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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief

A new shopping mall and hotel are some of the huge investments earmarked for the new look Redcliff Town centre being developed along the Bulawayo-Harare Highway, at a spot popularly known as Redcliff Turn-off.

Already there is a mall and a service station at Redcliff Turn-off that has been opened to customers as the centre is being moved from the old town.

The service station has space for grocery shops, fast food outlets and a truckers’ inn.

The local authority has also allocated land to some foreign investors who want to construct a state-of-the-art hotel and shopping mall just across the Harare-Bulawayo Highway as one drives from Redcliff Town.

These plans are already in motion along with the selling of residential and commercial stands.

The local authority with about 50 000 residents has also embraced the smart city concept which is a prerequisite pushed by the Second Republic.

A smart city is one that uses information communication technologies to improve operational efficiency, share information with the public and provide a better quality of Government service and citizen welfare.

Zimbabwe made a decision to create smart cities and Government adopted the principle in 2018 with the advent of the New Dispensation.

If Ziscosteel is revived as per Government’s plans, Redcliff will be the town to invest in because of its central location in the country.

The local authority announced plans to move its centre to the Harare-Bulawayo Highway as it seeks to unlock new development opportunities. 

In an interview yesterday, Redcliff mayor Councillor Clayton Masiyatsva said good times are on the way for the town.

The area along the highway provides much-needed land for expansion.

“There are plans which are at an advanced state to have a new hotel and a state-of-the-art shopping mall as one of the many huge investments earmarked for the new look Redcliff Town’s central business district that is going to be along the Bulawayo-Harare Highway, popularly known as Redcliff turn-off,” said Clr Masiyatsva.

He said land for the hotel and mall had been identified with potential investors already on site.

“The investors are there and have been at the site just across the Harare-Bulawayo Highway. We have good and exciting things in terms of investments that are taking place in Redcliff Town,” said the mayor.

Clr Masiyatsva said several investors have expressed interest in purchasing land for development in the same area.

He said they have the Redcliff Development Committee that is made up of development experts among others who are spearheading development projects.

“The development committee is really doing its work because we have investors knocking at our offices asking how and where they can invest. Redcliff is centrally located and can be accessed from Harare and Bulawayo which makes it a potential investment destination,” he said.

Clr Masiyatsva said they also embraced the smart city concept spearheaded by Government.

“Remember our vision is to have city status by 2030. With that vision, we embraced the smart city concept where we are developing a city of the future. We are mixing industrial, commercial, and residential areas which conform to this smart city concept,” he said.

The local authority which has for long suffered from economic challenges is looking forward to a rosy future anchored on a number of development projects being undertaken such as the proposed new centre business district and the offsetting of the City of Kwekwe water bill.

Home to the fallen iron and steel giant, Ziscosteel, the town encountered hard times in recent years, typified by its failure to service the City of Kwekwe water bill and other utilities.