Mantate Mlotshwa, a Bulawayo born youth activist has launched a crowdfunding initiative to raise US$4 500 in a bid to drill a borehole in Nkulumane suburb to assist in addressing water shortages in the area.
Mlotshwa (24) who grew up in Nkulumane and is now based in Harare, has in the past years worked on various initiatives to help the community.
As part of her 25th birthday celebrations, she decided to give back to the community that raised her.
In an interview with CITE, Mlotshwa said through the campaign, she hopes to instil the culture of giving back to the community.
She noted that the campaign, termed ‘Water My Roots’ seeks to address the dire water shortage in the country’s second-largest city.
“I realised that there is a serious shortage of water in my childhood community hence I decided to assist with a permanent solution. I talked to my councillor, he said once the resources are put together, surveyors can be engaged and a site for the borehole can be identified,” Mlotshwa said.
“The city has an ongoing water crisis that is greatly inconveniencing a lot of people. It’s even made worse by the fact that there is the Coronavirus and a constant reminder to social distance and washing hands with running water frequently.
While built on good intention, these regulations are exposing the dangers of limited water supply in which communities have to queue long hours for water, thereby rendering almost impossible the idea of social distance where everyone is trying to push to the front of queues to ensure that they get water.”
Mlotshwa reiterated her motive was also driven by the urgent need for alternative sources of clean water in line with Sustainable Development Goal 6 which is premised on achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.
“It also falls in tandem with Section 77 of the Bill of Rights (Chapter 4) set out in the Constitution of Zimbabwe that envisions equitable access to clean and affordable water. One borehole may not reduce the burden significantly, but I believe that it will make a difference to those that will have access to it,” she said.
Mlotshwa has set up a Go Fund Me account (www.gofundme.com/f/nkulumane) to enable those who want to support the cause to make their contributions while those who want to contribute locally can also make use of Ecocash platform (0783962842) and through bank transfers.
Mlotshwa has so far raised US$265 and ZWL$125.
