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Chair’s Report, BZS, 2003

Once more, it has been a difficult year for Zimbabwe, and the numbers of Zimbabweans coming to the UK continues to increase. In the BZS, we have continued in our attempts to provide an umbrella structure under which all those interested in friendship between the people of Britain and Zimbabwe may meet. We have fostered links with many organisations that are providing help and support to Zimbabweans in the UK. Newly-resident Zimbabweans in the UK often need professional support and advice to help them relocate here, but they also bring much that is valuable to the UK – the benefits of our interactions are two-way. With increased numbers of Zimbabweans in the UK, we have also seen increasing numbers of social and cultural events reflecting and celebrating Zimbabwean culture here, and we have publicised and participated in many of these events. We have also remained in touch with our many friends and partner organisations in Zimbabwe, which have continued to carry out their work and make significant differences to local communities. They continue, more than ever, to need the support of their friends in the UK and elsewhere. The Society organised three big events during the course of the year. We held our annual Research Day in June and Dayschool in September. There was also the Memorial Service for Sir Garfield and Grace Todd at St Martin in the Fields in February, which we organised in co-operation with the Royal Commonwealth Society. The Memorial Service was attended by about five hundred people, and provided an opportunity to reflect on the whole of Sir Garfield’s life and work, including his inspirational teaching and mission activities, as well as his political life, from his early opposition to white rule, via his time as Prime Minister, to the disputes over his right to vote in Zimbabwe in 2002. There were many familiar names and exceptional people involved in the service, including the veteran writer, Lawrence Vambe. The event ended with the symbolic handing over of a torch representing the Todds’ work, to a new generation of young Zimbabweans. There was a retiring collection for "Emthunzini Wethemba", a Home for Bulawayo street children run by David Ndoda, a former pupil at the Todds’ school, Dadaya, which has enabled the organisation to buy a much-needed truck. The Research Day in June was on the topic of ‘African Diasporas’, and benefited from the generosity of St Antony’s College, Oxford, the Journal of Southern African Studies and the African Studies Association UK. The day was organised by our eminent President, Terry Ranger, and was attended by some eighty people, from across the UK, Europe and the USA. About half the participants were Zimbabweans. The standard of papers was very high, and its significance to the current exodus of so many people from Zimbabwe was very pertinent. We were able to invite Sabelo Ndlovu, Lecturer in History at the University of the Midlands in Gweru, providing a valuable opportunity for exchange of ideas and research with Sabelo and also his head of department at UM. We were particularly grateful to Hilton Mendelsohn, Clayton Peel, and Rolli Maziane, for putting together a very lively and useful session on internet communities in the diaspora at very short notice, and to Marieke Clarke for providing the venue for lunch. The issue of asylum seeking was highlighted in presentations from JoAnn McGregor and Angelous Dube, ex-Provincial Administrator of Matabeleland South, and was explicitly discussed in a later panel, comprised of Jocelyn Alexander, Terence Ranger and Milius Palayiwa, on the experiences of asylum seekers. At the end of the day, therefore, we took a retiring collection for the Zimbabwe Association, which provides advice and support for Zimbabwe asylum seekers in the UK. The Dayschool on Culture in Bristol avoided politics, and focused instead on the continuing achievements of Zimbabweans in dance, film, sculpture, music, literature and documentary. The attendance was small, not least perhaps because, as the primary organiser, I had to pull out at a crucial moment. However, I would like to thank all those who were involved, and in particular the Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol, who generously provided the magnificent venue, and the Arts Council South West, who provided the funding. We also had a lot of help from the Kuumba Arts Centre in Bristol. Special thanks are due to Nick James, who picked up the pieces and carried on when I had to withdraw. While the event itself was fairly low-key, the networking and connections that were made between diverse artistic communities was fantastic, and has helped us to build up a very extensive directory of Zimbabweans working in the arts in the UK. The networking role of the Society is only possible because of the (frequently thankless) work of those who ensure that information is circulated between our members. The Newsletter has continued to provide information about a wide