Vol. 3, No. 9

Mining future exciting and spectacular

Exciting and spectacular develop­ments are likely in the mining industry in the very near future, said Mr. Nick Cambitzis, chairman of the Industrial Development Cor­poration, at the annual congress of the Association of Rhodesian Indus­tries.

"The remarkable activity in prospect­ing and exploration taking place today. plus the development of a significant number of base and industrial minerals. will gi\'c a tremendous boost to mining output." he said.

Mr. Cambitzis added that he believed the mineral production target of £lOOm. a year in the 1970s, set by the Minister of Mines, Mr. lan Dillon, would be achieved.

Agricultu re Mr. Cambitzis said the enforced cur­

tailment of the size of the tobacco crop had led to crop di\·ersification, "which will show a major production ach:eve­ment when the figures for the present scl13on are made available".

He added that much had still to be done to ensure that adequate profits went to the efficient farmer.

A period of consolidation in agricul­ture was probably ine\' itable unt il the losses caused by last year's drought bad been recouped.

T ribal lands Progress in the development of the

Tribal Trust Lands so fa r had been slow. But there \\~ no'' a determination on the part of the Government to imple­ment economic development in these areas.

The IDC would work in close contact with the ne\\ Tribal T rust Lands Development Corporation. The IDC had made available to it the results of its

tConlloued la lleltl column!

(P ublished Forrnightly)

World shottists By winning the Rhodes Cen­

tenary Long Range shooting Test match against South Africa at Bloemfontein, Rhodesians had once again proved they were the finest .303 ~hottists in the world, says an agency report.

