African migrants played a crucial role in the early history of Southern Rhodesia. A number of them were already literate and had converted to Christianity before they came to Southern Rhodesia. For example, a number of the members of the Basotho1|community in Victoria and Ndanga District had worked with missionaries of the Dutch Reformed Church, Berlin Missionary S...

African migrants played a crucial role in the early history of Southern Rhodesia. A number of them were already literate and had converted to Christianity before they came to Southern Rhodesia. For example, a number of the members of the Basotho1|community in Victoria and Ndanga District had worked with missionaries of the Dutch Reformed Church, Berlin Missionary S...

This article explores Basotho struggles for land and belonging in colonial Zimbabwe from the 1930s to the 1950s. It argues that as non-indigenous Africans in colonial Zimbabwe with no claim to land in reserves the Basotho saw ownership of freehold land as a key strategy in their construction of a sense of belonging. The centrality of land among the Basotho had a gr...

Since the early 2000s, scholars have criticised how Zimbabwe's ruling party has 'distorted' history to suit its political purposes through its rhetoric of 'patriotic history'. There remains a lacuna of studies focusing on what purchase 'patriotic history' has had in specific contexts, and what alternative commemorations it has sometimes afforded. Examining efforts ...