No place for a woman: Gwelo town, Southern Rhodesia, 1894-1920

Journal of Southern African Studies

Volumn 26, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 29-42

  Jeater, Diana ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GENDER RELATIONS; GENDER ROLE; RACIAL IDENTITY; WOMENS STATUS;

ZIMBABWE;

EID: 0034098190     PISSN: 03057070     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/030570700108360     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (90)

1. T. Yoshikuni, 'Black Migrants in White City: a Social History of Harare, 1890-1925' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1989); T. Yoshikuni, 'Notes on the Influence of Town-Country Relations on African Urban History: Experience of Salisbury and Bulawayo, Before 1957',Britain-Zimbabwe Society Research Day, St Antony's College, Oxford, June 1994; K. England, 'A Political Economy of Black Female Labour in Zimbabwe, 1900-1980' (BA thesis, University of Manchester, 1982).
2. T. Yoshikuni, 'Black Migrants in White City: a Social History of Harare, 1890-1925' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1989); T. Yoshikuni, 'Notes on the Influence of Town-Country Relations on African Urban History: Experience of Salisbury and Bulawayo, Before 1957',Britain-Zimbabwe Society Research Day, St Antony's College, Oxford, June 1994; K. England, 'A Political Economy of Black Female Labour in Zimbabwe, 1900-1980' (BA thesis, University of Manchester, 1982).
3. T. Yoshikuni, 'Black Migrants in White City: a Social History of Harare, 1890-1925' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1989); T. Yoshikuni, 'Notes on the Influence of Town-Country Relations on African Urban History: Experience of Salisbury and Bulawayo, Before 1957',Britain-Zimbabwe Society Research Day, St Antony's College, Oxford, June 1994; K. England, 'A Political Economy of Black Female Labour in Zimbabwe, 1900-1980' (BA thesis, University of Manchester, 1982).
4. O. W. Stuart, 'Good Boys, Footballers and Strikers: African Social Change in Bulawayo, 1933-53' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1989); M. O. West, 'African Middle Class Formation in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1965' (PhD thesis, Harvard University, 1990); T. Barnes and E. Win, To Live a Better Life (Baobab Books, Harare, 1992); T. Bames, * "We Women Worked So Hard": Gender, Labour and Social Reproduction in Colonial Harare, Zimbabwe, 1930-1956' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1994); T. Barnes, ' "So that a Labourer Could Live with his Family": Overlooked Factors in Social and Economic Strife in Urban Colonial Zimbabwe, 1945-1952',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); B. Raftopoulos, 'Nationalism and Labour in Salisbury 1953-1965',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); T. Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women and Nationalist Politics: Alliances and Fissures in the Formation of a Nationalist Political Movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-56',Journal of African History, 37, 2 (1996), pp. 283-310.
5. O. W. Stuart, 'Good Boys, Footballers and Strikers: African Social Change in Bulawayo, 1933-53' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1989); M. O. West, 'African Middle Class Formation in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1965' (PhD thesis, Harvard University, 1990); T. Barnes and E. Win, To Live a Better Life (Baobab Books, Harare, 1992); T. Bames, * "We Women Worked So Hard": Gender, Labour and Social Reproduction in Colonial Harare, Zimbabwe, 1930-1956' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1994); T. Barnes, ' "So that a Labourer Could Live with his Family": Overlooked Factors in Social and Economic Strife in Urban Colonial Zimbabwe, 1945-1952',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); B. Raftopoulos, 'Nationalism and Labour in Salisbury 1953-1965',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); T. Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women and Nationalist Politics: Alliances and Fissures in the Formation of a Nationalist Political Movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-56',Journal of African History, 37, 2 (1996), pp. 283-310.
6. O. W. Stuart, 'Good Boys, Footballers and Strikers: African Social Change in Bulawayo, 1933-53' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1989); M. O. West, 'African Middle Class Formation in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1965' (PhD thesis, Harvard University, 1990); T. Barnes and E. Win, To Live a Better Life (Baobab Books, Harare, 1992); T. Bames, * "We Women Worked So Hard": Gender, Labour and Social Reproduction in Colonial Harare, Zimbabwe, 1930-1956' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1994); T. Barnes, ' "So that a Labourer Could Live with his Family": Overlooked Factors in Social and Economic Strife in Urban Colonial Zimbabwe, 1945-1952',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); B. Raftopoulos, 'Nationalism and Labour in Salisbury 1953-1965',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); T. Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women and Nationalist Politics: Alliances and Fissures in the Formation of a Nationalist Political Movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-56',Journal of African History, 37, 2 (1996), pp. 283-310.
