Despite great strides made in transforming the State from authoritarian rule to multi-party democracy since 1994, the government of South Africa is facing the challenge of high influx of migrants especially from African countries north of the Limpopo River. The project of building a Rainbow Nation has been mainly centred on racial transformation but the high influx of migrants especially from African countries resulted in the reproduction of new forms of hatred and resentment. The new African migrants increased the competition of accessing national resources in a country with high inequalities yet with plenty of resources. It may be suggested that the increase in xenophobic violence since the early 2000s might be posited in a broader context. This study insisted on the argument that the xenophobic violence against African immigrants in South Africa is also embodied in the new ethnic constructions of nationalism in Africa in the era of globalisation where human mobility has become an important element in defining the African political landscape and access to resources. Historically, tensions and conflicts among ethnic groups in colonial and post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa, in general, also manifested the competitions resulted from the desire to control national resources and safeguarding social order. Xenophobic violence reflects discriminatory tendencies which are not only driven by the desire to legitimise entitlements to national resources but also of perceiving African non-nationals as a threat to social order and ethnic identity.

Th e paper discusses the socio-economic and religious impact of Operation Murambatsvina on Johane Marange Apostolic Church in Masvingo, a city and Zvishavane, a mining town. It adopts a comparative approach in order to demonstrate the extent to which this phenomenon impacted on the religious and socio-economic activities of this movement in the two urban centres. While the majority of the church members were negatively affected, there are some who unintentionally benefited from this operation. Th e church was threatened numerically and theologically as some members were forced to translocate to rural areas. It is argued that in spite of the continued disruptions by the government and municipal authorities, the Vapositori of Marange continue to operate their informal business and missionary activities without necessarily compromising their traditions. Th e paper uses the 'hawks and doves' metaphor to demonstrate the relationship between the marauding government and municipal police and the vulnerable Vapositori during and in the post-Murambatsvina era.

The study examines the indigenous Shona culture with a view to assess its relevance to contemporary society's water technology in Zimbabwe. The study posits that the Shona people have unique ways of managing the community water supplies. The study further claims that there are some Shona cultural beliefs and practices which are consistent with technological changes. An understanding of some elements of the Shona culture is a prerequisite for a successful implementation of modern technological innovations in the contexts of the current climate changes. The policy makers and implementers on water technological innovations should ensure that the indigenous knowledge systems (IKSs) are studied and embraced so as to blend with the western technological values in order to mitigate the challenges associated with climate change. Methodologically, the qualitative research design was adopted in this study. Data collection techniques included the interview, observation and documentary analysis. Sampling methods were also used, notably, purposive sampling and snowball sampling. The study recommends that the particular Shona cultural beliefs and practices that are consistent with the water management in the communities should be strengthened towards enhancing water technological changes. Accordingly, similar cultural studies should be further conducted with other indigenous ethno-linguistic groups across the country and beyond.

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