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154-777: Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) is a Zimbabwean organisation established by former guerrillas of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) who served during the Rhodesian Bush War . While not considered a state entity, the ZNLWVA is dependent on funding and support from Zimbabwe's ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). In 2005,
308-481: A 1922 referendum , the community rejected joining the Union of South Africa , electing instead to establish responsible government . In the 1964 Rhodesian independence referendum , the community voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence from Britain, leading to Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence under Prime Minister, Ian Smith . The community was embroiled in the Rhodesian Bush War (1964-1979), as
462-401: A SADC tribunal ruled that the government had racially discriminated against Campbell, denied him legal redress, and prevented him from defending his farm. In 2017, new President Emmerson Mnangagwa 's inaugural speech promised to pay compensation to the white farmers whose land was seized during the land reform programme. Rob Smart became the first white farmer whose land was returned within
616-488: A Shona term for Great Zimbabwe , a medieval city ( Masvingo ) in the country's south-east. Two different theories address the origin of the word. Many sources hold that "Zimbabwe" derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe , translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as "houses of stones" ( dzimba = plural of imba , "house"; mabwe = plural of ibwe , "stone"). The Karanga-speaking Shona people live around Great Zimbabwe in
770-464: A presidential election along with a parliamentary election . The results of this election were withheld for two weeks, after which it was generally acknowledged that the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T) had achieved a majority of one seat in the lower house of parliament. In September 2008, a power-sharing agreement was reached between Tsvangirai and President Mugabe, permitting
924-578: A self-governing British colony , subsequent to a 1922 referendum . Rhodesians of all races served on behalf of the United Kingdom during the two World Wars in the early-20th century. Proportional to the white population, Southern Rhodesia contributed more per capita to both the First and Second World Wars than any other part of the empire, including Britain. The 1930 Land Apportionment Act restricted black land ownership to certain segments of
1078-415: A coinage by the black nationalist Michael Mawema, whose Zimbabwe National Party became the first to officially use the name in 1961. The term "Rhodesia"—derived from the surname of Cecil Rhodes , the primary instigator of British colonisation of the territory—was perceived by African nationalists as inappropriate because of its colonial origin and connotations. According to Mawema, black nationalists held
1232-638: A colonial invention, unknown in African tradition." John Bredenkamp started his trading business during the UDI era, when he developed expertise in "sanctions busting". He is reported to have arranged the export of Rhodesian tobacco and the import of components (including parts and munitions for the Rhodesian government's force of Hunter jets) in the face of UN trade sanctions. Bredenkamp was able to continue and expand his business after independence, making himself
1386-501: A degrading campaign by the Zimbabwean State media in the 2000s. Several state newspapers referred to white Zimbabweans as "Britain's Children" and "settlers and colonialists". In 2006, several white Zimbabweans living in the affluent Harare suburb of Borrowdale were evicted from their homes because of their proximity to Mugabe's new home in the area. In 2007, it was reported that 100 mostly white youths were arrested during
1540-474: A dramatic decline in Zimbabwe's agricultural production. Indeed, in an effort to boost their own agricultural output, neighbouring countries, including Mozambique and Zambia, offered land and other incentives to entice Zimbabwe's white farmers to emigrate. By 2008, an estimated one in ten out of 5,000 white farmers remained on their land. Many of these continued to face intimidation, however. By June 2008, it
1694-670: A fear that union would bring a wave of Afrikaner "poor whites" to the country. Some Afrikaners came to the country to escape the National Party politics, and they looked to Southern Rhodesia, not to become closer to Britain, but to forge a White African identity with English-speaking whites that was free of the Afrikaner supremacy in South Africa. The earlier wave of Jewish immigration consisted of Ashkenazi Jews from Russia and Lithuania . An active Jewish community with
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#17327838292201848-405: A large effect in the context of an agricultural economy. Public spending on education, healthcare and other social services was heavily weighted towards white people. Most of the better paid jobs in public service were also reserved for white people. White people in skilled manual occupations enjoyed employment protection against black competition. In 1975, the average annual income for a Rhodesian
2002-578: A large transient element, and many white people might better be considered foreign migrants than settlers. Between 1960 and 1979, white emigration to Rhodesia was around 180,000, while white emigration overseas was 202,000 (with an average white population of around 240,000). White emigration accelerated as independence approached. In October 1978 the net white emigration of 1,582 was the highest recorded number of departures since Rhodesia declared its UDI in 1965. According to official government statistics, 1,834 whites emigrated and 252 white immigrants arrived. In
2156-488: A meeting in 1960 to choose an alternative name for the country, proposing names such as "Matshobana" and " Monomotapa " before his suggestion, "Zimbabwe", prevailed. It was initially unclear how the chosen term was to be used—a letter written by Mawema in 1961 refers to "Zimbabweland" — but "Zimbabwe" was sufficiently established by 1962 to become the generally preferred term of the black nationalist movement. Like those of many African countries that gained independence during
2310-471: A mellowing of government restrictions on white Zimbabweans owning land, with many of the returning white farmers forming joint ventures with black farm owners. The first wave of Afrikaners arrived in ox wagons in 1893, brought to the country at the time by the pioneer Duncan Moodie. The Afrikaners that followed mostly settled on farms in the subtropical lowlands of the southeast, and on the high central and northwestern plains known for its cattle ranching . It
2464-423: A military system with regimental kraals , similar to those of Shaka, which was stable enough to repel further Boer incursions. Mzilikazi died in 1868; following a violent power struggle, his son Lobengula succeeded him. In the 1880s, European colonists arrived with Cecil Rhodes 's British South Africa Company (chartered in 1889). In 1888, Rhodes obtained a concession for mining rights from King Lobengula of
2618-585: A month after President Mnangagwa was sworn in to office; he returned to his farm in Manicaland province by military escort. During the World Economic Forum 2018 in Davos , Mnangagwa also stated that his new government believes thinking about racial lines in farming and land ownership is "outdated", and should be a "philosophy of the past." As of 2023 , there are 900 white-run commercial farms in
2772-535: A non-Shona head of state. Archaeological records date archaic human settlement of present-day Zimbabwe to at least 500,000 years ago. Zimbabwe's earliest known inhabitants were most likely the San people , who left behind a legacy of arrowheads and cave paintings. Approximately 2,000 years ago, the first Bantu-speaking farmers arrived during the Bantu expansion. Societies speaking proto- Shona languages first emerged in
2926-405: A period of at least 10 years. The pattern of land ownership established during the Rhodesian state therefore survived for some time after independence. Those white people who were prepared to adapt to the situation they found themselves in were therefore able to continue enjoying a very comfortable existence. In fact, the independence settlement, combined with favourable economic conditions (including
3080-709: A personal fortune estimated at US$ 1 billion. Several white Zimbabwean businessmen, such as Billy Rautenbach , have returned to their native country after working abroad for some years. Rautenbach has succeeded in extending Zimbabwean minerals sector activity into neighbouring countries such as the DRC. Charles Davy is one of the largest private landowners in Zimbabwe. Davy is reported to own 1,200 km (460 mi ) of land, including farms at Ripple Creek, Driehoek, Dyer's Ranch and Mlelesi. His property has been almost unaffected by any form of land redistribution, and he denies that this fact has any link to his business relationship with
