Rusape is a large, sprawling town that has not quite reached city status. As is typical of Zimbabwean towns, Rusape has areas of low and high density population. The main high density area close to the town is
Vengere township. Other suburbs have also been built since Independence in 1980.
Mabvazuva is to the east of town, and
Tsanzaguru is further out by the lakeside. Mabvazuva literally translates to "where the sun rises" (the East). There is also a new fast growing medium density suburb far east sprawling into the farmlands which is called
Magamba Township.
Tsanzaguru is home to much of Rusape's golden history. The name Tsanzaguru is derived from the Rozvi meaning a big, rocky and tall hill from which the
Rozvi were known to have wanted to build to the
moon from there. They are said to have wanted to bring the moon to the King's Zunde Ramambo as a gift. It is from this background that all Chiefs countrywide have their badges designed in a circular form resembling the circular dream moon that the Rozvi wanted to bring their King. Typically noticeable in the surrounding region are the kopjes,
msasa trees, occasional tobacco farms and the sometimes densely crowded rural resettlement villages. Rusape's main piped water supply is from the purpose-built
Rusape Dam, which was built on the
Rusape River. The river runs in a northwest to southeast direction on the town outskirts. It is such a big river that the dam was planned with the eastern lowveld sugar-growing areas in mind. Ideally, the Rusape dam was to be a reservoir for irrigation in areas deep down around Triangle and Chiredzi since it pours out into the Save River to the semi-arid regions. ==History==