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October 2015The Rhosarian 1/15 The Rhosarian 1/15 October 2015

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October 2015 October 2015The Rhosarian 1/15The Rhosarian 1/15 ADVERTISEMENTS ADVERTISEMENTS

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Peter Stiff Warfare by Other Means Only R350.00 inclORDERS TO: LEMUR BOOKS (PTY) LTD or www.galago.co.zaTel: 011 8242029 -- Fax: 086657 1764 - Email: [email protected]

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A COMPREHENSIVE MOTORING MANUAL FORALL MOTORISTS, INCORPORATING:• DEFENSIVE DRIVING

• HANDLING EMERGENCIES

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• GENERAL MOTORING SAFETY

• DRIVING FOR ECONOMY

• HOW TO TUTOR A LEARNERThe author holds four Advanced Motoring certificates,50+ years of driving experience, plus over a decade ofexperience in training others to advanced level. Inaddition, research has been ongoing for more than 20years.The book retails at R190 (plus R30 postage & packaging)direct from the author on e-mail [email protected] cell 073 582 5256 - or can be bought online from

amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com. The Author's website gives more much more info on thebook contents at www.road-safety-drive-to-stay-alive.com

The Rhodesian African Rifles and itspredecessor the Rhodesia Native Regiment





It deals widely with the uncontrolled murder of real or perceived enemies of SA in 1985/86 andthe untold story of how in 1994, former SADF Chief Gen Constand Viljoen, together with the AWB’s Terre’ Blanche, planned to plunge RSA into the maelstrom of civil war to achieve anAfrikaner Volkstaat - foiled only by the then SADF Chief, Gen Georg Meiring, threatening todeploy his ‘black’ and ‘English’ regiments to prevent it.











The Rhodesia African Rifles and itspredecessor the Rhodesian Native Regiment





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October 2015The Rhosarian 1/15 The Rhosarian 1/15 October 201548 1


THE FLAG

Honorary President: The Hon Mr Justice H.G. SquiresHonorary Vice-Presidents: Air Vice Marshal C.W. Dams

Dr J.R.T. WoodMr J.C. Pirrett

CONTENTSSubject Page

Advertisements CoverNational - Contents & Objects 1

- Chairman's Report 2- Notice Board 3- Editorial 4

Msasa Mail - Coming up 5- Mary's Meander 6- Members' News 7-10- This n That 10- Opportunities 11- Tailpiece 11

Fish Eagle - Chairman's Message 12- Notices / Birthdays 13- Contacts 14- Social Report 15- Welfare Report 16

Subject Page

Shamwari - Forthcoming Events 17Balancing Rocks - Chairman's Letter 19Ridgeback - Chair/Welfare Report 20

- Events & Contacts 21-23- Rhodesian Calendar 24-25

Remembrance - Remembrance Services 26Pensioners - Zim Govt Pensions 27Promotions - Stilfontein 28Looking Back - UDI Golden Jubilee 29

- PPS to Ian Smith 30-33- Frank Oats 34-36

Promotions - Rhodesian Books 37-38- Abduction ... 39-41- Flame Lily Shop 42

The FLAG - Zimbabwe Review 43-48

OBJECTSTo promote, further and secure the interests of former residents of Rhodesia/

Zimbabwe and their descendants.To provide or facilitate residential accommodation for persons over the

age of 60, in particular for those former residents of Rhodesia/Zimbabwewho have settled in the RSA.

To give help in particular to the aged and the disabled.To preserve the history and heritage of Rhodesia.

MEMBERSHIPRhodesians/Zimbabweans and South Africans over the age of 18 whosubscribe to the objects of the Foundation.Single: R75,00 - Couple: R90,00 to 31 March 2017Life Membership: R1 500,00

DISCLAIMERThe views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily shared by the Editor or theManagement of the Flame Lily Foundation.

The problem is the Zimbabwean politicalmachine has little time for democratic issues orsuch subtle nuances as the will of the people. Themachine is controlled by ZANU PF, and for themoment ZANU PF is controlled by Mugabe.However, Makoni says that old age is fast prisingopen the old dictator’s grip: “Even physically, hecan only sit up alert in his chair for 40 minutes.He’s not there mentally or physically the rest ofthe time. “People ask me about Mugabe and I sayhe was genuine up to a point, then he changed, andI can tell in both time and mind when that changetook place and to some extent why.”

He says that in the late 1980s Mugabe lostthree colleagues – Maurice Nyagumbo, whocommitted suicide by drinking rat poison, EnosNkala, one of the founders of ZANU who accusedMugabe of assassinating rivals, and Edgar Tekere,who denounced Mugabe and constantly criticisedZANU PF corruption, so was expelled from theparty in 1988. “They were the only people morethan equal with Mugabe, the only ones who couldsay no, because it was they who brought him intothe nationalist movement.”

Today the voice in Mugabe’s ear, according toMakoni and others, is that of his wife Grace. Herrise to prominence over the past 12 months hasbeen spectacular even by Zimbabwe’s warpedstandards of dynastic entitlement. Grace was atypist in the President’s office when she andMugabe began an affair, apparently sanctionedby his dying first wife Sally. Now approaching50, more than 40 years the President’s junior,Grace has been transformed from First Lady andmother of two children with Mugabe to leader ofZANU PF’s Woman’s League, thus landing aplace in the ruling party’s politburo. Along theway in 2014 she was awarded a questionablesociology PhD by the University of Zimbabwe,having enrolled on the course only two monthsearlier, and there have since been calls fromZimbabwean academics for her to give herdoctorate back.

Makoni is sure the end of the Mugabe era isvery close and “when he goes the door will openfor us to rebuild and restore a modicum of esteemand decency and respect for ourselves.” Howeverhe does fear a desperate attempt by the Mugabedynasty to hang on to power and can’t discountthe widely despised Grace. “Grace wants to bethere. It’s unbelievable but it’s true. She wants to

be president. That’s how irrational we havebecome.”Sanctions as smokescreen

Robert Mugabe blames white colonials generallyfor his country’s current plight, and US and EU“sanctions” specifically for the parlous state ofZimbabwe’s economy. While the invasion fromEurope during the Victorian era may havedestabilised a rural, tribal people and indeedexploited them in the 20th century, most of today’sblack Zimbabweans are so-called “born frees”,born after independence and thus having noexperience of colonial exploitation. They do notshare their president’s views.

The cover of sanctions is also tenuous, to say theleast. The US implemented sanctions targetedagainst Zimbabwean government officials, securitychiefs and state-owned companies in 2002 andextended these measures earlier this year because,according to President Obama, “President Mugabeand his associates continue to undermineZimbabwe’s democratic process”. However, theUS has continued to export goods to Zimbabweand Zimbabwe exports goods to the US. There is notrade embargo. Equally the US continues to provideaid to the country – more than $2bn sinceindependence in 1980.

So too the EU, which until last year appliedwhat it called “restrictive measures” against 86targeted individuals. The EU has now suspendedits restrictions on all but two individuals – Robertand Grace Mugabe – which means the other ZANUPF officials can now travel in the EU and haveaccess to their various bank accounts. So a constantstream of money, in the form of project-targetedfunding to help prop up the education system,sectors of the health service, and agriculture,continues to flow in from Mugabe’s historicalenemies, the US and the EU.

However, the issue of sanctions has providedMugabe with a convenient smokescreen for morethan a decade. Zimbabwean economist JohnRobertson says that “the whole issue of sanctionswas the most generous gift the West could havegiven Mugabe because he’s played it out as theentire reason for the failure of the economy afterthe so-called land reform programme. In fact theUS and the EU have fed this country throughout thebad years.”[Shortened. Complete article available on requestfrom [email protected] - Ed]

October 2015 October 2015The Rhosarian 1/15The Rhosarian 1/152 47

NATIONAL THE FLAG

NATIONAL CHAIRMAN’S REPORT FOR THE YEARENDING 31 MARCH 2015

ManagementOur Committee has

continued to work welltogether and again we oweour thanks to our two localHonorary Vice Presidents,Chris Dams and John Pirrett,who regularly attend ourmeetings and make muchvaluable input.

John and Mary Redfernshoulder most of the day-to-day administration.

A sub-committee, comprising Ned Donkin,Chris Dams and myself was formed, after the lastAGM to try to formulate the necessary changes toour organisation to meet future conditions.

MembershipOur membership remains fairly constant,

natural wastage is partly counter-balanced bymembers recruited through our efforts onPensions. After 30 years our existence isbecoming more widely known. As at 31December 2014 we had 1240 Annual Members353 Life Members and 61 Privileged Members;a total membership of 1654 compared with 1603in December 2013.

WelfareStilfontein accommodation is still much in

demand. We have made enquiries as to its future,and successor. Subsidies amounted to almostR60 000 during the past year.

Last year we paid out R293 000 in grants toGrateful Gran beneficiaries, thanks to thegenerosity of regular donors and OSPA.

In addition, all the branches have their ownongoing welfare programmes. They also holdvarious and varied functions for fund-raisingand bringing people together.

Zimbabwe pensions and pensioners still takeup a lot of time, with constant telephone and e-mail queries and questions, both from pensionersto us, and from us to Harare. Communicationwith Harare is constant and ongoing.

CultureOur Reference Library continues to grow,

with well over 600 non-fiction titles aboutRhodesia and its way of life. Fiction or faction-titles are sold or disposed of to best advantage.

Over the past year we have sold large amountsof militaria, memorabilia and stamps, therebyraising several thousand rands for our funds.

Again, during the year, we have attendedmany memorial services in Pretoria andJohannesburg. There we have remembered ourfallen and celebrated our living.

FinanceOur funds are decreasing slightly. Donations

have fallen, and our outgoings have increaseddramatically. We are still firmly in the black,this largely due to the careful management ofour Honorary Treasurer, John Parsons. Thankyou John.

InformationOur website is not operating as well as we

would like at the moment and we are lookinginto the employment of a new webmaster.

Newsletters from the branches and TheRhosarian magazine from National inform ourmembers of our activities and the latest news onrelevant subjects. These publications continueto provide a good quality service. Our thanks toall editors and contributors. Where possible, wemake use of e-mails to distribute ourpublications. This is increasingly necessarybecause of the unreliable postal services.

GoalsAt last we, via our sub-committee referred to

above, are gradually getting to what we are,where we are, and where we want to be.

MIKE RUSSELLNational Chairman19 May 2015

more than two million black farm workers andtheir families. He says that even the workingcommercial farms today employ very smallnumbers by comparison, leaving a largeunemployed rural community struggling tosurvive. He points out that former Zimbabweanfarmers who have been accepted with open armsby the Zambian government have helped turn thatcountry’s agricultural economy around. It is theZimbabweans’ innovations that have transformedsmall-scale growers in their adopted country intoproductive farmers, upping their production fromhalf a ton per hectare to between four and five tonsa hectare. This year Zambia will be the onlysouthern African country with a maize surplusand, ironically, will be exporting 300,000 tons ofwheat to its starving neighbour, Zimbabwe.

Freeth and his father-in-law Mike Campbellwere run off their Mount Carmel fruit farm byPeter Chamada, the son of Mugabe’s close politicalally Nathan Shamuyarira. They and Freeth’smother-in-law were abducted, tortured and beatenby a gang of Chamada’s storm troopers. Thefamily took their case to the African Union humanrights court in Namibia and, although MikeCampbell was too severely battered to attend thefinal hearing, Freeth appeared, albeit in awheelchair with his head swathed in bandages, tohear the court declare attempts to invade the farmillegal. Mugabe ignored the ruling and two monthslater the farmhouse was burned to the ground.Freeth and his family were finally driven off theirfarm. Mike Campbell, who said his torturers hadturned him into an old man overnight, died twoyears later of complications from the assaults.

In June Ben Freeth, who continues to campaignfor Zimbabwe’s white farmers as executivedirector of the Mike Campbell Foundation,appeared before the US Congress’s HomeCommittee on Foreign Affairs and claimed thatalthough the white population on commercialfarms had been cut to 5% of what it was, “ethniccleansing of those rural areas continues. Thoseremaining farmers are persistently terrorised orcriminalised and face two years in jail forcommitting the ‘crime’ of farming their land andliving in their own homes on these farms – in acountry that is starving.”

When I ask him why he keeps campaigningFreeth says that his aim is to go back to farming“and black Zimbabweans say to us all the time‘don’t leave, please stay’. That’s what gives ushope and drives us. The people want us.”President in waiting

The vast majority of Zimbabweans I speak towant a new president, and a new government, assoon as possible. They dread the idea of anotherrigged election in 2018 that, given past form, mayeven fiddle a 95-year-old Robert Mugabe into yetanother presidential tenure.

One name keeps coming up – Simba Makoni.An English-educated former ZANU PF minister,he became disillusioned with the party in the mid2000s and resigned in 2008 to run against Mugabeand Morgan Tsvangirai in the presidential election.Though the precise numbers are disputed, he camea distant third – Tsvangirai won with around 51%,Mugabe recorded 40% and Makoni, with none ofhis rivals’ financial or organisational backing,came in with 9%. Although he remains on thepolitical margins, for many he is the people’spresident in waiting.

I meet Makoni at his Galleria KwaMurongo, anart centre and restaurant in Harare. He is in a rushas he needs to drive 250 kilometres to Mutare toback his Dawn Party candidate in the next week’sby-election. Makoni has no illusions of victory as“we expect ZANU PF will have rigged it”.

Makoni has supported the MDC’s MorganTsvangirai in the past and recognises the need toform what he calls a “grand coalition” to oustMugabe and his party. Makoni has travelled a longpolitical road. He was educated at Leeds Universityduring the 1970s Rhodesian War and returned totake his place in ZANU PF in the early days ofindependence. Then, he says, Mugabe and a smallcircle of insiders began to betray the ethical base ofthe liberation struggle. “Today the rulers are so faraway from the visions, ideals, principles, ambitionsof the liberation movement I was proud to be partof.” He left ZANU PF in 2008 “and the day Iannounced I was leaving somebody in the partypromised me I would be buried within a week”.Seven years later he is still around, a principledthorn in his old party’s side, a man several foreigndiplomats describe as “the most ethical politicianin the country”.


THE FLAG NATIONAL46

MANAGING COMMITTEEELECTED AT THE NATIONAL

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON20 MAY2015

Chairman: Mr Mike RussellVice-Chairman: Mr Ned DonkinTreasurer: Mr John ParsonsSecretary: Mr John Redfern

GRATEFUL GRANOur thanks to members andfriends of the Foundation whomake regular donations to ourProject Grateful Gran.National currently assists Rhodesianpensioners with grants on a quarterlybasis. Branches assist many others.All donations received are verymuch appreciated.Corporate donors and individualsmay claim an Income Tax rebateof up to 10% of taxable income.

PENSIONERSForms to apply for resumption of aZimbabwe government pension canbe obtained by writing to:

FLAME LILY FOUNDATIONPO Box 954740145 Waterkloof

or e-mail:

[email protected]

DONORSDonations to the Flame LilyFoundation may be tax deductible,in terms of Section 18A of theIncome Tax Act, 1962.Donations of R500,00 or more tothe FLF, including stop orders,will be receipted accordingly, solong as donors provide theNational Secretary with their fullnames and postal address.

Bank DetailsName: Flame Lily FoundationAccount No.: 1500 680 799Bank: ABSABranch: Brooklyn CourtCode: 335345

NONONONONOTICE BOTICE BOTICE BOTICE BOTICE BOARDARDARDARDARD

BEQUESTSMany elderly members cannotafford to contribute financially tothe FLF, as much as they mightwish to do so. Some have no closefamily to inherit all or part of theirEstate. By bequeathing somethingto the FLF, they can contributetowards the needs of others afterthey have passed on.Please contact Mary on 0124602066 if you need any help oradvice in this regard.

during the elections to counter unfavourable votingoutcomes; parallel registration and statisticalmanoeuvring, depopulation and population ofhostile constituencies,” in co-ordination with theRegistrar’s Office and an official of the ChineseCommunist Party identified in the documents asChung Huwao. A list of other nefarious activitieswere laid out, all “as advised by Nikuv”.

Seven major companies, including MbadaDiamond Company, Anjin and China Sonangol,operate the Marange diamond fields and all areconnected to the Zimbabwe military and ZANUPF politicians. Mbada for example is headed byRaymond Mhlanga, Mugabe’s former pilot andwidely known to be a close business associate ofthe president. (Mhlanga was also prosecutionwitness in the bizarre 2003 treason trial of MDCopposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.)

Anjin, on the surface a joint venture betweenan obscure Zimbabwean firm called Matt Bronzeand a Chinese construction company, is in fact ajoint venture between the Zimbabwean generalsand Chinese party officials; and China Sonangol,via a labyrinth of holding companies, is connectedto the Queensway Group, whose principal owneris Sam Pa, currently under sanctions from the USTreasury for actively supporting Mugabe’s regime.According to a report by the British anti-corruptionwatchdog Global Witness, based on documentsleaked from Zimbabwe’s CIO, Pa’s company hadbeen allowed a share in the diamond fields after hedonated 200 vehicles and $100m to Mugabe’ssecret police.

Today it seems the Marange fields have beenpicked clean and are all but empty of alluvialdiamonds, with the bulk of the money havinggone abroad. Which partly explains why thegovernment can no longer pay its Civil Service ontime and has failed consistently to pay its debtshere and internationally. The amount of that vastrevenue that made it to the Treasury in taxes istiny. Eddie Cross says he “doubts that more than$200m in total came in”.Environmental catastrophe

As the sun-baked farmers at the Tin Roofrestaurant will tell you, the biggest calamity overthe past 15 years has been the collapse ofcommercial farming. Before Mugabe turned his

militant gangs, whom he passed off as liberationwar veterans hungry for land, on the white farmingcommunity early in 2000, agriculture was thebedrock of the Zimbabwean economy. At thattime there were 5,000 white farmers, the countryproduced more than two million tons of maize – asurplus of 300,000 tons – and more than 240million kilos of high-grade tobacco. There werealso prosperous dairy and beef industries thatsatisfied local demand and earned precious foreignexchange. Zimbabwe was indeed the breadbasketof southern Africa.

Today there are fewer than 350 white farmersleft working the land and, although some legitimateblack farmers have replaced the whites, many ofthe most productive farms have been handed toZANU PF politicians and cronies – pliable judges,retired generals, provincial administrators,girlfriends of ministers – who have become knownas weekend farmers. Hendrik Olivier, director ofthe Commercial Farmers Union, says the so-calledland reform programme has been a disaster. “Thegovernment touts the tobacco industry as a hugesuccess but it isn’t,” he says. “In 2000 there were2,000 commercial farmers producing more than240 million kilos of tobacco. Today we have100,000 people registered as tobacco farmers andwe’re producing less than 160 million kilos ofpoor quality crop. That is not a success.”

These small farmers are also in the process ofcreating an environmental catastrophe. Last year350,000 hectares of indigenous timber, mainlymsasa forests, were cut down, much of it to flue-cure tobacco. The farmers do not have theinfrastructure, financial resources or means oftransport to transfer the necessary coal from theHwange collieries in the west of the country astheir predecessors did, so they have taken to themost accessible form of fuel in the area – the msasaforests. So serious is the problem that foreigndiplomatic missions have confronted thegovernment over the issue and one diplomat toldme “we are hoping they (the government) have thesense to realise this has to stop. It is terrible. It ispeople going for the short-term solutions.”

According to Ben Freeth, one of the best knownof the evicted white farmers, the destruction of theold farming system has led to the displacement of

October 2015 October 2015The Rhosarian 1/15The Rhosarian 1/154

NATIONAL THE FLAG

Front cover: Scene from World's View, Matopos

45

EDITORIAL“In the Year of Jubileeeach of you may returnto the land that belongedto your ancestors.”

Leviticus 25:13

The Year of Jubilee - the50th anniversary of theDay of Atonement - was

very special for Hebrews under the OldCovenant.

2015, in a sense, is the Year of Jubilee forRhodesians. 50 years ago the Rhodesian Frontgovernment unilaterally declared Rhodesia tobe independent. We can “return to the land” inmemory, because the land we knew as Rhodesiaremains only in our memories and in historybooks. Whether you agreed with the decision to“go it alone” or not, it is an event that changedforever the lives of all Rhodesians.

During this past year we have witnessedmindless attacks on images and the character ofCecil John Rhodes, founder of our erstwhilecountry. Zimbabwe, and Zambia for that matter,would have looked totally different today had itnot been for the occupation of Mashonaland bythe Pioneer Column in 1890, followed bysettlement of Europeans and development ofthe region along modern civilized lines. Thelegacy survives, despite attempts by ignoramusesto eliminate Rhodes from the history of southernAfrica.

2015 is also the 125th anniversary of thePioneer Column. This was celebrated in style on12 September by Rhodesians in Gauteng, thanksto Rob Bristow and his team. This day is alsosignificant in Rhodesia’s history for thefollowing events:1904 - Victoria Falls Bridge is opened.

1923 - Britain annexed Southern Rhodesia fromthe BSA Company and granted self-government.

1941 - 44 Squadron RAF granted the name‘Rhodesia’ after its number by King George VI.The Rhosarian magazine is a sort of annual

‘get-together’ on paper. It includes newslettersfrom each of our five branches, as well ashistorical and cultural articles, and forthcomingsocial and cultural events. It ends with a summaryof recent happenings in Zimbabwe. There shouldbe something for everyone.

The first Rhosarian was published 30 yearsago. RASA National, predecessor to the FLF,wanted a name that would encompass the words‘Rhodesian’ and ‘South African’; hence Rho-SA-rian. Simple as that.

Because so many FLF members now use e-mail, and bandwidth has increased to enablelarge files to be transmitted, we now have adigital version of the magazine. Printing costshave risen each year, and the South Africanpostal service let us down badly last year, so wehope that more readers will accept the magazineby e-mail in future.

All good things must come to an end. Life-styles are changing rapidly and the younger (andlast) Rhodesian-born generation does not have -and cannot be expected to have - the emotionalties to Rhodesia as we knew it. We must, however,hand over the reins to younger people to preservewhat is important.

How many of you reading this have ‘children’in their 40s to 60s? What have you done tointerest them in their heritage?

Would anyone like to help us with newsletters,fund-raising, organising events, clerical work,etc.?

JOHN REDFERNHonorary National SecretaryEditor

year-old Joice Majuru, former vice president andwidow of the assassinated former General SolomonMajuru, and 69-year-old Emmerson Mnangagwa,vice president, hard man and living embodimentof ZANU PF’s Stalinist Old Guard. Majuru wasexpelled from the party at its national congresslast year, with Mugabe’s wife Grace accusingMajuru of planning a coup, and she retreated tothe farm bequeathed to her by the assassinatedSolomon. From there she is apparently planningthe first post-Mugabe government while she livesin fear of death. The MDC (Movement forDemocratic Change) MP Eddie Cross says she isin great danger “and our advice to her has been forher to stay in ZANU PF and stay quiet. That maysave her life.”

Mugabe’s government has in the past shownlittle mercy to its enemies. While Zimbabwe hasall the outward appearances of a Westerndemocracy – elections every five years, anoutspoken free press ranging from State-sponsoredZANU PF publicity papers to independent anti-Mugabe dailies, and a carefully selected judiciarygoing through the motions of applied justice –underneath is a cruel and ruthless Stalinist statethat treats every threat to the regime’s rule withpitiless efficiency. Most recently, in late March,journalist and human rights activist Itai Dzamarawas bundled into an unmarked car and has notbeen seen since. It is assumed he is dead.

Former ZANU PF chairman of the minescommittee Edward Chindori-Chininga, aftermaking a statement on corruption associated withthe Marange alluvial diamond fields, was killedon a drive along a remote country road. Theofficial version is that this was a road accident, butopposition politicians insist he was shot in thehead while he was driving. Chindori-Chiningawas buried within 24 hours of his death and therewas no autopsy. MDC MP Eddie Cross rememberscongratulating Chindori-Chininga on a braveparliamentary speech “and he said ‘they’re goingto come after me’. Ten days later he was dead.”

Even former darlings of the party have metwith sudden termination when seen as crossingthe leadership. Solomon Majuru was one ofMugabe’s trusted generals and closest allies duringthe liberation war, but in 2011 he was despatched

with brutal force. It appears he’d arrived at hisfarm, was ordered out of his car and shot, and hisbody was taken into his bedroom whereupon it wasset alight with phosphorus grenades. The buildingwas also set alight.

At the subsequent inquest witnesses confirmedthey had heard shots some hours before the fire andthat Majuru had been burned beyond recognition.The verdict, however, declared there was noevidence of foul play and denied the family’srequest for exhumation.

Several reasons are offered for Chindori-Chininga’s and Majuru’s sudden deaths. Both hadbeen critical for some time of Mugabe’s leadershipand both believed the time had come for change atthe top. Also, both had criticised Mugabe’sinvolvement in the Marange alluvial diamondoperation that had made a small group of individualsseriously wealthy but had all but eluded contributingto the national treasury.

Between 2008 and 2013 the Marange fields inthe country’s eastern highlands, at the time thelargest diamond-producing project in the world,yielded an estimated 120 million carats of diamondsvalued at more than $12bn. Marange diamondsaccounted for 10% of the world’s supply and itsreserves, estimated at 200 million carats, were thelargest anywhere outside Russia. Today, nobodyis certain about the precise value of Marangediamonds as very little was officially recorded andalmost no revenue found its way to the treasury.Quite clearly a parallel economy was operatinghere.

That parallel economy has been feeding vastsums of money into ZANU PF coffers. In 2013 theAmerican investigative platform 100 Reporterspublished Zimbabwean Central Intelligence (CIO)documents that revealed how $1bn in diamondrevenues was invested in security and intelligencemeasures designed to rig that year’s generalelection. Also, according to court papers filed byopposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, ZANU PFpaid Israeli company Nikuv International Projectsat least $10m to help manipulate the election.

Among the steps listed by the CIO were:“registering less than 10 real voters on any givenday with direct command from Nikuv and theParty; populating the voters roll both before and


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MailMailMailMailMailVol 33No. 4/15

44

COMING UPCOMING UPCOMING UPCOMING UPCOMING UP

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY SERVICESUNDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2015

14:45 (2.45 PM) for 15:00 (3.00.PM)VOORTREKKER MONUMENT CHAPEL

off Eeufees Road (M7), Pretoria (coordinates 25°46’35.61"S, 28°10’29.23"E).

The Remembrance Service will take place in memory of all those who losttheir lives for Rhodesia and its people.

Wreaths will be laid on behalf of the various Rhodesian Forces, and thepeople of Rhodesia.

Private wreaths or floral tributes can be placed in memory of loved onesand friends who paid the supreme sacrifice.

Tea and refreshments will be served after the Service.An entrance fee of R15 per car is charged at the gate.

Rhodesians remembered in South AfricaOn 31 May this year, the FLF planted a cross by the SADF Wall of Remebrance at the Voortrekker

Monument. Wreaths were laid by representatives of the RLI and SAS Associations, and RhodesianCorps of Engineers. Names of Rhodesians who were killed on active service for their adopted country,South Africa, are inscribed on the SADF Wall of Remembrance.

30 January 1981Hutchinson R.L.Park J.K.Suttil I.

18 August 1982Beech R.Berry P.D.Wessels J.A.

14 November 1987Stapa A.

6 September 197914 Rhodesian soldiers and three SAAF crew diedwhen a Puma helicopter was brought down byenemy fire in the Mapai area of Mozambique.Their remains were buried by locals at the site.A memorial plaque bearing the names of these men,who were participating in a combined Rhodesian-South African operation, is mounted close to theSADF Wall of Remembrance. Former members ofthe Rhodesian Light Infantry and Rhodesian Corpsof Engineers laid wreaths at the Puma 164 plaque.

Inside Mugabe’s Zimbabwe:as country slides into famineNewsweek / The Zimbabwean15 July 2015

At the Tin Roof restaurant round the back ofthe Chisipite Shopping Centre, white, sun-bakedformer farmers gather for a lunch of barbecuedribs and cold Castle lagers, and to talk about thegood old days.

The owner, Leith Bray, was run off his Tengwefarm in 2002 by a baying mob intent on killinghim, but he now laughs that off as part of life’srich tapestry and gets on with his new career as arestaurant proprietor. “That’s what Zimbabweansdo – they make a plan,” says Bray.

Half a mile away along Enterprise Road, pastthe desperate, ragged street-corner vendors sellingeverything from mobile phone airtime for nickel-and-dime commissions to rhinos and elephantsmade from beer cans, a more contemporary crowdis dining on fusion cuisine and South Africanchardonnays in four acres of lush, beautifullylandscaped gardens. Amanzi Restaurant is ownedby Andrew and Julia Mama, a gregarious Nigerian-British couple who fled sectarian violence inNigeria to settle in what they regard as a relativelypeaceful African country. Amanzi draws in thediplomats, NGOs, aid workers and visitingEuropean doctors, all of whom give theZimbabwean capital a veneer of prosperity andnormality.

But right now Zimbabwe is anything butprosperous and normal. Robert Mugabe and hisZANU PF government, while greatly enrichingthemselves, have run this country into the ground.It is bankrupt and this year faces a famine of epicproportions – there is a shortfall of more than amillion tonnes of maize and, at the time of writing,Mugabe’s government has failed to issue a letterof appeal to the United Nations, standard procedureto get the World Food Programme activated.According to opposition member of parliamentEddie Cross this is either down to Mugabe’s“pride or simply lack of attention”. On suchwhims, it seems, hangs the fate of millions ofZimbabweans.

At the same time the economic sectors –

manufacturing, mining and agriculture – that wereonce the engine room of a productive andinnovative small economy are grinding slowly toa halt. The second city Bulawayo, once the hub ofthe nation’s industrial output, lies still and silent,the Detroit of the Zimbabwean lowveldt. Atindependence, manufacturing contributed 27% ofthe country’s GDP and employed more than oneand a half million people. Last year more than 100businesses in Bulawayo closed their doors and, ofthose surviving, 60% have been placed underjudicial management. Those who are still there arejust hanging on. Making a plan.

The blame for this economic torpor liesunequivocally with Mugabe and his ZANU PF.These days the 91-year-old is known in Zimbabweas “a visiting president”, as in a visiting collegeprofessor. His role as President of the AfricanUnion – another bankrupt African organisationthat depends for survival on largesse from theWest – has him jetting from one AU constituencyto another just as his own country appears to belocked in a death struggle. For the first time in 35years of totalitarian rule Mugabe’s political partyis starting to tear itself apart, purging itself offormer stalwarts, breaking into warring factionsas the leadership contenders position themselvesfor the moment the Old Man dies.

The whole country is waiting for that moment.I have just spent a month travelling aroundZimbabwe and, from the wilderness areas, throughthe rural communities, and in the major cities, thephrase that prefaces almost every conversation is“When the Old Man goes…” It will be a definingmoment for the new Zimbabwe. But right now theOld Zimbabwe is clinging on by its fingertips. It isa situation that alarms David Coltart, a formerCabinet minister in the now defunct Governmentof National Unity (GNU). He says that sinceindependence from white minority rule in 1980“we have never had a situation where you’ve gotweapons under the control of so many differententities – ZANU is fragmented, the army isfragmented, the Central Intelligence Organisation(CIO) is fragmented, the police are fragmented –and there is a leadership vacuum. As a country, asa people, we are at our lowest ebb.”

The major contenders are, for the moment, 60-


MSASA MAIL THE FLAG

Flame Lily Abridged GazetteThe

FLAGZimbabwe Profile

2015

No. 5/15

The FLAG comprises extracts from media articles and reports on Zimbabwe.Sources are given, where known, so that readers may obtain the completearticle if they wish.

MARMARMARMARMARY'S MEANDERY'S MEANDERY'S MEANDERY'S MEANDERY'S MEANDERLast year we tried to

reduce the Msasa Mailto go out quarterlyinstead of bi-monthly,but now feel the gap istoo long. We maycontinue bi-monthlyafter this newsletter.

A few weeks ago wehad a phone call from a former army colleagueof John, Peter Morris, wanting to join theFLF. Whilst chatting, he told me that he hadstarted a support group for amputees in PortElizabeth. Read a short excerpt from thebackground to the group on page 10. If youare interested in helping, we can e-mail youthe complete document.

