#masvingo

[outsidetaiwan]

大辛巴威遺址 Great Zimbabwe

馬斯溫戈Masvingo是距離遺址最近的據點小鎮，但鎮並沒有因為這個遺址而繁榮。

從鎮上的Pick n Pay超市旁可以找到往遺址方向的小巴，坐滿開車一人一美元。

在遺址岔路口下車後，還要走上一段路，走路可以穿越Great Zimbabwe飯店，是往售票口的捷徑。

售票口付了外國人票15美元之後，可以先去博物館看看，博物館不大但是有簡單的介紹。

然後可以先去山丘上的遺址區。

山丘上很多巨大的岩石，石牆就砌在這些岩石間。

據信山上是國王的住所。

這裡的視野很好，可以望得很遠。

建議走現代路徑的階梯上山，再從古代路徑穿越岩石和石牆下山。

下山之後可以走到中間另一群的遺址區。

山坳這裡的遺址比較分散。

最後一區是大圓石牆，據信裡面是工匠的工作場所和住所。

圈裡面有一道沿著圍牆的長走廊。

大樹下還有最著名的錐形塔。

詳細交通資訊可以參考我在背包客棧的分享。

[wilmontstudioarchive]

Great Zimbabwe, Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Early 1970s

[bookloversofbath]

More Rhodesian Senior Schools: Part Two 1950-1982: Contributed Editorial :: Edited by I. P. Maclaren with Supplementary Features by N. D. Atkinson, G. P. L. English & R. H. Campbell

[ausetkmt]

BBC: The ancient remains of Great Zimbabwe

The ancient city of Great Zimbabwe was an engineering wonder. But archaeologists credited it to Phoenicians, Babylonians, Arabians – anyone but the Africans who actually built it.

W

Walking up to the towering walls of Great Zimbabwe was a humbling experience. The closer I got, the more they dwarfed me – and yet, there was something inviting about the archaeological site. It didn't feel like an abandoned fortress or castle that one might see in Europe: Great Zimbabwe was a place where people lived and worked, a place where they came to worship – and still do. It felt alive. 

Great Zimbabwe is the name of the extensive stone remains of an ancient city built between 1100 and 1450 CE near modern-day Masvingo, Zimbabwe. Believed to be the work of the Shona (who today make up the majority of Zimbabwe's population) and possibly other societies that were migrating back and forth across the area, the city was large and powerful, housing a population comparable to London at that time – somewhere around 20,000 people during its peak. Great Zimbabwe was part of a sophisticated trade network (Arab, Indian and Chinese trade goods were all found at the site), and its architectural design was astounding: made of enormous, mortarless stone walls and towers, most of which are still standing.

However, for close to a century, European colonisers of the late-19th and early-20th Centuries attributed the construction to outsiders and explorers, rather than to the Africans themselves.

Indeed, the author of the first written European record of Great Zimbabwe seemed to be staggered by the very idea that it could have been built at all. Portuguese explorer Joao de Barros wrote in 1552 that, "There is masonry within and without, built of stones of a marvellous size, and there appears to be no mortar joining them."

Built between 1100 and 1450 CE, Great Zimbabwe was large and powerful (Credit: evenfh/Getty Images)

In the Shona language, zimbabwe translates approximately to "stone house", and because of the site's size and scope, it became known as Great Zimbabwe. Moreover, it was not the only such "Zimbabwe": there are remains of approximately 200 smaller settlements or trading posts spread across the region, from the Kalahari Desert in Namibia to Mozambique. 

According to Munyaradzi Manyanga, a professor of archaeology and cultural heritage at Great Zimbabwe University, the position of Great Zimbabwe among these settlements has been widely debated. Some people have speculated that it was a capital city of a very large state, but to Manyanga, that seems unlikely. "Such a state would have been too large. One wouldn't have been able to manage that kind of extent and size. So most of the interpretations talk of these as having been influenced by Great Zimbabwe." He added that the Kingdom of Zimbabwe is considered to be made up of Great Zimbabwe and the smaller settlements located closer to it.

