M.A. (History) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Technology: Public Management, Durban University of Technology. South Africa, 2014. / Between 1983 and 1987, an estimated 20 000 people from Matebeleland and parts of Midlands Province in Zimbabwe were killed in an operation code named Gukurahundi by state security agents; mostly the Central Intelligence Organisation and a battalion [5th Brigade] especially trained for this operation. Since that time no official apology or any form of healing process has been proffered by the ZANU PF government which was responsible for these atrocities. As a result, most communities in these areas have never been afforded opportunities to openly talk about their experiences and to seek relief for their painful memories of the past. If anything, the government has continued to cause enduring pain by periodically actively suppressing any such attempts. It has become an accepted norm that after violent conflicts that programmes aimed at reconciliation, healing and forgiveness should be undertaken as part of the peacebuilding efforts. Where such has not occurred, there is a fear that there might be a return to violence at some point in that country or community. The question that this research seeks to answer is whether, in view of the absence of any apology or official healing programme, these communities can heal themselves? Using a participatory action research approach, this research sheds some light on what communities could possibly do on their own to deal with their hurts. It also identifies conditions that would make such healing sustainable and what currently prevents that from taking place. It finds that through a broadly-based array of actions such as creating safe and empathetic spaces for storytelling, both verbal and written, group-based healing workshops and other psychosocial approaches, as well as a critical analysis of participants’ contexts in order to understand what needs transformation, it is possible for traumatised communities to attain a measure of relief from their emotional and psychological wounds. It also finds that this relief could be more sustainable if certain conditions were eliminated.

Thesis (DPhil (History))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The discussion concerning the history of the Afrikaners as a white minority in Rhodesia is a purposeful attempt to historically investigate the presence and fundamental contributions of this particular population group. In methodological terms this study falls within the framework of diaspora and migration studies, movement of nations and the dynamics of minorities living in a host country. Since 1890 Afrikaners from South Africa, mostly as the result of the search for improved living conditions and job opportunities, gradually found their way to the territory north of the Limpopo River. The organised and individual treks, and the sporadic movement of Afrikaner immigrants to Rhodesia would lay the foundations of a self-supporting, though geographically straggling population group. In almost every terrain of life Afrikaners would participate in the provision of essential labour service. Since the Afrikaners mainly represented a rural population, they became very familiar with agricultural practices and surroundings. Predominantly, the Afrikaner farmers would in due time play a contributory role in the overall agricultural industry and economy of Rhodesia. The Afrikaner churches and cultural organisations in Rhodesia would decisively serve to unite Afrikaners religiously and socially, and to knit them together. The influence of Christian ministry and reformist mission work would not remain limited to Afrikaners, but would at the same time also include the Christianisation of black people. Politically, the Afrikaners lived in relatively friendly coexistence with the dominant English-speaking population of a British colony, although unsympathetic political attitudes, preconceived ideas and the fear of Afrikaner nationalism often hampered relations. The restrictive colonial immigration policies, compulsory military service and the rejection of Afrikaans as the second official medium of instruction by the Rhodesian authorities confirmed the political subjection of Afrikaners in Rhodesia. Mutual acceptance among Afrikaners and English-speaking Rhodesians would only emerge after the declaration of independence in 1965. Due to the aspiration of preserving their language and group and national identity, the Afrikaners would consequently not be politically assimilated into the mainstream of the English-speaking population. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die bespreking van die geskiedenis van die Afrikaners as blanke minderheid in Rhodesië is 'n doelbewuste poging om die teenwoordigheid en wesenlike bydraes van hierdie bepaalde bevolkingsgroep histories te ondersoek. In metodologiese terme ressorteer hierdie studie binne die raamwerk van diaspora- en migrasiestudies, volksverskuiwing en die dinamika van minderhede woonagtig in 'n gasheerstaat. Sedert 1890 het Afrikaners vanuit Suid-Afrika, merendeels weens die soeke na verbeterde lewensomstandighede en werksgeleenthede, geleidelik hul weg na die gebied noord van die Limpoporivier gevind. Die georganiseerde en individuele Afrikaner-trekke en die sporadiese verhuising van Afrikaner-immigrante na Rhodesië sou die fondamente van . selfonderhoudende, dog geografies wydverspreide bevolkingsgroep lê. Afrikaners sou op feitlik alle lewensterreine en in die verskaffing van noodsaaklike arbeidsdienste deelneem. Aangesien die Afrikaners in hoofsaak 'n landelike bevolking verteenwoordig het, het hulle goed vertroud geraak met die boerderypraktyk en -omgewing. Die Afrikaner-boere sou oorwegend met verloop van tyd 'n bydraende ontwikkelingsrol in die algehele Rhodesiese landboubedryf en ekonomie vervul. Die Afrikaner-kerke en -kultuurorganisasies in Rhodesie sou 'n deurslaggewende godsdienstige, sosialiserings- en saambindende funksie verrig om Afrikaners te verenig. Die invloed van Christelike bearbeiding en reformistiese sendingwerk sou nie tot Afrikaners beperk bly nie, maar terselfdertyd ook die kerstening van swart mense insluit. Polities het Afrikaners in relatief vriendskaplike naasbestaan met die dominante Engelssprekende bevolking van 'n Britse kolonie verkeer, hoewel onsimpatieke politieke houdings, vooropgestelde idees en vrees vir Afrikaner-nasionalisme dikwels verhoudinge belemmer het. Die beperkende koloniale immigrasiebeleide, verpligte militere diensplig en die afkeur van Afrikaans as tweede amptelike voertaal deur die Rhodesiese owerhede, was bevestigend van die politieke onderworpenheid van Afrikaners in Rhodesië. Wedersydse aanvaarding tussen Afrikaners en Engelssprekende Rhodesiers sou eers na die onafhanklikheidverklaring in 1965 na vore kom. Danksy die strewe om die behoud van hul taal, groepsidentiteit en volkseie sou die Afrikaners dus nie polities in die hoofstroom van die Engelssprekende bevolking geassimileer word nie.

