This research is premised on the understanding that media texts are discourses and that all discourses are functional, that is, they refer to things, issues and events, in meaningful and goal oriented ways. Nine articles are analysed to explicate the sorts of discourses that were promoted by The Chronicle during the Gukurahundi conflict in Zimbabwe between 1982 and 1986. It is argued that discourses in the news media are shaped by the role(s), the type(s) of journalism assumed by such media, and by the political environment in which the news media operate. The interplay between the roles, types of journalism practised, and the effect the political environment has on news discourses is assessed within the context of conflictual situations. This is done using insights from the theoretical position of peace journalism and its critique of professional or mainstream journalism as promoting war/violence journalism. Using the case of The Chronicle's reportage of the Gukurahundi conflict in Zimbabwe, it is concluded that, in performing the collaborative role, state owned/controlled media assume characteristics of war/violence journalism. On the other hand, it is concluded that The Chronicle developed practices consistent with peace journalism when it both espoused the facilitative role and journalistic objectivity. These findings undermine the conventional view among proponents of peace journalism that in times of conflict, the news media should be interventionist in favour of peace and that they should abandon the journalistic norm of objectivity which they argue, promotes war/violence journalism.

This study investigates the constructions of nationhood in two Bulawayo newspapers, the Chronicle and Newsday. Against the backdrop of the emergence of a secessionist movement, Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF), this research examines the discourses of nationhood in the secessionist debates raging in these two newspapers. This study is premised on a view that nationhood constructions cannot be understood outside the broader context in which these newspapers are embedded. Accordingly, it traces the roots and resurgence of Matabeleland separatist politics, exploring the political-historical forces that have shaped a distinctive Ndebele identity that poses a threat to the one, indivisible Zimbabwean national identity. Further, the study situates Matabeleland separatist politics within the broader African secessionist discourse challenging the post-colonial nation-building project on the continent. Informed by Hall’s (1992, 1996) constructivist approach to identity, it considers national identities as fragmented, multiple and constantly evolving. Thus, this study is framed within Hall’s (1997) constructivist approach to representation, as it examines the constructions of nationhood in and through language. The study uses qualitative research methods, as it examines the meanings of nationhood in key media texts. Informed by Foucault’s discourse theory, this research employs critical discourse analysis (CDA) to analyse 12 articles from the two newspapers. The findings confirm that the representations of nationhood in the two newspapers are influenced by their position within the socio-political context. The state-owned Chronicle legitimates the unitary state discourse advocated by ZANU PF. On the other hand, Newsday’s representations are informed by the discourses of the opposition political parties and civil society that challenge the dominant nation-building project. Thus, within this paper, secession and devolution emerge as alternative imaginaries that contest the authoritarian discourse of nationhood

The HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe is one of the highest globally, standing at 14.5% for the ages 15-64 years, and notably 16.7% for women and 12.4% for men. The urban areas have a slightly higher prevalence rate than the rural areas in Zimbabwe. A phenomenological study was carried out whose objective was to formulate guidelines to improve HIV and AIDS communication for women in Zimbabwe, as a key contribution in mitigating the HIV epidemic. The study took place in Harare and Bulawayo, which house most of the urban population. Young urban women aged 20-29 years who have lived in either city for at least the last 12 months, were interviewed using face-to-face in-depth interviews (n=25) and eight focus group discussions took place (n=62). Purposive, convenience, cluster and snow-balling sampling were used. Key informants were purposively sampled, using the snowball method; in-depth face-to-face interviews were held (n=5). The key informants, who provided expert knowledge on the study topic, comprised NGO and government entities in HIV and AIDS communication work. Colaizzi’s method of analysis was used. The UNAIDS Communication Framework for HIV and AIDS gave the direction for the study. It highlights the context in which people live in, and emphasizes that, unlike previous communication models, knowledge alone is inadequate to effect behaviour change. The context is comprised of government policy, culture, socioeconomic status, spirituality and gender relations, with emphasis on the community and regional cooperation, in Africa’s case. The themes for the study were Communication, HIV and AIDS knowledge, Perceptions and belief, and Urban women’s context.The key findings were: mass communication generates awareness for HIV and AIDS while interpersonal communication has a role to play in translating awareness into behaviour change; the knowledge level on HIV and AIDS of young urban Zimbabwean women is high; their risk perception is low; the context they live in is primarily a patriarchal one and one of urban poverty and this makes them vulnerable to HIV infection. It is envisaged that the guidelines, informed by the study and literature, will assist the government and its partners in HIV and AIDS communication strategy and implementation. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

