Abstract:
Th e paper discusses the socio-economic and religious impact of Operation Murambatsvina on
Johane Marange Apostolic Church in Masvingo, a city and Zvishavane, a mining town. It adopts
a comparative approach in order to demonstrate the extent to which this phenomenon impacted
on the religious and socio-economic activities of this movement in the two urban centres. While
the majority of the church members were negatively affected, there are some who unintentionally
benefited from this operation. Th e church was threatened numerically and theologically as
some members were forced to translocate to rural areas. It is argued that in spite of the continued
disruptions by the government and municipal authorities, the Vapositori of Marange continue
to operate their informal business and missionary activities without necessarily compromising
their traditions. Th e paper uses the ‘hawks and doves’ metaphor to demonstrate the relationship
between the marauding government and municipal police and the vulnerable Vapositori during
and in the post-Murambatsvina era.
