‘The gods must be angry’

George Maponga in MASVINGO
A small plate in one hand and her walking stick in the other, Mrs Enita Gozho (84) takes a deep breath before resting her body against a wall at Kushinga High School in Chivi.The school has been her home for nearly two weeks now following the floods that swept away her homestead and those of several others within the catchment area of Tokwe-Mukosi Dam.

Mrs Gozho and her daughter-in-law, like many of their neighbours, have been surviving on sadza and kapenta donated by well-wishers.
“We were caught flat-footed by the build-up of the floods and only carried a few of our belongings, while most of the property remained behind,” she said.

“We were told that further attempts to salvage all our properties would be too late for us.”
Saturated soils and the rocky topography in this area, under the jurisdiction of Chief Nemauzhe, made it extremely difficult for scotch-carts to carry fragile goods such as clay pots and other utensils.

Mrs Gozho still does not believe that she has lost most of her property. Her daughter-in-law, Mrs Sarudzai Tapera, said she was still struggling to accept that her home was no more and she had to start all over.

“Where am I going to get the money to start afresh?” she asked.
Kushinga Transit Camp is a hive of activity with up to 50 women and children sharing a classroom.

Their property is stashed in one corner and it is quite a mammoth task to identify one’s belongings. Floods ravaged 12 villages, namely Jahwa, Chekai, Zifunzi, Mharadzano, Chikandigwa and Vhomo in Nemauzhe communal lands; and Tagwirei, Ndove, Matandizvo, Chikosi, Mashenjere and Nongera in Neruvanga communal lands.

It is not known how much livestock was lost, but the number is not insignificant. Mr Abson Kenge (72) of Chekai Village said while he was resigned to the loss of asbestos sheets that roofed his house, the loss of his goats and cattle would haunt him.

“Those cattle were bought from my savings during the 40 years that I worked in the mine at Mashava and I do not know exactly where they are right now,” he said.

“Some say they spotted them in Gwambire Hill in Tsviyo Village, but even if I may want to collect them it is impossible because our village was cut off from Tsviyo by the floods.”

Villagers in Sekenya Village in Masvingo District are using canoes to link up with friends and family in Chivi. Mr Edson Kege (41) said he took days  from work in Bulawayo to rush back home when he heard about the floods.

Sadly, he arrived too late and found his huts already swept away. Schools in the flood basin were not spared the destruction.
Thirteen-year-old Marvellous Pendere says she last attended school at Zifunzi, where she was doing Grade 7, more than two weeks ago.

With her parents and siblings – Samson (10) and Tafadzwa (7) – Kushinga Transit Camp is home for now.
“I am not sure if I will be able to return to school,” said Marvellous. “These floods separated us from our school and I am not sure exactly when we will return. But there are many more in our situation.”

The floods have resulted in a sharp fall in enrolment at Zunga, Zifunzi and Mavende primary schools. Chivi district administrator and chairperson of the local Civil Protection Department, Mr Bernad Hadzirabwi, said the heavy rains and subsequent floods were unexpected and disrupted Government’s relocation schedule to Chingwizi in Nuanetsi Ranch, Mwenezi.

“It was not that we planned badly, but the rains were just too much and for the last three years this area received less than 400mm of rain per season, but this season things just changed,” he said.

Mr Hadzirabwi said the situation was improving with the recent lull in rains.
“We are proceeding to evacuate more people until we have moved 2 513 families in the high flood basin and among them there are 2 295 primary and secondary students who are going to leave schools in this area and this has already hit enrolment at surrounding schools,’’ he said.

Mr Hadzirabwi said there was need for more trucks to relocate some 18 000 cattle left in the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam basin.
“Donkeys and goats are far much less than the cattle that have to be moved, but transport is a problem. We will proceed in stages until we move all the people and their livestock to Chingwizi in Mwenezi which is their new home,’’ he said.

Mr Hadzirabwi said most of the families knew of their impending relocation and had not invested much in crops this season. The villagers insist that Government did not properly plan around Tokwe-Mukosi Dam’s construction.

They are also unhappy about poor infrastructure at their new home in Chingwizi. After grappling with a nearly 150km road journey from Chivi to Chingwizi packed in lorries, villagers are understandably feeling low.

The roads are bad and the schools and clinics are nothing to write home about. Despite promises of a better life through irrigation-fed agriculture using Tokwe-Mukosi Dam, the families say they have only one dream – to revert to their normal lives as soon as possible.

The floods have affected other parts of the country, with 200 people marooned in Tsholotsho District since last week. The Civil Protection Department in Matabeleland North yesterday appealed for a helicopter to rescue stranded villagers.

Other affected areas include Muzarabani, Chiredzi, parts of Manicaland and Mberengwa where roads and bridges have been destroyed.