7. O. W. Stuart, 'Good Boys, Footballers and Strikers: African Social Change in Bulawayo, 1933-53' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1989); M. O. West, 'African Middle Class Formation in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1965' (PhD thesis, Harvard University, 1990); T. Barnes and E. Win, To Live a Better Life (Baobab Books, Harare, 1992); T. Bames, * "We Women Worked So Hard": Gender, Labour and Social Reproduction in Colonial Harare, Zimbabwe, 1930-1956' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1994); T. Barnes, ' "So that a Labourer Could Live with his Family": Overlooked Factors in Social and Economic Strife in Urban Colonial Zimbabwe, 1945-1952',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); B. Raftopoulos, 'Nationalism and Labour in Salisbury 1953-1965',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); T. Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women and Nationalist Politics: Alliances and Fissures in the Formation of a Nationalist Political Movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-56',Journal of African History, 37, 2 (1996), pp. 283-310.
8. O. W. Stuart, 'Good Boys, Footballers and Strikers: African Social Change in Bulawayo, 1933-53' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1989); M. O. West, 'African Middle Class Formation in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1965' (PhD thesis, Harvard University, 1990); T. Barnes and E. Win, To Live a Better Life (Baobab Books, Harare, 1992); T. Bames, * "We Women Worked So Hard": Gender, Labour and Social Reproduction in Colonial Harare, Zimbabwe, 1930-1956' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1994); T. Barnes, ' "So that a Labourer Could Live with his Family": Overlooked Factors in Social and Economic Strife in Urban Colonial Zimbabwe, 1945-1952',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); B. Raftopoulos, 'Nationalism and Labour in Salisbury 1953-1965',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); T. Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women and Nationalist Politics: Alliances and Fissures in the Formation of a Nationalist Political Movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-56',Journal of African History, 37, 2 (1996), pp. 283-310.
9. O. W. Stuart, 'Good Boys, Footballers and Strikers: African Social Change in Bulawayo, 1933-53' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1989); M. O. West, 'African Middle Class Formation in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1965' (PhD thesis, Harvard University, 1990); T. Barnes and E. Win, To Live a Better Life (Baobab Books, Harare, 1992); T. Bames, * "We Women Worked So Hard": Gender, Labour and Social Reproduction in Colonial Harare, Zimbabwe, 1930-1956' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1994); T. Barnes, ' "So that a Labourer Could Live with his Family": Overlooked Factors in Social and Economic Strife in Urban Colonial Zimbabwe, 1945-1952',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); B. Raftopoulos, 'Nationalism and Labour in Salisbury 1953-1965',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); T. Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women and Nationalist Politics: Alliances and Fissures in the Formation of a Nationalist Political Movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-56',Journal of African History, 37, 2 (1996), pp. 283-310.
10. O. W. Stuart, 'Good Boys, Footballers and Strikers: African Social Change in Bulawayo, 1933-53' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1989); M. O. West, 'African Middle Class Formation in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1965' (PhD thesis, Harvard University, 1990); T. Barnes and E. Win, To Live a Better Life (Baobab Books, Harare, 1992); T. Bames, * "We Women Worked So Hard": Gender, Labour and Social Reproduction in Colonial Harare, Zimbabwe, 1930-1956' (DPhil thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1994); T. Barnes, ' "So that a Labourer Could Live with his Family": Overlooked Factors in Social and Economic Strife in Urban Colonial Zimbabwe, 1945-1952',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); B. Raftopoulos, 'Nationalism and Labour in Salisbury 1953-1965',Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 1 (1995); T. Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women and Nationalist Politics: Alliances and Fissures in the Formation of a Nationalist Political Movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-56',Journal of African History, 37, 2 (1996), pp. 283-310.
11. E. Schmidt, Peasants, Traders, and Wives: Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe, 1870-1939 (London, 1992); D. Jeater, Marriage, Perversion and Power: the Construction of Moral Discourse in Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1930 (Oxford, 1993).
