The Sunday News
Mthabisi Tshuma, Sunday Life Correspondent
ON the outskirts of the gold mining town Gwanda lies rural Ntepe which is just 39 kilometres south of the Matabeleland South’s capital.
At a first glimpse, the place which was named after the river which flows to the Tuli River depicts a somehow unusual rural place.
With a tar road that connects the rural area and its sphere of influence, on the side of the road one is welcomed by round mud huts, kraals and livestock grasping on the grass by the roadside as you are heading to ema-shop as the rural folks call it.
This is the same road that leads to Mlambapele Border Post and goes as far as Shashe on the south side, Zezane on the west side and Gungwe on the east side.
The business centre is surrounded by a river, Ntepe and a stream called Mabuthelela. In 1995, Ntepe Business Centre had only a handful of shops namely koMajiya Butchery, eKhansilini Bottle Store, a grinding mill which has since crumbled and on the other side of the Ntepe river, there was the Chikomo general dealer.
Today the growth point has gone to have over 50 shops that are general dealers, butcheries, bottle stores and restaurants. During the year, the life in the place is low and only the monied can be seen galavanting in the braai stands behind the shops, quenching their thirst to the high costly beer and meeting with friends.
Most shops charge in foreign currency as many of the natives are based in neighbouring South Africa and Botswana. People aboard Umusa Wenkosi bus which goes to Fumukwe and Green Horse bus which heads to Zezane and Kafusi can attest that where the buses take a rest camp at Majiya Restaurant, the 15 to 20 minutes leaves a paradise like feel.
As soon as they drop off, they scatter all over the place with the vendors already in a business mood of enriching themselves through selling produce and at times drivers have a torrid time having to wait for those who feel the fun time won’t be over yet.
As the festive season fever grips the growth point, flocks of people and cars are the order of the day as they drown the year in style.
Surprisingly the place does not have any nightclub but there are only bottle stores that operate from 6am to 8pm depending on the atmosphere of the business sales.
During the festive season, the bottle stores go the extra mile and apply for an extension of operating hours from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Guyu station. The extension gives them the power to open till at 6am as is the case on Christmas Day, New Years Eve and on New Year.
To show how busy the place is during this time, the Guyu Station police deploys police officers to be based at Ntepe Primary School which is just a stone throw away in order to ensure peace.
Come Christmas day, the town of Gwanda is just but empty and the traffic to Ntepe is congested as if it’s the injiva’s on the Bulawayo-Beitbridge highway heading back to their bases, mostly in early January.
For a place located deep in the rural areas, seeing over a hundred cars and thousands of people, one can say it reflects the image of Redwood which is on the outskirts of Bulawayo heading towards Plumtree.
The people are merry, drinking on their cars listening to the amapiano hits while many are dancing the latest dances among them the pouncing cat and bottle dance styles that have become famous in the region.
How does such a place lure such a big crowd? As big as Gwanda has grown there is no modern chilled vibe venue where people can relax, bring their booze and enjoy life to the fullest. Thus for the past ten years Ntepe has been the place to be for every party lover.
Unlike in some places where such a crowd is to be pulled by an artiste or a concert, no performance has ever graced the three days of fun in the festive in Ntepe.
Sunday Life took the opportunity of being part of the fete on New Year and observed that the place has a possibility of being a tourist destination for many during the festive.
Some of the people who talked to this publication said they budget throughout the year to be part of this experience.
“Personally my friends and I have a club where we put certain amounts of money every month so that we come here yearly to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day.
“We have been doing this for the past three years because everyone in Gwanda wants to come and enjoy at this place,” said Khawulani Sibanda.
A bar proprietor Ms Refiloe Dube said, “This is the best time to do business. All the losses incurred during the year are turned into fortunes after the three days of fun.”
@mthabisi_mthire.
