dyton mupawaenda
Nqobile Tshili-Bulawayo Bureau
WHEN Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka visited Ngwana Village in Bulilima, Matabeleland South, in December last year, the community was in despair and counting losses.
The visit was aimed at acquiring firsthand information on the drought created by the late start to the rains that had resulted in hundreds of cattle succumbing to drought.
Ngwana Community Dam had dried up resulting in some cattle being stuck in mud while searching for water.
Bulilima lost more than 1 000 cattle, making it the worst affected district in Matabeleland South. The province lost 3 000 cattle due to drought-related deaths.
The community then pleaded with the Government to swiftly intervene to save their source of livelihood and pride.
The community leaders told the minister that the only time they had witnessed a similar drought was in 1987 during which they lost cattle, and they feared that the situation was likely to recur if interventions were not put in place.
Dr Masuka immediately directed Government agencies to drill boreholes to service the area by providing water for both livestock and villagers.
Four boreholes were meant to be drilled in Ngwana and Ndiweni village but at three sites, they delivered a dry hole leaving the villages with one new borehole.
Due to the threat posed by the El Nino season, and delays in the coming of rains, the communities had not even started planting for the summer cropping season, almost halfway through the season.
A month later, the grim situation that the community was facing is seemingly vanishing.
This follows the good rains that were received at the end of December up to last Saturday during which most parts of the country received heavy rains.
Our Bulawayo Bureau yesterday visited Ngwana Village and spoke to selected villagers who expressed relief.
Ngwana Dam was almost full following the rains that moistened up the area and raised hope.
Ngwana senior village head Mr Wellington Dube said while the dam looks full, the reality is that siltation has affected its carrying capacity.
“We are in a far much better situation than we were last month during the same period. Our dams are almost full and we are no longer losing cattle.
“I can safely say our livestock are now safe as there is a lot of green pastures and water for them. However, our major concern is that our dams are no longer impounding a lot of water because of siltation.”
Mr Dube said Ndiweni Dam and two others within their communities were silted.
“As it stands the dams will not hold adequate water to sustain the community up to the next cycle of the rainy season,” he said.
Another villager Mr Takula Ngwenya, said their community dams dry up almost every year before the onset of the rainy season in October.
“What I can say is that we are in a better situation right now because it is raining. As soon as the rainy season ends, we might find ourselves in a dire situation,” he said.
“Our dams are no longer holding water and they need to be dug out and rehabilitated. By October we are guaranteed that the dam will not have any water.”
Mr Ngwenya said the rain has enabled communities to plant some crops and they are optimistic that if more rains are received the situation will be salvaged.
He, however, said if challenges encountered in the previous season were not addressed they will continue losing livestock in summer.
Rural Infrastructural Development Agency (RIDA) director-general Mr Christopher Shumba said he is aware that some community dams were silted.
Instead of de-silting which is quite expensive, RIDA will be drilling more boreholes in the affected areas to address the water challenges.
“We have also discovered that there are some areas where the water table is very low. So, we are encouraging even small stock dams for our communities where it is difficult to get borehole water,” said Mr Shumba.
If funds were available, the agency would be constructing the small stock dams in areas that don’t have low water tables.
“De-silting of dams is not the cheapest way of doing things. It will be cheaper to build a new dam rather than to de-silt because de-silting is very expensive,” said Mr Shumba.
“We have some dams which have broken walls or the water diverts from the spillway and creating another spillway when we have heavy rains. Those we can try and fix and create another spillway in the way it wants to flow.”
Mr Shumba said to prevent siltation communities should avoid cropping on the stream bank. “We are working with Agritex to discourage communities from cultivating close to rivers. This is prevalent, especially in areas in Matabeleland where the kind of soil is very sandy and can easily be washed away.”
Online Reporter