Academic literature on the topic 'Ndebele (African people) – Zimbabwe – Religion'

AbstractAfrican theologies are most often classified as either theologies of inculturation, or of liberation. Canaan Banana was one of few African theologians who combine authentic indigenization and liberation in their thought. The author, who knew Rev. Banana personally, based his analysis on Banana's writings and on interpretations by other scholars. Banana's theology was influenced by his ecumenical leadership as a Methodist minister, studies in the United States, involvement in the liberation struggle, and national leadership as the first President of Zimbabwe. Banana's liberation perspective, in contrast to those of most South African black theologians, dealt with issues of class rather than of color. His political theology, articulated when he was president of Zimbabwe, focused on the relation of socialism and Christianity. For him liberation involved struggle and even armed struggle. In his last decade former President Banana began to articulate a prophetic "Combat Theology." Banana stimulated a heated discussion on biblical hermeneutics in southern Africa by proposing deletion from the Bible of passages used to justify oppression. Believing that God is revealed also through creation and African culture, he found creative myths and images of Jesus in the cultures of his own Shona and Ndebele peoples. His contribution is a theology that can help Christianity to be both indigenous and socially relevant in 21st century Africa.

The Tshwao or San people, formally known as Bushmen, are believed to have been the first people to settle in what is known as Zimbabwe today. The migration of the agriculturalist ethnic groups, especially the Ndebele and Kalanga kingdoms, into their territory has affected their social way of life. It has led to forced assimilation, marginalization and dispossession of their land, including their rock paintings and denial of land rights. This has meant that they have lost most of their cultural values and identity, most notably their language, land and religion. There is therefore an urgent need to document the activities of the San people in order to salvage their cultural activities. Various cultural activities of the San people are connected to their land. Their religion is connected to articular land, for example Matopo and Njelele. This land has been taken away from their control, meaning their religion has been compromised. The San are generally nomadic and more inclined to a gathering and hunting life style. The fact that they can no longer move around because of resettlements of the Kalanga and Ndebele people on their land has disturbed this way of life. This article is based on the use of oral history interviews in collecting data. Purposive sampling will be done so that specifically targeted San people will be interviewed in such a way that they tell their life histories. Literature regarding the San people will also be reviewed.

SummaryUnderstanding the social and cultural contextual determinants of sexual behaviour of adolescents and young adults is an essential step towards curtailing the spread of HIV. This study examined the effects of one cultural factor, ethnicity, on sexual abstinence, faithfulness, condom use at last sex, and risky sex among young people in Zimbabwe. Data from the cross-sectional, population-based 2005–06 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey were used. Net of the effect of sociodemographic and social–cognitive factors, and using multinomial logistic regression, ethnicity was found to have a strong and consistent effect on sexual behaviour among youth. In addition, the study found that there were ethnic-specific and within-gender differences in sexual behaviour, for both men and women. Shona youth were more likely to be abstinent than Ndebele youth. Compared with Shona youth, Ndebele youth were more likely to have engaged in risky sex. However, Ndebele men were more likely have used condoms at last sex, compared with Shona men. For both men and women, sexual behaviour was more socially controlled. School attendance and religion exerted protective effects on sexual abstinence. For men only, those living in rural areas were less likely to be faithful and more likely to have engaged in risky sexual behaviour than those living in urban areas. The study attests to the fact that ethnic norms and ideologies of sexuality need to be identified and more thoroughly understood. In addition, the study provides evidence that in order to promote safe and healthy sexuality among young people in Zimbabwe, cultural, social and gender-specific approaches to the development of HIV prevention strategies should be seriously considered. Current success in the Abstinence, Being faithful and Condom use (ABC) approach could be strengthened by recognizing and responding to cultural forces that reproduce and perpetuate risky sexual behaviours.

