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Nass Notes History Module1 Compress

This document provides a summary of the history of Zimbabwe. It describes the powerful pre-colonial kingdoms that existed, including the Kingdom of Mwene Mutapa and the Ndebele Kingdom. It discusses the colonization of Zimbabwe by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company in the late 19th century, and the uprisings against colonial rule in 1896 known as the First Chimurenga. It outlines the brutal suppression of these uprisings and the consolidation of white settler rule through discriminatory laws and policies that marginalized the black population and seized their land over subsequent decades.

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Ndumiso Moyo
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
650 views42 pages

Nass Notes History Module1 Compress

This document provides a summary of the history of Zimbabwe. It describes the powerful pre-colonial kingdoms that existed, including the Kingdom of Mwene Mutapa and the Ndebele Kingdom. It discusses the colonization of Zimbabwe by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company in the late 19th century, and the uprisings against colonial rule in 1896 known as the First Chimurenga. It outlines the brutal suppression of these uprisings and the consolidation of white settler rule through discriminatory laws and policies that marginalized the black population and seized their land over subsequent decades.

Uploaded by

Ndumiso Moyo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A SURVEY OF THE HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE

According to Verrier,

In coming to the heart, the history of Zimbabwe is that of the world class architectural
work, land seizure and settlement, alienation, anger and bravery. Before 1890 no in
Zimbabwe called them Shona, which is a linguistic term and only came to be applied to
those who spoke the language during the twentieth century.

Similarly the Ndebele were not a tribe. There was a Ndebele state with subject people
speaking many different languages. People’s identities in the pre-colonial period derived
from their Membership of chiefdoms and Kingdoms. The most these were the Kingdom
of Mwene Mutapa, which the Portuguese encountered in the Zambezi Valley and its
uplands, and the Kingdom of Rozvi Mambos in the South-West.

There were many powerful chiefdoms, such as Chief Mutasa’s Chiefdom of Manyika in
the east. In the nineteenth century Mzilikazi led his warriors into the West of Zimbabwe
and created the Ndebele Kingdom, which was inherited by his son Lobengula. These
states and statelets have inspired many Zimbabwean writers looking back to a past of
independent African citizenship. There were powerful religious figures in pre-colonial
Zimbabwe. In the Matopos mountains of the South-West there (as there still are) cave-
shrines of the High God, Mwali where pilgrims went to ask for rain, were given seeds
plant, and the voice of God from the rocks.

In many other country there were (as there still are) spirit mediums- both men and
women who were possessed by rain –making spirits or by the spirits of past Kings and
Chiefs. Such figures appear in many Zimbabwean novels. Two in particular have
achieved great fame in modern Zimbabwe and have given their names to streets and
buildings. These are male mediums, Kaguvi and the female medium, Nehanda, who were
both hanged by the British after the 1896 uprising against the white settlers. The Nehanda
spirits was a rainmaker and a princess, of the Mutata Kingdom. Her 1896 mediums is
Zimbabwe’s great heroine and reference to her appear in many novels.

The importance for Zimbabweans of the Mutapa State and the Ndebele Kingdom, of
Great Zimbabwe and the Nehanda mediums, is all the move in tense because the white
conquerors and rulers of the county denied, traduced or mocked this past. White
governments denied that Africans had built Great Zimbabwe, called Mzilikazi a despot
and Nehanda a witch. White missionaries and traders had reached Zimbabwe in the mid
nineteenth century and were later based at Bulawayo. Pressure upon the Ndebele King
increased as reports spread that Matebeleland was rich in gold. The Portuguese from
Mozambique, the Afrikaaners from the Transvaal, the Germans, the British and Cape
Colony were all interested in controlling the gold-fields.

In the end the imperialist-capitalist Cecil Rhodes, managed through bribery and trickery
to extort a “concession” from Lobengula. On the basis of this concession he then
obtained a Royal Charter for his British South Africa Company. The question was how to
make the Company effective inside Zimbabwe. Rhodes contemplated a commando raid
which would seize Bulawayo and kill Lobengula. In the end he decided to outflank the
Ndebele State. In 1980 he sent in a Pioneer Column from the Cape to wind its way east of
the Ndebele and to settle in the North-East. In this way Mashonaland was occupied and
Fort Salisbury established.

Gold was not discovered in payable quantities and the Company shares fell. In 1893,
therefore, Rhodes decided that Matabeleland must be invaded. A pretext was devised:
British troops advanced north from Botswana and Leander Jameson led the Victoria
Column of pioneers in an advance from east.

Jameson’s men, deploying their devastating machine guns, moved down the Ndebele
impis and seized Bulawayo. Lobengula fled north and disappeared into the bush. The
company encouraged its pioneers to fan out into the countryside to search for gold. It
raided Ndebele cattle and took them into the “Loot Kraal” in Bulawayo. Disregarding
Ndebele indignation, Jameson took most of the Company Police with him on the ill-fated
Jameson Raid into the Transvaal in 1895. Seizing their opportunity, many of the Ndebele
rose up against the whites in March 1896, killing almost all of the settlers in the outlying
areas. In June 1896 many Shona Chiefdoms also rose in revolt.

The 1896 risings are known as the “First Chimurenga” The Second Chimurenga being the
guerilla War of the 1960s – 70s. The risings were suppressed with great brutality. The
Ndebele kingship was abolished: other Chiefs became salaried functionaries; spirit
mediums and Mwali priests were arrested and spied upon.

Svikiros like Nehanda and Kaguvi were apprehended and handed to Her Majesty’s Court
in March 1898 alongside Zindoga, Hwata and Gutsa for the alleged murder of one Henry
Hawkins Pollard a white commissioner who resided near Mazoe and terrorized blacks in
that district. The case was entered as “The (British) Queen against Nehanda. The
execution process was authorized by the British High Commissioner for South Africa,
one a. Milner and endorsed by the British Imperial Secretary on 28 March 1898. Further
executions were again to take place in the subsequent months of 1898 with 21
condemned Ndebele fighters being executed in may 1898 alone. These included among
others, General Magwegwe, Mkwati, Mafuyana etc. In Mashonaland, the ame bloody
orgy continued, with leaders of resistance as Mashonganyika, Muzambi, maremba,
Ndowa, Zvindembo, Gunduza, Mvenuri, Mashindu, Manyongori, Chiriseri and Chief
Gutu getting executed in the same violent way.

In the case of Chief Chingaira, the civilized British savagely and bizarrely decapitated
him and carried his head to Britain as a trophy for their museum. To this day that head
has not been recovered for a decent burial. To those who sought cover in caves, they were
dynamited and their crops were torched to break their resistance against violent imperial
encroachment. The years that followed the First Chimurenga, witnessed hunger and
starvation artificially caused by the invaders but even that did not break the spirit of
resistance and sooner or later Africans would regroup and fight again.
The Consolidation of White Settler Rule and the Marginalization of Blacks

After the blacks had been brutally suppressed in 1898, there was a great need to
constantly monitor their activities such that what had happened in the First Chimurenga
could not ever happen again especially if one takes into account the large numbers of
white casualities which were around 200 deaths and several injured. To complement the
efforts of the white state machinery, various Acts were put in place to deal with issues of
governance. Firstly, the 1898 Native Reserve Order in Council Act was enacted with the
sole purpose of removing all traditional Chiefs who were anti-colonial rule from their
posts. They were to be replaced by white colonial administrators. The Act also created
what was later to be called the African Reserves. In 1903 there came the Hut Tax Act to
beef up the European coffers. Thus, the nearer the African Homestead as to a white
settlement; the more it attracted in tax. In 1912, came the Dog Tax and Land bank Acts.
The latter was meant to cushion the white farmers from the vagaries associated with
farming. White farmers were to be given loans, free seed, free fertilizer and above all
were offered free tillage services for five (5) years after which, they could start paying
back loans. In 1917, was created the European Produce Act which made it mandatory for
whites only to produce to fetch more money at the expense of their black counterparts.

In 1925, there was established the Morris Carter Commission whose sole responsibility
was to divide the whole country into agro regions based on the rainfall pattern. The
results of this Commission necessitated the enactment of the 1930 Land Apportionment
or Expropriation Act. The Act made it mandatory that, all blacks were to be forcibly
removed from regions 1,2 and 3. At that time (1930) whites numbered only about 50 000
whilst blacks were over a million. Despite this, whites were to share between themselves,
49 000 000 (49 million) acres of fertile soil while blacks were to share 28 million acres of
land in regions 4 and 5. In 1931, was enacted the Maize Control Act which made it an
offence for a black farmer to produce more than 2 tonnes of whatever produce.

The 1934 Industrial Conciliation Act was enacted to bar blacks engaging in skill labour
although it was later relaxed to allow blacks to venture into teaching, nursing and
agricultural extension services. The same year also saw the enactment of the Racial
Discrimination Act which made it an offence for blacks and white to share social
amenities like toilets, hospitals, schools, bars and hotels just to mention a few. Suffice to
add here that blacks were not allowed to stay in lowdensity suburbs and were forbidden
to vote. Thus, it was impossible to become a black Mayor, Councillor, Minster or
President. Even at work places, the highest office that could be occupied by a black
person was that of a bassa boy or foreman in the industry. In the Army, the highest rank
for a black person was that of a corporal whilst in the Police Force, it was the rank of a
Sergeant.

In 1951, was enacted the Land Husbandry Act which made it an offence for a black
family to own more than five (5) herd of cattle and 8 acres of land. In 1965, was enacted
the Tribal Trust Land Act whilst the Land Tenure Act was put in place in 1969. The 1969
Act divided the country unequally on racial lines as it gave 45 million acres of the best
land to less that a quarter of a million whites, while five and a half million blacks were
given an equal area of land in the least fertile regions with the lowest rainfall. It also
restricted movement into areas reserved for one race by members of another race except
by special permit. This unfair division of land was a major theme in African Nationalism.

The Rise of Nationalism and the Prosecution of The Second Chimurenga

Meanwhile, after the collapse of traditional resistance in 1898, and the seizure of political
power by the representatives of the white settlers in 1923, Company rule had become an
anachronism. In the 1923 referendum the white settlers were offered a choice between
joining the Union of South Africa and responsible self-government. They chose the latter
and between then and 1979, Rhodesia was governed by a Settler Cabinet responsible to a
Settler Parliament. African intellectuals felt betrayed by the policies of segregation
enforced in the 1930s and beyond.

Gradually African protest movements emerged. The most significant movement in the
period between the two World Wars was the growth of powerful trade unions, especially
the African Railways Workers Union and the Reformed Commercial and Industrial
Workers’ Union, which mobilized the growing urban proletariat on non-tribal and non-
regional lines. Accelerated white settler immigration, and deteriorating Socio-economic
conditions in the post-war period brought issues to a head. Bulawayo, then the major
industrial city, became the centre of African trade unionism and politics. In 1945, the
African Railway Workers’ Union struck first by organizing a general strike which brough
this vital communication network to a stand still from Mutare (Umtali) in Rhodesia to the
Zambian Copperbelt.