"They now have the magnifi­cent record of not only winning the trophy for the third year in succession, but at Bisley in 1965 I they won the world champion­ship."

~~~~ .. ~~.----.~~ .. ~~ study of the possibility of setting up a large African tea-growing scheme.

On the move Said Mr. Cambitzis: "Most of us

thought the measures taken against us would ha,·e a far greater adverse effect than has pro\'ed the case: in fact. we ha\'e not merely survived but have main­tained a stable lc!vel of economic activity and in man\· field~ have recorded real economic gains. After the initial set­backs all sectors of our economy are now on the move."

5rh l\I:ty, 1969

Paratroopers

dropped in The Minister of Defence, 1\-ir. Jack

Howmao, watched 10 paratroopers float to the ground nod then presented them whh their "wings" a nd CO\'eted para­commando berets 111 New Sarum a ir base, Sa lisbury,

The parachute jump and presentation marked the cod of 11 weeks of tough tnlining for Coul'!ie 26 of the e lite S pecia l Air Scn•ice.

New recruits to the unit will ho'e on even tough er lime-the SAS truio ing is be ing extended to 19 weeks.

The p icture abo\·e shows M r. How­man presenting beret nod "wings" to Lieut. M. F. Graham a fter b is jump.

Building in progress: Fourteen build­ings. each costing more than £10.000, are being erected in Bulawayo at a total cost of £915,000. They include Pioneer House for £470,000. a school hostel for £75.000 and premises for a building society for £67.000.

www.r 0 esia.me.uk

2 RHODESIAN CO~DJE~TARY 5rh ~fay, 1969

£96m. investment programme over three years T HE Government plans to spend £96.4m. on the public sector investment

programme in the tbree-)ear period 1969-72. This is £10.8m. higher than the previous highest figure for a three-year plan. the 1968-71 pro­gramme. The bulk of the moo~, 84 per cent., will be spent on economic services, with 9 per cent earmarked for social services and the balance for administrative services.

More than SO per cent. of the total sum is earmarked for the transport and agricultural sectors. In the transport sector the de,elopment of the railways system is estimated to cost £1S.6m., most of which will be for rolling stock. and improvement to the permanent way.

Ch il n' uulon Another £7.2m. is earmarked for

major road construction ond £37S.OOO for civil aviation projects, including a

new aerodrome to sen·e Wankie National Park.

The allocation of £22.6m. to agricul· ture accounts for 2A per cent. of the total programme; £3.4m. is earmarked for agricultural marketing undertakings; £Sm. for the land Bank; and £2.Sm. for the primary de\'elopment of Tribal Trust lands.

Part of the £3.4m. set aside for water development will also be spent in the Tribal Trust Lands.

Domestic economy resilient The Economic Survey of Rhodesia for 1968 states that the gross domes­

tic product rose by S.S per cent. in that year to £390m. despite the impact on the economy of the drought and tougher sanctions.

The figures in the sun·ey largely con· In GDP terms manufacturing and firm the impression con\'cycd by the building and construction increased b) Monthly Digests o f Statistics issued in £13.8m. while agriculture fell by £11.4m. the course of 1968. The domest1c econO· lo £59.4m., the lowest ftgure since 1960. my was resilient in most sectors, but An encouraging feature of the figures there were problems in external trade. for 1968 was the increase of £18m. to

Domestic exports last year were worth £6Sm. in the value of gross fixed capital £87.4m., £lm. down on the 1967 figure. formation, which represented IS per At £4.2m. and £S.8m. respectively the cent. of the GDP. Mineral production value of re-exports and of gold sales in I 968 was valued at £33.7m., slightly was 11lso down on 1967. The value of up on the 1967 figure. impon_c;, however, at £103.Sm. was £10m. up on 1967.

On capital attount After taking other adjustments into

account, there was an adverse trade bal::~nc:c: of £7.7m. compared with a sur· plus of £8.Sm. in the previous )ear.

The ne1 cost of the "invi~ible'' items added a further £19.1 m. to this deficit gh·ing an adverse balance on current account of £26.8m. compared with £9.4m. in 1967.

Employment The number of European, Asian and

Coloured personc; in employment rose by 4 per cent. to 94,500 11nd the number o f Nricans in employment increased during 1968 by 2.S per cent. to 622.000.

The a\'erage earnings for the Euro· pean, Asian and Coloured emplo)ces were £1.414 against £1.361 in 1967. The Nrican a\·erage was £144, compared with £138. The African 1\·eragc ranged from £72 in agriculture to £318 a year in transport and communications.

