For a few brief weeks, the dusty roads of Maphisa were transformed into a “hive of activity.”
In the lead-up to Zimbabwe’s 46th Independence Day celebrations hosted in Matobo, the district of Matabeleland South was promised a lasting transformation through a series of “legacy projects.”
However, as the final echoes of the national anthem fade, the heavy machinery has largely fallen silent, leaving a trail of unfinished infrastructure and growing community frustration.
The pre-celebration era was defined by a rare sense of momentum.
Residents watched with cautious optimism as contractors occupied sites, road upgrades commenced, and work began on long-awaited facilities like the Nyongolo vocational training centre.
For many in the region, the high-profile nature of the national event seemed to finally unlock the resources necessary for development.
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Yet today, that optimism has been replaced by a familiar sense of abandonment.
The most visible sign of the slowdown is the absence of the heavy equipment that once dominated the township landscape.
According to residents and local officials, much of the machinery was moved out of Maphisa shortly after the VIP convoys departed.
Mncedisi Mavuso Tshabalala, a resident of Johanna MaFuyana Township, has been tracking the progress—or lack thereof—from his doorstep.
He notes that while some isolated work continues, such as the installation of “bucket seats” at the local stadium and sporadic activity from a few contractors like R.J. Goddard, the broader effort has ground to a halt.
“Mostly the machinery was moved from Maphisa,” Tshabalala said, highlighting a growing disconnect between official promises and the reality on the ground. In Johanna MaFuyana, the disparity is particularly sharp.
While electricity connections are being made to individual homes, the more substantial civil engineering works remain frozen.
“Road-wise and drainage-wise, there is nothing completely... the residents feel left out completely,” Tshabalala said.
This sentiment is echoed by Ward 19 councillor Nqobizitha Ngwenya (CCC), who has been one of the most vocal critics of the post-celebration exodus. Ngwenya confirmed that project sites across his ward are now deserted.
“There is nobody on site, they disappeared,” Ngwenya stated bluntly. “They left with the machinery. We are told they are coming, but nothing so far.”
For Ngwenya, this is the fulfillment of a warning he issued weeks ago.
He had previously cautioned that the community would be closely monitoring whether the contractors remained to finish their work or if the development was merely a theatrical backdrop for the Independence Day festivities.
The current state of the roads, he suggests, provides a grim answer.
Sections of the road network that were stripped during the “rehabilitation” phase have been left in a raw, unfinished state, which residents say has actually worsened traffic conditions and created new hazards for local motorists.
The growing outcry has put pressure on provincial leadership to justify the stagnation.
Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution minister, Albert Nguluvhe, has sought to downplay the concerns, insisting that the government has not abandoned the district.
In an interview with Southern Eye on Sunday, Nguluvhe maintained that work is still ongoing, though he was unable to provide specifics regarding the number of active contractors or their current locations.
“But what I know currently, some contractors are on the ground,” Nguluvhe insisted. “I can’t tell you how many, but I know currently we have got some already on the ground.”
Despite these assurances, the visibility of ongoing workremains significantly lower than the frantic pace witnessed before the April celebrations.
For the people of Matobo, this discrepancy revives a long-standing grievance: the perception that development in rural districts is often tied to short-term political optics rather than sustainable growth.
The community is concerned about the fate of major long-term investments.
Projects like the Nyongolo vocational training centre are seen as vital pillars for the district’s youth, offering a path to economic empowerment.
Similarly, village head Shakespeare Ndlovu of Mahetshe previously commended improvements to local schools but reiterated that the road network remains the “major pillar for everything.”
The community now finds itself in a state of anxious waiting.
Having tasted the possibility of rapid development, residents are reluctant to see their town slide back into the shadows once the national spotlight has moved on.
For now, the “legacy” of the 46th Independence Day in Maphisa remains an open question—one that will be answered not by the speeches of April, but by whether the machinery returns to finish what it started.