In 1948 broader demands were made in a country-wide general strike that brought all
Commercial and industrial activities in the major cities to a stand still for a week. The
campaign for the establishment of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland by the
white settlers in 195 lulled the workers a little with a promise of reforms, but they soon
reorganized and launched the City National Youth League in 1955. As the name indicates,
the League represented the young proletariats in the growing cities. In the late 1950s, the
Old Moderate Congress was replaced by a much more radical successor. On September
12, 1957, the African national Congress was reborn, and it quickly mobilized the rural
peasantry whose livelihood was made precarious by the combined effects of the land
Apportionment and native land Husbandry Acts. The late Joshua Nkomo was a leading
figure in these trade unions and political developments. Some white Rhodesian demanded
outright repression. Others hoped for accommodation. Garfield Todd as Prime Minister
between 1953 and 1957 opted for greatly accelerated African education and promises of
partnership. When Todd was overthrown by his Cabinet colleagues for going too fast, all
changes of compromise vanished.

The Southern Rhodesia African national Congress SRANC was banned in 1959 by
David Whitehead and hundreds of Africans thrown into jail. A host of repressive laws
were introduced against the nationalist movement to add to those already in existence.
Among them were the native Affairs Act, Unlawful Organizations Act, Preventive
Detention Act all in 1959. These were soon followed by the Emergency Powers Act and
the Law and Order Maintenance Act of 1960.

The sustained repression of the African people by the settlers convinced the nationalist
leadership that little could be gained by pressurizing the Whitehead Government. Instead,
they adopted the strategy of forcing Britain to implement the process of decolonization,
which it had initiated in other parts of Africa. This strategy failed to work. The national
Democratic Party (NDP) was launched 1n January 1960 to replace the banned SRANC.
Joshua Nkomo was elected President and among his lieutenants were Ndabaningi Sithole,
Herbert Chitepo, Robert Mugabe, Bernard Chidzero, George Silundika, Jaison Moyo,
Leopold Takawira, Josiah Chinamano and Dumbutshena among others.

The NDP was banned in 1961 and was replaced by the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union
(ZAPU) in December 1961. ZAPU was banned in September 1962 and there was
increased frustration within the nationalist movement. This led to the formation of the
Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in August 1963 under the leadership of
Ndabaningi Sithole. This was also banned in 1964. The whites failed to realize that
nationalism, after all, involves imagining a past and a future in order to change the
present. Inevitably the nationalist literary imagination focused especially on the glories of
the African past and on the oppressions of colonialism. By 1964 most of the nationalist
leaders were either in prison, detention or exile. However, numerous incidents of
sabotage followed in the early months of 1964. A group of 100 blacks under General
Chedu calling themselves the Zimbabwe Liberation Army organized sabotage in some
rural areas of the country. To gain credibility, ZANU launched the first guerilla unit, the
Crocodile Group in 1964 as it attacked a police camp and killed a white farmer in
Melsetter (Chimanimani). Meanwhile, the emergence of a more militant African
nationalism created a backlash in the white community leading to the election in
December 1962 of the Rhodesia Front (RF) Party, of which Ian Smith became leader in
1964 after taking over form Winston Field.

The reactionary Rhodesia Front issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence – n1965


(UDI), throwing off remaining restraints from Britain, intensifying segregation and
undoing what advances had been achieved by partnership. There was no course open to
African nationalists but to prepare for guerilla war. It was a long drawn out process. The
nationalists resolved that they were to be their own liberators through direct confrontation
as a state of emergency (1965) was declared giving license to the Rhodesian Security
Forces to kill any African they suspected to be opposed to them, take prisoners and seize
the little property of the peasants, including goats and sheep without any compensation or
recourse to the law.

Meanwhile, the internal political situation in Rhodesia by 1963, had forced the
nationalists to seek foreign bases for the military training of young black cadres as ZANU
and ZAPU armed wings were to be known as the Zimbabwe African National Liberation
Army (ZANLA) and Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) respectively.
Early Military Trainings for these cadres were offered in friendly countries like Egypt,
Cuba, China, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia just to mention but a few in preparation for
the armed struggle proper. The armed struggle began in 1966 when the Rhodesian
Security Forces clashed with a small group of guerillas in Sinoia (now Chinhoyi), with
the result that all 7 members of ZANLA were killed.

In August 1967, ZIPRA formed an alliance with South African National Congress
(SAANC) armed wing Umkhonto We Sizwe, deployed for four groups of 20 guerillas
into Rhodesia. The result was fiasco as a series of bitter running battles took place from
13 August in the Wankie District resulting in the loss of many guerillas. Some of the
guerillas managed to escape back into Zambia while others fled into Botswana.
Immediately, there were air space violations of Zambia by the Rhodesian Forces (RF).
Leaflets were dropped in the Zambezi Valley calling on the guerillas to surrender or die.
Despite this, ZIPRA and Umkhonto We Sizwe deployed another larger contingent of
about 150 guerillas but again were repulsed.

These events prompted the South African Government to send troops to Rhodesia to
assist the Rhodesia Forces track down the insurgents. There was introduced the Law and
Order Maintenance Amendment Bill by the Rhodesian Government on 7 September 1967
which passed without dissent on the 19th of the same month. This Anti-Insurgency Bill
made the death Sentence mandatory for persons found with arms of war unless he could
prove beyond reasonable doubt that he had no intention of endangering the maintenance
of law and Order in Rhodesia or a neighbouring country. In retrospect, these incursions
were virtually suicidal hence remedial measures were to be found.

A vital role was played by the Front for the Liberation of Mocambique who were fighting
the Portuguese. In late 1969 and early 1970, the Zimbabwe nationalists met the Frelimo
leaders and agreed to cooperate in carrying out military operations. Frelimo which had
developed considerable experience in guerilla warfare was able to train Zimbabwean
Guerillas in the art of political mass mobilzation. This move forced the Rhodesian Forces
to conduct combined military operations with their Portuguese counterparts in
Mocambique from 1968 onwards. Despite this, the mass mobilization was practiced by
the insurgents with great success starting December 1972 when guerilla attacked Alterna
farm in Centenary. The situation appeared brighter due to the collapse of the Portuguese
Authority in Mocambique, Angola and Guinea Bissau in April 1974 after the successful
Military Coup in Portugal headed by General Siponola against Salazar then Prime
Minister of Portugal.

However, this was not to be as John Voster then South Africa’s Premier, came up with the
Détente Policy whose main them was to stifle the guerilla war effort in Rhodesia. This
was exacerbated by Chitepo’s death on 18 March 1975 in Zambia in a landmine incident.
It has to be remembered that when most Nationalists were arrested after the banning of
their Parties, an external political wing known as Dare Re Chimurenga was established to
spearhead the prosecution of the armed struggle. The late Herbert Chitepo was appointed
Chairman of this establishment in 1968. Soon after the 1972/3 Guerilla offensives, the
Rhodesian Government in retaliation, forcibly drove the blacks into Protected
Villages/Keeps to deny them from feeding the guerillas albeit with little success.
Meanwhile, both ZAPU and ZANU had been rocked by internal squabbles in the early
70s and 1974 respectively. Under the influence of the OAU Liberation Committee, the
two political parties (ZAPU and ZANU) were forced to unite. The situation was rectified
in December 1975 when the two parties formed a combined armed wing to be called the
Zimbabwe Peoples’ Army (ZIPA) with the blessing of both Nyerere and Machel. Thus
guerilla warfare gathered momentum in early 1976 as ZANLA guerillas intensified its
operations in Tete, Manica and Gaza Provinces whilst ZIPRA intensified its operations in
the Northern and Southern Fronts. ZANLA’s Tete, Manica and Gaza Provinces were
divided into sectors whilst ZIPRA’s Fronts were divided into Regions. Meanwhile the
Rhodesians killed thousands of guerrillas and refugees in bombing raids on camps inside
Mocambique and Zambia e.g Nyadzonia, Chimoio, and Tete in Mocambique, Freedom
Camp, Mulungishi and Chifombo in Zambia. But gradually the guerillas began to exert
pressure on the Rhodesia State. The turning point came when ZANLA guerillas began to
operate from Mocambique in themed 1970s. By 1977, Robert Mugabe had achieved
control of both ZANU and ZANLA. Thousands of young guerillas were infiltrating the
country from Mocambique. Meanwhile in Zambia, Joshua Nkomo was unchallenged
leader of ZAPU and of its army ZIPRA. With Soviet backing, apart from guerilla
warfare, he had manned a conventional air tank and artillery assault on Rhodesian towns.

The Smith regime was under pressure from its ally, South Africa. Ian Smith tried to
undercut the guerillas by coming to terms with moderate African leaders in an Internal
Settlement. In April 1979, Bishop Abel Muzorewa was elected as the Leader of
Zimbabwe Rhodesia. But his regime was recognized by noone. He and Smith were drawn
into negotiations with Nkomo and Mugabe at Lancaster House at the end of 1979.

None of the parties involved got what they wanted from Lancaster House but all believed
that they could win the independence elections; Muzorewa thought so because of his
large scale financial support and his electoral victory in 1979, Nkomo thought so because
when nationalist parties were banned in 1964 his ZAPU had enjoyed more countrywide
backing; Mugabe also thought so because he had so many young guerillas in place.
Mugabe’s prediction was the most accurate. In the 1980 elections, his party won two
thirds of the votes; Nkomo won a third and Muzorewa was routed.

Recalcitrant whites emigrated to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand or to Britain


providing an audience for genre of war reminiscences and war novels which emphasized
the victories of the Rhodesian fighting men and their betrayal by the politicians and the
British. This was countered within Zimbabwe by a literature of the war which was a first
triumphalist but which gradually faced up to the horrors. It soon became clear that
internal violence was not over and that there were to be horrors of independence too. A
bare two years after independence there was a civil war in the Midlands and
Matebeleland provinces. Ex-Zipra dissidents fled into the bush. The Zimbabwean army
and the newly formed Fifth Brigade were deployed to deal with the situation for the
coming five years.

The violence in Western Zimbabwe came to end with the Unity Accord of 22 December
1987. Meanwhile between 1980 and 1990, the ZANU PF Government embarked on a
campaign to redress the colonial imbalances that had been in existence since 1980. A lot
of social, political and economic developments took place especially during the First ten
years of independence. The government deployed troops to assist Frelimo against the
South African sponsored RENAMO from 1982 to 1002. The whole SADC region was
subjected to the whims of the Apartheid South Africa’s destabilization process as the
proxy forces like UNITA, RENAMO, SUPER ZAPU wrecked this, the Apartheid South
Africa conducted raids in neighbouring countries in pursuit of liberation movements like
Umkhonto We Sizwe and PAC of South Africa.

In 1991, after the collapse of the former USSR, the Zimbabwean Government was
subjected to ESAP in the same manner other countries had been affected. This brought a
lot of suffering to the majority poor Zimbabweans leading to food riots in January 1998.
In August 1998, the Zimbabwe Defence forces were deployed to DRC. In February 2000,
a Constitutional Referendum was conducted and the No vote succeeded especially
against the No Compensation for land Clause and on the Undiluted Powers of the
President. Meanwhile on the political front, a Trade Union inspired opposition party (the
Movement for Democratic Change) was formed in September 1999 and the following
year, it participated in the June 2000 Parliamentary Elections. The ruling party ZANU PF
lost 57 seats to the MDC and it won the remaining seats.