Some Rhodesians just keep on going; MrsWinchester needed a Certificate of Life toreapply for her Zimbabwe pension. I askedher if she had access to e-mail. “Yes, I help myson in his business with his e-mails twice aweek”. She is 93!

This year we hope that everyone will receivetheir copy of The Rhosarian in time for theRemembrance Service on 15 November,and that the SA Post Office will not let usdown again. It is an important occasion whenwe meet at the Voortrekker Monument Chapel

to remember those who died for our country.Pastor Dave Carter will lead the service,assisted by Eric Finaughty, his son-in-law,who conducted the Remembrance Servicelast year. Afterwards we will gather togetherfor a time of fellowship and refreshments.

The news about the extensive fraud at theZimbabwe Pensions Office came as a shock -or maybe not. As a result of this all pensionerswhose pensions are paid into a Zimbabwebank account are required to present aCertificate of Life in person. This poses aproblem for some pensioners living outsidethe country who have not officially emigrated.See page 27 for more on ZimbabweGovernment pensions.

Most e-mails I get these days are to do withpensions, but some are just confusing, as youwill find further on in this newsletter. Most e-mails and phone calls are friendly and makethe task worthwhile.

It feels strange to wish you all a MerryChristmas in October, but the end of the yearwill be with us before you know it! Last yearmany of us only received our Christmas mailwell into the new year, due to the SAPOstrike.

Best wishes,

Mary“Keeping the Flame alive”

KNOKNOKNOKNOKNOW W W W W YYYYYOUR HISTOUR HISTOUR HISTOUR HISTOUR HISTORORORORORYYYYYUDI - FAME OR FOLLY?

11 November 2015 marks the 50th (Golden)Anniversary of Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declarationof Independence from Britain. Some of ourmembers might have read Dr J.R.T. Wood’s (2005)history So Far and No Further! There is surely nomore incisive a summing-up of UDI, and itsconsequences, than that book’s last paragraph:

“The die was cast, and Rhodesia was doomednever to be recognised internationally and wouldhave to fight for her very existence until, after

Ian Smith had been forced by BalthazarJohannes Vorster, Verwoerd’s successor, toconcede majority rule she succumbed andaccepted a British negotiated settlement whichplaced Robert Gabriel Mugabe firmly inpower.”

Contributed by Phil Garbett.**In his memoirs Serving Secretly - An

Intelligence Chief On Record (Sept. 1987) KenFlower notes that 19 October 1965 was the date onwhich the Rhodesian government’s SecurityCouncil decided ‘to go for UDI’. [Serving Secretly,p.47]

Cecil: what’s going on?

At least five British national newspapersyesterday screamed in front page stories aboutCecil, the lion that was killed by an Americantourist, Walter Palmer, on July 1 at a game farm inGwayi Conservancy, ... condemning Palmer, adentist from Minnesota, for taking down Cecilafter paying $50,000 for the hunt.

It is not an overstatement that almost 99,99percent of Zimbabweans didn’t know about thisanimal until Monday. Now we have just learnt,thanks to the British media, that we had Africa’smost famous lion all along, an icon!

Why such an outpouring of grief in the Westover one lion? This is certainly not the firstsuccessful lion hunt in Zimbabwe, Africa or theworld over, and will not be the last. So why somuch interest? The name Cecil perhaps, given itshistorical significance for white monopoly capitalin Southern Africa and the West? Many believethe lion was named after Cecil John Rhodes, thecelebrated forerunner of British colonialism inSouthern Africa, explaining the saturation coverageon the demise of his namesake.

Those who believe the interest is bigger than amere lion could be justified as Cecil, who roamedthe Hwange National Park, was the focal point ofa research project by Oxford University, Cecil thecolonialist’s Alma mater. Rhodes learnt at OrielCollege, a constituent college of the University ofOxford in Oxford, England, for only one term in1873.

Theodro Bronkhorst, 52, of Bulawayo, whofacilitated the killing appeared before Hwangemagistrate Lindiwe Maphosa yesterday facing acharge of failing to prevent an unlawful hunt.

Johnny Rodrigues, a local conservationist, wasquoted by the BBC saying Cecil’s killing wastragic.

“He never bothered anybody,” Rodrigues saidof the king of the jungle. “He was one of the mostbeautiful animals to look at.” Other media reckonedCecil was “Africa’s most famous lion.” A smalldemonstration was staged at his home proclaimingPalmer as a brute who kills animals for fun. Thewalls of the dentist’s surgery were taken over by anartist who painted them with an artistic image ofCecil yesterday.Kennedy Mavhumashava, Assistant EditorThe Chronicle, 30 July 2015

October 2015The Rhosarian 1/15 The Rhosarian 1/15 October 2015MSASA MAIL742

PROMOTIONS

MEMBERS’ NEWSMEMBERS’ NEWSMEMBERS’ NEWSMEMBERS’ NEWSMEMBERS’ NEWS

MAILBAG

ITEMS AVAILABLE FROM THE FLAME LILY SHOPThe Flame Lily Shop in Pretoria carries limited stock of the following items for the benefitof our members. Branches may also carry stock of certain items. Please ask your localBranch if you want to buy any of the items listed below. Items and prices shown are forstock held in Durban or on order at 1 October 2015 - valid to 31 December 2015.

CLOTHING

1. Golf / tennis shirts available in, navy, royalblue, and bottle green, with flame lily motifon pocket. All sizes. R78,00

2. Jerseys with Flame Lily motif or RhodesiaCoat of Arms. Available on order beforeMarch 2013. Price SQ

3. Khaki short-sleeve shirts: Double breastpockets, with Rhodesian Coat of Arms onchest and Flame Lily motif on left sleeve.Available in - S, M, L. XL, XXL.: R185,00

4. T-shirts with vatious motifs: R110,00

5. Neck ties:

a. FLF. Green or blue with thin green-white-green diagonal stripes, small Flame Lilyat base. R40,00

b. RAR Regimental and Assn: R125,00

c. Rhodesia Regiment: R100,006. Peak caps:

Quality cotton 6-panelled, khaki/green two-tone, with Coat of Arms. Fits all sizes. R50,00

7. Floppy hats, khaki with Flame Lily motif invarious sizes. R40,00

SOUVENIRS, MEMENTOS

8. Rhodesian flag vinyl sticker (148mm x115mm). R10,00

9. Brooches: Flame Lily on white backgroundwithin gilt outline of Rhodesia . R25,00.

STATIONERY & AUDIO-VISUAL

10. Notelets with Flame Lily spray. Plain (5 withenvelopes) R10,00

11. CDs:

a. Rhodesian Rolls of Honour - 1965-1980.R100,00.

b. Assortment of John Edmond Albums atvarious prices.

12. DVDs:a. Flame Lily Collection. A variety of RIS

heritage filmss, set of two DVDs. R330,00b. Rhodesianaland. Centenary Celebrationat Tshipise 1990, including John Edmondconcert: R200,00

13. Books:

a. So far and no further! by Richard Wood.Soft cover: R250,00.

b. The God Botherer by Bill Dodgen: R40,00d. Rhodesian used books - see website at :

www.flf-rasa.co.za

Motifs on T-shirts

Packing and Postage excluded. Orders and quotes may be obtaineddirect from Jacqui at 031 7059337, or e-mail [email protected]

Referring to MickGammon’s response toVic Sharpe (MM No.3/15,p.3), Gordon Keith wrote:“Firstly was he related toMick Gammon ofGammon and Martin, theMotor cycle shop in Byo?I spent a lot of time thereand even bought my Norton

and Velocette spares from him.“Your story relating to the Queens Hotel

brought back memories, often my parents wouldtake a ride out to spend an afternoon there but thething that I remember most was on schoolHoliday’s cycling out from Queens Park with myfriend Robert Wolhuter to his dad's little goldmine, we would leave very early, still dark andride past the Hotel and maybe about a mile pastwould turn into the bush arriving in time for a realnice real mealie meal breakfast, after checkingout the mine we would head off to a beach (in ourimagination) sandbank on the Bembesi river wherewe used to swim, we had heard the crocs were toofar away nearer the Bembesi on the Falls road, socared not, years later I heard that crocks had beenseen there.

“The strip road mentioned, we would cycleabreast each on a strip, without lights ... there wasno traffic to worry about at that time of themorning. Maybe I am wrong but I seem to recallthat after passing the old Queens Hotel and crossedthe Bembesi bridge there was a full tar road to thenext mine which I always thought was Turk Mine.But now please tell me, if it was Lonely mine, thenwhere was Turk mine? [3 Aug 15]

Mick Gammon responded: “Mick Gammonof Gammon and Martin was my father’s cousin.He was a well known racing motor cyclist, andfather of Barbara Harrison and Pat Sprague.

“That was a good before breakfast ride youdid. It would have been about thirty miles.

“Turk Mine was beyond Queens Mine and the

river, 38 miles from Bulawayo, and Lonely Minewas further on, 52 miles from Bulawayo. Fromthere one surprisingly graduated from strips to afull tar mat to Motapa Mine, about another 15miles on. The Lonely Mine had already closeddown and Motapa was at the dead end of that road.So why, everyone wondered, was there a full tarroad there? The generally accepted explanationwas that, prior to one of the Royal visits, aninstruction was given to construct a full tar roadfrom Bulawayo to the Matopos and this waserroneously interpreted as Motapa! But I nevermet anyone who could definitely authenticate thatstory.” [8 Aug 15]

Avril Wood wrote: “I was reading the latestMsasa Mail (No.3/15) and found articles thatbrought back memories from long time ago.

“My mother’s youngest brother, Alec Prinsloo,lost his life in the Wankie disaster in 1972. Fromwhat I can remember he was not supposed to beworking on that day but went to help someone out.

“On to Sally Rau’s letter. I worked with BrendaPearson at Patton & Palmer in Harare and webecame very good friends. She then went on tobecome an air hostess and was on the Hunyaniplane when it was shot down [3 September 1978].

“I used to go to Bulawayo a lot and stayed at theCecil hotel as it was owned by the Nesbitt family.My late mother-in-law was a Nesbitt so maybesomewhere on the family tree my sons are relatedto Sally. If so it shows what a small world this is.Avril Wood” [9 August 2015]

Liz Young, Dave Young’s daughter-in-lawwrote: “Dear Mary, Today, I found a note tomyself that I wanted to let you know that MrYoung turned 90 last December [2014], and willbe turning 91 this December. We love him somuch, and are so proud of him.

He has two sons, Dave & Andy, 4 grandchildren,and 3 great grandchildren. Also Mr Young has awonderful partner, Hazel, who keeps him ForeverYoung, they laugh all the time together. Mr Youngis very independent, and also had a book printedwith most of his Forever Young, Please RememberDon't Forget poems”.

Editor: Dave wrote last year, but with the post


MSASA MAIL PROMOTIONS

office strike it arrived too late for the newsletter.“I wanted to tell you that several of the flame lilybulbs have taken off and are flowering! I wish allRhodesians everywhere the very best this Xmasand all God’s blessings. Dave Forever Young”.

We wish Dave a very happy 91st birthday on 6December. Here is one of his poems (shortened):

RomancePlease remember, don’t forgetTo love one another as you first met.A kiss, a squeeze, a pat on the backNext you know you’ll be in the sack.

Confusing e-mails from a person who resignedfrom the Flame Lily Foundation in 2011.Ex-Member:

We enjoy your newsletter so much Mary, welldone! Do we owe subs to you? How much are theyand can you give me the bank details? Have a greatday.Reply from Mary:

Thank you for your e-mail. Nice hearing fromyou again. I have a note that you resigned from theFlame Lily Foundation 1 March 2011. In view ofthat I took you off our mailing list. The subs areR70 for single persons and R85 for couples.... Letme know if your address is the same as before?Ex-member:

We still seem to be receiving a newsletter, butmaybe someone is passing it on to us. The addressis still the same ... we'll transfer the money shortly.Many thanks.Ex-member again:

Thank you for your prompt response. Sorry,but there's been a misunderstanding - we aresharing the Msasa Mail with somebody else - itssudden appearance after a long while gave me theimpression we owed you money. However, sinceyour explanation the 'confusion' is over and we'llleave it as before - our resignation remains as wasin 2011. Good luck.

Dick Hall wrote: “Have recently been given acopy of- July-September 2015 the Msasa Mail 3/15 and make reference to page 10 'The LastRhodesian'. I am ex BSAP now living in England.The following letter to a UK national paper, theDaily Mail, with a readership of over 3 millionwas published on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 [seepage 10]. I hope it has helped to assuage the anger

and frustration understandably felt by Rhodesiansworldwide to whom I send my very best wishes.”

A RASA Pretoria member living in Hararewrote about the current situation there at thebeginning of September: “Zimbabwe somehowkeeps groveling from one week to the next – everyone getting increasingly worse! Last week we hadpower cuts, every single day of the week – rangingfrom 8 hours (at least) – up to 15½ hours!

“Last night was the first time in the week thatwe did not have to put on the generator – electricity,having gone off at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning –was kindly restored around 3.30 p.m. in theafternoon! WOW – did we feel so lucky! It wasquite weird not to have the generator running in thebackground!! Yeah – off again at 6.15 this morning– and probably won’t come back on till around 10tonight! Bearing in mind that there is no councilwater supply – we therefore do not have eitherborehole or tank water available, until we eitherget electricity again – or run the generator. It’sgetting (got?) hot now and fridges and freezers arestruggling with such long power cuts. Like mostZim homes – we have an electric stove in thekitchen and a gas stove on the closed-in verandah.Last week we seldom saw electricity at all during“awake hours”.

“In all this – the house next door to me, occupiedby an African woman – don’t know her status, andthe house over the road from me (also Africans andI don’t know his status) both have non-stopelectricity and lights blaze out along their frontwalls, security lights around their houses and houseswell lit too – making a total mockery of us… thepovo, in absolute darkness. I have complained toZESA (electricity supply) about the unfairness ofit and have casually been told “They must haveconnections”.

The reason I did not go into movies, is becauseI do not get out of bed in the morning looking likeI have just come from the hairdresser / beautyparlour. Some days when there is no electricity inthe early morning (I wash my hair every day) – andI cannot justify putting on the generator just to drymy hair – I come to work with my “sucked mango”style. Believe me – it is not attractive! When Ihave to apply make-up by candle light (dark winter

process venison and make biltong and in a triceshe was able to serve the most mouth-wateringmeals - what an admirable woman.

I swerve sharply to avoid an overhangingbranch that I almost notice too late. I shall haveto be more wide-awake. One must have your witsabout you and you cannot afford to sit and dreamon these lonely roads, although I realise that Ishall have no chance against the ZANLA guerrillas.They always appear in large groups out of thedense bushes. Truly, if the Lord is not with you...!For a while I concentrate on the road again, butthis morning my thoughts keep wandering andsoon I stray back into the past.

I am grateful that six of the seven children wehave been blessed with are already on their ownfeet and independent. Four are already married,our eldest, Hans, is farming with us, Meisie andJim are in London, Mari and her husband are stillin South Africa as are George and Ann. The othertwo daughters, Jeanne and Ria work with Jean inRusape. Only Tertia, the youngest and closest tomy heart, is still at school.

The Lord has shown me great mercy. Indeed,after my operation my heart recovered somarvellously that I could buy Maringowe, thefarm of my dreams where I am heading now.What a beautiful place! It is situated in apicturesque area with a tall mountain risingheavenwards behind our house with a perennialwaterfall with rapids tumbling cheerfully down aravine. What pleasant days we have spent therealready. Our area hasn't had as many disturbancesas others. We have at times joked about the factthat it must be ancestral spirits that are protectingus because there are some graves on the slopes ofthe mountain. Several times the children havediscovered human bones washed out by heavyrains and buried them again. Even a few skullshave been revealed, which was quite eerie.Unfortunately there was also enough cover forunwanted elements.

The wife of my trusty old foreman, Jotam, beathim to death in a drunken rage. I buried him nearthe safety fence around our home. The childrenkept placing flowers on his grave because, as theysaid, "he loved his flower garden so much." Ireally missed the old fellow.

"You will now be protected against evil spirits.

You seem to have accepted their superstitions.Who has ever heard of someone burying a blackman so close to the house and then still plantingflowers for him?" the neighbours gibed.

Oh! This old humankind of ours!Jotam never trusted anyone."Listen my young master, you trust nobody, not

even me. We cannot say anything. If they find outwe have spoken they will kill us mercilessly untilthey discover the guilty person. No, none of us canbe trusted." He frequently told me.

I have always treated my workers well and havenever had any problems with any of them. Most ofthem have been working for me for years, even theseasonal workers.

"There you have it now!" I think disgustedly.With all my delays this morning, I left my rifle

in town. The instructions are that all farmers mustdrive with their rifles at the ready - not that I aimat ever using it. I was really careless. What ishappening to me? I shall have to pull myselftogether.

The farm gate suddenly looms up before me."Thank God," I mutter softly.At night they plant mines in the road. Mine-

sweepers clear the road every morning. It is just bygrace that you reach your destination. I open thedoor and look around me. Everything looks inorder; all farmers have double safety fences andgates. One of my gates is damaged. I'll have to getround to repairing it without delay. I open thesecond gate slowly and gingerly. It is as though Iam touching red-hot iron. Fed up with myself Idrive through slowly. My watch shows that it is aquarter past eleven already. I get out and close thegate carefully and then drive along the windingroad until the tobacco shed looms up before me.

"Thank God," I say with a sigh. Then all hellbreaks loose!


MSASA MAILPROMOTIONS

mornings) the results also do not leave me lookingmy best! Thanks to my government and Zesa!

“Street lights are rusted and falling over – theycould have been saved with a coat of paint alongthe years. Pot holes are atrocious – and trafficlights seldom work, if they are still standingupright! Driving to / from work is a real challenge.I do believe there is a God and I bend His ear everyday asking for safety in getting to / from work(and back home) and then giving thanks when Iget to my destination. If everyone in Zim doeswhat I do – He certainly is busy!

“Almost everything on shop shelves is nowimported (from all over the world) – available tous at prices more than doubled, if not trebled,prices we see advertised in SA! These peoplereally have destroyed the country – and feel noshame in going abroad with their begging bowls….And fully expecting it to be filled with lovelylolly, which mostly goes straight into their ownpockets. Even in the days of sanctions againstRhodesia – we were never (extremely seldom)without electricity or water!” [7 September 2015]

Chris Russell wrote: “Thanks for the ‘headsup’ on Gertrude Page the early Rhodesian preWW1 novelist in your newsletter. Am nowpresently reading ‘The Rhodesian’ ( Kindle free)that involves the BSAP and thoroughly enjoyingit. The bush scenes with the gomos, mopani etc inthe pioneering spirit, ‘Fate lies hid, but not thedeeds that true men dared and did’ as quoted. Wellworth a read if you haven’t. Her best known novelis ‘Paddy the next best thing (1908)’ which is alsoKindle free and was the subject of theatre and afilm.” [12 September 2015]

From Phil Garbett: “With respect to GertrudePage (Msasa Mail, July-Sept 2015) another writerwho has been compared directly to RudyardKipling is Henry Cullen Gouldsbury. Among hismany other works, was the anthology RhodesianRhymes, first published in 1909 at Bulawayo,then again in 1913 and 1932. The RhodesianaReprint Library edition came out during 1969 ‘tohonour the men and women who pioneeredRhodesia, and to promote a wider interest in thecountry’s history.’ Cullen Gouldsbury died aged35 in (the then German) Tanganyika Territoryduring World War I.” [12 September 2015]

NEW MEMBERSWe welcome the following new subscribers

who have joined since the previous newsletter:CANAVAN, Neil – Glasgow, Scotland.LOTTER, Trevor and Betsie – Mossel Bay.

CONTACT LOSTValda Napier wrote: “I have been requested to

find when and where Harold Miller Whiteheaddied when visiting his son, Peter WHITEHEADin Rhodesia, which was after 1964. Peter Whiteheadleft England when he was young and eventuallyhad his own farm. He was born on 25 April 1932.The Firm also need to contact Peter Whitehead.”Valda can be reached at e-mail:[email protected]

CONDOLENCESOur sincere condolences to Members who have

lost loved ones and friends.CONN, P.A. (Billy) passed away on 15 July at

Howick, KZN at age 85, having suffered astroke four years ago. He was educated atHilton College whilst based at Kisumu (Kenya)where his father worked on the Lake Victoriasteamers. He was a cub reporter with theMercury for a short while then joined theRhodesia and Nyasaland Army. He served inMalaya with C Sqn SAS (Malayan Scouts). Onhis return to Rhodesia he served with the NRRuntil the break-up of Federation, then with theRAR and the RLI. After retiring from the Armyhe worked at Mazoe Citrus Estates and joinedthe Police Reserve as a section leader of theMazoe Valley PATU. He was awarded thePolice Decoration for Gallantry in 1973 for hisconduct in action in North East Mashonaland.The Rhodesian Army later appointed Lt ColConn as CO of 1RR until the unit was disbandedwhen Zimbabwe was granted independence, afterwhich he moved to South Africa. He worked shortspells in Mozambique and on farms in the KZNMidlands in the farm-sitting role.

FIKUART, Monica Mary passed away on 24August 2015. Safe in the arms of her belovedhusband John and youngest son David. Will bemissed and never forgotten by Sally, Mark andStephen.

for this day. I am not feeling particularly perky,but I must drive out to my farm, Maringowe, in theHeadlands district. It is only about twentykilometres from Rusape where my family nowlive.

Since the recent disturbances worsened, mostof the farmers have moved their families into thenearest towns. These days I travel out to my farmand back daily to do and supervise the necessarywork. Occasionally I sleep over and then Jean andI take turns phoning each other to make sure thateverything is in order.

I am restless. I walk into our bedroom. Jean issleeping peacefully. I turn back to the kitchen.

"They will have swept the roads for landminesby now," I think reassuringly while I make coffee.

It has become routine; no one may drive on thefarm roads before a certain time. Definitely notbefore the mine sweepers have done their job.Every farmer must be off his farm an hour beforesunset, or else he must spend the night there.

Jean is awake when I enter the bedroom withour coffee.

"Is there anything wrong dear?" she asksworriedly. "Are you O.K?"

She sits up in bed. Perhaps I don't look well toher.

"Rather stay at home today," she advises."You can take a rest today."

Jean rises and starts preparing for work.I briefly consider her proposal because

something does feel wrong, although I can't placea finger on it. However, the tobacco has beenharvested, the sorting is in full swing and transporthas been arranged. The tobacco must be on themarket tomorrow. I simply have to drive out tocheck that all goes well.

"Nope," I say with a deep sigh. "I'll just haveto go. I'll take it easy there on the farm, I promise."

I cannot seem to get going this morning. I takemy daughter Ria to go and register for the comingelection. Then I drive to Edgars where Jean isworking as manager. I have a cup of tea with herbefore doing the usual Thursday shopping forgroceries for our labourers who are no longerallowed to move one kilometre off the farm. NextI stop at Edgars again!

"For crying out loud, my dear husband, Ithought you were on the farm by now," Jean

exclaims in surprise.For the third time I bid farewell to Jean and my

daughters Jeanne and Ria before walking to thedoor, tipping my large cowboy hat and bowingcourteously, while saying: "I'll be sleeping on thefarm tonight."

It is ten o'clock already when I greet them allonce more before finally hitting the road.

Along the way I think again of the time whenJean and I got married in 1944. We were living inVereeniging. Shortly after the birth of our firstchild, Hans, my uncle who was a magistrate inRhodesia made me an offer I couldn't resist. Hewanted me to go farming in Rhodesia. For me thiswas the realization of a long cherished dream. Inmy deepest being I had remained a farmer whonever grew accustomed to the stifling andoppressive city life. It took a lot of persuasion toget Jean, who was city born and bred, to agree tothis complete change in our lives. In the end herlove for me and our child prevailed.

Smiling I am reminded of our arrival in thelittle town of Selous. That in itself took somegetting used for Jean, but when she saw that ourfarm consisted of nothing but dense bush and noimprovements whatsoever, the fat was really inthe fire! That was the closest we got to packing upand high-tailing it back to the city.

Our neighbours were unbelievably good to us.The temporary accommodation they offered usenabled me and my labourers to start clearing thebush. We started cutting poles and laths for use inerecting clay huts. The workers were invaluablebecause they knew exactly how this was done. Sixweeks after our arrival I was able to move myfamily into a couple of clay huts - our first ownhome in our new country!

With my wife and child now with me, I wasable to give my attention to the building of our realhouse. Side by side with our workers, young Hansand I laboured in the clay-hole making bricks. Itdidn't take long before we moved into an impressiveand spacious brick house.

I laugh out loud at the memory. I would neverhave thought anybody could change so fast froma city slicker into a first-rate farmer's wife. Oh!That red-head of mine! She wasted no time incopying every imaginable recipe from ourneighbour's wife, learnt how to slaughter and


PROMOTIONSMSASA MAIL

MARRS, Marion passed away on 13 May 2015.Sadly missed by her husband and family.

MORRIS, Monica born 23 September 1934,passed away in Port Elizabeth on 1 September2015. Beloved wife of Peter and mother ofJacqui and AJ (Arthur), she will be sorely missed.

PARKER, Ernest died peacefully at his home inJohannesburg on 21 June 2015, aged 93. Hecame to Rhodesia in 1947 from the UK andfarmed in the Selous/Hartley area until leavingfor South Africa in 1987. He was a longstanding member of the BSA Police Reserveand, after taking up flying, became a memberof the Midlands flight of the Police ReserveAir Wing and was awarded the MSM for hisservice. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth.

STEER, Pat passed away in Stilfontein on 10June 2015. Submitted by caring neighbour asshe has no children.

TIMMINS, Beryl passed away on 16 June at theold age home in Brits.She was an avid reader,and enjoyed the Msasa Mail until the end. Shewould have turned 94 in August. Sadly missedby her family. Submitted by Sandy van derWesthuizen, Beryls daughter.

MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONA payment of R150

was made to ourNedbank account on 4May 2015 withreference“705107844".

Another for R520reference "Flame Lily"not identified.

If either is yours,please contact Mary on 012 4602066.

RASA Pretoria banking detailsAccount Name: RASA PretoriaAccount Number: 1631005235Bank: NedbankBranch: Brooklyn BranchBranch Code: 163145

THIS N THIS N THIS N THIS N THIS N THATHATHATHATHATTTTTAmputee Support Group

In 2002, Peter Morris was told that he neededto have a leg amputated below the knee. This, ofcourse, came as a big shock to him and his wifeMonica. Losing a limb presents many problems.He found that there was nobody who was able togive him support or practical advice so in 2004,remembering the struggle he experienced, hedecided to form a support group in Port Elizabeth.The group visits and encourages would-beamputees and follow-up with advice and support.They give sound advice on how to manage thebasic things in life once the patient gets home andwhat material supports are needed.

They often receive calls from all parts of thecountry for advice and assistance; as a result, it istheir long-term aim to create branches in all themajor centres of South Africa.

The full background to the Amputee SupportGroup is available from FLF at e-mail:[email protected]

If you need advice or would like to supportPeter he can be contacted by e-mail:[email protected] or Office 041-5816883 orCell: 079 8950968 or PO Box 40228, Walmer,Port Elizabeth 6070.

The ASG is a Non-profit and Public BenefitOrganization.

Replacement CertificatesCopies of birth, marriage, divorce and death

certificates can be obtained through the followingperson in Zimbabwe: Brian S. Murphy, VeracityBusiness Services (Pvt) Ltd. E-mail:[email protected]

There is a cost involved, e.g. US$100 for a birthcertificate, plus courier/delivery charges.

The Last RhodesianLetter published in The Daily Mail (UK), 24

June 2015Black and white allies

Deranged Dylann Roof, who, appallinglyslaughtered nine black churchgoers in Charleston,posted a race hate rant on the internet entitled TheLast Rhodesian.

SYNOPSIS“Abduction ...” is the gripping account of

Johannes Maartens (then 54 years old), who wasabducted from his tobacco farm in the north-eastof Rhodesia on 18 May 1978 by ZANU, led byRobert Mugabe, and thereafter for over eightmonths lived a nomadic existence as a prisoner.Every moment of this stressful time his life, andlater the lives of three of his fellow-prisoners,hung on a slender thread. They moved at shortnotice each night over rough terrain, mostlywithout medicine and little food and water, exposedto the elements and at the whim of nervous andimmature youngsters who were armed to theteeth. They realized that they could also die in thecrossfire of their own armed forces, whomercilessly hunted the terrorists. At the same timeit is the story of Jean, his wife, who through herfaith in God never lost hope, and enhanced pressurefor his release.

The two themes that run through this accountlike a golden thread are Johannes’suncompromising faith in his God and his love forhis wife and family. The greater the danger, themore intensely he places his life, and that of hiscolleagues, in the hands of his Creator. Hisconversations with God and his Christian valueseventually become an example for his abductorsand possibly even for Mugabe (who visited himon various occasions in the bush), and now foreach of us, the readers. The Word “It shall go wellwith him who sits in the shadow of the Almighty”,is strikingly illustrated throughout the story and isalso directed at us all.

Editor's Comments"Abduction ..." is ready to be published, both

in English and Afrikaans. The author has yet tosign an agreement with a publisher but, beforedoing so, would like readers' reaction to Chapter1 in order to gauge interest in the book.

The manuscript in its present form is A4 sizeand comprises 164 A4 pages of text and abouteight colour and monochrome photographs.Written in the present tense, most chapters alternatebetween what Hannes is experiencing in captivityand what Jean is doing concurrently.

Please let John Redfern know if you areinterested in obtaining a copy of the book when ithas been published. E-mail: [email protected]

CHAPTER 1

THE CALM BEFORE THESTORM

Sunday morning the 14th of May 1978 is abeautiful sunny morning in Rusape. A hallowedquietness prevails. The farmers and their familiesall flock to the church building. I am HannesMaartens and it gives me joy to participate in theactivities of the congregation with Jean and thechildren. We sit closely together in our favouritepew and I devote my full attention to our pastorreading from Scripture. I catch the word. "Whoeverdwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest inthe shadow of the Almighty" [Psalm 91:1] afavourite text ... these words are meant especiallyfor me.

While the congregation sings I am remindedthat it is sheer grace that I can sit here today. Nineyears ago my life hung by a thread. Can I everforget that day in 1969 when I suffered a seriousheart attack? The doctors regarded my survival asa miracle and believed that I would in future haveto manage my farm from the porch. I had justturned forty-six and suddenly all my plans for ourfuture and my old age lay shattered. Luckily Hanshad completed his schooling and military trainingand would be able to take over the farming.

How the Lord was with me during my greatcrisis! The doctors decided that my only chancefor survival lay in a heart transplant or coronaryartery bypass surgery. The idea of a heart transplantwas unacceptable to me and even bypass surgerywas a relatively new procedure at the time. It wasa difficult decision. But I could no longer copewith the constant helpless exhaustion. Afternumerous serious conversations with my Makeruntil deep into the night, I found clarity and agreedto a bypass operation. On 21 July 1970 DoctorChris Barnard and his team performed the doublebypass surgery which gave me a second lease ofthis life. Apart from a minor setback or two Irecovered so well that I am able to manage mytobacco, maize and cattle farming operation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thursday 18 May 1978. I rise early as is my

custom for my daily quiet time with the Lord. Itfeels as if I must ask for special strength and mercy


PROMOTIONS11

MSASA MAIL

CONTACT PERSONSSecretary: Mary RedfernTel: 012 4602066 (during office hours,otherwise an answering machine is in use.)

Chairman: Spero BlismasTel: 012 6676647

Postal address: E-mail:PO Box 95474 [email protected] Waterkloof www.flf-rasa.co.za

Fix your thoughts on what is true, andhonorable, and right, and pure, and lovely,and admirable. Think about things that areexcellent and worthy of praise.

Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)

This is a gross insult to all former Rhodesiansas it’s completely detached from reality, inferringthey were oppressive racists.

During 15 years of the Rhodesian ‘bush war‘,nearly 70 per cent of the armed forces were blackvolunteers who bravely fought side by side withtheir fellow white countrymen against terrorists,trained and armed by China, Libya, Russia, Cubaand East Germany.

I know this from personal experience, havingproudly served and lived in Rhodesia / Zimbabwefor nearly 60 years.

