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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
HWANGE residents have taken the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa), Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) and four Cabinet Ministers to court challenging a tight water rationing schedule which has seen parts of the mining town going for days without water.

The affected areas include Hwange Township, Lwendulu, Cinderella, Madumabisa, Lusumbami, Ngumija and Makwika and residents are now resorting to communal toilets for water.

The residents under the banner “Greater Whange Residents Trust,” through their lawyers Moyo and Nyoni Legal Practitioners, yesterday filed an urgent chamber application at the Bulawayo High Court citing Health and Child Care Minister, Dr Obadiah Moyo; Finance and Economic Development Minister, Prof Mthuli Ncube; Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Minister, Perrance Shiri and Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo, HCCL, Zinwa and Hwange Local Board as respondents.

The residents want an order directing Zinwa, HCCL and Hwange Local Board to immediately restore normal water supplies during the lockdown period.

They said HCCL and Zinwa should be directed to take necessary measures to ensure bulk water supplies to the affected suburbs using water bowsers, failure of which Ministers Ncube, Shiri and Moyo should be ordered to financially capacitate them.

The residents are accusing HCCL of failing to address the ongoing water crisis in the mining town. They now want Hwange Local Board to run their water affairs.

In his founding affidavit, the coordinator of the Greater Whange Residents Trust, Mr Fidelis Chima, said the water situation in the affected suburbs is breeding ground for the spread of Covid-19 among other waterborne diseases.

“The situation is bad and creating a health hazard for Hwange and Zimbabwe at large. It is difficult for residents to maintain high standards of hygiene when there is no water. On 20 March 2020, Zimbabwe went into lockdown mode as it joined many other countries in putting in place measures to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus called Covid-19,” he said.

“Water is key in the fight against the deadly global pandemic as people are expected to maintain high levels of hygiene. This cannot be achieved without water and this is the dilemma that residents of Hwange find themselves in.”

Mr Chima said some areas in Hwange receive water in the mornings only while others get running water either for two hours per day or nothing at all.

He said in the absence of a constant availability of running and potable water, Hwange is likely to be the epicentre of Covid-19 in Zimbabwe.

HCCL assumed the role of providing water to houses, which are under its jurisdiction.

Mr Chima said they once engaged Parliament over the issue but nothing was done.

“During the course of our engagements, HCCL has decried that its infrastructure is now obsolete and has no resources to address the challenges faced by residents.

“The Government of Zimbabwe is one of the major shareholders in HCCL and the issue ought to have been addressed a long time ago. The second respondent (Zinwa) is effectively supplying water to other areas in Hwange and HCCL ought to have taken the initiative in the face of the spread of Covid-19, to engage Zinwa to ensure that residents under its jurisdiction have water,” he said.

Mr Chima said failure by the authorities to supply water is a violation of their constitutional right to life and human dignity.

“The applicant seeks the intervention of the court insofar as provision of potable water to affected communities is Hwange is concerned.

“The solution, in my view, lies in moving the provisions of water from HCCL and Zinwa to Hwange Local Board as envisaged by section 183 of the Urban Councils Act as it is the duty of local authorities to provide water to urban dwellers falling under their jurisdictions,” he said. — @mashnets