Mphathisi Ndlovu
Biographic Data
| ID | 160922 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mphathisi Ndlovu |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mphathisi |
| FAMILY NAME | Ndlovu |
| SIGNATURE | NDLOVU M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stellenbosch University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9191-2106 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 37 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Memory, nationalism and the media in Zimbabwe: The ZPRA combatants’ reception of The Sunday News ’s “Lest We Forget” narratives
Nationalism and national identities are sites of contestation in Zimbabwe’s political landscape. These debates centre on how the past is evoked, remembered and used by different social actors for political purposes. This article examines the meanings derived by former Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) combatants in their engagement with the recollection of the nationalist struggle as published in The Sunday News, an arm of the state-con…
Freelance journalism in Zimbabwe: Challenges and opportunities
In Zimbabwe, the comatose economy has had an impact on the media industry. Since 2000, media houses have been shutting down due to lack of financial support or poor business environment. For some news organisations, they have been retrenching their staff as a cost cutting measure. This has also led to retrenched journalists to write for other publications as freelance journalists. This study examines the state of freelance journalism in Zimbabwe.…
Sustainability Strategies of Digital Media Start-ups in Zimbabwe: Prospects and Challenges
This study examines the sustainability strategies being employed by digital media entities in Zimbabwe. Given the increase in the number of digital media start-ups in the country, there is a need to probe the sustainability of these media organisations. In Africa, donors typically offer seed capital and support for media development to help stabilise countries and transition towards democracy over a specific time frame, but after a certain level …
Dress Policing at Higher Learning Institutions in Zimbabwe: Discourses on the Bulawayo Polytechnic College Dress Code Declaration
In November 2022, the administrators at Bulawayo Polytechnic College instituted a new dress code at its campus, sparking public outrage. This college dress code reinvigorated debates on the age-old questions of morality and rights. On one hand, there is a strong belief that the implementation of dress codes may lead to the violation of students' rights and self-expression. On the other hand, others contend that 'revealing' dresses may disrupt tea…
Audience perceptions of AI-driven news presenters: A case of ‘Alice’ in Zimbabwe
Digital innovations are transforming newsroom practices across the globe. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is upending and altering newsmaking and news distribution practices. Whilst there is existing literature on the ever-changing journalism practices due to AI tools in the Global North, scholarship on how these digital innovations are shaping African newsrooms has remained scant. This study uses the case of Alice, an AI-powered…
Entangled memories: Nehanda statue, Gukurahundi plaques and the politics of memory in Zimbabwe
This article examines the on-going memorialization practices of Mbuya Nehanda and Gukurahundi that are performed and contested in various discursive spaces in Zimbabwe. It analyses the media discourses surrounding two seminal commemorative events that occurred concurrently on 25 May 2021. Firstly, the government unveiled a statue of Nehanda, a liberation heroine, in the capital, Harare. On the same day, the Gukurahundi survivors erected a memoria…
Remembering Mass Atrocities in the Global South
Covid-19 and the constructions of Africa in African news media
This article examines the constructions of Africa in COVID-19-related stories that were produced by African news media. Dominant scholarship indicates that western media generally reproduce and perpetuate harmful stereotypes on Africa. Given that there is scant literature on how African media covers Africa, this article uses the COVID-19 pandemic as an entry point to explore the disease narratives on Africa. Drawing on Afrokology as decolonial pe…
Remembering Mass Atrocities: Perspectives on Memory Struggles and Cultural Representations in Africa
Digital Technologies and the Changing Journalism Cultures in Zimbabwe: Examining the Lived Experiences of Journalists Covering the Covid-19 Pandemic
New Information and Communication Technologies (NICTs) are transforming newsmaking practices and journalistic cultures across the globe. Although factors such as lack of Internet access and prohibitive costs are constraining the adoption of these interactive digital technologies in most African countries, journalists are creatively appropriating these digital tools in their everyday professional work. Informed by the concept of journalism culture…
