The town grew around Kamativi tin mine.The name Kamativi is derived from the word "mativi" which means "sides", "embankments" or "valleys", and the prefix "ka" though not grammatically correct is a diminutive therefore "little.
In the years around 1800AD the local Nambia and Tonga people are believed to have used this region as a trade centre for salt and fish to the visiting Rozvi people from the North and Nguni people from the South,then later with the Portuguese missionaries