The Survey says that the Government

Housing schemes For the de\ elopment of the Electricity

Supplr Comm•ssion·s facilities £4.6m. has been made a,·ailable. Local auth· oritr expenditure is expected to cost £:!4.Sm. including a total of £5.2m. for African and Coloured housing schemes.

In the social senices. most of the £'1..Sm. to be im ested in health sen ices will be absorbed by the de\elopment of medical facilities in Salisbury.

LoWleld The Sabi·Limpopo Authority is to get

£3.3m. as a contribution towards its further de\'elopment of the Lowveld.

As the programme is presently planned, L14m. of the £96.4m. total over the three ~ears will be spent in 1969-70.

The programme pro, ides for £S 1.9m. of the total sum to come from Govern· ment loan funds. with the balance com· ing from the resources of the organiza­tions concerned with the development of the public sector of the econom)'.

current re,·enue increased by 6 per cent. in 1968. led by a IS per cent. increase in the return from sales tax

The sun·e, states: "The RhCidesian economy was .;ubject to severe naturnl. economic and financial strains during 1968 and the aftermath of these strains is still O\'ident.

Favourable "The balance of pa}ments poSitiOn in

the earl) months of 1969 has nccessita· ted a tight restraint on the level of im· ports but on improvement is expected in the second half of the year. The present restraint on the level of imports will tend to hold back the rate of growth temporarily. but the prospects for the year as a whole are most favourable.

·'The high le\'el of capital formation in the past two years \\ill begin to yield significantly higher le\·els of output a nd the impro\·ement in the agricultural sec· tor will be particularly notable follow­ing the depressed le\el or 1968.''

~eat hygiene: The establishment of a meat labor3tOI') in Bulawayo - which h11s now been in operntion for about a year. has been a major step forward in the control of meat and abattoir hygiene.

This adverse balance in current account, howe\er, was almost wholly offset by a remArkably hi&h net inftow of £2S.2m. on capital account-double the 1967 net inflow. The over-all posi­tion in the balance of payments there­fore was a deficit of £1.6m. compared with a surplus of £3.3m. in 1967. A chain of tourist hotels

Value of GDP The increase in the \'llluc of gras.;

domestic product in money terms by S.5 per cent. and in relll terms by just over 3 per cent. was due to the way in which increases in manuracturing industry and building and construction more than off· set the fall in agricultural output.

The South African Breweries Corporation and Rhodesian Breweries are to set up a chain of tourist hotels throughout Southern Africa designed to cater for the immense increase in tourist traffic expected in the 1970s. spear-headed by the introduction of jumbo-jets carrying between 300 and 409 passengers each. These plans includP ~ £1 m. IS-storey hotel for Salisbury.

www.rhodesia.me.uk

5th l\Lly. 1969 RHODESIAN COMMENTARY

RECORD INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT THE output of industry last year passed the previous record set in 1965

and further "substantial increases" will follow as the remainder of the 900-plus industrial projects started since UDI come into production, accord· ing to Mr. W. R. Perry, president of the Association of Rhodesian Indus­tries.

In his valedictory address to the annunl congress of ARni he said the volume index of manufacturing produc­tion in 1968 was more than 8 per cent. higher thnn in the previous year and more thnn 3.7 per cent. higher than 1965, which was the previous record year.

"We have been told by the Govern­ment that, based on the number of new industrial projects approved since 1965, which I believe is currently approaching 1,000, further substantial increases in industrial output are bound to occur.'' Mr. Perry said.

More than recover "Through a combination of diversifica­

tion. improvization, import substitution, determination and sheer hard work, industry as a whole has been able to more than recover what it lost in 1966.

"Sanctions were a challenge and we were determined to beat them.

''ARnl has always believed and argued that the manufacturing sector could and should provide the country with a much wider range and lar$er volume of goods for local consumption and for export than it has been encouraged to do in the past.

Positive policies "But the view that we hove tried to

get across. namely. that the development of secondary industry should actively be fostered by positive policies vigorously

