MALAWIANS ABROAD THE HISTORY OF LABOR [MIGRATION FROM MALAWI TO ITS NEIGHBORS, _ A I312;?13;}; 5ft ' ' 1890 TO THE PRESENT L::i?§:éf iié;::;s%?lii A A 3:35 DIssertatIon for the Degree 0‘ Phi-ED i5 -- =ii;:fMlCHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ' aux.‘ V. 4f I 'IT. ”'8" “8011K BINDERY INC. LIBRARY BINDERS S‘EHINEGTMIIIGILI ‘ _ 'dh. WWIANS I EMIGRATION This dissertai Icial and cultura‘ nits neighbors, Intion is made of IIIIIbique, and Ta 13% to the preset 3‘5 been one of t1 Ti'I'ISthe major : liientation from 2MY to its 20 The Sources tic010IIieI Offic lgraflt‘related n agecial Nyasalam tread; the Ram; Aid; Rhtxlesiam Ma; Nyasal EMT “Poms; Sj‘I‘ NY of Malawie ABSTRACT MALAWIANS ABROAD. THE HISTORY OF LABOR EMIGRATION FROM MALAWI TO ITS NEIGHBORS, 1890 TO THE PRESENT. BY Robert Benson Boeder This dissertation studies the historical, economic, smfial and cultural effects of labor emigration from Malawi toits neighbors, mainly Rhodesia and South Africa. Brief maufion is made of Malawians working in Zambia, Zaire, Mommbique, and Tanzania. The time period covered is from 18M)to the present. The thesis is that labor migration haskmen one of the key factors in Malawi's recent history. szas the major reason for the change in Malawi's economic mientation from facing the east coast during the 19th cmumry to its 20th century southward trend. The sources for this work include the British Foreign mm Colonia Office correspondence concerning Nyasaland; lugrant-related materials in the Rhodesian Archives; special Nyasaland Government reports on Malawians working axoad; the records of the Overtoun Institute at Livings— tmfiA; Rhodesian and Malawian newspapers in both English amiCewa; Nyasaland, Malawi, and Rhodesian Department of labour reports; the thesis of my two predecessors in the stmhrof Malawian labor migrants; and the work of such not Centr?11 mi NanVelsenI anf IlII'Ian1las been a: nnasdifficult to nned on as Wide Ipnssible. over nhsh and Cewa 1‘ Innqe of PeOPle has Labour Organ The major fir nation and othel Inn for emigratn nnyhalawians on late of the early n. during the pi .nnnved due to . Innisions for d Finances, fre ifntnacts. The 11 the farms ab: >411~soale agr 1‘I' migrant work 3-“3 is now the “they earnen 797% new ideas .:sponsible f0 Robert Benson Boeder eminent Central African sociologists as J. Clyde Mitchell, &‘C-_ “9“." ¢_. ,Jaap Van Velsen, and Margaret Read. Since virtually every Malawian has been affected in some way by labor migration it was difficult to decide whom to interview. Finally I settled on as wide a cross-section of the migrant community as possible. Over fifty interviews were conducted in English and Cewa in Malawi, Rhodesia, and South Africa with a range of people from waiters to the general manager of Mines Labour Organization (Wenela) in Johannesburg. The major findings of the study were that although taxation and other economic reasons were the main motiva- tions for emigrating, strict missionary discipline drove many Malawians out of their own country in shame. The life of the early emigrants and their families was harsh, but during the past-thirty—five years bad conditions have improved due to greater governmental efficiency and provisions for deferred pay, family remittances, tax remittances, free round—trip transportation, and two—year contracts. The skills migrants learned in the mines and on the farms abroad have little applicability to Malawi's small-scale agricultural economy. But the money earned by migrant workers has raised Malawi's standard of living and is now the country's second most important foreign currency earner. In addition to money, Malawians brought home new ideas and attitudes from the south which were responsible for the independent church movement during this nanny. Experienc in. they wanted nc :In. Political CI nianian-ied 1959 hstate of emerg hikIIp. Despite when for WM iiI‘Ica, Malawi ha lpuiation scum Robert Benson Boeder century. Experience with apartheid convinced Malawians that they wanted no part of the Central African Federa- tion. Political considerations partly motivated the Malawian-led 1959 strike at Kariba Dam which prompted the state of emergency in the Federation and its eventual breakup. Despite the fact that the migrant labor system is a prop for white minority rule in Rhodesia and South Africa, Malawi has little choice but to send its excess population south to work in the mines and on the farms. MALAWIANS P MIGRATION in Part1. MALAWIANS ABROAD. THE HISTORY OF LABOR EMIGRATION FROM MALAWI TO ITS NEIGHBORS, 1890 TO THE PRESENT. BY Robert Benson Boeder A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History 1974 innight by bill BENSON EOE hi Copyright by ROBERT BENSON BOEDER 1974 ii i we a debt 0 Ine research and Iiiqan State Uni‘ ins, James H00k‘ limes Soltow 0 Eilinan of the CC hector of the A1 innokier and RiI inter; and Eugen Innis Thomas and Fitment helped Ienjoyed ti litish Archives 3iiniawi, Bridg 'hoolola, an linoellor Colle ti-irnpoiogy De} iiitaifsat tho ihiawi libra 3195111. My fr moi Warm and In Rhodesi “the, and tho ACKNOWLE DGMENTS I owe a debt of thanks to many people for helping me in the research and writing of this dissertation. At Michigan State University they include my advisors Harold Marcus, James Hooker, and Donald Lammers; William Brazill and James Soltow of the History Department; Dean Richard Sullivan of the College of Arts and Letters; Alfred OPUbOI‘, Director of the African Studies Center; Deans Ralph Schmuckler and Richard Niehoff of the International Studies Center; and Eugene DeBenko and his staff at the library. Morris Thomas and Sherman Hollander of the Geography Department helped draw up the maps. I enjoyed the full cooperation of the personnel of the British Archives and the Commonwealth Institute in London. In Malawi, Bridglal Pachai, Mel Page, Matthew Schoffeleers, M. L. Golola, and my students and colleagues in the Chancellor College History, Economics, Geography, and AnthrOpOlogy Departments lent me their time and advice- The stalffs at the University of Malawi library, the Society of MalilWi library, and at the Zomba archives were equally hElpfuL MY friends, Mr. and Mrs. John CimgOga, were their usual Warm and hospitableselves. In Rhodesia, p. R. WarhurSt, Oliver Pollak, Duncan Clarke, and the members of the HistorYr Economics' and iii anion] faculties inn and the Rhoo n innesearch as: II'IIIaIIote of th hon, Bruce Morph iliwatersrand Hj imlersitn's 1: iihis staff at t "iii much usefu new, mom, no enough to Mr: inabie inmeat Iii ihElr Patiemc Sociology faculties and the staffs of the University College library and the Rhodesian Archives were all very cordial to me. My research assistant in Rhodesia, Nicholas Tembo, merits a vote of thanks as well. In Johannesburg, N. G. Garson, Bruce Murphy, and other members of the University of Witwatersrand History Department befriended me while the university's library staff were helpful. F. van Wyke and his staff at the Institute of Race Relations provided me with much useful information from the Institute's Jan Hofmeyer library. John McCracken and Bruce Fetter were kind enough to write letters which provided me with valuable information. Lastly, I thank my mother and father for their patience and generosity. iv REDUCTION . . . Merl. The In Ecomom Teri. Contrc the Sc Tho}. From 1 Enter I. 1932 inter 5. Malaw Thr6. The E Rural Anni. Mala Kari thorn, Buri in M KER‘JIEWS . . iiiLIOGRApHY . Tonnes . TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter 1. The Influence of Missions and Colonial Economic Policy on Emigration. . . . . . 5 Chapter 2. Control or Prohibition? Recruiting for the South, 1903-1913 . . . . . . . . . . 41 Chapter 3. From 1914 to the Great Depression. . . . 98 ChaPter 4. 1932 to the Second World War . . . . . . 135 ChaPter 5. Malawians Labor and World War II . . . . 179 ChaPter 6. The Effects of Labor Emigration on Rural Life in Malawi . . . . . . . . . . 195 ChaPter 7. Malawian Labor and the Construction of Kariba Dam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 ChaPter 8. Burial Societies and Recent Developments in Malawian Labor Migration. . . . . . 231 INTERVIEWS 247 BIBLIOGRAPHY.............. ....251 APPENDICES .......283 v them Africa . I Hm. I I 0 0 ‘ hints of Malaw inn Routes Betwe LIST OF MAPS Southern Africa . . . . . . . . Malain . O O O O O O C O O O O Districts of Malawi . . . . . . Labor Routes Between Malawi and vi Rhodesia viii ix ‘[ ' I i InoOLA "u ~~~~~~ sourII w AFRICA SOUTHERN Capo Town SOUTH AFRICA AFRICA "3% MALAWI 1 1' ANGOLA / “g. i. ._,) f I ZAMBIA/B, I Lusaka _,-"’ -_.—.‘i l g . I : ' . as“ "xx'r—e—_-. \\ "7' "'I <4“ \-\ ~ \ —':'_',’\—-: 1 I Solisbur I \A0 j \'\,_ RHODESIA ;i I ‘ I‘ I ira SOUTH WEST . Amman-j ”m" .’ . I lg Iaiebridge [/- AFRICA ,4 BOTSWANA ’: _ m... , . i ‘-, I Transvaal I I V‘ /.,.~" :roioria ,\‘/,I i/\ -/. / Johannesburg '1' 'l I -_/ , -/,—-‘.\ “(\‘T- SWAZILAND A -I /6ruanga Free,l “”1 ’ some r-‘x’. N°'°‘ . I ,’ > Durban Cape Prownce \ -’\ A“ \ y 1 K1 _\ LESOTHO [5 MIN ///" ‘rw _ Karonga -Io° Io°- Nkhata Bay Mzimba 0 Inc 'ft MALAWI Nkhotakota O Kasungu Down 0 _'4° * 1 .- I40- LHongwe We “a Dedza ".Mangoche .LaA'e Ma/ombe 25 so 75 lofinu Ncheu aflerAHosof Malawi,l969 -a Zomba-fl; O "'35" ChlIradzulu Lake Chi/W0 Blantyre o ° I6°— T 35° Mulanje O viii ZMIBI Districts of MALAWI To . \fxx,"\7’b 7 TANZANIA \/ \ MANGOCHE B _. J were”: \ Cg..." /’ \ Ala/M") '1 N CH EU If— ’— \ I KAS u P E MOZAMBIQUE ( / r/“WLY/V ‘ \ ZOMBA " BLANTYRE E. 1 I27“ I L \_j Ari-z) MULANJE - ., is R J \THYOLO ”W" ( CHIKWAWA ) .. \F I I g —>-— International boundary -—— District boundary \ / 2': -_l .l -! a mo: wvoezcm III $38 :53 So one o.... mwtoocson 6:029:25 |.I Emmooreffl Wr,-«f,.§%. w <52><._<5_ me>>hwm WmFDOm m0mwork on the Stevenson Road. He also provided his “Eamer, the Ilala, as a carrier of African labor down the M.“— 18The Aurora, no. 20 (1 April, 1900). 19Macmillan, op.cit., p. 164. pm the Shire 21.1. hsnall 1 1e departure fr 1 stated that h hiahor in the hnsport work} hw'ngstonia Mi: Winn Law this for thei hits of Africa hard work. In 1902, Northern An 5“ h0th outsi 1°15 here con [This is not ; heights of ed EStl1 increa 14 lake to the Shire Highlands where there was work with the A.L.C. A small article in an early Aurora commemorated the departure from British Central Africa of John Moir. It stated that he and Dr. Laws had pioneered the supply of labor in the Protectorate for coffee plantations and transport work.20 Another Aurora piece referred to Livingstonia Mission as the first labor bureau in the country.21 Laws himself stood as personal security to chiefs for their men who were recruited for work in other parts of Africa.22 The Aurora always extolled the virtues of hard work. In 1902, an article reported that a mid—year drought in northern Angoniland had driven thousands of men to look for work outside the country. Some area church congrega- tions were comprised of nine-tenths women and one—tenth men. "This is not an unhealthy sign. For one of the first results of education and of Christian life should be to vastly increase the demand for work. Indolence and Christianity are incompatible."23 Thus it is not surprising 20The Aurora, op.cit. 21Ibid., no. 17 (1 October, 1899). 22Kenneth W. Mufuka, The Role of a Missionary in the Colonization of Malawi, 1875-1927: An Assessment of the Career of Dr. Robert Laws (M.A. Thesis, University of St. Andres, 1971), p. 64. 23The Aurora, no. 32 (1 June, 1902). it these nissic h‘estant work e helical skills no so few job h we forced to s hertoun Institn in the notivah hhwi to surroh This inwal 11101931 who at lives their often their p05 ihdred SiXty~; 7:20!de as ha 3°le was h than worker Analysis heme hundr, Ethiesia' fi f Emi‘five to rinngika, t “lone each 351mm image. A ‘ 12““ 1897. in. ‘ "g II fall 15 that these missionaries, confirmed believers in the Protestant work ethic, should teach their African pupils practical skills in addition to literacy. But since there were so few job opportunities at home the educated Malawians were forced to seek work abroad. The roll-books of the Overtoun Institute of Livingstonia Mission give new insight into the motivating factors behind early emigrantion from Malawi to surrounding territories. This invaluable source lists 1,303 Africans and one European who attended the Institute between 1893 and 1925. It gives their names, home villages, school records, and often their post—education employment histories. Two hundred sixty—five out of the 1,304, or about 20%, were recorded as having worked outside Malawi. This figure probably was higher in actuality, but early statistics on migrant workers were not very reliable. Analysis of the roll—book information shows that of the two hundred sixty—five, eighty went to Southern Rhodesia, fifty-seven journeyed to Northern Rhodesia, forty—five to South Africa, thirty-eight sought work in Tanganyika, thirty-six went to the Congo, six to Mozambique, and one each to Bechuanaland, Kenya, and the United States. The last was Andreya Kateta of Chituka Village near Bandawe. A Tonga, he was a student from 1 December 1895 to AUgust 1897. He passed Standard 11 and was described as haVing "fair abilities but lack[ing] energy and backbone." worthless, he handing colleg honing in the hired at Over hsehfricans h The record: agent to the twenty-eight ye tiniest to Son hlhganyika 1 hpressing m Ethical person h staff the n ’59 British tn "his. Most n 5110 nine nee hoet of hihica‘ One ‘35 described Why/[Refit if \ 4N0 0th fcperhdps , “Hated w Mme! ni “mireetlh 25 in Hater .7515th b “S: as "Jor 16 Nevertheless, he is recorded as being in Chicago in 1902, attending college, marrying an American woman, and remaining in the U.S. until 1911.24 It was the education acquired at Overtoun Institute which made it possible for those Africans to obtain work abroad. The records indicate that there was a steady flow of manpower to the Rhodesias and the Congo throughout the twenty-eight years. At the beginning emigration was heaviest to South Africa; but after World War I, more went to Tanganyika than to the Union. This change was due to the pressing need in the new British mandate for teachers, medical personnel, and clerks who were literate in English to staff the new administration. As in Northern Rhodesia, the British turned to Malawians for help in filling these posts. Most who went to the Congo worked at Star of the Congo mine near Elizabethville. Most of the men worked all over Southern and East Africa. One of them, Mr. Chafwakali of Chiweta Village, was described as "unsuitable" for Overtoun, yet he found employment in Johannesburg, Northern Rhodesia, and Harari.25 24No other information is available on Andreya Kateta and perhaps the existing evidence about his travels should be treated with suspicion since it is unsupported and there are other mistakes in the roll—book. For instance, it incorrectly places Charles Domingo in America in 1908. 25Harari was a Salisbury African township, but also Was used by migrants to refer generally to Southern Rhodesia Just as "Joni" meant both Johannesburg and South Africa. nyenigrants to dinstration a1 hodesia frontie: :a‘zegraph corps hhertoun nen. inhgstone to S hinge. Other: hishury, a 1'0 he sketch nap Overtoun g hicklayers, 51 rePorted that , hattered Ove '31 territory heed to com :.th MW i'htahen to , hhgtudied t shew-1th iihorthern :a‘mdunda .2111 great S ‘9,th By \ zo The i \ 27 MCCr 17 Many emigrants took jobs with the Northern Rhodesian administration at Ft. Jameson on the Nyasaland-Northern Rhodesia frontier, and then moved to Livingstone where the telegraph corps seems to have been staffed entirely by ex-Overtoun men. They travelled southwards by rail from Livingstone to Salisbury and South Africa or north to Katanga. Others went on foot from the Protectorate to Salisbury, a journey of six-eight weeks of rapid travel. (See sketch map Figure 1 for migrant routes.) Overtoun graduates worked as bookbinders, teachers, bricklayers, storekeepers, and mine clerks. A 1902 Aurora reported that carpenters trained at Livingstonia were "scattered over the land from the mouth of the Zambesi to the territory of the Congo Free State."26 Others were sent abroad to continue their studies. The first person listed in the roll-book, Mr. Uriah Chatonda Chirwa, of Bandawe, was taken to Lovedale Institute in South Africa by Dr. Laws and studied there from 1893 to 1895. Livingstonia was staffed with its own graduates and many went to Tanganyika and Northern Rhodesia as missionaries. One of these was David Kaunda, President Kaunda's father, who first preached With great success to the Bemba of Chinsali District in 1905.27 By the first decade of the twentieth century n'ine M 26The Aurora, no. 34 (1 October, 1902). 2 . . 7McCracken Dissertation, op.c1t., p. 289. ehers from Ove hwiah Lutherah "yin hissionar :"shtanga.28 The roll-be hanside of t] orihict betwee: henelled to lather, Eliam hattacking z fhowlsions ; Practice 0 hit for Vario henna“ to “Small wra hit 5111." St hie Others .2313 Very h ii“0W up inhadienCe 3:593“th ‘ an “1611 “Strum c The St] \ 21 Ibi \ 18 teachers from Overtoun Institute had been sent to the Moravian Lutherans at Tukuyu, and several had gone to London Missionary Society and Plymouth Brethern stations in Katanga.28 The roll-book affords fascinating glimpses of the human side of the early days at Livingstonia. It reveals conflict between staff and students. At least one pupil was expelled for threatening to strike a teacher. Another, Eliam Bangazeru, was imprisoned in Zomba in 1909 for attacking a white man. The records contain instances of expulsions from the institute and of "rustications" —- the practice of confining men to their villages as punish— ment for various transgressions. Men who became bigamists often went to live in Tanganyika or the Congo to avoid missionary wrath. In the roll-book these people "fell into sin.“ Some are labelled "unsuitable or troublesome," while others are "unpromising." Eliakim Mdo of Bandawe was "a very bright little boy" who was "misled," expelled, and wound up working in Salisbury. Many were dismissed for disobedience or for joining the Watchtower and other independent churches. Indeed so many went abroad after being expelled from Livingstonia that a new motive for the emigration of Malawians can be suggested. The strict discipline of mission life and work led to the dismissal of many students, teachers, and evangelists. “— 2 . 811316., p. 290. jfgh these Afrie shun and form :ihuniliating .undnot atte hwedpeople heed to become in the rigors iniou discipl serous early huexcellenh issionaries ah h1h5,’ heat for a t hingstonia h than he pass lihiifiCat‘lon anew Ethere" at t WanY of t hmwm \ 2 9The 0 ., , 30hr. ii ‘I‘asilnqu. ffher was him n, 5:311 tdhghl . n e E l9 Often these Africans were merely following traditional customs and found their punishments awkward, embarrassing, and humiliating in the eyes of their friends and relatives who had not attended European schools and churches. Those educated people were shamed into leaving home and were forced to become exiles from their own country. Many died from the rigors of travelling abroad. Thus, uncompromising mission discipline led indirectly to the martyrdom of numerous early Malawian Christians.29 Dr. Banda‘s own story is an excellent example of how Malawians were censured by missionaries and went abroad as a result. In 1915, when Dr. Banda was "not more than thirteen,"30 he sat for a teacher's exam at the Kasungu station of Livingstonia Mission of the United Free Church of Scotland. Those who passed would be selected for the full teacher certification course at Livingstonia. Dr. Banda calls himself "a very youthful pupil-teacher, small also in stature" at the time. A European missionary who did not know any of the students involved was invigilating the exam which was being sat in the local church. The small 29The Overtoun Institute Roll-book is kept in the Zomba Archives and is available to the public. 30Dr. Banda was born at Mtunthama in Vimbe's village at Kasungu. His father was named Mphonongo and his first teacher was the Rev. Lameck Manda. He attended school at Chiranga Mission where his uncle, the Rev. Hanock Msokera Phiri, taught him in Standard 3. Department of Antiquities Oral Records, interview with Rev. Phiri. — J'cé-V 7.2;...5 ' ’3“ hail-teacher“ ‘ ehlackboard t gun he stood 1 water thought ] uh. Innocent hit hone witho heeweeks lat hohesia. His Willy. The hsane man W hated the st reasons f0r e, Economic: hind enigra iElihlltural \ 31 Chileh Emmi Our 3535' 19m 32See E .1 hobs , " L]: 0111 haw films at .1" 20 "pupil-teacher" was placed at the back, too far away from the blackboard to read the questions properly. At one point he stood up to get a better view of the board, the proctor thought he was cheating, and expelled him from the test. Innocent and deeply injured, Kamuzu (“ little root") left home without telling his parents, crossed the Zambezi three weeks later, and obtained work at Hartley hospital in Rhodesia. His long sojourn away from home had begun in ignominy. The European who dismissed him turned out to be the same man with whom he collaborated on the book which related the story thirty years later.31 There were other reasons for emigrating. Economics provided the most important motivation behind emigration from Malawi. It remains primarily an agricultural land with an unemployment problem.32 Until 31Cullen Young and Hastings Banda, translators and editors, Our African Way of Life (London: Lutterworth Press, 1946), p. 26. 32See Edson Mpina, "Modernised agriculture will provide more jobs," African Development (August, 1971) , p. M.15. Not only have there never been enough jobs for literate Malawians at home, but McCracken also mentions an ironic difficulty encountered by the first educated Africans. "In some fields . . . such as domestic services the common Prejudices of Government agents were so great that to possess a western-style training particularly with one of the Scottish missions could be a positive obstacle to Obtaining employment." McCracken Dissertation, op.cit., P. 265. Often government was at odds with the missions OVer various policies. In addition, colonialists preferred uneducated Muslem Yaos as servants because they were more loyal, picturesque, and respectful of authority than were the educated Tongas and Tumbukas. Shh, populatior See hppendix C‘ needed or had aerating were mural oblige inelives.33 hican Rifles reason so many heir fancy c1 shine in the e ‘11 applicable hlawi, but t? tubers of ea The Yaos ’hhhents of 5”“ Johnste hen. They , y'lerslloh to 3ihears. They £01 ti \ 33 F0! ; T‘slh u. igancylll flea in m] anon 21 1966, population figures are untrustworthy estimates (See Appendix C). But many parts of the country were over- crowded or had unfertile soils. Other common reasons for emigrating were the search for adventure, the pressure of ‘ communal obligations, unhappy marriages, or unsatisfactory home lives.33 Frank Dupuis, one of the early King‘s African Rifles' officers in Nyasaland, claimed that the reason so many people went to Rhodesia was "to buy all their fancy clothes, bicycles, beer, etc. . . . and [to] 3 4 These motives shine in the eyes of their lady friends." are applicable to emigrants from every ethnic group in Malawi, but there were also more particular reasons the members of each tribe left home. The Yaos of Southern Malawi were the most implacable opponents of the colonizers and fought fiercely against Harry Johnston's attempts to impose British authority on them. They were subdued eventually and, owing to their aversion to farm work, many accepted employment with Europeans. Along with the Tongas they provided the man- power for early K.A.R. regiments and were popular as cooks, 33For more detailed information about these motives consult F. E. Sanderson, "Chapter 2. The Causes of Migrancy," Nyasaland Migrant Labour in British Central Africa 1890 to 1939 (M.A. Thesis, Manchester University, 1960), and J. Clyde Mitchell, "The Causes of Labour Migra- tiOD." Migrant Labour in Africa South of the Sahara (Abidjan: Proceedings of the 6th Inter-African Labour Conference, 1961). ‘ 34Frank Dupuis Papers, Malawi National Archives Historical Manuscript Collection, Zomba. aunts, gun-ch hhs'oury where we regular hc fie: clothing estimation of hfthelaos du: hhginally the hey continued uthy econoni huslaving. hugh Macs we a Prestige on t in wealthy I hhned as 1 mm“ dire 1’5 interim 5:319 SOci In there w herial Wee hinge in th be said \ See :..: You in W, x, 36 27"‘1 Mach Xi‘hh be #4 22 servants, gun—carriers, and porters. Many journeyed to Salisbury where they were employed in private homes. They took regular holidays and brought shirts, trousers, and other clothing to sell in Malawi. This indicates a continuation of the migratory/trading habits characteristic of the Yaos during their days as slave traders.35 Originally they migrated to Malawi from northern Mozambique. They continued to be drawn in a southwesterly direction, but by economic opportunities of a more legitimate nature than slaving. Hugh Macmillan quotes Yohan bin Abdullah's The History of the Yaos as stating that trade journeys conferred prestige on the Yaos. "I have been to the coast and look how wealthy I am."36 Trade with Indian Ocean merchants declined as the slave trade was stopped so the Yaos reversed direction and brought home clothes and money from the interior of the continent instead of from the coast. But the social prestige of the traveller remained the same. Thus there was continuity in Yao culture in the pursuit of material wealth and social standing, but there was also change in the nature of Yao economic activity. The same can be said for the Ngoni. 35See Edward A. Alpers, "Trade, State and Society among the Yao in the nineteenth centure,“ Journal of African History, X, 3. 36Macmillan, op.cit., p. 12. The typescript of the Abdullah book is in the London School for Oriental and African Studies library. - . _ 2:. "I - I—' I. ' I I ..‘l-p-c “- - _ I - I. - ...... ...... .- ' ..a a ears-ciao? eiefi‘ --l' I ‘:F r l '31 Yen-.193. .1 u- a 3.: '. _..¢ I. I." ' 1:13 {103:1 if? 0 :.. "- '. 5‘ . l . . . ._., . {.- ‘ . -1 an: out“ at: 3am- h” a "”1 wold! :11 If” a: eat-1min!“ .J’. o 00 o'rn 9M 3:0 non-annual i'rub act-.5? 9d: 1:: 'fsurapet-u . _..,. fled'estima here the war hero 1900,; we remained Warn eco stile in many heed to Char Ii111111 warriw llitters,39 b‘ M Culture \ Minor Aft: W \a 1 e . B . A. Ster u 23 Since the 1830's wandering had been a way of life for the Ngoni.37 In 1898, Mpezeni's Ngoni who had settled near Ft. Jameson were defeated by British Central Africa Pro— tectorate troops. Most of the African cattle, the traditional dowry payment and indicator of wealth, were either killed by white soldiers or sold to traders. There were an estimated 20,000 head of cattle in Mpezeni's area before the war. Protectorate troops took 6,000 and by 31 March 1900, so many had been killed or sold that only 1,224 remained. 38 This disaster forced the Ngoni to enter the modern economy to earn money which came to replace cattle in many customary transactions. The Ngoni were forced to change their way of economic life from being migrant warriors to working as farmers and migrant 39 laborers, but the migratory element remained part of Ngoni culture just as it had with the Yaos. 37For background information see J. D. Omer—Cooper, The Zulu Aftermath. A Nineteenth-Century Revolution in Bantu Africa (London: Longmans, 1966). 38J. A. Barnes, Politics in a Changing Society. A Political History of the Fort Jameson Ngoni (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1967), p. 96. 39In Rhodesia after the Ndebele rebellion of 1896 most African cattle were confiscated by the British South Africa Company police. However, the Africans were not forced to become migrant workers in the European economy apparently because their agricultural system was strong enough to support them by sales of African-grown produce to mines and farms. the Cewa Pe it were forced tit tradition; :5: fertile eno uuis true of hini. Afew untenigratew iibeautiful inter and exp eterything the hhahganja h L"'hlsition of :ertherners . In his c' hiawians She it pressed fiihhi tax. itiacts. items to t it, meme. milould {hire bEEn 24 The Cewa people always had been agriculturalists. hwy were forced to emigrate in search of employment because umir traditional areas around Kasungu and Nkhota-Kota were rwt fertile enough to support a growing population. The mme is true of the Tumbuka-speaking people of Northern Wflawi. A few groups such as the Nkhonde of Karonga have rwver emigrated in significant numbers because their rich aw beautiful homeland, described as "Arcadia" by early hmmer and explorer Joseph Thomson,40 provided them with mmryflfing they needed. Southern Malawi groups such as am Manganja were forced to go abroad for work by the imposition of the hut tax. This was not the case for many northerners. In his dissertation, B. S. Krishnamurthy argued that ihlawians showed no inclination to emigrate unless they were pressed by their leaders or by outside forces such as Hm hut tax.41 This assertion is not supported fully by Um facts. Certainly imposition of the tax gave some impetus to the movement of people, but it did not create it. McCracken points this out while allowing that emigra— ‘Hon would not have taken place on so large a scale had there been adequate home employment opportunities for 4oThomson quoted in Macmillan, op.cit., p. 16. 41B. . Krishnamurthy, Land and Labour in Nyasaland, 1891-1914 (Ph. D. Dissertation, University of London, 1954), 9.239. alums.“ M‘ 5125a Districts smiafiission, Evei in a r615 maiamissiona: ministration musing its c Mrefore taxa memiqrate w} wlonial rule iron Malawi 5 3115 to a la: It is ur southwards i] such as Zara Line was nc We then 'I'Urking 0n . emnenced 1590's; and \\ 42 MI] 43 y The "ion in 1 MW an TO.“ f0! s 133% in gc :‘ansvaal RIC O ‘ 25 Malawians.” Mombera's Ngoni who lived in West and North Nyasa Districts, the heart of the area served by Living- stonia Mission, were among the earliest emigrants. They lived in a relatively inaccessible area which the Livings- tonia missionaries had well under control so the colonial administration pacified the rest of the country before imposing its control on Mombera's Ngoni in 1904.43 Therefore taxation had no effect on their initial decision to emigrate which had come years before they came under colonial rule. It is important to establish when emigration from Malawi southwards changed from a trickle of individ- uals to a large—scale flow of thousands of men. It is unlikely that groups of Malawians travelled southwards in search of employment before 1890. Individuals such as Zarakuti and Sambani accompanied Europeans, but there was no real demand for migrant labor in the south before the mid—1890's. There are no records of Malawians working on the Kimberley diamond fields; Rhodesia experienced no major economic developments until the mid- 1890's; and Africans travelling alone or in small groups 42McCracken Dissertation, op.cit., p. 263. 43The £2,698 in tax money collected from Mombera's Ngoni in 1906—07 was regarded by officials as a remarkable sum for an area which had been under European administra- tion for such a short time. Most of the tax payments were made in gold which the Ngonis had earned in Rhodesia and Transvaal. Nyasaland Protectorate Annual Report for 1906— 91, c. o. 525/17. "“ hhelwo wer :flehslavement In 1891 Ha which force hhotectora' ht of those ‘ mutations in arts of the c hire River.“ W1 emigrat; ASeptem with Mr. hash Distric Ehd mine as m given a: 590m writt \ 44 . Durir :yloyers 01 ff” rePOIte ,3 Shhre, ; 26 before 1890 were subject to attack by unfriendly people and enslavement. In 1891 Harry Johnston imposed an exorbitant 6/ hut tax which forced the inhabitants of the southern part of the Protectorate to seek work in the wage—earning economy. Most of those people found employment on European—owned plantations in the highlands or carried loads to various parts of the country from the head of navigation on the Shire River.44 Large groups of Malawians seem to have begun emigrating southwards in 1897 or 1898. A September, 1903, report by the Supervisor of Native Affairs, Mr. J. C. Casson, mentioned a Tonga from West Nyasa District who had been employed on a South African gold mine as a capitao (foreman) since 1897.45 1898 is the date given as the start of emigration in another 1903 report written by Mr. C. Knipe, at that time a third 44During the 1890's Europeans were not the only employers of African migrant labor. An official publica- tion reported, "The Angoni descend to the plains nearer the Shire, and for some weeks each year at the beginning of the rains, work for the Yaos who repay each worker by a few handfuls of grain or a handful of salt for many days work . . . a large party of Angoni, numbering about 100 people were met, each carrying a load of grain (pay, it was said, for ten days work). It is also well known that numbers of Angoni hoed for Mponda's Yaos and their Swahili guests even when their friends and relations were fighting MPonda's people." The British Central Africa Gazette (20 February, 1894). 45This report was contained in Correspondence Relating to the Recruitment of Labour in the B.C.A. Protectorate for Mnt in the Transvaal, Cd. 1950 (London: His fl Majesty's Stationary Office, March 1904) . hahtant in th‘ me should ha hector in We hpBflY'“ Major art healnewspape carried an ite hch describe hparel sitti heywere dep because they hdhere ric] others work. natives . . htali and s h 1899, Th Elisrahioh. Stated that mehsing We Cont \ 46 e. 27 assistant in the British Central Africa administration.“ Knipe should have known, because in 1898 he was a tax collector in West Nyasa District as well as magistrate at Deep Bay . 47 Major articles mentioning emigration do not appear in local newspapers until 1899. An Aurora of that year carried an item entitled "Fishing with the Mkua at Bandawe" which described a group of African men dressed in European apparel sitting apart and not participating in the fishing. They were depicted as having a conscious air of superiority because they had just returned from working in the south and were rich enough to be able to sit around and watch others work.48 Another Aurora piece mentioned "the natives . . . have gone from the West Nyasa district to Umtali and Salisbury in quest of work and high wages."49 In 1899, The Central African Times carred two pieces about emigration. One, entitled “The Blue Book and Labour" stated that Malawians were journeying to Salisbury in increasing numbers and the other, "The Educated Native," Spoke contemptuously of a "Blantyre" named Timothy recently 46C. Knipe, Report on Emigration from the Protectorate and Nyasa Labour on the Rand, November, 1903, F.O. 2/208. 47The Aurora, no. 11 (1 October, 1898). 48 . Ibid., (1 October, 1899). 49 Ibid., (1 December, 1899). hanged in Sali reference in th L399 tax collec nw‘rh nnst han hearse the Prn hand for lab 1898-1899 in the end of nannies" rnn neutrons.51 33318 and the hloitation. 3i hold was I {when52 hire to Sal nn. Late nee Signed hen Umtali i016increa: the exp lined fOr 28 dmrged in Salisbury with forging a friend‘s character reference in the name of a European.50 Between 1897 and 1399 tax collection nearly doubled (see Appendix A). This mbwunnmst have come from increasing numbers of emigrants because the Protectorate economy was static at the time. Demand for labor was pulling men southwards. 1898-1899 were boom years for the Rhodesian economy. By Umeend of 1895, more than two hundred development mmpanies-- most of them gold mining concerns-- had begun operations.51 However, none of the workings were large- safle and the Ndebele uprising of 1896 hampered their aqfloitation. Between 1890 and 1898, only' £20,700 worth ofgxfld was mined. But in 1899, gold output soared to £126,000.52 In 1892, construction on the railway from Imira to Salisbury began, and the line reached Umtali in 1898. Late in 1897, two hundred men from the Port Herald area signed nine month contracts to work on the last section from Umtali to Salisbury.53 This combination of a six— fold increase in gold production plus railway construction and the expansion of Salisbury city must have stimulated dammd for Malawian labor. A 1900 Aurora complained that M— 50The Central African Times, (11 November, 1899). 51 . J. Hanna, The Story of the Rhodesias and Nyasa— EEQ unndon: Faber and Faber, 1960), p. 149. 521bid., p. 150. 3 Governor Sharpe to the F.O., 1 December, 1897, F.0. 2/128. its his was a lai gnnented repaf hrhe same is inicultnre an Secretary Lord lirican labor is J. H. especially if ironies, tend inerennial n lnnenber and wincided wi iiCommerce Z"wipeans as Wellies an riii‘iovernm Widen 0 is and hint beh: Prohibit e: hitters n \ 29 flmre was a labor shortage in Northern B.C.A. which mmvented repair work on roads damaged by heavy rains. Intme same issue there appeared a B.C.A. Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce petition addressed to Foreign Santtary Lord Salisbury protesting the emigration of African labor from the Protectorate.54 As J. H. Parry has written, "A11 settler aristocracies, especially if they depend upon the labour of subject nmoples, tend to resent centralised control."55 Labor was aperennial problem for the European estates because Mnember and December, their busiest time of the year, cohmfided with the Africans' planting period. The Chamber ofCommerce petition was signed by one hundred twenty-six Europeans associated with various commercial and planting companies and fifty-six missionaries, practically all the rmn-governmental whites in the Protectorate. R. S. Hynde, president of the Chamber, editor of the Central African EEE§J and a major critic of government, was the guiding SPirit behind the appeal. It asked that government prohibit emigration by instituting a stringent pass law. Planters needed labor, but could not pay wages competitive \w— 54The Aurora, no. 19 (1 February, 1900). 55 . H. Parry, The Spanish Seaborne Empire (London: nhihose in F iniiied Hynde sew. sort of en in 1902, hlrotectora encial foreig iiiioe inform wee laws sug< hieriered wi he most lucr \— . 56Britis meme pet: ii. 2/669. ”in 191 CliiOn GIOWe T30“ the lat 10“ after h inclined a ] lime Said 1 iSharpels 30 with those in Rhodesia.56 Although Governor Alfred Sharpe disliked Hynde rather intensely he seems to have favored some sort of control over emigration.57 In 1902, Sharpe said that emigration was harmful to the Protectorate's economy even though it brought in 8 The Colonial crucial foreign exchange and tax money.5 Office informed the Foreign Office that it thought the pass laws suggested in the Chamber of Commerce petition interfered with the African's right to sell his labor in the most lucrative market available to him.59 Sharpe did 56British Central Africa Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce petition to Lord Salisbury, 12 January, 1900, F.0. 2/669. 57A 1910 letter from the chairman of the British Cotton Growers Association, Mr. Hutton, to Alfred Sharpe upon the latter's retirement from the Nyasaland administra- tion after nineteen years of service (thirteen as governor), enclosed a letter to Hutton from Hynde who was also managing director of the Blantyre and East Africa Company. Hynde said that everyone in the Protectorate disapproved of Sharpe's "short-sighted" policy on labor and hoped that the appointment of a "good sensible Governor" would reverse the policy on emigration. Hutton called Hynde's statements "foolish" and asked Sharpe not to be "thin-skinned enough to be offended by the contents." In a subsequent letter from Sharpe to C01. Seely, one of the Africanists at the Colonial Office, the Governor said that Hynde "represents a section of the Nyasaland planters — the section which objects to everything Government does - and I believe he as a special antipathy to myself!" In William Manning, Hynde would get the Governor he wanted. Letter from Hutton to Sharpe, 21 June 1910; Letter from Sharpe to Seely, 29 June 1910, c.0. 525/35. 58Sharpe to Lansdowne, 19 March 1902, F.O. 2/789. 59 C.O. to F.O., 2 November 1900, F.O. 2/669. 2‘. support th‘ :eeof it exc: Blantyre in 19 :snccessful a healer also 1 hereby each i hreqnired t nr‘ned one Inc ‘eiaulted he Sharpe viewer niiicial corn labour."60 chained tn inriing to; will the e“shied the insane reads again EX Payers “Mate r r‘scmihllc 31 notsupport the petition at the Foreign Office so nothing cmme of it except a labor bureau which was established in Blmuyre in 1900 to supply local planters. It was mmuccessful and ceased operations after a few years. The Chmfimr also proposed that a labor tax be instituted nflmreby each African adult male in the "settled districts“ bezfiquired to show the district tax collector that he had worked one month during the year for a European. If he defaulted he would be taxed 10/ instead of the normal 6/. Sharpe viewed this idea with misgivings and a Foreign Office official cemented that "This is not far off forced labour."60 However, the Native Hut Tax Ordinance of 1901 cmnmined the labor tax provision. Soon Africans were working for for a succession of monthly employers, then selling their labor certificates to other Africans which enabled them to claim their exemption without working for Europeans.61 Protectorate labor policy balanced planters' needs against the financial benefits accruing from migrant tax payers. In 1897, the Protectorate government began to regulate recruiting in hopes of protecting Africans from unscrupulous recruiters. M _ 60Minutes on despatch from Gov. Sharpe to the Foreign Office, 15 March, 1900, F.O. 2/669- élDespatch no. 63, Nyasaland administration to the Colonial Office, 19 March 1906, C.O. 525/13. The April :rnt practices :iiroad and i in recruiter labour Regular it did not Ill allowed the l permission tr is could ask tapes for al thence. Ti 10 the colic in saw to 50!. The c TOUntersigp iii of the 9f the two Ear fppphe hens com 1100/ fin 1394 apple The 32 The April 1898 B.C.A. Gazette reported dishonest enlist- ment practices by recruiters for the Beira—Salisbury railroad and for Natal sugar estates plus the prosecution of a recruiter named Irwin for illegal practices. Native Labour Regulation no. 1 of 1898 dealt with this problem, but did not mention independent emigration. The law allowed the Protectorate Commissioner to grant employers permission to engage labor for work outside the territory. He could ask the employer for a deposit to cover the total wages for all recruits during the entire period of their absence. The employer had to submit lists of all recruits to the collectors or magistrates of their home districts, who saw to it that hut tax was paid and families provided for. The collectors at Chiromo or Port Herald were to countersign the list before the employer could take anyone out of the country and recruits had to embark through one of the two ports. The collectors could detain any workers for further enquiries. Failure to live up to the regula— tions could cost the offender up to three months in jail, a 100/ fine or both. Any pertinent native regulation of 1894 applied to the new law as well.62 The 1894 regulation covered three classes of African labor: those employed in their home districts; men working in districts other than their own; and outsiders employed M 62Native Labour Regulation no. 1 of 1898, F.O. 2/669. thin the Proi Linn emigrant: fleeipned to pr epiirican pr in work must if his home (1: atticial must already engag maths and it h justifying hhiyn Seen A plan coff chea all shon Regn hifpprther n “Ute 0f ni “1 to the 33 63 wiflfin the Protectorate. It made no specific mention of launremigrants. Later in 1894, an amendment to the law, mmigned to prevent desertions from employment, stated that mw'African proceeding from one district to another looking flu work must first obtain a labor pass from the magistrate oflfis home district. Before granting the pass the offhfial must assure himself that the applicant was not ahmady engaged for work. The pass was valid for three mmuhs and it was an offense to employ a passless person.64 hijustifying his labor policy, Harry Johnston wrote Foreign Secretary Lord Rosebery, As the one hope of this country lies in plantation work and in the cultivation of coffee, tobacco, sugar, etc. for which cheap labour is necessary, it is before all things essential that this labour should now be placed under proper Regulations.65 As flnther demonstration of the need for control Johnston wane of nine hundred Tongas engaged in the northern part oftflm Protectorate by an Austrian named Steblicki who cmfld not find employment for the men after transporting flmm to the south. He abandoned his charges in the Shire _‘__________________ 63 . . Draft Native Labour Regulation of 1894, Mr. A. Gray atTemple Inn to the Foreign Office, 4 July 1894, F.O. 403/198. 64 Sharpe to Kimberley, 17 October 1894, F.O. 403/212. 65 Johnston to Rosebery, 12 January 1894, F.O. 403/197. it intends and directs for 5 hi an ear recognized the development 0 paper he wrot Ma Trans at a benei cheap hfri woul labo Prot hinston's hidentral \ illarded Ce seed to dew Johnst ”it year, p exlease; ti “he hea 1: neaSilrn \ 6 iv . 6H' flush P 6711 \ 34 Highlands and to avoid starvation they were forced to raid villages for food. At an early date the fertile mind of Harry Johnston recognized the importance of Malawian labor in the economic development of Southern Africa. In a 1901 Foreign Office paper he wrote, Many an enterprise in Rhodesia or in the Transvaal or in Bechuanaland might be worked at a profitable rate and with results most beneficial to the country if a supply of cheap labour could be obtained from Central Africa . . . I can only see that real good would result from this filling up of the labour market in South Africa from Ege Protectorates north of the Zambesi. Johnston's erstwhile friend, Cecil Rhodes, was quoted in the Central African Times of 22 July 1899, as saying he regarded Central Africa as a great labor reservoir to be ‘ used to develop Rhodesian mines. Johnston also suggested that contracts be limited to one year, with repatriation obligatory at the employer's expense; that a"Protector of Negro Immigrants" be appointed at the headquarters of each important district; that government policy neither encourage nor discourage emigra— tion; and that experimental groups be sent to South Africa to measure the suitability of Malawians for mine work.67 ..\_____ . _66H. H. Johnston, "The Negro Labour Question in the British Protectorates of Eastern Africa in Relation to the Labour Market of South Africa," F.O. 2/789. 67Ibid. tc'nof what i hiewi, but rn ejections he tries were t lprison-like, [laborers] ha The lab realization acertain co here were c dprotectir in for hf: ganernnent': hntrol emi hitrihutio Freedom In 18! ‘45in red hi2, Chin 3:“ elsewh fiat emPlc 35 Much of what Johnston proposed became law and custom in Malawi, but not until many decades later. The only objections he saw to Central Africans working in South Africa were the compound system, which he described as "prison-like," and the "excessively hard work . . . [laborers] have to perform."68 The labor regulations and Johnston's imaginative realization of the negative aspects of migrant life reveal a certain concern for the African's welfare. Of course, there were other reasons for instituting the rules, such as protecting the local plantation labor supply, but con- cern for African family and tribal life did enter into the government's decision-making process. The necessity to control emigration was prompted as well by the growing contribution of emigrant wages and tax money to the Protectorate ' 5 economy . In 1891, currency in the B.C.A. Protectorate was mostly red and white calico, brass wire, and beads. By 1902, coin had replaced calico in the Shire Highlands, but n0't elsewhere.69 In an 1899 issue, The Aurora complained that employers still paid their help in calico, which meant M 68Ibid. These are two aspects of migrant life which have not changed. The compound system began at Kimberley, where African workers were carefully controlled to prevent them from stealing diamonds. 6 . . 9Despatch no. 180, Sharpe to the Foreign Office, 21 July 1902, F.O. 2/789. inthiricans inch.70 Be‘ my inporte werape of 51 lallis, Briti he2,000 Mal inch 10/ nor trained from id for thei lnipe 1 Salisbury i: ii (3.2 h l9l 36 that Africans could not buy books or contribute to the church.70 Between 1897 and 1902, the amount of English money imported into the Protectorate was {41,070, an average of slightly over £8,000 annually. In 1901, Mr. Wallis, British vice—consul at Tete, estimated that each of the 2,000 Malawians passing through Tete annually brought back 10/ worth of gold, totallingdfl,000. This wealth was drained from the Protectorate by Europeans who used it to pay for their home journeys.7l Knipe reported that the first Tongas who went to Salisbury in 1898 received monthly wages of betweenafz and £5.72 A 1902 Aurora article stated: I suppose one would be well within the mark if one said that there is one hundred times as much cash in the land as there was five years ago. This enormous increase has resulted from many traders paying their workers in cash, and 70The Aurora, no. 18 (December, 1899). 71Despatch no. 180, op.cit. 72Knipe to the Foreign Office, 25 November 1903, Cd. 1950. This figure seems to be an exaggeration. South African wages always have been higher than Rhodesian wages. The 1903 Report of the South African Commissioner for Native Affairs stated that Africans in towns and on mines were earning £238 per month plus food and lodging. The commissioner called this an "absurd" amount of money because “a native is incapable of performing anything the simplest operations, and needs nearly as much super— vision, humouring and keeping up to work as a child." Transvaal Department of Agriculture Annual Report, 1903- 1908. (Pretoria: Government Printer). Since Rhodesian Whites harbored similar attitudes it is unlikely they would have paid the high wages Knipe reported. from ‘ gold ihendof th LNnmdior In Decen hhnnd the crippled sin nim0,000 m fnnhozanbi neduced the wwent and hscouraginn because of \ 37 from the great annual exodus towards the gold fields of Rhodesia. The end of the Boer War in 1902 signalled a sharp increase in demand for Malawians to labor in South African mines.74 In December 1902, Joseph Chamberlain's Colonial Office informed the Foreign Office that the Transvaal mines were crippled since only half the normal African labor force of 100,000 men was at work.75 The usual supply of labor from Mozambique and Rhodesia had dried up. Mine owners had reduced the African's wages by as much as twenty—five percent and a Rhodesian commission found that chiefs were discouraging their people from working in South Africa because of bad treatment in the mines.76 73The Aurora, no. 34 (1 October 1902) . 74Peter Amwale, a Cewa from Cape Maclear, fought in the Boer War. He accompanied his employer, Captain Next— goer, who belonged to an army company referred to by Mr. Amwale as the "T.M.I.“ The trip from Nyasaland to South Africa took the men from Nkhota Kota to Kasungu to Ft. Jameson, then to a place called Lizamemba on the Zambezi River where two hundred fifity cattle were purchased and sent overland to South Africa. Next, the Captain and Mr. Amwale journeyed to Chinde where they took a steamer to Durban. After joining his comrades, Captain Nextgoer was killed in the Majuba Hills. Mr. Amwale found employment with another army officer and met some friends from home who were working for artillery officers. The Africans decided to return home and were given travel permits together with 6 each. After returning to Malawi, Mr. Amwale took a carpen— try course at Livingstonia and in 1910 he went to work in the Congo. Department of Antiquities Oral Records, Interview of April 1969. 75Colonial Office to Foreign Office, 4 December 1902, F.0. 2/789. 76Alexander Hetherwick, The Romance of Blantyre (London: James Clarke and Company, n.d.), p. 129. 0n the q unis with f0 helritish E epainst the l 1902, the Ran hr pernissi lingo, Ugand lirica. Lar request of 1 internment n for recruit for Bri wil the gel nan la: co FOrei iii Randp h the p] khan. 79 tin latte \ 7 UPC "h 2/7e 38 On the question of meeting the Rand's labor require- mmns with foreign Africans the Colonial Office supported am British High Commissioner in South Africa, Lord Milner, agahmt the Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne. In early 1902, the Rand Native Labour Association asked the F.O. forrmrmission to recruit in Portuguese West Africa, the Congo, Uganda, British East Africa, and British Central Africa. Lansdowne saw "great objections to supporting the rammst of the association" and felt that His Majesty's Government could not ask Belgian and Portuguese authorities for recruiting privileges.77 Chamberlain replied that, as no grounds are assigned in your letter for refusing to allow recruiting in the British Protectorate . . . Lord Lansdowne will be able to reconsider the matter seeing that the provision of native labour for the gold industry . . . is a very pressing matter and that on its revival depends largely the return of prosperity to the country [South Africa]. 8 Foreign Office officials feared that recruiting for the Rand would denude the Protectorate of labor needed fiu'the proposed railway linking Lake Nyasa with the Indian Ocean.79 Hary Johnston supported the Colonial Office. In two letters to the editor of The Times he urged that the 77Foreign Office to Colonial Office, 29 August 1902, F.O. 2/789. 7%kdonia1 Office to Foreign Office, 10 September 1902, F.O. 2/789. 7 QForeign Office minutes, 20 November 1902, F.O. 2/789. 35100 potent 1; work in th :epering rec :uricrs and By earl: nit recruiti sending expe hr. Hethern anperinentin parable of uaweller‘ s 3.0. Africa rates in it exhausted Piihission Proceed to mid be p m its an htnela) p 39 50,000 potential workers in B.C.A. be permitted to go south to work in the mines. There were only two difficulties hampering recruitment in the Protectorate-- the need for 80 carriers and the lack of suitable conveyance southward. By early 1903, the Foreign Office resolve not to per— mit recruiting was cracking and officials were discussing 81 sending experimental groups of Malawians to South Africa. Rev. Hetherwick of Blantyre Mission disliked the idea of experimenting in this fashion. He likened it to the Arab parable of the camel which asked to shelter one foot in a 82 traveller's tent and wound up occupying the entire tent. F.O. Africanist Clement Hill expressed concern about death rates in the mines.83 But eventually the opposition exhausted itself and on 19 March 1903, the F.O. gave its permission for an experimental group of 1,000 Malawians to proceed to work in the South African gold mines. They would be under the aegis of the Transvaal Chamber of Mines and its agent the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (Wenela).“ Mr. Knipe was seconded to Wenala to act as 80The Times (22 December 1902, 15 February 1903) . 81Foreign Office to Colonial Office, 10 February 1903, F.O. 2/789. 82Hetherwick, op.cit., p. 130. 83Foreign Office cabinet paper, 18 February 1903, F.O. 2/789. 84Foreign Office to Sharpe, 19 March 1903, Cd. 1950. liaison betw Shortly ther hrhaps coin lrntectorate lilies and l The nen hlawians fl util terni: the interve issionary nwersal wa hihe bad thread. Ti “When the loverrn 3“inmate hilltersr an" the ad welfare wa Whiting ha desire when; 3&1th j 1' ihdran hldveme if the fa 40 liaison between the Protectorate government and the mines. Shortly thereafter he became a permanent Wenela employee. Perhaps coincidentally, on 1 April 1904, control of the Protectorate passed from the Foreign Office to the Colonial Office and B.C.A. became Nyasaland. The next chapter continues the story of recruiting lhlawians for work in South African gold mines from 1903 During until termination of the Wenela agreement in 1913. Um intervening years the official attitude and the The policy nussionary outlook on migration changed. reversal was caused by planter opposition to emigration and bytme bad working conditions experienced by Malawians abroad. Those circumstances were described in reports on hwpection trips by Protectorate officials. A change in Um governorship aided the anti-migration forces. {mfortunately the compromise drawn finally between the planters' demands for a plentiful supply of local labor and the administration's concern for the African laborer's While prohibiting outside nwlfare was unsatisfactory. the administration issued passes to Africans recruiting, This policy wMJdesired to emigrate independently. rationalized the government's position so local planters coukino longer criticise government, but it did nothing u’guarantee a local supply of labor, nor did it effect “MHovements in working conditions abroad or in the welfare Ofthe families migrants left behind. The n 35 the dor minded ; fellatio Prison re fine inter reaction 1Erettio; EffeCted Places '1 rePorts lie Slips 3" 9W9 __.,._ CHAPTER 2. CONTROL OR PROHIBITION? RECRUITING FOR THE SOUTH, 1903-1913 The truth is that Sir W. Manning is too late. The Nyasaland Government first encourages the natives to go abroad and get rich, and then hopes to be able to compel them to stay at home against their own wills and the wishes of their former or future employers. Colonial Office official Henry Lambert's minute on Despatch 142, Manning to C.O. 25 May 1902, C.O. 525/42. The major thesis that labor emigration has been one of the dominant elements in Malawi's modern history is expanded in this chapter. The enforcement of labor regulations affected policy procedures and partly led to prison reform in Nyasaland. The effects of emigration on the internal labor situation is discussed, as is the reaction of local planters to government—controlled nugration. Administrative policy toward migration was affected by the reports of inspection Visits to working places in Mozambique, Rhodesia and South Africa. These reports revealed bad working conditions while focusing on He experiences of individual migrants abroad. Pressure 0n government from local planters, together with the bad 41 :ohession 01 ha reversa The mig Whipple ef from poor cc local men i1 lhis movemeh industry (he lhoha situ local llfric hoes. Thh 318111th in EllldES'la a( lhlawian 1 The i {Ecruit‘mg in the dis WIS COl "ll unti: 3W1 Afr ngortati Ploy mm“ :llfus‘lm 42 impression of working conditions left by the reports, led to a reversal of government policy on emigration. The migrant labor situation in Southern Africa had a "ripple effect“ on labor markets. Immigrant workers from poor countries willing to labor for low wages drove local men into more lucrative labor markets further south. This movement led finally to South Africa where the mining industry depended almost completely on migrant labor. Such a situation obviously exacerbated relations between local Africans and the migrants who filled jobs for low wages. This circumstance led to the development of a basic element in Malawi's foreign policy, the playing off of Rhodesia against South Africa in the pursuit of cheap Malawian labor. The immediate reason why the Colonial Office permitted recruiting in 1903 was to relieve 20,000 starving people in the disaster-struck Ruo and Lower Shire Districts.l Miners could send their families enough cash to tide them over until the next harvast. To mollify local planters, South African High Commissioner Milner agreed to duty-free- importation of Protectorate products into South Africa. Poor communication in Southern Africa caused some initial confusion about terms of service for the first recruits. The muddle resulted from divided authority in Nyasa- land. While Governor Sharpe was negotiating with lSharpe to Lansdowne, 11 March 1903, Cd. 1531. Iohuuuesburq huucis Bar] hasaland ah the hump lollouing c recruit wou uho would 6 stated audh all stamp or the Chi the count: he men We M a mineh I0 his re: llcohol; I “ll mine “9 Provid Til month mllds 01 “Slitalj each 6th} lluld be holly . 