This has been discussed to some degree before, but it usually falls into the realm of uncertainty and jumping ahead in time quickly after 2 pages.
For those interested, you might have heard of the 1922 October referendum in what was then Southern Rhodesia. The choice was between responsible government or Union with South Africa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Rhodesian_government_referendum,_1922
Prior to this, there was a referendum in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) about joining the Southern one much earlier than occurred in OTL. 1922 February.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Rhodesian_amalgamation_referendum,_1922
The implications if the two Rhodesia's united with South Africa I believe are much more vast and far reaching than many might believe. The common assumption is that as in OTL minority rule falls apart due to revolution/reform/sanctions, or that a pariah Apartheid state exists to this day.
However I don't think it is that simple.
Most of the prior discussion exclude Zambia/Northern Rhodesia from the equation. This is critical. The one thing that made South Africa significant in the world was it domination of the precious metal market during the second half of the 20th century, much thanks to it's gold.
In similar ways, a country like Saudi Arabia is excused for human rights violations due to the influence it possess on the oil market.
So the goal here is that in the ATL there is no official sanctions or pariah status given onto South Africa, that it encourages vast immigration from Europe, and that it becomes a significant power on the world stage.
This also includes a non-discriminatory (no official Apartheid) state in Southern Africa and in the end with a relatively large European minority (15-20% of the population).
A tall order, but I believe doable if one thinks outside the box.
Try to keep an open mind as we navigate through possible occurrences and implications. This is my first post, one I plan to thoroughly enjoy as well.
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To start off, the Rhodesian referendums need to be successful to ensure a large resource rich state and a United Party victory in 1948, decisively defeating the National Party which implemented Apartheid and strict immigration policies in OTL.
A good POD would be sometime before the referendums. I don't think one should just assume they should be successful without coherent reasoning.
Amalgamation (Unity) of Northern Rhodesia with Southern Rhodesia was supported by Francis Chaplin, who was Administrator of both Northern and Southern Rhodesia. Opponents included Leopold Moore, a prominent politician and Advisory Council member.
Now the first idea is what needs to have happened to woo the majority of the 1 727 voters to vote for unity instead of crown colony.
Feel free to share your thoughts on this.