pursued to promote the development not only of industry. but of the economy as a whole, has seldom in the past been acknowledged.

"The opinions and the recommenda­tions which have always prevailed until recently were that fostering industry by measures such as the granting of tariff protection or the imposition of import controls could have no other effect other than to raise local prices and costs of production and negate Rhodesia's case against restrictions applied by other countries to our primary exports."

Careful proteetion Mr. Perry said he was not convinced

that these arguments against fostering local industry were justified.

"1 am sure in my own mind that the huge and accelerating development of secondary industry in South Africa is very largely due ro its having been care­fully protected mainly by means of import controls. South Africa has not hcsilaled to use this type of control to develop industry and surely the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

"The Republic's industry has grown mightily in the past 20 years as a result, and we are in the same position which South Africa was in 20 years ago.

Foreign exchange "Industry, and I believe the country as

a whole, can count itself fortunate that the Government, a lbeit by force of

3

U.S. army general entertained

The picture on the left shows General Mark Clark, second from the right, com­IDilnder of the F ifth Army in the in,·asion of Italy in 1943, wbo bat been on a \'lslt to R hodesia. He is seen here with (left to right): Air V ice-Man hlll A. 0. G. Wllson, Chief of Air Stllfl; Major-Genonl K. R. Coster, Chief of General Staff; and, extreme r ight, H is Excellency the Officer Admlnls· terinG the Go' emment, Mr. CJifford D upont, who a rranged a cocktail party in honour of Gencnl Clark with whom many

Rhodesinns served.

State of emergency For the first time under new Jaw.

Parliament has extended the state of emergency for an unspecified period of up to I 2 months.

The Minister of Justice, Law and Order, Mr. Desmond Lardner-Burke. said there was evidence that special efforts would be made this year to step up terrorist operations aeainst the whole of Southern Africa. Large numbers of trained terrorists were in Zambia and Tanzania.

The number of persons in restriction continued to drop, said the Minister, as the re.~ult of expiry of orders and early releases which he had authorized a fter further reviews of each case which was constantly done. The number no'' stood at 211.

"The figure for those in detention has only dropped by two, but this is quite understandable, because detainees now comprise the really hardcore organizers of subversion. and a number of terrorists and saboteurs whom we are desirous of prosecuting when there is sufficient evi­dence that can be adduced in court. T he figure now stands at 140."

The International Red Cross inspected 1he prisons in which the detainees were held and also the restriction areas.

circumstances, has had to accept that a more positive approach to industrial development is an absolute necessity at the present t ime for the economic good of Rhodesia."

Mr. Perry wamed that the continued growth of the manufacturing sector would depend on sufficient foreign exchange being made available for the purchase of the necessary imports inputs into secondary industry. He said that foreign exchange was the one tool of industry's trade that could not be sub­stituted.

Mr. Perry told the meeting that indus­try could make a positive contribution to the foreign exchange position through its exports, and he added that proposals had been submitted to Government for income tax rebates for a larger share of export costs.

www.rhodesia.me.uk

4 RHODESIAN COl\1.:\fENT ARY

VICTORIA FALLS AT PEAK LEVEL

Water levels in the Barotse plain and the How of the Zambezi River at the Victoria Falls are the highest ever recorded.

IN THE UPPER PICTURE is seen the great spread of flood waters mo,ing toward~ the tremendous lcdac of the falls, the thundering mist of which rl~es like a column of smoke from a bush fire.

IN mE PICTL'RE ON THE LEFT the wide foaming waters of the Zambezi Rh er dash into the misty depths of the first of the zlg-zaggiog aorges tbroua.b which they surge and bea\e before the rher straightens out on its way to Lake Karib3.

AT LAKE KARJBA The Central African Power Corpora­

tion said in a 'ttatement that with the in­flow to l:lke K:~.riba at almost unpre­cedented le\els, the Kariba Dam, in addition to ib usual function of provid­ing power for Rhodesia and Zambia, was prO\'iding inraluable flood control.

A!, a result of normal precautionary spilling earlier in the season, the lake was drawn down sufficiently to absorb the unusually large inflow, thus a vuitlinK the need for a heavy discharge through the flood-gates.

www.rhodesia.me.uk

5rh 1\Lty, 1969 RHODESIAN COMMENTARY

African census is big exercise I N teams of eight, 4,500 census enumerators have started visiting aJI Afri­

can dwellings throughout Rhodesia in the second and final phase of the population census which began on 20th March when census forms were completed by Europeans, Asians and Coloureds. Unlike the procedure in the first phase, enumerators will fill in the forms for the occupants of the dwel­lings and the exercise is expected to take about three weeks.

Many thousands of miles will ~e ment offices a_nd poste~ are_ b~ing dis-travellcd before it can safely be sa1d played at vanous pubhc bu•ldtngs. that all h~useholds _have been visited, Each enumerator will have an identify-for every stngle hut m the remote parts ing badge on his coat or shirt and some of the country has to be attended to, of the questions he will ask are: just as much as the houses and the big th bachelor hostels in the townships. ~e nu~ber ~f persons ~ho ~pent . e

prevtous mght m the dwelling, mcludmg guests. The names of these persons will not be recorded but their relationship to the head of the house will be.

All census enumerators were given short training sessions in their respective areas.

Wide publicity has been given in the African areas on the object of the census and the way it will be carried out. A trial census was held and filmed and shots have been incorporated in a film which has been shown throughout the tribal areas and urban townships.

Three-quarters of a million leaflets and 30,000 booklets have been dis­tributed through schools and Govern-

The sex of such persons and their year of birth. Where people do not know their year of birth. enumerators will estimate it by referring to a list of important events which have taken place in the area during the past 70 years or so. These events cover such subjects as the two world wars, cattle disease epi­demics, drought years, the appointment of a chief or a District Commissioner

5

The enumerators in the African census wiU visit orc:as like this. The huts of oo African vllw&e m:.11e under a vast gronile cllfl' along the Honde Valley, Thl1r great valley, well watered by rh·en, Is steadily being developed for the

benefit of Africans.

or a year of bumper harvest. Details of each person's level of educa­

tion and. in the case of schoolchildren. the name of their school.

In Salisbury and Bulowayo the type of transport used to get to work.

The home language of the occupants of the dwelling.

In the case of females aged 15 years or over, the number of children she has had and how many of these are still living.

The present estimate of Rhodesia's African population, based on the last census in 1962, is 4,500,000.

Soil tillage medal: The Senior Agri­culhlral Engineer of the Department of Conservation and Extension, Mr. John Spear, is the first recipient of an annual soil tillage award in the form of a silver medal, which has been initiated by the Ploughing Association of Rhodesia.

www.rhodesia.me.uk

6 RHODESIAN COMMENTARY

Yet another notable gathering of scientists

The Minister of Health, Mr. I. F. McLenn, who Is seen opening the Semi­our on Biologlcul Asperu . of BilhorziD at the Blnlr Research Lnborntory in Salisbury, wd 11 was pleasing u.od stimulating to see coming together ID Rhode•dn yet another RDthering of dis­llngulo;hed men and women of science.

The 70 p11J1Iclpnnts included n scien­tist from Briloin und 'ie\erul from Mo~nmbique nod South Africa.

In lhe pnst two or three years there hll\'e been \Cientlfic conferences of inter­notional 5lgnlftcuncc, and of \olue IO the human rncc, held in Rhodesia and there ore pions nflo~ for others.

"These occurrences alone should indi­cute what Importance we, In Rhodesia, nttuch to the maintenance of standards in oil fieldo; or our notionul endealour de'lpile certain external dist111ctioM.

"With our specinl brand of ingenuity and wllh neighbourly goodwill, we ore getting on with the real job, which is that of dnelopln& our country's greal potential to a note of self·sufficlency

ond beyond, In a monner wbJch we know Is for the lasthJ& benefit of all our peoples."

Positive action against bilharzia is order of the day

Rhodesia's great and diversified agricultural development and her vast programme of water conservation, have immensely increased and stabilized the fresh-water habitat of the snails which serve as intermediate hosts for bilharziasis. said Lbe Minister of Health.

Together with the settlement of popu­lation in ruml nrens, particularly those areas ''here irrigation was practised. this hnd n:suhlld in on intensification or mnn-tu-wntllr contact and therefore mnn-to·pnrasitc contact. The cycle of bilharziasis was further entranched by the pollution by man of the \\ater which he comes in contact with, and thus a threat to the \\hole nation rapidly develops.

New perspectives The Bilharzia Research Organization

of the Ministry of Health, centred on the Blair Laboratory and on the De Beer Labomtory in Chircdzi in the south­eastern Lowvcld. was recognized the \\'orld over for both the volume and quality of the work it does in the field of bilharziD:>is.

This organization bad investigated various aspects of bilharzia control and. in particular. the use of molluscicides in the control of the snail population.

··snail surveillance. of course. is but one facet of control and 1 understand that there are those among you here today who have ~pecialized in research into other forms of control and who might be bringing new perspectives to

bear on the problem in the next few days.

"This Seminar is entitled 'Biological AsP'--cts of Bilharzia and this is very pertinent. because the problem. n5 seen from n public health viewpoint, is very much n biological one with the biology or behaviour pauerns of man playing an important role in the over-all picture of the disease.

Veterinary upects

"Today. however. I sec that the pro­gramme in addition deals nt some length '' ith the veterinary aspects of the disease in domestic stock. I think that this is the first time that this aspect. together with that of human health. have been com­bined under the geneml title of biology, to '' hich. in point of fact. they both belong."

There could now be no doubt about the position of domestic livestock l'if-li -••l.s the disease.

While littlr economic importance had been placed on this in the past, the potential hnzard wn5 now recognized.

"I need hardly stress the tremendous importance bilharzia assumes ns a threat to the economic progress. and indeed economic viability, of a country.

5rh .M.1y, 1969

"Our tourist indust.ry has now become a very important earner of foreign exchange and yet its potential has hardly been scratched.

Pollilive action "However, bilharziasis could cause a

serious loss of revenue to this industry alone, if its progress was not checked, quite apart rrom its effect on the physical fibre and productivity of the nation as a whole.

"Positive action on a broad front is therefore the order of the day." said Mr. McLenn.

While intensifying activities on the medical. research and control fronts, there had been inculcated into the nation an urgent awareness of the danger of bilharzia. A highly qualified health edu­cation officer had achieved encouraging results.

In a number of public speeches last year the Minister had warned that be would not shrink from npplying strong. even harsh. mea.sures to ensure observ­ance of the correct control procedures by both the users and exploiters of our waters. unpopular as such measures might be in certain quarters.

Top ploughmen Supreme champion ploughman for

1969 is o Concession farmer. Mr. R. J. Smith. who won ull three major trophies. the Sir Humphrcy Gibbs rose bowl for the disc class. the Philp Silver Plough for the best mould-board ploughman and the trophy for the over-nil winner. An African, Bnmusi. from the Umvukwes. \\OS runner-up top ploughman.

www.rhodesia.me.uk

5th M.tv. 1969

£30m. of beef a year

La}ing the foundation stone of the new £2m. abattoir of the Cold Storage Commission a t Gatooma. Mr. George Rudland {Minister with­out Portfolio) said it would not be so long before the beef industry would increase its present turnover of £11m. a year to £30m.

"T hat is h\ no means the ultimate of what Rhud'csin can produce." he said. Judging by world condllion~ todu} beef product ion would be "one uf the best friends the fa rmur m Rhodu,ta could hu,e".

"From the producer;' point of 'te" I am more cu1ninccd than C\cr that uur syste:n of orderl) marl.ellng and guaran­teed price., through a statutor) bod) is b} far the best for him f<~r man~ ~<!llr; to come." the \J inister sa1d.

lie hop.!d ndghbnurtng e.,untrie,. particulurl} those In the nonh. would accept Rhod~ia 's offer. tf required. to make ami table to them un~ l.ntl\\ ledge and expenise to help them in their \Ctennar) re,carch and cnntrnl ''orl..

Expected to be in upcrauun m mid-1970. the abunuir wtff have u \laughter capacit} of 500 cattle a da).

Electricity identifies bilharzia parasite