3 43 Johannesburg, the number two man in his administration, Francis Barrow Pearce, was doing the actual recruiting in Nyasaland and discussing terms with the Foreign Office.2 The discrepancies were sorted out eventually and the following conditions of service were agreed to: each recruit would be brought before his district magistrate whO‘would explain the terms of service; after the recruit stated audibly that he understood, Wenela would purchase a]/ stamp for each man; the Supervisor of Native Affairs or the Chiromo magistrate signed for all recruits who left the country; no recruiting would be done under compulsion; the men would work only in the Witwatersrand; in the event of a miner's death the balance of his pay would be forwarded to his relatives; Africans would not be allowed to consume alcohol; chiefs would accompany their men to act as liaison with mine officials; free round—trip transportation would be provided by Wenela; wages would be not less than 45/ per month (30 days with a minimum of l/Zd. per day); two— flurds of each man's wages would be deferred; free hospitalization and clothing would be provided by employers; each ethnic group was to be housed separately; and there would be no Sunday work, with an additional half—day off weekly.3 2Pearce to Lansdowne, 29 April 1903, Cd. 1950. 3Pearce to Lansdowne, 13 June 1903, Cd. 1950. Wenela hat all con {2,000 which r; lonela' 5 last for £1 suhaqents. hundred fif truer Shire lyasa Distr recruitmen- :harrqe in lhsslorr. The 1 ill those about rec: uuucil r _...=m-__aH 44 Wenela posted three bonds: one ofJ£10,000 to insure that all contract conditions were fulfilled; a second of {ZJmO which protected against non-fulfillment of duties by Wenela's principal agent in the Protectorate; and the last for £1,000 to cover the activities of Wenela ; mflmgents. Bond terms stated that not more than seven hundred fifty of the 1,000 man quota be recruited from Lower Shire District and not over five hundred from west Nyasa District.4 The organised, government—supported recruitment of African labor for South Africa prompted a change in attitude toward emigration at Livingstonia Mission. The Livingstonia Mission Council reported its feelings and those of some of the people of West Nyasa District about recruiting in a mid-1903 issue of The Aurora. The council resolved to: . . .view with apprehension the moral results which will follow from recruiting labour in the British Central Africa Protectorate for the Johannesburg mines. They strongly protest against the adminis- tration acting as a recruiting agency. Already a feeling of alarm has been created in the West Nyasa District, where the collector, to whom alone the native can look for protection against coercion or injustice, is calling for labour through his messengers, in the case of whom the native may not distinguish a request from a command. M 41bid. 5 The Aurora, no. 38 (1 June 1903). lissiorrary c of social ar seehuorlc al Theme steamer to lrotectorat uhurking < lollpirui, 1 laturrgas. luuhezi's ‘ The f clllundas 7hlluere llthe Pro leave. p Bal- The Pussauo c illerr age hel Were killSVaa‘ lluth hf Des ilihlorit 45 1 Missionary objections had little effect on the push-pull of social and economic forces as Africans continued to seek work abroad. The men recruited in the north were brought by lake steamer to Ft. Johnston, where they were examined by Protectorate Medical Officer, Dr. Charles Sansom. After embarking on barges they were towed down the Shire River to Mpimi, then marched across the Shire Highlands to Katungas. There barges were boarded for Chinde at the 1 Zambezi's mouth.6 1 The first group of three hundred eighty men, all Chikundas from the Lower Shire, left Chinde on 10 June 1903. They were chaperoned by Mr. E. B. Vertue, a third assistant in the Protectorate administration, who was going on home leave. From Chinde, the recruits went by sea to Delagoa Bay. There they entrained for the Wenela compound at Ressano Garcia on the Komati River where medical exams were given again. On 17 June they arrived in Johannesburg where they were distributed to the various member mines of the Transvaal Chamber of Mines.7 It was the middle of a raw South African winter. Despite the precautions taken by Protectorate authorities the first groups of Nyasaland contract laborers M 6C . Knipe, "Report on Protectorate Labour on the Rand," 25 November 1903, Cd 1950- 7Milner to Chamberlain, 17 July 1903, Cd. 1950. uttered unu heir arrive good faith 1' firing the u several weel lltuatersra ruruing wit llfficultie lutectorai Shire Dist: illch, in would not that the N It we he midst lilidred e; halved, the hundr MS of 1“he fi iiiuedr 1les, 1- nitIact iiehs ‘9 46 suffered unusual hardships. The circumstances surrounding Umir arrival in Johannesburg raise questions about Wenela's good faith in the treatment of its African workers. Even during the early fall months of March and April it takes several weeks to become acclimated to the mile high lfitwatersrand's thin air. Most newcomers awaken in the nwrning with a sore throat and some experience respiratory difficulties. Thus, it is surprising that Wenela and Protectorate officials allowed recruitment in the Lower Shire District, an area two hundred feet above sea level, which, in 1903, had a population weakened by famine. It would not have taken a medical degree to have predicted that the Nyasas would fall ill in South Africa. It was "bitterly cold" when the first group arrived in an midst of a flu epidemic.8 Twenty of the first three hundred eighty died of influenza within six weeks of their arrival. Various reports stated that between fifty and one hundred fifty were hospitalised during the first few nmnths of their contracts. In addition, eighty-five men in the first group refused to work underground. They claimed they had not been told their work would be in runes. After being tried and found guilty of breach of contract, the men were either fined‘fil or jailed for two weeks.9 8Casson Report, 26 September 1903, Cd. 1950. 9The Aurora, no. 39 (1 August 1903). J. C. < erred abou‘ second grou he nen lef lohannesbur journey, Ca hard the : irrigation company in teen inst: accounodat livenr ill Johanna drilling lheir foo usina line :here has iedition liked a' high inn Elongand 47 J. C. Casson, a Protectorate official genuinely con— cerned about the welfare of Africans, accompanied the second group of three hundred forty-five Yaos and Manganja. The men left Chinde on 11 August and arrived in Johannesburg on 17 August 1903. In his report on the journey, Casson criticised crowding and lack of water on board the steamer YEEEE' owned by the British India Steam Navigation Company.10 After a complaint was lodged, the company informed the Foreign Office that its agents had been instructed not to carry more passengers than could be accommodated confortably.ll Eventually nine hundred thirty-six Malawians arrived in Johannesburg in 1903. Most of the men were engaged in drilling rock-- harder work than ordinarily done at home. Their food consisted of rice, beans, potatoes, onions, nsima (maize porridge), meat, and millet beer. Generally there was a hospital near each mine. Nonetheless, in addition to the twenty immediate deaths, twenty-one more passed away between September and December, for a very high annual mortality rate of one hundred thirty-three per thousand.12 10Casson, op.cit., Cd. 1950. 11British India Steam Navigation Company to the Foreign Office, 8 December 1903, Cd. 1950. leilner memo on the employment of Nyasas on the Rand to the Foreign Office, 3 January 1904, Cd. 1950. \ i~:—~w »" .7 Respond hanher of l he health Lived their the dead of deaths on 1 ludeterred liliee gra: our.14 Knipe hanging its a furl his labor: lill’uitin Cooler pa leer Gigi. had gone fhiurnee1 iilica; 1 more d 48 Responsibility for the high death rate rests with Chamber of Mines officials, who should have been aware of the health dangers inherent in transporting people who had lived their lives in the tropics down to Johannesburg in Milner callously blamed some of the deaths on the carelessness of the Africans themselves.13 the dead of winter. Undeterred by the suffering of the first party, the Foreign Office granted permission for 5,000 more recruits for 1904.14 Knipe asked that Marian Steblecki be allowed to begin arranging for their recruitment.15 This choice of agents was a further indication of Wenela's lack of concern for its laborers. The Foreign Office, however, made new recruiting rules. They were to confine recruiting to the cooler parts of the Protectorate; to sign up only men bet— ween eighteen and forty—five (sixteen boys under eighteen had gone south with the second group in 1903); to have returnees brief new men on what they could expect in South Africa; to ensure that proper medical exams were given before departure; and guarantee that recruits would not l3xbid. 14'Foreign Office to Knipe in Eastbourne, U.K., 1 December 1903, Cd. 1950. 15This was the same Steblecki who had abandoned nine hundred Tongas when he failed to find employment for them, See Chapter 1. arrive in J ulnter woul In his is Wenela uauthorize these men, uorhlnq so Salisbury, hated Cenl lortheastr than the a hut horth herald, w labor. h liedesia The iiionila‘ “it thr reslecti hindred “his a: 1° hourr 49 arrive in Johannesburg until August, when the worst of the winter would be over.16 In his year-end report, Sharpe stated that, besides the Wenela men, there had been approximately 15,000 unauthorized Malawian emigrants in 1903. About 9,000 of these men, one—third of whom were Ngonis and Tongas, were working south of the Zambezi, mostly in Bulawayo and Salisbury, while 6,000 men, mainly from the heavily popu- lated Central Angoniland District were said to have gone to Northeastern Rhodesia. The latter were paid little more than the average Protectorate wage of 3/ to 4/ per month, but Northeastern Rhodesia was closer to home than Port Herald, where railway construction had created a demand for labor. Most of the 6,000 proceeded eventually to Southern Rhodesia. The distances from the western portion of Central Angoniland and from Mombera's Angoniland to Salisbury were three hundred twenty and four hundred fifty miles respectively, while they were three hundred and four hundred miles away from Port Herald (as the crow flies). Since distances were about the same most emigrants preferred to journey to Rhodesia where wages were 15/ to 30/ per month, then move south to the Transvaal where they could earn 45/ per month. The alternative was to walk to the 16Foreign Office (Mr. Hill) to Sharpe, 10 March 1904, Cd. 1950. uhealthy s rere much 1 Sharpe uiqrants a here the v also about send out 5 upset.18 the renair carry out house but The tuigratir the SPri: Trice c Engaged the Rh0< ihploye; lossess has Wil isShed1 Celiral \ l Sharpe 50 unhealthy southern part of the Protectorate where wages were much lower . l7 Sharpe was worried about the hardships endured by emigrants during their travels, especially since they were the victims of frequent robberies. He was concerned also about controlling emigration so that no village would send out so many emigrants that life at home would be upset.18 Sharpe said that with the able—bodied men absent the remaining "women, children, and old men are unable to carry out the necessary work of clearing, planting and house building."19 The governor was anxious to discourage illegal emigration while controlling the authorised outflow. In the spring of 1904, he and Robert Codrington, British South Africa Company administrator for Northeastern Rhodesia, engaged in a rancorous dispute over Malawians working in the Rhodesias. Sharpe insisted that Northeastern Rhodesia employers give jobs only to those Malawians who were in possession of passes to leave the Protectorate. Codrington was willing to cooperate only if those passes were freely issued. In 1900, recruiting abuses had been so severe in Central Angoniland that independent recruitment had been 171903 Economic Summary for the B.C.A. Protectorate, Sharpe to the Foreign Office, August 1904, C.O. 525/1. lerid. lgDespatch 231, Sharpe to the Colonial Office, 19 July 1904, c.0. 525/1. 20 halted. operating a secute vro held that from going posed hare Protector; pear afte stated in nine Mala hundred 1 ton point “Width \ 201 Ter. th 1904 a 1 heater 51 halted.20 Sharpe's protests were against illegal recruiters operating out of Ft. Jameson.21 Codrington agreed to pro- secute wrongdoers, but little was done. The B.S.A. Co. man held that it was physically impossible to prevent Africans from going to Rhodesia. The Mashonaland Police were com— posed largely of Cewas, Tongas, and Yaos from the Protectorate and the steady return of men to the same jobs year after year meant that they were well-treated. He stated further that a total of only eight hundred sixty— nine Malawians were employed in Northeastern Rhodesia, one hundred ninety-eight of them by the B.S.A. Co.22 Codring— ton pointed out that the Protectorate's native labor regulations did not require an emigrant to possess a pass; 20The administration then took over the task. How- ever, this arrangement proved to be unsatisfactory, so in 1904 a few districts were reopened to independent recruiters. Despatch 63, 19 March 1906, C.O. 525/13. 21Many emigrants passed through Ft. Jameson on their Way to Rhodesia. They crossed the Zambezi River on the Peira ferry. Between 1 April 1903, and 31 March 1904, a total of 6,126 Malawians used the southbound service and 3,514 crossed on the northbound ferry. The heaviest traffic was in April and May, while the lightest came in November. Despatch 231, op.cit. Feira is at the con— fluence of the Luangwa and Zambezi Rivers. In December 1910, the enforcement of the Northeastern Rhodesian sleeping sickness regulations led to the closure of the Ft.Jameson—Feira route. 22The B.S.A. Co. felt it could employ Livingstonia graduates as it saw fit because it sent an annual grant to the mission. Militia 1 use e111 iith dis The “i Suva ”Tiers {Mme \ 23 9.01 51 24 52 permits were needed only for movement from one district to another within the country.23 A pass regulation was incorporated into Native Labour Ordinance no. 4 of 1904. It reads as follows: Part II. Engagement of Labour for Service Outside of the Protectorate. (14) A Native of the Protectorate desiring to leave the Protectorate in search of employment or under a contract of service or for any purpose may do so upon obtaining from the Magistrate of the District in which he resides a Pass in the form which the Commissioner may duly substitute therefor. Before issuring such "Pass" the Magistrate shall satisfy himself; (a) That the native has made, or intends to make satisfactory provision during his absence for the maintenance of his wife or wives, children or other persons whom he is legally bound to support. (b) That he has made, or intends to make provision for the payment of any hut tax legally due by him. (c) That he is not leaving the Protectorate to evade satisfaction of his just debts or other legal obligations or in contravintion of the provisions of this Ordinance.2 Despite these attempts to control the manpower outflow, most employers and missions in Nyasaland continued to look with disfavor upon emigration. The only non-governmental Europeans in the Protectorate who supported migration were those who transported the workers south and later traded with the free-spending returnees. Missions and employers of Africans were against 23Sharpe—Codrington correspondence, April—July 1904, C.O. 525/2. 24Native Labour Ordinance no. 4 of 1904, C.O. 525/31, hthere retorted of 150,0i the hand he Livia death ra of the c Protest: health a litre rev Where of what t° reel “'0. 5: 53 emigration.25 In 1904, the British Cotton Growing Association protested recruiting for the Rand as did the Blantyre and East Africa Company Ltd. B.E.A. Co. had 2,000 Nyasaland acres planted in cotton and included John Moir among its directors. In June, Sir Bradford Leslie, director of the Shire Highlands Railway Company, Ltd., claimed that the local labor market had been "demoralized by the recruitment of labour for the Transvaal." Sharpe retorted that out of the total Protectorate labor supply of 150,000 men, the nine hundred thirty-six who had gone to the Rand could hardly have demoralized everyone else.26 The Livingstonia Mission Council objected to the high death rate suffered by the first recruits. Representatives of the council presented Lord Lansdowne with a four—point protest: (l) emigration of Africans was fatal to their health and rendered them unfit for work; (2) all the Nyasas were required for development of local industries and commerce; (3) it was improbable that Africans had any idea of what kind of work they were contracting for; (4) recruits 25Since it was the center of the local cotton and coffee growing industries, Blantyre District was off—limits to recruiters. Sharpe to Milner, 1 November 1904, C.O. 525/2. 26Despatch 195, Sharpe to Colonial Office, 28 June 1904, C.O. 525/1. did not lil unpopular j The 1 Bill were recruits c to stay av llssatisf: of pagnen deduction sation we of sichnr Tiling her have pre T with 54 I did not like being compelled by contracts to remain on unpopular jobs.27 The 1904 Wenela quota of 5,000 went unfilled. Only 1J33 were covenanted.28 When they returned home the 1903 recruits complained about wages and influenced their friends to stay away from Wenela agents. They said they were dissatisfied with the amount of deferred pay and the method of payment.29 Protests were lodged against the;£l deduction for clothing provided by employers. No compen- sation was given for days off on the mines even on account of sickness. Deferred pay schemes never have been popular among Malawians. They are one of the reasons Africans have preferred to emigrate independently rather than sign up with a recruiting agency.30 27Letter from Overtoun Institute to Lord Lansdowne, 15 September 1903, C.O. 525/4. 28Casson to Sharpe, 16 March 1905, c.0. 525/7. 29In 1905—06, 22,000 was paid in Zomba to returned Wenela mine laborers. Usually they received(£15 each. Some brought back an additional sum of 55.5 to £15 so many had£20 tot£30 to spend. They ran through the money quickly "generally the same day that they receive[d] it.“ Protectorate Annual Reports, 1905-06 and 1906—07. 30A March 1910 Rhodesian Native Labour Bureau report listed the names of between four hundred and five hundred Malawians who had presented themselves for enlistment with the bureau, but then refused to engage under deferred pay conditions. They proceeded to find work on their own. This list included men from Nkhota Kota, Dowa, Chinteche, Mombera's, and Ft. Johnston and covered the period from November 1909 to February 1910. Rhodesia Archives, A3/18/30/14. The 1‘ South Nyas 2,000 to 4 a shocking hoe impel the Trans‘ h 1905, 1,549 who the north for the g ihsalam unscrupu‘ he or p 50: each 1.000, t Were all 3“ the ] admins Sturdy 55 The 1904 Wenela party was recruited from West Nyasa, South Nyasa, North Nyasa, and Marimba Districts, areas 2,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level. Their death rate was a shocking one hundred thirty per thousand. However, the free import of Protectorate goods especially tobacco, into the Transvaal was having its effect on the local economy so in 1905, 1,714 men were permitted to join Wenela. Of the 1,549 who finally arrived in Johannesburg, 1,191 were from the northern portion of Angoniland.31 The mortality rate for the group was one hundred ten per thousand.32 A 1906 Nyasaland government memo blamed the high death rates on unscrupulous agents who signed up anyone without regard to age or physical condition. They were paid a capitation fee for each contracted worker.33 Wenela's 1906 quota was 1,000, but only five hundred left the Protectorate. They were all Yaos from the Ft. Johnston area who went to work on the Premier Diamond Mine.34 Even though the Nyasaland administration referred to those recruits as a "healthy sturdy lot" and gave them two medical exams, twenty-one of 31Telegram 37, Sharpe to Elgin, 29 October 1906, c.0. 525/14. 32Knipe to Sharpe, 18 May 1908, c.0. 525/25. 33Assistant Deputy Commissioner H. R. Wallis to the Colonial Office, 24 May 1906, C.O. 525/17. 34Despatch 3o, 5 February 1907, c.0. 525/17. higratiti helm 1} he one; willing 1 In 1903, Use tasks at thus for 26,000 1 shither] Plantat Which c thel fc 10'! rat In tun Africa the NY °f the 56 them remained unfit for work after three months in South Africa.35 In 1907, no Malawians were contracted by Wenela because the government refused to allow its people to work underground while the mortality rate remained so high. Emigration continued independently, however, averaging between 10,000 and 15,000 annually between 1903 and 1908. The price of poverty was high in Central Africa. Men were willing to risk their lives for a few pounds sterling. In 1903, the "ripple effect" was coming into play. Usually foreigners were willing to perform unpleasant tasks at lower wages than indigenous people would accept, thus forcing the locals to seek work abroad. In 1903-04, 26,000 Lomwe people immigrated from Mozambique into Southern Nyasaland where they found low paying jobs on plantations.36 This influx created a local labor glut which compelled Malawians to seek work in the south. There they found unattractive farm and mine jobs at artificially low rate of pay which many Zimbabweans refused to accept. In turn, they left their homes for work in the South African mines where the same process was repeated. Thus, the Nyasaland labor situation was a carbon copy miniature 0f the Rhodesian and South African pictures. 35Protectorate Annual Report for 1906-07, op.cit. 36Protectorate Annual Report, 1903-04. Nonet tl.N.L.B.l Iiyasaland. government oppositio: agent, Mr Wenela a1 tour of S on the latabelei hone aut South hf hat the their he would do In “ages a “310% g tolling returnE h the then he CC 57 Nonetheless, the Rhodesian Native Labour Bureau (RJLL.B.) twice was refused permission to recruit in Nyasaland. The official reason was that it was not a mwernment-sponsored agency, but actually local planter opposition excluded the Rhodesians. Undaunted, an R.N.L.B. agent, Mr. Verreker, set up shop in Ft. Jameson where wenela also had an office. During an earlier inspection tour of Southern Rhodesian employers Casson had arranged wiUIthe Chief Native Commissioners of Mashonaland and Matabeleland to forward reports of Malawian deaths to their home authorities. He had found death rates comparable to South Africa at Ayrshire and Wanderer Mines and feared that they might be even higher. Some Malawians falsified their names and origins fearing that Rhodesian officials would deport them if they were discovered to be aliens.37 In addition to bad working conditions, Rhodesian mine wages averaged between 15/ and 22/6, one-third to one-half those offered in South Africa. Rhodesian mines were small workings operating on low capital investment so they returned smaller profits than their South African neighbors. As the situation stood, Nyasaland derived no official benefits from its labor investment in Rhodesia. In order to improve his position Sharpe began to press the Colonial Office to come to a labor agreement with M 37Ibid. l .. ,' I r': r. k- ieierred i hreau iii official the axis hdivido nthori: 0f affa: in Elli. liners after 1 tom, Casson thei in lines, :3 37$ . 9 ,_._ H O (p 0 7a ’42 w\I—4"-$ 6‘ \4 Hv 58 the British South Africa Company. Casson suggested that Nyasaland Government establish a labor bureau to control emigration. Recruits would be forwarded to the R.N.L.B. agent at Ft. Jameson where blankets would be distributed to them. The R.N.L.B. would establish food depots, rest houses, and ferries for migrant workers and arrange for deferred pay and tax payments to Nyasaland government. The bureau would also pay capitation fees to Protectorate officials. Essentially Casson was attempting to regularise the existing situation so that both government and the individual would profit. Sharpe felt that "almost any authorized system would be better than the present state of affairs 38 In 1908, agreement was reached with Rhodesian govern— ment. It called for the controlled migration of 1,000 miners who would receive medical exams, be repatriated after twelve months, and have deferred pay sent home. In April, seven hundred seventy-four men were recruited. Casson escorted them to the R.N.L.B. agent at Ft. Jameson, they walked to Broken Hill, then entrained for Matabeleland mines.39 This "experiment" was an utter failure. By 38Sharpe to Colonial Office, 3 November 1907, c.0. 525/22. 39 John M. Mackenzie, African Labour in South Central Africa. 1890-1914 and Nineteenth Century Colonial Labour Eflgggy (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of British Columbia, 1959), p. 69. The men were distributed to Globe and Phoenix, East Gwanda, Giant and Battlefields Mines. Chief Native Commissioner to Hugh Marshall Hole, 23 June 1908, A/3/18/30/17, Rhodesian Archives. “ incenbern pneumonia invertheié sixty-fiw the death than for permit 2, emigrate were dis; Out of t he we eiihtee lotion m 4] listing inn bro them] 4 the in line 10nd lead a lilifel ”‘3 Sen lie 1 59 December, one hundred thirteen had died, principally of pneumonia brought about by the long, cold train trip.40 Nevertheless, in September a second group of seven hundred sixty-five men left Nyasaland for work on Rhodesian farms.41 The death rate for the agricultural laborers was much lower than for miners, so in late 1909 authorities agreed to permit 2,500 more farm workers, plus 1,500 miners to 42 Medical authorities in Salisbury emigrate to Rhodesia. were disappointed with the physical condition of the men. Out of the group of four hundred sixty Yaos, one hundred three were rejected for mine work and sent to farms. One of the reasons relations between the two white~ ruled Southern African countries have been less than 40This amounted to a mortality rate of two hundred eighteen per thousand. Michael Gelfand, Lakeside Pioneers Socio-Medical Study of Nyasaland (1875-1920) (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1964), p. 225. 41They engaged in digging, trenching, weeding, har— vesting, ploughing with oxen, and grooming horses. Each man brought home between <,{2-—6-0 and £3, plus a package of clothing. Casson to Sharpe, 14 December 1909, C.O. 525/30. 42Fifteen Malawians were sent to Sabe Gold Mine from ‘um group. One died there. When a messenger was sent to bring the others back to Salisbury for repatriation he found five unfit for travel. Three more collapsed on the road and three were detained in Bulawayo because they were suffering from scurvy. Only three were healthy enough to be sent home on time. 2,317 farm laborers were brought into Rhodesia. Thirty-seven died for a mortality rate of fifteen per thousand. Six deserted, and 2,229 were repatriated. The total amount of deferred pay for the SIOUp was.£5,017, an average of 2-5-0 each. The Minutes Of the R.N.L.B. Management and Finance Committee, February 1911. N/3/22/11, Rhodesian Archives. \~!_ .1. ...:E‘t 3"7:}nc teen loot i notice ensured in iosin‘ lenient Wetiai The non iii bro In Genera] aimiii: the or. had no lineal E'lihei may i “We 60 cordial over the years has been the conflict arising from competition for Malawian, Zambian, and Mozambiquan labor.43 Until recently South Africa encouraged immigration of foreign Africans by not punishing illegal entry. Instead aliens able to pay a 5/ fee were given six month permits to seek work. While this practice created animosity bet- ween local and foreign Africans by keeping wages at an artificially low level, it suited white employers since it ensured a constant over—supply of labor. Rhodesia objected to losing its African manpower. Both colonial and inde— pendent authorities in Malawi have used migrant laborers as negotiating pawns to play off Rhodesia against South Africa. The more Africans who emigrated, the more money they earned and brought home, and the more taxes they paid. In 1908, Wenela, through Knipe, its representative in Central Africa, began a campaign to force Nyasaland administration to permit the resumption of recruiting in the Protectorate. Knipe pointed out that its cessation had not affected the numbers of men emigrating to the Rand. Nyasaland government had merely lost control of them. Either Malawians made their own way to the Transvaal or they passed themselves off as Portuguese subjects and Signed up with Wenela recruiters in Mozambique.44 Knipe . 43F. R. Warhurst, "The Tete Agreement," Rhodesian History, I (1970), p. 31. 44Acting Governor Manning to the Colonial Office, Despatch l4, 17 January 1908, C.O. 525/22. In early 1908, criticised Rho< my Malawians work as virtua Henry have be its conpetitio As the st the upper hanc‘ higher wages a competitor, Sc it needed and Cirnunstances 1908 when Nya TIausvaal Far into ending t PIOiectorate that tobaccc brought twice British markc inbacco_45 . shutting Off 61 criticised Rhodesian working conditions. He claimed that many Malawians were starving while others were forced to work as virtual slaves of the Mashona in order to survive. Henmy have been exaggerating to benefit South Africa in its competition with Rhodesia for migrant labor. As the stronger economic power, South Africa has had the upper hand in its rivalry with Rhodesia. Able to offer higher wages and better working conditions than its competitor, South Africa has attracted as many workers as it needed and could afford to cancel labor agreements if circumstances warranted such action. This occurred in mid— 1908 when Nyasaland's duty-free status was terminated. The Transvaal Farmers' Association had pressured its government into ending the importation of Nyasaland-grown tobacco. Protectorate estate owners were upset by this move because their tobacco was superior to the South African leaf and brought twice the price there that it fetched on the British market where it competed with American—grown tobacco.45 However, Nyasaland could not retaliate by shutting off its labor supply because unemployment was the Portuguese government enquired about the large numbers of Nyasas without passes who Were coming into Portuguese territory and requesting permits to proceed to Lourenco Marques and the Transvaal. Mozambique Government to Manning, 4 January 1908, C.O. 525/23. 45The British High Commissioner to Sharpe, 20 June 1908, c.0. 525/25. widespread in t were authorised experienced mir susceptible to Unemploym iemeia‘s recru with Rhodesia . completion in if the Nyasalr flooded the P: tiled passes Sitar estates the country 5 ”Ports show were unable . in their are inomi exgept to finance a itemiiand E We‘d (ii: m‘mSucces 5” finding \ 46 . 10 Mint A“(inst ] 47 Case 62 widespread in the Protectorate. In 1909, 3,000 passes were authorised for the Transvaal. Permits went to experienced miners on the theory that they would be less susceptible to disease.46 Unemployment in Nyasaland led to the renewal of Wenela's recruiting privileges and to the labor agreement with Rhodesia. The over-supply of labor resulted from the completion in 1908 of the Port Herald-Zambezi River section of the Nyasaland—Mozambique railway. Thousands of workers flooded the Protectorate labor market. 1,400 men were given passes to cross the Zambezi to work on the Mopea sugar estates, but large gangs continued to wander around the country searching for jobs. The 1907-08 district reports showed that Africans in the Upper Shire District were unable to pay their taxes because there was no work in their area. The situation was similar for Mombera's Ngoni except for those who could raise the 15/ necessary to finance a trip to Salisbury. Some men from Central Angoniland and North Nyasa Districts had been to Blantyre twice-—a distance of three hundred sixty miles one-way—— in unsuccessful attempts to local jobs. Their prospects for finding work at home were nil.47 M 46Minutes on Despatch 236, Sharpe to Colonial Office, 10 August 1909, c.0. 525/29. 47Casson to Sharpe, 2 June 1908, C.O. 525/24. The jobles were bribed int into Nyasaland the border. 0: stopped at Tet indHaarseth o inarseth was t name as their illegal touti: but stated th Supposedly, t for Portugueg Other p1 recruiters su stidioms on unsuccessful labor aQEnt Chrome 51195 list Africa workerS for additional Plantations After a she illewal rec it made an \\ 48 Cas 63 The jobless continued to emigrate independently. Some were bribed into signing contracts by African agents sent into Nyasaland villages by European recruiters from across the border. On a July 1910 trip to Rhodesia, Casson stopped at Tete, where he found Messrs. Schinard, Sharp, and Haarseth operating as Wenela sub-agents under Knipe. Haarseth was told that two Africans who had given his name as their employer were in jail in Ncheu charged with illegal touting. He admitted they were his employees, but stated that he had warned them against touting. Supposedly, the money in their possession had been intended for Portuguese recruits.48 Other prospective migrants signed contracts with recruiters such as E. H. C. Thompson, who placed their stations on or near Nyasaland's borders. Thompson was an unsuccessful store keeper who in 1907, was engaged as a labor agent by Mr. Hornung, general manager of Mopea and Chimbue Sugar Estates on the Zambezi River in Portuguese East Africa. It was Thompson who negotiated the 1,400 workers for Mopea in 1908, but in his zeal he sent an additional unauthorized 1,200 individuals to the sugar plantations. As a result he lost his recruiting license. After a short trip to Europe to avoid prosecution for illegal recruiting, Thompson returned to Mozambique where he made an agreement with Wenela's agent in Beira to forward M 4 8Casson to Sharpe, July 1910, C.O. 525/34. lransvaal-boun Zambezi region in this manner practice. As he had forwarw were voluntar lut Sharpe re The governor agent for the tit-shop keepe 0f the Malaw: t0 PhYSical Profess Rhodesia a n in stories then are tai Occurred in fields Mine Sisnetted 0 ills until 49 ,9 50a & lth 5 lCac \ i 64 Transvaal-bound independent emigrants from the middle Zambezi region. Several hundred men were shipped south in this manner before Sharpe intervened to halt the practice. As Thompson explained to his London solicitor, he had forwarded only those Malawians with passes who were voluntarily leaving the Protectorate for South Africa. But Sharpe refused to recognize him as a Wenela sub-agent. The governor foiled Thompson's later attempt to act as agent for the R.N.L.B. That brought an accusation from the ex—shop keeper that Sharpe was acting spitefully.49 Some of the Malawians who signed work contracts were subjected to physical abuse by their white supervisors. Professor Warhurst has called labor migration to Rhodesia a “kill or cure exercise for the workers."50 But stories of cures are less frequent in the records than are tales of killings. One of these incidents occurred in mid-1909 when two white overseers at Battle- fields Mine brutally assaulted three Malawians whom they suspected of theft. The beatings went on over a period of days until two of the Africans died. The whites were charged with manslaughter, but a jury refused to convict them.51 _~________'________ 49Correspondence between Nyasaland administration and the Colonial Office, 1908- 09, C. O. 525/31. 50P. R. Warhurst, Rhodesia and her Neighbors, 1900— 1923 (Ph. D. Dissertation, Oxford University, 1970), p. 107. 51Casson to Sharpe, 11 May 1909, C.O. 525/29. On another tour hundred to igasa, Marimba uployed. Son manager, Mr. Iv deep unhealed 'chigoti" (a : asiarubokl. ind absenteei highly paid c Operator, the four years, ,- llrehy stater lOrkers at w Milton, the Salisbury. the Secretap The mo: idesgn Cone Ron‘larking Clilllletign day's WOrk European f( \ 52 ~ Cars “0‘ 525/3 m 65 On another occasion Casson visited Jumbo Mine, where four hundred Malawians from North Nyasa, Mombera's, West Nyasa, Marimba, and Central Angoniland Districts were employed. Some complained of being whipped by the compound manager, Mr. Morphy. One man in particular bore eleven deep unhealed wounds on his buttocks inflicted by a "chigoti" (a short whip made of hippo hide-—also called a sjambok). Morphy had attacked the man for drunkenness and absenteeism. His labor ticket showed that he was highly paid (g? per month), that he was a machine (drill) operator, that he had been employed at the mine for over four years, and that his work output was equal to anyone's. Morphy stated that he could flog and fine his African workers at will, so Casson reported the case to William Milton, the British South Africa Company administrator in Salisbury. Brought to trial, Morphy and Mr. Digby Jones, Um secretary of Jumbo Mine, were each fined¢£15.52 The most frequent resentments voiced by Malawians to Casson concerned assaults by whites underground and the non-marking of work tickets.53 Miners were paid upon completion of a thirty day work ticket. At the end of each day's work the individual's ticket was marked by his European foreman. If the latter had a grudge against an 52Casson in London to Sharpe, 19 September 1910, C.O. 525/34. 53Ibid. lirican or tho park the ticke lorkers recrui ill-treatment. In Decent Henderson inf lansengwa had Isomething on due was enclr general manap been entitle the terms of the bureau a iamsengWaIs Despite reillltd’cions Casson repo app 66 African or thought one had not worked enough he refused to mark the ticket. This system was open to great abuse. workers recruited by the R.N.L.B. were not immune from ill-treatment. In December 1909, a Que Que farmer named H. S. Henderson informed the R.N.L.B. that a Malawian named Kansengwa had died. For two months he had suffered from "something wrong with his kidneys." A check for 7/6 wages due was enclosed in the letter. Two weeks later, the general manager of R.N.L.B. wrote back that Kansengwa had been entitled to medical attention and hospital care under the terms of his contract. Henderson was reprimanded by the bureau and made to pay one month's wages to Kansengwa's next of kin.54 Despite the bad treatment Malawians had excellent reputations as workers in Rhodesia and South Africa. Casson reported that: The natives of Nyasaland are much appreciated as farm hands (including the much abused Achipeta and Achewa so despised by the Nyasaland planter) by the farmers of Rhodesia, who as a body, express great satisfaction at the willingness shewn by them and the fact that they give no trouble.5 54A3/18/3o/14. Rhodesian Archives. In December 1910, Henderson was prosecuted for using twenty-six R.N.L.B. farm recruits for mine work and paying them the lower farm rate 0f 11/ instead of the mine rate of 30/. The men were fed On nuts, beans and corn meal; meat was served only at Christmas time. Henderson fled to Britain to escape pro— secution. A3/18/30/15, Rhodesian Archives. 55Casson to Sharpe, July 1910, C.O. 525/34. is for Malawia employed in th they were well then to the "l popularity of ate planters ? On 23 Ma and Commerce labor nigrati Pearce, attev adversely af; establish a , turn them 0v Should conti hscourage p ema‘Protec Sharpe to es encourage it Dr. He airman Lak suppmed t iht oldESt \ 56 ~ Case "0. 525/3, 57 PEa :‘0' 525/3 67 As for Malawian miners, in 1910 there were over 1,500 employed in the Penhalonga Valley and Casson reported that they were well spoken of by mine officials who preferred them to the "lazy and less intelligent Mashonas."56 The popularity of Malawian workers abroad mean that Protector— ate planters had less than the pick of the laborer crop. On 23 March 1910, the Nyasaland Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce held one of its periodic meetings to protest labor migration. Both Sharpe and his assistant, F. B. Pearce, attended. The Chamber claimed that emigration had adversely affected African morals. It urged government to establish a department which would collect Africans and turn them over to the Chamber for distribution. Government should continue to regulate the exodus, but should discourage it and prohibit agents from engaging labor for extra—Protectorate employers. Members of the Chamber asked Sharpe to establish ginneries and baling presses to encourage local cotton production.57 Dr. Hetherwick of Blantyre Mission, Mr. Selkirk of the African Lakes Company, and the ubiquitous Hynde all Supported the Chamber's schemes. Dr. Laws of Livingstonia, the oldest resident in the Protectorate and the senior 56Casson in London to Sharpe, 19 December 1910, C.O. 525/34. 57Pearce to the Colonial Office, 28 April 1910, c.0. 525/35. missionary Pri about the free he said that ‘ problem by hi contracts thr not much worl planters werw employees . 58 Sharpe responsibili he reminded meeting the boiled mig 0f Nyasalan morals deba hS fOr the prOilllctlop were uilSllo 68 missionary present, remarked that nothing had been said about the freedom of the African to chose his own employer. He said that planters could solve the wet season recruiting problem by hiring during the dry season and extending contracts through the rainy period. However, there was not much work to be done during September and October so planters were reluctant to pay 3/ per month to idle employees.58 Sharpe reacted strongly to accusations of governmental responsibility for any deterioration of African morals. He reminded the Chamber that two years before in a similar meeting the same planters had.begged him to resume con- trolled migration to South Africa in return for free import of Nyasaland products into the Transvaal. Sharpe won the morals debate with this statement: "I should feel very sorry to think that any of you planters and traders in Nyasa- land would be affected by any profit which was made out of it if you then considered that natiyggmorals were adversely affected. As for the Chamber‘s suggestion to encourage local cotton production there were some early attempts to promote African cash crop farming in Nyasaland. Generally, they were unsuccessful. 581bid. 59Sharpe to the Colonial Office, 9 May 1910, C.O. 525/35. In 1905, liricans to 9: since distric local farmers African's unw caused by its alarge Protw for each pou MMmM cemented, " has been ret controlling his Product: Price for h Karonga, Ma for the PIC weather was lose disao “Certain. cash Crop This is th earlines a \ 60 . D a 1910' (If) not mehti 69 In 1905, the administration had begun to persuade Africans to grow cotton. Sharpe called this "uphill work" since district officials reportedly had to stand over local farmers to make them do the job properly. The African's unwillingness to cultivate cotton may have been caused by its low market price. Mr. A. L. Bruce, owner of a large Protectorate cotton estate, paid Africans 3 1/4 d. for each pound of lint; transport cost him l/2d. per 1b.; and he sold the lint for 9d. to 10 1/2d. per lb. Sharpe commented, "I have not heard that any of this large surplus has been returned to the Native growers."60 Without controlling the ginning, transportation, and marketing of his products the African could not hope to receive a fair price for his cotton. The labor—producing districts of Karonga, Marimba, Mombera's, and Angoniland were unsuitable for the production of cotton. Their soil was poor, the weather was too cold, and transportation was inadequate. These disadvantages, plus price fluctuations and the uncertainties of international commodity markets, made cash crop farming an uncertain business for Africans. This is the reason they preferred to rely on migrant earnings for their livelihood. Bowing to planter demands, 60Despatch 54, Sharpe to Colonial Office, 5 March 1910, C.O. 525/31. Bruce may have had additional expenses Which would have reduced his profit margin, but they were not mentioned in the despatch. in November 1 bhrregulat Native 1 restrictions Protectorate , Protectorate laborers WED nsreestabl one Africa ofiered. Fe in rainy se ivwork.61 Prohibited , travel and . elllOYers 2 Still) duty rWillie acc ddopper W30 Milieu sugar wOrh Tr ihVeStment \\ 6 1Gas 62 - . Pee drop “labor E 70 in November 1910, Protectorate officials promulgated new labor regulations. Native Labour Ordinance no. 2 of 1910 repealed restrictions on recruiting workers for jobs within the Protectorate. It prohibited recruiting for extra— Protectorate employers. Written contracts for local laborers were no longer needed and the local labor bureau was reestablished. It continued to be a failure, however, since Africans were not interested in the low pay being offered. Furthermore, the short term of service was during the rainy season, the worst time of the year for travelling to work.61 The Native Affairs Department took over the prohibited recruiters’duties. They consisted of arranging travel and wages for workers. The government charged employers 2/ for farmers, and 10/ for miners, plus a 2/6 stamp duty on each pass issued. Casson estimated the extra revenue accruing to the Protectorate Treasury would be over £5,300 per annum. This amount was derived from totals of 1,500 Malawian miners and 3,000 farmers in Rhodesia; 4,000 sugar workers in Mozambique; and 3,000 miners in the Transvaal.62 Operating perhaps on the theory that its investment in people should be protected, Nyasaland 61Casson to Sharpe, 10 October 1910, c.0. 525/33. 62Pearce to the Colonial Office, 18 June 1910, C.O. 525/31. In addition to the official figures there were Probably another 7~l0,000 Malawians working abroad. government as This he did i hohe leave. As he pa Africa, Cassv his findings sugar estate hundred sixt Protectorate who had Sig! four indepe] “WP 0f Lih hundred min 1:241 labor hiding it 1:00 MP. afternoon P in thatche. eight feet PM Supol ofbeans d Could Purc of betWeeI "lay. Th0: here depr so the has n- t rfllg unSa 71 government asked Mr. Casson to inspect foreign job centers. nus he did in mid—1910 while on his way to the U.K. for home leave. As he pasSed through Mozambique, Rhodesia, and South Africa, Casson investigated working conditions and reported his findings to Sharpe. On 26 May, he began at the Mopea sugar estate owned by J. P. Hornung. There he found two hundred sixty—seven Malawians who had been engaged in the Protectorate under six month contracts; four hundred eleven who had signed twelve month agreements; one hundred fifty— four independents--almost all from Mlanje and Chiradzulu north of Limbe——who had signed up at Mopea; and four hundred nine Ngonis from Dedza District, for a total of 1,241 laborers. The work, consisting of cutting cane and loading it on trucks, began at 5:00 a.m. and ended at 1:00 p.m. The hours were designed to avoid the oppressive afternoon heat of the Zambezi Valley. The workers lived in thatched huts twenty feet long, twelve feet wide, and eight feet six inches high which accommodated ten men each. Food supplies were two lbs. of maize flour and one—half lb. Of beans daily, and six ounces of salt per week. Workers could purchase goat meat and vegetables with a weekly bonus Of between 2 l/2d. and 5d. given to all who worked every day. Those who fell ill missed out on the bonus so they were deprived of needed protein. No wells had been sunk so the water supply came from the nearby Kwakwa River. This unsanitary situation resulted in severe cases of dysentery. F enhsat Mop tollhay fii Conditi< located near island in th‘ eight Malawi hen engaged nxindepent inkers fro; Tongas from added up to mentY‘thre andsevente 5eaSon mom ““9 concei Those Pal Upon t “Ck leave Sena's mar dinrke] Woo COnt the p0rtn \ 63 on Ca ”at-Ce tC 72 dysentery. From October 1909 to March 1910, the fourteen deaths at Mopea were caused by dysentery; and from 1 April to 27 May fifteen died from that disease. Conditions were just as bad at the Sena Sugar Factory located near Villa Fontes (Chimbue) on a seven mile long island in the Zambezi River. There, four hundred forty— eight Malawians were under six month contracts; 1,249 had been engaged for twelve months. The two hundred fifty- six independents--eighty Lomwe from Mlanje, forty—five workers from Chikala, twenty‘three from Blantyre, forty Tongas from Chinteche, and twenty—four men from Chiromo—— added up to a total Malawian labor force of 1,653. Twenty-three had died between October 1909 and March 1910, and seventeen died in April and May 1910. The rainy season months were the worst so far as clean water supplies were concerned. Those on twelve month contracts received £4 in deferred pay upon their return to Zomba. Prior to Casson‘s visit, sick leave with pay was not allowed, but he convinced Sena's management to provide this benefit. Chronically ill workers were sent back to Zomba with severance pay of 10/.63 Continuing his inspection tour, Casson interviewed the Portuguese Chief of Customs at Tete. At the time 63Casson's report is contained in Despatch 140, Pearce to the Colonial Office, 18 June 1910, C.O. 525/31. twenty-four M their baggage remind Portug oi the Anglo; To pass Powe the of t the hint out The one man his journey 0n the several gm ten to thir Protectorat 1“ EaStern Several tre Warning pe here ill-t lhdividUa] ““th Me 73 twenty—four Malawians were being detained there while their baggage was awaiting inspection. Casson had to remind Portuguese officials of Clause XI, paragraph four of the Anglo—Portuguese Treaty of ll June 1891. It stated: That there shall be freedom for the passage of subjects and goods of both Powers across the Zambezi, and through the districts adjoining the right bank of the Zambezi above the confluence of the River Luenha (Ruenga) without hindrance of any description and with- out payment of transit dues. The one man in possession of a pass was freed to continue his journey, but the others had to pay a 5/ fine. On the trail from Tete to Salisbury, Casson met several groups of Malawians travelling in parties of from ten to thirty. Few of the men had passes to leave the Protectorate. The ones returning home had been working in Eastern Rhodesia between Salisbury and Umtali. On several trees Casson found messages in Arabic script warning people not to go to certain mines where workers were ill-treated. Other messages addressed to specific individuals were of a more personal nature.65 The routes through Mt. Darwin and Mtoko's were most commonly used in M 64C.O. 525/38. 65A recent article claims that this sort of thing indicates early "worker consciousness" or political aware- ness among Africans. See Charles Van Onselen, "Worker Consciousness in Black Miners: Southern Rhodesia, 1900- 1920," Journal of African History, XIV, 2 (1973). Literacy in Arabicized Swahili must have been high among migrant Yaos. those days an customs posts Pnodesia, p. There we to Darwin vii uagon road 0 track vent f htoko's. A time area wl capital.66 Travel) touts had b to induce 1 ill the too PUPPerous mg interview Pages Game and of the authorized Officials “Others WC Pmdesia. 74 those days and migrants did their best to avoid Portuguese mmtoms posts. (See map of Labor Routes between Malawi and Rhodesia, p. x). There was a hoed machila (sedan chair) track from Tete to Darwin via Chioco. The trip took eight days. A good wagon road connected Darwin with Salisbury. Another machila track went from Tete to Makaha Mine, forty miles east of Mtoko's. A road linked the surrounding Enterprise farm and mine area where many Malawians worked with the Rhodesian capital.66 Travelling via Mtoko's, Casson found that fourteen labor touts had been there during the previous month attempting to induce laborers to work at various mines. When success- ful the touts received capitation fees. Casson visited numerous mines and spoke to hundreds of Malawians. He interviewed William Milton as well and arranged for half the wages earned by contracted workers to be deferred until the end of their service. This applied to the 2,000 men authorized to come to Rhodesia in mid-1910. Nyasaland officials hoped that under the deferred pay system the workers would spend their money at home instead of in Rhodesia. Contracts were for one year and could not be renewed.67 66A3/l8/3O/l4, Rhodesian Archives. 67Telegram 48, Wallis to the Colonial Office, 31 August 1910, C.O. 525/31. In a labor compound near Salis— bury Casson found a Malawian albino who had so aroused the suspicions of some Mashonas that they had speared him in the back. Casson advised him to return to Nyasaland where assault was less likely. A group laborers who gears arrang educated at been unable King's birth party and c< Malawians. Sweet Home“ the hymn "p bwana-Isa o iudhrs. F1 3“ insPirat “I! hwenye Cassoi Rhodesian j mamJeInen Over 10mg became Chi The n his 1°Cat richest pr but its t: desiredl 17% 01o 0 is the G1 Zvlvel‘cmwd ‘A 75 A group of clerks, servants, printers, porters, and laborers who had been working in Salisbury for several years arranged a meeting with Casson. They had been educated at Blantyre and Livingstonia Missions, but had been unable to find remunerative work at home. On the King's birthday, 9 November 1910, they had given a tea party and concert which was attended by over five hundred Malawians. The thirty-nine act program included "Home Sweet Home" sung by Mr. and Mrs. Peters C. Kuchiwamba, the hymn "Peace, Perfect Peace" performed by Mr. T. Gilbert Bwana—Isa of Zomba, and other songs by Mrs. Mary Zaberis and Mrs. Francis of Cape Colony. The evening ended with an inspirational monologue entitled "Native View" by Mr. Mwenye Kunpama of Blantyre. Casson spoke to Mr. Wibberley, general manager of Rhodesian Railways. He suggested that better carriage arrangements replace the primitive open cars than in use. Over long distances at night on the high veld Africans became chilled and some caught pneumonia. The Nyasaland official Visited the Globe and Phoenix Mine located near Que Que. G and P had yielded the world's richest percentage of gold per ton of ore at one time, but its treatment of African employees left much to be desired. A new compOund was being built; Casson described the old one as "a very great disgrace to such a rich mine as the Globe and Phoenix." He found that the hospital was overcrowded, there was no operating room, and eye diseases were especia hundred fift Africans exg for cooking Casson concI Pine." Whet R.N.L.B., h Puntil wor was that Gl move in suc In Bul halawians 1 aPilinst th. after they intosh Sai Rhodesia f both RhOde files lilting Certifica1 Refg, was "Ev-1d hodesia dihes'u :ecent en ireVentic win 301% .4 76 were especially prevalent. Management complained that two hundred fifty out of 1,300 workers were absent each day. Africans explained that the absentees were cutting wood for cooking fires and asked the mine to provide firewood. Casson concluded that "labour is obviously wasted at this mine." When he saw Mr. P. B. S. Wrey, chairman of the R.N.L.B., he asked that no more Malawians be sent to G and P until working conditions there improved. Wrey's comment was that Globe and Phoenix management was "very hard to move in such matters." In Bulawayo, Casson met with a deputation of Malawians headed by one "George Macintosh." They protested againstiflma£l poll tax levied against all alien Africans after they had resided in Rhodesia for two years. Mac- intosh said he had been working as a civil servant in Rhodesia for eight years and did not like to pay taxes in both Rhodesia and Nyasaland. He said that to avoid paying taxes many Africans destroyed their Rhodesian identity certificates and applied for passes under new names. Reflecting on his tour, Casson concluded that there was "evident desire on the part of the administration of Rhodesia to ameliorate the lot of natives working on mines." To support this contention he pointed to the recent enquiry by the Commission on the Prevalence and Prevention of Scurvy and Pneumonia. However, he wrote, "in some cases it might be confessed that Mine Managers are slow to make improvements when requested to do so." He recommended Pative Commi rather than case. He we each compour men engaged employer so this situat desirable a some of the the jllSt‘mt managers w, liberal f0 ”0th hig “harm be Cohtent b] PbServed w linking 0, White min Trea MW" de Speculatj What, dried f: currugat Felted i here Are 4 77 recommended that all grievances be reported to the Chief Native Commission in Salisbury by compound inspectors rather than to the Medical Department as was usually the case. He wanted Cewa—speaking interpretors to accompany each compound inspector on his rounds. He pointed out that men engaged by the R.N.L.B. lost their freedom of choice of employer so they deserted when badly treated. To remedy this situation he said that "more sympathetic treatment is desirable and should be consistently insisted upon." On some of the larger mines the dietary recommendations on the just-mentioned commission were being ignored. Mine managers were slow to recognize the connection between liberal food supplies and worker vitality. There were not enough high protein foods such as beans, groundnuts, and "kaffir beer," a nourishing drink of relatively low alcohol content brewed from maize. As for African morals Casson observed that, "There is less drunkenness amongst natives working on mines than there is, comparatively, amongst white miners in Rhodesia." Treatment of Africans was judged to be from "fair" to "good" depending on whether they were employed by the Speculative prospector (only fair), the small worker, the contractor, or the wealthy mine (usually good). Housing varied from grass shelters, wattle and daub huts, and corrugated iron huts in which men froze in the winter and melted in the summer to Kimberley brick structures, which were preferred. Although the attitude of the average employer tow is a lack oi Casson recor beings rathu The gri independent independent educated ne every big y items. Be: hission wh. llOuld rema Casson fe: ferahie t1 he tOld y that ther tillage g retUrn.7( \ 6 8C; 78 employer towards his African workers was improving, "there is a lack of sympathy in some quarters towards the natives." Casson recommended that Africans be treated "as human beings rather than as money-making machines."68 The great majority of Malawians in Rhodesia emigrated independently. Casson said there were "many thousands" of independents there--"a very large number of mission educated natives are . . . at work as clerks . . . at every big mine." Many had been there for from two to ten years. Before beginning his trip, Casson visited Blantyre Mission where only two of the eighty pupils said they would remain at home after graduating. He commented, I estimated that not more than 5% of the Africans who completed courses in higher education in Nyasaland elected to remain at home as teachers in mission schools. These educated people spread news of higher wages in Rhodesia and South Africa through the letters they wrote home." Casson felt that life for the man under contract was pre- ferable to that of the independent migrant. Accordingly, he told young Tongas (who never emigrated under contract) that there were no marriageable men left at home. The village girls were waiting anxiously for the men to return.70 68Casson report, op.cit. 69Ibid. 70There is no record of whether or not Casson‘s Special pleading had any effect on the Tongas. One rea that under t enlisted for exodus begar was that Mal rather than treat his wt workers as Upon c tion tour C hemela-affi halavians a mantiger as] LAIgglaragte The Change from the m gave their luteiVed c' iIOCeeded lords am avoided tl A: Villag. “tions 31 white 79 One reason for the large number of independents was that under the existing contract system Africans were not enlisted for work in Rhodesia until July, whereas the major exodus began every year in March. A more pertinent reason was that Malawians preferred to choose their own bosses rather than be assigned to an R.N.L.B. employer who might treat his workers badly. Malawians referred to contracted workers as chibalo——forced labor. Upon completion of the Rhodesian phase of his inspec— tion tour Casson travelled to South Africa where he visited Wenela—affiliated mines in the Transvaal. The two hundred Malawians at Simmer Deep Mine had no complaints and the manager asked for 1,000 more. Conditions were fine at Langlaagte Deep, which employed five hundred Malawians. The change house at Langlaagte was located only a few yards from the mine exit. The perspiring men entered, undressed, gave their work clothes to an attendant, took a shower, received dry clothing and a cup of hot coffee, then proceeded by covered passage to the compound nine hundred yards away. This arrangement ensured that African workers avoided the chills which often developed into pneumonia. At Village Deep Mine working conditions needed improvement. Malawians there complained of being assaulted underground by White miners.71 There was discontent about inadequate According to an informant this feature of mine life has not changed. Wenela's inspector of Malawian labor, a former high—ranking civil servant in Malawi, told me that he tours Rand mines explaining to white, mostly Afrikaaner, meat supplie African comp change house the surface, attention 0: being overwl At New an East Ran had no comp tho hundrec miners. Ir ll°°fl hold the easier on alterna those in a and swind] bl the ins guilty,n7? 