Zim GBC News Reporter
PLUMTREE/BULAWAYO – A severe water crisis is gripping parts of Matabeleland, with residents in Plumtree and Bulawayo facing dry taps for weeks, forcing them to resort to unsafe water sources and raising fears of a public health disaster.
In Plumtree, a stringent water-shedding schedule has left the border town parched, with many households receiving water only for a few hours in the dead of night.
“We only get water at very odd hours,” a frustrated Plumtree resident said while filling buckets at a bush pump.
“Sometimes it reaches our houses, sometimes it doesn’t. We have to wake up at 2AM hoping we’ll be lucky.”
The crisis is also crippling local businesses, with restaurants and fast-food outlets struggling to maintain basic hygiene.
Plumtree Town Secretary, Thembelani Nyoni, pinned the blame on massive unpaid bills, which have crippled the council’s ability to function.
“Water services are supplied on a cost-recovery basis,” Nyoni stated. “Users have not honoured their water and rates bills, which now stand at ZiG8,268,702.75 and ZiG81,333,828.43 respectively. This has left the council unable to buy treatment chemicals, electricity tokens, or carry out maintenance.”
He issued a direct appeal, saying, “The council appeals to all users to meet their obligations. Normal service will resume when outstanding debts are cleared.”
Bulawayo’s Deepening Crisis
Meanwhile, the situation in Zimbabwe’s second city, Bulawayo, is equally dire. Entire suburbs including Pumula, Nkulumane, and Emganwini have gone for weeks without a single drop from their taps. With the city’s supply dams critically low, the council’s water rationing has proven inadequate, pushing residents to queue for hours at boreholes or fetch water from open wells and contaminated ponds.
The health implications are severe. Public health experts warn that the consumption of water from unprotected sources dramatically increases the risk of deadly water-borne diseases like cholera, dysentery, and acute diarrhoea.
This threat is not hypothetical. Zimbabwe recently battled a prolonged cholera outbreak that began in 2023, resulting in over 31,000 cases and 597 confirmed deaths by April 2024, according to the World Health Organization. Recent reports from Bulawayo have already indicated spikes in diarrhoeal diseases, with some neighbourhoods declaring local outbreaks.
Amid the crisis, Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Edwin Ndlovu, alongside a local ward councillor, addressed the issue, placing responsibility on council engineers.
“The issue is not really complex, engineers must pull up their socks,” the Ward 2 Councillor said.
“I suppose its all to do with getting up and doing their job for the area to get water.”
With ageing infrastructure and low dam levels compounding the problem, residents are trapped in an impossible choice: endure dehydration or risk drinking from sources that could lead to severe illness.
Health officials fear that without immediate intervention, isolated cases could quickly escalate into a full-blown health emergency.
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