demand accountability from the government and that real power lay in the Executive rather than local government which. The Executive pushed forward with political move and masked it as a civil issue where the government was concerned with the cleanliness of towns and cities. The poor were greatly affected and these were the majority that identified with the opposition’s worker-centred ideology. The operation pained a lot of people and according to some views this had an effect in the 2008 presidential elections where many demonstrated their anger towards the government by voting for the opposition. The smashing of people’s houses and shacks literally destroyed communities and networks of support for the members of those communities. OM also destroyed many urban dwellers’ basic social capital and effectively annihilated urban groups’ activism capacities. The affected people were left with scars and due to the relocation to rural areas. Many also lost their sources of livelihood. According to some respondents, the operation was carried with such irresistible brute force that was supported by ad-hoc government policy hence the resentment of the government and local clashes between residents and local council personnel who participated in the destruction of houses that were deemed illegal under the operation. The violent and sudden manner in which the operation was conducted induced so much fear and trauma among the people who suddenly found themselves homeless hence the massive risk aversion among urban dwellers. According to some respondents, people tend to “give so much credit to this Operation Murambatsvina [yet], there were other events that influenced the 2008 elections. Even the land reform contributed to 2008”. According to this school of thought, risk aversion is seasonal because of the seasonality of political events such as OM, the land reform exercise and the 2008 elections were all seasonal events that brought with them political tensions in different locations throughout Zimbabwe for example in during the 2008 election period in Mashonaland provinces there was intense political violence, yet in Matabeleland people were walking completely free. Thus, the effects of Operation Murambatsvina should not be emphasised. Participants found it problematic that the risk aversion trends from the index around 2005 and 2006 were assumed to be explicable in terms of the effects of Operation Murambatsvina. As argued by some participants, risk has to do with the potentiality of negative effects and people’s analyses of “what is in it for me before I participate”. Thus, the operation had massive effects, but care should be exercised in attributing cause and effect between the operation and risk aversion. More still needs to be established regarding local responses to OM and local capacities to deal with other threats to individual and collective freedoms and security. 5.6 Education, employment and risk aversion Some discussants concurred with the hypothesis that education and employment were central mediating factors for risk aversion. According to discussants educated people are less likely to engage in risk taking behaviour. For some, the educated and employed aged 18 and above are actually much less inclined to join demonstrations, protests which will lead to stone throwing and being chased around by the baton-wielding police. This category of people would be more concerned with getting a job, securing that employment and would be less willing to be arrested and jailed for causing public disorder and the criminal record will have long term repercussions with one’s career. Some participants retorted that some supposedly “employed” people were actually unemployed because of the low salaries and conditions of employment hence, such people would also be likely to take risks. They pointed out that between 2014 and 2016 the unemployed were risk takers. Relative to other time periods covered by the study, unemployment was at its highest during this period and risk taking increased massively in that same period. Resultantly, there would be a need in future to cater 17