By Patience Gondo
Residents of Beitbridge, Zimbabwe’s busiest border town, are increasingly relying on unsafe and costly water sources as broken boreholes and irregular tap water supplies worsen the town’s long standing water crisis.
For some time now, many households are depending on buying water often fetched from the Limpopo River, after council supplies became unreliable.
The situation has left residents with limited options, forcing some to choose between buying water or going without it.
Speaking during a VISET stakeholders’ workshop held in Beitbridge, Ward 4 Councillor Emmanuel Takutaku said consistent tap water supplies would remain unlikely until the town clears its outstanding debt with the Zimbabwe National Water Authority.
Takutaku said the council was struggling to maintain regular supply due to unpaid bills and low revenue collection from residents.
“There will not be consistent tap water as long as the bill owed to ZINWA is not cleared,” he said.
“Residents are not paying their water bills and because of that water may only be available two or three times per week.”
As tap water remains unreliable, residents say boreholes which were meant to provide relief are either too few or no longer working.
Anna Ncube, a Ward 3 resident, said only one borehole in her area is functional and it is located far from her area.
“Here in Ward 3, I think only one borehole is working and it is too far. The one near us has not been functioning for years now,” she said.
“People survive on buying water, and sometimes it becomes overwhelming. I cannot afford to buy water for R50. Some of us do not owe council and we pay our water charges, but we are caught in the crossfire.”
Residents also expressed concern over the safety of drinking water sold by private suppliers in the town.
Babongile Ndlovu said many families are forced to buy purified water from vendors, but the condition of some containers raises health concerns.
“The containers are sometimes very dirty and have green layers beneath but that is the only solution we have,” he said.
Beitbridge Town Clerk Loud Ramakgapola acknowledged the shortage of functional boreholes, saying several require urgent repairs.
“We have few boreholes that are functional, and many need to be repaired. We are working on that,” Ramakgapola told Ziyah News Network.
He said the council is to drill new boreholes at the new stadium and at Makhado Primary School to improve access to water in communities.