Ndolwane Registry offices near completion

A new lease of life awaits communities from Bulilima District in Matabeleland South province as the construction of Ndolwane Registry Offices is nearing completion with 80 percent of the works done so far.

The new registry offices are located at Ndolwane Business Centre and the project is expected to be a major factor in enhancing development of the rural service centre.

The registry offices are being built through collaboration between locals and area constituency legislator, Cde Dingumuzi Phuti, who facilitated its roofing through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Bulilima District has 22 wards namely Tjankwa (1), Gwambe (2), Natane (3), Nyele (4), Matjinge (5), Gala (6), Masendu (7), Huwana (8), Makhulela (9), Bambadzi (10), Madlambudzi (11), Hingwe (12), Ndolwane (13), Malanswazi (14), Vulindlela (15), Dombolefu (16), Mlomwe (17), Somnene (18), Fairview (19), Dombodema (20), Ndiweni (21) and Khame (22).

Of the 22 wards, only Masendu and Madlambudzi wards have makeshift registry offices, which, from time to time, malfunction.

On a normal basis, a regular Bulilima villager has to fork out between R200 to R400 to travel to and from Plumtree town, which has regular identity documents issuance.

This has seen quite a number of villagers having to grow old without being regarded as citizens of Zimbabwe. This case is evident in some of them who cross to South Africa and Botswana before they sit for any formal education, which requires identity verification.

Cde Phuti said the construction of the first formal registry offices is a testament to the Second Republic’s commitment to decentralising services countrywide.

“The spirit of devolution is intensifying, as led by President Mnangagwa, who even demonstrated by giving each province an opportunity to host national events,” he said. “The registry office at Ndolwane will ease the agony of travelling more than 120km to access simple civil registry documents from Plumtree by our villagers.

“For starters, Plumtree is Mangwe and cannot continue to host services for Bulilima without plans for posterity. Civil registry is a right for all,” said Cde Phuti.

He said the registry offices will be an additional growth of the service centre, thereby pushing to achieve an upper middle income society by 2030.

“Once complete, the office will grow Ndolwane as a service centre of choice as this service will be joining other Government services such as Veterinary, Health, Education, Women Affairs, Agritex, Police and Roman Catholic mission and other faith organisations. It will serve wards such as Bambadzi, Ndolwane, Gala, Huwana, Khame and Makhulela,” said Cde Phuti.

“Vision 2030 must be achieved through various improvements to people’s lives. Access is the keyword. People must not struggle to access Government services of any sort by 2030 as envisioned by President Mnangagwa.”

A Tjemahale Secondary School learner, who cannot be named for ethical reasons said he was unable to participate in the 2026 first term sporting activities, like athletics, due to non-documentation.

“I like athletics, and I believe that’s where my gift is, but l was unable to participate in the competitions because I do not have any identification document. I stay with my grandmother and my mother is in South Africa,” said the pupil.

Ward 13 councillor, Never Ncube, urged the community to continue working hard to see the fruitful completion of the project.—@mthabisi_mthire