Zimbabwe and the tribal politics of Africa
The dominant tribes in Zimbabawe are the Shona and the Matabele. The Shona live in central and northern Zimbabwe and comprise 70 percent of Zimbabwe's 13 million people. The Matabele live in the southwest and are around 15 percent of the population. The remaining 15% is made up of many small tribes who have very little influence on politics.
The Shona were in Zimbabwe long before the Matabele arrived in 1834 when they were fleeing from South Africa where the Zulu king, Shaka, was waging war on all his neighboring tribes. The Matabele settled just north of the Limpopo river making the area their new country, Matabeleland.
The Shona have always regarded the Matabele as intruders and, as recently as 1980, with the aid of North Korean military advisers, Mugabe's Shona tribe decided to "ethnically cleanse" the Matabele tribe. From seven to ten thousand Matabele were killed. The West ignored the attacks at the time because Mugabe was a hero to Western leftists since he had toppled the "white racist" regime of Ian Smith.
The reason why Mugabe has been in power for so long is because he is revered by his Shona tribesmen and the Matabele and the other small scattered tribes have never had enough political influence. But the latest elections show that even the Shona are now fed up with Mugabe.
Tribal allegiances are still very powerful political forces in Africa but they started to break down in South Africa about ten years ago and now seem to be losing their stranglehold on politics in Zimbabwe.
Having been born and raised in this tribal atmosphere (as a member of the White Tribe of Africa, the Afrikaners) has made me allergic to group identity politics.
The Shona were in Zimbabwe long before the Matabele arrived in 1834 when they were fleeing from South Africa where the Zulu king, Shaka, was waging war on all his neighboring tribes. The Matabele settled just north of the Limpopo river making the area their new country, Matabeleland.
The Shona have always regarded the Matabele as intruders and, as recently as 1980, with the aid of North Korean military advisers, Mugabe's Shona tribe decided to "ethnically cleanse" the Matabele tribe. From seven to ten thousand Matabele were killed. The West ignored the attacks at the time because Mugabe was a hero to Western leftists since he had toppled the "white racist" regime of Ian Smith.
The reason why Mugabe has been in power for so long is because he is revered by his Shona tribesmen and the Matabele and the other small scattered tribes have never had enough political influence. But the latest elections show that even the Shona are now fed up with Mugabe.
Tribal allegiances are still very powerful political forces in Africa but they started to break down in South Africa about ten years ago and now seem to be losing their stranglehold on politics in Zimbabwe.
Having been born and raised in this tribal atmosphere (as a member of the White Tribe of Africa, the Afrikaners) has made me allergic to group identity politics.
posted by Joubert at 7:36 PM
The Alliance
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