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Masvingo pumps ‘untreated’ water for Masvingo

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Masvingo pumps ‘untreated’ water for Masvingo

Bushmead Water Works
…officials
watch as chemicals store gets empty

…city
engineer’s job hangs on the balance

…council
risks lawsuit from affected residents

Moses Ziyambi

City
of Masvingo recently pumped half treated water to residents after staff in the
engineering department negligibly watched as one of the critical water
purification chemicals in the stores run out, TellZim News can report.
From
the last days of November 2019, TellZim News has been investigating the cause
of the decline in municipal water quality.
Many
residents contacted claimed that on many incidences from the end of November,
municipal water had failed to convincingly pass the eye test as it had done in
the past
Information
at hand shows that the city’s engineering department slept on the job and
deliberately ignored as aluminium sulphate supplies in the stores dwindled.
To
get to the bottom of the matter, council has since formed a commission of
enquiry made up of all departmental deputy heads whose findings are expected to
be tabled any time this month.
In water purification processes, aluminium
sulphate is used as a coagulant which causes suspended impurities to coagulate
into larger particles and then settle to the bottom of the clarifying tanks to
be filtered out more easily through a process called backwashing.
At
the end of November, senior city managers and councillors were taken by
surprise when they were informed that at least a day’s water supplies had been
pumped half treated as aluminium sulphate had run out of stock.
Shocked
and disappointed, acting town clerk Edward Mukaratirwa rushed to the Zimbabwe
National Water Authority (Zinwa) where he borrowed three tonnes of the chemical
as part of emergency measures to avert a full-blown crisis.
Under
normal circumstances, the city procures the chemical from Chemplex Corporation
in Harare.
Meanwhile,
the city had continued to pump inadequately treated water to the residents, but
would at times stop all pumping as the emergency plans were being made.
Sources
said city officials exaggerated the effects of power cuts by the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) for the prolonged stoppages in pumping as
they made frantic efforts to replenish the chemical stores.
“There
is gross incompetence in council especially in the engineering department where
there seems to be a reluctance to take responsibility for anything that goes
wrong. The city engineer (Tawanda Gozo) is particularly underfire as he
continues to preside over the worst performing department. There are
indications that the chemicals debacle was deliberately created as part of
cheap in-house politics, sabotage and point-scoring,” said a close source.
Other
key chemicals that council often uses in water treatment throughout the year
include activated carbon to remove taste and odour, lime for PH correction and
chlorine gas or calcium hypochlorite for disinfection.
Depending
on need, council sometimes uses sodium silicate as a flocculant aid which
densifies unwanted particles.
TellZim
News contacted five of City of Masvingo’s 10 councillors who, speaking on
condition they are not named, all confirmed that council had on some occasions
pumped semi-raw water as ‘some chemicals’ had ran out of stock.
The
rest said they had no finer details about the matter but pointed out that it
was an embarrassing development coming from the ‘same department that often
gives council many problems’.
“It
is disappointing that people could be that negligent. We could have understood
had it been a case of shortage of money to buy the chemicals. The money was
there and people knew our usual suppliers yet they chose to ignore the usual
stock-taking routines for reasons best known to nobody but themselves. We
eagerly await the outcome of the enquiry before we can take measures. What I
can assure you is that it would be a gross dereliction of duty on our part as
councillors if heads do not roll,” said one councillor.
Another
one said it was high time council took stern measures against acts of gross
negligence by council employees.
“We
hear that some people are mobilising each other to sue council. That would be
costly to us and the only recourse would be for some people to go home. We
cannot continue paying people who deliberately put residents’ lives at risk,”
said the councillor.
When
contacted for comment, Mayor Collen Maboke professed ignorance of the debacle,
saying no report of such error of omission had reached his desk.
“Nothing
of that sort has reached my office. If it indeed happened, it probably then all
happened behind my back,” said Maboke.
On
the town clerk borrowing chemicals from Zinwa, Maboke said council and the
water authority had a working relationship allowing them to lend each other
chemicals in times of need.
However,
when Mukaratirwa himself was contacted for comment, he hesitantly confirmed the
debacle and said disciplinary procedures were in progress.
“We
had to take emergency measures to contain the situation. Disciplinary processes
are happening and we would not have wanted this to be in the media
prematurely,” said Mukaratirwa.
He
made assurances that the city now had enough chemicals in stock to meet its
daily requirements.

