HEAL ZIMBABWE - BASELINE STUDY REPORT very central. Such resources have connections with livelihoods and womanhood.”63 As such, justice to some people means compensation or getting back what they lost as opposed to obtaining a ruling against a perpetrator in a court of law. Justice could also mean restoration of livelihoods, relocation and material benefits, emotional healing and accountability of the past violations in various forms.64 There was also recognition that certain violations are difficult to ensure justice for as they can cause re-victimisation and may bring shame to the victims. For example, “rape victims may find it hard to open up because they could feel ashamed of themselves as it is a taboo to speak out about being raped, they could lose their marriages or experience emotional harm from relived memories. Therefore, people need to experience justice in practice and also seeing the benefits of justice without revictimisation or else they resort to alternative justice ways such as witchcraft.”65 Witchcraft as a form of justice refers to the use of avenging spirits to demand accountability and reparation. This is a retributive approach which implies that if peaceful mechanisms for justice are not dispensed in time. Witchcraft is an unorthodox African traditional practice of cursing others resulting from hate, frustration or anger. For example, a political activist, Kennedy Chokuda, was killed in Gokwe and his spirit was reportedly tormenting the murderers until they acknowledged their crime and paid reparations. Most notable in the case is that the murdered victim’s body could not be buried for two years and seven months until the reparations were paid. The father of one of the murderers paid 35 head of cattle and US$15 000 to the Chokuda family.66 In addition, some respondents suggested that the space for justice is not yet available given the doubtful justice delivery system, unrepentant media and political players who remain conservative and less tolerant. A former Councillor interviewed in Mutoko District said “justice can only be delivered in an environment where there is respect for each other and where one can air out grievances”67 yet in the current system the space is not there. To show doubt in the judicial system and lack of remorse on the part of the state and the perpetrators of violence, one respondent said: There is no space for justice yet, the judiciary has commissions to deliver justice but there is a clique who operates in a mafia style, so justice will be delayed for some time, there are too many extra-legal arrests and trumped up charges. There will be no justice until the state apparatus is cleaned up. These include state pillars; state security, media, treasury, executive and parastatals. Oppressive systems are usually hard to dismantle and unseat. For NAVUZ intelligence personnel were even planted into our structures (with officers masquerading as fake vendors and eating taxpayers’ money)68 In view of the above response, it is important to consider that while justice has the potential to be delivered, there are many people who also believe that justice cannot exist in the current political system because of corruption, partisan bureaucrats and state-party conflation challenges. As such, there is need to build trust among the victims and perpetrators so that the effectiveness and legitimacy of the Peace and Reconciliation Commission will not be doubted. Personal interview with a male victim of violence in Muzarabani on the 5th of July 2016. See Guthrey, H. L. (2016). Expectations and promises in the quest for truth: Examining victims’ perceptions of truth commission participation in Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 22(4), 306-317 65 Personal interview with a female civic society leader from the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe in Bindura on the 14th of June 2016 66 Benyera, E. (2015). Debating the efficacy transitional justice mechanisms: the case of national healing in Zimbabwe 1880 -2011. Doctoral Thesis: UNISA 67 Personal interview with a ZANU PF former council chairperson in Mutoko on the 21st of February 2016 68 Personal interview with a Vendors’ Union of Zimbabwe activist and social change leader in Harare on the 11th of April 2017 63 64 37