Pandemic crisis: Old repressions renewed amid anti-COVID-19 lockdown in Zimbabwe, c.2020 - 2021.

Authors

  • Wesley Mwatwara Walter Sisulu University, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.38140/sjch.v47i1.5727

Keywords:

Authoritarianism, Conflict, Crisis, Lawfare, COVID-19, Corruption, Politics

Abstract

This study discusses how during the Covid-19 pandemic, government agents in Zimbabwe controlled and supervised Zimbabwean citizens through repressive methods that were meant to entrench the position of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. It posits that since Covid-19 took place in a conflictridden Zimbabwean environment, it paved the way for new conflicts to emerge while the existing ones were reshaped. Furthermore, it argues that Covid-19 offers an interesting case to examine how international relations and geopolitical considerations influenced the initial stance and reaction to Covid-19 in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s initial reaction to the outbreak of the Coronavirus was largely dictated by its narrow foreign policy rather than epidemiological/immunological considerations. It concludes that the Covid-19 lockdown facilitated the Mnangagwa regime’s intention to make Zimbabwe a de facto one-party state, as witnessed by the closure of democratic space under the guise of enforcing lockdown regulations.

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Published

2022-06-30

How to Cite

Mwatwara, W. (2022). Pandemic crisis: Old repressions renewed amid anti-COVID-19 lockdown in Zimbabwe, c.2020 - 2021 . Southern Journal for Contemporary History, 47(1), 51–77. https://doi.org/10.38140/sjch.v47i1.5727

Issue

Section

Articles