The Gukurahundi community hearings are reportedly set to resume, with traditional leaders saying they will announce new dates to complete the programme despite challenges caused by underfunding.
The president of the National Council of Chiefs, Chief Lucas Mtshane Khumalo, said the hearings had been left unfinished after the initial programme period due to funding constraints.
“What’s there is we must start anytime to finish the programme,” Chief Mtshane told Southern Eye on Sunday.
“We will soon announce the dates when we will start; we left it hanging, and now the programme is set to resume, then we finish it.”
The Gukurahundi outreach programme was officially launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Bulawayo in July 2024, but the actual community hearings began on June 26, 2025.
The hearings are led by traditional leaders in affected communities in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands, with chiefs presiding over closed-door engagements where survivors and other affected people can give their accounts of the disturbances.
The process was described by the chiefs as victim-centred, with a 14-member community panel comprising traditional leaders and representatives – including elders, women, youth, religious leaders and counsellors – assisting with the engagements.
Chief Mtshane said in June last year that the hearings would take place within the various chiefs’ jurisdictions.
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The initial programme was given a six-month term, running from June to December 2025.
However, the chiefs had not completed the programme when the initial term expired, and subsequently requested an extension from the government.
Chief Mtshane confirmed in May this year that the government had agreed to extend the hearings, paving the way for a second phase.
The latest government update shows that the outreach process has continued to gather submissions.
As of July 15, 2026, the programme had received 25 407 online submissions, 25 862 physical submissions and 25 479 audio testimonies.
The government also reported that 12 956 audio testimonies had been transcribed.
The attorney general, Virginia Mabiza, said the consultation process could extend into next year because of the number of people still wishing to participate.
The Gukurahundi programme seeks to address the legacy of the violence that occurred in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands between 1983 and 1987.
The violence followed the deployment of the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade during a government campaign against alleged dissidents and supporters of PF ZAPU.
Thousands of civilians were killed, while others were subjected to torture, disappearances, detention and other abuses.
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, together with the Legal Resources Foundation, documented the violence in their 1997 report Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace, which estimated that about 20,000 people died.
The violence ended with the signing of the Unity Accord between then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe and PF-ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo on 22 December 1987.
The current chiefs-led process is part of the government’s efforts to address the legacy of the violence through community engagement, truth-telling, healing and reconciliation.
Chief Mtshane said the chiefs would announce the dates for the resumption of the hearings once arrangements had been finalised.
