• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. AUTOCHTHONS, STRANGERS, MODERNISING EDUCATIONISTS, AND PROGRESSIVE FARMERS: BASOTHO STRUGGLES FOR BELONGING IN ZIMBABWE 1930s-2008 BY JOSEPH MUJERE THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF PHD SCHOOL OF HISTORY, CLASSICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH JULY 2012 ABSTRACT This thesis uses belonging as an analytical tool to analyse the history of the Basotho community in the Dewure Purchase Areas in Zimbabwe. The thesis analyses how Basotho’s migration history and their experiences with colonial displacements shaped and continue to shape their construction of a sense of belonging. It also examines how Basotho’s purchase of farms in the Dewure Purchase Areas in the 1930s and their establishment of a communally owned farm have played a key role in their struggles for belonging. It also explores the centrality of land, graves, funerals, and religion in the belonging matrix. The study, however, avoids projecting the Basotho community as a monolithic and cohesive unit by analysing the various internal schisms and cleavages within the community and examining their impacts. Although, Basotho have seemingly managed to integrate into the local community, a more critical analysis reveals that they have also continued to maintain a level of particularism. The central dynamic in this thesis, therefore, is how the Basotho, in their different struggles and strategies to belong, over the last century, have fundamentally been caught between being seen and treated as the same as the other people around them and being seen (and seeing themselves) as different. It is arguably this ambivalence or delicate balancing between integrating and remaining ‘outsiders’ that has shaped Basotho’s sense of belonging and determined the strategies they have deployed in different historical contexts. The thesis concludes that, since it is relational and always in a state of becoming, strategies deployed in constructing and articulating belonging constantly change to suit particular historical contexts. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was made possible by a generous scholarship from the University of Edinburgh (Southern African Scholarship) through the Centre of African Studies. I am very grateful for the funding and for the support throughout my studies. The British Institute of Eastern Africa provided part of the funding for my fieldwork. I am also indebted to the School of History, Classics and Archaeology for their support throughout my studies. I owe a debt of gratitude to many people who helped me in ensuring that this thesis would be a success. Foremost among them are my supervisors Dr. Francesca Locatelli, Dr. Joost Fontein and Prof. Paul Nugent. Their guidance, encouragement and support throughout my studies helped me persevere when otherwise I would have given up. The Centre of African Studies community provided me with academic and social support. My special thanks go to Prof. James Smith, Prof. Paul Nugent, Dr. Joost Fontein and Dr. Barbara Bompani. I also wish to acknowledge the support I received from colleagues CAS. Although I cannot mention all of them I wish to single out Annalisa Urbano, James Mubonderi and Grasian Mkodzongi. In Zimbabwe Dr. Gerald Chikozho Mazarire supported me in various ways in my academic journey. He was a mentor, an elder brother and a friend all rolled in one. He pointed me to many archival files and gave me unlimited access to his own collection of files and rare books. I also benefitted from discussions I had with a number of Zimbabwean academics and other specialists on Zimbabwe. Of these I wish to single out Prof. Sabelo Gatsheni-Ndlovu and Prof. Ray Roberts. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my former University of Zimbabwe colleagues on whom I constantly bounced my ideas especially Glen ‘Malaba’ Ncube, George Hamandishe Karekwaivenani, Sylvester Dombo, Ivan Marowa, Wesley Mwatwara, Anusa Daimon and Luckson Mashiri. I am also grateful to Mr. Mukundindishe Chifamba who drew all the maps used in this thesis. My research would not have been possible without the cooperation of my informants many of whom were very keen to share their life histories with me. It is my hope that this thesis has helped tell their story. I would also like to thank my family for standing by me throughout my studies. My wife Tendai (Mai Mufaro Lucas) was a pillar of strength, especially during very iv difficult moments in the course of my studies. I also want to acknowledge the support I got from my sister Rebecca Mafuwe-Homodza and my brother in-law Kennedy Homodza who made sure my stay in the UK was as comfortable as possible. Last but not least, I would want to thank my father Lucas Joseph Mujere who took a great interest in my research and accompanied me during a number of my fieldtrips and my mother Scholastica Muzenda Makwindi who continued to believe in me even when I despaired. In spite of this, however, I remain wholly responsible for any shortcomings that can be found in this thesis. v CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iv CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................. vi List of figures ................................................................................................................................ ix Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ x Note on spellings .......................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION: BASOTHO AND THE POLITICS OF BELONGING IN DEWURE PURCHASE AREAS, ZIMBABWE ........................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Migration, land, graves, and politics of belonging in Africa ...................................................... 7 The Basotho community: Migration, Christianity, and Purchase Areas ................................... 20 Development of the research ..................................................................................................... 32 Organisation of the thesis .......................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................ 39 BELONGING TO CHINHANGO AND HARAWE: EVANGELISATION, MIGRATION AND BELONGING c.1872-1932 ............................................................................................... 39 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 39 Missionaries, evangelisation and Basotho evangelists .............................................................. 39 Basotho in Chinhango and Harawe ........................................................................................... 50 The construction of Basotho as progressive Africans ............................................................... 56 Johannes Mokwile and the Southern Rhodesia Native Association ......................................... 60 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 68 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................ 70 COLONIAL DISPLACEMENTS AND BASOTHO QUEST(S) FOR BELONGING IN DEWURE PURCHASE AREAS ............................................................................................... 70 vi Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 70 Land alienation and Basotho settlement in Dewure Purchase Areas ........................................ 71 What is in a name? The politics of farm names ........................................................................ 83 Land and inheritance disputes ................................................................................................... 86 Basotho and the Dewure

Load more

  277

Copy Link