Marriage is a highly celebrated phenomenon among the African people. It is one of the important institutions among the Shona and Ndebele people in Zimbabwe as expressed in the saying ‘musha mukadzi’ and ‘umuzingumama’ (home is made by a woman) respectively. However with the coming of colonialism in Zimbabwe, marriage was not given the appropriate respect it deserves. This has given impetus to this paper where the researchers in the study through drama want to bring out the depiction of marriage institution in a post -independence television drama, Wenera Diamonds (2017). This paper therefore, aims to show the impact of neo-colonialism on Shona marriage institution. The neo colonial period is characterised with the perpetuation of Western imperial interests through protocols of diplomatic relations, treaties and existing bilateral agreements which marked a new phase of relationships with former colonisers. The aim of this article therefore is to depict marriage institution in neo colonial Zimbabwe in Wenera Diamonds (2017), a Zimbabwean television drama. Using qualitative research methodology, the research employs content analysis to elucidate the depiction in the said performance. Guided by the Africana womanist perspective, the article argues that the indigenous knowledge needed for African social development is rendered irrelevant by a dysfunctional set of values of the western hegemony. Against that, the paper establishes that the depiction of marriage institution in Wenera diamonds is a reflection of imperialist colonial forces on the black person hence the need to go back to basics and resuscitate their culture.

The discipline of onomastics is still at its infancy yet it constitutes a very important aspect of the day to day survival of a people in the society. Naming is part of oral tradition in African societies, people were never used to write and record things but rather their names. This means that names are a historical record that would carry some aspects of a people's way of life which include their history, beliefs and customs among others. On the same note, Midlands Province constitute of people from different backgrounds mainly Shona and Ndebele. Of interest to this research is the presence of the Kalanga people through some toponyms that are found in the area. In light of this view, this study therefore seeks to identify and unlock the culture and history embedded in these names by looking at the significance of Kalanga place names in Midlands Province. The study argues that place names or toponyms of any people carry with them a history, meaning and significance to particular people that name the places, thus studying the place names in this community can be a valuable tool of unpacking the history surrounding the Kalanga people in Midlands Province in Zimbabwe. Guided by the Afrocentric paradigm, specifically nommoic creativity tenant, the study seeks to explore the cultural and historical significance of Kalanga toponyms in Midlands Province.

This article is a critical reflection on possibilities for social transformation and democratisation that can be possibly realised through collaborations between young people in civil society, African traditional religion and the Christian movement in contemporary contexts. In this context the focus on young people as key agents of change is informed by the frequent observation that young people are often the major perpetrators (and victims) of political violence and yet the least beneficiaries from the political spoils. The article analyses a project in the use of applied theatre to address political violence and torture that was conducted by the University of Zimbabwe's Department of Theatre Arts and Amani Trust some time between October 2001 and March 2002. The article uses that project to investigate and to illustrate some of the opportunities that can be harnessed by religious arms of civil society to strengthen peace in disadvantaged rural communities, such as we find in contemporary Zimbabwe, and which often bear the brunt of social unrest in times of political uncertainty. The study approaches time as a social construct that determines human agency and decision-making in order to adopt the biblical concept of ‘kairos’ or the ‘kairotic’ moment. The ‘kairotic’ moment referred to in this paper is the period between 1999 and 2008 when the Zimbabwean polity faced one of its severest national crises following protracted political contestation. This resulted in unprecedented levels of political intolerance, and state-sanctioned violence and torture in the country’s post-independence history. This level of political violence was perhaps second only to the infamous Gukurahundi massacres, which took place in the Midlands and Matebeleland provinces during the mid-1980s. We also view the kairotic moment as a critical moment for making a fundamental decision. It is full of both promise and danger, so much so that whether the moment ‘reaps’ hope or danger depends on how the moment is seized. We ask: Did civil society seize the moment to reap hope? In other words, we analyse whether various arms of Zimbabwean civil society took advantage of the ‘pregnant’ or kairotic moment to liberate itself. The authors adopt existing discourses on civil society and liberation theology to argue that whenever the time is ripe for meaningful intervention, there in fact exist immense opportunities for different branches of civil society domiciled in both traditional African and modern Christian religions to harness applied theatre in the service of peace and democratisation in the face of political adversity and uncertainty.

