Not all change is good change: Military state vs theocracy in Zimbabwe Published: 23 August 2023 Standpoint Zimbabwe has been far from a safe haven for women and the LGBTQ+ community. Small progressive steps have been made. However, with homosexuality being an outright punishable offence and one in three women in Zimbabwe being the victim of sexual abuse, while one in four has suffered physical abuse, it has been made abundantly clear that Zimbabwe, as it stands, is not safe for us. On the eve of this historic election, it may be the case that the potential “change” we are hoping for may also not include us. Anonymous
Citizen’s Perceptions and Expectations – The Government We Want Published: 22 August 2023 Interview In May 2023, the SIVIO Institute in Zimbabwe presented the findings of their survey related to Zimbabwean’s level of satisfaction with government performance. The report aims to influence political campaigns by highlighting key issues that Zimbabweans are not happy about and to shape public electoral decisions. We spoke to Tendai Murisa, Director of the SIVIO Institute, to get his insights into the report and what it would take for Zimbabweans to get the government that they want. Katrin Seidel, Tendai Murisa
The 2023 elections will test EU’s re-engagement with Zimbabwe Published: 22 August 2023 Interview Hugo Knoppert coordinates the Zimbabwe Europe Network (ZEN), a network of European secular, faith-based and developmental civil society organisations that support projects and partnerships in Zimbabwe. While welcoming the European Union’s attempts to re-engage with the government of Zimbabwe, Knoppert expresses concern that Europe’s short-term geopolitical interests will undercut EU support for human rights and civic freedoms and its censure of state repression in the country. Katrin Seidel, Hugo Knoppert
Between rocks and hard places – Zimbabwean youth and the challenges of political participation Published: 22 August 2023 Standpoint The participation of youth in governance spaces is not impressive. That is not to say that they have no desire to participate: they are inhibited by various structural and institutionalised barriers. Genuine spaces for political participation are limited and policy-making processes work from the top down. Even where policy is supposed to address their concerns, there is scant consultation with the youth in governance and developmental processes. By excluding young people from key decision-making positions and processes, this perpetuates a cycle of harmful policies and programming that is at best irrelevant, and at worst dangerous Lloyd Pswarayi
“Supporting Zimbabwe to get free and fair elections is not an event but a process”: The Role of the EU Election Observation Mission Published: 17 August 2023 Interview The European Union deploys one of the largest observer missions to monitor the 2023 Zimbabwe elections. We spoke to Dr McDonald Lewanika, politics and development professional, about the importance of the verdict by EU election observers and what contributions European actors can make to assist Zimbabweans in getting the elections they want. Katrin Seidel, McDonald Lewanika
Leveling the playing field for political parties in Zimbabwe's 2023 election - the role of election observation and monitoring Published: 17 August 2023 Analysis At a time when the continent has been hit by a spate of coups reminiscent of past military regimes of the 1980s, ensuring the 2023 elections in Zimbabwe are held to the highest standards has the potential to rekindle the hopes and promises of democracy in the continent. However, this will depend on whether the African Union and the Southern African Development Community will commit to seeing Zimbabwe adhere to principles governing elections in the continent. Author: Tinashe Sithole
It’s Time for the G7 to deliver on Africa Published: 29 June 2022 Under Germany’s presidency, the 2022 G7 Leaders’ Summit invited Senegal, which holds the rotating chair of the African Union (AU), Argentina, India, Indonesia and South Africa. South African researcher Mikatekiso Kubay explains how the G7 can be genuine development partners to Africa. Mikatekiso Kubayi
Stop the Beifa Coal Project and the Persecution of the Dinde Community in Hwange, Zimbabwe Published: 18 May 2021 Media Release by Womin and CNRG Civil society groups in the SADC region, East Africa, West Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America join hands in calling on the government of Zimbabwe to drop the case and all charges against the Vice Chair of Dinde Residents Association, Never Tshuma, who was arrested for allegedly inciting the community against a proposed coal project in Dinde.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe: A Lesson of Hope and Despair in Zimbabwe Published: 12 September 2019 Opinion Robert Mugabe, the prime minister and president of Zimbabwe from independence in 1980 until 2017, when he was overthrown in a coup, has passed away at the age of 95. To speak the name “Mugabe” invokes charged political debates characterised by a range of conflicting tensions: hope and despair, demonisation and adulation, contempt and respect, dissent and loyalty. Sometimes these attitudes are interchangeable and overlapping, sometimes they express more fixed polarities. These divisions draw from the violence, fissures and closures that have given rise to Zimbabwe’s post-colonial political spectrum and left painful traces in the political imaginary of Zimbabwean people. Brian Raftopoulos
A Double Challenge: LGBTI Refugees and Asylum Seekers in South Africa (October 2018) Published: 11 October 2018 Interview Queer African migrants who come up against the xenophobic and homophobic attitudes that are prevalent in South African society often experience the same kinds of social and economic marginalisation they had hoped to escape in their home countries.
Populations, Populism and Institutions – Explaining South Africa’s Xenophobic Violence (June 2015) Published: 2 June 2015 South Africa has had its fair share of violence and xenophobia over the last decade and more. In 2015, Loren Landau wrote this piece on xenophobia following a wake of xenophobic violence in South Africa's townships. Loren B Landau
Double Jeopardy: Foreign and Female (May 2010) Published: 19 May 2010 Against the backdrop of the pervasive culture of violence in South Africa, ‘it is ironic that xenophobia has been represented as something abnormal or pathological. Xenophobia is a form of violence and violence is the norm in South Africa. Romi Sigsworth