Meanwhile, in reaction to the No Vote of 2000, the War Veterans and the landless
peasants occupied most white owned farms to launch what was later to become The Third
Chimurenga. This era has seen almost 300 000 blacks being given land to economically
empower themselves.

This was is being fought or waged on all facets of the social strata that is economically,
legally, politically and psychologically. The most affected however have been the
generality of the people due to economic sanctions which the Zimbabwe Government has
been slapped with by the British, Americans and the European Union as they try to fix the
ZANU PF government for taking land from their kith and kin. The Business Community
in the country has also ganged up with the Western World in this economic or politics of
the stomach. To alleviate this situation, the ZANU PF Government has come up with
agricultural led economic blueprint which has been dubbed the Ten Point Plan to be
orchestrated within the realms of the National Economic Revival Plan (NERP)
Reading List

1. Kriger Norman Zimbabwe’s Guerilla War, Peasant Voices


African Studies Series 70 Cambridge,1992

2. McLaughlin Janice On the Frontline Catholic Missions in Zimbabwe’s


Liberation War.
Harare Baobab Books, 1996.

3. Morris Michael Terrorism


Cape Town, Howard Timmins, 1971.

4. Astrow Andre Zimbabwe; A Revolution that Lost its Way


Zed Press, London, 1983

5. Lane Martha The Blood that made the body go


The Role of Song.

Poetry and drama in Zimbabwe’s War of Liberation 1966-1980


Illinois (PhD Thesis) December 1993.
Zimbabwe History and Heritage

Pre-Colonial States - an Overview

Zimbabwe’s pre-colonial history is largely characterized by the rise and existence of four
major states, three of them Shona and another one of Nguni origin. These were Great
Zimbabwe, Mutapa, Rozvi and the Ndebele State. A brief survey of the history of these
states reveals a lot of similarities in terms of their economics, religion, political and even
military systems.

Great Zimbabwe was the earliest state to emerge during the Iron Age around 1200 AD.
All the states had developed centralized political structures which were centred on the
absolute authority of the ruler/king. This ruler was given the title Munhumutapa in the
Mutapa State, Changamire in the Rozvi, mambo in the Great Zimbabwe and Nkosi in the
Ndebele.

Whatever the title, the rulers in all the pre-colonial Zimbabwe states seemed to have
similar functions. They acted as the chief justices, High priests and commander in chief
of their armed forces. In all these states the king had the final decision on any matter but
this was not necessarily dictatorship. These rulers infact, oftenly consulted special bodies
of advisors called the dare in Shona states and the Umphakathi in the Ndebele states.
These advisory councils were mainly constituted of sub-chiefs and senior members of the
aristocracy.

The Ndebele because of this Nguni background has a slight different political structure
from that of the Shona States. The Ndebele was a military state: Mzilikazi controlled the
national as an army through military officers called induna (plural Izinduna) who also
doubled as political leaders.

The economics of the three Shona states were basically similar: agriculture was the
mainstay of the economy. They kept herds of cattle and grew traditional crops such as
millet and sorghum which were drought resistant. Maize was a South American crop
brought to Africa later by Portuguese ships. Although (maize) doubled the size of
harvests, it also led to worse famine as it could not withstand long dry spells which
characterized Zimbabwe’s climatic conditions.

Gold mining and dealing was central feature of the economies of all pre-colonial
Zimbabwean states. Gold was mined from various places through the country, some of
which are still major gold producing sites today. The level of technology however only
enabled them to access only shallow deposits and those near to the surface. Such kind of
escavations was effectively what is now called gold panning today. Mining in general
was seasonally done mainly during the dry seasons partly because the mine holes were
filled with water during the rain season and mainly because agriculture remained the
economic backbone of the states. Gold mining enabled the early Zimbabweans to make
contacts with the outside world. Arabs and Muslims were the first outsiders to make
trading contacts with the early Zimbabwean communities when they operated from the
Indian ocean coast and made some travels into the interior from around 100AD. The
Portugeuse became the first Europeans to make contacts with the Shona communities
when they arrived at the coast in the 14th Century and began to compete with the Arab
Muslims to trade with the Shona. In this external trade, the Shona got items such as
beads, cloth, tobacco, spirits, mirrors, guns etc in exchange of gold and ivory. Though the
Zimbabwean communities were not aware, the terms of trade were such that the
Portuguese and the Arabs benefited more because the values of their offers were not
worth what they got in return e.g Gold being exchanged for tobacco or spirits. Gold
production and dealing and internal trade in general was strictly controlled by the state.
In the Mutapa state for instance, the Munhumutap aimposed a tax called the curva to all
Portuguese traders doing business in the Mutapa State. In the Rozvi, the Chngamire had
to banish foreign traders from the Kingdom and all trade had to be contacted through
middlemen called ‘Vashambadzi’ who were easy to control.

Tribute payment was also an important feature of the pre-colonial Zimbabwe State
economies. All subjects and vassals (defeated groups and rulers) were expected to pay
tribute to Munhumutapa. Changamire and or Inkosi as a sign of loyalty and acceptance of
his overlodship. Tribute was in the form of cattle, grain, gold, ivory or anything which
the subjects and vassals could produce in their local communities. The Ndebele rulers
often also demanded apart from grain, young men and women as tribute. Young men
would be drafted into the army, the amabutho and women would be married off to retired
soldiers.

The Ndebele who are originally of Nguni origin grew into a nation by absorbing and
incorporating other ethnic groups into its Khumalo ranks. A dissection of the ndebele
society today reveals that it is divided into three social castes. At the core of the society is
the Zansi Caste whose descendants migrated from the Nguniland are the original
members of the Khumalo clan. After the Zansi, came the Enhla caste and is made up of
those incorporated during the migration from the Nguniland especially in Northern
Transvaal and Botswana. The third and other caste is the Hole, largely made up of people
of Shona origin who were absorbed and incorporated when the Ndebele finally settled in
the Southern Western part of Zimbabwe in the 1840s.

Earlier on, inter marriages across the social castes were not encouraged although not
necessarily prohibited. The Ndebele eventually grew into a compact and unified society
they are today. The pre-colonial Zimbabwean societies had a basically similar religious
system like their European counterparts they believed in the existence of a superbeing
who controlled the destiny of the world. In the Shona societies the super being was
referred to as Mwari/Musikavanhu and the Ndebele referred to him as
Unkulunkulu/uMlimu. But unlike whites who later on introduced Jesus Christ,
Zimbabwean societies worshipped their God through their ancestral spirits which
communicated with them through spirit mediums.

Several factors account for the fall and collapse of these early states. Great Zimbabwe
particularly and to some extent the Rozvi succumbed to the diminishing of resources such
as gold and grazing land. The Mutapa State which rose in the north of the Great
Zimbabwe when the latter was in decline, took control of gold exports along the Zambezi
Valley. Civil wars, droughts and famines also devastated the states.

However, the fall of states such as the Mutapa and the Ndebele can largely be attributed
to foreign pressures. The Mutapa state was destabilized by the Portuguese who wanted to
take control of the states gold fields. They continuously fuelled instability by inciting
civil war and backing weaker candidates to the throne form who they would demand
numerous gold deposits as compensation. The Portuguese would help into power weaker
candidates who would virtually become their puppets. Some Portuguese later on
undermined the authority of Munhumutapa by grabbing large pieces of land and
controlling them. Such areas were called prazos. In 1571 the Portuguese sent an army of
1000 soldiers led by General Francisco Barreto to attack the Mutapa State ostensibly to
avenge the death missionary Father Gonzalo da Silveira who had earlier on been killed in
the Mutapa State. The Ndebele State was crushed by the military mighty of the British
South African Company in 1893 at the onset of colonialism.

Salient Feature of the States

Unity and nation building capacities were strong attributes for the pre-colonial states of
Zimbabwe. These states, using unique political administrative systems unkown in Europe
were able to mould very strong and powerful nation states. The Ndebele case is a
remarkable example because a powerful nation was built by uniting and incorporating
people of various ethnic backgrounds such as Sotho, Tswana, Shona etc. The Mutapa
state was also able to control and hold together a vast territory which covered three
quarters of what is now nothern Zimbabwe and stretched deep into what is now western
Mozambique. The system of administration worked so well until the onset of Portuguese
destabilization.

In a remarkable demonstration of unity and solidarity the Rozvi under Changamire


Dombo and the Mutapa under Munhumutapa Mukombwe joined forced from 1694 to
attack the Portuguese in Manyika and ultimately drove them out of Zimbabwe. The Rozvi
particularly had a formidable military machine which enabled them to subjugate even the
Portuguese.

There is strong evidence that African societies were developing in their own way and
their own pace different from the European model. They had their own technological and
technical advancement which were relevant to their needs e.g the great architectural
design at Zimbabwe monuments which served as the capital of the iron age Great
Zimbabwe State.
THE SCRAMBLE AND PARTITION OF AFRICA

1.0 Introduction

The term scramble simply means a disorderly rush for something and to partition
is to divide something. The Scramble and partition for Africa started with the
occupation of Egypt in 1882 by Britain. Historians have come up with various
ways of trying to explain the reasons for the Scramble and Partition of Africa. It
should be noted that the chief cause for the Scramble and Partition was economic,
coming as it did just after the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Europeans needed to harness the wealth of Africa for their economic development
since most of them were undergoing the process of industrialization. European
countries, Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Portugal took part in the
scramble and partition of Africa.

1.1 Humanitarian Reasons

Missionaries have used humanitarian considerations as the reasons why they came
to Africa. Missionaries saw Africans as barbaric and savages who had to be saved
from their heathen practices. The question on e raises is who invited these
supposed messiahs. Missionaries cited African practices of killing twins, albinos
and polygamy as things which had to be stopped. They believed that this was
done by people who were ungodly. Missionaries saw themselves as bringing
Civilization and Christianity. It should be observed that this was just an excuse
used by missionaries to pave way for the Scramble and partition of Africa through
the pacification of Africans via religion.

1.2 Economic Reasons

During the 19th Century most of Europe was undergoing a process of


industrialization. Britain had already industrialized by the early part of the 19 th
Century. As a result of industrialization, there was fierce competition for markets
and raw materials. European countries needed secure spheres of influence which
could provide raw materials and markets and areas where they could control
territories in order to prevent competition with other countries. According to
………………, one of the causes of the Scramble and Partition of Africa was the
desire by the European countries to export surplus capital. Europe had a lot of
surplus capital which needed to be invested elsewhere.

1.3 Strategic Consideration

In some areas, Europeans went into areas for strategic reasons. Countries like
Egypt were occupied because it provided the shortest sea rout to India via the
Suez Canal. The Sudan was occupied by Britain because it was an area through
which the Nile River flowed and the British considered it to be of paramount
importance since they needed the waters of the Nile for cotton production. The
Cape was colonized because its port was used to offload goods and to provide a
fuelling point for ships traveling to the east.

