Several villages in Matabeleland South’s Gwanda district are facing serious water shortages amid reports that teachers in Garanyemba are resorting to buying the commodity in Gwanda town.
Gwanda, like most parts of the country, are bearing the brunt of the El Nino-induced drought that has resulted in widespread food and water shortages.
Mitlas Ndlovu, the councillor for Mawane in ward 13, told Southern Eye on Sunday that some schools in area might fail to re-open for the third term due to the worsening water shortages.
“Villagers in the Newline are are buying water from people that use donkey drawn carts to move around selling the commodity in the villages,” Ndlovu said.
“The drought power (donkeys) used for this business is also at risk because the donkeys are so weak that they can collapse any time.
“The donkeys are overwhelmed because they are sometimes forced to travel approximately 5km to fetch water for the business without eating anything."
Water is sold for US$1 per 20 litre buckets.
Ndlovu said authorities had surveyed ssites where boreholes could be sunk, but the projects are affected by funding constraints.
“Reports indicate that there is a South African based community that has indicated its desire to come and drill boreholes for the villages,” he said.
“This water challenge is also affecting schools as some might be forced not to open next term as water bodies that they depend on have dried up.”
He also identified Insimbi Primary Schools as one of the most affected schools in the area.
“This school has a total of seven teachers with more than 200 pupils together with an Agritex officer,” he said.
“It has been well renovated but has no water, its borehole is dry.
“They have been using a manmade well while sharing it with the surrounding communities including their livestock.
“The well has since dried up and we are afraid the school might not open for the third term.
“Teachers are buying water from Gwanda town before transporting it at a cost of R20 per 20-litre bucket.”
Ndlovu also expressed fears that livestock could be wiped out during the current drought period.
“I have been sent by villages to approach the Cold Storage Commission at Dubane concerning pastures,” he said.
“We have been offered the pastures but there is no water there, the river has dried up and most of the dams in the surrounding area are experiencing a challenge of siltation.
“Many people have lost their livestock after being stuck in the mud while trying to quench their thirst at the dams.”
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe provincial chairman Urgent Moyo confirmed that teachers at Insimbi primary school were buying water from outside the school.
“The water crisis is too much there. They are buying water at US$1 for three buckets. "They are forced to collect water from a farm which is about seven kilometres away from the school,” Moyo said.
“They cannot avoid this as it is now part of their survival, but it is affecting them big time in their teaching practices.”