Rollo Hayman

George Rollo Hayman (4 May 1925 – 3 April 2008) was a Rhodesian farmer and politician. A member of the House of Assembly, he served in several portfolios as a member of the Cabinet of Rhodesia under Prime Minister Ian Smith. Born in the United Kingdom, he moved to Southern Rhodesia at age four and served as a Royal Air Force pilot in World War II.

Rollo Hayman
Minister of Internal Affairs of Rhodesia
In office 1977 – 27 December 1978
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Co-Minister	Byron Hove Kayisa Ndiweni
Preceded by	Jack Mussett
Succeeded by	Denis Walker
Minister of Local Government and Housing of Rhodesia
In office 1977 – 27 December 1978
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Co-Minister	Kayisa Ndiweni James Chikerema
Preceded by	William Irvine
Succeeded by	William Irvine
Minister of Agriculture of Rhodesia
In office 1976–1977
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Preceded by	David Colville Smith
Succeeded by	Mark Partridge
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs
In office 1973–1976
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Minister	Lance Smith Jack Mussett
Member of Parliament of Rhodesia for Mazoe
In office 1962 – 27 December 1978
Preceded by	Neil Patrick Hammond
Succeeded by	Cecil Millar
Personal details
Born	4 May 1925 Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Died	3 April 2008 (aged 82) Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Political party	United Federal Party (until 1961) Rhodesian Front (1962–1978) Independent (after 1978)
Spouse(s)	Madeline Elizabeth Hayman
Children	2
Parents	Samuel James Rollo Hayman Ethel Burnell Pollard
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand (BS)
Military service
Branch/service	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1943–1949
Rank	Flight sergeant
Unit	Transport Command
Battles/wars	World War II

Elected to Parliament in 1958 as a member of the United Federal Party, he was a founding member of the Rhodesian Front party in 1962. He joined the Cabinet in 1976 upon being appointed Minister of Agriculture. In 1977, he was named Minister of Local Government and Housing and Minister of Internal Affairs. In December 1978, he resigned from the Cabinet, from Parliament, and from the party, protesting the Prime Minister's rejection of British-American plans for Rhodesia's transition to majority rule. He ran as an independent in the by-election for his former seat in Parliament, but lost. He soon moved to South Africa, where he lived until his death.

Early life and education

Hayman was born on 4 May 1925 to Samuel James Rollo Hayman and Ethel Elizabeth Burnell Pollard.[1][2][3] Born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, he moved to Southern Rhodesia with his parents in 1929, when he was age four.[1][4] He was educated at Plumtree School in Plumtree, Matabeleland.[1] He matriculated at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, graduating honors with a Bachelor of Science in soil conservation.[1][4]

In 1943, he joined the Royal Air Force as a flight sergeant.[4] He served during World War II as a pilot with the Transport Command in Burma.[4]

Farming career

Hayman returned to Southern Rhodesia in 1949, taking up work as a conservation and extension officer until 1955.[4] He later purchased land and took up farming in Shamva, a town in the northern Mashonaland region.[1][4] He went on to serve as chairman of the Shamva Farmers' Association, chairman of the Shamva Parents' Association, and director of the Rhodesian Farmers' Syndicates.[4]

Political career

Hayman was elected to Parliament for the Shamva constituency in the 1958 Southern Rhodesian elections, as a member of the United Federal Party. He, along with Ian Smith, Lance Smith, and four others, resigned from the UFP on 19 April 1961 over the party's position on constitutional proposals for Southern Rhodesia.[5]

In 1962, he became a founding member of the right-wing Rhodesian Front party, which opposed transitioning Southern Rhodesia to independence under black majority rule. Hayman ran for reelection as the Rhodesian Front candidate for the Mazoe constituency in the 1962 elections.[6] He won with 56% of the vote, defeating the United Federal Party candidate Neil Patrick Hammond.[6] At a 2 December 1962 meeting, the Rhodesian Front parliamentary caucus met and returned a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Winston Field.[7] Hayman was one of only two RF members to vote against the motion, alongside Jack Howman.[7]

Hayman won reelection in 1965, 1970, 1974, and 1977, each time with more than 80% of the vote. In 1973, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.[1] He joined Prime Minister Ian Smith's Cabinet in 1976 when he was named Minister of Agriculture.[1] In 1977, he became minister of two portfolios, Local Government and Housing and Internal Affairs. In those offices, he served alongside black co-ministers appointed as a result of the 1978 Internal Settlement. Hayman's co-Minister of Local Government and Housing was Kayisa Ndiweni, followed by James Chikerema. For Internal Affairs, the co-minister was Byron Hove, followed by Kayisa Ndiweni.