1.4 Prestigious Reasons

Countries like France and Italy took part in the Scramble and Partition of Africa in
order to enhance their image in Europe. France had lost the Franco-Prussian war
of 1870 –71 and needed to compensate for the loss of Alsane-Lorraine. In the case
of Italian and German nationalists, they wanted territories so that their countries
could be counted among the Great Powers of the day. It can be argued that some
countries like France took part in the scramble and partition of Africa as a way of
diverting attention from the problems she was facing at home (social imperialism)

1.5 The Berlin Conference

This conference was held in Berlin the capital city of Germany. European powers
were invited by Bismark the Chancellor of Germany to come up with a way of
avoiding conflict during the Scramble and Partition of Africa and map a way
forward. It was agreed that countries had to obtain treaties from African Chiefs
and they had to show effective occupation of the territories they took. They also
agreed that major rivers such as Congo and Nile were to be viewed as
international waters and there was to be freedom of navigation. It should be noted
that treaties were obtained by European agents through dubious means. They used
treachery and dishonesty to obtain treaties. Where African Chiefs/Kings were
unwilling to sign treaties, the European powers agreed to use gunboat diplomacy
– force to effect occupation.

1.6 Zimbabwe’s Case

In the case of Zimbabwe, four European countries were interested in colonizing it,
namely Britain, Portugal, Germans and Holland. The desire to control Zimbabwe
was brought about by the discovery of gold in Rand and diamonds at Kimberly in
South Africa. All the four powers believed that more and better quality gold was
to be found in Zimbabwe than in South Africa. Zimbabwe than in South Africa.
Zimbabwe also had a huge elephant herd and good soils and climate for
agriculture.

In a bid to woo Lobengula to the side of the Boers in Transvaal, Paul Kruger sent
Piet Grobler to sign a treaty with Lobengula (the Ndebele King) This treaty was
known as the Grobler Treaty and it was a treaty meant to establish Boer control
over Matebeleland. This treaty of 1887 alarmed the British who sent John Smith
Moffat in early 1888 to negotiate a treaty with Lobengula in order to nullify the
Grobler Treaty. The Moffat Treaty was a treaty of friendship between the Ndebele
and British High Commissioner in South Africa. The British through their agent
Cecil John Rhodes sought to consolidate their control by signing a treaty which
would guarantee their total hold over Matebeleland . They sent Rochifort
Maguire, Francis Thompson and Charles Rudd to negotiate a concession with
Lobengula. This was known as the Rudd Concession of 1888. Under the terms of
the treaty, Lobengula agreed to grant exclusive mineral rights in his kingdom to
the British agent Cecil Rhodes. He also agreed to grant the whites the power they
deemed necessary to procure the minerals. This was misinterpreted to mean that
Lobengula was in agreement to the occupation of his kingdom. The Rudd
Concession promised Lobengula ₤100 per month, 10 000 rifles and 100 000
rounds of ammunition and a Gunboat to be placed on the Zambezi (This was
never placed). This gunboat had it been placed as promised would have benefited
the British and not Lobengula because the British hoped to use it to ward off the
Portugues threat from the east (Mozambique).

The Rudd Concession was used by Cecil John Rhodes to acquire charter in 1889
which he used. Using the Charter Rhodes was able to secure the services of a
band of mercenaries, soldiers and policemen known as the Pioneer Column who
played a leading role in the occupation of Zimbabwe. The column was under the
leadership of Colonel Pennefeather and it traveled to Zimbabwe through Fort Tuli,
Fort Victoria, Fort Charter and finally Fort Salisbury. The Pioneer Column hoisted
the Union Jack at Fort Salisbury on the 12 th of September 1890 (This day became
a public holiday for the white settlers and it was known as Pioneer Day)

It should be emphasized Lobengula was tricked into signing the Rudd


Concession. Some of the verbal agreements made between Lobengula and Rhodes
emissaries were not included in the final written document. The emissaries
negotiated in bad faith and misconstrued facts when they were dealing with
Lobengula. One can argue that Lobengula did not sell the country but was simply
misled. His folly, perhaps was to place too much trust in white missionaries like
Reverend Helm who was in fact part of the treachery and indeed an agent of Cecil
John Rhodes. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that he could have prevented the
occupation of Zimbabwe. Despite his attempts at repudiating the Rudd
Concession by sending emissaries to England, the European settlers still went
ahead to colonise the country and his protests were ignored. Bribes were also used
to silence other European rivals e.g. Maund who could have helped to have the
agreement nullified.
ZIMBABWE HISTORY AND HERITAGE

RESISTANCE TO COLONIAL ENCROACHMENT

PART 1 the Anglo-Ndebele War of 1893-4 (The Matebele War of Dispossession)

Background

This was the initial formidable resistance against colonial encroachment. It has also been
described as the war of dispossession because the Ndebele lost their main strategic
resources-land and cattle. After the granting of the Royal Charter to the BSAC by the
British government in 1889. Rhodes started to act unilaterally before or even without
consulting Lobengula Thus exceeding the terms of the Ruud Concession on which the
Charter was based.

Causes of the 1893 War

The Anglo-Ndebele War was almost inevitable. It was just a question of time before it
broke out. This is clearly shown by Cecil John Rhodes’ remark that “we either had to
have that war or to leave the country (Zimbabwe)” In other words if the BSAC and the
white settlers were to achieve their objectives, the Ndebele state had to be destroyed.
Moreover, the BSAC had been disappointed by the little amount of gold in the eastern
Zimbabwe (Mashonaland) and it was now widely expected that Western Zimbabwe
(Matebeleland) might have more gold.

The defeat of the Ndebele army in Rhodes’s view would justify his claim for sovereignty
in line with the Berlin Conference requirements of “effective control” That would also
complete their conquest of the whole country.

Leander Starr Jameson (BSAC Administrator and Commander of the Settler forces) had
never forgiven Lobengula fro trying to repudiate the Rudd Concession. In Jameson’s
opinion, war had to begin and end before the 1893 season. Thus diplomatic efforts by
Lobengula and Lord Ripon (the Secretary of State for Colonies) could only delay but not
prevent war.

Another thorny issue was the question of the boundary (which was not clearly defines
and fixed) between Mashonaland where settlers had established forts and Matebeleland
where the Ndebele were based. The two sides looked militarily balanced on paper for
what the Ndebele lacked in firepower was supplemented in greater numerical numbers
and vice versa for the settlers.

The other problem was that the ndebele considered the Shona to be subjects and the
BSAC on the other hand looked at Mashonaland as reservoir of cheap labour. It is true
however after that events which took place in the Masvingo (Fort Victoria) area – the
Victoria incident – that brought matters to a head and sparked off the 1893 war.
The Victoria Incident

In May 1893, some men under headman Gomara between the Tuli and Fort Victoria cut
and carried away about 5000 yards of telegraph wire – possibly to make snares. Gomora
was ordered to either hand over the culprits (to settlers) or pay a fine in the form of cattle.
He paid in cattle which he claimed to be his own but later proved to belong to Lobengula
(possibly through the ‘ukusisa’ ‘kuronzera’ or loaning system which the settlers failed to
appreciate) Lobengula demanded their immediate return Jameson compiled but warned
that there would be serious consequences if the telegraph wire was interfered with again.

As this was going on reports reached Bulawayo that another Shona Headman Bere some
15 miles West of Masvingo had taken cattle belonging to Lobengula. The angry
Lobengula decided that the Shona in the Victoria district had to be taught a lesson . Thus
a raiding army of 300 men mainly ‘amajaha’ (the young bachelor warriors) was
dispatched under the joint command of Manyao and Mgandani. The two Ndebele
commanders were given strict instructions to avoid clashes with white people in carrying
out their mission but they got carried away.

It was in the process of carying out the mission in the areas Bere, Zimuto and in the
neighbourehood of Fort Victoria that hundreds of white owned cattle were driven away
by the raiders. Within a day or two white farms and mines in the Masvingo district had
been deserted by their labour force. The districts economic activities were brought to a
halt as many local Africans in the area were either taking to the hills or streaming towards
the little town of Masvingo.

This was the sort of excuse that Jameson had been waiting for since the settlers arrival in
Masvingo. He swiftly moved to manipulate the incidents in Fort Victoria to convince the
High Commissioner to formally agree to war. The Ndebele were made to appear to have
started the war. While the setter were simply fighting to defend themselves. Lobengula’s
efforts to avoid war, therefore failed due to his overzealous indunas and treachery on the
part of Jameson and the white settlers.

The War and Its Results

The war began in October Company forces were numerically heavily outnumbered by the
Ndebele (ie 18 000 Ndebele Soldiers compared to the 3 500 Company fighters who
included Tswana Auxiliaries provided by Khama and about 400 Shona and Cape
Auxiliaries mainly white employees). The Company forces were however, better
equipped and could move faster than the Ndebele in addition they had 800 horses and
their modern firearms included 16 heavy machine guns eg. the maxim gun . Wagons
ensured continued supplies. The general command of the Volunteer forces was given to
the Magistrate of Salisbury Patrick William Forbes (a street in Harare / Salisbury was
later to be named in his honour)
On the other hand the Ndebele regiments used their traditional spears as they did not trust
modern firearms Ndebele intelligence units carefully monitored the movements of the
settler forces. Although the Ndebele put up a brave fight against the invaders the
company forces over powered them and they took over Bulawayo on November 4
Lobengula had set his capital on fire and fled northwards towards the Zambezi Valley.
The settlers immediately hoisted the Union Jack (the British Flag) over the burning city
and its ruins thus completing the conquest of Zimbabwe.

The grand plan however had been to storm Bulawayo, capture Lobengula and demoralize
the Ndebele army . The settlers felt perhaps rightly so that as long as Lobengula was still
at large the Ndebele would not easily submit to the new authority. When Lobengula
failed to take up the offer from Jameson to surrender so that he harmed a pursuit of the
Ndebele king was started by a polic force led by Major Forbes.

Fearing that his pursuers could capture him any time Lobengula sent two of his men with
a message and money admitting that he had been conquered. The money and letter
reached Forbes as both items were withheld and the money stolen by two white troopers
who received them. Forbes then camped on the Shangani River while Alan Wilson and 21
others were tasked to investigate the direction taken by Lobengula.

Wilson caught up with Lobengula’s party on the side of the river, but Forbes was unable
to comply with Wilson’s request for reinforcements. In any case the Shangani river had
become dangerously flooded. Wilson therefore decided to attack the Ndebele and capture
Lobengula but he was too seriously overpowered. All his men except 3 scouts and
himself were cut to pieces by the Ndebele.

On December 5, Forbes and the rest of the expedition were compelled to retreat. The
expedition had been costly in men, horses and cattle and it had failed to achieve its main
objective- the capture of Lobengula.

Results

@ The Ndebele lost their independence but they were not made to surrender
unconditionally and they entered into peace negotiations with the BSAC.

@ While the settler volunteers were rewarded their service during the war with large
areas of land and with some of Lobengula ‘s cattle. The rest of the royal herd were
converted into company property by right conquest.