According to Chiwome, ' ... a writer's social vislon is a soclo-spiritual and historical product. A response to a complex process of Indoctrination' (1996: 16).The response can be a reaction depending on whose interests the issue is considered. The Ndebele novelist finds himself caught in the crossfire between two great traditions. He tries to be true to his background while still having to do justice to his newly acquired skill of graphically presenting his thoughts, feelings, and experiences He is a Victim of socio-political systems bent on giving education which moulds the mind to built-in- choices. Both poilitical eras use the printed word to further their ideologies . The Ndebele novelist finds himself having to remould his artistic genius if he is to fit in. In the process the goals of novelistic practice are missed. The novel will not communicate effectively since it has to answer to particular external forces. These forces derive,' ... from the urge of power to protect itself, to perpetuate itself, to prevail' (Chiwome 1996 :22). On the threshold of the two eras, the novel becomes a political statement. It Is this political aspect of the novel which continues to create what Chiwome (1996) has called creative timidity and mediocrity. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

According to Chiwome, ' ... a writer's social vislon is a soclo-spiritual and historical product. A response to a complex process of Indoctrination' (1996: 16).The response can be a reaction depending on whose interests the issue is considered. The Ndebele novelist finds himself caught in the crossfire between two great traditions. He tries to be true to his background while still having to do justice to his newly acquired skill of graphically presenting his thoughts, feelings, and experiences He is a Victim of socio-political systems bent on giving education which moulds the mind to built-in- choices. Both poilitical eras use the printed word to further their ideologies . The Ndebele novelist finds himself having to remould his artistic genius if he is to fit in. In the process the goals of novelistic practice are missed. The novel will not communicate effectively since it has to answer to particular external forces. These forces derive,' ... from the urge of power to protect itself, to perpetuate itself, to prevail' (Chiwome 1996 :22). On the threshold of the two eras, the novel becomes a political statement. It Is this political aspect of the novel which continues to create what Chiwome (1996) has called creative timidity and mediocrity. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

This is an appraisal of the career of Ethel Tawse Jollie (1876-1950), the first woman parliamentarian in Southern Rhodesia, and the British Empire overseas, prolific writer and leading intellectual of her political generation who played a key role in the achievement of responsible government in Southern Rhodesia in 1923. As the founder and principal organiser of the Responsible Government Association she imported from Britain a singular political philosophy which made a lasting impression on Rhodesia's political character and social identity. She was an influential figure in British imperialist circles and in the women's suffrage controversy. No other Rhodesian politician had achieved such prominence in the metropole, or possessed such a thoroughly formed, comprehensive ideology, and the propaganda skills necessary to give it effect. The study traces the formation of her ideas within the intellectual milieu of pre-1914 Britain and - through her - its subsequent adaptation in Rhodesia; how, through her marriage to Archibald Colquhoun - explorer, writer and Cecil Rhodes's first Administrator of Mashonaland - she became steeped in the ideology of the Edwardian Radical Right - that reaction to imperial decline denoted by the slogan 'National Efficiency'. By 1915. when she arrived in Rhodesia, she had come to believe that by 1915, when she arrived in Rhodesia, she had come to believe that the salvation of the Empire lay in its 'patriotic' periphery where it was possible to create new societies on Radical Right principles. Both in and out of parliament she gave to Rhodesian public policy and identity a distinct Radical Right hue, which she further enhanced by her involvement in various extra parliamentary pressure groups. It is a life and times study and considerable use is made of contemporary ballads and novels in the belief that immersion in the atmosphere of the period is particularly useful in an intellectual biography of this kind. Comparisons are also made with other British peripheries notably Ulster, Canada and New Zealand. The study challenges the traditional view of Rhodesia as a neo-Victorian intellectual backwater; seeing it rather as a society which continued to import selectively ideas from elsewhere in the Empire. It should interest Commonwealth and - because of its central character - women's historians.