3234-521: A powerful economic unit, counterbalancing the economic power of South Africa. The economic power of these three areas was a major factor in the establishment of the Federation through a British Act of Parliament. It was also apparent as early as the 1950s that white rule would continue for longer in Rhodesia than it would in other British colonies such as Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) and Kenya. Many of
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#17327838292203388-412: A raid at Borrowdale's Glow nightclub, before being transported in two police buses and detained in the downtown central police station. According to eyewitnesses, several of the youths were attacked by Zimbabwean police. The Lancaster house agreement took place from 10 September – 15 December 1979 with 47 plenary sessions formally held in which Lord Carrington , Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary of
3542-434: A recommendation. In August 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa won a second term in an outcome of the election rejected by the opposition and questioned by observers. In September 2023, Zimbabwe signed control over almost 20% of the country's land to the carbon offset company Blue Carbon . Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa, lying between latitudes 15° and 23°S , and longitudes 25° and 34°E . It
3696-505: A stand. The land grabs formally followed after, in cause of the crumbling relations with the UK government. The Fast track land reform came to assume a very high profile in Zimbabwe's political life. ZANU politicians sought to revise Rhodesian land apportionment, which they saw as an injustice and pressed for land to be properly dispersed among white and black ownership. White farmers argued that this served little purpose. Therefore, to their eyes,
3850-646: A synagogue has existed in Salisbury (now Harare) since 1894. In the 1930s, a wave of Sephardi Jews arrived from Rhodes , the Greek island. German Jews fleeing persecution in the Third Reich also settled in the country. A number of Jews arrived from the Belgian Congo , escaping the civil war engulfing the newly-independent country. The Jewish community reached a peak of 7,060 to 7, 500 between 1961 and
4004-530: A time when their number was just about to fall below 100,000. About 49% of emigrants left to settle in South Africa, many of whom were Afrikaans speakers, with 29% going to the British Isles ; most of the remainder went to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Many of these emigrants continue to identify themselves as Rhodesian . A white Rhodesian/Zimbabwean who is nostalgic for
4158-622: A total 899,187 inhabitants, according to the 1921 census, some of whom were accepted as being white. A proposal by Garfield Todd (Prime Minister in 1953–1958) to liberalise the laws regarding interracial sex was viewed as dangerously radical. The proposal was rejected and was one factor that led to the political demise of Todd. Rhodesians enjoyed a very high standard of living. The Land Tenure Act had reserved 30% of agricultural land for white ownership. Black labour costs were low (around US$ 40 per month in 1975) and included free housing, food and clothing. Nurses earned US$ 120 per month. The low wages had
4312-489: A total of $ 10 billion by ZANU (PF) senior officials and Robert Mugabe's close relatives. In the wake of the war veterans' demands, the government panicked and had to pay off as concessions. The ZNLWVA pointed out that ZIPRA and ZANLA personnel excluded from the Zimbabwe National Army at independence had received only meagre pensions of Z$ 185 per month until 1983. Members had watched these savings evaporate in
4466-450: A total population of 899,187, of whom 33,620 were Europeans; 1,998 were Coloured ( mixed race ); 1,250 Asiatics; 761,790 Bantu natives of Southern Rhodesia; and 100,529 Bantu aliens. The following year, Southern Rhodesians rejected, in a referendum , the option of becoming a province of the Union of South Africa . Instead, the country became a self-governing British colony. It never gained full dominion status, but unlike other colonies, it
4620-468: A year, and had done so for quite a long time. If this rate of growth had been maintained for the next 37 years, Zimbabwe would have in 2016 a GDP of US$ 52 billion. Instead it had a formal sector GDP of only US$ 14 billion, a cost of US$ 38 billion in lost growth. The population growth in 1980 was among the highest in Africa at about 3.5 per cent per annum, doubling every 21 years. Had this growth been maintained,
4774-465: Is a republic with a presidential system of government. The semi-presidential system was abolished with the adoption of a new constitution after a referendum in 2013 . Under the constitutional changes in 2005, an upper chamber , the Senate , was reinstated. The House of Assembly is the lower chamber of Parliament. In 1987 Mugabe revised the constitution, abolishing the ceremonial presidency and
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4928-442: Is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west and southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east and northeast. Its northwest corner is roughly 150 meters from Namibia , nearly forming a four-nation quadripoint . Most of the country is elevated, consisting of a central plateau (high veld) stretching from the southwest northwards with altitudes between 1,000 and 1,600 m. The country's extreme east
5082-485: Is estimated that the community peaked in the late 1960s, numbering some 25,000. P. K. van der Byl , an Afrikaner, served as Rhodesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs (1974-1979). Thousands returned to South Africa after independence in Zimbabwe in 1980; however, as many as 15,000 remained four years later in 1984. They were sometimes disparaged by their Anglo-Saxon counterparts in the country, who referred to them as "japies", "hairy-backs", "rock spiders" and "ropes". Until
5236-471: Is mountainous, this area being known as the Eastern Highlands , with Mount Nyangani as the highest point at 2,592 m. The highlands are known for their natural environment, with tourist destinations such as Nyanga , Troutbeck, Chimanimani , Vumba and Chirinda Forest at Mount Selinda . About 20% of the country consists of low-lying areas, (the low veld) under 900m. Victoria Falls , one of
5390-474: Is slightly larger, with 1,200 Cypriots continuing to live in the country. The Greeks and Cypriots were mostly known for running restaurants and small businesses in the country. There are some significant Greek and Cypriot business owners and landowners, with the majority of the Hellenic community employed in trade professions or involved in bakery operations. Hellenic Academy , an independent Greek high school
5544-587: Is the best government for commercial farmers that this country has ever seen". The lifting of UN-imposed economic sanctions and the end of the Bush War at the time of independence produced an immediate 'peace dividend'. Renewed access to world capital markets made it possible to finance major new infrastructure developments in transport and schools. One area of economic growth was tourism, catering in particular to visitors from Europe and North America. Many white people found work in this sector. Another area of growth
5698-607: The esprit de corps of the white dominant class in the former Rhodesia prevented the poor white people from becoming a recognisable social group, because of the social assistance provided by the dominant social class on racial grounds. This system broke down after the founding of Zimbabwe, causing the number of poor white people to increase, especially after 2000, when the confiscation of white-owned farms took its toll. As rich white land owners emigrated or fended for themselves financially, their white employees, who mainly worked as supervisors of black labour, found themselves destitute on
5852-540: The American declaration of 1776, which Smith and others indeed claimed provided a suitable precedent to their own actions. The United Kingdom deemed the Rhodesian declaration an act of rebellion but did not re-establish control by force. The British government petitioned the United Nations for sanctions against Rhodesia pending unsuccessful talks with Smith's administration in 1966 and 1968. In December 1966,
6006-700: The Bantu people (who would become the ethnic Shona) built the city-state of Great Zimbabwe ; the city-state became one of the major African trade centres by the 11th century but was abandoned by the mid 15th century. From there, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe was established, followed by the Rozvi and Mutapa empires. The British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes demarcated the Rhodesia region in 1890 when they conquered Mashonaland and later in 1893 Matabeleland after
