In Episode #5 of The Power Shift: Decolonising Development, Dr Nompilo Ndlovu describes how Zimbabwe's written history so often distorts the reality as understood by Black Zimbabweans and recorded in poems, songs and oral histories. She explores how Eurocentric understandings of Zimbabwe have been consolidated in written histories of the country, which trump lived experience. She describes how the hierarchy of whose voice matters means that Black oral histories are obscured by the White, written history in international spaces.She describes the many issues that need to be taken seriously if development research is to be decolonised, how Black labour was ‘constructed’ by White colonialists, through ‘experiments’, the destruction of Black farms and livelihoods and used to justify oppressive working conditions, and how the experiences of South Africa and Zimbabwe (as former White settler colonies) generate a set of useful lessons for other countries. Nompilo counters the view that the exceptionalism of the 'settler economies' of former British colonies, South Africa and Zimbabwe have nothing to teach other countries, providing examples of what Africa can learn from Ethiopia (and her relationship with Italy), Ghana (and early independence) and South Africa (and Bantu education) versus Zimbabwe (and the 'Cambridge' system). This is a rich and varied conversation that leaves the viewer wanting more - more stories of Gukurahundi, talking chickens and the impact of the Eurocentric 'White gaze'. Nompilo speaks eloquently about the importance of listening, local knowledge and nuance – and identifies a set of practical steps for viewers to implement for progressive change.Dr Nompilo Ndlovu is a gender expert and specialist in marginalisation, exclusion and intersecting inequalities. She oral historian with over 10 years’ experience applying gender frameworks to her work with communities in South Africa, and elsewhere in Africa. Her Ph.D. (Historical Studies) focused on mass violence, memory and local transitional justice initiatives in post-colonial Zimbabwe. Her wider research interests include socio-economic-political relations (with a focus on exclusion and marginalisation), conflict, peace, trauma, restorative justice and leadership.Nompilo is a Senior Associate at The Development Hub. She is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Cape Town, South Africa and has policy and research affiliations with a variety of institutions such as the South African Commission for Gender Equality, the African Leadership Centre, the International Oral History Association, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the ODI, the African Union and the United Nations. She is also an alumnus of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy; the Canon Collins Trust; the African Leadership Centre where she completed the Peace and Security Fellowship for African Women; as well as a Women’s Funding Network Bridge Builder.

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