Richard S. Maposa

Contested alien spaces and the search for national identity: a study of ethnicity in light of xenophobic violence on migrants in South Africa

Despite great strides made in transforming the State from authoritarian rule to multi-party democracy since 1994, the government of South Africa is facing the challenge of high influx of migrants especially from African countries north of the Limpopo River. The project of building a Rainbow Nation has been mainly centred on racial transformation but the high influx of migrants especially from African countries resulted in the reproduction of new forms of hatred and resentment. The new African migrants increased the competition of accessing national resources in a country with high inequalities yet with plenty of resources. It may be suggested that the increase in xenophobic violence since the early 2000s might be posited in a broader context. This study insisted on the argument that the xenophobic violence against African immigrants in South Africa is also embodied in the new ethnic constructions of nationalism in Africa in the era of globalisation where human mobility has become an important element in defining the African political landscape and access to resources. Historically, tensions and conflicts among ethnic groups in colonial and post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa, in general, also manifested the competitions resulted from the desire to control national resources and safeguarding social order. Xenophobic violence reflects discriminatory tendencies which are not only driven by the desire to legitimise entitlements to national resources but also of perceiving African non-nationals as a threat to social order and ethnic identity.

Bishop Abel Muzorewa's Theology and the Struggle for Zimbabwe, 1965-1980: A Re-Consideration

World over, the endeavour to write a full-scale national history is an intricate business. The roadmap for the independence of Zimbabwe after 1965 has been examined from various perspectives, given the contested nature of its last events in the 1970s. The roadmap was even more intricate especially when dealing with a critical historical period in which certain personalities possess vested interests in occupying the same political throne. For instance, Mugabe, Muzorewa, Sithole and Nkomo were key life-long political contestants who availed themselves for the leadership of an independent Zimbabwe. The paper argues that although Muzorewa was eventually and permanently sidelined after losing the landmark independence elections of 1980, his name would forever be en-coded in the history of independent Zimbabwe. A hermeneutical re-reading of Muzorewa’s theology which is found in his autobiography reveals that he epitomised the spirit of a particular era, which was imbued with a sense of solidarity and patriotism in the backdrop of the struggle for the independence of Zimbabwe. Muzorewa served both the church and the nation as an inspiration out of his values of selfishlessness and integrity for humanity. The lessons that could be got from the study are manifold, both for contemporary Zimbabwe and even beyond. The study will show that people are always happier if society is ruled with just laws and international cooperation is the benchmark for human progress in a world that has become a global village.