In 1966, the United Nations special rapporteur Francesco Capotorti proposed the following definition of minorities in the context of Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR):
“A group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a State, and in a non-dominant position, whose members — being nationals of the State — possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population and show, if only implicitly, a sense of solidarity, directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religions and language.
“A group of citizens of a State, constituting a numerical minority and in a non-dominant position in that State, endowed with ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics which differ from those of the majority of the population, having a sense of solidarity with one another, motivated, if only implicitly, by a collective will to survive and whose aim is to achieve equality with the majority in fact and in law.”
While both definitions contribute to an understanding of the concept of minorities they are not without their difficulties.
For example, a distinct ethnic group can constitute a numerical majority and be in a non-dominant position, and thus be entitled to the application of minority rights standards, to protect their rights to non-discrimination and to their identity.
Similarly, the limiting criterion of citizenship can be used to exclude certain groups from their rights as minorities.
However, the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) has stated in a general comment to Article 27 of the ICCPR that a State party may not restrict the rights under Article 27 to its citizens alone.
To this may be added the important point referred to by the HRC that: “the existence of an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority in a given State party does not depend upon a decision by that State party but requires to be established by objective criteria”.
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Recognising minorities and indigenous peoples The recognition of minorities and indigenous peoples in Zimbabwe would contribute to the preservation of their identities and enable them to obtain equality with other groups, including in relation to participation in political life as well as in development matters.
Religious minorities Having been colonised by a Christian country, most Zimbabweans today profess to be Christians, although there is no State religion. This has made followers of non-Christian religions religious minorities.
Thus, Muslims are a religious minority in Zimbabwe, along with Buddhists, Hindus and those Zimbabweans who practice traditional African religions.
Ethnic minorities An ethnic group is a tribalistic grouping. It has a sense of common historic origins and frequently develops a sense of common destiny.
Sharing a number of cultural traits and institutions, such as dress, food, language, and family patterns, nationalities generally precede the much later establishment of nation states, tracing their origins back to times before historical records were kept.
Linguistic minorities Because ethnic groups invariably speak their own language, most ethnic minorities are similarly linguistic minorities.
Take the Tsoro otso San (found in Tsholotsho and numbering +/-3 000) for example; their language is in the brink of being extinct with only six elderly people that can speak the language but cannot read and write.
The San’s existence has never been acknowledged in official documentation, including the national census, because they are grouped with their more populous neighbours, the Ndebele.
As Davie Ndlovu of Tsoro otso Community Development Trust put it: “Only a few old people can speak the Tshwao language. Many died before their children could learn it. It is really sad.”
The beginning of the end of the San community and language is attributed to colonialism. The colonial administration disrupted the San way of life by banning game hunting to stem competition with commercial sport hunters and for conservation purposes.
Recognising minorities and indigenous peoples The Lancaster House Constitution, failed to recognise indigenous peoples as entities with their own cultures.
The Constitutional saw land and resource ownership as individual or corporate, rather than collective.
The colonial government and the current one have been reluctant to recognise indigenous peoples because of the implications in terms of land and resources. In Zimbabwe, traditional indigenous activities such as hunter-gathering are not recognized as economic activities.
Further, indigenous peoples are not benefiting from tourism on their lands. They are too poor to access healthcare and are blocked from their traditional lands, which provided traditional cures.
For example, the San have been excluded from forests, which have been game parks and wildlife conservancies, yet these had been their homes and source of livelihood.
The focus on the cash economy has prevented recognition of their cultural and spiritual identity. The San are amongst the indigenous communities.
The common denominator among Zimbabwe’s excluded communities is poor access to resources and opportunities, insecurity of tenure and alienation from State administration.
Their weak voice in governance restricts their ability to address most of these issues and increases their vulnerability in the face of environmental, economic and political problems.
The social exclusion in Zimbabwe today is a by-product of the socioeconomic order imposed by British colonialism, which embraced Western economic, social, organisational, linguistic, religious and cultural traits.
These distinguish, to varying degrees, Zimbabwe’s dominant population from the marginalised population. The latter suffer from low levels of income; and poor health and nutrition, literacy and educational performance, and physical infrastructure.
The developmental gaps tend to increase between the North Eastern and the South Western; the latter occupied largely by minority or indigenous communities. Social exclusion is also a function of people’s distance from Harare.
Minorities and indigenous peoples lack participation in the decision-making processes, especially on issues that affect them either directly or indirectly. There are also the issues of a lack of recognition (both actual and constructive), and discrimination by institutions of government, which appear to be allowed by law — either actively or by default.
Constitutional provisions to promote and promote the rights of Indigenous peoples The Constitution of Zimbabwe makes specific reference to the respect of the values and principles of diversity of culture and traditional values as the founding principles in S3(d).
This is further augmented by the principles of good governance which bind the state at all levels to Recognise the rights of Ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic and religious groups in terms of S3(2)(I)(i) of he Constitution.
Section 6 states the officially recognised languages in Zimbabwe are 16 and gives an obligation on the government and all the State agencies to ensure that all officially-recognised languages are treated equitably and the language preference of people should always be respected.
An additional obligation is imposed on the state to promote and advance the use of all languages used in Zimbabwe including sign language,and must create conditions for the development of those languages.
The State and all institutions have an obligation to promote and preserve cultural values and practices which enhance the dignity, well being and equality of Zimbabweans in 16. This is in tandem with S18 (1) and (2).
The State must take measures to preserve, protect and promote indigenous knowledge systems, including knowledge of the medicinal and other properties of animal plant life possessed by local communities and people.
Section 56 (3) states that every person has a right not to be treated in an unfairly discriminatory manner on such grounds as their nationality, race colour, tribe, place of birth, ethnic or social origin, language, class, religious belief, political affiliation, opinion, custom culture sex etc.
There is also a justiciable right to language and culture in S63.
Conclusion This paper concludes that minorities and indigenous peoples are in dire need of positive action to improve their lot. Their situation has resulted from historical, legal and political factors.
For minorities and the socially excluded, political choices remain limited by the same structures that constrain their voice in other situations. Over time, however, this tends to give way to violence, as witnessed in other countries.
There is a need for the urgent redress of historical wrongs. Minority political inclusion has not translated into economic inclusion a case in point the election of Jacob Mudenda to be the Speaker has not translated into positive economic transformation for the Tonga people who have borne the brunt of economic, social and political marginalisation at the hands of the colonial regime and the post-colonial regime .
Regarding social exclusion, there are two pertinent conclusions. The role of NGOs and civil society needs to be accepted and promoted, by the government. There is therefore the issue of promoting a more inclusive approach to economic policy-making and governance reform.
However, this also reinforces yet another pertinent conclusion of this paper: Need to improve the capacity of new and traditional organisational structures among the marginalised communities as a prerequisite for their active participation.
Given the heavy involvement of the international community in Zimbabwe, this paper concludes that there is a need for international institutions to transform the way they currently work. Communities excluded on the State level may be even more excluded within the international order.
The meaningful participation of Zimbabwe’s marginalised and excluded communities — ie women and men from minorities and an indigenous community is essential.
Participation must be used to promote their views at the State and international level. Achieving this entails the reorganisation of the governance system as well as general legal and institutional reforms.
The moment is now.
