Matabeleland food shortages. Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo finally reconciled their political differences by late 1987. The roots of discord remained, however, and in some ways increased as Mugabe's rule became increasingly autocratic into the 21st century. In the early 1990s, a Land Acquisition Act was passed, calling for the Mugabe government to purchase mostly white-owned commercial farming land for redistribution to native Africans. Matabeleland has rich central plains, watered by tributaries of the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, allowing it to sustain cattle and consistently produce large amounts of cotton and maize. But land grabbing, squatting, and repossessions of large white
Matabeleland South Province of the Kalahari desert, hence it is arid and very dry. The province shares borders with South Africa and Botswana. As a result, there are Tswana, Sotho/Pedi, Venda, Shangani (Tsonga) and the Khoisan speaking people in the province. The other languages that are native in the province are Ndebele and Khalanga. Towns and villages in Matabeleland South include Antelope Mine, Beitbridge, Brunapeg, Colleen Bawn, Esigodini, Filabusi, Gwanda, Kafusi, Kezi, Madlambudzi, Makhado, Maphisa, Masendu, Ndolwane, Plumtree, Shangani, Stanmore, Tshitshi, West Nicholson, and Zezani. Matabeleland South is overseen by the Minister of State for Matabeleland South Province, a de facto governor who