Rusape

Rusape Rusapi (Colonial)
—  Town  —
Rusape
Coordinates: 18°55′13.45″S 32°07′15.92″E
Country	Zimbabwe
Province	Manicaland
District	Rusape
Established	Rusape Central,Chipwanya Images
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+1)

Rusape is a town in the province of Manicaland, Zimbabwe with a population of around 20,000 as of 2004, situated on the Harare-Mutare main road, approximately 170 km south east of Harare and 93 km north west of Mutare. Rusape is a large, sprawling town that has not quite reached city status. The name Ruape was derived from the word 'rusapwe' which means 'never dries out', with reference to the ever flowing waters of the Rusape River close to which the town was built.

Background

As is typical of Zimbabwean towns, Rusape has areas of low and high density population. The main high density area close to the town is Vengere township. Other suburbs have also been built since the independence in 1980. Mabvazuva to the East of the town, and Tsanzaguru further out. Mabvazuva literally translates to where the sun rises (the East). There is also a new fast growing medium density suburb far east sprawling into the farm lands which is called Magamba Township. Its name stemmed from the nearby MAKONI DISTRICT HEROES ACRE. Tsanzaguru when translated to English means big concrete pebble, this name derived from the highly mountainous region in which Rusape is situated. According to the 1982 Population Census, the town had a population of 8,216. This rose to 13,920 in 1992. Presently, the population has increased to about 30,000 residents thus the expansion of the Vengere high density area southward and the development of Silverbow low density area in the north-western area of the town. Typically noticeable in the surrounding region are the kopjes, msasa trees, occasional tobacco farms and the sometimes densely crowded rural resettlement villages. The settlement began in 1894 with the establishment of a British South Africa Company post on the Rusape River. A village grew around the post and during the First Chimurenga the village was attacked by Chief Mangwende. At Gwindingwi during the early days of the first Chimurenga Chief MAKONI was beheaded in front of his subjects and his head was taken to BRITAIN. There is also a ceremonial painting of the rock paintings at Diana's Vow.

Former Zimbabwean Cricketer Kevin Curran hails from Rusape.

Rusape's main piped water supply is from the purpose built Rusape Dam, which was built on the Rusape River. The river runs in a North-West - South-East direction on the town outskirts .

Rusape Dam

Education

• Primary schools in Rusape
  • John Cowie Junior School
  • St Joseph's Primary School
  • Vengere Primary School
  • Rujeko Primary School
  • Highveld Primary School
  • Mabvazuva Primary School
  • Manda Primary School
  • Madzingidzi Primary School
• Secondary schools in Rusape
  • Vengere High
  • St Joseph's Secondary School
  • Tsanzaguru Secondary School
  • Tsindi Secondary School
  • ST Faith's high
  • Kriste Mambo High School
  • St Killians High School

• Colleges in Rusape
  • Clemag
  • Quick Academy