WHILE Redcliff is now wallowing in decay and ruin, the steel-producing dormitory town, located 227 kilometres southwest of Harare, used to be a respected urban area known for its efficient service delivery and good social amenities.
NATHAN GUMA
The town’s decline is continuing, with no solution in sight. The local residents, with the help of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, are now dragging Redcliff Municipality to court over its failure to provide water for three consecutive years.
“We have gone for six years without water,” says Tawanda Mapiye, secretary for the Combined Redcliff Residents and Tenants Association (CRRTA).
“For three years, getting a sporadic supply and three years completely dry, without anything. The situation is terrible and is worsening all the time. We have had meetings with the council as to when they are going to bring back water supplies. However, we have been getting excuse after excuse.”
Mapiye says the situation is worsening, with residents now resorting to buying water from boreholes, most of them located close to sewer pipelines, raising fears of communicable diseases like cholera and typhoid.
This is contrary to the World Health Organisation’s benchmark which recommends the supply of between 50 and 100 litres of water per person per day to ensure that basic needs are met.
“Other people are fetching water from Cactus Port Dam Pool, which they will end up boiling. This is not a safe source of water. Toilets are in a sorry state as they do not have water. People are resorting to the bush system. It is better for someone to take a hoe and dig somewhere else for ablution as the system is completely non-functional,” Mapiye told The NewsHawks.
“Council has used devolution funds to rehabilitate a medical centre and Torwood Hospital. It is not like they are not getting water from Kwekwe.
“The water is coming, but council’s priorities are misplaced. Because of the bush toilet system, residents simply don’t have a safe drinking borehole water system anymore, since all the human waste will somehow find its way into the water table for eventual consumption.”
According to CRRTA’s founding affidavit, the municipality has been selectively providing water to other areas, citing uneven terrain.
The affidavit cites the minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Development and the minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing as respondents, who are yet to respond.
Residential areas like Simbi and Rutendo, which also fall under Redcliff Municipality, have been getting water supply.
While suburbs like Torwood have been receiving water on a weekly basis, others such as Redcliff suburb have not been receiving any supplies over the past three years.
“The municipality has been able to provide water to residents while others are starved of it on the other end. The municipality was at least supposed to redistribute or ration whatever little that they may allege is there fairly to all,” it reads.
“It is not justifiable how the municipality is able to maintain water in some selected areas whilst others do not get any share completely. Even if the excuse may be due to terrain, the municipality ought to have employed technology to cater for the areas on higher terrain.”
Social justice advocate Ruben Mbofana says Redcliff is continuing to deteriorate.
“Nearly everything is on the verge of collapse,” Mbofana, who is also a Redcliff resident, told The NewsHawks.
“Let us remember that Redcliff used to he referred to as ‘Little London’ due to its exceptional standards — whether in housing, shopping centres, medical and educational institutions, and recreational facilities.
“However, all of these now lie in ruin. Nothing is functional anymore, except the schools, although standards have shockingly gone down. Zisco Club, Golf Club, Torwood Stadium — amongst others which used to be the envy of many in the country — are now an embarrassing sight and dysfunctional.
“The two main hospitals (Torwood Hospital and Redcliff Medical Centre) have not been operating for nearly two decades. I will not even mention the state of our roads and non-functional street lights. The situation is even worse in nearly every established residential area in the town. There is really nothing of substance that has been done to improve the situation. All we hear are endless excuses by the local authority over a lack of resources.”
As previously reportedly by The NewsHawks, the town’s standards are continuing on a downward spiral, with Torwood Hospital now defunct for years, with part of it now operating as a clinic following the municipality’s intervention.
Patients are usually directed to Kwekwe General Hospital from various council polyclinics like the nearby Torwood Polyclinic.
The 22-kilometre journey to Kwekwe General Hospital is often perilous, as the area is awash with machete-wielding gangs who rob and even kill travellers.
To some residents, paying a US$1 bus fare to Kwekwe General Hospital is a non-starter, while hospital bills are beyond the reach of most residents, many whom are unemployed and survive on selling tomatoes and scrap metal.
