Poor women and nationalist politics: Alliances and fissures in the formation of a nationalist political movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-6

Journal of African History

Volumn 37, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 283-310

  Scarnecchia, Timothy ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040384122     PISSN: 00218537     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0021853700035234     Document Type: Review

References (111)

1. For women's place in the male-defined ideologies of South African nationalism, see Deborah Gaitskell and Elaine Unterhalter, 'Mothers of the nation : a comparative analysis of nation, race and motherhood in Afrikaner nationalism and the African National Congress', in Nira Yval-Davis and Floya Anthias (eds.), Woman-Nation-State (London, 1989), 58-76.
2. Cora Ann Presley, Kikuyu Women, the Mau Mau Rebellion, and Social Change in Kenya (Boulder, 1992) and Tabitha Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 1905-63 (London, 1987). For a detailed treatment of women's participation and struggle within a male-dominated nationalist movement see Nina Mba, Nigerian Women Mobilised : Women's Political Activity in Southern Nigeria, 1900-1965 (Berkeley, 1984). For a comprehensive review of the literature on African women and nationalism see Susan Geiger, 'Women and African nationalism', Journal of Women's History, 11 (1990), 227-44.
3. Cora Ann Presley, Kikuyu Women, the Mau Mau Rebellion, and Social Change in Kenya (Boulder, 1992) and Tabitha Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 1905-63 (London, 1987). For a detailed treatment of women's participation and struggle within a male-dominated nationalist movement see Nina Mba, Nigerian Women Mobilised : Women's Political Activity in Southern Nigeria, 1900-1965 (Berkeley, 1984). For a comprehensive review of the literature on African women and nationalism see Susan Geiger, 'Women and African nationalism', Journal of Women's History, 11 (1990), 227-44.
4. Cora Ann Presley, Kikuyu Women, the Mau Mau Rebellion, and Social Change in Kenya (Boulder, 1992) and Tabitha Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 1905-63 (London, 1987). For a detailed treatment of women's participation and struggle within a male-dominated nationalist movement see Nina Mba, Nigerian Women Mobilised : Women's Political Activity in Southern Nigeria, 1900-1965 (Berkeley, 1984). For a comprehensive review of the literature on African women and nationalism see Susan Geiger, 'Women and African nationalism', Journal of Women's History, 11 (1990), 227-44.
5. Cora Ann Presley, Kikuyu Women, the Mau Mau Rebellion, and Social Change in Kenya (Boulder, 1992) and Tabitha Kanogo, Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 1905-63 (London, 1987). For a detailed treatment of women's participation and struggle within a male-dominated nationalist movement see Nina Mba, Nigerian Women Mobilised : Women's Political Activity in Southern Nigeria, 1900-1965 (Berkeley, 1984). For a comprehensive review of the literature on African women and nationalism see Susan Geiger, 'Women and African nationalism', Journal of Women's History, 11 (1990), 227-44.
6. See Teresa Barnes, 'The fight for control of African women's mobility in colonial Zimbabwe, 1900-1939', Signs, XVII (1992), 586-608; and Teresa Barnes and Everjoyce Win, To Live a Better Life : an Oral History of the Women of Zimbabwe, 1930-7970 (Harare, 1992). For South Africa, see Cheryl Walker, Women and Resistance in South Africa (London, 1991) and Tom Lodge, Black Politics in South Africa since 1945 (London, 1983).
7. See Teresa Barnes, 'The fight for control of African women's mobility in colonial Zimbabwe, 1900-1939', Signs, XVII (1992), 586-608; and Teresa Barnes and Everjoyce Win, To Live a Better Life : an Oral History of the Women of Zimbabwe, 1930-7970 (Harare, 1992). For South Africa, see Cheryl Walker, Women and Resistance in South Africa (London, 1991) and Tom Lodge, Black Politics in South Africa since 1945 (London, 1983).
8. See Teresa Barnes, 'The fight for control of African women's mobility in colonial Zimbabwe, 1900-1939', Signs, XVII (1992), 586-608; and Teresa Barnes and Everjoyce Win, To Live a Better Life : an Oral History of the Women of Zimbabwe, 1930-7970 (Harare, 1992). For South Africa, see Cheryl Walker, Women and Resistance in South Africa (London, 1991) and Tom Lodge, Black Politics in South Africa since 1945 (London, 1983).
9. See Teresa Barnes, 'The fight for control of African women's mobility in colonial Zimbabwe, 1900-1939', Signs, XVII (1992), 586-608; and Teresa Barnes and Everjoyce Win, To Live a Better Life : an Oral History of the Women of Zimbabwe, 1930-7970 (Harare, 1992). For South Africa, see Cheryl Walker, Women and Resistance in South Africa (London, 1991) and Tom Lodge, Black Politics in South Africa since 1945 (London, 1983).
10. Thomas Hodgkin, Nationalism in Colonial Africa (New York, 1957) and Aristide R. Zolberg, Creating Political Order : The Party-States of West Africa (Chicago, 1966).
11. Thomas Hodgkin, Nationalism in Colonial Africa (New York, 1957) and Aristide R. Zolberg, Creating Political Order : The Party-States of West Africa (Chicago, 1966).
