The demise of Charles Mzingeli and the Reformed Industrial and Commerc
ial Union (R.I.C.U.) in Salisbury by the mid-1950s, and the growth of
mass nationalism, reflected important demographic and social changes i
n the city. These changes were the consequence of the changes on the l
and in the 1950s, resulting in the increasing movement of labour into
Salisbury by the mid-1950s. For the first time, from this period, the
numbers of indigenous workers in the city exceeded those from outside
Southern Rhodesia. The emergence of the Harare Youth League and later
nationalist parties between 1955 and 1965, thus signalled new developm
ents in urban politics. Whereas the R.I.C.U. had confined their varied
activities to issues largely relating to the 'location' area and the
more permanent city dwellers, the broader mobilisation strategy of the
nationalist movements included as a central feature, the rural grieva
nces of the urban migrants. This strategy created a broader basis for
national mobilisation. However as the agenda of the nationalist moveme
nt was increasingly formed and articulated by competing sectors of the
growing African intelligentsia, other struggles in the city were prio
ritised according to the needs of this nationalist agenda.