"Zimbabwe is not a South African province" : historicising South Africa's Zimbabwe policy since the 1960s

This paper interrogates analyses of Thabo Mbeki's South Africa's Zimbabwe policy which compare his approach to that of John Vorster's government in the 1970s and decry Mbeki's inability or unwillingness to use its ostensibly considerable hegemonic power to force Robert Mugabe to practise good governance.1 It is argued that just as Vorster used South Africa's dominant influence over Rhodesia to "persuade" Ian Smith to negotiate with the country's African nationalist leaders, the Mbeki administration should have taken a similar line instead of pursuing "quiet diplomacy". The assumption is that little had changed in the relations between the two countries in the meantime and that South Africa continued to have the same level of hegemonic power over Zimbabwe. The paper argues that a more historicised approach shows that the relations between the two countries had changed so dramatically by the 1990s that South Africa no longer wielded compelling power and influence over its northern neighbour. The thirty-year liberation wars in the region and the "debt" that the ANC government owed the region for its support during the struggle, among other factors, meant that the dynamics governing South Africa-Zimbabwe relations were very different.Hierdie artikel bevraagteken analises wat Suid-Afrika se Zimbabwiese beleid in die Mbeki-era vergelyk met dié van John Vorster se regering in die 1970's, en wat Mbeki se onvermoë of onwilligheid betreur om sy land se oënskynlik noemenswaardige hegemoniese mag te gebruik om Robert Mugabe tot 'n verantwoordbare regering te dwing. Daar is aangevoer dat net soos wat Vorster gebruik gemaak het van Suid-Afrika se magsoorwig om Ian Smith te "oorreed" om met sy land se swart nasionalistiese leiers te onderhandel, die Mbeki-regering, in plaas van sy "stille diplomasie", dieselfde roete moes gevolg het. Die aanname is dat daar in die tussentyd weinig verander het wat betref die verhouding tussen die twee lande, en dat Suid-Afrika steeds dieselfde mate van hegemoniese mag oor Zimbabwe gehad het. Hierdie artikel voer aan dat 'n meer historistiese benadering daarop wys dat die verhouding tussen die twee lande teen die 1990's só dramaties verander het dat Suid-Afrika nie meer dieselfde mag en invloed oor sy noordelike buurman kon uitoefen nie. Die streek se dertig jaar-lange vryheidsoorloë en die ANC se "morele skuld" teenoor die streek na dié se steun tydens die vryheidstryd het, tesame met ander faktore, daarop neergekom dat die verhoudingsdinamika tussen Suid-Afrika en Zimbabwe baie anders was.The quote in the title is from BBC News, 5 April 2008, Thabo Mbeki speaking at a Progressive Governance Conference centre left leaders, Watford, England, April 2008.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_hist.htmlam2016Historical and Heritage Studie

Becoming Zimbabwe or becoming Zimbabwean : identity, nationalism and state building in the historical context of Southern Africa.

The lecture explores the processes of identity making and state building in a multi-ethnic and multi-racial society recently emerging from a protracted armed struggle against a racially-ordered settler colonial domination. It explores the extent to which historical factors, such as the nature of the state, the prevailing national political economy and regional and international forces and developments have shaped notions of belonging and citizenship over time and affected state building efforts. The role of the post-colonial state and economy, political developments and the land question in shaping the post-colonial dispensation is also examined. The lecture investigates how Zimbabwe’s lived experience has produced various and competing historical narratives about its past; what factors have contributed to the political economy of historical knowledge production in a colonial and post-colonial setting and how this has further complicated the process of the development of a common identity. It contends that many factors have militated against the development of a common national identity, including, among others, the country’s ethnic diversity, the colonial legacy of racism, autocratic intolerance of political dissent, and a racialised unequal socio-economic regime, the armed conflict that tore the fabric of Zimbabwe’s society for almost two decades and left the races divided, the policy of reconciliation after independence, notwithstanding, the vexatious question of land ownership that remained dangerously unresolved for twenty years, and the problematic role of intellectuals, especially historians, in shaping competing perceptions about the country’s past and present and fuelling difference rather than a sense of common and shared interests.km201

From an industrial powerhouse to a nation of vendors : over two decades of economic decline and deindustrialization in Zimbabwe 1990–2015

From being the second most industrialized country in Sub-Saharan Africa at independence in 1980, Zimbabwe’s economy has declined rapidly to a point where the country ranks among the poorest economic performers in the region. The three pillars which had underpinned the country’s vibrant economy, namely, agriculture, mining and manufacturing, have suffered greatly from poor government policy choices, resulting in the near collapse of each of the sectors and massive unemployment. As a result, an estimated 90% of the Zimbabwean population was unemployed at 2015 and was forced to eke out a living in the informal sector, mostly through vending of second-hand clothes and other basic items. With regard to the manufacturing sector specifically, the sector had all but collapsed by 2015, as companies either folded or relocated to escape the country’s harsh economic climate. This article traces the decline of the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector from 1990 to 2015 and seeks to explain the factors contributing to this decline.http://jds.sagepub.comHistorical and Heritage Studie

