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Gweru

Gwelo
Gweru Gwelo
City
	Coat of arms
	Motto: Progress
	Gweru Gweru in Zimbabwe
	Coordinates: 19°27′41″S 29°48′08″E / 19.46139°S 29.80222°E
Country	Zimbabwe
Province	Midlands
Founded	1894
Incorporated (town)	1914
Incorporated (city)	1971
Elevation	1,424 m (4,672 ft)
Population (2022 census)
• Total	158,200
Time zone	UTC+2 (CAT)
Climate	Cwb
Website	https://gwerucitycouncilsite.wordpress.com/

Gweru, originally known as Gwelo, is a city in central Zimbabwe. It is on the centre of Midlands Province. Originally an area known to the Ndebele as "The Steep Place" because of the Gweru River's high banks, in 1894 it became the site of a military outpost established by Leander Starr Jameson.^[2] In 1914 it attained municipal status, and in 1971 it became a city.

The city has a population of 158,200 as of the 2022 census. Gweru is known for farming activities in beef cattle, crop farming, and commercial gardening of crops for the export market.^[3] It is also home to a number of colleges and universities, most prominently Midlands State University and Mkoba Teachers College.

The city was nicknamed City of Progress.

History

Gweru used to be named Gwelo. Matabele settlement was named iKwelo ("The Steep Place"), after the river's high banks. The modern town, founded in 1894 as a military outpost, developed as an agricultural centre and became a municipality in 1914.

Geography

The geographical coordinates for Gweru Urban are 19° 27' 0'' South and 29° 49' 0'' East. This places Gweru at the centre of Zimbabwe. The area coverage is almost 46 166 km². The city is built alongside Bulawayo-Harare railway and the road near the railway spur to Mabuto.

Climate

Climate data for Gweru (1961–1990)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	26.3 (79.3)	25.8 (78.4)	25.8 (78.4)	24.7 (76.5)	22.9 (73.2)	20.6 (69.1)	20.5 (68.9)	23.3 (73.9)	26.8 (80.2)	28.3 (82.9)	27.4 (81.3)	26.3 (79.3)	24.9 (76.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	15.3 (59.5)	15.1 (59.2)	13.8 (56.8)	11.3 (52.3)	7.6 (45.7)	4.9 (40.8)	4.5 (40.1)	6.5 (43.7)	10.0 (50.0)	13.1 (55.6)	14.5 (58.1)	15.1 (59.2)	11.0 (51.8)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	139.1 (5.48)	124.8 (4.91)	55.9 (2.20)	29.0 (1.14)	7.7 (0.30)	1.9 (0.07)	1.0 (0.04)	1.9 (0.07)	9.3 (0.37)	35.1 (1.38)	96.2 (3.79)	159.4 (6.28)	661.3 (26.04)
Average rainy days	12	10	7	3	1	1	0	0	1	4	9	12	60
Source: World Meteorological Organization^[4]

Demographics

Nature and wildlife

In and around Gweru there are attractive places, some are man-made and some are natural. There is:

Antelope Park
White Waters
Insukamini Ruins

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1936	2,165	—
1941	5,100	+135.6%
1946	7,237	+41.9%
1951	9,800	+35.4%
1960	27,290	+178.5%
1969	36,840	+35.0%
1974	51,000	+38.4%
1978	66,000	+29.4%
1982	78,918	+19.6%
1992	128,037	+62.2%
2002	141,260	+10.3%
2012	157,865	+11.8%

Economy

Situated along the road and railway between Harare and Bulawayo and near the rail spur to Maputo, Mozambique, Gweru has become a busy trade centre with modest industrial development. Its products include ferrochromium, textiles, dairy foods, leather, and building materials. The surrounding area, with its rich deposits of gold, chrome, iron, asbestos, and limestone, supports a number of mines. The training section of Zimbabwe's air force is in Gweru at the Gweru-Thornhill Air Base.

The city is also known for vibrant farming activities in cattle ranching, and farming including, commercial gardening of crops for the export market. The country's oldest shoe manufacturer, the Bata Shoe Company and the Military and Aviation Museums are also some key features for which Gweru is well known.^[3]

Culture

The Boggie clock tower, located at the intersection of Main Street and Robert Mugabe Way, was built in 1928 in memory of Major William James Boggie. The clock tower is one of the city's most famous landmarks.^[2]

The Nalatale and Danamombe archaeological sites lie approximately 70 and 85 km to the southwest, the known for their patterned stonework. The remains at these sites date back to as early as the Torwa state during the 17th century, the most substantial being a four hundred-year-old stone wall decorated with motifs known to the tradition of stone-building in Zimbabwe. The surrounding area has rich deposits of gold, chrome, iron, asbestos and platinum and supports several mines.^[2]

Tourism

The main hotel in the city is the Midlands Hotel, which was opened in 1927 by the Meikles brothers. This hotel was to be demolished but after many protests by the population it was saved. Another important hotel is the Chitukuko (formerly the Hotel Cecil), located in the downtown area of the city. Both hotels were owned by Patrick Kombayi, a former mayor. The Fairmile Motel is just one mile from the city center on the Bulawayo highway .

