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Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu 

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ALTHOUGH Zimbabwe had succeeded in terms of decreasing open defecation from 30,6 percent in 2000 to 23,5 percent, the practice remains prevalent in Matabeleland South province, which accounts for the majority of homesteads which practise open defecation.

Open defecation refers to the human practice of defecating in fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water, or other open spaces. It is against water and sanitisation ideals which the Government is aiming to achieve as it gears towards Vision 2030. 

People may choose fields, bushes, forests, ditches, streets, canals, or other open spaces for defecation. They do so either because they do not have a toilet readily accessible or due to traditional cultural practices

According to the latest 2023 Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVac) urban livelihoods report, at a national level, 46,6 percent of the households had basic sanitation facilities and only 1,2 percent had unimproved sanitation facilities.

Government aims to expand access to improved sanitation facilities to 77, 32 percent by 2025, in both urban and rural areas. “Bulawayo province (65 percent) had the highest proportion of households with basic sanitation facilities while the proportion of households still practicing open defecation was highest in Matabeleland South (9,9 percent). The Government of Zimbabwe aims to expand access to improved sanitation facilities to 77,32 percent by 2025, in both urban and rural areas,” read ZimVac report.

“In terms of basic sanitation, there was an improvement from an average of 41 percent recorded in the 2020 Urban Livelihoods Assessment Report (FNC, 2020). Nationally, 2,8 percent of the households are still practicing open defecation, which marks an increase from the 2 percent recorded in 2020.”

The report also shows that religion had a significant role in hygiene and sanitation practices with households headed by a member of the Pentecostal and Apostolic sect less likely to have a hand washing station and hand washing with soap. 

“More so, at the 1 percent significance level, households headed by a member of the apostolic sect was 1,62 percent more likely to resort to open defecation, ceteris paribus.” 

Commenting on the statistics, the co-ordinator for Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights Mr Khumbulani Maphosa said although Matabeleland South had the highest prevalence, Matabeleland North had been dominating in that practice for four consecutive years. 

He said more resources are needed to improve sanitation in the province. 

“I think let’s look at the history, it is disturbing to note that Matabeleland South has been in position four or five for the past years while the sister province has always dominated in terms of open defecation,” said Mr Maphosa.

“It then becomes a disturbing reality for the province to jump to position one and it’s a sign that more is needed in terms of development. I am however, happy to say things have improved in Matabeleland North which shows that the Government and its partners have been working flat out to improve the situation.” 

Government is phasing out open-pit latrines and introducing Eaziflush Sanitation Technology for waste management in peri-urban and rural communities, a development set to reduce by 80 percent the cost of constructing ablution facilities.

Eaziflush is a toilet technology used to convert Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) and urine diversion toilets into a flush system.

It will also serve to address open defecation. The toilet can be connected to an existing piped sewer network or operate as a pour-flush or low-flush toilet in areas with no piped water.

When used as a pour flush toilet the Eaziflush requires two litres of water per flush.

Eaziflush provides a sanitation facility that is safe, reliable, private, protected from the weather and ventilated, keeps smells to the minimum, is easy to keep clean and minimises the risk of the spread of sanitation-related diseases.