DAD’S REASONS HE SHARED WITH ME

 The Sandawana Emerald Mine transitioned from a legendary gemstone source into a vital hub for modern green technology.

Current Status and Lithium Shift

• Resource Evolution: The mine is now a massive, multi-million-tonne lithium project.
• Current Ownership: The asset is owned and operated by the state-controlled Kuvimba Mining House.
• Global Market: The site pivot reflects Zimbabwe's push to become a major supplier for global Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries.

Historical Context

• 1955 Discovery: Found by prospectors Laurence Contat and Cornelius Oosthuizen in Belingwe [Rhodesia].
• Rio Tinto Takeover: Rio Tinto (Rhodesia) Ltd. purchased the asset between 1959 and 1960.
• Robert Searls: The geologist and engineer evaluated the site's economic viability for commercial scaling.
• The Emerald Era: Produced intense, chromium-rich green gems favored by luxury brands like Bulgari.
• 2010 Suspension: Emerald production ceased and the mine was mothballed due to depleting emerald reserves and economic shifts.

If you want to look closer at this asset, I can find information on its estimated lithium reserves, details on Kuvimba Mining House's current operations, or the geological layout of the Mweza Greenstone Belt.

Which of those areas would you like to explore next?

Explain the growing civil unrest in southern Rhodesia 1960 1961

The growing civil unrest in Southern Rhodesia between 1960 and 1961 marked a critical turning point from peaceful political petitioning to mass urban resistance and violent confrontation. This period effectively shattered the illusion of racial partnership in the Central African Federation and set the stage for the liberation struggle. [1, 2, 3]

The unrest escalated due to specific political catalysts, socioeconomic grievances, and severe government crackdowns.

1. The Rise of the National Democratic Party (NDP)

Following the banning of the African National Congress in 1959, Joshua Nkomo and other nationalist leaders founded the National Democratic Party (NDP) on 1 January 1960. [1]

• Shift to Mass Mobilisation: Unlike its predecessors, the NDP successfully capitalised on widespread public grievances. It shifted the nationalist strategy from elite-level lobbying to organizing massive, well-coordinated street protests, strikes, and urban rallies. [1, 2]
• Demand for Majority Rule: Spurred by UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s famous February 1960 "Wind of Change" speech—which signaled British willingness to grant independence under black majority rule—the NDP demanded immediate voting franchise changes. [1, 2]

2. Socioeconomic Grievances and Urban Pushback

The civil unrest was heavily fueled by harsh daily realities facing black Africans in urban centers and rural areas. [1]

• Land Displacement: The continued enforcement of the Land Apportionment Act and the Native Land Husbandry Act dispossessed rural Africans, forcing thousands into overcrowded urban townships like Highfield and Harari (now Mbare) in Salisbury (Harare) and Makokoba in Bulawayo. [1]
• Economic Stagnation: A slowing economy created mass unemployment and poor working conditions, making urban workers receptive to trade union strikes and anti-government protests. [1]

3. Key Flaspoints of Violence (1960)

Tensions boiled over into major riots and civil disobedience campaigns during the winter of 1960: [1, 2]

• The March of the 7,000 (July 1960): Following the arrest of three prominent NDP leaders, an estimated 7,000 people marched from Highfield township toward Salisbury's prime minister's office to demand their release. When police blocked them, a massive strike paralyzing the city ensued.
• The July Riots: Confrontations between protesters and police quickly evolved into riots across Salisbury and Bulawayo. Protesters attacked symbols of state authority and white-owned businesses. The British South Africa Police (BSAP) used live ammunition, killing several protesters and injuring hundreds. [1, 2, 3]

4. Rejection of the 1961 Constitution

In January 1961, constitutional talks were held to determine the colony's future. [1]

• The Franchise Tokenism: The resulting 1961 Constitution offered a highly restrictive complex voting system that guaranteed black Africans only 15 out of 65 seats in parliament. [1, 2]
• Massive Rejection: The NDP vehemently rejected this proposal. To prove public opposition, the party conducted its own unofficial referendum in July 1961, where an overwhelming majority of black Africans voted against it. The rejection sparked renewed strikes, industrial sabotage, and the introduction of homemade petrol bombs in urban centers. [1, 2, 3, 4]

5. Legislative Crackdown and Polarisation

The white minority government responded by introducing some of the most repressive security laws in Southern Rhodesian history: [1, 2]

• Law and Order (Maintenance) Act (1960): This draconian law gave the state sweeping powers to ban public gatherings, detain individuals without trial, and suppress political speech, prompting the country’s Chief Justice, Sir Robert Tredgold, to resign in protest.
• The Vagrancy Act (1960): Used to sweep up "unemployables" and political agitators in cities, attempting to forcibly clear urban spaces of dissenters.
• Banning of the NDP: On 9 December 1961, Prime Minister Edgar Whitehead officially banned the NDP.[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

The Aftermath

The banning of the NDP did not halt the momentum. Just ten days later, Joshua Nkomo formed the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). The aggressive state response during 1960–1961 convinced nationalist hardliners that peaceful protest was no longer viable, directly paving the way for the armed liberation struggle of the late 1960s and 1970s. [1, 2, 3, 4]

If you are interested, we can look deeper into the specific clauses of the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act, explore the economic fallout of the 1960 strikes, or look at how ZAPU adjusted its strategy immediately following the NDP's ban. Which direction would you prefer?