@ Two very poor dry, infertile, unhealthy and generally hot reserves – Gwai and
Shangani were created to settle the dispossessed Ndebele.

@ Rhodes Jameson and the BSAC began taking steps to introduce the white
administrative machinery effectively placing the whole of Zimbabwe under
colonial rule. This also saw the birth of the notorious and infamous Native
Department (Africans)
@ In 1895 Zimbabwe was named Rhodesia as tribute to Cecil Rhodes for his efforts
in the colonization of the country.

@ Colonial rule changed the day- to -day life of the Africans which now included
paying taxes to an illegal government forced labour and other forms of political
repression and economic exploitation.
RESISTANCE TO COLONIAL CONQUEST AND SHORT TERM EFFECTS OF
COLONIAL RULE

PART 11: The First Chimurenga/Umvukela (Shona-Nddebele Risings) of 1896-7

The First Chimurenga broke about at a time when the settlers were of the opinion that
they had pacified the Africans in Zimbabwe. They considered the Shona as cowards who
were more than grateful to the whites for liberating them from the Ndebele had realized
the futility of resistance after the 1893 war. In any case, the Ndebele no longer had a king
and the memories of the 1893-4 war were still fresh in their minds.

The oppressive and abusive nature of settler rule quickly encouraged the Shona and
Ndebele to take up arms against the invaders. African grievances were so similar that
they had a national rather that a mere district or regional appeal. On the whole, the risings
came about as a result of an interplay of factors.

Grievances Among the Shona

- Native (Africans) Department of 1894 – unpopular for its role, which was to
facilitate the collection of the Hut tax and to step up the recruitment of cheap
labour for the mines, settler farms and public works was wrecking havoc.
Even before the risings some areas like those under Makoni and Nyandoro
had revolted against the native Department.

- Confiscation of cattle, goats and grain for failure to pay taxes.

- Arrest of Africans for the same offence and very long jail terms with hard
labour.

- Promotion of injustices by BSAC – appointed few, competent magistrates


who readily made judgments which favoured white interests.

- Chiefs loss of their authority – (although they had not been formally
conquered) this undermined the Shona way of life. Institutions that held each
of the various Shona Chiefdoms together namely traditional religion and
chiefly authority were now in great danger both from the activities o the
Christian missions.

- Disruption of their trade with Portuguese and the Ndebele – the Shona, as well
as the Ndebele were now forced to buy goods from the colonial traders and
from South Africa which were more expensive than goods supplied by the
Portuguese from the east coast.

- Natural Disasters – drought, locusts, rinderpest – these were attributed to the


presence of whites on their land. According to the Shona people, these were
natural expression of God’s or Mwari’s anger. This was confirmed by
traditional religious leaders all throughout the country, like Kaguvi, Nehanda,
Mkwati and Siginyamatshe who blamed white people for having angered
Mwari. The settler veterinary officials in their efforts to eradicate the disease
exacerbated the situation. They ordered that all cattle showing signs of
rinderpest be killed and people were not allowed to eat the meat of the dead
cattle. This angered both the Shona and the Ndebele.

- Abuse of Shona women who were used as mistresses by settlers to cook for
them.

Grievances Among the Ndebele included:

- Loss of cattle after the 1893/4 war – before this war Lobengula owned over
250 000 and about 40 000 were left in the hands of the Ndebele (mainly senior
Indunas) after the war. This impoverished the Ndebele and the distribution of
cattle totally disregarded Ndebele customs.

- Loss of land – some of the Ndebele people were pushed to the Gwaai and
Shangani reserved created after the 1893/4 which were unfit for human
settlement. This also made them poor and vulnerable to exploit.

- “One cause of dissatisfaction and unrest”, explained Chief Gambo, “is that
after we have lived many years in a spot, we are told that the white man has
purchased it and we have to go”

- Forced labour – many Ndebele people were forced to live on white farms
providing cheap, semi-slave labour for low or no wages or even for a mere
permission to remain on white property.

- Loss of independence – meant the disruption and even the destruction of their
way of life e.g the age of regiment system. This was worsened by the general
arrogance of government officials and the use of ‘Native’ or African police’ in
Matebeleland who often abused power to settle old scores.

- Natural Disasters – rinderpest, drought and locusts – like in Mashonaland,


these were attributed to the presence of white settlers in Matebeleland by their
religious Siginyamatshe (religious leaders) declared that the settlers were both
responsible for the death of their Ndebele father, Lobengula and for
bewitching the clouds so that there was no rain.

Ndebele Resistance

The Ndebele were the first to rise around March 1896. Settler stores, mines and farms
and their occupants were targets of the uprisings. The timing of the uprisings was
quite tactical because Jameson had taken some of the military men to the Transvaal to
help an attempt (which was abortive) to overthrow the Boer Government of Paul
Kruger. Thus, the white settlers and the government had been taken completely by
surprise.
The Ndebele were aided by men like Mkwati, Siginyamatshe and Tengera in co-
ordinating their resistance. There were, however, two broad divisions, the old and
young groups which had conflicting succession interest. The officials of the Mwari
Cult (whose shrine was near Thaba Zika Mambo) were also instrumental in giving the
resistance impetus and tenacity.

The war itself was however, costly to both the Ndebele and the settlers. The senior
group, therefore, decided to enter into peace negotiations with Rhodes, resulting in
Rhodes deciding to call “indaba” or a peace conference with the Ndebele leaders.

The Ndebele leaders agreed to suspend all military operations against the settler
forces. All the Ndebele who had committed atrocities were to be tried. Officials of the
Mwari Cult were to be punished for their part in the risings. Abour 13 000 spears and
2 5000 guns were surrendered. Rhodes agreed that whites forces would be withdrawn,
their place being taken by a permanent police force. He also agreed that no African
police, especially Shona, would be in Matebeleland without the authority of the
Ndebele chief. Senior Ndebele officials were to be granted official recognition and
would receive a regular salary. Rhodes also promised grain to see the Ndebele
through the rest of the year as well as seed for the next planting season.

*(NB. Students are encouraged to debate and evaluate the ‘indaba’ and its terms)

Shona Rising

The Mhondoro Cult in Mashonaland had the importance similar to the mwari Cult in
matebeleland Political leaders (Chiefs) like Chinamora, Chikwaka, Nyandoro,
Zvimmba, Mangwende, Mashayamombe, Chiweshe, Negomo, Makoni worked hand
in hand with spirit mediums in their areas.

Some of the spirit mediums who gallantly committed themselves to fight against the
settlers included the Kaguvi Medium, Gumboreshumba in the Hartely (Chegutu area)
who worked in close co-operation with the famous heroine of Shona Resistance in the
Mazowe Valley area, Charwe the Nehanda Medium. Co-operation also existed
between a number of religious and political leaders in Matebeleland and
Mashonaland.

Thus the religious leadership gave religious sanction (approval) to the risings and
their centers were also abused for intelligence purposes. It took government officials
long to realize that shrines of cult, were being used to pass information between
various paramount chiefs. Night meetings, sometimes disguised as rain-making
ceremonies, were used to organise people.
What weakened the impact of the Shona and the African cause was that some
chiefdoms refused to join in the war of resistance nursing the false hope that this
would spare them the cruelties of coloniasm e.g the whole of Victoria district and
several chiefdoms in Buhera and Chikomba area. This made it easy for settlers to
suppress the resisting groups and to being in reinforcements from South Africa since
the route to South Africa was left free of resistance.

Shona Chiefs used mountain forts e.g Makoni and Mangwende and avoided open
clashes with the settlers who had superior firepower, they resorted to guerilla tactics.
This, and the fact that there was no single authority in MaShonaland made it difficult
to bring the Shona risings to a formal end.

Towards the end of 1897, however, resistance was gradually weakening as the settlers
were either killed or captured. Although both the Shona and Ndebele failed to defeat
the settlers, their gallant fight inspired later African Nationalists to rise against
colonialism and finally free Zimbabwe from the york of colonial exploitation.
References

D.N Beach, The Shona and Zimbabwe 900-1850. An Outline of Shona History,
Mambo Press Gweru 1980

N. Parsons, A New History of Southern Africa, College Press, 1983

N. Parsons, Focus on History on History, College Press, Harare 1991

A. Chigwedere, , From Mutapa to Rhodes, College Press, 1981

S.I.G Mudenge, A Political History of Munhumutapa – From the Fifteeth Century to


the Nineteeth Century, Mambo Press 1979.
THE CONSOLIDATION OF WHITE SETTLER RULE AND THE
MARGINALISATION OF BLACKS 1897-1965

After the brutal suppression of the first Chimurenga/Umvukela (Shona-Ndebele Risings)


of 1896-97, the setters sought to consolidate their hold to both political and economic
power in the country. The Africans had to be monitored constantly so that another
Chimurenga (liberation struggle) would never happen again.

Colonial rule in Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) was therefore characterized by highly


interventionist white settler governments Successive settler governments perpetuated
settler interest through a host of draconian laws that were also deliberately crafted to
effectively marginalize (disadvantage) the blacks. A two pyramid (two nations) system
was adopted by the settlers. Its purpose was to promote separate development between
whites and Africans. Thus political economic and social policies based on racial
discrimination reinforced that system.

All African traditional rulers who were anti- colonial rule were to be removed from their
positions and were replaced either by white colonial administrators or by African
puppets. This was achieved through the 1898 Native Reserve Order in Council Act.
Colonial Rule in Zimbabwe also passed through various phases or periods by the fate of
Africans remained the same – that of progressive pauperization. From 1898 to 1923,
Zimbabwe was under the British South Africa Company rule which was ended by a
referendum for whites in 1923 which voted for responsible government in 1953 after 30
years of responsible self-government Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe joined with Northern
Rhodesia/Zambia and Nyasaland/Malawi to form the Central African Federation.

In 1964 Malawi was granted independence and was to be followed shortly after by
Zambia and the Federation broke up. The white settler government of Southern Rhodesia
also attempted to negotiate its independence from Britain but on terms which were quite
unacceptable to the African people. The British government was for historical and
economic reasons unwilling to alienate the white settler many of whom had influential
contacts in London. For this reason as well as resources in Zimbabwe the British failed to
take the decisive steps needed to grant independence on Zimbabwe on the same basis as
other British colonial territories in Africa. Disagreements therefore grew between the
British government and the white settlers on one hand and between the increasingly
articulate and united African nationalist movement on the other.

On 11 November 1965, the white settler government led by Ian Douglas Smith (still at
this stage a legal government in the eyes of the British) unilaterally or illegally declared
their independence from Britain. The Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was
an illegal act for in terms Southern Rhodesia remained a British colony.

* NB White Asians and colours (mixed race) were all grouped together as “Europeans”
by the settler regime for administrative convenience.
a) Land Allocation and Ownership

Control of the land and its unequal distribution on racial times was one of the most
important sources of power and wealthy for the white minority population on Zimbabwe.
Soon after the first white settlers arrived in the country they began to set aside reserves
for the Africans and forcibly evict black families from the land that they themselves
wanted. Following the recommendations of the Morris carter Land Commission of 1925
the Land Apportionment Act (1930) was passed segregation of land was thus legally
enforced.

