Rebuilding Great Zimbabwe

 

By Rutendo Mambume

THE Great Zimbabwe Monuments are undergoing a major rehabilitation exercise meant to preserve their cultural heritage status.

The project is being funded under the U$475 000 American Ambassador’s fund. The assistance is used to restore collapsed walls and removing an invasive weed which was threatening to colonise the monuments. 

“The project was affected by COVID 19 in 2020 and it resumed in September 2021,” said Lovemore Mandima, the regional director of Great Zimbabwe monuments.

The restoration of the ancient dry stone walls is taking place mainly on the western part of the hill complex. 

“There is restoration of wall number seventy one (71), seventy two (72) on the western part of the Hill complex and the first phase which is wall number seventy one (71) was completed in April. If we get an opportunity we will go to wall number seventy,” he said. 

Mandima said that the consultants from Italy helped them with the electrical wall monitoring system to monitor if there was any movement on the dry stone walls. Before its installation, there were using manual monitoring systems which were used to check if there was any movement. 

The installation of real automated gadgets will make it easier for them to see if there walls are threatened with collapse. 

“The real automated gadgets sense if the is any movement on the walls and they report immediately,” said Mandima. 

He confirmed that they still have some challenges with the electrical monitoring system gadgets and hoped they would be rectified.

He added that the dry stone walls were affected by the lantana camara plant which was growing near the walls, threatening and destroying the attractiveness of the dry stone walls.

Lantana Camara, a shrub native in tropical America, ranks among the world's 100 worst invasive species and its impact is most severe in semi-arid areas.

At the Great Zimbabwe monuments, the plant had closed the terrace path and some of the western dry stone walls. 

‘The visitors are now using the modern path and the ancient path to see the terrace walls, we have started restoring the terrace walls and we are also removing the lantana camara,” said Mandima.

Never Muderedzi, who took a news team from the Great Zimbabwe Times for a very informative tour of the Great Zimbabwe monuments noted that there were using both kaput herb and impala for removing the lantana camara plant. 

He noted that the blue kaput herb was effective in destroying the weed and the results could be observed after one to two months. 

“We have managed to remove the lantana camara on a vast area. When using the ancient path visitors are now able to appreciate the terrace walls when they look at the Western side of the Hill complex," said Muderedzi.

GZ Times