Gokwe South District is one of the eight administrative districts of the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. The district administrative seat is located in Gokwe Town also known as Gokwe Centre and the District Administrator is the focal person in terms of all district administrative matters. The district is divided into two administrative entities under the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, which are Gokwe South Rural District Council and Gokwe Town Council. The two district administrative entities were legally setup under the Urban Councils Act of 2015 [Chapter 29:15] and Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13] under the constitution of Zimbabwe. The district is further subdivided into 01 senatorial constituency, 05 parliamentary constituencies and 33 council wards. These constituencies and wards are shared between these two administrative entities of Gokwe South District. According to the 2012 ZIMSTAT National Census Statistics the population of the district was at 330 036 people. Gokwe district is in the north-western part of Zimbabwe its average temperature vacillates at 40 degrees Celsius. Gokwe South District shares its boundaries with 06 districts, namely Binga District, Nkayi District, Kwekwe District, Kadoma District, Lupane District and Gokwe North District.

Background

Gokwe South District was created from the division of Gokwe District and had initially been established in 1898. As a result of the introduction of Land Apportionment Act (LAA) of 1930 by the colonial masters, displacement of a number of people from different places to Gokwe began in the 1950s when the Native Land Husbandry Act (NLHA) was put across and marked the implementation of the LAA. As a result of these people migratings to Gokwe, population increased thus leading to the division of Gokwe District to Gokwe North and Gokwe South Districts. The Rural District Councils Act of 1988, which was implemented from July 1993 is the piece of legislation which Gokwe South District came into existence as a result of. This Act is known as the “amalgamation” act, because its main aim was to amalgamate the local authorities responsible for “commercial” and “communal” farming areas within each district. However, it also resulted in some changes to district boundaries and in Gokwe District, where there were no large-scale commercial farms, its main impact was the division of the district into two.

Economic activities

Governance structure

Gokwe South District has 01 senatorial constituency, 05 parliamentary constituencies, 33 council wards. Constituencies are led by an elected member of parliament and the wards are elected by an elected Councillor.

Senatorial constituency

Gokwe South District has one senatorial constituency and is led by an elected member of the Senate or Upper House of the Zimbabwe Parliament.

Parliamentary constituencies

The district has 05 parliamentary constituencies and are led by an elected member of the Lower House or National Assembly Zimbabwe Parliament.

Local council wards

Local council wards are grouped into either urban wards or rural wards. Urban wards being under Town Councils or cities whereas rural wards being under Rural District Councils.

Traditional leadership

Gokwe South District like other districts with are classified as being rural is subdivided into different areas of jurisdiction under various chiefs. The chief is the highest ranking traditional leader for those jurisdictions in Gokwe South District and there are 05 chiefs. Each chief has headmen and village heads under their jurisdiction. Chief Jahana and an estimated 8 000 of his people returned to Matabeleland South from Gokwe and were resettled at Gwamanyenga area. The Jahana chieftainship was relocated back to Fort Rixon, Matabeleland South Province area after they successfully claimed back their ancestral land during Zimbabwe's land reform period. The area was officially which was previously under his jurisdiction reverted to Chief Njelele's jurisdiction and some people may still casually refer to it as Chief Jahana area.

Education

Tertiary institutions

Secondary schools

Secondary or high schools in Gokwe South District are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.

Primary schools

Primary schools in Gokwe South District are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Schools. Source