The Hidden Dimensions of Operation Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe

by Maurice Taonezvi Vambe

In May 2005 the Government of Zimbabwe began 'Operation Murambatsvina'. Officially translated as 'Operation Clean-Up', the more literal meaning is 'getting rid of the filth'. The operation continued throughout the month of June, and affected virtually every town and rural business centre in the country. From Mount Darwin in the north to Beitbridge in the south, Mutare in the east and Bulawayo in the west, no part of the nation was spared; every day more buildings fell and families were displaced. In his introduction to The Hidden Dimensions Maurice Vambe argues that the treatment of people as 'human dirt' demands the notion of citizenship in Zimbabwe be rethought. The volume goes on to consider the historical antecedents to the operation, its hidden and unspoken consequences, its representations in the media and the social responses that were made to it.

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