Chipfumbi (also referred to as Chibvumbi or Vhambvumbi) is a blended dialect and ethnolinguistic group in southern Zimbabwe. It is a unique linguistic blend of Karanga (a Shona dialect), Venda, and occasionally Kalanga or Shangani/Tsonga, spoken primarily by the Pfumbi and Nyubi peoples.
They Said There Was No Room. Look at the Room Now.
The highest court in the land now has a woman at its head.
On 15 May 2026, Justice Elizabeth Chiedza Gwaunza was appointed Zimbabwe’s first female Chief Justice , 46 years after independence, succeeding Chief Justice Luke Malaba. She didn’t arrive suddenly. She was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1987, became a High Court judge in 1998, elevated to the Supreme Court in 2002 and has been quietly, methodically, brilliantly building to this moment her entire career. She was one of the first two black female law graduates in Zimbabwe.
Let that land for a moment!
And she is not alone.
Look at the architecture of Zimbabwe’s legal system right now. The Chief Justice — a woman. The Judge President of the High Court — Justice Mary Zimba Dube, a woman. The Permanent Secretary for Justice — Vimbai Nyemba, a woman. The Attorney General — Virginia Mabiza, the first woman ever to hold that office. The Prosecutor General — Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, also the first woman to hold that position. The Chief Magistrate — Vongai Guwuriro, a woman. The Head of Sheriff Services — Gamuchirai Siwardi, a woman.✨
This is not coincidence. This is a generation of women who refused to be exceptions and became the standard.
We are not talking about tokens or firsts for the sake of optics. We are watching the very framework of justice in this country — how it is made, interpreted, prosecuted, administered, and led — shaped by women who earned every single room they walked into.
I don’t take this lightly. I take it personally.
At Women in Law Connect, we built a platform rooted in the belief that women in the legal profession deserve to be seen, celebrated, and connected , not after they retire, not in footnotes, but now, while they are doing the work. And we have been doing exactly that for a long time.
Back in 2018, we had the honour of inviting Justice Gwaunza to be our keynote speaker at our WILC Women’s Day commemorations — to stand before the legal profession and share her story, her journey, her truth. She showed up fully, as she always has. So when I say we celebrate her today, know that this is not a stranger’s applause. This is a community that saw her, honoured her, and always knew this moment was coming. She has truly earned her place ! Every step, every year, every first. And we celebrate with her, wholeheartedly.
Moments like this are exactly why Women in Law Connect exists. So that a young woman watching from the gallery doesn’t just admire this history — she sees herself in it.
Because that is what this means for the girl child. For the young lawyer starting out, wondering if the profession has room for her — the answer is now written across every senior office in Zimbabwe’s legal landscape, with a woman’s name on the door.
Courts do not merely interpret law. They shape culture. They signal what a society values. And Zimbabwe’s legal system, right now, is signalling something undeniable.
We are witnessing this in our lifetime. Not reading about it in history books. Living it!
To Chief Justice Gwaunza and to every woman holding the line at every level of the justice system, congratulations! You didn’t just break glass ceilings. You showed the girl child that the ceiling was never hers to accept.Thank you.May God grant you the wisdom to lead. Wishing you a successful and impactful tenure. 🙏🏾
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” — Michelle Obama
Brenda Matanga
IP Attorney | GirlBoss Inc. CEO | Women In Law Connect ExCo Member
Proudly celebrating Zimbabwe’s women in law! 🇿🇼⚖️
📸 Image Credits:
The Daily Star (Image 1) | BMatanga IP Attorneys (Image 4)
Zimbabwe’s biggest funeral assurance group, Nyaradzo, has bought the Glen Forest cemetery, which will now be called the Sahwira Glen Forest Memorial Park.
The Nyaradzo Group was founded by Zimbabwean serial entrepreneur Philip Mataranyika.
The new Sahwira Glen Forest Memorial Park is being designed as far more than just a cemetery. The plans show a major transformation into a modern memorial estate with luxury-style gated entrances, landscaped gardens, a full crematorium, a large contemporary chapel complex and even a restaurant and bar overlooking water features and green spaces.
Nyaradzo said it will create a peaceful, dignified environment where families can gather, remember loved ones and spend time together, rather than simply visiting a traditional burial ground.
The architectural designs show that Nyaradzo wants to introduce a completely new standard for memorial parks in Zimbabwe, combining remembrance, hospitality, ceremony and modern infrastructure in one integrated space.
The development also includes the construction of new paved internal roads, landscaped driveways, modern parking areas, pedestrian walkways and controlled access infrastructure designed to improve accessibility and the overall visitor experience, alongside water features and carefully planned green spaces aimed at creating a peaceful and organised memorial environment.
It gives me great pleasure to see Zimbabweans building companies from scratch, which is exactly what Philip Mataranyika did, turning Nyaradzo into an international company operating across different countries.
