STRANGE and interesting stories concerning Makwika high density suburb in Hwange continue to hog the limelight.
The issue of the phenomenal rise in coal production during the pre-independence era was largely attributted to womankind whose 'services' contributed to exponential growth in labour-related activities at the then underground coal mines.
It was also during this particular period where so-called male single quarters came into being as part of efforts to ensure that such male cantonments were a no go area for all sorts of ladies. If you know you know.
This particular setup gave birth to what was later christened 'mabhayera' in Hwange street lingo which meant a place for cooking where laissez-faire operation was the order of the day.
There was some form of 'decree' issued against women from visiting such places. The cooking setup in these places was rather unique as one could leave his boiling pot in this public kitchen while going to work and find nothing amiss upon knocking off.
This setup was unique compared to this modern age where pilferage among other things, is the order of the day.
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If one were to open and discover the need to add water, salt or any other form of additive, he would certainly offer his benevolence without looking over his shoulders for any suspicious characters.
This was regardless of whether one knew the person or not and poisoning and theft were non- existant during that time. There was absolute trust among mine workers.
This practice gradually disappeared together with the moniker 'mabhayera' and in came the popular House number E90 which was dubbed Makwika's Ziana as it was the nerve centre of most tidings in and around Hwange.
While the 'house' was popular with all all and sundry, it was its location which left Yours Truly with more questions than answers if ever such a dwelling existed.
It seems quite a number of Hwàngerians including Yours Truly have also been on a wild goose chase upon being given this particular address as some form of a rendezvous.
How did this non-existant house come into being? However, this rigmarole was recently answered by one Morris Mpala whose passion for Makwika is second to none as he was what he termed "born, raised, baptised and a longtime altar boy" there.
This is what he described about (abridged version) the controversial address which even today continues to set tongues wagging.
"We had this big Mopane tree situated next to the (in)famous public bathrooms. It was painted in red,yellow, green colours because most of the guys that usually frequented that place practiced Rastafari religion," he narrated
"It was a conference centre as it had big boulders where people could sit in the mornings, late afternoon and evening.
"It was a 'market place' as there was a stall for vegetables, sweets, cigarettes, and spiritual weed aka mbanje. A variety of topics we discussed including social issues, women, politicians and some drank and smoked from that place.
"It was nicknamed E90 can't remember E section's last house number and so (this place) it was given the last number of this section," said Mpala.
He went on to state that some naughty girls in the neighbourhood used to give prospective suitors a torrid time by providing E90 as their residential address much to the amusement of locals.
"There was never a dull moment at the tree as it was an information hub, conference centre, sports centre, initiation centre as critical information was shared on how boyś progressed to manhood," he said.
Mpala is a prominent banking expert, economic commentator and business entreprenuer currently based in Bulawayo where he is also championing a business environment programme that seeks to promote planting of mango trees in Matabeleland North province.
Ironically, Hwange diśtrict has a lot of mango trees and Mpala is on a crusade of coming up with a business model of harnessing fruit juice from this plant as part of economic development.
Yours Truly can safely argue that this business model might have originated from Mopani tree discussions whose location is popularly known as House number E90 in Makwika. Till we meet again in the next column.
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