Cholera outbreak looms in Tsholotsho

A cholera outbreak is feared in Tsholotsho amid revelations that villagers have resorted to consuming water from unsafe sources as most of the boreholes in the district have broken down.

Tsholotsho District Administrator Ms Nosizi Dube disclosed that villagers are having to compete with wild animals for use of the few available water bodies.

"We are facing water problems because we do not have dams in the district and the few boreholes we have are seasonal," said Ms Dube.

"This situation leaves villagers with no option but to source water from unsafe sources that they share with livestock and wild animals such as elephants.

"The construction of a dam will definitely bring the critical water shortage to a halt and help villagers develop themselves through irrigation farming."

Siyaphambili village head Mr Philip Mpala, who has lived in the area since 1963, said there was only one reliable borehole in the area.

"Our people have been suffering for a long time," he said.

"The only modern sand abstraction borehole that we have was donated by the Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress (Orap) a long time back and it does not have the capacity to supply our village, which has an estimated 85 households.

"The critical water shortage has worsened hunger and poverty in the area to an extent that some people can no longer afford to send their children to school. We therefore appeal to Government and other stakeholders to construct a dam for us."

While the construction of a dam has long been touted as the panacea to Tsholotsho's water problem, Government says such a venture is not feasible.

The Minister of Water Resources Development and Management, Mr Sipepa Nkomo, said the district is highly silted "that the construction of a dam will be impossible."

"I was born and bred in this area and never came across a stone until I was a teenager. What I mean by that statement is this area is highly silted and the construction of a dam will be impossible," he said.

Meanwhile, Tsholotsho is expected to benefit from the US$50 million rural water, sanitation and hygiene programme which was launched by Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) last week.

The programme, which will be managed by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), will see the rehabilitation of 7 400 boreholes, the drilling of 1 500 boreholes and the construction of 15 000 latrines at 1 150 primary and 350 secondary schools.

Provinces that have been earmarked for the project, which will also see the construction of 15 000 latrines and the rehabilitation of 30 piped water schemes, are Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Masvingo, the Midlands and Mashonaland West.