Conserveries Mémorielles (Mar 2013)
Familly farms, graves, and belonging: migrations and the politics of belonging among Basotho in colonial Zimbabwe
Abstract
The article explores the ways in which the Basotho, a late immigrant group into Gutu, have formulated strategies of belonging and anchored themselves among the dominant Karanga populations of south-eastern Zimbabwe. The Basotho migrated to present day Zimbabwe in the late 19th century and, ever since, they have gone through many phases of constructing belonging and carving out an enclave in an area dominated by a linguistically and culturally different autochthonous group. The article examines how Basotho people’s purchase of family farms and the establishment of cemeteries have helped them develop an attachment to the land and have an anchorage. It seeks to analyse the challenges of integration faced by migrant African communities in colonial Zimbabwe and how they have managed to establish a sense of belonging, albeit often contested by those who considered themselves to be the autochthons. Basotho also faced internal displacements in the 1930s which saw them leave farms which they had considered to be home for over two decades and searching for a new home. Basotho’s memories of migrations and displacements are arguably engraved in the landscape, graves and their family farms. In this vein the article analyses the salience of farms and graves in Basotho’s memorialisation of their migrations and displacements as well as in their quest for belonging.
