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The evolution of the Gonarezhou game scheme
The history of the Gonarezhou land as a PA began in 1934 when the land was proclaimed a game reserve. Despite being gazetted in 1934, it took up to 1968 to bring the game scheme to full fruition.
In the meantime, the area was de-proclaimed and, again, re-proclaimed due to the battles between anti-park and pro-park antagonists. The earliest proposal for the establishment of a game reserve in Southern Rhodesia was made in 1894 soon after the occupation of the country.444 The interest of setting up a game reserve was, again, implied in the 1900 Annual Report of the NC of Chibi which noted abundant game on the lower and “uninhabitable” part of the area adjoining the Nuanetsi and Lundi Rivers. The observation was understood to mean that the area could, in future, be suitable for a game park.
The next proposition for the creation of a game sanctuary around the Chipinda Pools area (what later became the administrative centre of the park) strangely came from Vhekenya, a known elephant poacher. In 1914, he suggested to NC Forestall that the scenic area extending from the Matshindu right up to the PEA border be transformed into an animal reservoir. Forestall was understandably sceptical about the poacher’s conservation proposal, given his history of the plunder of game in the area.446 So, while he concurred with Vhekenya on that the area could certainly make an excellent game reserve, he felt that the authorities were not yet prepared to meet the expenses involved in building infrastructure for tourists and providing guards to protect visitors to the area. He derisively advised the poacher that in effect, all game in Southern Rhodesia was already protected, “although I gather that you don’t realise this.” He, however, promised to forward Vhekenya’s letter to the appropriate authorities, which he never did.
The idea of a Gonarezhou game sanctuary was rekindled in the 1920s by some Rhodesian colonial administrators. Such intensified conservation interest must be viewed in the broader context of the burgeoning conservation movement in the entire British Empire at the turn of the twentieth century. There was, consequently a change from the image of Africa as a hunting ground to an image of ‘wild’ Africa at risk.
There was, however, intense competition then between lobbyists for the scheme from the Department of Commerce, supported by hoteliers, tourists and conservationists and those in the Veterinary Department, backed by the powerful cattle industry who opposed it for fear it would work as a conduit in spreading cattle diseases.449 In 1924, the Department of Commerce proceeded to make a formal proposal for the establishment of a game reserve in south-eastern Zimbabwe. In response, the Veterinary Department instead proceeded to create a buffer between vermin-infested.
Crown Land and European Ranches to the west in 1925.450 The impetus to see the game reserve project through was further provided by the 1926 declaration of the KNP across the Limpopo. The Wild Life Society of Southern Rhodesia weighed in when it supported the establishment of a similar park in the picturesque Chipinda Pools area along the Lundi River.451 In the same year, the Rhodesian Legislative Assembly accepted Major W. J. Boggie’s November 1926 motion that pushed the government to expedite the proclamation of a game reserve in the southern region of the country. Soon after, J. W. Downie, the Minister of Agriculture instructed R. W. Jack, the Chief Entomologist to identify suitable areas in the country for game parks.452 At its launch in 1927, the Wild Life Protection Society of Southern Rhodesia’s inaugural Secretary lamented what he called the decimation of game in the country.
The squeeze from the Gonarezhou land
As earlier indicated, wherever game reserves were established, they were almost always followed by the massive eviction of indigenous resident populations. The argument was that animals and humans could not live together, an incorrect assumption given that many African communities had co-existed with their fauna and flora in pre-colonial times. When Hamilton was appointed the first warden of the Sabi Game Reserve (KNP) his first move was to force three thousand “black squatters” off the newly declared game land and re-settle them in the adjacent “native areas.”
Similarly, the establishment of the Singwitsi, Pongola and Ndumo Game Reserves in South Africa was followed by the ruthless eviction of masses of African resident communities. Those resisting had their huts set on fire while those who opted to remain were labelled squatters and forced to pay rent or provide compulsory labour. The same happened in other places of South Africa where similar situations obtained.
