Land a burden for widows

CULTURE: RURAL NORMS FORBID THEM FROM OWNING, SELLING LAND HUSBANDS LEAVE BEHIND

Gold prospectors in Zimbabwe offer residents lavish deals for their piece of land.

When massive gold deposits were discovered about a decade ago in Chimanimani, eastern Zimbabwe, the rural district became famous for attracting hundreds of artisan miners from across the nation every year.

Wealthy small-scale prospectors regularly offer residents generous deals for their land, locals say. To many widows selling their unused land, that kind of money can be life-changing and a source of greater autonomy.

But in recent years, widows in Chimanimani have found that taking a deal can have consequences. Many say they have been taken to tribal courts by their husbands’ families for selling portions of their land.

“I feel bruised,” said Mavis, 63, a widow from Haroni village who did not want to disclose her surname. “I lived in peace as a widow in my home until last year, when I sold an unwanted acre of my late husband’s land to korokoza,” she said, using a colloquial term for an artisanal gold miner.

He paid her $2 000 (R30 000) in cash. “All hell broke loose,” Mavis explained.

When her male relatives found out about the sale, they reported her to the tribal court.

“The accusations were insane. They said I bewitched my husband, even though he died way back in 1979, in the colonial war.”

The cultural norms of the Ndau people, who make up the majority of the population in Chimanimani, forbid widows from owning land their husbands leave behind or selling it unless a male family member controls the transaction.

“In our village, I am the fourth widow since 2017 to be brought to (tribal court) for selling land without male approval,” she said. Her case is still ongoing. According to Zimbabwe’s latest census, conducted in 2012, there are over half-a-million widows in the country. – Reuters