This study focuses on the role of Zimbabwe‘s indigenisation and economic empowerment policy in community development. In particular, it investigates the contribution of community ownership of mineral resource wealth to community development with particular reference to the Zvishavane Community Share Ownership Trust (ZCSOT) in Zvishavane District, Zimbabwe. The study is situated within the framework of participatory community development and seeks to explore whether the ZCSOT stimulate broad-based participation at community level in the ownership and utilisation of natural resource wealth as envisioned in the indigenisation policy. The research utilised methodological triangulation, using a questionnaire and in-depth interviews for data collection. The findings of this study suggest that the community ownership of mineral resource wealth through community share ownership trusts (CSOTs) is capable of bringing positive social and economic transformation in resource-rich communities much better than state-centred and/or corporate-led development. However, the study also highlights that because of certain irregularities in the indigenisation policy and the subsequent operational imperfections evident in the operation of the ZCSOT, community engagement in the process of development is quite marginal. Instead, what we see is political manipulation of the CSOT, lack of transparency and corruption due to the non-representation of ordinary community members in the CSOT, thus impeding their full participation. The involvement of traditional leaders in CSOTs has promoted the entrenchment of relations of domination, paternalism and stifling of democracy, thereby contradicting with the principles of participatory community development. In the end, the study establishes that the success of community ownership of mineral resource wealth in the socio-economic transformation of mineral-rich communities needs need to be anchored on the full participation of local communities.

The purpose of this study is to analyse Gweru City Council`s spending pattern and behaviour and to determine if this spending pattern is directed towards poverty reduction and economic development or not. Furthermore, to fit a log-differenced regression model to a historical financial dataset obtained from Gweru City Council Finance Department for the time period July 2009 to September 2012. Regression techniques were used to determine how Gweru City Council`s total income (dependent variable) is affected by its expenditure (independent variables). Econometric modeling techniques were employed for the evaluation of estimate tests, conducted to determine the reliability of the estimated model. The study concludes by providing some recommendations for possible financial plans which could be adopted by Gweru City Council and other local authorities in Zimbabwe for the well-being of Zimbabweans and economic development.

Dissertation submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of MASTER OF COMMERCE IN DEVELOPMENT THEORY AND POLICY University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management School of Economics and Business Sciences – SEBS Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development (CSID) / Zimbabwe’s mineral sector has been the major contributor of the national economy’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since the economic meltdown post land reform programme. The scale of the crisis resulted in the adoption of the multicurrency system in 2009. In an attempt to save the economy from total collapse the government has turned to the mining sector to establish linkages through mineral beneficiation. This study has analysed whether the creation of linkages in the mineral sector, through beneficiation and value addition, could resuscitate the economy. Literature on natural resources shows that countries that are resource-rich experience slow growth rates than resource-poor countries. The study found that mineral resource dependency could be a platform or foundation for economic growth and developmental opportunities through linkages creation in the mineral sector. However, resource-based development strategy is a challenging development path that needs a strong state with vested capacity to actively direct and co-ordinate economic transformation through deepening of the resource sector. Political tensions in Zimbabwe are the overriding obstacles to economic linkages creation in the mining sector and across other sectors. It is therefore, imperative to understand the socio-economic and political dynamics and interactions that influence and shape policy decisions, implementation and their outcomes in order for Zimbabwe to optimise economic linkages and revive its economy. / MT2017

The anchor of this research was to analyze the implementation process of Zimbabwe’s IEEP. Implementation of policy has been the Achilles heel of most African countries it has been proven that it is a disease of the continents. In this research the focus is on analyzing what happened between the tabled idea and the implemented policy, this is because the implemented policy had a tremendous contradictory impact to the world as it disempowered the investors in an attempt to economically empower its citizens. The tabled idea was great it had its own flows because it lacked clarity in some of its definition and the goals, objectives and how the policy were to be implemented are not clear there is basically lack of clarity pertaining to the policy. This study made use of two theories the Top- down approach and the politics and administration dichotomy, these two theories are in favour of an autocratic way of policy implementation which follows a chain of command. These two theories highlighted that administrators are being covered be politicians and that administration as a practice and discipline are dead. This has lead to policies being made implemented first before they are formulated because there are no administrators. This study reviewed that the implementation process of the IEEP is not clear or rather it does not exist; there is little or no transparency on the events that took place between the tabled idea and the implemented policy.

