CONCLUSIONES Y RECOMENDACIONES

The resettlement scheme was composed of a medley of individuals from different walks of life and different parts of the country. In the sample of fourteen households, four households were resettled from the Large Scale White Commercial Farms. Three of the household heads had worked and lived with their families at Farms (LSWCF) in Mashonaland Central Province. Two of the three household heads were of Zimbabwean origin but had decided to migrate from their rural homes to the farms in search of work, and to escape social conflicts in their rural homes, which included witchcraft accusations and suspicions that their relatives where performing witchcraft acts on them. One was from Maramba (in Murehwa Moshonaland East) and the other one came from Madziwa Communal areas near Mupfurudzi reset- tlement scheme in Mashonaland Central. The third household head was of

Mozambican origin and did not have a rural home in Zimbabwe. The fourth household head was resettled from a LSWCF in Karoi (Mashonaland West Province), was of Zambian origin and did not have a rural home in Zim- babwe.

Four households in the sample were female-headed. As noted earlier three of these women became female plot holders after the death of their husbands, whilst the fourth became a plot holder after the husband who had been the initial recipient of the land had run away with another woman. The first woman came from Rusape (Manicaland province), the second from Chiweshe (Mashonaland Central), and the other two came from Murehwa in Mashonaland East.

Five household heads had been resettled because they were regarded as landless peasants and urban refugees. Although one of the household heads had a rural home in nearby Madziwa communal area, he only had a piece of land to build a home to accommodate his family and had none left to farm on. As a result he had migrated to Harare to seek employment. At indepen- dence he applied for resettlement and when he was resettled he left his job. The second household head’s situation was more or less the same, with the exception that although he was based in Madziwa Communal area and had no land he did not have an urban job. The third household head was form Mutare in Manicaland Province. He worked in Mutare town but he had no access to land. He had bought some cattle which he had to ask his relatives to look after since he had no access to land. At independence he also applied for resettlement and left his work. The fourth and fifth households were resettled from Chiweshe. Although they were not formally employed they were both builders by profession so they made money by building houses for people. However, they did not have access to land in Chiweshe as a resulted opted for resettlement.

The fourteenth household head had been resettled from Chimanimani in Manicaland province because of his disability. He used to work as a driver for a construction company in Harare. However, he had lost a leg in a road accident whilst on duty. He strongly suspected witchcraft to be the cause of that accident. He was on disability pension and also owned a house in Harare.

Because there were some people within the resettlement scheme who came from the nearby communal areas, cordial relationships existed between the resettled people and the local people. When it was time to choose a village head, one of the resettled people who came from a nearby communal area was chosen as the village head, as he had the same totem as the royal lineage and also because being a local it was expected that he understood local cultures and customs. Strong ties also exist as a result of intermarriages that exist between the resettled people and the local people. At the same time totems can be used to create fictive kinship. For instance, if one has the same

totem as your mother, that person can either become your mother or mother’s brother depending on their gender. The resettled people and villa- gers also trade in various commodities which include crops, vegetables and even exchange seed. In terms of court cases, if the village courts in the resettled villages fail to reach a peaceful resolution one can appeal to the Chief’s court, which is located in the communal area. If people feel that they have been tried unjustly they can also appeal to the Chief. However, as mentioned before in chapter 1 sometimes tensions exist between the resettled people and the traditional leadership, particularly the chiefs in the communal areas.

Marriage and kinship29

The Shona society is highly patrilineal and its marriage patterns are based on virilocality. Kinship and affinal relations involve social rights and obliga- tions that people have towards specific others in the community and beyond. The following discussion focuses on the two villages in which qualitative fieldwork was undertaken.

A prominent feature of social relations in Mupfurudzi is the intricate pattern of affinal ties indicating intermarriages between people from diffe- rent kin or lineage groups. In addition, sibling and other cognatic kin bonds play a central role in everyday social life. A similar pattern pertains for the two villages. Other associations are based on joking relationships that do not follow descent lines or affinity, but are a result of friendship pacts between people, usually household heads.

Eleven marriages connect households in Mudzinge (including two in the sample) and seventeen marriages in Muringamombe (including six in the sample). However, during discussions, sample households did not mention these marriage relationships at all except for one household head who was bitter against his son-in-law for causing the death of his two daughters through AIDS. When asked to state sources of information, none mentioned their in-laws as sources of information on maize and agriculture, except one who mentioned an in-law living in another village.

The reason for this reticence to emphasise such marriage bonds seems related to the social rights and obligations that people have towards their in- laws. To minimise conflict between in-laws, and as a sign of respect, in-laws are expected to maintain social distance. Contact between in-laws is limited and they must maintain an air of aloofness. Although intermarriages are functional to the extent that they may further social cohesion, they can also restrict the flow of information within the community.

29 _{Some of the information on kinship is drawn from notes by Marlene Dekker, an}

economic anthropologist who also worked in these resettlement areas. See also her thesis (Dekker 2004).

When some people were asked why they had to go out to get information on agriculture instead of asking for advice in the village, they pointed out that people in the village were jealous or suspicious and were often stingy with their information. Even when it came to working in other people’s fields in return for money or maize, they preferred to look for work outside the village. It is highly plausible that these elements can be explained by the sometimes tense relations between in-laws.

In Mudzinge, three household heads had their siblings living in other households in the village. When questioned, one of the respondents did not even allude to this relationship, as there was little contact and communica- tion between the families except in cases of emergency. The other respon- dent had two brothers living in the village but he maintained little contact with them as he himself lived at his field. The third sibling relationship was characterised by open conflict as both spread malicious rumours about each other to the extent of reporting each other to the resettlement officer. In Muringamombe no such relationship existed in the sample households.

Moreover, although some people mentioned relatives as a source of in- formation about the new hybrid seeds, they hardly ever mentioned siblings as a source of information. However, two people in the sample admitted to obtaining agricultural information from their brothers who lived in other villages.

Relationships that seemed to be most enduring and that enabled the exchange of information were those based on usahwira – formal joking friendships. These are institutionalised friendships, formally relating to funeral services between families, and involving a frequent exchange of services and gifts (Bourdillon 1987: 61 f). Out of the seven people in the sample in Muringamombe, six were involved in such relationships. These relationships are relaxed in nature, and it was mostly through these relation- ships that information was spread, advice passed and resources distributed within these communities. Such joking relationships are taken up by choice (rather than through kinship, which is ascribed) and provide a system of support and security in times of need.

Karidza, Chinakidzwa and Chapinduka had the same totem, but their relationships were based more on joking friendships. Karidza maintained that he depended on help and advice from Chinakidzwa and Chapinduka. When asked to mention sources of information on new hybrids people tended to mention joking relationships both outside and within the village more than any marriage or affinity bonds.

Kinship bonds were fraught with difficulties because of jealousy and suspicions of jealousy. Among the Shona it is also believed that only your relatives can kill you through witchcraft means. Strangers are not able to do that. Thus, one can never trust one’s own kin. This could explain why kin- ship bonds are not strong.