Zvishavane (known until 1982 as Shabani) is a mining town in

Midlands Province Midlands is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of and a population of 1,614,941 (2012). It is home to various peoples. Located at a central point in the country, it contains speakers of Shona, Ndebele, Tswana, Sotho and Chewa, as well as of ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. Surrounded by low hills, it lies west of Masvingo, on the main Bulawayo-Masvingo road. Other roads lead from Zvishavane to Gweru, north, and Mberengwa, south-west. It is also on direct rail links to Gweru and Beit Bridge which then link up with Harare and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and to

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

in Mozambique, and

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

in South Africa. It has a private airport serving the city.

Name

Zvishavane was formerly called ''Shabanie'' (used by the mine) or ''Shabani'' (used for the town). The name "Shabanie" has been said to be derived from "shavani", a

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana Languages *Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele *Northern Ndebele language, the language o ...

word meaning "finger millet", or "trading together". Zvishavane is a Shona name, which is said to be derived from "zvikomo zvishava", which means "red hills". The name means "reddish or 'reddened' hills", referring to the many surrounding low hills that are characterised by red soil. Zvishavane derives its name from its sister town Mashava. Mashava is a

ChiShona Shona (; sn, chiShona) is a Bantu language of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. It was codified by the colonial government in the 1950s. According to ''Ethnologue'', Shona, comprising the Zezuru, Korekore and Karanga dialects, is spoken by about 7 ...

word describing the hills in that place as reddish. The name Mashava formerly Mashaba origins is stated in the Rhodesian Lore and Legend: SOUTHERN RHODESIA PLACE NAMES published by The Chief Information Officer, Information Services Branch. Division of Native Affairs, Salisbury September, 1960 Some claim that the name Shabanie derives from the isiNdebele ''Shavani'' which means "finger millet", or "trading together''. This is very unlikely for the matter that the English pronounced it as Shabanie. * "va" in ChiShona is pronounced as the isiNdebele "ba". * The word ''baba'' in isiNdebele rhymes with ''Vava'' in ChiShona and they are pronounced the same. However the isiNdebele syllable ''va'' rhymes with ''vha'' in ChiShona. * If ''Shavani'' was an isiNdebele word the ChiShona would have pronounced it as ''Shavhani''. The English men would pronounce it as ''Sharvanie'' not ''Shabanie''. * If ''Shavani'' was a ChiShona word the isiNdebele would pronounce it ''Shabani'', and so the English would pronounce it as ''Shabanie''. For this fact Shabanie derives from the ChiShona word ''Shavane'' or ''Shavani''. All the same

finger millet ''Eleusine coracana'', or finger millet, also known as ragi in India, kodo in Nepal, is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species p ...

colour is off-reddish, maybe tan in colour. That's ''Zviyo zvishavani'' or ''zvipfunde zvishavani'' ( tan corn or tan millet) in ChiShona. Either way, the name derives from tan hills or tan coloured millet. Finger_millet_3_11-21-02

A_handful_of_hope_in_Gulu,_northern_Uganda_(6721454911)

History

The town developed as a residential centre for Shabani Mine, which started operations in 1916 to supply

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Growth was slow due to poor communications until the railway reached the town in 1928. Although the asbestos mine is the biggest producer of the mineral in Zvishavane,

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

, gold, beryl,

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The element magnesium can s ...

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

at Buchwa and huge deposits of diamond at

Murowa The Murowa diamond mine is a diamond mine located in Mazvihwa, south central Zimbabwe, about 40 kilometres from the asbestos mining town of Zvishavane in the Midlands province. The mine is majority owned and operated by the Rio Tinto Group, which ...

are also mined in the area. The surrounding area is dominated by cattle ranching, while peasant agriculture is practiced in the nearby communal lands of Mberengwa and Buchwa. The administration of Zvishavane has developed over the years to keep pace with its growth. A Village Management Board was set up in 1921 and replaced with a Town Management Board in 1930. It was granted municipal status in 1968.

Population

The population of Zvishavane has grown substantially in recent decades due to a boom in mining activity. According to the 1982 Population Census, the town had a population of 26,758. By 1992 this had risen to 32,984. The population grew further to 35,128 in 2002 and 45,325 by 2012.

Major Companies

3 kuhwaura engineering 3
Mimosa Mining Company
* Shabanie Mine * Sabi Gold Mine * Murowa Diamonds * Pote Holdings * Midlands State University * TK engineering

Transports

The village has a railway station on the

Limpopo railway Limpopo Railway, also called Gweru-Maputo railway, is a railway that connects the city of Maputo, Mozambique, to the city from Somabhula, in Zimbabwe. It is 900 km long, in a 1067 mm gauge.

that connects it to

Rutenga Rutenga, is an important village in the province of Masvingo Province in Zimbabwe. It is the de facto capital of Mwenezi (District). There are unverified claims that the name “Rutenga” is derived from corruption by local natives of what th ...

and Somabhula.Network System: System Map
National Railways Of Zimbabwe. 2017.

Top Football Teams

Zvishavane is the home to 2 major football clubs which are: *

FC Platinum Football Club Platinum is a professional football club in Zvishavane, Midlands Province, that competes in the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League, founded in 1995. In 2010, the club was known as Mimosa Football Club. and in January 2011, changed it ...

* Shabanie Mine Football Club

Notable residents

* Alumni of Shabani Primary School include Philip Matyszak,

Judith Todd Judith Todd (born 18 March 1943) is the second daughter of Garfield Todd (1908–2002), Rhodesian Prime Minister 1953-58, and a political activist regarding Zimbabwe. She was married to Richard Acton from 1974 to 1984. Todd was born at Dadaya M ...

, and

George Zambellas Admiral Sir George Michael Zambellas, (born 4 April 1958) is a retired Royal Navy officer. He was the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from April 2013 until he handed over duties to Admiral Sir Philip Jones in April 2016. In his ea ...

. * Gift Amuli, musician * Mbizvo Chirasha, poet * Judy Croome, novelist *

Emmerson Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (, American English, US: (); born 15 September 1942) is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as President of Zimbabwe since 24 November 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former President Robert Muga ...

, President of Zimbabwe *

Cephas Msipa Dr. Cephas George Msipa (7 July 1931 – 17 October 2016) was a Zimbabwean teacher, philanthropist and politician who served as the Governor of Midlands Province. Education Msipa was educated at Siboza School from 1941 to 1943 before going to Da ...

, governor of Midlands province * Lewis Matutu, Member of the ZANU-PF central committee, Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs, Philanthropist, Entrepreneur. * Elliot Mujaji, Paralympics gold medalist * Clement Chimuti, Agrobusiness Entrepreneur of the year and renowned golfer, 2015, 2016, 2017 * Tafadzwa Mawarire, Athlete and former African and National motocross champion, Entrepreneur, Mechanical Engineering Technician *

Garfield Todd Sir Reginald Stephen Garfield Todd (13 July 1908 – 13 October 2002) was a liberal Prime Minister of Rhodesia, Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1953 to 1958 and later became an opponent of white minority rule in Rhodesia. Background T ...

- founder of Dadaya mission and school,

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

- author and journalist

References

{{authority control Populated places in Midlands Province Zvishavane District Mining communities in Africa Mining in Zimbabwe