12. Social histories have been most successful at showing the diverse experiences of women vis-à-vis nationalist politics. See Belinda Bozzoli, Women of Phokeng : Consciousness, Life Strategy and Migrancy in South Africa, 1900-1983 (Portsmouth NH, 1991) and Luise White, The Comforts of Home : Prostitution in Colonial Nairobi (Chicago, 1990).
13. Social histories have been most successful at showing the diverse experiences of women vis-à-vis nationalist politics. See Belinda Bozzoli, Women of Phokeng : Consciousness, Life Strategy and Migrancy in South Africa, 1900-1983 (Portsmouth NH, 1991) and Luise White, The Comforts of Home : Prostitution in Colonial Nairobi (Chicago, 1990).
14. For the early history of ICU in Salisbury, see Terence Ranger, The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1930 (London, 1970); and Tsuneo Yoshikuni, 'Black migrants in a white city: a social history of African Harare, 1890-1925' (D.Phil, thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1989).
15. For the early history of ICU in Salisbury, see Terence Ranger, The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1930 (London, 1970); and Tsuneo Yoshikuni, 'Black migrants in a white city: a social history of African Harare, 1890-1925' (D.Phil, thesis, University of Zimbabwe, 1989).
16. The term 'mapoto' referred to women living with men outside of legally sanctioned marriages. The term literally means 'with pots', signifying the importance of cooking meals and also sexual relations. It was an important form of urban cohabitation that had its origins in the mine-compound living arrangements throughout Southern Africa. See Charles van Onselen, Chibaro : African Mine Labour in Southern Rhodesia, 1900-1933 (London, 1976) and Barnes, 'The fight for control'.
17. The term 'mapoto' referred to women living with men outside of legally sanctioned marriages. The term literally means 'with pots', signifying the importance of cooking meals and also sexual relations. It was an important form of urban cohabitation that had its origins in the mine-compound living arrangements throughout Southern Africa. See Charles van Onselen, Chibaro : African Mine Labour in Southern Rhodesia, 1900-1933 (London, 1976) and Barnes, 'The fight for control'.
18. For the historical importance of the bus boycott in the nationalist literature, see Miriam Green, 'The Salisbury Bus Boycott, 1956', History of Zambia, XIII (1983), 1-17.
19. A. S. A. Briggs, Registering Licensing and Housing Officer, Native Administration Department Salisbury, Annual Report 1948, Salisbury, 30 July 1948, Records [RC] NAD R6.1.
20. J. Z. Savanhu, 'Development of an African middle class', in National Affairs: Official Organ of the Rhodesia National Affairs Association, x (1953), National Archives of Zimbabwe [NAZ] S/NA 77. For a broad discussion of Salisbury's African élites, see Michael West, 'African middle-class formation in colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1965' (Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University, 1990), Skokiaan was a form of beer popular in urban areas and mine compounds throughout Southern Africa. 'Skokiaan queens' refer to those women who became wealthy off the large-scale organization of brewers selling beer to workers. Very few women actually became wealthy through beer-brewing, but the notoriety of those that did made the label often interchangeable for beer brewers in the rhetorical sense used by Savanhu and many other critics.
21. J. Z. Savanhu, 'Development of an African middle class', in National Affairs: Official Organ of the Rhodesia National Affairs Association, x (1953), National Archives of Zimbabwe [NAZ] S/NA 77. For a broad discussion of Salisbury's African élites, see Michael West, 'African middle-class formation in colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1965' (Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University, 1990), Skokiaan was a form of beer popular in urban areas and mine compounds throughout Southern Africa. 'Skokiaan queens' refer to those women who became wealthy off the large-scale organization of brewers selling beer to workers. Very few women actually became wealthy through beer-brewing, but the notoriety of those that did made the label often interchangeable for beer brewers in the rhetorical sense used by Savanhu and many other critics.
22. For the East and West African trend in colonial discourse toward stabilized workers, see Fred Cooper, 'From free labor to family allowances : labor and African society in colonial discourse', American Ethnologist, XVI (1989), 745-65. For the Southern Rhodesian case, see David Johnson, 'The impact of the Second World War on Southern Rhodesia, with special reference to African labour, 1939-1948' (D.Phil, thesis, SOAS, University of London, 1989); and Timothy Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class in the creation of African communities, Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1937-1957' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Michigan, 1994). The lack of attention in South African historiography to state discourse on specific African women's roles is criticized in Linzi Malcolm, 'Ruling relations: rethinking state and gender in South African history', J. Afr. Hist., XXXIII (1992), 441-65.
23. For the East and West African trend in colonial discourse toward stabilized workers, see Fred Cooper, 'From free labor to family allowances : labor and African society in colonial discourse', American Ethnologist, XVI (1989), 745-65. For the Southern Rhodesian case, see David Johnson, 'The impact of the Second World War on Southern Rhodesia, with special reference to African labour, 1939-1948' (D.Phil, thesis, SOAS, University of London, 1989); and Timothy Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class in the creation of African communities, Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1937-1957' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Michigan, 1994). The lack of attention in South African historiography to state discourse on specific African women's roles is criticized in Linzi Malcolm, 'Ruling relations: rethinking state and gender in South African history', J. Afr. Hist., XXXIII (1992), 441-65.
