ABSTRACT
JOSIAH ZION GUMEDE (President, May 23, 1979-December 7, 1979). Josiah Zion Gumede was born in 1920. He was a member of the Zulu tribe and was educated in South Africa. He subsequently settled in Rhodesia and served in the Foreign Ministry of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Gumede remained active in politics and served in the municipal government of a township. He was elected president of the Rhodesian Parliament on May 23, 1979, and served as head of state. He retained office until December 7, 1979, when Rhodesia temporarily reverted to its British colonial status under Lord Soames as governor. Gumede died on March 28, 1989.