he continued existence of indigenous knowledge is one mystery which boggles the mind, as for years, most communities in Africa had no means of documenting indigenous knowledge. However, indigenous knowledge has not faded or been extinct­—regardless of the absence of strategies and means to document it. Yesteryear African communities may not have had records or paper and ink to document indigenous knowledge, but they have, for a long time had the means to document, disseminate, and preserve their indigenous knowledge. The Ndebele community in Zimbabwe is one such community, which has had indigenous knowledge passed down from one generation to another without modern technology. This article seeks to establish how the Ndebele people in Zimbabwe have been able to pass down indigenous knowledge from one generation to another, and how specific indigenous knowledge, which was meant for a certain group of people within the community was kept as a secret within that specific group. Face-to-face interviews were held with Ndebele elders and custodians of culture. A purposive sample was used to select research participants.

Aspects of customary land tenure may survive even where formal rules in a society supersede custom. This thesis is about persisting custom for Maori Freehold land (MFL) in New Zealand, and the Communal Areas (CAs) of Zimbabwe. Three questions are addressed: what unwritten land tenure custom still persists for Ngai Tahu, Shona and Ndebele, what key historical processes and events in New Zealand and Zimbabwe shaped the relationship between people and land into the form it displays today, and how do we explain differences between surviving customary tenure practices in the two countries? The research was based on in-depth interviews. A key difference between the two countries was found to lie in the type and degree of security available over the years to Maori and Shona/Ndebele. Roots of security were found in the substance of the founding treaties and concessions, and thereafter in a variety of other factors including the help (or lack of it) offered by the law in redressing grievances, the level of intermarriage between settler and autochthon, the differing security of land rights offered in urban centres in the respective countries, demographic factors and the availability of state benefits. This research finds that greater security was offered to Maori than to Shona and Ndebele, and that this has reduced the centrality of customary practices with regard to land. The research found that, in Zimbabwe, tenure security in the CAs is still underwritten by communities and that significant investment is still made in both living and dead members of those communities. Another finding is that land custom has adapted dynamically to meet new challenges, such as urban land and CA land sales. In New Zealand, investment in groups that jointly hold rights in MFL has, to some extent been eclipsed by the payment of rates and the availability of services (e.g. state-maintained boundary records and law enforcement mechanisms) and of benefits (e.g. superannuation, disability and unemployment). Land and community are not as closely linked to survival as they were in the past and, for many, they have come to hold largely symbolic value and less practical significance. Overall, it is the pursuit of security and �belonging� that have been the greatest influences on customary land tenure practices in the long term.

In Zimbabwe, translation studies is yet to be recognized as a discipline worthy of study in its own right, hence, not much research has been carried out into the theory and practice of translation. Furthermore, there is no tertiary institution that offers professional translation courses. In light of this information most translations are carried out by untrained/partially trained translators with only a few translators who have gained experience over time. The aim of this study was to investigate strategies used by Ndebele translators in the translation of specialized terms and cultural taboos in selected HIV/AIDS texts, as well as factors that can be used to improve the translation situation of Zimbabwe. Three main theoretical approaches were used in a complementary fashion, namely Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS), Cultural Studies and Corpus-based Translation Studies (CTS). DTS provided the researcher with a theory to understand the Ndebele translations in their wider environment; Cultural Studies provided the researcher with the means by which to understand Ndebele culture and taboos; Corpus-based Translation Studies (CTS) provided the researcher with the methodological tools and analytical techniques to analyse the corpus of texts. An English-Ndebele Parallel Corpus (ENPC) was created using fourteen English source texts and their corresponding Ndebele translations. The ENPC was interrogated by means of ParaConc, a parallel concordancing program. The study found that when translating specialised terms, Ndebele translators used strategies such as a general or neutral word, cultural substitution, paraphrasing and omission. The strategy of omission was misused in most cases because Ndebele translators omitted valuable information which did not reach the target readers. With regards to translation strategies that contributed to term creation, it was found that Ndebele translators relied on external as well as internal resources. The translators used strategies such as pure loan words; pure loan words preceeded by an explanation and indigenised loan words. From the Ndebele language itself, the translators resorted to semantic shift, compounding, coinage and paraphrasing, among others. From the ENPC it is clear that Ndebele translators did manage to transfer the message from English to Ndebele to an extent. However, the ENPC has to be used with caution by other researchers since the translations included in the corpus are full of errors such as misinterpretations of the source texts, mistranslations, incorrect terms and incorrect orthography. This factor points to a dire need to establish translation as an academic discipline and profession in Zimbabwe so as to elevate the quality of translations and offer better translation services to all users.