range of activities fostering links between Britons and Zimbabweans in the UK, while the BZS Zimbabwe Review has provided more in-depth analysis. The mailing goes out four times a year, and a huge amount of work goes into ensuring that the work is done competently and to schedule. The BZS Zimbabwe Review is a unique publication, offering accessible and in-depth analysis of events in Zimbabwe from leading experts in the field. It has attracted subscribers from academic institutions all over the world, and I would like to take this opportunity to say to our contributors how much the Society, and its members, appreciate the time and care they take to provide us with their essays and analyses. Marieke Clarke has done great work in getting these publications to our members, with help from Joan Weir. It is a tribute, also, to Marieke’s personal and editorial skills that we continue to attract such quality work. Joan also produces the Scotland Zimbabwe Group Newsletter, which reflects the wonderful energy and range of links that have developed within the SZG. The SZG is involved, inter alia, in lobbying, fundraising and in fostering friendship networks for Zimbabweans in Scotland, including the monthly Ndeblele Café in Edinburgh. We are very pleased to be affiliated with the SZG under the BZS umbrella. Meanwhile, JoAnn McGregor, Clayton Peel, Margaret Ling and, above all, Sara Rich-Dorman, have all contributed to keeping up the flow of information on the BZS members' email list

, upon which so many of us rely for our news. Sara has always included extracts from all sectors of the available print media, including the government press, and this has helped to keep those of us in the UK fully informed of the context and background in which the events in Zimbabwe develop. The list has continued to grow steadily as membership itself has increased and currently has 84 subscribers. The list is open to all subscribers to post items of interest to others, though in practice relatively few make use of this facility. Any member with an email address, who is not already subscribed to the list and would like to be, should contact Margaret, the list administrator, at  HYPERLINK "mailto:Margaret.Ling@geo2.poptel.org.uk"
Margaret.Ling@geo2.poptel.org.uk to be subscribed. The BZS has continued to avoid identification with any political party or group. We have kept our focus on collaborative projects between people and organisations in Britain and Zimbabwe, and this commitment to grassroots collaboration continues to define our work and frame our responses to the current tensions within Zimbabwe. However, we have been involved in discussion and lobbying with British and Zimbabwean officials, where it has seemed appropriate. Relationships with the Zimbabwe High Commission in London are not as close as they were in the past, but we have attempted to maintain the possibility of conversation and discussion. Milius Palayiwa ensured that many of us were invited to attend the debate on Zimbabwe at the Oxford Union, where we took the opportunity to talk with representatives from the High Commission. Last week, Terence Ranger, in his capacity as President of the Society, added his name to a letter from a group of UK organisations to the High Commissioner in London, protesting the recent mass arrests, which included the detention of Brian Raftopolous and John Makombe, both Keynote Speakers at past BZS Research Days. The letter to the High Commissioner was initiated by the Zimbabwe Action Network. BZS is a co-convenor, with ACTSA and Commonwealth TUC, of ZAN, which is a non-partisan network for the purposes of sharing information, ideas and perspectives on Zimbabwe. It has continued to meet every six weeks at the TUC headquarters in London throughout the year, and is chaired on a rotating basis by the co-convenors. The BZS is represented by Terry Ranger, Margaret Ling and Yvonne Kassim. Membership of the network is on a non-partisan basis and by invitation, and is drawn from the trade union movement, NGOs, legal and human rights organisations, solidarity groups, churches and aid agencies, plus the Zimbabwe Association and some individual Zimbabweans. Particular concerns have been Zimbabwean refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, human rights in Zimbabwe, international lobbying and advocacy especially on Commonwealth policy, and support for the broad democratic alliance in Zimbabwe as represented by the Zimbabwe Crisis Coalition. The increasing number of asylum seekers from Zimbabwe in the UK has been a very important issue for the Society over the past year. We provide contact details for a significant body of expert advisers, who can supply specialist information and explain the contexts in which specific cases may be understood. Terry Ranger has given expert advice in over 70 cases, and I have advised in about half that number. Oliver Philips, our Vice-Chair, has also been very busy advising in cases involving HIV+/AIDS and homophobia. We have ourselves made use of advice and