24. For the East and West African trend in colonial discourse toward stabilized workers, see Fred Cooper, 'From free labor to family allowances : labor and African society in colonial discourse', American Ethnologist, XVI (1989), 745-65. For the Southern Rhodesian case, see David Johnson, 'The impact of the Second World War on Southern Rhodesia, with special reference to African labour, 1939-1948' (D.Phil, thesis, SOAS, University of London, 1989); and Timothy Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class in the creation of African communities, Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1937-1957' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Michigan, 1994). The lack of attention in South African historiography to state discourse on specific African women's roles is criticized in Linzi Malcolm, 'Ruling relations: rethinking state and gender in South African history', J. Afr. Hist., XXXIII (1992), 441-65.
25. For the East and West African trend in colonial discourse toward stabilized workers, see Fred Cooper, 'From free labor to family allowances : labor and African society in colonial discourse', American Ethnologist, XVI (1989), 745-65. For the Southern Rhodesian case, see David Johnson, 'The impact of the Second World War on Southern Rhodesia, with special reference to African labour, 1939-1948' (D.Phil, thesis, SOAS, University of London, 1989); and Timothy Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class in the creation of African communities, Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1937-1957' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Michigan, 1994). The lack of attention in South African historiography to state discourse on specific African women's roles is criticized in Linzi Malcolm, 'Ruling relations: rethinking state and gender in South African history', J. Afr. Hist., XXXIII (1992), 441-65.
26. The term 'respectable classes' is used in the plural to denote the ambiguity of both respectability and of class distinction. In one sense it refers to those who voiced a specific moral code, and in another sense it refers to an educated and economic élite which had different concerns than the moral reformers vis-à-vis the lower classes. It is also meant to include the long-time residents who viewed themselves more respectable than the city's newcomers. For a fuller discussion of class distinctions and of women's and men's experiences in creating the urban community, see Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class'.
27. RICU, 'Ndaba Tree', Salisbury, 10 Feb. 1946, NAZ HM SR 9/1/1/6.
28. For Mzingeli this lesson had been learned with the failure of the ICU in Salisbury during the 1930S after initial attempts at organizing the majority of migrant workers around issues that were largely the concerns of a small number of skilled workers and businessmen, such as builders and taxi-drivers. Interview, Mr Shato Nyakauru, National Section, Mbare, 4 July 1992. Shato's Hotel and Domestic Workers' Union is the oldest continuing African worker's organization in Salisbury, established by Shato in 1929. Ruben Jamela, founder of the African Builders' Association and another of Rhodesia's most important trade unionists, had the same suspicion when drawn to the RICU as a young man. Interview, Mr Ruben Jamela, Cranborne Park, Harare, 1 July 1992.
29. Interest has been renewed in the African Advisory Boards as early examples of limited democratic institutions; they were limited in their democratic base and in the powers they had to institute policy within an apartheid policy. See also Gary Baines, 'The contradictions of community politics: the African petty bourgeoisie and the New Brighton Advisory Board, c. 1937-1952', J. Afr. Hist., XXXV (1994), 79-98.
30. Commission to Investigate into Native Strike, Report, Salisbury, 1948, 8482/114/8/48.
31. 'Interview with C. L. Mzingeli Harare Township', Harare, 15 Sept. 1970, by Professor Ray Roberts, Murray Steele and Tobias Mapuranga (University College of Rhodesia). The reason Mzingeli became the mediator for the government was that he had obtained a promise from Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins to recognize the RICU and other African trade unions as official representatives of African workers for the first time. Interview, Mr Ruben Jamela, Cranborne Park, Harare, 1 July 1992.
32. The historical meaning of the label 'prostitute' is a difficult one to convey. Beyond the western notion of women who performed sex for money, the term was also used for a number of other single women living in the urban areas. A woman existing outside the relationships of marriage or guardianship as defined by rural tradition or by Christian marriage was often labelled a prostitute. There is evidence that for some such women, the word had a positive connotation, used in their struggle against a society and culture in which they were continually marginalized. For a discussion of gender, sexuality and African women's identity during an earler period, see Diana Jeater, Marriage, Perversion, and Power : the Construction of Moral Discourse in Southern Rhodesia, 1894-1930 (Oxford, 1993). Carole Boyce Davies' work offers a critical discussion of contemporary literary representations of African women's uses of language and self-definition that is relevant to a more carefully constructed historical treatment of these issues. See Carole Boyce Davies, Black Women, Writing, and Identity : Migrations on the Subject (New York, 1994), 152-65.
33. The historical meaning of the label 'prostitute' is a difficult one to convey. Beyond the western notion of women who performed sex for money, the term was also used for a number of other single women living in the urban areas. A woman existing outside the relationships of marriage or guardianship as defined by rural tradition or by Christian marriage was often labelled a prostitute. There is evidence that for some such women, the word had a positive connotation, used in their struggle against a society and culture in which they were continually marginalized. For a discussion of gender, sexuality and African women's identity during an earler period, see Diana Jeater, Marriage, Perversion, and Power : the Construction of Moral Discourse in Southern Rhodesia, 1894-1930 (Oxford, 1993). Carole Boyce Davies' work offers a critical discussion of contemporary literary representations of African women's uses of language and self-definition that is relevant to a more carefully constructed historical treatment of these issues. See Carole Boyce Davies, Black Women, Writing, and Identity : Migrations on the Subject (New York, 1994), 152-65.