Immortalizing “Buried Memories: Photographs of the Gukurahundi Online
This article examines how photographs displayed online preserve, mediate, and circulate memories of the Gukurahundi “genocide.” The Gukurahundi denotes mass killings of more than 20,000 predominantly Ndebele-speaking people in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces orchestrated by the Zimbabwean government between 1983 and 1987. Many of the victims consider this to be a genocide, but their memories are subject to repression under the current regime.…
Twitter and political discourses: How supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party use Twitter for political engagement
Social networks such as Twitter are transforming political engagements in contemporary societies. Dominant literature places emphasis on the counter-hegemonic opportunities offered by social media in the Zimbabwean political landscape. However, there is a need to draw scholarly attention to how supporters of the ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU PF), are appropriating and using Twitter for political engagements…
News in the Digital Age: A Case Study of Cite as a Digital Public Sphere in Zimbabwe
There is growing scholarship on how social media are shaping the practice and performance of mainstream media organisations. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide journalists with information and sources on issues happening across the globe. Journalists and news organisations are appropriating social media tools to generate story ideas and interact with audiences. Concerns about the quality of information circulated on these platforms an…
Gukurahundi , Media and the “Wounds of History”: Discourses on Mass Graves, Exhumations and Reburials in Post- Independent Zimbabwe
Graves are central to Zimbabwe's political landscape since they constitute sites of contestation in respect of memory and identity. Given the legacies of the Gukurahundi genocide, it is fitting to examine the debates and controversies surrounding the Zimbabwean government's plans to exhume the remains of victims from mass graves. In 1983 the Robert Mugabe-led government deployed a military unit (the Fifth Brigade) to the Matabeleland and Midlands…
Bleeding from One Generation to the Next: The Media and the Constructions of Gukurahundi Postmemories by University Students in Zimbabwe
In 1983, the Zimbabwean government unleashed terror upon civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces that led to the death of at least 20 000 Ndebele-speaking people. The memories of the Gukurahundi genocide remain heavily guarded by the government that perpetrated these atrocities. Although there is literature on the role of the media in preserving memories of this genocide, little scholarly attention has been paid to how the descendants of…
Ubuntuism as a Foundation of Media Ethics in Zimbabwe? Journalists’ Perspectives and Discontents
There are debates on the relevance of Eurocentric normative frameworks for studying the media in post-colonial Africa. Emerging from these debates is a rebuttal of the dominant Western-derived paradigms for the conceptualisation of journalistic norms, values and practices. Given that the dominant Western liberal models for normative media ethics are incongruent to the needs of Africa, there is a growing call to reconceptualise media ethics anchor…
Between Tradition and Modernity: Discourses on the Coronation of the Ndebele “King” in Zimbabwe
In March 2018, the Bulawayo High Court ruled against the installation of an Ndebele King in Zimbabwe. The Ndebele throne was left vacant when the second and last king, Lobengula Khumalo, disappeared in 1893 during the armed struggle against the British imperial forces. Prince Bulelani Lobengula Khumalo, the heir apparent to the throne, was supposed to be crowned as the Ndebele King on 3 March 2018 at Barboufields Stadium in Bulawayo. However, the…
Remembering the past against the grain: An analysis of the reconstructions of the past inThe Sunday News's ‘Lest We Forget’ column
Memories of the nationalist struggle are fervently contested in Zimbabwean public spaces such as the media. This paper examines the emergence of the counter‐hegemonic historical narratives in the state‐controlled media that seek to subvert the dominant nationalist discourses propagated by the ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF). Focusing on theSunday News'sLest We Forgetnewspaper column, the paper analyses the …
New Media and Ndebele Hiraeth: Memory, Nostalgia and Ndebele Nationalism on Selected News Websites