6160-461: The Cold War , Zimbabwe is an ethnically neutral name. It is debatable to what extent Zimbabwe, being over 80% homogenously Shona and dominated by them in various ways, can be described as a nation state . The constitution acknowledges 16 languages, but only embraces two of them nationally, Shona and English. Shona is taught widely in schools, unlike Ndebele . Zimbabwe has additionally never had
6314-614: The Constitution of Zimbabwe Mugabe should be succeeded by Vice-president Phelekezela Mphoko , a supporter of Grace Mugabe , ZANU–PF chief whip Lovemore Matuke stated to the Reuters news agency that Mnangagwa would be appointed as president. On 30 July 2018 Zimbabwe held its general elections , which were won by the ZANU-PF party led by Mnangagwa. Nelson Chamisa who was leading the main opposition party MDC Alliance contested
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6468-653: The First Matabele War . Company rule ended in 1923 with the establishment of Southern Rhodesia as a self-governing British colony . In 1965, the white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia . The state endured international isolation and a 15-year guerrilla war with black nationalist forces; this culminated in a peace agreement that established de jure sovereignty as Zimbabwe in April 1980. Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in 1980, when his ZANU–PF party won
6622-527: The Indian Ocean and world commerce. Rhodesia was excluded from major sporting events, meaning that its white athletes were unable to participate in the 1968 , 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games . A small number of British migrants had reached the British colony of Southern Rhodesia , later Zimbabwe, as settlers during the late-nineteenth century. A steady migration of European peoples continued for
6776-458: The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) concluded that due to the deterioration of government and the economy "the government encourages corruption to make up for its inability to fund its own institutions" with widespread and informal police roadblocks to issue fines to travellers being one manifestation of this. In July 2016 nationwide protests took place regarding the economic collapse in
6930-504: The Kingdom of Zimbabwe eclipsed Mapungubwe. This Shona state further refined and expanded upon Mapungubwe's stone architecture. From c. 1450 to 1760, the Kingdom of Mutapa ruled much of the area of present-day Zimbabwe, plus parts of central Mozambique. It is known by many names including the Mutapa Empire, also known as Mwene Mutapa or Monomotapa as well as "Munhumutapa", and was renowned for its strategic trade routes with
7084-598: The Republic of Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa , between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers , bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare , and the second largest is Bulawayo . A country of roughly 16.6 million people as per 2024 census, Zimbabwe's largest ethnic group are
7238-836: The Shona , who make up 80% of the population, followed by the Northern Ndebele and other smaller minorities . Zimbabwe has 16 official languages , with English, Shona , and Ndebele the most common. Zimbabwe is a member of the United Nations , the Southern African Development Community , the African Union , and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa . Beginning in the 9th century, during its late Iron Age ,
7392-508: The general election following the end of white minority rule and has remained the country's dominant party since. He was the President of Zimbabwe from 1987, after converting the country's initial parliamentary system into a presidential one , until his resignation in 2017. Under Mugabe's authoritarian regime, the state security apparatus dominated the country and was responsible for widespread human rights violations. From 1997 to 2008
7546-659: The "humanitarian situation has improved in Zimbabwe since 2009, but conditions remain precarious for many people". A new constitution approved in the Zimbabwean constitutional referendum, 2013 curtails presidential powers. Mugabe was re-elected president in the July 2013 Zimbabwean general election which The Economist described as "rigged" and the Daily Telegraph as "stolen". The Movement for Democratic Change alleged massive fraud and tried to seek relief through
7700-728: The 120 constituencies. Moyo participated in the elections despite the allegations and won a seat as an independent member of Parliament. White people in Zimbabwe White Zimbabweans, also known as White Rhodesians or simply Rhodesians, are a Southern African people of European descent. In linguistic , cultural, and historical terms, these people of European ethnic origin are mostly English-speaking descendants of British settlers. A small minority are either Afrikaans -speaking descendants of Afrikaners from South Africa or those descended from Greek , Portuguese , Italian , and Jewish immigrants. In
7854-571: The Arabs and Portugal. The Portuguese sought to monopolise this influence and began a series of wars which left the empire in near collapse in the early 17th century. As a direct response to increased European presence in the interior a new Shona state emerged, known as the Rozwi Empire . Relying on centuries of military, political and religious development, the Rozwi (meaning "destroyers") expelled
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#17327838292208008-785: The Ashkenazi synagogue and the Sephardi synagogue. As congregation numbers have depleted, both communities combine minyanim on Shabbat . Two Jewish primary schools continue to operate, with Sharon School in Harare, and Carmel in Bulawayo . With the local Jewish community decreasing in size, most of the students at the schools are not Jewish, however. The Greek Community in Zimbabwe peaked at between 13,000-15,000 people in 1972, but has decreased significantly to around 1,000 Greeks or people of Greek origin. The Greek Cypriot community in Zimbabwe
8162-600: The British landowning class . By contrast, settlers in Rhodesia after the Second World War were perceived as being drawn from lower social strata and were treated accordingly by the British authorities. As Peter Godwin wrote in The Guardian , "Foreign Office mandarins dismissed Rhodesians as lower middle class, no more than provincial clerks and artisans, the lowly NCOs of empire." Various factors encouraged
8316-444: The British government invited Muzorewa, Mugabe, and Nkomo to participate in a constitutional conference at Lancaster House . The purpose of the conference was to discuss and reach an agreement on the terms of an independence constitution, and provide for elections supervised under British authority allowing Zimbabwe Rhodesia to proceed to legal independence. With Lord Carrington, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of
8470-522: The DRC from 1998, the government was able to call on sanctions-busting expertise and personnel from the UDI era to provide parts and munitions for its force of Hawk jets. After 25 years of ZANU-PF government, Zimbabwe had become a congenial place for white millionaires of a certain kind to live and do business in. The Independence constitution contained a provision requiring the Zimbabwean government to honour pension obligations due to former servants of
8624-545: The Eastern Highlands. The country is mostly savanna , although the moist and mountainous Eastern Highlands support areas of tropical evergreen and hardwood forests. Trees found in the Eastern Highlands include teak , mahogany , enormous specimens of strangler fig , forest Newtonia , big leaf, white stinkwood , chirinda stinkwood, knobthorn and many others. In the low-lying parts of the country fever trees , mopane , combretum and baobabs abound. Much of
8778-609: The Economic Structural Adjustment Programme), produced a 20-year period of unprecedented prosperity for white Zimbabwean people, and for the white farming community in particular; a new class of "young white millionaires" appeared in the farming sector. These were typically young Zimbabweans who had applied skills learned in agricultural colleges and business schools in Europe. In 1989, Commercial Farmers' Union president John Brown commented, "This
8932-540: The MDC. Due to the organization's political clout and known affiliation with several ZANU-PF cabinet ministers, the Zimbabwe Republic Police was reluctant to investigate the ZNLWVA for its alleged crimes. ZNLWVA has a close alliance with Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the ruling party, and by extension the government formerly led by Robert Mugabe . In all elections since 2000,
9086-630: The Ndebele peoples. He presented this concession to persuade the government of the United Kingdom to grant a royal charter to the company over Matabeleland, and its subject states such as Mashonaland as well. Rhodes used this document in 1890 to justify sending the Pioneer Column , a group of Europeans protected by well-armed British South Africa Police (BSAP) through Matabeleland and into Shona territory to establish Fort Salisbury (present-day Harare ), and thereby establish company rule over
