of overview which we Rhodesians had about our own country.
"The British were under massive international pressure from African nations and the UN to settle quickly and were quite unable to give any credence to our insistence on the maintenance of civilised, European standards of government and public administration. 
Ian Smith was a hard but fair negotiator
© Brian Oliver |
This was such a disappointment - look at what is happening in Zimbabwe now as a direct result of that failure.
"I still think that UDI was not a mistake because we made a stand for what was right as opposed to what was politically correct. And, on a practical note, the sanctions imposed against us, and the isolation we suffered, welded us all, black and white, into a nation. Prior to that we had been local-born or South African or British or 'native,' but we became Rhodesians, black and white fighting shoulder to shoulder in every facet of life. I am still very proud of that."
Brian’s career became quieter after the hectic UDI negotiations in the Mediterranean. He became involved in the constitutional processes leading up to the Rhodesian – British, Lancaster House talks in 1979, but was not in that negotiating team. “I am very glad that I was not, as I should have been very distressed to witness the end of all our hard work and efforts to maintain standards in our country," Brian recalled.
Your comments
| |
 Print this page |
|
Archive
Look back into the past using the Legacies' archives. Find nearly 200 tales from around the country in our collection.
Read more > |
| | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external Web sites. |
| | | |
| | |
| |
|
