In Matabeleland, a growing chorus of voices is warning against the cultural disintegration and societal decay fuelled by illicit alcohol, commonly known as injengu.
Activists argue that injengu is not just an epidemic of substance abuse but also a deliberate weapon undermining the region’s future, leaving young people perpetually intoxicated, jobless, and detached from their heritage.
The concerns were raised during a recent memorial lecture on Jini Ntutha in Bulawayo where activists painted a grim picture of a region grappling with the erosion of traditional values and the devastating impact of injengu on families, leadership, and youth prospects.
These concerns also align with a recent Afrobarometer survey published in November 2024 that stated 79 percent of Zimbabweans report drug and substance abuse is widespread in their communities and is seen as “a far reaching problem that increases with lived poverty ranging from 76 percent among the better off to 82 percent among the poor.”
A female activist, Patricia Tshabalala, highlighted how the prevalence of injengu is undermining the social fabric, resulting in disrespect for elders, loss of traditional leadership and a bleak future for the youth.
“Our children don’t have respect anymore, they insult us as elders. If they refuse to listen to us, where will they find guidance?” she asked.
Tshabalala claimed this substance is a calculated plot to destroy young people so that they fail to procreate, leaving a declining nation in its wake.
“Injengu is meant to destroy young people so that they don’t procreate but get drunk, when they are drunk all one can do is get home and sleep, and no child bearing is done,” she said.
“Does it not pain you to see our children drowning in injengu, failing to bear children when they are drunk. Some will not be lucky to have grandchildren like us because of injengu, our nation is declining, there is no more nation.”
A youth activist, Blessed Yengwayo Nkomo, linked the disintegration of cultural values to a broader national crisis of unemployment and hopelessness.
He argued the absence of cultural grounding has left young people vulnerable to substance abuse and exploitation.
“Culture has been destroyed to destroy the nation. The state uses fear to oppress people, and that fear has thrived, leading to information control. Families, which are the foundation of culture, are no longer molded because information is kept in the pockets of a few,” Nkomo said.
He added that young people, burdened by unemployment and despair, turn to injengu to drown their stress.
“The youth own nothing in this country, there are no jobs. If culture were still central to our lives, it would guide us. But now, we are a dead nation with no jobs and no direction,” he said.
Veteran activist, Paul Themba Nyathi, shared his firsthand observations of the injengu trade during a trip to his rural home in Enyandeni.
He described how vans loaded with thousands of bottles of illicit alcohol traverse remote areas, selling the substance to unsuspecting locals.
“I met a van carrying a heavy load of sacks on a strip road. After I asked what the driver was carrying, he said he was transporting beer and was from Chipinge. It must have been about 5 000 bottles,” Nyathi claimed.
“When I asked where he had been selling these, another passenger, I thought a tout for the product who was a local person and who I assumed was directing this driver, showing them around, attempted to control the discussion.”
Nyathi lamented how now beer is easily sold by anyone including informal vendors who sit by the roadside under trees.
“This practice was unheard of before. Alcohol used to be sold by licensed vendors, but now it’s sold by (vendors) selling vegetables, – dollar for two, destroying our children and leaving them dead.”
Linking Nyathi’s sentiments to the recent Afrobarometer survey, it was noted that Zimbabweans said the most effective strategy for reducing drug and substance usage is “arresting and imposing severe penalties on drug users or offenders.”
Nyathi went on to link the injengu trade to unresolved historical grievances, particularly the Gukurahundi massacres of the 1980s.
He suggested that the proliferation of injengu in Matabeleland might be a continuation of attempts to undermine the region’s people.
“Why should someone drive from Chipinge to sell a product that is killing our children in this region? Until Gukurahundi is resolved, such mistrust will persist,” Nyathi said.
“We can’t build a nation when suspicion remains. Trust must be restored, and these issues must be addressed.”
These activists also pointed to systemic failures that exacerbate Matabeleland’s woes, as Nyathi criticised government inefficiency and corruption, saying these perpetuate inequality and neglect.