12. E. Schmidt, Peasants, Traders, and Wives: Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe, 1870-1939 (London, 1992); D. Jeater, Marriage, Perversion and Power: the Construction of Moral Discourse in Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1930 (Oxford, 1993).
13. Barnes, Overlooked Factors'; Scamecchia, 'Poor Women'.
14. Barnes, Overlooked Factors'; Scamecchia, 'Poor Women'.
15. Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women'.
16. Stuart, 'Good Boys, Footballers and Strikers'. See also I. Phimister and C. van Onselen, 'The Political Economy of Tribal Animosity: a Case Study of the 1929 Bulawayo Location "Faction Fight" ',Journal of Southern African Studies, 6, 1 (1979), pp. 1-43.
17. Stuart, 'Good Boys, Footballers and Strikers'. See also I. Phimister and C. van Onselen, 'The Political Economy of Tribal Animosity: a Case Study of the 1929 Bulawayo Location "Faction Fight" ',Journal of Southern African Studies, 6, 1 (1979), pp. 1-43.
18. B. White: 'Shanties and Champagne Part 2',Illustrated Life Rhodesia, 3, 23 (February 1971), S/IL 53.
19. P. Davis, 'The History of Gwelo',Rhodesiana, 34 (March 1976).
20. P. Falk, 'The Gwelo Lager',Rhodesiana, 22 (July 1970).
21. From J. M. Boggie (ed), Experiences of Rhodesia 's Pioneer Women (Bulawayo, 1938), cited in B. White, 'Shanties, Part 3', Illustrated Life Rhodesia, 3, 24 (March 1971), S/IL 53.
22. From J. M. Boggie (ed), Experiences of Rhodesia 's Pioneer Women (Bulawayo, 1938), cited in B. White, 'Shanties, Part 3', Illustrated Life Rhodesia, 3, 24 (March 1971), S/IL 53.
23. 'Impressions of Gwelo',by a New Arrival, Gwelo Times, 13 February 1904.
24. A. S. Mlambo, 'Building a White Man's Country: Aspects of White Immigration into Rhodesia up to World War II',Zambezia, 25, 2 (1998), pp. 123-146.
25. Boggie, Experiences of Rhodesia's Pioneer Women.
26. Ultimately, 'Home' - with a capital 'H' - was exclusively used to mean Britain in white Rhodesian discourse, but that was a later development.
27. 'Notes on the Early History of Gwelo',Shield, 55 (July 1950), S/SH 42.
28. Davis, History, Part 1.
29. Davis, History, Part 3.
30. The importance of women in defining the imagined community of a town, forging connections between people, districts and modes of behaviour is well illustrated in C. M. Coles, 'Three Generations of Hausa Women in Kaduna, Nigeria, 1925-1985',in K. Sheldon (ed), Courtyards, Markets, City Streets: Urban Women in Africa (Oxford, 1996), pp. 73-102.
31. Davis, History.
32. There were also attempts to remove Indians. There was a market gardening community of Indians in the town, although it has left little archival trace.
33. See the report of Sanitary Board meetings in the Gwelo Times, 19 December 1903, and the issue of a final warning to Indians and Africans not to erect dwellings outside the boundaries of locations allocated to them, Gwelo Times, 25 March 1905. The Indian location was, in fact, never built, while the fact that the final warning was ignored is testified to by another report of persistent squatting on the Commonage at the Sanitary Board meeting covered in Gwelo Times, 7 October 1905.
34. See the report of Sanitary Board meetings in the Gwelo Times, 19 December 1903, and the issue of a final warning to Indians and Africans not to erect dwellings outside the boundaries of locations allocated to them, Gwelo Times, 25 March 1905. The Indian location was, in fact, never built, while the fact that the final warning was ignored is testified to by another report of persistent squatting on the Commonage at the Sanitary Board meeting covered in Gwelo Times, 7 October 1905.
35. See the report of Sanitary Board meetings in the Gwelo Times, 19 December 1903, and the issue of a final warning to Indians and Africans not to erect dwellings outside the boundaries of locations allocated to them, Gwelo Times, 25 March 1905. The Indian location was, in fact, never built, while the fact that the final warning was ignored is testified to by another report of persistent squatting on the Commonage at the Sanitary Board meeting covered in Gwelo Times, 7 October 1905.
