Witchraft and Social Life in Zimbabwe: Documenting the Evidence

This concept paper examines and documents the evidence of witchcraft and social life in Zimbabwe. The information contained in this article was largely derived from literature. However, oral data also formed part of the information used in this article. This paper reveals that beliefs in witchcraft are deeply rooted in Zimbabwe. The paper also reveals that in Zimbabwe, witchcraft is associated with power/politics, economic activities and sexuality. The paper concludes that since witchcraft, as an occult practice, is by nature secretive, it is difficult to substantiate empirically in most cases. For this reason, witchcraft beliefs are usually expressed in rumors and allusions. The paper calls for systematic, empirical and grounded studies on occult as it interacts with politics, economics and sexuality to get a better understanding of the phenomenon.