The walls, which are made of granite, are stacked precisely and do not use any mortar to hold them in place (Credit: 2630ben/Getty Images)

The walls, which are made of granite, are stacked precisely and do not use any mortar to hold them in place. "The quarrying of the granite, taking advantage of natural processes of weathering and the shaping of it into regular blocks was a major engineering undertaking by these pre-colonial communities," Manyganga said. Iron metallurgy was needed to make the tools required to cut the blocks; it was also needed to make trade goods subsequently found at the site. All of this points to a highly organised and technologically advanced society.

The population of Great Zimbabwe began to decline in the mid-15th Century as the Kingdom of Zimbabwe weakened (possible theories for the decline include a drop in mining output, overgrazing by cattle, and depleted resources), but the site itself was not abandoned. Manyganga explained that it was regularly visited by different Shona groups for spiritual reasons right up until colonisation by the British in the late 19th Century. 

Europeans of the late-19th and early-20th Centuries attributed the construction to outsiders and explorers, rather than to the Africans (Credit: Agostini/Getty Images)

A decade later, in a speech to the Royal Geographic Society, British journalist Richard N Hall supported Bent's perspective after visiting the site himself. He talked about the artistic value of soapstone carvings that had been unearthed and the "marvellous cleverness" of a gold-mining operation that spanned hundreds of mines, before concluding that "it is quite a moral certainty that even the cruder methods of [these sciences'] application were imported from the Near East, and did not originate in South-East Africa." Instead, he and his colleagues held that Phoenicians, Arabians or Babylonians created the city.

According to Manyanga, "They wanted to use [this explanation] as a moral justification for colonising Zimbabwe. If there was this long-lost civilisation in this part of the world, there was nothing wrong with colonialism because they were resuscitating this old kingdom."

However, a few archaeologists of the time countered that the site was not nearly old enough to be from Biblical times. "The then-colonial government suppressed these views, and the official narrative in public media and museums was that Great Zimbabwe was of foreign origins," said Manyanga. This version of history was upheld through the 1960s and 1970s by the white-minority government of the colony. Only in 1980, when Zimbabwe achieved independence, could the new leaders finally affirm that the site was built by their own ancestors. During the 1960s, black nationalists had even settled on Zimbabwe as the name for the country they hoped to lead to freedom, harkening back to Great Zimbabwe.

Since 1980, local archaeological research has been slow to resume and has dealt largely with maintenance and repair. Research has instead focused on the satellite sites, in part because they were less disturbed by early excavations. Manyanga emphasised that scholarly understanding of Great Zimbabwe has shifted. "Eurocentric models interpreted the site as though you were looking at a castle in Europe. What has come to light from recent work is that Great Zimbabwe was built over a long period of time; it was not built once and then occupied, but grew over time. Even the walling came at a later stage because earlier on there were farming communities at Great Zimbabwe."

Today, the great ancient city remains just as important for Zimbabweans. Shona villages are located nearby, and many residents work to maintain the site. A religious centre is close by too, and the site still attracts worshippers who practice traditional Shona faiths.

"It was Africans who created this," said writer Marangwanda. "And over a millennium later it's still standing. It's a testament to who we are." 

BBC Travel's Lost Civilisations delves into little-known facts about past worlds, dispelling any false myths and narratives that have previously surrounded them.

[polkadotmotmot]

Tafadzwa Tega - Masvingo, 2023

[black2infinity]

Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city near Masvingo, central Zimbabwe which was inhabited between c. 1100 to c. 1550 (flourishing c. 1300 - c. 1450) in the region’s Late Iron Age. Capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe of the Bantu-speaking

[drytechengi]

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[gajjarequipments]

Asphalt Hot Mix Plant in Zimbabwe

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[cloutbase]

Chiredzi set to sizzle with inaugural summer festival

Masvingo-In a move poised to put the small town of Chiredzi firmly on the entertainment map, the inaugural Chiredzi Summer Festival is slated to take place on Friday, August 30, 2024, at the Caravan Park. The brainchild of local music enthusiasts, 5 Star Ent and DTL Records, this highly anticipated event promises to deliver an unforgettable experience for hip-hop and dancehall fans. Headlining…

