Abstract
This chapter examines the mediation of the post-Mugabe Zimbabwean crisis through satirical parody videos circulated on Magamba TV, a YouTube-based platform. This chapter shows how political satire is used to show that “New Dispensation” of Emmerson Mnangagwa has failed to deal with the multiplicity of problems bedevilling the country. The proliferation of political satire in the “New Dispensation”, we argue, is not a sign of the opening up of democratic space in Zimbabwe but rather a growing propensity to keep the government in check. In this way, political satire has a subversive function as well as acting as a “social barometer/moral watchdog”. Drawing on Scott’s theory of the “weapons of the weak” and Downing’s postulations on “radical alternative media”, we show that political satire allows for an interrogation of the new ruling elite in Zimbabwe. Using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, we show how alternative media, as embodied by Magamba TV, represent a multiplicity of discourses whose themes are primarily intended to satirise and question the government and public officials in Zimbabwe.
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Notes
- 1.
This was a military operation that triggered the fall of Zimbabwe’s sole ruler from Independence, Robert Mugabe. It has been widely referred to as a coup de tat. The operation, also targeted G-40 faction members such Jonathan Moyo, Kudzayi Chipanga, Ignatious Chombo, Saviour Kasukuwere who were either tortured, arrested or whose families where harassed.
- 2.
The August 1 shootings were a result of MDC-Alliance supporters demanding Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release results of the 2018 elections. Disgruntled supporters took to the streets and six were shot dead by Zimbabwe National Army personnel, while dozens were injured.
- 3.
The January fuel protests were triggered by fuel hikes by the Emmerson Mnangagwa-led government. Fuel hikes were coupled with already deteriorating socio-economic and socio-political conditions. The results were protests and looting that lasted for three days. Government responded by blocking the internet and unleashing the army and police in the streets to silence the dissent.
- 4.
Mduduzi Mathuthu, together with Hopewell Chin’ono, played a major role in exposing corruption of Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Obadiah Moyo, in what became known as the Covigate scandal. Because he went against the grain and exposed other corruption scandals, Hopewell was incarcerated while Mathuthu went into hiding, fearing for his life. The state, using what has become known as the “ferrets”—a team allegedly responsible for abductions in Zimbabwe, reacted by abducting Tawanda Muchehiwa and Mathuthu’s two nephews.
- 5.
Mnangagwa earned this nickname during Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle when he was a member of the so-called crocodile gang, which was famous for bombing petrol tanks in the industrial area of Southerton in Salisbury (now Harare). Some also say he earned the title from his shrewd tactics, which were similar to those of a crocodile, in outmanoeuvring opponents (see Ncube, 2020, p. 342).
- 6.
- 7.
The Munhumutapa offices are in Harare and mostly house Ministerial offices.
- 8.
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Msimanga, M.J., Ncube, G., Mkwananzi, P. (2021). Political Satire and the Mediation of the Zimbabwean Crisis in the Era of the “New Dispensation”: The Case of MAGAMBA TV. In: Mpofu, S. (eds) The Politics of Laughter in the Social Media Age. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81969-9_3
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