adminVusumuzi Dube Municipal Reporter
TWO Nyamandlovu schools have had their request to be connected to the Nyamandlovu Aquifer pipeline rejected by the Bulawayo City Council following condemnation of uMguza River water that they relied on. The schools have reportedly had no running water since 1933. Mbuyazwe primary and secondary schools recently wrote a letter to BCC requesting to access water from the aquifer, noting that they had been stopped from using water from Umguza River after it was condemned as unsuitable for domestic use.
Combined, the two schools have an enrolment of 600 pupils and 20 teachers.
Both schools are located 22 kilometres from Bulawayo.
Although the two schools are located in an area that falls under the Umguza Rural District Council in Matabeleland North province, they are administrated by Bulawayo province.
Confirming the predicament faced by the two schools, Bulawayo provincial education director Mr Dan Moyo said the situation had been worsened by the vandalism of a temporary pipeline that was drawing water from Umguza River.
“The previous farmer who built the original primary school used to pump water from Umguza for his dairy but after the land reform programme the pipeline was vandalised. Since then, efforts to get water to the school have been fruitless.
“What makes it especially difficult for the schools to drill boreholes is that it is located in a rocky area and frankly there is no underground water there and even if we try to rehabilitate the temporary pipeline from Umguza it would be fruitless since water from that river was condemned. We are, however, in the process of engaging donors and Umguza RDC to see what could be done to address the problem there,” said Mr Moyo.
Sunday News also managed to talk to a school official who preferred anonymity as he is not allowed to talk to the media. The official confirmed that the school was in a huge crisis as they had to “literally manage a school without a single drop of water”. This, he said, exposed pupils to various health-related problems.
“At times you feel sorry for the pupils because one cannot survive without drinking water and we expect them to spend the whole day without water. Worse still, some of them walk long distances just to get here.
“We have tried surveying and drilling for possible water sources but all this has been fruitless. Our only luck was a borehole where we are only getting just five buckets of water a day, of which these have to be shared by both the primary and secondary schools,” said the official.
The official also revealed that the situation was worsened by the fact that they ran a low cost boarding facility for pupils who stayed far.
“We are desperate. Even our location worsens everything because while we are in Umguza, we have to report to Bulawayo. Even our ward councillor cannot assist us much because he argues that we do not report to their council. Donors have always left us out because of this sole reason.
“Just to show you that this place essentially does not have any underground water we have previously drilled in three different spots and nothing was found. We have had surveyors come here but none of them have identified any source of water,” added the official.
Contacted for comment, Environment, Water and Climate Minister Cde Saviour Kasukuwere, said while he was not aware of the matter, it was unacceptable for a school to have no water source for such a long period.
He said he would engage officials from his ministry to investigate the matter and advised the school authorities to approach Zinwa to map a possible way forward.
“It is sad and unacceptable that this school has gone all this time without water. This issue has to be addressed as a matter of urgency,” said Cde Kasukuwere.
According to a letter written by the schools to BCC and co-signed by school heads from both schools — a Mr T Mhlanga and a Mr G Sithole – the schools have never had any water connection since 1933, when the primary school was established.
“Water from Umguza and underground water was condemned by the Nust Research team as unsuitable for domestic use. Furthermore, all attempts to get water around the school have failed since 1933, indicating that there is absolutely no water underground. It is for this reason that we have resorted to appeal to you to connect us to your pipe.
“The schools are functioning without a drop of water and the situation is desperate. According to the Sphere Standard, each child should have three litres of water per day for drinking and hand washing. The situation prevailing at the two schools does not meet the standard. We also need water for cleaning toilets and practical subjects such as building and agriculture,” reads part of the letter to the local authority.
The schools also note that due to the water woes they had lost a number of teachers who were incensed by the fact that they were forced to carry water to school daily, with pupils suffering as there was no continuity in the learning process.
According to the latest council report, the two schools’ request was thrown out of the window with the local authority imploring that they engage hydrologists that use new technology to help them locate underground water.
The city’s director of engineering services Engineer Simela Dube noted that the city’s current water rationing programme did not allow for new connections outside the city boundary due to inadequacy of raw water.
The acting town clerk, Mrs Sikhangele Zhou, also noted that in the past council had been supplying water to How Mine, Douglasdale and Kensington which were located outside the city’s jurisdiction but this programme was suspended because of water shortages.
“Council had received many applications requesting for connection and these applications had not been acceded to. The same criteria should be observed with regards to the schools application, it would be ideal for the schools to approach Zinwa directly and request for connections at the aquifer,” said Mrs Zhou.
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Bongani Ndlovu