SolidarMed rescues Masvingo Hospital with solar lighting

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SolidarMed rescues Masvingo Hospital with solar lighting


…NGO
says it was moved by TellZim story

TellZim Reporter

MASVINGO – Non-profit
health NGO, SolidarMed, recently funded the installation of solar lighting
system for the Masvingo Provincial Hospital maternity ward in response to a
TellZim story highlighting poor lighting caused by power cuts.
TellZim
reported in in its August 16-22 edition how patients and nurses were being
asked to bring their own candles to the hospital as the rolling power cuts made
work more difficult especially during the night.
SolidarMed
then mobilized resources to the tune of US$8000 which they used to install a
2kW solar system which lights up the whole ward and powers the Information
Technology (IT) system there.
The
system was commissioned on December 19, 2019 in the absence of hospital staff
led by medical superintendent, Dr Julius Chirengwa.
The
organisation also installed an electronic partograph, a computer system which
monitors pregnant women’s laboring and helps with early detection of maternal
complications thereby helping to reduce maternal mortality. 
In
an interview later on, Chirengwa said the hospital was already feeling the
relief brought by the solar system.
“We
are grateful for that help. The maternity ward is one of the most critical at
the hospital and it had been a big challenge operating without proper lighting
as electricity supply from the national grid is not reliable,” said Chirengwa.
He
also said he hoped the hospital will find help to build a bigger solar system
to light up the rest of the facilities and power up critical equipment.
Under
country director Dr Janneke van Dijk, SolidarMed has made several outreaches to
equip health institutions in the country.
The
organisation recently donated a modern X-Ray machine to Chikombedzi District
Hospital which had operated for many years without one.
SolidarMed
is also leading innovative efforts to find medical solutions faced by local
communities by leveraging on the potential of digital technology to solve those
problems.

Disabled Mutare man needs wheelchair

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Disabled Mutare man needs wheelchair

Heather
Buzuzi
MUTARE
–
A 38-year-old man has pleaded with well-wishers to buy him a wheelchair which
will enable him to move around looking for food and money for rentals.
Bernard Mlambo stays with his wife and kids in Hob
House suburb and he makes some little money begging on the streets mainly at TM
Pick n Pay supermarket in the CBD.
His daily routine involves crawling from Hob House to
town where he begs for alms.
Mlambo, who stays with his heavily pregnant wife, said
he faces challenges raising his rentals and bringing food onto the table for
his family.
“I face challenges raising rentals since I do
not have my own place to live. I only survive through begging because it is
difficult to even start a business without a wheelchair.
“It is also very difficult and painful to crawl
to town every day. If I get a wheelchair, it would be a bit easier for me to do
a small business and stop begging on the streets,” he said.

Innovative youngsters make own snooker table

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Innovative youngsters make own snooker table

 Star Matsongoni
MASVINGO – Due to the economic hardships, some innovative children
have come up with creative ideas of enjoying their time by hand-making some
pool table which is keeping them productively occupied.
Speaking to TellZim News, the
children said they saw it possible to use the available resources which are
wood and cloth to manufacture their own pool table as the cost of using the
ordinary pool tables is beyond their reach.
“We have tailor-made our own pool
table using what we have. Tokens to use the ordinary pool tables are now going
for two dollars and we cannot afford them, so it’s the situation that inspired
us,” said one of the children.
The children are now using the sport
to mobilize themselves and encourage each other to stay clear of mischievous
behavior that often leads to trouble.
“We gather and play our game
after school and during weekends, we use our time creatively to avoid the petty
mischief that often gets other youngsters in trouble,” said Craig Ndaruza.
He said they each contribute some
money towards the maintenance of the pool table that they made while raising
more money by selling tokens at a ‘reasonable’ price of 25 cents.
“We usually play friendly matches
for free but if others from different streets want to play, they are required
to buy tokens for 25 cents. The money is used to buy sticks and marbles in case
we lose the ones we already have,” said Ndaruza.
      

