Declaration of National Monument Bulawayo Hanging Tree Monument
The Bulawayo Hanging Tree, on the northern edge of the city's CBD along Joshua Nkomo Street, is now a national monument — the site is protected under the National Museums and Monuments Act.
The Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage has declared the Bulawayo Hanging Tree Monument a national monument.
The site is described as lying on map sheet 2028B1, on the northern edge of Bulawayo's central business district, between Cephas Cele Avenue (formerly Connaught) and Masotsha Ndlovu Avenue, along Joshua Nkomo Street. The declared area is small — the boundary walks roughly 3 metres east, 6 metres north, 3 metres west and 6 metres back to the starting point, so it encloses only the tree and its immediate surrounds.
Declaration as a national monument brings the site under the protection of the National Museums and Monuments Act, which restricts alteration, damage, excavation and development at declared sites without permission. This notice itself sets no fee, no penalty and no commencement date; those consequences follow from the Act.
A caveat on the boundary description: the printed coordinates are internally inconsistent. Point A is given without a northing label, and point D's northing (0771747) does not sit 3 metres west of point C (0771959) as the description requires. Anyone relying on the exact boundary should check the coordinates against the Gazette rather than the figures as extracted.
What changed
- The Bulawayo Hanging Tree Monument is declared a national monument
- The declared area is bounded by four points enclosing roughly 3 metres by 6 metres along Joshua Nkomo Street
Who this affects
- Bulawayo City Council planning and works departments
- developers and property owners near Joshua Nkomo Street in the Bulawayo CBD
- National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe
- heritage tour operators and researchers in Bulawayo
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.