The limits of transnational solidarity: the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the Swaziland and Zimbabwean crises

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the main union federation in South Africa, was instrumental in ending apartheid. This paper evaluates COSATU's post-apartheid role in working for democracy elsewhere in Southern Africa through deepening transnational solidarity, focusing on its role in Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Although the federation successfully mobilised trade union members to oppose the contravention of human and labor rights, its ability to affect lasting change was limited by contradictory messages and actions by the South African government, the dualistic nature of institutional formation in these countries, strategic miscalculations and structural limitations on union power

Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe: a cluster-randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters were defined as the catchment area of between one and four village health workers employed by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care. Women were eligible for inclusion if they permanently lived in clusters and were confirmed pregnant. Clusters were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to standard of care (52 clusters), IYCF (20 g of a small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement per day from age 6 to 18 months plus complementary feeding counselling; 53 clusters), WASH (construction of a ventilated improved pit latrine, provision of two handwashing stations, liquid soap, chlorine, and play space plus hygiene counselling; 53 clusters), or IYCF plus WASH (53 clusters). A constrained randomisation technique was used to achieve balance across the groups for 14 variables related to geography, demography, water access, and community-level sanitation coverage. Masking of participants and fieldworkers was not possible. The primary outcomes were infant length-for-age Z score and haemoglobin concentrations at 18 months of age among children born to mothers who were HIV negative during pregnancy. These outcomes were analysed in the intention-to-treat population. We estimated the effects of the interventions by comparing the two IYCF groups with the two non-IYCF groups and the two WASH groups with the two non-WASH groups, except for outcomes that had an important statistical interaction between the interventions. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01824940. FINDINGS: Between Nov 22, 2012, and March 27, 2015, 5280 pregnant women were enrolled from 211 clusters. 3686 children born to HIV-negative mothers were assessed at age 18 months (884 in the standard of care group from 52 clusters, 893 in the IYCF group from 53 clusters, 918 in the WASH group from 53 clusters, and 991 in the IYCF plus WASH group from 51 clusters). In the IYCF intervention groups, the mean length-for-age Z score was 0·16 (95% CI 0·08-0·23) higher and the mean haemoglobin concentration was 2·03 g/L (1·28-2·79) higher than those in the non-IYCF intervention groups. The IYCF intervention reduced the number of stunted children from 620 (35%) of 1792 to 514 (27%) of 1879, and the number of children with anaemia from 245 (13·9%) of 1759 to 193 (10·5%) of 1845. The WASH intervention had no effect on either primary outcome. Neither intervention reduced the prevalence of diarrhoea at 12 or 18 months. No trial-related serious adverse events, and only three trial-related adverse events, were reported. INTERPRETATION: Household-level elementary WASH interventions implemented in rural areas in low-income countries are unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia and might not reduce diarrhoea. Implementation of these WASH interventions in combination with IYCF interventions is unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia more than implementation of IYCF alone. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Department for International Development, Wellcome Trust, Swiss Development Cooperation, UNICEF, and US National Institutes of Health.The SHINE trial is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1021542 and OPP113707); UK Department for International Development; Wellcome Trust, UK (093768/Z/10/Z, 108065/Z/15/Z and 203905/Z/16/Z); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; US National Institutes of Health (2R01HD060338-06); and UNICEF (PCA-2017-0002)

Entstehung von Zimbabwe und Zimbabwern : identität, nationalismus und staatsbildung

This lecture explores the processes of identity-making and statebuilding in a multi-ethnic and multiracial society recently emerging from a protracted armed struggle against racially ordered, settler-colonial domination. It explores the extent to which historical factors, such as the nature of the state, the prevailing national political economy, and regional and international forces and developments have shaped notions of belonging and citizenship over time and have affected state-building efforts. The role of the postcolonial state and economy, political developments and the land question in shaping the postcolonial dispensation is also examined. The lecture argues that, like most African states created by colonialism, Zimbabwe is not yet a nation and that it is only in the process of becoming. It also comments on the role of historians in shaping notions of nationhood and identity.Dieser Beitrag – ursprünglich eine Antrittsvorlesung – sondiert Identitäts- und Staatsbildungsprozesse in der multi-ethnischen Gesellschaft Zimbabwes, die erst vor verhältnismäßig kurzer Zeit aus einem langwierigen bewaffneten Kampf gegen eine nach rassistischen Kriterien geschichtete Siedler-Kolonie hervorgegangen ist. Untersucht wird, inwieweit historische Faktoren – wie die Struktur des Staates, die vorrangige nationale politische Ökonomie sowie regionale und internationale Kräfte und Entwicklungen – die Vorstellungen von Zusammengehörigkeit und Staatsbürgerschaft geprägt und die Bemühungen um die Bildung des neuen Staates beeinflusst haben, aber auch, inwieweit die entstandene Gesellschaftsordnung durch die postkoloniale Entwicklung von Staat, Wirtschaft und Politik sowie der Landfrage gestaltet wurde. Der Autor argumentiert, dass Zimbabwe – wie die meisten Staaten Afrikas, die durch den Kolonialismus geschaffen wurden – noch keine Nation ist, sondern sich erst im Prozess des Werdens befindet. Zudem verweist er auf die Rolle von Historikern bei der Gestaltung von Vorstellungen zu Nationalstaatlichkeit und Identität.Alois S. Mlambo originally presented this paper as his inaugural lecture upon becoming the new head of the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at the University of Pretoria on 30 October 2012.http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/am201

