Rutenga, is an important village in the province of
Masvingo Province in
Zimbabwe. It is the de facto capital of
Mwenezi (District)
Mwenezi is a small district situated in southern Zimbabwe. It is bisected by the Mwenezi River and the A4 highway, the main thoroughfare that connects the town of Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa, to Masvingo.
Background
Mwenezi der ...
.
There are unverified claims that the name “Rutenga” is derived from corruption by local natives of what the Rhodesian settlers supposedly called “Route Anchor” given its central position to access South Africa and Mozambique. These claims are unlikely to be true as there are records of usage of the name “Rutenga” before the completion of the Rutenga-Beitbridge railway in 1974. There is also no known historical or modern-day usage of the term “Route Anchor” in Rhodesian or Zimbabwean railway history.
Transports
It straddles the
A4 highway between
Beitbridge
Beitbridge is a border town in the province of Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe. The name also refers to the border post and bridge spanning the Limpopo River, which forms the political border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. The border on the S ...
and
Masvingo.
The village has a railway station on the
Limpopo railway that connects it to
Sango and
Zvishavane.
Network System: System Map
National Railways Of Zimbabwe. 2017. The same station serves as a link between the Limpopo railway and the Rutenga-Beitbridge railway.
Economy
It is an important point of economic and demographic growth for southwest Zimbabwe.
Rutenga is an irrigation enclave that uses water from Manyuchi Dam
Manyuchi Dam forms a reservoir on the Mwenezi River in southern Zimbabwe. It is located in the Mwenezi District. The building of the dam was financed by the Mwenezi Development Corporation. The dam was built to irrigate oil palm estates.
History
...
to irrigate sugar estates.
References
Business Centers in Mwenezi (District)
Populated places in Masvingo Province
Mwenezi (District)
{{Zimbabwe-geo-stub