The shocking allegations come as more residents from the
area have complained of diarrhoea after taking the water which comes out once a
week following a six-day water rationing regime implemented by the council to
save dwindling water levels.
Yesterday residents told Sunday News that water that has
been coming out of the taps whenever the city council restored supplies was
dirty and allegedly causing diarrhoea problems. The children who reportedly
died are Freedom Tshuma (13), Bongiwe Ndlovu (9) and an unidentified Form Four
pupil after they complained of stomach illness that resulted in severe
diarrhoea. Freedom’s aunt, Ms Patricia Tshuma said they were informed on
Tuesday by his mother that he was not feeling well and had been admitted to
Mpilo Central Hospital and he passed away on Thursday afternoon.
“We are in great pain and shock that we can get sick from
tap water as we had all along thought it is a trusted source. The water seems
to have particles that look like tissues. Most of us are sick because of the
dirty water and already there are three funerals because of this. We are
appealing to the authorities to seriously look into the issue and fix the
water,” she said at the family house where mourners were gathered.
“As it is, we need $4 900 for us to take the body to a
funeral parlour and it is money that we do not have,” she said.
Freedom’s cousin Mr Bitwell Mguni said he was also
experiencing stomach pains.
“I have been sick for one week with severe stomach pains
and I’m struggling to eat and have been taking only a sugar and salt solution.
When I eat, I feel like vomiting. The stomach pains are causing me sleepless
nights.”
Bongiwe’s aunt, Ms Veronica Dube said the whole family
experienced diarrhoea a fortnight ago which they believe was caused by tap
water as most residents in Luveve were also complaining of the similar illness.
She said Bongiwe seemed to recover after the initial bout of diarrhoea but on
Wednesday last week she got worse and was ferried to Luveve Clinic before she
was transferred to Mpilo where she died on Friday.
“We experienced stomach problems but they eased only for
Bongiwe to get worse on Wednesday and she never recovered. The particles in the
water are not visible but can be seen when you let the water settle. Most
people in the neighbourhood have been complaining of diarrhoea and it seems to
be affecting children more,” she said.
Bulawayo City Council Health Services director Dr Edwin
Sibanda said following complaints from residents they had collected water
samples from the area and swabs from residents that had diarrhoea and sent them
to the laboratory for testing and were awaiting the results.
“We also collected swabs from those that had been admitted
to Mpilo Hospital and the results are yet to come. Once the results are out, we
will make an announcement. We cannot exactly state what the problem is but we
urge residents to boil water before use,” he said.
However, in a statement issued on Friday, the city council
said samples were taken from water, used for potable use, in containers
(buckets) in the households returned with unsatisfactory results indicating
bacterial presence while samples collected from municipal sampling points in
the same area had satisfactory water quality.
“Rectal swabs were also taken and sent to the laboratory
and nothing was detected in terms of notifiable diseases such as cholera and
typhoid. We have teams on the ground that are currently investigating the
source of the diarrhoea outbreak,” read the statement.
Meanwhile, as the water situation in the city worsens it
has emerged that property owners with boreholes are now in the business of
selling water. A survey by this publication revealed that people with boreholes
were charging as much as US$20 for a 1 000 litre tank.
However, this has seen the rise of illegal borehole
drilling with some unscrupulous individuals not following the required
regulations for borehole drilling.
According to the Bulawayo City Council’s by-laws the
minimum size of land where a borehole should be drilled is 425 square metres
and above. All boreholes drilled in the city should be drilled with the consent
of the council. Responding to e-mailed questions, the local authority’s senior
public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said while she could not comment on
the charging of water in foreign currency, council has permitted the sale of
water only for gardening and construction purposes.
“The sale of borehole water has been permitted for some
registered companies in Bulawayo for non-potable use such as gardening and
construction. This is because the use of municipal water is not permitted for
these activities. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement may
advise on the use of foreign currency for the water. The registration of
boreholes is as per the Water Act and the National Water Policy. This is
because all (underground) water in Zimbabwe belongs to the State. All clients
who have drilled unregistered boreholes are requested to regularise them,” said
Mrs Mpofu.
Sunday News spoke to a number of borehole water traders who
said they decided to sell the water after noting the crisis the city was going
through.
“All that I am doing is selling off the extra water which I
have from my borehole. It’s not like I started overnight doing this, people
have been approaching me to purchase the water, mainly for construction purposes.
It is only now that people are also using this same water for domestic use but
we always encourage them to boil the water before use for their own safety,”
said a trader who identified himself as Mr Moyo. Sunday Mail
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