9240-745: The Portuguese from the Zimbabwean plateau in 1683. Around 1821 the Zulu general Mzilikazi of the Khumalo clan successfully rebelled against King Shaka and established his own clan, the Ndebele . The Ndebele fought their way northwards into the Transvaal , leaving a trail of destruction in their wake and beginning an era of widespread devastation known as the Mfecane . When Dutch trekboers converged on
9394-483: The Rhodes administration subdued the Ndebele and Shona groups and organised the land with a disproportionate bias favouring Europeans, thus displacing many indigenous peoples. The United Kingdom annexed Southern Rhodesia on 12 September 1923. Shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force. Under the new constitution, Southern Rhodesia became
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#17327838292209548-466: The Rhodesian state. This obligation included payment in foreign currency to pensioners living outside Zimbabwe (almost all white). Pension payments were made until the 1990s, but they then became erratic and stopped altogether in 2003. Since the land invasions and chaotic political situation in the country, a number of expatriate white farmers and hoteliers from Zimbabwe have resettled in neighbouring Zambia , where they are reviving agriculture and develop
9702-669: The Smith government sought to maintain white minority rule . White men were conscripted into the Rhodesian Security Forces and the British South Africa Police . White civilians were targeted in some attacks such as Air Rhodesia Flight 825 and Air Rhodesia Flight 827 . The community faced fresh economic challenges during the UDI period as Britain imposed economic sanctions and Mozambique closed its border in 1976, blocking Rhodesia's access to
9856-657: The Transvaal in 1836, they drove the tribe even further northward, with the assistance of Tswana Barolong warriors and Griqua commandos. By 1838 the Ndebele had conquered the Rozwi Empire, along with the other smaller Shona states, and reduced them to vassaldom . After losing their remaining South African lands in 1840, Mzilikazi and his tribe permanently settled in the southwest of present-day Zimbabwe in what became known as Matabeleland, establishing Bulawayo as their capital. Mzilikazi then organised his society into
10010-625: The UANC head, became prime minister and the country's name was changed to Zimbabwe Rhodesia. The Internal Settlement left control of the Rhodesian Security Forces , civil service, judiciary, and a third of parliament seats to whites. On 12 June, the United States Senate voted to lift economic pressure on the former Rhodesia. Following the fifth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting , held in Lusaka , Zambia, from 1 to 7 August in 1979,
10164-442: The UDI era is known colloquially as a " Rhodie ". These nostalgic "Rhodesians" are also sometimes referred to by the pejorative " Whenwes ", because of the nostalgia expressed by them in the phrase "when we were in Rhodesia". The 1979 Lancaster House Agreement , which was the basis for independence from the United Kingdom, had precluded compulsory land redistribution in favour of subsidised voluntary sale of land by white owners for
10318-412: The United Kingdom, chaired the Conference. The content of Lancaster House Agreement covered the new constitution , pre-independence arrangements, and the terms of ceasefire along with an agreement of a bilateral payment from the UK to the republic of Zimbabwe in aid to the land reforms. The agreement signed under Margaret Thatcher, sought out to aid the oncoming land redistribution as powers shifted from
10472-417: The United Kingdom, in the chair, these discussions were mounted from 10 September to 15 December in 1979, producing a total of 47 plenary sessions . On 21 December 1979, delegations from every major interest represented reached the Lancaster House Agreement , effectively ending the guerrilla war. On 11 December 1979, the Rhodesian House of Assembly voted 90 to nil to revert to British colonial status. With
10626-425: The United States enacted the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA). It came into effect in 2002 and froze credit to the Zimbabwean government. By 2003, the country's economy had collapsed. It is estimated that up to a quarter of Zimbabwe's 11 million people had fled the country. Three-quarters of the remaining Zimbabweans were living on less than one U.S. dollar a day. Following elections in 2005 ,
10780-417: The ZANU–PF party, which claimed 117 of the 120 contested seats. During the 1990s, students, trade unionists, and other workers often demonstrated to express their growing discontent with Mugabe and ZANU–PF party policies. In 1996, civil servants, nurses, and junior doctors went on strike over salary issues. The general health of the population also began to significantly decline; by 1997 an estimated 25% of
10934-472: The amount of wildlife. Woodland degradation and deforestation caused by population growth , urban expansion and use for fuel are major concerns and have led to erosion which diminishes the amount of fertile soil. Local farmers have been criticised by environmentalists for burning off vegetation to heat their tobacco barns. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.31/10, ranking it 81st globally out of 172 countries. Zimbabwe
11088-627: The area a moderate climate which was conducive to European settlement and commercial agriculture. White settlers who assisted in the BSAC takeover of the country were given land grants of 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres); the black people who had long lived on the land were classified legally as tenants. In 1930, Land Apportionment and Tenure Acts displaced Africans from the country's best farmland, restricting them to unproductive and low-rainfall tribal-trust lands. It reserved areas of high rainfall for White ownership. White settlers were attracted to Rhodesia by
11242-514: The area. In 1893 and 1894, with the help of their new Maxim guns, the BSAP would go on to defeat the Ndebele in the First Matabele War . Rhodes additionally sought permission to negotiate similar concessions covering all territory between the Limpopo River and Lake Tanganyika , then known as "Zambesia". In accordance with the terms of aforementioned concessions and treaties, mass settlement
11396-603: The areas of living standards, public health (with a major cholera outbreak in December) and various basic affairs. During this period, NGOs took over from government as a primary provider of food during this period of food insecurity in Zimbabwe. A 2011 survey by Freedom House suggested that living conditions had improved since the power-sharing agreement. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated in its 2012–2013 planning document that
11550-528: The arrival of Christopher Soames , the new governor on 12 December 1979, Britain formally took control of Zimbabwe Rhodesia as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia. Britain lifted sanctions on 12 December and the United Nations on 16 December. During the elections of February 1980 , Mugabe and the ZANU party secured a landslide victory. Prince Charles , as the representative of Britain, formally granted independence to
11704-416: The artisan, skilled worker and supervisory classes began to experience job competition from black people. Indigenisation in the public services displaced many white people. The result was that white emigration gathered pace. In the ten-year period from 1980 to 1990, approximately two-thirds of the white community left Zimbabwe. However, many white people resolved to stay in the new Zimbabwe; only one-third of
11858-429: The availability of tracts of prime farmland that could be purchased from the state at low cost. This resulted in the growth of commercial agriculture in the young colony. The White farm was typically a large (>100 km (>38.6 mi )) mechanized estate, owned by a White family and employing hundreds of Black people. Many White farms provided housing, schools and clinics for Black employees and their families. At
12012-539: The bush war. In January 2000, ZNLWVA wrote a letter addressed to Queen Elizabeth II and communicated through Peter Longworth , the British High Commissioner to Zimbabwe. It gave vent to the frustrations of landless veterans and blamed the nation's white minority of predominantly British descent for refusing to participate in constructive land reform . ZNLWVA threatened a "bloodbath" in future "clashes against commercial farmers" unless land hunger
