Vusumuzi Dube
Amanda Mlevu, Sunday News Reporter
VILLAGERS close to Tsholotsho Centre which was recently granted town status have been advised not to panic following rumours of relocation to pave way for the expansion of the town which started making rounds with authorities saying they are still far from making those moves.
Instead of celebrating the development of the rural centre into a town and the many benefits that comes with it, reports of relocation were causing anxiety to the villagers who were no longer certain of their future.
Tsholotsho Centre in Tsholotsho District, Matabeleland North Province was granted town status by the Second Republic as it walks the talk of leaving no-one and no place behind. The town status was also granted to Binga in the same province and Esigodini in Matabeleland South Province but for Tsholotsho, the development has been the talk of villagers since then.
Tsholotsho Rural District Council chairperson Councillor Esau Siwela, however, allayed the villagers’ fears saying nothing on the ground points to the issue of relocation of some villages.
He said the centre had just been granted town status and it was too early for such issues as relocation of villagers to be part of the development narrative in the district.
“We have not yet gotten to the stage where we can talk of relocation. We have just been granted the town status and it is quite too early to spread such information as relocation of villagers. It only makes people anxious, uncertain and uncomfortable and that is not right. We want the people of Tsholotsho to celebrate the development together without raising unnecessary alarm,” he said.
Clr Siwela added that the developments were supposed to make life easier for the residents of the district as more services were going to be brought at the doorsteps.
He said he was not ruling out the possibility of relocation but said it would depend on various factors and options and it was definitely not going to be as soon as had been reported by the grapevine.
“As a town we are definitely developing and making plans but relocating people if it becomes necessary may take five to six years to do so, by then we would have sat down and communicated with the people,” said Clr Siwela.
He told the Sunday News that Rome was not build in a day and it was going to be a long process to develop a town, that needed careful planning and many more assessments.
“Tsholotsho has a 10km radius, and development may start from the centre and if there are people to be shifted, they are the ones who fall within the radius but it will not be done without the necessary consultations and it is not something that will happen tomorrow. It will take some years,” he said.
He also said there were unfounded reports of people losing their jobs after their workspaces are affected by the expansion.
“I don’t know where people are getting that information. Things like that will not happen anytime soon. Council will engage the people in Tsholotsho and come up with a rationale conclusion that will better the lives of the people and not make them worse.
“We may even take the route of regularising settlements if they are in line with what we want when the time comes, but everything will take time. We will not do everything in a day, it will definitely take some time for us to get there”, said the chairperson.
Clr Siwela said they were excited by the granting of the town status as it gave them the urge to attract investment because with the RDC tag, some investors were reluctant to work with them, but now they can show the world out there what they have to offer from tourism to wildlife management.
He said Tsholotsho residents have more exciting developments to look up to including but not limited to seamless opportunities as well as more services that they were ordinarily getting from Bulawayo.
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