Zimbabwe's Predatory State: Party, Military And
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Zimbabwe’s Predatory State: Party, Military and Business Complex By Jabusile Madyazvimbishi Shumba Submitted to the Development Studies, School of Social Sciences In Partial Fulfilment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies 2016 University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa Supervisors: Michelle Williams (Prof.) and Roger Southall (Prof.) ABSTRACT The predatory state has received considerably less attention than the developmental state in the development literature. In this thesis I probe three understudied questions on the characteristics of the predatory state and its construction. First, what are the underlying class forces and power dynamics of a predatory state and how does it function? Second, what are the modes of accumulation that characterise the predatory state? Finally, what are the implications for development outcomes? This thesis answers these questions by examining Zimbabwe’s power elite (state, military and business) anti-developmental accumulation patterns across key economic sectors: land and agriculture, mining, transport and energy, and banking and finance. I adopt an historical approach beginning in the colonial period to understand the key choices made to explain the changing role of the state in mediating accumulation patterns and implications for development in both pre- and post- independence periods. Based on my empirical research, I suggest that the predatory state is a ruling class anti-developmental accumulation and reproduction project characterised by: (1) party and military dominance in the state; (2) state-business relations shaped by domination and capture; and (3) state-society relations shaped by violence and patronage. I differentiate the notion of predation from most political economy approaches on post-colonial Africa that emphasise the absence of central authority. I challenge the developmental state concept that views the predatory state as simply the opposite of a developmental state. Finally, I also show that contrary to suggestions that the predatory state is autonomous from society, the predatory state is also in fact deeply embedded with business albeit in a different way. i DECLARATION I declare that this dissertation is my own work. All citations, references and borrowed ideas have been duly acknowledged. I confirm that an external editor was not used. It is being submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Development Studies Programme, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. None of the present work has been submitted previously for any degree or examination in any other University. Student signature 03 May 2016 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: ......................................................................................................................... 1 The Making of Zimbabwe’s Predatory State ................................................................. 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 Deconstructing Zimbabwe’s Predatory State .................................................................... 6 Study aims, research questions and methodological issues ......................................13 Overview of the Study and Summary of Main Arguments ..........................................15 Chapter Two: ...................................................................................................................... 19 The Predatory State in the Context of Development Theory .................................. 19 Introduction ................................................................................................................................19 The Role of the State in Development ................................................................................20 The Developmental State ........................................................................................................27 The Predatory State ..................................................................................................................31 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................40 Chapter Three: ................................................................................................................... 42 Doing Research in Difficult Situations .......................................................................... 42 Introduction ................................................................................................................................42 The Extended Case Method ....................................................................................................43 Qualitative Content Analysis .................................................................................................54 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................55 Chapter Four: ..................................................................................................................... 57 Mapping Zimbabwe’s Predatory State......................................................................... 57 Introduction ................................................................................................................................57 The Colonial State: 1890 - 1979 ............................................................................................58 The Politics of the National Liberation Movements ......................................................63 Post-Independence State, Military and Business Relations: 1980-1990 ...............64 State, Military and Business Relations: 1990 – 2000 ....................................................70 Post 2000: The State, Military and Business Relations ................................................72 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................83 Chapter Five: ...................................................................................................................... 85 Land Reform and the Rise of the Landed Elite .......................................................... 85 Introduction ................................................................................................................................85 Colonial State and Land Politics: 1890 - 1979 .................................................................86 Post-Independence State and Land Politics: 1980 - 1997 ...........................................90 The Fast Track Land Reform Targets and Outcomes ................................................. 102 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 110 Chapter Six: ...................................................................................................................... 112 Mining Development, Decline and Accumulation .................................................... 112 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 112 Post-Independence State Mining and Accumulation: 1980 to 2000 .................... 122 Post 2000 Crisis, Mining and Accumulation.................................................................. 129 Indigenisation and Mining Accumulation ...................................................................... 131 Marange Diamonds and Militarised Accumulation .................................................... 136 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 138 Chapter Seven: ................................................................................................................. 139 iii The Banking and Financial Services Sector .............................................................. 139 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 139 The Colonial State and Banking Sector ........................................................................... 140 The Post –Independence State and Banking Sector: 1980 – 1990 ........................ 146 The Crisis and RBZ Quasi-fiscal Operations: 2000-2007 ......................................... 153 Post 2000s State and Banking Sector Crisis .................................................................. 156 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 165 Chapter Eight: .................................................................................................................. 167 Transport and Energy Sectors...................................................................................... 167 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 167 The Transport Sector ............................................................................................................ 167 Energy Sector: New Sites for Accumulation .................................................................. 175 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................