Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Chronicle Reporter
WHILE rains are a blessing for many, they spell trouble for Gogo Nelly Mazhe (65) and several other families that live in flood-prone Spitzkop North Extension in Gwanda.
Whenever clouds build up in the sky signalling the coming of the rains and she is not in her house, Gogo Mazhe calls her neighbour to take her grandchildren to safety of her home.
Her house is in a flooded area and when it rains heavily water fills up her house sometimes up to knee level.
There are about 50 other households in the area that are facing the same challenge. Residents have lost their pre-cast walls, furniture, food, clothes, blankets, appliances among other valuable property due to flooding. Some have tried to barricade the water from entering their homes using bricks but that has not helped. Some residents have resorted to using fences instead of pre-cast walls to avoid losses by allowing water to flow through their yards instead of accumulating.
Other houses in the area are situated close to a stream which leads to Manzamnyama River. Their yards have been turned into swamps which have become a drinking water source for livestock.
Some of the water which will be surging through their homes will be coming from about a kilometre away.
Gogo Mazhe recalls in December when they received heavy rains which destroyed her pre-cast wall and water gushed into her house.
She had to lift her three grandchildren and place them on a wardrobe to save them from drowning.
“We have a serious problem when it rains. Most of the water from neighbouring houses will be flowing into my yard because of the gradient before it escapes into the next line of houses. My durawall collapsed in December because of the rains. It was raining heavily and I was sitting at home with my three grandchildren. I was in my bedroom and my grandchildren were in theirs,” she said.
Gogo Mazhe: “I heard them call out and I went to check. I was shocked because their room was now filled with water up to knee level.
The youngest was being chocked by water. I quickly placed them on the wardrobe. When I checked outside the durawall was down. I guess the water had accumulated behind the durawall and it didn’t have a way out which caused the wall to collapse and then all the water that had accumulated gushed into the house through the back door.”
Gogo Mazhe said she had lost a lot of property and valuables because of the rains. She has stayed in the area since 2005 and every rainy season she has had to deal with the problem.
Mr David Madungwe who is also affected said 10 bags of cement in his house were recently damaged by rains. He stays in the line of houses which is after Gogo Mazhe’s. Most of the water that flows through Gogo Mazhe’s house moves into his yard.
Mr Madungwe said due to the gradient water coming from his neighbours’ houses flows through his yard. He said there was a need for a drainage system that could divert the water.
Ms Catherine Masotsha said she has stayed in the area since 2010 and was losing some of her tenants because of the problem.
Ms Masotsha said on cloudy days the soil in her yard becomes damp and sometimes water starts flowing.
Mr Mandla Nkomo said his yard was always swampy. He said the water was now a drinking source for cattle. Mr Nkomo said it was a health hazard for him and his family to stay in the area.
Ward 5 Councillor Gilbert Dube said a contractor was on the ground trying to put up some drainage systems in critical areas.
He however, said some houses were not properly positioned as they were in a swampy area near a stream that leads to Manzamnyama River.
“Even if a drainage system is built some of the houses will still be affected as they are located in a swampy area. These people were not supposed to be settled here in the first place because of their proximity to the stream,” he said.
Clr Dube said the houses were built by a private partner which settled people before the area was serviced. — @DubeMatutu
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