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

The conjunctural dynamics of the Zimbabwe crisis after 2000 have produced a distinctive pattern of accumulation .Four features are noticeable in this pattern - firstly ; disorder and/or violence has become common , both as a general feature and driver of wealth accumulation and the political project accompanying it . Secondly ; the State has increasingly become more central and pervasive in driving accumulation and in the distribution of both economic and political goods . Thirdly , the crisis has awakened , reinforced and reshaped a distinctive acquisitive culture peculiar to the period in question , albeit resonating with the historical formation of Zimbabwe's ruling elite . Lastly , the current crisis has modified and reinforced a culture of 'strategic contradictions ' within ZANU-PF . This dissertation is an analysis of Zimbabwe's 'political economy of crisis ' in the post 2000 period . It examines how the Zimbabwean ruling elite and those connected to the state have benefited from the unregulated forms of accumulation attending the Zimbabwean crisis . A broad combination of a contextual analysis of the crisis and its beneficiaries and a close case-study analysis of an 'informal ' (illegal ) gold-mining site in Totororo , rural Kwekwe's 'Empress ' are a in Central Zimbabwe are employed to try to distil accumulation patterns that have resulted from the present economic and political crisis . / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

M.A. (Development Studies) / Between 2000 and 2010, Zimbabwe experienced a protracted socio-economic and political crisis. At the height of the crisis (towards the end of 2008), inflation was at 89.7 sextillion percent year-on-year. The period witnessed an increase in the number of non-governmental organisations operating in rural areas. This study draws from theories of the state to investigate state-NGO and community relations that ensued due to the proliferation of NGO activity. It goes on to explore the extent to which NGOs implemented participatory approaches in their interventions, and how the rural subaltern classes experienced these interventions. The setting for this study is Mangwe, a rural district situated in the south-western part of Zimbabwe. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used as data collection techniques. The participants were villagers, state agricultural extension officers, NGO managers and fieldworkers. My findings are that despite heightened anti-NGO rhetoric spewed by the ruling elite during this period, in Mangwe relations between NGOs and local state structures are amiable and cordial. The study also argues that even though the state works closely with NGOs, it is the latter that are now responsible for delivering basic services to the subaltern. This has not only helped to legitimise the state, but concomitantly de-mobilised subaltern classes by keeping them at the periphery of the political economy. Subaltern classes in the district do appreciate the role NGOs are playing. However, most of the projects are not assertive enough to offset the challenges faced by the subalterns. Hence within the foreseeable future, the subalterns will be caught in a conundrum - dependant on NGOs for limited service provision, but not challenging the state for not playing its constituted role of service delivery.

