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Flora Fadzai Sibanda, Online Reporter

INSPIRED by the amazing balancing rocks of Matobo Hills, a man from Bulawayo’s Lobengula West suburb, has transformed an illegal dump into an iconic landmark.

Mr Stanley Maduma (60) says his eye-catching designs are a way of fulfilling his desire to get close to the national heritage site which he has only seen in pictures and television.

He has been collecting stones from nearby bushes and using them to make a wall which he says once completed will look like the walls of Great Zimbabwe.

The elderly man says his neat artwork is also a way of reminding Bulawayo residents about the need to have a clean city.
The stones are beautifully laid out on the ground, forming a visually captivating carpet.

In a clear and articulate voice, he says the floor-designs were inspired by those his mother used to make at their rural homestead in Nkayi.

At the centre of the masterpiece is a baobab tree which he planted four years ago to provide shade.
A sprinkling of more baobab trees around the mini-Matopos adds to the splendour of the structure.

As one looks around the place, the eye is inevitably drawn to a clump of green reeds that add to the soothing atmosphere of the place.

“Reading through history, I discovered that important people usually had reeds around a place that they normally rest for the coolness they bring,” explains Mr Maduna.

Using a wheelbarrow, Mr Maduma has been painstakingly picking stones which he grades according to size and colour from the bush, since the beginning of 2023.

Some neighbours, he says, thought he had gone mad when he started the project and would laugh at him behind his back.
“After they started seeing the results, people eased into my vision and most even come to take pictures at this place.

This is my mini Great Zimbabwe and l know chances of me going there are now close to nil so being here in my man-made recreation is making me feel like l am already there,” says Mr Maduma with a spark of contentment in his eye.

He says keeping the place neat, will take the country far as it would be one of the many steps that will return Bulawayo to its former glory.

The City of Kings and Queens is renowned for once being among the cleanest in the world.
A resident from Lobengula, Mrs Rosemary Mlizane, said youths who have nothing to do could also join Mr Maduma in picking the stones to get occupied and shy away from drug and substance abuse.

“The area is a miniature of the Great Zimbabwe. It’s just that the walls are still short and it is built on a small place. What Maduma did is also a way of teaching people how they should always keep areas around their homes.

Before he did this the area was full of garbage and he cleaned the place on his own,” said the resident.

Mrs Eddinah Dube, another resident, said she hopes Mr Maduma can get a bigger place where he build more structures and maybe then, he might be recognised by people who might want to use his skills.

An awe-struck Mr Zephaniah Ndebele said: “It looks like a little museum that can help children imagine how the Great Zimbabwe and Matobo Hills look like.”

“Mr Maduma is slowly making our area famous as people now come to sit under his trees and marvel at the stone art while some take pictures there.

He may soon bring domestic tourism to our suburb. i love it because it clearly shows how smart we can all be as residents in the city,” sad Ndebele. – @flora_sibanda