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2006.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation seeks to develop further the theological interpretation of the books of Samuel, by examining I Samuel I: 1-2:10 in the context of fertility and barrenness as blessing and curse. This reading was related to the Karanga understanding of fertility and barrenness. The contribution shows how the Biblical narrative can become a resource for ethical reflection in African communities such as the Karanga women. The hypotheses that guided this study, were that: a-Fertility and barrenness in the Old Testament should be understood in close conjunction with blessing and cursing as theological concepts in ancient Israel. b-Fertility and barrenness could also be examined in a relevant and contextual manner by relating it to the culture and understanding of the Karanga people. In order to achieve this, two major tasks were attempted. One: An exegesis of I Samuel I: 12: 10 in which Vernon Robbins' method of Socio- Rhetorical criticism was used. The method helped to identify that the text is a narrative, and that the author might have been the Deuteronomistic historian, who wrote in the period of the decline of the Judean monarchy and when the Jews were in exile. The narrative is used to tell about the despair of the Jews, and to inform the Jews that there was hope for restoration if they obeyed God. This ideology is woven in the story of a barren woman Hannah who suffered the despair of barrenness and was later blessed with a child because of her prayer and obedience to God. In the narrative God is described as one who cares for the marginalised, and one who changes the lives of his people, from curse to blessing. The method also helped to realise tbe culture and context of Hannah, and made it possible to relate this culture and context to other cultures that are similar. Secondly an empirical survey was conducted amongst one hundred Karanga women. The findings were that Karanga consider fertility as blessing and barrenness as curse. The curse is experienced in the suffering of the barren women. Barrenness is used to inflict pain, to marginalise women, and has become a major cause of divorce and death through the spread of HIV and Aids. A reading of the story of Hannah helped the Karanga women to identify their barren problems with Hannah, and to find a new way of understanding their own problem in terms of hope. This study was able to prove its hypothesis both through the exegesis and the discussions of the research findings. It was found that the narrative form of the text appealed effectively to the understanding of Karanga women. This was possible because narrative is one of the methods of communication that is used effectively by the Karanga in their language. Through using Hannah as a paradigm of curse and blessing in relation to barrenness and fertility, Karanga women were challenged to view their barren situations in a different way that is open to accept change from curse to blessing. The study has also contributed to see how an old text of the time of Hannah could in the present day contextually influence Karanga women's barren experiences through holding the same culture and also by having similar experiences barren of women.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie dissertasie poog om die teologiese interpretasie van die boeke van Samuel verder te ontwikkel by wyse van 'n ondersoek van I Samuel 1:1-2:10 in die konteks van vrugbaarheid en onvrugbaarheid as 'n seën en as 'n vervloeking. Hierdie ondersoek verwys na die Karangabevolking se begrip van vrugbaarheid en onvrugbaarheid. Die bydrae toon aan hoe die Bybelse verhaal 'n bron vir etiese nadenke onder Afrika-gemeenskappe, soos die Karangavroue, kan word. Die hipoteses wat hierdie studie gerig het, was dat: a-Vrugbaarheid en onvrugbaarheid in die Ou Testament behoort begryp te word in 'n noue verbintenis met seën en vervloeking as teologiese begrippe in antieke Israel. b-Vrugbaarheid en onvrugbaarheid kan ook ondersoek word in 'n relevante en kontekstuele wyse deur dit te verbind met die kultuur en begrip van die Karanga-mense. Om dit te vermag, is twee hooftake onderneem. Die eerste was 'n eksegese van I Samuel 1: 12: 10 waarin Vernon Robbins se metode van sosioretoriese kritiek aangewend is. Hierdie metode het gehelp om die teks as 'n narratief te identifiseer en dat die skrywer die Deuteronomiese historikus kon gewees het, wat in die periode van die monargie van Juda geskryf het en ook tydens die Jode se ballingskap. Die narratief word gebruik om aan te toon hoe wanhopig die Jode was en om hulle in te lig dat daar hoop op hul herstel was indien hulle God gehoorsaam. Hierdie ideologie is verweef in die verhaal van die onvrugbare vrou, Hanna, wat aan die wanhoop van onvrugbaarheid gely het en later met 'n kind geseën is op grond van haar gebede en gehoorsaamheid aan God. In die narratief word God as die een beskryf wat na die gemarginaliseerdes omsien en wat die lewens van sy mense vanaf vervloeking tot seën omvorm. Die metode het ook meegehelp om die kultuur en konteks van Hanna te begryp en dit moontlik gemaak om hierdie kultuur en konteks te verklaar ingevolge die van ander soortgelyke kulture. Tweedens is 'n empiriese studie onder 'n honderd Karanga-vroue onderneem. Die bevindinge was dat Karanga-vroue vrugbaarheid as 'n seën en onvrugbaarheid as 'n vervloeking beskou. Die vervloeking word in die lyding van die onvrugbare vroue ervaar. Onvrugbaarheid word aangewend om pyn en lyding te veroorsaak, om vroue te marginaliseer en het 'n belangrike bron van egskeiding en dood deur die verspreiding van HIV en Vigs geword. Deur die verhaal van Hanna te lees, het die Karanga-vroue gehelp om hul eie onvrugbaarheidsprobleme met die van Hanna te identifiseer en om nuwe wyses te vind om hul eie probleme te verstaan in terme van hoop. Hierdie studie was in staat om sy hipoteses te bewys sowel by wyse van die eksegese en ook deur die bespreking van die navorsingsbevindings. Dit is bevind dat die narratiewe vorm van die teks duidelik tot die begrip van die Karanga-vroue gespreek het. Dit was moontlik aangesien 'n verhalende trant een van die kommunikasiewyses is wat doeltreffend deur Karanga-vroue aangewend word in hul taal. Deur Hanna as 'n paradigma van vervloeking en as seën te gebruik met verwysing tot onvrugbaarheid en vrugbaarheid, is Karanga-vroue uitgedaag om hul beskouing van hul onvrugbare toestand op verskillende wyses te betrag wat oop is om 'n verandering te aanvaar vanaf vervloeking tot seën. Die studie het ook daartoe bygedra om te sien hoe 'n ou teks uit die tyd van Hanna tans kontekstueel die Karanga-vroue se onvrugbaarheidservarings kan beinvloed waar hulle uit 'n soortgelyke kultuur kom en ook soortgelyke ervarings as Hanna het as onvrugbare vroue.

