The Sunday News
Tinomuda Chakanyuka Sunday News Reporter
ZVISHAVANE Town Council has embarked on an expansion exercise that will see the town’s central business district relocating eastwards to an area near TM supermarket along the Masvingo-Zvishavane road, an official has revealed. The expansion drive, meant to decongest the present CBD, is part of the town’s efforts to attain municipality status by 2018. Town secretary Mr Tinoda Mukutu told Sunday News last week that the local authority had engaged several local construction and engineering companies for the servicing of stands in the area where the new CBD would be located.
Mr Mutuku said work on the project was under way with 37 stands already having been serviced and ready for construction of new structures.
About 200 light industrial stands and 500 residential stands are also being serviced as part of the town’s expansion drive.
Mr Mutuku said by relocating the CBD to a more spacious area the town hoped to attract more investors.
“We have entered into partnerships with JM Construction and other local companies for the expansion of our CBD. We are expanding the CBD going eastwards and already 37 stands have been serviced and more will be serviced.
“We are working on laying roads, sewer and water infrastructure at the area and we expect construction of new structures to start before the end of the year. By expanding we hope to become a more attractive town and attract more investors,” he said.
Mr Mutuku said under the expansion drive 300 stands in Eastlea medium-density suburb as well as 164 low-density stands in Matonjeni along the Zvishavane-Gweru highway would be made available to ease the housing backlog as well as deal with an anticipated population growth in the town.
The town is also set to benefit from a housing project by the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing which will see about 8 000 stands being made available in Mabula residential area.
Zvishavane town is eyeing to attain municipal status by the year 2018 and Mr Mukutu said the local authority was working on a strategic plan to guide them in meeting the requirements of a municipal authority.
Relocation of the CBD and attracting more investors, Mr Mutuku said, was part of the local authority’s efforts to attain municipal status.
He pointed out that the town had developed over the years and met most of the expectations for it to be accorded the status of a municipality.
“We are still in the process of coming up with a strategic plan which we want to use to meet some of the requirements where we feel we fall short. Already we satisfy most of the requirements which include operationalising a clinic, having a fire department. We have most of the big banks here which is yet another requirement.
“So we are left with just a few requirements which we hope to satisfy before we make a formal bid for municipal status. Our target is to be a municipal authority by 2018,” he said.
Mr Mukutu said attaining municipal status would widen their focus and also help lure bigger investors to the town.
Although he acknowledged that they were still far from attaining city status Mr Mukutu expressed optimism that the mineral rich town would attain city status too.
“If you look at the rate at which we are developing you will agree with me that we are the fastest growing town in the country. Although we are still miles away from attaining city status we are developing in the right direction and hope to get there in the near future,” said Mr Mukutu.
“The whole idea behind growing from a town into a municipality is to attract bigger investors. Investors are more confident putting their money where they know it will bring profits. In future we hope to be one of the big cities in Zimbabwe.”
The mining town of Zvishavane is arguably one of the fastest growing towns in the country owing to the mineral wealth that the town is endowed with, which has attracted a lot of investment.
A number of established enterprises have opened their doors to the Zvishavane community aiming to tap into the vibrant economy in the town.
Some of the biggest employers in the town are, giant platinum mining concern Mimosa Mining Company, Sabi gold mine and diamond mining concern Murowa Diamonds.
Zvishavane lies 97km, west of Masvingo on the main Bulawayo-Masvingo road. Other roads lead from Zvishavane to Gweru (121km north) and Mberengwa (27km south-west).
It is also on direct rail links to Gweru and Beitbridge, which then link up with Harare and Bulawayo and to Maputo in Mozambique and Pretoria in South Africa.
The town developed as a residential centre for an asbestos mine which started operations in 1916 but growth was slow until the railway reached the town in 1928. Zvishavane was granted town status in 1968.