34. Interview, Mr Tobias Nhapi, National Section, Mbare, 1 June 1992. This interview, and all others cited in this article, were interpreted by Joseph Seda and transcribed and translated by Simba Handiseni.
35. Charles Mzingeli, 'Oral evidence to the National Native Labour Board Commission of Inquiry into the Employment of African Women', Salisbury, 1953, University of Zimbabwe Library Godlonton Collection [UZ].
36. Charles Mzingeli, 'Minutes of the RICU General Meeting', Salisbury, 3 June 1951, RC NAD R7.
37. Ibid.
38. For the history of women's struggles in the rural areas and the importance of urban migration, see Elizabeth Schmidt, Peasants, Traders, and Wives : Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe, 1870-1939 (Portsmouth NH, 1992).
39. The Rhodesian government officials confirmed that some women in the urban areas had no strong ties to the rural areas. The Assistant Chief Native Commissioner explained that many of the safeguards found in the rural areas were not available to urban women, and that in many cases, '[w]hen a woman goes to town to work the family often cuts her off'. Assistant CNC Turton, 'Employment of African women', 26.
40. Mzingeli, for his part, could not fail to admit that these women became the backbone of RICU support in the early 1950S. By 1952, the continued sweeps of the Township resulting in arrests of women now became a threat to the RICU itself, as two-thirds of its 6,000 members were women. The name of the RICU was threatened by association with some of these women, as shown in one case where a woman, when refused entry into the township beerhall, showed her Union card to the police 'as the badge of her right to do what she liked'. According to Mzingeli, if the claim turned out to be true, the woman would be suspended from the Union. Mzingeli, 'Minutes of the RICU', 3 June 1951.
41. Ibid. July 1951.
42. Ibid. 2 March 1952.
43. The Municipality was clearly worried by Mzingeli's capacity for organizing a protest against the N(UA)ARA. According to Mzingeli, during one Municipal police raid, a pregnant woman went into labor and gave birth while being detained by the police. Mzingeli told the woman's husband that he would investigate the matter further with the authorities; however, before anything more could be made of the case for political purposes, the Municipality had provided the couple with their own house and had instructed them to stay away from Mzingeli. Roberts et al., 'Interview with C. L. Mzingeli'.
44. The government in Southern Rhodesia spent a great deal of effort in the early 1950S trying to convince the British government and British popular opinion that Southern Rhodesia's laws were more 'just and humane' toward the African population than was the case in the British colonies of Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, and the apartheid segregation laws of South Africa. The amount of effort spent making this point should have been sufficient evidence of its contrary nature. As it turned out, however, Federation was approved and subsequently profited Southern Rhodesia far more than the two British colonies. For a useful contemporary critique of Southern Rhodesia's policies toward Africans prior to Federation written by a South African living in Salisbury at the time, see B. J. Mnyanda, In Search of Truth: A Commentary on Certain Aspects of Southern Rhodesia's Native Policy (Bombay, 1954); and Lawrence Vambe's personal observations and analyses in Lawrence Vambe, From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe (Pittsburgh, 1970).
45. The government in Southern Rhodesia spent a great deal of effort in the early 1950S trying to convince the British government and British popular opinion that Southern Rhodesia's laws were more 'just and humane' toward the African population than was the case in the British colonies of Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, and the apartheid segregation laws of South Africa. The amount of effort spent making this point should have been sufficient evidence of its contrary nature. As it turned out, however, Federation was approved and subsequently profited Southern Rhodesia far more than the two British colonies. For a useful contemporary critique of Southern Rhodesia's policies toward Africans prior to Federation written by a South African living in Salisbury at the time, see B. J. Mnyanda, In Search of Truth: A Commentary on Certain Aspects of Southern Rhodesia's Native Policy (Bombay, 1954); and Lawrence Vambe's personal observations and analyses in Lawrence Vambe, From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe (Pittsburgh, 1970).
46. Historical examples from African-American women's involvement in political and social movements present similar cases where poor women are often responsible for starting or radicalizing larger social movements. The emphasis on the male-dominated leadership in much of the historiography of African-American social and political movements has often obscured poor women's initial and vital contributions. See Davis, Women, Race and Class, and Bell Hooks, Feminist Theory, from Margin to Center (Boston, 1984).
47. Historical examples from African-American women's involvement in political and social movements present similar cases where poor women are often responsible for starting or radicalizing larger social movements. The emphasis on the male-dominated leadership in much of the historiography of African-American social and political movements has often obscured poor women's initial and vital contributions. See Davis, Women, Race and Class, and Bell Hooks, Feminist Theory, from Margin to Center (Boston, 1984).
48. In 1946 there were 777 African women with certificates of service in Salisbury, and 1,894 in 1951. But these numbers were almost certainly low as many European employers of African women domestic servants evaded getting certificates of service for their employees, as they would then have been required to provide them with accommodation. National Native Labour Board, Report on conditions of employment of native women in certain industries (Salisbury, 1952), 10.
49. Ibid.
50. Mr S. E. Aitken-Cade, Tobacco Warehouse, Oral evidence to the National Native Labour Board's 'Enquiry into the employment of African women', Salisbury, 1952, UZ.
51. Charles Mzingeli, Oral evidence to the National Native Labour Board's 'Enquiry into the employment of African women', Salisbury, 1952, UZ.
