Hidden Dimensions of Operation Murambatsvina, The

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Description

In his introduction to The Hidden Dimensions Maurice Vambe argues that the treatment of people as 'human dirt' demands the notion of citizenship in Zimbabwe be rethought.

Sujets

• History

Informations

• Publié par: Weaver Press
• Date de parution: 15 décembre 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781779221193
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

Contents

THE HIDDEN DIMENSIONS OF OPERATION MURAMBATSVINA

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CONTENTS

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Contents

THE HIDDEN DIMENSIONS OF OPERATION MURAMBATSVINA

EDITED BY MAURICE VAMBE

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Weaver Press P O Box A1922 Avondale Harare Zimbabwe www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com

Published in South Africa by the Africa Institute of South Africa P.O. Box 630 Pretoria, 0001

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

The publishers gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Harare, towards the publication of this book

© This collection: Weaver Press, 2008 Individual chapters: the respective authors, 2008 ISBN 978 1 77922 071 4 (Weaver Press) ISBN 978 0 79830 2166 (Africa Institute)

Printed and bound in South Africa by Fingerprint Co-operative

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List of Illustrations

Contents

C ONTENTS

Introduction: Rethinking Citizen & Subject in Zimbabwe Maurice Taonezvi Vambe

P ART O NE H ISTORICISING M URAMBATSVINA

Historical Antecedents to Operation Murambatsvina Alois Mlambo

Coercion, Consent, Context: Operation Murambatsvina & ZANU(PF)’s Illusory Quest for Hegemony David Moore

Discourses of Dirt & Disease in Operation Murambatsvina Ashleigh Harris

P ART T WO H IDDEN A SPECTS OF O PERATION M URAMBATSVINA

Displacement & Livelihoods: The Longer-term Impacts of Operation Murambatsvina Deborah Potts

Eschatology, Magic, Nature & Politics: The Responses of the People of Epworth to the Tragedy of Operation Murambatsvina Mickias Musiyiwa

Murambatsvina’s Assault on Women’s Legal & Economic  Rights: An Interview with a Cross-border Small Trader Beauty Vambe

Bulldozers Always Come: ‘Maggots’, Citizens & Governance in Contemporary Zimbabwe Tinashe L. Chimedza

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P ART T HREE R EPRESENTATIONS OF O PERATION M URAMBATSVINA IN THE P OPULAR M EDIA

Worlds Apart: Representations of Operation Murambatsvina in Two Zimbabwean Weeklies Tendai Chari

Cartooning Murambatsvina: Representation of Operation Murambatsvina through Press Cartoons Richard Kudzai Nyamanhindi

The Chichidodo Syndrome: Rehearsals of Operation Murambatsvina in Zimbabwean Literature & Popular Songs Maurice Taonezvi Vambe

P ART F OUR O FFICIAL R ESPONSES TO O PERATION M URAMBATSVINA

The Zimbabwe Government’s Responses to Criticism of Operation Murambatsvina Nhamo Mhiripiri

Reading the 2005 Tibaijuka Report on Zimbabwe in a Global Context Tafataona Mahoso

Notes on Contributors

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Introduction

Introduction Rethinking Citizen & Subject in Zimbabwe

Maurice Taonezvi Vambe

The post-colonial state of Zimbabwe is in the throes of economic, political and cultural crisis. One of the symptoms of this crisis manifested itself between May and July 2005, when the government launched Operation Murambatsvina, described in official circles as a crackdown by government agents on vendors; innocent men and women doing their business. The crisis of legitimacy charac- terising the present political leadership has a far longer history than critics have been prepared to concede. The making of Operation Murambatsvina was ini- tially embossed in the British colonial system in Rhodesia. Colonialism’s methods of stripping Africans of their natural and material resources are well documented. Africans guided by the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) fought colonialism until 1980 when Zimbabwe became an independent country under the principle of majority rule, and one person one vote. However, ZANLA and ZIPRA did not ‘provide space for dissenting voices to emerge from within the political move- ments’ (Raftopoulos 2004, 1). Political scientist Eldred Masunungure quotes the then Prime Minister of the newly created Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, now Presi- dent of the Republic of Zimbabwe, addressing the ZANU(PF) Congress held in 1984, saying that during struggle: ‘This exercise [of crushing ZIPA and its Vashandi influence] was followed by a politicisation programme in the camps. We warned any person with a tendency to revolt that the ZANU axe would fall on their necks:Tino tema nedemo[‘We will axe you’] was the clear message (2004:151).’ In 1984, when the prime minister was reported to have said that dissent would be dealt with severely, this message was not merely a metaphor. Between 1981 and 1986, the government sent the Fifth Brigade into parts of Matabeleland and Midlands provinces to pacify those perceived to have been sympathising with dissidents; as many as 20,000 lives were lost. The myth of Zimbabwe in the early 1980s being a successful developmental state overlooks the brutality of Gukura- hundi. In the 1990s the government faced massive discontent from workers,

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