Land, Agriculture, and Struggles for Belonging in Colonial Zimbabwe: A Case of Buhera, 1960-1970.

Abstract

The article explores the dynamics of belonging in Zimbabwe using the belonging matrix. The study uses the case of the Gwebu area in the Sabi Reserve and covers the period between 1960 and 1970. The Gwebu area of the Sabi Reserve was home to a community of descendants of Ndebele migrants who migrated to the area in 1925. This group was led by Chief Daniel Fish Gwebu, and this resulted in the whole community being referred to as the Gwebu people. The study uses agriculture as a lens to explore various dynamics of belonging during the period between 1960 and 1970. Carefully balancing oral traditions and documentary evidence, the study sets off by identifying the agricultural prowess of the Gwebu Ndebele speakers as one of the major factors that allowed them to establish a semblance of independence from their neighbouring Shona speaking chieftaincies; the Makumbe (also known as the Njanja), as well as the Nyashanu. It also argues that the agricultural prowess of the Gwebu Ndebele people was a result of several historical factors. One such factor given special emphasis in this study is the evident historical interactions between white commercial farmers and the Gwebu people. These connections are traced back to the early years of settler rule in the Matabeleland region of the then Rhodesia colony. The study concludes by arguing that the agricultural success of the Gwebu people over the neighbouring Shona enabled them to build a Ndebele enclave, an aspect that allowed them to sustain their sense of particularism over time.