The study explored cultural perspectives of the Zimbabwean Ndebele on alternative modes of childbirth. A qualitative generic, exploratory and descriptive design guided the study. The problem is that alternative modes of birthing are not acceptable to the Zimbabwean Ndebele. Women who give birth through alternative modes of birthing, which include caesarean section (CS) instrumental deliveries (ID) and any other unnatural modes are stigmatised. Data were collected from purposively selected samples of women who had given birth through alternative modes of birthing, spouses, mothers-in-law, community elders, sangomas (traditional healers) and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) using individual unstructured in-depth interviews, structured interviews and focus group interviews (FGIs). Data were analysed through use of qualitative content analysis which involved verbatim transcripts. Interpretations of narrations of data and script reviewing were done while simultaneously listening to audio-tapes which were transcribed in the IsiNdebele the language that was used to collect data. Data were then translated into English to accommodate all readers. Accounts of all the informants that were interviewed point to effects of supernatural ancestral powers, infidelity and use of traditional and herbal medicines as cause for “tiedness” (labour complications), a concept that showed a strong thread throughout the study. Study findings illuminated that traditional practices are culture-bound and the desire is to perpetuate the valued culture. Recommendations made from the study are; cultural orientation of local and foreign health workers, cultural consultation and collaboration with sangomas (traditional healers) and particular recognition of the significance of the study as a cultural heritage of the Zimbabwean Ndebele society. Further research on how women and their spouses cope with the grieving process after experiencing the crisis and grief following CS is recommended. With all the recommended areas addressed, Zimbabwean Ndebele would find alternative modes of birthing acceptable.
Health Studies
D. Lit. et Phil. (Health Studies)