Business complains over proposed licence fees

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Business complains over proposed licence fees

                                  Masvingo City Council offices
Ruvarashe Chichera
MASVINGO – The local business community is fuming over the 2020
proposed licence fees proposed by Masvingo City Council and that are likely to
be put to effect starting in January.
The business community is urging
each other to write formal objections to the town clerk or else the new rates
will be instituted starting from January 01, 2020.
Council has proposed an average 4
000 percent licence fees hike which will see 
juice card vendors’ fees rising from 
$210 to $3360, EcoCash agents from $510 to $8 160, traditional healers
from $300 to $4 800, barbershops and for phone shops from $510 to $8 160.
The business community is arguing
that the proposed rate increases are grossly exorbitant, thus unfair.
“The proposal of the council is
unreasonable. They should consider that the business community is playing its
part to the nation by employing people. They therefore should not make life
hard for the business people but rather complement their efforts,” said one businessman.
Masvingo City Council chamber
secretary, Vitalis Shonhai told TellZim News that council felt the proposals
were justified but was quick to add that people had the freedom to make formal
objections.



He went to advise that people
should not waste time complaining from outside but should rather follow
procedure by writing to the town clerk before deadline.
“That budget is only a proposal
and it will only work if people agree to it. I urge people to take the right
channel and communicate through formal processes rather than to waste time
talking about it in WhatsApp groups. I can confirm some people have already
sent their letters,” said Shonhai.
Business person Loveness Chimera,
in her letter of objection to the town clerk, makes it clear that she cannot
afford the proposed fee hikes.
“I cannot afford paying the
money. We did not agree to the budget the day you came to meet us so I reject
the proposal,” she argues.

Disability and the exclusion of PWDs from public spaces

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Disability and the exclusion of PWDs from public spaces

                                 Masvingo provincial registry


Star Matsongoni

Vimbai,
a vibrant young girl who has just finished her degree in education, wants to
visit the Masvingo Provincial Education Director (PED) but fails to get to his
office because she is wheelchair-bound and the office is on the second floor of
Wigley House.
Stairs
are the only way up so basically the office is inaccessible for her and this
means the PED, Zedius Chitiga, has to go down stairs and meet her there.
The
PED’s office is not the only public office which is not structurally sensitive
as almost all others are generally not user-friendly to people with
disabilities.
Chitiga
told TellZim News that if such disabled people want to seek audience with him,
he has to go down stairs and meet them on the ground floor.
Masvingo
provincial police spokesperson Chief Inspector Charity Mazula, whose office is
also on the 2nd floor, said in such a scenario, she would also have
to go down stairs.
“It
doesn’t necessarily mean you should always come to my office, because I myself
can go down stairs and meet you at the most convenient place,” said Mazula.
Many
people, however, feel that such an arrangement is not the best since it often
involves some bit of waiting to be done, and for other people to be
inconvenienced since an official would have to leave his/her seat to attend to
one person elsewhere.
Indications
are that only a few organisations are fully accommodative to people with
disabilities and their fully able-bodied counterparts.
The
office of the Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs is on the 3rd
floor of Benjamin Burombo building and there is no elevator to cater for those
who cannot use the stairs.
When
the now late Shuvai Mahofa was appointed minister, she had to swap offices with
the provincial medical directorate as she could not climb upstairs due to poor
health and old age
Association
of the Disabled and Elderly Persons of Zimbabwe director (ADEPZ) Bernard Fovera
said they had challenges accessing those offices.
“There
is high inaccessibility of public spaces resulting in maximum exclusion of
people with disabilities. A ramp would be fairly good but is not the most ideal
option because it still requires manpower to push me up the building,” said
Fovera.
Other
activists feel that public institutions like the police and local authority
offices could be made more accessible by building ramps to enable wheelchairs
to be pushed with greater ease.
Both
ends of the Masvingo Central Police Station have stairs that make it impossible
for wheelchair users to have easy access to the offices.
At
work places, the inclusion of people with disabilities remains elusive as most
organisations do not have disability-sensitive human resource policies.
The
education sector is also not accommodative enough since most schools have no
facilities that respond to the special requirements of people with
disabilities.
An
interesting observation to note is that big supermarkets have ramps but these are
not installed in response to the requirements of wheelchair users, but in order
to allow trolleys to be pushed in and out without many hassles.

