Courage Dutiro
Just like most of African children, children in Chiadzwa diamond mining community are bearing the burden of carrying water daily over long distances.
Children, women, the elderly and people with disabilities are among the most vulnerable groups in crises.
Like in any other rural African community, the task of collecting water is mainly on women and children in Chiadzwa, especially girls, who carry water for an average distance of two kilometers (km) a day.
Chiadzwa Community Development Trust (CCDT) project coordinator Josphat Makaza said children often bear the burden of trekking long distances each day to look for water in disused open mine shafts and streams before walking for long distances to school.
“In Marange District ward 30, children walk about 3 km each morning to fetch water before walking another approximately 5 km to school. Along the way, children are being abused by artisanal miners. We have a case of a child who was sexually abused while she was coming from the market.
“In villages like Makotamo, people have resorted to water scooped from the dry riverbeds (mufuku) of Save River. Beside the threats posed by artisanal miners, they are also likely to fall prey to vicious wildlife along the way,” said Makaza.
He also said companies that are mining diamonds in their area leave open deep pits which collect water during the rainy season that they are using for other domestic purposes.
“Other villagers are collecting water from the ponds which were left by the mining companies,” he said.
Sustainable Development Goal number 6 targets to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
Makaza pointed changing of water table as one of the key drivers behind water scarcity in the area.
“Drilling a well is costly because the water table has changed due to mining activities that are taking place in this area,” he said.
Makaza also said they have engaged ZCDC and drilled a single borehole in Tinoengana village while Anjin Mine only said the community should submit a project proposal.
Section 77(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees the right to safe, clean, and potable water.
This year the Day of African Child was commemorated under the theme ‘Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children: Progress on Policy & Practice since 2013.’
During the groundbreaking ceremony of Sinomine, a Chinese Lithium mining company in Bikita, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said mining companies should engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
