abstract:Modern day Matabeleland is a region in Zimbabwe divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers.
But Matabeleland is a microcosm of Zimbabwe's implosion. Thousands in the region are dyingof malnutrition. Hundreds of thousandssurvive by trappingwildanimalsor bare-handedmining.
Mr Nkomo was a member of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (Zapu), which formed a unity government with Zanu-PF in 1987 to end conflict in the western Matabeleland region.