“Limiting the Domination”: Anti-colonial African Protests in South Eastern Zimbabwe, 1929-1940s

Abstract

Focusing on colonialism and resistance, this article examines patterns of natural resource ownership and the struggles of African residents of the then Melsetter district (hereafter, south eastern Zimbabwe), from the outbreak of the Great Depression in 1929 to the mid-1940s. It explores the roots and nature of African grievances against British colonial rule and outlines duties imposed on traditional authorities, particularly headmen, and their objections to the taxation policy and the subsequent contestations over remuneration for their administrative responsibilities. It further discusses Africans’ concerns over gun and education policies, hunting laws, and the impact of the discriminatory labor policies which government of the day conceived while prioritizing the welfare of the White community. While exploring these issues, the article also discusses the various ways through which Africans engaged colonial segregation and assesses the extent to which they succeeded, individually and collectively, in carving a niche within a repressive colonial environment.