Little has changed one year after Zimbabwe earned itself a place on a list of the world’s worst places to be a journalist, published by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Another of the country’s few independent publications, The Weekly Times, was forced to close shop earlier this year, after having its licence withdrawn by the state.
On the face of it, the new broadcasting regulations issued last month in Zimbabwe were groundbreaking. For the first time in the history of Zimbabwean elections, the opposition would be allocated time on state-owned radio and television in the run-up to the poll, scheduled for March 31. Some welcomed this as a step towards leveling the country’s uneven electoral playing field. Others say they’re simply cosmetic.
Thomas is hunched over a car engine, busily dismantling it, his hands covered in grime. He seems so adept that a casual observer might mistake him for a veteran mechanic. But nothing could be further from the truth. Now 21, he has been serving as an apprentice mechanic for a mere six months. For two-and-a-half years before that, he was part of the legion of children living on the streets of Zimbabwe’s urban centres.