This study considered indigenisation to involve a process of making the local people `feel at home' in their Church. The ministry of early catechists such as Bernard Mizeki and Frank Ziqubu was crucial in showing the fact that the Anglican Church was not necessarily a church for Europeans only, but for the indigenous people as well. After this first generation of catechists there were numerous indigenous catechists who also ministered in the Diocese of Mashonaland by way of preparing people for the different sacraments found in the Anglican Church. On the other hand the training of the indigenous people for the ordained ministry was also another significant step in the process of indigenisation in the Diocese of Mashonaland. In this regard theological institutions such as St Augustine's Seminary in Penhalonga Manicaland, St Peter's Seminary Rossettenville in Johannesburg and St John's Seminary in Lusaka provided the much needed training. This study also revealed that although the Diocese of Mashonaland had an indigenous person at its helm in 1981, it remained European in several facets of its life. Although translations as a form of indigenisation started from the beginning of the Diocese of Mashonaland and continued right up to 1981, it seems it actually crippled the local indigenous peoples' innovativeness and ingenuity. In addition indigenous musical instruments also took sometime before they could be accepted in divine worship. On the other hand local art and décor as well as local architectural expressions took time to be incorporated into the Diocese of Mashonaland. However few early European missionaries such as Arthur Shirley Cripps and Edgar Lloyd tried to implement local architecture and décor in their churches in Daramombe and Rusape respectively. This study has also established that although the Anglican Diocese of Mashonaland got indigenous leadership by 1981, its liturgy, theology as well as its Acts and Canons remained European. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Div. (Church History)

This study explores the problem of a bibliocentric Religious Education curriculum in Zimbabwe amid the quest for a multi-faith curriculum. It traces the history of Religious Education, how it was started and crafted by the so-called missionary propagandists in order to suit their dogmatic interests. Two main aspects of the christianization of the Religious Education curriculum are highlighted, namely cultural alienation and indoctrination. Two post-independence teaching approaches, the life experience approach and the multi-faith approach are discussed in a comprehensive manner as possible solutions to the problem of Religious Education in Zimbabwe. An empirical analysis and evaluation of the views of various stakeholders about post-independence developments in Religious Education is also presented. Finally, relevant findings, conclusions and recommendations critical to successful Religious Education teaching are presented. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Didactics)

Botswana, formerly known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate, is a country with diverse tribal and religious cultures. Bakalanga are one of the tribes found in Botswana and also in Westrn Zimbabwe. The Western part of the Zimbabwean Bukalanga region was included in the then Bechuanaland Protectorate when its border with Zimbabwe was fixed. To date, Botswana's traditional music has been passed from generation to generation, entirely orally. The main contribution of this study is collecting, documenting and preserving Bakalanga traditional music-making. After abolishing official usage of the Ikalanga language, at independence in 1966, in the early 1990's the Botswana government re-discovered that a nation without culture is a lost nation. Funds were then set aside to be used annually for the development of culture. In using these funds to revive their culture and traditional music, Bakalanga of North Eastern Botswana declared 21 May to be their annual cultural day. Photographs and video footage of these annual cultural festivals were taken by the researcher to help illustrate certain aspects of Ikalanga music and dance in this thesis. Several factors influencing Ikalanga traditional music were taken into consideration: the historical background of Bakalanga, their relationship with other tribes such as the Amandebele, their education, their language in relation to other languages and the missionary influence. Ikalanga traditional music instruments are described. The Mwali religion, which forms the basis of wosana music, linking Bakalanga of Botswana and those of Zimbabwe through the Njelele sacred place joint annual ceremonies, is discussed at length. Different Ikalanga traditional music types are addressed as follows: • Rain Making/Praying music; Wosana and Mayile • Traditional Music for Happy Occasions and Entertainment; Ndazula, Mukomoto, Woso, Iperu, Tshikitsha, Bhoro and Ncuzu./ Maskhukhu • Traditional Music for Healing Purposes; Mazenge (Shumba), Sangoma and Mantshomane. All the above music types are practised within Bukalanga communities publicly, with the exception of mazenge, which is regarded as sacred and private. Bhoro is also extinct in Zimbabwe. The notation of Ikalanga traditional basic musical themes is provided, except for mazenge and ncuzu. which were not found anywhere during this research. / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Music / unrestricted

