Donjane Explained

-18.6474°N 29.4941°W

Donjane is ward 32 of the 33 wards in Zibagwe Rural District Council under Kwekwe District, Zimbabwe. It is in Zhombe-East in the Midlands.

Background

Donjane Ward 32 was created out of Zhombe Central prior to the 2013 general elections. Its centre is a Mushangi Business Center.

It is represented by a male Zanu-PF councillor who is also the Zibagwe Rural District Council chairman.

The late Chief Samambwa II (George Ndumo) and the late Chief Samambwa III (Peter Mahundi) were both resident in Donjane Ward. Their father Chief Samambwa I (Matikidi Thomson Mapfumo Mandabwe) was resident in Mabura Ward in Samambwa village 600 metres east of Samambwa Primary School.

Name Origins

It is common speculation that the name Donjane came from Don Juan, a mine near Donjane Clinic. Donjane is not a vernacular name but a name given by migrant or settler miners during the colonial era. Local villagers were not consulted when the occidental settlers gave place names, and there is no record of where the name came from. However, in the English Don Juan and Don Jane are two separate names. Locals here pronounce Donjane as Donjani, and it would not surprise if Donjani in Bosnia and Herzegovina[1] is the namesake of the local Donjane (Donjani).

Operations

Business Centers

Mining Projects

There are several small scale mines around St Georges Township which include Don Juan Mine just 200 metres east of Donjane Clinic. There are also several groups of gold panners in this ward most of them illegally operating. The government has however been planning to formalize work of gold panners by forming small miners' projects.[2] [3] [4] Not much has been implemented however, because of the weak economy.[5] Gold Miners Association (Zimbabwe) has designed plans to rescue small scale gold miners by facilitating association run gold mills. They have so far set two mills elsewhere in the country and they intend to establish the third here.[6]

Schools

Health Facilities

Donjane Clinic is 500 metres south of St Georges Primary School along the Sidakeni-Somalala Road. It serves Ward 32 and Bhamala Village in Ward 8 and Bhuma-Bhamhara Village in Ward 9. It is staffed by 2 qualified nurses and 3 nurse aides. It has 8 general beds.

Livestock Facilities

Donjane Dip Tank is 500 metres south of Donjane Clinic, along the Power Line.

Road Network

All business centers in this ward are along the Somalala-Sidakeni Road which is popularly known as Zhombe East Road. The Somalala end joins the Kwekwe-Gokwe Highway at the 50 km peg from Kwekwe. The Sidakeni end joins the Kadoma-Gokwe-via-Empress Road about 1000 metres (east) before Sidakeni Township.

Mushangi Shopping Center is at the road's T-junction with the "Donjane-Tiger_Reef" road that passes through Mayoca to Kwekwe.

DDF (District Development Fund) base which does local roads is situated about 1000 metres southeast of Mushangi Shopping Center.

Neighbouring Wards

See also

Notes and References

  1. Satelitte Map | Donjani (45°4'45"N 18°8'24"E) Map | Bosnia and Herzegovina Maplandia.com | Retrieved 15 January 2016
  2. Midlands Bureau Chief | 7 November 2013 $2 million gold milling centre for Kwekwe rural.... "In an interview yesterday, Cde Machaya, who recently received a fresh mandate to run the affairs of Zanu- PF in the Midlands after narrowly defeating his deputy, Cde Larry Mavima, said the milling centre would be set up in Zhombe’s Donjane area at a projected cost of $2 million." The Chronicle | Local News | Retrieved 15 January 2016
  3. Daniel Nemukuyu | Senior Reporter | 15 November 2014 Govt shuts down 11 gold mines Government will also establish gold service centres to cater for small- scale miners, with the first one being expected to be established at St George’s in Zhombe. The Herald | Local News | Retrieved 15 January 2016
  4. Veneranda Langa | 17 February 2014 Small scale gold miners to get support Gmaz | Retrieved 15 January 2016
  5. Fidelity Mhlanga | 6 November 2015 Lack of funding has crippled the operationalisation of artisanal mining permits, gold buying units and gold service centres aimed at capacitating small scale gold mining as announced last year by the Ministry of Mines, business digest can reveal.....The first Gold Service Centre was aimed at St Georges, Zhombe in the Midlands serving as a pilot project funded by the Minerals Marketing Company of Zimbabwe and Fidelity Printers and Refinery (FPR). The Independent | Business | Retrieved 15 January 2016
  6. Conrad Mwanawashe | Business Reporter | 2 November 2015 Small-scale miners draw up survival plans ...."To this end, the association has so far set up two gold milling centres, in Mberengwa and Esigodini, and will soon set up a third in Zhombe." The Herald | Business | Retrieved 15 January 2016
  7. Parlzim Secondary Schools 2 Zhombe Constituency 2006. pp12. Diagram1. Wards 10-26 Primary Schools Yumpu.com | Retrieved 7 January 2016