Masvingo City
The Historical Town
The town of Masvingo is the provincial capital of the large and popular Masvingo Province, and is situated in a central position relative to the rest of the country being equidistant to all major centres and the South African border at Beitbridge. It has many historical connections – close to the Country’s shrine of Great Zimbabwe, the oldest town in Zimbabwe with remains of the original fort and bell tower that featured in the first Chimurenga war containing graves of a number of members of the pioneer column which established the settlement in 1890.
Masvingo Province
Masvingo province is located in the south eastern part of Zimbabwe, the oldest urban centre in the country.
Masvingo province covers a total area of 56 566 square kilometers .
Province Overview
The province is formerly called Victoria Province. Masvingo city is located 293 km from Harare, 282 km from Bulawayo, 289 km from Beitbridge, and 297 km to Mutare, bordering Mozambique.
Historical Background of Masvingo
– The first settlement. was commenced on 10th August, 1890 by a group of 117 white settlers from South Africa; In 1891 first Anglican Church was built; In 1894 first form of local government, the Sanitary Board, was formed; About the same time commercial activities started with Meikles Brothers opening up a shop which is now a large departmental store; Between 1895 and 1911 regular horse racing were introduced and a race course had been constructed; 1911 first commercial bank – The Standard Bank was opened; 1911 railway line from Gweru via Mvuma was opened; 1926 the Town Management Board was constituted; 1917 the Cold Storage Commission was opened; 1953 Municipal status was attained when the Queen Mother visited the town in June 1953; Between 1954 and 1974 general upgrading of the town’s infrastructure and facilities; 1974 – 1979 war years: War of liberation and the town was in one of the most contested war zones; 1980 inauguration of a majority rule council. 1996 first scheduled air service by the Southern Rhodesia Air Service now Air Zimbabwe was inaugurated;
Communication
Masvingo is well served by communication with other cities and towns in the country (a) Road communication from Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Gweru, Beitbridge border town - all tarred high-speed roads. (b) The town has an airport capable of handling medium sized jetliners It is served by Air Zimbabwe 4 days per week — Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. (c) The town has a railway line from Gweru via Mvuma. (d) Telecommunications networks
Industry & Commerce
Major industries in Masvingo are :- A bottling company. A mealing company. A Brewery company. Cold Storage Commission - a parastatal which slaughters beef cattle at their abbatoir and finances farmers cattle. Ecological Designs which makes solar heaters and a variety of items. Transport companies. Printing companies. Furniture making companies. Depots of companies based in Harare and Bulawayo.
Commercial Area
There are a number of supermarkets, retail shops as well as departmental shops comparable to any in big centres. Major commercial banks and building societies are operating in town. There are 3 fairly good hotels in town and 1 hotel at Great Zimbabwe which meet international standards. There are also good restaurants. There are 6 garages serving the car population of the town and the surrounding districts.
Housing
There are 3 types of housing areas:- low density housing area where housing is fairly expensive, Medium density housing area. and high density housing area where housing is considered low cost.
Administration
This town was declared a municipality in 1953 on the occasion of the visit to this town of the Queen Mother. The Municipality operates on 5 departments: 1. Town Clerk's department 2. Treasury department 3. Town Engineer's department 4. Housing and Community Services department 5. Health department
Water Supply
The town is served from Lake Kyle, which is the biggest inland dam in the country. The Municipality is the water authority and ensures the supply of clean water for both domestic and industrial use.
Major Activities
The hinterlands of Masvingo are basically agricultural and mining activities. The commercial farming areas are involved in extensive ranching and to a lesser extent the production of cereals, like maize, sorghum, sunflower and groundnuts The southern Lowveld area is predominated by sugar industry and ranching. Wild life conversation and ranching is a recent dimension to cattle rancher’s activities.
Mining
Mining is also an important industry in the province: i.e. Asbestos - Mashava 36 km west of Masvingo. Gold - Renco Mine 100km southeast of Masvingo. Lithium - Bikita Minerals 100km northeast of Masvingo.
Education
The town is served with adequate schools. There is also a high fee paying private primary school and the rest are public schools. There is a Teacher Training College, a Poly technical College, Universities ie GZU and RCZ.
Caravaning
The Municipality operates a caravan park situated just 1 km from the Civic Centre off the Mutare Road. There are other excellent caravan facilities at Kyle on both the northern and southern flanks of the lake shore.30 km west of Masvingo there is the Mushandike National Park with excellent caravanning facilities and beautiful game.
Tourism
The Great Zimbabwe Ruins are only 26 km south-east of the town. There are excellent facilities at this fascinating stone architecture dating back to the 12th century. The hotel there will cater for tourists or visitors of any taste.
Sporting
There is a lively sports club and golf is played extensively. There are also tennis, volley-ball and indoor games facilities. There is an excellent boating club at Lake Kyle and national power boat regatta competitions are held there. There is also a modern theatre at the Civic Centre with a lively drama circle club
Publicity Bureau
There is also a publicity bureau which is a Council institution operated by a Management Committee elected from among the members. Council has representatives on the Management Committee.
Subscribe for membership
A person desiring to join the Association shall lodge the Secretary an application form together with the prescribed subscriptions