Background
Bernard was born on January 24, 1915, at Cape Town, South Africa.
Bernard was born on January 24, 1915, at Cape Town, South Africa.
He was educated at Westcliff School, Cape Town.
After emigrating to Rhodesia in 1955 he set up business at Umtali with a radio and record centre and a furnishing company. Within five years he was mayor of Umtali and then MP for Umtali East. Following the elections in May 1965 he was made Minister of Local Government and Housing.
His biggest achievement was as Minister of Commerce and Industry, taking over one month after the introduction of petrol rationing. Business contacts in South Africa were a big advantage in getting what he called “brotherly help” in beating the international blockade. He organised the Beitbridge flow of convoys with petrol from South Africa. On May 13, 1967, he announced the end of petrol rationing with the price of a gallon twice what it was at UD1. He had to keep tight controls on imports and campaigned for manufacturers to produce more goods locally.