Banket

Location:
Banket (originally known as Banket Junction) is a town in the province of Mashonaland West of Zimbabwe. It is located about 95 km north-west of Harare on the main Harare-Chinhoyi road.

Background:

The name of the town is derived from banket rock formation: early settlers saw a conglomerate, which they hoped would bear gold, like the banket of the Witwatersrand gold fields. The conglomerate was not gold-bearing, although gold was late discovered and, along with chromite, is still mined in the area. Cattle, maize, cotton and tobacco are commercially farmed in the area.

Banket grew as a service centre for the surrounding mines and commercial farms, and has suffered from the downscaling of chromite mining in Zimbabwe. 

Population:

5698 (Estimated)

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Education:

The town has three primary schools (Kuwadzana, St Georges and Banket Primary) and two secondary schools (Kuwadzana High School and the Catholic-church-owned Sacred Heart Secondary School).

Health:

Banket has a district hospital and a council clinic and in addition private medical practices.