Brief history
Gwengwerere was started as the government's post independence attempt to develop the whole country and allow people to improve their lot without necessarily migrating to large towns and cities to find work. The concept of a growth point was based on providing everything the people need as close to them as possible, thus keeping communities intact while collectively building the nation. During the 1980 many Growth Points were seeded by the government. Investors, mainly in the form of commercial businessmen, were helped to put up structures and start viable businesses, either as individuals or as co-operatives. Many post independence blacks were experienced only in farming, shop keeping, pubs, grinding mills, and transport. Manufacturing was not commonly associated with black businessmen. For that reason, and for the fact that most growth points were at locations without electricity supply, many started as shops and pubs. Gwengwerere started as a shop owned by a local businessman, Mr Njiva. A diesel grinding mill and a pub followed and soon there was another shop. The shops were never fully stocked but the pub was popular with the locals.
During the early 1990s, there were plans to build a residential area at Gwengerere, but the competition between Growth Points was high and some lost out, Gwengerere being one of them. The main reason seems to be the fact that Chatsworth started to die off as the white commercial farmers, who had been supporting it, and the passenger train encouraging traffic through it was stopped. With that, there was no significant commercial development in the area, and Gwengwerere became known just as Gwengwerere instead of Gwengwerere Growth point. It has not grown since the mid-1980s, but crates of the famous opaque beer are still arriving either from Masvingo by bus, from Gutu by bus, or from Chatsworth by ox-drawn carts.
After 2002, under the government's national electrification programme, the implementation of which started soon after independence, Gwengwerere had access to electricity. It is hoped that this will be the obvious catalyst that triggers its growth. However, Chatsworth must grow to a viable size first, before Gwengwerere can grow, since it is a satellite point of Chatsworth.
Masvingo, previously named Victoria, is a province in southeastern Zimbabwe. It has a population of 1.638 million as of the 2022 census, ranking fifth out of Zimbabwe's ten provinces. Established by the British South Africa Company, it was one of the five original provinces of Southern Rhodesia. In 1982, two years after Zimbabwean independence, it was renamed Masvingo Province. The province is divided into seven districts, including Masvingo District, which contains the provincial capital Masvingo City.
Masvingo, known as Fort Victoria during the colonial period, is a city in southeastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The city lies close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name and close to Lake Mutirikwi, its recreational park, the Kyle dam and the Kyle National Reserve that is home to a range of animal species. It is mostly populated by the Karanga people who form the biggest branch of the various Shona tribes in Zimbabwe.
The Honde Valley extends from the eastern border of Zimbabwe into Mozambique. The valley is part of the Eastern Highlands. The valley is about 130 kilometres from Mutare, or 110 kilometres from Nyanga. The Nyanga Mountains and the Nyanga National Park form the western boundary of the valley.
Victoria Falls, popularly known as Vic Falls, is a resort town and city in the province of Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. It lies on the southern bank of the Zambezi River at the western end of Victoria Falls themselves. According to the 2022 Population Census, the town had a population of 35,199.
Shurugwi, originally known as Selukwe, is a small town and administrative centre in Midlands Province, southern Zimbabwe, located about 350 km south of Harare, with a population of 22,900 according to the 2022 census. The town was established in 1899 on the Selukwe Goldfield, which itself was discovered in the early 1890s not long after the annexation of Rhodesia by the Pioneer Column.
Bikita is a district in Masvingo Province in Zimbabwe. It borders with Gutu District, Zaka District, Chipinge District, Chiredzi District, and Buhera District. It is located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Masvingo town. Its administration is at Nyika Growth Point but initially it was at Bikita Office, 10 km south of Nyika Growth Point towards Jerera Growth Point in Zaka District.
Chatsworth is a small settlement in the Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe. It is located about 58 km north of Masvingo on the Masvingo-Gweru railway line. The settlement started in 1911 as a railway station. It administered under the Gutu Rural District Council.
Triangle is a small town in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe, and is located 125 km south-east from Masvingo, between Ngundu Growth Point and Chiredzi. The town is located in the district of Chiredzi, one of the seven in Masvingo Province.
Nkayi is a district in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe, about 100 km (62 mi) west of Kwekwe and 168 km (104 mi) northeast of Bulawayo in Nkayi communal land. It is believed that its name originates from the Tonga word "Uyinkayi" meaning "where are you going". The main language spoken is Ndebele.
Shurugwi Rural Areas, also known as Shurugwi District, is a rural area around Shurugwi, Zimbabwe, mainly to the east, beginning 20 kilometres from the town centre. The area between the town and the rural areas was mainly occupied by white commercial farmers. It is thought that at one time, these farms were owned by three families who were all related. The total area of these farms is approximately 60 km x 40 km similar to an area that was occupied by more than 4,000 African families. Most of the black families are subsistence farmers. Maize is generally grown by the majority.
Cha Cha Cha Township or simply known as Cha Cha Cha is a rural shopping centre in Shurugwi Rural Areas, 24 km South East of Shurugwi along the Beit Bridge road and 60 km (37 mi) from Gweru. The tarred road from 12 km before Shurugwi was constructed by a Chinese company called China-Gansui and is considered one of the best located rural shopping centres in Zimbabwe, therefore it can not be considered a remote area. It is relatively below standards with potholes and experienced sinking in some stages, and was heavily affected by the floods during the summer of 2000.
