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That was one of the questions that some constituents in Gwanda Central asked a Chronicle news crew that visited the constituency on Thursday.
It is not that the constituents do not know their legislator, Mr Dube, who was elected into office under an MDC ticket but the fact is that he has not met their expectations. Gwanda Central is an urban constituency in the Matabeleland South provincial capital, Gwanda.
The electorate in the constituency complained that their MP had not spearheaded any meaningful development in the constituency and they were now running out of patience.
One would be forgiven for thinking that Gwanda Central is a rural constituency because of the obsolete infrastructure and lack of development. Voters bemoaned the stagnation in the constituency, some saying they had not had electricity or water since 2009.
Others complained that they did not have enough educational facilities. There are no roads to talk about in some areas around the constituency whereas the few that are there are littered with potholes.
Mr Peter Nyandoro, who stays in Spitzkop North Extension said there were many things that needed to be attended to in his area yet nothing had been done to date.
Mr Nyandoro said their legislator had promised to assist them on several occasions but nothing had materialised.
“Kwatinogara hakuna kana magetsi. Takavimbiswa kuti zvichagadziriswa asi kubva muna-2009 kusvika izvozvi hapana chati chaitwa. (There is no electricity where we live. We were promised that the problem was going to be attended to but nothing has been done since 2009),” he said.
Mr Nyandoro said most residents in the area used firewood to cook while a few used solar energy.
He said the area had been experiencing water shortages for a long time and there were fears of an outbreak of waterborne disease.
“Izvozvi mvura hatina. Vanongouya vachivhara mvura muno muSpitzkop mese kwemwedzi yakati kuti tichigara tisina mvura yekushandisa. (We do not have water at the moment. It has been disconnected for a couple of months now in Spitzkop North Extension, leaving us with no water to use),” said Mr Nyandoro.
He said the last time Mr Dube visited the area, he promised to address the electricity issue as well push for the building of a primary school in the area.
“We only read about some money that had been set aside to build a primary school in the area and we hope this project is going to be implemented soon.
“At the moment, our children have to walk about two kilometres to school everyday because Jahunda and Senondo primary schools are the only schools around here,” said Mr Nyandoro.
He however said although the schools were a bit far away, parents were satisfied with the quality of education.
“There is an improvement at the schools especially after they received help from Unicef, which provided some resources towards educational materials,” said Mr Nyandoro.
He said the lack of employment in Gwanda Central had risen to unacceptable levels leading to high crime rate.
“Since Gwanda is a mining town, illegal gold panning is rife.
He said due to limited employment opportunities, people, especially the youths, ended up joining the illegal gold panning.
“There is need to start projects that create employment,” he said.
Mr Nyandoro stressed the importance of improvement of people’s livelihood.
“We want people to be able to live well. We also want income-generating projects so that we may be able to earn a living as well as create employment for school-leavers instead so that they do not rush to join illegal gold panning or to jump the border to South Africa,” he said.
Ms Sibongile Ndlovu, who was selling her wares at a flea market in the town’s central business district, said there was a need to build proper market stalls that would allow vendors to do their business without disturbances from unfavourable weather conditions such as rain.
“Njengoba ubona indawo le ayibukeki. Amanzi ayangena izinto zonakale. Abantu abasakwanisi lokuthenga ngenxa yezulu. (There are no proper structures here and water seeps through these tents. Our customers cannot shop freely because of the rain),” said Ms Ndlovu.
She said their legislator Mr Dube last visited them in June, during the time when there was a raid by the local authority, which was meant to rid the CBD of illegal vendors.
Ms Ndlovu complained about the lack of electricity in Senondo.
“We are now living as though we are in the rural areas yet we are in an urban area,” said Ms Ndlovu, as she gave a customer a free pair of socks to a customerwho had bought a pair of shoes.
She admitted that she had not attended the MPs meetings but maintained that there had not been any visible development in the constituency.
Jahunda Township tells a sad story. It is one of the oldest residential areas in Gwanda.
Ms Chipo Moyo who stays in the area said living conditions continued to deteriorate.
“Yindawo yomuntu wonke leyi. Sihlezi khonapho siyi nine ku one room. (This is everyone’s township. As it is, there are nine of us staying in one room),” she said.
Ms Moyo said she had moved into the one-roomed house with her two children, to join her sister and her five children after the roof of her house was blown away by strong winds.
She said her husband had relocated to South Africa in search of employment.
The expectant mother said they used communal toilets and bathing areas, which were no longer functional as there was no water, giving rise to the spread of diseases.
“We know our MP Mr Dube but the problem is that he does not do anything to address our problems,” she said.
Ms Moyo said she was finding it difficult to make ends meet as she could not afford even the basics. She said education was fast becoming a preserve of the rich as many people could not afford the fees and levies charged by some schools.
“What has made the situation worse for some of us is that we have been served with eviction notices by council,” she said.
“We are appealing to MP to engage the local authority so that it stops these evictions. We were given notices and we could be evicted at any time but we do not know where they want us to go. We also do not have electricity neither do we have running water,” said Ms Moyo.
She added that when they confronted the MP about their problems, he turned them away saying they should not bother him but should approach Gwanda mayor, Lionel DeNecker.
Mr Clever Mashavire sang the same song, saying there had not been any meaningful development in the constituency. He said nothing had changed since Mr Dube’s election.
“I have not yet seen what the MP has done. We always complain about lack of development each time we hold meetings with him but he has done nothing to address our problems. How can people living in the urban area lead the same lives as those living in the rural areas?” he asked.
Mr Mashavire said there was need to start income generating projects in order to create employment and supplement workers’ low salaries.
He said some people were forced to do menial jobs for a living.
Repeated efforts to contact Mr Dube failed yesterday.
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