Dick Hall, Brixham, Devon TQ5 8NH

OPPOROPPOROPPOROPPOROPPORTUNITIESTUNITIESTUNITIESTUNITIESTUNITIESSubsidised Housing at Stilfontein

Flame Lily Foundation’s flat to letA single garden flat comprising a bedroom,

bathroom, separate toilet, a livingroom cum-kitchen is immediately available. Applicants mustbe in receipt of a pension and be capable oflooking after themselves. Please contact Mary orJohn on 012 4602066 or e-mail [email protected] more information.

Rhodesiana Reprints wantedSally Arrowsmith needs the following volumes

to complete her set of Rhodesiana Reprint LibraryGold Series: vol 25: Travel and Adventure in South East Africa

- F.C. Selousvol 26: The Autobiography of an Old Drifter -

Percy M Clarkvol 27: Ex Africa - Hans Sauervol 28: To the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi -

Eduard MohrAnyone able to help Sally please contact her at

email: [email protected]

TTTTTAILPIECEAILPIECEAILPIECEAILPIECEAILPIECEProto-Rhodesian History Quiz

In Msasa Mail 2/15 we asked the following:Which of our readers/members can name the

English-language edition of the Welsh-titled bookUn Mylneddar Ddeg yn Dehuol Africa - and itsauthor? Please let us know before 1 September2015.

Clues: This rare work “describes the foundingand development of the first white settlement...north of the Limpopo river.” It was originallypublished in 1872, then as part of the RhodesianaReprint Library.

--o-O-o--The first (and only) correct answer came from

Bruce Harrison, the answer being as follows:"Eleven Years in Central South Africa" by

Thomas Morgan Thomas, first published in Welshin 1872 (after TMT's ejection from the LMS)

Rhodesia Regiment 1899-1981by Peter Baxter, Hugh Bomford, Gerry vanTonder et al

Published by the Rhodesian ServicesAssociation

The Rhodesia Regiment was formed as partof the Empire forces for the Anglo-Boer War.The 1st Rhodesia Regiment fought in WWI inSouth West Africa and its most notable soldierwas a Rhodesian farmer called Arthur Harriswho went on to be known as ‘Bomber’ HarrisAOC Bomber Command in WWII. The 2nd

Rhodesia Regiment fought with distinction inEast Africa against General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck’s German forces. In WWII theRhodesia Regiment was the training base forthe thousands of Rhodesians who went to fightin all theatres. Post WWII the Royal RhodesiaRegiment continued to be the territorial trainingbase for Rhodesian soldiers. During the 1970’sRhodesian Bush War, the various territorialbattalions and independent companies formedthe backbone of the Rhodesian Security Forces.

This unique book has taken 15 years fromconcept to publication. Over 400 people wereinstrumental in contributing to its content.

Queen Elizabeth II, Colonel-in-Chief of theRoyal Rhodesia Regiment, was recentlypresented with a copy of this book.Book details:614 printed pages (618 total number of pages)Size 300 x 220mm portrait made up as:596pp x b/w; 8pp x colour photo section; 8pp

x colour map section; 56pp full colourappendices for Honours and Awards;Uniforms, Embellishments and Equipment.

Appendices covering Honours & Awardsincludes numerous citations; complete Rollof Honour 1899-1981; Leadership Roll;Intake numbers and dates.

There are over 8,000 individual names in thebook as well as over 1,500 photos, maps anddrawings.

It weighs 2.72 kgTo purchase:Go to www.30degreessouth.co.za

or email [email protected]

Abduction by Mugabe's guerrillas - the story of Johannes Maartens

This is the story of Hannes Maartens as told by MarthieSwift. During the 1970s Hannes and a number of others wereabducted by Mugabe’s ZANLA guerrillas. For months theywere marched through the bush and across mountainous terrain.Hungry, tattered and in constant peril of death they weredriven and at times incarcerated in extreme conditions in filthycells. His only shield and source of courage was his faith inGod and His protection.

Hannes and Jean Maartens, Johannesburg, 2005 [Continued on page39]


PROMOTIONSFISH EAGLE

THEFISHEAGLE

FLAME LILY FOUNDATIONCAPE PENINSULA BRANCH

Vol.11 No. 5 October 2015

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGECharitable giving is at its highest level - we

are blessed with our many friends’ kindnatures, they are indeed a very generousgroup. The rise in the cost of living has seenour friends coming forward with extradonations for those in need.

Members of our committee are striving toraise funds to help with much neededessentials that are beyond the normal incomesof our senior members. We are sticking to ourregular boot sales which raise a steady incomefor our Welfare Fund.

Our Vice Chairman Tony Rozemeyer cameup with a brainwave to produce a sponsoredscenic wall calendar, entitled “Memories ofRhodesia”, and asked members to submitphotos. The result will amaze you all - 14months, each month showing a beautifulphotograph, and finished off with LewisWalter’s brilliant cover design of wild flowers.

We are selling them locally, and we hopemany members in all the branches will buythese calendars , in my mind they make awonderful Christmas gift for those familiesabroad, and I would be so bold as to say thatthey will be a collector’s item.

Three things stand out in my mind, lookingback to make 2015 an exceptional year.- Firstly our Monthly Teas with an average of55 attending, and growing each month.Visitors passing through express theirenjoyment of the rapport and happyrelationship that exist between committee,members and friends.- Secondly the Rhodes and Founders Lunchheld at the Clovelly Golf Club in July wasoutstanding. There was laughter amongstthe 88 who sat down to well laid-out roundtable settings, complemented by the food andthe excellent service.- Lastly, and this is Lewis’s baby, theRemembrance Service which summons a

generation to pay their respects to those whohave fallen; the service is moving and thesounding of the Last Post is chilling.

Everyone knows an association has a life.It is more important to this committee becauseit reflects the spirit of its members and theatmosphere in which we socialize.

Looking back, I feel I have justification insaying that both the cordial spirit and thefriendly atmosphere now prevailing in theFlame Lily Foundation - from head office andthroughout the branches - have never beenbetter.

In closing I challenge you all to bring amember to our meetings who has no transportto get around. As our past Chairman LewisWalter once expressed, “This valley has manyRhodesians, they will come.”

Keeping our flame alive,Skatie Fourie

REMEMBRANCE SERVICEThe annual Remembrance Service to

honour Rhodesians who lost their lives inall the conflicts of the past will be held at12.30 for 13.00 (1 pm) on SUNDAY 15thNOVEMBER 2015 , at the MethodistChurch, 1st Avenue, Fish Hoek.

Refreshments will be served after theservice, courtesy of Priscilla Rees and herhelpers.

A plate of snacks would be appreciated.Please bear in mind that there is a “stop

and go” on the Main Road between KalkBay and Fish Hoek, so factor in a little extratime if you are using this route.

Floral tributes in honour of the fallen arewelcome. Please phone Skatie Fourie 021785 5620 (evening) or Lewis Walter 021782 1895 (evening).

Please make every effort to attend.Younger people will be particularly

welcome.

A Woman in a Man's Worldby Clem van Vliet

"A Woman in a Man'sWorld" is a very fully detailedautobiography of aremarkable woman. Theuntimely death of her firsthusband of a coronarythrombosis at age 39 meantshe had to shoulder fullresponsibility for her twochildren, she perforce becamethe breadwinner for herfamily.

Women were verymarginalised then. She foundherself doing a man’s job forhalf the pay and took on twosmall businesses as a sideline.These grew and grew untilshe had to make the daunting decision of givingup her secure job to run them full time.She wasastute and hard-working, eventually building asmall empire of successful businesses inBulawayo, and in 1969 she was made the firstwoman ‘Fellow’ of the Institute of Directors.

The book is well written and tells of the writer’steenage years. Four times married, three timeswidowed, once divorced and with many closefriends, the stories of these inter-personal

RHODESIAN BOOKS - NON-FICTION

relationships dominate.The last part of the book

contains a story of some of SouthAfrica’s involvement in airwarfare in World War 2. This isfollowed by the author'sinvolvement in the naturalistsocieties of Zimbabwe,particularly Wild Life. Somestories are amusing, some happyand some tragic, but that is whatreal life is all about.

Clem van Vliet provides acompelling story of one person’slife in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, inincreasingly difficult times.Told with simplicity andhonesty, it is well worth reading.

Paperback: A5 size388 pages, 8 with photos, B/W and colour.Price: R170,00 (excluding postage)Orders: Clem van Vliet,e-mail: [email protected] contact Skatie Fourie on 021 785 5620.

[Editor: The first edition has been sold out andClem van Vliet, who is 90 years of age, has only 22books remaining from the second edition.]

Chibaya MoyoThe Rhodesian African Rifles:An anthology 1939-1981

Compiled and edited by CaptAndy Telfer SCR and Capt RussellFulton, with anecdotal input from49 contributors.

Chibaya Moyo is wholly dedicatedto raising funds to assist those masodja whostill live in Zimbabwe and struggle to eke outan existence. They were there when weneeded them; let us now be there for them.

A5 size paperback542 pages with B/W illustrationsPrice: R450.00Orders: 30 degrees SouthPublishers, E-mail:[email protected]

Persons without e-mail or internet accessmay order their book through the FLF byphoning 012 4602066, or writing to PO Box95474, 0145 Waterkloof.


NOTICE BOARD

36 13FISH EAGLELOOKING BACK

HAPPY BIRTHDAYHAPPY BIRTHDAYHAPPY BIRTHDAYHAPPY BIRTHDAYHAPPY BIRTHDAYTo the following members whose birthdaysfall in October & November

OCTOBER1. Jane McCoubrey4. Velma Baulk6. Myra Jones

Hazel Rozemeyer12. David Jones, John Parnham13. Pat Dougherty14. Moira Evans18. Eddie Wilkinson24. Margaret Cuthbert28. Marion Gregg

NOVEMBER1. Stella Midlane2. The Hon. Charles Waddington4. Richard Angel6. Liz Kinman

Reinette van Tonder10. Dorothy Smith

Shirley Waddington11. Leonard van Tonder13. Lorraine Lithgow15. Ted Wibberley

Moira Wilkinson18. Yvonne Foley21. Averil Emery22. James Begley24 Phil Gargan26. Meryl Aston28. Bryan Squires29. Keith Maughan30. Michael Fawcett

WE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYWE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYWE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYWE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYWE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEADAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEADAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEADAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEADAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS:

Paul Theodosiou, of Constantia,Ex Harare

Keith & Elizabeth Hayward of Fish Hoek, exHarare

Patricia Lord, of Simon’s Town

FOR YOUR DIARY

14 October - Monthly Tea at Fish HoekBowling Club, 9.30 for 10 a.m.

11 November— The usual monthly tea hasbeen cancelled, because of the Re-membrance Service on the 15th. But seeTony’s notice below.

SUNDAY 15 November:REMEMBRANCE SERVICE12.30 for 1 p.m., followed by tea andsnacks. See page 1.

9 December—Special Christmas Tea at FishHoek Bowling Club

Please contact Priscilla if you are attendingthese teas, so she can cater for numbers.021 782 4573 or 082 494 5602

UDIThe 11th November sees exactly 50 yearssince the Rhodesian Government declared itsUDI in 1965.The November usual Tea Party having beencancelled, we are considering organising anunusual and informal meeting instead, to“ring the bell” at 11 a.m. to commemoratethis event, which so many people rememberwell.Further details will be issued at the OctoberTea.We would like to hear how many memberswould like to participate. Phone TonyRozemeyer 021 788 7274 after 2 [email protected]

Don’t forget our monthly boot sale - FirstSaturday of every month at the PhoenixHall in Glencairn.

from the writings of Frank Oates, F.R.G.S.2. Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls;

Second Edition 1889.This is a morecomplete edition with additionalinformation in the Appendix and the bodyof the book.

3. A facsimile reprint of the first edition(again with some additions) was printedby The Pioneer Head, Salisbury, Rhodesia

in 1971.4. Frank Oates and the Victoria Falls.1995.

Mavis Coulson. The Oates MemorialLibrary and Museum. Hampshire,England.

Note to the Reader:William Oates was the father of Captain

Lawrence E. G. Oates who perished in 1912, onCaptain Scott’s Expedition to the South Pole,Antarctica.Author: Lawrence (Laurie) Oates, great, greatnephew of Frank Oates, Pretoria, 2015.

Acknowledgement: Map from To the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi - by Eduard Mohr


FISH EAGLE LOOKING BACK35

MUIZENBERG’S LITTLE HISTORICAL GEMLATEST DEVELOPMENTS AT

RHODES COTTAGE MUSEUM

In 1899 Cecil John Rhodes, renowned Britishbusinessman and colonial imperialist, purchaseda stretch of land along Muizenberg Main Roadon the mountainside in False Bay intending tobuild himself another Groote Schuur residence.In the meantime, he used two existing littlethatched buildings for his weekends away fromthe hustle and bustle of his active life. Heenjoyed swimming, eating fish, playing cards,socialising, and most important of all, imbibingthe sea air. Unfortunately, during the Boer Warhe became very ill and finally passed away onMarch 26 1902 in the front room of his littlecottage.For a while this cottage was looked after by SirAbe Bailey, who had an interest in the partly-built main house next door. Later the propertywas given to the Northern RhodesianGovernment for their officials to use as holidayaccommodation. In 1937 it was handed over toCape Town Municipality by Deed of Gift with theprovision that it became a memorial to CecilJohn Rhodes.In due course a committee of local dignitariesgot together to create a museum in honour ofCJR, and it was officially opened by the Mayor ofCape Town in 1953.It is still open today, in spite of the municipalitybeing unable to deal with an amenity of thisnature, thanks to a group of communityhistorians stepping in, in 1999, and offering tolease and manage the little museum.After 15 years, and the lease expiring after 10,the same group of locals known as TheMuizenberg Historical Conservation Society,continue to keep this little gem open andmaintained.Now, fortunately, the City of CT is able to acceptmuseums as a function, and has designated theresponsibility of this particular museum to theDepartment of Tourism and the newly-createdDepartment of Arts & Culture; the museum hasfound a home, become a cultural space, and is

instituting a new inclusive managementstructure which will soon be in operation.After 62 years of existence, the Rhodes CottageMuseum, which houses a good editorial andphotographic display, as well as Rhodes’ originalcoach, is still open daily (at the moment from 10am to 1 pm). Prebookings are encouraged forother times.The museum boasts a visitors’ book with a list oftourists from all over the world.

FLF CONTACT DETAILSCAPE PENINSULA BRANCH

P O Box 43821 Fish Hoek 7974Chairman: Skatie FourieTel:: 021 785 5620 (Evenings) or Email :[email protected]: Tony RozemeyerTel: 021 788 7274Email [email protected] / Secretary: Allan / Marion Gregg Tel:021 785 5620Email: [email protected]: Jean Bowen-Davies. 021 785 3074Catering and Teas: Priscilla ReesTel 021 782 4573 or 082 494 5602Email [email protected]: Angela Walker. Tel: 021 781 [email protected]

Thanks to Joye Gibbs of the Muizenberg HistoricalConservation Society for this article.

time of the year, rather than later in the summer,to visit the Falls. There were others that Frankmet that strongly discouraged him from goingto the Falls in mid-summer. Frank howeverheeded the seemingly positive information thatSelous and Wood gave him; and immediatelydecided to make a quick dash for the Falls!

On the 3 November 1874, Frank, in thecompany of some other men, set off on his finaltrek to reach the Falls. On 22 December 1874,Frank reached Pantamatenka, and close by wasthe place where those walking the last lap to theFalls, left their wagons.

At this stage a Dr Bradshaw joined him. DrBradshaw, who already had been to the Falls,and was himself an amateur naturalist,volunteered to accompany Frank to the Falls.

On New Year’s Eve, Frank and eight of hisnative assistants (who also wanted to see theFalls), and Dr Bradshaw arrived at the falls.

Frank Oates had finally reached his goal!He recorded the event in his journal on New

Year’s Day, 1875: “after breakfast I visited theFalls, a day never to be forgotten.” Apart fromthis brief entry in his journal, it is as sad, as itis rather odd, that while at the Falls he wrote noaccount of them whatsoever. He did howeverpaint two water-colours and make several pencildrawings of the Falls.

Frank returned to Pantamatenka on 13January 1875 from where, with his servantsand Dr Bradshaw, he started the return treksouth. On 25 January he showed signs ofoncoming fever and later became very ill. DrBradshaw watched over him constantly andthey pressed on for Tati. However on theevening of 5 February Dr Bradshaw halted thewagons as Frank was dying. He was buried ina disused game-trap.

The grave is in Zimbabwe, close(approximately 1 km) to the Zimbabwe/Botswana border. The source of the ShashiRiver is a few kilometers to the south of thegrave. A friend of mine Dr Sydney Cullisvisited the grave in 2010 and found the metalsurrounding railings and the steel memorialplaque to be in good condition. The grave isvery much off the ‘beaten track’.

After Frank’s death Dr Bradshaw handedFrank’s wagon and all his belongings to a Rev JohnMackenzie who saw to the safe-keeping of thevaluable natural history material that Frank hadcollected. A Mr Gilchrist arranged for all Frank’spossessions and natural history specimens to bereturned to England.

It is recorded that a considerable number ofFrank’s specimens were stored in Shoshong, wherehe had left them to continue his trek northwards.The items were stored in a hut. During a storm thehut was unroofed and a considerable number of thecollection was destroyed.

Furthermore, and regretfully, some of the jarsof reptiles, beetles etcetera, were left behind whenthe rest of his packing cases were conveyed toEngland. One wonders how many, possiblyvaluable specimens, were lost.

Frank and William’s brother, Charles, describesthe delayed arrival at his home in Leeds, of thepacking cases filled with the Frank’s treasures thathe had been steadily collecting. As one after theother of the cases were opened, they revealed theuntiring determination of Frank to make the utmostof the opportunities that he had, to collect as manyinteresting specimens as he could whilst in SouthernAfrica. Examples of what was in the cases, werebird-skins and pressed plants; each specimen withits separate label carefully recording the localityand habitat. Smaller cases were filled withspecimens of insects (some from very close to theFalls); bottles of strange looking beetles andreptiles; elephant tusks; skins of lions, leopard andcheetah. Furthermore the cases contained thescientific instruments he had used; his journal,note books, penciled outlines of landscapes andthe water-colour paintings of the fatal Falls.

All the items and records are proof of what hadbeen; and still more, of what might have been!Frank’s botanical specimens are housed in theHerbarium at Kew Gardens. Other items are inmuseums in England. Frank’s original paintings ofthe Falls and his numerous writings were donatedby the Oates family to the National Archives in thethen Rhodesia.References:1. Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls; First

Edition 1881. Edited by Charles Oates


FISH EAGLELOOKING BACK

SOCIAL REPORT:The August social tea: There were a total of 52people in attendance, a more quiet tea thanusual and sadly, albeit plenty, a few regularbakers were unable to do so this month. I wasnot well so also was there more in body thanmind. The Vortex Raffle was drawn and won byRonnie MacKay (see photo below). We raisedR2 000 which will be distributed to those onthe welfare list.The September Tea:Wow what a change from last month, 59people at a very jolly tea to say the least, withnumerous members back from their overseastrips, plenty of yummy food, entertainment onthe keyboard and a lovely lucky draw with spotprizes too. Ina Paarman hampers, Mazoeorange, Liptons tea, high tea for two, and ahaircut for two.

October: There will be a tea as usual in Octoberwith more yummy gifts for the lucky draw.November: There will be no Tea on theWednesday, as we will be serving tea and eatsafter the Memorial service on Sunday 15th.December Christmas TeaThe Christmas tea will again be on the 2ndWednesday - the 9th December 9.30 for 10.00at the Fish Hoek Bowling Club R10 for membersand R20 for non members and guests.There will be spot prizes as our lucky draw.

Everyone to please bring a gift to the value of +-R20 for secret Santa.That will bring us to the end of yet anotheryear. Wow, too early for Christmas wishes. Seeyou at the Tea

Priscilla Rees. 021 782 4573

Joan, who was a rather well-proportionedsecretary, spent almost all of her vacationsunbathing on the roof of her hotel. She worea bathing suit the first day, but on the second,she decided that no one could see her way upthere, and she slipped out of it for an overalltan.She’d hardly begun when she heard someonerunning up the stairs. She was lying on herstomach, so she just pulled a towel over herrear. “Excuse me, miss,” said the flusteredassistant manager of the hotel, out of breathfrom running up the stairs. “The Hiltondoesn’t mind your sunbathing on the roof, butwe would very much appreciate your wearinga bathing suit as you did yesterday.”“What difference does it make?” Joan askedrather calmly. “No one can see me up here,and besides, I’m covered with a towel.”“Not exactly,” said the embarrassed man.“You’re lying on the dining room skylight.”

A LETTER OF THANKSThis letter appeared in the False Bay Echo of 17September:“I wish to thank Tony Rozemeyer and AllanGregg who noticed my car keys in the door ofmy unlocked car and took the trouble to find outfrom the gate guard at St. James RetirementHotel, as to who owned the car and where hecould be found. I am grateful for yourthoughtfulness in saving me from what couldhave been a disaster.Nyabonga kakhulu!” John AppsAn interesting postscript to this story is thatTony and Allan discovered that Mr. John Appscomes from Que Que and when they went topay their bill, the kind Mr. Apps had settled itfor them! Nyabonga kakhulu to Mr. Apps!

Ha ! Ha ! Ha !

Frank Oates was born in 1840, near Leeds inEngland. His father belonged to the landed gentry.Frank grew up surrounded by the leisured affluenceof a classic Victorian bourgeois home.

From an early age Frank showed a passionateinterest in Natural History. He read Natural Scienceat Oxford; but due to poor health never completedhis studies.

Ever since Livingstone “discovered” theVictoria Falls, the attention of young explorershad been focused on the relatively unknown Africa.Frank’s imagination had been fired by Livingstoneand he keenly looked forward to one day visitingthe Falls himself.

In March 1873 Frank and hisbrother William (my greatgrandfather) sailed for Durban.From here they travelled up toPietermaritzburg, where they setabout equipping themselves for thejourney inland and northwards.Each brother bought a wagon and14 oxen. They shared five horses,and had a number of natives foreach wagon.

Frank and William reachedPretoria in June 1873. Frankrecorded in his journal: “Here inPretoria are a great number of English. The Englishkeep to stores and the Dutch Boers stick to farming.I fear the English here are a bad lot, with fewexceptions. One man who cheated me, I asked ifhe had a conscience. He replied that no one herehad them.”

From Pretoria, Frank and William travelled oninto the present-day Botswana, passing throughShusong and they reached Tati in late August1873. Frank described Tati as “an Englishsettlement of a few huts, collected round thegoldmine.”

At Tati William left Frank, because he hadnever intended to go to the Falls, and began hisreturn journey home, to England.

Frank of course still had every intention ofvisiting the Victoria Falls. He decided to travel on

FRANK OATES: AN ENGLISH NATURALIST’S OX-WAGONTREK TO THE VICTORIA FALLS

into the “country of the Matabele”; MatabeleLand, over which KIng Lobengula reigned.

On reaching Gubeleweyo (Bulawayo), theKing’s town, he called on Lobengula, to whom hegave a gift of a gun and ammunition,” with whichLobengula was very pleased.”

All along the route from Pietermaritzburg,Frank was hunting and collecting zoological andbotanical specimens. These specimens weremeticulously preserved with detailed annotations.A number of plants, birds and snakes were laternamed after him, when his collections were studiedby taxonomists back in England. He was indeed a

naturalist of note.King Lobengula gave Frank

permission to travel northwardsthrough his ‘Kingdom’; alsoallowing him to hunt.

Frank’s determination to reachthe Falls was constantly uppermostin his mind. In late September 1873Frank was ready to travel on foot(Lobengula suggested that he shouldwalk), north to the Falls; but at thelast minute Frank received newsthat the bearers that had beenrecruited to go with him, refused toaccompany him; apparently fearing

the ‘fever’, as the summer and the rainy seasonwere advancing.

It was in fact, only on Frank’s fourth attempt toset off for the Falls that he was successful. Hisdelays were frustrating for him, and were causedby a series of misfortunes; for example wagonwheels breaking, and his servants deserting him.His delays began in September 1873 and it wasnot until December of the following year, 1874,that he finally reached his goal.

During Frank’s lengthy delay he records, inhis journal (always meticulously kept), all thedetails of his movements and persons that he met.Selous, the famous big game hunter, was one suchperson who offered advice. Selous and his fellowhunter, Wood, were of the opinion that Decemberwas a safer (in terms of not contracting malaria),


LOOKING BACK16

FISH EAGLE

WELFARE REPORTSEPTEMBER 2015

The 1st September is the start of the 3rdquarter, when welfare funds are distributed tothe qualifying beneficiaries. This time, asagreed at the August committee meeting, themaximum benefit was increased to R1 200. Inaddition to the regular benefit and inaccordance with the August decision to sharethe generous anonymous donation of R5 000,26 people each had R190 added to their GiftCards. There are 26 people currently on thebenefit list. Another 8 persons are usuallyincluded for a Christmas Gift in December.I am mentioning this because we have severalnew members on the Committee who areprobably wondering how we do what. The newmembers have chosen to be on Fund Raisingand this is about the most im-portant section.Without sufficient funds, we would not be ableto help our ‘needy’. At this time, our need isR124 800 regularly, plus R14 000 at Xmas =nearly R140 000 per annum. A walk around thesupermarket will show that the figure shouldbe doubled. We work on the principle that wehave to know that we can maintain therequirement at least a year ahead at all times.Please continue to raise funds and be proud todo so.Boot Sales, at Glencairn or on my ownproperty, are going well. A total of R11 300 hasbeen paid into the Main Fund this financialyear and costs like labour and transport ofheavy furniture have been paid for. The teamhas done great work in sorting and pricingstock. Sales from the house slightly exceedthose from the Boot. Every sale helps. Myspecial thanks go to the team (Val, Shirley &Colin); to Cilla for her understanding; to Angela& Tony for their work on the Calendar; To Allanfor his patience with amateurs; to Marion forlaw & order; and to Skatie and Avril.WelfareWe continue to visit the frail and the elderly,and give what help and support we can - allgetting a little older.

Jean Bowen-Davies, Welfare Carer

BOOK REVIEW : WOMEN OF COURAGEEIGHT LIFE STORIES

By Maia Chenaux-RepondMaia Chenaux-Repond was a ProvincialCommunity Development Officer (Women) inRhodesia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (INTAF)during the “bush war” from 1973 to 1978. Sheserved with courageous women colleagues,both black and white, in often remote tribalareas of the Mashonaland Provinces facingdanger on a daily basis. Three of her field stafflost their lives on duty.

Five women narrate their life stories – includinghow they experienced the chimurenga whileengaged as community development workerstasked with helping rural women to improvetheir families’ lives, largely through self-help.Some worked in the ‘Protected Villages’. Threeof their daughters narrate their mothers’ andtheir own stories, two of them telling us how aparent’s killing has affected their families tothis day and one recounting her experiencesafter she joined the liberation war.

This volume (A5 format, 203 pages, ISBN 978-7974-6559-6) contains black-and-whitephotographs and two maps. It is available atUS$20 (plus postage) from the author, MaiaChenaux-Repond, 32 Trafalgar Ave, Sentosa, POMabelreign, Zimbabwe. Tel. 263-4-303591.Email [email protected].

ORDERS FOR FLAME LILY WALLCALENDARS

“Memories of Rhodesia”

14 months, each page with a beautifulRhodesian photograph (see pp. 24-25), onsale from the Cape Peninsula Branch. Orderscan be placed through any of the contactslisted on page 14. Single Calendars R75 each(plus R9 for postage in RSA of one calendar).Bulk postage can be arranged to FLFbranches.The calendar has been printed by kinddonations from 14 sponsors. Funds raisedfrom sales go directly into our Welfare Fund.

have sought another "UDI"!I spoke to him saying that the RF held all 50

white seats in Parliament and that he could affordto dump his ten far-out right-wingers, after thePearce Commission failed. He might then considernegotiations with Mugabe and Nkomo, offeringthem the terms agreed with Britain in negotiationswith Alec Douglas-Home.

His response was: - "No, we'd give too muchaway to go that route."

I asked IDS after reading "The Great Betrayal"why he'd not told us more about his personal life,

spanning as it did his school and university careersand then the War Years, with his Hurricane crashand then being shot down in the Po Valley andbecoming part of the Italian Partisan Movementbefore again rejoining an operational RAF squadronwith Johnny Johnson as his Wing Commander.

He said he'd leave this to others to do shouldthey so wish but he wanted to place on record thepolitical events leading to Rhodesia beingabandoned by the Free World!

Brien Rooken-Smith

Photos: Fokus, April 1979

Honorary doctorate conferred on Ian Douglas Smith,by the University of Port Elizabeth, April 1979


LOOKING BACK SHAMWARI17

Branch Address:PO Box 2669Pietermaritzburg3200 Tel: 033 3432994

Flame Lily Foundationincorporating RASA

Pietermaritzburg& Districts Branch

NewsletterNo. 4/15

October 2015

Sheila’s ShenanigansHere we are at the end of another year that has gone incredibly fast

and time to plan our year end-get togethers.Our annual Remembrance Service will take place on Sunday 15th

November at Queen Elizabeth Park and will be followed by a braai.Then for our Christmas lunch, Rob and Christine Wilson have graciously

invited us to have this in their lovely home and garden at Wartburg. So,despite information in previous editions, please note that this will take place on Sunday 6th

December and NOT 13th. As in the past this will be bring and share. We will providetransport for those members who require help. Please contact a committee member whowill assist you.

Enjoy the story of Margaret’s trip to Gonarezhou and we look forward to seeing you allsoon.

Much love ,SheilaSheilaSheilaSheilaSheila

FORTHCOMING EVENTSOur Remembrance Day Service will take place on

Sunday 15th November 2015at Queen Elizabeth Park,

followed by a braai

Christmas Bring & Share Lunch - 6th December 2015at the home of Christine & Rob Wilson

Put these dates on your calendar now and then you won’t forget!!

over safe keys, combinations, classified files ofall kinds and a suspect .32 Savage automaticpistol and ammunition with the advice that I seethe Police Armourer and do some snap shootingon their pistol range. Superintendent DonHollingsworth, the Bisley shottist I'd encounteredon the ranges around Rhodesia, was the man tosee!

Ray introduced me to Ministers' PrivateSecretaries and people with whom I would havethe greatest contact in Government, Politics,Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Miningsectors, not forgetting Heads of Ministries, Armyand Air Force Commanders, the Commissioner ofPolice, Director General CIO and the Staff on JPS[Joint Planning Staff], which preceded Comops[Combined Operations].

An interesting aspect of my work was to fieldall phone calls from those who did not have thePM's private home numbers. PTC [Post &Telecommunications] Supervisors had my homenumber and required me to let them know mywhereabouts 24/7. Numerous such calls came myway at all times of the night and over weekendsand public holidays. We of course had a wargoing on and there were frequent calls fromGroup Captain Don Brenchley, Secretary JPS,advising on security force operations, successesor otherwise, as the PM wished to be kept informedof all aspects of the conflict.

And so began the most interesting three-and-a-half years of my service in Government, ablysupported by Lise and my family as I worked forIDS and got to know Janet Smith, a charming andintelligent lady and their family - and of course"UDI" their favourite pet female Bull Mastiff.

I could possibly write a book about all thepeople I encountered in this post which I washappy to hand over to John Snell, who was IDS'slast PPS before the coming into being ofZimbabwe-Rhodesia in 1979.

I maintain IDS was the most maligned politicianin Africa, inheriting as he did a British Colonygoing down the tubes and about which successiveBritish Labour Governments cared little; a Colonythat had been self-governing since 1923 and aloyal member of the Commonwealth, with manyof her people giving their lives in two World Warsto defend the British Empire and all it stood for.

Then subsequently the lives lost on all sides in ourBush War, which was at home and not somewherefar over the sea!

At the end of the day Rhodesia was left to go italone with Russia, China and North Korea asadversaries in their support of the Rhodesian AfricanNationalist cause.

IDS told me over the phone from the Capebefore he passed away that he believed NelsonMandela to be the only true Statesman to emerge inAfrica in recent times!

Four Principal Private Secretaries served IanDouglas Smith: - The first being Len Thompsonfrom Treasury, who became PK's man in France!

The second was the late Ray Stallwoodmentioned above.

