By Edgar Gweshe
Having lived without tape water for the past 32 years, residents from Mabvuku are convinced that the dream of turning Harare into a World Class City by 2025 is nothing but a big joke.
They remain prone to medieval diseases such as cholera and typhoid and have lost hope of ever getting taped water.
And whilst they continue to suffer from the failure by council to provide them with water, they laugh at the idea of Harare turning into a world class city by 2025.
This is the question on their minds- A world class city without water?
The residents of Mabvuku are also aware of the erratic situation in Harare which has been attributed to a number of factors such as poor water infrastructure, obsolete equipment, corruption and mismanagement and population growth.
The destruction of the capital city’s headwater wetlands, which serve as water sources has also negatively impacted on water supply in Harare. Stakeholders have raised concerns that the city’s land use planning has largely ignored the need to preserve wetlands.
These wetlands are under constant threat due to a number of factors that include urban farming, unplanned developments, sand mining as well as pollution as a result of poor waste management.
The city’s main water source which was designed to cater for a population of about 300 000 residents now caters for over five million people including residents from Norton, Ruwa, Epworth and Chitungwiza.
Currently, water production in Harare is estimated at 200 megalitres against a daily requirement of 800 megalitres amid reports that the city requires around USD2 Million to purify water monthly.
For the residents of Mabvuku; their little knowledge tells them that no city can be characterised as world class when water supplies are erratic as is the case of Harare- of course not forgetting the obsolete infrastructure and the poor state of the roads in the capital.
The site of young girls and women queuing for water during odd hours has become common in Mabvuku and cases of rape and sexual abuse continue to be reported.
“When the city pronounced its plans to become a world class city by 2025, we were left wondering how this would be possible when we don’t have water. The provision of clean, safe and potable water to residents is one of the major characteristics of a world class city yet we have gone for decades without water and our concerns continue to be ignored. Without water, we can never talk of a world class city status. That is a big joke,” said a resident identified as Marian Majonga.
As is the case in Mabvuku, residents of Harare have had to endure the severe water crisis in the capital and continue to be exposed to waterborne diseases due to the fact that most unprotected water sources have become their hope in light of the dire situation.
According to the Cleveland Action Alliance Trust (CAAT), a community-based organisation in Mabvuku, the continued degradation of wetlands has further compounded the water crisis in Harare.
The Coordinator of CAAT, Jimmy Mahachi called for concerted efforts to protect wetlands in Harare.
“Wetlands serve as water sources for Harare and their continued destruction is further worsening the water situation in Harare. The sustainable development of the city depends on wetlands protection hence our call to authorities to enforce the law and ensure wetlands protection,” said Mahachi.
The Director of Harare Residents Trust (HRT) Precious Shumba said poor governance which has resulted in poor service provision makes the idea of Harare becoming a world class city a pipe dream.
” Infrastructure upgrades are way behind population growth and urban sprawl. New settlements have no water, sewerage and road infrastructure to enable the ease of doing business. Harare does not have a functional, transparent and accountable billing system. Corruption within the council system remains a major challenge,” said Shumba.
He added that interference from the central government was hindering smooth operations at the City of Harare.
“The national government is entrenching its centralisation of governance and administration of City of Harare. This means that while the constitution of Zimbabwe provides with the right hand for devolved governance and the transfer of powers and authority to local authorities, the national government is using the left hand to financially cripple local authorities, especially Harare City Council. Therefore, achieving a smart City by 2025 is a mirage, hindered by internal dysfunctions and external interference and the volatile socioeconomic conditions in the country,” said Shumba.
Community Water Alliance (CWA) Director, Hardlife Mudzingwa said, “A smart city
should be anchored on climate smart forms of energy; refuse model anchored on “reduce, reuse, recycle and recover” model; masterplan incorporating environmental issues particularly wetlands preservation for Harare; access to affordable and adequate WASH services; and a functional governance system with proper laws, policies and regulations; resource resource capacity; citizen engagement etc.
Harare is a direct opposite of the above. Currently the city is producing 200 megalitres of water against 800 megalitres daily demand within Harare, and there has not been any reasonable strategy on climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience for a city that is sited on its catchment.”
Harare City Council Spokesperson, Stanley Gama said the COVID 19 pandemic was a major drawback for the City of Harare’s vision of a world class city by 2025.
He said the city is repositioning itself to achieve its vision.
“The city was moving well until Covid hit and took them back three to four years. But the City is reorganizing itself to achieve that in the next few years. Also, you must take into account the general situation that every company and everyone are still working on recovering from things like currency changes. But everyone at the City of Harare wants to achieve the World Clas City status as soon as possible,” said Gama.