52. Interview, Mr Tobias Nhapi, National Section, Mbare, 1 June 1992.
53. Herbert Carter, 'Hostel for African women and girls', Aug. 1941, NAZ S2805/FNWS/60; and Charles Mzingeli, Reformed ICU Newsletter, VII (1951), NAZ HM RH 16/1/3/4. See Barnes, 'The fight for control'; and Schmidt, Peasants, Traders, and Wives, for the context of men's earlier opposition to women's presence in urban areas.
54. Herbert Carter, 'Hostel for African women and girls', Aug. 1941, NAZ S2805/FNWS/60; and Charles Mzingeli, Reformed ICU Newsletter, VII (1951), NAZ HM RH 16/1/3/4. See Barnes, 'The fight for control'; and Schmidt, Peasants, Traders, and Wives, for the context of men's earlier opposition to women's presence in urban areas.
55. Herbert Carter, 'Hostel for African women and girls', Aug. 1941, NAZ S2805/FNWS/60; and Charles Mzingeli, Reformed ICU Newsletter, VII (1951), NAZ HM RH 16/1/3/4. See Barnes, 'The fight for control'; and Schmidt, Peasants, Traders, and Wives, for the context of men's earlier opposition to women's presence in urban areas.
56. Herbert Carter, 'Hostel for African women and girls', Aug. 1941, NAZ S2805/FNWS/60; and Charles Mzingeli, Reformed ICU Newsletter, VII (1951), NAZ HM RH 16/1/3/4. See Barnes, 'The fight for control'; and Schmidt, Peasants, Traders, and Wives, for the context of men's earlier opposition to women's presence in urban areas.
57. The advocates of the women's hostel had wanted to build a number of hostels away from the 'corrupting influences' of the African Location and closer to where the women were employed in the European part of town. Municipal officials floated this idea among the various Town Management Boards (TMBs) representing the European suburbs, but TMB opposition led to building only one large hostel located in the Harare Township. Pery Ibbotson, 'Report of an investigation into...a hostel and club room for African females employed in Salisbury', 1943, NAZ S2805/FNWS/60.
58. City of Salisbury, 'Report of the Director of Native Administration Department for the Year 1953-54', Salisbury, 1954, 17; and Salisbury Native Administration Department, 'Application to classify Girls' Hostel Harare, as special accommodation', 15 Mar. 1954, NAZ S2809/4329E.
59. African Weekly [AW], 11 May 1955.
60. The first 85 tenants in the hostel were employed as follows: domestic service 26; shops 10; charwomen 16; hospitals 27; industry 4; hostel staff 2, The relatively higher incomes of the first hostel occupants is reflected by the evidence that ten of these women were approved for the New Highfield Home-ownership scheme in 1956, with an additional nine former tenants moving into New Highfield as lodgers. City of Salisbury, Annual Report of the Native Administration Department for the Year 1955-1956 (Salisbury, 1956), 80; and ibid, 1956-7, 65.
61. The first 85 tenants in the hostel were employed as follows: domestic service 26; shops 10; charwomen 16; hospitals 27; industry 4; hostel staff 2, The relatively higher incomes of the first hostel occupants is reflected by the evidence that ten of these women were approved for the New Highfield Home-ownership scheme in 1956, with an additional nine former tenants moving into New Highfield as lodgers. City of Salisbury, Annual Report of the Native Administration Department for the Year 1955-1956 (Salisbury, 1956), 80; and ibid, 1956-7, 65.
62. According to women who lived in Harare Township at the time, many of the hostel tenants were divorced women and often single mothers who had no choice but to keep their children in the rural areas with relatives. Interviews with former 'Old Bricks' residents: Mount Pleasant, Harare, June 1991; and National Section, Mbare, 30 Apr. 1992.
63. AW, 5 Feb. 1958.
64. Mr Nhapi went on to explain that this issue would come up at Reformed ICU meetings, and finally the hostel dwellers permitted escorted women to pass through the yards. Mr Nhapi said that they did this only after the residents of the Old Bricks section threatened in retaliation to keep the men out of their area. Interview, Mr Tobias Nhapi, National Section, Mbare, 1 June 1992.
65. Commission to Enquire into Native Strike, 'Report', Sept., 1948, 32, NAZ 8482/114/8/48.
66. Charles Mzingeli, 'Minutes of Reformed ICU Public Meeting', Harare, 19 Oct. 1952, NAZ RC NAD R7. For more discussion of Elena Solomon's role in township politics see Barnes, 'The fight for control'; and Scarnecchia, 'Politics of gender and class', 284-8.
67. Charles Mzingeli, 'Minutes of Reformed ICU Public Meeting', Harare, 19 Oct. 1952, NAZ RC NAD R7. For more discussion of Elena Solomon's role in township politics see Barnes, 'The fight for control'; and Scarnecchia, 'Politics of gender and class', 284-8.
68. Charles Mzingeli, 'Minutes of Reformed ICU Public Meeting', Harare, 19 Oct. 1952, NAZ RC NAD R7. For more discussion of Elena Solomon's role in township politics see Barnes, 'The fight for control'; and Scarnecchia, 'Politics of gender and class', 284-8.