[newsbreak365blogs]

When asked to produce a permit authorising him to operate the drone, Pengfei was unable to do so, leading to his immediate arrest. The Masvingo Magistrates’ Court in Zimbabwe has sentenced a Chinese national, Dai Pengfei to 30 days imprisonment for operating a drone without the required license. The 55-year-old appeared before the Court, where […]

[tracknews1]

ZIMBABWEAN MAN MARRIES HIS OWN MOTHER AFTER IMPREGNATING HER

The Zimbabwean woman and her son claim to be in love with each other and they decided to take their relationship to the next level and get married considering that the mother, Betty Mbereko (from Mwenezi in Masvingo) is now six months pregnant and expecting her son’s child, and her grandchild. Mbereko, 40, has been a widow for the past 12 years and has been living with her 23-years-old son Farai…

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[polkadotmotmot]

Tafadzwa Tega - Masvingo, 2023

[24-press-blog-news]

Uebert Angel’s double IDs mystery

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s special envoy to Europe and the Americas Uebert Angel Snr has two identity documents while his British passport has a different date of birth raising serious questions about his integrity.

Mnangagwa last year appointed Angel Snr, aka Uebert Mudzanire, to the new position of special envoy to the president and ambassador at large to the Americas and Europe so that he can “use his vast experience in evangelism and business to promote investment for the country.”

A month-long investigation by this publication unearthed startling details about the president’s point person in the West.’s modus operandi.

It was established that he has two different Zimbabwe national identity cards.

His first ID, with registration number 83-099297X83, was issued at the Zaka registry offices in Masvingo in 1996 while the second one, with the registration number 29-195587H83, was obtained in Gweru in the Midlands a year later.

The two identity documents show that Angel Snr was born on September 6, 1978, but the ID numbers are different. A check at the registry showed that Angel Snr has more than one national identity registration.

In such circumstances, the second ID is regarded as invalid, but startling details have shown that he used the 1997 ID to secure a passport in Zimbabwe, passport no ZE 306043, which he ordinarily should have used to go to the United Kingdom.

His British passport, number 464932598, issued by the United Kingdom Identity and Passport Service (IPS) on November 6, 2009, however, has a different date of birth from that shown on his Zimbabwean registration documents.

His British passport showed that he was born on March 4, 1972.

His March 4, 1972 date of birth which also appears on the UK company registry is consistent with the date of birth on his British passport, but is different from the date of birth on his two Zimbabwean identity cards 83-099297X83 and 29-195587H83 as well as birth certificate number NDG 2903-85.

The controversial cleric registered 12 companies in the United Kingdom that he dissolved and six others that are still active where his date of birth is recorded as March 4, 1972.

He is registered as a director-born on  March 4, 1972 on the following dissolved companies, Apex News Ltd (12583558) (dissolved) Apex World News Ltd (12583616) (dissolved), Black Gold Premium Ltd (12398879) (dissolved), Osborne Institute of Theology Ltd (10300131) (dissolved), Free Earth Ltd (10288726) (dissolved), Coffee Island (Pvt) Ltd (10030147) (dissolved), Lion Crest Ltd (09679420) (dissolved), Miracle TV Ltd (09506309) (dissolved), Levi House Ltd (09351831) (dissolved), Miracle Times TV Limited (08937256) (dissolved), Spirit Embassy Ministries Limited (08928120) (dissolved) and Levi House Ltd (12203639) (dissolved).

Angel Snr is also registered as a director born on  March 4,  1972 in six active companies namely Brits Finance Ltd (10404623), Atom Mobile Ltd (10372196), Black Stallion Ltd (09210046), Spirit Embassy Ltd (09280024), The Angel Organisation Ltd (09210111) and Brits Money Ltd (10468743).

On March 9, 2021, Angel Snr appeared before a Harare lawyer, Tichavona Mutebere, where he made an application to change his name from Uebert Mudzanire to Uebert Angel Snr claiming he was born on September 6, 1978, a birth date inconsistent with his British one but consistent with his two Zimbabwean national IDs.

Investigations also showed that Angel Snr has a biological brother, Samson Mudzanire, ID number 83-066977R83, who was born on April 14, 1972.

Going by Angel Snr’s  March 4, 1972 date of birth on his British passport, his mother, Rose Mudzanire, gave birth to two sons in 1972 within 40 days of each other.

There are also questions around Angel Snr’s academic qualifications with evidence pointing to the fact that some of his degrees are fake.

The United States Department of Justice through Operation Gold Seal flagged Angel Snr’s Bachelor of Business Administration degree obtained from Saint Regis University as fake.

The sting, Operation Gold Seal busted a massive internet-based business from Spokane in the US, which sold 10 815 fake credentials to 9 612 people in 131 countries for a total of over US$7,3 million.

Angel Snr denies buying a fake online business degree with a “diploma-mill scheme” that was eventually shut down by the US.

Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, George Charamba was not answering his calls yesterday.

Regis Chikowore, the secretary for presidential communications, said Angel Snr was appointed on the basis that he was a Zimbabwean.

“I can’t comment on allegations that he has two different identity particulars,” Chikowore said.

“I am not qualified  to comment on that.

“There are relevant authorities better placed to respond to that, but what I can say is, his appointment to the office of the ambassador was straight forward.

“He was simply appointed on the basis of him being a Zimbabwean.”

Angel Snr’s close associate Mudiwa Hood, who in the past acted as his spokesperson, initially refused to comment on the matter, but later said there was nothing amiss about the envoy having different identity documents.

“The registrar’s office automatically cancels the other identity card when a person is attempting to obtain the second identity document,” he said.

“If you go to the registrar’s office you would see that is the case.

“He can’t have two identity documents. I, however, would not want to be involved in his issues.”

Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe did not respond to questions sent to him while his deputy Ruth Maboyi referred this publication back to her boss.

[drytechengi]

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[goldbroker]

Uebert Angel – Man of Gold or Man of God with double identity?

In different meetings with undercover reporters who identified themselves as Chinese criminals seeking to wash dirty money through the Zimbabwean economy, waxing lyrical, self-styled prophet and Zimbabwe government official, Uebert Angel who was caught on hidden cameras in the Al Jazeera investigation named ‘Gold Mafia’ assured them, they were in safe hands because unofficially, he is the number two man in Zimbabwe and has the full blessings of the president to sign agreements on behalf of Zimbabwe.

When they told him they wanted to launder over a billion dollars, Angel told them he has laundered several millions before, but never done billions, however, he could launder their billions, with his diplomatic red tape and the money would be delivered directly to his home and nobody would touch it.

He also assured them that they would have no problem at all freely buying and selling gold from Zimbabwe in the money laundering schemes.

The 40-something-year-old flamboyant British-Zimbabwean has always had controversies around him. Born Uebert Mudzanire, he lived in the UK before moving back to Harare to establish the headquarters of his church, Spirit Embassy.

Double ID cards

When in  March 2021 he was appointed Presidential Envoy and Ambassador-at-Large by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, issues came up in the news about his double identity.

News sources in Zimbabwe dug out his two national ID cards. The first ID card has the registration number 83-099297X83, and was reported to have been issued at the Zaka registry offices in Masvingo in 1996. The second card with the registration number 29-195587H83, was said to have been issued in Gweru in the Midlands a year later.

The date of birth on both cards is the same, September 6, 1978, but the card numbers are different.

The report indicated that he used the 1997 ID to secure a Zimbabwean passport with the number ZE 306043.

However, the news reports pointed out that his British passport, number 464932598 which was issued on November 6, 2009, had a different date of birth from the one on his Zimbabwe national ID cards. The British passport has March 4, 1972 as his date of birth.

The reports further said on March 9, 2021, he appeared before a Harare lawyer, Tichavona Mutebere, and made an application to change his name from Uebert Mudzanire to Uebert Angel Snr claiming he was born on September 6, 1978, a birth date inconsistent with his British one but consistent with his two Zimbabwean national IDs.

