Stone Age comes to life at Sally Mugabe Heights

ACORN Township, famed for its name Sally Mugabe Heights, has a few monuments that most of residents do not seem to be aware of.

Situated just after Crowhill, Sally Mugabe Heights is a place still under development but with beautiful structures.

Sally Mugabe Arts and Culture Centre has rock paintings and caves that people from the Stone Age used to perform and the monument is under the management of one Christopher Tavengwa, popularly known by the locals as “Rasta”.

In an interview, Rasta said he is hopeful that this place will become a tourist destination one day and that would give him the pleasure to educate people about the Zimbabwean heritage. His immediate plans are to build a reception area that will include all necessary facilities for visitors.

“I have been living here for the past two years and my only hope is that one day we will have tourists right here at the Sally Mugabe Arts and Culture Centre where we can teach people how our ancestors survived. This monument is under my custody as the owner of the stand. Work is underway though slowly due to resources but I want to improve it to be a better place,” he said.

“Like Domboshava Caves, Nyanga Mountain and other sacred places, this mountain too is sacred and we do not allow pictures to be taken in certain places. Some of the items that point to Stone Age are still in existence.

“As you can see these grinding stones here were used to grind millet, the stones are proof they grew millet though the stones are different because they were used for different purposes such as grinding herbs for treatment as well.

“Rock paintings tell stories of how they hunted, went to war in groups and the formations they used to win their wars. Women never walked alone but in groups as well and this is revealed in the paintings.

“You can actually see part of what they wore back then which (hides) and there are rooms they used to sleep in.