'Honoured more in the breach than in the observance' : economic sanctions on Rhodesia and international response, 1965 to 1979

The United Nations Security Council passed a series of resolutions condemning Rhodesia’s unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) in 1965, culminating in Resolution 253 of 1968 imposing comprehensive mandatory international sanctions on Rhodesia. With a few exceptions, notably South Africa and Portugal, most member states supported the resolution and pledged their commitment to uphold and enforce the measures. Yet, most countries, including those at the forefront of imposing sanctions against Rhodesia, broke sanctions or did little to enforce them. An examination of the records of the Security Council Committee Established in Pursuance of Resolution 253 (1968) Concerning the Question of Southern Rhodesia (the Sanctions Committee) shows that sanctions against Rhodesia were honoured more in the breach than in the observance.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rshj202020-10-09hj2019Historical and Heritage Studie

Becoming Zimbabwe or becoming Zimbabwean: identity, nationalism and state-building

This lecture explores the processes of identity-making and state-building in a multi-ethnic and multiracial society recently emerging from a protracted armed struggle against racially ordered, settler-colonial domination. It explores the extent to which historical factors, such as the nature of the state, the prevailing national political economy, and regional and international forces and developments have shaped notions of belonging and citizenship over time and have affected state-building efforts. The role of the postcolonial state and economy, political developments and the land question in shaping the postcolonial dispensation is also examined. The lecture argues that, like most African states created by colonialism, Zimbabwe is not yet a nation and that it is only in the process of becoming. It also comments on the role of historians in shaping notions of nationhood and identity.Dieser Beitrag – ursprünglich eine Antrittsvorlesung – sondiert Identitäts- und Staatsbildungsprozesse in der multi-ethnischen Gesellschaft Zimbabwes, die erst vor verhältnismäßig kurzer Zeit aus einem langwierigen bewaffneten Kampf gegen eine nach rassistischen Kriterien geschichtete Siedler-Kolonie hervorgegangen ist. Untersucht wird, inwieweit historische Faktoren – wie die Struktur des Staates, die vorrangige nationale politische Ökonomie sowie regionale und internationale Kräfte und Entwicklungen – die Vorstellungen von Zusammengehörigkeit und Staatsbürgerschaft geprägt und die Bemühungen um die Bildung des neuen Staates beeinflusst haben, aber auch, inwieweit die entstandene Gesellschaftsordnung durch die postkoloniale Entwicklung von Staat, Wirtschaft und Politik sowie der Landfrage gestaltet wurde. Der Autor argumentiert, dass Zimbabwe – wie die meisten Staaten Afrikas, die durch den Kolonialismus geschaffen wurden – noch keine Nation ist, sondern sich erst im Prozess des Werdens befindet. Zudem verweist er auf die Rolle von Historikern bei der Gestaltung von Vorstellungen zu Nationalstaatlichkeit und Identität

Buchbesprechung: Heike L. Schmidt, Colonialism and Violence in Zimbabwe: A History of Suffering (2013)

Review of the monograph:Heike L. Schmidt, Colonialism and Violence in Zimbabwe: A History of Suffering, Woodbridge, Suffolk: James Currey, 2013, ISBN: 978-1-84701-051-3, 287 pp.Besprechung der Monographie:Heike L. Schmidt, Colonialism and Violence in Zimbabwe: A History of Suffering, Woodbridge, Suffolk: James Currey, 2013, ISBN: 978-1-84701-051-3, 287 Seite

The Zimbabwean crisis and international response

Zimbabwe has been in economic, political and social crisis since the turn of the 21st century. The crisis is the result of the combined effects of misgovernment, political intolerance, economic mismanagement by the ruling élite, a virulent HIVAIDS pandemic and a severely deleterious economic meltdown. International ostracism of the country in the wake of Zimbabwe's controversial "fast track" land reform since 2000 and the human rights abuses accompanying it precipitated the economic collapse. Meanwhile, shortages of foreign currency and the disruption of the country's agricultural industry led to a collapse of the local manufacturing industry, high levels of unemployment and inflation, estimated at the beginning of 2006 at 80 and 780%, respectively, and severe shortages of basic necessities of life. As the country sank deeper into an economic quagmire and government increasingly trampled on human rights, there was widespread condemnation of the Zimbabwean Government, mainly in the West, but with little notable effect. In fact, international responses to the Zimbabwean crisis have been largely ineffectual. The question is why international responses have been so ineffective and why denunciations of the Zimbabwe government have come mostly from the Western countries, while Zimbabwe's own neighbours on the continent have either remained silent or have openly supported Zimbabwe's policies. This paper attempts to address these questions and understand why there has been little consensus among the African governments and Western powers on how to deal with the Zimbabwean situation