Quiet Mountain Essays
Copyright©, 2005
A Witch Is An Old Woman:
An Analysis of the Plight of Older Women in Zimbabwe, Africa
by
Chipo Hungwe
Introduction
This paper is inspired by the original research that I carried out for my Masters’ thesis on elderly people in institutions.
The research was carried out in 2002 and coincided with the wave of violence and accusations of witchcraft on elderly
women. The wave disabled all the activities that these women wanted to carry out in the City of Harare (Zimbabwe),
particularly from September to December 2002, when “suspicious looking” old women were thoroughly beaten in the
streets. The interest in older women was, however, further rekindled in October 2003, when I was then carrying out
research on urban agriculture and food security in Gweru (the third largest city in Zimbabwe). This paper argues that
there is a deliberate discrimination of older women, who tend to get the label of witch, while their male counterparts in the
same age category are not stigmatized. It will be argued that such stigmatization is deeply rooted in our culture as
Zimbabweans, where we actually even have proverbs to support the distinction between older men and older women,
showing how older men have somehow earned more respect with age than older women.
When I first approached some males at Gweru Municipality and told them of my intention to study
urban agriculture, they quickly dismissed the area of study as a female domain that was not
scientific. One went on to argue that as part of the city administration they always had problems
with women who demand land, especially in late October (in the beginning of the rainy season). He
argued that sometimes they had no option but to give women land, since they feared that some of
these old women could bewitch them. He argued that one might wake up with his mouth joined
with the ear, this being the work of angry women who will not have been allocated land for farming
by the municipality. Though this might seem to be something to be dismissed and laughed at, it
shows the deep resentment and fear that some men have, and the discrimination that the general
society shows towards women, especially older ones.
This encounter reminded me of the spate of violence unleashed against women in Harare (capital
city) in October 2002, when unaccompanied women walking in the streets were at risk of being
beaten, sometimes to death, on accusations of being witches responsible for the deaths of children in
different families. A story that went around was that there were old women who went around
suburbs in Harare asking for water in some houses. Sometimes they asked for food. It was argued
that if an individual felt pity for these women and allowed them into his/her house for food and
water, their child or any member of the family would immediately die with the departure of the old
women. Though the accused women were never caught and the stories thus never supported by
evidence, this situation created untold suffering to old women. These women could no longer walk in
town alone for fear of being beaten up, mistaken for the old killers.
This situation could be viewed as an example of a deliberate effort by the younger generations to
tarnish the image of older women and to make life difficult for them. It was as if older women were
being punished for living that long and outliving the men. This is a typical example of elder abuse by
society, which Anetzberger (1987:05) defined as the maltreatment of older persons. It includes hitting
shoving and slapping, all of which can cause injury, and in some instances, even death to the victim.
Older women have always been accused of witchcraft, especially because of some features that they
tend to have because of aging. These include: red eyes; wrinkled faces; living alone; and maybe even
the keeping of pets such as cats, which are said to be animals used by a witch for witchcraft
purposes. The media is also to blame since it fuels and perpetuates untruths about women. Even
television programmes point to the fact that there is something wrong with older women. Taking
cartoons form the west for example, one will always get the sense that witchcraft is practised by old
women living alone, though there are fewer cases of wizards (old men living alone and said to be
practising witchcraft). Recently a local newspaper ran a story of a lonely woman who had 25 cats.
This was viewed to be a bizarre case that needed to be dealt with, the woman in question being
quizzed as to why she had so many pets. What is worse is that no one seems to appreciate the
loneliness of these women and their need for companionship be it human or animal. In any case,
young couples are not keen on having their children stay with their old grandmothers, thus leaving
many old women alone.
In Zimbabwean society there is a deliberate distinction between which gender gets attached the label
of witch. It seems to be only women who earn this title, while old men living alone are not ostracised.
Since women tend to outlive men in most cases, old women (at the ages of around 60-78) are usually
accused of having “killed” their husbands, and are deemed responsible for other subsequent deaths
within the family for as long as these women are alive.
