Chronicle Editor
Raymond Jaravaza
“LAST night I could have died from the cold”.
These were the chilling words of a young boy who sleeps on a shop veranda along 8th Avenue between George Silundika Street and Robert Mugabe Way as he described the near-zero degrees Celsius weather that turned Bulawayo into a frigid zone.
On Tuesday the country recorded a sharp drop in temperatures as an icy cold front moved across Zimbabwe from South Africa and Bulawayo residents woke up to a chilly morning with temperatures as low as three degrees Celsius, according to the Meteorological Services Department (MSD).
Drizzling in Bulawayo did not help the situation as it exposed residents to a snow-like cold front they haven’t witnessed since the onset of the winter season.
Residents devised ways to warm themselves up with some people in the city gathering around miniature bonfires and braziers (imbawula).
The streets and pavements were teeming with people geared up with warm hats and fluffy coats, scarves and gloves while most schools in the city were forced to suspend sporting activities due to weather.
Yesterday Chronicle news crew spoke to some homeless people who sleep in the open, in street alleys, and in storm drains.
“I have never felt such cold before, we used to sleep in that alley but the owners of the building now lock the gate and only open it when there are deliveries. We have no choice but to sleep on the pavement,” said the teenager.
With a single worn-out blanket for warmth in such cold that gripped the city, it’s not surprising the teenager said he almost died from the chilly weather.
Across town, next to a storm drain where water mixed with industrial waste from surrounding factories in the Belmont area flows, the news crew encountered six men seated next to a makeshift dwelling.
A security guard at one of the factories, Mr Mordecai Chirisi, said the men sleep in a shack and survive on scavenging for scrap metal in the industrial area.
“Cold or hot weather, they are always here and some of them sleep in that shack that they are sitting next to while others sleep under that bridge,” said Mr Chirisi as he pointed at a bridge on the road to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).
“When I work nightshifts I normally see a fire under the bridge and even in the afternoon when it’s cold like it was on Monday and Tuesday. This is their permanent base, I don’t think they have another home.
The six homeless individuals refused to be interviewed.
Street kids are known to abuse substances such as glue to keep warm, a practice that doctors say has adverse effects on their health.
In the city centre, another teenager who identified himself as Matthew said sniffing glue keeps him warm at night.
“Everyone I know who sleeps on the streets sniffs glue, that’s how we keep warm at night otherwise we wouldn’t survive this cold weather. When I sniff glue, I don’t feel the cold,” he said.
There is, however, a ray of hope for the street dwellers as the MSD said it was expecting the weather to clear today.
“The entire country should be cold and windy in the morning. Mostly cloudy and drizzly conditions are expected over the southern and eastern parts of the country (namely Matabeleland South, Bulawayo Metropolitan, Masvingo, south of Midlands, Manicaland, south of Mashonaland East and Harare metropolitan) cool by day, becoming cold overnight.
“Matabeleland North, north of Midlands (Kwekwe to Gokwe), Mashonaland West and Central are anticipated to be mostly sunny and mild by day becoming cold towards evening,” said the MSD in a statement.
The department urged members of the public to stay warm to avoid triggering respiratory problems.
“Windy and cool conditions may affect the health of vulnerable members of society and trigger respiratory-related illnesses in all persons and poultry, especially day-old chicks which are sensitive to overnight decline in temperatures.
“Differences between night and daytime temperature can affect the body’s perception of the cold”.
Online Reporter