You will note that Rhodesia(Southern Rhodesia) is now Zimbabwe, the capital is now named Harare, not Salisbury and many other place names have been changed. The original names, some based on what the British understood to represent the local African name of a particular place were changed after the country officially became independent in 1980. It should be remembered that just over 100 years ago, the local tribes, themselves were invaders and had pushed out the true local people of Southern Africa, the 'Bushmen, had no alphabet or written history. When the British flag was raised over Fort Salisbury in the 1890s, the population at the time, is estimated to have been much less than one million, even as low as two hundred thousand, therefore a country twice the size of the United Kingdom (including England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) was very sparsely populated, the one large 'City' was Lobengula's Bulawayo, the centre of power for the Matabele who themselves had only recently taken over the area being an offshoot of the Zulu nation whose power base was in the Eastern part of South (not Southern) Africa, now called KwaZulu.

South Africa is a country in its own right, the Republic of South Africa, itself four times larger than the United Kingdom, many people not from Sub-Saharan African get mixed up between Southern Africa which takes in several large countries and South Africa, there is a difference. Someone from Zimbabwe/Rhodesia is NOT a South African, they are either Rhodesian or Zimbabwean, a South African comes from the country called South Africa, a country in its own right as previously explained.

Northern Rhodesia is now called Zambia, another country four times the size of the United Kingdom, Nyasaland is now Malawi, the three countries, Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland for a while in the late 1950s to 1963 formed the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. This was during the period when Great Britain still accepted that they had a responsibility to the countries, her colonies. Then 'The Winds of Change' came, Northern Rhodesia gained Independence under the leadership of Kenneth Kaunda (same birthday as me!) and became Zambia, Nyasaland became Malawi under Dr.Hastings Banda and Southern Rhodesia went down the road of declaring 'Unilateral Declaration of Independence' (UDI) in 1965 under Ian Smith which after a long Bush War failed and became Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe.

Sadly all three countries are a disaster, the blame is easily laid at the door of 'Colonial Oppressors', that is 'The British', these days, reporting on the subject looks at the problem from the way we think now, in the 21st Century, not appreciating what was considered acceptable 50 or even 100 years ago. Looking at our past, many practices would be unacceptable in today's World, rightly, however, what we must not forget is that in the 19th Century and into the early 20th Century, the modern World was still in the process of being formed, new countries, new ideas, the process continues. The aim should be to develop and improve mankind's lot in life, as far as certain countries in Africa are concerned, anyone with common sense knows that the only people to blame are the rulers of these once prosperous countries. Millions of good Africans, black and white, now suffer the consequences of 'Freedom'. The future does not look good, other countries close by, the Congo, Angola, indicate that the situation could get even worse, Mozambique, an old Portuguese colony might just prove that it is possible for an African country devastated by war can recover, the Republic of South Africa, the richest country in sub-Saharan Africa and vital to the whole region's well-being, a big question mark must hang over its future, its rulers show little inclination to tackle the massive problem of HIV/Aids, their President denies the cause of the illness and refuses the free drugs for his own people given by the Western World, that is the U.S.A. and the U.K. amongst others. I hope I am wrong.