violent clashes between members of an apostolic sect and Zimbabwe police officers. This and other examples will be used to demonstrate the administration of censorship of freedom of expression and by extension, artistic freedom in Zimbabwe. 1.2 Brief history of censorship in Zimbabwe It is on record that the control of publications made its first entry onto the statute books of the then Southern Rhodesia in January 1912 through the Obscene Publications Ordinance, 1911.11 However, the scope of statutory control was confined to ‘indecent or obscene’ publications. The regulation of the visual arts or media was then introduced later the same year, in the form of Cinematograph Ordinance, 1912.12 The primary focus of this enactment was the physical safety of the premises used for exhibitions rather than the morality of the viewing from the perspective of the public profile of the time. Then came the Entertainments Control and Censorship Act, 1932,13 which had its scope expanded to cover performances in theatres and public entertainments. This Act for the first time established the Board of Censors whose functions at that time were confined to the scrutiny of films and film advertisements. In 1967 the legislation was amalgamated in the Censorship and Entertainments Control Act, 1967. This is the current form of the Act with a number of amendments since the time it came into force.14 The provisions of the Censorship Act have not improved much since 1967. Over that period, Patel argues that the majority of articles censored fell victim to the morality and political theories cited above.15 Many of the movies and literature that addressed sex, interracial sexual relations or marriages and homosexuality were specifically targeted after being considered undesirable to the general public. Ordinance No. 14 of 1911. Ordinance No. 5 of 1912. 13 Act No. 6 of 1932. 14 See generally B Patel, ‘Freedom of literary expression and censorship in Zimbabwe’ (1997) Vol 1 No. XXIV 51. 15 Patel, p65-67. 11 12 16 | P a g e