Causes of Chimurenga
Causes of Chimurenga
Causes of Chimurenga
Umvukela 11
By Theresa Shamiso Sibanda
Mount Pleasant School
0774658065
©
Introduction
1. Land issue
2.Need for majority rule
3.Racial discrimination
4.Forced labour
5.Taxation
6.Pass law
7.Suppression of communism /Law and order Maintanance act (why was it
introduced)
8.Strict police system
Land issue
After Anglo-Matebele war, Ndebele lost fertile lands and were made to go and stay
in two created reserves of Gwaai and Shangani.
These reserves were infertile rocky dry ,tsetse infested and sandy.
One historian described it as a “cemetery, land fit for the dead and not for the living.
Blacks in Matebeleland refused to go and continued to stay in now called white
owned lands paying as taxes andrents.
Absentee settler landlords made a lot of fortune from leasing their lands to blacks.
After 1896 blacks were forcibly evicted from white areas and more reserves were
created for them.
They were sent to arid areas and the reserves were less fertile.
Idea of losing their fertile lands made blacks to take up arms in Chimurenga 2/
Umvukela 2
Land Apportionment Act of 1930
What is a passbook?
Blacks were made to move around carrying passbooks. Every African above the age
of 14 was to carry a passbook.
Failure to produce a passbook was a criminal offense which resulted in
imprisonmnent.
Africans were forced to carry as many as 16 passes .example of passes include
Pass book
Travelling pass
Gate pass
Pass to enter location
Pass to leave a compound
Impact of passbook-
Passbook restricted workers movement. Blacks could not leave the compound
without employer’s permission.
Since contract dates and place of work were shown on the passbook the worker
could not leave place of work at will regardless of poor working conditions.
The pass book also betrayed an African if he had not paid tax.
Passbook and other series of passes were hated by blacks .They saw them as
exploitative restricting their movement worse still the brutality from the police
after breaching pass laws.
Africans took up arms in Chimurenga 2 against use of pass laws
Suppression of communism Act/Law
and Order Maintenance Act
This law forbid Africans from showing any signs of consciousness.
The purpose of this law was to maintain law and order in Southern Rhodesia.
The law forbid blacks from staging demonstrations, riots and strikes.
Africans were not allowed to form trade unions and political parties or display
communism of any kind.
Breaching of this law would result in imprisonment, torture, detention, beating
and sending people to detention camps like Sikombela and Gonakudzingwa.
Settlers were interested in maintaining law and order in the country at the
expense of African consciousness.
This did not go well with Africans.
cont’
Africans wanted the right to form trade unions and political parties ,stage
demonstrations and go on strike when conditions were not favorable.
Africans used this slogan from Eduardo Modhlane of Mozambique”the
Portuguese are an impervious rock it takes the barrel of the gun to penetrate
through them.
Hence they decided to go the batttlefield since all avenues of showing their
consciousness were blocked by whites.
Why did whites introduce this law ?
Blacks were forced to work in farms and mines under poor conditions.
Blacks were recruited by natives commissioner.
Chiefs were made to hand over 50 or so men to provide cheap labour
If herdman fail to provide needed labour he was flogged in public by brutal
police.
Grains or cattle were cattle seized if chiefs failed to provide labourforce
Racial Discrimination /Racial
segregation
Racial discrimination was influenced by Mac Carter commission of 1925 .
it was a racial policy which advocated separate development.
It was against the background that blacks and whites are different and needed to be
treated differently hence pursue separate development.
It was also influenced again by South African apartheid system introduced by Boers
in South Africa who saw Africans as hewers of wood and drawers of water(biblical
concept that refers to children of Ham -blacks)
Racial segregation was seen in the following sectors:
Health and education sector
Agricultural sector
Industrial sector
Residential and use of social amenities.
Treatment of races in shops and other areas threat offers public service.
Discrimination in Education and Health
sectors
Blacks received inferior curriculum as compared to whites that would make them
workers.
Bottle neck system was used to allow few Africans to attend school to proceed
with secondary education.
The majority of black people were made to t do F2 were they were trained to serve
the masters in various sectors of the economy.
They were schools set aside for blacks and were ill sponsored,
Black schools had few textbooks, desks and benches and had untrained teachers
whilst European schools were well sponsored and had well trained teachers better
learning resources. No matter an African had money he could not attend white
schools there were certain schools meant for blacks whites and coloureds.
This was the same situation in the health sector. Some hospitals like Andrew
Flemming was meant for whites and general hospitals meant for blacks.
Black hospitals had few doctors and few trained personnel.
Segregation in the Agricultural sector
Land apportionment Act divided land into white owned land and black owned
land.
Africans were made to stay in reserves, far away from roads, rail and market
centers.
Whites got fertile lands that were closer to roads ,rail, and market centres.
Maize control act made sure the government bought European maize at a
higher price that Africans to discourage competition between lack and white
farmers.
The Africans were not allowed to get loans from the land bank. Only white
farmers had access to these loans.
Segregation in industrial sector
Settler government had strict police system which terrorized black people.
They beat up people ,killed Africans, detained and tortured Africans for minor
offense ,
Failure to pay tax or to produce required pass resulted in heavy penalty and
torture by police.
Blacks were subjected to this brutal police if they went on strike form trade
union form political parties or organize demonstrations.
There are instances were black women were abused by BSAP (British south
Africa police)
Africans naturally detested abuse of power by police and had to take up arms
against white settlers in Chimurenga.
Exploitation in the farms and mines
Blacks were exploited in the farms and mines. They experienced poor working
and living conditions.
They were subjected to harsh and strict police system that denied them right to
show their consciousness.
Blacks were made to live in compounds that were overcrowded, with poor
sanitary conditions .
They were not allowed to leave these compounds without gate pass or
employer signature.
Given poor diet characterized by dried fish, matemba, beans and rotten maize
meal.
Blacks were given low wages and made to work for long hours.
Cont’
1.To what extent was the Second Chimurenga /Umvukela as a result of land policies
introduced by white settlers.(25)
2.To what extent was Chimurenga 2/Umvukela 2 as a result of racial segregation in
Southern Rhodesia. (25)
3.To what extent was Chimurenga 2/umvukela 2 caused by the need for majority
rule. (25)
4.How far was exploitation of blacks in the farms and mines responsible for
Chimurenga 2/Umvukela 2 (25)
5.”Suppression of Communism Act was responsible for Chimurenga 2/Umvukela 2” .
Discuss (25)
6.” Chimurenga 2 was caused by the burden of taxation”. How far true is this verdict .
(25)
The End