In the Shadow of a Conflict: Crisis in Zimbabwe and its effects in Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia

1. Introduction. Crisis in Zimbabwe and its regional effects

1 Introduction Zimbabwe has cast a powerful regional and international shadow since it became independent in 1980 and more recently, through the crises of the first decade of the twenty-first century. The 2000s were a decade of combined political, economic and social crises in Zimbabwe following what had been a relatively successful twenty years of independence since 1980. The scale, depth and severity of the crises evolving since 2000 have been as dramatic as they have been unexpected. Our point of departure in this book is that while there has been substantial coverage of the internal consequences of Zimbabwe’s crises less attention has been paid to its regional and cross-border consequences.2 In explaining the ongoing processes stemming from the crises, we have selected three neighboring countries – Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia – to depict how, over time, they have experienced and interpreted events in Zimbabwe , how they have dealt with Zimbabweans entering their territories, and how they have or have not formulated policies and developed practices to cope with the arrival of new and mainly undocumented Zimbabwean immigrants. While much attention, both popular and academic, has been devoted to Zimbabwe ’s ‘Fast Track’3 land reform – its causes, manifestations and impacts – less has been written about the fates of those who left the country in the wake of its implementation. In particular, little is known about the processes by which they entered and settled into rural communities and farms in neighboring countries. Most of the focus has been upon urban contexts and what has been labeled as xenophobic violence towards Zimbabweans and other ‘foreigners’ in South Africa (Hassim, Kupe and Worby, 2008). We augment these accounts through concentrating on the rural dimensions of the Zimbabwean diaspora. This book presents the findings of a three-and-a-half-year collaborative 1 Introduction Crisis in Zimbabwe and its Regional Effects Bill Derman and Randi Kaarhus1 In the Shadow of a Conflict 2 study on the regional consequences of Zimbabwe’s crises in Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. We present the stories of those Zimbabweans who have sought work, shelter and exile from their home, how they have fared, and in some cases under what conditions they would return to Zimbabwe and home. We further analyze the differences in policies and strategies followed by the governments of Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia as they have faced the ongoing political, economic and humanitarian crises in Zimbabwe as well as those within their own borders. In addition, we explore how Zimbabwean migrants’ needs and interests have been articulated with local politics and pressures on land and related natural resources, and how these have intersected with changing agrarian dynamics in their host countries and communities. The chapters are based upon sustained fieldwork at multiple sites in the three nations from 2007 to 2010. Methodologies employed by different researchers included scheduled interviews, open-ended interviews, life histories, document collection, interviews with government officials, multilateral organizations and NGOs, and recording of public debates in national media. The main emphasis was upon gaining insights into the experiences and understandings of Zimbabweans in the three countries, and the effects of their presence in this new context. We emphasize that there are long patterns of migration in southern Africa, ranging from oscillating labour migration (First, 1983; Murray, 1981; Lubkemann, 2008) to forced displacement associated with wars of national liberation. The mines, fields and homes of whites in South Africa, in particular, became dependent upon black labour from Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa itself. Much of the labour came from rural areas where the men left their families to cope at home. In this book we contend that the multiple crises in Zimbabwe since 2000 have introduced new dynamics and patterns into earlier flows and livelihood strategies. The book contributes to debates on the following issues in southern Africa: the challenges posed to the three countries by the effects of the crises in Zimbabwe ; migration as a strategy and opportunity for coping with displacement, violence, poverty and vulnerability; the depth of desperation among Zimbabwean migrants caused by the economic decline in Zimbabwe; the importance of rural livelihoods and the degree to which they are weakened or strengthened through employment in larger scale commercial agriculture; the nature of labour and social relations between people of different nationalities on commercial farms in the border areas; and the complex relationships between 3 Introduction national policies...