For this paper's purposes, old women can be defined as those over the age of 60, using the United
Nations (UN) definition of aging. This was agreed upon at the world summit on aging in Vienna, in
1982. The age of 60, or 65, is roughly equivalent to the retirement age in most developed countries,
and is said to be the beginning of old age. In contrast to the chronological milestones which mark life
stages in the developed world (school age, working age and retirement age), old age in many
developing countries begins at the point when active contribution is no longer possible (Randel et al
1999: 06 in Hungwe 2003:11). Rwezaura (1989: 5 – 24) argues that whether we wish to define the
elderly as a non- active person who has attained retirement will depend upon the economic and social
organisation of that society. Mcveigh and Shostak (1978 in Ndlovu 1985: 07) argued that as we are
all socialised to use something and then discard it when it is used up, so it is with the elderly. Old
people are shelved or forgotten, or placed on the scrap heap (a term used for those in institutions).
Those who are not placed in institutions have to lead difficult existences alone, mainly in rural areas,
since their children or young relatives usually hate the idea of their staying with them in urban
centres. In Zimbabwe, the Older Persons Bill cites old age as starting at 60 (GoZ in Hungwe 2003):
Culturally there are stereotypes that come with aging. This is called ageism – a systematic
stereotyping and discrimination against the elderly because of their advanced age and physical
appearance (Green, 1978:129-146 in Hungwe 2003). The elderly are mostly regarded as
unproductive, dependent and passive. In terms of development, they have been viewed as irrelevant,
and worse, as a threat to prospects for increased prosperity. As a result, development policy in the
post World War II era has excluded and marginalised old people purely on the basis of age (Randel et
al 1999:04 in Hungwe 2003).
Traditionally in Zimbabwe, the elderly were viewed as closer to the spirits, the “vadzimu” (Hampson
1990:100). Therefore, their physical deterioration was a matter not of concern since it did not lessen
the respect accorded to them. Hampson (1990:100) further highlights that the Shona used the
proverb “Chembere ndeyembwa, yomurume ndibaba vavana”, which means that an elderly man
should be treated with respect because he is the source of the generation. This is where the gender
differentiation comes in since it is only men that tend to earn respect with aging, rather than females.
The attitudes for females reflect a near hatred of the elderly (now viewed as economic liabilities) and a
phobia of growing old. Thus, cases of old women who have become destitute or have had their rights
denied have increasingly become the norm. It is not surprising that it is often old women who are
labelled as witches and therefore ill -treated, thus raising concern that the elderly might be victims of
elder abuse
In conclusion, elder abuse and discrimination has a gendered dimension which disadvantages old
women, who seem to be punished for having a longer lifespan than males. More females have been
victimised on the streets as witches and have been picked in rural areas by diviners or spiritual
cleansers, as being the source of troubles, family woes and misfortunes within these families and rural
communities. Though it cannot be denied that older men are also abused, it is to a larger extent the
older women who suffer the wrath of frustrated younger generations in both rural areas and cities. In
a country and a world that professes human rights and respect of human dignity, such maltreatment
of the elderly should be condemned in the strongest terms, and action taken to address and punish
those who commit violence against older women.
Works Cited
Anetzberger,G. T.;1987. The Etiology of Elder Abuse by Adult Offspring . Illinois: Charles Thomas
Publishers
Hampson, J.; 1982. Old age: A study of Ageing in Zimbabwe Gweru .Mambo Press
__________ 1990 “Marginalisation and rural elderly: A Shona Case Study” in Journal of Social
Development in Africa; Vol. 5, #2.
Hungwe, C.; 2003. “Liberty or Incarceration: A study of the Lives of Elderly People in an Old
People’s Home”; unpublished Masters’ Thesis submitted to the Department of Sociology, University
of Zimbabwe.
Ndlovu, P. 1985. “Attitudes of Elderly Africans Towards Residential Care: A Comparative Study of
Residents of Entembeni – Old People’s Home and Mthandizi Half -Way Home in Bulawayo";
unpublished dissertation for the Bachelor of Social Work degree, Sociology Development, UZ
Contributor's Notes...
I am a lecturer in Human Resource Management at the Midlands State University in Gweru
(Zimbabwe, Africa). I have a Masters in Sociology and Social Anthropology from the University of
Zimbabwe. I have written on food security and also ageing. I am 25 years old, and I just got
married four months ago.