So this was the political climate during dad and mums brief stay in Rhodesia. 1959 to 1961? 

Remember a new baby born into the middle of this escalating violence would be enough to unnerve any parent. Dad told me this is why he asked rio Tinto for another transfer back to the safety of Australia, after recently leaving the Mary Kathleen uranium mine in Queensland because of the harsh “female unfriendly” conditions in a corporate mining town endured by a newly married woman. My mum. Hence dads transfer to Rhodesia in early 1959? And then after Robyn was born another transfer back to urban suburban bush land Connells point so dad could become a FIFO exploration geologist for the remainder of his career. 1962? To 1988? 

They chose Connells point because it was close to Kingsford smith airport where dad could fly out on a Monday and return whenever his field work was completed, sometimes away for weeks on end, but mostly, just Monday to Friday. My memories of sydney airport are very vivid as mum and I would drop dad off early in the morning before mum either took me to day care, back home or eventually dropped me off at school, Connells point public our local wonder full state school. The religious abuses at the so called Christian brothers school at st Patrick’s college Strathfield only started after 1976, when I reluctantly followed mums dream of attending that hell hole as tgat was her dream to repay her gratitude for her bursary scholarship at et Mary’s convent Lismore from around 1946? To when she graduated as dux in 1951. Mum certainly didn’t send us to Catholic schools for “religious indoctrination” as I had quit The Faith with mums blessing in 1974 after st Raphael’s our local parish with ancient creepy father Collin’s in control and the even scarier nuns who bullied state school kids at Sunday school because we weren’t fair dinkum “Catholics” supporting a priest who still wanted to give mass in Latin as father Collin’s didn’t believe in the Vatican 2 church updates nor did the cranky bitter nuns in 1974 and I gated going to his creepy confessional and the violent nuns were even worse… hence I quit that brand of religious fuckery and yet still attended st pats in 1976, because that was where mum had booked me in fir her dream since 1963! And fuck what a hell hole st pats turned out to be! 

Pedophile brothers Evans. King and Roberts, drunken principal bill greening, misogynist lay teachers, scared and scarred racist assholes and scared witless female teachers who often left once they realised what a shithole st pats really was. Mostly the boys were just products of their cloistered parents and obediently drank the corporate kool aide, took the violence dushed out, thought they were big toughies and rebels by smoking and drinking and taking the grog the grooming mostly religious staff freely supplied to underage boys. The count of fucked up so called “Christian kids” was huge.

Brother Evans was eventually disappeared in 1980 after pressure got too much and he sexually assaulted yet another football player on a school camp in 1979. He also was a complete asshole during a tour of NZ in August 1980 and then disappeared for good soon after. No farewell. No official warm fuzzy farewell assembly, just wiped off the face of his st pats abuses by the Catholic hierarchy since 1974.  Funnily enough(Not!) brother Michael Evans suddenly reappeared inn1982 as newly promoted and as fucked up as ever PRINCIPAL of Edmund rice college in Wollongong, where he went on to abuse another whole generation of boys until his eventual arrest in 1994. Where on the day of his eventual arrest he did what cowards often do, gassed himself in his car, somewhere inland west of Rockhampton where he’d gone to hide. Thanks for fucking nothing Christianity! 

And funnily enough, not, after he assaulted me in the showers in April 1976 after the first possible and probable rugby trial, I elbowed him and simply told him to never fucking touch me again. So the coward didn’t, but he bullied me constantly for the next 4 years, and even had the temerity to sit in our family lounge room in August 1979 after mum died, to tell atheist dad “let the Catholic Church” look after Tony. Needless to say, I didn’t attend school much for the next two years… the only highlight for me was Evan’s removal (hidden by the Catholic church on secondment assignments for a year to let his rape crime “settle down “ before magically reappearing as fresh principal in Wollongong in 1982) 