90Vernmem \ idles th to rdilate :0 me . II associate 7 r 2C< 325/33 80_ meat supplies. The issuance of food was in the hands of African compound policemen, who stole meat. There was no change house and the men objected to delays in returning to the surface. Casson brought these inadequacies to the attention of Compound Manager Jacobs, who complained about being overworked. At New Goch Mine everyone was happy. At Dreifontein, an East Rand Proprietary mine, one hundred thirty Malawians had no complaints, but at another East Rand mine, Angelo, two hundred Malawians reported frequent beatings by white miners. In addition, the men said they were given dry (roof) holes to drill every day instead of being given the easier wet holes (on the sides and floor of the mine) on alternate days. Casson wrote that, "It is incumbent on those in authority to suppress systematic ill—treatment and swindling (with regard to holes drilled) of natives by the instant dismissal of any [European] miner found guilty."72 Casson's honest reporting affected Nyasaland government's labor policy. miners that they should treat Malawians as human beings. He related that a Malawian was assaulted by an Afrikaaner for speaking English and admonished to "speak bloody Kaffir to me.“ Often Malawians have more formal education than the Afrikaaners who usually despise anything even remotely associated with England. 72Casson's reports to Sharpe and the Colonial Office, gUly 1910, 19 September 1910, and 29 September 1910, c.0. 25/33. In earl Sharpe. The land's labo the Colonia Mann: returned settling it said t high COst \ 7 ., 3De 81 In early 1911, William Manning was appointed to succeed Sharpe. The new governor instituted a change in Nyasa- land's labor migration policy. On 11 March, Manning wrote the Colonial Office: The supply of Native labour in Nyasaland is now insufficient to meet local demands. Emigration will be discouraged in so far as possible . . . The argument that Nyasaland benefits in any way from this exodus is quite fallacious.7 Referring to Wenela recruiting, Manning said: That whereas formerly his [Knipe‘s] oper- ations were favourably regarded here I now felt them to be opposed to our best interests, since this recruiter was no longer taking our surplus labour, but was engaging the men we actually needed ourselves, thus damaging this Protectorate in its most vital part . I feel that no effort should be spared to discourage this emigration which is so gravely ditrimental to the future of the country. Manning claimed that deferred wages were not being returned to the Protectorate because the workers were settling in the south where they spent all their earnings.75 He said that the low Protectorate wages were caused by the high cost of transporting produce to the coast, losses en 73Despatch 64, Manning to the Colonial Office, ll March 1911, C.O. 525/35. 74Ibid. 75This statement refers to the Rhodesian situation. Wenela deferred pay was distributed in Zomba. In early 1910, Sharpe had informed the Colonial Office that he expected¢£60,000 in deferred pay from South Africa during the next year. Sharpe's report on the Chamber of Agricul- ture and Commerce meeting, 5 April 1910, C.O. 525/35. route, and ‘ that so man was in dang length of t on the grou breach of i emigrant la The C< was that i conditions labour fro couraged." lethality Six months 70'2 Per 1 82 route, and the improvident use of man-power. He stated that so many Tongas had left home that "their very tribe was in danger of extinction." He opposed extending the length of time workers could stay abroad under contract on the grounds that this "would be a grave error and a breach of faith towards the wives and families of the emigrant labourers.“76 The Colonial Office reply to Manning's allegations was that if tribes were in danger of extinction then "such conditions make it highly desirable that emigration of labour from Nyasaland should be as far as possible dis- 77 couraged." Manning informed London that the high mortality rate in the Transvaal was continuing. For the six months from April to September 1911, it had averaged 70.2 per thousand. He said the Protectorate government, would welcome the total prohibition of emigration from Nyasaland for work either in the Transvaal mines, or those of Rhodesia where the mortality is almost as great as in the Transvaal. No need exists for Nyasagand natives to migrate in search of work. In December, Manning marshalled all his previous argu— ments while adding some new ones. He claimed that 76Despatch 64, op.cit. 77Harcourt to Manning, 19 May 1911, c.0. 525/35. 78Despatch 244, Manning to the Colonial Office, 7 October 1911, c.0. 525/38- considerable had led to I lack of lab decrease of Rhodesian c by the incc employers. growing mo: for porters not be com] the mines source of higher Wag authoritie their Cont l0 re‘enge llrican p, alleyed ". lldlawian Sur‘llleam of Europe PhodeSia thins]? \ 7 ~. 9D, .tCember 83 considerable increases in European and African agriculture had led to labor shortages during the rainy season, to a lack of laborers for public works projects, and to a decrease of land under European cultivation. He dismissed Rhodesian claims that Nyasaland's labor shortage was caused by the inconsiderate treatment of Africans by local employers. Those were isolated cases. Africans were growing more cotton, tobacco, and rice locally and demand for porters was high. He admitted that local wages could not be competitive with those paid in Rhodesia. There, the mines purchased food which created an alternative source of income for local Africans, thus necessitating higher wages. There was no assurance that Rhodesian authorities would repatriate workers upon termination of their contracts or that employers would not force laborers to re-engage against their wishes. He said that South African public feeling had been excited recently by alleged "outrages" against white women by black men. A Malawian had been charged in Salisbury with assaulting a European woman with intent to commit rape. The existence Of European prostitutes and pornography brought into Rhodesia by lower class whites also poisoned the minds of Nyasas.79 79Despatch 297, Manning to the Colonia Office, 22 December 1911, C.O. 525/38. For the were giving oarentrs to llll circul for dealing of the Empl provision t his family. to, who l Provide to: during his before lea absent. pg Allowed tc “1 alllllice of the ore elliSted. Werner, refusing Change (in Ann/namn 84 For those reasons district commissioners (d.c.s.) were giving "friendly admonition and advice" in loco parentis to dissuade Africans from emigrating. An October 1911 circular sent out to all d.c.s. set down guidelines for dealing with potential emigrants. Section 20 (I) (a) of the Employment of Natives Ordinance of 1909 called for provision to be made by the migrant for the sustenance of his family. The amount of this deposit was left to the d.c., who based it on “what [was] reasonably necessary to provide for the ordinary needs of the emigrant's family during his absence." The amount of but tax to be paid before leaving depended on how long the man would be absent. Wives left behind for over two years should be allowed to remarry. A magistrate could refuse a pass to an applicant who had fulfilled the specific requirements of the ordinance if some reasonable grounds for doing so existed. Some of those cases could be referred to the governor, but the magistrate must have valid reasons for refusing to grant a pass. Manning explained his policy change on the following grounds: The above directions are not to be construed as indicating any change in the attitude of the Government towards the emigration of natives. There are the most ample grounds for believing that the exodus of local natives from their own homes to South Africa is as Seriously inimical to the interests of the emigrants themselves and of their families as to those of the Protectorate generally. It is therefore the settled intention of this Government to discourage such emigration by every just and law means in its power, and District OPP do one sug contradict The l 0f Manninr and Sir H be lustif letting t Critics W “Wk sole llrican 1 his not w remained absenCe ties her it the s African ”Slasher Civil-lZE \ 80. AA 85 Officers should lose no legitimate opportunity of giving effect to this policy. At the same time the Governor desires to make it clear that there is not and never has been any wish to unduly restrict the liberty of natives and that intending emigrants who have complied with the requirements of the law and who cannot be prevailed upon by the friendly advice of their District Officers to remain in Nyasaland must be provided with the usual passes authorizing them to quit the Protectorate. No one suggested that these instructions might contain some contradictions. The Colonialoffice agreed with the general substance of Manning's new policy. C.O. Africanists, Sir G. Fiddes and Sir H. Just, felt that restriction of emigration could be justified on two grounds: local labor needs, and pro— tecting the indigenous population. They were worried that critics would say that Africans were being impelled to work solely for local employers. However, taking an African from Northern Nyasaland and sending him to Blantyre was not the same as exporting him to Rhodesia since he remained under government supervision. In addition, his absence from home was for a shorter time, and his family ties were not strained so much. Discussion of immorality in the south centered on whether it was better for an African to maintain his traditional way of life and perhaps "Stagnate" or for him to go out and confront another civilization and possibly benefit from the experience. M 8ODespatch 53, Manning to the Colonial Office, 24 February 1912, c.0. 525/41- Rape and in Rhodesian u cate terror the “truly ment again: The n the tobacc Malawian l tor, Hugh Logislatir hashonalad lTricultu for 6,000 hation fr “line (i luasaram ‘llSiting July 191 leoeived Plan ll'lotlpsie \ ill( the C_0 losses . 'tl AAri 1“ Jlime Of Mala llrst S trey-We ___-4 86 Rape and indecent photographs were unknown outside Rhodesian urban centers. The C.0. was reluctant to advo- cate terror in preventing Africans from leaving home, but the “truly frightful" mortality rate was a forceful argu- ment against continuing controlled emigration.81 The new policy upset Rhodesian employers, especially the tobacco industry which depended heavily on immigrant Malawian labor. In mid—1911, Secretary to the Administra— tor, Hugh Marshall Hole; Mr. Eyles, a former member of the Legislative Council; and Mr. Savory, representing the Mashonaland Farmers' Association and the Rhodesian Agricultural Union, went to Zomba to ask Governor Manning for 6,000 farm workers. Before leaving they received infor- mation from Mr. G. H. McCulloch, who was in Dowa District trying (illegally) to recruit men for Rhodesian farms, that Nyasaland government officials and African police were visiting villages to warn people not to go south. On 25 July 1911, the three men left for Zomba. They were received by the governor on 8 August. Manning seemed to have a special antipathy for the Rhodesians. In Hole's confidential report of 29 August, 81Colonial Office minutes on Despatch 297, Manning to the C.O., 22 December 1911, C.O. 525/38. The effects of Manning's efforts can be seen from the following statistics: Passes to leave Nyasaland for Rhodesia in April l910--l,727; in April 1911—-143; Malawians working in Rhodesian mines in June l910--6,6l6; in June l911-—4,609; estimated number 0f Malawians entering Rhodesia in 1910--1l,000; during the first seven months of 19ll--2,000. A3/18/30/15, Rhodesian Archives. he said the me his [Manning': with his visi that Rhodesia taming then would employ leaving the P the governor On their 0f ATricultue irritated hi: local manpow. Savory “59 0f men i °f EmPloying Engels-"n1 Phrased it- he remarke d hfr‘ycans as incapable 0. ElldSaland t‘ durHree i W fer 87 he said the meeting “was marked by extreme discourtesy on his [Manning's] part." He neither shook hands nor chatted with his visitors. Hole spoke first, assuring the governor that Rhodesia intended to repatriate all migrant workers. Manning then informed the delegation that his government would employ every legal means to prevent people from leaving the Protectorate. With "cold and studied rudeness" the governor terminated the interview.82 On their way home, the Rhodesians met with the Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce in Blantyre. Mr. Savory irritated his audience with some of his comments about local manpower utilization. Savory mentioned the lack of ploughs in Nyasaland, the use of men instead of animals to pull wagons, the practice of employing people to pick golf course grass with their fingers-~"nibbling the grass down with their teeth" as he phrased it-—and the lack of wheel barrows on large farms. He remarked that Nyasaland whites seemed to regard local Africans as "flabby, pulseless . . . invertebrate," and incapable of learning skills. Despite the inferiority of Nyasaland tobacco to Rhodesian leaf, the deputation offered duty-free importation of Protectorate cigarettes as a guig ro uo for pressuring the government into resuming emigra_ tion.83 _1__________________ 82A3/18/30/15, Rhodesian Archives. 83Ibid. Needless handed. Nyas over the labo unusual tacti They uncovere In late aseries of a refusing to . the men who that "such a urging the p natives in i Sending Male recruiting r hfrican Win' or have not “Pius enti State fer t thayg be " nhither of n this agency \ 84 Cas: g 36 Kni 88 Needless to say the Rhodesians returned home empty handed. Nyasaland administration and Wenela came to blows over the labor issue as well. The South Africans employed unusual tactics in their fight for recruiting privileges. They uncovered a minor scandal in Nyasaland's prison system. In late 1911 and early 1912, Knipe and Casson exchanged a series of angry letters. Casson accused Wenela of refusing to supply Nyasaland administration with lists of the men who signed up for work in the mines. He threatened that "such action will supply a very strong argument for urging the prohibition of the employment of Nyasaland 84 Knipe was charged with natives in the Transvaal." sending Malawians to the Rand during the prohibited recruiting months between March and August (the South African winter). "If you engage natives whether they have or have not passes during the prohibited months you are acting entirely against the directions of the Secretary of State for the Colonies."85 Knipe stated that Wenela would always be "willing to return to your Government the total number of natives from Nyasaland that have gone down under this agency, and the total number that are repatriated."86 However, after adding that mortality information would be 84Casson to Knipe, 27 December 1911, c.0. 525/41. 85Ibid. 86Knipe to Casson, 10 January 1912, C.O. 525/41. furnished upo withholding t They had not meted out to He claimed tl made fines ar infringement: districts be In June had been son had been hot tectorate wi "“0 illegali the Dedza ma HiTh Court r \ e O “Phiri.-rte “P for the south of De hill. When 89 furnished upon request, he admitted that Wenela had been withholding the lists, but not for questionable reasons. They had not been forwarded because of the harsh treatment meted out to Nyasaland repatriates by their government.87 He claimed that Section 20 (4) of the 1909 labor ordinance made fines and imprisonment alternative punishments for infringements of the ordinance and charged that in some districts both penalties were being used against offenders.88 In June» Deputy Governor Pearce admitted that there had been some cases in Dedza District in which Africans had been both fined and imprisoned for leaving the Pro— tectorate without passes. The fines had been remitted and "no illegality had occurred." A list supplied by Mr. Webb, the Dedza magistrate, to Charles J. Griffin, Judge of the High Court of Blantyre, showed that in September 1911, 87Before March 1912, Casson had induced Wenela to repatriate through Zomba passless Africans who had signed up for the mines at Tete or along the Portuguese border south of Dedza. Their deferred pay was sent to Zomba as well. When they arrived at Casson's office they were directed to their home districts where they were punished by imprisonment, fine, or both. A total of 1,535 men were so forwarded; 1,368 were fined between 2/6 andafl, and 167 were imprisoned for from two to six weeks. The greatest number, three hundred fourteen, came from Ncheu District; next came those from Ft. Johnston, two hundred; then Dedza with one hundred sixty-seven. After Wenela became aware of this practice Malawians were paid off in Johannesburg so they could make their way home undetected. Confidential Despatch, Governor Smith to the C.O., 16 April 1914; and Extract from a minute by the Superintendent Of Native Affairs, 16 December 1913, C.O. 525/55. 88Knipe to Casson, op.cit. shty-four pa jnled for or POTebb plear petty pass 0: their incarcl interest so An inve were worn da pnsoner to she. In Ja hit Nyasale whn under i ehPerience, \ agPear 9 0Hare Harc weLiberal ArchlVes CC for all of her the e. 90 sixty—four passless Africans had been fined 10/ each and jailed for one week. When Griffin informed him of Section 20 Webb pleaded ignorance of the law.89 Furthermore, the petty pass offenders were forced to wear chains during their incarceration. This information aroused the C.O.'s interest so more details were requested.90 An investigation showed that at Dedza jail leg-irons were worn day and night. Gang-chain necklets attaching one prisoner to another were worn only when the men were out- side. In January 1913, Colonial Secretary Harcourt ordered that Nyasaland prisoners not wear leg—irons at night or when under guard.91 Thus, as a direct result of the migrant experience, a small reform was introduced into the 89Pearce to the C.O., 22 June 1912, C.O. 525/41. 90Harcourt to Manning, 19 August 1912, C.O. 525/42. 91Harcourt to Zomba, 22 January, 1913, c.0. 525/43. The Liberal government then in power had made electoral hay in 1905-06 on the "Chinese slavery" issue. The Zomba Archives contain the records of District Magistrate Courts for all of Nyasaland. An analysis of the Lilongwe records for the years from 1913 to 1927 shows that during the eight months between November 1913 and June 1914, two hundred fifty—seven people were charged with leaving the Protector- ate without passes. They were all convicted and fined 10/ each. There were no more pass offense prosecutions until September 1916 when fifty-six people were convicted. Another gap in prosecutions occurred until the six months from April to September 1917, when forty—seven convictions were obtained. In 1919, only five were found guilty. But in 1920, twenty-four men were prosecuted between January and June. There is no further mention of pass violations until May 1927, when three people were charged. By that time the punishments had increased to {1 fine or one month in jail. Apparently, the initial fervor for discovering Pass offenders died down quickly, but was revived Pmtectorate' amment over ewecially be In the .' ngraphical curtailment I the 10-15,00 be easily me complained i aedto proV acting in a natiVe by 5: Unable to o] C0ura‘lfid frc msinappro hissupport cial intere interests c “fiiVes and Sharpe lents led 1 estimated I “clUSive ‘ C L0110ws: ‘\~\‘~‘\~ Period . ical tontin ued 9 h 2Des “0‘ 525/4 #4 91 Protectorate's handling of law breakers. The basic argument over the desirability of emigration continued, especially between Manning and Sharpe. In the January 1912 issue of The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, retired-governor Sharpe protested the curtailment of emigration from Nyasaland. He wrote that the 10-15,000 man labor requirement of local planters could be easily met while allowing migration to go on. Manning complained immediately that Sharpe's statements might be used to prove that "the Government of this country is acting in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the native by seeking to make it appear that while he is unable to obtain employment in this country he is dis- couraged from seeking employment elsewhere." He felt it was inappropriate for an ex—governor"to lend the weight of his support to endorse the purely selfish claims of commer- cial interests which are directly opposed to the best interests of this country, in aofar as the welfare of the natives and the progress of the country are concerned."92 Sharpe's mention of the Protectorate's labor require- ments led to a lengthy discussion of the subject. Manning estimated Nyasaland's permanent manpower utilization, exclusive of European plantation and transport workers, as follows: Periodically. Certainly emigration, with or without passes, continued unabated. BP l/l/l, Zomba Archives. 92Despatch 76, Manning to the C.O., 16 March 1912, C.O. 525/42. A. Afric C01 Ric To] 9: Sub-' The W at 11000.65 quarter of . remaining m Wife and t0 work on Henley, SEC “956’: Mannj Reuters, ax “fiber of 1 was 179160| culation b. 92 A. African agriculturalists: Cotton growers - 36,000 Rice farmers - 16,000 Tobacco, potato and groundnut growers - 500 Sub-total - 52,500 B. Africans in other permanent employment: Private servants - 4,800 Troops, police, mailmen, customs agents, watchmen - 1,000 Prisoners - 500 Water transportation employees - 300 Railway employees - 500 Mission workers - 500 Government workers (including wood sawyers) - 500 On Likoma Island - 2,000 Sub-total - 10,100 C. Africans who pay 6/ hut tax - 32,000 Total - 94,600 (93) The governor estimated the Protectorate's population at 1,000,659. The total male population was 428,000, one— quarter of whom (107,000) were able-bodied. The 12,400 remaining men (the difference between the able—bodied figure and the permanent employees) had to be kept at home to work on European estates. Unfortunately, Ronald W. Henley, Secretary of the Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce, upset Manning's calculations when he informed the C.O., Reuters, and the London Times simultaneously that the total number of Africans needed to meet Protectorate labor needs was 179,600. Henley stated that this was a "careful cal— culation based on Government figures.94 93Ibid. 94Letter from Henley to Reuters agent, Blantyre, 30 March 1912, C.O. 525/42. In 1913 George Smith estimates an A. Afr B. Per Sui The 32 The Chamber 214,000 mer bodied. Tl torate at 1 the “WOW estimated 1 diSCOHI-age 93 In 1913, Manning was replaced. The new governor, Sir George Smith, cleared up the discrepancy between Manning's estimates and Henley's figures as follows: A. African agriculturalists - 52,000 B. Permanent employees — 10,000 Sub-total - 62,000 C. Part-time manpower requirements Carriers between Ft. Jameson and Blantyre - 12,000 Other internal porters (tenga—tengas) - 15,000 Plantation needs - 90,000 Sub—total 117,000 Total 179,00095 The 32,000 taxpayers brought the total up to 211,000. The Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce estimated that ! 214,000 men (half the total male population) were able- bodied. The total number of men absent from the Protec- torate at the time was thought to be 25,000. This increased the manpower utilization figure to 236,000, 22,000 over the estimated number of able—bodied men. Hence, the need to . . . 9 discourage emigration. 95Despatch 133, Smith to the c.0., 16 May 1914, c.0. 525/55. 96Until 1966, all Malawi population figures were estimates so they must be regarded with suspicion. Gover— nor Smith's opinion of emigration is revealing. He wrote the C. O. that “This migration is of such old standing and is so attractive that it is practically impossible to stop it, even if it is desirable to do so, of which I am not yet convinced. " He viewed curtailing emigration as 'practically and economically an impossible task. The numbers who leave and return, probably not in excess of the normal increase of the population, do not, so far as I can judge, exhaust the labour of the country in a way Prejudicial to its development, and it is but a fraction which settles permanently outside the Protectorate." On During the to have had lit1 heeded. An est: 0,000 Africans time, but, sinc atotal of 90,( approximately I estates in the Smith felt tha railway to Bei internal marks the Protector; In 1913, allOwable emi SO11th AfriCa Regulation m from north 0: OrganiZed re \ Shith's thou :rohh rECOgr hitlve into‘ Sm w‘ Mannj 97 . In $15,000 : Eminent ‘ 9% DQSF 94 \ During the 1913-1914 season Nyasaland planters appeared to have had little trouble obtaining all the labor they needed. An estimated 40,000 acres were under cultivation. 30,000 Africans were needed to work the estates at any one time, but, since the average work period was four months, a total of 90,000 laborers were necessary. There were approximately 80,000 Africans settled on large private estates in the southern part of the country.97 Governor Smith felt that improved internal transportation and the railway to Beira would lead to the development of new internal markets which would induce more Africans to enter the Protectorate's money economy.98 In 1913, continued discussion of the numbers of allowable emigrants became academic (at least so far as South Africa was concerned) because the Union Immigrants Regulation Act no. 22 prohibited the introduction of Africans from north of 220 south latitude into South Africa. Organized recruiting in Nyasaland by Wenela had been Smith's thought C.O. Africanist, Lambert, commented, "The frank recognition of the futility of trying to dragoon the native into staying in the country is a great contrast to Sir W. Manning's statements." Ibid. 97In all likelihood Sharpe arrived at his figure of 10-15.000 extra workers for plantations by subtracting the Permanent Africans living on the estates from the total required labor force. 98Despatch 133, op.cit. stopped in 15 has based on On the c estimated tn of these wer miners, and workers. 2, many of then In Katanga 1 An estimate S00th Afric‘ four Zambez Wages rations, pg Miners; 11' i1 RhOdesian I Portuguese Domenic S‘ In 19 protectOra \ 99 ( Undo“: 100 'l . e: “Verde __4 95 stopped in 1909, but the decision to disallow "tropicals" was based on the continuing high death rate.99 On the eve of World War I Nyasaland government estimated the total number of absentees at 25,500. 20,000 of these were employed in Rhodesia--an estimated 9,907 miners, and 10,000 farmers, servants, clerks, and skilled workers. 2,000 Malawians labored in Northern Rhodesia; many of them were civil servants and Barotseland police. In Katanga there were probably two hundred Malawians.100 An estimated 1,000 were employed as servants and clerks in South Africa. Approximately 2,000 Malawians worked on four Zambezi sugar estates. Wages for Malawians at home were 3-4/ per month, plus rations. Wage rates for Malawians abroad were as follows: Miners: in Rhodesia -underground -from l/6 daily plus rations. surface 1/ " “ in Transvaal—underground -from 2/ " " surface - 1/6 " " Rhodesian farm workers - 15/ to 22/6 monthly plus rations. Portuguese sugar estate laborers - 10/ monthly plus rations. Domestic servants in the south — £2 to.£5 per month. Clerks, interpreters, capitaos -,£4 per month and up. Artisans, police, and skilled workers -£3 per month and up. In 1912-1913, the amount of specie imported into the Protectorate was £4,100; the amount exported by banks was 99Sheila van der Horst, Native Labour in South Africa (London: Frank Cass, 1971), p. 221. 100Personal communication from Dr. Bruce Fetter, University of Zaire, Lubumbashi, 29 January 1973. (53,490. Th brought back On the commissioner movement of they [the d facts.“102 ofcapitali earlYNYasa other facto 0f local p1 governmwt 0f Protectc The f as one of . tto contin‘ Places Mal African Co ideas Whic \ 101pl 102DE 1 Lab 03B L‘ Our 1n 96 £53,490. The £49,390 difference was credited to the money brought back by workers from Southern Africa.101 On the whole Malawians continued to emigrate. District commissioners thought they had achieved control over the movement of Africans, but Casson wrote, "I do not think they [the d.c.'s] have the opportunity of knowing the facts."102 Krishnamurthy's theory that "sinister pressures of capitalists" in South Africa and Rhodesia determined early Nyasaland labor policy does not take into account other factors in the situation.103 These were the needs of local planters, the progressive attitude of the Liberal government in London, and some genuine concern on the part of Protectorate officials about the welfare of Africans. The first chapter dealt primarily with labor emigration as one of the dominant themes in Malawian history. Chapter two continued to develop that thesis. The next chapter places Malawian labor migration in its wider Southern African context. It shows how the cross-fertilization of ideas which resulted from the travels of migrant laborers 101Protectorate Annual Report for 1912-13. 102Despatch 133, op.cit. 103B. S. Krishnamurthy, "Economic Policy: Land and Labour in Nyasaland, 1890—1914," B. Pachai, editor, The Early History of Malawi (London: Longman, 1972) p. 396. led to relig the rest of World War I. Malawia from South P the Jehovahl and Commerc: expressions Africans. ' often leade ideologies Southern Af ChilembmyS discontent Malawians j 0f the Soul 97 led to religio—political protest movements in Malawi and the rest of Southern Africa in the years during and after World War I. Malawians were the most important carriers of ideas from South Africa northwards. New religious sects such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, and unions such as the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of Africa (I.C.U.) were expressions of a growing anti-colonial consciousness among Africans. This awareness was sparked by Malawians who were often leaders of new movements. The groups and their ideologies had their effects on the entire population of Southern Africa, but particularly in Malawi where John Chilembwe's rebellion was a major example of African discontent with European rule. The chapter begins with Malawians in the first world war and ends with the lifting of the South African bancnitropical labor in 1933. In Nya Afr Mig lam los thc Durine migration Malawi, bu religiOus carried no the RhOdes 0f anti~cC ridime I rebellion militant ( labor mig; Which me‘ chapter (1 CHAPTER 3 FROM 1914 TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION In the first two decades of the 20th century, Nyasaland labour migration to and from South Africa reached alarming proportions. Migrant labourers would take back to Nyasa— land these [millenarian] ideas which would lose nothing of the mythical in the thousand mile trek. George Shepperson, "Nyasaland and the Millenniem," in Sylvia Thrupp, editor, Millennial Dreams in Action (The Hague: Mouton and Company, 1962), p. 153. During the two decades between 1914 and 1933, labor migration continued to be a dominant element in events in Malawi, but the influence came indirectly through new religious and political ideas. Potent new attitudes were carried north from South Africa by Malawian workers to the Rhodesias and Nyasaland where they became expressions of anti-colonialism. The Kalela dance was designed to ridicule European military posturing; John Chilembwe's rebellion and the Shamva Mine strike of 1927 were more militant examples of protest against white rule. Malawian labor migrants were responsible for spreading the new ideas which fomented discontent throughout South Africa. This chapter describes a wide variety of cultural phenomena. It ends with an account of the effects of the great 98 depression 0 dhcussion c With tl Germans all of the King‘ [carrier co: 0f the 9,81 httalions 1J45 were emIlloyed du hbilized i ”IDS lost suffered to even hundi follOWing : NYtlhja Yeo Ngoni and ‘ 0ther Totals The nearly (hate? } \ . Des ”Mary 1‘: 2 SEE 99 depression on the migrant labor system and begins with a discussion of the role of Malawian labor in Wbrld War I. With the commencement of hostilities against the Germans all available Malawians were put to work as members of the King's African Rifles (K.A.R.), as tenga-tengas (carrier corps porters), or in other military activities. Of the 9,819 Africans who served in the lst and 2nd Battalions of the K.A.R., 1,256 were killed in action and 1,745 were wounded. A total of 125,194 porters were employed during the war. 132,074 other Africans were mobilized in a variety of non—combatant roles. The carrier corps lost 2,611 dead-~near1y all from disease—-and suffered twelve wounded while the non-combatants lost seven hundred forty—nine dead——all from disease. The following is a tribal breakdown of those who served: King‘s African Rifles Carrier Corps Non-combatants Nyanja - 1,695 21,648 21,222 Tonga — 543 2,496 1,685 Yao — 3,459 25,115 31,749 Ngoni and Cewa — 2,115 52,547 56,427 Other - 2,007 23,388 20,964(l) Totals — 9,819 125,194 132,074 The nearly 270,000individuals utilized during the war represented a considerably larger number of men than the estimated 214,000 males available for work in the Protect— orate.2 However, Acting Governor Duff stated that while lDespatch 31, Acting Governor Duff to the C.O., 27 January 1919, C.O. 525/82. 2See Despatch 133, op.cit. carriers en: served two 1 composite n‘ times. Non interesting Vetera aburlesque Malawians 5 Africa. It the war by 1“ T0ngala1 malipenga" name derivi hecznmse the Performanc be the dam EX‘aSkaris had traine attired in Gregg Was ddhCe. Ir t 100 carriers enlisted only once, the non—combatants might have served two or three tours so the figure of 132,047 is a composite number which counts some individuals several times. Nonetheless, it is clear that the war made some interesting impacts upon African participants. Veterans of the East African campaign returned with a burlesque of the pomposity of European officers. Malawians spread this dance, the Kalela, throughout South Africa. It was introduced into Northern Rhodesia after the war by Malawian Tongas, who called it mganda dance.3 In Tongaland itself the dance was referred to as malipenga,4 while among the Yaos it was called mbeni, a name derived from the English word "band." This was because the dance took the form of a mock military band performance. Dummy guns, sticks, and gourds were carried by the dancers. The gourds were used as mock instruments. Ex-askaris were the dance leaders and some of the groups had trained buglers. The central figure was the governor attired in appropriate uniform covered with medals. Correct dress was very important in the proper performance of the dance. In Rhodesia, where mine officials unwittingly called the dances "drills," the various members of the dance group 3J. Clyde Mitchell, The Kalela Dance (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1956), P. 2. 4See Jaap Van Velsen, The Politics of Kinship (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1964) for further details on the role of malipenga in Tonga village life. were known m magistrate, president, Suspic unusual act dance group movement. served soc: and Phoeni: members £0 for Africa exPenses, involved p here being the Secret Worried a} ComPound 1 War Malawi; aIIhies in \ 5u3/ 101 were known as the king, high commissioner, general, magistrate, native commissioners, judge, president, vice president, secretary, and vice secretary.5 Suspicious Rhodesian authorities investigating this unusual activity in their mine compounds stated that the dance groups did not form the basis for any kind of labor movement. They provided the men with entertainment and served social welfare functions. They had begun at Globe and Phoenix Mine where dues were collected from group members for the purposes of helping the sick, paying fines for Africans convicted of misdemeanors, for paying funeral expenses, and helping paupers.6 There was no secrecy involved nor was there any evidence that funds collected were being used to foment strikes or other trouble. Yet, the Secretary of the Rhodesian Chamber of Mines was so worried about possible union activity that he ordered compound managers to discourage the dance.7 During the war Malawians served in the British and South African armies in addition to the K.A.R. 5N3/21/4, Rhodesian Archives. 6Letter of 18 August 1922 from Superintendent of Natives Jackson to the Chief Native Commissioner in Salisbury, N3/21/4. 7N3/21/4, Rhodesian Archives. The Mganda dance was implicated peripherally as one of the factors which in- fluenced the 1935 Copperbelt disturbances. It was suppressed, but reappeared later as kalela. Mitchell, Kalela, op.cit., p. 11. In 1911, when, for economic reasons the 2nd Nyasaland K.A.R. battalion was deactivated and the lst K.A.R. was reduced to two companies, the C.o, One wa machine gun was decorat was Mr. G. had left he Salisbury, burg he jo: in Southwe: the South 1 \ decreed th Governor M SiInelImen could reta CthoSed c One htmdre tQCtOrate that the i 1912’ the the Foreig eformed N.C.0‘ S ZanZibar ] Q (A. 102 One was Mr. Frederick Njilima who enlisted in the machine gun corps of the 18th Reserve London Regiment and was decorated for bravery in the Marne trenches.8 Another was Mr. G. H. Daniel Ang‘oma, a Tonga from Chinteche, who had left home in early 1904. After working as a waiter in Salisbury, Bulawayo, Francistown, Kimberley, and Johannes- burg he joined the South African army and fought briefly in Southwest Africa. In December 1915, Ang'oma accompanied the South African forces to East Africa where he spent two decreed that the regimental band should cease to exist. Governor Manning offered to find machine gunners and signalmen from among his infantry personnel if only he could retain his band, which he assured C.O. officials was composed of "trained soldiers ready for active service." One hundred seventy—four European residents of the Pro- tectorate sent a petition to the Colonial Secretary begging that the band be kept on, but to no avail. On 31 January 1912, the band was discharged from active duty. However, the Foreign Office had given its permission for a band to be formed on Zanzibar. So on 5 April 1912, twenty—one N.C.O.s and enlisted men from the band left Zomba for Zanzibar Island. H. Moyse-Bartlett, The King's African Rifles (Aldershot: Gale and Polden Ltd., 1956), p. 694. George Shepperson, "Nyasaland and the Millennium,“ in Sylvia L. Thrupp, editor, Millennial Dreams in Action (The Hague: Mouton and Company, 1962), p. 150; and B. Pachai, Malawi. The History of the Nation (forthcoming, London: Longmans), p. 134. In 1907 Frederick Njilima and his brother, Matthew, sons of Duncan Njilima who was executed for high treason following John Chilembwe's rebellion, went with an American Negro missionary to the U.S.A. to be educated. Matthew attended schools in Missouri, Frederick in Kentucky. Frederick was unsuccessful in enrolling in Cambridge, went to war, and returned to Malawi in 1919. years in M0 Many Malawi remained th the sisal 1 When 1 Malawi retl savings. '. privileged they had I or m held forme their catt during the Chiefly fE hitting ar the Commm \ 9 Ang he was em on Natal' 11 F i‘tortué Paper ( 19 103 years in Mombasa, Nairobi, Tanga, Tabora, and Kilwa.9 Many Malawians who served in the K.A.R. in Tanzania remained there for several years after the war to work on the sisal plantations. When the ex-soldiers from the Chitipa area of Northern Malawi returned home they purchased cattle with their savings. Their new wealth permitted them to assume privileged social and economic positions in the communities they had left as impoverished young men. Known as mahuni or matsotsi,lo they came to occupy the positions of respect held formerly by chiefs and their auxiliaries who had lost their cattle (and thus their prestige) to raiding Germans during the war. Returned soldiers often married into chiefly families, which bolstered the latter while per- mitting an ordinary individual to achieve a high place in the community due to his migrant experience.ll 9Ang'oma never returned to Chinteche. In 1937, when he was employed as a beach attendant at the Ferndale Hotel on Natal‘s south coast, he wrote a long letter to the newspaper Nkhani za Nyasaland relating his experiences and warning young Malawians to beware of South African women. Nkhani za Nyasaland (December, 1937), Cewa article trans— lated by Mr. Nicholas Tembo in Salisbury, 1973. 10Mahuni is derived from "Hun", the pejorative word for German. Matsotsi is a word of South African derivation which means social misfit or criminal. The “ma" prefix indicates plural. llF.S.K. Chiwona, "The Impact of the First World War On Northern Chitipa," University of Malawi History Seminar Paper (1973), pp. 7—8. Nyasa] particular] var.12 Th5 comfidentia beginning 1 Government of Malawia was noted emigration Dr. E Mar, Whil his uncle, theY jourr first at i Mine in B( trips bac] Africa wh “ethOdist Merican E” a tri In C)btain City aCCc \ l in 5:2: 13 “02/13: 104 Nyasaland authorities claimed that emigration, particularly to Rhodesia, slowed considerably during the war.12 This statement is contradicted by a 1916 confidential R.N.L.B. report which said that since the beginning of hostilities pressure exerted by Nyasaland Government to obtain porters had driven "record numbers" of Malawians to seek sanctuary in Rhodesia. This increase was noted particularly during the rainy season when emigration usually slowed to a walk.13 Dr. Banda was one Malawian who left home during the war. While working at Hartley Hospital he was joined by his uncle, the Reverend Hanock Msokera Phiri. Together they journeyed to South Africa where they were employed first at a Dundee, Natal, coal mine, then at Weit Deep Mine in Boxburg District. The Rev. Phiri made several trips back and forth between Nyasaland, Rhodesia, and South Africa while Kamuzu joined the American Negro-run African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boxburg. He met the American Bishop Vernon who encouraged him to save his money for a trip to the United States. In July 1925, committed to obtaining a medical degree, Kamuzu sailed for New York City accompanied by the Negro Bishop Gregg. The Rev. Phiri 12Despatch 50, Duff to the C.O., 10 February 1919, C.O. 525/82. l3C Confidential R. N. L. B. report, 11 February 1916, N3/22/11, Rhodesian Archives. spent a ver churches ir Zambia.l4 new religiv Africa. Durin variety of heard abou from the C With South JOhm Tengc religious Kamvana re While WOI} Migrant w( witnesses soMthern ,' 105 spent a very full life of nearly ninety years opening churches in Malawi, Tanzania, the Congo, Angola, and Zambia.14 He was one of the migrant Malawians who carried new religious and political ideas throughout Southern Africa. During their travels Malawians were exposed to a variety of influences. Isa MacDonald Lawrence may have heard about Marcus Garvey's ideas from Malawians returning from the Congo. Charles Domingo and others were in touch with South African intellectuals such as John L. Dube and John Tengo Jabavu, who were criticizing the existing religious and political forms in South Africa.15 Elliott Kamwana read the Watchtower newspaper for the first time while working as a medical assistant in a Bulawayo hospital. Migrant workers were strongly attracted to the Jehovah's Witnesses and spread their Watchtower ideas all over Southern Africa.16 14Department of Antiquities Oral Records, interview with Rev. Phiri. For more on his career see Roderick J. MacDonald, "Reverend Hanock Msokera Phiri and the Establish- ment in Nyasaland of the African Methodist Episcopal Church," African Historical Studies, III, 1 (1970). 15George Shepperson and Thomas Price, Independent African. (Edinburgh: The University Press, 1958), P. 162. 16J. R. Hooker, "Witnesses and Watchtower in the Rhodesias and Nyasaland," Journal of African History, VI, 1 (1965). The Jehovah's Witnesses were directed by Europeans; the Watchtower movement was run by Africans. They believed that Satan had taken over the world, but that Jesus was pre— Paring to return very soon and only the chosen would be ready to receive Him. In 19] from Rhode: Rhodesia}. 1,000 Watcl Rhodesia.l Malawian n working at Rhodesia, Gabriel wt Mhite but Sion that believed v Missions ; September Mas Very Belgium, In 1 awell~ed me- In 106 In 1917, all known Watchtower adherents were deported from Rhodesia to their homes in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia.17 But by November 1922, there were an estimated 1,000 Watchtower members, mostly Malawians, back in Rhodesia.l8 In Bulawayo, the Watchtower leader was a Malawian named Kunga who had been converted in 1918. While working at Rezende Mine in the Penhalonga District of Rhodesia, Kunga was visited in a dream by the angel Gabriel who told him to go to Bulawayo. Kunga was anti- white but admired America because he was under the impres- sion that black and white people were equal there. He believed that Rhodesian authorities prevented more American missions from opening in the country for that reason. In September 1923, he was preaching that the end of the world was very near, that war would come, and the United States, Belgium, and Portugal would combine to destroy England.19 In 1922, the Watchtower leader in Mazoe District was a well-educated Malawian named Wilson who worked at Shamva Mine. In Mazoe District, the number of church members 17T. O. Ranger, The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia (London: Heinimann, 1970), P. 145. l8Questionnaire for the South African Native Churches Inquiry Commission filled out by Rhodesian Chief Native Commissioner, Herbert J. Taylor: 17 November 1922, N3/5/6, Rhodesian Archives. 19Ranger, African Voice, op:cit., p. 201. fluctuated There were but nightlj midnight bl Africans w difference of indigen In 19 appeared i consumptic Saturday j Malawian p “RCA nal teacher, II \ 20 Eu WatChtOWe preaching Such acti were high expulsion aSiMlilar Wesleyam all eStabl slmPlicit t Sir Own and taugh CharacteI Questionr $151“ Was but by In 2 , lll lnfhlens: 107 fluctuated since it was merely a transit point to the south. There were few female members, ministers received no pay, but nightly meetings were held. Baptisms were held at midnight because the men worked during the day and local Africans were hostile to Watchtower.20 Thus religious differences joined the economic reasons for the antipathy of indigenous Africans towards migrants. In 1922, a sect called "Saba," of Malawian origin, appeared in Salisbury. It was described as banning the consumption of pork and holding worship services on Saturday instead of Sunday. During the same year a Malawian named John Wesley Newton Dingiswayo, described as a "BCA native trained originally as a native Wesleyan teacher," started his own church in Rhodesia.21 20European—run missions in Nyasaland accused the Watchtower church of being politically motivated and of preaching sedition. However, Taylor found no evidence of such activities in Rhodesia. Watchtower members there were highly moralistic and punished sexual misbehavior with expulsion. The Mazoe Native Commissioner W. A. Devine saw a similarity between the Watchtower movement and early Wesleyan Methodism in England. Both had broken away from an established organization; they desired to return to the simplicity of the Bible; they wanted to preach and lead their own people without outside interference; teachers and taught belonged to the same class; and adherents were characterized as intensely fervent. Church Inquiry Questionnaire, op.cit. John Wesley's political conserva— tism was characteristic of some African Watchtower believers but by no means all of them. 2 . . lIbid. Apparently the "Saba" group had been influenced by Islamic Observances. While member of lC.C.A.C.l the Africa numbered 1 have been as stated all Depar cessions and ColOu of Anglo- IIEItiVe an a Servant \ 22 the "Clea betWeen ( Profanity intoXicar healing. Church‘ with hypm in Zion : beans’ 9: 8138/140 23I Ovenv B ritaliat 1d fare 10mg ha melts, Ely mesSa CUSSedne 108 While working in South Africa Dingiswayo had become a member of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church of Zion (C.C.A.C.Z.).22 He left that church to form his own, the African Episcopal Church of Zion, which in 1922 numbered fifty members. The reason for his secession may have been the policy of the C.C.A.C.Z. towards Africans as stated by Mr. Van Buren Shumaker, Chief Reorganizer of all Departments of Zion's Work Throughout Africa, Con- cessions Register, and Chief Marriage Officer for White and Coloured Persons. This policy was to "aid the officials of Anglo-Saxon Governments to control with authority the native and aid him to attain to a place of usefulness as a servant people."23 22The C.C.A.C.Z. headquarters were in Zion, Illinois, the "Cleanest Recorded City in the World," located half way between Chicago and Milwaukee. The church prohibited profanity, obscenity, card-playing, dancing, drugs, intoxicants, and tobacco. Part of its doctrine was faith healing. Zion, Illinois was owned and operated by the church. Local institutions and industries began each day with hymn singing, Bible reading, and prayer. Industries in Zion included the manufacture of marshmallows, jelly beans, graham crackers, aprons, and handkerchiefs. Sl38/l40, Rhodesian Archives. 23Ibid. At one time Shumaker was accused of using overly blunt language in his public ministry. He retaliated, "Listen, nearly 40 years ago I was called to bid farewell to my dying mother. Her last effort for my eternal welfare was to press The Precious Bible into my Young hands and I would be disloyal to my angel mother's memory, to my God, and my fellow man if I was to tone down my message against sin, hypocrisy and 20th century cussedness. There is no place in Zion's ranks for cowards and weaklings." A Mar officials from the C ministers without Si Dingiswayw to Nyasalr was not u not recog other Mal Rhodesia. In ] of the c, MJoni, J; November of Melse‘ Preachin‘ aSSOCiat SeCts. African erstwhil man for 109 A March 1926, letter from Shumaker to Rhodesian officials indicated that Dingiswayo had been excommunicated from the C.C.A.C.Z. because he had appointed and ordained ministers and assumed authority to act for the C.C.A.C.Z. without Shumaker's permission. In July 1924, the defrocked Dingiswayo was declared a prohibited immigrant and deported to Nyasaland. He may have been deported because his church was not under European supervision in which case it was not recognized by the Rhodesian government. Occasionally other Malawians appeared as C.C.A.C.Z. ministers in Rhodesia. In 1931, a Port Herald Nyanja, Butawa, was in charge of the C.C.A.C.Z. in Salisbury and his assistant was an Ngoni, Jacob Chasekuka, from Ft. Jameson. In late November 1932, the Native Commissioner at Chipinga, south of Melsetter, reported that a Malawian named Chitani was preaching "subversive doctrines" of an anti-white tenor associated with the Watchtower and Zion Apostolic City sects. The Chief Native COmmissioner's office sent an African named Zwekare to spy on Chitani. Himself an erstwhile preacher, Zwekare was thought to be an excellent man for the job because: "With his seeming ingenuousness and his simulated desire to hear about the new teaching, [he] will have a better chance of getting the required evidence." In fact hi officials groups. In M ajob at l Matchtowe: Native Co: interest what auth Nyasulu r c m E l c When he I Nlasuyu ( coltinue. Ship rol. behaviOr Rob for Clem and Com 110 In fact his identity was soon discovered.24 Rhodesian officials continued to discourage independent religious groups. In November 1923, a Malawian named Nyasulu was refused a job at Wankie coal mine where formerly he had been a Watchtower leader. He was interviewed by Peter Nielson, Native Commissioner at Wankie and a man with a keener interest in Africans than most Rhodesians. When asked what authority he had for calling himself a prophet, Nyasulu replied, Isaiah, the first verse of the sixty-first chapter, 'The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath annointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.’ When he left Wankie, 1,000 friends and co~religionists saw Nyasulu off at the railway station.25 Salisbury officials continued to deport Malawians, especially those in leader- ship roles, who were suspected of encouraging subversive behavior. One of those men was Robert Sambo. Robert Sambo was a Tonga and the Bulawayo organiser for Clements Kadalie's South African-centered Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union(the I.C.U.). Sambo had the Sagacity and vision to be concerned not only with urban M 248138/140, Rhodesian Archives. 255139/106, Rhodesian Archives. industrial Manger say In the au' Robert Sar Clements i an: H. D) P—h Thereafte Ndebele a In 1 the forms StreSSinr Whit} Ciristien and test.- 111 industrial workers, but also with rural labor. T. 0. Ranger says of Mr. Sambo, Of all the African spokesmen in Southern Rhodesia in the 1920's he probably had the broadest conception of the African political struggle and the soundest understanding of the way in which rural, urban, the religious and the intellectual grievances of Africans were related to each other.26 In the autumn of 1927, the Rhodesian government deported Robert Sambo to Nyasaland because of his union activities. Clements Kadalie protested to the authorities: In spite of your ban we shall find means, as we have done in the past, to get our message to our fellow workers and we shall find men and women in your colony to raise and uphold the banner of freedom from all forms of oppression. Thereafter Malawians ceased to provide leadership for the Ndebele and Shonafidominated Rhodesian branch of the I.C.U. In 1928, Robert Sambo brought his democratic creed to the formation of an independent church in Nyasaland. Stressing the importance of Christianizing the entire community and attacking the elitism of mission-educated Christians, Sambo helped Levi Mumba draft a constitution and testament of principles for the African National Church.28 The major spiritual forces behind the church 26Ranger, African Voice, op.cit., p. 150. 27Ranger, African Voice, op.cit., p. 152. 