men are against the idea which is influenced by the societal structures and the norm of the African culture16 which restricts the woman to the home. Social relationships Table 7: Social Relationships, Mean scores.17 Males Females People get along 3.5 3.6 Positive attitude by other residents 3.4 3.4 Befriend people from other wards 4.4 3.7 Cannot befriend people with less money 2.2 2.5 Accept others regardless of political party 4.1 3.1 In spite of political differences and violence that takes place especially during elections, the communities generally get along and willing to make new relationships. Even with regards to accepting people with different political persuasions, the male responses were high (4) though there is some scepticism when it comes to female respondents (3). One explanation could be that residents both rural and urban tolerate each other for the sake of personal and family safety. Added to this, could be that the frequent reports of the violence that takes place in the community is not perpetrated by people from those specific communities but by people from other distant communities.18 Also some traditional leaders were accused of aiding the violence. With the dearth of the middle-class in Zimbabwe as a result of increased levels of unemployment, it is interesting that the class issue emerges as a factor that does not affect relationships within communities. Both men and women respondents said it is not a factor (2.2 & 2.5 respectively). This question was deliberately asked to ascertain what role financial affluence plays in directing relationships. A pilot study carried out in Murewa showed that there is a linkage between participation in politics and employment levels especially amongst young people19. The tendency is that affluent people form their own groups, and there is evidence that there is a communion amongst people from different wards because they share common problems like water, and unemployment, amongst so many community problems. These problems are cross cutting and affect even supporters of the ruling party. This may also explain why there is acceptance of people from different parties and from other wards. Common problems bring fighting groups together to find the solution even though the solution is fighting the very same people that the other parties supported before. 16 World Bank report ibid Males had significantly higher levels of social engagement in their neighbourhoods than females (See Table 2). 18 The case of 2008 elections people talked about youth militia from the Border Gezi training camps being deployed in areas they were not known so that they could carry out their tasks without fear of being identified. 19 M. Oosterom et al - The Violent Politics of Informal Work and How Young People Navigate Them: A Conceptual Framework 17 12