Vusilizwe Thebe
Biographic Data
| ID | 3613530 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Vusilizwe Thebe |
| GIVEN NAMES | Vusilizwe |
| FAMILY NAME | Thebe |
| SIGNATURE | THEBE V |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Pretoria |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 45 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Identity, experience, and non-partisan
This paper explores the place and role of chiefs and their institution in the governance and development of rural society in South Africa, using a case study of six tribal authorities in the Moses Kotane Local Municipality, North West Province. It examines whether chiefs have taken active development roles in their communities, and how they are perceived by society vis-à-vis community councillors. It argues that active roles and endorsement by th…
Large Dam–Induced Displacements, Compensation and Conflicts
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II (LHWP II) implementation in Mokhotlong district has generated bitter conflict between affected communities and the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA). This conflict has been explained in terms of dissatisfaction by affected communities over compensation. This article argues that the compensation question is complex and that the LHDA failed to appreciate the complexity of the issue. As a res…
Negotiating the Border
Based on an extended study of Zimbabwean women migrants in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, this article focuses on these women both as mothers and as labor migrants, seeking to understand their migration intentions in relation to changing policy and law in South Africa. It also focuses on their responses to the changes in policy as they seek to renegotiate the border. The strategies adopted by the women in negotiating the border not only de…
Men on Transit' and the Rural 'Farmer Housewives
Studies on migrant-labour systems have focused on the negatives, particularly on women left behind as guardians of men's interests, but with no real control. My extended research on former migrant-labour societies in north-western Zimbabwe has challenged this 'doomsday' narrative. It did not only reveal the feminisation of household and societal decisions, but also how the migration of men has liberated women and allowed them to play crucial role…
Youth, agriculture and land reform in Zimbabwe
Three decades of land reform in Zimbabwe ended in an ambiguous victory for youth. Focus on the cumulative outcome, in terms of scale and scope, led to conclusions that the exercise was a success, which obscured the resultant forms of exclusion. This article attempts to sketch an analytical context in which the dynamics of Zimbabwe’s land reform may be understood. It focuses at the broader policy and societal levels, and investigates the socio-pol…
Defenders of the woods? Women and the complex dynamics of a worker-peasantry in western Zimbabwe
One winter morning in 2006, conflict ensued between firewood vendors (selling wood to passing motorists and also supplying bulk quantities to cities), on the one hand, and a group of predominantly women (and others sympathetic to their grievances), from villages on the southern fringes of the former Shangani Reserves in western Zimbabwe, on the other hand. The latter group confiscated firewood displayed for sale and stockpiles waiting for transpo…
Cultivating an agrarian middle class? Land reform, poverty reduction and social stratification in Southern Africa
In the past three decades, land reforms have dominated poverty and development policy debates in Southern Africa following the late attainment of independence of former settler colonies, and efforts to improve the efficiency of the agriculture sector in others. This article provides an analysis of land reforms in South Africa and Zimbabwe and proposed reforms under the new land laws in Lesotho. Based on these examples, it argues that prospects of…
Legacies of 'madiro'? Worker-peasantry, livelihood crisis and 'siziphile' land occupations in semi-arid north-western Zimbabwe
This paper examines acts of land 'self-provisioning' ('siziphile' land occupations) and 'radical land restitution' (of land previously annexed from people by the local authority for a pilot grazing project) by villagers in a communal area in Lupane District in north-western Zimbabwe. Situating these occurrences within the wider and historical context of 'madiro' (freedom farming and unauthorised development of settlements) and Matabeleland land p…
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
New Social Formations, Livelihood Transition, and Food Insecurity in Worker–Peasant Communities
In the immediate aftermath of Zimbabwe’s Economic Structural Adjustment Program (ESAP) experiment, radical changes that completely redefined life in rural areas appear to have taken place. The demise of the worker–peasantry was finally achieved. Using an extended case of worker–peasant communities in north-western Zimbabwe’s Lupane District, the article examines the changing dynamics in rural areas. It argues that the world on which the worker–pe…
Land Strategies and Livelihood Dynamics in Peri-urban Communities
This article explores land strategies and livelihoods dynamics in peri-urban communities in Maseru, Lesotho, and state policy on land and agriculture. Despite the restrictions imposed by the Land Act of 1979 on transaction of agricultural land, households engage in vernacular rural land sales and rental markets, and have converted agricultural land for alternative livelihoods. The article stresses the importance of households' behaviour in redefi…
New realities’ and tenure reforms