28Those documents can be found in Monica Wilson, Communal Rituals of the Nyakyusa (New York: Oxford University Press, 1959), pp. 191-197. were Simor as a print store keep suspended believed since Bib wives he Christiar six at Li at Karonr the new I treasure tiling a River in retain c Christie conscim Overthm In of year Chul‘ch of mm 112 were Simon Kamkhati Mkandawire and Paddy Nyasulu. Trained as a printer at Livingstonia, Mkandawire had worked as a7 store keeper in the Congo before returning home. He was suspended from the Livingstonia church for polygamy. He believed in the unity of the Old and New Testaments, and since Biblical figures such as Abraham had had several wives he felt this practice should be sanctioned by the Christian church. Paddy Nyasulu graduated from standard six at Livingstonia and had worked as a government clerk at Karonga, then at Tukuyu, Tanzania. Upon formation of the new church he became vice principal and general treasurer as well as being placed in charge of prosely- tizing among the Ngonde and Nyakyusa across the Songwe River in Tanzania. The African National Church wanted to retain chiefs and customary behavior, but within a unified Christian framework. Church members were politically conscious, but did not look for a Watchtower-like cosmic overthrow of white rule. In 1925, another Malawian who had lived for a number Of years in Capetown, Jordan Msumbwa, formed The Last Church of God and His Christ. It brought together a group of men who had been suspended from white churches for POlygamy. Msumbwa wrote: The desire of the establishment of this church is, she is pity for the people of Africa. Many brethren from Europe and America came here to help us believe God and to be a husband of one woman. We believed but many of us failed . . . It is not our law. It is Like the l to Tanzan Christian ministers abroad. in an all interests well as j in neigh] Armor Lundazi anya Mka Y- Mapar Jonathan Ilissiona ilagodi m “than, Kauntie . hesteIn 113 not God's law. Therefore, this church is coming out from every sect which rejects to worship God with one husband and many wives; she believes and cooperates with the faith of Abraham, the father of us all.2 Like the African National Church, Msumbwa's group spread to Tanzania. The independent churches syncretized Christianity with traditional African beliefs. They ministered to the needs of Malawians both at home and abroad. In foreign lands they provided emotional security in an alien atmosphere. The established churches were interested in lending spiritual support to emigrants as well as in sending out African missionaries to proselytize in neighboring countries. Among the African missionaries who went to Zambia's Lundazi area before 1914 were Joel Zatha Mhango, S. Ching'— anya Mkandawire, Jeremiah Samwili, David Mbvera, and Y. Mapara——all Tumbuka speakers. In 1922, the Rev. Jonathan Chirwa and Dr. Donald Fraser, a Church of Scotland missionary, set up a mission station at Chasefu in Chief Magodi Ndhlovu's area in Lundasi. A Tumbuka, the Rev. Yobe Nthala, became its first African minister. The Rev. David Kaunda established Lubwa Mission in Chinsali on the far western side of the Luangwa River. Another Tumbuka, 29Ranger, African Voice, op.cit., p. 21. Information On the African National Church and The Last Church of God and his Christ was from T. O. Ranger, The African Churches of Tanzania (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, n.d.); Wilson, Communal, op.cit.; and Joe D. Manda, ”Independency in the Nkhata Bay Area from about 1930 to Current Times," University of Malawi, History Seminar Paper (1969-70). the Rev. M Zambia.30 In 15 Rev. J. Ki Mozambiquw 1939, the ordained Africa Pr to Rhodes During Wc three hf] h. Ndalar Rev. Msar Parishio In South Af that Mal native, tives of Malawia] \ 30 the ppm PiRer ( 114 the Rev. Mphande, headed the mission station at Mwenzo, Zambia.30 In 1931, the Blantyre Presbytery decided to send the Rev. J. Kandulu to Chinde and the Rev. D. Msaka to Beira, Mozambique, to visit Malawian Christians there. In October 1939, the Revs. Harry K. Matecheta, the first African ordained by the Blantyre Synod of the Central Church of Africa Presbyterian (C.C.A.P.) in 1911, and C. Msamu went to Rhodesia to minister to the needs of migrant workers. During World War II, the King's African Rifles requested three African chaplains. In 1943, Messrs. S. Mliule and A. Ndalama left for Kenya where they were joined by the Rev. Msamu.31 European missionaries also visited their parishioners abroad. In 1911, the Rev. A. MacAlpine of Livingstonia toured South African mines. A Johannesburg mine manager told him that Malawians were "an active and intelligent type of native, and somewhat more reliable than the representa— 32 tives of many other tribes on the Rand." Occasionally Malawians abroad requested the services of a missionary. 30J. B. C. Mkandawire, "The Tumbuka-Ngoni Relation in the Mzimba District," University of Malawi History Seminar Paper (1971-72). 3 . . . . lRev. S. D. ChiphangWi, “The Development of African Participation in the Blantyre Mission," University of Malaw1 History Seminar Paper (1971-72). 3 . 2Mufuka Thesis, op.cit., p. 64 quoting from Livingstonia News (4 April 1911). In 11 Christoph Myasaland for a pri sacrament Barnes, w Malawian time, Ba] bicycle; Upor Sixty Lil mines. kinds of building aduihist give the his wife \ 332 moo mi Sharpe, prirlter Biblica 34 LUbUmba belt an in Lubu Rant 51: Of thei ConsMia SeVent} frgm D] 115 In 1921, a one—time Lake Malawi steamer capitao, Christopher Chimbuto, wrote the Anglican Bishop of Nyasaland on Likoma Island from Elizabethville asking for a priestly visit so Malawians could receive the sacraments. Accordingly, an Anglican priest named Herbert Barnes, who had worked on Likoma Island, went to visit Malawian immigrants in Katanga. Residing in Zambia at the time, Barnes made the four hundred fifty mile trip by bicycle.33 Upon his arrival in Elizabethville, Barnes found over sixty Likoma Islanders, none of whom worked on the copper mines. They were all employed in town in "the better kinds of work - printing, storekeeping, carpentering, and building."34 He met with a group of forty Malawians and administered communion to many of them. He refused to give the sacrament to one man because he had been away from his wife and children for twenty years. Some of the 33An early English miner, George Grey, bicycled the 1000 miles from Katanga to Livingstone in ten days. R. R. Sharpe, Early Days in Katanga (Bulawayo: Rhodesian Printers Ltd., 1956). Barnes referred to Malawians in Biblical terms as people "of the Dispersion." 34Malawians continue to hold superior jobs in Lubumbashi. An informant who lives in the Zambian Copper— belt and travels to Zaire on business told me that Malawians ln Lubumbashi are now all "heads of departments." Interview January 1973. Upon arrival in Elizabethville, Malawians went straight to the British Vice Consulate for jobs. One Of their countrymen, Richard Nkhata, was head clerk at the consulate. For housing they went to the Methodist and SeVenth Day Adventist Churches. Personal communication from Dr. Bruce Fetter, 21 June 1973, Lusaka, Zambia. others haw planning infants, had prepa The other Congo Chr child‘s r Male because 1 they were their be: employer: hung the lead. Africa, Protests In bl its 3 OperatOI receive: f0fined. Rikvawal 1915 to 116 others had brought their families to the Congo and were planning to settle there permanently. Barnes baptized two infants, including the son of one of the first Africans he had prepared for confirmation on Likoma Island in 1900. The other was a baby girl whose parents wanted to name her Congo Christmas. Barnes persuaded them to change the child's name to Elizabeth Christmas.35 Malawians held good jobs in neighboring countries because they were better educated than local Africans and they were conscientious workers. Although many identified their best interests with those of their European employers, others were not afraid to speak out against injustices they suffered as workers. Just as they became the leaders of independent religious movements in Southern Africa, Malawians were instrumental in sparking labor protests, union activities, and strikes. In September 1927, Rhodesia's Shamva Mine was struck by its 3,500 African miners. The "hammer boys" (drill operators) led the complainants, arguing that they received inadequate pay for the dangerous work they per- formed. One of the strike leaders was a Malawian, Tom Rikwawa, who had been employed at Shamva once before from 1915 to 1919. After working on the Rand mines he returned to Shamva in February 1926. He boasted of being responsible 35Herbert Barnes, "The Nyasas of the Dispersion," Central Africa, 40 (1922), pp. 25-33. for demanv fired him South Afr September catalyst the men v The creases I carried v Investig. took cou Plain. forCt; t Menaced armed tr Communir Strains the Com ameetil back to 117 for demands for higher wages at a Johannesburg mine which fired him. He told his fellow miners of receiving 8612 in South Africa for work which paid far less at Shamva. On 5 September, the accidental death of a "hammer boy" was the catalyst for the strike; on 12 September, a Monday morning, the men walked out. The mine management refused to negotiate wage in- creases while the workers were striking, so all talks were carried out with government representatives. Criminal Investigation Division (C.I.D.) men were present, so it took courage for an African to stand up publicly and com- plain. The government had brought in police for a show of force; there were threats of mass arrests; the police menaced the miners with bayonets and rifles. Some Africans armed themselves with sticks, which were confiscated, and communications between compounds were cut in order to put strains on worker unity. On Saturday, the 17th, some of the contractors persuaded their men to return to work. At a meeting that day some "loyal" Africans got up and went back to work and the Strike was broken.36 36Usually foreign Africans were obstacles to strike activities at mines because local workers were hostile to them, but at Shamva the great majority were aliens which meant they cooperated more closely with each other. Of the 3:429 African employees at the mine, 57% or 1,962 were from Nyasaland and 961 were from Northern Rhodesia. All the suspected ring leaders of the strike were aliens and twenty— two of them were deported. I. R. Phimister, "The Shamva Mine Strike of 1927: An Emerging African Proletariat," University College of Rhodesia, Henderson Seminar Paper #21, (November, 1972). Clem clerk and Rhodesian strikers ahealthy have led generatil African Cle Village of the i he was r tine Kat he movev COtton i moved t. Manager office Go‘vork RObert Manet} finding Mr, A. Capote. t° Vet. Harbor, durker ...—.4 118 Clements Kadalie had worked for a year at Shamva as a clerk and the men there may have heard of him, but the Rhodesian C.I.D. failed to establish any links between the strikers and Kadalie‘s I.C.U. Blessed with keen ambition, a healthy ego, and organizational ability Kadalie might have led his nation to independence had he been born two generations later. As it was he formed the largest African labor union the continent had ever seen. Clements Kadalie was born in the mid-1890's in Chifira Village near Bandawe. His grandfather was paramount chief of the Tonga. Educated up to Standard Six at Livingstonia, he was Dr. Laws' private secretary in 1912. For a brief time Kadalie was a teacher, but before World War I began he moved southwards. After working for one month at a cotton estate in Mozambique, the future trade unionist moved to Shamva, then to the Rhodesian Railway Traffic Manager's office in Bulawayo, and then to an insurance office in the same city. After quarreling with a white co-worker he journeyed to CapetOWn, where his older brother, Robert Victor Kadalie, had settled. There he held a variety of jobs, mainly as a packer and messenger, before finding employment in a cooperative store operated by Mr. A. F. Batty, an aspiring politician. At that time Capetown had a qualified franchise which permitted non-whites to vote. Batty ran on the Labour Party ticket for Capetown Harbour M.P. and asked Kadalie to organize the black dock workers for him. Batty lost the election, but in December 1919, Made strike col growing A: in South 1 In J sphere, t Mfrica (t elected t angered 1 national Under Kat twenty-f resigned °PROsiti 1927, ti himinist the emp] httween Critici \ 37 with bo 1927 me RhOdesi 119 1919, Kadalie's dockers struck for higher wages. The strike collapsed after a few weeks, but it was a time of growing African insistence in demanding their civil rights in South Africa. In July 1920, taking advantage of the militant atmo- sphere, the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of Africa (the I.C.U.) was formed. At first Kadalie was not elected to any office in the new organization and this angered him. However, by 1921 he had become the union's national secretary, a post he would hold for eight years. Under Kadalie's leadership I.C.U. membership grew from twenty—four individuals to 100,000 men in 1929, when he resigned to form a splinter union. Factionalism and white opposition led to the disintegration of the I.C.U. In 1927, the South African Government promulgated the Native Administration Act which contained a clause prohibiting the expression of opinions intended to promote "hostility" between the races. This was intended to restrict Kadalie's criticism of color bar and pass laws.37 37The ICU newspaper “The Worker's Herald" was unpopular with both Rhodesian and Nyasaland authorities. In a July 1927 memo addressed to the Secretary to the Premier, the Rhodesian Chief Native Commission gave his opinion of the newspaper. "Its contents are the most unwholesome pabulum for our natives through their anti—white tone and seditious implications." The C.N.C. recommended that the paper be banned. A Reuters despatch of 4 July 1927, reported that Isa MacDonald Lawrence had been sentenced to three years hard labor at Blantyre the previous October for bringing copies of "The Worker's Herald" into the country. 8138/10, Rhodesian Archives. See Rotberg, op.cit., p. 193, for Lawrence's later role in the formation of the Nyasaland African Congress. In 1 Organizai the only not accep Jones, a but when William I organizi: Cape Pro Perhaps never re African 1920's.3 The needed s Protecti official NatiVe A ComPERSE where Me In AUPUE \ 38] Kadalie, fitivitj llme w r638, iaarthej W 120 In 1927, Kadalie travelled to the International Labour Organization conference in Geneva, but his credentials as the only legitimate South African workers' delegate were not accepted. A British Labour Party M.P., Arthur Creech- Jones, a man of great sympathy to Africans, helped Kadalie, but when he returned to Johannesburg he was opposed by William Ballinger, whom Creech—Jones had sent out to aid in organizing the ICU. Settled permanently in East London, Cape Province, Kadalie became a South African citizen, perhaps to alleviate the danger of being deported, and never returned to Bandawe. He may have been the outstanding African leader on the continent during the decade of the 1920's.38 The fact that Malawians migrant workers desperately needed some sort of union representation or government protection is shown in numerous letters they sent back to officials in Zomba begging for help. Superintendent of Native Affairs Casson took the responsibility of forcing compensation out of reluctant Rhodesian employers in cases where Malawians had been injured or mistreated on the job. In August 1915, Casson wrote the Chief Native Commissioner 38Information on Kadalie is contained in Clements Kadalie, My Life and the ICU (London: Frank Cass and Co. Ltd., 1970); additional information on trade union activities in South Africa can be found in Edward Roux, Time Longer than Rope (Madison, The University of Wisconsin Press, 1966) and Margaret Ballinger, From Union to Apartheid (Folkestone: Bailey Bros. and Swinfen Ltd., 969). in Salisl name Mag inadegua asked fo per year Union Ac death or and £30 Mttorney if Falcr 90Vernnn agreed - with tn eStabli In euploYe bi iett tfeat P feeding PM 1, nuts. Medital twagge] been d: aCCPRmv \ 3 121 in Salisbury that the 3 compensation paid to a Malawian name Magombo for losing an arm at Falcon Mine was inadequate. The man was permanently disabled and Casson asked forf 40 which would yield income for Magombo of (£1 per year at 2 1/2% interest. He quoted the (South African) Union Act 15 of 1911, which established a scale of,£10 for death on the job,a€l—JEZO for partial incapacitation, and £30 to,£50 for total incapacitation. The Rhodesian Attorney General suggested that “the effect would be good" if Falcon Mine agreed to grant Magombo,£5 which the government would match. Falcon Mine management grudgingly agreed to go along with the proposal "as a matter of grace," with the clear understanding that no precedent would be established by the grant.39 In May 1920, two Malawians, Walter and Knight, employed at Rezende Gold Mine at Gwelo protested to Casson by letter that the compound manager there,“treat us as he treat pigs." He was beating African workers and not feeding them properly. Employees at Rezende were given only 1/4 pound of meat per week, no beans, and no monkey nuts. In June, the Inspector of Compounds reported to the Medical Director that these allegations were "greatly exaggerated," but he was forced to acknowledge that it had been difficult to force Rezende management to provide proper accommodation for its laborers. A recommended change house 39N3/22/l, Rhodesian Archives. had not i nanagemer accident In about ma Supervis Matives Commissi the migr across 1 murdere; East hf: Em letters 29 May NPara t On 1 J1: Obtaihe July or Gatonal and fa: the Ch: detaint \ 122 had not been built; there were shortages of beans and nuts; management was "unsympathetic" to Africans; and the accident rate was "rather high."40 In 1923, Rhodesian Government did show some concern about maltreatment of emigrant workers by establishing a Supervisor of Facilities for the Passage of Northern Natives as a sub—department under the Chief Native Commissioner. The Supervisor was responsible for travelling the migrant routes in Mozambique, for establishing ferries across the Zambesi, and for putting down robbers and murderers. Food depots were set up inside Portuguese East Africa, but the only medical post was at Mt. Darwin.41 Emigrants who were treated badly abroad also wrote letters of complaint to their traditional leaders. On 28 May 1920, Chief Mwase of Kasungu obtained a pass at Ngara to leave Nyasaland to visit his people in the south. On 1 July he entered Rhodesia at Mt. Darwin where he obtained a Rhodesian Registration Certificate. During July and August, he visited Cewas in Shamva, Salisbury, Gatoma, Que Que, Lovely Mine and Bulawayo. Various mine and farm owners complained to Rhodesian authorities that the chief was encouraging his people to desert so he was detained for questioning by police at Mt. Darwin on his 4OIbid. 41Report of the Committee to Enquire into Emigrant Labour, (The Travers-Lacey Report), (Zomba: Government Printer, 1936), p. 24. journey Z Rhodesia collect him.42 Myasalar time whe urgency Th: the Empj Which aj Affairs Secreta Prescri Protect Casson retruit Ir bring } tion. agains CornPan The Ch land w 123 journey home. He stated that his sole reasons for visiting Rhodesia were to see his people, to gather kit, and to collect money so the police had no choice but to release him.42 This episode shows that traditional leaders in Nyasaland were taking an interest in their subjects at a time when government seemed to be losing its sense of urgency about the plight of labor migrants. This lack of governmental concern was exemplified by the Employment of Natives (Amendment) Ordinance of 1920 which abolished the office of Superintendent of Native Affairs and transferred Casson's duties to the Governor's Secretariat. The Governor also was given the power to prescribe the form of pass needed for Africans leaving the Protectorate.43 Legislated out of his job, a disgruntled Casson left the civil service and went to work as a labor recruiter for the Trans—Zambesi Railway. In 1921 he asked Nyasaland Government for a permit to bring 5,000 men to Mozambique to work on railway construc— tion. The Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce protested against both the employment of Casson by the railway company and the recruitment of such a large number of men. The Chamber stated that the 270,000 adult males in Nyasa— land were all needed for work at home. 50,000 were h.“— 42N3/22/5, Rhodesian Archives. 43Despatch 122, Governor Smith to the C.O., 12 April 1920, C.O. 525/89. necessary were neel employmer for the How the proj few Euro would ad with the expensit be assur workers request Mozambi. unsucce it did Th work on time. hut ta) hPf hi end of Why \ 4 8 Wu 4 Commen __4__4 I 124 necessary to maintain European agriculture; 20,000 carriers were needed; 30,000 man-months were required for government employment; and African agricultural requirements accounted for the remainder.44 However, Governor Smith said he had no objection to the project if the workers came from districts containing few Europeans. He felt that this employment opportunity would add new taxpayers to the rolls and provide Africans with the means to purchase cloth, which currently was expensive in the Protectorate. The Colonial Office had to be assured that efforts had been made to recruit the workers in Mozambique before it would approve Casson's request. Colonial Secretary Milner asked the Governor of Mozambique for confirmation that these efforts had been unsuccessful. He then approved the request provided that it did not interfere with local planters' needs.45 The conditions of employment designed by Casson for work on the railway can be considered models for their time. They called for a one year contract at 12/ per month; but tax was paid and deducted from the employee's wages; half his wages were deferred to be paid in Blantyre at the end of his contract; one free blanket was issued to each employee; transportation to and from home was free of M“ 44Confidential Despatch, Governor Smith to the C.O., 8 August 1921, C.O. 525/97. 45Telegram from Governor Smith to the C.O. and draft Comments on the reply, 23 June 1921, C.O. 525/89. charge a proper q employer partial, of anyor illness Nyasalar listen 1 Be‘ Malawia; died, t water. six poi working buted t of the ligger that a] Rhodes: the fa: rail t: 16M: and SO \ 4 5 Sept 4 #4....4 125 charge as were food on the journey, medical care, and proper quarters. Sick workers were invalided home at employer's expense; compensation for disablement was £5 for partial, £10 for total, and (£10 was promised to the heirs of anyone killed on the job or who died from job—connected illness or injury. Employees received Sundays off and a Nyasaland Government official was to visit work-sites and listen to any complaints from the men.46 Between 9 August 1920, and 5 September 1921, 1,439 Malawians were recruited for railway work. Thirty-eight died, thirteen from dysentery, probably caused by bad water. The death rate of twenty-seven per thousand was six points higher than the mortality rate for Malawians working on Rhodesian mines at the time. This was attri- buted to the speed at which the work was conducted. Many of the workers suffered from leg ulcers caused by inflamed jigger bites.47 The 1922 Blue Book Annual Report stated that after the opening of through-rail connections with Rhodesia there was no sign of increased emigration because the fare was out of reach of most Africans. The novelty of rail travel soon caught on though and in 1925 2,805 Africans left the Protectorate by rail in search of work in Rhodesia and South Africa. “M” 46Confidential Despatch, Governor Smith to the C.O., 5 September 1921, C.O. 525/97. 47Ibid. In in Rhode Rosambo eighteen more dir was the Mtoko a1 Rhodesia ient di: Salisbu: hfter c Ferry t Chinyan \ 4E hfrioar LOWer 5 Chikwap Centre: ChOlo Mlanje Blanty; Chirad: Zomba Upper 1 South ; This t 126 In 1924, an estimated 30,000 Malawians were employed in Rhodesia.48 A newly established port of entry at Rusambo shortened the trip southwards from six weeks to eighteen days. The Mt. Darwin-Rusambo route connected more directly with the Lilongwe area of Nyasaland which was the main departure point for most emigrants. The Tete- Mtoko and Ft. Jameson—Feira routes were too roundabout for 4 9 Rusambo was a more conven- Rhodesian official's liking. ient dispersal point for either Mrewa or Shamva and Salisbury, although there was a lack of water in Mozambique. After crossing the Zambesi into Mozambique at Msenangwe Ferry there was only one permanent water supply-~at Chinyanda——for seventy miles to the Ruia River. From there 48The 1926 Nyasaland Census gave a breakdown for Africans absent in Rhodesia by home district as follows: Lower Shire - nil Ncheu - 1,563 Chikwawa - nil Dedza - 2,219 Central Shire — 4 Lilongwe - 4,467 Cholo — nil Ft. Manning - 246 Mlanje - nil Dowa - 4,308 Blantyre — 221 Kota Kota - 2,439 Chiradzulu — 30 Kasungu - 1,570 Zomba - 87 Momberas - 3,363 Upper Shire - 360 West Nyasa - 2,300 South Nyasa — 1,172 North Nyasa - 1,038 Total 25,441 This total was an estimate. The census takers also esti- mated that each Malawian in Rhodesia brought home or remitted at 1east$5 annually for a total contribution to the Protectorate economy of at 1east£I25,000 per annum. 1926 Nyasaland Census, p. xxviii. 49Chief Native Commissioner to Secretary for Mines and Works, Salisbury, 10 August 1925, 8138/10, Rhodesian Archives. it was 0 although On by labor where tl the Nat: Conniss: employe: who conw his rep recruit being I Warning They al Places 0r Bulawap 127 it was only fifteen miles to food and water at Rusambo, although supplies there occasionally rotted.50 On their way south immigrants usually resisted attempts by labor agents to hire them and bypassed stores or stations where the agents resided. In a November 1928 communication, the Native Commissioner at Mt. Darwin told the Chief Native Commissioner that immigrants shunned labor agents, licensed employers, and runners. "Not 1% . . . of the recruiters who come to Darwin . . . succeed in getting labour."51 In his reply the C.N.C. stated that Africans avoided recruiters because of "their natural prejudice against being 'sold' by agents."52 Migrants posted notices of warning for southward-bound men to avoid certain employers. They also wrote personal notes and left them in well-known places along the trails. One of these letters was translated from Cewa by the Bulawayo C.I.D. in August 1925. It read: On this work I am going to leave--I will stay alone then if I have the money I will be there, but I will send a letter because we miss much my wife, Miss Malenji. I wrote a letter saying not to be married by anyone. Salaam. Good morning my girl. Salaam Miss Malenji. Salaam. (signed) Sheimedi. M 508139/10, Rhodesian Archives. 518138/10, Rhodesian Archives. 52Reply of C.N.C., 6 December 1928, 8138/10, Rhodesian Archives. 0n the o script w This not A officia Hefldner if RhOw able . imPOSS in Rho climat \ E I 1929, 128 On the other side of that love letter was a note in Arabic script which was translated by a Yao in C.I.D. employ. This note read: This letter I write to my brother Munakunja alias Newmani. Salaam. I think we are going on Thursday on the sixth day of the new moon. You may come here but don't go to the place because there is no road to go there. There is no water. The water is in the mine. We heard that is why we slept here. If that is right we will see and that is why I am telling you this. We are four men on our journey. One is Imedi, two--Samuti——his kraal is Kota Kota, the third man an Andolia, and Ndebele. I finish now. Good morning Arden Ggma. Chief Mpama I finish. (signed) Shibori.5 A 1929 report on labor in Nyasaland by Protectorate official R. H. Murray stated: The return of 20,000 natives now in Rhodesia is essential to the future develop- ment of the country. Apart from their numbers they almost certainly comprise the most enterprising members of the community. 54 Headmen had assured Murray that people would stay at home if Rhodesian-scale wages and working conditions were avail— able. The Cholo Planters Association stated that this was impossible because climatic conditions were more settled in Rhodesia, railway freight charges were lower there, the climate was cooler, reliable overseers were more easily M 538138/10, Rhodesian Archives. 54Governor T. S. W. Thomas to the C. 0., 13 November 1929, C.O. 525/137. cheaply under re The work in morals. law abic 0f "blar adult b1 Shows t] per yea three R During Victed Mozambi Dt Ellents Policy the g“ Depress 11 h 193: and Si: \ 5 129 cheaply obtained, and in Rhodesia workers generally were under relatively long-term contracts.55 The planters also brought up the old bugaboo about work in Rhodesia being responsible for declining African morals. Actual figures show that Malawians were remarkably law abiding when compared with other Africans. The record of “black peril" offenses (fornication between consenting adult black males and white females) between 1914 and 1932 shows that fifty—seven Malawians were convicted, or three per year, while during the same period three hundred fifty- three Rhodesian Africans or 18.57 per annum were convicted. During the same eighteen years only ten Africans were con— victed of rape in Rhodesia. Two were Malawians, two were Mozambiquans and six were Rhodesian Africans.56 During the late 1920's and early 1930's two important events led to a complete turnabout in Nyasaland Government's policy on labor emigration. These were the development of the great copper deposits in Northern Zambia and the Great Depression. In 1929, a general trade depression began in Nyasaland. By 1931, cotton prices were the lowest in fifteen years and sisal prices fell below the cost of production.57 SSIbid. 56SlS42/Ll, Rhodesian Archives. 57Despatch 341, Governor Thomas to Colonial Secretary Lord Passfield, 25 July 1931, C.O. 525/142. Perhaps Protectc were gor opportul Protectr 2,000 A hands f Problem enigrat Secret Govern; the no t0 all Chief (l), a 130 Perhaps because of the declining economy at home the 1930 Protectorate Annual Report stated that working conditions were good for Africans in both Rhodesias. Decreasing job opportunities in Nyasaland must have caused anxiety among Protectorate officials. With a population proportion of 2,000 Africans to every European they would have had their hands full if trouble had arisen over the unemployment problem. Thus the 1930 Annual Report signaled a change in emigration policy. Emigration was: . . . not such a reproach as might at first sight appear. They [African workers] return in good health with money in their pockets, with some knowledge of a trade or profession and in most cases with characters developed and their sense of enterprise quickened by regular toil under proper supervision. Mean- while, the policy of Government is to regulate emigration by encouraging those who wish to go away to take out passes by which they may be identified and by facilitating the distri- bution of the remittances which in most cases they make to their families. In November 1931, Governor Thomas told the new Colonial Secretary, Sir Phillip Cunliffe—Lister, that Nyasaland Government was "not in favour of irksome restrictions on the movements of natives."59 In a circular of 13 June 1931, to all Provincial and District Commissioners, K. L. Hall, Chief Secretary of Nyasaland Government, amended Section 19 (l), a and b of the Employment of Natives Ordinance of 1909 58 1930 Nyasaland Annual Report in Despatch 341, op.cit 59Despatch 538, Governor Thomas to Cunliffe—Lister, 27 November 1931, C.O. 525/141. to subst for hut family. their rw amendme: which p was gre among s break. With he applica the re: not nah T] labor 1 COhmis emigre: offici situat are Inc local amply2 than 1 “Own: that 1 \ #______‘ 131 to substitute the words "is making" for "has made" provision for hut tax payment and for maintenance of the emigrant's family. Formerly applicants for passes had been refused if their reason for leaving was to earn tax money. The amendment made it easier to satisfy the conditions under which passes were granted. The Protectorate's labor supply was greater than its demand and government admitted that among some groups the migrant tradition was too strong to break. The Chief Secretary asked magistrates to consult with headmen in questionable cases and to impress on pass applicants the importance of remitting taxes.60 However, the relaxation of official restrictions in Nyasaland was not matched by an expanding Rhodesian employment situation. The depression negatively effected the Rhodesian labor market. In December 1932, Nyasaland District Commissioners were warned that they should tell potential emigrants that jobs were scarce in the south. Rhodesian officials also became concerned about the employment situation and for several years during the mid-1930's there are month by month and district by district reports on local labor and wage situations. These permit one to analyze the migrant labor supply/wage picture more closely than usual. An extract from the Inyanga Native Commissioner's report for July 1933, for instance, stated that several.gangs<3f Malawians were returning home through __‘____________‘______ 6OIbid. his dist Rhodesia African; they co Gwelo, The Dar one hur after 1 reason warninr Contin' there . wages Beling hetwee unemp] has hr would had i] Wages numbe POint jobs. \ 132 his district, saying that they could find no work in Rhodesia. At Bubi in the far south, non-indigenous Africans were offering for work at 7/6 per month since they could find nothing at the normal rate of 10/. In Gwelo, road workers were earning 4d. to 5d. per day. The Darwin report said that up to 18 July, an average of one hundred thirty immigrants per day passed through, but after that date the daily average dropped to sixteen. One reason for the decline was that departing Malawians were warning incoming men that they would be ill advised to continue since jobs were so scarce.61 In August 1933, there were labor surpluses all over the country. At Mtoko, wages were down to between 5/ and 10/ per month. At Belingwe, unskilled underground mine laborers were earning between 10/ and 12/6. In September, large groups of unemployed men were wandering around Mazoe District. It was hoped that tobacco farmers preparing their seed beds would absorb some of the unemployed. By November, demand had increased with the beginning of planting season and wages were back up to 10/.62 During the rainy season the number of jobs always increased, but from the African's point of view, he was ill—paid whether or not there were jobs. 61See Appendix C4. 62SlS42/Ll, Rhodesian Archives. It abad ye low pay: Hitw glut on offerin labor 3 1930's which i wages. belt. long b. ores w War I engine hundre here 5 Ament emPlo Stem hr. p Were work aSSQ. 133 It it was during the dry season or if farmers had had a bad year, there were few jobs available and those were low paying because there were so many men looking for work. If it was a good year workers flocked in and created a glut on the labor market which employers exploited by offering low wages. This was a classic kind of cheap labor situation, but several things happened in the early 1930's which gave the African worker a wider market in which to sell his labor and hence brought a hope for better wages. The first of these was the opening of the Copper— belt. Africans had smelted copper in Northern Rhodesia long before the arrival of Europeans. But the surface ores were of low quality and lay dormant until after World War I when the flotation method of concentration enabled engineers to exploit the copper sulphide deposits several hundred feet deep in the ground. Starting in 1922 shafts were sunk and new towns were built with South African and American capital; by 1930 the Copperbelt was a boom area employing 30,000 Africans. However, in 1931 the world-wide Slump forced several mines to shut down. It was not until 1935 that the situation improved. Labor on the Copperbelt was managed by Colonel A. Stephenson for the Native Labour Association, whose agent, Mr. H. Rangeley, was stationed at Fort Jameson. The mines were willing to advance taxes for Malawians who applied for work and who possessed passes to leave home. The association also sent monthly remittances to families at home if were pr workers and for land Gc let or Ar show h( were rw Europe. White religi Malawi hrOUgh HIOderm ment 1 Officj Wen south, of re' rePOr 134 home if passes were endorsed to that effect. The mines were prepared to grant permission for wives to join workers and to provide free transportation and food back and forth between Ft. Jameson and the Copperbelt. Nyasa- land Government stated that passes would be issued without let or hindrance.63 An attempt has been made in the preceding pages to show how, during the years following World War I, migrants were responsible for spreading ideas, often of an anti- European nature, around Southern Africa. Protests against white rule were expressed through the formation of new religious sects, strikes, and union activities led by Malawians. The Great Depression triggered events which brought about the beginning of what can be termed the modern era of labor migration in Southern Africa. Govern— ment reports on the subject brought it to the attention of officials and the public and resulted in accords between governments to control the flow of manpower streaming southwards. The next chapter will discuss the resumption of recruiting for the Rand, four Nyasaland Government reports on emigrant labor, and the first inter—territorial labor agreements between the two Rhodesias and Nyasaland. “mm 63Despatch 538, 27 November 1931, c.0. 525/141. T Politi p0Pula relati intere gaine< RePOrl Lacey lather the o halaw ment offic Sigma bethe met1t: inte tiller _____-4 CHAPTER 4 1932 TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR "We are being humbugged by the red herring of taxation being drawn across the track." The Report of the Northern Province Commissioner for 1935, C.O. 525/166. The decade of the 1930's brought a new international political dimension to labor migration in Southern Africa. Population movement became a major influence on Nyasaland's relations with its neighbors. Previously a matter of local interest, the movement of manpower in Southern Africa gained new prominence with the publication of the 1935 Report of the Committee on Emigrant Labour (the Travers- Lacey Report) and three subsequent reports on Malawian labor in Rhodesia and South Africa. These studies marked the opening of a whole new chapter in the story of Malawian labor migrants abroad and in the economic develop— ment of the Protectorate. The reports not only sparked official interest in the subject, but also led to the signature of a series of inter-territorial agreements between Nyasaland Government and the two Rhodesian Govern- ments concerning the regulation of migrant labor. The interest and concern of the general public was aroused over the Southern African labor situation. That the 135 reports resulti Be mma betweer “conser Modes South hundre 17,000 males, Populz 120,0 consi Cleme lost Repoy Protg 136 reports also created confusion can be seen from the resulting investigations into the extent of emigration. Before publication of the Travers—Lacey Report the number of absent Malawians officially was estimated at between 20,000 and 30,000. According to the committee's "conservative estimate" there were 75,000 Malawians in Rhodesia (24,300 engaged in mining); 20,000 in the Union of South Africa; 2,000-3,000 in neighboring Mozambique; a few hundred in the Congo; 2,000 in Northern Rhodesia; and l7,000-20,000 in Tanganyika. A total of 120,000 adult males, approximately one-quarter of the total adult male population of the Protectorate was working abroad! Of the 120,000, one—quarter to one-third or 30,000-40,000 were considered to be "machona," lost ones. They were men like Clements Kadalie, who had emigrated permanently and had lost or severed ties with their birthplace.l A few months after publication of the Travers-Lacey Report, in a report on the financial status of the Protectorate, Nyasaland's future Labor Commissioner, Mr. Eric Smith, disagreed with the 120,000 figure. He estimated a total of 90,087 Malawians absent from home. The major decrease was in the number of workers in Tanganyika. Smith deflated this figure from the 1The Report of the Committee on Emigrant Labour, 1935 (the Travers-Lacey Report), (Zomba: Government Printer, 1936), p. 14. Travers The nun TC land G1 were 1. 191,00 countr Southe South Congo This : Other other may h exagg audit “has; 1. w and 1mm in T Prot Prh 137 Travers—Lacey estimate of 17,000-20,000 down to 5,782. The number of "machona" also was lowered to 22,238.2 To complicate the numbers game even further, a Nyasa- land Government memo of December 1937 stated that there were 112,900 Malawians employed abroad out of a total of 491,000 adult male tax payers. The distribution by their 1 country of employment was as follows: Southern Rhodesia - 75,000 Northern Rhodesia - 4,300 South Africa - 25,000 Tanganyika - 6,000 Congo — 600 Elsewhere - 2,0003 Total — 112,900 This figure might as well be accepted as accurate for no other reason than it represents a compromise between the other two estimates. The Travers-Lacey Committee figure may have been high since committee members were not above exaggeration in order to achieve a desired effect on their audience. The committee members were Mr. A. Travers-Lacey, Nyasaland's Director of Education; three settlers—~Captain W. H. Evans, Captain I. C. Ramsey, and Mr. W. H. Timcke; and the principal of Overtoun Institute, the Rev. W. P. Young. While the Rev. Young visited the Lupa Gold Fields in Tanganyika, Mr. W. W. Miller acted on his behalf in 2Report on the Financial Status of the Nyasaland Protectorate (the Smith Report), (Zomba: Government Printer, 1936), in C.O. 525/166. 3Memo of Nyasaland Government to the Standing Committee on Migrant Labour, 3 December 1937, C.O. 525/161. Southe: secrete 29 July the Cor could 1 invest to Rho mainta as to commiw 21 Jul Peopl the h a che woven Soot} from incl life PIOt how to E snip \ to #4 138 Southern Province. Mr. M. V. Smithyman was the committee‘s secretary and Mr. Levi Z. Mumba was its interpreter. On 29 July 1936, Mr. Calder of the Colonial Office lamented the Committee's composition, stating that the government could not hope to produce an unbiased report when the investigators were a missionary afraid of losing his flock- to Rhodesian employers and planters most interested in maintaining low wage rates by keeping migrants at home so as to insure an overabundance of local labor.4 The committee sat for thirty—three days during the period from 24 July to 12 December 1935, and interviewed five hundred people from various walks of life. The report consisted of an introduction sketching the history of official attempts to regularize emigration, a chapter discussing the motives behind the population movement, and an examination of Southern Rhodesian and South African attempts to control the influx of workers from abroad. Important information from interviews was included in a chapter on the effect of emigration on village life. The probable future effect of emigration on the Protectorate was explored and recommendations were made on how to prevent future large—scale loss of manpower and how to alleviate the worst social and economic effects of emigration. Appendices included extracts from various 4Comments of Mr. Calder on Travers—Lacey Report, 0.0. 525/161. Legisla report: popula the co commie of unc ] 00 e1 beta [lamp Riga “300 in t 15hr Cdpj 139 Legislative Council and Department of Native Affairs reports, the Rev. Young's report of his visit to Lupa, population estimates of the numbers of Malawians outside the country, and a questionnaire sent to all district commissioners in Nyasaland. The report was highly critical of uncontrolled emigration. ‘ In the introduction to its report the committee wrote: Our investigations have deepened profoundly our individual and collective sense of respon- sibility. We must confess that, six months ago, there was not one of us who realized the seriousness of the situation: as our investi- gations proceeded we became more and more aware that this uncontrolled and growing emigration brought misery and poverty to hundreds and thousands of families and that the waste of life, happiness and wealth was colossal . . . Something must be done at once to remedy a state of affairs which, viewed from any standpoint, constitutes a flagrant breach of that ideal of trusteeship of Native races 'not yet able to stand by themselves under t e stenuous conditions of the modern world'. The committee condemned the prevailing official policy on emigration, calling the pass system a "complete failure" because too little control was exercised and no accurate manpower information was provided to the government. With regard to Malawians working in Southern Rhodesia, the report stated that, "There has been considerable gambling in the mining industry at the expense of the native labourers." This comment referred to small-scale under— capitalized operators who were unable to pay their labor NW— 5Travers—Lacey, op.cit., p. 7. when t "viole Consid the “n conjug mother One N olde Tens TOST 0011‘ the 140 when their luck failed. The authors spoke also of the "violent depression of wages when labour is abundant."6 Considerable evidence was presented to the committee on the "machona" problem. The effects of migration on conjugal life were disastrous for the women who, as wives, mothers, and supporters of the home, suffered greatly. One Ngoni woman had this to say: When they go they say they will send money but once they are there they do not keep their promise . . . Some of them send money . . . others do not send anything at all. If a man has left a wife and she has children, the children get sick and then because the rela- tives have no money to pay for medicine, she cannot buy any medicine . . . if a man has one or two children he depends upon them and knows that when he is old they will help him. If they go away and stop helping their father he has a lot of difficulties . . . When a woman is alone she has much work in training the children and the necessary part which is played by the husband is lostl . . A number of marriages are spoiled because of the husband's going away . . . They bring back a number of diseases some of them very bad ones which if they are caught by the woman, she cannot bear any children and even her body gets spoiled. The woman's comments about the effect of emigration of older relatives represents an interesting expression of the generation gap caused by the entry into a modern economy Of young men whose fathers were subsistence farmers. The most excessive indictment of the migrant phenomenon was contained in the chapter on its probable future effects on the Protectorate. 61bid., p. 25. 71bid., p. 30. The a other both expar repl, Emig in t SYSt alli ilk 141 Home life will cease to exist; all belief in the sanctity of marriage will disappear. Immorality will be the rule. In consequence, venereal,disease will affect 100% of our native population. The birth rate will fall. Large tracts of land will be rendered unfit for habitation and in consequence the economic life of the country will suffer seriously . . . And, resident chiefly in other lands, the Nyasaland-born natives will have acquired a complete mistrust in and loathing for administration by the white people whigh has made a wilderness and called it peace. The committee's recommendations were far reaching. The authors said that agricultural, transportation and other economic surveys should be made in Nyasaland and that both African and European cash crop farming should be expanded. They advocated that the hut and poll taxes be replaced by a graduated poll tax for adult males only.9 Emigrants in Southern Rhodesia should be made to remit 15/ in taxes and those in South Africadfil. A new registration System for all adult males was called for. It was to be allied with tax receipts and should include a thumb print for identification purposes. Emigrants should not leave the Protectorate without a pass which should be regarded bY neighboring countries as necessary for entry. Emigra- tion quotas for each district should be established and lowered as soon as sufficient economic development had taken place to absorb excess manpower. Recruiting under M 8E9£§~r p. 38. After Tacitus. the time unmarried adult female hut owners also had to Pay the 6/ hut tax. contra used a Employ round- camps, shoulr defer: migra the c miner month 1eaVe inter with and 0 work; 1 Ny. 001m thei the Mala and 142 contract from abroad was welcome, but chiefs should not be used as recruiting agents and recruiters must be licensed. Employers abroad should have Cewa interpreters, provide ( round-trip transportation, medical examinations, rest camps, and "conveyors" to chaperon recruits. Contracts should be for two years and include stipulations for 50% deferred pay and £1 per year family remittance unless the migrant's family accompanied him. This was recommended in the case of farmers and skilled workers, but not for miners. Returnees should remain at home for at least six months, and uncovenanted workers should be permitted to leave provided they had passes. The committee felt that inter-territorial agreements on labor should be made both with those neighboring countries which employed Malawians and with those which did not want to have Malawians working within their borders. There was also a need for a Nyasaland Government representative to reside in nearby countries to look after Malawian workers and to deal with their problems. Many groups and individuals reacted to the report and its recommendations. Among them were Malawians themselves, the general public in Great Britain, and Colonial Office officials. The C.O.'s J. A. Calder stated: The report by the Committee on Emigration of Native Labour I regard as sensational and unbalanced. I do not mean that there are not In Aug that 1 had n< had a He ad was t that Nyasa the 1 Dave] for 1 estal addi t0 1: mOSt Prot forc lett 143 serious abuses, but whether the Committee's lO remedies are the right ones is very doubtful. In August, Mr. Hibbert commented that it was fortunate that the 1935 International Labour Organization convention had not seen the report because "we should certainly have had a long and impassioned harangue from Mr. Ballinger." He added that the only real solution to the migrant problem was to develop Nyasaland itself. Evidently the C.O.‘s Mr. Greenhill took offense at the report's implication that nothing had been spent on economic development in Nyasaland. In a lengthy minute he wrote that since 1930 the Protectorate had received£180,000 from the Colonial Development Fund. Included in this figure was £15,000 for the period from 1931 to 1934 for the purpose of establishing agricultural experimentation stations. In additflnm i3.5 million in guaranteed loans had been spent to improve the Protectorate's transportation system, mostly on the railway.11 On 11 August 1936, the Anti—Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society complained to the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Ormsby-Gore, that Malawians were overtaxed and being forced to sell themselves to the mines. The society's letter reminded Ormsby-Gore that the ultimate goal of His loDraft comments by J. A. Calder, 30 July 1936, C.O. 525/160. llc. 0. official minutes in c.o. 525/161. Majest Prime Briti: “nemb descr offic artic indig admi Nyas Colo admi tivt the COh Col 161 144 Majesty's Imperial Government "is in the words of the Prime Minister primarily 'the spiritual unity of the whole "12 British Empire, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth' A “member of the public," Mr. A. P. Whitaker, who was described as a "bit of a crank" by a Colonial Office official, wrote the C.O. that since reading a newspaper article about the report he had become "increasingly indignant." He wrote that: Until reading that article I should have refused to believe that such an iniquitously extortionate rate of taxation, directly pro— ducing untold harm and misery among the natives, especially the women, could be found within the limits of a British Protectorate.l3 In an August 1936 communication, former B.S.A. Company administrator W. M. Codrington, currently the chairman of Nyasaland Railways Ltd., wrote Sir John Maffey at the Colonial Office that the migrant problem was of a "purely administrative nature" and could be solved by administra— tive ability and the determination to succeed. He called the report, "one of the most remarkable commentaries on Colonial Administration which I have ever read," and added: what seems to me to be important is the glaring light this Report throws on the standard of Colonial Administration in lenti—Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society to Colonial Secretary Ormsby—Gore, 11 August 1936, C.O. 525/ 13Mr. A. P. Whitaker, Kent, to the Colonial Office, C.O. 525/161. Archi on Ch the 1 tax. Gener group liner adopt resp Eric inci know afie dOne Pol] for the 145 Nyasaland during the last twenty years. And very reluctantly I am driven to the conclu- sion that no radical improvement will be effected under the present regime. On 26 September 1936, Colonial Office Africanist, Mr. C. E. R. Brocklebank, received a letter from Mr. Archibald Chisholm of the Church of Scotland's Committee on Church and Nation asking for additional information on the Travers—Lacey Committee's recommended graduated poll tax. After considering the documents in May 1937, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotlaniand Mr. Chisholm's group urged that the Protectorate be developed along the lines mentioned in the report and welcomed the policy adopted by the Nyasaland Government. To establish whether or not excessive taxation was responsible for labor migration, Ormsby—Gore instructed Eric Smith to make a general review of the basis and incidence of taxation in the Protectorate. He wanted to know if hut or poll taxes could be reduced in the areas affected most by emigration. Even before this could be done, Governor Kittermaster promulgated the Native Hut and P011 Tax (Amendment) Ordinance #26 of 1936, which provided for reciprocal refund of taxes between Nyasaland and such l4Codrington to Maffey, 6 August 1936, C.O. 525/161. 15Correspondence between Mr. Archibald Chisholm and the C.O., 26 September 1936, to May 1937, C.O. 525/166. neigh Kitte reaso espec and w the l “he a being threw way sion Agre Prov cert Each iden hfri regl tab( 0the sow are 146 neighboring territories as agreed to the arrangement. Kittermaster did not think that excessive taxation was the reason for emigration. He felt that non—development, especially in the North, and the lure of good wages, food and working conditions drew Africans southward. He quoted the 1935 Northern Provincial Commissioner's report that "We are being humbugged by the red herring of taxation being drawn across the track" as a reason for emigration.l6 Based on a Travers—Lacey Committee recommendation, the three Central African countries began talks on the best way to deal with the migrant labor situation. The discus— sions began in August 1936 and resulted in the Salisbury Agreement which became effective on 4 June 1937. It provided that all male emigrants be furnished with identity certificates and be given medical examinations if possible. Each signatory agreed to admit only such free labor as had identity certificates, but at some future date after the Africans in each territory had been apprised of the new regulation. The three territories had first call on any labor surplus within the group and each would consult the others before authorising recruiting from outside. In the event of disagreement about recruiting from non-signatory areas the Colonial Secretary would have the final say. l6Despatch 66, Governor Kittermaster to the C.O., 12 February 1937, C.O. 525/166. terri deman could worke emig] The 1 depo‘ and rapi volu 147 Annual statements on the labor situation in each territory would be exchanged. If the interests of Africans demanded it, inter-state regulations of the labor flow could be negotiated. It was agreed that repatriation of workers after two years was desirable. Unemployed emigrants would be housed and fed by the host government. The three governments would provide rest camps, food depots, and dispensaries along the major migrant routes; and the governments would make arrangements for cheap and rapid transportation for migrating workers. A system of voluntary remittances was declared to be desirable. The contracting parties agreed that it was better to pay injured men their compensation than to remit it to them after they returned home; the estates of deceased Africans would be returned to their country of origin. A standing committee to coordinate labor policy would be established and a permanent labor commissioner in Salisbury would be appointed. Recruiting by Southern Rhodesians in the two northern territories was not essential for the orderly flow of labor southwards. Immigrants to Southern Rhodesia were exempt from local taxes for the first year of their stay. They still had to pay home taxes, though, and after the first year the amount Of tax levied in the worker's country of origin would be taken out of the tax collected by his host country. This amount would them be remitted to his home government. The agreement was to remain in force for four years. Any party coul< part in the agreement 1 Hubert You: Prime Mini Governor H In Ap Commission PIOblems a returning item be in cate and i SYStem. p i'“Tisrants immigratic the Prote( “The, Chis Rhodesian minamep "Chief re; he heped . that Situ, form, the \ 17m #____._-‘ 148 party could give twelve months notice to terminate its part in the concord at the end of the third year. The agreement was signed by Governor Kittermaster, Governor Hubert Young of Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesian Prime Minister G. Mark Huggins, and Southern Rhodesian Governor H. J. Stanley.l7 In April 1937, Acting Governor Hall sent District Commissioner Eric Smith to Salisbury to consult on labor problems and implementation of the Agreement. Upon returning to Zomba, Smith reported that the most important item he investigated was the form of the identity certifi- cate and its compatibility with the Rhodesian registration system. He had visited Mrewa where he watched Malawian immigrants arriving from Dowa, Dedza, and Kota Kota. The immigration officer did not ask for their passes to leave the Protectorate. They were fingerprinted, asked their name, chief, and home village and informed when their first Rhodesian tax would be payable. The African could give any name he liked and Smith wrote that this was one of the "chief reasons for many of our people becoming 'lost ones'." He hoped the identification certificates would eliminate that situation. The African also received an employment form, the duplicate of which was sent to the Headquarters Bureau at Bulawayo. When he found work, his employer l7The Salisbury Agreement is contained in C.O. 525/172. mailed the hcal dist] five on the mport by w restrict t2 Rhodesians ofmen wer In 19 drop in in Justice, m, that its n as humanly 1“ articiw amPiified "Emigrant “We! be which his \ 18Co the C.O., 19 o EX labollr, s 149 mailed the original to the Native Commissioner of the local district. Smith, who became Nyasaland's representa- tive on the Standing Committee on Migrants, ended his report by observing that Southern Rhodesia wished to restrict the entry of immigrant Malawian women.18 The Rhodesians were quick to complain when sufficient numbers of men were not forthcoming. In 1936, Rhodesian authorities became upset over a drop in immigration from Nyasaland and the Minister of Justice, Mr. Tredgold, wrote Nyasaland Government asking that its manpower be "ensured to Southern Rhodesia as far as humanly possible." Governor Kittermaster replied: I am prepared to restrict emigration by law for the good of the social whole. I much prefer that those who emigrate shall go to Southern Rhodesia rather than the Rand but if they insist on going as free agents and not on contract Egey must be allowed their chOice of destination. An article in the Nyasaland Government Gazette at the time amplified the governor's sentiments. In part it said, "Emigration to lands of greater ec0nomic opportunity can never be held in check. In fact, it is the process by "20 which history has been made. Rhodesian Government l8Confidential Despatch from Acting Governor Hall to the C.O., 16 April 1937, C.O. 525/166. 19Exchange of letters between Rhodesian and Nyasaland Governments, October 1936, the Prime Minister's file on labour, 81561/3, Rhodesian Archives. 