Squatting in Zimbabwe is the settlement of land or buildings without the permission of the owner. Squatting began under colonialism. After Zimbabwe was created in 1980, peasant farmers and squatters disputed the distribution of land. Informal settlements have developed on the periphery of cities such as Chitungwiza and the capital Harare. In 2005, Operation Murambatsvina (Operation Drive out filth) evicted an estimated 700,000 people.
Squatting on the territory that would later become Zimbabwe began under colonialism and was governed by laws such as the 1894 Matebeleland Order-in-Council, the 1898 Southern Rhodesia Order-in-Council, the 1930 Land Apportionment Act, and the 1969 Land Tenure Act. [1] Starting in the late 1970s, informal settlements appeared on the periphery of Harare and were routinely demolished, except for Epworth which survived because of its size (about 50,000 people). [2]
When the government purchased land from White farmers as part of land reforms following the creation of Zimbabwe in 1980, a conflict developed between peasant farmers (represented by the National Farmers Association of Zimbabwe) and squatters over who should get the land. Despite being under-represented politically, squatters often gained land, simply by taking it. They were aided by the inefficiency of the government. [3] In 1983, ZANU–PF launched Operation Clean-up and demolished many informal settlements in Harare. [4]
Sometimes squatting is used as a housing tactic by workers who have recently been made unemployed, such as miners from closed down mines or agricultural workers from farms bought up by the government. In cases such as these, the authorities are more lenient and tolerate the squatters, for example at Insiza District near Bulawayo. [5]
By 2015, a housing crisis had developed and informal settlements were booming on the periphery of Harare in districts such as Amsterdam, Borrowdale, Hopley Farm, Mabvuku and Waterfalls, as well as nearby Chitungwiza. [6]
In 2005, the ruling ZANU–PF began Operation Murambatsvina (Operation Drive Out Filth), which was intended to reduce crime by eradicating the slums of Zimbabwe. Three children died as their homes were demolished. [7] Human rights groups such as Amnesty International condemned the evictions, with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calling on the Africa Union (AU) to take action. [8] The AU refused to take steps concerning the actions of an elected government and South African President Thabo Mbeki questioned why the international community was bothered by the situation in Zimbabwe and not by that in the Democratic Republic of Congo where three million people had died in the civil war. [7]
Opposition leaders in Zimbabwe suggested that the evictions were aimed at punishing slum dwellers for not voting for ZANU-PF. [7] After three weeks of evictions, President Robert Mugabe responded that the operation was a "a vigorous clean-up campaign to restore sanity" in which around 30,000 people had been arrested. [9] The United Nations envoy Anna Tibaijuka estimated that 700,000 people had been evicted and over two million people had been affected. Mugabe's administration blocked aid efforts. [10] John Vidal wrote in The Guardian "the vilification of Mugabe is now out of control". [11] In Bulawayo, squatters returned to their demolished shacks and started rebuilding them. [10]
Until roughly 2,000 years ago, what would become Zimbabwe was populated by ancestors of the San people. Bantu inhabitants of the region arrived and developed ceramic production in the area. A series of trading empires emerged, including the Kingdom of Mapungubwe and Kingdom of Zimbabwe. In the 1880s, the British South Africa Company began its activities in the region, leading to the colonial era in Southern Rhodesia.
The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years by Robert Mugabe, first as prime minister with the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and then as president from 1987 after the merger with the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and retaining the name ZANU–PF, until 2017, when he was removed as leader.
Ndabaningi Sithole was the founder of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant, nationalist organisation that opposed the government of Rhodesia, in July 1963. Sithole's father was Ndau and his mother was Ndebele. He worked as a United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ) minister. He spent 10 years in prison after the government banned ZANU. A rift along tribal lines split ZANU in 1975, and he lost the 1980 elections to Robert Mugabe.
Jonathan Nathaniel Mlevu Moyo is a Zimbabwean politician who served in the government of Zimbabwe as Minister of Higher Education from 2015 to 2017. He was previously Minister of Information and Publicity from 2000 to 2005 and again from 2013 to 2015. He was elected to the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe as an independent candidate in 2005 and 2008. He is considered the core architect of the AIPPA and POSA restrictive legislation.
Mabvuku is a suburb east of Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe.
Chitungwiza is an urban centre and town of Harare Province in Zimbabwe.
Operation Murambatsvina, also officially known as Operation Restore Order, was a large-scale Zimbabwean government campaign to forcibly clear slum areas across the country. The campaign started in 2005 and, according to United Nations estimates, affected at least 700,000 people directly through loss of their homes or livelihood and thus could have indirectly affected around 2.4 million people. Robert Mugabe and other government officials characterised the operation as a crackdown against illegal housing and commercial activities, and as an effort to reduce the risk of the spread of infectious disease in these areas.
Beitbridge is a border town in the province of Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe. The name also refers to the border post and bridge spanning the Limpopo River, which forms the political border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. The border on the South African side of the river is also named Beitbridge.
The following lists events that happened during 2005 in the Republic of Zimbabwe.
The following lists events that happened during the year 2000 in Zimbabwe.
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is a Zimbabwean politician who is serving as President of Zimbabwe since 24 November 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former President Robert Mugabe, he held a series of cabinet portfolios and was Mugabe's Vice-President until November 2017, when he was dismissed before coming to power in a coup d'état. He secured his first full term as president in the disputed 2018 general election. Mnangagwa was re-elected in the August 2023 general election with 52.6% of the vote.
Enos Mzombi Nkala was one of the founders of the Zimbabwe African National Union.
Articles related to Zimbabwe include:
Mbare, originally known as Harari, is a suburb in the south of Harare, Zimbabwe. Founded in 1907 as a township, it includes an informal settlement. Mbare Musika is the largest farm produce market in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe began experiencing a period of considerable political and economic upheaval in 1999. Opposition to President Mugabe and the ZANU-PF government grew considerably after the mid-1990s in part due to worsening economic and human rights conditions. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was established in September 1999 as an opposition party founded by trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai.
Amos Bernard Muvengwa Midzi was a Zimbabwean politician who served in the Cabinet successively as Minister of Energy and Power Development and Minister of Mines and Mining Development from 2002 to 2009.
Joseph Chinotimba is a Zimbabwean political figure. He rose to prominence during the invasions of white-owned commercial farms that started after the 2000 constitutional referendum in Zimbabwe. He is widely regarded as a militant ZANU-PF cadre with unquestionable allegiance to the old guard of the ruling party. He is the national vice-chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association.
Dzivarasekwa is a suburb of western Harare, Zimbabwe.
Blue Roof is the common name given to a mansion and former presidential palace in the suburb of Borrowdale in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was built in 2006 by the ZANU-PF political party as a family home for the then President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe. Following his death, ownership was transferred to the Mugabe family.
