Bulawayo, also known as the City of Kings because of its rich past as the home of the ancient Rozvi, Torwa and Ndebele kingdoms, is no longer a place fit for a king.
This year the city commemorates 120 years of its founding by the British arch-imperialist Cecil John Rhodes in 1894 – but its former glory has faded considerably.
The vitality and exuberance of its citizenry has long been sucked out by years of industrial decline, resulting in crippling unemployment and poverty for its residents.
Also known as KoNtuthu ziya–thunqa (Ndebele for “a place that continually exudes smoke”), Bulawayo was for years Zimbabwe’s industrial hub and boasted a number of large manufacturing and engineering companies. These included the Tregers Group, Zimbabwe Engineering Company, Hubert Davies, Merlin Textiles, Stewarts & Lloyds, Build Elect, Dunlop, Hunyani Holdings and G&D Shoes, among others. But the smoke from Bulawayo’s industries has died down over the years.
Because of its industries and its strategic proximity to South Africa and Botswana, as well as being the nearest city to the country’s prime tourist destination, Victoria Falls, Bulawayo was also a transport hub, with the National Railways of Zimbabwe headquartered there.
Although the massive economic problems Zimbabwe is grappling with are not unique to Bulawayo, it is probably the country’s hardest-hit city. It has seen countless company closures and downsizings. Many people have relocated their businesses to Harare, leaving the once productive industrial areas of Belmont and Donnington bereft.