A ne\\ technique for using electricity to identify the bilharzia parasite and a method of anifically attracting the para­site "ere described to the international Bilharzia Seminar by its inventor. Dr P. J . F ripp. Director of the Bilharzia Research Unit of the Institute of Medi­cal Research in Johannesburg.

It uses electric charges to separate the components of bilharzia worm tissue \\ hich can then be identified by the palterns they form. and may ll\ercome thl! present ~cnous identification prob­lems.

Dr. C. Shiff. Deputy D1rcc1ur of the Blair Rc.~earch Labur.uury. tuld partici­pants of his experiments to find out hu\\ the mirncidium the intermediate pha'e o r the bilharzia para:.ite bet\\l!en the egg and the snai l- is a ttracted to the ~nail. His experiments dcmon!>lrated that there \\aS a chemical attraction which can be isolated by extr-o.~ct ing n compound from water in \\ hich snails have lived.

Profc.c;~or B. R. Aflanson. of Rhodes Universi ty. called for a more methodical a pproach to bilharzia research \\ hich stressed the importance. not only of the snail and the parasite. but also the habits and migrat ions o r human popula­tions " ho are the main hosts.

RHODESIAN COMM ENTARY 7

I',,,~:~, ~~~i~~~~~· ~~~resentative in Republic f

Air Vice-Marshal HaroJd Hawkins, who has just retired as Chief of Air Staff. will be Rhodesia·s new Accredited Diplomatic Representative in South Africa from 1st July. He is seen above with his wife.

He replaces Mr. John Gaunt. a former Cabinet Minister who has repre­sented Rhodesia in Pretoria since August. 1965.

Air Vice-Marshal Hawkins (411). mar­Tied wnh a \un and daughter. 1s the second Australian to be appotnlcd to foreign po~tin~ m Rhodesia\ dtpln· matic sen ice. Col. "M ne" K nox is based in Li-bun. \\hi h: annther Au,tr.JIIiln. ~lr Stan O'Donnell. is Secrctar} nf E.\lernuf Affair...

"This is a very different line of acll\ lt) for me, but it is an Important ta~l.. and a challenge won h tncl.ling,'' said Air­Vice-Marshal Ha\\ kms.

He begins his briefing in mid-Junc and he and his wife. E,e, will lea' c for Pretoria in the second wee!. in Jul}.

I I I I I I I I J I I I I I J I I I e I • • e I I

Friendly city Bulawuyo doe!> not hu1•e the

night life of New York, hut it claim!> to he a friendly city. A Meet the Rlwdesians scheme· ltarted in the city

I brings tourists into homes to show them something of ··the friendly city atmvsphere".

Student unrest will not be tolera fed The so-called student unrest "h1ch

almost brought Frnnce tt) Its knees would not be tolerated "for a smgfe moment" by the Rhodesian Govern· rr.ent, the Minister of Health. Labour und Social Welfare. Mr. Inn M cLean, told a mixed gathering of students com­prising the Social Studies Association in Buln"ayo.

He suid the Government clearly recognized that the unrest in France tl\\~d nnl a Jillle to org~~nized Com­munist subversion on an international ~cnle and follo\\ed a classic Communist pallern.

The Government \\ere proud of the younger generation of Rhodesia who \\ere facmg up to their special respon­sibilities "in a splendid manner". and gave no cause for concern, either no\\

or in the future:. The Minister spoke mainly about

ju\enile delinquency and drug-taking. On the laller. he said he hnd taken action · on two mum fronts against the problems of illegal dt~tribution and the acquisi­t ion of drugs.

Firstly. the import regulations con­cerning medictnnl substances and poisons had been amended to limll tmportat ion to people legally qualified and entitled to handle them. Secondly. the Control of Drugs Bin passed recently would make' life "very hard" on those people using or distribuling drugs illegally.

He said he d id not want to "sermon­ize" on the social aspects of addiction and control, but he hnd to stress that both "hard" and "soft" d rugs presented very considerable dangers.

www.rhodesia.me.uk

8 RHODESIAN COMMENTARY 5rh .M.1y, 1969

Mural depicts "flow and progress" local government

of I Proposed registration of pesticides

The judges seen examining tbe win­ning entry in the 169 Local Govern­ment Murul Competition by the Gift'ord Technical Boys High School. Bulawnyo, as havin~ ·'mo,ement in c'ery direction und u de,er juxtll-posltion of light panels depicting the general flow and

progress of local government in this counlry'*. The judges were most impressed with the general standard of the entries., which they comidered "~cry meritoriou~... Similar loCIII JlO\'ernment competitions would be held annually.

The Ministry of Agriculture is looking into the possibility of intra· ducing a registration scheme where­by pesticides may only be offered for sale. or disposed of in any other manner, if they have been registered under the law.

