Epworth, Zimbabwe

Infobox Settlement

official_name = Epworth
other_name =
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nickname = Epara
settlement_type = suburb, township, town
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imagesize = 350px
image_caption = Epworth balancing rocks, looking at the rocks from the main road


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pushpin_label_position = Epworth
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Zimbabwe
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = Mashonaland East
subdivision_type2 = District
subdivision_name2 = Harare
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established_title = Established
established_date = 1929
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population_as_of = 2002
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population_total = 123,250
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latd=17 |latm=53 |lats=24 |latNS=S
longd=31 |longm=8 |longs=51 |longEW=E
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elevation_m = 1473
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Epworth is a suburb in south-eastern Harare. It is home to some famous balancing rocks.

Background

The bustling suburb is located about twelve kilometers out of the Harare City Centre. It is a high density suburb populated by mainly poor residents of Harare. It is bisected by a stream into two parts. The Balancing Rocks found on the northern approaches of the town are famous, featured on some bank notes issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

History

Epworth Mission was established by the Rev. Shimmin more than a century ago, 1890 as a Methodist Mission Station. Epworth then and as today is divided into four sections: Muguta Village, Makomo Village, Chinamano Village and Zinyengere Village] .A large influx of people occurred during the late 1970s and early 1980s with the population being 20,000 in 1980 and 35,000 in 1987. The Methodist Church could not control the influx of people, and therefore transferred ownership of the farm to the Ministry of Local Government during the 1980s. By 2002 the population was 113,884. [Central Statistics Office of Zimbabwe, 2003. Demographic and Healthy Survey, Government Printer, Harare, Zimbabwe.] Epworth had not been planned as an urban residential area, and therefore this rapid increase in population was occurring on land without any water supply and sanitation facilities. Epworth became the only informal settlement to have been tolerated by the Zimbabwean Government in the post-independence period because of the long history of settlement by some of the residents. [Butcher, 1993 C. Butcher, Low income housing. In: L. Zinyama, Editor, Harare—The Growth and Problems of the City, University of Zimbabwe Publications, Harare, Zimbabwe (1993)] The government decided to upgrade rather than demolish the informal settlement. Since most residents of Epworth had settled in the area spontaneously, public utilities such as water, sewerage and electricity were lacking before government intervention. A Local Board formed under the Urban Councils Act, and whose members are elected by the community, is responsible for managing the area including the collection of rates set by central government. [Gandidzanwa, P., 2003. Attitudes and practices towards water supply and sanitation facilities: the case study of the Epworth upgrading programme. M.Sc. thesis (unpublished), University of Zimbabwe] Epworth was initially developed into four sub-areas but as the population increased it expanded to nine sub-areas that had extensive squatter settlements. Health services are provided by two polyclinics in the area. Also, in Epworth there is a large rock that the people call "domboramwari", which means rock of God.

Development status

It is neither serviced with running water nor electricity. The majority of the people get by as street vendors and cobblers.There are no street names. That means most of the houses have no addresses. Instead the residents come from Domboramwarwi, KwaSolani, KuOverspill, KuStopover. It is a poor suburb. [Heavy destroy homes [http://allafrica.com/stories/200801280419.html] (accessed 02/11/2008)]

“Then, there is the notorious quarry pool on the western approaches of the town whose limpid and translucent water has been used as a dumping site for vehicles stripped of their parts and, of course, murder victims.” People have committed suicide in the pool.

Since most the houses found in the town a built from unburnt bricks, the houses are prone to fall during heavy rains that are wont to lash the area. [Relief Work continues [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LRON-7BBE5S?OpenDocument] (accessed 02/11/2008)]

Social decay

Due to the harsh economic times that the country has been passing through for the past decade, crime has been on the increase in the over-crowded suburb. [No respite for workers [http://www.kansascity.com/news/world/story/483218.html] (accessed 02/11/2008)] This is not to say crime wasn't there in the days of old, only that now it happens of a large scale. [Epworth turns it's back on christianity [http://allafrica.com/stories/200705260067.html] (accessed 02/11/2008)]

See also

*Mabvuku
*Harare
*Masasa

References