Chegutu slowly becoming a ghost town

Thousands of workers have been left with no jobs after factories such as Southern Africa`s weaving giants David Whitehead and Elvington Gold Mine, owned by the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, closed down and pushed thousands of workers onto the streets, where they are selling anything from sweets to airtime.

I was employed at David Whitehead for 24 years but I lost my job after the company closed. That was after the land invasions because there were no raw materials to manufacture fabric for export. There was also a lot of interference in the management by politicians. I was not paid even a single cent as a retrenchment package. I am now surviving on selling juice cards and firewood, said Thomas Dziripi of Pfupajena.

The MDC-T led council, elected in 2008, has been working hard to turn around the fortunes of the town – but they inherited a `dead horse` from the corrupt Zanu (PF) administration, which had bled the coffers dry. Chegutu Investment and Promotion Council chairman, Peter Chikukwa had this to say about the current state of affairs:

Investors are still hesitant to come and invest in our despite our concerted effort to market the town. The town has a plethora of opportunities for those who want to invest in textile, mining and construction. We are trying to hold an expo soon so that we invite industrialists to visit our town and we discuss a number of business issues.

Situated 103 km south of the capital Harare, along the Bulawayo highway, Chegutu is home to some 90 000 people.

The town is situated along the major highway, with an excellent railway network and vast land and water from Mupfure river. But investors are still not keen to come to our town. We are trying our best to put in place attractive packages to lure investors. The council should also work hard to improve infrastructure such as roads, Chikukwa added.

Other agro-based companies such as Bain New Holland, lucrative farming venture Big Orange, owned by former commercial farmer Thomas Beattie, and Agrifoods which used to employ a hundreds of workers, have all been forced to close down.

The citrus industry used to employ a number of people from this town.

Former commercial farmers Beattie and Etheredge used to produce oranges for export. But when their farms were invaded by the likes of former deputy Information minister Bright Matonga and Senate President Edna Madzongwe things just crumbled leaving locals with no source of livelihood, said John Saidi, a farm worker turned vegetable vendor.

A local agronomist, John Muparabasa, told The Zimbabwean that Chegutu has potential to expand, but only if the inclusive government addressed the land issue urgently.

A lot of people used to be employed in the agro-sector and after the farm invasions by war veterans and Zanu (PF) militias there is no development to talk about for this town. This town survived on agriculture and the issue of farms must be addressed if the town is to reap full benefits and realise its potential, said Muparabasa, adding that most farms which used to provide raw materials such as cotton and tomatoes for the local industry are lying idle.

So worrying is the situation that there is no longer a revenue base for the local authority and residents have been struggling to settle their water and electricity bills.

We are struggling to pay our workers because of the shrinking revenue base. The revenue we are collecting is a drop in the ocean and we have decided that residents should pay US$10 for both service charges and rates, said a council accountant who did not want his name published for professional reasons.

The standards of living in the oldest suburbs such Pfupajena and Heroes have plummeted to unprecedented levels. Uncollected heaps of rotting garbage and sewerage meandering through the streets have become the order of the day.

Most residents have become self employed, either vending or gold panning. Youths have resorted to peddling their flesh in night clubs to eke a decent living as cost of living continues to rise by the day.

Prostitution has become so rife in the town because of unemployment. Young women are peddling their flesh for as little as US$2 to gold panners known as makorokoza. They risk contracting sexual transmitted infections and HIV and Aids, said David Gatawa (40) a local resident.

A local health centre owned by Zimplats mine recorded over 80 cases of sexually transmitted diseases at their clinics in Mhondoro in the month of August 2010 alone. Prostitutes mainly between the ages of 16-25 from Chegutu town have invaded Turf Residential Complex owned by the giant Platinum mining company to offer sex services to mine workers for a fee.

We have no choice but to sell our bodies for survival. There is no employment to talk about in Chegutu. My father used to work at a local commercial farm as a driver and he lost his job during farm invasions. He can no longer fend for the family and I have decided to venture into prostitution not by choice but by circumstances. I want to raise fees for my little sisters. The former farm owner used to pay fees for our family, said Martha Banda (18) of Umvovo farm in Chegutu.

NAMED & SHAMED

Residents blamed Zanu (PF) politicians like Bright Matonga, Information minister Webster Shamu, former executive Mayor Zimhani, Senate President Edna Madzongwe, local District Administrator Michael Mariga for grabbing productive farms that were the heartbeat of the town.

Matonga grabbed Thomas Beatties citrus farm while Mariga took over the Meredith familys productive Twyford farm.

Nathan Shamuyarira invaded Mount Camel farm owned by Mike Campbell and Ben Freeth.