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

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis seeks to advance the understanding of Zimbabwe’s current political situation and how it has regressed towards authoritarianism. The assumption when initially embarking on this research assignment was that Zimbabwe’s political failures over the past three and a half decades since its independence in 1980 could be traced back to its original Constitution – the Lancaster House Constitution of 1979. The research in this thesis is guided by a central question: Has Zimbabwe’s failure to successfully institutionalise democratic institutions, in particular through the 1979 Constitution, contributed to its regression to authoritarianism, despite its initial democratic transition? This question is substantiated by way of four sub-questions: • What processes lead from democratic transition to authoritarianism? • What are the institutional prerequisites for democratic development? • How was Zimbabwe’s Lancaster Constitution negotiated? • Did Zimbabwe’s institutional framework set it up for failure? In order to answer the research questions, a descriptive and exploratory study with emphasis on a case study was conducted by drawing from both secondary as well as primary sources of data. The primary data examined is a compilation of original documents belonging to the late Leo Baron, former Acting Chief Justice of Zimbabwe (1983) and lawyer to Joshua Nkomo. These documents include a personal record and interviews previously conducted in 1983 for the national archives of Zimbabwe between Baron and the state, an original ZAPU document titled Proposals for a settlement in Southern Rhodesia as well as the original Lancaster House Constitution of 1979. This thesis used democratic consolidation as a theoretical framework to assess the processes that lead from democratic transition to authoritarianism as well as the institutional prerequisites for democratic development. By exploring the field of democratic consolidation, the author settled upon two analytical frameworks for this research assignment. The first is that of Kapstein and Converse, who argue that in order for a democracy to be effective the power of the executive needs to be successfully constrained. They contend that if the executive faces sufficient constraints only then is it accountable to the electorate. Secondly, this thesis focuses largely on the institutional framework developed by Dahl, which highlights a set of criteria underlining the political institutions necessary for a country to transition into a successful democracy. The key findings are that, firstly, Zimbabwe’s Lancaster Constitution was not the product of an inclusive and participatory process; instead it has been discovered that the process was one that lacked public participation and thus lacked wider legitimacy. It can thus be argued that the Lancaster House Conference, normally regarded as the platform upon which Zimbabwe’s negotiated transition to majority rule took place, was in fact not a negotiation at all; instead it resembled more of a handover of power with forced implications and unrealistic expectations. And secondly, that the Lancaster Constitution of 1979 did not sufficiently provide for a democratic political institutional framework for democratic development in Zimbabwe. Instead it failed to highlight the importance of, and make provision for, several important independent organs usually responsible for the smooth transition towards democratisation and the eventual consolidation of democracy. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis beoog om ‘n dieper begrip van Zimbabwe se huidige politieke situasie aan te bied, asook die reprogressie na outoritarisme. Die aanvanklike aanname met die begin van hierdie studie was dat Zimbabwe se politieke mislukkings oor die afgelope drie en ‘n half dekades, sedert Zimbabwe se onafhanklikheid in 1980, terugspoor na die oorspronklike Grondwet naamlik – die Lancaster House Grondwet van 1979. Die navorsing in hierdie tesis is deur ‘n sentrale vraag gelei: Het Zimbabwe se mislukking om suksesvol demokratiese instellings te institusionaliseer, in besonder die Grondwet van 1979, bygedrae tot die regressie na outoritarisme, ten spyte van die aanvanklike demokratiese oorgang? Hierdie vraag word gestaaf deur vier sub-vrae: • Watter prosesse is gelei van demokratiese oorgang na outoritarisme? • Wat is die institusionele voorvereistes vir demokratiese ontwikkeling? • Hoe was Zimbabwe se Lancaster Grondwet beding? • Het Zimbabwe se institusionele raamwerk homself vir mislukking opgestel? Om in staat te wees om die bogenoemde navorsingsvrae te beantwoord, was ‘n beskrywende en verkennende studie met die klem op ‘n gevalle studie gedoen, deur data van beide sekondêre sowel as primêre bronne te trek. Die primere data wat geondersoek is, was ‘n samestelling van oorspronklike dokumente uit die besit van oorlede Leo Baron, voormalige Waarnemende Hoof Regter van Zimbabwe en prokureur van Joshua Nkomo. Hierdie dokumente sluit in ‘n persoonlike rekord asook onderhoude gevoer in 1983 vir die nationale argiewe van Zimbabwe tussen Baron en die staat. Hiermee saam volg ‘n oorspronklike ZAPU dokument getiteld Proposals for settlement in Southern Rhodesia asook die oorspronklike Lancaster House Konstitusie van 1979. Hierdie tesis gebruik demokratiese konsolidasie as ‘n teoretiese raamwerk waardeer die prosesse wat gelei het van demokratiese oorgang na outoritarisme, asook die institusionele voorvereistes vir demokratiese ontwikkeling, beoordeel word. Deur die veld van demokratiese konsolidasie te verken, het die outeur haar studie op twee analitiese raamwerke gevestig. Die eerste is die van Kapstein en Converse wat argumenteer dat vir ‘n demokrasie om effektief te wees, moet die mag van die uitvoerder beperk word. Hulle beweer dat slegs indien die uitvoerder voldoende beperkinge het, die kiesers dit as verantwoordelik erken. Tweedens fokus hierdie tesis grootliks op die institusionele raamwerk wat deur Dahl ontwikkel is. Dahl beklemtoon ‘n stel kriteria wat die nodige politieke grondwette vir ‘n land onderstreep om ‘n suksesvolle oorgang na demokrasie te verkry. Die sleutel bevindings is dit, Zimbabwe se Lancaster Grondwet was nie die produk van ‘n insluitende en deelnemende proses nie; in stede was dit bevind dat dit ‘n proses was van gebrekkige publieke deelname en dus het weier legitimiteit ontbreek. Daar kan dus geargumenteer word dat die Lancaster House Konferensie, wat normaalweg beskou is as die platform waarop Zimbabwe se oorgang tot meerderheid oorheers geonderhandel is, was in werklikheid nooit ‘n onderhandeling nie; instede blyk dit meer in gestalte na ‘n oorhandiging van mag met geforseerde implikasies en onrealistiese vereistes. Tweedens, dat die Lancaster Grondwet van 1979 nie daarin voldoen het om ‘n suksesvolle politieke institutionele raamwerk vir demokratiese ontwikkeling in Zimbabwe neer te lê nie. Eerder het dit daarin misluk om die belangrikheid van verskeie onafhanklike noodsaaklike organe uit te lig, of te voorsien, wat normaalweg verantwoordelik is vir ‘n gladde oorgang tot demokrasie en uit eindelik konsolidasie van demokrasie.