This article1 1. In an attempt to understand new environments and to construct strategies of survival, new realities emerge in rural communities and replace what is generally considered as ideal by officials. The story of the Zimbabwean worker-peasantry is one of resilience. The worker-peasantry has refused to die in communal areas of Zimbabwe, even in the face of adversity and appears to be on the rise. This is a class with distinct land needs a…
From South Africa with love
In the 1980s and early 1990s, sending remittances from South Africa posed major challenges for Ndebele migrants. As a result households receiving remittances only did so at irregular intervals. With increased diasporisation into South Africa, it was to be expected that new channels would open up. This article explores what is known as the malayisha system, its role and significance as an informal channel of remittances into Ndebele society. It ar…
Youth, agriculture and land reform in Zimbabwe
Three decades of land reform in Zimbabwe ended in an ambiguous victory for youth. Focus on the cumulative outcome, in terms of scale and scope, led to conclusions that the exercise was a success, which obscured the resultant forms of exclusion. This article attempts to sketch an analytical context in which the dynamics of Zimbabwe’s land reform may be understood. It focuses at the broader policy and societal levels, and investigates the socio-pol…
New realities’ and tenure reforms
This article1 1. In an attempt to understand new environments and to construct strategies of survival, new realities emerge in rural communities and replace what is generally considered as ideal by officials. The story of the Zimbabwean worker-peasantry is one of resilience. The worker-peasantry has refused to die in communal areas of Zimbabwe, even in the face of adversity and appears to be on the rise. This is a class with distinct land needs a…
Legacies of 'madiro'? Worker-peasantry, livelihood crisis and 'siziphile' land occupations in semi-arid north-western Zimbabwe
This paper examines acts of land 'self-provisioning' ('siziphile' land occupations) and 'radical land restitution' (of land previously annexed from people by the local authority for a pilot grazing project) by villagers in a communal area in Lupane District in north-western Zimbabwe. Situating these occurrences within the wider and historical context of 'madiro' (freedom farming and unauthorised development of settlements) and Matabeleland land p…
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
From South Africa with love
In the 1980s and early 1990s, sending remittances from South Africa posed major challenges for Ndebele migrants. As a result households receiving remittances only did so at irregular intervals. With increased diasporisation into South Africa, it was to be expected that new channels would open up. This article explores what is known as the malayisha system, its role and significance as an informal channel of remittances into Ndebele society. It ar…
Men on Transit' and the Rural 'Farmer Housewives
Studies on migrant-labour systems have focused on the negatives, particularly on women left behind as guardians of men's interests, but with no real control. My extended research on former migrant-labour societies in north-western Zimbabwe has challenged this 'doomsday' narrative. It did not only reveal the feminisation of household and societal decisions, but also how the migration of men has liberated women and allowed them to play crucial role…
Negotiating the Border
Based on an extended study of Zimbabwean women migrants in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, this article focuses on these women both as mothers and as labor migrants, seeking to understand their migration intentions in relation to changing policy and law in South Africa. It also focuses on their responses to the changes in policy as they seek to renegotiate the border. The strategies adopted by the women in negotiating the border not only de…
Land Strategies and Livelihood Dynamics in Peri-urban Communities
This article explores land strategies and livelihoods dynamics in peri-urban communities in Maseru, Lesotho, and state policy on land and agriculture. Despite the restrictions imposed by the Land Act of 1979 on transaction of agricultural land, households engage in vernacular rural land sales and rental markets, and have converted agricultural land for alternative livelihoods. The article stresses the importance of households' behaviour in redefi…
New Social Formations, Livelihood Transition, and Food Insecurity in Worker–Peasant Communities
In the immediate aftermath of Zimbabwe’s Economic Structural Adjustment Program (ESAP) experiment, radical changes that completely redefined life in rural areas appear to have taken place. The demise of the worker–peasantry was finally achieved. Using an extended case of worker–peasant communities in north-western Zimbabwe’s Lupane District, the article examines the changing dynamics in rural areas. It argues that the world on which the worker–pe…
From South Africa with love
In the 1980s and early 1990s, sending remittances from South Africa posed major challenges for Ndebele migrants. As a result households receiving remittances only did so at irregular intervals. With increased diasporisation into South Africa, it was to be expected that new channels would open up. This article explores what is known as the malayisha system, its role and significance as an informal channel of remittances into Ndebele society. It ar…
New realities’ and tenure reforms
This article1 1. In an attempt to understand new environments and to construct strategies of survival, new realities emerge in rural communities and replace what is generally considered as ideal by officials. The story of the Zimbabwean worker-peasantry is one of resilience. The worker-peasantry has refused to die in communal areas of Zimbabwe, even in the face of adversity and appears to be on the rise. This is a class with distinct land needs a…
