Zhombe, originally known as Jombe, is a rural communal area in Kwekwe District, Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. It is an area of mixed Shona and Northern Ndebele People. It lies along the Mnyathi border line between Midlands and Mashonaland Provinces. There are a few commercial farms within its borders and a handful of resettlement areas. Most of it is within the Zhombe Constituency. Its administrative centre is the Zhombe Joel Growth Point, and it is under the Zibagwe Rural District Council.
There are fourteen business centres in Zhombe. Ten of the business centres are electrified. There are also two rural service centres: Empress and Zhombe Joel. As of 2011, there were 53 primary schools and 18 secondary schools. There are ten clinics (and one mission hospital) and several health centers in Zhombe.Health facilities in selected districts
The area is primarily rangeland supporting over 48,000 cattle, with 13 animal health centers and 26 dip tanks.
Jombe Zhombe is the current spelling of "Jombe", a former spelling which came about as a result of Portuguese orthography. It is not uncommon for "Jo" to continue to be pronounced "Zho" in these Central African names.
Geographic features named Jombe There are both a hill and a river named Zhombe, sometimes spelled Jombe or Jombi. Coordinates:
The location of Zhombe Hill is just less than east of Bhamala Township and the local people like to call it Zungunde the name of an infidel man who used to live up there. The geographic location of Zhombe Hill is in Mashonaland West Province because the provincial boundary is on the Zhombe side of Munyati River well off the banks, and at this place the boundary is about 700m west of the river bank. Local people like to think that the provincial boundary is right at the middle of the river but the truth on any map is that Munyati River is wholly in Mashonaland West Province almost throughout the eastern boundary of Zhombe and the Midlands Province.
Origins of Jombe Jombe possibly originated from migrant workers who worked with the German gold miners, who had numerous small scale mines in Zhombe and elsewhere in Zimbabwe. They brought Jombe to this part of the world from elsewhere. Jombe is also the name of a type of deep purple chrysanthemum. "Jombe" is also a surname.
However, there must have been Jombe and Zhombe in the 1930s as Esme Newfield put down in her family biography,"My father in his day was a storekeeper, butcher and baker and I remember as a small child traveling With him out on the Gokwe Road to Zhombe and Jombe, buying cattle for his butchery. I remember Chief Kassela a most hospitable man." http://www.zjc.org.il/showpage.php?pageid=90 - Chief Kassela mentioned here must be Chief Gwesela or there was a market place called Jombe and the other one Zhombe such as Jombe Store and Zhombe Store.
Jombe elsewhere
In Zimbabwe Jombe is not a vernacular name, even as most names here are foreign and most names were imported from elsewhere.
There is Jombe Clinic in Jombe village, Mutasa District.
The French and the Portuguese would pronounce as Zho the Jo and it becomes Zhombe clinic.
There is also a mountain in Mashonaland East called Zhombwe, sometimes mispronounced as Zhombe.
So Zhombe was only the pronunciation of Jombe and someone at the native registrar's office misspelled it because of the pronunciation.
There is also not far from Zhombe a school called Zhombe SDA Primary School in Bombah, Gokwe. There are also Jombe Primary and Secondary Schools in Manicaland.
Zhombe profile by ward Wards 1 and 2 have since been scratched from Zhombe Constituency to Chirumanzu-Zivagwe Constituency, but still part of Zhombe Communal Lands. Ward 5 and 26 are now under Silobela Constituency but still in Zhombe Communal land. Zhombe Constituency has since been trimmed to 12 wards. but Zhombe Communal Land remains the same.
Ward 31
This was Ward 1 of Zhombe Constituency. It is now Ward 31 under Chirumanzu-Zibagwe Constituency, but is still in Zhombe geographically.
Primary schools Bonwei, established 1984 Munyati Zesa, established 1956 Sherwood Park, established 1980
Secondary schools Munyati Zesa, established 1987
Health centers Sherwood Clinic has two nurses and two general beds. Munyati Clinic has four nurses and two general beds.
Ward 2
Politically Ward 2 is now under Chirumanzu–Zibagwe Constituency but in Zhombe geographically.
Primary schools Chimwaoga, established 1982 Sebakwe, established 1968
Health centers Sebakwe Clinic is staffed by one nurse and has two general beds.
Ward 5
Politically Ward 5 is now under Silobela Constituency, but geographically is in Zhombe Communal Land.
This ward was where Sungura musician Tongai Dhewa Moyo grew up.
Primary schools Mariyangu Primary School, established 1999 - Maliyami Zivagwe Primary School, established 1985 Kotamai Primary School
Secondary schools Njeremoto Secondary School
Mabura (Ward 6)
Business and service centers Columbina Rural Service Center
Machipisa Bee Mine Township Samambwa Shopping Center Samambwa Villa was the rural home of one of Zimbabwe's young politicians, the late Learnmore Judah Jongwe.
Primary schools Bee Mine Primary School Established 1969 Samambwa Primary School Established 1964 Somapani Primary School Established 1966
Secondary schools
Bee Mine Secondary School, established 1981 Samambwa Secondary School, established 1984
Health centers Samambwa Clinic has one nurse, one helper, and eight beds.
Other facilities Commoner houses Ngondoma Irrigation Scheme Mabura Caves
Sidakeni (Ward 7)
Sidakeni is where the rural home of the Sungura songster Somandla Ndebele is. He started singing as a member of the Sidakeni Secondary School choir. (subscription required) That choir won first prize in the provincial choral competition, and from then Somandla pursued a career in Music.
