Rhodesian Pioneers Day

Exactly 120 years ago to today, Cecil Rhodes's pioneer column reached what was to become Fort Salisbury (Harare). My grandfather, Alfred James Maclaurin, was a member of that amazing group of people who left the comparitive safety and comfort of the Cape to explore and settle in the unknown.

History has not been kind to their memory. Written off as murderers and opportunists intent on self enrichment, they were a vital part in the wider influence and colonial achievments of Britain. Without them I would not be sitting, working and enjoying a massively superior standard of living to theirs. 

The pioneers didn't just settle and acquire benefits for themselves: they changed the lives and fortunes of the people that they encountered. Some will argue that it was an unwelcome and unwanted invasion - but throughout the course of world history that has always been the case. Their vision was driven by a desire for greater wealth (mankind never changes), their quest was brave and the risks, enormous.

With invasion and adventure, domination and influence, has also come improvement and advantage. The invading force needs to consolidate its position, and that can only be done with the co-operation of the host. The  military interventions in Afganistan and Iraq have  both highlighted the need for "civil" as opposed to "military" solutions to lead the way to eventual peaceful resolution. Christianity and Islam cannot take hold over a people without converts.

And so it was that the Rhodesian pioneers settled, brought new medicines, a different education, a new religion and eventually a new political system. Wild veld, or bush, was turned into rich agricultural farm land and the rich minerals mined.

Today - I salute, and remember, the positive sides of that incredible risk and spirit of adventure. I honour the memory of my grandparents and my parents who continued - to my advantage - that determination and drive to improve our world, the World. I don't deny that there were costs to the people who saw their world being turned upside down as a consequence - but the wider good cannot be disputed.

A recent discussion I heard asked the question - at what point does "dirty" money become "clean". At what point do we decide that the individual's actions are no longer based solely on self-interest but community benefit, that pocketted cash becomes the acceptable coinage of share markets? The British South Africa Company's 'charter' may have been fraudulently acquired, but after the initial embarrassment, Britain took full advantage.

No one could ever have predicted the events of a hundred years later when Robert Mugabe decided to use Rhodes' pioneers as the justification for using ethnic Zimbabweans to kill each other and destroy their ability to live, let alone prosper, in the 21st century.

All within one hundred and twenty years that wonderful African landscape that was populated by hunter/gatherers, developed into a British colony, then grew into an industrialised nation exporting minerals and agricultural goods around the world, has returned into one of civil strife and, sadly one that exports people desperate for their own survival and protection from their neighbours, rather than wealth.

What will it look like in 120 years?