I was in Zimbabwe in the mid 80s. The Rhodies then were seeing the handwriting on the wall. A lot of them got out. The Anglos headed back to Blighty or to Australia or NZ. The Boers went back to South Africa. They were all trying to unload whatever they could just to get enough hard currency to bail. The currency of choice was the Kruegerrand, solid gold. Poor sods. They and their forefathers had invested everything in Rhodesia and it worked. Then along came “uhuru.”
I remember doing a report on Rhodesia in high school, back in the ‘60s.
Back then the place was known as, “The Breadbasket of Africa”.
Now Rhodesia’s name has been changed to “Zimbabwe” and it’s become just another starving third-world toilet.
I wonder what happened?
“They were all trying to unload whatever they could just to get enough hard currency to bail.”
The lucky ones left with something; those remaining will be lucky to escape with their lives. When East Africa gained its independence (Kenya/Uganda), they let British whites leave with their property to maintain relations with Britain afterwards. They were less merciful with the Indians (settled there at the behest of the British), who were forced out with the clothes on their backs.
The lesson here (as in Northern Ireland) is that when the crown encourages you to settle in an area, don’t believe you will have their support forever; they’ll trade your rights away in a heartbeat. Rhodesia fought for Britain in their darkest hours, and was repaid with abandonment. At least Portugal and France fought for their settlers...