Then came myself, retired and living inGermiston and John Snell, now retired and livingin Harare.

I tried contacting Ray in Ramsgate after comingto South Africa in 2008 to find out if he'd made anyjottings of his time with I.D.S. only to receive aphone call from his widow telling me that my letterto Ray arrived just after he'd passed away.

I gather that John Snell remains a closed book asregards his time with IDS.

I must say that I had the highest regard for myBoss with his incredible memory recall and abilityto see things clearly as they related to Rhodesia atthe time. His loyal and charming wife Janet ablysupported his charismatic personality.

They were a great couple and out -and-outRhodesians to the core who in themselvesepitomised humility and a great care and concernfor all the peoples of the Country Ian had beenelected to lead.

Early in my time with Ian Smith, whom I neverreferred to other than as "Prime Minister" or "PM",he said he hoped to take Rhodesia forward to itsIndependence with a smooth transition fromMinority to Majority Rule.

These were his very words to me in his officeover a cup of tea, which he'd poured. He said, andI quote: - "Any people out there who think wewhites can rule Rhodesia for ever have their headsburied in the sand."

Unfortunately he had in his RF Caucus ten far-out right-wing MP's, like Fawcett-Phillips, JohnNewington and Bob McGhie, and others who might


SHAMWARI LOOKING BACK

Place of Many ElephantsGonarezhou National Park is situated in the

south eastern lowveld of Zimbabwe and coversan area in excess of 5 000 square kilometres. The'Gonarezhou" meaning "Place of many Elephants"is an extremely scenic Park full of rugged andbeautiful landscapes. Alternative folklore suggeststhe area was named for the herbalists who wouldstock their medicines in tusks (known as gona inthe Shona language). Another possible name forGonarezhou is 'Elephant's tusk'.....Three majorrivers - The Save, Runde and Mwenezi - cut theircourses through the Park, forming pools andnatural oases from which hundreds of species ofbirds, wildlife and fish gather to feed and drink. Asits name implies, Gonarezhou is famous for itselephants, and many of the largest-tuskedelephants in the region may be found within thePark

Now HeeHoo and I have been in love withMana Pools for many years but we might, mightnow be more slightly favoring 'Gonners!!' Wefirst went to Gonrezhou about six years ago whenthe park was at an all time low thanks toZimbabwe's economy. We were the only peoplein the entire park!! We heard rifle shots! We sawno one at all except for a solitary park ranger, wecamped in solitary isolation with only the baboonsfor company, and we saw very very fewanimals......

Last week we saw a completely different sideof Gonarezhou - the park was really quite a busylittle place!! We camped at Fishans Camp with alovely group of local and South African friends.We the locals were pretty used to camping butour equipment was nothing like that of our friendsfrom across the border!! EXCEPT FOR THESHOWER!! P.J. and Debs from Turk Mine broughtwith them, a shower stall that could rival a showerin the Savoy Hotel. A magnificent contraption,comprising a leaf green shower curtain, amplerubber matting to exclude the possibility of mud,and an ingenious cast-iron tea urn run on gas!!Never was a shower more warmly welcome, withwater drawn daily by hand, from the Runde River,and hand poured into a substantial bucket abovea shower head by loving husbands!!

Toasty warm water to clean and revive after a

hard days camping, and even a macrame mirrorplus scented lavender soap to clean one'stootsies!! These South Africans sure know how tocamp, they have every conceivable camping 'modcon', and their hospitality was absolutely amazing.I must admit we had the easiest and most hands-on tent though, everyone envied our little Eurekanumber that was erected and dismantled literallyin minutes. And the beauty of it was that, if oneleft off the fly sheet one could lie on one's stretcherand through the gauze, keep and eye on the moon(a brilliant Blue Moon it was too) and of course theglorious milky way and all the stars.

Gill and Bert had a trailer that was a 'Camper'sDream' a mobile home with a kitchen to die for. Joand Alan's beautiful 4 x 4 was equipped for campinglike no other vehicle I have ever seen, and Vinceand Linny were the most hospitable andaccomplished campers to be found north of theLimpopo!!

We had a daily mighty running battle with thebaboons, they were polished thieves and werenot afraid of much! We saw so much game on ourforays into the park, loads of eles, giraffe, kudu,impala, waterbuck, nyala, hippo and zebra to namebut a few. The birds and water birds were prolific,and of course we fell in love, again with theglorious, majestic, incredible Chilojo Cliffs. Therewere quite a number of tourists, we met severalof them as we became quite well known as 'thosepeople at Fishans who have a satellite phone'. Ourphone became widely used by several camperswho needed to call Chiredzi to arrange for thepurchase of new tyres. The Gonners roads were infact very good thanks to the input from theFrankfurt Zoological Society, but the casualty rateat Fishans Causeway caused us great mirth.

P.J. was the first to get well stuck in the sandpulling his 100 kg mighty shower trailer....HeeHoowill never admit to it but he also got bogged downtemporarily, and then the rest of the trip wasspent towing all and sundry through the RundeRiver bed with our trusty cruiser!!

A great place to make lasting friendshipsapparently, is the dry sandy river bed of aZimbabwe river!!

Margaret KrielMorning Mirror Edition 649 - 11/8/2015

We were given appointment times that daywith myself ahead of John and told to head for thePM's Office in 1st Street (sic), Milton Buildingsand introduce ourselves to the Secretary to theCabinet and PM's Office, Gerald Clarke, whowould introduce us to the PM.

Clarke, as an apolitical Civil Servant in theBritish tradition, had seen Prime Ministers comeand go, having served in the Cabinet Office underHuggins, Todd, Whitehead, Field and Smith.

Clarke knew the background history toSouthern Rhodesia from Federal times, with itsdissolution and the emergence of Malawi (formerlyNyasaland) under Hastings Banda and Zambia(formerly Northern Rhodesia) under KennethKaunda, but no Independence for white-controlledSouthern Rhodesia, now post five years UDI,which the Smith régime had declared on the 11thNovember, 1965.

Clarke introduced me to Jane Singleton, SocialSecretary and Front of Shop on the Ground Floor,Then up the stairs to the PM's suite where I metIris McNamara and Mona Smith, the PM'sstenographers, then Ray Stallwood, who was keento leave and go in to the world of Commerce. Hethen knocked on the door I was to get to know sowell and ushered Clarke and myself into IanSmith's office! There was a welcoming smile onthe PM's face as he stood up and shook my hand.

The PM recalled our meeting at Filabusi andreminded me we'd met when I was ReturningOfficer there for the 1962 General Election whenhe contested the Umzingwane Constituency seat,which he, as the RF candidate, had won.

Following discussions on the functions of PPSin the Office of the PM it was agreed that the newincumbent should start on or about the 1st of May,which was only about ten days distant!

John had his interview later and then we wentback to Hostes Nicolle who wanted feedback onour interviews. "Were you asked when you couldstart?" inquired Nicolle and we said that we'd beavailable at short notice.

We flew back to Bulawayo and returned to ourDistricts - Lise, as you can imagine was keen toknow how I had fared. The answer was not longin coming, as first thing next day I had a call from

Hostes Nicolle to say I was "Smith's Man!"I had to leave Lise and our loyal domestics of

many years service to get packed up at Filabusi,where the folk there gave us quite a send off andwished us well as we went off to work for "theirMP!"

I handed over the District to Ray Naylor my 2I/C and headed to Salisbury for a new life.

Of the PM's immediate staff I learned that JaneSingleton's father Sandy, a Peterhouse master, hadplayed cricket for Rhodesia in 1947 against theMCC touring team managed by Brigadier MichaelGreen, uncle to Robert Kennedy, my great pal ofFilabusi mining, ranching and sporting fame.

Then there was the glamorous Iris McNamara,who with husband Paddy, were the NationalBallroom Dancing Champions.

One could not overlook the PM's Driver, FrankAbrahams, who relished his work, driving theblack Mercedes Benz Romeo One with great skill.He'd also been driver to Todd, Whitehead andField and should have written a book of his timewith the various PM's. He also carried a gun!

The security situation required that the PM beaccompanied at all times by a Close SecurityOfficer, drawn from the ranks of the UniformedBranch of the BSAP. It was the Commissioner'sresponsibility to select suitable details who, whilethey were serving the PM, reported toSuperintendent Peter Moores of Special Branch inthe CIO's [Central Intelligence Organisation] office.These details rotated weekly on their rosters, whichwere sufficiently flexible to accommodate thePM's travel requirements both within Rhodesiaand abroad, also not forgetting his regular visits tohis Selukwe Gwenoro farm. Ian Smith had acertain delight in giving these men the slip fromtime to time and very concerned details wouldappear in Jane's office saying: - "Have you seen theBoss?"

The calibre of the men seconded to these dutiesreflected the quality and ability of our RhodesianPolicemen and some of the names I recall were BillLinfield, Peter Burt, Peter West, Scotty Macaulayand Mike Plant.

Well, here I was, an apolitical DC, pitched in tothe hurley burley of the PM's official, political andprivate life.

Ray Stallwood had a week in which to hand


LOOKING BACK BALANCING ROCKS

Flame Lily FoundationHighveld BranchPO Box 1632, Secunda, 2302Tel: 017 6346219 (Kevin and Cathy Jones)

Balancing Rocks

Hello to all fellow Rhodesians, wherever thismagazine finds you.

With a change of season coming to the highveldof Mpumalanga, the days are longer and warmerand shorts and T-shirts are back in fashion.

Our club AGM was held in May. Once againthe whole committee was re-elected, no surprisethere. We all accepted and will continue to try tokeep the branch going as well as we can. Moreimprovements have been done to the club houseand some nice leather lounge furniture was donatedby Steve Smith, so the ladies are happy on Fridaynights in the comfortable chairs. The improvementsare ongoing as we do it ourselves in our spare timeand also wait for donations of paint and otheritems we need. As we get, we do what we can.

Our clubhouse is, as always, open every Fridaynight for our social get together and has been wellsupported over the last few months with a few newfaces being welcomed into the fold. Welcome

back to Pete and Barbara Keen, who served on ourcommittee way back in the 1980’s and then, due tofamily and work pressures, dropped out of thepicture. Pete is now on retirement and they decidedto get involved once again.

Talking about retirement, three of our membersBrian Wickens, Gerry Redman and Brian Mooreall retired on the same day at the end of June thisyear. A retirement party was held at the clubhousefor them with family and friends turning up to helpthem celebrate. I presented each of them with awalking stick with attachments, a desert lily, torchto shine into the lily so they don’t miss, tot ofbrandy to keep them warm and a hooter to warnanyone in front of them.

A few new names were suggested for theclubhouse as the majority of the members are nowretired, such as Flame Lily Old Age Club, RetiredAssociation of Sasol Ass’s because most of usworked for Sasol. We are now thinking aboutputting up one of the old rifle holders at the clubentrance so all the walking sticks can be left there.

Our membership is remaining constant but it isof course difficult to get the youngsters interested.I am sure we will keep on going for a while longer.

We are still collecting and distributing clothing,blankets and household items to charities in ourarea and will continue to do so as long as we can.

We are busy trying to plan a celebration for the50th anniversary of UDI. It’s going slowly but I amsure we will organise something. WOW - 50 yearsalready! Where were you on that day? Maybethat’s a theme for a party.

All the best from our small clubhouse andmembers here on the Highveld.

Just keep the flame burning.RegardsKevin Jones

We are in 2015, 50 years since UDI wasdeclared on the 11th November, 1965. What Iwill talk to you about today is something whichoccurred 45 years ago so you'll have to allow for'my failing memory'. Also, the one I worked for,Ian Douglas Smith, would have turned 96 on the8th April this year!

When John Redfern asked me to say a fewwords to our AGM I did not hesitate and acceptedimmediately, then hundreds of incidents occurredto me of my time with the then Prime Minister,Ian Douglas Smith - they occupy the windows ofmy mind.

Sitting in front of me is our Honorary VicePresident, Air Vice-Marshal Chris Dams. Hewas Headboy of Bulawayo Technical High Schoolin 1951 and we encountered one another in ourannual 1st XV rugby fixture at Hartsfield thatyear.

Also in that Tech side was hooker Ronnie Hillwho was later to become a Springbok. Atscrumhalf was Hector Mackenzie Fraser, a threetimes Rhodesian Schools player with whom Isubsequently played Midlands Club Rugby forthe Fort Victoria team.

Bucky Buchanan coached the Technical sideand told his players to "play the man and not theball". I was pulled out of a loose scrum by myscrumcap like a cork out of a bottle, nearlybreaking my neck, right in front of the maingrandstand. I threw my protective gear intotouch and carried on playing.

The result was 3 all, the only game Plumtreecame close to losing in 1951!

As the first Internal Affairs DistrictCommissioner to be appointed to the PPS post, Isucceeded Ray Stallwood my predecessor.

Cabinet decided in 1970 that the PM neededto get closer to the Indigenous population ofRhodesia and that a DC, with knowledge of thelanguages and customs of these people, wasdesirable.

Lance Smith, Minister of Internal Affairs,

PRINCIPAL PRIVATE SECREATRY TO THE PRIME MINISTER -1970-1973

Brien Rooken-Smith delivered the following address at the Pretoria Branch's Annual GeneralMeeting, held in Pretoria on 23 April 2015.

took this Cabinet decision back to Hostes Nicolle,his Permanent Secretary, who compiled a short listof DC candidates and came forward with, as Irecall, Alex Bundock, Wally Walters (a formerADC to a Federal Governor General), John Snell atBeit Bridge and myself then at Filabusi.

Beit Bridge and Filabusi were in the PM'sUmzingwane Constituency.

I must comment that the then PermanentSecretary for Information, Immigration andTourism in PK van der Byl's Ministry, Leo Ross,felt this was all "too late!"

Leo Ross, had proposed on his return fromactive service as an Intelligence Officer on theEastern Front facing Russia in 1946, that Rhodesiaembark on a "Hearts and Minds" campaign directedat it's Indigenous population, to counter theCommunist take-over of the masses, much alongthe same lines as Mao adopted in China!

The then Minister of Native Affairs and PrimeMinister, Sir Godfrey Huggins, threw it out saying:- "What do you think the last War was all about?"

It was April 1970 that Hostes phoned me andasked if I'd be interested in the Principal PrivateSecretary's [PPS] post to the PM? He stressed thatI must speak to my wife, as she would have a roleto play. He told me who the other candidates wouldbe and when the interviews with the PM wouldoccur.

I had met the PM on his political visits toFilabusi as John Snell had at Beit Bridge.

Lise gave me her blessing and I advised Hostesaccordingly.

John and I flew up to Salisbury on a Sundayevening on what might have been one of the doomedViscounts, booked in to Meikles and met withNicolle first thing Monday. At this meeting Johnand I were told it would be a "two horse race" as theothers had withdrawn. He said: - "Whoever ischosen will be asked how soon can you get here?"To which we should respond: - "How soon do youneed me?", after which we could expect to move toSalisbury with the minimum of delay.


RIDGEBACK LOOKING BACK

The RidgebackNewsletter - October 2015

RASA Durban

FROM THE CHAIRThe Durban

Branch committeehas obviously been abad lot as they havebeen re-elected fortheir sins! At theAnnual AGM held atFlame Lily ParkTwilight Shell hole.This was our biggestAGM turnout everwith over 100 in

attendance. Mainly for the Sadza & Braai after themeeting. During the Meeting in June Certificateswere presented to members who had been with theassociation for longer than 15 years - 48 certificateswere issued. Unfortunately not all of the membersreceiving the Certificates were able to attend andwe intend over the next short time to either visitthem or post their Certificates to them.

We are also very pleased that we have had afew volunteers to join the committee. Rob Walkerhas been a very strong supporter and worker overthe years. Shirley Emanuel was on committeesome years ago and has volunteered her servicesagain. And Val Dolby has offered to help Jacquiwith her duties at Flame Lily Park. I would reallylike to thank the committee for their commitment,as it is not an easy task organizing and putting onthese events around Durban. The spin-off fromthe events is that we have enrolled 18 new memberssince our AGM so things are looking more positiveand not all doom and gloom.

Eddie

WELFARESince I retired (again) I have been able to spend

more time visiting our pensioners, and am enjoyinghaving closer contact with our older members whoare also very dear friends.

We were so happy to have Edith Bailey fromthe south coast assisting with seeing to our folk atPoinsettia Park for a few months but sadly she isleaving for Australia and we're all going to miss her.

Poinsettia had their annual fete in July and thisyear's theme was Christmas in July - it was asusual, a huge success and I'm always blown awayby the incredible amount of work that goes intothis event, with nearly all the residents get involvedunder the guidance of Mrs Wendy Lloyd.

At Flame Lily Park we have just over 50Rhodie pensioners, with some having lived therefor almost 20 years. It is a beautiful, happyretirement village with a good community spiritand lots of activities for residents to enjoy. I wentto the Spring Dance on 4th September and althoughnot as well attended as last year, we had live musicand good company. Their fete is being held on3rd October this year and if you haven't beenbefore, it is worth while browsing around and youwill see Rhodesians hard at work manning almostevery stall.

Our committee has hada very busy few months,with the national andregional AGMs, Rhodesand Founders party and thePoinsettia Park annualbraai. We're now gearingup for the UDI celebrationand Golf Day, both inNovember.

Jacqui.

INDEPENDENCE DAY: NOVEMBER 11, 1965. The Prime Minister, the Hon. Ian Douglas Smith, signing theProclamation of Independence in the presence of his cabinet. Front row, left to right: the Hon. D. W. Lardner-Burke, the Hon. C. W. Dupont (now the President), the Prime Minister, the Hon. W. J. Harper, the Hon. LordGraham. Centre row, left to right: the Hon. J. H. Howman, the Hon. P. van Heerden, the Hon. B. H. Mussett,the Hon. J. J. Wrathall, the Hon. G. W. Rudland. Back row, left to right: the Hon. A. P. Smith, Mr. I. B. Dillon,Mr. L. B. Smith, the Hon. I. F. McLean, Mr. P. K. F. V. van der Byl and Brigadier A. Dunlop,

5050505050


RIDGEBACKPROMOTIONS21

STILFONTEINSTILFONTEINSTILFONTEINSTILFONTEINSTILFONTEINACCOMMODATION FORRHODESIANS

Time has had an effect onStilfontein as indeed it has had onall of us. In the past year we haveseen Eileen Westley leave us at theend of June, to stay on the EastRand, while Dorothy Bezuidenhout,a recent arrival at the cottages, leftafter a few weeks to reside with afriend in the neighbourhood.

Three new residents arrived inStilfontein over the past year.

The first was Gary Herschel inApril. One of his legs was amputated high-up andhe of course needs crutches and a wheelchair formobility. Gary is relatively young at 56 and wasaccepted as a tenant of the cottages due to hisdifficult circumstances. He had to leave his placeof residence in Port Elizabeth and was then takenin by RASA. The secretary of National Committeeis in touch with someone who may be able to arrangefor Gary to obtain a prosthesis. Rhodesian born,Gary was educated at Hamilton High and GiffordTechnical in Bulawayo. He emigrated to SA in2007.

Our next arrival was Pieter Henning who camefrom Klerksdorp after meeting Christine Millerand other cottage occupants. Pieter has proved tobe a very helpful addition to the tenant pool. Heis good with his hands and does assist otherswhere he can. His willingness to drive hisneighbours to Klerksdorp for hospital or officialbusiness is very greatly appreciated by everyone.Pieter was born in Bulawayo and went to schoolat Chaplin in Gwelo. He attended University inSouth Africa and trained with a firm of auditors.His military service was with Internal Affairs, andhe seems to have many stories to impart. Heemigrated in 1981 and is now engrossed in familyand national history.

The latest tenant is Lee Monks who arrived atthe end of August. Born in Salisbury she attendedschool at Salisbury Girls' High and married twice;first Hugh Page Slocock and then Lionel EricMonks. She survives them both. Lee worked fora few firms as a senior typist/clerk. She came toSA with her first husband in 1981.

NEW MEMBERSAlison Davis - Alison is the daughter of John &

Claire Goulding who live in Poinsettia Park andhave been members of RASA for many years.

Shirley Darch - Poinsettia ParkSheila Allan - Poinsettia ParkNeil & Jean Hannam - Umdoni Retirement

Village. They have very kindly donated aninteresting flag banner to Durban Branch - theold Rhodesian and Federation flags.

Rachel Chapple (nee Fritz) - Poinsettia ParkBrian & Di Dold - Hillcrest

Welcome all of you - so nice to have had youjoin us at the Poinsettia Park get-together.

THIS & THATHad a phone call from Jenny Bryson - Brick

Bryson's widow. We were quite worried as wethought we had lost touch with her. She was livingin Ballito, but has now moved to TwilangaRetirement Village in Umhlanga. Hope we willnow get a chance to see her. She says she hassettled very well.

Welcome back to Natal Norman Stockton!Norman & Peggy were members of RASA Durbanfor many years. When Peggy was not well theymoved to Cape Town where she sadly passedaway. Norman has been living there and has beenvery lonely. I am so happy to say he has managedto get accommodation at Flame Lily Park, so wewill have the pleasure of seeing him often.

Lizzy Archibald, as I write this, is in hospitalhaving her gall bladder removed. Lizzy, we missedyou at the Poinsettia Braai and hope you get bettersoon.

Claire Goulding is going into hospital shortlyto have a hip replacement. She is very worriedabout the op, but has a very positive attitude

towards the procedure. Best of luck Claire, ourthoughts will be with you.

Our lovely friend Bill Davis aged 95 fromPoinsettia Park is not at all well. It appears that hemay have to move to somewhere where he canhave constant care. Our thoughts are with him andhis family during this trying time.

Bill Gibbs aged 97 from Flame Lily Park ishaving some procedures done on his head at themoment. We wish him well.

DECEASEDROYCE LOVE. We are very sad to hear that

Royce has passed away on 19 September. Roycewas the son of Johnnie Love the racing cardriver and used to always sponsor prizes for ourGolf Day. Rest in peace Royce and our deepestsympathies go out Judy and his family.

IAN ROBERTSON - Rhodesian great rugbyplayer died on 25 August 2015 at the age of 65in Durban. It is a terrible loss to sport in generaland rugby in particular. In 1974 he made hisSpringbok debut as centre against France; playedin both tests and was top try scorer on this tour.He played centre in the second Test, was on thebench for the third and then came back in hisrightful position as number one choice fullbackin the fourth and final Test. At the end of theseries Robertson and his Rhodesian colleague“Spike” McKenna were invited to play for aWorld XV in Cardiff, a significant indicationof their high rating in the world of rugby. Hisrugby career came to a shattering end in 1979with an injury against Transvaal. He wascapped 56 times for Rhodesia with a career totalof 437 points from 12 tries, 60 penalties, 21drop goals and 73 conversions. He played in 12matches for South Africa, five of them Tests.

Visits have been made during the year by Johnand Mary Redfern together with Spero Blismas.These visits are informal and are necessary forcontact to be maintained due to the great distanceinvolved. Doing the trip in one day is tiring andJohn and Mary will often stay overnight in theguest cottage in order to complete business, inconjunction with the local caretaker/representative.Rodney Pinnick has filled this role well in the past,although he has recently been overtaken by illnesswhich has necessitated him being hospitalised andspending time with family in Centurion. Hisexperience and dependability still make him anasset to the Foundation.

The chairman of the Pretoria branch, SperoBlismas, together with committee members KayGearty, Gaile Cobbett, Phil Garbett and NationalCommittee vice-chairman Ned Donkin, visitedStilfontein on 16 September to meet the tenantsand to familiarise themselves with the situation.They were pleased to report that everyone washappy with the subsidised accommodation and thebasic camaraderie that prevailed. It must beremembered that the facilities at Stilfontein arebasic and confined. The flats are not luxurious butare comfortable, and shops are a fair distanceaway. There is still an empty singles flat for whichone may apply.

Other tenants are Sheila Williams, MavisMatthee, May Hall, Benny and Bryonie Steyn, PatDobson, and caretaker Rodney Pinnick and hiswife Ethel.

Compiled by Spero Blismas


RIDGEBACK PENSIONERS

(A division of the Flame Lily Foundation)Zimbabwe Pensioners Association"Concern for

our Aged"

POINSETTIA BRAAIWhat a lovely day we had on 20th September. After 5 days of very overcast, wind and rain, the day

cleared up for us to enjoy the braai. Fortunately those who attended sat inside in the hall whilst the'workers' did the braaing thing outside. There was such a lovely feeling of warmth and togethernessfrom approximately 60 in attendance. We also had 6 new members joining - mostly from the Park. Theselection of salads brought by the guests was phenomenal and residents from the park brought littlepunnets so they could take some Sadza & gravy home. Some of the visitors came all the way downfrom Flame Lily Park and the Moth cottages in Bartle Rd. Grateful thanks go to Anne Perkins who isalways a very willing helper at these events. Also to Richard Sharp from Scottburgh who helped withthe braai as we were a little short-staffed in that department and Rob Walker was the Sadza-stirrer ofthe day - Great Stuff.

FUTURE EVENTSNMR GATHERINGSFirst Saturday KZN Social each month

The gatherings at the NMR (Natal Mounted Rifles), which is open to all Forces and Rhodesians hasnow changed from a Friday evening to Saturday afternoon to make it better for those who do not likedriving at night. Fires are always lit and the bar is open with drinks at a very reasonable price. Skippy& Lana make such an effort for the events, so please support them if you can. You can get hold ofSkippy at 082-372-0000 or [email protected]. The only time there will be a change back to thefirst Friday is when there are big events at Kings Park on the Saturday.

Neil and Jean Hannam, with flag bannerthat they have donated to RASA above them.

Miles and Barbara Cartwright receive theirCertificate at the Rhodes & Founders Braai.

Present SituationNot much has changed since last year. Payment

to Standard Bank account holders in South Africaare taking place half-yearly. The June paymentswere made on 7 and 11 August 2015. The latepayment, we understand, was partially due tochange of staff at the Pensions Office in May/Juneand Standard Bank was slow in processingpayments. This time, a worrying aspect was that anumber of pensioners who received their initialback-payment, were not paid their successive sixmonthly pension payment in August. Theinexperience of the new staff member may be acontributing factor. He seemed to have processedseveral applications submitted in May and June,but ignored those submitted earlier in the year.

The Pensions Office is slow to inform us as towhy certain Standard Bank account holders are notbeing paid. We did receive a response to one list ofunpaid widows' pensions, which we attended toand sent duplicate documents, where required.Several of these pensions were paid in August.

Cooperation with Pensions OfficeWe are indebted to Rob Anderson who visits

the Pensions Office most Thursdays on our behalf.When last he was there, one of the staff was seen'working' on responses to another of our lists ofqueries presented previously by Rob.

The Pensions Master, Mr Mnkandla, hasapproved our request for copies of schedules withnames of pensioners who have been paid but hisstaff have resisted sending them to us. We are stillwaiting for the August lists. In the meantime, werely on pensioners to let us know when they havebeen paid, or if they have missed a payment.

FraudOn 4 September 2015, NewsDay Zimbabwe

announced that the Public Service Commission(PSC) has embarked on a massive head audit of allgovernment pensioners to weed out ghost elementsbelieved to be illegally benefiting from State funds.Under the exercise, pensioners are now expectedto fill in Certificate of Life forms to confirm thatthey were still alive and bona fide pensioners.

On 22 September, John Redfern spoke with thePensions Master regarding this issue. He confirmedthat Zimbabwe pensioners living abroad will alsohave to comply with the requirement, although theprocedure to be followed has still to be formulated.At this stage it does NOT apply toSouth AfricanStandard Bank account holders who are alreadyreceiving their pensions. Mr Mnkandla undertookto advise the FLF as soon as the procedure hasbeen established.

Death of a PensionerThe death of a person who receives a Zimbabwe

Government pension should be reported to:Pensions Administrator, The Death of Pensionersection. The e-mail address:[email protected]. It is not sufficient for awidow to include her husband’s death certificatewith her widow’s pension application.

New applicationsCertain forms from the Pensions Office are

numbered, such as PD5 Deceased Estates and PD6Widow's application. Certificates of Life are notnumbered and can be e-mailed to pensioners;others will be sent by post. All forms are availablefrom the Flame Lily Foundation.


REMEMBRANCE RIDGEBACK

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY SERVICESThe following known memorial services will be held to honour Rhodesians

and others who lost their lives in the service of their country in armed conflict.GAUTENG NORTH (PRETORIA)15:00 on Sunday 15 November 2015at the Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria.(See the Msasa Mail page 5 for details.)

GAUTENG SOUTH (RAND AREA)10:30 on Sunday 8 November 2015at Dickie Fritz MOTH Shellholearranged by the Rhodesian ForcesMemorial Committee.See below for details.(RSVP Carol Doughty 073 5235987)

CAPE PENINSULA12.30 on Sunday 15 November 2015at the Methodist Church, First Avenue,Fish Hoek.(See The Fish Eagle page 12 for details.)

DURBANSAS Memorial ServiceSaturday 31 October 201510:30 for 11:00at SAS Plinth, Garden ofRemembrance, Flame Lily Park, 565Stella Road, Queensburgh.Dress: Jacket and Tie (Medals andHeaddress optional, but encouraged)or Uniform for Serving Members.(See TheRidgeback page 23 for details.)

PIETERMARITZBURGSunday 15 November 201511:00 at Queen Elizabeth Park.( See the Shamwari page 17 for details.)

Rhodesian FRhodesian FRhodesian FRhodesian FRhodesian Forces Memorial Serviceorces Memorial Serviceorces Memorial Serviceorces Memorial Serviceorces Memorial ServiceDATE: Sunday, 8 November 2015TIME: 10h30 for 11h00DRESS: Befitting of a Memorial Service; Suits, Regimental Blazers, Headdress

and Medals. Private Wreaths may be laidVENUE: Dickie Fritz Moth Shellhole, 115 Dickie Fritz Avenue off Elm Street,

Dowerglen, Edenvale, Johannesburg

Chairman and TreasurerDE BEEREddie and Jill Eddie 039 976 1028

082 893 1443 Eddie083 449 8422 Jill

[email protected]

Welfare Jacqui KIRRANE 031 705 9337

072 080 [email protected] Rob WALKER 031 903 3385

084 532 [email protected]

Vice Chairman and SecretaryARCHIBALDGeorge and Liz 083 654 3502 George 084 466 5588 Liz [email protected]@mweb.co.za

MemberPeter MORRIS 031 702 4415


MemberShirley EMANUEL 031 267 0682


RASA Durban Branch Committee and Telephone Numbers

Name Telephone Nos Name Telephone Nos

CONTACTS

31 OCTOBER 2015SAS MEMORIAL SERVICE

The SAS are having their last memorial service at the Plinth at Flame Lily Park on Saturday as itis being relocated overseas. The theme of the event will be "FAREWELL TO THE PLINTH". Thisis going to be a very sad day for all of us who have so enjoyed the Memorial Services held by the SAS.

1 NOVEMBER 201550th ANNIVERSAY OF UDI

This year cannot go by without remembering all the good times we had growing up and living inRhodesia. How about putting this date in your calendar and join us for a really good get-together. Thevenue will be the old Shamwari Club - 7 Barham Rd. Graham Boyle and Spider Murch - who are verypopular with us Rhodies have been booked for this day. We will have our usual braai. We will supplythe fires, Sadza & Gravy. Limited meat will be available for sale, but you are welcome to bring a saladto share. R30.00 per head.

29 NOVEMBER 2015RHODIE GOLF DAY

This event will be the 32nd Golf day. It was originally very capably organized by Roy Auret atUmkomaas. In latter years it was moved to Toti as many people felt it was too far to go down the coast.Amanzimtoti Country Club has proved to be a very good venue and the Club go out of their way tomake us very welcome. Their outside Boma is really super for the prize giving and social. Prices havenot changed for a number of years, so hope all you golfers will make the effort to enter - especiallyas it is on the 50th anniversary of UDI. We have already had entries and donations, so thank you. Pleaseif you need to book a cart, this must be done through us and not the Club - and they are going fast. Weare in the throes of twisting the arms of our sky parachuting team to do a jump if they are not playingand if the weather permits. You do not have to be a golfer to come and enjoy the get together."It is a tragedy of our times that it has taken the emergence of a murderous and destructive

tyranny for the world to understand what compelled these brave men and women to make thesupreme sacrifice in the defence of Rhodesia. Theirs was a lonely war and they fell in the earlydays of the battle against terrorism, which challenges the free world today."