The 1969 Land Tenure Act (which replaced the land Apportionment Act) consolidated the
position and lad ownership rights of the settlers by abolishing the unreserved land which
up to that time had remained open to all races.

Even in the areas set aside for them by the regime, the Africans were severely restricted
by law in the use they made of that land. The distribution of land was carried out to
strategically positioning the settlers by giving them control of the most economically
productive and developed areas. Until 1977 no African was allowed to own property or
live in a white area except on special terms and whites were similarly prohibited from
living black area.

About 6 million acres were designated as national Land consisting of nation parks and
game reserves while Africans were in the reserves or the Tribal Trust lands (TTLs). To
achieve this skewed distribution thousands of Africans were forcibly removed from their
homes using draconian laws stated above. The Tangwena people led by their chief Rekayi
fought since 1964 through the late 1970s for the right to stay on their farms in the Nyanga
mountains.

90% of the land allocated to the black majority was made up of the TTLs and the
remaining 10% of Africa Purchase Areas (matenganyika). Africans were only allowed to
buy and own land individually in the African Purchase Areas whose purpose was to
encourage the development of a limited number of cash crops farmers as a window
dressing measure to appease the international community in the TTLs land ownership
remained communal with no title deeds or any legally valid claim to it.

Under the land Tenure Amendment Act of 1977 African farmers and businessmen who
had the necessary resources could land in white areas while whites were also permitted to
buy Africa Purchase Ares farms. This amendment was clearly meant to benefit the whites
since it was easier for them to harness the necessary resources.

The settler governments deliberately neglected the TTLs and provided very limited funds
for economic development. The Land was generally poor eroded and overcrowded. Food
production was stagnant or even declining. They turned Africans from being competitive
producers who had really out-competed settlers before the Land Apportionment Act of
1930 to landless job seeking paupers. The situation in the TTLs was not disastrous that
the settlers passed the land Husbandry Act of 1951 to try and reverse land degradation in
these areas by forcing Africans to de-stock and own an average of 5 to 7 hectares per
family. This further marginalised blacks and exposed them to blatant exploitation by the
settlers.

Poverty in the TTLs huge and cumbersome taxes as well as discrimination in marketing
of products (e.g) through the maize Control Acts of 1933 to 34 which gave better prices
for European produce) made the blacks reservoirs of cheap labour for the settlers. Thus
they no longer had to desperately rely on migrant labourers from neighbouring countries
like Malawi as had largely been the case in the period before 1930. Local Africans had
demonstrated an unwavering unwillingness to work for the settlers. The Rhodesian
Native Labour Bureau (RNLB) had also failed to solve the labour problem for the
settlers. This was also one of the reasons why the BSA Company rule had come to an end
in 1923.

In the white areas on the other hand, huge tracks of potentially productive agricultural
land remained idle. In addition to cheap labour, a Land Bank Act was set up in 1912 to
give loans to settler farmers. They had little deeds which gave them a sense of security as
an extra to the best land they owned both in terms of quality and quantity. In TTLs areas,
land could be expropriated from the Africans without compensation in the event of a
mining claim being established.

b) Provincialisation

The policy of “regionalisation” or “provincialisation” was implemented since 1972 with


many features similar to the South African Bantustan System. The nation was divided
into 3 groups – whites, Mashonas and Matebeles – on the basis of existing land
distribution and ownership. By delegating greater local government powers to chiefs and
“tribal” authorities and emphasising the differences between the two main African
groups, the regime’s aim was to encourage a narrow tribal identity instead of a wider
national identity among the black people.

c) Urban Centres

Urban areas (i.e the main towns in Rhodesia and all the country’s industrial and
commercial areas were in European areas. The general policy of successive settler
governments was to allow Africans to live in urban areas only if they were in
employment. Two types of accommodation was provided for Africans locations which
housed “unmanned workers”(e.g Mbare Flats) and urban townships where families were
allowed to live (eg. Gillingham now Dzivarasekwa- reserved for gardeners and domestic
workers mainly cooks who worked in the suburbs for the white masters). Africans who
were not lawfully residing or employed in an urban area could be expelled by the colonial
authorities e.g under the African (Urban Areas) Accommodation and Registration Act, it
was illegal for the family of an African domestic servant to live with him or her in a
European suburb without official permission.
The African townships were overcrowded (just like the TTLs in rural areas) often with no
domestic electricity and water had to be fetched from a tap in the street. The sanitary
facilities were not good. There were few entertainment or recreational facilities except
municipality owned beer-halls, inadequate schools and other social services.

The townships were strategically designed to minimize the threat of African political
activity. Most of them were located several miles from white business districts and
suburbs. Water and electricity could be cut off in the event of strikes or demonstrations.
In Salisbury (Harare) there was a small township –Marimba park where a small number
of better – off African families owned European style houses. It was regularly shown by
the settler regime to overseas visitors.

d) Economic Structure

Zimbabwe under white minority rule had an economic structure which consisted of
relatively sophisticated industrialized cash sector owned and controlled by the whites. A
huge underdeveloped sector based on the TTLs was a source of cheap African labour
ensured by the introduction of a system of lass and taxes which forced Africans to enter
into the cash economy in white owned farms, mines and business enterprises and as
domestic servants in white homes.

The vast majority of black workers performed unskilled or semiskilled manual jobs at
very low rates of pay. The 1934 Industrial Concialiation Act “legally” barred blacks from
engaging in skilled labour and excluded when from the rights and protections of
European workers. It was later relaxed to allow a few blacks to venture into teaching,
nursing and agricultural extension services. Generally and as a matter of colonial
principle, the whites controlled land and capital. They also monopolized skills , technical
expertise and denied trade union rights to black workers. This meant that Africans had
very limited chances of economic development. Well off African businessmen existed
however and often owned bus companies or stores in the African townships, but
compared with the overall mass of black workers, their number was insignificant. The
main sectors of the economy were manufacturing, agriculture, mining and tourism.

e) Foreign Investment

The Rhodesian economy was developed over the years following the first white
settlement as shown above but also through massive inputs of foreign capital since the
second world war. Most of this investment was of British origin. Overseas investments
amounted to around two-thirds of total investments in the early 1960s.

Since the UDI (November 1965) multinational companies with their headquarters in
Britain, the United States of America and other western countries continued to operate for
profit in Zimbabwe. Without them, the white minority would not have been able to
survive. Most of the foreign investment came from South Africa or via the South African
subsidiaries or overseas multi-nationals.
f) Education

The education system was divided along racial lines. The Ministry of Education had two
departments for education in the country. One department was in charge of European
Affairs and the other for native (African) Affairs. The government heavily supported
European Education whilst African Education was neglected. Initially the government
was more concerned with providing primary education for Africans and left the
Misionaries to provide secondary education. The first government secondary school for
Africans was Goromonzi which opened its doors in 1947 and was followed by other like
Fletcher. African Education was modelled along two distinct lines- the F1 and F2 system.
The F1 system established schools which emphasized the use of hands (practicals). On
the other hand, the F2 system established schools which taught academis. On the whole,
the education system was geared towards the marginalisation of Africans through limiting
their education opportunities.
THE RISE OF MASS NATIONALISM AND THE PROSECUTION OF THE
SECOND CHIMURENGA

After the collapse of traditional resistance in 1898, and the seizure of political power by
the representatives of the white settler in 1923, Company rule had become anachronism.
In the 1923 referendum the white settlers were offered a choice between joining the
Union of South Africa and responsible self-government. They chose the latter and
between then and 1979 Rhodesia was governed by a settler Cabinet responsible to a
settler parliament. African intellectuals felt betrayed by the policies of segregation
enforced in the 1930s beyond.

Gradually African protest movements emerged. The most significant movement in the
period between the two world wars was the growth of powerful trade unions, especially
the African Railway Workers Union and the Reformed Commercial and Industrial
Workers’ Union, which mobilized the growing urban proletariat on non tribal and non
regional lines. Accelerated white settler immigrating, and deteriorating Socio-Economic
conditions in the post war period brought issues to a head. Bulawayo, then the major
industrial city, became the centre of African trade unionism and politics. In 1945, the
African railways Workers’ Union struck first by organising a general strike, which
brought this vital communication network to a stand still from Mutare (Umtali) in
Rhodesia to the Zambian Copperbelt.

In 1948 broader demands were made I a countrywide general strike that brought all
commercial and industrial activities in the major cities to a standstill for a week. The
campaign for the establishment of federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland by the white
settlers in 1953 lulled the workers a little with a promise f reforms, but they soon
recognized and launched the City national Youth league in 1955. As the name indicates,
the league represented the young proletarians in the growing cities. In the late 1950s, the
Old Moderate Congress was replaced by a much more radical successor. On September
12, 1957, the African National Congress was reborn, and it quickly mobilized the rural
peasantry whose livelihood was made precarious by the combined effects of the land
Apportionment and naïve Land Husbandry Acts. The late Joshua Nkomo was a leading
figure in these trade unions and political developments. Some white Rhodesians
demanded outright repression. Others hoped for accommodation. Garfield Todd as Prime
Minister between 1953 and 1957 opted for greatly accelerated African Education and
promises of partnership. When Todd was overthrown by his cabinet colleagues for going
too fast, all chances of compromise vanished. The Southern Rhodesia African National
Congress SRANC was banned in 1959 by David Whitehead and hundreds of Africans
thrown into jail. A host of repressive laws were introduced against the nationalist
movement to add to those already in existence: Among them were the native Affairs Act,
Unlawful Organisation Act, Preventive Detention Act, all in 1959. These were soon
followed by the emergency Powers Act and Law and Order maintenance Act of 1960.

The sustained repression of the African people by the settlers convinced the nationalist
leadership that little could be gained by pressurizing the Whitehead Government..
Instead, they adopted the strategy of forcing Britain to implement the process of
decolonisation, which had already initiated in other parts of Africa. This strategy failed to
work. The National Democratic Party was launched in January 1960 to replace the
banned SRANC. OJoshua Nkomo was elected President and among his lieutenants was
Ndabaningi Sithole, Herbert Chitepo, Robert Mugabe,, Bernard Chidzero, George
Silundika, Jaison Moyo, Leopold Takawira, Josiah Chinamano and Dumbutshena among
others.

The NDP was banned in 1961 and replaced with the Zimbabwe African people’s Union
(ZAPU) in December 1961. ZAPU was banned in 1962, in September and there was
increased frustration among the nationalist movement. This led to the formation of the
Zimbabwe African national Union (ZANU) in August 1963 under the leadership of
Ndabaningi Sithole. This was also banned in 1964. The whites failed to realize that
nationalism after all, involves imagining a past and a future in order to change the
present. Inevitably the nationalist literal imagination focused especially on the glories of
the African past and on the oppressions of colonialism. By 1964 most of the nationalist
leaders were either in prison, detention or exile. However, numerous incidents of
sabotage followed in the early months of 1964. A group of 100 blacks under General
Chedu calling themselves the Zimbabwe Liberation Army organised sabotage in the rural
areas of the country. To gain credibility, ZANU launched the first guerillas unit, the
Crocodile Group in 1964 as it attacked a police camp and killed a white farmer and in
Melsetter (Chimanimani). Meanwhile, the emergency of a more militant African
nationalism created a backlash in the white community leading to the election in
December 1962 of the Rhodesian Front Party, of which Ian Smith became leaser in 1964
after taking over from Winston Field.