More often than not, we do not celebrate each other enough, yet every Zimbabwean should be proud to see companies like Nyaradzo achieving things like this. Congratulations to the Nyaradzo Group, and I wish you even more success in the future.
Mataranyika has shown that black businessmen can create generational businesses capable of outliving their founders, something Zimbabwe desperately needs if it is to become a true economic success story. Building institutions that survive beyond individuals is how strong economies are created. Well done, Nyathi.
@advocatemahere 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣While arguing my defence, my late Mum would say: 'Unoda kuzviita sorusta! '
It was only many years later that I discovered she meant I was trying to be a solicitor!
And it was prophetic.😅
Congratulations to Zimbabwean author Sue Nyathi. It is always a great joy to read about compatriots doing great things. This is indeed a major milestone that serves as an inspiration to young people, and particularly female authors.
It shows that the world is full of opportunities that can be seized through hard work, discipline and focus. Zimbabwe continues to produce remarkable talent that is making an impact on the global stage.
Professor Reginald Austin was a cutting edge legal academic. Very fair-minded, inquisitive & humble, he was a distinguished legal scholar who was Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Zimbabwe for many years. Indeed, he played a crucial & decisive role in the transformation of the Law Faculty at UZ to have it harmonise with the thrust of an independent & democratic Zimbabwe. His knowledge of the law was outstanding & he distinguished himself in the various international assignments that he was appointed to handle by the United Nations.
Prof. Austin taught us public international law at the Law Faculty & he groomed us to appreciate the role & importance of the respect for & observance of fundamental human rights in a democratising society. He was a freedom fighter in his own right & he was part of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) legal team at the Lancaster House conference in 1979. I would like to extend my deepest condolences to Prof.Reg Austin's family, to the legal fraternity & to the whole of Zimbabwe. We have lost a gallant, erudite & peace-loving patriot & legal scholar.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Appeal.
Lost my wallet containing Zimbabwe ID, UK Driver's license, Bank cards , Santander,Revolut, Starling on Friday evening.
I probably dropped it on Hardy Close Vainona, Harare when I jumped out of tgd car to take over the driver's seat after the journey from Njanja
Please DM if found .
Joseph Hussein is the name on the Zim ID and UK DL.
Thank you.
When I was wild and roaming the streets of Soweto and sometimes Lusikisiki.
When the only hairstyle for a kid was short hair and I loved playing boy games and hurting myself. Back when my only real fear in this world was my mother and the dark! When my cousins and I would eat from the same bowl and words like graips and niks mapha were the order of the day. In the days of “after school is after school.” Where we would get so dirty after a while of refusing to wash that our aunts get the sack of oranges or cabbages and scrub us from top to bottom! Nelitye😂. Back when we used to wash endishini and watch our big sisters bephafa ngeponds. Ah to be a child.
Michael Jackson had to cut a deal with a drug lord to film this video. The Brazilian government tried to block the shoot. A judge banned the filming. The police refused to enter the area.
Rio was bidding to host the 2004 Olympics and didn't want the world seeing footage of its poorest neighborhoods. So Spike Lee walked into the favela (Rio's version of a hillside slum) and found the local crime boss. His name was Marcinho VP. He ran one of the city's biggest gangs, Comando Vermelho. He also happened to be a huge Jackson fan, and he provided the whole production with security for free.
A higher court eventually overturned the ban. The police still wouldn't go in. So 1,500 police officers and 50 residents acting as security guards sealed off the favela. Jackson arrived by helicopter. He walked the streets handing out candy to the kids. The people who lived there had woken up early that morning to sweep the streets and take out the trash before he got there.
Mid-shoot, two women burst through security. One knocked Jackson flat. Spike Lee helped him up and he kept dancing. That exact take is in the final video.
For the Salvador half of the shoot, he worked with 200 drummers from a local group called Olodum. The media coverage put them on the map in 140 countries. They'd been a regional act before the shoot. They became a global one after.
Over 200 million people watched the premiere around the world. The song itself peaked at #30 in America. In Germany it went to #1 and stayed on the chart for 30 weeks, the longest run of any Jackson song there. The video crossed 1 billion views on YouTube in 2023. Only one other Jackson video has done that: Billie Jean. He's the first solo male singer from the 1900s with two videos over a billion.
The day after Jackson died in 2009, Rio's mayor announced they'd put a statue of him in the same favela where the video was shot. Locals said the turnaround of their neighborhood started with his visit.
@daddyhope The reckless driving that I witnessed repeatedly on the Masvingo-Harare highway is scary. The worst offenders are GD6 and Ford Ranger drivers. Twice I was overtaking and a driver also decided to overtake me driving on the right side yellow lane.
Denialists try to use Breaking the Silence Report (BTSR) to minimize the # of Gukurahundi deaths. I was a jnr researcher in BTSR. It doesn't help perpetrators. It covered 2/14 districts.+2K killed in 1st 2 weeks in 1983 in Tsholotsho. So up to 1987 non-stop?How many? Do the math!