Ian Doublas Smith Cape Town, October 2007


RHODESIAN CALENDAR RHODESIAN CALENDAR25

A selection of Joan Evans paintings can be viewed at:www.flf-rasa.org/home/index.htmlClick on Joan Evans in the menu

From the Chairman and Committee of The Flame Lily Foundation, Western Cape branchInspiration for this project - a calendar, along with a photographic competition, to raise Welfare Funds for those elderly Rhodesian pensioners in need, whom we care for in the WesternCape - arrived early this year in the disguise of a lightning bolt when observing the chit-chatting, laughter and camaraderie of our good people at the monthly “Tea and Cake” function.What memories do they cherish; what have their eyes seen in the ol’ country?Breathtaking photographs of blazing colour and “Brownie” black-and-whites, were submitted and finally selected by our very thrilled committee who, one and all, enjoyed their journeywith the hope that you will all share a similar experience on your walk through the old Rhodesia.Our committee is always overcome with gratitude to those generous people who have assisted us through many years in our work of fundraising for our Welfare work with those elderly inneed. We thank all those who contributed to our labour of love, and trust that this calendar will bring you a year of joy and happy memories. Those businesses who contributed funds forthe printing of this calendar are acknowledged with huge thanks.

Skatie Fourie, ChairmanTony Rozemeyer (6494), Vice-ChairmanTHE FLAME LILY FOUNDATIONCAPE PENINSULA BRANCHPO Box 43821, FISH HOEK 7974South Africa

Registered in terms of theNonprofit Organisations Act, 1997

No. 001-747 NPO


REMEMBRANCE RIDGEBACK

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY SERVICESThe following known memorial services will be held to honour Rhodesians

and others who lost their lives in the service of their country in armed conflict.GAUTENG NORTH (PRETORIA)15:00 on Sunday 15 November 2015at the Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria.(See the Msasa Mail page 5 for details.)

GAUTENG SOUTH (RAND AREA)10:30 on Sunday 8 November 2015at Dickie Fritz MOTH Shellholearranged by the Rhodesian ForcesMemorial Committee.See below for details.(RSVP Carol Doughty 073 5235987)

CAPE PENINSULA12.30 on Sunday 15 November 2015at the Methodist Church, First Avenue,Fish Hoek.(See The Fish Eagle page 12 for details.)

DURBANSAS Memorial ServiceSaturday 31 October 201510:30 for 11:00at SAS Plinth, Garden ofRemembrance, Flame Lily Park, 565Stella Road, Queensburgh.Dress: Jacket and Tie (Medals andHeaddress optional, but encouraged)or Uniform for Serving Members.(See The Ridgeback page 23 for details.)

PIETERMARITZBURGSunday 15 November 201511:00 at Queen Elizabeth Park.( See the Shamwari page 17 for details.)

Rhodesian FRhodesian FRhodesian FRhodesian FRhodesian Forces Memorial Serviceorces Memorial Serviceorces Memorial Serviceorces Memorial Serviceorces Memorial ServiceDATE: Sunday, 8 November 2015TIME: 10h30 for 11h00DRESS: Befitting of a Memorial Service; Suits, Regimental Blazers, Headdress

and Medals. Private Wreaths may be laidVENUE: Dickie Fritz Moth Shellhole, 115 Dickie Fritz Avenue off Elm Street,

Dowerglen, Edenvale, Johannesburg

Chairman and TreasurerDE BEEREddie and Jill Eddie 039 976 1028

082 893 1443 Eddie083 449 8422 Jill

[email protected]

Welfare Jacqui KIRRANE 031 705 9337

072 080 [email protected] Rob WALKER 031 903 3385


Vice Chairman and SecretaryARCHIBALD 083 654 3502George George and Liz 084 466 [email protected]@mweb.co.za

MemberPeter MORRIS 031 702 4415


MemberShirley EMANUEL 031 267 0682


RASA Durban Branch Committee and Telephone Numbers

Name Telephone Nos Name Telephone Nos

CONTACTS

31 OCTOBER 2015SAS MEMORIAL SERVICE

The SAS are having their last memorial service at the Plinth at Flame Lily Park on Saturday as itis being relocated overseas. The theme of the event will be "FAREWELL TO THE PLINTH". Thisis going to be a very sad day for all of us who have so enjoyed the Memorial Services held by the SAS.

1 NOVEMBER 201550th ANNIVERSAY OF UDI

This year cannot go by without remembering all the good times we had growing up and living inRhodesia. How about putting this date in your calendar and join us for a really good get-together. Thevenue will be the old Shamwari Club - 7 Barham Rd. Graham Boyle and Spider Murch - who are verypopular with us Rhodies have been booked for this day. We will have our usual braai. We will supplythe fires, Sadza & Gravy. Limited meat will be available for sale, but you are welcome to bring a saladto share. R30.00 per head.

29 NOVEMBER 2015RHODIE GOLF DAY

This event will be the 32nd Golf day. It was originally very capably organized by Roy Auret atUmkomaas. In latter years it was moved to Toti as many people felt it was too far to go down the coast.Amanzimtoti Country Club has proved to be a very good venue and the Club go out of their way tomake us very welcome. Their outside Boma is really super for the prize giving and social. Prices havenot changed for a number of years, so hope all you golfers will make the effort to enter - especiallyas it is on the 50th anniversary of UDI. We have already had entries and donations, so thank you. Pleaseif you need to book a cart, this must be done through us and not the Club - and they are going fast. Weare in the throes of twisting the arms of our sky parachuting team to do a jump if they are not playingand if the weather permits. You do not have to be a golfer to come and enjoy the get together."It is a tragedy of our times that it has taken the emergence of a murderous and destructive

tyranny for the world to understand what compelled these brave men and women to make thesupreme sacrifice in the defence of Rhodesia. Theirs was a lonely war and they fell in the earlydays of the battle against terrorism, which challenges the free world today."

Ian Douglas Smith Cape Town, October 2007


RIDGEBACK PENSIONERS

(A division of the Flame Lily Foundation)Zimbabwe Pensioners Association"Concern for

our Aged"

POINSETTIA BRAAIWhat a lovely day we had on 20th September. After 5 days of very overcast, wind and rain, the day

cleared up for us to enjoy the braai. Fortunately those who attended sat inside in the hall whilst the'workers' did the braaing thing outside. There was such a lovely feeling of warmth and togethernessfrom approximately 60 in attendance. We also had 6 new members joining - mostly from the Park. Theselection of salads brought by the guests was phenomenal and residents from the park brought littlepunnets so they could take some Sadza & gravy home. Some of the visitors came all the way downfrom Flame Lily Park and the Moth cottages in Bartle Rd. Grateful thanks go to Anne Perkins who isalways a very willing helper at these events. Also to Richard Sharp from Scottburgh who helped withthe braai as we were a little short-staffed in that department and Rob Walker was the Sadza-stirrer ofthe day - Great Stuff.

FUTURE EVENTSNMR GATHERINGSFirst Saturday KZN Social each month

The gatherings at the NMR (Natal Mounted Rifles), which is open to all Forces and Rhodesians hasnow changed from a Friday evening to Saturday afternoon to make it better for those who do not likedriving at night. Fires are always lit and the bar is open with drinks at a very reasonable price. Skippy& Lana make such an effort for the events, so please support them if you can. You can get hold ofSkippy at 082-372-0000 or [email protected]. The only time there will be a change back to thefirst Friday is when there are big events at Kings Park on the Saturday.

Neil and Jean Hannam, with flag bannerthat they have donated to RASA above them.

Miles and Barbara Cartwright receive theirCertificate at the Rhodes & Founders Braai.

Present SituationNot much has changed since last year. Payment

to Standard Bank account holders in South Africaare taking place half-yearly. The June paymentswere made on 7 and 11 August 2015. The latepayment, we understand, was partially due tochange of staff at the Pensions Office in May/Juneand Standard Bank was slow in processingpayments. This time, a worrying aspect was that anumber of pensioners who received their initialback-payment, were not paid their successive sixmonthly pension payment in August. Theinexperience of the new staff member may be acontributing factor. He seemed to have processedseveral applications submitted in May and June,but ignored those submitted earlier in the year.

The Pensions Office is slow to inform us as towhy certain Standard Bank account holders are notbeing paid. We did receive a response to one list ofunpaid widows' pensions, which we attended toand sent duplicate documents, where required.Several of these pensions were paid in August.

Cooperation with Pensions OfficeWe are indebted to Rob Anderson who visits

the Pensions Office most Thursdays on our behalf.When last he was there, one of the staff was seen'working' on responses to another of our lists ofqueries presented previously by Rob.

The Pensions Master, Mr Mnkandla, hasapproved our request for copies of schedules withnames of pensioners who have been paid but hisstaff have resisted sending them to us. We are stillwaiting for the August lists. In the meantime, werely on pensioners to let us know when they havebeen paid, or if they have missed a payment.

FraudOn 4 September 2015, NewsDay Zimbabwe

announced that the Public Service Commission(PSC) has embarked on a massive head audit of allgovernment pensioners to weed out ghost elementsbelieved to be illegally benefiting from State funds.Under the exercise, pensioners are now expectedto fill in Certificate of Life forms to confirm thatthey were still alive and bona fide pensioners.

On 22 September, John Redfern spoke with thePensions Master regarding this issue. He confirmedthat Zimbabwe pensioners living abroad will alsohave to comply with the requirement, although theprocedure to be followed has still to be formulated.At this stage it does NOT apply toSouth AfricanStandard Bank account holders who are alreadyreceiving their pensions. Mr Mnkandla undertookto advise the FLF as soon as the procedure hasbeen established.

Death of a PensionerThe death of a person who receives a Zimbabwe

Government pension should be reported to:Pensions Administrator, The Death of Pensionersection. The e-mail address:[email protected]. It is not sufficient for awidow to include her husband’s death certificatewith her widow’s pension application.

New applicationsCertain forms from the Pensions Office are

numbered, such as PD5 Deceased Estates and PD6Widow's application. Certificates of Life are notnumbered and can be e-mailed to pensioners;others will be sent by post. All forms are availablefrom the Flame Lily Foundation.


RIDGEBACKPROMOTIONS21

STILFONTEINSTILFONTEINSTILFONTEINSTILFONTEINSTILFONTEINACCOMMODATION FORRHODESIANS

Time has had an effect onStilfontein as indeed it has had onall of us. In the past year we haveseen Eileen Westley leave us at theend of June, to stay on the EastRand, while Dorothy Bezuidenhout,a recent arrival at the cottages, leftafter a few weeks to reside with afriend in the neighbourhood.

Three new residents arrived inStilfontein over the past year.

The first was Gary Herschel inApril. One of his legs was amputated high-up andhe of course needs crutches and a wheelchair formobility. Gary is relatively young at 56 and wasaccepted as a tenant of the cottages due to hisdifficult circumstances. He had to leave his placeof residence in Port Elizabeth and was then takenin by RASA. The secretary of National Committeeis in touch with someone who may be able to arrangefor Gary to obtain a prosthesis. Rhodesian born,Gary was educated at Hamilton High and GiffordTechnical in Bulawayo. He emigrated to SA in2007.

Our next arrival was Pieter Henning who camefrom Klerksdorp after meeting Christine Millerand other cottage occupants. Pieter has proved tobe a very helpful addition to the tenant pool. Heis good with his hands and does assist otherswhere he can. His willingness to drive hisneighbours to Klerksdorp for hospital or officialbusiness is very greatly appreciated by everyone.Pieter was born in Bulawayo and went to schoolat Chaplin in Gwelo. He attended University inSouth Africa and trained with a firm of auditors.His military service was with Internal Affairs, andhe seems to have many stories to impart. Heemigrated in 1981 and is now engrossed in familyand national history.

The latest tenant is Lee Monks who arrived atthe end of August. Born in Salisbury she attendedschool at Salisbury Girls' High and married twice;first Hugh Page Slocock and then Lionel EricMonks. She survives them both. Lee worked fora few firms as a senior typist/clerk. She came toSA with her first husband in 1981.

NEW MEMBERSAlison Davis - Alison is the daughter of John &

Claire Goulding who live in Poinsettia Park andhave been members of RASA for many years.

Shirley Darch - Poinsettia ParkSheila Allan - Poinsettia ParkNeil & Jean Hannam - Umdoni Retirement

Village. They have very kindly donated aninteresting flag banner to Durban Branch - theold Rhodesian and Federation flags.

Rachel Chapple (nee Fritz) - Poinsettia ParkBrian & Di Dold - Hillcrest

Welcome all of you - so nice to have had youjoin us at the Poinsettia Park get-together.

THIS & THATHad a phone call from Jenny Bryson - Brick

Bryson's widow. We were quite worried as wethought we had lost touch with her. She was livingin Ballito, but has now moved to TwilangaRetirement Village in Umhlanga. Hope we willnow get a chance to see her. She says she hassettled very well.

Welcome back to Natal Norman Stockton!Norman & Peggy were members of RASA Durbanfor many years. When Peggy was not well theymoved to Cape Town where she sadly passedaway. Norman has been living there and has beenvery lonely. I am so happy to say he has managedto get accommodation at Flame Lily Park, so wewill have the pleasure of seeing him often.

Lizzy Archibald, as I write this, is in hospitalhaving her gall bladder removed. Lizzy, we missedyou at the Poinsettia Braai and hope you get bettersoon.

Claire Goulding is going into hospital shortlyto have a hip replacement. She is very worriedabout the op, but has a very positive attitude

towards the procedure. Best of luck Claire, ourthoughts will be with you.

Our lovely friend Bill Davis aged 95 fromPoinsettia Park is not at all well. It appears that hemay have to move to somewhere where he canhave constant care. Our thoughts are with him andhis family during this trying time.

Bill Gibbs aged 97 from Flame Lily Park ishaving some procedures done on his head at themoment. We wish him well.

DECEASEDROYCE LOVE. We are very sad to hear that

Royce has passed away on 19 September. Roycewas the son of Johnnie Love the racing cardriver and used to always sponsor prizes for ourGolf Day. Rest in peace Royce and our deepestsympathies go out Judy and his family.

IAN ROBERTSON - Rhodesian great rugbyplayer died on 25 August 2015 at the age of 65in Durban. It is a terrible loss to sport in generaland rugby in particular. In 1974 he made hisSpringbok debut as centre against France; playedin both tests and was top try scorer on this tour.He played centre in the second Test, was on thebench for the third and then came back in hisrightful position as number one choice fullbackin the fourth and final Test. At the end of theseries Robertson and his Rhodesian colleague“Spike” McKenna were invited to play for aWorld XV in Cardiff, a significant indicationof their high rating in the world of rugby. Hisrugby career came to a shattering end in 1979with an injury against Transvaal. He wascapped 56 times for Rhodesia with a career totalof 437 points from 12 tries, 60 penalties, 21drop goals and 73 conversions. He played in 12matches for South Africa, five of them Tests.

Visits have been made during the year by Johnand Mary Redfern together with Spero Blismas.These visits are informal and are necessary forcontact to be maintained due to the great distanceinvolved. Doing the trip in one day is tiring andJohn and Mary will often stay overnight in theguest cottage in order to complete business, inconjunction with the local caretaker/representative.Rodney Pinnick has filled this role well in the past,although he has recently been overtaken by illnesswhich has necessitated him being hospitalised andspending time with family in Centurion. Hisexperience and dependability still make him anasset to the Foundation.

The chairman of the Pretoria branch, SperoBlismas, together with committee members KayGearty, Gaile Cobbett, Phil Garbett and NationalCommittee vice-chairman Ned Donkin, visitedStilfontein on 16 September to meet the tenantsand to familiarise themselves with the situation.They were pleased to report that everyone washappy with the subsidised accommodation and thebasic camaraderie that prevailed. It must beremembered that the facilities at Stilfontein arebasic and confined. The flats are not luxurious butare comfortable, and shops are a fair distanceaway. There is still an empty singles flat for whichone may apply.

Other tenants are Sheila Williams, MavisMatthee, May Hall, Benny and Bryonie Steyn, PatDobson, and caretaker Rodney Pinnick and hiswife Ethel.

Compiled by Spero Blismas


RIDGEBACK LOOKING BACK

The RidgebackNewsletter - October 2015

RASA Durban

FROM THE CHAIRThe Durban

Branch committeehas obviously been abad lot as they havebeen re-elected fortheir sins! At theAnnual AGM held atFlame Lily ParkTwilight Shell hole.This was our biggestAGM turnout everwith over 100 in

attendance. Mainly for the Sadza & Braai after themeeting. During the Meeting in June Certificateswere presented to members who had been with theassociation for longer than 15 years - 48 certificateswere issued. Unfortunately not all of the membersreceiving the Certificates were able to attend andwe intend over the next short time to either visitthem or post their Certificates to them.

We are also very pleased that we have had afew volunteers to join the committee. Rob Walkerhas been a very strong supporter and worker overthe years. Shirley Emanuel was on committeesome years ago and has volunteered her servicesagain. And Val Dolby has offered to help Jacquiwith her duties at Flame Lily Park. I would reallylike to thank the committee for their commitment,as it is not an easy task organizing and putting onthese events around Durban. The spin-off fromthe events is that we have enrolled 18 new memberssince our AGM so things are looking more positiveand not all doom and gloom.

Eddie

WELFARESince I retired (again) I have been able to spend

more time visiting our pensioners, and am enjoyinghaving closer contact with our older members whoare also very dear friends.

We were so happy to have Edith Bailey fromthe south coast assisting with seeing to our folk atPoinsettia Park for a few months but sadly she isleaving for Australia and we're all going to miss her.

Poinsettia had their annual fete in July and thisyear's theme was Christmas in July - it was asusual, a huge success and I'm always blown awayby the incredible amount of work that goes intothis event, with nearly all the residents get involvedunder the guidance of Mrs Wendy Lloyd.

At Flame Lily Park we have just over 50Rhodie pensioners, with some having lived therefor almost 20 years. It is a beautiful, happyretirement village with a good community spiritand lots of activities for residents to enjoy. I wentto the Spring Dance on 4th September and althoughnot as well attended as last year, we had live musicand good company. Their fete is being held on3rd October this year and if you haven't beenbefore, it is worth while browsing around and youwill see Rhodesians hard at work manning almostevery stall.

Our committee has hada very busy few months,with the national andregional AGMs, Rhodesand Founders party and thePoinsettia Park annualbraai. We're now gearingup for the UDI celebrationand Golf Day, both inNovember.

Jacqui.

INDEPENDENCE DAY: NOVEMBER 11, 1965. The Prime Minister, the Hon. Ian Douglas Smith, signing theProclamation of Independence in the presence of his cabinet. Front row, left to right: the Hon. D. W. Lardner-Burke, the Hon. C. W. Dupont (now the President), the Prime Minister, the Hon. W. J. Harper, the Hon. LordGraham. Centre row, left to right: the Hon. J. H. Howman, the Hon. P. van Heerden, the Hon. B. H. Mussett,the Hon. J. J. Wrathall, the Hon. G. W. Rudland. Back row, left to right: the Hon. A. P. Smith, Mr. I. B. Dillon,Mr. L. B. Smith, the Hon. I. F. McLean, Mr. P. K. F. V. van der Byl and Brigadier A. Dunlop,

5050505050


LOOKING BACK BALANCING ROCKS

Flame Lily FoundationHighveld BranchPO Box 1632, Secunda, 2302Tel: 017 6346219 (Kevin and Cathy Jones)

Balancing Rocks

Hello to all fellow Rhodesians, wherever thismagazine finds you.

With a change of season coming to the highveldof Mpumalanga, the days are longer and warmerand shorts and T-shirts are back in fashion.

Our club AGM was held in May. Once againthe whole committee was re-elected, no surprisethere. We all accepted and will continue to try tokeep the branch going as well as we can. Moreimprovements have been done to the club houseand some nice leather lounge furniture was donatedby Steve Smith, so the ladies are happy on Fridaynights in the comfortable chairs. The improvementsare ongoing as we do it ourselves in our spare timeand also wait for donations of paint and otheritems we need. As we get, we do what we can.

Our clubhouse is, as always, open every Fridaynight for our social get together and has been wellsupported over the last few months with a few newfaces being welcomed into the fold. Welcome

back to Pete and Barbara Keen, who served on ourcommittee way back in the 1980’s and then, due tofamily and work pressures, dropped out of thepicture. Pete is now on retirement and they decidedto get involved once again.

Talking about retirement, three of our membersBrian Wickens, Gerry Redman and Brian Mooreall retired on the same day at the end of June thisyear. A retirement party was held at the clubhousefor them with family and friends turning up to helpthem celebrate. I presented each of them with awalking stick with attachments, a desert lily, torchto shine into the lily so they don’t miss, tot ofbrandy to keep them warm and a hooter to warnanyone in front of them.

A few new names were suggested for theclubhouse as the majority of the members are nowretired, such as Flame Lily Old Age Club, RetiredAssociation of Sasol Ass’s because most of usworked for Sasol. We are now thinking aboutputting up one of the old rifle holders at the clubentrance so all the walking sticks can be left there.

Our membership is remaining constant but it isof course difficult to get the youngsters interested.I am sure we will keep on going for a while longer.

We are still collecting and distributing clothing,blankets and household items to charities in ourarea and will continue to do so as long as we can.

We are busy trying to plan a celebration for the50th anniversary of UDI. It’s going slowly but I amsure we will organise something. WOW - 50 yearsalready! Where were you on that day? Maybethat’s a theme for a party.

All the best from our small clubhouse andmembers here on the Highveld.

Just keep the flame burning.RegardsKevin Jones

We are in 2015, 50 years since UDI wasdeclared on the 11th November, 1965. What Iwill talk to you about today is something whichoccurred 45 years ago so you'll have to allow for'my failing memory'. Also, the one I worked for,Ian Douglas Smith, would have turned 96 on the8th April this year!

When John Redfern asked me to say a fewwords to our AGM I did not hesitate and acceptedimmediately, then hundreds of incidents occurredto me of my time with the then Prime Minister,Ian Douglas Smith - they occupy the windows ofmy mind.

Sitting in front of me is our Honorary VicePresident, Air Vice-Marshal Chris Dams. Hewas Headboy of Bulawayo Technical High Schoolin 1951 and we encountered one another in ourannual 1st XV rugby fixture at Hartsfield thatyear.

Also in that Tech side was hooker Ronnie Hillwho was later to become a Springbok. Atscrumhalf was Hector Mackenzie Fraser, a threetimes Rhodesian Schools player with whom Isubsequently played Midlands Club Rugby forthe Fort Victoria team.

Bucky Buchanan coached the Technical sideand told his players to "play the man and not theball". I was pulled out of a loose scrum by myscrumcap like a cork out of a bottle, nearlybreaking my neck, right in front of the maingrandstand. I threw my protective gear intotouch and carried on playing.

The result was 3 all, the only game Plumtreecame close to losing in 1951!

As the first Internal Affairs DistrictCommissioner to be appointed to the PPS post, Isucceeded Ray Stallwood my predecessor.

Cabinet decided in 1970 that the PM neededto get closer to the Indigenous population ofRhodesia and that a DC, with knowledge of thelanguages and customs of these people, wasdesirable.

Lance Smith, Minister of Internal Affairs,

PRINCIPAL PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE PRIME MINISTER -1970-1973

Brien Rooken-Smith delivered the following address at the Pretoria Branch's Annual GeneralMeeting, held in Pretoria on 23 April 2015.

took this Cabinet decision back to Hostes Nicolle,his Permanent Secretary, who compiled a short listof DC candidates and came forward with, as Irecall, Alex Bundock, Wally Walters (a formerADC to a Federal Governor General), John Snell atBeit Bridge and myself then at Filabusi.

Beit Bridge and Filabusi were in the PM'sUmzingwane Constituency.

I must comment that the then PermanentSecretary for Information, Immigration andTourism in PK van der Byl's Ministry, Leo Ross,felt this was all "too late!"

Leo Ross, had proposed on his return fromactive service as an Intelligence Officer on theEastern Front facing Russia in 1946, that Rhodesiaembark on a "Hearts and Minds" campaign directedat it's Indigenous population, to counter theCommunist take-over of the masses, much alongthe same lines as Mao adopted in China!

The then Minister of Native Affairs and PrimeMinister, Sir Godfrey Huggins, threw it out saying:- "What do you think the last War was all about?"

It was April 1970 that Hostes phoned me andasked if I'd be interested in the Principal PrivateSecretary's [PPS] post to the PM? He stressed thatI must speak to my wife, as she would have a roleto play. He told me who the other candidates wouldbe and when the interviews with the PM wouldoccur.

I had met the PM on his political visits toFilabusi as John Snell had at Beit Bridge.

Lise gave me her blessing and I advised Hostesaccordingly.

John and I flew up to Salisbury on a Sundayevening on what might have been one of the doomedViscounts, booked in to Meikles and met withNicolle first thing Monday. At this meeting Johnand I were told it would be a "two horse race" as theothers had withdrawn. He said: - "Whoever ischosen will be asked how soon can you get here?"To which we should respond: - "How soon do youneed me?", after which we could expect to move toSalisbury with the minimum of delay.


SHAMWARI LOOKING BACK

Place of Many ElephantsGonarezhou National Park is situated in the

south eastern lowveld of Zimbabwe and coversan area in excess of 5 000 square kilometres. The'Gonarezhou" meaning "Place of many Elephants"is an extremely scenic Park full of rugged andbeautiful landscapes. Alternative folklore suggeststhe area was named for the herbalists who wouldstock their medicines in tusks (known as gona inthe Shona language). Another possible name forGonarezhou is 'Elephant's tusk'.....Three majorrivers - The Save, Runde and Mwenezi - cut theircourses through the Park, forming pools andnatural oases from which hundreds of species ofbirds, wildlife and fish gather to feed and drink. Asits name implies, Gonarezhou is famous for itselephants, and many of the largest-tuskedelephants in the region may be found within thePark

Now HeeHoo and I have been in love withMana Pools for many years but we might, mightnow be more slightly favoring 'Gonners!!' Wefirst went to Gonrezhou about six years ago whenthe park was at an all time low thanks toZimbabwe's economy. We were the only peoplein the entire park!! We heard rifle shots! We sawno one at all except for a solitary park ranger, wecamped in solitary isolation with only the baboonsfor company, and we saw very very fewanimals......

Last week we saw a completely different sideof Gonarezhou - the park was really quite a busylittle place!! We camped at Fishans Camp with alovely group of local and South African friends.We the locals were pretty used to camping butour equipment was nothing like that of our friendsfrom across the border!! EXCEPT FOR THESHOWER!! P.J. and Debs from Turk Mine broughtwith them, a shower stall that could rival a showerin the Savoy Hotel. A magnificent contraption,comprising a leaf green shower curtain, amplerubber matting to exclude the possibility of mud,and an ingenious cast-iron tea urn run on gas!!Never was a shower more warmly welcome, withwater drawn daily by hand, from the Runde River,and hand poured into a substantial bucket abovea shower head by loving husbands!!

Toasty warm water to clean and revive after a

hard days camping, and even a macrame mirrorplus scented lavender soap to clean one'stootsies!! These South Africans sure know how tocamp, they have every conceivable camping 'modcon', and their hospitality was absolutely amazing.I must admit we had the easiest and most hands-on tent though, everyone envied our little Eurekanumber that was erected and dismantled literallyin minutes. And the beauty of it was that, if oneleft off the fly sheet one could lie on one's stretcherand through the gauze, keep and eye on the moon(a brilliant Blue Moon it was too) and of course theglorious milky way and all the stars.

Gill and Bert had a trailer that was a 'Camper'sDream' a mobile home with a kitchen to die for. Joand Alan's beautiful 4 x 4 was equipped for campinglike no other vehicle I have ever seen, and Vinceand Linny were the most hospitable andaccomplished campers to be found north of theLimpopo!!

We had a daily mighty running battle with thebaboons, they were polished thieves and werenot afraid of much! We saw so much game on ourforays into the park, loads of eles, giraffe, kudu,impala, waterbuck, nyala, hippo and zebra to namebut a few. The birds and water birds were prolific,and of course we fell in love, again with theglorious, majestic, incredible Chilojo Cliffs. Therewere quite a number of tourists, we met severalof them as we became quite well known as 'thosepeople at Fishans who have a satellite phone'. Ourphone became widely used by several camperswho needed to call Chiredzi to arrange for thepurchase of new tyres. The Gonners roads were infact very good thanks to the input from theFrankfurt Zoological Society, but the casualty rateat Fishans Causeway caused us great mirth.

P.J. was the first to get well stuck in the sandpulling his 100 kg mighty shower trailer....HeeHoowill never admit to it but he also got bogged downtemporarily, and then the rest of the trip wasspent towing all and sundry through the RundeRiver bed with our trusty cruiser!!

A great place to make lasting friendshipsapparently, is the dry sandy river bed of aZimbabwe river!!

Margaret KrielMorning Mirror Edition 649 - 11/8/2015

We were given appointment times that daywith myself ahead of John and told to head for thePM's Office in 1st Street (sic), Milton Buildingsand introduce ourselves to the Secretary to theCabinet and PM's Office, Gerald Clarke, whowould introduce us to the PM.

Clarke, as an apolitical Civil Servant in theBritish tradition, had seen Prime Ministers comeand go, having served in the Cabinet Office underHuggins, Todd, Whitehead, Field and Smith.

Clarke knew the background history toSouthern Rhodesia from Federal times, with itsdissolution and the emergence of Malawi (formerlyNyasaland) under Hastings Banda and Zambia(formerly Northern Rhodesia) under KennethKaunda, but no Independence for white-controlledSouthern Rhodesia, now post five years UDI,which the Smith régime had declared on the 11thNovember, 1965.

Clarke introduced me to Jane Singleton, SocialSecretary and Front of Shop on the Ground Floor,Then up the stairs to the PM's suite where I metIris McNamara and Mona Smith, the PM'sstenographers, then Ray Stallwood, who was keento leave and go in to the world of Commerce. Hethen knocked on the door I was to get to know sowell and ushered Clarke and myself into IanSmith's office! There was a welcoming smile onthe PM's face as he stood up and shook my hand.

The PM recalled our meeting at Filabusi andreminded me we'd met when I was ReturningOfficer there for the 1962 General Election whenhe contested the Umzingwane Constituency seat,which he, as the RF candidate, had won.

Following discussions on the functions of PPSin the Office of the PM it was agreed that the newincumbent should start on or about the 1st of May,which was only about ten days distant!

John had his interview later and then we wentback to Hostes Nicolle who wanted feedback onour interviews. "Were you asked when you couldstart?" inquired Nicolle and we said that we'd beavailable at short notice.

We flew back to Bulawayo and returned to ourDistricts - Lise, as you can imagine was keen toknow how I had fared. The answer was not longin coming, as first thing next day I had a call from

Hostes Nicolle to say I was "Smith's Man!"I had to leave Lise and our loyal domestics of

many years service to get packed up at Filabusi,where the folk there gave us quite a send off andwished us well as we went off to work for "theirMP!"

I handed over the District to Ray Naylor my 2I/C and headed to Salisbury for a new life.

Of the PM's immediate staff I learned that JaneSingleton's father Sandy, a Peterhouse master, hadplayed cricket for Rhodesia in 1947 against theMCC touring team managed by Brigadier MichaelGreen, uncle to Robert Kennedy, my great pal ofFilabusi mining, ranching and sporting fame.

Then there was the glamorous Iris McNamara,who with husband Paddy, were the NationalBallroom Dancing Champions.

One could not overlook the PM's Driver, FrankAbrahams, who relished his work, driving theblack Mercedes Benz Romeo One with great skill.He'd also been driver to Todd, Whitehead andField and should have written a book of his timewith the various PM's. He also carried a gun!

The security situation required that the PM beaccompanied at all times by a Close SecurityOfficer, drawn from the ranks of the UniformedBranch of the BSAP. It was the Commissioner'sresponsibility to select suitable details who, whilethey were serving the PM, reported toSuperintendent Peter Moores of Special Branch inthe CIO's [Central Intelligence Organisation] office.These details rotated weekly on their rosters, whichwere sufficiently flexible to accommodate thePM's travel requirements both within Rhodesiaand abroad, also not forgetting his regular visits tohis Selukwe Gwenoro farm. Ian Smith had acertain delight in giving these men the slip fromtime to time and very concerned details wouldappear in Jane's office saying: - "Have you seen theBoss?"

