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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
DETE centre in Hwange district has reportedly been hit by a water crisis which has forced three schools to send pupils home to prevent an outbreak of diseases.

Dete has perennial water challenges and residents said the situation worsened in the past week as taps ran dry.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zimwa) is responsible for supplying water to the area which is under Hwange Rural District Council.

For the past week, Dete residents have been enduring the hot weather without water.

Detema Secondary School, Sir Roy Wilensky and St Francis Primary Schools are the affected learning institutions.

The situation at the Roman Catholic Church run St Francis primary is better because the school has a backup solar powered borehole but has been struggling to cope with demand.

The schools have reportedly resorted to conducting morning lessons and dismissing learners at around 10am to avoid an outbreak of waterborne diseases. Schools need water to adhere to Covid-19 health protocols which require handwashing.

Initially the schools would allow learners to bring water from home but stopped after realising that the situation was worse at home.

Health services at Dete Clinic have also reportedly been affected while Dete Old People’s Home now relies on its solar powered borehole whose capacity however, cannot sustain watering the garden and for consumption at the institution.

On a few occasions, nearby companies and tourism operators such as lodges that have solar powered boreholes allow residents to fetch water from their premises.

Some walk to nearby villages to fetch water from boreholes which are also overwhelmed as communities share the precious liquid with livestock.

Residents have resorted to using the bush to relieve themselves risking being attacked by wild animals as the area is located on the edge of Hwange National Park.

Some industrious individuals are cashing in on the crisis as they are hired to go and fetch water using push carts.
Businesses woman, Ms Sithandazile Dube who operates a grocery shop and is a resident in Dete said business has also been affected.

“Water has been a problem for years but the situation became serious since last week because we have been having electricity problems. Sometimes we go to rural areas where there are boreholes but the nearest villages are a distance away. Sometimes National Railways of Zimbabwe brings bowsers for its workers and that’s when we also get supplies,” she said.

Ms Dube appealed to the local tourism industry to give back to the community by drilling boreholes for residents.

“We wish we could have boreholes in our community and we appeal to the local tourism operators to help with solar system,” she said.

HRDC ward 15 councilor Stanley Torima appealed for Government’s intervention.

He also concurred that there is need for the business community to invest in water supply.

“The situation in Dete is very bad in terms of water and electricity and people are suffering. The situation is worse in Mtuya houses where residents are now using the bush as there is no water to flush toilets. We wish Government could intervene and, on our part, locally we are planning to engage responsible authorities for a permanent solution.

We need a lasting solution to the water issue hence we are also calling on local tourism operators to adopt Dete and drill boreholes,” said Cllr Torima.

He commended some lodges and nearby businesses that have been allowing the public to fetch water from their boreholes.

“We are in the Covid-19 era and learning and health institutions need regular water supplies. Learners stayed for a long time at home because of lockdown and now are being dismissed early because there is no water and they have to fetch water for their families,” he said.

Zinwa spokesperson Mrs Marjorie Munyonga had not responded to questions yesterday. — @ncubeleon