This article examines the intersection of collective memory and Ndebele ethno-nationalism manifesting on three Zimbabwean news websites. Focusing on Newzimbabwe.com, Bulawayo24.com and Umthwakazireview.com, this article explores how Ndebele memories are recollected, mediated and transmitted in ways that shape and solidify a sense of what some writers term a hiraeth, or a longing for a homeland. Anchored upon an assumption that the media are not o…
Gukurahundi, new media and the ‘discourses of silence: The reproduction of the hegemonic narratives of the Matabeleland post-colonial violence on selected Zimbabwean news websites
Studies on new media in Zimbabwe tend to highlight the role of news websites in widening the democratic space and countering the government’s hegemonic nationalist discourses that are perpetuated in state-controlled media. Scholars such as Mpofu and Mhlanga and Mpofu have argued that new media are emancipatory spaces that are enabling the people of Matabeleland to recollect memories of their painful past events that are repressed in official site…
Speaking for the dead: Testimonies, witnesses and the representations of Gukurahundi atrocities in new media
The advent of new media has transformed the processes of remembering past events. Although studies by Mpofu, and Mhlanga and Mpofu discuss the counter-hegemonic role of the Internet in enabling Ndebele communities to recount their traumatic memories of Gukurahundi none of these works have probed how survivor testimonies are reconstructed and disseminated through new media. Given the rapid developments in media technologies, and the suppression of…
Facing History In The Aftermath Of Gukurahundi Atrocities: New Media, Memory And The Discourses On Forgiveness On Selected Zimbabwean News Websites
In 1983, the Robert Mugabe-led government deployed a military unit to the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces under the guise of quelling a “dissident” movement. This army unit went on to commit atrocities on the civilians in these south-western parts of Zimbabwe. By the time this violence ended in 1987, at least 20 000 Ndebele people had been killed. This violence is known as Gukurahundi, and remains a dark chapter in the national memory. Given …
Speaking for the dead: Testimonies, witnesses and the representations of Gukurahundi atrocities in new media
The advent of new media has transformed the processes of remembering past events. Although studies by Mpofu, and Mhlanga and Mpofu discuss the counter-hegemonic role of the Internet in enabling Ndebele communities to recount their traumatic memories of Gukurahundi none of these works have probed how survivor testimonies are reconstructed and disseminated through new media. Given the rapid developments in media technologies, and the suppression of…
Immortalizing “Buried Memories: Photographs of the Gukurahundi Online
This article examines how photographs displayed online preserve, mediate, and circulate memories of the Gukurahundi “genocide.” The Gukurahundi denotes mass killings of more than 20,000 predominantly Ndebele-speaking people in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces orchestrated by the Zimbabwean government between 1983 and 1987. Many of the victims consider this to be a genocide, but their memories are subject to repression under the current regime.…
Twitter and political discourses: How supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party use Twitter for political engagement
Social networks such as Twitter are transforming political engagements in contemporary societies. Dominant literature places emphasis on the counter-hegemonic opportunities offered by social media in the Zimbabwean political landscape. However, there is a need to draw scholarly attention to how supporters of the ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU PF), are appropriating and using Twitter for political engagements…
Bleeding from One Generation to the Next: The Media and the Constructions of Gukurahundi Postmemories by University Students in Zimbabwe
In 1983, the Zimbabwean government unleashed terror upon civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces that led to the death of at least 20 000 Ndebele-speaking people. The memories of the Gukurahundi genocide remain heavily guarded by the government that perpetrated these atrocities. Although there is literature on the role of the media in preserving memories of this genocide, little scholarly attention has been paid to how the descendants of…
Between Tradition and Modernity: Discourses on the Coronation of the Ndebele “King” in Zimbabwe
In March 2018, the Bulawayo High Court ruled against the installation of an Ndebele King in Zimbabwe. The Ndebele throne was left vacant when the second and last king, Lobengula Khumalo, disappeared in 1893 during the armed struggle against the British imperial forces. Prince Bulelani Lobengula Khumalo, the heir apparent to the throne, was supposed to be crowned as the Ndebele King on 3 March 2018 at Barboufields Stadium in Bulawayo. However, the…
