Cross-border mobility, violence and spiritual healing in Beitbridge District, Zimbabwe

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Periodical article

Title:	Cross-border mobility, violence and spiritual healing in Beitbridge District, Zimbabwe
Author:	Musoni, Francis
Year:	2016
Periodical:	Journal of Southern African Studies (ISSN 1465-3893)
Volume:	42
Issue:	2
Pages:	317-331
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zimbabwe
Subjects:	healing rites homicide migrants violence girls
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2016.1140480
Abstract:	This article examines the significance and contestations surrounding some small huts, which are found at the margins of many homesteads in Beitbridge district on the Zimbabwean border with South Africa. Locally referred to as 'zvimba zvemipfuko', the huts are part of a socio-cultural phenomenon called 'chimwanakadzi, which also involves the pledging of young girls to appease avenging spirits of migrants killed in Beitbridge as they travelled between Zimbabwe and South Africa. The study argues that 'chimwanakadzi' is intended not only to treat people haunted by avenging spirits, but is also an attempt to combat on-going violence and build cohesive communities in the border district. However, this phenomenon faces opposition from Christians who castigate it as sinful, and human rights activists who view it as an abuse of young girls and a denigration of women's dignity. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]