Sports and stadia

Soccer

Chapungu Football Club

Chapungu F.C team was nicknamed Waru Waru and the team is currently playing in Zimbabwe Premier League Soccer League. Its home is Ascot Stadium.

There is also Gweru Sports club which has playgrounds for rugby, bowling and cricket.

Government and politics

Education

Primary education

Group A

Cecil John Rhodes School
Lundi Park School
Riverside School
Stanley School
Bata Primary School
Anderson Adventist Primary School (private)
Lingfield Academy (private)
Midlands Christian School (private)

Group B

Airforce Thornhill Primary School
Bumburwi School
Chikumbiro School
Matongo School
Mkoba 4 Primary School
Mpumelelo Primary School
Muwunga School
Sandara School
Senga Primary School
Takunda Primary School
Takwirira Primary School
St. Michael's Primary School (Catholic)
St. Paul's School (Catholic)

Secondary education

Group A

Sacred Heart College
Chaplin High School
Guinea Fowl High School
Nashville Secondary School
Thornhill High School
Anderson Adventist High School (private)
Lingfield Christian Academy (private)
Midlands Christian College (private)

Group B

Ascot Secondary School
Fletcher High School
Mambo High School
Matinunura High school
Mkoba 1 High School
Mkoba 3 High School
Senka Secondary School

Tertiary education

Ambassador College
Central Africa Correspondence College
Commercial Studies Centre
Educare College
Gweru Polytechnic Institute
Herentals College
International Correspondence Schools
Kaguvi National Technical College
Mkoba Teachers College
Midlands Christian Training Centre
Midlands State University
Rapid Results College
Senka Technical Training Centre
Solars College
TopFlight Secretarial College
Zimbabwe Distance Education College
Zimbabwe Open University
Mount Hermon Theological Seminary

Defunct colleges and universities

Midlands College of Commerce (closed 1994)

Media

Gweru's local newspaper, The Gweru Times, once ceased publishing in 2015 but now operational.

Industry

Gweru was famous for housing big companies that are no longer operating, and which left thousands of employees jobless.There is hope that future big SME companies will make up for the loss in economic activity created by this situation.These big companies were previously housed in and around Gweru. Below is the list of these companies grouped according to size and type of the industry. The companies that previously flourished in Gweru were Bata Shoe Company, ZimGlass, ZimCast, ZimAlloys, Delta Corporation, Anchor Yeast. Today most of their previous premises are derelict and are a painful reminder of a vibrant industrial city that Gweru once was.

However,Midlands State University is a recent feature of Gweru which has pushed the city to seek positive recognition as an education centre.

Transportation

Railway

Railways arrived in Gwelo (Gweru) in 1902. National Railways of Zimbabwe have the country's largest marshalling yard, Dabuka, on the south side of Gweru. Dabuka plays a pivotal role in rail movement in the country as it is the central hub of the rail links to Mozambique in the east, South Africa in the south and Botswana and Namibia in the south west, lying on the Beira–Bulawayo railway.^[5]

Gwelo was once home to the Gwelo & District Light Railway, a 2 ft gauge steam for pleasure railway.

Roads

As a central city (hub), it has direct links to all the other cities and towns of Zimbabwe. It is 164 km from Bulawayo, 183 km from Masvingo, 471 km from Beitbridge, and 275 km from Harare.

Road names used are by destination only, for example the Harare-Bulawayo Road. There are only mainroads, no highways or freeways.^[6]

Notable people

Brendan Ashby, Olympic swimmer
Patient Charumbira, cricketer
Shimmer Chinodya, writer
Edmore Chirambadare, footballer
Gerald B. Clarke, Rhodesian politician
Malcolm Grainger, cricketer
Gregg Haakonsen, cricketer
Mandy Loots, Olympic swimmer
Orlando Lourenco, tennis player
Paddington Mhondoro, cricketer
Energy Murambadoro, footballer
Kudakwashe Musharu, footballer
Luther Mutyambizi, cricketer
Christopher Muzvuru, Irish Guards piper
Welshman Ncube, politician
Rudolf Nyandoro, Roman Catholic bishop
David Pocock, Australia international rugby union player and politician
Ray Reed, racing driver
Nkululeko Mkastos Sibanda, politician
Alec Smith, Rhodesian Army chaplain, son of Ian Smith
Thomas Sweswe, footballer
Gary Teichmann, South Africa international rugby union player

Sister cities

Basildon, England, United Kingdom^[7]
Manchester, United States
Tsumeb, Namibia

References

^ Citypopulation.de Population of the major cities in Zimbabwe
^ ^a ^b ^c "Gweru – The City of Progress". mygweru.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Gweru | Zimbabwe". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
^ "World Weather Information Service – Gweru". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
^ Mlambo, Alois (2003). "Bulawayo, Zimbabwe". In Paul Tiyambe Zeleza; Dickson Eyoh (eds.). Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century African History. Routledge. ISBN 0415234794.
^ The Automobile Association of Zimbabwe
^ "Local Government International Bureau (LGIB) Database of "Twinning Towns". Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2007.