Thirty-eight residents in four peri-urban areas of Ward 17 in Pumula have received food and basic supplies from the Civil Protection Unit (CPU) in Bulawayo Province, following the collapse of their homes after weeks of heavy rain.
The affected households were given items including blankets, buckets, cooking utensils, soya chunks, kapenta, sugar beans, cooking oil, cups, sanitary pads, water purification tablets and soap.
Speaking at the handover at St Peter’s on Wednesday, Ward 17 councillor Sikhululekile Moyo said the rains had caused widespread damage, particularly to houses and toilets.
The Director for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, Tsvagai Fikile Marovatsanga, who also chairs the Provincial Civil Protection Committee, said authorities were prioritising the most severely affected.
“Ideally, we would want to assist everyone whose house was destroyed,” she said.
“We received a list of 38 affected households, 15 from St Peter’s, five from Mazwi, 10 from Robert Sinyoka and about eight from Methodist.”
“We are aware that there are more people in need of assistance, but for now we are focusing on those with severely damaged homes.”
She said assessments would be carried out to determine how best to support rebuilding efforts.
“We will inspect the damage and look for assistance to help repair the houses, especially as we continue to experience extreme weather conditions,” she said.
Marovatsanga added that the government had allocated funds to provinces for emergency response.
“Each province received ZiG300 000, and part of the funds has been used to buy these relief items,” she said.
“We will also provide maize for grinding to further assist affected families.”
One of the residents, Lewis Moyo, said his home was destroyed after three days of continuous rain.
“My houses were destroyed on 17 March after three days of rain. One collapsed around 05:00, another at 07:00, and the third at about 11:00,” he said.
“We had to quickly remove property from a fourth house which was also about to collapse.”
He said the situation had been made worse by his health condition.
“It is very painful because I am unwell. I was told at Mpilo Hospital that I need US$250 for tests, but I do not have the money,” he said.
Moyo said he is now living in a temporary shelter made of loose bricks and zinc sheets.
Another resident, Sihle Vundla from Robert Sinyoka, said local emergency teams were assisting where they could.
“As the Emergency Committee, we are helping by clearing debris from collapsed houses and collecting asbestos sheets to prevent injuries,” she said.
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