Memories of Chingola

A blog reader from Cardiff, Mr. Paul Duggan, has sent in a very interesting account of his experiences of working in the Copper Mines in Chingola in the 1970s. It provides a fascinating insight into the life of a young engineer from the UK in Zambia.

“We arrived in Chingola in April 1976, it was 12 years after independence and still quite colonial, the Europeans were well “looked after”.

My wife was 23, I was 26 and our daughters were 3 and just 10 months and I think now, that I saw our two year contract almost as VSO except I was getting paid for it.

Nchanga copper mines had recruited me and quite a few other craftsmen, with a large advert in a Sunday newspaper. I was a Power Station trained specialist so they put me to work 1500ft. underground in the pump chambers on machinery that I was familiar with thankfully.

Our first house was in 12th street but we only stayed a few weeks, long enough to gain a houseboy called Dackwell Banda who stayed with us for the whole two years and became part of our little family. He was a good man who had come to the copperbelt from eastern Zambia near the border with Malawi a few years before our arrival.

The social life for the Europeans was based around the rugby or cricket club as well as gatherings in each other’s homes for braais which meant there was often overtime for Dackwell in the evening looking after Kathryn and Paula. Dackwell would earn the same as a day’s pay for his babysitting duties, so he would always be very happy to watch television for a few hours with the girls tucked under his arms.

Dackwell’s basic monthly wages were K30 but the Kwacha was worth more than it is today. Usually he got about K50 which was about £30 then.

Dackwell and his wife had a baby in 1977 and he asked us what to call the baby! We protested that it was for him and his wife to choose, in the end he compromised and somewhere in Chingola is a young woman called Paulo Banda.

The mine moved us up to Kabundi to a more modern house and our neighbours were nearly all Europeans who happened to work underground. It was better for Dackwell too as he lived in the “compound” which was quite close.

We seemed to settle into life in Chingola quite easily, everybody started work early in the morning, you had to be ready to go underground by 6.15, but your day’s work was done by 2.15 so you had plenty of time to spend with your family in the afternoon, if you weren’t dragged off to the mine club for an afternoon drinking marathon. I soon realised that I was definitely a lightweight when it came to drinking so I tended to head home or met Lynette and the girls at the municipal pool.

Lynette in some ways had more to get used to, because she basically had nothing to do at home, Dackwell took over and really looked after us all. She did actually bake and made clothes for the girls which was novel for a “modern” Welsh wife !

The mine lent all newcomers K1000 to buy a car so we bought a Vauxhall Viva that was 10 years old but rust free! We weren’t used to rust free cars. Funnily, I sold that car just before we came home for K400 more than I paid for it, although Dackwell and myself did overhaul the engine on the kitchen table at one time!

For me working underground was surprisingly easy to get used to, everybody was welcoming and we had a real mix of nationalities which included a Malaysian called Jabbar Bin Man who used to cook the most incredible meals for us on a little two hob cooker sometimes helped by Ashok Khambete a Brahmin Hindu vegetarian.

Most of the other supervisors in the pump chamber set up were British or Afrikaans and some had been working there for many years. Dennis Mwabe was a local chap who had been promoted though the Zambianisation program that ran throughout the underground engineering department. Dennis was an excellent craftsman and a really good bridge player when we were on standby!

Our gang of mechanics were the best on the mine, they were all specially selected form five school leavers. For the mechanics working in the pump chambers was a prestigious job, because it was highly skilled and relatively safe compared with other departments underground.

I vividly remember being criticised by an older Afrikaner colleague for teaching our mechanics to read precision measuring instruments, I think he found these instruments a bit difficult himself!

I think most white Southern Africans found the young British liberal attitudes too much to take.

I really enjoyed my time in the pump chambers and whilst there we commissioned new chambers at 2800ft. which involved everyone and was quite an exciting time.

For about 10 months I worked shifts which meant that in the evening and throughout the night I might be the only European underground. I think that allowed me to build a unique relationship with my shift colleagues which was very beneficial for me because they would let me sleep on night shift and only wake me if there was breakdown ! Even then they would apologise ! They were so friendly and hard working it was a pleasure working with them.

I remember being underground and walking on the railway sleepers with a group of faceworkers when I fell flat on my face but before I knew what was happening I had been lifted up and dusted down by at least four of them which was wonderful in itself but the thing that intrigued me was that they all apologised for me falling over!! I am still not sure why they did that but it was a lovely experience, (allowing for my grazed knee)

A consequence of working shifts was that I was out and about during the day with my family so I got to know all the wives and children, which prompted a few funny looks from the husbands at social gatherings when I was greeted like a family friend.

For our last year in Chingola I worked under the wonderful title of “Critical nil-stock Expeditor”which meant I had to try and locally source imported spares that were used in underground machinery.

Practically the job entailed travelling around the Copperbelt to as many different suppliers as possible. It meant I was in Kitwe and Ndola at least twice a week and Mufulira and Luanshya fairly often, so I got to know the Copperbelt very well and was chauffeured everywhere. It was the best job on the mine!

Just before we came home we went on holiday to Malawi, we borrowed a big car from friends and drove via Lusaka all the way to Malawi in one long day and stayed on the lakeshore for a week. We had a great time but the best memory of that holiday was being able to buy Cadburys chocolate in Lilongwe !

– Paul Duggan “

This account raises a number of issues and questions which readers might want to consider. For example, how might Paul’s experiences have differed from those of other Zambians? How has Chingola changed since Paul was working in the mine? Why might Paul have been seen as a ‘liberal’ by some people? Please feel free to offer your own thoughts from a Zambian and UK (and any other nation) perspective. It is of enormous educational value to begin to explore alternative perspectives rather than just accepting the so-called ‘received wisdom’ that often enters our living rooms via the Media.

Many thanks again Paul.