Ernest Leonard Bulle (born in 1936 died 16 January 1996) was an academic and politician who served as a minister in the governments of

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

and

Zimbabwe Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, was a short-lived unrecognised sovereign state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980, though it lacked international recog ...

. He served in the cabinet of Rhodesia as joint

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

and Minister of Commerce and Industry alongside David Smith from 1978 to 1979 as part of the country's

Internal Settlement The Internal Settlement (also called the Salisbury Agreement HC Deb 04 May 1978 vol 949 cc 455–592) was an agreement which was signed on 3 March 1978 between Prime Minister of Rhodesia Ian Smith and the moderate African nationalist leaders comp ...

. He continued as commerce minister in the

government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia The government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia took office on 1 June 1979 under the terms of the Internal Settlement negotiated between the government of Rhodesia and moderate African nationalists. It ruled the internationally unrecognized country until, und ...

between June and December 1979. First elected to parliament in the

1979 Zimbabwe Rhodesia general election General elections were held in Rhodesia in April 1979,April 1 ...

, he stood unsuccessfully in the 1980 general election, which set the membership of the first parliament of the independent

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. Bulle was a member of the

United African National Council The United African National Council (UANC) is a political party in Zimbabwe. It was briefly the ruling party during 1979–1980, when its leader Abel Muzorewa was prime minister. History The party was founded by Muzorewa in 1971. Running as Afr ...

and served as the party's second vice-president.

Early life, education, and family

Bulle was born in Tjolotjo,

Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

. He came from the Ndebele people, but as an adult preferred

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

to the Ndebele language. He attended

Goromonzi High School Goromonzi High School is a secondary school located in Goromonzi, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe. History Goromonzi school is located 35 kilometers from the Zimbabwean capital Harare, along the Harare-Mutare Road. The school was established i ...

, before studying at the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

, where he graduated in 1959 with a degree in

social studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. In the late 1960s, he became the first Ndebele

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

student of the African languages department of the University College of Rhodesia. He was married 3 times, and had two daughters and one son from his first marriage, one daughter from his second marriage, and two daughters from his last marriage.

Career

After graduating from the University of Natal, Bulle worked for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southern ...

. During that time, he also took a course in foreign trade and commercial policy in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, sponsored by the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its p ...

. After briefly working in

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

, Bulle worked for

Rhodesia Railways The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), formerly Rhodesia Railways (RR), is a Bulawayo headquartered state-owned enterprise that operates the country's national railway system. It was established in 1893 and is governed by an Act of Parliament ...

, which operated in both Southern and

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

. He initially worked as a personnel officer or in the planning department. Later, he moved briefly to

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

to work in the planning and manpower localisation section of

Zambia Railways Zambia Railways (ZR) is the national railway company of Zambia and one of the two major railway organisations in Zambia. The other system is the binational TAZARA Railway (TAZARA) that interconnects with the ZR at Kapiri Mposhi and provides a li ...

. He returned to

in 1971 to take a position as lecturer in the African languages department at the

University of Rhodesia The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the Univers ...

Politics

Bulle served as the second vice-president of the

, a political party led by Bishop

Abel Muzorewa Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa (14 April 1925 – 8 April 2010), also commonly referred to as Bishop Muzorewa, was a Zimbabwean bishop and politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement t ...

. After the signing of the

on 3 March 1978, Bulle was appointed joint

and Minister of Commerce and Industry the following 11/12 April, serving alongside co-minister David Smith. In October 1978, he announced on behalf of the government that "all discrimination" and racial segregation would be abolished in Rhodesia. In the 1979 general election, he was elected to Parliament to represent

Matabeleland North Province Matabeleland North is a province in western Zimbabwe. With a population of 827,645 as of the 2022 census, it is the country's second-least populous province, after Matabeleland South, and the least densely Zimbabwean populated province. Matabele ...

. On 31 May 1979, he was appointed by Muzorewa to serve the

as Minister of Commerce and Industry. Bulle was an unsuccessful UANC candidate in the 1980 general election. He later reentered politics in the 1990s, in opposition to the ruling

ZANU–PF The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years by Robert Mugabe, first as prime minister wi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulle, Ernest Year of birth missing 20th-century linguists 20th-century Zimbabwean politicians Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe Northern Ndebele people People from Matabeleland North Province People in rail transport Finance ministers of Rhodesia University of Natal alumni University of Zimbabwe alumni Academic staff of the University of Zimbabwe 1996 deaths