20Nyasaland Government Gazette, 15 October 1936, 51551/3, Rhodesian Archives. complained to Tanganyi movement ii In 19 were lower officials Salisbury March 1938 home unles were Supp( 0111 one I Africans < Were not I because a and April received Passes 33 no lo“Sitar land ofri for the (- extensior as prOVi< Rhor language \ .213 EOTTISSi. SecrEtar 14.4 ..d__ 150 complained again about the numbers of Malawians emigrating to Tanganyika, but Zomba refused to restrict freedom of movement in that direction. In 1938, Rhodesian immigration figures for Malawians were lower than the 1937 total. This caused Rhodesian officials to accuse Nyasaland again of breaking the Salisbury Agreement. Rhodesia claimed that prior to 1 March 1938, Malawians could not obtain passes to leave home unless they had paid their 6/ tax. Thereafter passes were supposed to be handed out freely, but there had been only one posted notice six months previously informing Africans of the new regulation. Evidently the new rules were not being observed by Nyasaland district authorities because all Malawians who arrived with passes in March and April 1938, had paid their tax on the same day as they received their passes. When questioned, those without passes said they did not know that prepayment of taxes was no longer a precondition for being issued a pass. Nyasa- land officials claimed that a late harvest was responsible for the decreasing departures, but agreed to a one month extension of the deadline for all emigrants to have passes as provided by the Agreement.21 Rhodesian Government also grumbled about Cewa language articles in Nyasaland newspapers extolling work M 21Supervisor of Native Immigration to Chief Native Commissioner, 6 April 1938; Memo on migrant labor by the Secretary for Native Affairs, Salisbury, 14 May 1938, 81561/5, Rhodesian Archives. on the Rand Nchito pa 1 Mines." P; DesPite t] RhOdesia, "Ulere . II "Ule the SOllth homeward- during th ran from Zamhia, 1 eighty—ej \ 22116 Labour Ir _____._‘ 151 on the Rand. One such article was entitled "Kugwira Nchito pa Migodi," or "Working on the South African Gold Mines." Part of it translated as follows: Workers returning to their homes bring good news of their treatment on the mines. These words entice people and confirm the exact reasons why so many continue to want to return to the mines again after a period of rest. They return joyfully to the mines because they have saved money. And they know of the good treatment when they get there. The owners of the mines do not wish and will not agree that their workers do only work. They know that they must relax and have time to play. All the time they are not on shift is their own. They have hot and cold water to wash with and are given khaki serge tunics to wear. The people are grateful for these tunics, the games when work is finished and the good fortune that they are saving money 50 buy cattle when their mine work is finished. 2 Despite the attractions of the Rand, workers till went to Rhodesia, facilitated by a new transportation system called "Ulere." "Ulere" means "free" in Cewa. There was no charge for the southbound truck ride, but a fee of 10/ was charged to homeward-bound workers. The system operated three routes during the dry season from 1 May to 15 December. Route 1 ran from Beacon 34 (near Misale at the juncture of the Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique borders), three hundred eighty-eight miles via Tete and the Mazoe River to Mrewa. 22Memo from the office of the Supervisor of Native Labour Immigration to the Chief Native Commissioner, 25 January 1939, 81561/5, Rhodesian Archives. Out of the Rhoesia and to use Rout miles from Darwin via would use ‘ the Zambez forty-seve Nyasaland that it wc Rhodesian the late 1 of baggage the'lr homw t0 bear t‘ construCt the Stop- with a Un pa Kilnkhg hody_ Ti Rhodesia RPute 1 , lemme. Mr, the new colon-lail thahSpOI ______4 152 Out of the estimated 24,800 Malawians who entered Southern Rhoesia annually on foot, approximately 12,000 were expected to use Route 1. Route 2 covered one hundred twenty-five miles from Nsusa on the Zambezi River in Mozambique to Mt. Darwin via Mkumbura on the Rhodesian border. Another 12,000 would use that route. The third like was from Chirundu on the Zambezi near Kariba to Sinoia, a distance of one hundred forty-seven miles, over which eight hundred travelled. Nyasaland officials were irked about the return fee, arguing that it would discourage emigrants from returning home. Rhodesian authorities nonetheless insisted on payment until the late 1940's. Africans were allowed twenty—five pounds of baggage on the southbound trip and seventy—five pounds on their homeward journey. Southern Rhodesia Government agreed to bear the cost of food en route and also paid for the construction of a rest camp at Mile 138, Kazula, on Route 1, the stop-over on the two—day ride. Trucks were Khaki colored with a Union Jack painted on both sides of the cab and "Ulere pa Kunkha ku Harari Musalipila Kanthu“ inscribed on the body. This translates as "Free ride to the harvest in Rhodesia [Harari]. You pay nothing." As it turned out Route 1 was the most popular and Route 3 was a complete failure. Mr. Codrington of Nyasaland Railways protested against the new transportation arrangement. He informed the Colonial Office and Nyasaland Government that free lorry transport would only encourage independent emigration and the return and all-an more easilj Rhodesian people sti Turtherrnor facilities 0f uncontr the Proter would be 1 Init because t heSigned 01m choos handling SOUthern Railways be Spent from Sal fc'ires, w By SPeedieI \ 23Iv 2oI 13 Septe 25 ( C‘O- 52} ______4 153 the return fee would discourage men from coming home. Food and all-around supervision of migrants could be maintained more easily if men travelled by rail. The Southern Rhodesian trucks did not enter Nyasaland territory so people still had to walk part of the way to Rhodesia. Furthermore he argued that Nyasaland transportation facilities should carry Nyasaland workers. With the number of uncontracted workers who were leaving on the increase, the Protectorate‘s development would suffer and the planters would be left with no labor.23 Initially, Africans showed reluctance to use "Ulere" because they believed that free transportation was a trick designed to force them to work for employers not of their own choosing. But by September 1938, the lorries were handling 13,000 riders per annum.24 In the same year, Southern Rhodesia Government agreed to use Nyasaland Railways to supplement its "Ulere" transport. 135200 would be spent to finance rail passage for Africans at 18/ each from Salima to Rusape. This amount would pay for 5600 fares, with an increase to 7,000 expected in 1939.25 By shortening the time spent on the road these speedier transport methods lessened the possibility of 23Memo from Nyasaland Railways Ltd. to the Nyasaland Government, 11 December 1937, C.O. 525/166. 24Proceedings of the Nyasaland Legislative Council, 13 September 1938, C.O. 525/172. 25C.O. to Nyasaland Railways Ltd., 21 November 1938, C.O. 525/173. migrants c: 26 . south. , discussing was negoti Chamber of In Se Company Lt Malawians 1,243 had mine work: SPecial 0. 22° south In 1 halavians \ 26 A that the forty rec Before 15 there hat buffalo! havens ISistine 1 e Trype 400' R1101 271‘? .MeSSrS. 1 Indian r 154 migrants contracting sleeping sickness on their way south.26 At the same time as Nyasaland Government was discussing the migrant situation with the Rhodesias it fl was negotiating a labor agreement with the Transvaal Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg. In September 1935, the London and Blantyre Supply Company Ltd. was granted a license to recruit 2,000 Malawians for the Transvaal mines.27 As of December 1936, 1,243 had signed up under this new arrangement.28 The mine workers were permitted to enter the Union under a special order because at that time Africans from north of 22° south latitude were still prohibited immigrants. In 1935, despite the continuing ban, immigration of Malawians into South Africa increased and Union Africans 26A 1935 report of the Trypanosomiasis Bureau stated that the disease was very prevalent in the Tete area, where forty recent cases had been admitted to the local hospital. Before 1918, when Africans in Mozambique were disarmed, there had not been much game, but since that time elephant, buffalo, and tsetse flies had flourished. Anyone travelling on the Blantrye to Tete road or on any major migrant route ran the risk of being infected. Report of the Trypanosomiasis Bureau, 22 July 1935, Salisbury, 5235/ 400, Rhodesian Archives. 27The London and Blantyre Supply Company was owned by Messrs. Campbell Bros., Carter and Co. Ltd. of London. Its business was to import wholesale goods and sell them to Indian retailers. 28J. C. Abraham, Report on Nyasaland Natives in the Union of South Africa and in Southern Rhodesia (Zomba: Government Printer, 1937), p. 5. began to c This was p Treemasona 1936, the that large Transvaal. mines but thus oust: to increa. In M illegal 1 campaign hePorted eXcellent marched t The Expuj and mph The: Co111d en Mozambiq SOmeone African Chehper, \ 29 . h 10 the C RnodeSia l_____‘ 155 began to complain about losing their jobs to foreigners. This was particularly true of waiters who, in a spirit of Freemasonary, passed their jobs on to compatriots. In 1936, the British High Commissioner in Pretoria reported that large numbers of Malawians were arriving in the Transvaal. "They are eagerly accepted not only by the mines but by private employers as domestic servants . . . thus ousting Union Natives from private employ and tending to increase congestion in towns."29 In May 1936, alarmed at the growing numbers of illegal immigrants, South African authorities launched a campaign to rid the Union of illegal, alien Africans, and deported about 1,600 Malawians. Many of them had held excellent jobs for years, but they Were handcuffed and marched through the streets like common criminals. The expulsions aroused so much ill feeling among workers and employers that they were stopped in November 1936. There were a number of ways illegal immigrant Africans could enter the Union. One of these was to travel through Mozambique to the Union border, where reportedly there was someone willing to convert anyone into a Portuguese African for a payment ofAE3le—0. Another method was far cheaper, requiring only a box of matches and a half crown 29Memo from the British High Commissioner in Pretoria to the Governor of Southern Rhodesia, August 1936, $156l/3, Rhodesian Archives. (2/6). ’11 on an "Ule] burned hi: South Afr the neare swear tha obtain So In I Operated began to sPoetive Without 1 availed 1 in his n "recruit. down thrw allthorit helCOmed Practice Shuth Af \ 30 C Chhmissj hrchives 156 (2/6). The migrant made his way through Rhodesia, perhaps onaum"U1ere" bus. He waded across the Limpopo River and burned his Rhodesian and Nyasaland identity papers on the South African side. He then walked a short distance to the nearest village where he paid the chief a half crown to swear that he was a member of his "kraal," so that he could obtain South African papers.30 In 1928, the Native Recruiting Corporation, which operated in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Botswana, began to advance the cost of rail fare and food to pro- spective mine workers at any of its depots within or without the Union. Theoretically, a Malawian could have availed himself of this service.31 J. C. Abraham stated in his report that in the Rustenberg District in particular, “recruiting is unnecessary; natives from the north come down through Bechuanaland, to avoid the immigration authorities, and then slip across the border where they are "32 There was also a welcomed on the mines and farms. practice known derogatorily as "black birding" whereby South African employers' agents in Rhodesia gave Malawians 30Superintendent of Natives to Chief Native Commissioner, Salisbury, 5 June 1935, 8235/400, Rhodesian Archives. 31Abraham Report, op.cit., p. 11. 321bid., p. 12. money so t2 Union.33 A 193 crossed th pass to se part of R1 then took he would : Limpopo w, headed fo which was also to c Shashi a, Pafuri wp available Transvaa; \ 33 C Levislat 172- Th of halaw 157 money so they could continue their journeys to the Union.33 A 1935 Rhodesian report describes how Malawians crossed the South African border. A migrant obtained a pass to seek work in the Gwanda District in the southern part of Rhodesia where there was a need for labor. He then took a Road Motor Services lorry to Beitbridge where he would spend the night in the railway waiting room. The Limpopo was crossed early in the morning, then the person headed for Messina, nine miles distant, or Johannesburg, which was about five hundred miles away. It was possible also to cross the border between the confluence of the Shashi and Limpopo Rivers upstream from Beitbridge and at Pafuri where there was a Wenela depot. Lorry service was available from Pafuri to Zoekmakaar Junction in Northern Transvaal.34 Not many ventured through Kruger National 33Comment by Major Hastings at the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly meeting, 28 October 1938, C.O. 525/ 172. The Major was an M.P. from Lomagundi and managing director of Southern Rhodesia Tobacco Estates, an employer of Malawian labor. 34Memo from the Assistant Native Commissioner, Beitbridge, to the Native Commissioner at Gwanda, 21 May 1935, 8235/400, Rhodesian Archives. It should be indicated that for Africans in the Union there were different sets Of rules for different areas. The laws governing housing, feeding, and pass provisions were much stricter inside "proclaimed" labor districts than in other areas. Outside the ”proclaimed" district an African's rights were mostly a matter of mutual agreement between employer and employee. Almost the whole of the Rand, an area stretching for some seventy miles from east to west, was a "proclaimed" zone and thus more difficult for a northern immigrant to enter than an "unproclaimed" area such as Rustenburg. Abraham Report, op.cit., p. 12. Park along there were eyed game In ea revised s.< longer pr! number of 1946 sinc 1932, aft appreciat 01d worki sunk in 1 100,000 1 222,170 1 affiliatr December \ 35 AfriCa I DOminion 36T for 1931 Tomage Gold Pr c Stateme NyaSalar 37 I NatiVes C'O- 52! 4.44 158 Park along the South African-Mozambique border because there were too many sharp—toothed lions and even sharper- eyed game rangers in the park. In early 1937, the South African Immigration Bill was revised so that Africans from the tropical areas were no 35 The policy was changed because the longer prohibited. number of African mine employees was expected to double by 1946 since the price of gold was on the rise. In late 1932, after South Africa went off the gold standard, gold appreciated from 84/ to 140/ per ounce.36 In addition to old workings being reopened, thirty-one new shafts were sunk in 1936. These were expected to provide work for 100,000 new men in the next six years.37 In December 1932, 222,170 Africans were employed on coal and gold mines affiliated with the Transvaal Chamber of Mines. By December 1936, this figure had risen to 293,503. Industry 35Despatch 171, British High Commissioner in South Africa, Mr. W. H. Clark, to Malcolm Macdonald, M. P., the Dominions Office, 25 March 1937, C.O. 525/166. 36These are figures for South African gold production for 1931 and 1932: 1931 1932 Tonnage Milled (lbs.) 32,426,220 50,725,750 Gold Produced é 45,484,000 c£80,520,000 Statement of the Gold Producers Committee to the Rhodesian- Nyasaland Commission, 10 June 1938, C.O. 525/173. 37Report of Mr. E. H. Cooke on Northern Rhodesian Natives working on the Rand gold mines, 4 January 1937, C.O. 525/166. officials 335,000 m were expe officials the groun were less Africans. hiElher ti the mines force ha( especialj to white Eve mallpower into lab GOVErnme be hinde but the was that pr()tlectc gOV‘ernme and its 159 officials forecast that by the end of 1938 there would be 335,000 men at work on the mines. By 1946, the numbers were expected to increase to 450,000. South African officials reasoned that since mines were going deeper into the ground more "tropicals" would be needed because they were less susceptible to the heat than were local Africans.38 The cost of gold production on the Rand was higher than any other place in the world, partly because the mines were so deep. When expanded, the wage labor force had to be diluted with less highly paid labor, especially extra—Union workers, so that the high wages paid to white miners and officials could be maintained.39 Even though the South African mining industry needed manpower, the South African Government refused to enter into labor negotiations with the Rhodesian and Nyasaland Governments. Obviously, Union officialdom did not want to be hindered in any dealings with its African population, but the official reason for its reluctance to negotiate was that it had no such labor agreements with the British Protectorates within its borders. This forced the northern governments to deal with the Transvaal Chamber of Mines and its affiliate, the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association. When talks between the Chamber and the 38Clark to Macdonald, op.cit. 39Abraham Report, op.cit., p. 4. Northern ' threatene territory men from way, the 0n 1 and the C whereby j for mine pletion ( requirenn Rhodesia meeting ‘ encouragr The Sign Building Young, a tones, ChambEEr and Mr. Wenela, wen we to \ L 160‘ Northern Territories bogged down, the South Africans threatened to open recruiting depots in Portuguese territory bordering Nyasaland and the Rhodesias. Since men from those areas found their way to South Africa any— way, the Chamber held the highest bidding cards. On 14 September 1936, the two Rhodesias, Nyasaland and the Chamber of Mines signed the Johannesburg Agreement whereby in 1937, 2,000 more Malawians would be recruited for mine work. The signees would meet again after com- pletion of an investigation of Southern Rhodesian labor requirements and the available labor supplies of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Until 1 January 1938, pending the meeting just referred to, the Transvaalers would not encourage the southward flow of labor from the north.40 The signers of the document at the Chamber of Mines Building in Johannesburg were Messrs. Stanley, Huggins, Young, and Kittermaster, representing the Northern Terri— tories, and Chamber of Mines President Mr. G. H. Beatty, Chamber Vice Presidents P. M. Anderson and w. A. Mackenzie, and Mr. W. Gemmill, General Manager of the Chamber and of Wenela. Wenela agreed to pay for travel from the recruit's " home to the Union border.41 But by 1939, the entire 40Johannesburg Agreement, 14 September 1936, C.O. 525/ 166. 41The League of Nations International Labour Conference Of 4-24 June 1936, at Geneva, agreed in Article 20 (1) that, southward nines was return jo men trave Salisbury rest days The men y Francisu journey - Of an Af man rece and one Provided jacket, for the 161 southward fare from the miner's home village to the Rand mines was paid. The southward trip was free, but the return journey home fare was deducted from wages. The men travelled by train from Salima to Dondo, then to Salisbury, Bulawayo, and Francistown, Botswana. There were rest days in Wenela depots at Dondo and Feruka near Umtali. The men were fed and innoculated against pneumonia at Francistown before proceeding to Johannesburg. The entire journey took eight days. Each group was under the care of an African conductor. Before leaving Nyasaland, each man received a cotton vest, a pair of trousers, a belt, and one blanket. At Francistown another blanket was provided, along with a U.S. army war surplus khaki serge jacket. The jacket was free, but the men were charged 19/ for the other items and this amount was deducted from their pay.42 On 24 July 1936, a Colonial Office official, R. V. Vernon, commented that it was "rather unfortunate" that, "The expenses of the journey of recruited workers to the place of employment, including all expenses incurred for their protection during the journey, shall be borne by the recruiter or employer." Delegates also agreed that recruiting be progressively eliminated. Other articles dealt with social issues, proper licensing of recruiters, medical examinations, and asked that advances paid to workers be limited. C. O. to Governor Young in Lusaka, 13 August 1937, C.O. 525/166. South Africa did not ratify this Convention. 42Abraham Report, op.cit., p. 8. after agr toward el spontanec found the recruitir 2 June, 1 Due migratis reports RhOdesie NatiVes RhOGESia Mr. J ‘ ( 00. 114‘ health and B. against pne11111011 162 after agreeing at the I.L.O. meeting in Geneva to work toward eliminating labor recruiting and toward the spontaneous (voluntary) offering of labor, C.O. authorities found themselves consenting to a new case of organized recruiting in Nyasaland.43 In his Parliamentary speech of 2 June, Mr. Creech-Jones stated: It is singular that the health problem should be solved just at the moment when there is a very considerable demand for labour from our own territories . . . I see no reason why it should be the policy of the British Government in any way to prop up contract labour in the Rand in the interest of profit, where there is nothing in the nature of family settlement and where, for practical purposes, the native people are denied the elementary principles of freedom. 4 Due to the increased official interest in labor migration during the late 1930's, there were a number of reports on Malawians working in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. These included the 1937 Report on Nyasaland Natives in the Union of South Africa and in Southern Rhodesia by Nyasaland Senior Provincial Commissioner, Mr. J. C. Abraham; two reports by Captain G. N. Burden, Nyasaland Labour Officer in Salisbury and 43Minute by R. v. Vernon, 24 July 1936, c.0. 525/166. 44Parliamentary Debates, Official Report Vol. 324, no. 114, 2 June 1937, p. 1050, C.O. 525/166. Solving the health problem referred to the discovery of the drug M. and B. 693 which was found to be extremely effective against pneumonia. After the drug began to be used the Pneumonia-caused deaths among "tropicals" employed on Rand mines dropped from 10.25 per thousand in 1937 to 2.41 PGr thousand in 1939. G. N. Burden, Nyasaland Natives in the Union of South Africa (Zomba: Government Printer, 1940). p. 20. Johannesbu in Souther Malawians Northern l investigai findings 1 The : Of Africa: Rand mine The exper easy work difficult to centre \ 45C: OffiCer ; Went to ( he Was 81 In Johan] Officers They act. governme Johannesburg,4S one written in 1938 dealing with Malawians in Southern Rhodesia and the other a 1940 enquiry into Malawians employed in South Africa. In addition, the Northern Rhodesian Government asked Mr. E. H. Cooke to investigate working conditions on the Rand mines. His findings pertained to Malawians as well as to Zambians. The reports provide insights into the daily experience of African workers in South Africa. In 1936, most of the Rand mines were already from 3,000 to 8,000 feet deep. "46 were assigned to relatively The experimental "tropicals easy work for the first two months before taking on the difficult jobs of tramming—-pushing carts loaded with ore to central collecting points in the mine--or lashing-— 45Captain Burden was appointed Nyasaland Labour Officer in Salisbury in November 1937. In April 1939, he went to open the Nyasaland labor office in Johannesburg. He was succeeded in Salisbury by Major F. T. Stephens and in Johannesburg by Mr. E. H. Warren. The duties of labor officers abroad were similar to those of consular officials. They acted as liaison between Malawians and the host governments, visited work sites, investigated conditions of employment of applicants for recruiting permits, advised on Nyasaland African law and customs, reported unsatis- factory working conditions to local labor commissioners and advised the Nyasaland representative at meetings of the Standing Committee on Migrant Labour. They also dealt with family remittances and deferred pay, assisted in settling labor disputes and quelling riots involving Malawians and collected taxes. Despite the establishment of normal diplomatic relations with South Africa there are still Malawi Labour Officers in Salisbury and Johannesburg. Both officers were long-time colonial civil servants who stayed to work for the independent government. 46In South Africa Malawians were also referred to as "Blantyres" or "Akirimani"--people from Quelimane, a Mozambiquan port on the Indian Ocean. Illegal immigrants were sometimes called "clandestines." shoveliin< as mines I became po faces inc were sunk that at a three mil had to we sometime: down intw Coo unPOPula the}? had i to derog language Various scabs i1 lOCal A: Malawia] Mine Wh It hundred of Sub- rOchs a \ 47 the “E l______‘ 164 47 Working conditions worsened shovelling ore into the carts. as mines deepened. The rock temperatures rose, ventilation became poorer, and the time spent getting to and from work faces increased. As the ore became exhausted new shafts were sunk further and further away from the compounds, so that at a mine such as East Rand Proprietary the shafts were three miles distant from the workers' quarters. The men had to walk this distance between 4:00 and 7:00 a.m., sometimes in freezing weather, then stand and wait to go down into the mine. Cooke's report stated that initially Malawians were unpopular with their fellow miners of both races because they had trouble understanding Fanakalo--sometimes referred to derogatorily as "kitchen kaffir," the special mine language which evolved to ease communication between the various ethnic groups. Northerners were also regarded as scabs introduced to lower wages and to take jobs away from local Africans. Occasionally brawls broke out between Malawians and other groups such as one at the Sub—Nigel Mine which made the newspapers. It was reported that five hundred "Blantyres" and nine hundred Xhosas took part in a faction fight at Betty Shaft of Sub-Nigel Mine. Five Africans were injured by flying rocks and required hospitalization. The altercation began 47The better paid work of drilling was reserved for the experienced miners. when a Ma for beer. which was a "Mkalar Rhodesia Ngoni wa: the poliw who star imprison were rel be attac manager work quj Anc Malawiar Pimple ‘ tions 0‘ nechme need f0 Norther 165 when a Malawian entered a room full of Xhosas and asked for beer. He was refused and during the ensuing dispute, which was carried on in several languages, he was called a "Mkalanga." This was the name of an ethnic group in Rhodesia and was designed to insult the manhood of an Ngoni warrior from Nyasaland. Stone throwing followed and the police were called in to calm everyone down. The miner who started the incident was sentenced to two months imprisonment at hard labor. The next morning the Malawians were reluctant to go underground for fear that they would be attacked by the more numerous Xhosas. But the compound manager assured them of proper treatment and they went to work quietly.48 Another problem encountered by the first group of Malawians involved food. If a group did not have its own people working in the kitchen they received smaller por— tions of food than were served to the others. The newcomers were exploited in various ways so there was a need for more capitaos and compound police from among the Northerners.49 48Abraham Report, op.cit., p. 16. 49The term compound police, or "police boy," is misleading since the major function of those men was not the maintenance of authority. They assisted white compound Officials by being charged with keeping workers' rooms neat and clean. The men were supervised by an “nduna,” or chief representative of each ethnic group living in the compound. The of meat 0 which the sleeping Breakfast only fooc There was the day i 4:00 p.m Eac holding crete bu “0 Tarde to the c NatiVe w some mir \ 50 l by Souty meayie r tho OZS 166 The food at the mines visited by Mr. Cooke consisted of meat or fish on a daily basis, raw meat twice weekly, which the men could cook on the coal stoves in their sleeping quarters, and minced or raw vegetables daily.50 Breakfast consisted of meat stew and tea at 4:00 a.m. The only food consumed on the job was a six 02. loaf of bread. There was hot coffee at the shaft head. The major meal of the day was served after the men returned to the surface at 4:00 p.m. Each ethnic group was housed in separate rooms, holding eighteen to twenty men. The workers slept on con- crete bunks. No women were allowed in the compounds and 51 All workers had free access no gardens were permitted. to the compound manager and his assistant, and European Native Welfare Officers visited miners underground. In some mines the men were provided with knee pads and shin 50In 1939, the minimum daily amounts of food prescribed by South African law for African miners were 1 l/2 lbs. of mealie meal, six 025. of bread, four 025. of beans or peas, two 025. of peanuts, five 025. of fresh vegetables, l/6th oz. of coffee or cocoa plus sugar and salt. Weekly meat requirements were three lbs. of dressed meat or fresh fish and 3/4 lb. of soup meat. Burden 1940 Report, op.cit., p. 22. 51According to a report by a South African churchman homosexuality is widespread in mine compounds. Money is given for it and youths are forced into it or victimized if they refuse to comply. There have been cases where lobola has been paid for young boys in mine compounds. Finbar Synnet, "Adaptation of the Churches' Mission to the Migrant Labour Situations" Jan Hofmeyer Library, Institute Of Race Relations, Johannesburg. guards, l 13/6 and were tesi Trai day whilv services month st boots an for defe SYStem w due to a were con example‘ was valv Co< Celia me] Particu area ju rIEar th African When a diSCOVe Such as Hotel, itself, Sugar E ‘4 167 guards, but they had to purchase their own boots which cost l3/6 and were guaranteed for three months. All new men were tested for syphillis. Trammers and lashers were paid an average of 2/2 per day while the estimated worth of room, board and medical services was 1/6 daily. Average earnings for a fourteen month stay were,€34-lO-0. .£6 of that was deducted for boots and travel expenses, leaving £28-10-0. Deductions for deferred pay amounted to 7d. per shift, but this system was voluntary and not widely used. 100% disability due to accident was compensated with £75. Various injuries were compensated according to their seriousness. For example, loss of a little toe was worthlfil while a big toe was valued at ‘5. Cooke stated that there were many Malawian Ngoni and Cewa men employed on farms in the Northern Transvaal, particularly on the Zebedelia Estates, an orange growing area just east of Potgietersrus, and in Barberton District near the Swaziland border. These areas were close to African reserves and occasionally Malawians married local women and settled down. Between the Cape and Durban, Cooke discovered small colonies of Malawians working at hotels such as Sea Point, Queen's Hotel in Capetown, Arthur's Seat Hotel, Wilderness Hotel, Port Elizabeth Club, in Durban itself, and north to Mt. Edgecombe and the White Imfulozi Sugar Estates in Zululand. These men were rarely troubled by the Un years. T Buré immigrant nines su< consolid; velt Golf and New the Mala hundred Factory at the l Pretoria ‘ forty m ‘ Brick P1 pretori thrOugh f0“ hu employe Another Warehm Employ/e \ 52 168 by the Union Government and many had held their jobs for years. Their average pay was $3 per month.52 Burden noted that a large number of illegal Malawi immigrants were worked at unfederated (non-Chamber of Mines) mines such as the Zaaiplaats Tin Mine near Nylstroom, the consolidated Murchison Gold Mine near Leydsdorp, the Malie— velt Gold Mine in Pilgrim's Rest District, and the Sheba 53 Of and New Consort Gold Mines in Barberton District. the Malawians employed in industry six hundred to seven hundred could be found at the African Explosives Dynamite Factory at Modderfontein; four hundred fifty were working at the Pretoria Portland Cement Works at Pienaars River in Pretoria District and at Slurry near Mafeking; six hundred forty northerners were employed at the Consolidated Rand Brick Pottery and Lime Works at Olifontsfontein near Pretoria; and the Victoria Falls Power Stations and Works throughout the Rand area and at Vereeniging employed nearly four hundred Malawians. An estimated 3,000 Malawians were employed in industries other than mines on the Witwatersrand. Another 2,000 worked on the Rand as domestics, in shops, or 54 warehouses. On 30 April 1938, out of the 316,359 Africans employed on Rand mines, 3,349 were from Nyasaland. By 31 52Cooke Report, op.cit. 53Burden 1940 Report, op.cit., p. 16. 54Ibid., p. 24. August 19 nines had Accc the 20,0( Hotel in Nodderfor at the R Nessina 1 Beitbrid ment for African were Na] in the 1.- he was ,- him to y Place (1 authori‘ the Pro reSheet men, A When i at MESS estima.E a0 Comps? \ 55 56 A 169 August 1939, the number of Malawians working in federated mines had risen to 6,608.55 According to the Abraham report, other places where the 20,000 Malawians in the Union worked were the Marine Hotel in Capetown and the cement works in Port Elizabeth, Modderfontein, and De Hoek. 1,300 of the 1,800 employees at the Rustenburg Platinum Mine were from Nyasaland. The Messina Copper Mine just across the Limpopo River from Beitbridge has been an extremely popular place of employ- ment for Malawians down through the years. Of the total African labor force there of 3,370, about half or 1,700 were Malawians. The compound manager had been an officer in the Nyasaland K.A.R. during the First World War, and when he was demobilised many members of his company followed him to Messina. Migrants used Messina as a stopping off place to earn money before proceeding on to the Rand. Mine authorities recognized this and made no attempt to alter the procedure. Messina Mine was unusual in another respect. It provided quarters at 12/6 per month for married men. Abraham commented that he came across more Malawian women in Southern Rhodesia than in South Africa, except at Messina. But even in Southern Rhodesia only an estimated five percent of the total number of men were accompanied by their wives from home.56 551bid., p. 19. 56Abraham Report, op.cit., p. 3. Furt] can be ga on workin Africa. critical 1938 and on the d: the 1938 in the R Southern that Nya Southerr TUestior Nith re< used in State 0 defense At tions 5 the hal adInitt, notion: 170 Further notion of the daily lives of African workers can be gained from the three Nyasaland Government reports on working conditions in Southern Rhodesia and South Africa. Abraham wrote his in 1936, and was far less critical than Burden whose inquiries were published in 1938 and 1940. Mr. Pedlar of the Colonial Office remarked on the differences between the studies when he wrote that the 1938 Burden Report, "exposes certain incompletenesses in the Report of Mr. Abraham on Nyasaland Native Labour in Southern Rhodesia." He said that Burden gave the impression that Nyasaland labor was being exploited and that the Southern Rhodesian Government deferred to farmers on labor questions. He wrote that, "Serious abuses are disclosed with regard to nutrition and hours." Other phrases Pedlar used in reacting to Burden's research were "a deplorable state of affairs . . . the contract system at its worst . . . defenseless employees."57 Abraham went out of his way to praise working condi— tions and white supervisors, and to remark repeatedly on the happy and contented condition of Malawian workers. He admitted that this impression was based on his preconceived notions of what conditions would be like. It may be said immediately that my local investigations confirmed my own prior belief that no expense is spared, and whatever “— 57Ped1ar minutes of 4 January 1939, c.0. 525/173. This was mines ai her 193! opposed rate fo industr The Cha high um always men we: Al of She: reachi] then s the sh workin drill noise acetyl Shafts \ I: science can do is being done to ensure the is maximum degree of health for trop§gal natives employed by the Rand Mines Group. This was said even though the death rate for Malawians on mines affiliated with the Chamber of Mines between Septem- ber 1935 and October 1936 was 20.28 per thousand as opposed to 13.52 for all "tropicals." The corresponding rate for Malawians employed in the Rhodesian mining industry was 18.22 per thousand for the same period.59 The Chamber of Mines Chief Medical Officer explained the high mortality rate by claiming that death rates were always high in the first decade (underlining mine) when men were growing accustomed to new working conditions. Abraham's description of his vist to Levels 36 and 37 of Shaft 16 at Crown Mine is of some interest. After reaching Level 36, he walked a mile or two along the shaft then slid down on his seat to Level 37. At intervals along the shaft there were groups of two or three Africans working with jack hammer drills. Water was sprayed on the drill to keep the dust down. Abraham remarked on "the noise of the drills . . . the hissing light of the acetylene hand—lamps . . . [and] the shallowness of the shafts . . . [which produced an] unforgettable effect."6o 58Abraham Report, op.cit., p. 6. 59Ibid., p. 7. Level 37 temperat complain boy." A native ' the Nyas were mav African: nines. Bu in Sout way Sou reports 15,000 Of meal monkey above 5 nannal deplore 125115511: \ 6 tion 0 Seml~s the 01 Which must b AfriCa “Cent BurGEn A 172 Level 37 was 6,500 feet underground, humid, and the temperature was 87°. A group of Malawians in the mine complained about the manners and methods of their "boss boy." Abraham explained the friction thusly: "The local native 'boss-boy' fears that by his superior intelligence the Nyasaland native may soon supplant him." No complaints were made to Abraham about assaults or ill—treatment of Africans by white personnel, a frequent issue in other mines. Burden was also sympathetic toward working conditions in South African mines,6l but he was very critical of the way South African farmers treated their migrant labor. He reported that on many Bethal District farms, where some 15,000 "tropicals" were employed, the food consisted only of meal and potatoes with occasional additions of beans or monkey nuts. He went on to observe that at 6,000 feet above sea level a diet composed mainly of carbohydrates for manual laborers was "conducive to ill health and a deplorable amount of inefficiency which the employer usually designates as the incurable laziness of the 61Arguing against the assertion that sexual segrega- tion of young men is undesirable he wrote, "If the semi—segregation of young men for a period of twelve months under a system of benevolent control is undesirable then the Old precepts of discipline, hard word and continence which have strengthened the fibre of the western nations must be unsuited to the development of character in the African native, a conclusion which will not be readily acceptable to the majority of Europeans who live in Africa." Burden Report, op.cit., p. 23 native." farms, E “conditi slavery. of wattl cow she. E: South 1 l930~31 tenant for th that t were w to thi \ 6 UniOn 173 native."62 Commenting on the high desertion rate from farms, Burden again mentioned the Bethal District, where "conditions on some farms are reported to resemble slavery."63 Housing was either in grass huts, compounds of wattle and daub, or barracks. These barracks were old cow sheds. They were described as: . . .totally unsuitable for human beings and particularly for the numbers packed into them. Bunks or bed boards are the exception and the occupants generally sleep on a heap of old sacks. Vermin infestation is . . . a common occurence and when it consists of rats of the Tampan tick . . . the results are some- times serious. Latrines are usually conspicuous by their absence and only wide spaces and the African sun prevent trouble. 64 Equally damning evidence was contained in the Union of South Africa Report of the Native Economic Commission, 1930—32 (U.G. 22 of 1932). On Northern Transvaal farms tenants were required to give ninety days' labor in return for their land.65 Tenants might receive cash wages during that time. Generally food was given to tenants when they were working for the land owner, but there were exceptions to this rule. Sometimes only mealie meal was provided. 621bid., p. 13. 63Ibid. 64Ibid., p. 14. 65The labor tenant system was known in parts of the Union as the “plakkers,” or squatters, system. Nany Afri were paid In a cmmdssb anestim growing were emp hundred warned t Africans Malawia] Lucas a Civiliz held th bargaiI Efforts A farm wr Malawi. from n ..\ 6 (U.G. p. 211 #4 174 Many Africans claimed they received no cash wages; they were paid in mealies and had to seek cash elsewhere. In an addendum to the Commission's report, a liberal commission member, Mr. F. A. W. Lucas, reported there were an estimated five hundred Malawians working in the citrus growing center of Rustenburg west of Pretoria; two hundred were employed in the Pilgrim's Rest District; and several hundred were laboring in the Waterberg District. He warned that their presence was harmful to the local Africans in those areas. Feeling between locals and Malawians was: . . .indeed very bitter . . . they undercut the Union Natives whose wages were small; they introduced dangerous criminal practices, particularly knifing; and they enticed to live with them local Native women whom,6ghen they left the district, they abandoned. Lucas argued that African standards of living and civilization had to be protected against immigration. He held that the importatiOn of foreign Africans weakened the bargaining position of locals and was not compatible with efforts to better their standards of living. A letter to the Nyasaland Government from a migrant farm worker further illustrates some of the conditions Malawians faced in South Africa. The letter writer was from Ncheu and had been working at a farm near Kinross, Transvaal (near Messina) since November 1937. He stated 1. 66Report of the Native Economic Commission, 1930—32 (U.G. 22 of 1932), (Pretoria: Government Printer, 1932), p, 211. that the earned; bathing tin can until 7: were bei destroye their Di that elr hide wh: WOUld 111 We better, a hard mass ,3 forced the me; of the Testun etwee f0r Na 0,0. 5 175 that the laborers were not allowed to possess the money they earned; someone else held it for them. There were no bathing or sanitary facilities; forty-two people used one tin can as a latrine. The men worked from 5:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. without a break. Their six-month contracts were being violated and the Afrikaaner owners of the farm destroyed the letters of complaint they tried to mail to their District Commissioner in Ncheu. The writer charged that eleven Malawians had been beaten to death with hippo hide whips. He said the Boers were killing workers so they would not have to pay them. We are lost, I weep as I write. If you will, send a doctor to see those here who are ill from beating. Please, please answer me I lie at your feet, I clasp your legs. Working conditions on Rhodesian farms were not much better. Burden wrote, "The British farmer is proverbially a hard person to move and does not take kindly to modern 68 Some farm laborers were ideas about native labour." forced to work from dawn to dusk for 10/ per month and all the mealies they could eat, with meat issued only when one of the oxen died. Burden criticised the lack of balanced 67The clasping of another person's legs is a traditional gesture of supplication. Letter contained in a communication between Acting Governor Hall and the South African Secretary for Native Affairs, D. L. Smit, in Pretoria, 5 January 1938, c.0. 525/173. 68Burden Report, op.cit., p. 12. diet, t1 housing are fit from th‘ anywher Normall 0n used by Inspect System employv Purcha: irregu System charge so, in them. Under mOmey for a: debts diffi‘ these Reef 1 \ A 176 diet, the lack of proper medical treatment, and bad housing. Workers could only "erect grass shelters which 9 Desertions are little protection against cold and damp."6 from these jobs were very common and fines could range anywhere from 5/ to £5 with imprisonment in default. Normally the fine was 10/, or fourteen days in jail. One of Burden's major exposés was of the credit system used by a number of stores associated with mines. Compound Inspector P. J. Kenworthy had investigated the credit system and Burden published his findings. When an African employee had no money he was given credit so he could make purchases. Certain mines paid their employees on an irregular basis which forced the workers to use the credit system whether they wanted to or not. Africans were rarely charged less than 25% extra for goods purchased on credit so, in effect, they were paying interest on wages owed to them. Some mines used tokens when they were short of cash. Under the token system store owners became bankers and money lenders with their own currency. The specie was used for all kinds of purposes in compounds, from settling debts to paying prostitutes, and its actual value was difficult to ascertain. The mines most guilty of using these practices were Antelope Mine, Abercrombie Mine, Tiger Reef Mine, Taba Mali Mine, Golden Ridge Mine, and Columbine 69Ibid., p. 12. Nine. 1 nines a Th than th 30,000 workers ground operatc Union. The mi] working mealie: two lb: Salt, Were a who ha not cl family noSt n that n KOta a to bui T detail \ 177 Mine. A Mr S. Baldachin owned several stores near these mines and was very reluctant to stop his unsavory activities. The Rhodesian mines generally were smaller operations than those on the Rand. South Africa's Crown Mine employed 30,000 men, whereas the largest Rhodesian mines had 2,000 workers. Rhodesian pay averaged 25/ per month for under— ground work and 15/ for surface jobs. Expert drill operators could earncfi6 in Rhodesia, but up majhz in the Union. Most shifts began at 7:00 a.m. and ended at 3:30 p.m. The minimum rations issued at one of the larger Rhodesian workings, Cam and Motor Mine, consisted of two lbs. of mealies per day, and, on a weekly basis, two lbs. of nuts, two lbs. of fresh vegetables, three and one-half oz. of salt, and four lbs. of meat. Pumpkins, oranges, and onions were also available. Food was issued raw to the workers who had to cook it themselves. Rhodesian compounds were not closed so it was easy for a man to bring his wife and family along, since married quarters were available on most mines. An interesting aspect of Cam and Motor was that most of the Malawians there were Muslem Yaos from Kota Kota and Ft. Johnston and mine management had allowed them to build a mosque inside the mine compound.70 This chapter has dwelt at some length on the mundane details of the lives of migrant workers in order to give 7OAbraham Report, op.cit., p. 18. apictui the sou1 good wo: notorim migrativ transpo free "0 hringin labor c A(.lreeme and Nor 178 a picture of the exploitation of the African laborers in the south. Most mines had learned that it paid to provide good working conditions for their workers, but farms were notorious for their ill-treatment of labor. Labor migration was responsible for basic improvements in the transportation system of Central Africa exemplified by the free "Ulere" truck service. Migrants were responsible for bringing about closer inter-territorial cooperation through labor concords such as the Salisbury and Johannesburg Agreements. The next chapter will discuss migrant labor and World War II. T Nyasal Africa SEptem recrui offici This w maHpow the Sr Africe SerVi< The 51 excits GWen \ (Tomb. CHAPTER 5 MALAWIANS LABOR AND WORLD WAR II Perhaps the greatest grievance of native workers in the gold mines is the almost universal flat rate of wages paid to all types of worker and the absence of the incentive and reward for more experienced or better work. Lord Harlech to Clement Attlee (0.0. 525/189) This chapter examines the war—time labor situation in Nyasaland and abroad and describes several strikes by African workers immediately following the war. On 4 September 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, all recruiting permits in Nyasaland were suspended and district officials were told to stop issuing identity certificates. This was the colonial government's response to expected manpower requests from the War Department in London. During the suspension 1,200 Malawians volunteered for the King's African Rifles, but only eight hundred were accepted for service.1 On 8 October the recruiting embargo was raised. The suspension had been done impulsively during the initial excitement surrounding the beginning of the war by Acting Governor Hall without consulting either the Colonial Office 1Annual Report of the Nyasaland Department of Labour, (Zomba: Government Printer, 1939). 179 or the the Co precip the su might S tive, Johanr with i had be relea: to be recru, but h. mines land Place eTplo K.A‘R 0n ly \ G0Ver by m 1.4 180 or the parties to the Salisbury Agreement.2 Mr. Cohen of the Colonial Office termed the suspension "unfortunately precipitant" and added that "a complete interruption of the supply of labour from Nyasaland for the mines and farms might gravely upset Southern Rhodesia's economy. Soon after the war began Nyasaland Labor Representa- tive, Captain G. N. Burden, returned to Zomba from Johannesburg to enlist in the regular army. He brought with him fifty—six ex-K.A.R. non-commissioned officers who had been working in Rand mines. Wenela had agreed to release them before their contracts were up and they proved to be useful in training new recruits. The K.A.R. sent a recruiter to Salisbury to sign up Malawians working there, but he did not have great success because the Rhodesian mines paid better wages that the army offered. The Nyasa- land Labor Representative in Salisbury, Major Stephens, placed an advertisement in the Rhodesian Herald asking Former employers of ex—askari to communicate with him. K.A.R. men were needed to train recruits in Nyasaland, but only one responded.4 2Hall was in charge because in early January 1939 Governor Kittermaster had died after an operation performed by Rhodesian Prime Minister, Dr. Huggins, on Kittermaster's diseased appendix. 3Cohen minute of 26 September 1939, C.O. 525/179. 4Copy of advertisement contained in C.O. 525/178. A was vi a left condit of his return in cor 181 At the time war was declared Chief Mwase of Kasungu was visiting London. He chatted with Dr. Banda, who wrote a letter about him to the Rev. T. Cullen Young. Wartime conditions were making overseas travel difficult. As part of his effort to obtain permission for Chief Mwase to return home the Rev. Young quoted parts of Banda's letter in correspondence with the Colonial Office. The Chief's present in Nyasaland is imperative for recruiting purposes and by the word recruiting I mean not only for the K.A.R., but also for general labour for the mines and farms of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. I believe the mining and agriculture industries in British Africa will be just as essential for the winning of this war as the fighting establishments. In 1940, after his safe return to Nyasaland, Chief Mwase became the sole African member of the Native Labour Advisory Committee of the Economic Council of Nyasaland Government (later the Central Labour Advisory Board). The September suspension of recruiting had caused a drop of 2,000 in the usual number of Protectorate emigrants to Rhodesia. The August figure was 5,465, as compared with 3,781 in September. The Rhodesians protested the embargo at the October meeting of the Standing Committee on Migrant Labour, but immigration had already resumed. In the early 1940's Nyasaland Government set Wenela's recruiting quota at 8,000 workers. On 28 March 1940, 5Dr. Banda quoted in a letter from the Rev. Young to Mr. Boyd, 2 October 1939, C.O. 525/183. Mr. H. inform asked : suspenv availal facili I Nacken that h war ef He wro 'impro Volunt Hall's rEfUSe and he establ Interp iTtEnt for fE \ \. ( (Zomba 525/12 5 Teeth 182 Mr. H. D. Alpin, Wenela representative in Nyasaland, informed the government that the quota had been met and asked for an overdraft. In May, however, recruiting was suspended again so that all local manpower would be available for army service. Wenela gave in and offered its facilities to the government for military use.6 In early 1940, Acting Governor Hall wrote Sir Donald Mackenzie-Kennedy, who was to assume the governorship, that he was fearful that Southern Rhodesia would use the war effort as an excuse for not bettering working conditions. He wrote, "It seems to me that Southern Rhodesia's idea of 'improving native labour conditions' is to get as much voluntary labour as they can without increasing the cost."7 Hall's worries were well grounded. Rhodesian Government refused to legislate improvements in standards of feeding and housing workers; it turned town a Nyasaland request to establish an eight hour work day as recommended by the International Labour Organization; and it registered its intention not to legislate welfare and safety regulations for factory workers.8 6Annual Report of the Nyasaland Department of Labour (Zomba: Government Printer, 1940). 7Hall to Mackenzie—Kennedy, 15 February 1940, C.O. 525/185. .8Minutes of the Standing Committee on Migrant Labour meet1ng of 25-26 October 1939, C.O. 525/185. Th Colonia T Salisb two Rh conscr raiSe Northe is of unfit for tr Nasal met.ll \ 183 The Rhodesian labor situation was summed up by a Colonial Office man in late 1945: They [Rhodesian authorities] maintain some seven inspectors of labour, [this number dropped to two during the war] whose reports, when I have seen them, can be termed frank and honest; they appear however to have no great effect on the evils that they disclose, and any drastic action against a Southern Rhodesian employer is rare. The October 1940 inter-territorial labor conference in Salisbury made the following policy decisions affecting the two Rhodesias and Nyasaland. There was to be no military conscription of Africans in Nyasaland. Zomba offered to raise another battalion of infantry (its fourth) if Northern Rhodesia was unable to do so by 15 December.10 As of 15 November 1940, only those who had been rejected as unfit for military service would be issued certificates for travel to Rhodesia. Wenela would not recruit in Nyasaland until that country's military needs had been met.ll And an intensive "more work" campaign would begin 9Minute of 20 December 1945, C.O. 525/193. loAt the end of 1941, 10,000 Malawians were serving with the K.A.R. 1940 Department of Labour Report, op.cit. A touching tribute to one of the Malawians who served in the K.A.R. during the second world war is contained in George Shepperson, "The Obsequies of Lance Corporal Amidu — A Short Story," Phylon, (XII, 1, 1951). 11On 1 May 1941, after a year's suspension, Wenela was allowed to resume recruiting a quota of 8,500 miners. to prod territr D1 moved ‘ their < so the recrui aided Stephe C.I.D. Africa be tak and sr leaVe to joy Servic Servir 184 to produce more food and export crops in the three territories.12 During the lean 1930's many Nyasaland tobacco growers moved to Rhodesia where they had better luck marketing their crop. The labor supply in the south was inadequate so the farmers sent their Malawian capitaos back home to recruit workers. The planters who had remained in Nyasaland aided their friends in this illegal recruitment. Major Stephens in Salisbury was in touch with the Nyasaland C.I.D. in an effort to end this illegal recruiting. Several Africans were apprehended and convicted, but no action could be taken against their European employers who remained safe and snug in Rhodesia.l Often Africans were sent home on leave with a number of bus tickets. These were distributed to jobless men for use on Stanfield's or Ascroft's Motor Services, which operated lorries in competition with "Ulere" service on the Blantyre to Salisbury road.15 12Inter—territorial Labor Conference meeting of 3 October 1940, C.O. 525/185. 13Letter to the editor of the Nyasaland Times written by Mr. W. H. Timcke, 1 April 1940, C.O. 525/185. The practice continued during the war. Many a Rhodesian "tobacco millionaire" achieved his success thanks largely to Malawian labor. _ 14The 1941 Report of the Nyasaland Labour Office in §§l£§§E£Xp Malawi Archives, Zomba. . 15The 1942 Report of the Nyasaland Labour Office in Eili§bury, Malawi Archives, Zomba. I of rec that a pester southw UHSCII Pilrpo: remov reduc fluct C.0.‘ Londo larti labOI Serva m m ,_. ,_. n 185 In 1943, Major Stephens complained about the activities of recruiters at "Ulere" terminals in Rhodesia. He said that as soon as men arrived by bus or rail they were pestered by touts. Some workers quickly continued their southward journeys, but others signed up, often with unscrupulous employers. Stephens wrote: In some cases they are sold to undesirable employers who rely entirely upon labour agents for their labour. Some employers adopt the attitude that having bought their labour at {,4 or £5 pear head they expect their pound of flesh. In November 1942, recruiting for other than military purposes again was banned in Nyasaland. The embargo was removed in September 1943, but the new Wenela quota was reduced to 5,000. The Colonial Office was jumpy about these fluctuations in local labor policy. In February 1943, C.O. Africanist, Mr. Seel, wrote: It would be deplorable if the overriding necessity of securing men for military needs should lead to the collapse of the arrange- ments so painfully built up between Nyasaland and the Wenela. The South African case for labor was well pleaded in London by several lobbyists. One of these men, Mr. John Martin, conferred often with Colonial Office officials on labor policy. Mr. Martin Was described by one government servant as "a moving spirit in the Transvaal Chamber of 16The 1943 Report of the Nyasaland Labour Office in Salisbury, Malawi Archives, Zomba. l7Minute by Mr. Seel, February 1943, C.O. 525/189. Nines.“l nent Cor African In Nillieun Nyasala African was app designs sign up arrange A: land's East A Africa would Servir of imf milit; tiOn and n C0Ppe \ 186 Mines."18 He was a director of the Central Mining Invest- ment Corporation, Ltd., as well as of a variety of South African gold mining concerns and the Bank of England. In mid-1942, Wenela's tough General Manager, Mr. William Gemmill, threatened to close down operations in Nyasaland if he was not allowed to process Portuguese Africans through facilities there. In December his request was approved provided there was no advertising or soliciting designed to persuade Mozambique to cross the border and sign up. Portuguese authorities were not informed of this arrangement.19 As the war continued so did military demands on Nyasa- land's manpower. During an October 1942, meeting of the East African governors (Nyasaland was part of the East African Military Command) it was decided that Nyasaland would provide 1,500 men per month until 14,000 men were serving. Manpower priority areas were established in order of importance as East African military service; Middle East military service; local military and civil service; produc— tion of essential foodstuffs; local approved war industry; and non-local approved war industry. Items such as rubber, COpper, and sisal were regarded as more essential than gold, l8Minute by Mr. Boyd, 15 January 1940, C.O. 525/185. 