Facing History In The Aftermath Of Gukurahundi Atrocities: New Media, Memory And The Discourses On Forgiveness On Selected Zimbabwean News Websites
In 1983, the Robert Mugabe-led government deployed a military unit to the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces under the guise of quelling a “dissident” movement. This army unit went on to commit atrocities on the civilians in these south-western parts of Zimbabwe. By the time this violence ended in 1987, at least 20 000 Ndebele people had been killed. This violence is known as Gukurahundi, and remains a dark chapter in the national memory. Given …
Entangled memories: Nehanda statue, Gukurahundi plaques and the politics of memory in Zimbabwe
This article examines the on-going memorialization practices of Mbuya Nehanda and Gukurahundi that are performed and contested in various discursive spaces in Zimbabwe. It analyses the media discourses surrounding two seminal commemorative events that occurred concurrently on 25 May 2021. Firstly, the government unveiled a statue of Nehanda, a liberation heroine, in the capital, Harare. On the same day, the Gukurahundi survivors erected a memoria…
Remembering Mass Atrocities: Perspectives on Memory Struggles and Cultural Representations in Africa
Gukurahundi, new media and the ‘discourses of silence: The reproduction of the hegemonic narratives of the Matabeleland post-colonial violence on selected Zimbabwean news websites
Studies on new media in Zimbabwe tend to highlight the role of news websites in widening the democratic space and countering the government’s hegemonic nationalist discourses that are perpetuated in state-controlled media. Scholars such as Mpofu and Mhlanga and Mpofu have argued that new media are emancipatory spaces that are enabling the people of Matabeleland to recollect memories of their painful past events that are repressed in official site…
Audience perceptions of AI-driven news presenters: A case of ‘Alice’ in Zimbabwe
Digital innovations are transforming newsroom practices across the globe. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is upending and altering newsmaking and news distribution practices. Whilst there is existing literature on the ever-changing journalism practices due to AI tools in the Global North, scholarship on how these digital innovations are shaping African newsrooms has remained scant. This study uses the case of Alice, an AI-powered…
Remembering the past against the grain: An analysis of the reconstructions of the past inThe Sunday News's ‘Lest We Forget’ column
Memories of the nationalist struggle are fervently contested in Zimbabwean public spaces such as the media. This paper examines the emergence of the counter‐hegemonic historical narratives in the state‐controlled media that seek to subvert the dominant nationalist discourses propagated by the ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF). Focusing on theSunday News'sLest We Forgetnewspaper column, the paper analyses the …
Facing History In The Aftermath Of Gukurahundi Atrocities: New Media, Memory And The Discourses On Forgiveness On Selected Zimbabwean News Websites
In 1983, the Robert Mugabe-led government deployed a military unit to the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces under the guise of quelling a “dissident” movement. This army unit went on to commit atrocities on the civilians in these south-western parts of Zimbabwe. By the time this violence ended in 1987, at least 20 000 Ndebele people had been killed. This violence is known as Gukurahundi, and remains a dark chapter in the national memory. Given …
New Media and Ndebele Hiraeth: Memory, Nostalgia and Ndebele Nationalism on Selected News Websites
This article examines the intersection of collective memory and Ndebele ethno-nationalism manifesting on three Zimbabwean news websites. Focusing on Newzimbabwe.com, Bulawayo24.com and Umthwakazireview.com, this article explores how Ndebele memories are recollected, mediated and transmitted in ways that shape and solidify a sense of what some writers term a hiraeth, or a longing for a homeland. Anchored upon an assumption that the media are not o…
Gukurahundi, new media and the ‘discourses of silence: The reproduction of the hegemonic narratives of the Matabeleland post-colonial violence on selected Zimbabwean news websites
Studies on new media in Zimbabwe tend to highlight the role of news websites in widening the democratic space and countering the government’s hegemonic nationalist discourses that are perpetuated in state-controlled media. Scholars such as Mpofu and Mhlanga and Mpofu have argued that new media are emancipatory spaces that are enabling the people of Matabeleland to recollect memories of their painful past events that are repressed in official site…
Speaking for the dead: Testimonies, witnesses and the representations of Gukurahundi atrocities in new media