The calibre of the men seconded to these dutiesreflected the quality and ability of our RhodesianPolicemen and some of the names I recall were BillLinfield, Peter Burt, Peter West, Scotty Macaulayand Mike Plant.

Well, here I was, an apolitical DC, pitched in tothe hurley burley of the PM's official, political andprivate life.

Ray Stallwood had a week in which to hand


LOOKING BACK SHAMWARI17

Branch Address:PO Box 2669Pietermaritzburg3200 Tel: 033 3432994

Flame Lily Foundationincorporating RASA

Pietermaritzburg& Districts Branch

NewsletterNo. 4/15

October 2015

Sheila’s ShenanigansHere we are at the end of another year that has gone incredibly fast

and time to plan our year end-get togethers.Our annual Remembrance Service will take place on Sunday 15th

November at Queen Elizabeth Park and will be followed by a braai.Then for our Christmas lunch, Rob and Christine Wilson have graciously

invited us to have this in their lovely home and garden at Wartburg. So,despite information in previous editions, please note that this will take place on Sunday 6th

December and NOT 13th. As in the past this will be bring and share. We will providetransport for those members who require help. Please contact a committee member whowill assist you.

Enjoy the story of Margaret’s trip to Gonarezhou and we look forward to seeing you allsoon.

Much love ,SheilaSheilaSheilaSheilaSheila

FORTHCOMING EVENTSOur Remembrance Day Service will take place on

Sunday 15th November 2015at Queen Elizabeth Park,

followed by a braai

Christmas Bring & Share Lunch - 6th December 2015at the home of Christine & Rob Wilson

Put these dates on your calendar now and then you won’t forget!!

over safe keys, combinations, classified files ofall kinds and a suspect .32 Savage automaticpistol and ammunition with the advice that I seethe Police Armourer and do some snap shootingon their pistol range. Superintendent DonHollingsworth, the Bisley shottist I'd encounteredon the ranges around Rhodesia, was the man tosee!

Ray introduced me to Ministers' PrivateSecretaries and people with whom I would havethe greatest contact in Government, Politics,Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Miningsectors, not forgetting Heads of Ministries, Armyand Air Force Commanders, the Commissioner ofPolice, Director General CIO and the Staff on JPS[Joint Planning Staff], which preceded Comops[Combined Operations].

An interesting aspect of my work was to fieldall phone calls from those who did not have thePM's private home numbers. PTC [Post &Telecommunications] Supervisors had my homenumber and required me to let them know mywhereabouts 24/7. Numerous such calls came myway at all times of the night and over weekendsand public holidays. We of course had a wargoing on and there were frequent calls fromGroup Captain Don Brenchley, Secretary JPS,advising on security force operations, successesor otherwise, as the PM wished to be kept informedof all aspects of the conflict.

And so began the most interesting three-and-a-half years of my service in Government, ablysupported by Lise and my family as I worked forIDS and got to know Janet Smith, a charming andintelligent lady and their family - and of course"UDI" their favourite pet female Bull Mastiff.

I could possibly write a book about all thepeople I encountered in this post which I washappy to hand over to John Snell, who was IDS'slast PPS before the coming into being ofZimbabwe-Rhodesia in 1979.

I maintain IDS was the most maligned politicianin Africa, inheriting as he did a British Colonygoing down the tubes and about which successiveBritish Labour Governments cared little; a Colonythat had been self-governing since 1923 and aloyal member of the Commonwealth, with manyof her people giving their lives in two World Warsto defend the British Empire and all it stood for.

Then subsequently the lives lost on all sides in ourBush War, which was at home and not somewherefar over the sea!

At the end of the day Rhodesia was left to go italone with Russia, China and North Korea asadversaries in their support of the Rhodesian AfricanNationalist cause.

IDS told me over the phone from the Capebefore he passed away that he believed NelsonMandela to be the only true Statesman to emerge inAfrica in recent times!

Four Principal Private Secretaries served IanDouglas Smith: - The first being Len Thompsonfrom Treasury, who became PK's man in France!

The second was the late Ray Stallwoodmentioned above.

Then came myself, retired and living inGermiston and John Snell, now retired and livingin Harare.

I tried contacting Ray in Ramsgate after comingto South Africa in 2008 to find out if he'd made anyjottings of his time with I.D.S. only to receive aphone call from his widow telling me that my letterto Ray arrived just after he'd passed away.

I gather that John Snell remains a closed book asregards his time with IDS.

I must say that I had the highest regard for myBoss with his incredible memory recall and abilityto see things clearly as they related to Rhodesia atthe time. His loyal and charming wife Janet ablysupported his charismatic personality.

They were a great couple and out -and-outRhodesians to the core who in themselvesepitomised humility and a great care and concernfor all the peoples of the Country Ian had beenelected to lead.

Early in my time with Ian Smith, whom I neverreferred to other than as "Prime Minister" or "PM",he said he hoped to take Rhodesia forward to itsIndependence with a smooth transition fromMinority to Majority Rule.

These were his very words to me in his officeover a cup of tea, which he'd poured. He said, andI quote: - "Any people out there who think wewhites can rule Rhodesia for ever have their headsburied in the sand."

Unfortunately he had in his RF Caucus ten far-out right-wing MP's, like Fawcett-Phillips, JohnNewington and Bob McGhie, and others who might


LOOKING BACK16

FISH EAGLE

WELFARE REPORTSEPTEMBER 2015

The 1st September is the start of the 3rdquarter, when welfare funds are distributed tothe qualifying beneficiaries. This time, asagreed at the August committee meeting, themaximum benefit was increased to R1 200. Inaddition to the regular benefit and inaccordance with the August decision to sharethe generous anonymous donation of R5 000,26 people each had R190 added to their GiftCards. There are 26 people currently on thebenefit list. Another 8 persons are usuallyincluded for a Christmas Gift in December.I am mentioning this because we have severalnew members on the Committee who areprobably wondering how we do what. The newmembers have chosen to be on Fund Raisingand this is about the most im-portant section.Without sufficient funds, we would not be ableto help our ‘needy’. At this time, our need isR124 800 regularly, plus R14 000 at Xmas =nearly R140 000 per annum. A walk around thesupermarket will show that the figure shouldbe doubled. We work on the principle that wehave to know that we can maintain therequirement at least a year ahead at all times.Please continue to raise funds and be proud todo so.Boot Sales, at Glencairn or on my ownproperty, are going well. A total of R11 300 hasbeen paid into the Main Fund this financialyear and costs like labour and transport ofheavy furniture have been paid for. The teamhas done great work in sorting and pricingstock. Sales from the house slightly exceedthose from the Boot. Every sale helps. Myspecial thanks go to the team (Val, Shirley &Colin); to Cilla for her understanding; to Angela& Tony for their work on the Calendar; To Allanfor his patience with amateurs; to Marion forlaw & order; and to Skatie and Avril.WelfareWe continue to visit the frail and the elderly,and give what help and support we can - allgetting a little older.

Jean Bowen-Davies, Welfare Carer

BOOK REVIEW : WOMEN OF COURAGEEIGHT LIFE STORIES

By Maia Chenaux-RepondMaia Chenaux-Repond was a ProvincialCommunity Development Officer (Women) inRhodesia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (INTAF)during the “bush war” from 1973 to 1978. Sheserved with courageous women colleagues,both black and white, in often remote tribalareas of the Mashonaland Provinces facingdanger on a daily basis. Three of her field stafflost their lives on duty.

Five women narrate their life stories – includinghow they experienced the chimurenga whileengaged as community development workerstasked with helping rural women to improvetheir families’ lives, largely through self-help.Some worked in the ‘Protected Villages’. Threeof their daughters narrate their mothers’ andtheir own stories, two of them telling us how aparent’s killing has affected their families tothis day and one recounting her experiencesafter she joined the liberation war.

This volume (A5 format, 203 pages, ISBN 978-7974-6559-6) contains black-and-whitephotographs and two maps. It is available atUS$20 (plus postage) from the author, MaiaChenaux-Repond, 32 Trafalgar Ave, Sentosa, POMabelreign, Zimbabwe. Tel. 263-4-303591.Email [email protected].

ORDERS FOR FLAME LILY WALLCALENDARS

“Memories of Rhodesia”

14 months, each page with a beautifulRhodesian photograph (see pp. 24-25), onsale from the Cape Peninsula Branch. Orderscan be placed through any of the contactslisted on page 14. Single Calendars R75 each(plus R9 for postage in RSA of one calendar).Bulk postage can be arranged to FLFbranches.The calendar has been printed by kinddonations from 14 sponsors. Funds raisedfrom sales go directly into our Welfare Fund.

have sought another "UDI"!I spoke to him saying that the RF held all 50

white seats in Parliament and that he could affordto dump his ten far-out right-wingers, after thePearce Commission failed. He might then considernegotiations with Mugabe and Nkomo, offeringthem the terms agreed with Britain in negotiationswith Alec Douglas-Home.

His response was: - "No, we'd give too muchaway to go that route."

I asked IDS after reading "The Great Betrayal"why he'd not told us more about his personal life,

spanning as it did his school and university careersand then the War Years, with his Hurricane crashand then being shot down in the Po Valley andbecoming part of the Italian Partisan Movementbefore again rejoining an operational RAF squadronwith Johnny Johnson as his Wing Commander.

He said he'd leave this to others to do shouldthey so wish but he wanted to place on record thepolitical events leading to Rhodesia beingabandoned by the Free World!

Brien Rooken-Smith

Photos: Fokus, April 1979

Honorary doctorate conferred on Ian Douglas Smith,by the University of Port Elizabeth, April 1979


FISH EAGLELOOKING BACK

SOCIAL REPORT:The August social tea: There were a total of 52people in attendance, a more quiet tea thanusual and sadly, albeit plenty, a few regularbakers were unable to do so this month. I wasnot well so also was there more in body thanmind. The Vortex Raffle was drawn and won byRonnie MacKay (see photo below). We raisedR2 000 which will be distributed to those onthe welfare list.The September Tea:Wow what a change from last month, 59people at a very jolly tea to say the least, withnumerous members back from their overseastrips, plenty of yummy food, entertainment onthe keyboard and a lovely lucky draw with spotprizes too. Ina Paarman hampers, Mazoeorange, Liptons tea, high tea for two, and ahaircut for two.

October: There will be a tea as usual in Octoberwith more yummy gifts for the lucky draw.November: There will be no Tea on theWednesday, as we will be serving tea and eatsafter the Memorial service on Sunday 15th.December Christmas TeaThe Christmas tea will again be on the 2ndWednesday - the 9th December 9.30 for 10.00at the Fish Hoek Bowling Club R10 for membersand R20 for non members and guests.There will be spot prizes as our lucky draw.

Everyone to please bring a gift to the value of +-R20 for secret Santa.That will bring us to the end of yet anotheryear. Wow, too early for Christmas wishes. Seeyou at the Tea

Priscilla Rees. 021 782 4573

Joan, who was a rather well-proportionedsecretary, spent almost all of her vacationsunbathing on the roof of her hotel. She worea bathing suit the first day, but on the second,she decided that no one could see her way upthere, and she slipped out of it for an overalltan.She’d hardly begun when she heard someonerunning up the stairs. She was lying on herstomach, so she just pulled a towel over herrear. “Excuse me, miss,” said the flusteredassistant manager of the hotel, out of breathfrom running up the stairs. “The Hiltondoesn’t mind your sunbathing on the roof, butwe would very much appreciate your wearinga bathing suit as you did yesterday.”“What difference does it make?” Joan askedrather calmly. “No one can see me up here,and besides, I’m covered with a towel.”“Not exactly,” said the embarrassed man.“You’re lying on the dining room skylight.”

A LETTER OF THANKSThis letter appeared in the False Bay Echo of 17September:“I wish to thank Tony Rozemeyer and AllanGregg who noticed my car keys in the door ofmy unlocked car and took the trouble to find outfrom the gate guard at St. James RetirementHotel, as to who owned the car and where hecould be found. I am grateful for yourthoughtfulness in saving me from what couldhave been a disaster.Nyabonga kakhulu!” John AppsAn interesting postscript to this story is thatTony and Allan discovered that Mr. John Appscomes from Que Que and when they went topay their bill, the kind Mr. Apps had settled itfor them! Nyabonga kakhulu to Mr. Apps!

Ha ! Ha ! Ha !

Frank Oates was born in 1840, near Leeds inEngland. His father belonged to the landed gentry.Frank grew up surrounded by the leisured affluenceof a classic Victorian bourgeois home.

From an early age Frank showed a passionateinterest in Natural History. He read Natural Scienceat Oxford; but due to poor health never completedhis studies.

Ever since Livingstone “discovered” theVictoria Falls, the attention of young explorershad been focused on the relatively unknown Africa.Frank’s imagination had been fired by Livingstoneand he keenly looked forward to one day visitingthe Falls himself.

In March 1873 Frank and hisbrother William (my greatgrandfather) sailed for Durban.From here they travelled up toPietermaritzburg, where they setabout equipping themselves for thejourney inland and northwards.Each brother bought a wagon and14 oxen. They shared five horses,and had a number of natives foreach wagon.

Frank and William reachedPretoria in June 1873. Frankrecorded in his journal: “Here inPretoria are a great number of English. The Englishkeep to stores and the Dutch Boers stick to farming.I fear the English here are a bad lot, with fewexceptions. One man who cheated me, I asked ifhe had a conscience. He replied that no one herehad them.”

From Pretoria, Frank and William travelled oninto the present-day Botswana, passing throughShusong and they reached Tati in late August1873. Frank described Tati as “an Englishsettlement of a few huts, collected round thegoldmine.”

At Tati William left Frank, because he hadnever intended to go to the Falls, and began hisreturn journey home, to England.

Frank of course still had every intention ofvisiting the Victoria Falls. He decided to travel on

FRANK OATES: AN ENGLISH NATURALIST’S OX-WAGONTREK TO THE VICTORIA FALLS

into the “country of the Matabele”; MatabeleLand, over which KIng Lobengula reigned.

On reaching Gubeleweyo (Bulawayo), the King’s town, he called on Lobengula, to whom he gave a gift of a gun and ammunition, "with which Lobengula was very pleased."

All along the route from Pietermaritzburg,Frank was hunting and collecting zoological andbotanical specimens. These specimens weremeticulously preserved with detailed annotations.A number of plants, birds and snakes were laternamed after him, when his collections were studiedby taxonomists back in England. He was indeed a

naturalist of note.King Lobengula gave Frank

permission to travel northwardsthrough his ‘Kingdom’; alsoallowing him to hunt.

Frank’s determination to reachthe Falls was constantly uppermostin his mind. In late September 1873Frank was ready to travel on foot(Lobengula suggested that he shouldwalk), north to the Falls; but at thelast minute Frank received newsthat the bearers that had beenrecruited to go with him, refused toaccompany him; apparently fearing

the ‘fever’, as the summer and the rainy seasonwere advancing.

It was in fact, only on Frank’s fourth attempt toset off for the Falls that he was successful. Hisdelays were frustrating for him, and were causedby a series of misfortunes; for example wagonwheels breaking, and his servants deserting him.His delays began in September 1873 and it wasnot until December of the following year, 1874,that he finally reached his goal.

During Frank’s lengthy delay he records, inhis journal (always meticulously kept), all thedetails of his movements and persons that he met.Selous, the famous big game hunter, was one suchperson who offered advice. Selous and his fellowhunter, Wood, were of the opinion that Decemberwas a safer (in terms of not contracting malaria),


FISH EAGLE LOOKING BACK35

MUIZENBERG’S LITTLE HISTORICAL GEMLATEST DEVELOPMENTS AT

RHODES COTTAGE MUSEUM

In 1899 Cecil John Rhodes, renowned Britishbusinessman and colonial imperialist, purchaseda stretch of land along Muizenberg Main Roadon the mountainside in False Bay intending tobuild himself another Groote Schuur residence.In the meantime, he used two existing littlethatched buildings for his weekends away fromthe hustle and bustle of his active life. Heenjoyed swimming, eating fish, playing cards,socialising, and most important of all, imbibingthe sea air. Unfortunately, during the Boer Warhe became very ill and finally passed away onMarch 26 1902 in the front room of his littlecottage.For a while this cottage was looked after by SirAbe Bailey, who had an interest in the partly-built main house next door. Later the propertywas given to the Northern RhodesianGovernment for their officials to use as holidayaccommodation. In 1937 it was handed over toCape Town Municipality by Deed of Gift with theprovision that it became a memorial to CecilJohn Rhodes.In due course a committee of local dignitariesgot together to create a museum in honour ofCJR, and it was officially opened by the Mayor ofCape Town in 1953.It is still open today, in spite of the municipalitybeing unable to deal with an amenity of thisnature, thanks to a group of communityhistorians stepping in, in 1999, and offering tolease and manage the little museum.After 15 years, and the lease expiring after 10,the same group of locals known as TheMuizenberg Historical Conservation Society,continue to keep this little gem open andmaintained.Now, fortunately, the City of CT is able to acceptmuseums as a function, and has designated theresponsibility of this particular museum to theDepartment of Tourism and the newly-createdDepartment of Arts & Culture; the museum hasfound a home, become a cultural space, and is

instituting a new inclusive managementstructure which will soon be in operation.After 62 years of existence, the Rhodes CottageMuseum, which houses a good editorial andphotographic display, as well as Rhodes’ originalcoach, is still open daily (at the moment from 10am to 1 pm). Prebookings are encouraged forother times.The museum boasts a visitors’ book with a list oftourists from all over the world.

FLF CONTACT DETAILSCAPE PENINSULA BRANCH

P O Box 43821 Fish Hoek 7974Chairman: Skatie FourieTel:: 021 785 5620 (Evenings) or Email :[email protected]: Tony RozemeyerTel: 021 788 7274Email [email protected] / Secretary: Allan / Marion Gregg Tel:021 785 5620Email: [email protected]: Jean Bowen-Davies. 021 785 3074Catering and Teas: Priscilla ReesTel 021 782 4573 or 082 494 5602Email [email protected]: Angela Walker. Tel: 021 781 [email protected]

Thanks to Joye Gibbs of the Muizenberg HistoricalConservation Society for this article.

time of the year, rather than later in the summer,to visit the Falls. There were others that Frankmet that strongly discouraged him from goingto the Falls in mid-summer. Frank howeverheeded the seemingly positive information thatSelous and Wood gave him; and immediatelydecided to make a quick dash for the Falls!

On the 3 November 1874, Frank, in thecompany of some other men, set off on his finaltrek to reach the Falls. On 22 December 1874,Frank reached Pantamatenka, and close by wasthe place where those walking the last lap to theFalls, left their wagons.

At this stage a Dr Bradshaw joined him. DrBradshaw, who already had been to the Falls,and was himself an amateur naturalist,volunteered to accompany Frank to the Falls.

On New Year’s Eve, Frank and eight of hisnative assistants (who also wanted to see theFalls), and Dr Bradshaw arrived at the falls.

Frank Oates had finally reached his goal!He recorded the event in his journal on New

Year’s Day, 1875: “after breakfast I visited theFalls, a day never to be forgotten.” Apart fromthis brief entry in his journal, it is as sad, as itis rather odd, that while at the Falls he wrote noaccount of them whatsoever. He did howeverpaint two water-colours and make several pencildrawings of the Falls.

Frank returned to Pantamatenka on 13January 1875 from where, with his servantsand Dr Bradshaw, he started the return treksouth. On 25 January he showed signs ofoncoming fever and later became very ill. DrBradshaw watched over him constantly andthey pressed on for Tati. However on theevening of 5 February Dr Bradshaw halted thewagons as Frank was dying. He was buried ina disused game-trap.

The grave is in Zimbabwe, close(approximately 1 km) to the Zimbabwe/Botswana border. The source of the ShashiRiver is a few kilometers to the south of thegrave. A friend of mine Dr Sydney Cullisvisited the grave in 2010 and found the metalsurrounding railings and the steel memorialplaque to be in good condition. The grave isvery much off the ‘beaten track’.

After Frank’s death Dr Bradshaw handedFrank’s wagon and all his belongings to a Rev JohnMackenzie who saw to the safe-keeping of thevaluable natural history material that Frank hadcollected. A Mr Gilchrist arranged for all Frank’spossessions and natural history specimens to bereturned to England.

It is recorded that a considerable number ofFrank’s specimens were stored in Shoshong, wherehe had left them to continue his trek northwards.The items were stored in a hut. During a storm thehut was unroofed and a considerable number of thecollection was destroyed.

Furthermore, and regretfully, some of the jarsof reptiles, beetles etcetera, were left behind whenthe rest of his packing cases were conveyed toEngland. One wonders how many, possiblyvaluable specimens, were lost.

Frank and William’s brother, Charles, describesthe delayed arrival at his home in Leeds, of thepacking cases filled with the Frank’s treasures thathe had been steadily collecting. As one after theother of the cases were opened, they revealed theuntiring determination of Frank to make the utmostof the opportunities that he had, to collect as manyinteresting specimens as he could whilst in SouthernAfrica. Examples of what was in the cases, werebird-skins and pressed plants; each specimen withits separate label carefully recording the localityand habitat. Smaller cases were filled withspecimens of insects (some from very close to theFalls); bottles of strange looking beetles andreptiles; elephant tusks; skins of lions, leopard andcheetah. Furthermore the cases contained thescientific instruments he had used; his journal,note books, penciled outlines of landscapes andthe water-colour paintings of the fatal Falls.

All the items and records are proof of what hadbeen; and still more, of what might have been!Frank’s botanical specimens are housed in theHerbarium at Kew Gardens. Other items are inmuseums in England. Frank’s original paintings ofthe Falls and his numerous writings were donatedby the Oates family to the National Archives in thethen Rhodesia.References:1. Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls; First

Edition 1881. Edited by Charles Oates


NOTICE BOARD

36 13FISH EAGLELOOKING BACK

HAPPY BIRTHDAYHAPPY BIRTHDAYHAPPY BIRTHDAYHAPPY BIRTHDAYHAPPY BIRTHDAYTo the following members whose birthdaysfall in October & November

OCTOBER1. Jane McCoubrey4. Velma Baulk6. Myra Jones

Hazel Rozemeyer12. David Jones, John Parnham13. Pat Dougherty14. Moira Evans18. Eddie Wilkinson24. Margaret Cuthbert28. Marion Gregg

NOVEMBER1. Stella Midlane2. The Hon. Charles Waddington4. Richard Angel6. Liz Kinman

Reinette van Tonder10. Dorothy Smith

Shirley Waddington11. Leonard van Tonder13. Lorraine Lithgow15. Ted Wibberley

Moira Wilkinson18. Yvonne Foley21. Averil Emery22. James Begley24 Phil Gargan26. Meryl Aston28. Bryan Squires29. Keith Maughan30. Michael Fawcett

WE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYWE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYWE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYWE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYWE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY DAYAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEADAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEADAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEADAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEADAND A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS:

Paul Theodosiou, of Constantia,Ex Harare

Keith & Elizabeth Hayward of Fish Hoek, exHarare

Patricia Lord, of Simon’s Town

FOR YOUR DIARY

14 October - Monthly Tea at Fish HoekBowling Club, 9.30 for 10 a.m.

11 November— The usual monthly tea hasbeen cancelled, because of the Re-membrance Service on the 15th. But seeTony’s notice below.

SUNDAY 15 November:REMEMBRANCE SERVICE12.30 for 1 p.m., followed by tea andsnacks. See page 1.

9 December—Special Christmas Tea at FishHoek Bowling Club

Please contact Priscilla if you are attendingthese teas, so she can cater for numbers.021 782 4573 or 082 494 5602

UDIThe 11th November sees exactly 50 yearssince the Rhodesian Government declared itsUDI in 1965.The November usual Tea Party having beencancelled, we are considering organising anunusual and informal meeting instead, to“ring the bell” at 11 a.m. to commemoratethis event, which so many people rememberwell.Further details will be issued at the OctoberTea.We would like to hear how many memberswould like to participate. Phone TonyRozemeyer 021 788 7274 after 2 [email protected]

Don’t forget our monthly boot sale - FirstSaturday of every month at the PhoenixHall in Glencairn.

from the writings of Frank Oates, F.R.G.S.2. Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls;

Second Edition 1889.This is a morecomplete edition with additionalinformation in the Appendix and the bodyof the book.

3. A facsimile reprint of the first edition(again with some additions) was printedby The Pioneer Head, Salisbury, Rhodesiain 1971.

4. Frank Oates and the Victoria Falls.1995.Mavis Coulson. The Oates MemorialLibrary and Museum. Hampshire,England.

Note to the Reader:William Oates was the father of Captain

Lawrence E. G. Oates who perished in 1912, onCaptain Scott’s Expedition to the South Pole,Antarctica.Author: Lawrence (Laurie) Oates, great, greatnephew of Frank Oates, Pretoria, 2015.

Acknowledgement: Map from To the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi - by Eduard Mohr


PROMOTIONSFISH EAGLE

THEFISHEAGLE

FLAME LILY FOUNDATIONCAPE PENINSULA BRANCH

Vol.11 No. 5 October 2015

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGECharitable giving is at its highest level - we

are blessed with our many friends’ kindnatures, they are indeed a very generousgroup. The rise in the cost of living has seenour friends coming forward with extradonations for those in need.

Members of our committee are striving toraise funds to help with much neededessentials that are beyond the normal incomesof our senior members. We are sticking to ourregular boot sales which raise a steady incomefor our Welfare Fund.

Our Vice Chairman Tony Rozemeyer cameup with a brainwave to produce a sponsoredscenic wall calendar, entitled “Memories ofRhodesia”, and asked members to submitphotos. The result will amaze you all - 14months, each month showing a beautifulphotograph, and finished off with LewisWalter’s brilliant cover design of wild flowers.

We are selling them locally, and we hopemany members in all the branches will buythese calendars , in my mind they make awonderful Christmas gift for those familiesabroad, and I would be so bold as to say thatthey will be a collector’s item.

Three things stand out in my mind, lookingback to make 2015 an exceptional year.- Firstly our Monthly Teas with an average of55 attending, and growing each month.Visitors passing through express theirenjoyment of the rapport and happyrelationship that exist between committee,members and friends.- Secondly the Rhodes and Founders Lunchheld at the Clovelly Golf Club in July wasoutstanding. There was laughter amongstthe 88 who sat down to well laid-out roundtable settings, complemented by the food andthe excellent service.- Lastly, and this is Lewis’s baby, theRemembrance Service which summons a

generation to pay their respects to those whohave fallen; the service is moving and thesounding of the Last Post is chilling.

Everyone knows an association has a life.It is more important to this committee becauseit reflects the spirit of its members and theatmosphere in which we socialize.

Looking back, I feel I have justification insaying that both the cordial spirit and thefriendly atmosphere now prevailing in theFlame Lily Foundation - from head office andthroughout the branches - have never beenbetter.

In closing I challenge you all to bring amember to our meetings who has no transportto get around. As our past Chairman LewisWalter once expressed, “This valley has manyRhodesians, they will come.”

Keeping our flame alive,Skatie Fourie

REMEMBRANCE SERVICEThe annual Remembrance Service to

honour Rhodesians who lost their lives inall the conflicts of the past will be held at12.30 for 13.00 (1 pm) on SUNDAY 15thNOVEMBER 2015 , at the MethodistChurch, 1st Avenue, Fish Hoek.

Refreshments will be served after theservice, courtesy of Priscilla Rees and herhelpers.

A plate of snacks would be appreciated.Please bear in mind that there is a “stop

and go” on the Main Road between KalkBay and Fish Hoek, so factor in a little extratime if you are using this route.

Floral tributes in honour of the fallen arewelcome. Please phone Skatie Fourie 021785 5620 (evening) or Lewis Walter 021782 1895 (evening).

Please make every effort to attend.Younger people will be particularly

welcome.

A Woman in a Man's Worldby Clem van Vliet

"A Woman in a Man'sWorld" is a very fully detailedautobiography of aremarkable woman. Theuntimely death of her firsthusband of a coronarythrombosis at age 39 meantshe had to shoulder fullresponsibility for her twochildren, she perforce becamethe breadwinner for herfamily.

Women were verymarginalised then. She foundherself doing a man’s job forhalf the pay and took on twosmall businesses as a sideline.These grew and grew untilshe had to make the daunting decision of givingup her secure job to run them full time.She wasastute and hard-working, eventually building asmall empire of successful businesses inBulawayo, and in 1969 she was made the firstwoman ‘Fellow’ of the Institute of Directors.

The book is well written and tells of the writer’steenage years. Four times married, three timeswidowed, once divorced and with many closefriends, the stories of these inter-personal

RHODESIAN BOOKS - NON-FICTION

relationships dominate.The last part of the book

contains a story of some of SouthAfrica’s involvement in airwarfare in World War 2. This isfollowed by the author'sinvolvement in the naturalistsocieties of Zimbabwe,particularly Wild Life. Somestories are amusing, some happyand some tragic, but that is whatreal life is all about.

Clem van Vliet provides acompelling story of one person’slife in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, inincreasingly difficult times.Told with simplicity andhonesty, it is well worth reading.

Paperback: A5 size388 pages, 8 with photos, B/W and colour.Price: R170,00 (excluding postage)Orders: Clem van Vliet,e-mail: [email protected] contact Skatie Fourie on 021 785 5620.

[Editor: The first edition has been sold out andClem van Vliet, who is 90 years of age, has only 22books remaining from the second edition.]

Chibaya MoyoThe Rhodesian African Rifles:An anthology 1939-1981

Compiled and edited by CaptAndy Telfer SCR and Capt RussellFulton, with anecdotal input from49 contributors.

Chibaya Moyo is wholly dedicatedto raising funds to assist those masodja whostill live in Zimbabwe and struggle to eke outan existence. They were there when weneeded them; let us now be there for them.

A5 size paperback542 pages with B/W illustrationsPrice: R450.00Orders: 30 degrees SouthPublishers, E-mail:[email protected]

Persons without e-mail or internet accessmay order their book through the FLF byphoning 012 4602066, or writing to PO Box95474, 0145 Waterkloof.


PROMOTIONS11

MSASA MAIL

CONTACT PERSONSSecretary: Mary RedfernTel: 012 4602066 (during office hours,otherwise an answering machine is in use.)

Chairman: Spero BlismasTel: 012 6676647

Postal address: E-mail:PO Box 95474 [email protected] Waterkloof www.flf-rasa.co.za

Fix your thoughts on what is true, andhonorable, and right, and pure, and lovely,and admirable. Think about things that areexcellent and worthy of praise.

Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)

This is a gross insult to all former Rhodesiansas it’s completely detached from reality, inferringthey were oppressive racists.

During 15 years of the Rhodesian ‘bush war‘,nearly 70 per cent of the armed forces were blackvolunteers who bravely fought side by side withtheir fellow white countrymen against terrorists,trained and armed by China, Libya, Russia, Cubaand East Germany.

I know this from personal experience, havingproudly served and lived in Rhodesia / Zimbabwefor nearly 60 years.

Dick Hall, Brixham, Devon TQ5 8NH

OPPOROPPOROPPOROPPOROPPORTUNITIESTUNITIESTUNITIESTUNITIESTUNITIESSubsidised Housing at Stilfontein

Flame Lily Foundation’s flat to letA single garden flat comprising a bedroom,

bathroom, separate toilet, a livingroom cum-kitchen is immediately available. Applicants mustbe in receipt of a pension and be capable oflooking after themselves. Please contact Mary orJohn on 012 4602066 or e-mail [email protected] more information.

Rhodesiana Reprints wantedSally Arrowsmith needs the following volumes

to complete her set of Rhodesiana Reprint LibraryGold Series: vol 25: Travel and Adventure in South East Africa

- F.C. Selousvol 26: The Autobiography of an Old Drifter -

Percy M Clarkvol 27: Ex Africa - Hans Sauervol 28: To the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi -

Eduard MohrAnyone able to help Sally please contact her at

email: [email protected]

TTTTTAILPIECEAILPIECEAILPIECEAILPIECEAILPIECEProto-Rhodesian History Quiz

In Msasa Mail 2/15 we asked the following:Which of our readers/members can name the

English-language edition of the Welsh-titled bookUn Mylneddar Ddeg yn Dehuol Africa - and itsauthor? Please let us know before 1 September2015.

