adminCde Khumalo got a seat in the House of Assembly under a Zanu-PF ticket after polling 10 301 votes in the 2008 harmonised elections.
“The MP is always with the people. We meet with him often and he has been doing a very good job in the area. If it were possible, we would want him to be the MP for this area forever.
“Mr Khumalo is very helpful. He responds to our problems and helps out whenever he can. We cannot complain much because he is an MP who is always present.
“Although we may not have some things here and there, the MP has tried to meet our urgent needs,” said Mr Moyo.
He hailed the Presidential Well-wishers Input Scheme saying it had been very helpful and the MP had distributed the seed transparently.
“Besides the seed, we have also received pesticides and fertilisers,” said Mr Moyo.
He said Cde Khumalo had made significant strides to develop the area especially the schools.
Mr Moyo said Sibombo and Gaza Primary Schools were among the schools that had benefited from the Constituency Development Fund.
“Classroom blocks were built. Window frames and windowpanes were also donated to the schools,” said Mr Moyo.
He said the MP regularly visited the area and interacted with the people each time.
Mr Moyo spoke highly of President Mugabe saying he was grateful for what the President had done over the years for the people of Zimbabwe.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank President Mugabe for everything. He gives us seed and fertilisers each year among many other things,” he said.
However, Mr Moyo said the area where he lives had a water shortage, which he said was caused by the constant cuts by Zesa.
“Whenever we have electrical faults, Zesa says they have no manpower and transport to come and fix the fault, which therefore affects our water supply,” he said.
Mr Moyo said besides the electricity problem, there were no pressing issues affecting the people in his area.
“I have often heard that there is a shortage of drugs such as cotrimoxazole in the medical facilities around here. But generally speaking though, babili bathathu oMP abenza njengoKhumalo,” Mr Moyo said.
At Lupane Business Centre, where the locals access services and do their business is Ms Sibangeni Mpofu (52), a vendor.
“We are just trying to make ends meet. We are struggling to pay our children’s school fees, that is why we are forced to come and sell our wares here,” said Ms Mpofu.
She said she stays at Lupane Centre with her two children aged 17 and 13.
Ms Mpofu said although she could manage to put food on the table, paying for her children’s school fees was a daunting task.
“Sometimes l do not manage to sell anything the whole day,” she said.
Ms Mpofu said water was not a problem in the area but electricity.
“We do not have problems with our medical facilities. There is always medicine and we do not have to pay for consultation,” she said.
Ms Mpofu could not talk about anything else besides her struggle to educate her children. She said there were many women like her in the area who were failing to educate their children.
“If children are not educated and they are not kept occupied, they become truant that is why education is a big deal to me.
“I wish that my children can go as far as university but at this rate, l have already started to fail. I have tried to look for help but there are no schemes available to help our children with their fees once they leave primary school.
“If only the MP could find ways of sponsoring our children’s education, especially the brilliant ones,” said Ms Mpofu.
She said the failure by many parents to educate their children had cost them a great deal.
Ms Mpofu said because these children had nothing to do, they were sometimes caught on the wrong side of the law.
She said there were two girls aged 14 and 15 who were recently arrested for prostitution because they had stopped going to school and needed to start earning a living.
“There is a serious need to protect our children from such things and the first place to start is by educating them,” said Ms Mpofu.
She said she knew Cde Khumalo because he had been protecting the vendors who sell at the centre each time the police harassed them.
Ms Mpofu said the MP had been trying to serve the people of Lupane West to the best of his ability.
“We do not have problems with the MP. He has been very helpful and we are thankful for what he has done,” she said.
About 31km from Lupane Business Centre is Cross Jotsholo and a further 5km to the right is Jotsholo Centre where the infrastructure is quite impressive compared to that found in most rural constituencies.
Services like those offered at urban centres and equipped medical facilities can be found at this end of Lupane West constituency.
However, the number of unemployed constituents who were milling around at the centre was alarming.
There is a need to establish income-generating projects that would keep constituents occupied as well as give them a source of income.
To the east of Jotsholo Centre is Bhuyu village, where Gogo MaNdlovu (77) stays.
Gogo MaNdlovu said she stays with her son, who is employed at Jotsholo Centre.
She said the Bhuyu area was not plagued with water problems because there were a substantial number of boreholes in the area.
Gogo MaNdlovu said Bhuyu River, where their cattle drink from, was still flowing and they did not have to share their water with them.
“Our only problem is that there is not enough rain for our crops. Most of them have wilted because of the inadequate rains,” she said.
Gogo MaNdlovu said she knew the MP Mr Khumalo because she had once attended a meeting that he had called a while back.
She said she was not sure what initiatives the MP had made but she knew who he was.
“I knew Martin (Cde Khumalo) after a meeting l attended with my son a while ago,” she said.
Gogo MaNdlovu’s daughter-in-law, MaSibanda who was breastfeeding her one-month-old baby, said she was pleased with the treatment she was receiving from the local clinic.
She said since her baby was born and even during her pregnancy, the personnel at the clinic had been very helpful and provided her with the medication she needed.
“I actually just came from the clinic where my baby was getting a shot,” said MaSibanda.
Mr Obvious Ngwenya (38) from Dandanda Village said the high unemployment rate had begun to affect their families. He said it has become difficult to buy basic commodities
as well as pay for his children’s school fees.
“We desperately need projects that will sustain us since we are living in a rural area. At least we would be able to get some money to send our children to school as well has feed them,” said Mr Ngwenya.
He said their cattle did not have enough water to drink and they were forced to share their water with them.
Mr Ngwenya said their boreholes would sometimes break down, forcing them to use water from a nearby river. He said before using water from the river, most villagers first sieve it with a cloth then boil it.
Mr Ngwenya lamented how their children were constantly sent away from school because they could not afford to pay school fees.
He said Gaza Clinic was nearby but there was hardly any medication. Mr Ngwenya said he had even stopped visiting the clinic whenever he fell ill because they had nothing to offer patients.
“I do not know the MP, l have never heard of him and l have never seen what he has done,” said Mr Ngwenya who has been staying in Dandanda for the past seven years.
He said the only developmental efforts he had witnessed were those initiated by a local church, which had built a clinic.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter