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From George Maponga in Masvingo
Chiredzi Rural District Council has intensified efforts to establish a modern town at Sango Border Post in south-east Chikombedzi with the planned urban settlement expected to leverage on its location as the gateway to neighbouring Mozambique’s port of Maputo.

Transformation of Sango into a modern town dovetails with President Mnangagwa’s vision to transform Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy by 2030 as the new town will breathe life into the south-east Limpopo Valley.

Currently, Sango is a small outpost located deep in the jungle on the eastern fringes of the Gonarezhou National Park.

The small settlement is home to immigration and Zimra offices, but lacks other service befitting its potential such as service stations, banks and big supermarkets despite its vast potential.

Sango’s state leaves it in the shade of the adjacent Chicualacuala, a sprawling town across the border in Mozambique, which has motels, banks, supermarkets and running water. Plans to develop the border post were hampered by the presence of landmines planted by the Rhodesian settler regime to curtail infiltration of freedom fighters at the height of Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence in the mid-1970s.

Chiredzi RDC chief executive Mr Ailess Baloyi said work on the local development plan, which is part of a spatial development plan was almost complete.

However, the major setback slowing down full scale work ahead of sale of residential and business stands was absence of certification from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces that the area around Sango was now devoid of mines.

“We are almost complete with the local development plan that was designated the land use pattern in the new planned town, we need to designate where residential stands will be developed and where office complexes and industries will be placed and we are almost done with that,” said Mr Baloyi.

“Chiredzi RDC is raring to go because we see great potential in Sango Border Post to rapidly grow into a modern town owing to its location along the corridor to Mozambique which is connected by both road and rail.

“At the moment we are waiting for certification from the ZDF that the area around Sango is now free of landmines. Once we get that green light we will be good to go and work will start to develop stands so that investors can take them up,” he said.

Mr Baloyi revealed that there was a lot of investment interest at Sango owing to vast business opportunities that exist there.

Sango could rapidly grow into one of the biggest towns in Masvingo province as it was the country’s link to Mozambique by road or railway. This makes Sango a shorter route for import and export of goods via the port of Maputo.

The Government has already designated Rutenga in Mwenezi as a dry port, which will be directly linked to Sango by both road and rail. Upgrading of the Zvishavane-Rutenga-Sango road is already underway to ensure faster movement of humans and cargo, which is an indication of Government’s commitment to creating a trade corridor stretching from Rutenga to Sango.

Prospects of tourism also exist at Sango where the Government through the National Museums and Monuments in Zimbabwe is working on the enshrinement of Gonakudzingwa Restriction Camp, which is a stone throw from the border post.

The enshrinement programme seeks to restore Gonakudzingwa to its original state in memory of gallant nationalists, predominantly from Zapu, led by veteran nationalist Dr Joshua Nkomo, where banished there by the Rhodesian government in the early 1960s.

Tourists are expected to flock to the camp, giving Sango Border Post Town another catalyst for faster growth.