Land Strategies and Livelihood Dynamics in Peri-urban Communities
This article explores land strategies and livelihoods dynamics in peri-urban communities in Maseru, Lesotho, and state policy on land and agriculture. Despite the restrictions imposed by the Land Act of 1979 on transaction of agricultural land, households engage in vernacular rural land sales and rental markets, and have converted agricultural land for alternative livelihoods. The article stresses the importance of households' behaviour in redefi…
New Social Formations, Livelihood Transition, and Food Insecurity in Worker–Peasant Communities
In the immediate aftermath of Zimbabwe’s Economic Structural Adjustment Program (ESAP) experiment, radical changes that completely redefined life in rural areas appear to have taken place. The demise of the worker–peasantry was finally achieved. Using an extended case of worker–peasant communities in north-western Zimbabwe’s Lupane District, the article examines the changing dynamics in rural areas. It argues that the world on which the worker–pe…
Defenders of the woods? Women and the complex dynamics of a worker-peasantry in western Zimbabwe
One winter morning in 2006, conflict ensued between firewood vendors (selling wood to passing motorists and also supplying bulk quantities to cities), on the one hand, and a group of predominantly women (and others sympathetic to their grievances), from villages on the southern fringes of the former Shangani Reserves in western Zimbabwe, on the other hand. The latter group confiscated firewood displayed for sale and stockpiles waiting for transpo…
Cultivating an agrarian middle class? Land reform, poverty reduction and social stratification in Southern Africa
In the past three decades, land reforms have dominated poverty and development policy debates in Southern Africa following the late attainment of independence of former settler colonies, and efforts to improve the efficiency of the agriculture sector in others. This article provides an analysis of land reforms in South Africa and Zimbabwe and proposed reforms under the new land laws in Lesotho. Based on these examples, it argues that prospects of…
Legacies of 'madiro'? Worker-peasantry, livelihood crisis and 'siziphile' land occupations in semi-arid north-western Zimbabwe
This paper examines acts of land 'self-provisioning' ('siziphile' land occupations) and 'radical land restitution' (of land previously annexed from people by the local authority for a pilot grazing project) by villagers in a communal area in Lupane District in north-western Zimbabwe. Situating these occurrences within the wider and historical context of 'madiro' (freedom farming and unauthorised development of settlements) and Matabeleland land p…
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Men on Transit' and the Rural 'Farmer Housewives
Studies on migrant-labour systems have focused on the negatives, particularly on women left behind as guardians of men's interests, but with no real control. My extended research on former migrant-labour societies in north-western Zimbabwe has challenged this 'doomsday' narrative. It did not only reveal the feminisation of household and societal decisions, but also how the migration of men has liberated women and allowed them to play crucial role…
Youth, agriculture and land reform in Zimbabwe
Three decades of land reform in Zimbabwe ended in an ambiguous victory for youth. Focus on the cumulative outcome, in terms of scale and scope, led to conclusions that the exercise was a success, which obscured the resultant forms of exclusion. This article attempts to sketch an analytical context in which the dynamics of Zimbabwe’s land reform may be understood. It focuses at the broader policy and societal levels, and investigates the socio-pol…
Negotiating the Border
Based on an extended study of Zimbabwean women migrants in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, this article focuses on these women both as mothers and as labor migrants, seeking to understand their migration intentions in relation to changing policy and law in South Africa. It also focuses on their responses to the changes in policy as they seek to renegotiate the border. The strategies adopted by the women in negotiating the border not only de…
Large Dam–Induced Displacements, Compensation and Conflicts
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II (LHWP II) implementation in Mokhotlong district has generated bitter conflict between affected communities and the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA). This conflict has been explained in terms of dissatisfaction by affected communities over compensation. This article argues that the compensation question is complex and that the LHDA failed to appreciate the complexity of the issue. As a res…
Identity, experience, and non-partisan
This paper explores the place and role of chiefs and their institution in the governance and development of rural society in South Africa, using a case study of six tribal authorities in the Moses Kotane Local Municipality, North West Province. It examines whether chiefs have taken active development roles in their communities, and how they are perceived by society vis-à-vis community councillors. It argues that active roles and endorsement by th…
Economics (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Economic growth (11 works) · African studies and sociopolitical issues (10 works) · Geography (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · African history and culture studies (7 works) · Agriculture (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Development economics (6 works)