According to the canons of conventional economic philosophy the process of economic interpretation should be value neutral and strictly fall within the bounds of normative science. This approach is concerned not with goal setting but only with the technical possibilities of alternative means of successful tactics in a given overall strategy. It is the author's thesis that such premises patently ignore the fundamental truths of development problems, and that there exists a genuine need to bridge the gap that demarcates theory from practicality and truth from illusion. To seek "development" implies a challenge to the "status quo" of menial existence and perpetual servitude to the inhospitable forces of ones own environment. This attitude is in itself a value judgement, and in underdeveloped societies it is more than a mere academic quibble. Accordingly, this paper not only implicitly assumes "development" to be a desirable goal but also that it is necessary, and the objective of this study of an underdeveloped community shall be to examine the theoretical relevance, or otherwise, of general and partial theories of underdevelopment against the quantitative and qualitative evidence of the course of events that have in the past, and are likely in the future, to influence the development of the "Rhodesian economy".

A report on a research study presented to the Department of Social Work School of Human and Community Development, Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Social Work in the Field of Social Development, March 2017 / Poverty is one of the biggest challenges that the global community is struggling with. In attempting to address poverty, there has been a tilt towards a microenterprise approach to social development mostly in the global South. The purpose of the study was to explore the role of microenterprises in poverty alleviation and how microenterprises can be optimised as a strategy for poverty alleviation. The primary aim of the study was to explore ways in which microenterprises are contributing to the reduction of household poverty in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. This was a qualitative study and a multiple case study design was employed. A semi-structured interview schedule was used during interviews with nine participants who had either gone through entrepreneurship or technical skills training and two key informants were selected based on their expertise in enterprise development. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants and thematic analysis was applied to analyse the collected data from all participants. The major findings of this study were that microenterprises have a pivotal role in ensuring basic sustenance, for example basic needs like rent, food, health care and education. All the participants had received business training, however, there still is a disjuncture between business knowledge and application. Challenges that affected participants in the study included lack of machinery, access to credit and lack of a market for their products as indicated in the findings of the study. The participants expressed that microenterprises are a step towards breaking the poverty cycle. The main findings of this study are that microenterprises as a tool in poverty alleviation manages only to afford people basic sustenance, however, it cannot alone be the panacea for poverty reduction, hence it should be seen amongst other interventions in social development. / XL2018

Submitted to the Development Studies, School of Social Sciences in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2016 / The predatory state has received considerably less attention than the developmental state in the development literature. In this thesis I probe three understudied questions on the characteristics of the predatory state and its construction. First, what are the underlying class forces and power dynamics of a predatory state and how does it function? Second, what are the modes of accumulation that characterise the predatory state? Finally, what are the implications for development outcomes? This thesis answers these questions by examining Zimbabwe’s power elite (state, military and business) anti-developmental accumulation patterns across key economic sectors: land and agriculture, mining, transport and energy, and banking and finance. I adopt an historical approach beginning in the colonial period to understand the key choices made to explain the changing role of the state in mediating accumulation patterns and implications for development in both pre- and post-independence periods. Based on my empirical research, I suggest that the predatory state is a ruling class anti-developmental accumulation and reproduction project characterised by: (1) party and military dominance in the state; (2) state-business relations shaped by domination and capture; and (3) state-society relations shaped by violence and patronage. I differentiate the notion of predation from most political economy approaches on post-colonial Africa that emphasise the absence of central authority. I challenge the developmental state concept that views the predatory state as simply the opposite of a developmental state. Finally, I also show that contrary to suggestions that the predatory state is autonomous from society, the predatory state is also in fact deeply embedded with business albeit in a different way. / GR2017