Inaugural Miss Rutenga modelling show dazzles

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Inaugural Miss Rutenga modelling show dazzles

Cephas Shava
MWENEZI –
As part of efforts to empower the girl child and nurture talent, former Miss
Masvingo 2011, Loren Hama recently organised a modelling contest for local
models.
The
colourful was held at Rutenga growth point on December 14, with seven girls
competing in three categories namely traditional, casual and evening wear.
Thandiwe
Mzembe, a form three pupil at G and N Secondary School, was crowned Miss
Rutenga 2019.
Hazel
Mastilele of Sacred Heart High School won the first princess title while Hilda
Ngwenya was named second princess. Angela Mangoya, a Sacred Heart High form
three pupil, was named Miss Personality.
Event
manager, Chido Muungani expressed gratitude to the Rutenga business community,
vendors and identified individuals for supporting the show.
She
said the initiative was aimed at helping to empower female children by growing
their confidence and the belief they have in their own capabilities.
“The
idea is to make sure that girls especially from disadvantaged communities are
helped to gain exposure. Through modelling, we are communicating that the girl
child has the potential to succeed in life regardless of social backgrounds.
“Through
such initiatives as this, we are sending a message to the girl child that she
can develop herself and contribute meaningfully to community development,” said
Muungani.
Cllr
Albert Mashiri, who graced the occasion as guest of honour, praised the event
organisers for bringing a unique event to the area.
“Since
time immemorial, such educative and informative events have been a preserve for
big urban communities. I am glad that modelling has been demystified and
brought to our own doorstep for the good of our community.
“It
is our hope that the event will grow bigger such that more girls from all
corners of the district can participate,” said Cllr Mashiri.
    

Mbeki visit, much ado about nothing

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Mbeki visit, much ado about nothing