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

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctoral Thesis submitted to the School of Language, Literature and Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of PhD in Media Studies 2015 / This study blends critical discourse analysis with ethnographic inquiry into the nature of discursive constructions of subaltern identities in postcolonial contexts of news production by mainstream news organisations in colonial and post-independence Zimbabwe. The main thrust of the study was to establish continuities and disjunctures in newsroom cultures of production in colonial and in post-independence situations in which marginalized former colonial subject populations are caught up. It employs a multidimensional synchronic and diachronic case study approach where one newspaper organization specifically The Herald’s coverage of episodic forced removals of subject populations is studied across different historical moments. The paper’s coverage is then critically compared and contrasted with that of other newspapers then in existence and contemporaneously operating at that time. The selected historical moments of forced removals were only heuristically chosen to the extent that they demonstrated the greatest potential for drawing media attention and thus present an opportunity for the ordinary subaltern populations to appear in the news. The content analysis generally tended to demonstrate that the same canibalesque evident in the newsification of subjects of colonial domination was pretty much evident in the way news in the post-independence period constructed the subalternity of marginalized groups. The institutionalization of the so called universal news values tend towards symbolic annihilation of subaltern ways of knowing. The newspaper as a cultural form, this study established, remains ill-suited and instrumentalised to serve the ends of emancipation and empowerment. The press in Zimbabwe retain many traces of its colonial parentage with serious negative ramifications for their claim to a democratic function

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2015 / The timing of conflict resolution efforts is important in identifying when an intervention is likely to succeed according to ripeness of conflicts theory (Zartman, 1985). Although the ripeness theory appears to be a great contribution to the conflict resolution doctrine, there is no scholarly consensus on its plausibility with criticisms that are centred on: a contest on the variables that should help in its identification; low predictability; lack of cross-case generalisations; and, methodological weaknesses inherited from rational and public choice theories. The study took the position that conditions creating ripeness should be expanded beyond what is currently obtaining in literature, can help in determining the formula for resolution and indicate what to do in the implementation of the agreement so reached. To interrogate the theory’s plausibility, interpretivism was used to gather evidence from the case - the conflict that prevailed in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2013 - to extrapolate implications for the ripeness theory and suggest improvements through paradigm complementarity. Although the external dimension of the conflict in Zimbabwe remained unaffected, ripeness was found in its domestic setting deriving from the indecisive/disputed elections of 2008 and the threat of a failed economy that triggered a Southern African Development Community intervention and offered a cue to the formula for resolution - the Global Political Agreement. Shared political legitimacy in the Global Political Agreement however saw that ripeness diminishing and it had vanished by 2013, although the conflict which by 2013 was yet to realise complete resolution, was to a large extent transformed to lower levels of hostilities with dysfunctionality temporarily arrested. Ripeness proved to be a product of both perceptual and structural variables that change in intensity over time, thus affecting the implementation of agreements that arise from ripeness. The study proved that ripeness theory in its expanded form is a viable strategic tool in conflict resolution, though success as in military doctrine depends on the accurate identification of the variables creating ripeness, timely intervention and a fitting operational plan to effectively exploit the opportunities so created. / MB2016

This is a study of how certain value loaded political terms are used in Zimbabwean Parliamentary debate. Before 1980 it is argued that aspects of lexical choice and an individual's sociopolitical position were extremely closely related, especially in the case of "white Rhodesians". There was also a marked lack of ambiguity in the use of value loaded terms at this time. In contemporary Zimbabwean House of Assembly, however, terms which became popularized when the new government came to power in 1980 are used with considerable ambiguity and contestability in order to further specific strategies. Though correlations between the choice of lexical units and individuals' positions in the social structure have been identified as "sociolinguistic variables" (Downes 1984, 75), it is argued that an analysis of this type of correlation should lead us to an analysis of how these lexical units or "terms" are used by individual speakers in a micro-political process. I hypothesize that the ambiguity and contestability which encompass certain key terms used in the Zimbabwean House contribute to their being used as strategies to achieve individual or party goals. I show that the terms are manipulated by individuals in various contexts, and that the normative connotations of terms, that is what the terms "ought" to mean, is not consistent with the ways in which they are used. This, in turn, has an effect on how people think the terms should be used. This process of language change exposes the interface between language usage and social life. Though not reducible to a single "correct" interpretation, it does provide rich material for the analysis of culture.

One of the responsibilities of every government is to make provisions of basic needs for its citizens. The situation in Omay resembles people living during the dark ages when there was no constitutional government. The government should in accordance with the priorities of its people be seen to be improving the lives of its citizens by providing health, education, roads, communication facilities, and participation in decision making especially on issues that have a bearing on their lives. The human needs theory postulates that one of the most ideal ways of resolving protracted conflicts is by helping people meet their needs. Human needs are not for trading according to conflict scholar John Burton, implying that if one does not meet his or her needs he/she might do anything to strive to meet them. The people of Omay have been deprived of their needs in all facets; first the previous government relocated them to create Lake Kariba for the hydroelectric plant. They were not compensated. They were dumped on very arid, tsetse fly infested mountainous areas adjacent to game reserves and national parks where they have to make do with wildlife; some that destroy their few crops (elephants) and others that kill them or their animals (lions). As a minority group they have been engaged in social unrest and small skirmishes with government and other, bigger ethnic groups as a form of resistance. A deliberate affirmative action to channel funds towards raising their living standards and develop their area so that they meet their needs could be the panacea to the social unrest.