By Chantelle Muzanenhamo
Beitbridge – Beitbridge residents are bearing the brunt of changing weather patterns, with unusually strong winds and heavy dust clouds sweeping through the border town this September, leaving many people complaining about health risks and disrupted livelihoods.
Today , the town is engulfed in thick dust that reduced visibility, forced people indoors, and raised concerns over the worsening effects of climate change in the drought-prone district.
“We are struggling to breathe and our children are constantly coughing,” said local resident Memory Ndlovu who runs a small tuckshop near Dulivhadzimu.
“Every year it feels like it’s getting hotter and windier. We don’t remember it being this bad when we were growing up.”
Another resident, Tonderai Moyo, a taxi driver, lamented the impact on business.
“Passengers avoid travelling when it’s too dusty because it makes the journey unbearable. At the same time, fuel prices are high, so every day we don’t work means money lost,” he stated
Climate experts attribute the worsening dust storms to prolonged dry spells, deforestation, and land degradation in the semi-arid region.
Policy advocacy professional Justin Salani said Beitbridge is a vivid example of how rural and border communities are on the frontline of climate change.
“What we are seeing here is not just a weather event, it’s a climate warning. The windy and dusty days in September are becoming more frequent and more intense because vegetation cover is disappearing, rains are erratic, and land is left bare. Without urgent action on reforestation, sustainable farming, and climate adaptation policies, people here will continue to suffer,” Salani said.
He further called on authorities and development partners to prioritize climate-resilient infrastructure and community awareness campaigns.
For residents like Ndlovu, however, the concern is more immediate.
“We just want clean air to breathe and rains to come on time. Life is already hard here, and climate change is making it harder.”
Another resident asked the loca authority to speed up the surfacing of roads saying the vehicle intensity in the border town raises too much dust and likely to cause respiratory problems.
“We have unsurfaced truck parks generating a lot of dust, the Municipality of Beitbridge should see that people with these surface them to protect the residents from dust. Our roads are not surfaced and we are exposed,” said the resident.
An environmental expert said the Beitbridge Municipality should consider giving the operators of the trucks tops deadlines on when to finish surfacing their yards because they are exposing people to dangers.
“That pollution is harmful, the Municipality has a role to protect citizens and ensure all truck parks are surfaced. There is so much fine dust from these truck parks,” said a senior environmental health official.
Beitbridge Town Clerk Loud Ramakgapola encouraged those with truckparks to use chemicals that act against dust generation and said ultimately all truck parks should be surfaced.
“We will constantly monitor them,” he said.