PhD (Political Science) / Department of Development Studies / No serious study into the contemporary politics of Zimbabwe can ignore the celebrated influence of nationalism and the attendant role of elite leaders as a ‘social force’ in the making of the nation-state of Zimbabwe. This study analyses the role played by nationalism as an instrument for political mobilisation against the white settler regime in Rhodesia by the Zimbabwe African People Union (ZAPU) and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). Therefore, of particular importance is the manner in which the evolution and comprehensive analysis of these former liberation movements, in the political history of Zimbabwe have been viewed through the dominant lenses of nationalism. Nationalism can be regarded as the best set of beliefs and the worst set of beliefs. Being an exhilarating force that led to the emergence of these nationalist movements to dismantle white minority rule, nationalism was also the same force that was responsible for dashing the dreams and hopes associated with an independent Zimbabwe. At the centre of this thesis is the argument that there is a fault line in the manner in which nationalism is understood as such it continued to be constructed and contested. In the study, nationalism has been propagated as contending political narratives, and the nationalist elite leaders are presented as a social force that sought to construct the nation-state of Zimbabwe. Thus, the study is particularly interested in a comparative analysis of the competing narratives of nationalism between ZAPU and ZANU between the period of 1977 and 1990. This period is a very important time frame in the turning points on the nationalist political history of Zimbabwe. Firstly, the beginning of this period saw the struggle for the liberation of Zimbabwe climax because of concerted efforts by both ZAPU and ZANU. Secondly, the conclusion of this period saw the death of ZAPU as an alternative to multi-party democracy within the nationalist sense and the subsequent emergence of a dominant socialist one-party state. Methodologically, a qualitative approach has been employed where the researcher analysed documents. / NRF

PhD (History) / Department of Development Studies / This study is about the involvement and participation of Bulilima youths in Zimbabwe’s national liberation struggle from 1960 to 1980. The study describes and explains how and to what extent Bulilima youths were involved and participated in Zimbabwean guerrilla war. Bulilima is a border district between Zimbabwe and Botswana which, from 1960 – 1980 became Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) guerrillas’ central and key strategic entry point into and exit out of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). For the purposes of this study, the term youth refers to young people between the ages of twelve and twenty-five, born in Bulilima District between 1945 and 1967. During the guerrilla war, the use of the category youth was political, with biological and cultural aspects also taken into account. The study is primarily based on the war experiences of twenty-six women and twenty-six men who were youths during the time period of the study (1960 – 1980). It is qualitative and involves forty-eight open-ended interviews in the major villages of Bulilima District. The interviews are complemented by a survey of both primary and secondary sources. It is hoped that the results of this study will raise salient issues on the involvement and participation of Bulilima youths in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.

My mini-dissertation gives the autobiography of Talent Nyathi, who was born in rural Zimbabwe in 1961. Talent was unwillingly conscripted into the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle. On her return to Zimbabwe, she has worked tirelessly for the education of her compatriots. Talent's story casts light on subject-formation in conditions of difficulty, suffering and victimization. Doubly oppressed by her race and gender, Talent has nevertheless shown a remarkable capacity for self-empowerment and the empowerment of others. Her story needs to be heard because it will inspire other women and other S/subjects and because it is a corrective to both the notions of a heroic Struggle and the `victim' stereotype of Africa. Together with Talent's autobiography, my mini-dissertation offers extensive notes that situate her life story in the context of contemporary postcolonial, literary and gender theory and further draws out the significance of her individual `history-from-below'. / English Studies / M.A.

This history which spans the period 1836 -1995, gives a picture of the Dutch Reformed Church in Zimbabwe which evolved from the missionary endeavour of the mother church in South Africa into an independent autonomous church. It is a story of Dutch (Afrikaner) piety in which the most important components are evangelisation, education and language, the whole of which was, and is still, influenced by the evangelical piety of Andrew Murray. With regard to the education of their children, the Dutch Reformed members believed that Christian education in the mother tongue was the ideal. This world view, together with the Protestant principle, that people should read and interpret Scripture for themselves, resulted in the establishment of three churches in Zimbabwe. Firstly, the Dutch Reformed Church (Synod of Central Africa), that ministers to the Afrikaans and English members of all races. Secondly, the Reformed Church of Zimbabwe that ministers to the Shona people, and thirdly the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (Synod Malawi) that ministers to the migrant workers from Malawi. Of the three components in Dutch piety, evangelisation is regarded by the members as the most important in their missionary endeavour. This is the search for a contextual identity and illustrates how the Afrikaners in Zimbabwe experienced the reality of God in their lives. It is also a description of the interaction of the Dutch Reformed Church in Zimbabwe with the society in which it found itself. This interaction is observed to be of four types, namely, public witness, social upliftment and empowerment, the increase of social strength and the establishment of the community. / Church History