Born in the United Kingdom, he moved to Southern Rhodesia at age four and served as a Royal Air Force pilot in World War II.
In December 1978, he resigned from the Cabinet, from Parliament, and from the party, protesting the Prime Minister's rejection of British-American plans for Rhodesia's transition to majority rule.
[1] He matriculated at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, graduating honors with a Bachelor of Science in soil conservation.
[5] In 1962, he became a founding member of the right-wing Rhodesian Front party, which opposed transitioning Southern Rhodesia to independence under black majority rule.
[6] At a 2 December 1962 meeting, the Rhodesian Front parliamentary caucus met and returned a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Winston Field.
[8][9][10][11][12] He charged that Prime Minister Ian Smith was "leading Rhodesians into a trap" by rejecting Western plans for majority rule.
[8][9][10] In a political meeting in Enkeldoorn, Hayman also argued that Smith was misleading the country by claiming that Rhodesia had a good change of gaining international recognition following the elections.
[13] The resignation of Hayman, a staunch conservative and a close ally of the Prime Minister, was seen as a blow to the transitional government.
From experience, I have found in some cases—and I stress the word some—when people have made up their minds to leave Rhodesia, they adopt an unbalanced and defeatist attitude and therefore it would have been wrong for Mr. Hayman to continue in public office.
Hayman died, aged 82, on 3 April 2008 at home in the Amberglen retirement community in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.