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A history of southern Rhodesia’s fiscal system: the political economy of revenue collection and expenditure, 1890-1953
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Date
2021-07
Authors
Koke, Honest Elias
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Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
This thesis is an examination of Southern Rhodesia’s development through the lens of its fiscal system from 1890 to 1953. It contributes to the existing historiography by examining two major themes, revenue collection and expenditure, covering six decades of the colony’s development. The study utilised a wide range of sources including government publications, correspondences, newspapers, parliamentary debates and secondary sources. Transcending two administrative epochs: the British South Africa Company (BSAC) Rule (1890-1922) and successive governments under self-Responsible Governmental system (1923-1953), the study makes two major contributions. First, whereas most studies placed emphasis on sectoral development of the economy of Southern Rhodesia, the thesis adds a fiscal dimension to the understanding of the development of the territory’s economy, which encompass all major economic activities. Secondly, the thesis examines inequalities in fiscal measures introduced by the government on the life and livelihoods of both races (Europeans and Africans) throughout the period under study. The measures resulted in serious contestations. During the Company rule, the contestations were over the settlers’ perception and belief that the BSAC neglected its core mandate of developing the colony as stipulated in the Charter as well as its skewed management of the public finance. Often, the Company government was accused of concealing its financial dealings and prioritising its commercial interests to the exclusion and detriment of the settlers’ demands and expectations. When the Responsible Government took over, it established the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in 1924, an accounting system to monitor revenue collection and government expenditure, to address the concerns that the settlers raised during the BSAC Administration. The CRF was meant to promote expenditure on the colony’s development unlike during the Company Rule. Despite the Responsible Government’s efforts to promote development of the colony, what is apparent in the evolution of the fiscal structure of Southern Rhodesia from 1890 to 1953 is that Africans were marginalised and at the fringes of the emerging political, economic and social policies despite their considerable contribution to the fiscus. The thesis concludes that the fiscal system that emerged in Southern Rhodesia was geared towards achieving the grand colonial project of creating a permanent white settlement in the colony.
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Keywords
Thesis (Ph.D. (Centre for Africa Studies))--University of the Free State, 2021, Revenue, Expenditure, Budget, Southern Rhodesia, Settlers, Africans, Southern Rhodesia’s development -- 1890 to 1953