Vusumuzi DubeRutendo Nyeve and Clementine Phulu, Sunday News Reporters
THEY say it is not how big a man is in a fight but it is how big the fight in the man is. This statement is true when you think of David and Goliath. David already had a series of private victories, he killed a bear and a lion protecting his sheep, but only one day changed David’s life from David a shepherd to David the King.
This story inscribed in the Christian Bible seems to have taken a contemporary replication as a former Zimbabwe National Army corporal has proven to be a force in a variety of sectors that include security, logistics, farming and the hospitality industry.
With the corporal in the military set up being one of the lowest ranks, in fact being the third lowest rank it would probably take a decade for one to rise through the rank of an officer which in the ZNA starts from a second lieutenant.
However, for Mr Kalani Ndlovu, it is not about the rank but the principles of the military that have seen him establishing vibrant businesses.
A Sunday News crew last Thursday visited one of Ndlovu’s hospitality facilities, Mavuna Lodge located at what one can aptly call a tourism hotspot suburb.
This is because the suburb houses the Joshua Nkomo Museum, Hillside Dams and Water Front which are all located a stone’s throw away from Mavuna Lodge.
For some curious tourists willing to learn more about the country’s liberation history, it is also at the same area where the late Vice-President Cde Joseph Msika and army general Paul Gunda’s houses are located. The suburb is none other than Matsheumhlophe.
While there is an array of businesses under Mr Ndlovu’s stable that include the famous security company, Mjayeli which is even more popular in neighbouring South Africa, it is the captivating state-of-the-art of Mavuna Lodge that adds to the numerous accommodation facilities which the city boasts off.
“The name Mavuna is a family name, it’s ancestral. My grandfather’s name was Mavuna. When I was young at the age of nine, he gave me his homestead in Filabusi. He told my father that when this small boy grows up, he must take over this village it is his so it became mine.
“When I was grown up, I think it was in the early 1990s, my grandmother then alerted my father that remember that this homestead belongs to Kalani. I was given that homestead which I developed in Filabusi,” narrated the soft spoken Mr Ndlovu.
“When I then had capacity to start something I had to thank him hence I established this lodge and named it after him, he gave me his homestead emakhaya so I honour him with this establishment in town.”
He said the general market and demand for decent, executive and exclusive accommodation in Zimbabwe and Bulawayo in particular led to the lodge idea.
“There is a shortage of good places where good people can go to without necessarily going into bars and busy places; space that people need for business and leisure. Space that people will recognise as a beautiful place to be. So, the attitude towards the establishment of this place was to make it a beautiful place where people can relax.
“I looked at how beautiful this country is and how I could add value to its beauty at the same time creating a business opportunity for myself hence the establishment of the lodge so with the advent of the coming together of the New Dispensation that was in 2017, this is when we escalated our operations,” said Mr Ndlovu.
The lodge’s unique ambience, service and quality of product gives one who walks in a well-deserved wow factor.
Speaking on his background, Mr Ndlovu said: “Historically I am from the military, from the military to civilian life it generally meant that one had to look for a niche market where you would find comfort, not comfort in a comfortable way but comfort in livelihood. From the military there is not a lot one can do in civilian life, hence when I retired, I started a security company Mjayeli Security in South Africa.
“While out in South Africa I ploughed my profits in Zimbabwe, this is what brought about this business (Mavuna Lodge). I started off in the marketing business doing photocopying I used to work for a photocopying company and that company gave rise to Mjayeli Security. The profits that I made in South Africa I planted them here. I established what you see.
“Coming to the hospitality industry as I have indicated, it was this love for one’s country where people must be able to go to places in Zimbabwe, places of interest, when you are here, Hillside Dams is just round the corner, we have Matobo Hills, Chipangali, we are a conduit to Victoria Falls.
People coming from Harare and other Mashonaland provinces, should be able to stay over in a comfortable place in Bulawayo.” -Advertorial
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