The reactionary Rhodesia Front issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI)


throwing off remaining restraints from Britain, intensifying segregation and undoing the
advances that had been achieved by partnership. There was no course open to African
Nationalists but to prepare for guerilla war. It was long drawn out process. The
nationalists resolved that they were to be either their own liberators through direct
confrontation as a state of emergency was declared giving license to the Rhodesian
Security Forces to kill any African they suspected to be opposed to them, take prisoners
and seize the little property of the peasants, including goats and sheep without any
compensation or recourse to the law.

Meanwhile, the internal political situation in Rhodesia by 1963, had forced the
nationalists to seek foreign bases for the military training of young black cadres as ZANU
and ZAPU armed wings were to be known as the Zimbabwe African National Liberation
Army (ZANLA) and Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) respectively.
Early Military Training for these cadres were offered in friendly countries like Egypt,
China, Ghana. Tanzania and Zambia, just to mention but a few in preparation for the
armed struggle proper. The armed struggle began in 1966 when the Rhodesian Security
Forces clashed with a smaller group of guerillas in Sinoia (now Chinhoyi) with the result
that all 7 members of ZANLA were killed.
In August 1967, ZIPRA formed an alliance with the South Africa-African National
Congress (SAANC) armed with Umkhonto We Sizwe, deployed four groups of 20
guerillas into Rhodesia. The result was a fiasco as a series of bitter running battles took
place from 13 August in the Wankie district resulting in the loss of many guerillas. Some
of the guerillas managed to escape back onto Zambia while others fled into Botswana.
Immediately, there were air space violations of Zambia by the Rhodesian Forces. Leaflets
were dropped into the Zambezi valley calling on the guerillas to surrender or die. Despite
this ZIPRA and Umkhonto We Sizwe deployed another larger group of about 150
guerillas but again were repulsed.

These events prompted the South African Governments to send troops to Rhodesia to
assist the Rhodesian Forces track down insurgents. There was introduced the Law and
Order maintenance Amendment Bill by the Rhodesian Government on 7 September 1967
which was passed without dissent on the 19th of the same month. This Anti-Insurgency
Bill made the Death Sentence mandatory for persons found with arms of war unless he
could prove beyond reasonable doubt that he had no intention of endangering the
maintenance of law and Order in Rhodesia or a neighbouring country. In retrospect, these
incursions were virtually suicidal hence remedial measures were to be found.

A vital role was played by the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), which
had developed considerable experience in guerilla warfare, was able to train Zimbabwean
Guerillas in the art of political mass mobilization. This move forced the Rhodesian
Forces to conduct combine military operations with their Portugues counterparts in
Mozambique from 1968 onwards. Despite this, the insurgents practiced the mass
mobilization with great success starting December 1972 when guerillas attacked Alterna
Farm in Centenary. The situation appeared brighter due to the collapse of the Portuguese
Authority in Mozambique, Angola and Guinea Bissau in 1974 after the successful
Military Coup in Portugal headed by General Sionola against Salazar, then Prime Minster
of Portugal.

However, this was not to be as John Voster, then South Africa’s Premier, came up with
the Détente Policy whose main theme was to stifle the guerilla war’s effort in Rhodesia.
This was exacerbated by Chitepo’s death on 18 March 1975 in Zambia in a landmine
incident. It has to be remembered that when most Nationalists were arrested after the
banning of their parties, an external wing known as dare Re Chimurenga was established
to spearhead the prosecution of the armed struggle. The late Herbert Chitepo was
appointed Chairman of this establishment in 1968. Soon after the 1972/73 guerilla
offensives, the Rhodesian government in retaliation, forcibly drove the blacks into
Protected Villages/Keeps to deny them from feeding the guerillas albeit with little
success.

Meanwhile, both ZAPU and ZANU had been rocked by internal squabbles in the early
1970s and 1974 respectively. Under the influence of the OAU Liberation committee, the
two political parties (APU and ZANU) were forced to unite. The situation was rectified in
1975 in December when the two parties formed a combined-armed wing to be called the
Zimbabwe People’s Army (ZIPA) with the blessings of both Nyere and Machel. Thus
guerilla warfare gathered momentum in early 1976 as ZANLA guerillas intensified
operations in Tete, Manica and Gaza Provinces whilst ZIPRA intensified its operations in
the Northern and Southern Fronts.ZANLA’s Tete, Manica and Gaza provinces were
divided into sectors whilst ZIPRA’s Fronts were divided into regions. Meanwhile, the
Rhodesians killed thousands of guerillas and refugees in bombing raids on camps inside
Mozambique, Mulungishi and Chifombo in Zambia. But gradually, the guerillas began to
exert pressure on the Rhodesian State. The turning point came when ZNLA guerillas
began to operate from Mozambique in mid 1970. By 1977, Robert Mugabe had achieved
control of both ZANLA and ZANU Thousands of young guerillas were infiltrating the
country from Mozambique. Meanwhile, Zambia Joshua was the unchallenged leader of
ZAPU and of its army ZIPRA. With Soviet backing, apart from guerilla warfare, he had
manned a conventional air, tank and artillery assault on Rhodesian towns.

The Smith regime was under pressure from its ally, South Africa. Ian Smith tried to
undercut the guerillas by coming in terms with moderate African leaders in an Internal
Settlement. In April 1979, Bishop Abel Muzorewa was elected as the leader of Zimbabwe
Rhodesia. But no one recognized his regime. He and Smith were drawn into negotiations
with Nkom and Mugabe at the end of 1979 at the Lancaster House.

None of the parties involved got what they wanted from the Lancaster House but a;;
believed that they could win the independence election; Muzorewa though so because of
his large scale financial support and his electoral victory in 1979, Nkomo thought so
because when the nationalist parties were banned in 1964, his ZAPU has enjoyed more
countrywide backing; Mugabe also thought so because he had so many young guerillas in
place. Mugabe’s prediction was the most accurate. In the 1980 elections, his party won
two thirds of the votes; Nkomo won a third and Muzorewa was routed.
POST INDEPENDENCE DEVELOPMENTS IN ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe obtained independence on the 18th of April 1980 after waging a bitter and
protracted armed struggle against the British settler regime. A new era was ushered on
that historic day, putting and end to a ninety year period of colonial rule characterised by
extreme social, political and economic marginalisation of the majority Africans. Against
this background, the new Zanu Pf government was always going to be under pressure
especially as people had high expectations. The new government had to tackle major
political and socio-economic challenges most of which had arisen from the need to
redress the past colonial imbalances.

Political Developments

On the political front, the almost a century period of racial disharmony which was
exacerbated by more that 15 years of bloody armed conflict, had left deep scars and the
protagonists had seemingly irreconcilable differences. In light of this new Zanu PF
government declared the policy of reconciliation in which it urged the people,
irrespective of whatever background and role in the just ended conflict, to put the past
behind them and to unite and work together for the development of the nation.

In his famous on the eve of independence, Prime Minster Robert Mugabe urged all the
former protagonists to convert “rifles into ploughshares”. In line with this policy, cabinet
posts were offered to all major political movements, including the white Rhodesian Front,
thus the new government assumed a true “national” character.

Despite this however, the reconciliation policy was not well received in all quarters. The
whites particularly, it can be argued, generally found it difficult to accept new reality and
even on the eve of independence, packed their bags and drove for destinations mainly in
South Africa, Britain, Australia. Canada and New Zealand. A greater percentage of those
who chose to stay did so from the realization that they could still maintain their economic
priviledges and advantages they had enjoyed over the years of colonization. This was
especially so since the Lancaster House Constitution which led to independence,
guaranteed them some protection against wholesale unilateral transfer of resources
through the “willing buyer – willing seller” clause. Ever since it can be argued the white
community generally never bothered to integrate itself into the mainstream Zimbabwean
Society. It found satisfaction in participating in exclusive elite organizations such as the
Commercial Union (CFU). One of the government’s early success towards nation
building was also the integration of the former protagonists armies of the former
Rhodesian Forces, Zanla and Zipra forces into one force – The Zimbabwe National
Army/Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZNA/ZDF). It was not easy to integrate these former
enemy forces with different military training backgrounds and experiences (Zanla and
Zipra were essentially guerilla units while the Rhodesian army was a formal conventional
force) into one force. Military experts from the British army played a vital role in the
integration process. Former Rhodesia Army Commander General Peter Walls was given
command of the new ZDF.

However this successful integration of the forces did not stop senior officers from
resigning from service and were soon joining their counterparts in civil service trekking
into South Africa and other destinations. The compactness of the forces into the ZNA was
soon put to test by political challenges which soon unfolded. According to Professor
Terence Ranger, none of these parties involved in the Lancaster House negotiations got
what they wanted but all were prepared to compromise because they each believed they
could win the independence elections:- Muzorewa, because of his large scale financial
support and his electoral victory in 1979, Nkomo – because of the country wide backing
his Zapu had enjoyed before the banning of the nationalist parties in 1964, and Mugabe –
because his Zanu had covered more grounds in the liberation war and he had so many
young guerillas in place. The reality of Mugabe’s victory caused some tremors and
according to professor Ranger, Nkomo’s votes had come from the west of the country and
he and his party could hardly believe their defeat. In the meantime, the former Zipra and
Zanla combatants in the ZNA remained loyal to their respective political parties. As
tension increased, clashes between the former Zipra and Zanla elements of the ZNA
occurred in some military barracks in the country notably at Entumbane in Bulawayo and
Connemara in Kwekwe. The clashes resulted in some armed forces (of Zipra) elements
deserting the army from various military camps. The situation deteriorated in 1982 into
an armed insurrection which was largely confined to Matebeleland and some parts of the
Midlands provinces. The insurrection seriously threatened the stability of the country.
The government blamed ZAPU for the dissident problem but the party (ZAPU) denied
any involvement. As the situation threatened to get out of control, the government
deployed some army units, some of which were later accused of employing excessive
force, thereby committing some human rights abuses. A few years later, on the 5th of July
1999, on the occasion of the burial of Joshua Nkomo at the National Heroes Acre,
Mugabe acknowledged the unfortunate development and described it as “a moment of
madness.”

In the meantime, whilst the military operation was underway, negotiations between Zanu
PF and PF Zapu had begun on the political front. These negotiations culminated in the
signing of the Unity Accord on 22 December 1987 which led to the merging of the two
parties in to the United Zanu PF. Stability was restored and since then the country has
enjoyed peace which is an envy of the whole region.

