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Mthabisi Tshuma, Chronicle Correspondent
WILD animals are destroying homes, infrastructure, threatening villagers’ lives and livelihoods while contaminating water sources in Bulilima, Matabeleland South Province.
This comes after water levels in small dams that supplied the villagers and wild animals have reached worryingly low levels with the wild animals resorting to drinking from the open wells dug by villagers.
In a telephone interview, Bulilima Rural District Council Chief Executive Officer, Mr John Brown Ncube said the wild animals were causing havoc in the areas.“The situation is now bad and just a month ago in Huwana area a person was attacked by a wild animal.
Two years ago, another person was trampled to death by an elephant for taking pictures of the animal’s head while another one was killed by a buffalo in the same areas.
“The situation has become so bad that people are now unable to move about in the evening,” said Mr Ncube.
He said the problem is as a result of the Mabhongwane Dam which is no longer fenced, the dam had kept many of the wild animals before.
“Due to the fact that the dam area which has been a home for these animals and is now open, animals roam freely around the villages surrounding the dam and are creating an unsafe environment for humans.
“If we could get funding to reconstruct the fencing it would go a long way in curbing the deaths which have been associated with the conflict,” said Mr Ncube.
Bulilima West Member of Parliament Cde Dingumuzi Phuthi attributed the conflict to the bad water situation in his constituency.
“Bulilima does not have sufficient boreholes for the population and now villagers have become stranded having to resort to the Manzamnyama, Tekwane and Maitengwe rivers which also have gone dry.
“Now the villagers are clashing with the animals and just recently, a baby elephant was trapped in a well at Maitengwe River and the villagers could not rescue it as the mother was close by and they sensed that it would be dangerous to assist the baby elephant,” said Cde Phuthi.
Cde Phuthi said by sharing the same water source with wild animals, villagers faced risk of contracting diseases.-@mthabisi_mthire.
Online Reporter