69. The history of the formation of the CYL and the SRANC remains contested in the secondary literature. See Larry Bowman, Politics in Rhodesia: White Power in an African State (Cambridge MA, 1973), 45-61 ; I. T. Chigwendere, White Aristocracy with a Black Proletariat (Lusaka, 1975); David Moore, 'The ideological formation of the Zimbabwean ruling class', J. Southern Afr. Studies, XVII (Sept. 1991), 484-95; T. H. Mothibe, 'African labour in colonial Zimbabwe in the 1950S: decline in the militancy or a turn to mass struggle?', Labour, Capital and Society, XXVI (Nov. 1993), 226-50; Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class', 288-307; and West, 'African middle-class formation', 399-407.
70. The history of the formation of the CYL and the SRANC remains contested in the secondary literature. See Larry Bowman, Politics in Rhodesia: White Power in an African State (Cambridge MA, 1973), 45-61 ; I. T. Chigwendere, White Aristocracy with a Black Proletariat (Lusaka, 1975); David Moore, 'The ideological formation of the Zimbabwean ruling class', J. Southern Afr. Studies, XVII (Sept. 1991), 484-95; T. H. Mothibe, 'African labour in colonial Zimbabwe in the 1950S: decline in the militancy or a turn to mass struggle?', Labour, Capital and Society, XXVI (Nov. 1993), 226-50; Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class', 288-307; and West, 'African middle-class formation', 399-407.
71. The history of the formation of the CYL and the SRANC remains contested in the secondary literature. See Larry Bowman, Politics in Rhodesia: White Power in an African State (Cambridge MA, 1973), 45-61 ; I. T. Chigwendere, White Aristocracy with a Black Proletariat (Lusaka, 1975); David Moore, 'The ideological formation of the Zimbabwean ruling class', J. Southern Afr. Studies, XVII (Sept. 1991), 484-95; T. H. Mothibe, 'African labour in colonial Zimbabwe in the 1950S: decline in the militancy or a turn to mass struggle?', Labour, Capital and Society, XXVI (Nov. 1993), 226-50; Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class', 288-307; and West, 'African middle-class formation', 399-407.
72. The history of the formation of the CYL and the SRANC remains contested in the secondary literature. See Larry Bowman, Politics in Rhodesia: White Power in an African State (Cambridge MA, 1973), 45-61 ; I. T. Chigwendere, White Aristocracy with a Black Proletariat (Lusaka, 1975); David Moore, 'The ideological formation of the Zimbabwean ruling class', J. Southern Afr. Studies, XVII (Sept. 1991), 484-95; T. H. Mothibe, 'African labour in colonial Zimbabwe in the 1950S: decline in the militancy or a turn to mass struggle?', Labour, Capital and Society, XXVI (Nov. 1993), 226-50; Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class', 288-307; and West, 'African middle-class formation', 399-407.
73. The history of the formation of the CYL and the SRANC remains contested in the secondary literature. See Larry Bowman, Politics in Rhodesia: White Power in an African State (Cambridge MA, 1973), 45-61 ; I. T. Chigwendere, White Aristocracy with a Black Proletariat (Lusaka, 1975); David Moore, 'The ideological formation of the Zimbabwean ruling class', J. Southern Afr. Studies, XVII (Sept. 1991), 484-95; T. H. Mothibe, 'African labour in colonial Zimbabwe in the 1950S: decline in the militancy or a turn to mass struggle?', Labour, Capital and Society, XXVI (Nov. 1993), 226-50; Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class', 288-307; and West, 'African middle-class formation', 399-407.
74. The history of the formation of the CYL and the SRANC remains contested in the secondary literature. See Larry Bowman, Politics in Rhodesia: White Power in an African State (Cambridge MA, 1973), 45-61 ; I. T. Chigwendere, White Aristocracy with a Black Proletariat (Lusaka, 1975); David Moore, 'The ideological formation of the Zimbabwean ruling class', J. Southern Afr. Studies, XVII (Sept. 1991), 484-95; T. H. Mothibe, 'African labour in colonial Zimbabwe in the 1950S: decline in the militancy or a turn to mass struggle?', Labour, Capital and Society, XXVI (Nov. 1993), 226-50; Scarnecchia, 'The politics of gender and class', 288-307; and West, 'African middle-class formation', 399-407.
75. Calling a European administrator, especially a Native Commissioner, a 'thief' was a favorite rhetorical antic attributed to Mzingeli, Chikerema, Nyandoro and others. The significance was that rural people were expected to show deference by addressing Native Commissioners as 'chief, which the nationalists enjoyed substituting with the word 'thief', as in 'Thief Native Commissioner'. Interview, Tobias Nhapi, National Section, Mbare, 1 June 1992.
76. Ibid.
77. On the vanguardist model of ANC Youth Leagues imported from South Africa, see Lodge, Black Politics.
78. American Consul General to US Department of State, Confidential US State Department Central Files, 7 Mar. 1958. US Library of Congress, Mf93/347, reel 2, 745C.00/3-758.