12166-746: The central plateau receive frost in winter. The Zambezi valley is known for its extreme heat, and the Eastern Highlands usually experience cool temperatures and the highest rainfall in the country. The country's rainy season generally runs from late October to March, and the hot climate is moderated by increasing altitude. Zimbabwe is faced with recurring droughts. In 2019, at least 55 elephants died because of drought. Severe storms are rare. Zimbabwe contains seven terrestrial ecoregions: Kalahari acacia–baikiaea woodlands , Southern Africa bushveld , Southern miombo woodlands , Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands , Zambezian and mopane woodlands , Zambezian halophytics , and Eastern Zimbabwe montane forest-grassland mosaic in
12320-602: The constitutional outreach programme in Harare during a weekend, in which violence and confusion marred the process, with similar incidents having occurred in Graniteside. In Mount Pleasant , white families were subjected to a torrent of abuse by suspected Zanu-PF supporters, who later drove them away and shouted racial slurs. There were also many illegal seizures of white-owned farmland by the government and its supporters. By March 2000, little land had been redistributed as per
12474-503: The country became the de facto independent – albeit unrecognised — state of Rhodesia . As was the case in most European colonies, white immigrants took a privileged position in all areas of society. Extensive areas of prime farmland were owned by whites. Senior positions in the public services were reserved for whites, and whites working in manual occupations enjoyed legal protection against job competition from black Africans. As time passed, this situation became increasingly unwelcome to
12628-473: The country became the British Dependency of Southern Rhodesia. In April 1980, it was granted independence as Zimbabwe . The Rhodesian community kept itself largely separate from the black and Asian communities in the country. Urban Rhodesians lived in separate areas of town, and had their own segregated education, healthcare and recreational facilities. Marriage between Zimbabweans and Rhodesians
12782-518: The country is covered by miombo woodland, dominated by brachystegia species and others. Among the numerous flowers and shrubs are hibiscus , flame lily , snake lily , spider lily , leonotis , cassia , tree wisteria and dombeya . There are around 350 species of mammals that can be found in Zimbabwe. There are also many snakes and lizards, over 500 bird species, and 131 fish species. Large parts of Zimbabwe were once covered by forests with abundant wildlife. Deforestation and poaching has reduced
12936-549: The country's white minority in the event of a military or political victory. When significant land reform failed to take place immediately after the war, they felt the promises of their political leadership with regards to this issue had not been truly fulfilled. In accordance with the Lancaster House Agreement , the Zimbabwean government agreed to delay land redistribution by means of compulsory seizure for ten years. While at least 20% of white-owned farmland
13090-674: The country's leading export-producing sector. Some 58,000 independent black farmers have since experienced limited success in reviving the gutted cash crop sectors through efforts on a smaller scale. President Mugabe and the ZANU–PF party leadership found themselves beset by a wide range of international sanctions. In 2002, the nation was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations due to the reckless farm seizures and blatant election tampering . The following year, Zimbabwean officials voluntarily terminated its Commonwealth membership. In 2001,
13244-570: The country, setting aside large areas solely for the purchase of the white minority. This act, which led to rapidly rising inequality, became the subject of frequent calls for subsequent land reform. In 1953, in the face of African opposition, Britain consolidated the two Rhodesias with Nyasaland (Malawi) in the ill-fated Central African Federation , which Southern Rhodesia essentially dominated. Growing African nationalism and general dissent, particularly in Nyasaland, persuaded Britain to dissolve
13398-475: The country. In November 2017, the army led a coup d'état following the dismissal of Vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa , placing Mugabe under house arrest. The army denied that their actions constituted a coup . On 19 November 2017, ZANU–PF sacked Robert Mugabe as party leader and appointed former Vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa in his place. On 21 November 2017, Mugabe tendered his resignation prior to impeachment proceedings being completed. Although under
13552-647: The country. The country settled and the white population stabilised. Chris McGreal, writing in The Observer in April 2008, claimed that Zimbabwe's white people "... kept their houses and their pools and their servants. The white farmers had it even better. With crop prices soaring they bought boats on Lake Kariba and built air strips on their farms for newly acquired planes. Zimbabwe's whites reached an implicit understanding with Zanu-PF; they could go on as before, so long as they kept out of politics". White Zimbabweans with professional skills were readily accepted in
13706-423: The country. The farmers are not usually working their own land, but are renting in joint ventures from black farmers given confiscated white-owned land. Since the 2000s, there has been a surge in violence against Zimbabwe's dwindling white community, with the main targets of this violence being Zimbabwe's white farmers. On 18 September 2010, droves of white people were chased away and prevented from participating in
13860-559: The courts. In a surprising moment of candour at the ZANU–PF congress in December 2014, President Robert Mugabe accidentally let slip that the opposition had in fact won the contentious 2008 polls by an astounding 73%. After winning the election, the Mugabe ZANU–PF government re-instituted one party rule , doubled the civil service and, according to The Economist , embarked on "misrule and dazzling corruption". A 2017 study conducted by
14014-538: The deaths of at least three million Zimbabweans in 37 years. According to World Food Programme, over two million people are facing starvation because of the recent droughts the country is going through. In 2018, President Mnangagwa announced that his government would seek to rejoin the Commonwealth , which is as of 2023 conducting a fact-finding mission prior to asking the Secretary-General to issue
14168-484: The demobilised guerrillas were also insolvent, having been unable to secure long-term employment or receive job training due to rising unemployment. ZNLWVA was a virtual non-entity in the politics of Zimbabwe for eight years after it was founded. That changed when Chenjerai Hunzvi became its chairman in 1997. Hunzvi bitterly criticised ZANU-PF for profiting itself while its former guerrillas were ignored and cheated. Since 1980, war veterans had collectively been robbed of
14322-544: The early 1970s. There were three active synagogues in Salisbury (now Harare), one in Bulawayo and a plethora of Jewish community centers, sports clubs, primary schools, youth movements and other organizations, such as the Chevra Kadisha (Jewish burial society). Smaller Jewish communities also existed in Gatooma , Gwelo and Que Que . There are currently two active synagogues in the country, both are in Harare :
14476-578: The early-1980s, both in fear for their lives and an uncertain future. Political unrest and the seizure of many white-owned commercial farms resulted in a further exodus of Rhodesians commencing in 1999. The 2002 census recorded 46,743 Rhodesians living in Zimbabwe. More than 10,000 were elderly and fewer than 9,000 were under the age of 15. At the time of Zimbabwean independence in 1980, it was estimated that around 38% of Rhodesians were UK-born, with slightly fewer born in Rhodesia, and around 20% from elsewhere in Africa. The white population of that era contained
14630-526: The economy experienced consistent decline (and in the latter years, hyperinflation ), though it has since seen rapid growth after the use of currencies other than the Zimbabwean dollar was permitted. In 2017, in the wake of over a year of protests against his government as well as Zimbabwe's rapidly declining economy, a coup d'état resulted in Mugabe's resignation. Emmerson Mnangagwa has since served as Zimbabwe's president. The name "Zimbabwe" stems from
14784-501: The election results claiming voter fraud, and subsequently filed a petition to the Constitution Court of Zimbabwe. The court confirmed Mnangagwa's victory, making him the newly elected president after Mugabe. In December 2017 the website Zimbabwe News, calculating the cost of the Mugabe era using various statistics, said that at the time of independence in 1980, the country was growing economically at about five per cent
14938-520: The end of the Rhodesian Bush War. They received a flat severance sum from the Zimbabwean military of about Z$ 400, with a two-year allowance of Z$ 185 per month. Some veterans believed this was grossly inadequate, and demanded formal military pensions for their years of service. Additionally, another 25,000 guerrillas had been dismissed before the military began implementing the severance sums and allowances; these received nothing. By 1985 half of
