Quenching the Thirst of an African City: a Social and Economic

MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY QUENCHING THE THIRST OF AN AFRICAN CITY: A SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY OF BEER IN COLONIAL SALISBURY, C. 1900-1979 BY JEFFERSON NDIMANDE (R1710453Z) BEING A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF A MASTER OF ARTS IN AFRICAN HISTORY DECEMBER 2018 Table of Contents APPROVAL FORM .................................................................................................................. ii DECLARATION FORM ......................................................................................................... iii RELEASE FORM ..................................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... vi ACRONYMS ......................................................................................................................... viii MAP OF SALISBURY............................................................................................................. ix ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... x INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE ...................................................................................................................... 18 THE ORIGINS OF BEER BREWING IN HARARE ............................................................. 18 CHAPTER TWO ..................................................................................................................... 38 THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY OF AFRICAN BEER BREWING IN SALISBURY: THE CASE OF RUFARO BREWERY CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................. 79 “THE GREAT ENEMY OF AFRICAN PROGRESS”: AFRICAN BEER DRINKING AND STATE-AFRICAN RELATIONSHIP IN SALISBURY, 1900 - 1979 ................................... 79 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................ 97 BEER DRINKING AND AFRICAN SOCIAL LIFE IN SALISBURY, 1960s - 1980 .......... 97 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................... 111 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 113 i APPROVAL FORM MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY The undersigned certify that they have read and supervised the student, JEFFERSON NDIMANDE dissertation entitled: QUENCHING THE THIRST OF AN AFRICAN CITY: A SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY OF BEER IN COLONIAL SALISBURY, C. 1900-1979, the project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of a MASTER OF ARTS IN AFRICAN HISTORY. ………………… ……….. ………………………….. Supervisor Date …………………… …….. ………………………….. Chairperson …………………… …….. ………………………….. External Examiner December 2018. ii DECLARATION FORM I declare that this dissertation is my own work. I am the only author. It has not been submitted to any other institution in order to obtain a qualification. JEFFERSON NDIMANDE Signature.............................................................................................................................. Date....................................................................................................................................... iii RELEASE FORM NAME OF STUDENT JEFFERSON NDIMANDE (R1710453Z) DISSERTATION TITLE QUENCHING THE THIRST OF AN AFRICAN CITY: A SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY OF BEER IN COLONIAL SALISBURY, C. 1900-1979 DEGREE TITLE MASTER OF ARTS IN AFRICAN HISTORY YEAR THIS DEGREE GRANTED 2019 Permission is hereby given to the Midlands State University to reproduce single copies of this dissertation and lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purpose only. The author reserves publication rights and neither the dissertation nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author‟s written permission. SIGNED...................................................................... PERMANENT ADDRESS 71001 LOBENGULA WEST, BULAWAYO,ZIMBABWE DATE...............................................................NOVEMBER 2018 iv Dedication To my morning star shining brightly. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation has benefited immensely from the tremendous help and support of friends, colleagues and mentors. I am indebted to my dissertation supervisor, Dr Terence Mashingaidze for his assistance, placidity, inspiration, erudition, guidance and steady hand as he helped shape this work from conception till it became a research idea and a dissertation. His colossal, immeasurable support and intellectual contribution to my development and this research cannot be enumerated. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the teaching faculty in the Department of History at Midlands State University who provided feedback and critiqued the research. The Department also provided a stimulating academic environment which was characterised by professionalism and intellectual rigour. My friend and colleague Dr Godfrey Hove took keen interest in my work and encouraged me „to return to my roots‟ and study History. He provided me with accommodation during my numerous visits to Harare as well as assisted me with some of the sources. I am also indebted to Dr Ushehwedu Kufakurinani who linked me with some of the sources as well as availing some dissertations which focussed on beer in Zimbabwe. I would also like to thank Dr Nathaniel Chimhete who provided me with his Masters dissertation as well as a draft copy of his article on beer and nationalism, this helped me locate and situate my study and build upon some of his ideas. I also benefitted from discussions with Innocent Nyathi and Bryan Kauma as I picked their brains and bounced ideas off them. I am beholden to Knowledge Moyo who provided me with accommodation when I visited Harare as well as acted as my runner on a numerous occasions. Mr and Mrs Tobias Guzura helped me financially during the course of my studies, I am forever grateful. vi This work would not have been possible without the assistance of Loveness Nyakonda. She was an anchor and pillar of strength during the course of my studies, listened patiently to my ideas, critiqued them and offered support when the going was tough. She believed in this research from the very beginning. She was always willing to get me the various books which I needed, even at short notice. Words will never be enough to thank you. vii ACRONYMS BSAC British South Africa Company HCC Harare City Council NAZ National Archives of Zimbabwe RB Rufaro Brewery SCC Salisbury City Council TB Tuberculosis UDI Unilateral Declaration of Independence WHO World Health Organization viii MAP OF SALISBURY ix ABSTRACT Using a social history approach informed by the subaltern, the study explores colonialism in colonial Harare and the African experience using the lens of beer. This is achieved through employing archival sources, oral interviews, oral histories approach as well as theoretical innovations of the citizen and subject, subaltern to capture the voices of Africans. It argues that the colonial state’s attitude towards African beer wavered, vacillated and oscillated between confrontation and contempt and patronizing benevolence. Abhorrence for African beer was seen in laws and acts passed to outlaw beer, when this failed, the state moved towards accommodation and acceptance provided the terms were controlled by the state. This was achieved through adoption of the Durban System; a beer monopoly was created which criminalized African beer. The monopoly allowed the state to realise profits at the same time these sales helped build the city as social amenities such as clinics, hospitals, schools, as well as recreational facilities such as football stadium. This in turn gave birth to illegal brewing and beer becoming a site of contestation and struggle. Africans shaped beer as they brewed illicit brews such as skokiaan, made traditional brews out of sorghum and circumvented the authorities by drinking in shebeens. The history of beer is complex and goes beyond beer being consumed for social and recreational purposes, in fact as Charles Ambler and Jonathan Crush observe, ‘drinking must be conceived not simply as a weapon of domination but also as a relatively autonomous form of cultural expression- and thus a potent form of resistance. Music, entertainment, brewing of illegal brews by Africans served as ways of expression which demonstrate how beer was part of a broad discourse of struggle (s0 between the citizen and subject. x xi INTRODUCTION The study offers a socio-economic historical analysis of alcohol and the colonial African city of Harare in Southern Rhodesia. The occupation of the territory now known as Zimbabwe by the Pioneer Column brought colonial rule which intended to alter and shape the African city and its relationship with beer. Colonialism shaped and influenced patterns of interactions between Blacks and whites as clear beer and wines were the preserve of whites. The colonial state forbade African consumption of all European-type

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