The Southern Rhodesia Act 1965 c. 76 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was designed to reaffirm British legal rule in Southern Rhodesia after

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

had unilaterally declared independence. In practice, it only enforced the status of Southern Rhodesia as a British colony in British constitutional theory as the Rhodesian government did not recognise it.

History

On 11 November 1965, the Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia Ian Smith declared Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the British Empire after the British Government refused to grant independence with White minority rule was still in place. Within five days, the Southern Rhodesia Act 1965 had passed through Parliament and had received royal assent from

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

. The Southern Rhodesia Act 1965 stated that Southern Rhodesia was still legally a British colony and affirmed to the Queen the power to govern Southern Rhodesia via Orders in Council including amending the constitution and enforce legal restrictions upon them unilaterally.

Effect

The first use of the Act was when the Queen issued an Order-in-Council to suspend the Southern Rhodesian Constitution and legally sacked the

Rhodesian Front The Rhodesian Front was a right-wing conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. It was the last ruling party of Southern Rhodesia prior to that country's unilateral declaration of independence, and the rul ...

government. This gave formal effect to Governor Sir Humphrey Gibbs dismissing the Rhodesian Front government within hours of the UDI, acting on orders from Whitehall. The Act was intended to show that the British Government alone had authority in Southern Rhodesia in theory. However, in practice, the act was largely ignored in Rhodesia and the government continued to meet as they considered that it was in violation of the

constitutional convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

that Westminster did not legislate for Southern Rhodesia. Additionally, it maintained that "in view of the new hodesianconstitution" adopted as an annex to the UDI, the Crown's reserve power to sack the government no longer existed.''Bulletin''
Volumes 3-4, Africa Institute of South Africa, 1965, pages 12-13 The Rhodesian Front government initially maintained allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II. It attempted to reconstitute Rhodesia as a

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...

, recognising Elizabeth as Queen of Rhodesia. Prime Minister Ian Smith even went as far as advising the Queen to appoint a

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

as her representative in Rhodesia, acting on his claimed prerogatives as Her Majesty's Rhodesian Prime Minister. However, Queen Elizabeth II turned down this "purported advice." Ultimately, in 1970, Rhodesia unilaterally declared itself a republic after the Queen refused to recognise the title as legal. In 1978, when Southern Rhodesia proposed an Internal Settlement to instigate black majority rule, the United Nations rejected it. The Act was repealed by the Zimbabwe Act 1979 after Rhodesia voluntarily returned to its former status as a British colony in order for multiracial elections and internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe.

References

{{Reflist, 30em United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1965 Southern Rhodesia Rhodesia 1965 in Rhodesia 1980 disestablishments in Zimbabwe 1980 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth of Nations