Sorcery in the Era of ‘Henry IV’: Kinship, Mobility and Mortality in Buhera District, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Recent studies of witchcraft and sorcery in Africa have described this domain as an all–powerful and inescapable discourse. This article, on a migrant labour society in Zimbabwe, discloses a situation in which this discourse and its interpretation are contested. It shows how existential insecurity, which gives rise to witchcraft accusations, relates to the high incidence of HIV/AIDS–related illnesses and death – euphemistically called Henry IV (HIV). Witchcraft accusations arise within kin–based networks that span rural and urban geographical areas, as it is these networks that people depend upon for their livelihoods. Thus, this article stresses the important link between witchcraft and kinship in a society that is not geographically bound, revealing how witchcraft discourse is assigned a place relative to other social phenomena.

Why are lions killing us? Human–wildlife conflict and social discontent in Mbire District, northern Zimbabwe

“…Different epistemologies are thus neither in conflict, nor mutually exclusive (cf. Andersson 2002). Perhaps significantly, it is a chief – being educated and both a traditional leader and a government-employee – who renders the epistemological distinction between spirit-based and ecological explanations of the lion attacks immaterial: These killings show that there is something traditionally wrong in the community, which caused the lions to eat people.…”

Single women, land and livelihood vulnerability in a communal area in Zimbabwe

“…The old and young take advantage of the beliefs and strategically combine them to explain difficult circumstances and control others in resource struggles. The manipulation and use of beliefs has had direct consequences for women who are often accused of witchcraft and blamed for causing illness (Vijfhuizen, 2002:223;Andersson, 2002).…”

“…HIV/AIDS and the declining state health system have had an enormous impact on rural-urban connections. Zimbabwean rural areas bear the larger burden of the morbidity caused by the HIV/AIDS epidemic because ill people generally return to the communal areas where life is cheaper and where the immediate and extended family is present to provide care (Mutangadura, 2000;Andersson, 2002). The reduced capacity of the Zimbabwe government to provide healthcare has led to the promotion of the practise of home-based care for HIV/ AIDS patients.…”

Local understandings of, and responses to, HIV: Rural–urban migrants in Tanzania

“…Migration is one element contributing to socio-cultural complexity, as migrants tend to develop migrant cultures and identities (Bank, 1999;Linares, 2003). Common features of migrant groups include persistent rural-urban linkages (Andersson, 2001), and strengthened kinship or ethnic solidarity (Andersson, 2002;Bruijn & Dijk, 2003, Haan & Rogaly).…”