15092-482: The end of the Second World War, "the race problem" in Southern Rhodesia referred exclusively to Afrikaner and English-speaking rivalries. However, Afrikaners in the country did not push for the most radical demands of Afrikaner nationalism, including the absolute rejection of empire. "Anti-Dutch" sentiment contributed to white Rhodesia's rejection of union with South Africa in the 1922 referendum, as well as
15246-450: The euphoria of independence subsided, and as a variety of economic and social problems became evident in the late-1990s, the land issue became a focus for trouble. This was intention was to equally allocate the 4,000 white farms, covering 110,000 km (42,470 mi ) of mostly prime farmland, among the majority. The means used to implement the programme were ad-hoc, and involved forcible seizure in many cases. By mid-2006, only 500 of
15400-540: The eviction of his black neighbour Solomon Ndawa from a 200-hectare (500-acre) irrigated wheat farm. Meade represented Ndawa at hearings of the Land Commission and attempted to protect Ndawa from abusive questioning. Large-scale migration to Rhodesia did not begin until after the Second World War . At the colony's first comprehensive census in 1962, Rhodesia had 221,000 white residents. At its peak in
15554-569: The first nine months of 1978, 11,241 whites emigrated. In an attempt to stem emigration, the Rhodesian government allowed each departing family to only take up to $ 1,400 out of the country. The country gained its independence as Zimbabwe in April 1980, under a ZANU-PF government led by Robert Mugabe . Following independence, the country's white citizens lost most of their former privileges. A generous social welfare net (including both education and healthcare) that had supported white people in Rhodesia disappeared almost in an instant. White people in
15708-631: The first white mayor since 1981. Present-day Zimbabwe (known as Southern Rhodesia from 1895) was occupied by the British South Africa Company (BSAC) from the 1890s onward, following its subjugation of the Matabele (Ndebele) and Shona nations. Early White settlers came in search of mineral resources, hoping to find a second gold-rich Witwatersrand . Zimbabwe lies on a plateau that varies in altitude between 900 and 1,500 m (2,950 and 4,900 ft) above sea level. This gives
15862-573: The former Kenya Colony , the Belgian Congo , Zambia, Algeria, and Mozambique. For a time, Rhodesia provided something of a haven for white people who were retreating from decolonisation elsewhere in Africa and Asia. In 1974 the Smith government launched a massive campaign to attract one million Europeans to settle in the country. Post-World War II Rhodesian white settlers were considered different in character from earlier Rhodesian settlers and those from other British colonies. In Kenya , settlers were perceived to be drawn from "the officer class" and from
16016-410: The former to hold the office of prime minister. Due to ministerial differences between their respective political parties, the agreement was not fully implemented until 13 February 2009. By December 2010, Mugabe was threatening to completely expropriate remaining privately owned companies in Zimbabwe unless "western sanctions" were lifted. In late 2008, problems in Zimbabwe reached crisis proportions in
16170-463: The government initiated " Operation Murambatsvina ", an effort to crack down on illegal markets and slums emerging in towns and cities, leaving a substantial section of urban poor homeless. The Zimbabwean government has described the operation as an attempt to provide decent housing to the population, although according to critics such as Amnesty International , authorities have yet to properly substantiate their claims. On 29 March 2008, Zimbabwe held
16324-423: The government looked into ways to make members of the organisation part of the army of Zimbabwe. The ZNLWVA was formed in April 1989 by disgruntled former ZANLA and ZIPRA personnel, many of whom felt that they had received insufficient rewards for their wartime service. During the Rhodesian Bush War, a number of the guerrillas and their supporters had been led to believe that they would receive land expropriated from
16478-403: The government pressed ahead with its Fast Track Land Reform programme, a policy involving compulsory land acquisition aimed at redistributing land from the minority white population to the majority black population. Confiscations of white farmland, continuous droughts, and a serious drop in external finance and other support led to a sharp decline in agricultural exports, which were traditionally
16632-578: The growth of the white population of Rhodesia. These included the industrialisation and prosperity of the economy in the post-war period. The National Party victory in South Africa was one of the factors that led to the formation of the Central African Federation (1953-1963), so as to provide a bulwark against Afrikaner nationalism . British settlement and investment boomed during the Federation years, as Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and Nyasaland (now Malawi) formed
16786-518: The known Rhodesia to the now known Zimbabwe. By the mid-1990s, it is thought that around 120,000 white people remained in Zimbabwe. In spite of this small number, the white Zimbabwean minority maintained control of much of the economy through its investment in commercial farms, industry, and tourism. However, an ongoing programme of land reforms (intended to alter the ethnic balance of land ownership) dislodged many white farmers. The level of violence associated with these reforms in some rural areas made
16940-465: The land reform laws that were passed in 1979, when the Lancaster House Agreement between Britain and Zimbabwe pledged to initiate a fairer distribution of land between the white minority, which governed Zimbabwe from 1890 to 1979, and the black population. However, at this stage, land acquisition could only occur on a voluntary basis. Little land had been redistributed, and frustrated groups of government supporters began seizing white-owned farms. Most of
17094-407: The local tourism industry. Since 2009 the British government has put into action a repatriation plan assisting elderly British citizens living in Zimbabwe to resettle in the United Kingdom. Challenges for some of Zimbabwe's remaining white community include being reliant on remittances sent by relatives overseas, the cost of private healthcare and cost of living. The community was the target of
17248-501: The majority ethnic groups within the country and also to wide sections of international opinion, leading to the Rhodesian Bush War and eventually the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979. After the country's reconstitution as the Republic of Zimbabwe in 1980, Rhodesians had to adjust to being an ethnic minority in a country with a black majority government. Although a significant number of Rhodesians remained, many of them emigrated in
17402-550: The members of the ZNLWVA, commonly known as 'war vets' have spearheaded election campaigns for ZANU-PF. After the leadership of Chenjerai Hunzvi came Habulani Sibanda and Joseph Chinotimba. As such war veterans became instrumental for ZANU-PF in suppressing the opposition through the use of harassment, intimidation, and violence. They often act alongside the ZANU-PF's youth formation. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe ( / z ɪ m ˈ b ɑː b w eɪ , - w i / ; Shona pronunciation: [zi.ᵐba.ɓwe] ), officially
17556-525: The mid-1970s, Rhodesia's white population consisted of as many as 277,000. There were influxes of white immigrants from the 1940s through to the early 1970s. The country saw a net gain of 9,400 white immigrants in 1971, the highest number since 1957 and the third highest on record. In the immediate postwar period, the most conspicuous group were former British servicemen. However, many of the new immigrants were refugees from Communism in Europe; others were former service personnel from British India , or came from
17710-544: The middle Limpopo River valley in the 9th century before moving on to the Zimbabwean highlands. The Zimbabwean plateau became the centre of subsequent Shona states, beginning around the 10th century. Around the early 10th century, trade developed with Arab merchants on the Indian Ocean coast, helping to develop the Kingdom of Mapungubwe in the 11th century. This was the precursor to the Shona civilisations that dominated
17864-614: The militant communists. In March 1978, Smith reached an accord with three African leaders, led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa , who offered to leave the white population comfortably entrenched in exchange for the establishment of a biracial democracy. As a result of the Internal Settlement , elections were held in April 1979 , concluding with the United African National Council (UANC) carrying a majority of parliamentary seats. On 1 June 1979, Muzorewa,
