Zimbabwe’s government closed down social media sites by Wednesday morning, 16 January. And according to reports security services are conducting a systematic crackdown on the widespread protests over a 150 per cent increase in fuel duty. Over the last two days, Zimbabwe’s police and military have killed five people and wounded twenty-five more at least, with some estimates far higher. The extent of this crackdown and how it will all end up remain unclear. We do know that this crisis is not just a political contest between the ruling ZANU(PF) and opposition MDC parties, but a widespread response to the government’s attempt to restructure the economy. The immediate cause of the protests—the decision to slap such a huge tax increase on fuel—is in line with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s stated policy of “prosperity through austerity.” In adopting these reforms, he makes no bones about following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher’s neoliberal restructuring of the UK economy in the 1980s.