By Ndumiso Tshuma
Residents in the Sunninghill Bulawayo suburb area who do not have jojo tanks or boreholes and rely only on the city council’s water supply have demanded a bush pump installation from City Council.
The majority of Sunninghill residents said that water comes once or twice a week, usually in the evenings when everyone is asleep.
This has forced residents to purchase water on almost a daily basis, while others have to ask from their neighbours with borehole tanks, which is not always a favourable situation as the owners feel stretched .
“We have one jojo water tank in our household which takes at least two to three weeks to be filled up. Due to the lack of water in our neighbourhood, we sometimes have to buy water from the nearest shopping mall. We have been buying water for 80 cents a litre each and it is not all the time when we have funds to buy water,” said Michelle Masuku, a resident at Sunninghill.
Masuku said a borehole or a bush pump will be of ‘great’ help in their community as it will cut down costs of buying water at local supermarkets.
Another Sunninghill resident Ishmauel Mabuza said people were forced to fetch water from their surrounding neighbours since they could spend weeks without water from the city council.
“Most of us have no tanks or boreholes and water does not frequently come to Sunninghill. We then have to gather as many buckets as possible and ask for water from our neighbours. Sometimes the neighbours refuse with their water which makes it hard for us,” Mabuza said.
“If the council were to place a bush pump in our area it would save us a lot of problems.”
Kudzai Mugodi added that although he had a borehole in his home, it was beginning to run dry due to the ongoing drought.
“This makes it impossible for me to give water out to neighbours because I fear running out of water for my own family,” Mugodi said.
“I have had to stop some of my neighbours from coming here asking for water. I have to save this water for me and my family. Hopefully, the rains will come soon and if it doesn’t rain, then the city council has to come up with alternatives.”
