Zimbabwe`s Future in the Balance

The briefing examines the political deadlock in Zimbabwe after the March 2008 elections, where the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) withheld presidential results despite parliamentary and senatorial outcomes indicating a deeply polarised society. The authors argue that the country is caught between two narratives: one of regime security and sovereignty championed by ZANU-PF, and another of good governance and human security advocated by the MDC and civil society. The document details a severe economic collapse characterized by inflation exceeding 100,000 percent and widespread shortages. It outlines five possible scenarios—a run-off, Mugabe's concession via a transitional government, a state of emergency clamp-down, an outright Tsvangirai victory, or a Mugabe victory—and concludes that stability requires political compromise and maturity over 'winner takes all' politics.

• The 29 March 2008 harmonised elections revealed a society that is politically split, with divisions centering on two opposing narratives: ZANU-PF's focus on "sovereignty, land and empowerment" and the opposition's emphasis on "good governance, democratisation and human security".
• Zimbabwe has experienced a severe economic meltdown resulting from poor policies, marked by unemployment, food and water shortages, a mass exodus of citizens, and inflation rates surpassing 100,000 percent.
• The Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) has withheld presidential results, leading to suspicions that ZANU-PF is manipulating the outcome and that the ZEC is acting under the influence of government handlers.
• The international community is viewed as ill-equipped to handle the crisis, with its peace and security architectures failing to effectively address the intransigence of the Zimbabwean leadership.

APA

Hendricks, C., & Maroleng, C. (2008). Zimbabwe`s Future in the Balance. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/zimbabwes-future-in-the-balance

Chicago

Hendricks, Cheryl, and Chris Maroleng. Zimbabwe`s Future in the Balance. Institute for Security Studies, 2008. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/zimbabwes-future-in-the-balance.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hendricks |first1=Cheryl |last2=Maroleng |first2=Chris |title=Zimbabwe`s Future in the Balance |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=9 April 2008 |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/zimbabwes-future-in-the-balance |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hendricks2008zimbabwes, author = {Hendricks, Cheryl and Maroleng, Chris}, title = {{Zimbabwe`s Future in the Balance}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2008}, month = apr, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/zimbabwes-future-in-the-balance}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }