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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
AFTER living for 15 years without water supplies and a sewer system, residents from Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle area in Ward 8 in Gwanda have decided to put up the required infrastructure on their own.
The residents who say they are tired of using the bush to relieve themselves, are contributing funds to put up a sewer reticulation system and also connect water. The Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle housing scheme has 530 houses. A total of 504 are not connected to the town’s sewer system but most houses now have water after residents mobilised resources and bought water pipes.
The residents said they had waited for too long for the municipality to service the area hence the decision to mobilise their own resources.
The residents who do not have electricity, said they decided to prioritise water and sewer reticulation.
Mr Thabo Siziba who has been staying in the area for the past 14 years is one of the residents who initiated the scheme for residents to mobilise funds to develop their area. He said the initiative started in 2018 at a slow pace and finally there is hope for residents as their project is gathering momentum.
“I have been staying here for the past 14 years. It hasn’t been easy living under these conditions and day in day out we have been living with the hope that council would come to our aid. We are using the bush as we don’t have toilets which is very unhealthy especially during this Covid-19 period. Our area is really filthy because some people don’t even bother to get to the bush especially at night. Some people have been using trenches within the area and unoccupied houses to relieve themselves. Those who don’t have water buy it from houses that have connected water,” he said.
Mr Siziba said as residents they decided to raise money to service the area instead of waiting for the council.“At first people were reluctant but the project has gathered momentum and more people are forthcoming. We have made significant progress in installing the sewer system and from there we will move on to water connections.”
Mr Siziba who lives in Phase One area said residents had contributed money towards buying cement and bricks to construct manholes and were digging trenches and installing sewer pipes.
He said the pipes which were used had been lying idle for over 10 years after they were supplied by Government.
Ms Deborah Ntini who also lives in Phase One of Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle houses said the next step was for residents to connect pipes from the manholes to their houses. She said each resident had contributed about R500 towards the project. She said it was extremely difficult for residents when they want to relieve themselves during the night. Ms Ntini said it was dangerous for women and children to use the bush especially considering that there were gold panners nearby.
She said she was fetching water from a neighbour who has been connected to the water system and they were sharing the bill.
“We are living a difficult life because of this challenge we are facing. It’s even more difficult if you are staying with small children like me. It’s risky for us women and for children to go to the bush in the middle of the night. We really need this project completed as soon as possible. We contributed about R500 each which went towards buying cement, bricks, quarry stone, pit sand, mash wire and brickforce. Some of the money will be used to pay builders. We now have to work towards plastering the manholes,” she said.
Ms Ntini said they were working on getting quotations for water pipes so that they can work out how much each house owner will contribute.
Another resident, Mrs Jane Maphosa said she was hopeful that soon she and her family will be using their toilet and will have running water. She said the environment they were staying in was very unhealthy because of human waste. She said while there was also need for electricity connection in their area, it was water connection which was urgent. She said she normally buys water at R3 for a 20-litre bucket.
Ward 8 councillor, Ntuthuko Ndebele said residents from his area started the project in 2018. He said after Government allocated people houses under the Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle scheme some pipes were delivered and a trench dug in a rocky area for the sewer reticulation. He said the programme however, came to a standstill leaving residents stranded. Clr Ndebele said a local businessman who owns a construction company, Multi- tech Engineering International Contractors in Gwanda offered to construct manholes for free after residents raised money to buy material.
Clr Ndebele said each resident contributed R500 to buy material for construction of manholes.
“At the moment we are working on Phase One of Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle housing scheme and from there we will move to Phase Two. Phase One has 100 houses and only 26 have been connected to the sewer system while Phase Two has 350 and all are yet to be connected. Phase Three has 80 houses and a few have septic tanks. The water situation is better in Phase Two as most houses have water but those in Phase One and
Three have a challenge. Some of the areas are rocky so it will require metallic pipes for water connections.
“A committee has been set up under Phase One which is spearheading the development and from there we will do the same under Phases Two and Three. People have been living without ablution facilities and water for about 15 years and we want this to end,” he said.
Clr Ndebele said some people have been using unfinished houses to relieve themselves while some were using the trench which was meant for the pipes. He said Manzamnyama stream which passes close to Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle houses is now contaminated by human waste.
He said residents decided to spearhead development of their area after the municipality indicated that it did not have the money.
Clr Ndebele said once they were done with the sewer system and water, they will engage Zesa on electricity. He said only about 30 houses out of 530 had electricity.
He said residents under Phase Three had indicated that they want to mobilise resources to buy a transformer.
Clr Ndebele said while residents had taken the lead, they needed assistance form Government and other stakeholders in developing their area. He said Phase Two did not have pipes for sewer system which meant residents would have to start from scratch unlike in Phase One where pipes were available.
Gwanda mayor, Clr Jastone Mazhale said such initiatives by residents were appreciated and should be encouraged.
He said the idea for residents to develop their areas which were not serviced was suggested during an all stakeholders meeting and residents from Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle took the lead.
He said residents in Wards Five and Six were also doing the same in areas that did not have sewer reticulation and water.
Clr Mazhale said the fact that council had limited resources should not stop development of Gwanda town hence he was encouraging other residents to emulate what the Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle residents were doing.
“I would like to commend the residents of Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle for the work they have done. I visited the area and was pleased by what I saw. Our engineering department has been working closely with them by providing technical assistance at every stage,” he said.
Clr Mazhale said council had come up with a system of reimbursing residents the money they spend on servicing their areas.
“They are getting their bill of quantities from our engineering department and after buying they provide us with the receipts and we deduct the money from servicing fees which we were supposed to have billed them had we serviced that area ourselves. This is the kind of partnership that we encourage with the residents,” said Clr Mazhale. — @DubeMatutu
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