In Zimbabwe, the establishment of the Matopos Game Reserve in 1930 was immediately followed by efforts to evict the Ndebele resident community from the area.474 In the same way, the declaration of the Gonarezhou land as a game reserve in 1934 triggered a move to remove indigenous Shangane communities from the game-designated area. The official position was expressly stated by the Acting Secretary of Commerce who suggested in 1934 that the residents of the park- designated area be transferred elsewhere as they were of the “most undesirable type”. He argued that most of them gave no allegiance to the Rhodesian government as they at times crossed the border to live in neighbouring PEA and also preferred working in South Africa. He, furthermore, alleged that these borderland Shangane were not “properly looked after” and were in a “perpetual state of semi-starvation” due to limited rainfall. As a result, he considered it practically impossible for game to co-exist with the African population, hence, the need to relocate them.475 The Divisional Road Engineer supported the removal of all people from the attractive Sabi-Lundi junction area accusing the Ngwenyeni people in particular of irresponsibly killing large numbers of game animals.476 The extended argument was that the relocation of the Shangane to Matibi No. 2 would serve to “provide an additional barrier between Nuanetsi Ranch and any possible influx of lions from the game reserve in a southerly direction”.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
-Historical background to the study
-Aim and objectives of the study
-Aim
-Objectives
-Statement of the problem
-Justification of the study
-Review of related literature
-The concept of national parks
-Borderland location of indigenous communities
-Displacement of indigenous communities from park-designated areas
-People-park relations
-Research design and methodology
-Chapter outline
CHAPTER 2: THE LAND OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
-Introduction
-The land
-The peopling of south-eastern Zimbabwe
-Early Shona-speaking inhabitants
-The Tsonga/Hlengwe
-The Gaza-Nguni phase
-Inventing a Shangane identity
-Late arrivals
-Indigenous people’s co-existence with nature
-Shangane economic activities in the Gonarezhou Forest
-Hunting
-Cropping
-Stock raising
-Fishing
-The Shangane spiritual and traditional world
-Colonial perceptions about the land and the people
-Conclusion
CHAPTER 3: FIGHTING EVICTION FROM THE PROTECTED AREA
-Introduction
-British colonial administration of south-eastern Zimbabwe before 1934
-The evolution of the Gonarezhou game scheme
-The squeeze from the Gonarezhou land
-Resisting eviction from the Gonarezhou homeland
-Chisa evictees
-The Ngwenyeni ‘rebels’
-Xilotlela hardliners
-Other evictees
-The politics of exclusion from the Gonarezhou
-The pain of eviction and exclusion
-Conclusion
CHAPTER 4: SURVIVING OUTSIDE THE PROTECTED AREA, THE COLONIAL ERA
-Introduction
-Poaching in the PA
-Anti-poaching measures
-Labour migration as a survival tactic
-Shangane political protest
-Political agitation after 1934
-Getting entangled in Gonakudzingwa politics
-The Sengwe and Matibi No. 2 disturbances
-The armed struggle phase
-The Shangaan army
-Caging people in Protected Villages
-Conclusion
CHAPTER 5: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT SINCE INDEPENDENCE
-Introduction
-The indigenous people’s independence expectations
-Protesting against unfulfilled promises
-Empowering local villagers in wildlife management
-The Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous
-Resources
-The Mahenye CAMPFIRE community programme
-The CAMPFIRE in other wards
-Linking up with the conservancies of the area
-Performance of the CAMPFIRE programme in south-eastern Zimbabwe.
-Conclusion
CHAPTER 6: ROLLING OUT THE FAST TRACK LAND REFORM PROGRAMME
-Introduction
-Zimbabwe’s Fast Track Land Reform Programme
-The origins of the FTLRP
-Jambanja land reform
-The FTLRP in south-eastern Zimbabwe
-The nitty-gritty of getting land
-The Chisa land invaders
-Sengwe land occupiers
-Life under Jambanja
-Conclusion
CHAPTER 7: THE GREAT LIMPOPO TRANSFRONTIER PARK, THE ZIMBABWE SECTOR
-Introduction
-Early attempts at forming a transfrontier park in southern Africa
-The birth of the GLTP
-Celebrating the establishment of the park
-The politics of (re)moving people
-The Sengwe-Tshipise community
-The park and the development paradigm
-Whither GLTP
-Conclusion
CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION
-REFERENCES
-Primary Sources
-Archival Records
-National Archives of Zimbabwe (NAZ
-Masvingo Records Centre (MRC
-Native Affairs Department Annual (NADA
-Government Publications
-Parliamentary Debates, Reports & Policy Documents
-Oral Interviews
-Secondary Sources
-Unpublished Papers, Theses and Dissertations
-Newspapers and Magazine Articles
-Online Publications
-Published Journal Articles
-Books and Book Chapters