The study of the Church of Christ’s ‘Identity- and Mission-Continuity’ in the Zimbabwean context explores how the Christian faith should be interpreted and contextualised in Africa. The Church of Christ in Zimbabe (COCZ) is a Christian movement claiming to be representative of the ethos of the Church that was founded by Jesus Christ on the day of Pentcost. The thesis raises critical questions of Christian identity and transformation in missionary founded churches like the COCZ in an attempt to contribute towards a locally based study of the Church. Consciousness to being a Church founded by Jesus Christ has implications for Christian unity (oneness) and ecumenism in the COCZ, and its wider Christian networks1. Use of its theological tenets, which are indeed congruent with its projected identity, to explore its history when it came to Zimbabwe in relationship to its founding charism helped because of scarcity of literature on the history of Christian denominations in Zimbabwe. This thesis has followed four objectives that are related to the four stages of experiences by the Church Jesus Christ founded, namely, the (1) early Church, (2) reformation evangelism, (3) missionary enterprise and, (4) contemporary (African) expressions of the faith. This study has investigated the origin and reasons for the formation of the Church in the midst of others; and why its missionaries chose Zimbabwe where there were other denominations. Local experiences of the Church after the departure of white missionaries motivated this study with questions on how the process of inculturating the gospel in the COCZ raised, especially the tension between continuity and discontinuity, linking and delinking, similarity and dissimilarity as well as diversity and diference. Creative synthesis on what Jesus intended; what missionaries brought; and what the God of history is doing in the contemporary life and efforts of the Church were implied and/or explicated. Using a two-pronged approach to the study, the thesis has, first, unearthed (primary) documents like minutes from church board meetings by Europeans (with misionary thinking that developed from these origins), to contextual (secondary) documents (on how local theologians in the context have engaged the different Christian doctrines in the Zimbabwean context). Secondly, an empirical method was used to interview and distribute questionnaires to a number of individuals, inclusive of those who were in the COCZ leadership and ordinary members. Data collection tools were semi-structured, giving respondents freedom to express themselves and/or their views on what the COCZ was doing and what they believe must be done. Data from interviews and questionnaires were correlated with views expressed in the written sources. The data was interpreted heuristically, in order to give light to new knowledge that was being formed in the process. As an interpretive tool, hermeneutics (the phenomenological approach using Atlas.ti 8 (SPSS, Nvivo 8) - for verbatim transcription) was made key in looking into the context, culture and religion of the COCZ. The thesis attempted to create a dialogue by relating identity, communal ontology and epistemology to the empirical study findings, literature and the methodology. Ecology and gender were some of the indispensable aspects of theology, crucial for human survival, harmony and peace that were discussed because they were neglected in the COCZ. The thesis also revisted differences and similitudes found in the gospel in relationship to the intended and unintended 1 Unity and oneness expressed in John 17 [“Et Unum Sint” – That they may be one], emphasise the sociality of the Godhood through the doctrine of perichoresis, which is unity of the Godhead in the economy (our) of salvation. xiii cultural contributions of the Ndebele and Shona so far, with the purpose of repositioning the COCZ within its own transformative framework. This helps the Church with a strategy of how to model its theology in an African context and how to learn from its past with the view to transform itself for the 21st century Zimbabwe. The study is not exhaustive on the nature, history and mission of the COCZ, and many avenues like hermeneutics, church polity, public theology, conflict studies and church doctrine can be carried out using the COCZ as a case study. In all, the study has laid a foundation for the contextualization, evangelization, inculturation and incarnation of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the COCZ in a postmodernist society.
Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Public Management (Peacebuilding), Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016.
Despite all the public pretences of projecting a united country, Zimbabwe is a divided country and this has made genuine peace and unity very difficult to attain. The bruised and polarised relationship between the Shona and Ndebele ethnic groups is deeply rooted in the annals of history, which makes it a protracted social conflict. The Gukurahundi campaign between 1982 and 1987 was part of a chain of catastrophic events, which have emanated from a well-established culture of violence and intolerance between Shona and Ndebele. Efforts to address this culture using a top-down approach under the auspices of the 22 December 1987 Unity Accord did little to curb hostilities. Even though these efforts were commendable, they were not sufficient to make any significant inroads into the polarised relationship of mistrust between the two groups. This thesis applied an Action Research design and specifically used the Transcend dialogue method to explore the possibilities of building mutual respect and understanding among a small sample of young Shona and Ndebele participants. The research found that creating intentional platforms for interaction could have a positive transformative effect on relationships. It is not too late to create more spaces and transformational platforms for people to dialogue, to listen to each other, to share stories, and carry out projects together. Engagement using dialogue can create new synergies, which can make a worthwhile difference to the long journey towards (re) building broken bridges and building new bridges.
D