After the 1987 Accord, the constitution was amended to create the executive presidency
and also to create two vice president posts. Mugabe became the executive president in
1988 and in the interest and spirit of unity Joshua Nkomo and Simon Muzenda became
co-vice presidents.
Since its overwhelming victory in the 1980 elections ZANU PF has continued to
dominate the political landscape of the country. Zimbabwe has adopted a multi-party
system of democracy though at some point in the mid 80s, the idea of a one party state
system was mooted and provoked a hot debate. Parliamentary and presidential elections
have been held on time after every five and six years in accordance with the constitution.
Parliamentary elections were held in 1980, 1985,1990,1995 and 2000 and Presidential
elections 1990, 1996 and 2002. The next parliamentary and presidential elections are due
in 2005 and 2008 respectively. Multi partysm or political pluralism has enabled the
existence of, and given a rise to numerous political parties and movements, some of
which have since folded. Examples of such parties were/are Forum Party of Zimbabwe,
Zimbabwe Unity Movement, Zimbabwe Union of Democrats, United Parties, Zanu
Ndonga, National Alliance for Good Governance, Movement for Democratic Change etc.
Generally most of those parties before 2000 failed to make any strong impact and Zanu
PF continuously rode to landslide victories.

The period from late 1980s through to 1990 and 2000 ushered in new socio-economic
challenges such as the need to redistribute land, high inflation, high unemployment,
negative balance of trade etc. which all controlled the ZANU PF government. Amidst
this, the MDC emerged to offer the strongest challenge to ZANU PF’s political
dominance since independence. In the 2000 parliamentary elections, MDC won 57 seats
against ZANU PF’s 62 out of the 120 contestable seats. Today the two parties continue to
dominate parliamentary proceedings with ZANU PF having a slight edge. The MDC
accuses ZANU PF of economic mismanagement whilst the ZANU PF believes and says
the MDC is a front for British and Western interests to block land reforms and hence its
stance to demonise the government and paint it black in the international arena, a
situation which has inflicted suffering in the Zimbabwean masses.

Civil Unrest – The Full Story

In dealing with the dissident problem in Zimbabwe soon after independence, one needs to
identify which came first- the dissidents or the Gukurahundi – the egg or the hen. In
actual fact, the Fifth Brigade came in response to the dissident problem.

The sequence of events

We were still in the Cold War, as a result there were Cold War conflicts taking place in
Southern Africa. During the civil war in Angola, with USA supporting /funding UNITA.
In Mozambique, there was RENAMO which was jointly supported/funded by South
Africa and ex-Rhodesians, as well as the USA. The idea was to create a cordon sanitare
(sanitary cordone) against encroaching communism from the north. The dissident
problem can therefore be viewed as a spill over of civil unrest in Angola and
Mozambique, with CIA playing a tribal game meant to destabilize southern African
states. The ex-Rhodesian soldiers, now resident in the then apartheid South Africa helped
fuel the unrest in the early-independent Zimbabwe by playing the tribal tramp card –
playing the Shona against the Ndebele, with allegations going rounds that the latter had
been robbed of political victory. The dispatching of the 5 th Brigade to Matebeleland to
quell the civil unrest ignited a lot of talk with allegations that the establishment meant to
wipe out the Ndebele tribe. The Unity Accord of December 1987 put the issue of civil
unrest to rest.

The sequence of civil unrest started long before elections in 1980. ZIPRA and ZANLA
had a long history of mistrust and blood between them. When ZIPA was formed in 1976
the union was a forced marriage whose chief architect was Julius Nyerere. The
subsequent collapse of ZIPA and the clashes then sowed the seed of the dissident problem
in 1980. The ZIPA collapse was mainly due to differences in tactical approaches in the
prosecution of the war. ZIPRA had a convention approach while ZANLA was truly
guerilla army in the maxist tradition. Logistical support during, before and after the life
span of ZIPA was also crucial since the Soviet Union tended to favour ZIPRA while
ZANLA was supported by China. The feeling of big brother by ZAPU continued in spite
of the clear and undisputable electoral victory of ZANU (PF) in 1980. The catching of
arms of war on ZAPU properties and the Entumbane clashes saw the birth of dissident
elements from the former ZIPRA elements and from then on the issue became on of
“response” by the ZANU PF government to what was seen as partly apartheid. South
African destabilisation of historical had bad blood between the 2 former liberation
movements. The Fifth Brigade response should therefore be seen in this context. The
excesses of 5 Brigade and the death of many innocent civilians in Matebeleland is a
deplorable and sad chapter in our history and should not only be deplored but never
repeated. The lessons that we have learnt as people is never to nurture tribal superiority
sentiments which have seen repeated genocidal horrors in the great lakes region. For
Zimbabwe the ballot box should and must always provide the legitimacy to govern.

Socio-Economic Developments

The major challenge facing the new government was to redress colonial imbalances
which had resulted in the marginalisation of the black people. Aggressive and corrective
initiatives had to be pursued in education, health, land distribution, economic
empowerment and other general social service provisions.

Upon gaining power in 1980, the government embarked on a programme to resettle 18


000 families on about 1,1 million hectares of land at a cost of $60 million. Britain was to
fund half of this programme while Zimbabwe would pay for the remainder. In 1983, the
government raised its targets to 162 000 families to be resettled on 9 million hectares at a
cost of $570 million. Such targets were obviously ambitious and were never attained
partly due to lack of funding and squabbles with the British around the disbursement of
the pledged funds. By 2000 however, about 71 000 families had been resettled. The
agrarian reforms and general economic growth have been adversely affected by severe
droughts in the agricultural seasons of 1982, 1992 and 2000 – 2002.

In education, primary education was made free and compulsory. Many more schools were
built. Within the first four years of independence, primary school enrolment rose from
819 568 in 1979 to 2 044 487 in 1983. The number of secondary schools increased from
177 in 1979 to 1 548 in 1999. The massive expansion of education created increased
demand for trained teachers and the government had to overcome the early shortages by
establishing more teacher training colleges. ZINTEC programmes were introduced to
“fast track” the training of teachers as the student teachers received most of their training
in classrooms. A government to government arrangement with Cuba enabled thousands of
Zimbabweans to train as science teachers in Cuba. Expatriate teachers were also recruited
from abroad. Polytechnical colleges wee also increased such that apart form Harare and
Bulawayo, each province now boasts of a polytechnic college of its own. State
universities have also increased from one to four. Adult literacy programmes famously
dubbed “night schools” were started after 1980 to enable those disadvantaged adults to
gain some basic literacy and advance with education if they so wished. The net effect of
such initiatives has been that Zimbabwe now has the highest literacy rate in Africa – at
over 92 % it can only be rivaled by that of Egypt. Today Zimbabwe’s highly skilled
human resources is in high demand not only in Africa but also in Europe and USA. In
health great strides were also made in making services accessible to all groups including
the blacks and the poor who were once marginalized. Free treatment was accorded to all
those who earned below $150 000-00 per month. More clinics were built and some were
upgraded into district and provincial referral hospitals. Andrew Flemming Hospital
became the largest in the country. Free immunization programmes against the six child
killer diseases were introduced. It has to be noted and emphasized that after 1980, the
economy was a semi-mixed socio-planned one which required state intervention and
regulation. One of these, interventionist measures as introduced in industrial relations,
was where the state sought to protect workers from excessive capitalist abuses and
improve their security. In light of this the following measures became a feature of
policy:-

 Minimum wage levels were imposed by the government, pegged at $150, 00 in


1980
 The ministry of labour through its labour tribunals was given the powers to
approve or disapprove dismissals: In effect this meant an employer had to apply
for and seek authority from the ministry before a worker could be fired or laid off.
 Subsidies and price controls on basic foodstuffs were introduced.

The economy however did remarkably well during the early years of independence, with
a growth rate of about 5% which actually two or three times faster than the rest of Africa.
However, the government’s populist policies on basic foodstuffs as well as on key
parastatals meant that it had to contend with huge expenditure which often mismatched
its revenue account. As the years went by, the government began to find it difficult to
finance its huge recurrent expenditure and the budget deficit continued to widen. As
interventionism and other state’s regulatory mechanisms expanded they tended to
outgrow its (state’s) administrative capacity and began to stifle economic growth.

The state’s interventionism and regulatory measures tended to discourage any fresh
investment. At the same time the expanded education service was now churning out
hundreds of thousands of school leavers into the job market. This resulted in rising levels
of unemployment. Against this background, the government found its only recourse was
to the International Monetary Fund and the World Ban, who resultantly introduced the
Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) with a view of attracting
investment. The ESAP later ZIMPREST were characterized by:-

 Reduction of Public Expenditure


 Economic Liberalization/Privatisation
 Devaluation

These austerity measures led to a steep rise in the prices of food and services as well as
retrenchments which all led to sharp decline in the standards of living. Contrary to the
anticipated benefits of ESAP, interest rates and inflation increased from 14 to 15% while
unemployment increased. ESAP was later succeeded by ZIMPREST, which was also
IMF/WB inspired but both reform programmes failed to turn around the economy as
intended. Instead they only succeeded in opening the Zimbabwean market to US and
British business exploitation while ordinary Zimbabweans continued to suffer and the
economy plummeted further. The government began to accuse the IMF of ill advising it
while the IMF in turn maintained that the government was its own western enemy as it
failed to meet particular targets and conditions such as speed privatization of public
utilities and reduction of public expenditure. As the animosity between the government
and the two Briton-wood institutions intensified, the government started to consider
adopting economic recovery programmes which are “homegrown: i.e which factor in
Zimbabwe’s particular circumstances. ZIMPREST was abandoned and replaced by the
Millenium Recovery Programme (MRP). Because the government has finally resolved to
solve theland issue once and for all, the MRP was short lived and was soon replaced by
the national Economic Recovery Programme (NERP) whose 10 Point Plan is based on
the premise that “Land is economy and economy is land”

Current Challenges

It has to be noted that the IMF inspired economic programmes all impacted negatively on
the provision of social services, leading to immense suffering of people. The government
had therefore to switch to “home grown programmes” which ideally should be founded
on the basis of available indigenous resources. An example of such programme is the
NERP currently in operation, which is dove-tailed to the government’s current land
reform programme. The land redistribution exercise embarked upon by the government is
aimed at economically empowering the black majority as well as stimulating economic
growth through raising agricultural production. However, the programme had brought the
international spotlight on Zimbabwe, with the West, whose kith and kin are the major
losers in the game accusing the government of violating human rights especially with
regard to property rights. Britain and the West now put their weight behind the opposition
MDC in charging that the land reforms are a political gimmick meant to bolster support
for the ruling ZANU PF party. (The question whether or not land redistribution is a
political gimmick will be tackled separately later)

The animosity between Zimbabwe on one side and the West and Britain on the other
largely centred on the land reform programme has led to Zimbabwe being subjected to
international sanctions, both official and unofficial. The challenge for the country now is
not only to handle and survive the sanctions but to turn around the economy as well.
Finally, apart form successfully concluding the land reform programme, another very
critical challenge facing the nation today Is the HIV/AIDS menace. With Zimbabwe
currently having the fourth highest rate of infection in the world, the fight against
HIV/AIDS should received top priority, otherwise it is threatening to wipe off and reverse
all the socio economic gains achieved since independence.
References

State Politics in Zimbabwe, University of Zimbabwe Publications, Harare 1990

A Social History of Zimbabwe, Oxford, 2002

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