Zvishavane District

Zvishavane District is one of the eight districts in Midlands Province of Zimbabwe.

It has Mberengwa District to the south and Shurugwi District to the north.

Its capital is Zvishavane town.

Zvishavane derives its name from its sister town Mashava. Mashava is a ChiShona word describing the hills in that place as reddish. The name Mashava formerly Mashaba origins is stated in the Rhodesian Lore and Legend: SOUTHERN RHODESIA PLACE NAMES published by The Chief Information Officer, Information Services Branch. Division of Native Affairs, Salisbury September, 1960

Some claim that the name Shabanie derives from the isiNdebele Shavani which means "finger millet", or "trading together. This is very unlikely for the matter that the English pronounced it as Shabanie.

However the isiNdebele syllable va rhymes with vha in ChiShona.

For this fact Shabanie derives from the ChiShona word Shavane or Shavani.

All the same finger millet colour is off-reddish, maybe tan in colour. That's Zviyo zvishavani or zvipfunde zvishavani (tan corn or tan millet) in ChiShona. Either way, the name derives from tan hills or tan coloured millet.

Zvishavane District is home of Zvishavane Town which developed from an abestos mine compound into a town. See Shabanie Mashaba Mine.

It is also home to Murowa Diamond Mine located in Mazvihwa, 40 km from Zvishavane Town.

Zvishavane District is run by two local government organs, the rural district council and the urban council.

For the rural district authority see Runde Rural District Council.

The Zvishavane Town Council, established in terms of the Zimbabwe Urban Councils Act, Chapter 29.15, administers the urban district.

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