Evans had been internally investigated by father Alf Rivett who mysteriously appeared in our school as a church insider to get to the truth of Evans in early 1979, then Evans assaulted a footy playing boy at Yarramundi weekend camp late in 1979, was a drunken asshole during our NZ trip in August 1980 and the. Both Evans and the alcoholic principal brother greenings @retirement”  where he disappeared into a Catholic academic role. I’m certain father Alf Rivett was installed in early 1979 as a decent trusted insider investigator because why else would he have appeared at our school? He wasn’t affiliated with the Christian brothers order, Alf was a decent human who ran the inner city Haymarket church helping the most disadvantaged people; the drug addicts, the street walkers, the homeless men who lived rough in Belmore Park opposite central railway, and were routinely bashed by thrill seeker drunks on their way home from a piss up in the city. Father Alf Rivett co ordinated the mission best buses who collected anyone from the streets of inner sydney  in need of a warm dry bed, a hot meal and fresh laundered clothes, we dropped them off at Matt Talbot hostel in Woolloomooloo, where I sporadically volunteered from 1979 to 1983 and met some of the best, kindest people I’ve ever met in my life. This was all because Alf was a champion human being, firstly,  he cared, he took no crap, he was loved by many, he even buried my mother in August 979 when I hardly knew the man. Father Alf Rivett remains the epitome of what a real Christian is in my book. A stark contrast to the st Patrick’s college Strathfield criminals, misogynists, drunks and lecherous scared, insecure lay male teachers who remained silent during these abusive years, even though they knew exactly what their Christian bother colleagues were choosing to secretly do. I remained more upset with these lay person gutless cowards than the actual sexual perpetrators as the sickoes were easy to reject, fight, avoid and tell to fuck off or hit back.brother King was an asshole, and he knew it, Roberts got his marching orders hidden by the church just as I arrived, Evans had been grooming boys since his arrival in 1974 and tried it on with me in 1976, only months after I arrived, my best friend in my first year at st pats was Justin Myles, and he suddenly didn’t return for third term 1976 and I always strongly suspected Justin was one of brother Evans main targets and victims. Justin was a champion athlete, fastest sprint champion, elite tennis, smart student soccer player? I think, and definitely not one of Evan’s normal rugby boys. Justin only lived around the corner from his high school and yet his parents made the decision to remove Justin in third term 1976 and send him to Riverview College St Ignatious half way across town. I was devasted when Justin didn’t return as many of the other boys were ok, just not particularly switched on. More interested in being compliant daddy boys thinking they were rebels smoking behind the bike sheds, when in reality they were mostly there as next generation wounded products of older ex st pats fathers. The inter generational sexism and entitled misogyny was dripping out of them. Something I had never experienced at CPPS OR my local football teams, or other social circles. Many of the boys at st pats had already been conditioned obediently since birth and many went on to develop alcoholism or other severe “issues” in adult hood. The boys of course were NOT to blame, their  arch conservative fucked up twisted and limited Catholicism may have… not sure but I did know I didn’t fit into that st pats mould (sic) at all… so I simply did my best to avoid the asshole drunken teachers, the lecherous enabling cowardly lay teacher bullies, like Dave virtue, merv McCormack and mick tierney. Compliant, complicit and cowardly. They all knew. And chose to remain silent. Just like the Strathfield parish mafia of Catholic enablers, many of whom were parents of boys IN the school. 

 Evans was not only coach but pastoral care adviser for our year group… he had ready access to football teams, school camps and the onsite presbytery where the brothers all lived, and plied boys with porn and alcohol. 

Other teaching priests (not necessarily in the Christian bothers order) were just as bad. Conservative, bullies, not very well trained teachers who also freely supplied alcohol to underage willing boys, not only in school. But at their own churches in the suburbs. The whole culture stank and I didn’t know who to trust as anyone paying attention could see how even experienced female teachers were treated, cat called, insulted and bullied. No wonder many of these excellent teachers left. St pats was toxic. And the hierarchy knew it. And did fuck all until their hand was forced in 1979 to remove sideways the stench of Evans and greening and try and clean up the toxic sludge these less than human had created. I’m glad I paid attention and yes, of course there were exceptions to the rule. Some excellent kind and caring teachers, particularly in my senior years, where ironically I rarely attended… as I was over the BS and didn’t see the point of investing my grief in a shit hole abusive institution. That only took me 40 years to admit btw… 🤣 and the greater irony is after I dropped out of business law degree, not my cup of tea I quickly discovered, I eventually graduated as a high school English/history teacher thanks mainly to Lyn Munro the one awesome senior years teacher who essentially told the old boys to “fuck off” and she wasn’t gunna put up with their misogynistic shite… so thank you Lyn. 🙏 

Mostly the old boys are ok. I did attend a few “reunions” but a lot really hadn’t changed at these pissing contest old boy back slap events. The misaligned attitudes and very narrow limiting values exposed and espoused by many “old boys” simply do not align with what mum and dad instilled in me.  And that’s more than ok. Mostly the old boys I have had any contact with post school are ok. Not bad. Not wrong. Not evil. Not toxic. And TFFT. Just misaligned and limiting. And that’s ok. I never “fitted in” at st pats, I intentionally and deliberately chose NOT  ti fit in as the schools values were archaic and outdated even then, in 1976, it was like stepping back into the dark ages, and an assault on my own parents values. Dad had cut ties with religious orthodoxy ultra conservative Methodist/Baptist roots back in his youth, and mums Catholicism was firmly grounded in Gratitude for her opportunity to even attend high school back in the 1940s and her love of learning, not any sort of criminally fucked up, abusive, divisive and ultimately limiting, religious fundamentalism. That definitely wasn’t Agnes Pearl Maloney. Pity you didn’t get to hear the rest of your condensed life story. 

Accepted of course, AND definitely not a greed!!! 🤣

PROBABLY more dot joining to come. 

There usually is. 🤣

Family Archives are like that. 

FROM A SOON TO BE First time GRANDAD 🙏

JULY 2026