Water crisis strike Chingwizi villagers

The senator in the Chingwizi area where victims of the Tokwe Mukorsi dam evictions were settled, Justice Maluleke  have told senate that the villagers are now facing serious water shortage as most of the boreholes which were drilled for them have since run dry.
       
"There should be a reminder that we are dying. Where I come from in the lowveld, people moved because of the Tokwe-Mukorsi dam and they were resettled at Chingwizi. There were 36 boreholes that were more than 60m deep, only six are still functional. This is because of the drought," he said. "That was last year but one. In 2005 there was a serious heat wave, some deer would come and join goats so that they could drink water because water was inadequate. Water is life and for everything to live it revolves around water. If we have very little water, disease outbreak starts in our area, diseases such as cholera, typhoid and others such as diarrhea. We are close to Mozambique and South Africa; if we do not have water we are susceptible to such diseases."

 Maluleke said he was urging those that are responsible for the administration of water to ensure that the area have adequate or additional boreholes.

"Last week we had rains for the entire week. It was not widespread in all the areas. We urge the Government Department that is responsible for water to really bear in mind that water is life. Everything revolves around water to be alive so I urge them to serious consider our plight," he said.  

"We have irrigation schemes where they are irrigating sugarcane. They were irrigating sugarcane but because of the heat wave some of the sugarcane was drying up. That meant the water that they were using for irrigating was inadequate hence the sugarcane was drying."
He said the depth of their boreholes ordinarily goes beyond 70m before they access water.

"This is Zimbabwe and there is not much we can do about it but the best that could be done is to ensure that we have even deeper boreholes so that we do not access water from distances that are too far. People have to cover these long distances so as to enable their families to survive," Maluleke said. "Like I indicated earlier on, life for fauna and flora depends on the availability of water. It was in the press that cattle are being now sold for $30 to $50 because there was no grazing land. It is because of the arid region that we find ourselves in and because of the aridness of the land we have sparse rainfall."

He said the water is too salty and there are very few people who come to their area who would drink that water but those of us who live in that areas drink this water that is why you see us fat as he was.

" It is because of the salty water. It is our area and we are proud of it. We want sufficient water supplies despite the water being too salty. We come into the city; we do not know what the recycled water has in the form of diseases. We urge that in the towns there also be boreholes for people to have safe water. We believe that some of the chemicals that are being applied to water treatment have side effects. We should have sufficient boreholes that are in places where the sewer lines do not run. Some people are oblivious of the sewer lines as they do these boreholes," he said.

"Water is life. I have relatives in Mozambique, before they greet you they give you water to go and bath. That is their culture. They appreciate that maybe you have covered a long distance and you have been on the road for several days and not had an opportunity to bath hence you want to refresh. You are also given water to drink. There should be sufficient water for irrigation, portable water and all the other uses that water can be put to,"  he added.

Maluleke said their trees also cry for water; but God intervened.

"We believe that we are now in a position that we would have sufficient rains. Last night there was some rainfall. I hope that we become one people, love each other and look after our fauna and flora using this water to ensure that we conserve our heritage. I thank you Mr. President for this opportunity. I would also like to thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Sen. Mlotshwa. It is an issue that affects mostly women for, we cannot do our household chores without water. Not a day goes by without using water. The issue of water is very important," he said.