ABSTRACT
The land question in Zimbabwe has occupied a central place in pre- and post-independence Zimbabwean politics. On colonization in 1893, the bulk of the native peoples were forcibly moved out of the prized areas that had minerals, high rainfall and good soils to support agriculture. By 1902, Pass and Labour laws had been institutionalized to restrict the movements of the native peoples in the colony which was officially granted self government status in 1923 and renamed Southern Rhodesia. The native labourers needed a pass to secure paid work in the towns. They were allowed to stay in the towns as long as they had paid work and their passes were stamped to reflect their status as wage workers. However, their wives and children were not allowed to visit and male workers were expected to exercise their conjugal rights during their holidays from work (Barnes and Win 1992). Only the few natives who were church and state functionaries such as teachers, court interpreters and policemen were able to access housing for married couples at police camps, government compounds and church properties. In colonized Zimbabwe, land holdings were skewed in favour of predominantly white, large-scale commercial farmers who comprised less than 0.5 per cent of the population while owning, through private title, at least 50 per cent of the arable agricultural and ranching land in Zimbabwe. The three million peasant farmers held about 45 per cent of land under customary tenure, predominantly in the drier parts of the country. In both the privately held land and in the customarily held land, men predominated as holders of land titles while women accessed land as wives or dependents of land holders. In the privately held land for black people in the former purchase areas where an elite of blacks were allowed to hold land by private title, there were very few women who held land through private title (Cheater 1984).
