The Language of the Gukurahundi Genocide in Zimbabwe: 1980-1987

Language and Factional Polarity in the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe

“…Therefore, the inclusion of identities (race and ethnicity) was a ploy calculated to further discredit the pro-senate faction members as second-class citizens and dent their claim to power in the MDC. Using a different lens, the identity/ethnicity remarks resonated with concerted attempts to criminalise them as the 'dissident faction' (Sibanda, 2021) in view of the unfounded allegation that Paul Themba Nyathi and David Coltart were 'dissidents' (Coltart, 2014: 443). Against the historical backdrop of Gukurahundi (1982Gukurahundi ( -1987 where anybody suspected or accused of any (direct or indirect) involvement in 'dissident activities' was extra-judicially executed (Mashingaidze, 2010: 23), the dissident slur was intended to criminalise the participation of politicians from Matebeleland and Midlands provinces in national affairs.…”

“…In politics, several intra-party factional conflicts have been documented, for instance, in South Africa’s African National Congress; United Kingdom’s Labour Party; Spain’s Socialist Party; China’s Communist Party and USA’s Democratic and Republican parties. In Zimbabwean politics, almost all parties have been embroiled in factionalism as both Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) and ZANU PF have had their own shares of messy incidences internal power struggles (Chung, 2006; Hove, 2019; Mashingaidze, 2010; Nyambi, 2016; Sibanda, 2021; Sithole, 1979). In the context of the MDC, two antagonistic camps emerged following disagreements over whether or not to participate in the then-introduced senatorial elections in October 2005.…”