Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
THE high-density suburb of Mtapa, in the heart of Gweru, is rarely ever quiet. It is a place with so much going on.
The suburb remains an interesting place for many and hosts hundreds of people coming through daily for one reason or another.
Mtapa suburb is Gweru’s oldest suburb with a population of over 12 500 people with the majority in the economically active age group of 16-64.
The suburb is also home to the iconic Mtapa Hall where Zanu held its first congress in 1964, Gafa grounds where aspiring soccer stars used to meet for tournaments and Ascot Stadium which has been home to Chapungu Football Club.
Built in the 1930s Mtapa used to comprise overcrowded hostels with up to four families sharing a room. Despite it being old and derelict, its name still echoes far and wide in most corners of the country today.
In spite of the many superlatives describing the high-density suburb, Mtapa has never been shy to bare its soul to both new and regular patrons, a feature that distinguishes it from the rest of suburbs in Gweru. It is a ragbag of activities stretching from one end to the other. It is certainly where the burst of life can only be found.
From the children dancing to music playing from the duke box, some playing class games while others are engrossed in a card game, though illegal — it’s all found in Mtapa.
“It is at Mtapa where money both legal and illegal changes hands very fast,” says one resident.
Everyone minds their own business. They don’t care what the next person is doing as long as paths don’t clash and this is what makes Mtapa suburb tick.
The sun will set and it will rise again and still, thousands will find their way back, giving Mtapa suburb that vibe that is found nowhere else.
For reasons of it being the first suburb, it is a vintage place where old residents enjoy telling stories of how they saw other suburbs being developed.
“The residents are a resilient lot. Since it’s an impoverished community many people got hardened by the environment and began to learn survival skills to better their lives. Changing times gave birth to a plethora of generations from the one that thrives on hard working to the one that make use of opportunities and recreational facilities around the community,” said Mr Samuel Ncube a resident.
He said a positive to be drawn amid poverty in the suburb was that of Ubuntu/Unhu.
That Mtapa is the birthplace of the word “hustle” in Gweru is an undeniable fact. Anything can be bought or sold in Mtapa as residents make ends meet.
Remember it is home to the biggest market place with over 4 000 vendors trading in fresh produce to hardware and clothes.
Even for women and men who have ‘‘issues’’ — Mtapa market is the place where concoctions to improve performance or to reduce the size as it were can be sourced.
“We survive under the difficult conditions. We have to wake up do something for a dollar hey. Even for 50c. We hustle and we have clients from all over Gweru coming to Mtapa to look for anything because you will find anything you want in Mtapa,” said Mr Ncube.
Mtapa Ward Councillor Godfrey Giwa said love and mutual respect for each other has resulted in people with different backgrounds staying together or sharing houses.
“Over the years through generations of community leadership people have realised that working together is the key to success in everything and when I came in as councillor, I cemented a culture of working from a politically neutral point of view. This has worked wonders and everything that occurs or is done by the people is for the people,” he said.
Clr Giwa said Mtapa continues to tick because it has produced celebrities in sport and entertainment.
“The boxing fraternity witnessed the birth of commonwealth champion, the late Langton ‘‘Schoolboy’’ Tinago. In Maxwell Dube we had a soccer star of the year accolade while Zizoe paMic is plying his musical career in the UK.
All of them are products of Mtapa suburb,” he said.
Clr Giwa said there were also criminals in their midst.
Back then before residents were allowed to build single toilets and were using communal toilets — word has it that one had to watch carefully for their bath soap because once he or she placed it down or closed their eyes, they would find it missing.
“On criminals I think this area has greatly improved. Long back since it was an old location and nearer to town and having three big beerhalls it used to attract a lot of criminals but of late these beerhalls have since been closed save for Salaco Nightclub at Mtapa shops. This night club is largely patronised by people coming from other distant areas and a couple of years ago artisanal miners would come to terrorise residents but a meeting was held between the locals and relevant authorities and now you can hardly get reports of criminals harassing people as frequent as it used to be. Yes, elements of criminality can’t be totally eradicated but I’m sure statistics can reveal some better positives,” he said.
A self-confessed lady of the night who identified herself as Mamoe said prostitution was also rife in Mtapa suburb as it was in any other locations.
“Prostitution is now done ‘professionally’, it has become so secretive but behind the scenes a lot is happening. Covid-19, has caused us to rethink our strategies as you can now see few ladies of the night parading along the wall of a beerhall. So, generally this profession has gone one step into privacy,” she said.
Drug abuse has also not eluded adolescents. Selling of drugs has proved to be the quickest way of surviving in terms of income sourcing and the drug selling points are dotted around the suburb.
Gweru Mayor Councillor Josiah Makombe said Mtapa suburb was Gweru’s nerve centre.
“The birth and growth of Gweru is centred around Mtapa. Now we are working on constructing the biggest market in Mtapa. The suburb continues to tick because of what the people do. There is plenty of activity and our desire is for people to do legal business for the growth of the suburb and the town at large,” he said.
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