79. There is much more research to be carried out on the development of the CYL and SRANC, particularly the link between their rural and urban components. Many CYL and ANC leaders worked tirelessly each weekend visiting the rural areas to recruit support. This support was forthcoming given the implementation of the Native Land Husbandry Act, which was destocking cattle and limiting pasture and cultivation for many peasants and farmers. This convergence of urban and rural discontent needs to be more clearly denned. For the political implications of post-Second World War economic transformations in the countryside, see Victor Machingaidze, 'Agrarian change from above: the Southern Rhodesian Native Land Husbandry Act and African response', Int. J. Afr. Hist. Studies, XXIV (1991), 557-88;
80. and Ian Phimister, 'Rethinking the reserves: Southern Rhodesia's Land Husbandry Act reviewed', J. Southern Afr. Studies, XIX (1993).
81. George Nyandoro, 'Testimony given at meeting of officials of Native Department with representatives of African organisations in Salisbury', 21 Sept. 1956, NAZ S2819/9.
82. See Green, 'The Salisbury Bus Boycott'; and Scarnecchia, 'Politics of gender and class', 308-16.
83. See Green, 'The Salisbury Bus Boycott'; and Scarnecchia, 'Politics of gender and class', 308-16.
84. Mr Johnny Maoko, a manual laborer at Lever Brothers at the time, remembered walking to work in the morning from the hostel in Harare, and seeing new men being hired to replace those who stayed away during the boycott. After work, he hurried home to assist the gangs of protesters who were beating up men who had gone to work. Interview, Mr Johnny Maoko, National Mbare, 24 Feb. 1992.
85. Interview, Mr Fidelis Nhapi, Mablereign, Harare, 10 Apr. 1992.
86. Ibid.
87. Ibid.
88. Daily News [DN], 17 Sept. 1956.
89. Ibid.
90. George Nyandoro, 'Letter' [n.d.] as quoted in Green, 'The Salisbury Bus Boycott', 3.
91. DN, 18 Sept. 1956. The Salisbury Native Administration Department listed the material damage at the hostel as : '233 window panes broken, 47 doors smashed and locks broken, 10 door panels broken, 25 vent grills broken,...' etc., Salisbury Native Administration Department, Annual Report for the Year 1956-57 (Salisbury, 1957), 65.
92. DN, 18 Sept. 1956. The Salisbury Native Administration Department listed the material damage at the hostel as : '233 window panes broken, 47 doors smashed and locks broken, 10 door panels broken, 25 vent grills broken,...' etc., Salisbury Native Administration Department, Annual Report for the Year 1956-57 (Salisbury, 1957), 65.
93. DN, 18 Sept. 1956. The Nyasaland Government Representative complained to the Chief Native Commissioner about the allegations that most of the rioters were Nyasas. The Representative claimed, according to police reports, that 'the Southern Rhodesian and PEA [Portuguese East African] natives arrested during the riot outnumber the total of Nyasas arrested by 5 to 1'. He also claimed ChiNyanja is spoken as well by Africans from PEA and Northern Rhodesia. AW, 19 Sept. 1956.
94. DN, 18 Sept. 1956. The Nyasaland Government Representative complained to the Chief Native Commissioner about the allegations that most of the rioters were Nyasas. The Representative claimed, according to police reports, that 'the Southern Rhodesian and PEA [Portuguese East African] natives arrested during the riot outnumber the total of Nyasas arrested by 5 to 1'. He also claimed ChiNyanja is spoken as well by Africans from PEA and Northern Rhodesia. AW, 19 Sept. 1956.
95. AW, 19 Sept. 1956.
96. Another man arrested is described as a married man living in one of the single-men's hostels due to the lack of married accommodation. DN, 19 Sept. 1956.
97. The same sentence was given to two rioters, charged in a separate trial of public violence for 'the destruction of a hot-dog stand'. The Carter House continued to operate after the incident, increasing the number of women living there until it reached maximum capacity of 160 women. This account of the trials is based on the following newspaper reports: Rhodesian Herald, 2 Oct. 1956, 14 Dec. 1956 and 1 Jan. 1957; DN, 13 Dec. 1956; and AW, 14 Dec. 1956.
98. The same sentence was given to two rioters, charged in a separate trial of public violence for 'the destruction of a hot-dog stand'. The Carter House continued to operate after the incident, increasing the number of women living there until it reached maximum capacity of 160 women. This account of the trials is based on the following newspaper reports: Rhodesian Herald, 2 Oct. 1956, 14 Dec. 1956 and 1 Jan. 1957; DN, 13 Dec. 1956; and AW, 14 Dec. 1956.
99. The same sentence was given to two rioters, charged in a separate trial of public violence for 'the destruction of a hot-dog stand'. The Carter House continued to operate after the incident, increasing the number of women living there until it reached maximum capacity of 160 women. This account of the trials is based on the following newspaper reports: Rhodesian Herald, 2 Oct. 1956, 14 Dec. 1956 and 1 Jan. 1957; DN, 13 Dec. 1956; and AW, 14 Dec. 1956.
100. 66 AW, 3 Oct. 1956. Mzingeli's own experiences with migrant workers had taught him how difficult they were to control, thus his public critique of the CYL can be interpreted as part of his rather bitter campaign in the African press to smear the reputation of its leaders, just as they were in the process of doing to him. In a 1970 interview, Mzingeli expressed the sorts of prejudice, fear and respect which he held for migrant workers over the years - in this case Shona men from the Eastern regions bordering Mozambique: 'The Manyika were worthy - they were very strong chaps...a very strong people. They are easily organised and they are very emotional, and one had to be careful in working with them. Because if you tell them to put petrol bombs in that window, they will do it. So one had to control them - they are really destructive from these other tribes, in braveness and I must say, give them that credit. And if you are not a good leader, they stone you...' Roberts et al., 'Interview with C. L. Mzingeli'.
