Raymond Jaravaza, Sunday News Reporter
WHEN a wildlife enthusiast and would-be safari lodge owner first set up a makeshift roof corrugated structure in the middle of virgin land and hired locals to clear the land, villagers assumed a man with deep pockets had come to build a fancy homestead in their humble village.
Little did the villagers know that a project, years in the making, by a man whose love for wildlife runs in his blood would not only transform their village in Gwayi, but also create jobs directly and indirectly. When the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa expedited plans for the construction of the much-touted Lake Gwayi Shangani in 2018, gold miner Mr Dubuza Raiton Mpunzi, also had his own dream to fulfil.
Mr Mpunzi, understood the economic benefits the Lake would bring, not only to the immediate communities surrounding the mega water reservoir but to villages hundreds of kilometres away ,such as the one where he set up a lodge along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road in Gwayi.
Sitting about half a kilometre from the Gwayi River, Mpunzi’s Gwayi Rhino Lodge is a 41-chalet facility that he constructed from scratch starting in 2020 and is expected to become fully operational in June this year, when all the relevant paperwork from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) – the body mandated to develop, manage and market the country as a tourist destination – is granted.
At first glance from the main Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road, the newly established lodge looks like a modern homestead, but a closer look shows dozens of chalets, built with an African touch, surrounded by indigenous trees and shrubs deliberately left uncut for an authentic bush feeling that tourists love about the Zimbabwean safari experience.
While the construction of the Lake Gwayi-Shangani is touted as a game changer that will eliminate water shortages in Bulawayo and bring opportunities such as agriculture, tourism and electricity generation once completed, Mr Mpunzi saw an opportunity to move in and claim a piece of the pie in the safari industry.
“The safari industry is a cut throat business ,where competition is tight and it’s not easy for black Zimbabweans to tap in, but I was ready to force my way in and build a lodge right here in Gwayi from scratch. When we first came here in 2020, just before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and put up a makeshift structure, villagers often asked us what we were doing in the middle of the bush.
“They assumed that we wanted to build a fancy homestead,but gradually they understood that we were onto something much bigger than that after seeing the size of the land we hired them to clear and eventually the number of chalets we started to construct. Right now, we have built 41 chalets, and the plan is to add more structures to accommodate as many clients as we can such as companies bringing in large numbers of staff members for retreats or conferences,” he said.
The gold miner turned safari lodge owner, says if it was not for the construction of Lake Gwayi Shangani, he probably would not have ventured into the tourism business in the Gwayi area.
On completion Lake Gwayi-Shangani will become the third largest inland water body after Tugwi Mukosi and Lake Mutirikwi, both in Masvingo Province. Situated about 6,5 kilometres from the confluence of Gwayi and Shangani rivers, the concrete gravity arch dam was designed and engineered by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) and has a gross capacity of close to 700 million cubic litres. The Gwayi Rhino Lodge is situated close to the Gwayi River, a position that Mr Mpunzi wants to fully exploit in growing the popularity of the business.
“Visitors will be able to see wild animals drinking water from the Gwayi River standing right next to the perimeter fence of the lodge. We want to keep the place as wild as possible so that visitors can enjoy the scenery and experience living in harmony with nature,” he said.
Mr Dubuza Raiton Mpunzi
From the initial clearing of the land that the lodge sits on to the construction of the first chalet, Mr Mpunzi has heavily depended on locals for labour and expertise thereby creating employment for builders, cleaners, gardeners and security personnel.
“We have already identified staff members who will be part of the workforce when the lodge opens mid-year and the majority of the employees are locals. Tourists will want to learn a few things about the culture of the local people here in Gwayi and what better way to do that than by interacting with staff members that were born and bred in the villages surrounding the lodge.”
While the completion of the Gwayi Shangani Dam is anticipated to bring relief to Bulawayo’s water woes, Mr Mpunzi already sees immediate benefits to the surrounding villages whose community members can supply his lodge with fresh produce such as vegetables, eggs and meat from poultry, goat rearing and cattle farming.
The Government has identified 10 000 hectares of land that will be irrigated in various districts in Matabeleland North to enhance food security as communities along the Gwayi Shangani Dam pipeline are expected to benefit from the water passing through their villages. And those are the villages that can be empowered by businesses such as the Gwayi Rhino Lodge.
“The lodge will need constant supply of fresh vegetables, eggs, mealies and other locally sourced food which the villagers can supply and make money. I was inspired to build this place after I realised how serious the government was about completing the Gwayi Shangani Dam and I looked at the opportunities that the dam would bring to the tourism industry, so I believe villagers must look at how they can also benefit at household level. The government has made it easy for citizens to conduct business, so it’s important that as Zimbabweans we take full advantage of projects that President Mnangagwa is implementing to improve their lives. Imagine how much a local farmer will make by supplying us with eggs every week or fresh vegetables on a daily basis,” added Mpunzi.
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