Interestingly, Angel’s biological brother, Samson Mudzanire, with national ID number 83-066977R83, was born on April 14, 1972. The reports are wondering how his mother, Rose Mudzanire, gave birth to two sons in 1972 within 40 days of each other.

Fake degree

In 2008 the US government published a list containing thousands of names of people who have obtained fake degrees, from Bachelor to PhD degrees from a diploma mill in Spokane, Washington State.

The United States Department of Justice through Operation Gold Seal published the list of fake degrees bought from the phony Saint Regis University, which was eventually shut down.

On the list is the name Uebert Mudzanire and beside it is listed BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration), but Angel has denied buying a fake degree.

On that list were hundreds of people working in the military, government and education sector of the US, and almost 10,000 people who spent $7.3 million buying phony and counterfeit high school and college degrees from the Spokane-based diploma mill.

According to the website spokesman.com that published the list, it included prominent American citizens working for sensitive government agencies. The list it reported included NASA employee Timothy Francis Gorman, who bought an electrical engineering degree using his e-mail account at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to correspond with the diploma mill, and US Department of Health oncology expert Frank S. Govern, who purchased a doctorate in health care administration.

National Security Agency employees David W. Barden and Barry A. Hester both bought degrees. Hester, who was a computer Web trainer and designer for the NSA with top-secret clearance, paid $1,187 for an information systems and technology degree, the list shows.

Eric Gregory Cole, who was a contract employee for the Central Intelligence Agency, paid $3,801 for a degree in information systems management. His top-secret clearance at the CIA was revoked late last 2007, months after his name was forwarded to the Office of Inspector General, according to one source, the report said.

Eight people who set up and operated the diploma mill, including ringleader Dixie Ellen Randock, were indicted and convicted of federal crimes. Randock, a 58-year-old high school dropout, was sentenced to three years in prison, according to the report.

The World Bank overview of Zimbabwe

In its overview of Zimbabwe last updated on March 30, 2023, the World Bank notes that Zimbabwe has strong foundations for accelerating future economic growth and improving living standards. 

The Bank admits that the economy has excellent human capital, comparable to that of upper-middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, although some skill shortages are emerging in some sectors. It also notes that, Zimbabwe possesses abundant mineral and natural resources that, if well managed, can support the country’s development objectives.

The Bank however states that Zimbabwe’s economic development continues to be hampered by price and exchange rate instability, misallocation of productive resources, high informality, low investment, and limited structural transformation. Economic growth has been volatile over the past decade. High inflation, multiple exchange rates, and unsustainable debt levels have increased the cost of production, reduced incentives for productivity-enhancing investment, and encouraged informality.

The Bank adds that high unsustainable debt and arrears to international financial institutions (IFIs) limit Zimbabwe’s growth potential. 

It indicates that real GDP growth is estimated to have slowed to 3.4% in 2022 from 8.5% in 2021 on the back of worsening agriculture conditions and macroeconomic instability. Due to low rainfall, agricultural output contracted by 14%, after growing at double digits in 2021. Triple-digit inflation constrained private sector demand, while fiscal austerity limited growth of government demand and investment. Among other things the Bank points out that mineral exporters benefited from high global prices and, together with tourism, contributed the most to overall economic growth.

“Inflation returned to triple digits, albeit declining since August 2022, fueled by broad money expansion and a surge in global prices. The war in Ukraine, through high food and energy prices, has exacerbated domestic inflationary pressures that emanated from loose monetary policy and quasi-fiscal operations. Annual inflation returned to triple digits in May 2022 and reached 244% in December 2022. However, monetary tightening, including sharp hikes in interest rates, and fiscal policy measures brought inflation down to 230% in January 2023. Despite still high inflation, the Central Bank reduced the interest rate from 200% per annum to 150% in February 2023,” the Bank said.

The Gold Mafia

The Gold Mafia undercover investigation by the AL Jazeera Investigative Unit, shows how deeply the ruling elite in Zimbabwe, working with money launderers, are destroying state institutions, and personally benefitting from the country’s natural resources.

So far two episodes of the four-part investigation have been released, two more to be released in the coming weeks.