Return to Chingola

Well, I finally got that out of my system! Ever since Barbara and I Ieft Zambia in 1973, I have nurtured a desire to return to Chingola and see how things have changed. So last week's visit was something of a pilgrimage.

Chingola Town Centre

When we first arrived in Zambia in late 1969, independence had been gained only five years earlier, and during its colonial days the Copperbelt had witnessed much racist behaviour, and was politically the most volatile area of the country. Cinemas had been racially segregated until 1960. The legacy of its colonial past was mainly evident in the infrastructure, particularly town planning, which had provided the white ex-patriots with relatively luxurious accommodation and excellent sports and social facilities, while the indigenous mine workers were relegated to black townships, with basic amenities, on the outskirts of the town. There were even two separate hospitals, one for whites, the other for blacks.

I was initially assigned to the concentrator, and we metallurgists gave little thought to the fact that all the metallurgists, engineers, chemists and geologists were white, while all the plant operators and labourers were black, from the local Bemba tribe. This was also a legacy of colonial days, but during my time on the mine, as a result of the 1969 nationalisation by Kenneth Kaunda's Government, a programme of Zambianisation evolved and slowly, starting with the non-university educated, but very experienced, General Foremen, white workers were gradually replaced by the indigenous blacks. Another change was the gradual decline in the use of Chikabanga, a form of 'pidgin English' devised by the Europeans to speak to the African workers, and outlawed by the Government after independence because of its colonial connotations.

Chingola-Kitwe Road

We expected to see big changes after 40 years, but were shocked to find the infrastructure in such a poor state, the road from Chingola to nearby Kitwe now in an appalling condition, the journey which once took around 30 minutes now taking up to a couple of hours.

The roads in the once resplendent residential areas are now almost undrivable and our old sports clubs now severely dilapidated. Even the magnificent Nchanga Swimming Pool is closed and derelict, although a friendly security guard allowed us access to view one of our most frequented haunts.

Wattle Avenue, the main road through the residential area

13th Street

The entrance to the Kabundi residential area

The now derelict Nchanga Pool

Nchanga Metallurgists by the pool in 1969

Anyone for tennis?

Lunch at the Gymkhana Club

Last week we had more social contact with local Africans than we did in the whole of our 4 years during the early 70s, due to the enforced segregation of leisure facilities and accommodation, and our friends in those days were by necessity the ex-pats, who were on short term contracts, very few spending many years on the Copperbelt.

With Cliff and Judith Eales

One couple who did was Cliff and Judith Eales, who came out to Zambia in 1966. We met up with them last week at their home on 7th Street. Cliff had been with the National Coal Board in UK, and his first job at Nchanga was as a Training Officer on the concentrator. He then became a shift foreman, and when I arrived in 1969 he was assistant general foreman on the leach plant. From 1980-86 he was concentrator superintendent and then concentrator superintendent at Konkola until 1993, when he left to work as an agent for Multotec South Africa, taking over the Multotec Zambia office in the late 1990s, until retiring with ill-health in 2010. Cliff follows the MEI blog, and would love to hear from anyone who knew him in Chingola.

Our four years in Zambia were some of the most enjoyable of our lives. They say that you should never return to places which hold the strongest memories. Maybe they are right! Apart from the friendliness of its people, the best that I can say about Chingola is that it is now a real African town, typical of many that we pass through in our travels in southern Africa, and for which the Rough Guide would recommend - no need to make a stop here!

Having said that, I am really glad that we did make the effort to return. It was a very interesting and memorable week, thanks in no small part to the warm and friendly people that we met, particularly Barry Kalumba and the metallurgical staff of Nchanga Mine, Cliff and Judith Eales, Doreen Hodgkinson, and Alison Hart of the Protea Hotel.

And another first- on the day we left it was pouring down with rain- does anyone remember this in early August?

See also Return to Nchanga