Houses for Matobo cyclone victims

Robin Muchetu and Nonsikelelo Ndlovu
VILLAGERS in Matobo, Matabeleland South province who lost houses to violent storms early in the year have been assisted to rebuild them with the aid of the Civil Protection Unit and the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF)-Sizimele.

Most of the houses were destroyed due to storms brought by Tropical Cyclone Eloise which entered Zimbabwe with strong wind speeds and was preceded by Tropical Storm Chalane which saw the district yielding above-normal rains of 800mm against normal rains of between 350mm and 450mm.

Following the destructive storms, the District Development Coordinator (DDC) Mr Obey Chaputsira carried out an assessment in the 24 wards of the district to determine the number of households that were affected. The villagers were forced to seek shelter from neighbours.

“As such, we had to present a report to a number of partners and fortunately the ZRBF funded Sizimele came through to assist us in the 15 households that we had identified,” said Mr Chaputsira.

DanChurchAid, which is the lead partner in the ZRBF Sizimele Consortium said they teamed up with the Civil Protection Unit (CPU) and the community to rebuild the homes of the 15 villagers.

“The villagers came forward to provide labour, river sand and other locally available materials. The new homes valued at approximately US$6,000 per unit, consist of two-rooms and a stand-alone toilet. The affected families also received non-food items such as buckets, blankets and US$18 per individual, up to a maximum of five people per homestead. In addition, ZRBF-Sizimele secured and is in the process of distributing educational material, to all households in the district,” said DanChurchAid country director Mr Mads Shack Lindegard.

ZRBF-Sizimele project lead Mr Diego Matsvange, confirmed that only one of the families had to be relocated because their homestead was built almost in a riverine area presenting not only an ecological but a potential humanitarian crisis.

“In our disaster response strategy, we always strive to build better than before,” said Mr Matsvange.

ZRBF-Sizimele confirmed that the other villagers would take ownership of their newly built homes, on their family homesteads where they were before. The project is expected to be completed and handed over at the end of the month.

One of the beneficiaries Mrs Thembalami Buhlalo, a mother of nine, said they were not going to manage rebuilding their destroyed home had help from CPU and partners not come through.

“As a family we were never going to be able to build a structure like this one you are seeing here today. We are grateful for the kind of assistance that has been rendered to us,” she said.

The 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Zimbabwe, prioritises responses to the effects of floods, drought, Covid-19-related restrictions and the prevailing economic situation.

In February 2021, Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Cde July Moyo stated that with the generous support of donors, who contributed nearly US$212 million to the humanitarian response in 2020, development partners were able to reach close to 4.2 million women, men and children with critical and life-saving interventions by the end of November 2020, in support of government-led initiatives.

Nearly 4.1 million people received food assistance, an estimated 743,000 people were provided with clean water and safe sanitation; 1.5 million people were supported to access essential health services; and over 224,000 boys and girls were covered by child protection services.

Meanwhile, the Government has pledged to replace houses of villagers who will be evicted in Umguza district, in Matabeleland North to pave way for the installation of power lines by Zesa. The project is likely to affect about 10 families staying along Harare road in Umguza district Sunday News heard that the affected villagers had been given notice of eviction, but were yet to be allocated alternative land.

Minister of State for Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Cde Richard Moyo said the villagers will be allocated land elsewhere to pave way for any national projects.

“I am yet to be informed about that. However, such electrification projects are national and definitely, they will be given alternative accommodation elsewhere. As long as it is a Government project, they will be accommodated elsewhere where beautiful homes will be built for them. Villagers’ welfare should take precedence and land for their resettlement should be secured first before they are evicted,” he said-@NyembeziMu