36. 'Sanitary Board',Gwelo Times, 11 July 1903.
37. R v. Maria Jenkings, 13 October 1917; R v. Abraham alias Harvey, 29 October 1917, both in D3/20/2.
38. In 1916, an Indian barber was brought to court following complaints from his African worker. It seems that the conflict was over 'strange boys in [the worker's] hut',and that it peaked when the police were called in to stop the gambling in the hut. R v. Verapdam Rahan Packaree Pandethar, case no. 167/1916. D3/20/1.
39. M. Ramphele, A Bed Called Home. Life in the Migrant Labour Hostels of Cape Town (Edinburgh, 1993), uses the term 'bedhold' to define the quasi-family relationships centred on a man's claim to a bed in an urban hostel.
40. White, 'Shanties Part 2'.
41. D. Kennedy, Islands of White: Settler Society and Culture in Kenya and Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1939 (Durham, 1987), pp. 138-146. Note that these were political crises, rather than the economic crises to which Charles van Onselen attributed 'Black Peril' panics in Johannesburg between 1890 and 1914. See his New Nineveh: Studies in the Social and Economic History of the Witwatersrand, 1886-1914, vol. 2 (Harlow, 1982), pp. 45-60.
42. D. Kennedy, Islands of White: Settler Society and Culture in Kenya and Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1939 (Durham, 1987), pp. 138-146. Note that these were political crises, rather than the economic crises to which Charles van Onselen attributed 'Black Peril' panics in Johannesburg between 1890 and 1914. See his New Nineveh: Studies in the Social and Economic History of the Witwatersrand, 1886-1914, vol. 2 (Harlow, 1982), pp. 45-60.
43. J. Pape, 'Black and White: the "Perils of Sex" in Colonial Zimbabwe',Journal of Southern African Studies, 16, 4 (1990).
44. 'Sir Marshall Clark on Natives',editorial in Gwelo Times, 17 October 1902.
45. Nonetheless, the Indian population of Gwelo does not seem to have entered the domestic labour market at all.
46. 'Sebakwe Rape Case',editorial in Gwelo Times, 3 September 1904.
47. 'New and Important Ordinances',editorial in Gwelo Times, 22 May 1903; 'The Black Peril',editorial in Gwelo Times, 13 January 1911.
48. 'New and Important Ordinances',editorial in Gwelo Times, 22 May 1903; 'The Black Peril',editorial in Gwelo Times, 13 January 1911.
49. Case no. 334/1919. D3/20/4.
50. Case nos. 229/1918; 333/1919. D3/20/3,4.
51. Case no. 5/16, 5 October 1916. NGA 4/1/1.
52. C. Shire, 'Men Don't Go to the Moon',in A. Cornwall and N. Lindisfarne (eds), Dislocating Masculinites (London, 1993).
53. 'Female Settlers for Rhodesia. Armchair Schemes in London',Gwelo Times, 16 August 1901.
54. Southern Rhodesia, Report of the Director of Census, 1926, Part I (Salisbury, 1927), p. 21, cited in Mlambo, 'Building',p. 129.
55. Southern Rhodesia, Report of the Director of Census, 1926, Part I (Salisbury, 1927), p. 21, cited in Mlambo, 'Building',p. 129.
56. 'New Arrival',Gwelo Times, 13 February 1904.
57. White, Shanties and Champagne, Part 2. This was not the end of prostitution in the town, however. In 1920, some 'rather low class Dutch girls' were prosecuted for accepting African clients. Annual Report, Native Commissioner, Gwelo, 1920. N9/1/23.
58. 'The Legislative Council',editorial in Gwelo Times, 11 June 1904.
59. It was also used against donkeys and other animals. It is symptomatic of the bizarre influence of British values in Southern Rhodesia during these years that the most common offence for which whites appeared in the criminal courts in Gwelo was cruelty to animals.
60. T. N. Huffman, 'Snakes and Birds: Expressive Space at Great Zimbabwe',African Studies, 40 (1981), pp. 131-150; T. N. Huffman, Snakes and Crocodiles: Power and Symbolism in Ancient Zimbabwe (Johannesburg, 1996).
