Angelah Nothando Mlotshwa
The City of Bulawayo’s water sources are increasingly being contaminated a development that may lead to the outbreak of diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
This is according to the Director of Environment Protection with the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Christopher Mushava on the sidelines of a strategic dialogue on environmental management that was hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality in Bulawayo.
“It’s not unique to Bulawayo only but most rivers that run through urban areas in Zimbabwe are polluted by sewage discharge mostly through the illegal dumping of waste and uncollected refuse”, said Mushava.
“Most urban authorities are struggling to get money to source purification products. The cost associated with treating water has shot up in recent years as pollution levels have reached an all time high” he added.
He also mentioned that Bulawayo’s water source trunk has collapsed, a development that has seen raw sewage flowing into the City’s river networks.
Mushava also gave out an example of one abattoir that discharged blood into the Municipal sewer and this in turn polluted the Matsheumhlophe river.
He also singled out Umguza dam as another raw sewer filled reservoir that is contributing to the pollution of the City’s water sources.
Samples collected in 2022 from Umguza and Matsheumhlophe proved that the quality of the water had deteriorated to levels that can cause cholera and typhoid.