This study was about death rituals among the Karanga of Nyajena, Masvingo, Zimbabwe, who are a sub-group of the Shona people. This inquiry’s primary purpose was tripartite in outlook. First, it described the Karanga causes of sickness and death, and Karanga death rituals. Second, it explored the significance of these rituals to the Karanga people. Third, the study traced and identified the changes in the practice and significance of some of the rituals. The overall goal of this inquiry was to compose a brief manual for the performance of some of the Karanga death rituals. The inquiry divided the Karanga death rituals into three major categories, namely, pre-burial rituals, burial rituals, and post-burial rituals. The investigation employed qualitative research traditions, particularly ethnography, in the collection and interpretation of the relevant research data, in pursuit of the goals mentioned above. Postcolonial theory was used to give a theoretical framework to this study. This study was necessitated by the need of a written manual on the performance of Karanga death rituals. The study compiled the participants’ narratives concerning the praxis, meaning, and changes in the Karanga death rituals in an attempt to analyze and write them down for posterity. The inquiry found out that although the praxis of the rituals was still rememberd by many Karanga people, some of them were no longer performed, and their significance had been lost. Although the study acknowledged the inevitable dynamism of culture, it held that every ethnicity should have some cultural or religious constants so that its identity is not lost. Hence, the Karanga of Nyajena should retrace their footsteps back to their death rituals in order to rediscover and reaffirm their battered cultural identity and integrity.
Religious Studies and Arabic
D. Phil. (Religious Studies)

The study examined and explored the psychological significance of shaving hair as a ritual during mourning within the Ndebele culture in Mamelodi, Pretoria. The focus was on rituals performed or conducted during the mourning process that will be useful in an attempt to reach a state of healing and restoration. The study explored what meaning the participants attach to the rituals. Through this exploration; a deeper understanding of the value of rituals was developed. The qualitative research method, particularly Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used. Snowball sampling was used to identify participants who had lost their loved and who had gone through mourning for more than six months. In total, ten participants were interviewed for this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the mother tongue of the participants in order to allow them to express themselves in the most ultimate way they know and understand. Thematic content analysis was used to extract themes that were dominant across participants. The study was useful as it could be incorporated into the study of psychology specifically from the African epistemological standpoint. Even though the rituals might be practiced amongst the black African community, there is not much literature that focuses mainly on the specific rituals and their significance. This study could also be useful in terms of exposing this knowledge to persons who might not be exposed to this specific ritual of shaving hair due to cultural differences.
Psychology
M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

