African Immigration to Rhodesia

Nziramasanga, Caiphas Tizanaye (1978) African Immigration to Rhodesia. PhD thesis, Oklahoma State University.

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Abstract

The occupation of Rhodesia by the British South Africa Company in 1890 and the subsequent European immigration and the opening up of gold and base metals mining attracted thousands of Africans from South Africa, the British Protectorates of Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, and Malawi as early as 1893. By the turn of the twentieth century, Africans were coming from as far north as Somalia, Arabia, East Africa, the Belgian Congo, and Portuguese Angola. All this massive migration to Rhodesia was caused by .both economic developments within Rhodesia itself and the shear individual spirit of adventure on the part of the Africans. Those Africans who came from Zambia and Malawi were pressured by several forms of taxes levied on them by the British South Africa Company. However, subsequent emigration to Rhodesia was motivated by more personal reasons than mere official inducement. This study sets out to examine the general and particular causes.of this human avalanche on Rhodesia. It then explores the immigration trends and the character of population movement, whether recruited, independent, or clandestine in form. By use qf statistics and other data, it demonstrates the genuine existence of African immigration to Rhodesia, which has often been ignored, anp explains its significance. The documentation for this study is mainly from material found in the Rhodesia National Archives. Since the material is contained in many files and documents, care and patience were required to double--check and triple-:check the accuracy of some statistics, policies, and laws which affected African immigration. However, it should be pointed out here that statistics affecting African population and immigration was not compiled in any standard form until after about 1907. Even then, indigenous African population records were based upon estimates and do not reflect an accurate count. Only those Africans who migrated to mines were fairly recorded; clandestine immigrants were not. Employed Africans, alien and indigenous, were enumerated either biennially or annually, and there was often no definite pattern followed. Alien blacks were called either "Colonial natives", "Colonial Boys", "Natives from British Territories", "Natives of Central and South African Origin", or given other such general geographical names as "Cape Boys", "Blantyre Boys", "Portuguese Bantus", and "Natives from north of the Zambesi".. These terms obviously convey little meaning. In view of these difficulties, the writer has taken much care to differentiate the immigrants by using more modern names. The territories covered herein were the Union of South Africa, the British Protectorates of Southern Africa, Northern Rhodesia (Northwest and Northeast), Nyasaland, and Portuguese East Africa. Except in special circumstances, these states are referred to as South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, ·and Mozambique respectively. Rhodesia was also called Southern Rhodesia and was divided into administrative provinces of Matebeleland and Mashonaland.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Divisions:	Comparative Africana
Depositing User:	Geoffrey Obatsa
Date Deposited:	13 Sep 2017 08:49
Last Modified:	13 Sep 2017 08:49
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/2091

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