residents would be likely to dismiss the possibility of a separate state as impractical and undesirable, this is not to deny that there remains in the city, a strong sense of alienation from the nation and a resentment of the centrality of political power in Harare under the current governance system. During the COPAC outreach, there were strong calls from this region for devolution of political power in a new constitution, to allow people a greater sense of control of their own destinies and a more significant decision‐making capacity in the national body politic. Matabeleland is possibly the most highly contested region in Zimbabwe politically, with four very active political parties – MDC, MDC‐T, ZANU PF and ZAPU.37 All of the three parties that are signatory to the GPA have parliamentary seats in Matabeleland and will seek to retain support in this area in the year ahead: the issue of Bulawayo’s deindustrialization has become a strategic political issue in the last year, with all the political parties competing to set up committees to investigate and lobby around the issue.38 It is to be hoped that this will ultimately be positive for the city as a whole, and that initiatives will not fall victim to political jostling and one‐upmanship. 4. DIMAF In acknowledgement that Bulawayo faces unique challenges, a task force of seven Cabinet members under the chairmanship of the Minister of Trade and Industry, was set up at the beginning of 2011, and has identified various ways to stimulate a revival of industry in the city. A Distressed and Marginalised Areas Fund (DIMAF) has been established, and $40 million was awarded to Bulawayo industries in October. This is intended to allow at least 17 key industries to recapitalize, replacing outdated equipment so that they can competitively re‐enter the market and create employment.39 By late October, it was agreed that a transparent committee should be appointed with representatives from ten established business networks in Bulawayo to guide the disbursement of the money: the fund is clearly going to be oversubscribed and controversial. In keeping with the wide‐spread fear that people from outside the region usually benefit ahead of those from Bulawayo, key official in this process, Ruth Labode from Bulawayo announced: “We are guarding the $40 million jealously because we are aware that there are Harare companies and greedy businessmen who are targeting the fund…” On 27th Welshman Ncube, Minister of Industry and Commerce reported back to Bulawayo business people that the following recommendations had been made to Cabinet and were being pursued:40 phenomenon – the separation of South Sudan has added some impetus to the movement, but as mentioned, it remains a fringe movement. 37 While all of these parties would claim to be national and not regional, MDC won parliamentary seats only in Matabeleland, and clearly has a predominant support base there, while ZAPU also arguably has a predominantly Matabeleland support base, the extent of which is not clear as it has not so far contested for an elected post. However, all four of these parties are visible on the ground in Bulawayo and in rural Matabeleland. 38 A quick perusal of Bulawayo papers including The Chronicle and the News Day (Southern Edition) since June 2011 reveals at least 60 articles on the topic of Bulawayo’s marginalization and /or deindustrialization, or several such articles every week. 39 B Chitemba: ‘Byo revolving fund under scrutiny”, Zimbabwe Independent, 14‐20 Oct 2011. 40 This summary is courtesy of ABUZ, who attended the meeting. 19