Built for bachelors who worked in Bulawayo’s Belmont
industrial area in the 1950s, the now-derelict and crowded Sidojiwe Hostels are
a ticking time bomb for disease outbreaks in the city including the deadly
Covid-19.
Sidojiwe which means “we were picked up” in IsiNdebele was
named after one of King Lobhengula’s sons just like some residences and
bachelors hostels in the city.
Lobhengula was the last Ndebele Monarch. It is no secret
that a single person with an infectious disease can pass it to many people
within an hour based on the conditions at the hostels.
With rent pegged at $12 per room and Bulawayo’s housing
waiting list topping 100 000, numerous attempts by the Government and city
council to decongest the hostels have been futile because as soon as residents
are relocated, dozens more move in.
The hostels have been condemned numerous times but people
continue occupying them.
With up to 600 residents, each hostel has three floors
which are almost always filled with a pall of smoke from wood fires and thick
darkness. The floors each have communal cooking areas where residents have no
choice but to defy the rule of social distancing daily whenever there is a need
to prepare a home-cooked meal.
Although the residents try hard to keep the hostels clean,
their efforts are in vain as toilets are also in a dilapidated state with
leaking pipes.
A few have functional flushing systems. Burst sewer pipes
cause stagnant pools of human waste outside the hostels.
Residents told Chronicle it was impossible to practise
social distancing or self-isolation at the hostel and they felt it was a
ticking time bomb for a serious Covid-19 outbreak.
“We have enough education when it comes to preventing a
Covid-19 outbreak but our children are hard to control. We cannot always keep
them indoors since there is not enough space. We also need assistance with
protective clothing and a better shopping facility close by because we are
depending on a tuck shop,” said Mr Cephas Dhire, a resident.
Mr Cornelius Nyathi, another resident, said the hostel
set-up has potential to spread Covid-19 since people use the same entrances and
share facilities.
“We are in great danger because we use the same entrance,
toilets, bath rooms and cooking areas. The place has a lot of children who play
around and some people are still having visitors from all over the country and
beyond our borders. We are not safe. We really need help,” said Mr Nyathi.
There has been a lot of talk with no action regarding the
movement of residents from the hostels to better homes since the last time when
less than half of the residents were moved to Emganwini suburb and council
detached the hostels from the city’s budget.
Mr Nyathi spoke of how the city council has neglected them
by not including them in their budget since they are not supposed to be
residing there yet no solid plans have been made regarding their movement.
“Only 73 residents were moved from here to Emganwini,
although we were told that everyone was meant to benefit.
“When we asked them when we are going to get assistance
they did not respond.
“Now we have nowhere to go and we have situations where a
family of eight people share a room, six grown-up children and their parents
sharing the same room,” he said.
Ward 6 Councillor Tawanda Ruzive said the conditions at
Sidojiwe were inhumane and if any disease outbreak was to occur, many people
could die.
“Sidojiwe has always had problems. It’s a miracle that we
are yet to record Covid cases because it would take only one sick person to
infect the whole compound.
“Most of those people have underlying health problems.
Since they are not working, food is a big problem.
“We try to help here and there but we can only do so much,”
he said. Cllr Ruzive said efforts to move some people from Sidojiwe to other
residential areas have been fruitless as more people move in as soon as there
is vacant space.
“Council owns the flats and people who move in go through
their offices but when you go there people are doing their own thing. At one
time council moved people to Emganwini and the moment people were moved another
whole lot moved in overnight.
“It’s a very sorry situation and I wish anyone could
assist. The best way is to move people and make sure no one moves in because we
are sitting on a time bomb as far as I am concerned,” said Cllr Ruzive.
Chronicle
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