The advent of new media has transformed the processes of remembering past events. Although studies by Mpofu, and Mhlanga and Mpofu discuss the counter-hegemonic role of the Internet in enabling Ndebele communities to recount their traumatic memories of Gukurahundi none of these works have probed how survivor testimonies are reconstructed and disseminated through new media. Given the rapid developments in media technologies, and the suppression of…
Between Tradition and Modernity: Discourses on the Coronation of the Ndebele “King” in Zimbabwe
In March 2018, the Bulawayo High Court ruled against the installation of an Ndebele King in Zimbabwe. The Ndebele throne was left vacant when the second and last king, Lobengula Khumalo, disappeared in 1893 during the armed struggle against the British imperial forces. Prince Bulelani Lobengula Khumalo, the heir apparent to the throne, was supposed to be crowned as the Ndebele King on 3 March 2018 at Barboufields Stadium in Bulawayo. However, the…
Remembering the past against the grain: An analysis of the reconstructions of the past inThe Sunday News's ‘Lest We Forget’ column
Memories of the nationalist struggle are fervently contested in Zimbabwean public spaces such as the media. This paper examines the emergence of the counter‐hegemonic historical narratives in the state‐controlled media that seek to subvert the dominant nationalist discourses propagated by the ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF). Focusing on theSunday News'sLest We Forgetnewspaper column, the paper analyses the …
Ubuntuism as a Foundation of Media Ethics in Zimbabwe? Journalists’ Perspectives and Discontents
There are debates on the relevance of Eurocentric normative frameworks for studying the media in post-colonial Africa. Emerging from these debates is a rebuttal of the dominant Western-derived paradigms for the conceptualisation of journalistic norms, values and practices. Given that the dominant Western liberal models for normative media ethics are incongruent to the needs of Africa, there is a growing call to reconceptualise media ethics anchor…
News in the Digital Age: A Case Study of Cite as a Digital Public Sphere in Zimbabwe
There is growing scholarship on how social media are shaping the practice and performance of mainstream media organisations. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide journalists with information and sources on issues happening across the globe. Journalists and news organisations are appropriating social media tools to generate story ideas and interact with audiences. Concerns about the quality of information circulated on these platforms an…
Gukurahundi , Media and the “Wounds of History”: Discourses on Mass Graves, Exhumations and Reburials in Post- Independent Zimbabwe
Graves are central to Zimbabwe's political landscape since they constitute sites of contestation in respect of memory and identity. Given the legacies of the Gukurahundi genocide, it is fitting to examine the debates and controversies surrounding the Zimbabwean government's plans to exhume the remains of victims from mass graves. In 1983 the Robert Mugabe-led government deployed a military unit (the Fifth Brigade) to the Matabeleland and Midlands…
Bleeding from One Generation to the Next: The Media and the Constructions of Gukurahundi Postmemories by University Students in Zimbabwe
In 1983, the Zimbabwean government unleashed terror upon civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces that led to the death of at least 20 000 Ndebele-speaking people. The memories of the Gukurahundi genocide remain heavily guarded by the government that perpetrated these atrocities. Although there is literature on the role of the media in preserving memories of this genocide, little scholarly attention has been paid to how the descendants of…
Digital Technologies and the Changing Journalism Cultures in Zimbabwe: Examining the Lived Experiences of Journalists Covering the Covid-19 Pandemic
New Information and Communication Technologies (NICTs) are transforming newsmaking practices and journalistic cultures across the globe. Although factors such as lack of Internet access and prohibitive costs are constraining the adoption of these interactive digital technologies in most African countries, journalists are creatively appropriating these digital tools in their everyday professional work. Informed by the concept of journalism culture…
Immortalizing “Buried Memories: Photographs of the Gukurahundi Online
This article examines how photographs displayed online preserve, mediate, and circulate memories of the Gukurahundi “genocide.” The Gukurahundi denotes mass killings of more than 20,000 predominantly Ndebele-speaking people in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces orchestrated by the Zimbabwean government between 1983 and 1987. Many of the victims consider this to be a genocide, but their memories are subject to repression under the current regime.…
