{"id":8040,"date":"2025-08-08T14:23:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T14:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=8040"},"modified":"2025-08-08T14:23:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T14:23:30","slug":"sizinda-and-tshabalala-communities-suffer-burst-pipes-and-sewage-create-unhygienic-living-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=8040","title":{"rendered":"Sizinda and Tshabalala Communities Suffer: Burst Pipes and Sewage Create Unhygienic Living Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By Siziba Thando | Health and Environment Reporter<br>Friday, 8 August 2025<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Residents of Sizinda and Tshabalala in Bulawayo are enduring severe health hazards due to decades-old burst pipes and overflowing sewage, with some living in these unsanitary conditions for the longest years of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A ZIM GBC News investigation revealed unbearable stenches, swarms of flies, and flood-like sewage invading homes\u2014particularly in apartment blocks where faulty plumbing makes life a nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Crisis Decades in the Making<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both suburbs rely on pre-independence piping systems, long past their lifespan. Reporters visited multiple households:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sizinda: Six homes and flats inspected, all with chronic sewage bursts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tshabalala: Three households battling the same issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Residents unanimously agree\u2014the pipes must be replaced entirely, not just patched up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;No Human Should Live Like This&#8221; \u2013 Residents Speak Out<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mrs. Khumalo, who has endured a burst sewage pipe for over 20 years, shared her anguish:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s not easy living like this with children. Even simple joys, like sharing a meal, are ruined by the stench and flies. No human being should live like this.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Sizinda flats, sewage from upper floors floods into lower-level homes whenever toilets are flushed. One frustrated resident said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We fight with neighbors over toilet use. We\u2019ve begged them to stop flushing, but where else are they supposed to go? Imagine sewage backing up into your own home every time someone upstairs uses the bathroom.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Dube, a resident with three burst sewage pipes, condemned the city council\u2019s inaction:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019ve reported this for years\u2014even called the mayor\u2019s office. Once, a city worker came in flip-flops, looked at the mess, and left without fixing anything. How is this acceptable?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Community Forced to Take Matters Into Their Own Hands<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Tshabalala, residents are risking their health to fix problems the council ignores:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Coach Phiri and his team dug trenches to stop sewage from flooding a children\u2019s soccer pitch.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Another resident built a makeshift drainage system to redirect sewage gushing like a &#8220;fountain&#8221; from broken pipes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The council keeps doing temporary fixes,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The money wasted on band-aid solutions should fund a whole new pipe system.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Empty Promises, No Action<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Residents say the council only offers reference numbers\u2014not solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I got a reference number ages ago. Still waiting for real action,&#8221; one said\u2014a sentiment echoed across both communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Health Risks: A Ticking Time Bomb<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Living near raw sewage exposes residents to:<br>\u2714 Infections &amp; diseases (typhoid, cholera, respiratory illnesses)<br>\u2714 Long-term health damage from constant exposure<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Council Failure: Who Will Fix This?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The city council and mayor have failed to act, forcing residents to do the council\u2019s job themselves\u2014a dangerous and unsustainable solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Urgent pipe replacement\u2014not temporary fixes\u2014is the only way forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zim GBC News | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a92025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Siziba Thando | Health and Environment ReporterFriday, 8 August 2025 Residents of Sizinda and Tshabalala in Bulawayo are enduring severe health hazards due to decades-old burst pipes and overflowing&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment-and-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8042,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8040\/revisions\/8042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}