Harvey Grenville Ward (1927 – April 1995) was a Director-General of the
Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is the state-owned broadcaster in Zimbabwe. It was established as the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC), taking its current name in 1980. Like the RBC before it, the ZBC has been accused of bein ...
noted for his
anticommunism
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
and for supporting
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1 ...
's government in
Rhodesia and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. Ward was a leading member of the
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...
.
Early life
Ward was born in
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...
to an English father and a South African mother. His parents settled in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and were engaged in enterprises such as the financing of
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
construction and the building of numerous hotels. They managed the
Victoria Falls Hotel until 1937. He chose a career in
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...
by starting with the Cape Argus and then becoming a specialist in African journalism covering the great social upheavals of the late 1950s and the 1960s for Reuters. He then settled in Salisbury and became Head of News Services at the Rhodesia Herald, eventually becoming Director-General of the
Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is the state-owned broadcaster in Zimbabwe. It was established as the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC), taking its current name in 1980. Like the RBC before it, the ZBC has been accused of bein ...
, which effectively put him in charge of government
propaganda. Ward is said to have removed references to black sporting achievements from sports programmes that were carried on state television.
Exile
An armed insurrection, several years of negotiations and the imposition of sanctions by South Africa at the behest of The West,
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1 ...
's administration was replaced by African majority rule in 1979. Ward described it as "the betrayal of western nations to their own kind". As a prominent supporter of Smith's administration, Ward was forced to leave
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
. He and his family moved to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
and advised the white minority government there on how to avoid international
economic sanctions
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they ma ...
.
Anticommunism
Subsequently, Ward served as a political adviser to many African leaders and was involved in international
intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
. His watch-word became "dedicated to fighting
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
" and he traveled worldwide, lecturing on
counter-insurgency and
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
. He described the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
as run by "gangsters" and totally untrustworthy.
He supported the anti-communist revolts in the former
Soviet Bloc saying that it was "a simple matter of good versus evil." In Africa, Ward saw no hope. "Africa is the most exploited of all the continents, and it will stay that way. There has never been any peace in Africa, and I see no end to tribal conflict, spreading of diseases and other plagues," he said.
Monday Club
Ward was an overseas member of the
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...
and found himself the center of a minor sensation on 26 July 1977, when immigration officials at
Heathrow
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
Airport held him for seven hours before they formally refused him permission to enter Britain and placed him aboard another plane to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
. He was due to address a meeting of the Africa Committee of the Monday Club at the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
, organized by the former
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
MP
Harold Soref
Harold Benjamin Soref (18 December 1916—14 March 1993) was a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom for Ormskirk, Lancashire, first elected at the 1970 general election. He subsequently lost the seat to Labour in Feb ...
on the 29th, and visit family in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
. On being asked why entry had never been refused on previous journeys to Britain by Ward, a
Home Office spokesman said, "I don't know. It may have been a mistake or oversight". Formal protests were made to the Home Office by Tory
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs)
John Biggs-Davison
Sir John Alec Biggs-Davison (7 June 1918 – 17 September 1988) was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figur ...
, Sir
Patrick Wall
Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall, (14 October 1916 – 15 May 1998) was a British commando in the Royal Marines during the Second World War and later a Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Haltemprice in the Eas ...
, and
Teddy Taylor
Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor (18 April 1937 – 20 September 2017) was a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for forty years, from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Southend Eas ...
.
In 1982, he wrote an article ''Zimbabwe Today'', for the Monday Club's journal, ''Monday World'', that was prophetic in its content. His wife died in 1986, and he moved to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Three of his four children remained in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
.
At the October 1988
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
Conference,
Western Goals (UK) Western Goals may refer to:
*The Western Goals Foundation, a private intelligence dissemination network active on the right-wing in the United States
*The Western Goals Institute
Western Goals Institute (WGI) was a far-right pressure group and ...
(which Ward had also joined) held a fringe meeting on the subject of "International Terrorism - how the West can fight back". Harvey Ward, Sir
Alfred Sherman, Rev
Martin Smyth
William Martin Smyth (born 15 June 1931) is a Northern Irish unionist politician, who served as the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South from 1982 to 2005. He was a vice-president of the Conservative Monday ...
, MP, and
Andrew Hunter Andrew Hunter or Andy Hunter may refer to:
Sports
*Andrew Hunter (British swimmer) (born 1986), British swimmer who was a medalist in the Commonwealth Games
*Andrew Hunter (Irish swimmer) (born 1952), Irish swimmer
*Andy Hunter (footballer, born 18 ...
, MP, were the speakers. The latter spoke concerning top-level links between the
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...
(IRA) and
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
(ANC).
In 1989 Ward was working for
James Gibb Stuart
James Gibb Stuart (30 August 1920 – 23 September 2013) was a financial author, owner of Ossian Publishers, and chairman of the Scottish Pure Water Association. He was known for his outspoken opposition to the European Union, and for publishing a ...
at Ossian Books Ltd. in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. He continued to travel and lecture, and joined the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
.
He became an active member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...
, and by 1990 was a member of the Club's Executive Council.
Character assassination
In 1991, Ward is claimed to have worked in conjunction with South African security policeman
Paul Erasmus to leak false accusations secretly against
Winnie Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She se ...
and her daughters by accusing them of being nymphomaniacs and drug abusers. The reports were described as having come from dissidents in the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
. They were issued in an effort to divide the ANC's leadership. They were then taken up by papers such as ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', the ''
Sunday Times'' and ''
Vanity Fair''. Erasmus later acknowledged profound regret for his actions in that and other matters and affected a reconciliation with Mandela. He claimed Ward's role in the propaganda campaign during the late 1990s
['']Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'', 27 March 1999 but only after Ward had died.
Later life
In the early 1990s, Ward's fourth child, Rowena, who had been in the British Police Service, returned to live in South Africa. Ward followed and took up residence in
Port Elizabeth with his son, Harvey and his daughter-in-law, Kathy. His last public engagement was a speech at the Robbie Burns Society in Port Elizabeth in March 1995. One month later, he had a heart attack during a game of bowls and died.
See also
*
Whites in Zimbabwe
White Zimbabweans are people in Zimbabwe who are of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, these Zimbabweans of European ethnic origin are mostly English-speaking descendants of British settlers and a small minorit ...
References
*''Young European'' Newsletter, December 1988 edition, published by
Western Goals (UK) Western Goals may refer to:
*The Western Goals Foundation, a private intelligence dissemination network active on the right-wing in the United States
*The Western Goals Institute
Western Goals Institute (WGI) was a far-right pressure group and ...
, London.
*''
Neosho Daily News''
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, U.S.A., 19 July 1990, where a major interview and article appear.
*Ward, Harvey, ''Sanctions Buster'', Glasgow, 1982. . (Semi-autobiographical).
*Ward, Harvey, "The Falklands Factor", Settle Press, UK 1988 .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Harvey
1927 births
1995 deaths
White Rhodesian people
Zimbabwean exiles
Rhodesian anti-communists
Rhodesian businesspeople
Rhodesian writers