The Queen and the Commonwealth; A Platinum Jubilee Tribute

Addressing White-minority Rule

From the 1950s, battles over apartheid in South Africa and White-minority rule in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) focused Commonwealth states to debate how best to progress human rights among its members. In these debates, Britain sometimes found itself at odds with other members.

Commonwealth opposition to apartheid caused South Africa to withdraw from the organisation in 1961. The country did not re-join until 1994, after apartheid had ended. The Commonwealth did not always act as one on this issue, however, with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opposing calls from other members to place economic sanctions against South Africa in the mid-1980s.

In 1965, Rhodesia’s unilateral declaration of independence from Britain also forced another long-running crisis, with Commonwealth members opposing Rhodesia’s White-minority rule.

Seeking reform in Rhodesia also divided the Commonwealth. Prime Minister Harold Wilson described the 1966 Commonwealth meeting on Rhodesia as the “worst ever held.” Both Ghana and Tanzania temporarily broke off relations with the UK in protest of its unwillingness to consider direct intervention. It was not until 1980 that majority rule was established in Zimbabwe.