Rhodesian Front

The Rhodesian Front (Afrikaans: Rhodesiese Front, RF) was a political party in Rhodesia (or Southern Rhodesia) when the country was under white minority rule. Led first by Winston Field, and, from 1964, by Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Front was the successor to the Dominion Party, which was the main opposition party in Southern Rhodesia during the Federation period. The RF was formed in March 1962 by whites opposed to any immediate change to black majority rule. It won power in the general election that December. In successive elections (in which 50 of the 66 parliamentary seats were reserved for A-Roll voters, who had to meet a higher standard of qualifications, increasing the proportion of white Africans who came under this roll) between 1964 and 1979, the RF was returned to office, with a large majority, with Smith as Prime Minister.

History

The RF had fifteen founding principles, which included the preservation of each racial group's right to maintain its own identity, the preservation of 'proper standards' through a policy of advancement through merit, the maintenance of the Land Apportionment Act, which formalised the racial imbalance in the ownership and distribution of land, opposition to compulsory racial integration, job protection for white workers, and maintenance of the government's right to provide separate amenities for different races.