Residents still sharing toilets 34 years after independence

Despite the country attaining 35 years of Independence this year, some residents in Kadoma are living without access to proper ablution facilities.

A survey carried by The Zimbabwean recently indicated that residents in one of the oldest suburbs of Rimuka are still living in the Rhodesian era, with four families sharing one toilet which also doubles as a bathroom.

The ballooning population has put pressure on the already dilapidated ablution facilities, which neither have neither a shower nor a flushing system. This has forced some residents in Chisanga area near Rimuka maternity clinic to use buckets to relieve themselves.

For fear of diseases, residents now are using the toilets only to dump their waste and dispose of dirty water after bathing. This reporter witnessed children defecating on newspapers which their parents threw into the toilet. A local resident, Tafara Machemedze said they take turns to clean the toilets twice a week. He said the toilets were always blocked due to failure by the city council to service them.

"The situation is terrible; the local authority is not doing anything to help. These houses were constructed in Rhodesia and were not meant for this ballooning population," said Machemedze who was busy empting some waste from the chamber.

Margaret Marufu, 45, pleaded with the city fathers to be sensitive to their plight.

"There are a lot of diseases and sharing a toilet is primitive 34 years after independence but there is nothing we can do," she said.

Shylet Muvezwa, 56, said she has was born in Rimuka said life is now worse off than in Rhodesia. She said it was disheartening that she has been paying rent for years but government has failed to build a simple toilet for her. "I have five kids and it's so pathetic that we liberated this country to share toilets. What happened to all the money that we paid rates for years?" she asked.

David Manyowa, 65, who was retrenched from employment at David Whitehead, said he was bitter that he remitted tax to the council for years but is living without a decent ablution facility in this age.

"Everyone can use this toilet because it's a public facility. I paid rates for years and was promised a toilet by politicians. Where are the toilets now?" asked Manyowa.

Council officials at the Health and Housing Department in Rimuka refused to comment referring all the questions their superiors who were not available during the time of the visit. Efforts to get comment from Town Clerk or Mayor were fruitless as they reported to be in marathon meetings.