“In one country, you see someone with a US$36 000 car in Enyandeni who can’t spare US$500 to drill a borehole or US$250 to replace a dead part. Meanwhile, our children walk nine kilometers to school, and hospitals lack medicine,” he said.
Nyathi urged communities to hold leaders accountable and push for equitable resource distribution.
“We need to sit down as people and tell our rulers that we are building this country. We need their help and attention. Listen to us,” he implored.
Like the activists, cultural advocates and government officials agree that addressing this growing crisis requires a multi-pronged approach rooted in cultural revival, robust governance, policy interventions and community empowerment to guide the youth.
Professor Solwayo Ngwenya, Clinical Director at Mpilo Central Hospital and a cultural advocate, attributes much of the problem to the erosion of traditional African family structures.
“I am very worried about the erosion of African cultures as the African family structure is destroyed. First it destroyed one of our cornerstones, which was polygamy and then destroyed single families where man had one wife, now single parents have been destroyed. Instead of forming a formidable nation based on strong family values, we are now descending into a single parenthood,” he said, attributing this breakdown as the one “causing the current problems seen in society.”
He noted the disintegration of strong familial and clan-based systems has left many young people without role models or guidance, making them vulnerable to substance abuse.
“This society now has no rules, parents are not allowed to discipline their children or bring them up in their own image and cultures. That’s where the root cause is. Laws have limited and are destroying the fabric of society which is the family or strong clan,” said Prof. Ngwenya.
He highlighted the need to restore cultural practices and family values, citing the success of Asian countries like India and China, which have preserved their cultural identity and flourished economically and socially.
“ If you destroy that family or clan then in 50 years time, you will not be able to find any person identifying with culture, everyone will be identifying with a foreign culture. It’s very sad for Africans after undergoing slavery and colonialism for more than 400 years that they abandon their own cultures,” he said.
“People in India and China never left their cultures. They are still holding on to their culture because that’s dear to them and those nations are very strong nations; they are one of the best performing countries in the world, their population is bludgeoning, they have economic bloom and their people are generally happy to stick to their culture. But the African quickly forgets their culture, changes and clutches on what is brought to them. This is what is particularly sad about modern culture.”
Prof Ngwenya lamented how children are now “left in the mercy of having to take these drugs and injengu because to them they have nothing to turn to and don’t have any determination to say ‘I want to grow up to be like so and so…’”
As a solution, Prof Ngwenya said the government must repeal laws that prevent parents and teachers from instilling discipline.
“At home parents can’t discipline children, at school teachers can’t discipline then this child does whatever they want at any time. It’s a recipe for disaster and when that child grows up they are going to find themselves trapped in injengu in a society where there are no rules for them,” he said.
“It’s sad and once certain laws are repealed, parents and teachers are brought into the fold, they will be able to produce an individual focused on developmental agendas of the country otherwise if nothing is done, very soon we are going to slide and there will be people full of injengu going round robbing others and causing all sorts of mayhem.”
Tshabalala echoed this sentiment, emphasising the role of elders in guiding the younger generation.
“We need to restore respect and cultural values so that our children have a future. The fight against injengu is not just about substance abuse, it’s about saving our nation,” she said.
Acknowledging the gravity of the situation, Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube, in the 2025 National Budget, outlined several measures aimed at combating drug and substance abuse.
“Government remains concerned with the menace of drug and substance abuse among the youth, which poses a significant threat to public health, security, economic, and social stability,” said Prof. Ncube.
The minister said the 2025 National Budget will sustain efforts to combat this menace, including conducting awareness campaigns, equipping drug and substance abuse rehabilitation centres, as well as capacitation of the law enforcement agencies to undertake surveillance and policing of drug dealers.
Prof. Ncube added the “Government will also expedite the enactment of the necessary legislation to combat drug and substance abuse, which will be implemented through a Drug and Substance Abuse Agency.”