Under such a scheme the Ministry would ha1.e to be satisfied regarding the general desirability of the pesticide con· cerned. both from the point of view of the toxicit) hazard invoh ed-for humans as well as animals-and ils effi· ciency for the purpoEe for which it i5 intended.

At pres.ent the sale of pesticides is subject to the law governing the label· ling of the containers in which these s ubstances arc: packed. and there are statutory requirements concernmg the information which must be displayed clear!} on the containers of all pc.sti· cides offered for sale to the publiC.

Two-year plan to build 6,000 African houses The label must indicate the nature and

amount of the active inaredient in the pesticide. Lhe way in 11 hich and the purposes for which it should be used. warnings as to the po1sonous nature of the pesticide. instructions regarding the safet)' precautions which must be taken in handling the substance. and the remedial treatment in the event of acci­dental poisoning.

The Ministry of Local Government and Housing has announced that it was hoped that funds for the: construction of 6.000 African houses would be made available next financial year ending June. 1970. h said the money would be made available to local authorities throughout the country and to the Ministry's African Building Fund.

A Ministry spokesman said: "The major affort will have to be made in the Salisbury area 11 here there will be hous­ing programmes by both the Govern· rr.ent and the Municipality. This will be a substantial contribution towards reliev­ing the current housing shortage:'

In addition to cxisling accommodation there were several home-ownership schc:mes in the Salisbury area under 11 hi eh purchasers I\ ere required to extend their properties '' ithin a given time. "This 11 ill make further accommodation available:· said the spokesman.

He said the computer re~<-ealed that there "ere 1.626 married Africans living

Rhodesian Commcnlary is pub­li,hed ul,o in Afrilotans, Portu• guese, French, German nod

Italian.

In the Unoled Suue1. this mluo:rial i• lllcd ,.;lh the O.:p:utmcnl or Ju•lt«. "here the requiral 11:11istnuion •tatcment, in h!rm' nf lh( Foreign Asems Rc~o~istnuion A•"~· of the Rhodcdun lnfor· mmtion Office. :!85.! McGtll fer111ce. Wa•hln11ton. D.C .. ~~ ~n agency of the Rhodesia \llnism ol Information. ;, ., oilablc for infpo:lion. Rctfolnl· lion does not mdiale approvul b~ the UniiC'd Sr.t.o Govcrnman.

in single quarters '' ho required married accommodation. ''The next priority for African housing must go to them:· he said.

Salisbury Municipality and the Gov­ernment together have built 3.540 hous­ing units in the Salisbury a rea since the beginnmg of July last year.

Fullac.) prO\ed: The ·'most gratifying" assistance given to the Security Forces by tribal Africans proves the comple.te fallacy of the common Left·\\ ing argu­ment that the detained and restricted leaders are the true rcpresentativ~ of the African people. says the Secretary for La1\ and Order. Mr. A. M. Bruce­Brand. in his Rc:pon for 1968,

The purpose of the proposed regis· tration scheml! is to protect the general public from tht.: hazards of indiscrimin· ate and uninformed use o( dangerous pesticides. This should aUord a measure of protection to those whose "ork requires the regular use of pesticides and will ensure that the pesticides they use are suitable for their purposes.

Arts festh,al: Over S.SOO i ndividuals o[ all ages took part in the Institute of Allied Ans festival just ended.

Pilot farming scheme was a success In Vol. ·'· No. 7. in tributes to the

late Mr. Win~ton Field. a former Prime Minister of Rhod..:sia. it was stated that the farming :.o.:heme he launched to bring out fam1li~ from ltal} "failed as a pilot scheme".

Mr. Winston Field's son. Mr. J. W. Fic:ld. writes: " In fact. 1t 1\as successful as a pilot scheme and it was only the

complete unawareness of the Govern· ment o f the day to bringing Europeans into Rhodesia that finally ~topped further such schemes dendoping on a national scale-a decision which we shall all Jive to regret as a t that time man} people \\ ished to get out of Europe and had we opened our doors to them we 1\ould have a very different Black to White rutio from what we have today."

Publuh~d b.r thr Rhodtrinn Minhtn• of lnfortriQt/on. lmml~tllian and Tourism, P.O. Box 1.132, Ce>use,.·ay, SaJhburJ, RJrod~~lo for dlJrrlhmion at ltomr anti abr<HJd. Printed b> rlw! Go•·u'"""ttl

Primer. P.O. Boz IJ061. Cawr-a•

(All material may be reproduced iD any form with or l'rithout ackaowled&eJDeot.)

www.rhodesia.me.uk