Zimpapers Logo

Flora Fadzai Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter

In a bid to reduce congestion caused by informal vendors in the city centre, local businessman Divine Mhambi Hove (46) has opened Bulawayo’s first basement plaza at the corner of Jason Moyo and 11th Avenue.

With over 50 small business enterprises selling everything from clothes, cellphones, food, and home property, the plaza has also incorporated a car wash, leisure centre, restaurant, and gaming place. The director of Divine Technologies, the company behind the basement plaza, has invested over US$40 000 to get the place ready, and plans to continue improving it in the future.

“This concept itself is new and as such it is very challenging to be able to make people familiar with shopping underground. However, I believe this is a great idea which many people are now copying, as I have seen a lot of buildings now designing the small cubicles which we have here. As a city, we need to be coming up with such innovative ideas to deal with the crisis that is before us so that we can restore the beauty of our city,” says Divine.

The idea was initially met with scepticism, but Divine and his team have worked hard to address health and safety concerns by installing ventilation and an underground drainage system to ensure that the car wash water does not become stagnant.

Furthermore, the plaza’s rental charges are very affordable, ranging between US$60-100, to help support local businesses.
“The place has ventilation as the basement was designed with some ventilation spaces. And we have done an underground drainage system which allows all the water we use at the car wash to be drained. Besides we use cold water to wash the cars so it makes things easier,” says Divine.

Devine M Hove- The basement Plaza

However, the business faces challenges due to the frequent power cuts, which leave the entire place in darkness. Despite this, Divine remains optimistic and encourages the city to be innovative in finding ways to keep the area clean and accommodate new ideas.

“We believe in empowering other businesspeople and making sure everyone works in a good environment,” says Divine. “Our plaza is not just a solution to congestion, but also a solution to unemployment. We are proud to be part of the solution in our city.”

Divine says the place is also good because their rental charges are very low because they understand everyone is in business.
“Our rentals are affordable and we charge between US$60-100. We made sure our rentals are affordable so our clients do not lose a lot of money when they are trying to make money. We believe in empowering other businesspeople and making sure everyone works in a good environment,” he says.

The businessman said their biggest challenge at the moment is the Zesa power cuts because they are working in a basement. Whenthere are power cuts the whole place becomes dark and they have not found a working solution at the moment.

He urged the city to be innovative and think of ways it can work around to keep the place clean and be able to accommodate new ideas that are coming their way.–@flora_sibanda