The nation is gripped with a hype after the recent
visit by former South African President Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki was in the country
this week and he met with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, MDC leader Nelson
Chamisa and other opposition leaders who make up the Political Actors Dialogue
(Polad) platform. Most people see the visit by Mbeki as a step in the right
direction towards ‘genuine’ dialogue between chief protagonists, President
Mnangagwa and Chamisa. MDC fanatics were over the moon that Mbeki had visited
their leader and not other smaller parties but were up for a rude awakening
when Mbeki took his tour to the doorsteps of other smaller opposition parties
in Polad. The meeting with smaller opposition parties drew and ire from MDC
supporters who believed that only Chamisa and President Mnangagwa must be the
ones to go to the negotiating table. Mbeki was now facing criticism from the
same people who praised him when he met with their leader. The tragedy in
opposition had begun and they went back to their base to massage their big
egos. The meeting between Mbeki and other opposition parties was a big insult
on Chamisa’s MDC. They felt that their thunder had been stolen by ‘nonentities’.
While we believe that this country can only be moved forward if we put our best
brains from across the political divide to work, there are no basis for a
Government of National Unity (GNU) as many are desperately hoping for. Zanu PF
won the elections resoundingly and they have the majority in Parliament. The
MDC has refused to recognise the Zanu PF victory and have challenged the result
in the Supreme Court. Again they (MDC) lost the challenge and the Justice Luke
Malaba led bench endorsed the Zec results. The country has been in election
mode ever since and the economy has nosedived for the worst. There has been
calls for dialogue across the country and beyond to save the economy but the
leading parties have put their egos above the welfare of the country. President
Mnangagwa created Polad which was largely joined by people who failed to secure
even a handful of votes in the 2018 elections and MDC refused to be a part of
it. The coming in of Mbeki will not change anything because what he suggested
is what has been continuously turned down by MDC. Chamisa will never join Polad
because in his mind he is won the election. He views Polad as a losers’ league.
What Chamisa wants is a special treatment which Zanu PF is not willing to give
to him. Mbeki wants Chamisa to join others in Polad but Chamisa will never
accept that but would rather watch the country burn. There is literally no
solution to the current crisis unless Zanu PF pulls some magic trick from their
bag which will turn the economic fortunes around. We all know that there is
urgent need for dialogue but what is lacking are the basis for the dialogue.
MDC wants power and is banking on the collapsing economy to take a toll on Zanu
PF while the ruling party is making frantic efforts to save the sinking ship.
No Mbeki or any other person can come and tell the Zimbabwean people to
dialogue because we know of its importance but what needs to be addressed is
the egos of the main actors.  

Dry, dark Christmas for Masvingo

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Dry, dark Christmas for Masvingo



…US$20 million stands between residents and water

Upenyu
Chaota
Despite being close to the biggest inland dams in the
country with huge volumes of water, Masvingo city will see a dry festive season
as the water situation remains dire.
Crippling power shortages at Bushmead Water Works and
dilapidated water infrastructure has seen many residential areas like Runyararo
West going for months without tap water.
As part of mitigation measures, Masvingo City Council
has come up with a desperate water rationing schedule which has proven to be
difficult to adhere to owing to power shortages.
Some residents feel that by introducing the water
rationing schedule, council has attended to the symptoms of the problem and
ignored the root cause.
Council blames the water crisis mainly on load
shedding by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa). As a result of
the power shortages, Masvingo is largely dry in the day and dark in the night.
The city has degenerated into a village where women
fetch water from boreholes, fetch firewood for cooking and do laundry on river
banks.
Residents are likely to experience the worst Christmas
in history, as they will be without water and electricity, thereby making it a
gloomy festive season.
Open defecation is on the rise as people often do not
have water to flush their toilets.
Council says the only way out of this predicament is
embarking on a mega project of Water Augmentation Phase 2.
The city gets water from Lake Mutirikwi, which is one
of the biggest water bodies in the country and at no level has the lake run out
of water but the challenge remains pumping and purification.
Much of the water in the lack has traditionally gone
to the low veld where it is used to irrigate sugarcane but the completion of Tugwi-Mukosi
Dam means more water remains in Lake Mutirikwi yet less of it is getting to
residents.
City of Masvingo mayor Collen Maboke told TellZim News
that council applied for borrowing powers to the tune of US$20 million to
implement the Water Augmentation Phase 2 project.
According to Maboke, this is the only permanent
solution to the city’s water problems but the audacious project will not happen
overnight, residents have to endure much longer.
“We have very expensive solutions to the crisis at
hand. We need US$20 million to embark on Water Augmentation Phase 2 project.
The council does not have this kind of money and we seek to borrow it.
“This is the only solution and we hope we will be
allowed to borrow the money so that we kick start the project. Once completed,
Masvingo will be in a position to pump and supply adequate water to its
residents.
“For the time being, we have come up with a water
rationing schedule which we hope will help alleviate the biting water
challenges. Residents should know that their council is very concerned about
this crisis,” said Maboke.
He said the council is proposing to install solar at
the Bushmead Water Works as Zesa has refused to dedicate a powerline for the
city’s source of water.
“We know there is no solution that comes without
addressing power challenges so we are working on installing solar at our water
works. We had considered a generator but it is too expensive and unsustainable.
“Solar is more permanent hence we are going for that.
Again, it is not going to happen overnight. It is a process but we will make
sure it happens as fast as possible,” said Maboke.
Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance
(Murra) said that the city council and Zesa have failed residents and a dry and
dark Christmas awaits.
“When we talk of failure, Masvingo is a perfect case
study. The city council has failed in its mandate to supply water to residents.
They blame Zesa for the crisis but they should have seen it coming and invested
in alternative sources of energy long back.
“Now we will play Christmas without water. How is that
for Christmas? This is the best recipe for disaster and I wonder why some
people are still in offices instead of resigning because they have failed.
“We need new ideas at the council to solve this crisis
because we do not want their water rationing. All we want is a service we are
paying for. What will happen if our people get sick and there are no doctors at
the hospitals?
“The council has to make sure that water is readily
available this festive season because there are a lot of people who will be
visiting the city. It puts us in a bad space,” said Murra spokesperson Godfrey
Mtimba.

