David Smith (Rhodesian politician)

The Honourable David Smith GLM ICD
Minister of Trade and Commerce of Zimbabwe
In office 19 April 1980 – March 1981
Prime Minister	Robert Mugabe
Deputy	Moses Mvenge
Preceded by	Ernest Bulle (Zimbabwe Rhodesia)
Succeeded by	Richard Hove
Minister of Finance of Zimbabwe Rhodesia
In office 1 June 1979 – 12 December 1979
Prime Minister	Abel Muzorewa
Deputy	Dennis Nyamuswa
Preceded by	Himself (Rhodesia)
Succeeded by	Enos Nkala (Zimbabwe)
Minister of Commerce and Industry of Rhodesia
In office April 1978 – 1979 Serving with Ernest Bulle
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Succeeded by	Ernest Bulle (Zimbabwe Rhodesia)
Deputy Prime Minister of Rhodesia
In office 20 August 1976 – 1979
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Preceded by	John Wrathall
Succeeded by	Silas Mundawarara (Zimbabwe Rhodesia)
Minister of Finance of Rhodesia
In office 13 January 1976 – 1979 Serving with Ernest Bulle (1978−1979)
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Preceded by	John Wrathall
Succeeded by	Himself (Zimbabwe Rhodesia)
Minister of Agriculture of Rhodesia
In office September 1968 – January 1976
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Preceded by	George Rudland
Succeeded by	Rollo Hayman
Personal details
Born	19 April 1922 Argyll, Scotland
Died	9 July 1996(1996-07-09) (aged 74) Harare, Zimbabwe
Resting place	Kilkerran Cemetery, Campbeltown, Scotland
Political party	Rhodesian Front
Spouse	Jean Graham ​ (m. 1948)​
Children	5
Awards

David Colville Smith GLM ICD (19 April 1922 – 9 July 1996) was a farmer and politician in Rhodesia and its successor states, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe. He served in the cabinet of Rhodesia as Minister of Agriculture from 1968 to 1976, Minister of Finance from 1976 to 1979, and Minister of Commerce and Industry from 1978 to 1979. From 1976 to 1979, he also served Deputy Prime Minister of Rhodesia. He continued to serve as Minister of Finance in the government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979. In 1980, he was appointed Minister of Trade and Commerce of the newly independent Zimbabwe, one of two whites included in the cabinet of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe.

Born in Kintyre, Scotland, Smith emigrated to Southern Rhodesia in 1946 to take up farming. Initially a farm assistant, he rose to become a farm manager and later co-founded a farming enterprise of his own in Mazowe. He was elected to the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly in 1965, the year of Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, and was added to the cabinet three years later as agriculture minister. He later held the portfolios of finance and commerce, and served for three years as Ian Smith's deputy prime minister. Considered a moderate within the Rhodesian Front, he was one of a few white ministers included in the cabinets of premier Abel Muzorewa of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, and by Robert Mugabe in 1980. He resigned from the cabinet and the Rhodesian Front in 1981, and remained in retirement in Harare until his death.