18018-499: The modern-day Masvingo province. Archaeologist Peter Garlake claims that "Zimbabwe" represents a contracted form of dzimba-hwe , which means "venerated houses" in the Zezuru dialect of Shona and usually references chiefs' houses or graves. Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia (1898), Rhodesia (1965), and Zimbabwe Rhodesia (1979). The first recorded use of "Zimbabwe" as a term of national reference dates from 1960 as
18172-544: The new immigrants had a "not here" attitude to majority rule and independence. Rhodesia was run by a white minority government. In 1965, that government declared itself independent through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence ('UDI') under Prime Minister Ian Smith . The UDI project eventually failed, after a period of United Nations economic sanctions and a civil war known as the Chimurenga (Shona) or Bush War . British colonial rule returned in December 1979, when
18326-741: The new nation of Zimbabwe at a ceremony in Harare in April 1980. Zimbabwe's first president after its independence was Canaan Banana in what was originally a mainly ceremonial role as head of state . Mugabe was the country's first prime minister and head of government. In 1980, Samora Machel told Mugabe that Zimbabwe was the "Jewel of Africa" but added: "Don't tarnish it!". New names for 32 places were gazetted on 18 April 1982 and by February 1984, there had been 42 changes, which included three rivers (Umniati/ Munyati ; Lundi/ Runde ; Nuanetsi/ Mwenezi ), and several changes from colonial names (such as Salisbury/Harare; Enkeldoorn/ Chivhu ; Essexvale/ Esigodini ; Fort Victoria/ Masvingo ) Opposition to what
18480-435: The new order. For example, Chris Andersen had been the hardline Rhodesian justice minister, but made a new career for himself as an independent MP and leading attorney in Zimbabwe. In 1998, he defended former President Canaan Banana in the infamous "sodomy trial". At the time of this trial, Andersen spoke out against the attitude of President Mugabe who had described homosexuals as being "worse than dogs and pigs since they are
18634-414: The next 75 years. The white population of Southern Rhodesia, or Rhodesia as it was known from 1965, reached a peak of about 300,000 in 1975–76, representing around 8% of the population. Emigration after the country gained internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe in 1980 resulted in a declining white population: estimated at 220,000 in 1980; 70,000 in 2000; and 30,000 in 2012. However, by 2023,
18788-574: The number of deaths during the five-year Gukurahundi campaign ranged from 3,750 to 80,000. Thousands of others were tortured in military internment camps. The campaign officially ended in 1987 after Nkomo and Mugabe reached a unity agreement that merged their respective parties, creating the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front ( ZANU–PF ). Elections in March 1990 resulted in another victory for Mugabe and
18942-448: The organisation complied, imposing the first mandatory trade embargo on an autonomous state. These sanctions were expanded again in 1968. A civil war ensued when Joshua Nkomo 's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), supported actively by communist powers and neighbouring African nations, initiated guerrilla operations against Rhodesia's predominantly white government. ZAPU
19096-582: The original 5,000 white farms were still fully operational. The majority of the white farms that avoided expropriation were in Manicaland and Midlands, where it proved possible to do local deals and form strategic partnerships. However, by early-2007, a number of the seized farms were being leased back to their former white owners (although in reduced size or on a contract basis); it has been claimed to be possible that as many as 1,000 of them could be operational again, in some form. A University of Zimbabwe sociologist told IWPR journalist Benedict Unendoro that
19250-418: The politician Webster Shamu . Davy has said about Shamu, "I am in partnership with a person who I personally like and get along with". Other views on Shamu are less kind. The political environment in Zimbabwe has allowed the development of an exploitative business culture, in which some white businessmen have played a prominent role. When Zimbabwe was subject to EU sanctions, arising from its involvement in
19404-424: The population had been infected by HIV in a pandemic that was affecting most of southern Africa. Land redistribution re-emerged as the main issue for the ZANU–PF government around 1997. Despite the existence of a "willing-buyer-willing-seller" land reform programme since the 1980s, the minority white Zimbabwean population of around 0.6% continued to hold 70% of the country's most fertile agricultural land. In 2000,
19558-406: The population would have been 31 million. Instead, as of 2018, it is about 13 million. The discrepancies were believed to be partly caused by death from starvation and disease, and partly due to decreased fertility. The life expectancy has halved, and deaths from politically motivated violence sponsored by the government exceed 200,000 since 1980. The Mugabe government has directly or indirectly caused
19712-525: The position of the wider white community uncomfortable. Twenty years after independence, there were 21,000 commercial farmers in the country. In 1997, the British prime minister Tony Blair and his government pulled out of talks to fund the Lancaster House agreements causing a traction. This would lead to the land grabs that were seen soon after. The war veterans felt as if the inability of the UK government to continue its agreement meant they must take
19866-492: The primary beneficiaries of the land. The ZNLWVA's founding in 1989 was opposed by the government, which initially perceived it as a political threat. Following its first congress in 1992, the ZNLWVA resolved to secure the welfare of all ZANLA or ZIPRA veterans, and lobby the state on their behalf concerning two issues: pensions and other public benefits, and land ownership. Both were equally contentious issues. ZNLWVA records noted that about 35,000 guerrillas had been demobilised at
20020-450: The prime ministerial posts to form an executive president—a presidential system. His ZANU-PF party has won every election since independence—in the 1990 election the second-placed party, Edgar Tekere 's Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM), obtained 20% of the vote. During the 1995 parliamentary elections, most opposition parties, including the ZUM, boycotted the voting, resulting in a near sweep by
20174-450: The problem was really a lack of development, rather than one of land tenure. White farmers would respond to claims that they owned "70% of the best arable land" by stating that what they actually owned was "70% of the best developed arable land", and therefore that the two are entirely different things. Whatever the merits of the arguments, in the post-independence period, the land issue assumed enormous symbolic importance to all concerned. As
20328-440: The region during the 13th to 15th centuries, evidenced by ruins at Great Zimbabwe , near Masvingo , and by other smaller sites. The main archaeological site used a unique dry stone architecture. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first in a series of trading states which had developed in Zimbabwe by the time the first European explorers arrived from Portugal. These states traded gold, ivory, and copper for cloth and glass. By 1220,
20482-478: The ruling party. When the opposition returned to the polls in 2000, they won 57 seats, only five fewer than ZANU-PF. Presidential elections were again held in 2002 amid allegations of vote-rigging, intimidation and fraud. The 2005 Zimbabwe parliamentary elections were held on 31 March, and multiple claims of vote rigging, election fraud and intimidation were made by the Movement for Democratic Change party and Jonathan Moyo , calling for investigations into 32 of
20636-836: The seizures took place in Nyamandlovu and Inyati . After the beating to death of a prominent farmer in September 2011, the head of the Commercial Farmers' Union decried the attack, saying that its white members continue to be targeted for violence, without protection from the government. Genocide Watch declared that the violence against whites in Zimbabwe was a stage 5 (of 10 ) case of genocide . In September 2014, Mugabe publicly declared that all white Zimbabweans should "go back to England", and he urged black Zimbabweans not to lease agricultural land to white farmers. Hundreds of white farmers returned to Zimbabwe following
20790-427: The streets of cities like Harare, with many found begging around urban centres like Eastlea. The land confiscated from white owners has been redistributed to black peasant farmers and smallholders, acquired by commercial land companies, or persons connected to the government. Sympathisers of the expropriated white farmers have claimed that lack of professional management skills among the new landholders has resulted in
