Chronicle EditorSimbarashe Musoni in Chiredzi, Sunday News Correspondent
HONOUR comes in different forms and is usually an issue of engraving a legacy or a mark of distinction that people may not want the wind of time to delete from history.
While in Zimbabwe, a number of local authorities — towns and cities have decided to name streets and avenues in honour of people who contributed positively to the development of the country or a certain locality the bulk of which are those who sacrificed their lives to the attainment of independence, Chiredzi Town Council has curved its own history.
The town has somehow made a departure from a naming discourse defined by politics to a more social one after naming some of its streets in ‘honour’ of deceased females who were well known in the 1960s and 1970s in the Lowveld town.
The town in the southern region of Zimbabwe has defied the odds by upholding the prowess of some suspected ‘women of the night’ who were the pacesetters of prostitution in that community by naming some streets after them.
Notably among these, was a sex worker only remembered as Molly, who was gruesomely murdered in Tshovani township in 1966. Hilda is also a popular name for another suspected commercial sex worker who has a street under her name and another is Kessina Munandi.
History has it that men who came to work in the vast sugar plantations left their wives in their rural areas and had to be entertained by sex workers, domiciled in the dusty streets of Chiredzi and some even went on to abandon both family and home leading to the growth of the town.
These streets are mainly around Chigarapasi Beerhall, arguably the largest beer garden in Zimbabwe, aplomb with five cocktail bars and a large open space almost the size of a soccer stadium. That was the hunting ground for the commercial sex workers like Molly and Hilda to mention but just a few.
Wonders never cease! People across the town are asking why many famous athletes like Norman Togara, Harlington Shereni were not street named. During its heyday, Chigarapasi was just like the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah with prostitutes from all over the country soliciting for male clients to earn a living.
Older women preferred to hook them from inside, while the youthful and energetic sex workers lined up outside its durawall illuminated by the bright street lights. The sex workers would make a beeline along the walls of the beerhall and prospective clients would choose according to the order of the line and not just haphazardly.
According to one former council worker, Makovore, who used to be a patron there, “Molly and Hilda were very beautiful such that most revellers would wish to be sexually entertained by them”.
Molly and Hilda Streets are home to some of the well-known commercial sex workers who have something to show for their immoral efforts — houses, cars and businesses!
According to one elderly resident in the area, Lucky Chauke, “Chiredzi used to have thatched houses before the town was established. There were few houses scattered around where the Central Mechanical and Engineering Department is right now, but Chigarapasi Beerhall was already there,” he said. “It was built by a white businessman called Nesbit owner of now defunct N&B bakery who used to sell his beer there, since he owned a brewery, before handing it over to the city council.”
Explaining the circumstances that led to Molly’s death, he said that one morning in 1966, when they were going to Gaba Primary School in Hippo Valley, they saw policemen picking up Molly’s remains after she had been killed in an act of arson. Her angry boyfriend, who had accused and suspected her of cheating on him, had tied her to a bed, locked the door and then torched the house.
“It was a sad end to Molly’s colourful life,” said Chauke.
Describing Molly, he said: “Molly was plump, light in complexion and beautiful, one would not believe she was a commercial sex worker. Even city council workers engaged them for their services. Remember that was before the advent of HIV and Aids. After Molly’s death, several stories of her ghost tormenting revellers and residents were peddled around, but to be frank, I am not sure if there was any grain of truth to it,” he said.
Former Chiredzi District Council chairperson Francis Moyo confirmed the story, saying the incident happened before he was born.
“I know the whole story, but the only person who can give you details is Alderman Jim Mahiya. He was in council for a long time.”
Mahiya could not be reached for comment at time of going to Press. Another resident who also has been in council for a long time said it was true that Molly, Kessina and Hilda were ladies of the night who entertained even the most influential people, both visitors and residents.
“It is true that we have those street names. The women were not known for anything other than being sex workers. But to say Chiredzi town is full of those street names is to negate other positives.
“We have other popular spots such as Mutiwenhamo which is not necessarily a street name but a place where those looking for work gather.
“We also have Tshovani township named in honour of the chief and Pote named after the Member of Parliament,” he said.
Council chairperson Clr Gibson Hwende could not be reached for comment.
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