Bibliography: leaves 290-311. This study investigates the roles and experiences of "women warriors" in Zimbabwe's anti-colonial national liberation war, and reveals certain glorifications which have served to obscure and silence the voices of thousands of young girls and women involved in the struggle. The problems associated with the inclusion of women in an armed/military guerrilla force are discussed, and the (re)presentation of women in discourses of war, fictional accounts, public and national symbols and other multiple discursive layers which have re-inscribed the women back into the domestic examined. The Zimbabwean film Flame highlights the political sensitivity of the issues, including accusations of rape by male comrades in guerrilla training camps. An overview of women's involvement in Zimbabwean history, anti-colonial struggle, and the African nationalist movement provides the background for a critique of western feminist theories of nationalism and women's liberation in Africa. Historical records are juxtaposed with the voices of some women ex-combatants who speak their reasons for joining the struggle and their experiences of war. White Rhodesian women's roles are also examined in light of the gendered constructions of war.

This study is a survey of war names adopted by guerrillas during the Zimbabwean conflict (1966-1979). The study collects, describes and analyses war names that were used by ZANLA guerrillas in the conflict. It explores onomastic patterns and processes that influenced these war names. Names collected from textual sources and from interviews of former guerrillas are analysed and classified into nine categories. One of the main findings is that the background of the namer influenced the naming patterns and processes identified in the study. Another finding is that most guerrillas named themselves and it was also observed that some guerrillas have retained their names. The findings, analysed within the theoretical framework developed earlier from the onomastic and identity theories, indicate that the war name plays a vital role not only in concealing the old identity of the guerrilla but also in creating new identities, which were used as weapons for challenging the enemy and contesting space. Onomastic erasure and resuscitation are proposed as partial explanation for the creation of some war names. The study contributes to onomastic research not only in that it has produced a large corpus of war names that can be used for further research in that it is a significant point of reference in onomastic research in Zimbabwe and in southern Africa, especially in the area of nicknames and war names. It also lays the foundation for further research on the role of naming patterns and processes in peace building and conflict resolution in Zimbabwe, on the southern African subcontinent and elsewhere. / Thesis (D. Litt et Phil.)

This study is a survey of war names adopted by guerrillas during the Zimbabwean conflict (1966-1979). The study collects, describes and analyses war names that were used by ZANLA guerrillas in the conflict. It explores onomastic patterns and processes that influenced these war names. Names collected from textual sources and from interviews of former guerrillas are analysed and classified into nine categories. One of the main findings is that the background of the namer influenced the naming patterns and processes identified in the study. Another finding is that most guerrillas named themselves and it was also observed that some guerrillas have retained their names. The findings, analysed within the theoretical framework developed earlier from the onomastic and identity theories, indicate that the war name plays a vital role not only in concealing the old identity of the guerrilla but also in creating new identities, which were used as weapons for challenging the enemy and contesting space. Onomastic erasure and resuscitation are proposed as partial explanation for the creation of some war names. The study contributes to onomastic research not only in that it has produced a large corpus of war names that can be used for further research in that it is a significant point of reference in onomastic research in Zimbabwe and in southern Africa, especially in the area of nicknames and war names. It also lays the foundation for further research on the role of naming patterns and processes in peace building and conflict resolution in Zimbabwe, on the southern African subcontinent and elsewhere. / Thesis (D. Litt et Phil.)

The thesis explores the white Rhodesian nationalist project led by the Rhodesian Front (RF) government in the UDI-period of 1965 to 1979. It seeks to examine the character and content of RF nation-building, arguing that it is important to consider the context of wider global and regional trends of nationalism at the time. Thus, it places the white Rhodesia within wider 'British World' studies of settler societies within the British Empire, but also compares it to other African nationalist movements in the 1960s and 1970s. It studies white Rhodesian nationalism on its own terms as a sincere, albeit unrealistic, alternative to majority-rule independence, and considers how the RF adapted over the period in its continuing attempts to justify minority-rule in an era of global decolonisation. Two thematic sections examine the RF's nation-building project in systematic detail. The first section, on symbolism, considers Rhodesia's processes of 'symbolic decolonisation'. This involved white Rhodesians creating new national symbols not associated with Britain or the British Empire. Processes by which new national symbols were chosen are used as a lens to explore white Rhodesian debates about their 'new' nation after the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was taken in 1965. They reveal the ambiguities and complexities at the heart of the RF's nation-building project; a project that was frequently exclusionary and hotly contested at every opportunity. The second section explores how history was used to help create and defend the nation, adding to studies of the use of history in nationalist projects. It considers a range of non-professional sites of history-making, demonstrating the complicated relationships between these different sites and the state's wider nationalist agenda. It also explores how history was invoked to justify and defend minority-rule independence both before and after UDI.