Twitter and political discourses: How supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party use Twitter for political engagement
Social networks such as Twitter are transforming political engagements in contemporary societies. Dominant literature places emphasis on the counter-hegemonic opportunities offered by social media in the Zimbabwean political landscape. However, there is a need to draw scholarly attention to how supporters of the ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU PF), are appropriating and using Twitter for political engagements…
Remembering Mass Atrocities in the Global South
Covid-19 and the constructions of Africa in African news media
This article examines the constructions of Africa in COVID-19-related stories that were produced by African news media. Dominant scholarship indicates that western media generally reproduce and perpetuate harmful stereotypes on Africa. Given that there is scant literature on how African media covers Africa, this article uses the COVID-19 pandemic as an entry point to explore the disease narratives on Africa. Drawing on Afrokology as decolonial pe…
Remembering Mass Atrocities: Perspectives on Memory Struggles and Cultural Representations in Africa
Audience perceptions of AI-driven news presenters: A case of ‘Alice’ in Zimbabwe
Digital innovations are transforming newsroom practices across the globe. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is upending and altering newsmaking and news distribution practices. Whilst there is existing literature on the ever-changing journalism practices due to AI tools in the Global North, scholarship on how these digital innovations are shaping African newsrooms has remained scant. This study uses the case of Alice, an AI-powered…
Entangled memories: Nehanda statue, Gukurahundi plaques and the politics of memory in Zimbabwe
This article examines the on-going memorialization practices of Mbuya Nehanda and Gukurahundi that are performed and contested in various discursive spaces in Zimbabwe. It analyses the media discourses surrounding two seminal commemorative events that occurred concurrently on 25 May 2021. Firstly, the government unveiled a statue of Nehanda, a liberation heroine, in the capital, Harare. On the same day, the Gukurahundi survivors erected a memoria…
Freelance journalism in Zimbabwe: Challenges and opportunities
In Zimbabwe, the comatose economy has had an impact on the media industry. Since 2000, media houses have been shutting down due to lack of financial support or poor business environment. For some news organisations, they have been retrenching their staff as a cost cutting measure. This has also led to retrenched journalists to write for other publications as freelance journalists. This study examines the state of freelance journalism in Zimbabwe.…
Sustainability Strategies of Digital Media Start-ups in Zimbabwe: Prospects and Challenges
This study examines the sustainability strategies being employed by digital media entities in Zimbabwe. Given the increase in the number of digital media start-ups in the country, there is a need to probe the sustainability of these media organisations. In Africa, donors typically offer seed capital and support for media development to help stabilise countries and transition towards democracy over a specific time frame, but after a certain level …
Dress Policing at Higher Learning Institutions in Zimbabwe: Discourses on the Bulawayo Polytechnic College Dress Code Declaration
In November 2022, the administrators at Bulawayo Polytechnic College instituted a new dress code at its campus, sparking public outrage. This college dress code reinvigorated debates on the age-old questions of morality and rights. On one hand, there is a strong belief that the implementation of dress codes may lead to the violation of students' rights and self-expression. On the other hand, others contend that 'revealing' dresses may disrupt tea…
Memory, nationalism and the media in Zimbabwe: The ZPRA combatants’ reception of The Sunday News ’s “Lest We Forget” narratives
Nationalism and national identities are sites of contestation in Zimbabwe’s political landscape. These debates centre on how the past is evoked, remembered and used by different social actors for political purposes. This article examines the meanings derived by former Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) combatants in their engagement with the recollection of the nationalist struggle as published in The Sunday News, an arm of the state-con…
Political science (19 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Media studies (16 works) · African studies and sociopolitical issues (14 works) · Law (12 works) · Politics (11 works) · African history and culture studies (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Media Studies and Communication (7 works)