This thesis is an exploration of tabooed literary creations that it terms carnival literature. To achieve the objective of establishing the effectiveness of posting material on Facebook walls of the selected group and individual accounts to escape censorship, the thesis compared traditional graffiti, particularly latrinalia, to ‗cyber‘ graffiti (social media) with Facebook as a case study. Lev Vygotsky‘s Activity Theory helped the study link graffiti, vulgarities, humour and Facebook to the Ndebele society‘s response to tabooing of carnival literature. The thesis argued that participating in traditional graffiti production and coming up with posts on a Facebook wall is a deliberate effort with a target audience just as other genres of literature have. However, society tends to condemn carnival literature as a rebellious genre that deserves exclusion from ‗normal‘ interaction. Carnival literature is therefore censored through tabooing its themes and language. The term carnival literature is derived from medieval performances that were named the ‗carnivalesque‘ by Bakhtin and have equivalents in Africa as a continent and in Zimbabwe as a nation. The characteristics of carnivality are found in both traditional graffiti and ‗cyber‘ graffiti. These, among others, include sex and sexuality as themes, obscenities, vulgarities, and all language that is considered offensive. Interestingly, these elements of carnivality evoke laughter of one kind or another. Latrinalia from selected public toilets from the city of Bulawayo was photographed and subjected to Critical Discourse Analysis with attention being paid to carnivality, Bakhtinian dialogism and humour and its impact on the interaction process. Posts on walls of the selected Facebook group and individual accounts were subjected to the same treatment that was given traditional graffiti. The thesis argues that social media can perform a similar function to that of traditional graffiti with added advantages. Social media has created world communities that are brought together by common interests and platforms where they meet and share ideas. The study also established that messages have layers of meaning, making it unreasonable to ban certain messages since they serve a particular purpose. Social media, particularly Facebook, provides pockets of privacy for candid and unfettered interaction that service specific audiences among the Ndebele; hence can function as the escape route for carnival literature from cultural censorship in Zimbabwe.
African Languages
D. Phil. (African Languages)

This chapter interrogates the appropriation of music by a marginalized minority tribe to challenge political authority in Zimbabwe. It examines how music is used to arouse the people's nationalistic feelings; exploit their grievances through memory, collective identity, and emotions; and spur them to action against their local colonialists. Using cultural memory and subaltern public sphere theories, it examines how Majaivana's music is utilized by the Ndebeles in post-colonial Zimbabwe to challenge authority and assert their minority, collective identity. Although this chapter does a critical discourse analysis of the IsiNdebele language protest music as a socio-political commentary and “weapon of the weak” for the Ndebeles in Zimbabwe, lessons drawn therefrom can be extrapolated to other countries in Africa where minority groups face the authoritarian force of the majority tribe in power.

The Kalanga occupy the south-western parts of Zimbabwe, their larger concentration is in modern-day Bulilimamangwe district although some clusters of Kalanga people are distributed throughout Kezi, Gwanda and Tsholotsho districts, among other areas, west of Zimbabwe. The chapter acknowledges that Kalanga identities in pre-colonial Zimbabwean society were multiple, however, it mainly focusses on Kalanga religion (the Mwali/Ngwali Cult) and Kalanga language and demonstrates how these pre-colonial Kalanga forms of identities were later politicised and (re) interpreted and manipulated by colonialists, missionaries and Africans in an endeavour to construct Kalanga ethnic identity. The main purpose of the chapter is to present and reflect on selected Kalanga precolonial forms of identities and show how these were used to (re) construct the Kalanga ethnic identity in colonial Zimbabwe. The chapter further argues that identities are not fixed primordial phenomenon but are constructed and reconstructed over the longee durree using precolonial forms of identities such as language and religion.