2016–2017 Zimbabwe protests
| 2016 Zimbabwe protests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Zimbabweans protesting in Cape Town, South Africa in support of the 2016 Zimbabwe protests taking place in Zimbabwe at the time. | |||
| Date | 6 July 2016 – 21 November 2017 | ||
| Location | Zimbabwe; cities across South Africa, England, United States, Australia, Canada | ||
| Caused by | Corruption, hunger, late payment of civil servants' salaries, economic repression, police brutality | ||
| Goals | Firing corrupt ministers, the removal of police checkpoints, paying civil servants on time, stopping the introduction of bond notes, regime change, release of arrested activists, stopping police brutality | ||
| Methods | Civil resistance, demonstrations, protest marches, rioting, picketing | ||
| Resulted in | Robert Mugabe resigns as President of Zimbabwe following the military takeover of the country | ||
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The 2016–2017 Zimbabwe protests began in Zimbabwe on 6 July 2016. Thousands of Zimbabweans protested government repression, poor public services, high unemployment, widespread corruption and delays in civil servants receiving their salaries. A national strike, named "stay-away day," began on 6 July and subsequent protests took place across the country and diaspora.
The Zimbabwean government blamed Western governments for the protests and were accused of blocking social media such as WhatsApp from 9 am until 11 am on 6 July 2016 to prevent people from gathering to protest.
On 18 November 2017, anti-Mugabe solidarity protests were held in Zimbabwe and other countries, following the military takeover of the country on 15 November. On 21 November, Robert Mugabe sent a letter to Zimbabwe's Parliament resigning the presidency.