Untitled Post

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Sakubva residents grill Cllrs over service delivery

‘…council hostels must be sold to tenants’

TellZim
Reporter
MUTARE
– TellZim
was in Mutare on Friday, December 13, 2019 for a public dialogue between
residents of wards 4 and 5 who are mostly people in Sakubva high density suburb
where service delivery shortcomings are arguably most severe.
Many residents turned
up at Beit Hall to seek audience with Cllr Kalulu of Ward 4 and Cllr Mapuvire
of Ward 5.
Issues that came up
included the delays in the completion of the Sakubva Stadium refurbishments
which many participants felt was inconveniencing their right to affordable
recreation.
Other participants
wanted to know when Mutare City Council intended to sell old council-owned
houses that have been leased to tenants for decades. Most of the houses are
poorly-maintained and are quickly falling apart.
There were also
participants who felt council was not doing enough to ensure a more stable
water supply situation in Sakubva and other high density residential areas.
Some women complained
that council was not taking stern action against reckless disposal of diapers
and other forms of pollutants that are making the streets and open spaces a big
stink.
In response, Kalulu
said he acknowledged frustrations at what appeared to be the slow pace of
refurbishments being carried out at Sakubva Stadium but assured residents that
work will be completed in 2020 without fail.
“Council has put in
place all the materials needed to carry out the work successfully and we can
all see that something is happening there. The bricks are there and work is
progressing well though at a pace we might not be satisfied with. I plead with
you to be a little bit more patient as council is making progress. Recreation
is a right and we understand people’s frustrations,” said Kalulu.
On when council
intended to sell the old houses it has been leasing to tenants for many years,
Kalulu said a resolution was being made to fast-track the process.
“Those houses are in
bad shape and there is an agreement in council that selling them to the
faithful tenants who have been consistently paying their rentals will improve
the situation. If a person buys the house, he will be more responsible with it,
and he won’t hesitate investing his own resources towards its upgrade and
maintenance. Some of those houses are now being sub-leased by people who have
long relocated to their home areas like Murewa. Those people are being paid
rentals every month and that is not right as it is exploitative,” said Kalulu.
In his own words,
Mapuvire said council acknowledged all the service delivery shortfalls being
experienced in the city and was working to improve the situation with the
limited available resources.
“The water situation
has to improve and refuse collection has to improve too. We face a severe
economic crisis as a country and that has a bearing on the performance of the
city council. The problems mean that we need a united front as council and
residents. We urge you to pay your bills in full and in time and, in turn, hold
us to account,” said Mapuvire.
He also said each
resident must be an environmental police officer to make sure those who dump
disposable nappies and other nasty material everywhere are exposed, shamed and
fined.

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