Gudhlanga, Enna SukutaiEnna SukutaiGudhlangaMadongonda, Angeline MavisAngeline MavisMadongonda2024-01-092024-01-092023978-3-86309-911-4https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/92498The world has witnessed the high infection and fatality rates of the corona virus which has resulted in the World Health Organisation declaring it a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As of 13 March 2022, there were over 455 million confirmed cases and over 6 million deaths that had been reported globally (WHO, 2022). In order to curb the spread of this pandemic and its spiral effects, countries have come up with mitigatory measures; among them is the wearing of face masks. This paper has been prompted by the failure to comply by the majority of Zimbabweans to the wearing of face masks, thus making it a criminal offence not to wear one. Thus, most Zimbabweans tend to wear face masks as a ritual – for fear of prosecution by the police or when the masks allow them to access certain benefits but not as a COVID-19 mitigation strategy. The chapter also further interrogates why even among those who police the wearing of face masks seem to be at liberty to remove their masks as and when they choose. In the midst of a pandemic, the question, which remains, is -who is fooling who? The chapter thus endevours to investigate why Zimbabweans in general appear to have rejected the wearing of face masks. The research is largely qualitative in nature and a sample of purposively selected people from Harare’s CBD area were interviewed. Furthermore, the observations of Zimbabweans as they go about their daily business and their understanding of face masks were used. It is hoped that the people’s perceptions about the face mask are brought to the fore and put under the spotlight for the benefit of the general populace. The chapter also accounts for the socio-economic and religious reasons behind non-compliance of wearing masks, hoping that this mitigation strategy is taken seriously. The study is informed by Ubuntu/Unhu philosophy, which calls for people of African cultural descent to protect and act in harmony with their communities as well as avoid hypocritical tendencies that are self-harming or which harm others.engCOVID-19mitigationface maskUbuntupandemicinfectiousfatality rateZimbabweHararecurb610bookpart