Chronicle Editor
Thupeyo Muleya,Beitbridge Bureau
THE COMMUNITY in Ward 7 in the Mutetengwa area in Beitbridge has been thrown into panic mode after a 13-year-old boy poured a poisonous herbicide into a river, which supplies water to livestock and to people from at least five villages on Monday.
The name of the herbicide is still being verified by experts.
According to Mutetengwa’s senior village head, Mr Nelson Mohadi, the fish in the stream have started dying and a donkey that drank water from the same river died on the same day.
He said through the local disaster risk management committee they had since notified people staying downstream of the river not to use water from the river or to ensure their livestock use another water source.
Mr Mohadi said the local civil protection committee was already on the ground carrying out tests of the water between the point where the herbicide was poured into the river, and at selected water points down the river.
“The community is in panic mode following this incident and we have since notified the police and the local civil protection committee about the incident,” he said.
“In the interim, we advise villagers not to drink or use the water for domestic chores until tests from the civil protection committee confirm the extent of the damage.”
A village head from Tshambudzi area, Mrs Siphiwe Muleya, where the boy lives said they were working with the police to establish the motive behind the incident.
She said she has advised all community members in the area to make use of the borehole water and to avoid fishing from the river.
Mrs Muleya said since Monday, fish were still dying from the river and that a donkey had started decomposing after drinking suspected contaminated water.
“We picked up the container of the herbicide, which we have given to agriculture experts to verify and will also help in investigations,” she said.
“The police are now handling the matter and the parents of the same boy have since been notified about this shocking incident.”
Mutetengwa Village Health worker, Mrs Lucy Chibi, said working with health experts they are already educating those living along the river to be extra vigilant.
She said the dead fish from the river had been buried in the soil and that some people were already on the lookout for the fish to destroy them before some children may pick them since the river is located near a school and the local business centre.
“We are already moving around villages warning people about the imminent danger from the herbicide that was poured into the river. At the same time, I want to strongly encourage community members to avoid drinking water or fishing from this river until it has been confirmed to be safe by technocrats,” said Mrs Chibi.
A communal farmer living in the La Tenis area, Mrs Nyelisani Sibanda, said she was shocked to see purple water flowing in the river on Monday.
“I was working in my field, which is just close to the river and when I came here to get water it had turned into a purple colour,” said Mrs Sibanda.
“A few minutes later some fish were dying on their own. I immediately called the local traditional leaders who then informed the rest of the community leaders about this incident. They then raised the alarm that we must not drink or fetch water from the same river.
“We chased away some livestock that were drinking water from this point, unfortunately one donkey died near our business centre.”
Police officer commanding Beitbridge District, Chief Superintendent Melusi Ncube, said the matter was now under investigation.
“We have sent our team on the ground, which is working with the civil protection committee members and we will share more information after getting feedback from them,” he said.
The issue comes a few months following the poisoning of fish ponds at Tshabili Secondary School in Beitbridge East leading to the death of thousands of fish that were part of the school’s income generating projects.
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