PRACTICES OF PASTNESS, POSTWARS OF THE DEAD, AND THE POWER OF HERITAGE: MUSEUMS, MONUMENTS AND SITES IN COLONIAL AND POST-COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1890-2010. Jesmael Mataga Thesis Presented for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Univeristy of Cape Town in the School for African & Gender Studies, Anthropology & Linguistics UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN AUGUST 2014 Supervisors Professor Nick Shepherd & Professor Carolyn Hamilton The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town DEDICATION To: Enika Jini - Dhan’a - For her resilient, nurturing spirit! Eee, maita Shoko Vhudzijena Ewoi Soko, Vhudzijena, Mukanya Hekanhi Mbereka Makwiramiti, mahomu-homu Vanopona nekuba Vanamushamba negore Makumbo mana muswe weshanu Hekani Soko yangu yiyi…..!!!! ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my appreciation to the following for their invaluable role in the making of this work: My supervisors, Nick Shepherd and Carolyn Hamilton for their guidance, mentorship and for giving me a sense of direction and helping me shape this work; The Archive and Public Culture Research Initiative, its Chairperson, Carolyn Hamilton, coordinators, research associates and fellows who provided an easy-going yet rigorous and stimulating, multidisciplinary platform that helped me nurture my initially inchoate ideas into a thesis; The NRF Chair in Archive and Public Culture and the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Postgraduate funding office for financial support without which the research activities and my movement between Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe would not have been easy, The International Academic Programmes Office (IAPO), University of Cape Town who provided financial support for a semester abroad programme at Emory University in 2011, which was crucial in starting the writing process; Oksana Gomas and staff at the Emory University Office of International and Summer Programs (CIPA) office, and Clifton Crais at the Institute of African Studies, for support during my stay in Atlanta and for providing an excellent environment for my writing process; All my informants, interviewees and various institutions in Zimbabwe:- The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) staff - Executive Director, Dr Godfrey Mahachi, Regional Directors, Curators, and staff of the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, the Natural History Museum in Bulawayo and the Gweru Military Museum. I particularly owe gratitude to Joseph Muringaniza, Darlington Munyikwa, Kundishora Chipunza, Farai Chabata, as well as library staff at the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, the Gweru Military museum and the Natural History Museum; Archivists at the National Archives of Zimbabwe and staff in the Special Collections section, African Studies, UCT library; Sostina Mutasa, Alison Love, Chris Dunton, Theressa Zengeya, Bertha Muringani and Farai Chabata for editing and commenting on the various manuscripts. My colleagues, friends, and students in the Department of Historical Studies, National University of Lesotho; George and Sostina Mutasa for providing a home far away from home in Cape Town; Farai M. Chabata - for being a real star he always is in making logistical arrangements and providing the research assistance that I needed for the working across three borders; My family; Theressa, Nokutenda and Nyasha Neo, for the support, encouragement, and more importantly for putting up with the discomforts entailed in the production of a thesis by a family member; My parents, Enika Jini, Ruben Danga, for the sacrifices that made us; My siblings and their families, for being exactly that, family and; Tudor Bismark, for changing my worldview. iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Rhodes’ grave and the Shangani Memorial, Matopos, 1953 .............................................. 48 Figure 2: Rhodes’ hut in Bulawayo ......................................................................................................... 52 Figure 3: The raising of the Union Jack at Cecil Square, Salisbury, 12 September 1890 ............... 58 Figure 4: Pioneer route and forts, 1890 ................................................................................................. 59 Figure 5: The Victoria memorial at Providential pass, Masvingo-Beitbridge Road ........................ 60 Figure 6: The Last Stand painting by Allan Stewart ............................................................................ 63 Figure 7: The ‘Rebellion memorial,” and the Cecil Rhodes statue, Main Street, Bulawayo .......... 65 Figure 8: Official opening ceremony of the Queen Victoria Memorial, Salisbury, 1903 .............. 