Zimbabwe: Reconciliation, unity and conflict (1980-1989)

On taking office as prime minister Robert Mugabe adopted a conciliatory stance, emphasizing national unity, reconciliation and the need to overcome the conflicts of the past in the interests of building a common future while toning down the Marxist Socialist rhetoric that had marked the electoral campaign (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1287; Selby 2006, 113-114). The first government he formed included not only members of his victorious Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) , but the leader and other members of its rival, the Patriotic Front - Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) as well as whites joined (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1287; Esterhuysen 2004).

The government followed a largely pragmatic economic policy that respected the property protect clauses entrenched in the constitution and sought to establish a corporatist solution to resolving labour conflicts through joint state, capital and labour involvement, culminating in the Labour Relations Act of 1985 that formalized this strategy (Kanyenze 2004, 122; Gwisai 2002). State activism from early on focused on improving basic aspects of life for Africans, for as Gwisai (2002; but see also Dorman 2001, 61) points out:

Thus in education the number of primary schools doubled, while secondary school enrolment jumped from 66,000 in 1979 to nearly 150,000 by 1981. An extensive primary health care system was set up, which by 1990 had resulted in a reduction of infant mortality rates by sixteen per cent, while nearly 18,000 peasant families were resettled in the first three years. The Minimum Wages Act and Employment Act repealed some of the most obnoxious and racist of the colonial employment laws and guaranteed a national minimum wage which saw real wages rise in 1980-81 to the highest ever.

The corporatist approach to labour relations reflected a similar objective, namely that of aiding the economic recovery of industry with the lifting of sanctions in April 1980, for the white controlled private sector provided the revenue with which the government could expand social services (Gwisai 2002; Esterhuysen 2004). The proliferation of strikes immediately after independence, as a result of the rise in popular expectations, could only be contained and the government's growth goals met by the cooption of the labour movement through a corporatist strategy (Gwisai 2002; Kanyenze 2004, 111).

The economic boom that followed was tempered by recurring droughts, a world-wide recession, shortages of foreign exchange and the drain of skilled labour as white immigration accelerated (the number of whites declined from about 275 000 in 1975 to less than 100 000 by 1985; Esterhuysen 2004; Kanyenze 2004, 112, 119; see also Selby 2006 116-117). Measures to stabilise the economy managed to reduce inflation (which had hit 14% in 1981) and the growing state and trade deficits, but at the expense of economic growth, which fell form 11% in 1980 and 10% in 1981 to an average of 1.9% between 1983 and 1985 before rising to an average of 4% between 1986 and 1990 (Kanyenze 2004, 112-114).

The immigration of whites did provide opportunities for the educated urban population as the public and private sectors underwent rapid Africanisation (Esterhuysen 2004). However, economic growth did not result in a meaningful rise in living standards for most Zimbabweans. Growth in employment, at (2.7% per annum in 1986-1990) was insufficient to absorb the growth in the labour force (3% per annum over the same period; Kanyenze 2004, 114).

The state, moreover, lacked the resources (finances and expertise) to engage in meaningful land reform and the vague promises of assistance in this respect from the United States and Britain were not made good, while beaurocratic ineptitude and corruption made matters worse (Hanyama Undated; Selby 2006, 114-115, 134-135). Moreover the urgent need to restore an economy ravaged by war and sanctions forced the government to prioritise the needs of commercial farmers at the expense of peasant expectations and the huge inequities in land distribution remained (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1287; Hanyama Undated; Selby 2006, 114-115). A white agricultural technocrat respected by the white commercial farmers, Denis Norman, was appointed minister of agriculture, but the land issue, so central to nationalist mobilisation of peasants during the war, remained an issue as illegal land occupations took place encouraged by sections of the ruling party (Selby 2006, 115; ICG 2004, 32).

References

BROWN, R & SAUNDERS, C 2007 "Zimbabwe: Recent History" IN Frame, I (ed) Africa South of the Sahara 2008, Europa Publications, 1287-1295.

DORMAN, SR, 2001 Inclusion and Exclusion: NGOs and Politics in Zimbabwe, Doctoral Thesis, University of Oxford, [www] http://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/493/1/thesis+final.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 11 Dec 2007).

ESTERHUYSEN, P 2004 "Zimbabwe: an historical overview", Institute of Strategic Studies, [www] http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9396258_ITM [opens new window] (accessed 6 Dec 2007).

GWISAI, M 2002 "Revolutionaries, resistance and crisis in Zimbabwe" FROM Zeilig, L (ed), Class Struggle and Resistance in Africa, New Clarion Press, Cheltenham, UK, [www] http://www.dsp.org.au/links/node/77 [opens new window] (accessed 12 Dec 2007).

HANYAMA, M UNDATED "Background to Land Reform in Zimbabwe", Embassy of Zimbabwe in Stockholm, [www] http://www.zimembassy.se/land_reform_document.htm [opens new window] (accessed 6 Dec 2007).

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP (ICG) 2004 Blood and Soil: Land, Politics and Conflict Prevention in Zimbabwe and South Africa, Africa Report No 85.

KANYENZE, G 2004 "The Zimbabwe economy 1980-2003: a ZCTU perspective" IN Harold-Barry, D (ed) Zimbabwe: The Past is the Future - Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis, Weaver Press.

SELBY, A 2006 COMMERCIAL FARMERS AND THE STATE: INTEREST GROUP POLITICS AND LAND REFORM IN ZIMBABWE, Doctoral Thesis, Oxford University, [www] http://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/493/1/thesis+final.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 11 Dec 2007).