19C.O. to Nyasaland Government, 28 December 1942, C.O. 525/189. [ umvt five h three two hu ceased Malawi Labour demobj cents: and 2. at th ate , 187 coffee, or tobacco.20 A typical monthly allotment of 1,500 Malawian recruits would be distributed as follows: five hundred infantrymen for training at Jinja, Uganda; three hundred sixty men for infantry training in Zomba; two hundred fifty drivers for the East African Armed Ser— vices Command; two hundred sixty gunners; and one hundred fifty signallers, clerks, and other specialists.21 By April 1944, military recruiting in Nyasaland had ceased. At war's end there were approximately 22,000 Malawians in the armed services. As early as 1944 the Labour Department began planning how to integrate the demobilized soldiers back into civilian life. A dispersal center was established at Ntondwe, half-way between Limbe and Zomba. Thirteen Labour Registry Offices were set up at the main district headquarters throughout the Protector- ate. These were to enable employers and prospective employees to communicate. Various training programs in skills such as carpentry and bricklaying as well as basic literacy classes were arranged for the returning veterans. 201m May 1942, Rhodesian Government sent a Colonel Guest to Zomba to argue for increased emigration. One of his arguments was that tobacco was more important than gold to the military and removal of 'the weed' might cause serious psychological difficulties for soldiers. C.O. 525/ 189. 21Nyasaland Governor E. L. Richards to the Colonial Office, 2 October 1942, C.O. 525/189. Malawians took part in the capture of Madagascar and served in Ceylon, India, and Burma. Nyasaland K.A.R. was the first colonial unit to enter the war and the last to be demobilized. hang a sink. a labg um 1 money 1 living‘ ( man, A Senior the NN becau: back ‘ seven refus and L would their Villa bElie tea C Store (Zony Dries firms 188 It was expected that many of the men would not linger for long at home, but would emigrate southwards in search of work. This did not happen immediately. Although there was a labor shortage few men offered for work. There was a limited supply of consumer goods on which to spend their money so most demobilized men remained in their villages living on their war gratuities.22 Gratuities totaling £433,807, or aboutiZS—lG-O per man, were paid out. The largest amount,5£19l, went to the Senior African Chaplain. The Labour Registry Offices were a failure. Most of the men refused allassistance in resuming civilian life because they thought authorities were trying to bring them back under military discipline. Only nine hundred eighty- Seven men applied for training and 30% of those eventually refused it. Eighty-six took agriculture courses at Likuni and Likulezi Farm Institutes; some of these men stated they would not introduce new farming methods at home because their fellow villagers would become jealous of their success. Villagers tended to resent ex-soldiers anyway and dis- believed their war stories. Thirty men were trained as tea capitaos; eighteen as tung capitaos; thirty—six took a Storekeeper course at the African Lakes Corporation offices 22Annual Report of the Nyasaland Department of Labour, (Zomba: Government Printer, 1945). The high post-war price of tobacco was another inducement to keep African farmers at home. in Kas a spec men we By the Mzimba The ei seekir ( Afric. being the D work Old e with anxio with Possi for 1 lnaug eX‘as 189 in Kasungu; sixteen trained as shoemakers; fifty attended a special Standard III course at Nankumba; and one hundred men were trained as carpenters and bricklayers at Mpemba. By the end of 1946 the Labour Registry offices at Karonga, Mzimba, Kota Kota, Ncheu, and Port Herald were closed. The eight others were used mainly by domestic servants seeking work, not by ex—soldiers.23 Six hundred Malawians served with the Union of South Africa Native Military Corps. They returned home after being demobilized, but soon went back to South Africa where the Discharged Native Soldiers Re—Employment Bureau found work for them in urban areas if they could prove that their a old employers wanted them back.24 Malawians served also with the 7th Battalion of the Northern Rhodesia Regiment.25 At war's end Nyasaland Governor E. L. Richards was anxious to renegotiate his government's labor agreements with South Africa and Rhodesia in order to obtain the best possible deal both for the migrants themselves and for 23Annual Report of the Nyasaland Department of Labour for 1946. In 1947, the Nyasaland Transport Company Ltd. inaugurated its bus service. The company employed mainly ex-askari as its drivers. 24South African authorities wanted to limit access to urban areas by alien Africans. 251m 1944, Cpl. Clerk Martin A. Kaunda of the 7th Battalion of the Northern Rhodesia Regiment wrote the Bantu Mirror newspaper that he and all the other Malawians in his unit wished the Nyasaland African Congress well. Bantu Mirror, 2 September 1944. I remit? 1 time minin 0f 80 each deduc THOte that demoy Fermi fill: 8.5m RhOd( attr. told eith ther. 1946 190 government. The Salisbury Agreement had expired in 1941, but was continued without change during the war. Rhodesia expected increased agricultural growth brought about by new settlers and returned veterans. Reasoning that emigration to Rhodesia would increase along with its economic develop— ment, Richards wanted to obtain deferred pay and family remittance concessions from the Rhodesians. At the same time the governor was negotiating with Wenela's Gemmill for an increase in the South African labor quota since its mining industry expected to expand rapidly with the return of 80,000 demobilized men. Richards wanted Gemmill to pay each miner's round trip transportation cost instead of deducting the return fare from wages. In private, Richards was willing to raise Wenela's quote to 12,750, but on 12 August 1945 he informed Gemmill that Wenela's allotted 5,000 men could not be raised until demobilization on an appreciable scale had taken place. A permit for 5,000 was issued on 8 September 1945; Wenela filled it in less than three months. Another permit for 8,500 was granted on 5 December 1945. Richards informed Rhodesian officials that the ex—askaris were being strongly attracted southwards after only a few months at home. He told the Central African Council that Wenela's quota would either have to be increased or abolished completely since there was no holding the men back.26 M 26Governor Richards to the Colonial Office, 19 February 1946, C.O. 525/193. The Central African Council was composed tions T N raiser; throng Racial after reluc- Idleg deuce mail war 1 Afric Insti delay “‘- of re funct amals allVi: the 1 “The 0,0 191 Of course, this fact contradicts statements by the Nyasaland Department of Labour that Malawians were staying home spending their gratuities rather than rushing down to South Africa. Richards, however, stated that his "chief concern is the attainment of the most advantageous condi- tions for the worker whether those conditions can be obtained in South Africa or Southern Rhodesia."27 Wars generally speed social change. War-time service raised the political consciousness of African soldiers through the inter—racial sharing of the intimacies of death. Racial differences tend to blur in dangerous situations and after the war those Africans who had carried arms were reluctant to return to their previous subservient political roles. Perhaps the victorious army's sense of self confi— dence was communicated to African workers back home by mail or by newspaper (see footnote 25) because during the war labor disputes involving Malawians seemed to increase. In 1940 there were four reported incidents in South Africa involving Malawians: lepers at the West Fort Institute in Pretoria protested the long repatriation delay; there was a riot involving both Northerners and Union of representatives from the two Rhodesias and Nyasaland and functioned as a policy coordinator and propagandist for the amalgamation of the three territories. The council was an advisory body with no executive powers. 27Ibid. Even Field Marshal Smuts sent a telegram to the British High Commissioner in South Africa asking that Wenela's quota be raised to 10,000, but to no avail. (2.0. 525/193. -‘ .: rm 1.? u.’ I ’ frown; ofa had. had fl Nine maize In 19 quote the n in Ca Offic in 3‘ rais. targt Highy thei ConSt Malay 011M (Zom‘ 192 Africans at the Wenela acclimatization depot; Malawians at Consolidated Main Reef Mine struck following the stabbing of a Malawian; and one hundred sixteen newly-arrived Malawians balked at going to Randfontein Estate Mine because they had heard that working conditions there were bad. Wenela officials assured the men that conditions had improved and they agreed to work at Randfontein.28 In January 1943 African workers at Langlaagte Gold Mine went on strike following a one-third cut in their maize ration. Forty—eight were either jailed or fined. In 1944, Malawians at Rooiberg Tin Mine struck over inade- quate cost of living allowances. These were increased and the men returned to work.29 In early 1943 Lord Harlech, British High Commissioner in Capetown, wrote to Clement Attlee at the Dominions Office describing some of the reasons for worker discontent in South Africa. He said that mine wages had not been raised since 1933. In the past mine managers had used the target worker argument to justify keeping wage rates low. Higher pay would mean fewer workers since they could earn their monetary goal more rapidly. (It is difficult to 281940 Labour Department Report, op.cit. At Consolidated Main Reef the men won the appointment of a Malawian underground boss—boy and management agreed to try to stop underground assaults by whites and other Africans On Malawians. 29Annual Report of the Nyasaland Department of Labour (Zomba: Government Printer, 1944). emplt 3. 00l by 1 r6581 ratiy railt nepo Repr. keep fave in S Dom-l comprehend this agrument since miners were on contract and had to remain at work for a specific period whether they liked it or not.) New reasons for maintaining low pay rates had appeared due to the war. These included higher taxes and growing difficulties in obtaining essential mining machinery from the United States. Harlech wrote: Perhaps the greatest grievance of native workers in the gold mines is the almost universal flat rate of wages paid to all types of worker and the absence of the incentive and reward for more experienced or better work. [Other worker complaints] relate to the assaults to which they are subjected by white overseers, the organisation of their shifts underground and, indeed, the ggneral restric— tiveness of life in compounds. 0 In late 1945, there were major strikes of African employees against Rhodesian Railways. On 22 October, 3,000 men went on strike at Bulawayo; they were followed by 1,200 (half of them Malawians) in Salisbury. The reasons given for the walk-out were inadequate pay, poor rations, substandard housing, and lack of sympathy from railway administrators. The Nyasaland Department of Labour Report for 1945 stated that the Nyasaland Labour Representative and his African Head Clerk had succeeded in keeping most Malawians quiet during the strike. Strike fever, however, spread to two other employers of Malawians in Salisbury. Inadequate wages were given as the reason M 30Despatch from Lord Harlech to Clement Attlee at the Dominions Office, 15 February 1943, C.O. 525/189. for t by th arriv Rails This affai COHSI Situ.‘ Gove Sugg Afri the Six life 194! Ann 194 for the walk-outs. The men returned to work after warnings by the Native Commissioner and Major Stephens and the arrival of police in one case.31 In 1946, African drivers and firemen on Nyasaland Railways threatened to strike unless wages were doubled. This was regarded as a hangover from the Rhodesian Railways affair. After being assured that wage increases were being considered, the men returned to work.32 This chapter has examined the Malawian migrant labor situation during World War II as well as Nyasaland Government labor policies during and after the war. It suggested that increased worker discontent in Southern Africa during and after the war might have been related to the climate for social change which wars create. Chapter Six deals with the effects of labor emigration On rural life in Malawi. 31The 1945 Department of Labour Report, op.cit. In 1945, Malawians in the Union of South Africa were involved in two strikes, one of which was organized by a trade union. 32The 1946 Department of Labour Report, op.cit. T has be histor throng eAperiv t0 scr life i; StreSs‘ rllSultt likely Social agretmr After T br°ught “tents \ *Parts % CHAPTER 6 THE EFFECTS OF LABOR EMIGRATION ON RURAL LIFE IN MALAWI.* Amuna naji ochoka pososa. Adzadya teryline. Cewa song. The men are leaving before preparing the fields. They will have to eat teryline. This narrative has maintained that labor migration has been one of the key elements in 20th century Malawian history. It has approached the study of migration mainly through an examination of the individual African's experiences abroad. To complete the study it is necessary to scrutinize the effects of labor emigration on rural life in Malawi itself. Early accounts of the exodus stressed the undeniable suffering in rural areas which resulted from the absence of so many men. However, it is likely that communal institutions absorbed some of the social shock of emigration and that the inter-territorial agreements helped mitigate the worst economic consequences. After World War II newly formed African Provincial Councils brought many grass roots grievances about emigration to the attention of colonial authorities. M *Parts of this chapter have appeared in an article in Rural Africana, (#20, Spring 1973). 195 CI to the migrat. Nether and th Britis petiti life w by mig petiti financ supply have t Profit 1 ient y Troops for t: SCOtlg it wa: MiSSl( acre ‘ IndllS' \ 196 Clergymen were most consistent in calling attention to the evil social and economic repercussions of labor migration. Blake of Kongwe, Hine of Likoma Island, Hetherwick of Blantyre Mission, and John Moir, Moffat, and the Elmslies of Livingstonia all endorsed the 1900 British Central Africa Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce petition (see Chapter 1), which complained that village life was deteriorating as a result of immoral habits acquired by migrants in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. The petition also declared that it was essential to the financial welfare of the country that the indigenous labor supply be retained so that European-owned estates could have the abundant supply of cheap manpower essential for profitable operation. Missionaries had an interest in maintaining a conven- ient pool of workers because several of the religious groups operated large estates and depended on coffee sales for financial support.1 In the 1880's the Church of Scotland introduced coffee into Central Africa, and in 1900 it was grown on 31,000 acres owned by the Zambesi Industrial Mission, on the Nyasa Industrial Mission's nine hundred acre farm, and on plantations operated by the Baptist Industrial Mission.2 These churches and the planters shared l19.0. 2/669. 2The Phelps-Stokes Report, (1924). economic if they serve emigration 0m 27 was expres others at Memorial of hands" the gathe In Oblectic Guillemg most Se: Europea Only tw Years c enOuuh help 0: \ 3 regrui Wickl E l Indigy triel: A 197 economic interests. When combined with Christian charity they served to motivate religious protests against emigration. On 27 October 1909, opposition to foreign recruiting was expressed again by the Rev. Dr. Hetherwick and many others at a large public meeting held at Queen Victoria Memorial Hall in Blantyre. The missionary joined a "sea of hands“ in supporting a resolution by the chairman of the gathering, Mr. F. W. Robinson: That this meeting of residents of Blantyre, planters, and others protest against the opening of the Protectorate to recruiting for the labour market of South Africa or elsewhere.3 In 1932, the Roman Catholic Church emphasized its objections to labor emigration in an article by Bishop Guilleme.4 He wrote that the ruin of the family was the most serious consequence of emigration and the one to which Europeans paid the least attention. Men returned home for only two or three brief family visits during the first ten years of marriage. Women alone were incapable of earning enough money to support their households, even with the help of the extended family system. Despair replaced many an absent husband in rural homes. 3Report of October 1909 meeting protesting foreign recruiting contained in C.O. 525/30. Ironically, Hether— wick's Blantyre Mission has leased part of its land to Wenela for its Blantyre depot. 4Bishop Guilleme, "Simples Notes sur L'Emigration des Indigenes de L'Afrique Centrale vers 1es Centres Indus- triels," Africa, (V, 1, January 1942). Dr. W. Viefl. loweriy women A were b( return alone husban homes. T effect by dat Vantag eCOnon ignori their Social misunc' hUtual the e: Read ( blem, Cehtry 198 Infidelity increased when men were away working, as Dr. W. Y. Turner pointed out in an article in News and Views, a Church of Scotland Mission publication. Besides t lowering moral standards, emigration condemned many young women to permanent spinsterhood when the men to whom they were betrothed went away to earn dowry money and never returned. Childless married women spent unhappy lives alone in the village; the children conceived during the husband's brief visits grew up undisciplined in fatherless homes. The missionaries spoke in general terms about the bad effects of migration. Their claims usually were unsupported by data, and they looked at life from their own puritanical vantage point. They tended to blame every social and economic ill in the country on the labor exodus while ignoring the unsettling effects of internal migration and their own evangelizing on traditional life. Often the social security systems developed by African cultures were misunderstood by Europeans. These institutions provided mutual aid during stress periods. The Travers-Lacey Report recommended more research into the effects of migration on rural life, and in 1939 Margaret Read came out to Nyasaland to conduct a study of the pro— blem. She investigated the Ngoni and Cewa of Northern and Central Regions during a year which ended with 112,765 men absent tradit: only or matril as wel except P and To less-d been t have d rotati a brot emotio york 0 for th extens N that n than c Natriy \ I Effect 1 Jeni 199 absent from the Protectorate.5 Her conclusion was that traditional life was changing, but that labor migration was only one of the many factors involved. Read found that matrilineal groups did not stand the strain of absent men as well as patrilineal societies, except when favored with exceptional leaders.6 Patrilineal communities such as the Ngoni, Tumbuka, and Tonga have heavy social obligations and live in the less-developed parts of Malawi. Consequently, they have been the most consistent migrants. Some patrilocal groups have developed a system whereby the men go south in rotation so there are always males at home. Occasionally a brother-in-law may provide for a woman's physical and emotional needs while her husband is away.7 Van Velsen's work on the lakeside Tonga makes a very convincing argument for the continuing social cohesion of that society despite extensive emigration. M. G. Marwick has challenged the prevailing attitude that matrilineal groups suffer more from an absence of men than do patrilineal societies. He feels that Cewa society, matrilineal and matrilocal in structure, is well-adapted to 5The 1939 Department of Labour Report, op.cit. 6Margaret Read, "Migrant Labour in Africa and its Effects on Tribal Life," International Labour Review (XLV, 1 January 1942), p. 625. 7Interview, December 1972. a high consany I] the wi help c brothe It is in a m panied Where econon The In given has be 200 a high labor migration rate because of its "extreme consanguineal organization."8 In a typical matrilineal situation newly—weds live in t the wife's family's village and the husband is expected to i help cultivate his in—law's garden. The wife's mother's i brother claims authority over any offspring of the marriage. It is his absence which can cause the most serious problems in a matrilineal group. For that reason many nephews accom— panied their uncles on migratory trips abroad. In areas where a large number of men were missing an intolerable economic and social burden would fall on the old people. The number of males which could be away from home at any given time without causing undue distress to village life has been the subject of diverse estimates. Van Velsen figured that a phenomenal 60-75% of Tonga adult males were absent, but stated that there were no serious signs of disorganization in Tonga society.9 A Belgian Congo commission reported that not more than 5% of the men could be lost for long periods without adversely 10 affecting local life. F. E. Sanderson has declared that a 10% absentee rate resulted in food shortages, immorality, 8Maxwell G. Marwick, Sorcery in its Social Setting, A Study of the Northern Rhodesian Cewa (Manchester: Man- chestern University Press, 1965), p. 261. 9J. Van Velsen, "Labor migration . . .," op.cit., P. 277. 10 Travers—Lacey Report, op.cit., p. 36. diseasr Nillia system men ar econom for ea absent agricu P practi follow thing Percei ruinh cassa Women alone and b men's hotiv 201 disease, and the breakdown of social fabric.11 Economist William Barber's opinion is that a subsistence agriculture system will be harmed if more than 50% of the able—bodied men are missing.12 William Watson felt that the Mambwe economy would be damaged if there were more than two women for each man in a village.13 The allowable percentage of absent men seems to depend significantly on the sort of agricultural system in use by the group. According to Travers-Lacey, the division of labor practiced in most traditional Malawian communities is as follows: women draw water, gather firewood, and do every— thing connected with food preparation. A very high percentage of Tonga men were able to live abroad without ruining life at home partly because the Tonga staple, cassava, is an easily cultivated crop grown primarily by women. Both men and women weed and harvest the fields; men alone clear land, erect and repair homes and granaries, and build cattle krasls. The cultivation of cash crops is men's work as well. Since most migrant analysts agree that the major motive behind labor migration has been economic, encouraging 11F. E. Sanderson, Nyasaland . . ., op.cit., p. 133. 12William J. Barber, The Economy of British Central Africa (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1961), P- 216. 13William Watson, Tribal Cohesion in a Money Economy (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958), p. 34. the plan induceme cotton, small h< southerl uncerta‘ nationa African usually 1952 La 150,00( increas But, a: regres: 0f mig labor crOp r and wh 202 the planting of cash crops should have been the proper inducement for men to remain at hoome. Africans have grown cotton, maize, and tobacco in Malawi for many years and small holder tea estates are now being established in the southern portion of the country. However, bad weather, uncertain transportation, and the vicissitudes of inter- national commodity markets have made life uncertain for African farmers. Fluctuations in those conditions were usually reflected in the numbers of men going abroad. The 1952 Labour Department Report stated that there were 150,000 men abroad, 2,000 more than the 1951 figure. The increase was attributed to a poor African tobacco crop. But, as Ronald E. Gregson has point out, there may be a regression in agricultural techniques when large numbers of migrants return home. When a plentiful supply of male labor is available, slash and burn methods tend to replace crop rotation, a system which makes better use of the land and which is employed when women alone work the fields.14 The 1939 Labor Department Report stated, "Emigration is unjust to the women in every way." However, songs sung by Malawian women while going about their daily tasks reveal a less dogmatic attitude toward the equitability of 14Ronald E. Gregson, Work, Exchange and Liadgrsgig; of ' ' ' ' ral Labor Among e un _ the Mobilization of Agricultu Columbia UniverSity, W (Ph.D. Dissertation, 1969). p. 121 their pound M w Why d Becau In th going men. abané theiu clot} when song In Ine 1 \ If y, that danc of M Amun ‘\~. 2% The uhey Shir hQVE thei Eat 203 their menfolk's travels. Tumbuka women sing this song while pounding maize into flour: Wanalume wali pano ku Harari wakopa koci? Wali kukoma mzungu kuwaleka ndiko. Why don't our husbands go to Rhodesia? Because they have killed a European there. In this song the women are trying to shame their men into going south to work by suggesting they are afraid of white men. Some songs speak of the poverty which forces women abandoned by their husbands to carry their children in their arms because they cannot afford to buy "nguwo," the cloth used to tie babies to their mothers' backs. Other songs reflect the sadness and pain which result when men become "machona." One of these, the Visekese song, also is sung while pounding maize. Imwe mukuya ku Joni mukawa pharile ngeko, Ine nkule, anyina wo nkule. If you meet him in South Africa, tell him that I am naked and his mother is naked. A Cewa song performed by women while doing the Cimtale dance is a good example of the sardonic wit characteristic of Malawian women. Amuna naji ochoka pososa. Adzadya teryline. The men are leaving before preparing the fields. They will have to eat teryline. Shirts made from teryline cloth are popular among men who have worked abroad. If the men left home before helping their wives prepare the gardens they will have nothing to eat but their shirts when they return home because the granaz approe Workiu of we; safe- remai this indep l J, De CI tro ret 204 15 granaries will be empty. These songs indicate a practical approach to emigration from the female point of view. Working in the south was encouraged because it was a source of wealth arrangements should be made for the family's safe-keeping before departure; and the men should not remain away from home for extended periods. Actually this was the policy fostered by both colonial and independent administrations in Malawi after 1936. Great Britain and the Empire adopted Article 9 of the Recommendations of the 1944 Philadelphia session of the I.L.O. meeting which stated: It shall be an aim of policy to eliminate the recruiting of workers and to replace such recruitment by arrangements which, though based on the spontaneous offer of labour through free agencies controlled by Government, provide for medical inspection, transport, food and shelter and all other benefits accruing to workers under existing systems. Pending the formulation of any new proposals concerning the methods of obtaining labour and with a view to the more rapid promotion of a change-over to the new methods contemplated, consideration shall be given to the applica- tion of the principles contained in the Elimination of Recruiting Recommendation of 1936. 6 The new Salisbury Agreement which came into effect on 1 January 1949, contained important concessions improving 15Songs and their interpretations from interviews, December 1972. Occasionally men returning home on holiday from their jobs in the south brought shirts, underwear, trousers, and other pieces of wearing apparel which they retailed to villagers who remained in Malawi. l6I.L.O. Recommendations contained in C.O. 525/193. the h mun‘ uncon defer Schem case tonne when the t C0un< Natiu and I been authu coun of t (Lon rema Inent labo NYas Nati reg, judj magi reme a re p. E 205 the lot of migrant workers. Its provisions included free round—trip transportation, compulsory repatriation of uncontracted workers after two years, and compulsory deferred pay and family remittances under the Workbook Scheme. Families were urged to emigrate together, in which case repatriation and remittances were not mandatory.17 European officials were made more aware of migrant- connected problems at the grass roots level after 1944 when government established African Councils in each of the three provinces as well as a Protectorate—wide African Council. These groups included the leading Chiefs, Native Authorities (N.A.'s), and/or their representatives and met twice each year.18 In 1943, similar councils had been established in Northern Rhodesia. Although government authorities refused to discuss certain subjects the councils were an attempt to provide a forum for the views of traditional African leaders at a time when new political l7Nyasaland Protectorate Annual Report for 1950 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office). This pact remained in effect until terminated by the Rhodesian Govern— ment on 1 July 1960. Since then there has been no formal labor agreement between Zambia, Rhodesia and Malawi. 18In 1933, as part of the policy of indirect rule, Nyasaland Chiefs and Principal Headmen were declared to be Native Authorities with permission to issue orders for the regulation of their own districts. N.A.'s also had limited judicial responsibility under the supervision of European magistrates. However, the collection of tax revenues remained in European hands and indirect rule never became a reality. See Robert I. Rotberg, The Rise . . ., op.cit., P. 50, for more on N.A.'s. parti Counc to i1 the i Ofter chiei treas by n< cooru prob disc to m gard 206 parties were being formed by younger more educated men. Council members who had been abroad used their experiences to illustrate their arguments or to provide examples of the improved government services they were suggesting. Often these suggestions were designed to increase the chief's power or to bring more money into Native Authority treasuries. Agreement about issues raised by members was by no means unanimous, but often there seems to have been coordination between the regional councils in bringing up problems which affected the entire country. Topics discussed ranged from transportation and luggage problems to marital difficulties to the question of what to do with gardens left untended by emigrants. In one of the first meetings of the Northern Provincial Council Chief Mwafulirwa of Karonga stated that South African women were not wanted in Nyasaland. When they were brought back to their husband's village they quickly became disillusioned, unhappy, and a nuisance. Their husbands often deserted them for local women. The chief wanted government to prohibit their entry into the country. After discussion the council decided to ask government to demand a deposit from men bringing foreign women into Nyasa— land which would be used to pay for their repatriation if necessary.19 The government did not find this suggestion M 19Record of the Northern Provincial Council Meeting g§_lgg§. Malawi Archives, Zomba. to be grave more obje< they extru Soufl depr live subj Patr coul thei home from Mzin alou ran and are rep res rem dep Mar 207 to be practical, but the problem of foreign wives was a grave one. South African women in particular were often more sophisticated than their Malawian' sisters and objected to the strange language, new food, and hard work they were expected to do in the fields. In cases of extreme deprivation the Nyasaland Government repatriated South African women to Mafeking, but too often they became depressed and died or turned to prostitution for their livelihood.20 The transportation situation in Nyasaland was the subject of a motion at the May 1947 meeting by the Rev. Patrick K. Mwamlima of Karonga. He asked if government could make arrangements with Wenela to return workers to their homes or to the road or rail point nearest their homes. The men were being forced to walk long distances from Wenela drop points at Njakwa (between Kasungu and Mzimba) and Nchena—nchena (between Rumphi and Livingstonia) to their villages. They had too much luggage to manage alone so they were forced to hire carriers at exorbitant rates.21 In the September 1947 meeting it was reported that 20Today Rhodesian African women must have passports and deposit $10 (Rhod.) at the Malawi border before they are allowed into the country. This fee is adequate for repatriation and the same fee is charged for a permanent resident certificate so there is no loss if the woman remains. A return ticket is a legal substitute for the dePOSit. Interview with Mr. Graham-Jolly in Salisbury, March, 1973. 2lRecord of the Northern Provincial Council Meeting Of May 1947, Malafii’Archives, Zomba. Nyasa servi peopl porta year. sayir strar Provi Afrit Wene Wene them fore Chie Chin to c and Pr0\ agre Whei 9:3 Ila to; 208 Nyasaland Transport Company had agreed to extend its service further north to aid returning migrant workers. At the same meeting the Kyungu (chief) of the Nkhonde people of Karonga complained about the lack of lake trans— portation since the steamer Vipya had sunk the previous year. Chief Majikapotwe of Chinteche supported the Kyungu saying that many Tongas returning from the south were stranded at Salima after the loss of the ship.22 In the May 1947 meeting, the Rev. Charles Chinula, Provincial Council representative for Chief M'mbelwa's African Administrative Council of Mzimba, complained that Wenela recruits were not informed that the costs of their Wenela blanket and the outstanding taxes Wenela paid for them would be deducted from their wages. He also said that foreign boss—boys were victimizing Malawians in the mines. Chiefs Chindi and Katumbi of Mzimba supported the Rev. Chinula, adding that at times chiefs who urged their people to contract with Wenela were accused of being Wenela agents and of benefitting financially. Mr. E. C. Barnes, Provincial Commissioner and President of the Council, agreed to instruct District Commissioners to ascertain whether contracts were fully understood.23 22Record of the Northern Provincial Council Meeting Of September 1947. It was three years before the steamer Ilala went into operation so returning migrants continued to suffer travel inconveniences. 23Meeting of May 1947, op.cit. hzimb North court law a suppc Presi Commj abseu and 1 Wantu even year diSp the they of b Bark tion that O M / 209 In the September 1947 meeting, Chief Chikulamaembe of Mzimba said that Malawians should have representation on Northern Rhodesian Urban Courts. During his 1946 visit to the Copperbelt he found his people complaining that the courts there were basing marriage case decisions on local law and not on Nyasaland law and custom. Chief Chindi supported his colleague, but to no avail as the Council President commented, "When in Rome you do as Rome does."24 During the May 1948 meeting Northern Province Commissioner Barker brought up the important problem of absentee—controlled gardens. These neglected plots eroded and the gullying spread to neighboring areas. People who wanted to use the idle land were prevented from doing so even when the proper "owners" had been absent for many years. Barker demanded that absentee landholders be dispossessed, but most council members argued that usually the plots were hoed by the absentee's family. If not, they were either lying fallow or not being worked for fear of being dispossessed upon the owner's return. Unsatisfied, Barker retorted that damage was being done before regenera— tion took place.2 In 1949, the Honorable E. A. Muwamba of Chinteche said that European buyers were monopolizing food purchases then 24Meeting of September 1947, op.cit. 25Record of the Northern Provincial Council Meeting Of May 1948, Malawi Archives, Zomba. chargi Africa purcha that i Towns} town ( type 1 famil tr ave Counc in th South recru Noven bOdig 1910 ing to t Mkub welf Comm of N aPPo Advi was Conn buts Brifi Kada For charging exorbitant prices to Africans. He suggested that African-controlled cooperative societies be established to purchase food as was done in Tanganyika.26 He also said that the Rhodesian planners who had designed Nkhata Bay Township, were suspected by the people of organizing the town on a racially segregated basis with a South African- type pass system in mind. The people of Nkhata Bay were familiar with this type of discrimination through their travels abroad and wanted none of it in their country.27 In the September 1949 meeting, Mr. W. H. J. Rangely, Council President, announced that due to the severe famine in the country, labor recruiting in the Central and Southern Provinces was being halted as of 1 September; recruiting in the Northern Province would cease on 15 November. These stoppages were to insure that all able- bodied men would be cultivating their gardens so as to meet 26Mr. Muwamba was a cousin of Clements Kadalie. In 1910, he obtained his Standard Six certificate and a teach- ing certificate from Overtoun Institute. In 1914, he went to the Copperbelt where he worked as a clerk at Bwana Mkubwa Mine atfit2-7-6 per month. He founded the Ndola Welfare Association and was the first African District Commissioner in Northern Rhodesia. Along with Thom Manda Of Nkhata Bay District, he was among the first Africans appointed to the Northern Rhodesia African Education Advisory Board. In 1949, after retiring to Nyasaland he was one of the first two African members of the Legislative Council. Mr. Muwamba was an outstanding man who contri- buted much wisdom and experience to Council meetings. Bridglal Pachai, The Malawi Diaspora and Elements of Clements Kadalie (Salisbury: The Central African Historical Associa- tion, 1969), p. 129. 7Record of the Northern Provincial Council Meeting of A ril 194 , Malawi Archives, Zomba. the 1 Ideni appl: them In 1 to f vill affa care a le the Afte thei Catc tive Char NYas C0111 dim 0f 5 \ Was Who 211 the food shortage. District Commissioners were withholding Identity Certificates until they were satisfied that applicants had left plenty of food for their families.28 Increased food production in the north did help save the country from the worst effects of the 1949 drought. In 1950, Native Authorities made new rules for emigrants to follow. Before going abroad they had to report to their village headmen who satisfied themselves that the men's affairs were in order and their wives and relatives were cared for. The headmen then gave the prospective emigrant a letter for his Native Authority who checked on whether or not the man had paid his taxes. He was then sent to the District Commissioner for an Identification Certificate. After September 1954 migrants were required to report to their N.A.'s upon their return home. This was a way to catch tax evaders and reflected the increased administra- tive efficiency and control over migration that characterized the years of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.29 The Federation came under intense criticism during Council meetings and the Protectorate—wide Council was dissolved because of its opposition to amalgamation. When 28Record of the Northern Provincial Council Meeting Of September 1949, Malawi Archives, Zomba. Mr. Rangeley was the finest historian among all the interested amateurs Who served in the Nyasaland civil service. 29Record of the Northern Provincial Council Meeting Of September 1954, Malawi Archives, Zomba. askec Protu Pres any] Prov memb was repr Coun emig it 6 inc: the 90Ve emit Vie: ihtu H1661: Afr Whi the end inc dec r01 for 212 asked by Northern Provincial Council members if the Protectorate Council had been abolished the Council President replied that it had not; it just was not meeting any more. During its April 1958 meeting, the Northern Province Council called on the two Nyasaland African members of the Federal Parliament to resign. The government was asked not to appoint any more Africans or Europeans to represent Nyasaland in Salisbury. In 1959, the Provincial Councils were abolished. This chapter has attempted to describe the effects of emigration on rural life in Malawi from the early days when it did harm traditional societies to the 1950's when increasing administrative efficiency had alleviated most of the evils of migration. African Provincial Councils called government's attention to many problems brought about by emigration. Council members, many of whom had worked or visited abroad, were vocal in their opposition to the introduction of any of the pass laws or other restrictive measures under which they had been forced to live in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. Having experienced oppression while in neighboring countries Malawians were determined that they would remain free in their own country. To this end they opposed Federation and took an active part in the incidents at Kariba Dam in early 1959 which led to the declaration of a state of emergency in the Federation. The role of Malawian labor in the construction of Kariba Dam forms the bulk of the following chapter. grea time Labo Spec GOVe help Parl elec 01‘ a fOrn Vieu beer gene In 1 Port @ CHAPTER 7 MALAWIAN LABOR AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF KARIBA DAM “We won't die for fourpence." Strikers' slogan at Kariba Dam, February 1959. In 1956, construction began at Kariba, the site of the great Zambezi River hydroelectric project.1 At the same time the Federal Power Board made the Rhodesian Native Labour Supply Commission (R.N.L.S.C.) its labor agent.2 A special recruiting permit was negotiated with the Nyasaland Government, and during 1956, 2,355 Malawians signed up to help build the dam. They were promisedéi3 per month, 1There was a long and rancorous debate in the Federal Parliament in Salisbury over whether to build a hydro— electric power plant on the Kafue River in Northern Rhodesia or at Kariba on the border between the two Rhodesias. The former was the better site from an economic and structural viewpoint, but the latter plan finally was forced through because Southern Rhodesian politicians wanted the power generating plant in their territory under their control. In the words of former Northern Rhodesian Minister of Trans— port and Works, Mr. Harry Franklin, "Kariba has in fact been an economic disaster." Unholy Wedlock. The Failure of the Central African Federation (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1963), p. 109. Robert I. Rotberg has written that the decision to build Kariba instead of Kafue, "limited the economic growth of Northern Rhodesia, while its southern neighbor benefited considerably." The Rise . . . op.cit., P. 257. 2 In October 1948, the R.N.L.S.C. (also called "Mtandizi" or "help" in Cewa) began recruiting laborers in Nyasaland and it continues to do so. Farms and mines pay a 213 "easy we no pay < Kariba ' hollow. which p by six Or to Kari hasula 0f Mzi 214 "easy work, good quarters, good treatment when sick," and no pay deductions for sick days.3 _Soon after arriving at Kariba the workers found that the R.N.L.S.C. promises were hollow.4 They wrote letters of complaint to their chiefs which prompted an inspection visit of the construction site by six prominent Malawians. On 23 July 1956, the deputation travelled from Blantyre to Kariba. It consisted of N.A. Somba of Blantyre, N. A. Masula of Lilongwe, N. A. Kachere of Dedza, N. A. Mzukuzuku of Mzimba, and two members of the Legislative Council, Mr. N. D. Kwenje of Southern Province and Mr. Kanyama Chiume of Northern Province. They were accompanied by a Government Information Officer, Mr. B. Jones-Walters, and the Nyasaland fee to the commission for each worker it provides. It has had limited success in Malawi due to the workers' aversion to contracting to work for an unknown employer. See Annual Reports of the Rhodesian Native Labour Supply Commission (Salisbury, 1949—71). 3Report by a Party of Nyasaland African Members of Legislative Council and Chiefs on Their Visit to Kariba on 23 July 1956 (Zomba: unpublished report, 25 September 1956). 4As early as March 1956, Nyasaland's Federal Member of Parliament, Mr. Wellington Chirwa, described Kariba in the Federal Parliament as a plan to depopulate his country by forcing its men to work in malarial swamps under slave conditions. Frank Clements, Kariba, the Struggle with the River God (London: Metheum and Company, Ltd., 1959), " P. 62. Returning home, Mr. Chirwa addressed 10,000 cheering Malawians on the same subject. He and the other Nyasaland African Federal M.P., Mr. Clement Kumbikano, called condi— tions at Kariba, "horrible and disgusting." Kariba (Bloemfontein: The Friend Newspapers, Ltd., 1960), P- 87- Labou repo side whil obse dele insp dict all Ins; were con thi fir day dri Cle Wor Pai 215 Labour Representative in Salisbury, Major Burden. The report of their visit is an interesting document because one side of the page contains the findings of the African group while the other side is a government statement based on observations by the two white members of the inspection delegation and a Southern Province Labour Officer who had inspected Kariba on 17 and 18 July. The two reports contra- dict each other on most points. The government stated that before leaving Nyasaland all recruits were attested before an African Labour Inspector or a Labour Assistant. Conditions of employment were explained and workers could ask questions about their contracts. They were to be paid not less thanaf3 for a thirty day work ticket. In practice most earnedéfiifor the first thirty day ticket, andfi4-lO-0 for succeeding thirty day tickets. Wages varied, but skilled workers such as drivers, clerks, and carpenters started atdkj—lO-O and clerks could earn as much as dE45-0-0 per month. The normal work day was eight hours, six days weekly. Overtime was paid at time and a half and was not obligatory except on . . . 5 speCial occaSions such as cement pouring. 5The longest work record for July 1956 belonged to a Malawian named Anaptabu who was working for Costains Ltd., the sub—contractor erecting houses on "European Hill." He had done three hundred twenty-four hours in thirty one days and earned a total of £10-0—0 of whichfil-lO—O was returned to Nyasaland as compulsory deferred pay. An assistant carpenter named "Nyasaland" had labored for two hundred sixty—nine hours and earnediE13—l7—5. The average worker worked two hundred thirty—nine hours and earned worke rest othe tunn brea had that Regu tion “con nigh twer comm ins; Cent Sho OCC‘ 216 The chiefs claimed that when recruits first arrived they worked from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Some were allowed to rest for one hour while food was prepared and eaten while others worked straight through. At the workshops near the tunnel the men said they laborered from 7:00 to 7:00 with no break and no food, while the Europeans working with them had their lunch sent to them. The government statement said that hours of work were governed by the Kariba Native Labour Regulations (S. R. Government Notice #424 of 1955). Allega— tions that new recruits worked twelve hours per day were "completely untrue." The government acknowledged that it might be necessary to work two eight hour shifts in one twenty—four hour period, but regulations said there had to be eight hours between each shift. This was said to be a common work pattern in mines.6 The delegation visited "European Hill" at noon to inspect the food. It was being served on old pieces of cement bags. Thirty—seven workers said that food had run short so they did not receive any, an "every now and again" occurrence. The rations consisted of #2 maize meal and groundnuts (peanuts) which appeared to be dirty and uncooked. 6&4—16—11. By contrast, most white workers earned between §80 andfiloo per month plus free accommodation. Various additional allowances given to Europeans amounted to another 80% of each individual‘s wages. Kariba, op.cit., p. 87. 6Some Africans claimed to have worked thirty—six hour shifts. When questioned about this a European replied that the men were building urgently needed houses and had agreed to work overtime. The and were quar ele\ sews was and allu bee bee bee: Labu heft Pro C00 hun qua War the 217 The men complained about the lack of variety in their diet and said they were given meat only on Saturday. Rations were distributed on Monday and consisted of two and one— quarter pounds of groundnuts per week for two people and eleven and one-half pounds of maize meal per week per man. Unmarried men were often unable to cook their food so they just went hungry. Many workers said they went without meat on Saturdays because the supply had run out. Often the meat was just bone and occasionally beans were substituted for groundnuts. The government replied that the statement that thirty— seven Africans had gone without food on the day of inspection was not true. Major Burden had pointed out surplus porridge and groundnuts to certain members of the party. However, allegations that workers at the tunnel workshops had not been receiving their mid—day meal were correct. This had been remedied. The lack of adequate cooking facilities had been reported to the Federal Power Board by the Nyasaland Labour Representative and the Provincial Labour Officer before the chief's visit. The R.N.L.S.C. also insisted that proper cooking facilities be provided. As a result communal cooking was introduced and wifeless men no longer went hungry. The African deputation's comments on the quantity and quality of the food were contradicted by Major Burden's personal observations and statements as well as by those of the Southern Rhodesian Government Medical Officer, the Labo Mama week four pour one- oral cupi qua: won con jut mad flo pau (20V bee mar hou 218 Labour Commission Officer, R.N.L.S.C. Inspectors, Compound Managers, African Food Store Clerks and Foremen. The weekly food ration for each man consisted of the following: ' fourteen pounds of #1 roller meal, two and one-half pounds of vegetables, three and one-half pounds of beans, one pound of sugar, three and one-half pounds of groundnuts, one—quarter pound of salt, three pounds of meat, and three oranges. In addition, men working in the gorge received a cupful of "mahewu" (a fermented maize meal drink) and a quarter of a loaf of brown bread before work in the morning. Visiting a compound which housed over four hundred workers the African group found that the huts were constructed of hessian—-a coarse material made of hemp and jute-~and the floors were dusty and dirty. Some men had made wooden beds of their own while others slept on the floor. In another compound men were sleeping under tar- paulins hung over a center pole. The floors there were covered two inches deep with dust. Thirty men slept in an eight x twelve yards area on empty cement bags. Some had been living in the tents from twelve months. The compound manager said they were temporary accommodations. As better housing became available the men were being moved on the basis of who was farther away from the work site. The Provincial Labour Officer had visited the three main compounds. One was a large temporary housing area near the Zambezi which had originally lodged 2,000 men. It was being evacuated as permanent housing became available. The COHC Ceme for irou were sinu comm COD wir con Mal deg occ aft met huu 219 The temporary structures were made of hessian sprayed with concrete. Subsequently all Malawians were housed in compounds of concrete block and galvanized iron. Most married Cementation Company Ltd. workers (the major sub—contractor. for the tunnels) lived in a compound of fifty galvanized iron huts which measured thirteen x ten x nine feet. These were equipped with fireplaces, but another fifty huts for single men had none. A communal kitchen was nearing completion. Other compound buildings were long huts of concrete blocks with iron roofs. These measured thirty—four x fifteen x ten feet. Theft had been a problem, so strong wire netting protected workers' valuables. As for health and medical conditions, complaints mainly concerned the excessive heat at Kariba, which reminded Malawians of their own Lower Shire District. The African deputation reported that the workers claimed that occasionally they were not allowed to report sick until after work; often doctors dispensed medicine, then sent the men back to their jobs. The nearest hospital was one hundred miles away at Karoi in Southern Rhodesia. Sick workers were not paid as promised. The government stated that only those who refused to work after being treated for "minor ailments" and abrasions were docked a day's pay. Men on the sick list were paid. There were two clinics in the area staffed by Health Depart- ment Officers and nurses, but they provided first aid only. Bloc extu wen wor‘: aga was the the dis cor cor fir 220 Blood transfusions and operations were performed only under extremely urgent conditions and at night when airplanes were unable to take off from Kariba's airfield. All new workers and their families were examined and vaccinated against tetanus, typhoid, diptheria, and whooping cough. A malaria control program had been initiated and everyone was given anti-malarial tablets. Despite official disclaimers, the laborers insisted they were over-worked and forced to work by police when they refused. Recruits also stated that foreign boss-boys discriminated against them. No one wanted to renew his contract. Most said that if they had known about working conditions at Kariba they would not have signed up in the first place. In reply, Major Burden said that recruited Malawians seldom worked under foreign boss—boys. He pointed out a group of workers contracted to Cementation Ltd. who agreed to renew with Impresit Ltd. (the prime contractors) when told their contract conditions would remain the same. Burden assured Nyasaland Government that no coercion or over—persuasion was used to force anyone to work against his will. The recruits complained that they could not save money because there was no post office, and the Europeans refused to look after their money. (Post office savings banks were used widely in Nyasaland.) Letters could not be posted and when whites were asked to mail them the letters often were four let1 mate the} she: at- sent sen com cle tha fab yer Sin and Spe Afr per Thc 221 found torn up in dust bins. The same thing happened to letters from home. There were no school facilities, and no maternity or child welfare clinics. The people were sorry they had signed up with the R.N.L.S.C. and asked the chiefs to take them home or at least to persuade government to shorten their contracts. The government admitted that no post office was open at the time of the chief's visit. One did start business on 3 September, with full facilities for saving money and sending registered letters. Prior to that date the mail was sent through the Karoi post office in locked bags sent from compound offices. Letters were kept in possession of clerks, many of whom were from Nyasaland. The allegation that letters were torn up and thrown away was "a malicious fabrication which could not have been verified." There were no schools, but this did not affect R.N.L.S.C. recruits since they did not bring their familites to Kariba. Women and children were treated at clinics, but there were no special facilities for them. There was "strong and unanimous opinion" among the African inspection team that further R.N.L.S.C. recruiting permits should not be granted. It is believed that the treatment meted out to recruited labour at Kariba may be going on elsewhere, even to a worse extent, and therefore recruiting should be stopped in Nyasaland immediately. Those who wished to sign up voluntarily should be free to do so, but "treatment of recruited people is more or less 222 slavery." The men who signed up were young and inexperienced. They had been tricked by R.N.L.S.C.'s African agents who told lies about how much money could be earned. The Kariba visit report closed with the government's declaration that R.N.L.S.C. staff inspections and the firm measures taken by the Commission against employers in default meant that recruits were being fairly treated.7 The chief's report on working conditions at Kariba was presented to the October 1956 meeting of the Northern Province African Council. A government spokesman, Mr. Ingham, said that the government's statement was made alongside the chief's report in order to provide a full picture of conditions at the dam site. The latter was just a list of complaints gathered during a single day spent at Kariba. Mr. McCalman, the Southern Province Labour Office who had made an earlier inspection visit, stated that he had reported the lack of cooking and postal facilities to the Federal Government and the Hydroelectric Power Board before the chiefs arrived. Mr. Khondowe of Usisya was the Head Clerk in charge of compounds at Kariba and saw that all complaints about overtime or over-work were brought to the attention of management. Mr. Kanyama Chiume said that he did not object to the government's right to make a report of its own, but he did object to the government's 7Report by a party . . . o .cit. 223 acceptance of the views of its own men rather than those of the chiefs. The chiefs reported what their people had told them. Why should the word of one man be taken over that of six people?8 The Council President said that it was not surprising that things were not as they should be at such a new place as Kariba. He cautioned that opinions were free, but facts must be accurate. The Rev. Chinula said that the people had been attracted to "Mtandizi" because it meant "help", but they did not realize that actually it meant "help the Europeans of Southern Rhodesia." The men did not realize that after signing up with the R.N.L.S.C. they would be "sold" to other employers~—some bad, some good. Chief Kabunduli of Nkhata Bay asked if people were forced to join Wenela or "Mtandizi." The Rev. Chinula repled that force was not used, but recruits were "attracted" to the labor agencies by promises of good money and easy work. Chief Kabunduli urged his fellow chiefs to prevent their people from signing up. Chief Mzukuzuku said that the 8Kanyama Chiume was born in Nkhata Bay District, went to Central School in Dar es Salaam, Senior Secondary School at Tabora, and entered Makerere College in Kampala in 1949. There he formed the Nyasaland Students Association and was also chairman of the Political Society and the Education Society. After receiving his diploma in education he taught for a year at Dodoma before returning to Northern Nyasaland. At home he became a coffee grower and was a member of the Nkhata Bay District Council in 1955 and of the Northern Pro- vince Council the next year. At the beginning of the emergency in March 1959, he was on his way back home from London. Instructed by Dr. Banda to return to London to Plead the case of independence, Chiume's return air fare was 224 inspection team had reported exactly what the laborers had told them. The workers had no other way of reporting complaints. They had been told that they had no right to complain since they had been sent to work at Kariba by their chiefs. Mr. Chiume objected strongly to the continued recruit- ment of Malawians for work abroad. He said that in May the government had told him there was no school at Choma, Nkhata Bay District, due to a lack of labor. Why should "Mtandizi" be allowed to recruit if that was the case? Most of the people working on road building and repair were women and children. Government should keep the men at home to perform these tasks. The Council President said that he refused to put a motion calling for the abolition of recruiting before the government because the numbers recruited by R.N.L.S.C. in Northern Province were so small. Mr. Chiume insisted that the motion be presented because the African members of the Legislative Council had suggested already that recruiting be abolished. After further discussion the motion was passed and the President agreed 9 to submit it to government. __~_______*_~_________ raised in one day by Malawians living in Mombasa- EEQEEEQ (#10, August 1960). 