61. T. N. Huffman, 'Snakes and Birds: Expressive Space at Great Zimbabwe',African Studies, 40 (1981), pp. 131-150; T. N. Huffman, Snakes and Crocodiles: Power and Symbolism in Ancient Zimbabwe (Johannesburg, 1996).
62. Letter from 'Pro Bono Publico',Gwelo Times, 26 July 1901.
63. Overpaid Natives',editorial in Gwelo Times, 28 March 1902.
64. Letter from A. J. Nib, Gwelo Times, 22 May 1903.
65. 'Sanitary Board',Gwelo Times, 24 October 1903.
66. Men were charged 2s 6d, apparently. Letter from 'Jam Pot',Gwelo Times, 14 October 1905.
67. 'The Labour Question',editorial in Gwelo Times, 13 December 1901.
68. 'Sir Marshall Clark on Natives',editorial in Gwelo Times, 17 October 1902.
69. 'Bloemfontein Conference',Gwelo Times, 27 March 1903.
70. 'Native Taxation',editorial in Gwelo Times, 11 July 1903.
71. R v. Matunga, case no. 621/1919, 17 November 1919. D3/20/4.
72. R v. Mwali alias Tom, case no. 327/1917, 14 May 1917;R v. Sasoja, case no. 461/1918, 13 June 1918.D3/20/2;3.
73. Interview with Sekuru Machirori, Mambo Township, Gweru, 4 February 1987.
74. Interview with Ambuya Mangwenya, Ascot Township, Gweru, 16 March 1987.
75. Interview with Ambuya Mtsitsi, Mambo Township, Gweru, 3 February 1987. These three interviewees had the longest memories, but all interviewees were able to talk about the position of African women in the town from the 1930s.
76. 'Sanitary Board',Gwelo Times, 19 December 1903.
77. We can safely assume it was not two women since there was a clear tendency to refer to exclusively female groups of Africans as women.
78. M. Mamdani, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism (London, 1996), pp. 16-23.
79. A. Kuper, 'Symbolic Dimensions of the Southern Bantu Homestead',Africa, 50, 1 (1980), pp. 8-23.
80. Huffman, Snakes and Crocodiles.
81. M. Kesby, 'Arenas for Control, Terrains of Gender Contestations: Guerilla Struggle and Counter-insurgency Warfare in Zimbabwe, 1972-1980',Journal of Southern African Studies, 22, 4 (1996), pp. 561-584; M. Kesby, 'Locating and Dislocating Gender in Rural Zimbabwe: the Making of Space and the Texturing of Bodies',Gender, Place and Culture, 6, 1 (1999), pp. 27-47.
82. M. Kesby, 'Arenas for Control, Terrains of Gender Contestations: Guerilla Struggle and Counter-insurgency Warfare in Zimbabwe, 1972-1980',Journal of Southern African Studies, 22, 4 (1996), pp. 561-584; M. Kesby, 'Locating and Dislocating Gender in Rural Zimbabwe: the Making of Space and the Texturing of Bodies',Gender, Place and Culture, 6, 1 (1999), pp. 27-47.
83. See, for example, Shire, 'Men Don't Go to the Moon'; Barnes, 'Overlooked Factors'; Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women'.
84. See, for example, Shire, 'Men Don't Go to the Moon'; Barnes, 'Overlooked Factors'; Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women'.
85. See, for example, Shire, 'Men Don't Go to the Moon'; Barnes, 'Overlooked Factors'; Scarnecchia, 'Poor Women'.
86. O. Philips, 'Sexual Offences in Zimbabwe: Fetishisms of Procreation, Perversion and Individual Autonomy' (PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, 1999), pp. 223-260, places these 'round ups' in the broader context of the gendering of 'rights' within the Rhodesian/Zimbabwean legal system.
87. Kuper, 'Symbolic Dimensions',p. 19.
88. C. Lowe, personal communication, October 1995.
89. There are, of course, noble exceptions to this rule, foremost of which in the Zimbabwean case is the collection of oral histories compiled by Barnes and Win, Better Life.
90. B. Bozzoli, Women of Phokeng: Consciousness, Life Strategy and Migrancy in South Africa 1900-83 (London, 1991).