94 Figure 9: Cities as viewed in association to national monuments and memorials. ...................... 101 Figure 10: The Physical Energy statue at the National Archives, Harare ....................................... 117 Figure 11: The Ndambakurimwa sacred forest at the Domboshava rock art site ........................... 124 Figure 12: A rock art panel and a sacred tunnel used for rainmaking at Domboshava ............... 125 Figure 13: A ritual hut at Manyanga (Ntabazikamambo) archaeological and spiritual site .......... 126 Figure 14: The Main entrance to the Old Bulawayo historical site ................................................. 131 Figure 15: A showcase in the Hall of Man, Natural History Museum ............................................ 136 Figure 16: Display in the Hall of Man, Natural History Museum ................................................... 137 Figure 17: A military history exhibit in the Hall of Man, Natural History Museum ..................... 138 Figure 18: A display case showing objects brought by missionaries ............................................... 138 Figure 19: Lobengula, Hall of Chiefs, Natural History Museum .................................................... 140 Figure 20: The Cecil Rhodes exhibition, Hall of Chiefs, Natural History Museum ..................... 141 Figure 21: A museum diorama depicting Rhodes’ meeting with Ndebele chiefs in the Matopos in 1896, Hall of Chiefs, Natural History Museum ........................................................... 141 Figure 22: A display case showing a picture and information on Robert Edward Codrington, Hall of Chiefs, and Natural History Museum ............................................................................................. 142 Figure 23: The Battle of Pupu (Shangani Battle) painting in the Gweru Military Museum ............ 144 Figure 24: A Zimbabwe Bird in the museum at Great Zimbabwe ................................................ 148 Figure 25: The Mukwati Walking Stick, Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences ....................... 150 Figure 26: Part of the Ngoma lungundu travelling exhibition, Natural History Museum ................ 153 Figure 27: The arrest of Mbuya Nehanda (Charwe) in 1897 ............................................................ 160 Figure 28: The National Heroes’ Acre, Harare. ................................................................................. 190 Figure 29: A war memorial at a “massacre” site in Mozambique .................................................... 191 Figure 30: A crowd attending a Heroes Day commemoration, National Heroes’ Acre .............. 194 Figure 31: A Hero burial at the National Heroes’ Acre ................................................................... 195 Figure 32: Performers at Heroes’ Day celebration............................................................................. 195 Figure 33: Message posters at a Heroes Day commemoration, Heroes’ Acre. ............................ 196 Figure 34: The statue of Joshua M. Nkomo in Bulawayo’s Main Street ......................................... 203 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AHD Authorised Heritage Discourse ANC African National Congress BAAS British Association for the Advancement of Science BSAC British South Africa Company BSAC British South Africa Police CAMPFIRE Communal Area Management for Indigenous Resources CHM Cultural Heritage Management CNC Chief Native Commissioner DA District Administrator EMA Environmental Management Authority ESAP Economic Structural Adjustment Programme ICH Intangible Cultural Heritage LMS London Missionary Society MP Member of Parliament MDC Movement for Democratic Change MDC-T Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirayi MLF Matebeleland Liberation Front NAD Native Affairs Department NADA Native Affairs Department Annual NC Native Commissioner NCA National Constitutional Assembly NMMR National Museums and Monuments of Rhodesia NMMZ National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe PCC Peoples Caretaker Council QVM Queen Victoria Museum RF Rhodesian Front RCM Rhodesian Chamber of Mines RCE Rhodesian Centenary Exhibition RSA Rhodesian Scientific Association RENAMO Mozambique National Resistance Organisation SAAAS South African Association for the Advancement of Science SAHA South African History Association SWAPO South West Africa People's Organisation UCT University of Cape Town UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organisation ZANLA Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army ZANU (PF) Zimbabwe African National Union, (Patriotic Front) ZAPU Zimbabwe African Peoples Union ZBC