9Record of the Northern Provincial Council Meeting of October 1956, Malawi Archives, Zomba. \ 225 The government rejected the motion, but the R.N.L.S.C. had been hurt by the adverse publicity it received from the chief's visit. After August 1956, recruiting in Nyasaland dried up and the Commission was forced to turn to Mozambique for its labor supply. Malawians continued to work at the dam on a voluntary basis, and in early 1959 were instru- mental in stopping construction at Kariba. On Friday, 20 February 1959, seventeen men--fourteen Africans and three Italians--fell two hundred feet to their deaths on the dam workings below. Twenty tons of quick drying cement went down with them. Rescue workers had a difficult time retrieving the bodies, but eventually the Italians were flown home and the Africans were buried in the cemetary at the dam.10 Work stopped and the Rhodesian Herald reported that an "atmosphere of depression" hung over Kariba.ll Over the weekend the nine hundred men assigned to the underground power house——the scene of the accident--decided not to return to work. They were followed soon after by the rest of the 6,000 man work force, of whom approximately 1,300 were Malawians. The Impresit ration store was stoned and by Wednesday all African workers at Kariba had joined the strike. Their motto was, "We won't die for fourpence."12 loClements, op.cit., p. 179. lthodesian Herald, 23 February 1959. 12Fourpence was the minimum hourly rate at Kariba. 226 Strikers' demands remained unclear throughout the walk— out; some demanded an additional one shilling per hour while others asked for an extra Sixpence or sevenpence. A "shadowy committee" of nine Malawians was said to be behind the strike, but no formal demands were presented.13 Major Oscar Peterson, Impresit Labour Officer, was the only white with whom the strikers would deal. Of him the Africans said, "He speaks to us with his mouth and not his fists." Impresit's Managing Director, Guiseppe Lodigiani, the same man who supervised the construction of Ghana's Volta River Dam, Major Burden, and various Rhodesian officials flew in to deal with the walkout. Front page headlines in the Rhodesian newspapers on Wednesday stated, "Police are Moved into Kariba Trouble Spot."l4 One hundred twenty troops of A Company, lst Battalion, The Royal Rhodesian Regiment commanded by Captain J. H. C. Nicholls, were flown in to guard the power station and the gasoline storage area. An offer of a twopence per hour increase was made on Tuesday and rejected. An hour after the troops arrived the offer was repeated with an ultamatum attached; accept the offer or be fired. The Africans from the north bank compound had streamed across the Zambezi River footbridge to join fellow strikers on the south bank. Police stationed at the footbridge had not l3Clements, op.cit., p. 179. l4Rhodesian Herald, 25 February 1959. 227 tried to stop them. The Thursday papers headlined "Kariba Strikers Told: Go Back or be Sacked. Order Aimed at Nyasas."15 The article claimed that the Malawians at Kariba were behind the strike and were intimidating other Africans. Thursday morning was the decisive moment in the strike. The evening before a squad of mobile riot police had arrived from Kafue, and camped on the north bank.16 Violence was avoided, however, as a large crowd of workers gathered in the beerhall to hand in their helmets and boots. They were paid off and the first bus load departed at noon. A total of 1,634 Africans were discharged as a result of the strike. By nationality, this number broke down into five hundred twenty Malawians, fifty-eight "Portuguese Nyasas" (probably Ngoni from near Dedza), two hundred seven Shangaans, two hundred eighty-eight Bechuanas, five hundred forty—eight "Tetes" (Africans from Mozambique), and three Zimbabweans.l7 Following the accident and strike the Southern Rhodesia Department of Labour decided to station a Works Inspector at the dam until construction was completed. The twopence per hour increase subsequently was raised another onepence per hour for both underground and surface workers.l8 15Ibid., 26 February 1959. l6Ibid., 27 February 1959. 17Annual Report of the Rhodesian Native Labour Supply Commission for 1959. (Salisbury: Government Printer, 1960). M 228 On Monday 16 February 1959, demonstrations and violence followed the arrest of Nyasaland African Congress members in Nkhota Kota for defying agricultural regulations by cultivating riverine lands. Throughout that week and the next, when the Kariba strike was at its height, there was scattered mob violence in Blantyre, Limbe, Dowa, Karonga, Nkhata Bay and Fort Hill. The Federal Minister of Labour, A. E. Abrahamson, said there was no connection between the strike at Kariba and the disturbances in Nyasaland.19 On Friday 27 February 1959, a state of emergency was declared in Southern Rhodesia. Four nationalist organisa- tions, including the Nyasaland African Congress, were declared illegal and their leaders were arrested and deported.20 On 2 March, an emergency was proclaimed in Nyasaland. Over the weekend of 20-23 February, when the Kariba strike broke out, Africans in Nyasaland attacked the Fort Hill airfield and smashed the Wenela radio set there. l8Rhodesian Department of Labour Annual Report for 1959. (Salisbury: Government Printer, 1960). 19Rhodesian Herald 25 February 1959. Throughout the two week period of protest in Nyasaland there was only one brief mention of the Kariba strike in the Nyasaland Times of 27 February. It is interesting that during this time " the entire continent was in turmoil. While 1,000 striking stevedores were being sacked in Durban Africans were rioting in Mogadishu, Leopoldville, Brazzaville, and Kenya. 20One of those deported Malawians was Mr. Aleke Banda, who was born in 1939 at Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia. His parents were both Tongas from Nkhata Bay. He had never been to Malawi before Rhodesian authorities sent him there. Mr. Banda's father, a staunch Presbyterian, worked at Moss 229 Mrs. James, the radio operator and wife of the local Wenela agent, managed to send out an emergency message before she was turned off. A mobile police riot platoon and troops of the 2nd Battalion of the K.A.R. were flown into Fort Hill on a Wenela plane. Mr. and Mrs. James and the two other Europeans in the area were rescued, but a mob blocked the road. Troops fired on the crowd, wounding five Africans before the plane could take off again.21 At one point during the troubles a Wenela plane carrying recruits to Francistown was commandeered by the Rhodesian Royal Air Force and pressed into airlifting troops to Nyasaland. The "Ulere" compound at Dedza was used as a temporary prison for detainees. Rhodesian papers carried articles claiming Mine near Que Que. In 1947, the younger Banda went to Globe and Phoenix Mine school. In 1954, at the age of fif— teen, he became secretary of the local branch of the Nyasaland African Congress. He went to Inyata Secondary School in Bulawayo where he organized the Que Que Student Association and attracted Rhodesian C.I.D. attention by reviving the Southern Rhodesian Student Association. Tsopano (#11, September 1960). Mr. Banda always has enjoyed a genius for organization. He has been a Malawi Government Minister of Finance, Secretary—General of the Malawi Congress Party, leader of the League of Malawi Youth, Director—General of the Malawi Broadcasting Company, first editor of the M.C.P. newspaper, Malawi News, and chief trade negotiator in Malawi's dealings with South Africa. Z. Nkosi, Dr. Banda of Malawi: Rogue Elephant of Africa,“ The African Communist (#40, 1970). Another Malawian with experience abroad who helped lead his country to independence was Dunduzu Chisiza. He had been a policeman in Tanganyika before going to work for the Indian High Commission in Salisbury. In the mid- 1950's Garfield Todd deported him to Nyasaland because of his political views. Later he studied the economics of underdevelopment at Fircroft College in Birmingham and organized an international economic conference in Blantyre. His book, Africa — What Lies Ahead, was published post— humously in 1962 by the African American Institute. 21Nyasaland Times, 24 February 1959. 230 that loyal Africans in Nyasaland were being intimidated by "Johannesburg-trained tsotsis" armed with bicycle chains. The Malawian-led Kariba strike coincided on the same weekend with an outbreak of African opposition to colonial rule in Nyasaland. The two simultaneous events prompted government officials to declare a state of emergency, the first outward sign that the Central African Federation was doomed. Malawian workers had been protesting sub- standard working and living conditions at Kariba for a number of years. They had asked a delegation of their chiefs and political leaders to come to investigate condi— tions at Kariba and the resulting confrontation with Nyasaland Government officials had resulted in the de facto termination of recruiting for work at the dam. Under the slogan “We won't die for fourpence," Malawians workers led a strike for higher wages in Rhodesia, just as they had some thirty years previously at Shamva Mine. The final chapter deals with Malawian burial societies abroad and recent developments in Malawian labor emigration. CHAPTER 8 BURIAL SOCIETIES AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MALAWIAN LABOR MIGRATION “There are worse placescnnacould visit than Malawi." Dr. Vorster referring to his first trip abroad since becoming Prime Minister of South Africa during a toast at a dinner in his honor in Blantyre. Pioneers in Inter-African Relations (Blantyre, 1972), p. 5. Like aliens everywhere Malawians abroad tended to group together. They formed political organizations, drinking clubs, and burial societies as forms of social security which gave them psychological uplift far from home. Today there are a few Malawian burial societies in South Africa and they are quite numerous in Rhodesia. They tend to be con- servative organisations; their by-laws stress the importance of proper behavior and members eschew political involvement. In addition to paying for the funerals of their members the societies may provide financial support for sick or unemployed shareholders. In December 1923, one of the earliest groups, the Port Herald Burial Society made its first appearance at Shamva Mine. Founded in 1918, members of the Port Herald Society paid monthly dues of 2/6. The money was given to the local native commissioner for safe keeping. If a member was sick 231 232 he was_given 2/ daily until he recovered. If he was arrested his fines were paid, and if he died the group bought his coffin. Officers of the society included a king, governor, prince, general, commander, doctor, bishop, and the king's servant. The "doctor" visited shut-ins and brought food and money to hospitalized members. The society had branches in Bulawayo, Umtali, Gatooma, Umsweswe, Gwelo and Shamva.l One of the modern burial societies is the Malawi Helping Burial Society located in Gwelo. This group has branches in the African townships of Mambo, Mkoba, Monomotapa, and Senga which surround Gwelo. It is governed by a central executive committee elected by the members. The entrance fee is $1 (Rhod.) and thenmnthlysubscription rate is $.50 per person. Because the society is a closely knit group there have been no cases of embezzlement; nor have there been any power struggles within the group. When a member or one of his dependents dies, the society purchases a coffin and hires two buses to transport mourners to the gravesite. The society is not attached to any church and has both Christians and traditional religionists as members. The former are free to hold church rites at the funeral, while the latter are encouraged to practice their rites at the grave. No strike action has been organised by the l8138/10, Rhodesian Archives. No evidence was found of participation by the Port Herald Society in the 1927 Shamva strike. . . ..--:-.a 2:5”)? U! 9.4 233 society because the local Africans would not support it and the members feel that the financial help they receive is too important to be jeopardized by such action. The organisation gives money to its members when they are ill. Misbehavior involving other men's wives or any action which brings the society bad publicity is punished by expulsion from the group.2 One of the major burial societies in the Salisbury area is the Malawi Catholic Burial Society. This group was founded in July 1969 by Mr. Christian Suwira Banda who was born in Kasungu, Malawi. After working in Lusaka, Mr. Banda was transferred to Salisbury where he found that too often the Malawian custom of supplying funeral mourners with food was being ignored because there were no relatives of the deceased present who could give assistance at burials. Mr. Banda decided to start a burial society to help aliens who found themselves in a desperate situation. At first people suspected that the society was a get rich quick scheme for its founder, but when several funerals were arranged honestly people began to join in growing numbers. Although connected with the Roman Catholic Church the society is open to anyone. About three~quarters of the two—hundred fifty members are Malawians, while the rest are from Zambia, Mozambique, and Rhodesia. The church connec— tion seems to override ethnic jealousy. But when Shona 2Interview conducted by Mr. Nicholas Tembo, April 1973. 234 members challenged the Cewa leadership the latter instituted a membership drive and enlisted enough of their people to maintain control of the group. Upon a member's death the society provides a coffin, two buses, and food at the funeral. Financial support is given to sick members and food is brought to the family. Unemployed members receive support for up to six months. The society is pledged to assist charitable organisations and contributes to the Jairos Jiri Association for the disabled and destitute. A positive feature of the Malawi Catholic Burial Society is its constitutional requirement of financial audit. Strict accounting prevents the financial manipulation which has caused so many societies to fragment.3 The Malawi Government Representative in Salisbury advises groups to include auditing provisions in their constitutions, but has no official connection with them. Muslim Yaos have their own society, the Mponda Yao Burial Society. Other Malawian burial societies active in Rhodesia are the Alendo (Travellers) Burial Society, the Malawi Home Burial Society, the Malawi Citizenship Association, the Lower Shire Malawi Friendly Society, the . Ufulu (freedom) Burial Society, the Tadzuka (we are awake) Burial Society, Nzeru (wisdom) Malawi Burial Society, and the Umodzi (unity) Burial Society. 3Interviews, April 1973. _A‘é gag—4.2;; 235 The Umodzi group has been active since the late 1940's. In 1948, a news item appeared in Nkhani za Nyasaland (News of Nyasaland) which stated that Malawians working at Wankie, Shabanie, and Cannermar Mines in Rhodesia had formed the Umodzi League of Nyasaland People. No real social welfare activities were mentioned in the article. The most important function of the league was "to settle conflicts among the workers of Wankie compound." The author of the article, Mr. Joseph Mohamed Matewere, wrote: The leaders of the league would like all people from Nyasaland, whether they are outside or in the country, to join the league so that the country should develop. They say that without unity the country will not develop. This will be a very shameful situation even when there are a few people who are rich and educated. Although vaguely stated, the function of the league could be construed to have been political. During the late 1950's, politically conscious members of groups such as the Umodzi League probably joined branches of the Nyasaland African National Congress which were formed in most countries where Malawians resided. In Rhodesia, political activity began in 1958 and lasted until 1964 when the Malawi Congress Party was banned. At one time there were fifty— eight M.C.P. branches in Matabeleland, ten in Bulawayo alone. Over 1,000 members contributed a 2/ per month membership fee. This revenue enabled party officials to 4Nkhani za Nyasaland, 7 July 1948, p. 2. 236 send up to 5(200 per month to Malawi to help finance political activities there.5 Until Zambia's independence in 1964 the M.C.P. had numerous active branches there. ‘ Malawians were forced to purchase United National Independ— ence Party (U.N.I.P.) membership cards, but they were free to belong to the M.C.P. as well.6 Since Malawi's independence in 1964 labor migration has been an important factor in its international political behavior. In 1965, a new agreement with Wenela prohibited the South Africans from recruiting directly to Malawi. Malawi Government itself agreed to deliver laborers to Wenela depots throughout Malawi and to participate in their trans-shipment to Johannesburg.7 The new Wenela agreement set no quota for Malawi recruits, meaning that an unlimited number could Sign up. As of 31 December 1972, 129,207 men, or 31.2% of the 414,333 African employees of the mines affiliated with Wenela were Malawians.8 5Interviews, January 1973. 6Interview, December 1972. 7Air Malawi stays in the black with the money earned flying Wenela workers back and forth between Blantyre and Francistown, Botswana. So far South African authorities have refused to permit Malawi‘s black airline personnel to land in Johannesburg. Interview December 1972. 8Report of the Board of Directors, Mine Labour Organi- sations (Wenela) Ltd. for 1972, p. 11. Most of’these modern migrants are Alomwe men. These are the sons of the fathers who emigrated from Mozambique to work on Malawi's tea estates . 237 The increase in contracted workers to South Africa has been dramatic since independence and reflects Malawi's close ties with the South African Government. A 1967 labor treaty between the two countries provided that all Malawians in South Africa should be in possession of passports. It also pledged to secure continued employment for Malawians in South Africa and to enlarge employment opportunities for them there.9 Persuant to this aim the Malawi Government established the Employment Services Division (B.S.D.) in the Ministry of Labour. B.S.D. was established to regularize the position of Malawians who were working illegally in South Africa before 1967, and to provide proper control over new emigrants. It annually processes approximately 20,000 men, who work in non—Wenela—affiliated mines and farms in the Republic. If a South African employer wants to import a Malawian he obtains an employment permit from his local Bantu Affairs Commissioner. This document is brought to the Malawi Government Representative's office in Johannesburg, where particulars about the employer's occupation, the salary he will pay, and other matters are noted. The Malawi Govern— ment Representative personally inspects working conditions . at each prospective place of employment and will reject those applicants he feels fail to meet certain specifications. A "no objection" permit (or, if the employee has been in 9Malawi Treaty Series (Edition IV, 1967). (Zomba: Government Printer, 1968). 238 South Africa before, a re—entry permit) is issued by the Bantu Affairs Commissioner in Pretoria and is sent by the Malawi Government Representative to the E.S.D. in Limbe. , The employee is contacted and comes to the E.S.D. office where he obtains a passport and an Employment Record Book which contains his picture and work permit. He is then given a medical exam and x—ray at E.S.D.'s Mapanga Estate staging center outside Limbe. E.S.D. will provide the employee with train fare to Johannesburg if the employer agrees to reimburse the local Malawi Government Representa- tive. The Malawian is paid a minimum wage and his employer must provide him with a round-trip train ticket to Malawi every two years. He is forbidden to bring his wife and family along with him.10 As the numbers of Malawians going to work in South Africa has increased, the flow to Rhodesia has slowed to a trickle (See Appendix C5). The Rhodesians have passed legis— lation designed to keep alien Africans out of the towns so that industrial jobs will be open to local Africans only. The Closed Labour Areas Order of 1966 (Rhodesian Government Notice #104 of 1966) prohibited new arrivals from seeking work in Salisbury, Bulawayo, and certain other areas. Its purpose was to direct free flow workers to labor-short dis— tricts. In 1968, an amendement to the order (Rhodesian Government Notice #570 of 1968) repealed the directive for a large number of districts. Probably it had not been popular 10Interviews, December 1972. 239 with Rhodesian employers who prefer Malawians to local African workers. In 1967, the Rhodesian Government instituted "administrative action" to rid itself of alien African officials with less than ten years of service as soon as practicable." All Malawians in Rhodesia now must be in possession of Malawi passports. At the time of Rhodesia's unilateral declaration of independence in 1965 there were fears that all Malawians living in the country would be repatriated. This did not happen, but a recent amendment to the Africans (Registration and Identification) Act (Rhodesian Government Notice #48 of 1972) has made it possible for the administra- tion to refuse to register or re—register any foreign African. No reason has to be given for the refusal and the alien has no recourse but to pack up and go home. Estimates of the exact numbers of Malawians abroad varied a great deal until 1966 when the first real census was taken in Malawi. At that time the total number of Malawians living outside the country was estimated at 266,000.ll There are probably twice as many Malawians abroad as that estimate. Based on the numbers which have applied for passports in Salisbury there are 250,000 Malawian men, women, and children in Rhodesia.12 20,000 11Final Report of the 1966 Census (Zomba: Government Printer), p. x—xi. 12Interview, March 1973, with Malawi Government Representative, Salisbury. 240 Malawians annually contract for work in South Africa through E.S.D. In addition, a recent report of the Roman Catholic Church enumerated 7,900 Malawians living in Johannesburg locations and 22,825 working in Orange Free State mines.13 The 129,207 Wenela recruits add up to a total of 179,932 Malawians in South Africa. The most recent Malawi Government figures give 43,000 as the number of Malawians in Zambia, 8,000 in Tanzania and 7,000 elsewhere for a total of 58,000.14 This brings the grand total of Malawians abroad to 487,932. The contribution of this total of nearly half a million people living abroad to Malawi's economy has been signifi— cant. Between 1965 and 1967, an average off2.4 million flowed into the country from other nations, placing this form of income third in foreign currency earnings behind tea and tobacco. In 1969, predicted net capital inflow from migrants was over &3 million.15 In 1972, an estimated K10 million (K1 ijswortiuRand l) was earned from deferred pay, family remittances, and other migrant—connected expenditures in Malawi. This form of income has now replaced tobacco as the number two foreign currency earner. _ l3Fr. J. P. LeScour, Report of the Situation of Mala— wian Expatriate Workers in South Africa (Limbe: Catholic Diocese of Malawi, 11 September 1972). 14Ministry of Labour Annual Report for 1963/67 (Zomba: Government Printer). 15Ibid. Thousands of Malawians are dependent on the money earned by migrant workers. Malawi's economy would suffer greatly if these foreign currency earnings were withdrawn quickly. Without the opportunity to work abroad Malawi would have a serious unemployment problem. If several hundred thousand people were repatriated from the south over a short period of time government stability might be threatened in the ensuing chaos. Still faced with limited domestic opportunities Malawians continue to seek work abroad. I In 1960, Arthur Hazlewood wrote: There can be few countries so dependent on the opportunities open for employment outside their borders; and despite the undoubted social evils of migration and the retarding effect which it may also have on economic development in Nyasaland, there is no doubt that a marked reduction in the number of migrant workers would greatly wagsen economic conditions within the territory. l6Arthur Hazlewood and P. D. Henderson, Nyasaland, the Egonomics of Federation (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1960), P. 81. 242 In conclusion, labor emigration has been one of the key factors in Malawi's 20th century historical, economic, social, and cultural development. The movement of millions of people from this small Central African country to its neighbors in search of work has been a major element in such varied events as Malawi's diplomatic recognition of South Africa and early improvements in the prison facilities of the Nyasaland Protectorate. The exodus has spawned plays such as Sylvester Paliani's Zinali Zosalirika (Beyond Sorrow), academic studies, and official government reports. Virtually every Malawian who has lived in the 20th century has been affected by labor migration either as a participant or as a member of a migrant's family. Therefore, it has been an aim of this study to narrate the history of Malawian labor migration while stressing the experience of the individual African. The diets and living conditions on farms and mines were mentioned, while letters describing ill—treatment were quoted. The exploitation of Malawian migrant laborers by their Southern African employers is another theme which has been supported by ample evidence. At the beginning of the century the best educated men sought employment abroad while the uneducated remained at home. This Situation has reversed itself in modern times. Faced With limited local employment opportunities Malawians have been forced to 869k work abroad, often at extremely low wages. Certainly the 243 availability of cheap Malawian manpower has meant that South African and Rhodesian employers have been able to reap abnormally large profits from their investments. The abundance of alien labor in the south also has made it easier to keep local African populations subservient. Had they been the sole supply of manpower for Southern African industry they might have used this economic leverage to effect social and political change. In actuality Malawians have been willing to do the most unpleasant jobs at lower wages than local workers would accept, and have perpetuated an exploitation labor system. (Malawians are aware that if majority rule comes to Rhodesia many of them would be forced to leave the country; for this reason some supported the Pearce Commission settlement terms in 1972.) However, Malawian leadership of strike actions in 1927 at Shamva Mine and at Kariba in 1959 show that they objected actively when working conditions became intolerable or when it was politically expedient to do so. A new reason for emigration was suggested in the first chapter. Impetus to emigrate was provided by the strict discipline of the early Scots missionaries, who shamed many men into leaving their homes to seek work abroad. Once the men arrived at their destinations they often faced a hostile environment. Early death rates were so high that the colonial government was forced to ban emigration even though it continued illegally. Faction fights in mines, jealousy of the Malawians' superior education, and scorn for their 244 favored position with many employers indicate a lack of Pan-African spirit on the worker level. Faced with these problems Malawians founded burial societies which gave them insurance against death and illness while far from home. In Malawi itself, labor migration has not had a great effect on the forms of production in the African economy. There are no mines in the country so mining skills learned abroad could not be applied. African agriculture remains under—capitalized and on a small scale so any techniques learned on large Rhodesian tobacco estates or South African citrus plantations have not been applicable to local agriculture. But the money earned abroad has raised the Malawian standard of living. Traditionally, migrants have purchased relatively expensive consumer items such as bicycles and radios. Since independence significant numbers of Malawians who have been businessmen abroad have been forced to return home where they have established such businesses as groceries, bars, restaurants, maize mills, and transporta— tion companies, thereby making use of skills acquired abroad. A study of fishermen on Lake Chilwa has shown that migrants' savings were used to finance the purchase of fishing equipment. Good luck in the lake's waters meant that these individuals were freed from the necessity to emigrate to earn money. 245 In addition to the unquestionable economic benefits Malawians have derived from working abroad, they have brought back ideas and attitudes from the south which have influenced the personality of the country. From the days of Elliott Kamwana Chirwa and John Chilembwe to the time of independence Malawians have learned about the rest of the world through their experiences abroad. They have brought home independent notions and the certainty that their country would not be ruled by oppressive white minorities as was the case in Rhodesia and South Africa. The experentially—based opposition of Malawians to apartheid strengthened Nyasalanders' resolve to break out of the Central African Federation and achieve independence. Even outside their own country Malawians have been leaders of opposition to coercive European rule whether they approached the problem from a religious viewpoint as Jehovahs' Witnesses or from a worker's attitude as did Clements Kadalie and Robert Sambo. Although it is not a good situation to have nearly half a million citizens working outside the country, Malawi would seem to have little choice in the matter. Blessed with splendid landscape and intelligent hard working people, but lacking in natural resources, for the past eighty years Malawi has been forced to send its man~ power southward for employment. That pattern shows little likelihood of change in the years to come. Nearly twenty years ago Dr. Verwoerd wrote: 246 The Migratory Labour System under which the Bantu sell their working powers and labour far from their homes has been in force for generations. We all know that for mining labour it is the best and presumably only practicable system. It is my contention that the strengthening of this system and its extension to most other fields of labour would benefit the Bantu because the established business interests in the European towns will never permit the urban locations to grow into fully independent Bantu towns and because such development would, in any case, be contrary to Government Policy. From Development and Progress in Bantu ggmmunities. In the 19th century Malawi was forced to reorient its economy from trading with the cities of the east coast to growing tea and tobacco for European markets and providing manpower for Southern African mines and farms. This trend shows little chance of changing and will continue to be one of the major elements molding Malawi‘s future. INTERVIEWS Since everyone in Malawi has been affected by labor emigration in some way I faced an initial difficulty in determining my informants. I decided randomly to interview a wide variety of people from various walks of life so I could obtain a cross—section of opinions about migration. A few of these talks were arranged in advance, but usually they were informal, often chance meetings in social settings. I took hand written notes during some of the interviews; for others I jotted down my recollections later. Most were conducted in English, but a few were done in Cewa. Some of the interviewees asked to remain anonymous, so they are designated by letters. All interviews were conducted between September 1972 and April 1973 in and around Blantyre Lilongwe, Salima, Salisbury, and Johannesburg. 1. Mr. Barton Katunga, Blantyre restaurant manager who ' spent two years working for a European restauranteur in Salisbury. 2. Mr. Arthur Msuku, Air Malawi pilot. 3. Miss Rose Soko of Euthini, whose father trained as a medical assistant in Zomba and then spent 28 years at Highfields, Rhodesia hospital. 4. Mr. Gwazayo, now an ivory carver in Limbe, Mr. Gwazayo earns more than he ever did as a cook for Europeans in Rhodesia and South Africa. 5. Mr. Victor Chipofya, Chancellor College student. Mr. Solomon Luwewe, Mt. Soche Teacher Training College 6. student. 7. Mr. Soko, Acting Permanent Secretary of Labour. 8. Miss Emily Ngwira and Mr. Benford Mtalimanja, Chan- cellor College students who told me about migrants' songs. 9. Mr. Nkhata, a Tonga who was a member of the Northern Rhodesia Police Band, directed his own group, the Nkhata Brothers Band which toured Katanga and Zambia, and who plays trombone in the Malawi Broadcasting Co. band. 247 248 Interviews (Cont'd) 10. ll. 12. l3. 14. 15. l6. 17. 18. 19. Cax Khonje, one of my students at Likuni Secondary School who has worked in Zambia. another ex-student who studied Mr. Isaac Nyasulu, Several marketing at a Dar es-Salam business college. other former students work in Zambian banks and one is a Zambian army captain. Mr. A, who worked as a Wenela clerk in Malawi for seventeen years. He quit because he was offered a better job, and he felt that it was wrong for people to leave their homes for work abroad. Mr. Morgan Mayani, Chancellor College student, whose father has worked all over Southern Africa as a cook and a carpenter. During World War II he cooked for Italian prisoners of war in Rhodesia. Molland Nkhata, Chancellor College student whose father is a long-time mine worker in Rhodesia, now employed at Mangula Copper Mine north of Salisbury. It is very common for Malawians abroad to send their children home to be educated. Gerald Kamanga, M.B.C. announcer and local wedding M.C., whose father worked at Kolwezi mine in the Congo and whose mother is a Luba from Congo. He has worked for Zambia Broadcasting Company and has a brother who trained for the Catholic priesthood at a seminary in Burundi. David Gondwe who worked for BOAC in Ndola before returning to a bank job in Lilongwe. Mr. "Joni" Chisaka, a Yao herbalist who travelled to Johannesburg in the 1930's to work in the mines. His father was a cook in Salisbury and his son has worked in the South African mines, so there are three generations of migrants in his family. Mr. Henry Kapanda worked at Meikles Hotel in Salisbury Many Yaos from Mangoche went to work in Rhodesia in the past, but few go nowadays. Since there are so few decent jobs in Malawi, the growing numbers of idle Yao men may become a political problem for Dr. Banda in the future. However, Wenela takes care of Malawi's basic unemployment problem. as a waiter. Mr. Msindwa, barman at a Lake Malawi resort who told me about his brother who has worked at Messina Mine for sixteen years. 249 Interviews (Cont'd) 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. Mr. E. W. Ricketts-- Major Ricketts is Wenela General Manager in Malawi. He was very reluctant to talk about any aspect of his work. Mr. Kasambiza, a Mercedes-driving Malawian who works as a customs clearing agent in Ndola. Rev. Heymans, the leader of the White Fathers in Malawi. F. S. K. Chiwona, Chancellor College student whose brother—in—law was killed in the Wankie disaster of 1972. Mr. John Cimgoga, Cewa teacher at Likuni Boys School. He expressed displeasure at the necessity for Malawians to go abroad in search of employment. Mr. Austin Mwenda, an ex—student who described his father's five years in South Africa to me. Mr. Chenda Mkandawire, a successful Limbe businessman formerly employed in Zambia. Mr. Chipirengu, Ndirande grocer who worked in South Africa at one time. Mr. Albert Mbwana whose father was a Likoma-trained medical assistant at a Tanganyikan diamond mine hospital. Mr. Mbwana went to secondary school at Bukoba, Tanzania, worked for Tanzanian Broadcasting Company and is now with M.B.C. Mr. B. who worked as a watch repairman at Zebedelia, South Africa for six years. Mr. Felix Khondowe, former student whose brother—in— law is assistant personnel manager of Rio Tinto Mines near Gatooma, Rhodesia. Mr. C., long—time Wenela employee in Malawi. Mr. Sid Peters, Malawi Inspector for Wenela in Johannesburg. Mr. J. A. Gemmill, Oxford educated barrister and General Manager of Mine Labour Organisation, Johannesburg. Charles Bunker, Malawi Government Representative Mr. He served Dr. Banda as Acting in Johannesburg. 250 Interviews (Cont'd) 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. Secretary of Labour during the late 1960's. His office is within sight of a mine dump. Mr. Christian Suwira Banda,leader of the Malawi Catholic Burial Society in Salisbury. Mr. Watson Ndekha of Limbe, a Rhodesian Government ‘ employee for nine years. Mr. Graham-Jolly, Malawi Government Representative in Salisbury. He was Commissioner of Labour in the colonial government. Mr. Simon Sikopa of Cholo and Limbe who worked as a political organiser and cook in Salisbury. Mr. Sam Mapila, Chancellor College student whose father was a Muslim teacher in Durban. Mr. William Makaika of Nkhota Kota, a Zambian mine worker for ten years. Rev. Sangaya, General Secretary of the CCAP in Malawi. He spoke of the bad effects of migration on family life. Matrilineal women remain at home when their husbands wander. Mr. Nyirenda, Senior Labour Officer at Employment Services Division. Mr. Jim Peddle, Durban Deep Mine compound manager. Mr. Mike Makanjila of the Ministry of Labour, Blantyre. Mr. Brown Kadisi, Durban Deep Mine induna. From Kasupe, Mr. Kadisi is induna for 2,200 Malawians at Durban Deep Compound A. He worked his way up from trammer to nduna during six contracts or eleven years at the mine. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary Sources Abraham, J. C. Report on Nyasaland Natives in the Union of South Africa and in Southern Rhodesia. Zomba: Government Printer, 1937. Although this report is a whitewash of some of the worst aspects of working conditions for Africans in the two countries, it contains basic information on the subject. Annual Reports of the Board of Directors of Mine Labour Organisations (Wenela) Ltd. Johannesburg, 1968-72. Basic statistical information on the African miners employed by Wenela and its sister organisation, the Native Recruiting Corporation. These reports were provided by Mr. J. A. Gemmill, Wenela General Manager. Annual Reports of the Rhodesian Native Labour Supply Commission. Salisbury, 1949—71. With the exception of the 1950's when relatively large numbers of Malawians were recruited for Kariba, the RNLSC has been unsuccessful in Malawi. These reports provide the basic information about "Mtandizi" and its many ups and downs over the years. Bennett, Norman R., and Ylvisaker, Marguerite, editors. The Central African Journal of Lovell J. Procter, 1860—1864. Boston: Boston University African Studies Center, 1971. Interesting information about one of the earliest European forays into what became Nyasaland. British Central Africa Protectorate. Annual Reports, 1905-07. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. Primary information about the Protectorate's early days. In 1907, it became known as the Nyasaland Protectorate. Burden, G. N. Nyasaland Native Labour in Southern Rhodesia. Zomba, 1938. This unpublished report by the Nyasaland Government Representative in Salisbury is a fundamental source for the study of labor migration and working conditions in Rhodesia. 251 252 Nyasaland Natives in the Union of South Africa. Zomba: Government Printer, 1940. Burden was the first Nyasaland Government Rep. and reported faithfully on the working conditions of Malawians in South Africa. Bwalo 1a Nyasaland. 4 January 1955 to 26 December, 1955. 6 January, 1959 to 30 March, 1959. A conservative weekly newspaper published in Cewa and English by the African Newspapers, Ltd. of Salis— bury, Mr. C. A. G. Paver, Managing Director. It contained local news and published letters to the editor from Malawians who were living in the Rhodesias and South Africa. Frank Dgpuis Papers. Zomba: Malawi National Archives Historical Manuscript Collection. The vivid recollections of one of the early K.A.R. officers in Nyasaland. Federation of Native Welfare Societies in Southern Rhodesia. Conference Minutes. 1941-1952. Rhodesian Archives. Apparently no Nyasaland groups were represented, but individual Malawians active in the various groups did attend these annual conferences. Anti-immigrant feelings were expressed at a few of the meetings. Minutes of the Council Meetings. 1942-1946. The council was controlled by Europeans and quashed any strong anti-government motions made during the national conferences. Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Federal Power Board Annual Reports and Accounts. Salisbury: Government Printer, 1959. The Kariba strike is mentioned in one sentence only. . Public Health Department Annual Reports. 1954— 1960. Salisbury: Government Printer. No mention of immigrants and their health problems. . Reports of the Secretary for Power. 1955—1960. Salisbury: Government Printer. No mention of the Kariba strike or of immigrant labor. . Report on an Economic Survey of Nyasaland. 1958-1959. (The Jack Report). Salisbury: Government Printer. There is a disappointing lack of information about labor migration in this Federal economic report. 1, .r _ Ilr 253 Great Britain, Colonial Office. Correspondence Relating to the Recruitment of Labour in the British Central Africa Protectorate for Employment in the Transvaal. Cd. 1531, April, 1903; Cd. 1950, March 1904; Cd. 3993, March, 1908. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. These command papers contain all of the corres- pondence relating to the commencement of recruiting after the Boer War. . Correspondence Relating to the Regulation and Supply of Labour in Southern Rhodesia. Cd. 1200, 1902. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. . Correspondence with Nyasaland. 1904-1946. C.O. 525/1-193. British Archives. This correspondence is the basic source of information for any study of Malawi during the colonial period. . Report of the Advisory Commission on the Review of the Constitution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Appendix VI: Survey of Developments Since 1953. Cmnd. 1149, October, 1960. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. . Report on the Trade and General Condition of the British Central Africa Protectorate. 1903-1904. Cd. 2242. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. Great Britain, Foreign Office. Correspondence Respecting Affairs North of the Zambesi River. F.O. 403. British Archives. This file deals with the very early period between 1891 and 1896. There are few comments about migration, but it does contain valuable material on the suppression of the slave trade. . Correspondence with the British Central Africa Protectorate. 1897-1903. F.O. 2. British Archives. This file contains the material describing how Harry Johnston and Alfred Sharpe won this part of Africa for Great Britain. H. H. Fraser and Associates (Rhodesia) Ltd. Southern Rhodesia African Male Labour Availability Charts. July, 1950. Society of Malawi Library. This is a group of Bulawayo industrial consult- ants who obtained the data for their study from the Rhodesian African labor department. as r" Iq-"iflV‘lJ i‘ "19149 wipers é "olqno *‘0. ‘9 z- 4 -9~ - .r 254 International Biological Programme (Human Adaptability) Conference Questionnaire. "The Fisherman and His Environment: A Study in Adaptation." September- November, 1970. Mrs. Pauline Phipps graciously provided me with the replies to these questionnaires. Some of them . indicated that the African commercial fishermen on Lake Malawi had earned the necessary capital for their operations as migrant workers. International Labor Organisation African Regional Confer— ences. Records of the Proceedings. Addis Ababa, November—December, 1964; Accra, December, 1969. Geneva: ILO Office. Due to the unpopularity of its labor agreement with South Africa in other African countries Malawi does not participate actively in these meetings. Normally an observer from the Ministry of Labour is sent to make a token showing. Kadalie, Clements. My Life and the ICU. The Autobiography of a Black Trade Unionist in South Africa. London: Frank Cass and Company, Ltd., 1970. A marvelous book which tells not only the history of the ICU, but reveals the dynamic personality of a great African. Laws of Malawi. "Malawi Citizenship." Vol. III, Chapter 15:01. A Malawi citizen may lose his citizenship if he has resided continually for seven years outside the country and has not registered annually with a Malawi consular office. Letters Concerning Clements Kadalie. University of Malawi Library. These are microfilm negatives of the original letters which are in the Winifred Holtby Collection in the United Kingdom. Malawi Archives. Records of the Lilongwe District Magistrate Court. BP 1/l/l. __________. "Migrant Native Labour Agreement of 1942 Between the Governments of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland." This was an extension of the 1936 Salisbury Agreement which went unchanged except for an increase in the amount of tax money the three governments remitted to each other. 255 Malawi Department of Antiquities. Oral Records. These are interviews conducted by Mr. wyse S. Mambo and others with various Malawians between April 1969 and March 1972. They provide particularly valu— able information on traditional culture and customs. Malawi Department of Information. Pioneers in Inter—African Relations. Blantyre: Blantyre Print, 1970. Speeches at a state banquet on 20 May, 1970, by Dr. Banda and Mr. Vorster upon the occasion of the latter's state visit to Malawi. Malawi Government Hansard. Proceedingg of Parliament, 1967-1968. Zomba: Government Printer. This Hansard contains pertinent comments on Malawians in South Africa which were made during the parliamentary debates on the diplomatic recognition of South Africa. Malawi Ministry of Development and Planning. Compendium 9g Statistics. 1965—1970. Zomba: Government Printer. Malawi Ministry of External Affairs. Malawi Treaty Series. Edition IV, 1967. Zomba: Government Printer. This edition contains the Malawi—South Africa labor agreement. Malawi Ministry of Labour. Annual Reports. 1963/1967. Zomba: Government Printer. This was the last report issued by the ministry. Malawi National Statistical Office. Malawi Balance of Zomba: Government Printer. Payments. 1967—1969. Provides information about foreign currency earnings. Malawi Population Census 1966 Provisional Report. Malawi Population Census 1966 Final Report. Zomba: Government Printer. Unfortunately, the information gathered during the census which related to Malawians abroad has not been made public. Malawi News. 5 Janaury, 1973. This article reported a K77,369.18 donation from Wenela to the University of Malawi and hospitals in the country. Malawi Railway Archives. Files NR 227 and MR 658. These files contain information relating to rail- way transportation for emigrants. My thanks to Mr. Mel Page for providing me with the data from this previously unused source. 256 Nkhani za Nyasaland (Nyasaland News), July 1948; January- March, 1959. A Cewa newspaper which provided a rich vein of gossip, letters, and photos of and about Malawians abroad. Nyasaland Development Plan, 1962-1965. Zomba: Government Printer. Little mention of the role of migrants in the Nyasaland Labour Office, Salisbury. Annual Reports. 1941- 1943. Malawi Archives. These reports are unpublished. They contain a wealth of statistics and information relating to the daily workings of the Salisbury office. Nyasaland Labour Office, Johannesburg. Annual Report. 1941. Malawi Archives. This was a typewritten unpublished report. economy. Nyasaland Protectorate. Annual Medical and Sanitary Reports. 1939—1952. Zomba: Government Printer. These reports were disappointing because they provided so little information on the effect of migration on the health of Malawians. Nyasaland Protectorate. Annual Reports of the Department of Egbour. 1938—1962. Zomba: Government Printer. A basic source for recent developments in labor policy. Annual Report on Native Administration. 1955. Zomba: Government Printer. This report noted the emergence of a small African middle class of master farmers, coffee growers, small traders, and teachers who were deemed "the most reliable people in the country." . Annual Reports. 1948-1962. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. All of these reports contain important information relating to labor migration. Migrant Labour in South Africa and the Witwat— A Confidential G. F. T. o ersrand Native Labour Association. Memorandum by His Excellency the Governor, Colby, 23 January, 1956. Malawi Archives. Gov. Colby began his investigation strongly biased against Wenela recruiting in Nyasaland. After seeing the reasonably good working conditions on the Rand and examining the viable alternatives to labor migration he became a believer in controlled emigration. 257 Records of the African Provincial Council 1944-1958. Zomba: Meetings in Central Province. Government Printer. The problems discussed by chiefs during these meetings were the primary concerns of post-war Malawians. Records of the Northern Provincial Council 1944-1958. Zomba: Government Printer. Meetings. Many migrant-related issues were discussed at these meetings. Records of the Meetings of the African Protec- 1944—1953. Zomba: Government Printer. torate Council. This protectorate-wide council was short-lived because its members were so vociferously against the idea of federation. Report of the Census of 1926. _' Government Printer, 1926. Census figures for whites are accurate, but those Zomba: for Africans are only estimates. Report of the Committee Appointed by His Excell ngy the Governor to Consider Existing and Draft Zomba: Government Printer, 1943. Labour Legislation. Contains draft legislation dealing with identity certificates and recruiting. . Report of the Committee Appointed by His Excell ncy the Governor to Enquire into Emigrant Egbour. 1935. (the Travers-Lacey Report.) Zomba: Government Printer, 1936. The first and most important colonial government report on emigration from Nyasaland. . Rgport of a Commission to Enquire into Certain Matters Affecting the Public Revenue and Expenditures in the Nyasaland Protectorate. Zomba: Government Printer, 1924. "Certain matters" included migrants who were not paying their taxes. Report on the Native Labour Census Taken on 15 Januar , 1930. Zomba: Government Printer, 1930. This report dealt only with local and immigrant labor. Legislative Council Nyasaland Protectorate Standing Orders. Standing Orders on Population Movement. 4th edition, revised 31 December, 1921. Malawi Archives. Policy guidelines cur emigration for the use of local officials. Overtoun Missionary Institution Boys' Register. Vols. I and II, 1895-1927. Malawi Archives. An excellent newly-unearthed source. Report by a Party of Nyasaland African Members of Legisla- tive Council and Chiefs on Their Visit to Kariba on 23 July, 1956. unpublished, Zomba, 25 September, 1956. Malawi Archives. This report also contains the Nyasaland government statement on working conditions at Kariba. Republic of South Africa Department of Labour. Annual Reports. 1949-1970. Pretoria: Government Printer. These reports deal only with whites, coloreds, and Asians. Report on Agricultural and Republic of South Africa. Pretoria: Published Pastoral Production. 1968-1969. by Authority. No mention of Malawian farm workers in this agricultural census. Second Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Agriculture. Pretoria: Published by Authority, 1970. No mention of Malawians in agriculture. Rhodesia. Population Census of 1951. Salisbury: Govern- ment Printer, 1954. Rhodesian Archives. A3/l8/l-45, Native Affairs, 1896-1923. A3/18/30, files 14 through 22 deal with labor from Nyasaland as does A3/18/37 which refers specifically to Malawians attacked in Portuguese territory in 1915 and 1916. N3/5/6, Replies to South African enquiry into separatist sects, November, 1922. N3/21/l—10, Native Associations, 1913-1923. N3/22/l-ll, Native Labour, 1909-1923. N3/23/l-3, Native Laws and Customs, 1906-1921. 5235/400, Employment of Nyasaland Labour. 81561/5, Recruiting of Natives by Wenela in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia. 8138/106, Suppression of Watch Tower, 1923-1928. 8138/140, Zionist Activities, 1924-1934. 81561/3, Migrant Labour, Nyasaland Matters, 8138/10, African Advancement, 1923-1933. 81561/50, Migrant Labour and Chief Native Commissioner Circulars, 1939-1940. SlS6l/40, Monthly figures for the immigration of natives, 1938-1938. SlS42Ll, 10 volumes on labour recruiting and repatria— tion, 1933—1939. 51175, Compound Inspectors' Reports, 1924-1934. 1935‘1940. tmrxsu 4- .11.: r: p ' _F «v- 259 Rhodesian Central Statistics Office, Final Report of the 1962 Census of Africans in Rhodesia. Salisbury, 1964. . Monthly Digest of Statistics. 1971, 1973. Salisbury. 1969 Rhodesian Population Census (Interim Report). Vol. II, “The African Population." Salis- bury, 1971. Rhodesia Department of Labour. Annual Reports. l957~1971. Salisbury: Government Printer. These make for interesting reading, particularly since UDI in 1965. The actual African labor situation in Rhodesia is a bit less rosy than these reports indicate. Statistical Handbook of Nyasaland. Salisbury: Central African Statistical Office, 1952. Contains statistics for 1950 and some for 1951. The Aurora. A Journal of Missionary News and Christian Work. Vols. L-VII, 1897—1903. University of Malawi Library. Published bimonthly at Livingstonia, this news- paper was an especially vital source for impressions of life in Northern Malawi at the turn of the century. The Bantu Mirror. February-March, 1959. Tp§_Bulawayo Chronicle. February-March, 1959. The Chamber of Mines of Rhodesia, Incorporated. Annual Reports. 1939—1957. University of Rhodesia Library. Thg_Nyasaland Times, February—March, 1959. Microfilm in the University of Malawi Library. The Phelps—Stokes Report. Chapter VIII, "Education in East Africa, Nyasaland." 1924. A pioneering report on education in Africa. The Rhodesian Herald. February-March, 1959; June, 1972. On 6 June 1972, three hundred ninety Africans and thirty—six Europeans lost their lives in an underground explosion at Wankie Colliery in southwestern Rhodesia. Of the three hundred ninety Africans, thirty—seven were Malawians. The Herald of 9 June listed them by first names only as is the Rhodesian custom. Tpe Star. July, 1966. This Johannesburg newspaper carried a series of articles exposing the arbitrary cruelty to Africans result from influx controls in urban areas. 260 The Welfare of African Workers. Johannesburg: Anglo- Amefican Corporation of’South Africa, Ltd., 1951. Notes on a 1951 tour of various mining centers in the Rhodesias and Katanga by J. D. Rheinallt—Jones and H. C. Anderson, an Anglo—American administrator. Not much specific information about Malawians. Transvaal Department of Agriculture. 'Annual Reports. 1903—1908. Pretoria: Government Printer. . Nothing specific on early Malawian farm laborers. Union of South Africa. Report of Native Economic Commission. 1930-1932. (U.G. 22 of 1932.) Pretoria: Government Printer. . Rgport of the Native Farm Labour Committee. 1937—1939. Pretoria: Government Printer. Some crucial information relating to farm labor in the thirties is contained in this report of a committee appointed by the Minister of Native Affairs. . Rgport of the Native Laws Commission. (The Fagan Commission) 1946-1948. (U.G. 28 of 1948). Pre- toria: Government Printer. This commission led by Mr. Justice Henry Allan Fagan condemned the migratory labor system, but to no avail. Wood, Carlton L. and Robinson, Harry J. Rural Industry, Commerce, and Credit in Nyasaland. Menlo Park, California: Stanford Research Institute, October, 1963. Malawi's Ministry of Trade and Industry contracted these men through USAID to make this survey. It contains some interesting case histories of African businessmen. The Workers' Herald. March 1926. Reacting to an allegation by the Chamber of Mines newspaper, that Clements Kadalie was an alien, this ICU organ stated, "The National Secretary's birthplace is a few miles away from the Chamber of Mines building as in comparison with a distance of thousands of miles between South Africa and the home of these foreign adventurers who are sucking the blood of the people of this continent." eardrummflk , _ j ' . {:35 261 Theses and Dissertations Berg, Elliot J. "Recruitment of a Labour Force in Sub- Saharan Africa." Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard, 1960. Browne, Bruce P. "A Politico-Geographical Analysis of Malawi's Borderlands." Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Michigan State, 1972. Fleischer, A. C. "Social and Administrative Problems of Labour Migration in South Africa." Unpublished B.A. Thesis, Lincoln College, Oxford, 1953. A comprehensive legalistic approach to labor migration particularly effective in its discussion of the psychosocial situation brought about by this continuing artificial method of supplying workers to industry. Gondwe, B. C. J. "L'Influence de L'Aide Exterieure dans L'Evolution du Malawi Contemporain." Unpublished These de Doctorate de 3e Cycle, Universite de Provence, Centre d'Aix, 1972. This work is especially valuable for its dis- cussion of South African aid to Malawi. The author lectures in the history department of the University of Malawi. Gregson, Ronald E. "Work, Exchange and Leadership; the Mobilization of Agricultural Labor Among the Tumbuka of the Henga Valley." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1969. An excellent micro—study of agricultural change. Krishnamurthy, B. S. "Land and Labour in Nyasaland, 1891- 1914." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 1964. There are a large number of unsubstantiated statements in this otherwise comprehensive work. Leistner, G. M. E. "Economic Aspects of Bantu Migrant Labour. An Investigation into Conditions in Pretoria and the Northern Transvaal.“ Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Stellenbosch, 1963. The Pretoria labor force contained only 3.2% foreign Africans in 1960. Mackenzie, John M. “African Labour in South Central Africa, 1890—1914 and Nineteenth Century Colonial Labour Theory." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The University of British Columbia, 1969. 262 Macmillan, Hugh W. "The Origins and Development of the African Lakes Company: 1878-1908." Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 1970. John. "Livingstonia Mission and the Evolution of Malawi, 1875-1939." Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Cambridge, 1967. One of the best dissertations about Malawi. McCracken, Kenneth Mbatha, M. B. "Migrant Labour and its Effects on Tribal and Family Life Among the Nyuswa of Botha's Hill." Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Natal, 1960. Mufuka, Kenneth W. "The Role of a Missionary in the Colonization of Malawi, 1875-1927, An Assessment of the Career of Dr. Robert Laws." Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of St. Andrews, 1971. Good insights into the psychology of conversion to Christianity from the African's point of View. Interesting material on African religious feelings and Dr. Laws' role as a chief. Ross, Andrew C. "Origins and Development of the Church of Scotland Mission, Blantyre Nyasaland, 1897-1926." Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Edin- burgh, 1968. "Nyasaland Migrant Labour in British Sanderson, F. E. 1890-1939." Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Central Africa, Manchester University, 1960. I owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Sanderson for setting such a high standard of quality for his successors in the study of labor migration in Malawi. "Rhodesia and Her Neighbors, 1900-1923." Warhurst, P. R. 1970. Ph.D. Dissertation, Oxford University, Mainly an administrative history. Secondary Sources Abrahams, Peter. Mine Boy. London: Heinimann Educational Books, Ltd., 1968. I read this fine novel in order to glean some impressions of what it is like to work in a South African mine. Mpina, Edson. “Malawi Special Economic Survey. The Labour Problem)‘ African Development, (August, 1971). A useful article written by a Malawian journalist. : .'- H. unstvugoisvsfl but ’ y ”in i-L .1 3 rim. '1}? I. . .1" 3? 13”?“ ' ’ -: .11;-.-...-.'.ruil'. m we! .z'cz': : 'V' I' --:"‘ .: . i. ":01..- ' _ ' ' r - L: T I‘ll .. _1 ===fi 263 American Universities Fieldstaff Reports, Central and Southern African Series. Hooker, J. R. "Population Review 1970: Malawi." XV, 1 (December, 1970). . "The Unpopular Art of Survival.“ XIV, 1 (December, 1970). Munger, Edwin. "President Kamuzu Banda of Malawi." XIII, 1 (October, 1969). . "Trading With the Devil." XIII, 2 (October, 1969). Andersson, Efraim. Messianic Popular Movements in the Lower Congo. Upsala: Studia Ethnographica Upsaliensia, XIVT_I§5§T_ There is some mention of Jehovah's Witnesses in this very interesting book authored by a Swedish missionary. Baldwin, Robert E. Economic Development and Export Growth. A Study of Northern Rhodesia, 1920—1960. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966. . An excellent book by an outstanding economic theorist. Ballinger, Margaret. From Union to Apartheid. A Trek to Isolation. Folkestone: Bailey Bros. and Swinfen, fEdTTII§69. The depressing story of deteriorating human values in South Africa. Barber, William J. The Economy of British Central Africa. A Case Stgdy of Economic Development in a Dualistic Society. Stanford: Stanford UniverSity Press, 1961. __ Indispensable reading for Central Africanists. Barnes, Herbert. "The Nyasas of the Dispersion. A Visit to Elizabethville." Central Africa. 40 (1922). This is a journal of the Universities Mission to Central Africa. Barnes, J. A. Politics in a Changing Society. A Political History of the Fort Jameson Ngoni. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1967. _ This book is based on twenty months of field work in Chief Mpezeni's area between 1946 and 1949 _ when the author was a research officer for the Rhodes Livingstone Institute. Bell, R. T. "Migrant Labour: Theory and Policy." T2: South African Journal of Economics. XL, 4 (Dece er, 1972 . ' _ )This journal is must reading for those interested in South Africa and its satellites. The economists seem to be more liberal than their academic brothers in South Africa. 264 Berger, Elena L. "Government Policy toward Migrant Labour on the Copperbelt, 1930-1945." Transafrican Journal of History. II, 1 (January, 1972). A fine article, but no direct information on immigration from Malawi. Berry, Sara S. "Economic Development with Surplus Labour: Further Complications Suggested by Contemporary African Experience." Oxford Economic Papers. New series XX, 2 (July, 1970). Good background reading for studies of labor in Africa. Blood, A. G. The History of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, 1859—1960. 4 vols. London: The Universities' Mission to Central Africa, 1957. This history of Anglican missions in Malawi reads like an obituary column. Breytenback, W. J. Migratopy Labour Arrangements in Southern Africa. Pretoria: Communication no. 20 of the African Institute, 1972. Valuable because it contains synopses of South African labor treaties. The African Institute is composed of conservative South African academicians. Bulletin of the African Institute of South Africa. X, 3 (April, 1972). This special issue was devoted to economic development in Malawi. Buraway, Michael. The Colour of Class on the Copper Mines. Zambian Papers No. 7, University of Zambia Institute for African Studies, 1972. Zambianization caused foreign mine workers to become lazy. Byerlee, Derek. "Research on Migration in Africa: Past, Present and Future." Unpublished working paper, Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University, 1971. This otherwise useful bibliography contains few references to labor in Southern Africa. Chanock, M. L. "The Political Economy of Independent Agriculture in Colonial Malawi: The Great War to the Great Depression." Journal of Social Science of the University of Malawi. 1, 1972. This article claims that the primary impetus in the independence movement came from farmers rebelling against colonial government agricultural policy. 265 Chisiza, Dunduzu K. Africa—What Lies Ahead. New York: The African-American Institute, 1962. Mr. Chisiza called contract migrant labor a form of torture for African workers. Clegg, Edward. Race and Politics, Partnership in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. London: Oxford University Press, 1960. Clegg stated that emigration was a unifying experience for Malawians; since all migrants exper- ienced discrimination human dignity was a more important goal than economic advancement when Malawians asked themselves whether they wanted to remain in the Federation or opt for self-government. Clements, Frank. Kariba, The Struggle with the River God. London: Methuen and Company, Ltd., 1959. This account is unsympathetic to the African workers who built Kariba. Clifford, W. Crime in Northern Rhodesia. Rhodes- Livingstone Communication No. 18. Lusaka: Rhodes- Livingstone Institute, 1960. Nothing directly about the incidence of crime among foreigners in Northern Rhodesia. Construction in Southern Africa. Vols. I-V, 1956-1961. This business journal contains a series of articles about the progress of construction on Kariba dam. Davis, Alexander. The Native Problem in South Africa. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1903. One of the early bad books about South Africa. The problem was and is not a "Native" one; it is a white one. DaViS, J. Merle. Modern Industry and the African. London: Frank Cass and Company, Ltd., 1967. This is a second edition of a classic 1932 enquiry into the effect of the copper mines of Central Africa upon African societies and the work of Christian missions in the area. Debenham, Frank. Nyasaland. The Land of the Lake. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1955. This book was part of the Corona Library publications which were sponsored by the Colonial Office "to fill the place between official Blue Books on the one hand and the writings of occasional visitors on the other." 266 Duffy, James. A Question of Slavery. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967. A chilling account of the treatment of Africans in Mozambique by the Portuguese colonialists. Elkan, Walter. Migrants and Proletarians; Urban Labour in the EconomiE Development of Uganda. London: Oxford University Press, 1960. One of the fundamental books on African labor. Facts About Malawi - Labour. Blantyre: Ministry of Information, 1964. First, Ruth. "The Gold of Migrant Labour." Africa South in Exile. V, 3 (April-June, 1961). Deals mainly with migrant labor coming from the former British Protectorates within South Africa. Frank, C. R. Jr. "Urban Unemployment and Economic Growth in Africa." Oxford Economic ngers. New series XX, 2 (July, 1968). This article refers to Africa south of the Sahara exclusive of the Republic of South Africa. Frankel, S. Herbert. Capital Investment in Africa. Its Course and Effects. New York: Oxford University Press, 1938. An outdated classic. Frost, David T. T. "The Economic Outlook for Nyasaland." Race. IV, 2 (May, 1963). Mr. Frost predicted the permanent repatriation of all Malawian migrant laborers in Rhodesia within two years of Nyasaland‘s secession from the Federation. Gelfand, Michael. Lakeside Pioneers. A Socio-medical Study of Nyasaland (1875-1920). Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1964. A fine amateur historian, Dr. Gelfand has written extensively on medical aspects of Central African history. "Migration of African Labourers in Rhodesia and Nyasaland." The Central African Journal of Medicine. VII, 8 (August, 1961). Some useful statistics on migration are included in this rare article. Gemmill, W. "Gold Industry and its Native Workers, Argument for the Witwatersrand Mines." The South African Mining and Engineering Journal. LIV, part 2, in five parts no. 2642 (18 September, 1943), 2643 (25 September, 1943), 2644 (2 October, 1943), 2645 267 1943), 2646 (16 October, 1943). This article was Mr. Gemmill's statement before the Mine Native Wages Commission of 1943. The journal was published by the South African Mining Journal Syndicate of Johannesburg. (9 October, . "The Growing Reservoir of Native Labour for the Mines." Optima. II, 2 (June, 1952) The prolific Mr. Gemmill, like his son, was 6' 7" tall and had a very strong personality in addition to being General Manager of Wenela and a Titular member of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation. Gondwe, D. K. "Some Thoughts on the Determinants of Rural- Urban Labour Migration." Paper No. 21 presented at the 8th Annual East African Universities Social Science Council Conference at Nairobi, December 1972. Mr. Gondwe is an economist at the University of Malawi. Gray, Richard. The Two Nations. Aspects of the Develop- ment of Race Relations in the Rhodesias and Nyasaland. New York: Oxford University Press, 1960. Even though he stole the name for this book from Disreali, Mr. Gray was sincere when he wrote it. "Labour Migration in Central Africa: Gregson, Ronald E. Unpublished Theory, Methodology and Ethnography." paper, December, 1971. Dr. Gregson takes an important first step toward a theory of labor migration in this paper. . "Migrancy and Agriculture in Independent Malawi: A Case Study." Paper presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association at Boston, October, 1970. Grogan, Ewart S. and Sharp, Arthur H. From the Cape to Cairo. The First Traverse of Africa from South to North. London: Hurst and Blackett, Ltd., 1900. Guilleme, Bishop W. "Simples Notes sur L'Emigration des Indigenes de L'Afrique Centrale vews 1es Centres Industriels." Africa. V, 1 (January, 1932). Bishop Guilleme headed the Nyasaland Diocese during the thirties. Gulliver, P. H. “Incentives in Labor Migration." Human Organization. XIX, 3 (Fall, 1960). 268 . Labour Migration in a Rural Economy: A Study of the Ngoni and Ndendeuli of Southern Tanganyika.r Kampala: East African Institute of Social Research, 1955. One of the pioneer studies of labor migration. Prof. Gulliver stressed the economic motives behind population movement. Hailey, Lord. An African Survey. New York: Oxford University Press, 1938. The information on labor migration in Central Africa contained in this maiden survey of Africa was gleaned from the Travers-Lacey Report. Hanna, A. J. The Story of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland. London: Faber and Faber, 1960. The history of Europeans in Central Africa. Hawarden, Eleanor. "The Social and Economic Cost of Migrant Labour." Race Relations. XII, 2 (1945). Race Relations is the official journal of the South African Institute of Race Relations. Hazlewood, Arthur. "The Economics of Federation and Dissolution in Central Africa." in Arthur Hazlewood, Ed. African Integration and Disintegration: Case Studies in Economic and Political Union. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967. Hazlewood, Arthur and Henderson, P. D. Nyasaland, the Economics of Federation. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1960. Hellman, Ellen. A Sociological Survey of an African Commercial Labour Force. Johannesburg: South African Instifute of Race Relations, 1953. This is a 1951 survey of African employees of "Sellgoods," the fictitious name for a large Johannes- burg retail distributor. Of the three hundred forty- eight Afrcan workers only eight were from Nyasaland, Mozambique, and Northern Rhodesia. Hetherwick, Rev. Alexander. The Romance of Blantyre. How Livingstone's Dream Came True. London: James Clarke and Company, Ltd., n.d. Hetherwick was a long-time missionary in Nyasaland. Holleman, J. F. Chief, Council and Commissioner. Some Problems of Government in Rhodesia. London: Oxford University Press, 1969. This book centers around the conflict between the Mangwende leaders and the Rhodesian government during the 1960's. 269 Hooker, J. R. "The African Worker in Southern Rhodesia: Black Aspirations in a White Economy; 1927-36." Race. VI, 2 (October, 1964). . "The Role of the Labour Department in the Birth of African Trade Unionism in Northern Rhodesia." International Review of Social History. X, part 1 (1965). . "Witnesses and Watchtower in the Rhodesias and Nyasaland." Journal of African History. VI, 1 (1965). Horrell, Muriel. A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa. Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations. Ms. Horrell compiled this survey on an annual basis in the 1960's and early 70's. Houghton, D. Hobart. The South African Economy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964. Prof. Houghton is one of South Africa's leading economists. Hudson, W. "Observations on African Labour in East, Central, and West Africa." Journal of the National Institute for Personnel Research. VI (1955). This article describes the types of employment engaged in by Africans in various countries including Zambia and Malawi, but not Rhodesia, South Africa, or Mozambique. "Inter—territorial Migrations of Africans South of the Sahara." International Labour Review, LXXVI, (July— December, 1957). Irving, A. G. The Balance of Payments of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, 1945—1954. London: Oxford University Press, 1959. This scholarly book was the author's University of London Ph.D. dissertation in economics. He was undersecretary in the Federal treasury. Johns, Sheridan W. "Trade Union, Political Pressure Group, or Mass Movement? The Industrial and Commercial Worker's Union of Africa." in Robert I. Rotberg and Ali Mazrui, editors. Protest and Power in Black Africa. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970. Kapferer, Bruce. Strategy and Transaction in an African Factory. African Workers and Indian Management in a Zambian Town. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1972. 270 This fine book is an analysis of social relation- ships between African workers, many of them MalaWians, at an Indian-owned clothing factory in Kabwe. Kapungu, Leonard T. “Economic Sanctions Against Rhodesia. The Polarization of Economic Relations in Central and Southern Africa." Paper presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association at Boston, October, 1970. Kariba. Bloemfontein: The Friend Newspapers, Ltd., 1960. This book was published with the cooperation of the Federal Power Board and does not tell the true story of working conditions for Africans at Kariba. Katzen, Leo. Gold and the South African Econopy, The Influence of the Gold Mining Indu§try on Business gycles and Economic Growth in South Africa, 1886-1961. Capetown: A. A. Balkema, 1964. Because it was published in South Africa this book is not as well known as it should be. Kayira, Legson. Jingala. London: Longman Group, Ltd., 1969. This novel contains some very interesting scenes which underscore the gap between educated Malawians and their village brothers who go to work in the gold mines. Krishnamurthy, B. S. "Economic Policy: Land and Labour in Nyasaland, 1890-1914." in B. Pachai, editor. The Early History of Malawi. London: Longman, 1972. Kuczynski, R. R. Demogrgphic Survey of the British Colonial Empire. Vol. II, New York: Oxford University Press, 1949. This outstanding survey contains an excellent chapter on labor migration from Nyasaland. "Labour Legislation in Nyasaland." International Labour Review. L, (July-December, 1944). "Labour Conditions in British Central Africa." International Labour Review. XLIV (June-December, 1942). Leistner, G. M. E. "Foreign Bantu Workers in South Africa: Their Present Position in the Economy." The South African Journal of Economics. XXXV, 1 (March, 1967). Prof. Leistner has been very interested in African labor in South Africa. I.- 271 . "Malawi, South Africa, and the Issue of Closer Economic Cooperation." Occasional Paper No. 13. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa. This paper appeared first as an article in Thg Star newspaper on 4 and 5 December, 1967. It was very complimentary toward Malawi as South Africa announced the establishment of diplomatic relations. "Patterns of Urban Bantu Labour." South African Journal of Economics. XXXII, 4 (December, 1964). This is a survey of African labor in Pretoria. No Malawians are mentioned. "South Africa's Economic Interests in Africa." The Sbuth African Journal of African Affairs. II (1972). This journal is published by the Africa Institute of South Africa in Pretoria. Lewin, Julius. The Colour Bar in the Copper Belt. Johannesburg: Institute of Race Relations, 1941. This enquiry was prompted by the 1940 Copper Belt riots. Linden, Jane and Ian. "John Chilembwe and the New Jerusalem." Journal of African History. XII, 4 (1971). Scholars seem to be fascinated continually with the Chilembwe rebellion. Lombard, J. A. and van der Merwe, P. J. "Central Problems of the Economic Development of Bantu Homelands." Finance and Trade Review. X, 1 (June, 1972). This journal is published by the Volkskas Ltd., a Pretoria-based commercial bank. Macdonald, Roderick J. "Reverend Hanock Msokera Phiri and the Establishment in Nyasaland of the African Methodist Church." African Historical Studies. III, 1 (1970). Marlow, C. A History of the Malawi Police Force. Malawi Police Half Centenary Publication, 1971. The Criminal Investigation Department was formed in 1921 because serious crimes were expected from emigrants who had been in contact with criminal elements in the south. Previously, serious crimes—- murder, rape-—were unknown in Nyasaland. Marsden, Alison. "Labour Migration from Northern Zambesia." University College of Rhodesia Seminar Paper. March, 1967. 272 Marwick, Maxwell Gay. Sorcery in its Social Setting. A Study of thgiNorthern Rhodesian Cewa. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1965. Migrants often consulted diviners upon their return home to ascertain whether or not their wives had been faithful to them during their absence. Meebelo, Henry S. Reactions to Colonialism: A Prelude to the Politics of Independence in Northern Zambia, 1893-1939. Manchester: Published for the Institute for African Studies at the University of Zambia by Manchester University Press, 1971. An excellent new book which makes use of material dredged out of the Zambian archives. Milanzi, D. H. "Analysis of Malawian Passport Applicants Abroad." Malawi National Statistical Office Research Paper No. 19, November, 1970. Millard, Charles H. "Nyasaland's Great Divide." Free Labour World. (September, 1959). This journal is the official publication of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). The article is concerned with the fates of various union organizers during the emergency in Nyasaland. Miracle, Marvin P. and Berry, Sara S. "Migrant Labour and Economic Development." Oxford Economic Papers. New Series. XXII, 1 (March, 1970). Mitchell, J. Clyde. An Outline of tpe Sociological Back- gpound to African Labour. Salisbury: Ensign Publishers, Ltd., 1961. This small book is a compilation of a series of articles first published in the Chamber of Mines Journal (Rhodesia) which were intended to educate mine personnel managers about the customs of the various ethnic groups working under them. . “Factors Motivating Migration from Rural Areas." in R. J. Apthorpe, editor. Present Interrelations in Central African Rural and Urban Life. Lusaka: Proceedings of the 11th Conference of the Rhodes— Livingstone Institute for Socal Research, 1958. . Social Networks in Urban Situations. Analysis of Personal Relationships in Central African Towns. Manchester: Published for the Institute for Social Research of the University of Zambia by Manchester University Press, 1969. “~33: a. as. m ””"M iv 35$“:- R251 " 273 . "Structural Plurality, Urbanization and Labour Circulation in Southern Rhodesia." in J. A. Jackson, editor. Migration. Sociological Studies 2. Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969. Mitchell has written prolifically on labour in Central Africa. "The Causes of Labour Migration." in Migrant Labour in Africa South of the Sahara. Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara. Proceedings of the 6th Inter-African Labour Conference in Abidjan, 1961. . The Kalela Dance. Aspects of Social Relation- ships Among Urban Africans in Northern Rhodesia. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1956. A classic in social anthropology. . "The Distribution of African Labour by Area of Origin on the Copper Mines of Northern Rhodesia." in Human Problems in British Central Africa. No. 14. Lusaka: The Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, 1954. . The Yao Village. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1956. . "Wage Labour and African Population Movements in Central Africa." in K. M. Barbour and R. M. Prothero, editors. Essays on African Population. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1961. Morrison, J. H. Streams in the Desert. A Picture of Life in Livingstonia. New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969. This book was published originally in 1919. Liv- ingstonia is not exactly located in a desert, rather on a plateau several thousand feet above Lake Malawi. Moyse-Bartlett, Lt. Col. H. The King's African Rifles. A Study in the Military History of East and Central Africa, 1890-1945. Aldershot: Gale and Polden, Ltd., 1956. Mphahlele, Ezekiel. Down Second Avenue. New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1971. Mphahlele mentions Nyasa policemen in the African locations outside Johannesburg who were much disliked by local Africans. __________. The Wanderers. London: Macmillan Company, 1971. More impressionistic background for life in South Africa. 274 Murray, D. J. The Governmental System in Southern Rhodesia. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970. The thesis of this book is that the Rhodesian governmental system has developed not through competition between racial groups, but between occupational economic groups and its continued primacy depends on maintaining these occupational roles and on the dominance of associations representing these roles. Mwema, Parkinson B. The African Railway Workers Union, Ndola, Northern Rhodesia. Rhodes-Livingstone Communi— cation No. 10. Lusaka: Rhodes-Livinstone Institute, 1958. No direct mention of Malawians, but Watch Towerites scorned joining the union. "Native Labour from Nyasaland." Nature. CXXXVII, 3475 (6 June, 1936) and CXXXVIII, 3498 (14 November, 1936). Neumark, S. Daniel. Foreign Trade and Economic Development in Africa: A Historical Perspective. Stanford: Food Research Institute, 1964. Niddrie, David. "The Road to Work: A Survey of the Influence of Transport on Migrant Labour in Central Africa." Human Problems in British Central Africa. NO. 15, 1954. Human Problems . . . is the journal of the Rhodes—Livingstone Institute. This article describes the “Ulere“ transportation network. Nkosi, Z. "Dr. Banda of Malawi: Rogue Elephant of Africa." The African Communist. No. 40, (First Quarter, 1970). This magazine is published in London by the South African Communist Party "as a forum for Marxist- Leninist thought throughout our Continent." Noble, W. J. The Black Trek. From Villageito Mine in Africa. London: Edinburgh House Press, 1931. A promising idea for a book, but it broke down into paternalism and "vivid descriptions" of village life. Noon, John A. Labor Problems of Africa. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1944. "Nyasaland — a very junior partner?“ Free Labour World. No. 92 (February, 1958). An anti—Federation article claiming a shortage of labor existed in Nyasaland. Ohadike, Patrick 0. Development of and Factors in the Employment of African Migrants in the Copper Mines of 275 Zambia, 1940-1966. Zambian Papers No. 4. Manchester: Published for the University of Zambia Institute for Social Research by Manchester University Press, 1969. Concerned mainly with migrant Bemba mine workers. Omer—Cooper, J. D. The Zulu Aftermath, A Nineteenth- Century Revolution in Bantu Africa. London: Longmans, 1966. Prof. Omer-Cooper is wrong when he states that there are no more Ngoni-language speakers in Malawi. Orde—Browne, Granville St. John. The African Labourer. London: Oxford University Press, 1933. One of the basic books on labor in Africa. "Organisation of Migrant Labour in the South African Mining Industry." Inter—African Labour Institute Bulletin. VI, 4 (July, 1959). An apology for not permitting families to accompany workers to the South African mines. Owen, Ken. Foreign Africans: Summary of the Repprt of the Froneman Committee. Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, 1963. The Froneman Committee recommended that South Africa end its dependence on foreign African labor. Pachai, B. Malawi. The History of the Nation. (forth— coming) London: Longman, 1974. Grateful thanks to Prof. Pachai for permitting me to read the chapter on labor in his book. . The Malawi Diaspora and Elements of Clements Kadalie. Local Series Pamphlet No. 24. Salisbury: The Central Africa Historical Association, 1969. Paliani, S. A. Zinali Zosalirika (Beyond Sorrow) Blantyre: Malawi Publications and Literature Bureau, 1967. The author of this play about the life of a migrant worker in Johannesburg labored for eight years as a mine clerk. The play is used in Cewa classes in Malawi secondary schools and the author is now a Cewa consultant for the Malawi Broadcasting Company. Palley, Claire. The Constitutional History and Law of Southern Rhodesia, 1888-1965 with special reference to imperial control. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966. Panofsky, Hans E. "Migratory Labour in Africa — a Bibliographical Note." The Journal of Modern African Studies. I, 4 (1963). 276 Paver, B. G. His Own Oppressor. London: Peter Davies, 1958. The author's ten years as a farmer "gave him an insight into the mind of the illiterate and backward African peasant" so he became a newspaper editor. Perham, Margery. Ten Africans. London: Faber and Faber, Number six is Amini Bin Saidi, a Yao working in Tanganyika. Phimister, I. R. "The Shamva Mine Strike of 1927: An Emerging African Proletariat." University College of Rhodesia Henderson Seminar Paper No. 21, November, 1972. A fine article with some useful tables at its conclusion. Pollock, Norman H. Jr. Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia: Corridor to the North. Pittsburgh: Duquesne Univer— sity Press, 1971. A European—centered book, this was Prof. Pollock's Ph.D. dissertation. "President Banda Visits South Africa." Bantu. XVIII, 11 (November, 1971). Prothero, R. Mansell. "Migrants and Malaria." Migrant Labour in Africa South of the Sahara. Abidjan: 1961. Race Relations News. (May, 1971). This publication of the South African Institute of Race Relations contains a small untitled article about Malawi migrant labor. The Jan H. Hofmeyer Library at the institute contains valuable material on South Africa. Ranger, T. O. The African Churches of Tanzania. Historical Association of Tanzania Paper No. 5. Nairobi: East African Publishing House, n.d. A valuable if little known work by Prof. Ranger, perhaps the finest historian of Southern and Eastern Africa. . The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia. London: Heinemann, 1970. For this book Prof. Ranger made use of numerous archives, particularly CID files, which are no longer available to the public. Read, Margaret. "Migrant Labour in Africa and its Effects on Tribal Life." International Labour Review. XLV, 1 (January, 1942). —¥— 277 This is one of the fundamental articles on the subject. Ms. Read came out to Nyasaland as a result of a recommendation in the Travers—Lacey Report that this subject be given further study. Reader, D. H. and May, Joan. Drinking Patterns in Rhodesia, Highfield African Township, Salisbury. Department of Sociology Occasional Paper No. 5. Salisbury: Institute for Social Research, University College of Rhodesia, 1971. "Recruiting and Native Welfare in Nyasaland." and "Recruiting Policy in Nyasaland.“ International Labour Review. XXXIII, (January-June, 1936). These two articles were prompted by publication of the Travers—Lacey Report. "Recruitment of Labour.“ Race Relations. III, 3 (August, 1936). Richards, Audrey I. Land, Labour and Diet in Northern \ Rhodesia. An Economic Study of the Bemba Tribe. New York: Oxford University Press, 1939. A basic book. Roberts, B. C. Labour in the Tropical Territories of the Commonwealth. London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1964. This book is concerned with the development of trade unions, labor policy and administration, labor law, and industrial relations in the Commonwealth. It has nothing specific to say about emigration from Malawi. Roberts, Margaret. Labour in the Farm Economy. Johannes— burg: South African Institute of Race Relations, 1958. This book concentrates on farm working conditions in the districts of Albany and Bathurst near Grahams— town in Eastern Cape Province. Ms. Roberts is the wife of Colin Legum. Rodseth, F. "Flow of Native Labour to South African Mines." Optima. IX, 2 (June, 1959). Nothing on Malawian workers. Rogers, Cyril A. and Frantz, Charles. Racial Themes in Southern Rhodesia: The Attitudes and Behavior of the White Population. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1962. Rotberg, Robert I. The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa. The Making of Malawi and Zambia, 1873-1964. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965. 278 Roux, Edward. Time Longer Than Rope. 2nd Ed. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1966. A history of the leftist movement in South Africa. Sanderson, F. E. "The Development of Labour Migration from Nyasaland, 1891-1914." The Journal of African History. II, (1961). Sanger, Clyde. Central African Emgrgency. London: Heinemann, 1960. Mr. Sanger is a fine journalist who knew most of the people he wrote about. Schapera, I. Migrant Labour and Tribal Life: A Study of Conditions in’the Bechuanaland Protectorate. London: Oxford University Press, 1947. Not much else has been written about labor in Botswana. Schoffeleers, J. M. "From Socialization to Personal Enterprise: A History of the Nomi Labor Societies in the Nsanje District of Malawi, 1891-1972.“ Rural Africana. (Summer, 1973). Dr. Schoffeleers is one of the finest anthropolo- gists working in Central Africa. Scott, Peter. "Migrant Labor in Southern Rhodesia." The Geographical Review. XLIV, 1 (January, 1954). . "The Role of Northern Rhodesia in African Labour Migration." The Geographical Review. XLIV, 3 (July, 1954). Two excellent articles which discuss the "Ulere" transportation system. Sharp, R. R. Early Days in Katanga. Bulawayo: Rhodesian Printers, Ltd., 1956. Reminiscences of opening up the Katanga copper mines from 1905 to 1921. Shepherd, W. C. A. "Recruiting in Portuguese East Africa of Natives for the Mines." Journal of the African Society. XXXIII, 132 (July, 1934). More fond reminiscences. Shepperson, George. "Nyasaland and the Millennium." in Sylvia Thrupp, editor. Millennial Dreams in Action: Essays in Comparative Study. The Hague: Mouton and Company, 1962. . "The Military History of British Central Africa." Human Problems in British Central Africa. No. 26 (1960). ”\ \ ..qndo! 279 This is a review article of Lt. Col. Moyse— Bartlett's book. Prof. Shepperson served in the K.A.R. during the Second World War. . "The Obsequies of Lance-Corporal Amidu — A Short Story." Phylon. XII, 1 (1951). Shepperson, George and Price, Thomas. Independent African. John Chilembwe and the Origins, Setting and Signifi- cance of the Nyasaland Native Rising of 1915. Edinburgh: The University Press, 1958. Slater, Henry. "The Changing Pattern of Economic Relation- ships in Rural Natal, 1838-1914." Unpublished paper presented at the University of London Institute of Commonwealth Studies Postgraduate Seminar on The Societies of Southern Africa in the 19th and 20th Centuries on 2 January, 1972. Smith, Prudence, editor. Africa in Transition. Some BBC Talks on Changing Conditions in the Union and the Rhodesias. London: Max Reinhardt, 1958. There are useful chapters by Houghton and Mitchell in this book. Soper, Tom. “Labour Migration and Labour Productivity: Some Aspects of Experiences in East, Central, and Southern Africa." Race Relations Journal. XXV, 3 (July-December, 1958). The gist of this article is that migrant labor is not productive. . "Labour Migration in Africa." Journal of African Administration. XI, 2 (April, 1959). JAA was edited by the African Branch of the Coloniai Office. It ceased publication in 1961. "The African Native and the Rhodesian Copper Mines." Supplement to the Journal of the Royal African Society. XXXVI, 144, (July, 1937). Mr. Spearpoint was compound manager at Roan Antelope Mine. Spearpoint, Frank. "Special Report on the Director-General on the Application of the Declaration concerning the Policy of 'Apartheid' of the Republic of South Africa." Geneva: International Labour Office, 1965. Speck, Samuel W. Jr. "Malawi in the Southern African Nexus." Paper presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association in Boston in October, 1970. 280 Stubbs, G. M. Spatial, Demographic, Social and Economic Characteristics of the ngulation of Malawi, 1966. Blantyre: 1970. "Taxation, Administration, and Research in East Africa." Nature. CXXXVIII, 3496, (October, 1936). Tew, Mary. Peoples of the Lake Nyasa Region. New York: Oxford University Press, 1950. Part of the Ethnographic Survey of Africa edited by Daryll Forde. "The Labour Policy of the Rand Mines." Race Relations. X, l, (1943). Thompson, C. H. and Woodruff, H. W. Economic Development in Rhodesia and Nyasaland. London: Dennis Dobson, Ltd., 1954. "Tribesmen become Mineworkers." Mining Survey. No. 59 (September, 1966). Mining Survey is a public relations publication of the Transvaal Chamber of Mines. Tsopano. Nos. 10-12 (August-November, 1960). . A monthly magazine sympathetic to Africans. 1 "Tsopano" means "now". University of Malawi. History Seminar Papers. 196871972. Chiphangwi, Rev. S. D. "The development oqufrican Participation in the Blantyre MisSion. Katayeni, M. "The Ngoni of Mchinjl." ‘ Kelly, Paul Dennis. "Transport on Lake Malaw1 as a Factor in Malawi's History." Kishindo, Monica. "A Survey of Likoma Island from Early Times to 1935." Manda, Joe D. "Independency in the Nkhata Bay area from 1930 to Current Times." . _ . Mkandawire, J. B. C. "The Tumbuka-Ngoni Relation in the Mzimba District." Mkwamba, Sydney. "The Church of Scotland, Blantyre Mission, and the Making of Malaw1: An Historical Appraisal." . . . Phiri, Kidder K. "The Atonga Tribal CounCilJ . Phiri, B. M. N. "Independent African Churches in Nkhata Bay District." . Chiwona, F. S. K. "The Impact of the First World War on Chitipa." Valera, Elizabeth. "Labour Migration as an agent of Social Change in Malawi." Development and Change Degree Paper. University of Malaw1, 1971. 281 van der Horst, Sheila T. Native Labour in South Africa. London: Frank Cass and Company, Ltd., 1971. The first edition of this classic study was printed in 1941. Van Onselen, Charles. "Worker Consciousness in Black Miners: Southern Rhodesia, 1900-1920." Journal of African History. XIV, 2 (1973). Van Velsen, Jaap. "Labor Migration as a Positive Factor in the Continuity of Tonga Tribal Society." Economic Development and Cultural Change. VIII, 3 (April, 1960). Along with Mitchell, Van Velsen has been the major student of labor migration in Central Africa. This is an outstanding article. . "Notes on the History of the Lakeside Tonga in Nyasaland." African Studies. XVIII, 3 (1959). . "Some Early Pressure Groups in Malawi." in E. Stokes and R. Brown, editors. The Zambesian Past: Studies in Central African History. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1966. "Some Methodological Problems of the Study of Labour Migration." in Proceediggs of the Seminar: Urbanization in African Social Change. Edinburgh: Centre of African Studies, University of Edinbrugh, 1959. "The Missionary Factor Among the Lakeside Tonga of Nyasaland." Human Problems in British _ Central Africa. Manchester: Manchester UniverSity W . The Politics of Kinship. A Study of Social Manipulation Among the Lakeside Tonga of Nyasaland. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1964. Warhurst, P. R. "The Tete Agreement." Rhodesian History. I, (1970). Watson, W. "Migrant Labour and Detribalisation." Migrant Labour in Africa South of the Sahara. Abidjan: 1961. . Tribal Cohesion in a Money Economy. A Study of the Mambwe People of Northern RhodeSia. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958. . . This valuable book has a very interesting foreword by Max Gluckman. Webb, Maurice. "Vanishing Lands and Migrant Labour." Race Relations. XI, 1 (1944). g. “fig...” j ' 02.1 '0, 1.5.. {gupfi 113‘ 1;. 282 Williams, John C. "Lesotho: Economic Implications of Migrant Labour." The South African Journal of Economics. XXXIX, 2 (June, 1971). An excellent article. Wilson, Francis. "Farming." in Monica Wilson and Leonard Thompson, editors. The Oxford History of South Africa. Vol. II. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971. Chapter 3 of this indispensable work. Labour in the South African Gold Mines. 1911- 1969. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969. . Migrant Labour in South Africa. Johannesburg: The South African Council of Churches and SPRO—CAS, 1972. Wilson's two recent books do not condemn the South African mining industry unduly. Nevertheless, Mr. Gemmill of Wenela closed the archives of his organisa— tion after their publication saying that Mr. Wilson had "bit the hand that fed him." Wilson, G. H. "The Labour Problem in Nyasaland." East and West. (January, 1921). Wilson, Monica. Communal Rituals of the Nyakyusa. New York: Oxford University Press, 1959. The Nyakyusa and the Ngonde of Karonga share common culture and origins. Wishlade, R. L. Sectarianism in Southern Nyasaland. London: Oxford University Press, 1965. For some reason there is much less independent religious fervor in Malawi now than there was during the early part of the century. Perhaps political independence has prompted a return to religious orthodoxy. YOung, Cullen and Banda, Hastings, translators and editors. Our African Way of Life. London: United Society for Christian Literature, Lutterworth Press, 1946. Yudelman, Montague. Africans on the Land: Economic Problems of African Agricultural Development in Southern Central, and East Africa with SpeCial Reference to Southern Rhodesia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1964. .- anoggsggmfl. 11;“ __. - Ima‘fi’dl M23? ‘ LIE.“ ---v—-:=~‘2.-‘."t ... '. . i ‘A‘.‘_.g .‘ . :..! r‘ ' APPENDICES 283 Appendix A Record of Hut Tax Revenue Collected in Malawi, 1892-1921. "The ability to pay tax is the economic barometer of native prosperity." C.O. minute on Despatch 331, Governor Hall to the C.O., 15 September 1934, c.0. 525/155. 1892 —g 7001 1983 - 1,639-7-4 1894 - 2,602-9-5 1895 - 4,704-6-1 1896 — 7200-14-11 1897 - 8083—8-0 1898 — 12,646-1-0 1899 - 13,465-10-0 1900 — 16,756-4-0 1901 — 9052 1906 - 35,619 1907 - missing 1908 — 38,389 1909 - 41,530 1910 - 46,534 1912 - 65,685 1913 - 69,810 1914 - 71,755 1915 - 76,679 1916 - 78,478 1917 - 75,448 1918 - 79,304 1919 - 80,582 1920 - 107,194 1921 - 109,022 1The tax was 6/. 2In 1901, the 3/ rebate system was introduced. If an African possessed a labor certificate signifying that he had worked for a European during the year he received a 3/ rebate on his 6/ tax. Figures for the years 1901-1905 were not available. 3Tax was increased to 8/ with a 4/ rebate. 4The rebate system was abandoned and the tax returned to 6/. This information was gleaned mainly from Protector— ate Annual Reports. .muofluumfip mawonpoumlucmnmafi Momma Ca pawn moxmu us: mo HmuouIQSmaa .pmumcflmfluo mucoumflfiw mo wufluoflmfi soars Eouw muofluumat mwumoflpsH« moo\m 0 ma o-a.mmsma ouoalmovma oualweoma oumnmmom Hauvauooms a-m-voss mlmxmoom macros 4. Aoumaus onsalmaoaa Olmlmmam cumumvws oum-omme mum|mmmm mussuomon a.msvmmm .Pmamnonunsm m muuxw am moans oumalmoma cloanmmm ouoauomoa » u u . .mmmsz nmms ousauoaoa onsumvm onmausmw ouvslmas onmuaam . ma-®-o .Mmmsz runoz oumanmmaa o.oH-mOMH oumH-NoHH onwaummm onmnmom . . ansflnmz OIGIONMH ouo-mmm oxm-vws oumnsom mIHIHom - . .camsncomca Hmnncwo clwumoam clma-omsa o:m-mmma o-mlams ouaauoas m-ma-mmm a-m1mma 48mmsz anzom ouvIHHoN o-onommH ouonoHva o-a-omva ouea-mmma clqlsms o-m-awm .munrm swims ouma-mmm ououkmm oum-mmoH cloummm o-oa-vvm mnma-moo o-ms-mma mncmsz ouwflumama o-ma-meoH OIHIeNoH ouoummk o-msnsmo o-va-mmm o-ws-mmq inseam Mason o:mnflvo one-0ms oqsaumsk onms-sam o-ma-mvv oxmaumom a-ms-oav mnnsm nmms ouoa-vms clmausmm o-a-emo claauqmm o:m-m¢m oumauase ouauoam osm ouvanvsam o-oslvoms o-v-HomH o-msmmaa o-malkoma o-o-mmHH o-m-eee museumsm clsummma o-mINmHH ousuoooa euclmnw oumnmmo ones-mom o-m-mm ansom coma mama mama some omma mama some uonnumss H.oomauvmma .uuauumno an Aw.qunv wacm>mm 889 was ad xflvcwmmfi Appendix B Present and Former District Names Table 4. Present and Former District Names. Present Former Nsanje Lower Shire} Lower River Chikwawa Thyolo Cholo Ruo Chiradzulu Mulanje Mlanje Blantyre West Shire and Blantyre Zomba Zomba Kasupe Ncheu Upper Shire Mangoche Ft. Johnston,South Nyasa Dedza géipggwe} Central Angoniland Mchinji Ft. Manning Dowa_ _ included Salima in the past} Marimba NtChlSl } formerly one district Nkhota-Rota Kasungu Mzimba Mombera Nkhata Bay Chinteche West Nyasa Rumphi Karonga formerly one diStrict} North Nyasa Chitipa 285 Appendix C . 1 Estimated Population of Malaw1, 1899-1971. 1899 - 900,000 1900 - 620,000 1901 - 736,724 1910 — 969,183 1911 - 1,000,659 1912 — 1,020,537 1913 — 1,065,119 1914 - 1,088,057 1916 - 1,137,266 1917 — 1,227,442 1919 — 1,203,000 1921*- 1,199-934 1922 — 1,187,631 1925 - 1,210,344 1931*— 1,599,888 1936 - 1,620,000 1941 - 1,684,000 1942 — 2,164,367 1948 - 2,400,000 1950 - 2,340,000 1951 - 2,392,031 1952 — 2,453,506 1953 — 2,501,010 1954 — 2,565,286 1955 — 2,560,000 1956 - 2,600,000 1957 - 2,660,000 1958 — 2,720,000 1959 - 2,780,000 1960 — 2,862,700 1961 - 2,921,000 1962 — 2,960,000 1966*- 4,200,000 1971 — 4,670,000 1All of these figures except the 1966 census are only estimates. Sources for most of the figures were Protector- ate Annual Reports. *Census years. 286 Estimated Population of Malawi by District, 1899-1900.l Appendix C1 1899’ District 1900 Lower Shire* 9,000 27,000 Ruo 18,000 18,000 West Shire 15,000 13,000 Blantyre 40,000 44,000 Mlanje 48,000 48,000 Zomba 40,000 27,000 Upper Shire* 30,000 60,000 South Nyasa* 50,000 40,000 Central Angoniland* 230,000 200,000 Marimba* 70,000 70,000 West Nyasa* 150,000 146,008 North Nyasa* 200,000 27,000 Sub—tota1** 739,000 570,000 Total 900,000 620,000 lW. Wheeler, Treasurer of the B.C.A. Protectorate to Governor Sharpe, 3 June 1901, F.O. 2/669. 2No reason was given for this obvious error. *Major migrant-producing districts. **Sub-tota1 population of major migrant-producing districts. 287 1937 Populatio District South Nyasa Upper Shire Zomba Chiradzulu Mlanje 7 Blantyre/Central Shire Cholo Lower Shire Chikwawa Total Southern Province North Nyasa Mzimba West Nyasa Kota Kota Kasungu Ft. Manning Dowa Lilongwe Dedza Ncheu Total Northern Province Protectorate Total Further breakdown by co Country Southern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia South Africa Tanganyika Congo Elsewhere Totals Machona since 1930 1Figures are from Status of the Nyasaland 2Of those from the called "dead north"--th West Nyasa. Also refer Appendix C2 n Breakdown by District.1 Total Adult Male Population No. absent 6577 26790 3924 31261 3300 28954 1465 20922 1031 46547 3954 28428 642 18187 840 18294 617 11626 22,350 23I700§ 1387 13425 18767 46316 7791 16717 9030 23475 4284 10644 4519 13101 5974 33627 5622 48093 5989 33324 4374 21268 67,7372 259,990 90,087 490,999 untry of employment: Nyasaland origin Total So. Prov. No. Prov. 17172 46906 64078 402 3706 4108 1810 12128 13938 1908 3874 5782 41 558 599 1017 565 1582 22,350 67,737 90,087 2986 19,252 22238 the Smith Report on the Financial Protectorate. north, 30,852 originated in the so— e districts of Mzimba, Kasungu, and red to as the "black north" and as not dead, but merely "unconscious," these are the poorest districts in the countr Nyika Plateau to the Bu miles with a total adul y. They stretch from south of the a River, an area of 10,100 square t male population of 73,677. 288 1897 1899 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1911 1924 1931 1935 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1966 1967 1972 Appendix C3 Estimated Numbers of Malawians Abroad, 1897-1972.1 - 200 - 2,000 ‘ 61936 - 16,193 - 101714 - 14,000 - 211000 - 251000 - 30,000 ' 501000 - 90,000 - 113,500 - 112,800 - 115,765 - 1201000 - 121,000 - 138,982 - 121,760 - 143,000 - 1401000 - 146,000 - 143,000 - 148,000 - 150,000 - 159,000 - 160,000 - 160,000 - 141,900 - 147,000 - 169,000 - 163,500 - 159,500 - 165,860 *-266,000 - 280,000 - 487,932 2 1Again it must be emphasized that these figures, most of which were gleaned from Protectorate Annual Reports, are only estimates. 2The official reason for the drOp of nearly 20,000 from 1955 was that the estimated numbers of Malawiansh employed locally went up so offic1als reasoned that t e esti decl mated numbers of Malawians employed abroad must have ined correspondingly. * Census year. 289 The 1972 figure is based on my research. Appendix C4 Malawian Immigrants Entering into Rhodesia, 1928-1945 1928 - 20,769 1929 - 22,341 1930 - 25,389 1931 — 16,743 1932 - 11,582 1933 - 26,451 1934 - 43,993 1935 — 36,596 1936 — 29,868 1937 - 42,598 1938 - 33,580 1939 — 28,196 1940 — 18,777 1941 - 27,054 1942 — 17,639 1943 - 21,651 1944 — 27,834 1945 - 24,999 1 s 235/400, 2 0.0. 525/193. Rhodesian Archives. 290 Malawian Man Issued with Identity Certificates by Country of Appendix C5 Destination and Category of Migrant, 1946-1967.1 ALL MOZAM- OTHER YEAR DESTINATIONS SOUTH AFRICA RHODESIA ZAMBIA BIQUE COUNTRIES (PEA) mainly Tanzania Non Non Non Non TOTAL Con- 1 Con- Con- 1 Con con- 1 Con- Con- Con- Con- tracted tracted tractad tractsd tracted tracted tracted tracted tracted 1946 35,152 ... ... 7,637 25,650 1,263 602 1947 35,704 ... ... 10,066 23,991 1,204 443 1948-52 194,575 ... ... 46,898 136,149 9,929 1,599 Average 38, 915 . . . . . . 9, 380 27, 230 1, 988 320 1948 33,920 ... ... 9,936 22,362 1,294 328 1949 32,402 ... ... 8,848 21,984 1,198 372 1950 32,081 ... .. 9,988 20,279 1,584 230 1951 42,701 ... ... 9,307 30,235 2,882 277 1952 53,471 12,533 40,938 7,080 1,739 5,453 35,836 2,971 216 176 1953-57 328,014 99,685 228,329 57,728 8,154 41,957 189,894 27,083 1,090 2,108 Average 65, 603 19, 957 45, 666 11, 546' 1,631 8, 591 37, 979 5, 417 216 422 1953 52,797 13,710 39,087 5,664 1,862 8,046 31,928 3,555 119 1,623 1954 62,381 16,515 45,866 9,510 1,262 7,005 38,792 5,595 122 95 1955 66,186 20,676 45,510 12,580 1,443 8,096 37,976 5,624 293 174 1956 72,304 25,039 47,265 13,980 1,536 11,059 39,701 5,638 268 122 1957 74,346 23,745 50,601 15,994 2,051 7,751 41,497 6,671 288 94 1958-62 339,067 148,510 190,557 116,387 10,109 32,123 144,332 32,211 3,263 642 Average 67, 813 29, 702 38, 111 23,277 2, 022 6, 425 28, 666 6, 442 655 128 1958 68,945 27,492 41,453 18,037 1,578 9,455 35,408 3,961 394 112 1959 68,294 27,785 40,509 19,985 2.037 7,800 32,452 5,155 750 115 1960 73,505 32,743 40,762 25,981 2,630 6,762 29,662 7,448 897 125 1961 72,584 37,461 35,123 31,988 2,395 5,473 23,514 8,521 561 132 1962 55,739 23,029 32,710 20,396 1,469 2,633 23,296 7,126 661 158 1963-67 279,841 178,207 101,634 157,012 11,145 21,195 76,513 9,465 3,779 732 Average 55, 966 35, 641 20, 327 31, 402 2, 229 4, 239 15, 303 1, 89.3 756 146‘ 1963 62,373 34,088 28}285 28,894 1,594 5,194 20,825 5,151 611 :3: 1964 62,931 34,099 28,832 29,180 3,046 4,919 19,488 4,0802 2,081 213 1965 62,293 41,603 20,690 37,424 1,890 4,179 17,659 1712 :2: 132 1966 40,905 28,879 12,026 25,260 1,827 3,619 9,807 632 lea 91 1967 51,339 39,538 11,801 36,254 2,788 3,284 8,734 ~-- 1From the Report of the Malawi Ministry of Labour, 1963- 67 (Zomba: Government Printer, 1968) . 2Since 1965 Malawians entering Zambia are required to hold passports. 291 Appendix D Minimum Wages in Malawi and its Neighbors, 1897-1972.1 Year Malawi Rhodesia Sogth Africa Elsewhere 1897 3/ 1898 10/ on mines 20/ on mines 1903 15/ on mines t 2 on mines 5/ in Zambia 1905 10/ on farms 1906 3/ 20/ on mines 1909 10/ on Congo mines 1921 5/ 10/ on Moz. sugar estates 1933 5/ on farms 1934 8/6 on farms 1936 6/ 11/6 on farms £3—1o—o on mines 5/ in Zambia 6/ in Tanzania 1937 20/ on farms 1938 10/ on farms 1942 15/ on farms 21/6 on mines 1943 f 3-18-0 on mines .{1—5—0 on Zambian mines 1946 8/ 1949 9/ 1951 17/6 1955 .f‘1-10—0 1962 f. 2-15-0 1215 on mines 1964 3 3—2-6 1966 .i 3-10—0 1972 K6 903 $6.00 on farms4 R30 on mines2 lAll wages are per month. In addition, most employers provide food and housing for their employees. These figures are from the Nyasaland Government Reports on migrant labor and Protectorate Annual Reports for the most part. 2South African mine wages were raised substantially in 1972 due to the skyrocketing world price of gold. 3Most Malawian wages and prices have been frozen since 1966. One kwacha is equal to one rand. ” 4In 1971, for the first time ever the Rhodesian minimum wage fell below the Malawian minimum wage. Duncan G. Clarke, "Black Contract Labour and Farm Wage Rates in Rhodesia," University of Rhodesia Labour Research Seminar Paper #2, 1973. 292 1945 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 Appendix D1 Migrant Remittances (in L's) from Abroad, 269,182 908,504 1,275,814 1,472,179 1,664,401 1,765,385 1,599,349 1,689,104 1,690,256 1,640,188 1,300,171 1,578,742 2,029,124 2,127,664 1,985,292 1945, 1954-1967.1 1These figures are from the Report of the Malawi Ministrygof Labour, 1963-67. 293 Appendix E C O N S T I T U T I O N O F T H E M A L A W I C A T H O L I C B U R I A L S O C I E T Y. IN VIEW OF THE DIFFICULTIES WHICH MEMBERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES RESIDING IN HIGHFIELD, SALISBURY, HAVE TO EXPERIENCE, IT HAS BEEN AGREED UPON TO FORM AN ASSOCIATION TO BE KNOWN "MALAWI CATHOLIC BURIAL SOCIETY" AIMS AND OBJECTS: 1) Mutual help in cases of sickness and death, etc., etc. 2) Promote brotherhood amongst Christians, love and help those who are in desperate in need if necessary. THE SOCIETY WILL GIVE HELP TO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS: 1) If a member falls sick and he/or she is admitted in the hospital, the society will give him/or her the sum of JEl.10.0 per a month until he/or she is discharged from the hospital. 2) If a member dies, the society will pay for all expenses connected with the burial of the body. 3) If a member dies and leaves family, the remaining family will receive the sum ofds from the society, only if that family is returning home. 4) If a member‘s relative dies, and was not a member of the above organization members will be called upon to help contribute generously. 5 V If a member's child dies, and this child dies away from parents, the society will give the member concern money equivalent to the cost of the coffin. 6) If a member dies, and the relatives wish to bury him/or her at home village, the society will pay only the cost of the coffin, and NOT transport charges. 7) If a member after serving in the society for the period of THREE YEARS, after which he/or she wants to resign, the society will pay back 1/4 (one-quarter) of the amount standing against his/or her account — provided monthly subscription is fully paid up. 294 295 Appendix E (Cont'd) 8) If a member is out of employment for the last period of TWO MONTHS, the res ective member will receive from the society the sum of 1.0.0 per a month for the running 6 months, after which he/or she will cease to receive same, and if he/or she, is not employed yet, and does not have means of paying subscriptions, he/or she, will then be suspended from membership of the society. 9) The society will also contribute or donate money to any other charitable associations, building of new churches, etc., etc. if funds are available. THE SOCIETY WILL NOT GIVE HELP TO THOSE WHO ARE GUILTY OF THE FOLLOWINGS: 1) Adultery. 2) Stealing 3) Tax defaulting 4) Fighting 5) Arrest following liquor drinking 6) Debts. 7) Three months continuous default of paying subscriptions without informing the association of the reasons. ADMITTANCE: THE MALAWI CATHOLIC BURIAL SOCIETY is NOT tribalistic organisation, but every Catholic Christian member, including non—catholics will be admitted if they wish to join. JOINING FEE: 1) Every male married or unmarried will join with 10/- (ten-shillings) and 5/- (five shillings) being monthly subscriptions. 2) Every female unmarried or widow, will join with lO/— (ten—shillings) and 2/6 (two- shillings six pence) being monthly subscriptions. PAYMENT: Joining fees and subscriptions will be collected by the Treasurer. OFFICE BEARERS: There shall be a top executive of SEVEN MEMBERS, consisting of a President, Chairman and vice, Secretary and vice, and Treasurer with a vice. POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT: 1) The President will have to appoint the top executive committees, eg. Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and vices respectively. 296 Appendix E (Cont'd) 2) The President will also have to appoint Ten committees on the advice by the top executive. 3) The President will verify and ensure that everything at the funeral is carried out according to the constitution. 4) The President will demote any executive member, if that member is found causing confusion, misunderstanding amongst the members, if it is in the best interest of the community. The President will remain in office for the period of ONE YEAR - after which he will seek for election by the executive. 5 V POWERS OF THE TOP EXECUTIVE: 1) The executive including ten committee members, will elect the president to whom they will all obey his instructions, if found to be of the benefit of all. 2) The executive will remove the president from the office, if found not carrying his duties according to the constitution at any time. 3) The executive will recommend to the president to remove or expel any executive or committee member from office, if that member is found causing unfriendly atmosphere in the society. FINANCE: 1) Money of the society shall be deposited in the bank approved by the President and his executive commmittees. 2) All Books shall be examined by a competent Auditors appointed by the committees. 3) Money will only be withdrawn after the approval of the President and Executives, with the authorised signatures of the Presi- dent, Chairman, Treasurer and a Trustee appointed by the executive. 4) The treasurer will give financial report monthly. CHANGE OF CONSTITUTION: The Constitution shall be changed or amended only after the approval and acceptance of the President and his executive committees. 297 Appendix E (Cont'd) DISOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION: In the event of this society dissolves, resulting from quarrels, confusions amongst the members, the funds will be handed over to the CATHOLIC CHURCH for the benefit of all Christian Catholics. BRANCHES: If it will be in the interest of Catholic Christian members, branches will be established in their respective areas under the control of HIGHFIELD branch. If there are more than 10 members of the above society, a branch will be opened if they — the members require it. Location and Numbers of Malawian Worker Appendix F as of 11 September 1972. 1 in South Africa Towns Mines Numbers Rustenburg Chrome Mine 60 R.P.M. 4,000 Marikana '3,000 Bafokeng (Impala) 3,000 Luuparsvlei West Rand Consolidated 3,000 Luuparsvlei 400 Durban Deep 7,000 South Roodeport 400 Johannesburg City Deep 600 Crown Mines 900 Boksburg E.R.P.M. 8,000 Springs East Dagga 2,500 Sallies 3,000 Nigel Marievale 400 Vlakfontein 2,500 Nigel 1,500 Evander Kinross 2,000 Winkelhaak 3,000 Leslie 2,100 Bracken 1,000 Carletonville West Driefontein 4,500 Blyvoor 3,500 Doornfontein 4,500 West Deep Levels 2,000 Westonaria (?) West Areas 4,600 Lebanon 3,000 Kloof 6,500 Elsburg 2,500 Venterpost 4,306 Stillfontein Harteebestfontein 12,000 Stillfontein 5,500 Buffelsfontein 8,000 Orkney Vaal Reefs 6,000 Western Reefs 3,0002 Total for the Transvaal 122,366 Welkom (O.F.S.) President Steyn 3,000 President Brand 2,400 Welkom 2,000 F. S. Geduld 1,066 St. Helena 1,700 Western Holdings 2,481 Odendaalsrus Freddies 878 Lorraine 2,498 298 Appendix F (Cont'd) Towns Mines Numbers Virginia Saiplass 912 Harmony 2,113 Marispruit 1,353 Burgersfort Chrome Mine 127 (E. Transvaal) Penge 600 Montrose 400 Barbeton Fairview 85 Consort 102 Sheba 64 A.C.A. 146 Total for Orange Free State and E. Transvaal 22,825 Malawians living in Johannesburg area locations. Soweta 2,000 Mamelodi 600 Alexandria 50 Magaliesburg 200 Tembisa 5,000 Kagiso 20 Kanana 30 Total 7,900 1 From Fr. J. P. LeScour, Report on the Situation of the Malawian Expatriate Workers in South Africa (Zomba: MalaWi Catholic Diocese). 2The descrepancy between this figure and Wenela's December 1972 Malawian employment figure of 129,207 may cast some doubt on the exactitude of Fr. LeScour's estimates. -" IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 058 2344