Harder times lie ahead for Rhodesia's
blacks. The Parliament of the breakaway colony recently adopted a
series of harsh new measures designed to impose South African-style
apartheid on its 5,000,000 subjugated Africans. Rhodesian Prime
Minister Ian Smith still speaks confidently of achieving a “settlement”
with Britain some time next year. But he knows full well that the new
measures, if his government enforces them severely, could hardly be
accepted by the British government. Among other things, the new laws 1> forbid Rhodesian blacks to travel
outside the country unless each journey is approved by a white civil
servant, 2> force all Africans over age 16 to carry an identity pass at
all times, on pain of a $140 fine and six months in jail, 3> reinforce
the segregation of public swimming pools, 4> bar blacks from moving to
white urban areas unless they have jobs or special permits, 5> prevent
Africans from being served food and drink in white areas after 7 p.m.
on weekdays and all day Sunday, and 6> declare purely white areas
“Europeanized” to prevent “infiltration” of Asians and coloreds. A likely next step: race classification boards, like those in South
Africa, to determine who is white and who is not.