Gurajena is ahieftainship which was reduced to Headman during the colonial Era in the Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe. It is located about 60 km north east of Masvingo and can be reached by following Zimuto Road north and then branching off at Maraire shopping centre to go due north east and crossing the Munyambe River, which is the border between Gutu and Zimuto, just before reaching the shopping centre. It is almost exactly due east of Gwengwerere Growth Point, Zimbabwe. It was named after Chief Gurajena whose Chieftainship still lay unclaimed ever since he was dethroned during the white colonial rule. It is one of the oldest growth points in the areas. There are several villages under Chief Gurajena and most of the land for this chieftainship was taken by the then white farmers nicknamed Chimunyanja and Kurutu.
Chivi, originally known as Chibi, is a district in the Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe. The area was originally established as a mission station in 1894 by the Berlin Missionary Society under the name Chibi Mission.
Mberengwa, originally known as Belingwe, is a district in Midlands province in Zimbabwe. The district is now divided into sub-districts: Mberengwa North, East, West and South. It is bounded by Gwanda in Mberengwa west, and by Zvishavane in its northern zone, to the south it stretches to Neshuro, Chikombedzi and bounded by Manyuchi dam.
Mwenezi, originally known as Nuanetsi, is a small district situated in southern Zimbabwe. It is bisected by the Mwenezi River and the A4 highway, the main thoroughfare that connects the town of Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa, to Masvingo.
Nyahunda is a ward in Bikita District of Masvingo Province in south-eastern Zimbabwe. It is situated about 140 km south-east of provincial capital Masvingo and about 40 km south of the district centre administration Bikita. It is made up of two settlement sections, the New Reserves and the Communal Farms.
The Reformed Church in Zimbabwe was founded by Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa missionaries on the 9th of September 1891. Andrew A. Louw begun to preach in the area near Morgenster among Shona people. The worship language of churches was Afrikaans and English. Later the denomination expanded among Nyanja people. In 1999 a new mission field was opened in Binga District. The young Church was administered from South Africa under the Dutch Reformed Church Cape Synod, eventually, the African Reformed Church in Rhodesia came into being, as an indigenous and independent church, under the control of church councils, four presbyteries and a synod. In 1977 it became the fully autonomous African Reformed Church. Soon after the country's independence in 1980, the name was changed to Reformed Church in Zimbabwe. Some historic church structures are still referred to as Dutch Reformed Churches and some Reformed Church members still use that name. The R.C.Z subscribes to the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort as its doctrinal standard. The R.C.Z is a member of the World Council of Churches, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches. In addition to its various church activities, the church has a special concern for its schools namely Henry Murray School for the deaf in Morgenster, and the Margaretha Hugo School (Copota) for the blind in Zimuto. The RCZ is also the responsible authority for a number of primary and secondary schools, a teacher-training college, Murray Theological College and the Reformed Church University (RCU) in Masvingo, as well as two hospitals and several clinics.
Sanga is a community made up of people in mainly six villages in Nyashanu area of Buhera District, Zimbabwe. It is within the traditional jurisdiction of Chief Headman Mabvuregudo and Chief (Mambo) Kandenga Nyashanu of the Mhofu (eland) clan. Sanga area is situated about 8 km from Masenga Mountain which is near Nyashanu Mission and about 8 km from Chiurwi/Dzapasi Mountain. Dzapasi Mountain played a significant role as a demobilisation point of armed forces at the end of Zimbabwe's Second War of Liberation, the Second Chimurenga. Sanga community has one service centre, called Sanga which hosts the Sanga Cattle Sales Pens popularly known as Sanga Market, Sanga Police Station and grocery shops like Manjovha, Mutemahuku, Vhiriri, Rugare and others. Sanga Market was traditionally a cattle trading point but now is a trading centre for cattle, small livestock, grains, hardware, groceries, clothes, kitchenware, mobile phones and various other accessories. Nearby service centres include Mumbijo Shopping Centre, also known as Chipoka, which is along Fari Road, Mashingaidze Shopping Centre at the intersection of Nyashanu Mission Road, Vhiriri Road and Fari Road; Mukutukutu 'Better Place' along Masenga Road, and Matsvai Changamire Shopping Centre along Betera Rodad. At Mumbijo you find shops like Maunganidze, Mugumbate or Tirivavi, Matsvai, Vhiriri and Mukuvare. At Mashingaidze there are shops like Mashingaidze, Gavi, Kwaramba, Dondo and Maponda. At Matsvai there are shops like Musengi and Mukuvari. Two service centres were proposed in 2014 at Sanga School turnoff and at Madhume Road turnoff, near Muchada Bus Stop but these were not approved by Buhera District Council. Other services include grinding mills that are found at the service centres or in the villages.
Nyashanu Mission is located in Buhera District, Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe in the area of Ishe Mabvuregudo in the local country of Mambo Nyashanu.
