Kwekwe District and its unique water challenges

Kwekwe District is unique in that it is one of the few administrative districts in the country with three councils under its purview.

Of the three councils, Zibagwe Rural District Council, Redcliff Municipality and Kwekwe City Council, each have their own unique water challenges.

While some yearn for the availability of water, others are abusing the precious liquid through vandalism, pollution and contamination with chemicals.

Silobela and Zhombe under Zibagwe RDC , are popular due to the vast gold deposits in the areas.

The areas are also known for the criminal activities compounded by artisanal miners who operate there as they search for the yellow metal.

Despite the vast mineral resources in these areas, availability of water remains a challenge.

A significant number of the boreholes do not work.

Villagers have to travel long distances to access clean and safe drinking water.

The situation is worse for the girl child who is found on the receiving end with most having to traverse long distances to access water.

This has led to some girls not going to school or even dropping out of school as some families are now confining them to household chores, mainly fetching water.

As they traverse these territories , the girls go through a lot including the risk of being sexually abused by artisanal miners who have a heavy presence in the bushes.

Junior Member of Parliament for Silobela Sithabile Chowa recently lamented the shortage of water saying it has led to most girls dropping out of school.

“Silobela has serious water challenges . To add to the situation, most girls in the area do not have access to sanitary ware, a situation which has resulted in them failing to go to school and consequently dropping out of school,” she said.

Chowa said in many instances, girls are forced to stay at home to ensure that water is readily available.

“If they are forced to stay at home, in most instances they are forced into marriage because they will be idle. Some do not attend classes when they are going through their menstrual cycle because they do not have access to clean water and sanitary ware,” said Chowa.

Kwekwe District Development Fund (DDF) Officer, Mr Marvelous Mataga said the district does not have a drill rig, as the only rig was involved in an accident.

“The only rig we had overturned hence as a district we were left without a rig to drill boreholes,” he said.

Zhombe’s Senator Chief Ntabeni said the situation was dire.

“We are in a dire situation as both people and animals do not have access to drinking water. It is predicted that we will not have clean water in the coming season,” he said.

Addressing a chiefs meeting recently, Engineer Simbabarshe Chari from Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) said through the Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme, the district received two drilling machines that are expected to ease the water problems in the area.

“We have two machines that came through the Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme and we have already drilled 10 boreholes in the Zhombe area. We are drilling boreholes to ensure that at least every ward has a borehole. We have already drilled boreholes for every chief in the district who didn’t already have a borehole,” he said.

Eng Chari said Vhungu Dam which is under construction is expected to play a key role in eradicating the water challenges.

While efforts are being made to address the water challenges in the district, artisanal miners are not doing any good to the little available water as they are contaminating the few available sources.

“Artisanal miners use chemicals like mercury and cyanide and they are contaminating most of the water bodies. We have that challenge both in the rural parts and the urban areas. The chemicals are percolating thereby polluting the little available water,” he said.

Eng Chari said as a result of the mining activities, water in Sebakwe Dam, the major supplier of water to Kwekwe City and Redcliff, is being contaminated.

“The same chemicals are finding their way into water bodies and putting people, livestock and even crops in danger. This is a result of mining activities taking place along the river or in the upper Sebakwe,” he said.

Kwekwe Town Clerk Dr Lucia Mnkandhla said the illegal miners are also vandalising water pumping systems.

“We once went for some time without a proper pumping system after it was vandalised by illegal miners. They are also targeting some water pipes which they vandalise to access water for use in their mining activities,” she said.

The local authority is however not doing enough to protect the water bodies from raw sewage, which is finding its way into Sebakwe Dam.

Environmental Management Agency (EMA) officer for Kwekwe, Mr Daniel Magombedze said the water was not only contaminated by chemicals from mining activities but raw sewer as well.

“Raw sewer is flowing into Sebakwe River and our samples have proven that the water is contaminated. It is unfortunate that we have taken the issue (against Kwekwe City ) to court as nothing has been done since 2019. We are left with no option but to wait for the courts,” said Mr Magombedze.

He said those who live downstream are actually drinking contaminated water.

“That is what is happening and if we see a disease outbreak, we should be well aware that this is the situation. People are actually drinking contaminated water,” he said.

The same water is used by farmers for irrigation purposes.

“Some farmers there are into flowers and soya beans for export. But unfortunately they carried out tests and discovered that the water is contaminated, hence they are no longer accepting our produce,”he said.

Redcliff Municipality, also under Kwekwe District, has its own problems regarding water.

The closure of Ziscosteel almost a decade ago has left Redcliff dry.

The iron and steel company used to get water from Kwekwe and treat it before distributing it to the residents, most of whom were employees.

But the municipality has since resorted to taking water directly from Kwekwe City which has resulted in a ballooning debt as Redcliff is failing to pay due to subdued cash inflows.

Kwekwe City as a result does not constantly supply water to Redcliff owing to huge debts.