Matabeleland area has important gold deposits. Industries include gold and other mineral mines, and engineering. There has been a decline in the industries in this region as water is in short supply. Promises by the government to draw water for the region through the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project have not been carried out. The region is allegedly marginalised by the government. Around the 10th and 11th centuries the Bantu-speaking Bakalanga arrived from the south and settled in Mapungubwe on the Limpopo and Shashi river valleys. Later they moved north to Great Zimbabwe. By the 15th century, the Bakalanga had established a
HMS Zambesi (R66) Flotilla, based at Rothesay. Between 1953 and 1954 she was given a refit at Penarth, before being held at reserve at Cardiff until 1959. In 1959 "Zambesi" was placed on the Sale List and she was sold to Thos W Ward for breaking-up. On 12 February 1959 she arrived in tow at their yard at Briton Ferry, Wales. "Zambesi"s bell was presented to St Cuthbert's Church in Portsmouth in 1959, where it still survives. HMS Zambesi (R66) HMS "Zambesi" was a Z-class destroyer. She has been the only Royal warship to bear that name. She was launched on 21 December