The study sought to investigate infrastructure development in economic crisis and recovery, with specific regard to the rail cargo sector in Zimbabwe since 2000. The research was prompted by firstly, the need to assess the current situation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), secondly, to examine the root cause of the challenges being faced by the National Railways of Zimbabwe and lastly, to review the plans going forward to resolve the challenges. In the study, a sample of 17 respondents was selected. Questions were used to guide the interview schedule. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and was presented and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings were then interpreted in relation to research objectives and questions. The research findings showed that most of the challenges that were being experienced by the National Railways of Zimbabwe were as a result of the economic meltdown of the Zimbabwean economy. It is evident from the findings that the rail cargo in Zimbabwe can be improved if the parastatal can be given autonomy to run the day to day operations without political interference from the government. The results further suggest that the National Railways of Zimbabwe can be in a position to breakeven or become financially viable if the government, who is the major shareholder, opens up lines or credit and helps secure strategic partners who will bring in capital. In light of the above findings, the study recommends that the government explore more private sector participation and private concession options as this will help the National Railways of Zimbabwe improve its current challenges. Secondly, the 1997 Railway Act has to be signed and officialised so as to enable the organisation to operate commercially. Thirdly, the staff composition and the election of the Board of Directors should be revisited so as to engage to stakeholders in promoting transparency, integrity and efficiency. Lastly, the National Railways of Zimbabwe needs to revive its Railway Motor Services Private Limited because it will help the organisation to cut down on competition from the road sector. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2014.

The process of trade liberalisation and market-oriented economic reforms was initiated in many developing countries in early 1980s; and it intensified in 1990s. In 1991, Zimbabwe was assisted by the IMF to implement trade-policy reforms under Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). After adopting ESAP, the country witnessed soaring balance-of-payment problems, contraction of output, unemployment and the loss of government revenue. A number of factors, which were at play resulted in dismal economic performance under ESAP. These factors still exist, in addition to inter alia weak economic policies, structural rigidities and weak institutions. However, notwithstanding this controversy, the country continuously opened its economy under Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), World Trade Organisation (WTO), Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and bilateral agreements. It is against this background that this study is undertaken, in order to evaluate the impact of different trade-policy regimes on trade, welfare and revenue in Zimbabwe. This study used two models: World Integrated Trade Solutions/Software for Market Analysis and Restrictions on Trade (WITS/SMART) and Tariff Reform Impact Simulation Tool (TRIST). The WITS/SMART model was used because of its ability in analysing the tariff effect of a single market on disaggregated product lines. The model also has the capability to analyse the effects of trade-policy reforms in the presence of imperfect substitutes. In order to complement the WITS/SMART model, a TRIST model was also used. The use of the TRIST model enabled the study to evaluate the impact of trade reforms on VAT, excise duties, collected and statutory revenue – which the WITS/SMART model had overlooked. Using the WITS/SMART model, the study considered seven trade-liberalisation frameworks for Zimbabwe: full implementation of the SADC free trade agreement (FTA), SADC common external tariff (CET), COMESA CET, COMESA FTA, EPAs, BFTAs and WTO FTA.

The research which forms the basis of this thesis describes rural women’s perceptions of how Camfed education and skills development programmes have improved their lives in the Chikomba rural district in Chivhu, Zimbabwe. The researcher was motivated to carry out this study mainly due to the fact that in most rural societies in Zimbabwe, women are found suffering from social, cultural and political biases in the traditional male dominated society of Zimbabwe. Compared to their male counterparts, women have limited access to educational and employment opportunities and also have less social and political power than men. Being heads of households, women have to carry out the full traditional roles with the added responsibility of household and production management. The purpose of this study was to inform those investing and interested in women’s education about whether, how and the conditions under which women’s education directly improves women’s own lives and decreases poverty in the family and society. Camfed is an organization that advocates for female education particularly in the marginalized and poor parts of the country where poverty remains a barrier to girl’s education. It provides financial resources and establishes innovative education and training programs in order to break the poverty cycle in rural communities and empower women. A quantitative approach was employed in this study using a descriptive survey design, with the emphasis on collecting primary data from the research participants as well as consulting secondary data sources such as books, academic journals, completed and unpublished post-graduate research dissertations and theses. Findings of this study revealed that financial constraints, early marriage, proximity to school, death of parents as well as domestic chores were factors identified by the women that prevented them from completing school and pursuing further studies. The women also describe their perceptions of how education has led to better opportunities and an improved standard of living as they can now afford the basic goods and services. Moreover the participants mentioned how education has provided them with the basic skills to pursue a livelihood which will enable them to enjoy a decent standard of living. The research also found that education is an important determinant of women’s decision making in terms of finances and thereby improves their sense of empowerment. The women talked extensively about how education has raised their self-esteem and how it has enhanced their economic and social independence. At the end of the study and using the acquired information, several recommendations are made for the expansion and increase of programmes that offer incentives to keep girls in school, especially at secondary level where returns for girls are substantially greater in-terms of reducing poverty and improving the wellbeing of individuals.