101. AW, 26 Sept. 1956.
102. Nathan Shamuyarira, Crisis in Rhodesia (London, 1965), 43.
103. Maurice Nyagumbo, With the People: An Autobiography from the Zimbabwe Struggle (London, 1980), 105.
104. The relationship of rape to male dominance, both privately and publicly, is expressed by Catharine MacKinnon as follows: 'Sexuality is a form of power. Gender, as socially constructed, embodies it, not the reverse. Women and men are divided by gender, made into the sexes as we know them, by the social requirements of heterosexuality, which institutionalizes male sexual dominance and female sexual submission. If this is true, sexuality is the linchpin of gender inequality'. Rape, therefore, is the 'abuse of sex'. Catharine MacKinnon, 'Feminism, Marxism, method, and the state: an agenda for theory', in N. O. Keohane, M. Z. Rosaldo and B. C. Gelpi (eds.), Feminist Theory : A Critique of Ideology (Chicago, 1982), 19. For a relevant discussion of the class and race politics of sexual violence toward African-American women see Angela Davis' chapter, 'Rape, racism, and the myth of the Black rapist', in her book, Women, Race, and Class (New York, 1981), 172-201.
105. The relationship of rape to male dominance, both privately and publicly, is expressed by Catharine MacKinnon as follows: 'Sexuality is a form of power. Gender, as socially constructed, embodies it, not the reverse. Women and men are divided by gender, made into the sexes as we know them, by the social requirements of heterosexuality, which institutionalizes male sexual dominance and female sexual submission. If this is true, sexuality is the linchpin of gender inequality'. Rape, therefore, is the 'abuse of sex'. Catharine MacKinnon, 'Feminism, Marxism, method, and the state: an agenda for theory', in N. O. Keohane, M. Z. Rosaldo and B. C. Gelpi (eds.), Feminist Theory : A Critique of Ideology (Chicago, 1982), 19. For a relevant discussion of the class and race politics of sexual violence toward African-American women see Angela Davis' chapter, 'Rape, racism, and the myth of the Black rapist', in her book, Women, Race, and Class (New York, 1981), 172-201.
106. Chapupu [Witness], Highfield, June 1952.
107. The Highfield branch of the SRANC 'Women's League' elected its first 11-member executive in December 1958. The executive included the 'chairman', a 35-year-old woman from Nyasaland, Mrs Mupandamwara; Mrs E. Mushonga - wife of the Treasurer General of the SRANC - as 'vice-chairman'; Mrs Murape (general secretary); Mrs Makwangwara (vice-secretary); Mrs Chavunga (treasurer); Mrs Chiota (organizing secretary); and Mrs Kadani (assistant organizing secretary). Four other members were elected, including 'Mrs George Nyandoro, wife of the vociferous Secretary General of the Congress', and Mrs Augustine Mutyambizi, Mrs Mwaera and Mrs Mugadza. DN, 2 Jan. 1959.
108. Chapupu [Witness], June 1952.
109. The image of the woman as wife in the movement, however, was to change as the militancy of the movement developed in the 1960S. How much this image changed and how it specifically reflected social transformations in gender relations is an area of important future research. The literature on women's involvement in the liberation struggle has thus far concentrated on the contributions of individual women, while also emphasizing the roles of rural women and women in leadership. See, for example, Ruth Weiss, Women of Zimbabwe (Harare, 1984); Irene Stauton (ed. and comp.), Mothers of the Revolution (Bloomington, 1991). For a more specific social analysis of gender, class and age differences in rural mobilization during the Liberation War, see Norma Kriger, Zimbabwe's Guerrilla War : Peasant Voices (New York, 1992).
110. The image of the woman as wife in the movement, however, was to change as the militancy of the movement developed in the 1960S. How much this image changed and how it specifically reflected social transformations in gender relations is an area of important future research. The literature on women's involvement in the liberation struggle has thus far concentrated on the contributions of individual women, while also emphasizing the roles of rural women and women in leadership. See, for example, Ruth Weiss, Women of Zimbabwe (Harare, 1984); Irene Stauton (ed. and comp.), Mothers of the Revolution (Bloomington, 1991). For a more specific social analysis of gender, class and age differences in rural mobilization during the Liberation War, see Norma Kriger, Zimbabwe's Guerrilla War : Peasant Voices (New York, 1992).
111. The image of the woman as wife in the movement, however, was to change as the militancy of the movement developed in the 1960S. How much this image changed and how it specifically reflected social transformations in gender relations is an area of important future research. The literature on women's involvement in the liberation struggle has thus far concentrated on the contributions of individual women, while also emphasizing the roles of rural women and women in leadership. See, for example, Ruth Weiss, Women of Zimbabwe (Harare, 1984); Irene Stauton (ed. and comp.), Mothers of the Revolution (Bloomington, 1991). For a more specific social analysis of gender, class and age differences in rural mobilization during the Liberation War, see Norma Kriger, Zimbabwe's Guerrilla War : Peasant Voices (New York, 1992).