By Rex Mphisa
AFTER every rainy season Maria Moyo visits the furniture outlets for a new mattress, at times the whole bed.
She also looks for cheaper television sets, replaces her mobile phone, buys new clothes and shoes for her family.
Moyo throws away mealie-meal and other stored groceries damaged by flooding in her lodgings at the Municipality of Beitbridge (MoB) flats in Dulivhadzimu.
She also throws away the bed, mattress and other household effects beaten by floods.
She has howeved failed to replace her children’s school certificates washed away by the floods, althogh she hopes one day a trip to Harare will answer this.
For the last 27 years, her life cycle, similar to that of 53 other families at the flats, has been the same cycle except during dry years when rains are not witnessed in Beitbridge.
“My first born is 27, I had him here, I have been living here since then. Every year when it floods, we start afresh, its the cycle,” she said.
She is a mother of four and is married to a MoB worker accomodated at their council-owned residential flats.
Together with the other 53 families accomodated here their experience during perennial flooding has become a national and regional topic.
In the past, Maria and fellow residents benefitted from Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) fast response to distress calls by Beitbridge Civil Protection Unit.
After Donald Trump assumed United States presidency for his second term, several NGOs were disabled when he stopped funding USAID.
USAID funded many NGOs including those that many times moved in during such disasters.
“The only person who visited us was Councillor Takutaku, we did not see anyone else, we have not got any assistance,” she said.
Their flats together with the Dulivhadzimu Police Base and several nearby houses were flooded during recent rains.
Moyo told Matabeleland South Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Albert Nguluvhe that she was ready to go for alternative accomodation elsewhere.
“Yes I am ready. I believe everyone else is, e have suffered here,” she said.
Of the 54 who stay here, 27 are MoB workers and the local authority collects R300 from the other 27 every month.
In the last 27 years Moyo has stayed here, MoB collected the equivalent of R2 624 400 from the 27 other tenants, non of which has been used to improve the small flats which can only fit a double bed.
“Why have you not used any of the money you collected to improve these flats,” Nguluvhe asked MoB officials in a meeting after his tour.
The flats and a few other houses are built on a water channel that could be diverted upstream, according to some residents and officials.
But that had not been done.
Nguluvhe said dereliction of duty by MoB put pressure on the District Civill Protection Unit, which was in attendance at Monday’s meeting.
Town clerk Loud Ramakgapola after the meeting which exposed deep rooted divisions between the policymakers makers and executives promised to crack the whip.
In an interview with Ziyah News Network Ramakgapola, who in the meeting was emotionally charged in what he felt was betrayal, said he would make it work.
“We have areas where we must improve immediately and that will be done. Outside the meeting I managed to speak with Minister Nguluvhe for further clarity and guidelines and we should be able to deliver our service mandate,” he said.
Most local authorities countrywide reel under similar problems believed to stem from residents failure to pay service charges and centralisation of funds by government arms.
In the past local authorities collected vehicle licence fees for vehicles registered in their jurisdictions using those fees to improve roads.
The role has since been taken over by the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority (ZINARA) most local authorities accuse of not disbursing funds.
“Tell me so that I approach the relevant minister,” said Nguluvhe.
He urged MoB to desist from repeatedly giving tenders to compaies that failed to deliver.
Nguluvhe also asked he municipality to regularly advise residents of the state of affairs.
“For instance have the residents been told the grader cannot fix roads when it is raining? Residents should be informed of developments everytime,” he said.