WATCH: Rural Top Billing! Chief Tshitshi

Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
Rondavels made of mud bricks or logs have long been associated with a rural set up in most African countries with Zimbabwe being no exception.

Traditional African architecture uses a wide range of simple materials which include thatch, wood, rammed earth and stone.

However, since the turn of the 21st century, there has been a radical shift in taste and style with most rural dwellers in Zimbabwe now slowly moving away from the traditional African architecture of mud and grass thatched huts.

Rural dwellers, mostly Zimbabweans in the diaspora, have transformed their thatch and mud huts into lavish homes. Some of the designs are explorations of ideas connecting art and science to architecture.

Tsholotsho house

 

A Chronicle news crew this week visited selected homes in the largely rural provinces of Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South.

Dotted across rural parts of the two provinces are lavish homes in the form of suburban mansions and duplex apartments.

Embakwe Mission area

A first-time visitor to these beautiful mansions is indisputably assured of enjoying the best of both worlds.

The late Mangwe MP and former Home Affairs Deputy Minister Obedingwa Mguni’s duplex apartment offers a taste of rural isolation.

Built on a hill overlooking the surrounding countryside deep in Macingwane Village in Mangwe district in Matabeleland South province, the Mgunis’ residence is a freestanding villa.

The home is an impeccable work of art, which brings together the best of modern living, a private and verdant setting at the centre of the village.

The place also offers a quiet enjoyment.

When Chronicle visited the Mgunis’ home, there was their son, Bongani. His mother, Cde Hlalani Mguni who is also the local MP, said:

“There has been too much publicity about our property. I am no longer keen on talking to the media about my house,” she said.

Across the province in Silalatshani, Insiza District is another exquisite double-storey mansion, which perfectly fits the description of a holiday home.

Silalatshani, Filabusi

The owner of the house, Mr Bongani Mhlanga is a businessman based in South Africa.

The property manager, Mr Bekezela Dlomo said the owner of the house is not comfortable with sharing information about his private home.

Neighbours said a South African company was contracted to build the house.

“The owner of the house is based in South Africa and he rarely visits and there are two caretakers looking after the property. The last time he was here was some three years ago and his property manager is the one who constantly visits the house,” said a neighbour who preferred to remain anonymous.

The neighbour said the house was completed in 2011.

Chronicle could not access the interior of the house but it has a swimming pool, an internal communication system and equipped with closed circuit television (CCTV) camera, solar powered geysers and a security fence around it.

Silalatshani, Filabusi

There is also an ample space for outdoor sporting activities.

Rippling over the contours of a steep hillside slope in Chefunye village in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North, is an equally beautiful home belonging to Mr Reuben Ndebele, a driver at the Madagascar Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa and his wife, Literacy.

She said they built their home in 2005 before they extended and modernised it in 2018.

“Initially, it was two-roomed house before we extended it to five rooms. We have a house in Nkulumane in Bulawayo, but as a family we chose to stay here in Chefunye because life in the rural areas is cheap,” she said.

“Unlike in Bulawayo, where you have to pay rates, water bills and buy electricity, we get free water from our borehole using a solar-powered pump. We are also involved in horticulture projects which means there is no need to buy vegetables and tomatoes from the market.”

Mrs Ndebele, a mother of three, said they were enjoying the best of both worlds.

“Naturally, a home should be a place where you feel secure and can unwind at the end of a long day. It is important for one to put all their efforts towards building a structure that is worth the sweat,” she said.

At Bhagani, Mr Cabanga Moyo who is based in Johannesburg, transformed his parents’ traditional mud and grass thatched huts into a modest home, which fully embraces their environment.

The fully furnished house boasts of a master bedroom with en suite facilities, solar powered running water and electricity. The master suite in particular comes with private dressing room and affords long views across the gardens from the bay window.

It seems the imported materials used coupled with the polychrome interior were used as a means to explore architectural ideas that dovetail with the concerns of art.

Mr Sithabile Ngope, the caretaker said the house was built as a retirement home.

“The owner of the house is my nephew and he married a South African woman. When they first visited home, the wife wasn’t impressed by the structures, which is why they decided to dismantle them,” she said.

Bulilima District

Mr Ngope said Cabanga’s wife is the one who chose a South African design and decorated the rooms including choice of interior colours.

“Mrs Moyo introduced cream colours for the master bedroom and lounge walls, cherry-red sliding doors and floors of pebbles to give it a perfect finishing touch. My nephew said this is his retirement home,” she said.

Covered with a curved double shell of reinforced concrete upon a metal frame, is a rolling zinc-tiled house in Tshishi, Mangwe District.

The house, belonging to Mr Khaliphani Sibanda, a cross-border driver (malayitsha) based in Botswana, is an imposing structure, which is an “island of beauty” in a sea of mud and grass huts.

Mr Sibanda’s brother, Mcingelo who looks after the house, said the property was built at an estimated cost of R500 000.

The bathroom is fitted with a Paris basin, a reproduction of a 20th-century French fireclay design, chosen to suit both the size of the room and the period style of the house.

A frameless glass screen prevents water splashing from the shower area, allowing the beauty of the book-matched Carrara marble wall to be enjoyed.

Chief Tshitshi said the modern homes have totally transformed the Mangwe landscape.

“You will find most of the homes in Mangwe are no longer the traditional mud and grass huts that were synonymous with a typical rural set up. Times have changed now as you can see for yourself nice houses in our villages with exotic designs,” he said.

Mangwe house

Chief Tshitshi said most of the houses belonged to locals based in the diaspora with people having been hired to look after the properties.

“Most of these owners come home during Christmas holidays. It appears the idea of investing in these beautiful homes is part of securing a good future upon retirement,” he said.-@mashnets

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