Umzingwane District
Essexvale District
administrative district
Umzingwane District in Matabeleland South
Umzingwane District in Matabeleland South
Coordinates: 20°20′49″S 28°56′59″E / 20.34694°S 28.94972°E / -20.34694; 28.94972
CountryZimbabwe
ProvinceMatabeleland South
Area
[1]
 • Total2,797 km2 (1,080 sq mi)
Elevation
[2]
1,176 m (3,858 ft)
Population
 (2012)[3]
 • Total62,990
Time zoneUTC+2 (CAT)

Umzingwane is a district in the northern part of Matabeleland South province in Zimbabwe. It was formerly known as Esigodini and before 1982 as Essexvale.[4]

Its governing seat is located in the village of Umzingwane.

Geography

Umzingwane District is located in the province of Matabeleland South with its main administrative council offices at Esigodini.

Umzingwane District lies just south-east of Bulawayo City, the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and to the south of Umguza District of Matabeleland North. Within Matabeleland South, Umzingwane district borders the following districts: Insiza, Gwanda and Matopo.

The district lies almost entirely in the watershed of the Umzingwane River, a left tributary of the Limpopo, but also, in its western regions, includes portions of the Mtshabezi watershed.[5] The district has several recreational parks, including the twelve square kilometers of Umzingwane Recreational Park (aka Umzingwane Dam Reserve),[6] the forty-two square kilometers of Lake Cunningham Recreational Park,[6] and including parts of Matobo National Park.

The terrain in Umzingwane District is varied from the granite inselbergs and koppies (kojies) of the Motobo Hills[7] to flat alluvial plains along the lower drainages.[8][9]

History

In the early 19th century, the Northern Ndebele invaded and settled in the Esigodini area which was at the time inhabited by the Rozi and Moyo Karanga people,[10] who themselves had migrated north from the territory around Gwanda and Belingwe.[11]

A township of some 200,000 acres was founded in 1894 as Essexvale, by Frederick C. Selous[11][12] In 1896 the buildings at Essexvale were burned down by Inxnozan (Inxnogan), during the Matabele Rebellion.[11][13]


Places in Umzingwane

  • Bezha, a village, birthplace of Professor Thomas Dube, academic and lawyer who served as senior legal and political affairs advisor for 19 years at United Nations Security Council.
  • Bonjeni, a village
  • Bushtick, a village
  • Bushtick Mine
  • Esibomvu, a village
  • Esigodini, administrative centre
  • Esiphezini, birthplace of Canaan Banana, first president of Zimbabwe[4]
  • Doyana, a village
  • How Mine, a gold mine
  • Inyankuni reservoir
  • Kumbuzi, a village
  • Lumene Falls[14]
  • Matendele, a village
  • Mawabeni, a village
  • Mbizingwe, a village
  • Mzingwane Dam reservoir
  • Mzingwane River (Umzingwane River)
  • Nsezi, a village.Home of late President Canaan Banana and his burial place
  • Nswazi, a village
  • Selous House Homestake, historical site
  • Sihlengeni, a village
  • Upper and Lower Ncema reservoirs

Administration and politics

Umzingwane District has government headquarters located in the village of Umzingwane, and by the Umzingwane Rural District Council, which has its offices in Esigodini. The district is divided into twenty administrative wards.[1] Traditionally the district is divided into four parts, each ruled by a local chieftain.

  • Esiphezini Communal Land tribal area
  • uMzinyathini Communal Land
  • Nswazi Communal Land

Economy

In 2012, Umzingwane District had 48 percent of the economically active population employed in agriculture (primarily farming and livestock production), 17 percent employed in services occupations, 17 percent employed in mining and construction and 2 percent employed in educational institutions.[3]

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 "About". Umzingwane Rural District Council. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "Umzingwane District". GeoView.
  3. 1 2 "Zimbabwe 2012 Census: Provincial Report Matabeleland South" (PDF). ZimStat. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 March 2017.
  4. 1 2 Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Gates, Henry Louis Jr., eds. (2012). "Banana, Canaan Sodindo". Dictionary of African Biography. Vol. 1. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 365. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  5. ↑ Umzingwane OCHA District Atlas Admin A3 100-104 (PDF) (Map). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 12 June 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 July 2018.
  6. 1 2 Heath, Robin A. (1986). "The National Survey of Outdoor Recreation in Zimbabwe" (PDF). Zambezia. 13 (1): 25–42. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Motobo Hills, Zimbabwe". Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Owen, Richard; Dahlin, Torleif (2005). "Alluvial aquifers at geological boundaries: Geophysical investigations and groundwater resources". In Bocanegra, Emilia; Hernandez, Mario; Usunoff, Eduardo (eds.). Groundwater and Human Development. IAH Selected Papers on Hydrogeology 6. London: CRC Press. pp. 229–242. doi:10.1201/9781439833599.ch19. ISBN 978-0-367-80336-0.
  9. ↑ Moyce, William; Mangeya, Pride; Owen, Richard; Love, David (2006). "Alluvial aquifers in the Mzingwane catchment: Their distribution, properties, current usage and potential expansion". Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C. 31 (15/16): 988–994. doi:10.1016/j.pce.2006.08.013.
  10. ↑ Mazarire, Gerald Chikozho (2013). "The gadzingo: towards a Karanga expansion matrix in 18th-and 19th-century southern Zimbabwe". Critical African Studies. 5 (1): 4–16. doi:10.1080/21681392.2013.775623.
  11. 1 2 3 "Rhodesian Place Names: Essexvale". Rhodesiana. 2008. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.
  12. ↑ Millais, John Guille (1918). Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous. London: Longmans, Green and Company. OCLC 153313675.
  13. ↑ Selous, Frederick Courteney (1896). Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia: Being a Narrative of Events in Matabeleland Both Before and During the Recent Native Insurrection Up to the Date of the Disbandment of the Bulawayo Field Force (second ed.). London: R. Ward and Company. p. 69. OCLC 3810815.
  14. ↑ "Lumene Falls". Zimbabwe: A World of Wonders. Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022.
  • Umzingwane District Map (PDF) (Map). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs {OCHA). 4 January 2010.
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