20944-527: The time of independence in 1980, more than 40% of the country's farmed land was made up of approximately 5,000 White farms. At the time, agriculture provided 40% of the country's GDP and up to 60% of its foreign earnings. Major export products included tobacco, beef, sugar, cotton and maize. The minerals sector was also important. Gold, asbestos, nickel and chromium were mined by foreign-owned concerns such as Lonrho (Lonmin since 1999) and Anglo American . The Census of 3 May 1921 found that Southern Rhodesia had
21098-451: The union in 1963, forming three separate divisions. While multiracial democracy was finally introduced to Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Southern Rhodesians of European ancestry continued to enjoy minority rule . Following Zambian independence (effective from October 1964), Ian Smith 's Rhodesian Front government in Salisbury dropped the designation "Southern" in 1964 (once Northern Rhodesia had changed its name to Zambia , having
21252-674: The wake of a growing financial crisis in the early 1990s. The organisation demonstrated at ZANU-PF headquarters in Harare and successfully lobbied for additional gratuities of Z$ 50,000 (equivalent to US$ 4000). Tax free pensions of Z$ 2,000 a month were also conceded. This success inspired the protests of another group, the Women in the National Liberation War Collaborators Association , which called on President Robert Mugabe to also compensate female partisans who had served as scouts and spies during
21406-481: The white farming community left. An even smaller proportion of white urban business owners and members of the professional classes left. This pattern of migration meant that although small in absolute numbers, Zimbabwe's white people formed a high proportion of the upper strata of society. A 1984 article in The Sunday Times Magazine described and pictured the life of Zimbabwean white people at
21560-444: The white population doubled to 150,000, and during that decade 100,000 black people were forcibly resettled from farmland designated for white ownership. However, some members of the white farming community opposed the forced removal of black people from land designated for white ownership. Some favoured the transfer of underutilised "white land" to black farmers. For example, in 1947, Wedza white farmer Harry Meade unsuccessfully opposed
21714-500: The white population had increased following the government easing restrictions regarding white ownership of farmland. Many formerly dispossessed white farmers have formed joint ventures with black landowners. There are currently three ministers in the Zimbabwean Government who are white, Kirsty Coventry , Joshua Sacco and Vangelis Haritatos , while in 2023, David Coltart was elected as Mayor of Bulawayo , becoming
21868-422: The word Southern before the name Rhodesia became unnecessary and the country simply became known as Rhodesia afterwards). Intent on effectively repudiating the recently adopted British policy of " no independence before majority rule ", Smith issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965. This marked the first such course taken by a rebel British colony since
22022-449: The world's largest and most spectacular waterfalls, is located in the country's extreme northwest and is part of the Zambezi river. Over geological time Zimbabwe has experienced two major post- Gondwana erosion cycles (known as African and post-African), and a very subordinate Plio-Pleistocene cycle. Zimbabwe has a subtropical climate with many local variations. The southern areas are known for their heat and aridity, while parts of
22176-595: Was addressed to their satisfaction. Throughout the early 2000s, members of ZNLWVA, notably Joseph Chinotimba , forcibly occupied a number of white-owned commercial farms, which the ZNLWVA described as the Third Chimurenga . During the 2000 Zimbabwean parliamentary election , the ZNLWVA orchestrated a campaign of political violence against supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). ZNLWVA members working on behalf of ZANU-PF were often accused of abducting, assaulting and killing those with close ties to
22330-630: Was around US$ 8,000 (equivalent to $ 45,000 in 2023) with income tax at a marginal rate of 5% — making them one of the richest communities in the world. In November 1965, in order to avoid the introduction of black majority rule (commonly referred to at the time as the Wind of Change ), the Government of what was then the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia issued the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), upon which
22484-454: Was encouraged, with the British maintaining control over labour as well as over precious metals and other mineral resources. In 1895, the BSAC adopted the name "Rhodesia" for the territory, in honour of Rhodes. In 1898 "Southern Rhodesia" became the official name for the region south of the Zambezi, which later adopted the name "Zimbabwe". The region to the north, administered separately,
22638-419: Was horticulture, involving the cultivation of flowers, fruits and vegetables, which were air-freighted to market in Europe. Many white farmers were involved in this, and in 2002 it was claimed that 8% of horticultural imports into Europe were sourced in Zimbabwe. The economic migrant element among the white population had departed quickly after independence, leaving behind those white people with deeper roots in
22792-679: Was later termed Northern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia). Shortly after the disastrous Rhodes-sponsored Jameson Raid on the South African Republic , the Ndebele rebelled against white rule, led by their charismatic religious leader, Mlimo. The Second Matabele War of 1896–1897 lasted in Matabeleland until 1896, when Mlimo was assassinated by American scout Frederick Russell Burnham . Shona agitators staged unsuccessful revolts (known as Chimurenga ) against company rule during 1896 and 1897. Following these failed insurrections,
22946-424: Was perceived as a Shona takeover immediately erupted around Matabeleland. The Matabele unrest led to what has become known as Gukurahundi (Shona: 'the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains'). The Fifth Brigade , a North Korean-trained elite unit that reported directly to Mugabe, entered Matabeleland and massacred thousands of civilians accused of supporting "dissidents". Estimates for
23100-433: Was possible, but remains to the present day very rare. The 1903 Immorality Suppression Ordinance made "illicit" (i.e. unmarried) sex between black men and white women illegal – with a penalty of two years imprisonment for any offending white woman. The majority of the early white immigrants were men, and some white men entered into relationships with black women. The result was a small number of mixed-race persons: 1,998 out of
23254-619: Was reported that only 280 white farmers remained, and all of their farms were invaded. On the day of Mugabe's inauguration as president on 28 June 2008, several white farmers who had protested the seizure of their land were beaten and burned by his supporters. In June 2008, a British-born farmer, Ben Freeth (who has had several articles and letters published in the British press regarding the hostile situation), and his in-laws, Mike and Angela Campbell, were abducted and found badly beaten. Campbell, speaking from hospital in Harare, vowed to continue with his legal fight for his farm. In November 2008,
23408-410: Was successfully purchased and redistributed between 1980 and 1989, only 50,000 households benefited from this phase of the programme. Additionally, a disproportionate amount of the redistributed land was being held by fewer than 600 landowners, most of whom were wealthy, politically connected and owned multiple properties. Veterans felt disenfranchised and the founders of the ZNLWVA believed they should be
23562-654: Was supported by the Soviet Union , the Warsaw Pact and associated nations such as Cuba, and adopted a Marxist–Leninist ideology; ZANU meanwhile aligned itself with Maoism and the bloc headed by the People's Republic of China. Smith declared Rhodesia a republic in 1970, following the results of a referendum the previous year , but this went unrecognised internationally. Meanwhile, Rhodesia's internal conflict intensified, eventually forcing him to open negotiations with
23716-496: Was treated as a de facto dominion , with its Prime Minister attending the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences . Portuguese explorer António Fernandes was the first European to visit the region. In 1891, before Southern Rhodesia was established as a territory, it was estimated that about 1,500 Europeans resided there. This number grew slowly to around 75,000 in 1945. In the period 1945 to 1955,
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