Business and service centers Sidakeni Township
Coordinates: Latitude 18° 26' 51"S | 18.4475 S Longitude 29° 28' 39"E | 29.4775 E
Sidakeni used to be Zhombe East's mother center with Samambwa Council offices and the Samambwa Police Base at the center. For the fact that it is only 3 km east of Empress Sidakeni has lost its potential of becoming the talk of Zhombe East. However, one of the clinics that serves Empress is at Sidakeni, with the other being at Rio Tinto Agricultural College.
There are two school of the same name at this center, a primary one and a secondary one.
St Peter's Munyati Township This is the first township as one enters Midlands from Kadoma, which is in Mashonaland West. It is also the first township after Munyati River Bridge on the same route.
The township is also known as KwaHove after the pioneer businessman the late Mr Hove.
St Peter's Munyati is a primary school some 700 meters from the center.
This place has grown and now beats Sidakeni in business.
This place was the first rural home area of the chief Gospel music pioneer in Zimbabwe, Baba Mechanic Manyeruke in the mid-70s. He resided in Mubereki Village just behind Tagwirei Grindill Mill.Picky Kasamba, who used to help Olver Mutukudzi with backing vocals, also hails from this area, in the defunct mine compound of Vindo.
Kasawi Township Mangwarangwara Township -KwaChiroro
Primary schools
Kasawe Primary School, established 1965 Mangwarangwara Primary School, established 1965 Sidakeni Primary School, established 1966 St Peters Munyati Primary School, established 1963
Secondary schools Sidakeni Secondary School, established 1981
Health centers Sidakeni Rural Health Center
Animal health centers Sidakeni Veterinary Clinic
Dip tanks Sundukazi
Empress Mine (Ward 8) Empress Mine Ward, in which Empress Mine Growth Point is situated, got its name from the now defunct Empress Nickel Mine which operated at this location for nearly two decades. The mine came into operation in late 1968 and closed in 1985 (1982 to 1985).
For public convenience the Registrar General has set up the Empress Mine Sub Office at the Old Empress Mine Offices, next to the ZRP Samambwa Base,Kwekwe rg.gov.zw where people can register IDs, births and deaths.
Business and service centers Kamukuze Township, Navata Mavende Store, Mugqunyelwa Village Kaseke Shops, Empress Mine Navhata Shopping Center, KwaGweru Totororo Township
Totororo Township is one of the oldest townships in Zhombe east. Totororo had conventional telephones in the 1960s while most centers had not even seen a telephone. After the independence of Zimbabwe, Totororo produced a businessman who made sure the center was electrified from his own coffers. Unfortunately Mapolisa did not live long enough to see his efforts over-spill to other areas like Bhamala and St George.
Presently Totororo is second in business activities from Empress-Machipisa and statistically St George's comes third in all Zhombe East.
This is the village where author Morgan Mahanya lives.
Bhamala Township Bhamala or Bamala township used to be the biggest and most prominent township in all Zhombe East. The catchment area of Bhamala is not so big and business growth at this place is limited. One could get anything at this shopping center in past years, but for a much higher price, of course because only one omnibus serviced the route and it also served as a delivery vehicle for retail shops at the center. The place is surrounded by "Makorokoza" gold panners so the people there are not worried about spending.
Bhamala or Bamala is a headman and chief villager of this area. There are Bhamala Primary School and Bhamhara Secondary School at this center. There is also a very active and ongoing co-operative society called Karigamombe at the center. Karigamombe has been functional since the early 1980s. It is one of the few ongoing co-operative societies of the early eighties in all Zimbabwe.
Bhamala school relocated to this area from about 2 km south-east of where it stands now in the sixties. Elderly locals know about this very well but only a handful of the younger generations have come about this piece of history.
The late Abet Dube, Headman Bamala's son-in-law, was head of the Old Bamala School.
The names Bamala and Bhamala both have the Indian-Pakistan origins since both are not for any Bantu clan. During colonial days the white bosses would give their servants whatever name they saw fit and eventually register them with the registrar general's office.
Primary schools
Commoner Primary School, established 1954 as Salakuhle School, misspelled as Salagushle Mopani Primary School, established 1975 Navata Primary School, established 1963 Totororo Primary School, established 1964 Bhamala Primary School, established 1964
Ward 8 and 9 wrestle for this school. However in general elections the Gwesela West Ward polling station is always at the school, on side, while the Empress Mine Ward polling station is a tent pitched away from the school, on the off-side off the boundary road.
Secondary schools Bhamhara Secondary, established 1983 Nyaradzo Secondary School, established 1981, formerly Mopani/Mbuya Nehanda.Young politician Learnmore Jongwe did his secondary education here before proceeding to Lower Gweru SDA Secondary for Lower and Upper Six. Totororo Secondary School, established 1986
Higher education There is Rio Tinto College of Agriculture at Empress Mine Township, Zimbabwe 3.5 km south of Columbina Rural Service Center. The college trains agricultural extension officers, but some students opt for other fields soon after completion of the three year Diploma in Agricultural Science and Practice. It is also known as RioZim Foundation Zhombe Agricultural College.
Health centers Rio Tinto College of Agriculture Clinic is staffed by one nurse, usually with the help of student nurses from Kwekwe General Hospital. It has two general beds.
Dip tanks Totororo
Gwesela West (Ward 9)