Clues: This rare work “describes the foundingand development of the first white settlement...north of the Limpopo river.” It was originallypublished in 1872, then as part of the RhodesianaReprint Library.

--o-O-o--The first (and only) correct answer came from

Bruce Harrison, the answer being as follows:"Eleven Years in Central South Africa" by

Thomas Morgan Thomas, first published in Welshin 1872 (after TMT's ejection from the LMS)

Rhodesia Regiment 1899-1981by Peter Baxter, Hugh Bomford, Gerry vanTonder et al

Published by the Rhodesian ServicesAssociation

The Rhodesia Regiment was formed as partof the Empire forces for the Anglo-Boer War.The 1st Rhodesia Regiment fought in WWI inSouth West Africa and its most notable soldierwas a Rhodesian farmer called Arthur Harriswho went on to be known as ‘Bomber’ HarrisAOC Bomber Command in WWII. The 2nd

Rhodesia Regiment fought with distinction in EastAfrica against General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck’sGerman forces. In WWII the Rhodesia Regimentwas the training base for the thousands ofRhodesians who went to fight in all theatres. PostWWII the Royal Rhodesia Regiment continued tobe the territorial training base for Rhodesiansoldiers. During the 1970’s Rhodesian Bush War,the various territorial battalions and independentcompanies formed the backbone of the RhodesianSecurity Forces.

This unique book has taken 15 years fromconcept to publication. Over 400 people wereinstrumental in contributing to its content.

Queen Elizabeth II, Colonel-in-Chief of theRoyal Rhodesia Regiment, was recently presentedwith a copy of this book.

Book details:614 printed pages (618 total number of pages)Size 300 x 220mm portrait made up as:596pp x b/w; 8pp x colour photo section; 8pp x

colour map section; 56pp full colour appendicesfor Honours and Awards; Uniforms,Embellishments and Equipment.

Appendices covering Honours & Awards includesnumerous citations; complete Roll of Honour1899-1981; Leadership Roll; Intake numbersand dates.

There are over 8,000 individual names in the bookas well as over 1,500 photos, maps and drawings.

It weighs 2.72 kg

To purchase:Go to www.30degreessouth.co.za

or email [email protected]

Abduction by Mugabe's guerrillas - the story of Johannes Maartens

This is the story of Hannes Maartens as told by MarthieSwift. During the 1970s Hannes and a number of others wereabducted by Mugabe’s ZANLA guerrillas. For months theywere marched through the bush and across mountainous terrain.Hungry, tattered and in constant peril of death they weredriven and at times incarcerated in extreme conditions in filthycells. His only shield and source of courage was his faith inGod and His protection.

Hannes and Jean Maartens, Johannesburg, 2005 [Continued on page39]


PROMOTIONSMSASA MAIL

MARRS, Marion passed away on 13 May 2015.Sadly missed by her husband and family.

MORRIS, Monica born 23 September 1934,passed away in Port Elizabeth on 1 September2015. Beloved wife of Peter and mother ofJacqui and AJ (Arthur), she will be sorely missed.

PARKER, Ernest died peacefully at his home inJohannesburg on 21 June 2015, aged 93. Hecame to Rhodesia in 1947 from the UK andfarmed in the Selous/Hartley area until leavingfor South Africa in 1987. He was a longstanding member of the BSA Police Reserveand, after taking up flying, became a memberof the Midlands flight of the Police ReserveAir Wing and was awarded the MSM for hisservice. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth.

STEER, Pat passed away in Stilfontein on 10June 2015. Submitted by caring neighbour asshe has no children.

TIMMINS, Beryl passed away on 16 June at theold age home in Brits.She was an avid reader,and enjoyed the Msasa Mail until the end. Shewould have turned 94 in August. Sadly missedby her family. Submitted by Sandy van derWesthuizen, Beryls daughter.

MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONA payment of R150

was made to ourNedbank account on 4May 2015 withreference“705107844".

Another for R520reference "Flame Lily"not identified.

If either is yours,please contact Mary on 012 4602066.

RASA Pretoria banking detailsAccount Name: RASA PretoriaAccount Number: 1631005235Bank: NedbankBranch: Brooklyn BranchBranch Code: 163145

THIS N THIS N THIS N THIS N THIS N THATHATHATHATHATTTTTAmputee Support Group

In 2002, Peter Morris was told that he neededto have a leg amputated below the knee. This, ofcourse, came as a big shock to him and his wifeMonica. Losing a limb presents many problems.He found that there was nobody who was able togive him support or practical advice so in 2004,remembering the struggle he experienced, hedecided to form a support group in Port Elizabeth.The group visits and encourages would-beamputees and follow-up with advice and support.They give sound advice on how to manage thebasic things in life once the patient gets home andwhat material supports are needed.

They often receive calls from all parts of thecountry for advice and assistance; as a result, it istheir long-term aim to create branches in all themajor centres of South Africa.

The full background to the Amputee SupportGroup is available from FLF at e-mail:[email protected]

If you need advice or would like to supportPeter he can be contacted by e-mail:[email protected] or Office 041-5816883 orCell: 079 8950968 or PO Box 40228, Walmer,Port Elizabeth 6070.

The ASG is a Non-profit and Public BenefitOrganization.

Replacement CertificatesCopies of birth, marriage, divorce and death

certificates can be obtained through the followingperson in Zimbabwe: Brian S. Murphy, VeracityBusiness Services (Pvt) Ltd. E-mail:[email protected]

There is a cost involved, e.g. US$100 for a birthcertificate, plus courier/delivery charges.

The Last RhodesianLetter published in The Daily Mail (UK), 24

June 2015Black and white allies

Deranged Dylann Roof, who, appallinglyslaughtered nine black churchgoers in Charleston,posted a race hate rant on the internet entitled TheLast Rhodesian.

SYNOPSIS“Abduction ...” is the gripping account of

Johannes Maartens (then 54 years old), who wasabducted from his tobacco farm in the north-eastof Rhodesia on 18 May 1978 by ZANU, led byRobert Mugabe, and thereafter for over eightmonths lived a nomadic existence as a prisoner.Every moment of this stressful time his life, andlater the lives of three of his fellow-prisoners,hung on a slender thread. They moved at shortnotice each night over rough terrain, mostlywithout medicine and little food and water, exposedto the elements and at the whim of nervous andimmature youngsters who were armed to theteeth. They realized that they could also die in thecrossfire of their own armed forces, whomercilessly hunted the terrorists. At the same timeit is the story of Jean, his wife, who through herfaith in God never lost hope, and enhanced pressurefor his release.

The two themes that run through this accountlike a golden thread are Johannes’suncompromising faith in his God and his love forhis wife and family. The greater the danger, themore intensely he places his life, and that of hiscolleagues, in the hands of his Creator. Hisconversations with God and his Christian valueseventually become an example for his abductorsand possibly even for Mugabe (who visited himon various occasions in the bush), and now foreach of us, the readers. The Word “It shall go wellwith him who sits in the shadow of the Almighty”,is strikingly illustrated throughout the story and isalso directed at us all.

Editor's Comments"Abduction ..." is ready to be published, both

in English and Afrikaans. The author has yet tosign an agreement with a publisher but, beforedoing so, would like readers' reaction to Chapter1 in order to gauge interest in the book.

The manuscript in its present form is A4 sizeand comprises 164 A4 pages of text and abouteight colour and monochrome photographs.Written in the present tense, most chapters alternatebetween what Hannes is experiencing in captivityand what Jean is doing concurrently.

Please let John Redfern know if you areinterested in obtaining a copy of the book when ithas been published. E-mail: [email protected]

CHAPTER 1

THE CALM BEFORE THESTORM

Sunday morning the 14th of May 1978 is abeautiful sunny morning in Rusape. A hallowedquietness prevails. The farmers and their familiesall flock to the church building. I am HannesMaartens and it gives me joy to participate in theactivities of the congregation with Jean and thechildren. We sit closely together in our favouritepew and I devote my full attention to our pastorreading from Scripture. I catch the word. "Whoeverdwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest inthe shadow of the Almighty" [Psalm 91:1] afavourite text ... these words are meant especiallyfor me.

While the congregation sings I am remindedthat it is sheer grace that I can sit here today. Nineyears ago my life hung by a thread. Can I everforget that day in 1969 when I suffered a seriousheart attack? The doctors regarded my survival asa miracle and believed that I would in future haveto manage my farm from the porch. I had justturned forty-six and suddenly all my plans for ourfuture and my old age lay shattered. Luckily Hanshad completed his schooling and military trainingand would be able to take over the farming.

How the Lord was with me during my greatcrisis! The doctors decided that my only chancefor survival lay in a heart transplant or coronaryartery bypass surgery. The idea of a heart transplantwas unacceptable to me and even bypass surgerywas a relatively new procedure at the time. It wasa difficult decision. But I could no longer copewith the constant helpless exhaustion. Afternumerous serious conversations with my Makeruntil deep into the night, I found clarity and agreedto a bypass operation. On 21 July 1970 DoctorChris Barnard and his team performed the doublebypass surgery which gave me a second lease ofthis life. Apart from a minor setback or two Irecovered so well that I am able to manage mytobacco, maize and cattle farming operation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thursday 18 May 1978. I rise early as is my

custom for my daily quiet time with the Lord. Itfeels as if I must ask for special strength and mercy


MSASA MAILPROMOTIONS

mornings) the results also do not leave me lookingmy best! Thanks to my government and Zesa!

“Street lights are rusted and falling over – theycould have been saved with a coat of paint alongthe years. Pot holes are atrocious – and trafficlights seldom work, if they are still standingupright! Driving to / from work is a real challenge.I do believe there is a God and I bend His ear everyday asking for safety in getting to / from work(and back home) and then giving thanks when Iget to my destination. If everyone in Zim doeswhat I do – He certainly is busy!

“Almost everything on shop shelves is nowimported (from all over the world) – available tous at prices more than doubled, if not trebled,prices we see advertised in SA! These peoplereally have destroyed the country – and feel noshame in going abroad with their begging bowls….And fully expecting it to be filled with lovelylolly, which mostly goes straight into their ownpockets. Even in the days of sanctions againstRhodesia – we were never (extremely seldom)without electricity or water!” [7 September 2015]

Chris Russell wrote: “Thanks for the ‘headsup’ on Gertrude Page the early Rhodesian preWW1 novelist in your newsletter. Am nowpresently reading ‘The Rhodesian’ ( Kindle free)that involves the BSAP and thoroughly enjoyingit. The bush scenes with the gomos, mopani etc inthe pioneering spirit, ‘Fate lies hid, but not thedeeds that true men dared and did’ as quoted. Wellworth a read if you haven’t. Her best known novelis ‘Paddy the next best thing (1908)’ which is alsoKindle free and was the subject of theatre and afilm.” [12 September 2015]

From Phil Garbett: “With respect to GertrudePage (Msasa Mail, July-Sept 2015) another writerwho has been compared directly to RudyardKipling is Henry Cullen Gouldsbury. Among hismany other works, was the anthology RhodesianRhymes, first published in 1909 at Bulawayo,then again in 1913 and 1932. The RhodesianaReprint Library edition came out during 1969 ‘tohonour the men and women who pioneeredRhodesia, and to promote a wider interest in thecountry’s history.’ Cullen Gouldsbury died aged35 in (the then German) Tanganyika Territoryduring World War I.” [12 September 2015]

NEW MEMBERSWe welcome the following new subscribers

who have joined since the previous newsletter:CANAVAN, Neil – Glasgow, Scotland.LOTTER, Trevor and Betsie – Mossel Bay.

CONTACT LOSTValda Napier wrote: “I have been requested to

find when and where Harold Miller Whiteheaddied when visiting his son, Peter WHITEHEADin Rhodesia, which was after 1964. Peter Whiteheadleft England when he was young and eventuallyhad his own farm. He was born on 25 April 1932.The Firm also need to contact Peter Whitehead.”Valda can be reached at e-mail:[email protected]

CONDOLENCESOur sincere condolences to Members who have

lost loved ones and friends.CONN, P.A. (Billy) passed away on 15 July at

Howick, KZN at age 85, having suffered astroke four years ago. He was educated atHilton College whilst based at Kisumu (Kenya)where his father worked on the Lake Victoriasteamers. He was a cub reporter with theMercury for a short while then joined theRhodesia and Nyasaland Army. He served inMalaya with C Sqn SAS (Malayan Scouts). Onhis return to Rhodesia he served with the NRRuntil the break-up of Federation, then with theRAR and the RLI. After retiring from the Armyhe worked at Mazoe Citrus Estates and joinedthe Police Reserve as a section leader of theMazoe Valley PATU. He was awarded thePolice Decoration for Gallantry in 1973 for hisconduct in action in North East Mashonaland.The Rhodesian Army later appointed Lt ColConn as CO of 1RR until the unit was disbandedwhen Zimbabwe was granted independence, afterwhich he moved to South Africa. He worked shortspells in Mozambique and on farms in the KZNMidlands in the farm-sitting role.

FIKUART, Monica Mary passed away on 24August 2015. Safe in the arms of her belovedhusband John and youngest son David. Will bemissed and never forgotten by Sally, Mark andStephen.

for this day. I am not feeling particularly perky,but I must drive out to my farm, Maringowe, in theHeadlands district. It is only about twentykilometres from Rusape where my family nowlive.

Since the recent disturbances worsened, mostof the farmers have moved their families into thenearest towns. These days I travel out to my farmand back daily to do and supervise the necessarywork. Occasionally I sleep over and then Jean andI take turns phoning each other to make sure thateverything is in order.

I am restless. I walk into our bedroom. Jean issleeping peacefully. I turn back to the kitchen.

"They will have swept the roads for landminesby now," I think reassuringly while I make coffee.

It has become routine; no one may drive on thefarm roads before a certain time. Definitely notbefore the mine sweepers have done their job.Every farmer must be off his farm an hour beforesunset, or else he must spend the night there.

Jean is awake when I enter the bedroom withour coffee.

"Is there anything wrong dear?" she asksworriedly. "Are you O.K?"

She sits up in bed. Perhaps I don't look well toher.

"Rather stay at home today," she advises."You can take a rest today."

Jean rises and starts preparing for work.I briefly consider her proposal because

something does feel wrong, although I can't placea finger on it. However, the tobacco has beenharvested, the sorting is in full swing and transporthas been arranged. The tobacco must be on themarket tomorrow. I simply have to drive out tocheck that all goes well.

"Nope," I say with a deep sigh. "I'll just haveto go. I'll take it easy there on the farm, I promise."

I cannot seem to get going this morning. I takemy daughter Ria to go and register for the comingelection. Then I drive to Edgars where Jean isworking as manager. I have a cup of tea with herbefore doing the usual Thursday shopping forgroceries for our labourers who are no longerallowed to move one kilometre off the farm. NextI stop at Edgars again!

"For crying out loud, my dear husband, Ithought you were on the farm by now," Jean

exclaims in surprise.For the third time I bid farewell to Jean and my

daughters Jeanne and Ria before walking to thedoor, tipping my large cowboy hat and bowingcourteously, while saying: "I'll be sleeping on thefarm tonight."

It is ten o'clock already when I greet them allonce more before finally hitting the road.

Along the way I think again of the time whenJean and I got married in 1944. We were living inVereeniging. Shortly after the birth of our firstchild, Hans, my uncle who was a magistrate inRhodesia made me an offer I couldn't resist. Hewanted me to go farming in Rhodesia. For me thiswas the realization of a long cherished dream. Inmy deepest being I had remained a farmer whonever grew accustomed to the stifling andoppressive city life. It took a lot of persuasion toget Jean, who was city born and bred, to agree tothis complete change in our lives. In the end herlove for me and our child prevailed.

Smiling I am reminded of our arrival in thelittle town of Selous. That in itself took somegetting used for Jean, but when she saw that ourfarm consisted of nothing but dense bush and noimprovements whatsoever, the fat was really inthe fire! That was the closest we got to packing upand high-tailing it back to the city.

Our neighbours were unbelievably good to us.The temporary accommodation they offered usenabled me and my labourers to start clearing thebush. We started cutting poles and laths for use inerecting clay huts. The workers were invaluablebecause they knew exactly how this was done. Sixweeks after our arrival I was able to move myfamily into a couple of clay huts - our first ownhome in our new country!

With my wife and child now with me, I wasable to give my attention to the building of our realhouse. Side by side with our workers, young Hansand I laboured in the clay-hole making bricks. Itdidn't take long before we moved into an impressiveand spacious brick house.

I laugh out loud at the memory. I would neverhave thought anybody could change so fast froma city slicker into a first-rate farmer's wife. Oh!That red-head of mine! She wasted no time incopying every imaginable recipe from ourneighbour's wife, learnt how to slaughter and


MSASA MAIL PROMOTIONS

office strike it arrived too late for the newsletter.“I wanted to tell you that several of the flame lilybulbs have taken off and are flowering! I wish allRhodesians everywhere the very best this Xmasand all God’s blessings. Dave Forever Young”.

We wish Dave a very happy 91st birthday on 6December. Here is one of his poems (shortened):

RomancePlease remember, don’t forgetTo love one another as you first met.A kiss, a squeeze, a pat on the backNext you know you’ll be in the sack.

Confusing e-mails from a person who resignedfrom the Flame Lily Foundation in 2011.Ex-Member:

We enjoy your newsletter so much Mary, welldone! Do we owe subs to you? How much are theyand can you give me the bank details? Have a greatday.Reply from Mary:

Thank you for your e-mail. Nice hearing fromyou again. I have a note that you resigned from theFlame Lily Foundation 1 March 2011. In view ofthat I took you off our mailing list. The subs areR70 for single persons and R85 for couples.... Letme know if your address is the same as before?Ex-member:

We still seem to be receiving a newsletter, butmaybe someone is passing it on to us. The addressis still the same ... we'll transfer the money shortly.Many thanks.Ex-member again:

Thank you for your prompt response. Sorry,but there's been a misunderstanding - we aresharing the Msasa Mail with somebody else - itssudden appearance after a long while gave me theimpression we owed you money. However, sinceyour explanation the 'confusion' is over and we'llleave it as before - our resignation remains as wasin 2011. Good luck.

Dick Hall wrote: “Have recently been given acopy of- July-September 2015 the Msasa Mail 3/15 and make reference to page 10 'The LastRhodesian'. I am ex BSAP now living in England.The following letter to a UK national paper, theDaily Mail, with a readership of over 3 millionwas published on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 [seepage 10]. I hope it has helped to assuage the anger

and frustration understandably felt by Rhodesiansworldwide to whom I send my very best wishes.”

A RASA Pretoria member living in Hararewrote about the current situation there at thebeginning of September: “Zimbabwe somehowkeeps groveling from one week to the next – everyone getting increasingly worse! Last week we hadpower cuts, every single day of the week – rangingfrom 8 hours (at least) – up to 15½ hours!

“Last night was the first time in the week thatwe did not have to put on the generator – electricity,having gone off at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning –was kindly restored around 3.30 p.m. in theafternoon! WOW – did we feel so lucky! It wasquite weird not to have the generator running in thebackground!! Yeah – off again at 6.15 this morning– and probably won’t come back on till around 10tonight! Bearing in mind that there is no councilwater supply – we therefore do not have eitherborehole or tank water available, until we eitherget electricity again – or run the generator. It’sgetting (got?) hot now and fridges and freezers arestruggling with such long power cuts. Like mostZim homes – we have an electric stove in thekitchen and a gas stove on the closed-in verandah.Last week we seldom saw electricity at all during“awake hours”.

“In all this – the house next door to me, occupiedby an African woman – don’t know her status, andthe house over the road from me (also Africans andI don’t know his status) both have non-stopelectricity and lights blaze out along their frontwalls, security lights around their houses and houseswell lit too – making a total mockery of us… thepovo, in absolute darkness. I have complained toZESA (electricity supply) about the unfairness ofit and have casually been told “They must haveconnections”.

The reason I did not go into movies, is becauseI do not get out of bed in the morning looking likeI have just come from the hairdresser / beautyparlour. Some days when there is no electricity inthe early morning (I wash my hair every day) – andI cannot justify putting on the generator just to drymy hair – I come to work with my “sucked mango”style. Believe me – it is not attractive! When Ihave to apply make-up by candle light (dark winter

process venison and make biltong and in a triceshe was able to serve the most mouth-wateringmeals - what an admirable woman.

I swerve sharply to avoid an overhangingbranch that I almost notice too late. I shall haveto be more wide-awake. One must have your witsabout you and you cannot afford to sit and dreamon these lonely roads, although I realise that Ishall have no chance against the ZANLA guerrillas.They always appear in large groups out of thedense bushes. Truly, if the Lord is not with you...!For a while I concentrate on the road again, butthis morning my thoughts keep wandering andsoon I stray back into the past.

I am grateful that six of the seven children wehave been blessed with are already on their ownfeet and independent. Four are already married,our eldest, Hans, is farming with us, Meisie andJim are in London, Mari and her husband are stillin South Africa as are George and Ann. The othertwo daughters, Jeanne and Ria work with Jean inRusape. Only Tertia, the youngest and closest tomy heart, is still at school.

The Lord has shown me great mercy. Indeed,after my operation my heart recovered somarvellously that I could buy Maringowe, thefarm of my dreams where I am heading now.What a beautiful place! It is situated in apicturesque area with a tall mountain risingheavenwards behind our house with a perennialwaterfall with rapids tumbling cheerfully down aravine. What pleasant days we have spent therealready. Our area hasn't had as many disturbancesas others. We have at times joked about the factthat it must be ancestral spirits that are protectingus because there are some graves on the slopes ofthe mountain. Several times the children havediscovered human bones washed out by heavyrains and buried them again. Even a few skullshave been revealed, which was quite eerie.Unfortunately there was also enough cover forunwanted elements.

The wife of my trusty old foreman, Jotam, beathim to death in a drunken rage. I buried him nearthe safety fence around our home. The childrenkept placing flowers on his grave because, as theysaid, "he loved his flower garden so much." Ireally missed the old fellow.

"You will now be protected against evil spirits.

You seem to have accepted their superstitions.Who has ever heard of someone burying a blackman so close to the house and then still plantingflowers for him?" the neighbours gibed.

Oh! This old humankind of ours!Jotam never trusted anyone."Listen my young master, you trust nobody, not

even me. We cannot say anything. If they find outwe have spoken they will kill us mercilessly untilthey discover the guilty person. No, none of us canbe trusted." He frequently told me.

I have always treated my workers well and havenever had any problems with any of them. Most ofthem have been working for me for years, even theseasonal workers.

"There you have it now!" I think disgustedly.With all my delays this morning, I left my rifle

in town. The instructions are that all farmers mustdrive with their rifles at the ready - not that I aimat ever using it. I was really careless. What ishappening to me? I shall have to pull myselftogether.

The farm gate suddenly looms up before me."Thank God," I mutter softly.At night they plant mines in the road. Mine-

sweepers clear the road every morning. It is just bygrace that you reach your destination. I open thedoor and look around me. Everything looks inorder; all farmers have double safety fences andgates. One of my gates is damaged. I'll have to getround to repairing it without delay. I open thesecond gate slowly and gingerly. It is as though Iam touching red-hot iron. Fed up with myself Idrive through slowly. My watch shows that it is aquarter past eleven already. I get out and close thegate carefully and then drive along the windingroad until the tobacco shed looms up before me.

"Thank God," I say with a sigh. Then all hellbreaks loose!

October 2015The Rhosarian 1/15 The Rhosarian 1/15 October 2015MSASA MAIL742

PROMOTIONS

MEMBERS’ NEWSMEMBERS’ NEWSMEMBERS’ NEWSMEMBERS’ NEWSMEMBERS’ NEWS

MAILBAG

ITEMS AVAILABLE FROM THE FLAME LILY SHOPThe Flame Lily Shop in Pretoria carries limited stock of the following items for the benefitof our members. Branches may also carry stock of certain items. Please ask your localBranch if you want to buy any of the items listed below. Items and prices shown are forstock held in Durban or on order at 1 October 2015 - valid to 31 December 2015.

CLOTHING

1. Golf / tennis shirts available in, navy, royalblue, and bottle green, with flame lily motifon pocket. All sizes. R78,00

2. Jerseys with Flame Lily motif or RhodesiaCoat of Arms. Available on order beforeMarch 2013. Price SQ

3. Khaki short-sleeve shirts: Double breastpockets, with Rhodesian Coat of Arms onchest and Flame Lily motif on left sleeve.Available in - S, M, L. XL, XXL.: R185,00

4. T-shirts with vatious motifs: R110,00

5. Neck ties:

a. FLF. Green or blue with thin green-white-green diagonal stripes, small Flame Lilyat base. R40,00

b. RAR Regimental and Assn: R125,00

c. Rhodesia Regiment: R100,006. Peak caps:

Quality cotton 6-panelled, khaki/green two-tone, with Coat of Arms. Fits all sizes. R50,00

7. Floppy hats, khaki with Flame Lily motif invarious sizes. R40,00

SOUVENIRS, MEMENTOS

8. Rhodesian flag vinyl sticker (148mm x115mm). R10,00

9. Brooches: Flame Lily on white backgroundwithin gilt outline of Rhodesia . R25,00.

STATIONERY & AUDIO-VISUAL

10. Notelets with Flame Lily spray. Plain (5 withenvelopes) R10,00

11. CDs:

a. Rhodesian Rolls of Honour - 1965-1980.R100,00.

b. Assortment of John Edmond Albums atvarious prices.

12. DVDs:a. Flame Lily Collection. A variety of RIS

heritage filmss, set of two DVDs. R330,00b. Rhodesianaland. Centenary Celebrationat Tshipise 1990, including John Edmondconcert: R200,00

13. Books:

a. So far and no further! by Richard Wood.Soft cover: R250,00.

b. The God Botherer by Bill Dodgen: R40,00d. Rhodesian used books - see website at :

www.flf-rasa.co.za

Motifs on T-shirts

Packing and Postage excluded. Orders and quotes may be obtaineddirect from Jacqui at 031 7059337, or e-mail [email protected]

Referring to MickGammon’s response toVic Sharpe (MM No.3/15,p.3), Gordon Keith wrote:“Firstly was he related toMick Gammon ofGammon and Martin, theMotor cycle shop in Byo?I spent a lot of time thereand even bought my Norton

and Velocette spares from him.“Your story relating to the Queens Hotel

brought back memories, often my parents wouldtake a ride out to spend an afternoon there but thething that I remember most was on schoolHoliday’s cycling out from Queens Park with myfriend Robert Wolhuter to his dad's little goldmine, we would leave very early, still dark andride past the Hotel and maybe about a mile pastwould turn into the bush arriving in time for a realnice real mealie meal breakfast, after checkingout the mine we would head off to a beach (in ourimagination) sandbank on the Bembesi river wherewe used to swim, we had heard the crocs were toofar away nearer the Bembesi on the Falls road, socared not, years later I heard that crocks had beenseen there.

“The strip road mentioned, we would cycleabreast each on a strip, without lights ... there wasno traffic to worry about at that time of themorning. Maybe I am wrong but I seem to recallthat after passing the old Queens Hotel and crossedthe Bembesi bridge there was a full tar road to thenext mine which I always thought was Turk Mine.But now please tell me, if it was Lonely mine, thenwhere was Turk mine? [3 Aug 15]

Mick Gammon responded: “Mick Gammonof Gammon and Martin was my father’s cousin.He was a well known racing motor cyclist, andfather of Barbara Harrison and Pat Sprague.

“That was a good before breakfast ride youdid. It would have been about thirty miles.

“Turk Mine was beyond Queens Mine and the

river, 38 miles from Bulawayo, and Lonely Minewas further on, 52 miles from Bulawayo. Fromthere one surprisingly graduated from strips to afull tar mat to Motapa Mine, about another 15miles on. The Lonely Mine had already closeddown and Motapa was at the dead end of that road.So why, everyone wondered, was there a full tarroad there? The generally accepted explanationwas that, prior to one of the Royal visits, aninstruction was given to construct a full tar roadfrom Bulawayo to the Matopos and this waserroneously interpreted as Motapa! But I nevermet anyone who could definitely authenticate thatstory.” [8 Aug 15]

Avril Wood wrote: “I was reading the latestMsasa Mail (No.3/15) and found articles thatbrought back memories from long time ago.

“My mother’s youngest brother, Alec Prinsloo,lost his life in the Wankie disaster in 1972. Fromwhat I can remember he was not supposed to beworking on that day but went to help someone out.

“On to Sally Rau’s letter. I worked with BrendaPearson at Patton & Palmer in Harare and webecame very good friends. She then went on tobecome an air hostess and was on the Hunyaniplane when it was shot down [3 September 1978].

“I used to go to Bulawayo a lot and stayed at theCecil hotel as it was owned by the Nesbitt family.My late mother-in-law was a Nesbitt so maybesomewhere on the family tree my sons are relatedto Sally. If so it shows what a small world this is.Avril Wood” [9 August 2015]

Liz Young, Dave Young’s daughter-in-lawwrote: “Dear Mary, Today, I found a note tomyself that I wanted to let you know that MrYoung turned 90 last December [2014], and willbe turning 91 this December. We love him somuch, and are so proud of him.

He has two sons, Dave & Andy, 4 grandchildren,and 3 great grandchildren. Also Mr Young has awonderful partner, Hazel, who keeps him ForeverYoung, they laugh all the time together. Mr Youngis very independent, and also had a book printedwith most of his Forever Young, Please RememberDon't Forget poems”.

Editor: Dave wrote last year, but with the post


MSASA MAIL THE FLAG

Flame Lily Abridged GazetteThe

FLAGZimbabwe Profile

2015

No. 5/15

The FLAG comprises extracts from media articles and reports on Zimbabwe.Sources are given, where known, so that readers may obtain the completearticle if they wish.

MARMARMARMARMARY'S MEANDERY'S MEANDERY'S MEANDERY'S MEANDERY'S MEANDERLast year we tried to

reduce the Msasa Mailto go out quarterlyinstead of bi-monthly,but now feel the gap istoo long. We maycontinue bi-monthlyafter this newsletter.

A few weeks ago wehad a phone call from a former army colleagueof John, Peter Morris, wanting to join theFLF. Whilst chatting, he told me that he hadstarted a support group for amputees in PortElizabeth. Read a short excerpt from thebackground to the group on page 10. If youare interested in helping, we can e-mail youthe complete document.

Some Rhodesians just keep on going; MrsWinchester needed a Certificate of Life toreapply for her Zimbabwe pension. I askedher if she had access to e-mail. “Yes, I help myson in his business with his e-mails twice aweek”. She is 93!

This year we hope that everyone will receivetheir copy of The Rhosarian in time for theRemembrance Service on 15 November,and that the SA Post Office will not let usdown again. It is an important occasion whenwe meet at the Voortrekker Monument Chapel

to remember those who died for our country.Pastor Dave Carter will lead the service,assisted by Eric Finaughty, his son-in-law,who conducted the Remembrance Servicelast year. Afterwards we will gather togetherfor a time of fellowship and refreshments.

The news about the extensive fraud at theZimbabwe Pensions Office came as a shock -or maybe not. As a result of this all pensionerswhose pensions are paid into a Zimbabwebank account are required to present aCertificate of Life in person. This poses aproblem for some pensioners living outsidethe country who have not officially emigrated.See page 27 for more on ZimbabweGovernment pensions.

Most e-mails I get these days are to do withpensions, but some are just confusing, as youwill find further on in this newsletter. Most e-mails and phone calls are friendly and makethe task worthwhile.

It feels strange to wish you all a MerryChristmas in October, but the end of the yearwill be with us before you know it! Last yearmany of us only received our Christmas mailwell into the new year, due to the SAPOstrike.

Best wishes,

Mary“Keeping the Flame alive”

KNOKNOKNOKNOKNOW W W W W YYYYYOUR HISTOUR HISTOUR HISTOUR HISTOUR HISTORORORORORYYYYYUDI - FAME OR FOLLY?

