MatabelelandReport

REPORT ON THE 1980S DISTURBANCES IN MATABELELAND AND THE MIDLANDS
Compiled by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, March 1997
PART ONE: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
1.THE LEGACY OF THE SEVENTIES
In the last 15 years much has been written about the liberation war and its legacies: it is not the intention of this brief
overview to re-enter this complex subject in great depth. However, some understanding of the problems facing
Zimbabwe at Independence helps elucidate the events that followed in the 1980s. For the purposes of this summary, the
"Legacy of the 70s" will be dealt with as two-fold:
A.The legacy of colonial rule, which included not only a vast array of repressive legislation, designed to silence political
opposition at the expense of human rights, but also a number of personnel in the armed forces and the CIO, who had
committed human rights abuses in the 1970s, and who were also ideally placed to work as double agents for South
Africa in the 1980s.
B.The legacy of antagonism between the two guerrilla armies, ZIPRA and ZANLA. Up until Independence, ZIPRA was
the military wing of the political party, ZAPU, which was under the leadership of Joshua Nkomo, and ZANLA was the
military wing of ZANU-PF, which was under the leadership of Robert Mugabe.
A) THE LEGACY OF COLONIAL RULE.
The new Prime Minister, Mr R. G. Mugabe, was highly acclaimed for his magnanimous speech at Independence, in
which he agreed to "draw a line through the past", in order to achieve reconciliation of all parties involved. This speech
did much to build up confidence in all those who were outside ZANU-PF. It also enabled the new nation to maintain
economic stability and attract investment and aid from abroad. It was perceived as an important and laudible gesture.
This speech had been preceded by the Amnesty Ordinance 3 of 1979 and the Amnesty (General Pardon) Ordinance 12
of 1980, both of which had been passed during the interregnum of Lord Soames. These ensured that no prosecution
could lawfully take place for any acts done either by members of the former Government or security forces or persons
or forces acting in opposition to that Government.
However, the policy of forgetting the past, as well as the general amnesties granted by the Governor during the
interregnum before Independence, meant that those who had committed crimes and human rights abuses in the 1970s,
were not made answerable for their actions. Many of the old Rhodesian guard resigned and emigrated after
Independence. Others remained, and in many instances became key personnel within the ranks of the Zimbabwean
forces and secret services. Here some personnel continued to commit human rights violations on behalf of the new
government in the 1980s, before once more being granted immunity. The message to armed personnel first in Rhodesia
and then in Zimbabwe has remained the same for two decades: you will seldom, if ever, be held accountable for your
actions.
Repressive legislation can be dated back to the beginnings of colonialism, with various pass laws, tax laws, land laws
and a myriad of other racially biased laws, all of which served to ensure the economic and educational supremacy of a
small white elite, which was never more than 6.2% of the population, at the expense of the black majority. These laws,
their purposes and consequences have been dealt with at length by others. One of the main results of 90 years of
colonial laws was that ordinary blacks came to see the law as their enemy:
It never occurred to them to seek redress of their grievances through the courts. It was absurd.
They knew it would be fruitless, that the deck was always stacked against them. Since then, that
attitude toward the law has remained.
Even where awareness of possible legal redress existed among victims of abuse in first the 1970s and then the 1980s,
fear of further retribution was an over-riding factor in keeping people away from suing government agencies. In the
1980s, ZAPU leaders who were well aware of their supposed legal rights, were being persecuted and were in hiding.
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