Land invasions and illegal development threaten the source of water to Zimbabwe’s capital. Once referred to as the “Sunshine City” – not only because the sun shines on Harare most days of the year, but because of its cleanliness and orderliness – Zimbabwe’s capital city has over the years lost its glamour and beauty. The sun is still shining in Harare, but the beauty and orderliness have long disappeared. The days of uninterrupted water and electricity supplies have become a distant memory; streetlights have disappeared in most suburbs, the well-maintained treelined streets have been replaced with potholed roads, while flowing …
Owen Gagare
The Zimbabwean government has apparently bowed to pressure by effecting changes to its controversial Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, which compels non-indigenous investors to cede at least 51% of the shares in their companies to black Zimbabweans, but the furor and confusion about the legislation shows no sign of abating. After months of haggling, on January 4 this year Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Minister Patrick Zhuwao agreed to introduce changes to the Act. The turnaround was seen as an acknowledgment of the need to stimulate foreign direct investment (FDI), but has…
Zimbabwe: sifting for gold Poor people and reckless mining companies are endangering Zimbabwe’s rivers Alluvial gold panning is relatively simple, potentially lucrative, and very harmful to the environment. For Zimbabwe’s rivers, this is proving a dangerous combination. With the country’s economy in profound crisis, and poverty and unemployment endemic, thousands of people—mostly young and poor—are panning for gold along the banks of the country’s rivers. About 500,000 at last count, according to a 2010 report by the parastatal Environmental Management Agency (EMA). Together with larger-scale mining activities, the panning poses a serious threat to the ecosystems of these rivers and…
Exploited and marginalised by the communities around them, Zimbabwe’s San fight an uphill battle for survival In May 2013, Zimbabwe’s former president, Robert Mugabe, caused controversy when he said the country’s San community, commonly known as Bushmen, had “a culture which (wa)s very resistant to change”. The Bushmen, he claimed, just wanted “look after cattle and be in the bush”. Mugabe was speaking at the memorial service of former vice president John Nkomo, whose rural home, Tsholotsho, is in Matabeleland North, where a significant number of the San reside. Adding fuel to the fire, he said the San were “resisting…
Zimbabwe: splintering political parties Unhappiness between former liberation parties continues to bedevil Zimbabwean politics Zimbabwe has two main ethnic groups, the Shona and the Ndebele, as well as smaller groups such as the Tonga, Kalanga, Venda, Ndau and Xhosa. The Shona, which constitutes a majority, includes three main sub-groups, the Zezuru, Karanga and Manyika. These groups have historically contested for power since the liberation struggle. Meanwhile, the Ndebele and other groups complain that they have been marginalised. On July 15 this year Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T), headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, appointed two vice-presidents from the Karanga…
The Zimbabwean military’s reach Brass defend political status quo to protect their own extensive business interests Two separate billion-dollar deals have turned the spotlight back on the unholy alliance between the ruling party, the military and big business in Zimbabwe. This network of mutual interests is curbing political change in the southern African country, opposition parties and civil groups say. During his visit to China last August, President Robert Mugabe oversaw the signing of a $2 billion deal with China Africa Sunlight Energy Company (CASECO), a joint venture between Harare-based Oldstone Investments and three Chinese firms to build a thermal…
Residents of the country’s two major cities oppose the introduction of prepaid water meters Major cities in Zimbabwe, including the capital Harare and the second largest city, Bulawayo, are moving to install prepaid water meters despite resistance from residents associations and civil society organisations, which argue that prepaid meters deny poor people access to water—a right, they say, that is enshrined in the constitution. Local authorities such as Mutare, Gweru, Gwanda, Masvingo, Victoria Falls and Chitungwiza are also considering introducing prepaid meters. Local authorities say they will result in improved revenue collection and by extension an improvement in service delivery,…