11 November 2015 marks the 50th (Golden)Anniversary of Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declarationof Independence from Britain. Some of ourmembers might have read Dr J.R.T. Wood’s (2005)history So Far and No Further! There is surely nomore incisive a summing-up of UDI, and itsconsequences, than that book’s last paragraph:

“The die was cast, and Rhodesia was doomednever to be recognised internationally and wouldhave to fight for her very existence until, after

Ian Smith had been forced by BalthazarJohannes Vorster, Verwoerd’s successor, toconcede majority rule she succumbed andaccepted a British negotiated settlement whichplaced Robert Gabriel Mugabe firmly inpower.”

Contributed by Phil Garbett.**In his memoirs Serving Secretly - An

Intelligence Chief On Record (Sept. 1987) KenFlower notes that 19 October 1965 was the date onwhich the Rhodesian government’s SecurityCouncil decided ‘to go for UDI’. [Serving Secretly,p.47]

Cecil: what’s going on?

At least five British national newspapersyesterday screamed in front page stories aboutCecil, the lion that was killed by an Americantourist, Walter Palmer, on July 1 at a game farm inGwayi Conservancy, ... condemning Palmer, adentist from Minnesota, for taking down Cecilafter paying $50,000 for the hunt.

It is not an overstatement that almost 99,99percent of Zimbabweans didn’t know about thisanimal until Monday. Now we have just learnt,thanks to the British media, that we had Africa’smost famous lion all along, an icon!

Why such an outpouring of grief in the Westover one lion? This is certainly not the firstsuccessful lion hunt in Zimbabwe, Africa or theworld over, and will not be the last. So why somuch interest? The name Cecil perhaps, given itshistorical significance for white monopoly capitalin Southern Africa and the West? Many believethe lion was named after Cecil John Rhodes, thecelebrated forerunner of British colonialism inSouthern Africa, explaining the saturation coverageon the demise of his namesake.

Those who believe the interest is bigger than amere lion could be justified as Cecil, who roamedthe Hwange National Park, was the focal point ofa research project by Oxford University, Cecil thecolonialist’s Alma mater. Rhodes learnt at OrielCollege, a constituent college of the University ofOxford in Oxford, England, for only one term in1873.

Theodro Bronkhorst, 52, of Bulawayo, whofacilitated the killing appeared before Hwangemagistrate Lindiwe Maphosa yesterday facing acharge of failing to prevent an unlawful hunt.

Johnny Rodrigues, a local conservationist, wasquoted by the BBC saying Cecil’s killing wastragic.

“He never bothered anybody,” Rodrigues saidof the king of the jungle. “He was one of the mostbeautiful animals to look at.” Other media reckonedCecil was “Africa’s most famous lion.” A smalldemonstration was staged at his home proclaimingPalmer as a brute who kills animals for fun. Thewalls of the dentist’s surgery were taken over by anartist who painted them with an artistic image ofCecil yesterday.Kennedy Mavhumashava, Assistant EditorThe Chronicle, 30 July 2015


MSASA MAILTHE FLAG

NEWSLETTERPRETORIA BRANCH

(Incorporating the Rhodesia Association of South Africa)Flame Lily FoundationMsasaMsasaMsasaMsasaMsasa

MailMailMailMailMailVol 33No. 4/15

44

COMING UPCOMING UPCOMING UPCOMING UPCOMING UP

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY SERVICESUNDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2015

14:45 (2.45 PM) for 15:00 (3.00.PM)VOORTREKKER MONUMENT CHAPEL

off Eeufees Road (M7), Pretoria (coordinates 25°46’35.61"S, 28°10’29.23"E).

The Remembrance Service will take place in memory of all those who losttheir lives for Rhodesia and its people.

Wreaths will be laid on behalf of the various Rhodesian Forces, and thepeople of Rhodesia.

Private wreaths or floral tributes can be placed in memory of loved onesand friends who paid the supreme sacrifice.

Tea and refreshments will be served after the Service.An entrance fee of R15 per car is charged at the gate.

Rhodesians remembered in South AfricaOn 31 May this year, the FLF planted a cross by the SADF Wall of Remebrance at the Voortrekker

Monument. Wreaths were laid by representatives of the RLI and SAS Associations, and RhodesianCorps of Engineers. Names of Rhodesians who were killed on active service for their adopted country,South Africa, are inscribed on the SADF Wall of Remembrance.

30 January 1981Hutchinson R.L.Park J.K.Suttil I.

18 August 1982Beech R.Berry P.D.Wessels J.A.

14 November 1987Stapa A.

6 September 197914 Rhodesian soldiers and three SAAF crew diedwhen a Puma helicopter was brought down byenemy fire in the Mapai area of Mozambique.Their remains were buried by locals at the site.A memorial plaque bearing the names of these men,who were participating in a combined Rhodesian-South African operation, is mounted close to theSADF Wall of Remembrance. Former members ofthe Rhodesian Light Infantry and Rhodesian Corpsof Engineers laid wreaths at the Puma 164 plaque.

Inside Mugabe’s Zimbabwe:as country slides into famineNewsweek / The Zimbabwean15 July 2015

At the Tin Roof restaurant round the back ofthe Chisipite Shopping Centre, white, sun-bakedformer farmers gather for a lunch of barbecuedribs and cold Castle lagers, and to talk about thegood old days.

The owner, Leith Bray, was run off his Tengwefarm in 2002 by a baying mob intent on killinghim, but he now laughs that off as part of life’srich tapestry and gets on with his new career as arestaurant proprietor. “That’s what Zimbabweansdo – they make a plan,” says Bray.

Half a mile away along Enterprise Road, pastthe desperate, ragged street-corner vendors sellingeverything from mobile phone airtime for nickel-and-dime commissions to rhinos and elephantsmade from beer cans, a more contemporary crowdis dining on fusion cuisine and South Africanchardonnays in four acres of lush, beautifullylandscaped gardens. Amanzi Restaurant is ownedby Andrew and Julia Mama, a gregarious Nigerian-British couple who fled sectarian violence inNigeria to settle in what they regard as a relativelypeaceful African country. Amanzi draws in thediplomats, NGOs, aid workers and visitingEuropean doctors, all of whom give theZimbabwean capital a veneer of prosperity andnormality.

But right now Zimbabwe is anything butprosperous and normal. Robert Mugabe and hisZANU PF government, while greatly enrichingthemselves, have run this country into the ground.It is bankrupt and this year faces a famine of epicproportions – there is a shortfall of more than amillion tonnes of maize and, at the time of writing,Mugabe’s government has failed to issue a letterof appeal to the United Nations, standard procedureto get the World Food Programme activated.According to opposition member of parliamentEddie Cross this is either down to Mugabe’s“pride or simply lack of attention”. On suchwhims, it seems, hangs the fate of millions ofZimbabweans.

At the same time the economic sectors –

manufacturing, mining and agriculture – that wereonce the engine room of a productive andinnovative small economy are grinding slowly toa halt. The second city Bulawayo, once the hub ofthe nation’s industrial output, lies still and silent,the Detroit of the Zimbabwean lowveldt. Atindependence, manufacturing contributed 27% ofthe country’s GDP and employed more than oneand a half million people. Last year more than 100businesses in Bulawayo closed their doors and, ofthose surviving, 60% have been placed underjudicial management. Those who are still there arejust hanging on. Making a plan.

The blame for this economic torpor liesunequivocally with Mugabe and his ZANU PF.These days the 91-year-old is known in Zimbabweas “a visiting president”, as in a visiting collegeprofessor. His role as President of the AfricanUnion – another bankrupt African organisationthat depends for survival on largesse from theWest – has him jetting from one AU constituencyto another just as his own country appears to belocked in a death struggle. For the first time in 35years of totalitarian rule Mugabe’s political partyis starting to tear itself apart, purging itself offormer stalwarts, breaking into warring factionsas the leadership contenders position themselvesfor the moment the Old Man dies.

The whole country is waiting for that moment.I have just spent a month travelling aroundZimbabwe and, from the wilderness areas, throughthe rural communities, and in the major cities, thephrase that prefaces almost every conversation is“When the Old Man goes…” It will be a definingmoment for the new Zimbabwe. But right now theOld Zimbabwe is clinging on by its fingertips. It isa situation that alarms David Coltart, a formerCabinet minister in the now defunct Governmentof National Unity (GNU). He says that sinceindependence from white minority rule in 1980“we have never had a situation where you’ve gotweapons under the control of so many differententities – ZANU is fragmented, the army isfragmented, the Central Intelligence Organisation(CIO) is fragmented, the police are fragmented –and there is a leadership vacuum. As a country, asa people, we are at our lowest ebb.”

The major contenders are, for the moment, 60-


NATIONAL THE FLAG

Front cover: Scene from World's View, Matopos

45

EDITORIAL“In the Year of Jubileeeach of you may returnto the land that belongedto your ancestors.”

Leviticus 25:13

The Year of Jubilee - the50th anniversary of theDay of Atonement - wasvery special for Hebrews

under the Old Covenant.2015, in a sense, is the Year of Jubilee for

Rhodesians. 50 years ago the Rhodesian Frontgovernment unilaterally declared Rhodesia tobe independent. We can “return to the land” inmemory, because the land we knew as Rhodesiaremains only in our memories and in historybooks. Whether you agreed with the decision to“go it alone” or not, it is an event that changedforever the lives of all Rhodesians.

During this past year we have witnessedmindless attacks on images and the character ofCecil John Rhodes, founder of our erstwhilecountry. Zimbabwe, and Zambia for that matter,would have looked totally different today had itnot been for the occupation of Mashonaland bythe Pioneer Column in 1890, followed bysettlement of Europeans and development ofthe region along modern civilized lines. Thelegacy survives, despite attempts by ignoramusesto eliminate Rhodes from the history of southernAfrica.

2015 is also the 125th anniversary of thePioneer Column. This was celebrated in style on12 September by Rhodesians in Gauteng, thanksto Rob Bristow and his team. This day is alsosignificant in Rhodesia’s history for thefollowing events:1904 - Victoria Falls Bridge is opened.1923 - Britain annexed Southern Rhodesia from

the BSA Company and granted self-

government.1941 - 44 Squadron RAF granted the name ‘Rhodesia’

after its number by King George VI.The Rhosarian magazine is a sort of annual

‘get-together’ on paper. It includes newslettersfrom each of our five branches, as well ashistorical and cultural articles, and forthcomingsocial and cultural events. It ends with a summaryof recent happenings in Zimbabwe. There shouldbe something for everyone.

The first Rhosarian was published 30 yearsago. RASA National, predecessor to the FLF,wanted a name that would encompass the words‘Rhodesian’ and ‘South African’; hence Rho-SA-rian. Simple as that.

Because so many FLF members now use e-mail, and bandwidth has increased to enablelarge files to be transmitted, we now have adigital version of the magazine. Printing costshave risen each year, and the South Africanpostal service let us down badly last year, so wehope that more readers will accept the magazineby e-mail in future.

All good things must come to an end. Life-styles are changing rapidly and the younger (andlast) Rhodesian-born generation does not have -and cannot be expected to have - the emotionalties to Rhodesia as we knew it. We must, however,hand over the reins to younger people to preservewhat is important.

How many of you reading this have ‘children’in their 40s to 60s? What have you done tointerest them in their heritage?

Would anyone like to help us with newsletters,fund-raising, organising events, clerical work,etc.?

JOHN REDFERNHonorary National SecretaryEditor

year-old Joice Majuru, former vice president andwidow of the assassinated former General SolomonMajuru, and 69-year-old Emmerson Mnangagwa,vice president, hard man and living embodimentof ZANU PF’s Stalinist Old Guard. Majuru wasexpelled from the party at its national congresslast year, with Mugabe’s wife Grace accusingMajuru of planning a coup, and she retreated tothe farm bequeathed to her by the assassinatedSolomon. From there she is apparently planningthe first post-Mugabe government while she livesin fear of death. The MDC (Movement forDemocratic Change) MP Eddie Cross says she isin great danger “and our advice to her has been forher to stay in ZANU PF and stay quiet. That maysave her life.”

Mugabe’s government has in the past shownlittle mercy to its enemies. While Zimbabwe hasall the outward appearances of a Westerndemocracy – elections every five years, anoutspoken free press ranging from State-sponsoredZANU PF publicity papers to independent anti-Mugabe dailies, and a carefully selected judiciarygoing through the motions of applied justice –underneath is a cruel and ruthless Stalinist statethat treats every threat to the regime’s rule withpitiless efficiency. Most recently, in late March,journalist and human rights activist Itai Dzamarawas bundled into an unmarked car and has notbeen seen since. It is assumed he is dead.

Former ZANU PF chairman of the minescommittee Edward Chindori-Chininga, aftermaking a statement on corruption associated withthe Marange alluvial diamond fields, was killedon a drive along a remote country road. Theofficial version is that this was a road accident, butopposition politicians insist he was shot in thehead while he was driving. Chindori-Chiningawas buried within 24 hours of his death and therewas no autopsy. MDC MP Eddie Cross rememberscongratulating Chindori-Chininga on a braveparliamentary speech “and he said ‘they’re goingto come after me’. Ten days later he was dead.”

Even former darlings of the party have metwith sudden termination when seen as crossingthe leadership. Solomon Majuru was one ofMugabe’s trusted generals and closest allies duringthe liberation war, but in 2011 he was despatched

with brutal force. It appears he’d arrived at hisfarm, was ordered out of his car and shot, and hisbody was taken into his bedroom whereupon it wasset alight with phosphorus grenades. The buildingwas also set alight.

At the subsequent inquest witnesses confirmedthey had heard shots some hours before the fire andthat Majuru had been burned beyond recognition.The verdict, however, declared there was noevidence of foul play and denied the family’srequest for exhumation.

Several reasons are offered for Chindori-Chininga’s and Majuru’s sudden deaths. Both hadbeen critical for some time of Mugabe’s leadershipand both believed the time had come for change atthe top. Also, both had criticised Mugabe’sinvolvement in the Marange alluvial diamondoperation that had made a small group of individualsseriously wealthy but had all but eluded contributingto the national treasury.

Between 2008 and 2013 the Marange fields inthe country’s eastern highlands, at the time thelargest diamond-producing project in the world,yielded an estimated 120 million carats of diamondsvalued at more than $12bn. Marange diamondsaccounted for 10% of the world’s supply and itsreserves, estimated at 200 million carats, were thelargest anywhere outside Russia. Today, nobodyis certain about the precise value of Marangediamonds as very little was officially recorded andalmost no revenue found its way to the treasury.Quite clearly a parallel economy was operatinghere.

That parallel economy has been feeding vastsums of money into ZANU PF coffers. In 2013 theAmerican investigative platform 100 Reporterspublished Zimbabwean Central Intelligence (CIO)documents that revealed how $1bn in diamondrevenues was invested in security and intelligencemeasures designed to rig that year’s generalelection. Also, according to court papers filed byopposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, ZANU PFpaid Israeli company Nikuv International Projectsat least $10m to help manipulate the election.

Among the steps listed by the CIO were:“registering less than 10 real voters on any givenday with direct command from Nikuv and theParty; populating the voters roll both before and


THE FLAG NATIONAL46

MANAGING COMMITTEEELECTED AT THE NATIONAL

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON20 MAY2015

Chairman: Mr Mike RussellVice-Chairman: Mr Ned DonkinTreasurer: Mr John ParsonsSecretary: Mr John Redfern

GRATEFUL GRANOur thanks to members and friends of the Foundation who make regular donations to our Project Grateful Gran.National currently assists Rhodesian pensioners with grants on a quarterly basis. Branches assist many others.All donations received are very much appreciated.Corporate donors and individuals may claim an Income Tax rebate of up to 10% of taxable income.

PENSIONERSForms to apply for resumption of aZimbabwe government pension canbe obtained by writing to:

FLAME LILY FOUNDATIONPO Box 954740145 Waterkloof

or e-mail:

[email protected]

DONORSDonations to the Flame LilyFoundation may be tax deductible,in terms of Section 18A of theIncome Tax Act, 1962.Donations of R500,00 or more tothe FLF, including stop orders,will be receipted accordingly, solong as donors provide theNational Secretary with their fullnames and postal address.

Bank DetailsName: Flame Lily FoundationAccount No.: 1500 680 799Bank: ABSABranch: Brooklyn CourtCode: 335345

NONONONONOTICE BOTICE BOTICE BOTICE BOTICE BOARDARDARDARDARD

BEQUESTSMany elderly members cannot afford to contribute financially to the FLF, as much as they might wish to do so. Some have no close family to inherit all or part of their Estate. By bequeathing something to the FLF, they can contribute towards the needs of others after they have passed on.Please contact Mary on 012 4602066 if you need any help or advice in this regard.

during the elections to counter unfavourable votingoutcomes; parallel registration and statisticalmanoeuvring, depopulation and population ofhostile constituencies,” in co-ordination with theRegistrar’s Office and an official of the ChineseCommunist Party identified in the documents asChung Huwao. A list of other nefarious activitieswere laid out, all “as advised by Nikuv”.

Seven major companies, including MbadaDiamond Company, Anjin and China Sonangol,operate the Marange diamond fields and all areconnected to the Zimbabwe military and ZANUPF politicians. Mbada for example is headed byRaymond Mhlanga, Mugabe’s former pilot andwidely known to be a close business associate ofthe president. (Mhlanga was also prosecutionwitness in the bizarre 2003 treason trial of MDCopposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.)

Anjin, on the surface a joint venture betweenan obscure Zimbabwean firm called Matt Bronzeand a Chinese construction company, is in fact ajoint venture between the Zimbabwean generalsand Chinese party officials; and China Sonangol,via a labyrinth of holding companies, is connectedto the Queensway Group, whose principal owneris Sam Pa, currently under sanctions from the USTreasury for actively supporting Mugabe’s regime.According to a report by the British anti-corruptionwatchdog Global Witness, based on documentsleaked from Zimbabwe’s CIO, Pa’s company hadbeen allowed a share in the diamond fields after hedonated 200 vehicles and $100m to Mugabe’ssecret police.

Today it seems the Marange fields have beenpicked clean and are all but empty of alluvialdiamonds, with the bulk of the money havinggone abroad. Which partly explains why thegovernment can no longer pay its Civil Service ontime and has failed consistently to pay its debtshere and internationally. The amount of that vastrevenue that made it to the Treasury in taxes istiny. Eddie Cross says he “doubts that more than$200m in total came in”.Environmental catastrophe

As the sun-baked farmers at the Tin Roofrestaurant will tell you, the biggest calamity overthe past 15 years has been the collapse ofcommercial farming. Before Mugabe turned his

militant gangs, whom he passed off as liberationwar veterans hungry for land, on the white farmingcommunity early in 2000, agriculture was thebedrock of the Zimbabwean economy. At thattime there were 5,000 white farmers, the countryproduced more than two million tons of maize – asurplus of 300,000 tons – and more than 240million kilos of high-grade tobacco. There werealso prosperous dairy and beef industries thatsatisfied local demand and earned precious foreignexchange. Zimbabwe was indeed the breadbasketof southern Africa.

Today there are fewer than 350 white farmersleft working the land and, although some legitimateblack farmers have replaced the whites, many ofthe most productive farms have been handed toZANU PF politicians and cronies – pliable judges,retired generals, provincial administrators,girlfriends of ministers – who have become knownas weekend farmers. Hendrik Olivier, director ofthe Commercial Farmers Union, says the so-calledland reform programme has been a disaster. “Thegovernment touts the tobacco industry as a hugesuccess but it isn’t,” he says. “In 2000 there were2,000 commercial farmers producing more than240 million kilos of tobacco. Today we have100,000 people registered as tobacco farmers andwe’re producing less than 160 million kilos ofpoor quality crop. That is not a success.”

These small farmers are also in the process ofcreating an environmental catastrophe. Last year350,000 hectares of indigenous timber, mainlymsasa forests, were cut down, much of it to flue-cure tobacco. The farmers do not have theinfrastructure, financial resources or means oftransport to transfer the necessary coal from theHwange collieries in the west of the country astheir predecessors did, so they have taken to themost accessible form of fuel in the area – the msasaforests. So serious is the problem that foreigndiplomatic missions have confronted thegovernment over the issue and one diplomat toldme “we are hoping they (the government) have thesense to realise this has to stop. It is terrible. It ispeople going for the short-term solutions.”

According to Ben Freeth, one of the best knownof the evicted white farmers, the destruction of theold farming system has led to the displacement of


NATIONAL THE FLAG

NATIONAL CHAIRMAN’S REPORT FOR THE YEARENDING 31 MARCH 2015

ManagementOur Committee has

continued to work welltogether and again we oweour thanks to our two localHonorary Vice Presidents,Chris Dams and John Pirrett,who regularly attend ourmeetings and make muchvaluable input.

John and Mary Redfernshoulder most of the day-to-day administration.

A sub-committee, comprising Ned Donkin,Chris Dams and myself was formed, after the lastAGM to try to formulate the necessary changes toour organisation to meet future conditions.

MembershipOur membership remains fairly constant,

natural wastage is partly counter-balanced bymembers recruited through our efforts onPensions. After 30 years our existence isbecoming more widely known. As at 31December 2014 we had 1240 Annual Members353 Life Members and 61 Privileged Members;a total membership of 1654 compared with 1603in December 2013.

WelfareStilfontein accommodation is still much in

demand. We have made enquiries as to its future,and successor. Subsidies amounted to almostR60 000 during the past year.

Last year we paid out R293 000 in grants toGrateful Gran beneficiaries, thanks to thegenerosity of regular donors and OSPA.

In addition, all the branches have their ownongoing welfare programmes. They also holdvarious and varied functions for fund-raisingand bringing people together.

Zimbabwe pensions and pensioners still takeup a lot of time, with constant telephone and e-mail queries and questions, both from pensionersto us, and from us to Harare. Communicationwith Harare is constant and ongoing.

CultureOur Reference Library continues to grow,

with well over 600 non-fiction titles aboutRhodesia and its way of life. Fiction or faction-titles are sold or disposed of to best advantage.

Over the past year we have sold large amountsof militaria, memorabilia and stamps, therebyraising several thousand rands for our funds.

Again, during the year, we have attendedmany memorial services in Pretoria andJohannesburg. There we have remembered ourfallen and celebrated our living.

FinanceOur funds are decreasing slightly. Donations

have fallen, and our outgoings have increaseddramatically. We are still firmly in the black,this largely due to the careful management ofour Honorary Treasurer, John Parsons. Thankyou John.

InformationOur website is not operating as well as we

would like at the moment and we are lookinginto the employment of a new webmaster.

Newsletters from the branches and TheRhosarian magazine from National inform ourmembers of our activities and the latest news onrelevant subjects. These publications continueto provide a good quality service. Our thanks toall editors and contributors. Where possible, wemake use of e-mails to distribute ourpublications. This is increasingly necessarybecause of the unreliable postal services.

GoalsAt last we, via our sub-committee referred to

above, are gradually getting to what we are,where we are, and where we want to be.

MIKE RUSSELLNational Chairman19 May 2015

more than two million black farm workers andtheir families. He says that even the workingcommercial farms today employ very smallnumbers by comparison, leaving a largeunemployed rural community struggling tosurvive. He points out that former Zimbabweanfarmers who have been accepted with open armsby the Zambian government have helped turn thatcountry’s agricultural economy around. It is theZimbabweans’ innovations that have transformedsmall-scale growers in their adopted country intoproductive farmers, upping their production fromhalf a ton per hectare to between four and five tonsa hectare. This year Zambia will be the onlysouthern African country with a maize surplusand, ironically, will be exporting 300,000 tons ofwheat to its starving neighbour, Zimbabwe.

Freeth and his father-in-law Mike Campbellwere run off their Mount Carmel fruit farm byPeter Chamada, the son of Mugabe’s close politicalally Nathan Shamuyarira. They and Freeth’smother-in-law were abducted, tortured and beatenby a gang of Chamada’s storm troopers. Thefamily took their case to the African Union humanrights court in Namibia and, although MikeCampbell was too severely battered to attend thefinal hearing, Freeth appeared, albeit in awheelchair with his head swathed in bandages, tohear the court declare attempts to invade the farmillegal. Mugabe ignored the ruling and two monthslater the farmhouse was burned to the ground.Freeth and his family were finally driven off theirfarm. Mike Campbell, who said his torturers hadturned him into an old man overnight, died twoyears later of complications from the assaults.

In June Ben Freeth, who continues to campaignfor Zimbabwe’s white farmers as executivedirector of the Mike Campbell Foundation,appeared before the US Congress’s HomeCommittee on Foreign Affairs and claimed thatalthough the white population on commercialfarms had been cut to 5% of what it was, “ethniccleansing of those rural areas continues. Thoseremaining farmers are persistently terrorised orcriminalised and face two years in jail forcommitting the ‘crime’ of farming their land andliving in their own homes on these farms – in acountry that is starving.”

When I ask him why he keeps campaigningFreeth says that his aim is to go back to farming“and black Zimbabweans say to us all the time‘don’t leave, please stay’. That’s what gives ushope and drives us. The people want us.”President in waiting

The vast majority of Zimbabweans I speak towant a new president, and a new government, assoon as possible. They dread the idea of anotherrigged election in 2018 that, given past form, mayeven fiddle a 95-year-old Robert Mugabe into yetanother presidential tenure.

One name keeps coming up – Simba Makoni.An English-educated former ZANU PF minister,he became disillusioned with the party in the mid2000s and resigned in 2008 to run against Mugabeand Morgan Tsvangirai in the presidential election.Though the precise numbers are disputed, he camea distant third – Tsvangirai won with around 51%,Mugabe recorded 40% and Makoni, with none ofhis rivals’ financial or organisational backing,came in with 9%. Although he remains on thepolitical margins, for many he is the people’spresident in waiting.

I meet Makoni at his Galleria KwaMurongo, anart centre and restaurant in Harare. He is in a rushas he needs to drive 250 kilometres to Mutare toback his Dawn Party candidate in the next week’sby-election. Makoni has no illusions of victory as“we expect ZANU PF will have rigged it”.

Makoni has supported the MDC’s MorganTsvangirai in the past and recognises the need toform what he calls a “grand coalition” to oustMugabe and his party. Makoni has travelled a longpolitical road. He was educated at Leeds Universityduring the 1970s Rhodesian War and returned totake his place in ZANU PF in the early days ofindependence. Then, he says, Mugabe and a smallcircle of insiders began to betray the ethical base ofthe liberation struggle. “Today the rulers are so faraway from the visions, ideals, principles, ambitionsof the liberation movement I was proud to be partof.” He left ZANU PF in 2008 “and the day Iannounced I was leaving somebody in the partypromised me I would be buried within a week”.Seven years later he is still around, a principledthorn in his old party’s side, a man several foreigndiplomats describe as “the most ethical politicianin the country”.



THE FLAG

Honorary President: The Hon Mr Justice H.G. SquiresHonorary Vice-Presidents: Air Vice Marshal C.W. Dams

Dr J.R.T. WoodMr J.C. Pirrett

CONTENTSSubject Page

Advertisements CoverNational - Contents & Objects 1

- Chairman's Report 2- Notice Board 3- Editorial 4

Msasa Mail - Coming up 5- Mary's Meander 6- Members' News 7-10- This n That 10- Opportunities 11- Tailpiece 11

Fish Eagle - Chairman's Message 12- Notices / Birthdays 13- Contacts 14- Social Report 15- Welfare Report 16

Subject Page

Shamwari - Forthcoming Events 17Balancing Rocks - Chairman's Letter 19Ridgeback - Chair/Welfare Report 20

- Events & Contacts 21-23- Rhodesian Calendar 24-25

Remembrance - Remembrance Services 26Pensioners - Zim Govt Pensions 27Promotions - Stilfontein 28Looking Back - UDI Golden Jubilee 29

- PPS to Ian Smith 30-33- Frank Oats 34-36

Promotions - Rhodesian Books 37-38- Abduction ... 39-41- Flame Lily Shop 42

The FLAG - Zimbabwe Review 43-48

OBJECTSTo promote, further and secure the interests of former residents of Rhodesia/

Zimbabwe and their descendants.To provide or facilitate residential accommodation for persons over the

age of 60, in particular for those former residents of Rhodesia/Zimbabwewho have settled in the RSA.

To give help in particular to the aged and the disabled.To preserve the history and heritage of Rhodesia.

MEMBERSHIPRhodesians/Zimbabweans and South Africans over the age of 18 whosubscribe to the objects of the Foundation.Single: R75,00 - Couple: R90,00 to 31 March 2017Life Membership: R1 500,00

DISCLAIMERThe views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily shared by the Editor or theManagement of the Flame Lily Foundation.

The problem is the Zimbabwean politicalmachine has little time for democratic issues orsuch subtle nuances as the will of the people. Themachine is controlled by ZANU PF, and for themoment ZANU PF is controlled by Mugabe.However, Makoni says that old age is fast prisingopen the old dictator’s grip: “Even physically, hecan only sit up alert in his chair for 40 minutes.He’s not there mentally or physically the rest ofthe time. “People ask me about Mugabe and I sayhe was genuine up to a point, then he changed, andI can tell in both time and mind when that changetook place and to some extent why.”

He says that in the late 1980s Mugabe lostthree colleagues – Maurice Nyagumbo, whocommitted suicide by drinking rat poison, EnosNkala, one of the founders of ZANU who accusedMugabe of assassinating rivals, and Edgar Tekere,who denounced Mugabe and constantly criticisedZANU PF corruption, so was expelled from theparty in 1988. “They were the only people morethan equal with Mugabe, the only ones who couldsay no, because it was they who brought him intothe nationalist movement.”

Today the voice in Mugabe’s ear, according toMakoni and others, is that of his wife Grace. Herrise to prominence over the past 12 months hasbeen spectacular even by Zimbabwe’s warpedstandards of dynastic entitlement. Grace was atypist in the President’s office when she andMugabe began an affair, apparently sanctionedby his dying first wife Sally. Now approaching50, more than 40 years the President’s junior,Grace has been transformed from First Lady andmother of two children with Mugabe to leader ofZANU PF’s Woman’s League, thus landing aplace in the ruling party’s politburo. Along theway in 2014 she was awarded a questionablesociology PhD by the University of Zimbabwe,having enrolled on the course only two monthsearlier, and there have since been calls fromZimbabwean academics for her to give herdoctorate back.

Makoni is sure the end of the Mugabe era isvery close and “when he goes the door will openfor us to rebuild and restore a modicum of esteemand decency and respect for ourselves.” Howeverhe does fear a desperate attempt by the Mugabedynasty to hang on to power and can’t discountthe widely despised Grace. “Grace wants to bethere. It’s unbelievable but it’s true. She wants to

be president. That’s how irrational we havebecome.”Sanctions as smokescreen

Robert Mugabe blames white colonials generallyfor his country’s current plight, and US and EU“sanctions” specifically for the parlous state ofZimbabwe’s economy. While the invasion fromEurope during the Victorian era may havedestabilised a rural, tribal people and indeedexploited them in the 20th century, most of today’sblack Zimbabweans are so-called “born frees”,born after independence and thus having noexperience of colonial exploitation. They do notshare their president’s views.

The cover of sanctions is also tenuous, to say theleast. The US implemented sanctions targetedagainst Zimbabwean government officials, securitychiefs and state-owned companies in 2002 andextended these measures earlier this year because,according to President Obama, “President Mugabeand his associates continue to undermineZimbabwe’s democratic process”. However, theUS has continued to export goods to Zimbabweand Zimbabwe exports goods to the US. There is notrade embargo. Equally the US continues to provideaid to the country – more than $2bn sinceindependence in 1980.

So too the EU, which until last year appliedwhat it called “restrictive measures” against 86targeted individuals. The EU has now suspendedits restrictions on all but two individuals – Robertand Grace Mugabe – which means the other ZANUPF officials can now travel in the EU and haveaccess to their various bank accounts. So a constantstream of money, in the form of project-targetedfunding to help prop up the education system,sectors of the health service, and agriculture,continues to flow in from Mugabe’s historicalenemies, the US and the EU.

However, the issue of sanctions has providedMugabe with a convenient smokescreen for morethan a decade. Zimbabwean economist JohnRobertson says that “the whole issue of sanctionswas the most generous gift the West could havegiven Mugabe because he’s played it out as theentire reason for the failure of the economy afterthe so-called land reform programme. In fact theUS and the EU have fed this country throughout thebad years.”[Shortened. Complete article available on requestfrom [email protected] - Ed]


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