{ { Infobox ethnic group
| group = Afrikaners in Zimbabwe
| image =
| caption =
| flag =
| total = 15,000 (1984)11,571 (2013) (South African citizens, not including by ancestry) | popplace = Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Chivhu, Manicaland, Midlands | langs = English, Afrikaans | rels = Christianity (predominantly Dutch Reformed Church; also other Protestant churches) | related-c = Afrikaners, white South Africans, white Zimbabweans | native_name = | native_name_lang = | related_groups = }} Afrikaners in Zimbabwe are the descendants of Afrikaans speaking migrants to Zimbabwe, almost all of whom originated from the Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal in modern South Africa. At their peak they formed 10-15% of white Zimbabweans, but only a small fraction of the greater population. Persons of Afrikaans heritage abound in Zimbabwean society particularly in sports such as cricket, rugby, agriculture, tourism, conservation and traditionally, farming, however few are recognized as such, as unlike South Africa the majority of Afrikaner people are now anglophone and seen as indistinguishable from other whites by greater society.
Today, Afrikaans is spoken by a small minority of Zimbabweans, less than one percent of the population and the number of whom has declined significantly since 1980. Today's, Afrikaans speakers in Zimbabwe are typically recent Afrikaner immigrants from South Africa or their descendants.
History
Afrikaners first arrived in what would become Southern Rhodesia in the early 1890s, recruited to be among the first pioneers by Cecil Rhodes, who sought to bring their agricultural expertise for the new region. A larger wave of migrants flowed into the country following a depression after the second Boer War, mostly from the Cape and Orange Free State. They spread throughout the country, taking up farming and cattle ranching. Afrikaners settled in rural areas outside towns and cities, so they could sell their agricultural products. Bulawayo, Enkeldoorn, Umtali, Salisbury, and particularly, Melsetter, became Afrikaner population centers. Concerns over the rapid influx, by the largely British settler community, led to the British South Africa Company officials imposing restrictions of Afrikaner migration which led to protests in South Africa and accusations of discrimination.
Afrikaner children, especially in rural areas, were initially educated in Afrikaans. However, following the Second Boer War, British colonial authorities increasingly demanded that Afrikaner schools teach in English. Despite Afrikaner complaints, the British South Africa Company, which governed the territory until 1923, would not budge. In a letter written in response to protesting Afrikaners, the secretary to the administrator of Southern Rhodesia wrote: "... the laws of the country make no provision for Dutch teaching, and even recently the Administrator has publicly stated that there is no prospect of change in the said laws." L. M. Foggin, the colonial director of education, warned in an official report: "I am convinced that if the concession of mother-tongue instruction were allowed in the schools of Rhodesia, it would result at once in Dutch districts in the teaching to the children of characteristic anti-British and anti-Imperial principles of the Nationalist party."
In spite of this issue, Afrikaners assimilated fairly well into the larger English-speaking white population, and were generally seen as loyal to the Southern Rhodesian government. Afrikaners preserved their language and culture through their own institutions. Dutch Reformed churches commonly conducted Afrikaans services in the morning, followed by services in English and indigenous African languages in the afternoon. An Afrikaans-language school, Bothashof, was established in 1911 in Bulawayo. An Afrikaner organisation, the Afrikaans Cultural Union of Rhodesia (AKUR), was established in 1934, and sought to preserve Afrikaner culture in Rhodesia, particularly through creating an Afrikaans press and by promoting the Afrikaans language in schools. A printing press was acquired, and AKUR began publishing Afrikaans daily newspapers and magazines, including Zambesi Ringsblad, Kern, Die Rhodesiër, and Die Volksgenoot.