Resignation and special election

On 27 December 1978, Hayman resigned from his cabinet posts, from Parliament, and from the Rhodesian Front.[8][9][10][11][12] He charged that Prime Minister Ian Smith was "leading Rhodesians into a trap" by rejecting Western plans for majority rule.[9][10] Hayman favored the plan put forward by the United States and United Kingdom in which Rhodesia would revert to British rule under a commissioner, assisted by United Nations peacekeepers, who would oversee elections and the transition to black rule.[8] He thought that any black government elected under Smith's plan, in which 28% of the government was to be reserved for whites, would collapse or be overthrown by guerrillas, resulting in Marxist rule in Rhodesia.[8][9][10] In a political meeting in Enkeldoorn, Hayman also argued that Smith was misleading the country by claiming that Rhodesia had a good change of gaining international recognition following the elections.[11] Additionally, he thought it would be impossible to organize the elections by December 31, the date stipulated by the Internal Settlement.[13]

The resignation of Hayman, a staunch conservative and an close ally of the Prime Minister, was seen as a blow to the transitional government.[10][14] Prime Minister Ian Smith later said that he had asked Hayman to resign when he learned he was planning to leave Rhodesia.[14] He said:

"Therefore I informed him that it would be right and proper for him to resign from his ministerial post. From experience, I have found in some cases—and I stress the word some—when people have made up their minds to leave Rhodesia, they adopt an unbalanced and defeatist attitude and therefore it would have been wrong for Mr. Hayman to continue in public office."

— Ian Smith

The day he resigned, Hayman announced that he would run as an independent for his former seat in Parliament in the special election.[8] The byelection, held on 6 February 1979, was the last election conducted before the advent of the new constitution. Hayman lost the election with 20% of the vote to Cecil Millar, the Rhodesian Front candidate. Soon after, he moved to South Africa.

Personal life and death

Hayman died, aged 82, on 3 April 2008 at home in the Amberglen retirement community in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.[2] He was married to Madeline Elizabeth, with two children, one son and one daughter.[1][4] He played tennis and golf.[1]

Electoral history

1958 Southern Rhodesian general election: Shamva

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Party	Rollo Hayman	N/A	N/A
		N/A	N/A	N/A
Majority			N/A
Turnout			N/A

1962 Southern Rhodesian general election: Mazoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	RF	George Rollo Hayman	972	55.8
	United Party	Neil Patrick Hammond	771	44.2
Majority			201	11.6
Turnout			1,743	69.3

1965 Rhodesian general election: Mazoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	RF	Rollo Hayman	N/A	N/A
		N/A	N/A	N/A
Majority			N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A

1970 Rhodesian general election: Mazoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	RF	Rollo Hayman	1,075	87.2
	Independent	Ernest Frederick Konschel	158	12.8
Majority			978	74.4
Turnout			1,233	75.0

1974 Rhodesian general election: Mazoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	RF	Rollo Hayman	1,241	84.4	-2.8
	Rhodesia Party	Henry John Wells	229	15.6
Majority			1,012	68.8	-5.6
Turnout			1,470	92.5	+17.5

1977 Rhodesian general election: Mazoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	RF	Rollo Hayman	1,184	89.1	+4.7
	RAP	Robin Elliot Campbell-Logan	145	10.9
Majority			1,039	78.2	+9.4
Turnout			1,329	80.4	-12.1

By-election, 1979: Mazoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	RF	Cecil Millar	611	78.7	-10.4
	Independent	Rollo Hayman	165	21.3
Majority			446	57.4	-20.8
Turnout			776	N/A	N/A

See also

• List of Royal Air Force personnel

References

1. Who's who of Southern Africa. 1959. p. 1093.
2. "Legal Notice No. 31023". Green Gazette. 2008-05-09. p. 57.
3. "Family tree of George Rollo HAYMAN". Geneanet. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
4. East Africa and Rhodesia. 40. Africana. p. 15.
5. Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland Newsletter. 1961.
6. Passmore, Gloria C.; Mitchell, Margaret T.; Wilson, Francis Michael Glenn (1963). Source Book of Parliamentary Elections and Referenda in Southern Rhodesia 1898-1962. Salisbury, Rhodesia: University of Rhodesia. p. 200.
7. Wood, J. R. T. (2012). So Far and No Further!: Rhodesia's Bid for Independence During the Retreat from Empire 1959-1965. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 9781466934078.
8. "World News Briefs". The New York Times. 1978-12-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
9. "Rhodesia Hit by Loss Of Whites". Altoona Mirror. 1978-12-28. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
10. "Rhodesian leader loses political ally". The Arizona Republic. 1978-12-28. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
11. Summary of World Broadcasts: Non-Arab Africa. British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service. 1979.
12. Chung, Fay (2006). Re-living the Second Chimurenga: Memories from the Liberation Struggle in Zimbabwe. African Books Collective. p. 240. ISBN 9781779220462.
13. Newsweek. Newsweek. 1978.
14. Legum, Colin (1980). Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents. Africana Publishing Company. ISBN 9780841901605.