contacts from the Zimbabwe Association, and in particular, Oliver’s sister Katrina Philips. Oliver and Katrina’s generosity in their time to help Zimbabwe asylum seekers is particular appreciated given the severe illness of their mother this year. It has been very reassuring to me, during the difficulties I have faced personally this year, to know that Oliver has been there as my Vice-Chair. As ever, the strength of the Society lies in the work and commitment of its members, and especially the members of the Executive Committee. I would like to pay tribute in particular to those members of the Executive Committee who are stepping down this year. Richard Brown has been an invaluable member of the Committee for many years. His work as Treasurer fostered a culture of financial discipline and careful use of our members’ subscription money, establishing the principle that Society events should be self-financing wherever possible. More recently, he has developed and consistently improved the Society website, which has become such an important means of presenting the Society to the wider world. Richard has always provided clear, sane perspectives on the world, tempered by a wonderful readiness to recognise its absurdities. We owe him a huge debt. JoAnn McGregor was one of the many people who kept the bzs-info mailings full of news and information from Zimbabwe over recent years. I am sure that she will remain involved in the Research Day and other research-related activities of the Society, and that we will continue to see her at BZS events. To Nick James, who is stepping down to concentrate on his work in Bristol with Bristol ACTSA and the Bristol and Zimbabwe Sustainable Agriculture Network (BaZiSAN), I owe special personal thanks. Nick was landed with an enormous and complex task when I had to withdraw from organising the Dayschool. He carried the burden single-handed with dedication, patience and enormous good-heartedness. I’m sure everyone in the Society will want to join me in thanking Nick, and his wife Claire, for the generosity with which they gave of their time, energy – and floorspace – to the Society this year. Peter Ashby is stepping down as Secretary responsible for meetings and correspondence, having served the Society exceptionally well for many years. As well as clerking minutes and keeping excellent records, Peter responded regularly to many diverse queries from BZS members, and the public at large. He leaves us a lasting, and invaluable, legacy in his BZS Database, which is an enormously useful resource, providing information and contact numbers for a very wide range of organisations involved in links with Zimbabwe. I would also like to thank Frances Chinemana for agreeing to stand as Secretary, and would recommend her to the meeting as a worthy successor to Peter. Ade Williams held the fort as Treasurer, and is no doubt heaving a sigh of relief, having handed this task over to Iain Whyte, who is even now laying siege to the bureaucratic labyrinths of the Nat West bank. I would like to thank Ade for the way that he hit the ground running when he first took over this role, and also to thank Iain for agreeing to follow in Richard’s footsteps – yet another good soul prepared to ruin his retirement with complex paperchases. In this context, I would also like to thank Peter Cotton for his work as Membership Secretary. The financial stability of the Society, and the clarity of its financial paperwork, depends heavily upon his clear mind and awesome efficiency. For the coming year, I hope that we can continue to focus on positive initiatives, while continuing to speak out against human rights abuses. It is clear that ZAN and our work with asylum seekers will continue to dominate our time and energies, but I hope that we will also remember the importance of people-to-people linking and town twinning friendships, and the richness of Zimbabwean culture and society that we have always celebrated. I hope that we can continue to support fund-raising and development schemes that will make a real difference to people at the grassroots – even more so with the collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar. I hope that we can continue to build our links with people working to combat the effects, both social and medical, of HIV/AIDS. I hope that we will continue, through organisations such as BaZiSAN, to support sustainable land-use in Zimbabwe, and build our contacts with those who care about how land is farmed as well as about how it is distributed. And I hope that we can also continue to sing, and dance, and learn from each other. I am very grateful to all members of the Executive Committee, and of the Society more broadly, for the contributions that have made over the past year. I look forward to working with the new Committee that emerges from this meeting, and hope that the Society will continue to provide a safe umbrella under which all friends of Zimbabwe may shelter.

Diana Jeater, November 2003.

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