Zanu PF officials have claimed that the ruling party is working to end the water crisis that has dogged Bulawayo for decades.
Speaking at a rally in Cowdray Park on Wednesday, Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs, Judith Ncube, said Zanu PF had made an effort to alleviate water challenges in the city.
She said the party, through President Emmerson Mnangagwa, responded swiftly to a water crisis that hit Bulawayo in 2020 after a diarrhoea outbreak which claimed 13 lives in Luveve.
“You responded swiftly when we had serious water challenges in Bulawayo. You allocated resources to enable the pipeline to reach Bulawayo. We lost a lot of lives in 2020 and you came up with a solution to resource the Nyamandlovu aquifer to assist with water,” Ncube said.
She added that the city is looking forward to the completion of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam water project which will boost the industrial sector.
“You have also allocated resources to enable the pipeline to reach Bulawayo. This will boost our industry because when investors come here, the first question they ask is if we have reliable water and power sources. In a short while to come, we will be able to give them concrete answers.”
Former Vice President, Kembo Mohadi, weighed in on the issue of water, saying the completion of the Gwayi-Shangani water project would relieve Matabeleland South dams the pressure sharing water with Bulawayo.
“Water has always been a problem here. Bulawayo people were asking for water from Matabeleland South. We hope that once the plans in motion are completed, they will relieve pressure on Matabeleland South dams,” he said.
“You came up with an acute measure to get water from Nyamandlovu aquifer and that came in handy for the locals, especially after the serious loss of life Luveve. Zanu-PF came to the rescue because the opposition parties in charge of cities had failed. The pipeline to Bulawayo has now gone up to 152km. Its completion will even boost the industrial sector.”
Mnangagwa said while the city awaits the completion of the dam, boreholes will be sunk to give people water in the meantime.
“The Gwayi-Shangani dam is now 70 percent complete. The pipeline which will bring water to Bulawayo is under construction. Before this is achieved, we have been drilling boreholes to supply water,”
“As I was coming here I ordered my minister of water, Masuku, to drill at least 20 boreholes in Bulawayo. He reported that only eight boreholes so far now have water. The other twelve do not have water yet.”
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