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Information Blackout in Matabeleland South Derails Covid-19 Fight

Beitbridge Border, one of the country's busiest entry ports, will be closed for human traffic during Zimbabwe and South Africa's ongoing lockdowns


by Staff Reporters 

MATABELELAND SOUTH, March 30, 2020 (The Citizen Bulletin)— In mid March, 23-year old Casper Moyo of  Matobo received a Tik Tok dance video on WhatsApp. Everyone, including Moyo, spoke about it but no one knew that the viral video was a coronavirus safety-themed dance. 

A week later, myths and conspiracy theories began to circulate on local WhatsApp and Facebook groups, claiming that Africans were immune to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus which had then killed thousands of people worldwide. 

This was the first time Moyo heard about the coronavirus, of which the first confirmed cases  were reported in China's Wuhan city in late December 2019. By then Zimbabwe, like many other African countries, did not imagine that the virus would travel to affect people on the continent . To date, there are more than 500,000 confirmed COVID-cases worldwide and close to 34,000 people have succumbed to the disease. 

On March 23, Zimbabwe recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 victim, and now the country is handling seven positive cases of the disease. Zimbabwe began its 21-day mandatory quarantine on March 30, to contain the virus, which the country is already struggling to contain with an under resourced healthcare system. 

While President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has announced a raft of measures to contain the spread of the virus, several underserved communities in Matabeleland South remain in a news blackout, raising concerns that the lack of information available in the area could hamper country-wide efforts to halt the spread of coronavirus. 

Matabeleland South is host to Beitbridge Border, the country’s busiest port of entry to South Africa, which has already reported more than one thousand covid-19 cases. A few days ago, more than ten thousand Zimbabwean citizens entered through Beitbridge, escaping South Africa’s nationwide lockdown which began on March 27, Zimbabwe’s health authorities said. 

Although Matabeleland South doesn’t yet have a confirmed coronavirus case, its proximity to South Africa and its dozens of residents working in the neighboring country puts it at risk of being hit particularly hard by coronavirus . 

A majority of Matabeleland South residents in rural areas rely on foreign radio and television for important messages about COVID-19 but those without access to these traditional media platforms face an information black-out, in the absence of a government-led public information outreach

Thubelihle Mazhale, a villager from Nhwali, Gwanda, does not own a radio or television set. He owns a basic mobile phone which only enables him to make important calls and receive messages. He consistently can send and receive  text messages, but only has a little airtime for use during emergencies such as family deaths or sickness. 

"All that I know [about the disease] is what I am being told by friends, and others in the village when we meet to gather firewood,” Mazhale told The Citizen Bulletin. 

"I have not come across any public awareness campaign about the virus that you’re talking about, and I don’t even know where to go should I get infected.”

When most Zimbabweans received and shared COVID-19 memes on WhatsApp and Facebook early this year, they never imagined that the virus will soon visit them in their living rooms. Photo by Sam Thullesen/Izzie Feehrer/TikTok


While Econet and Telone have been randomly sending COVID-19 messages to people with mobile lines, Mazhale feels these efforts alone are not enough. Residents still have very limited opportunities or space to ask questions about safety and health precautions. 

A woman surnamed maSiziba from Insiza said she has never received messages about COVID-19 awareness on her mobile phone. She said meetings where most villagers receive important information were banned last week by the village leaders following instructions from the District Development Coordinator’s office that people must avoid gathering to prevent the spread of coronavirus. 

“We’ve never received any information related to health from our local leaders,” she said in a telephone interview Sunday. “We have been getting information from neighbours with WhatsApp but sometimes the cellular network is a problem here and not everyone owns a smartphone, so most of us only get information when we visit the business centre where there is a stronger network connection.”

Last week, Bulilima West legislator Dingumuzi Phuti broadcasted a video of himself speaking to his constituents about COVID-19 in his native Kalanga language. But thousands of villagers who have no access to social media might not get his message which was shared on WhatsApp and Facebook. 

ALSO READ: Scaling COVID-19 Hyper-local News Reporting in Rural Matabeleland

While information about COVID-19 remains scant in most rural communities, some villagers are not taking chances with the disease and have decided to use information they get via WhatsApp, whether verified or not, to take precautionary measures. 

"We no longer shake hands, and we no longer meet — whether for Church services or social gatherings — as part of preventive measures," said Peter Ndlovu, a Councillor in Mangwe. 

"WhatsApp groups for sharing information have been created. We also get information via SMS from Econet and NetOne in addition to foreign satellite television, mostly from South Africa and Botswana, which most locals here have access,” Ndlovu added. 

While Ndlovu believes government authorities are not doing enough to share public information about the coronavirus, he is convinced that people in his ward are informed and know what they need to do to protect themselves. 

Before Mnangagwa’s announcement of measures to prevent the spread of the virus, most people in rural Matabeleland South were already implementing precautions they learned from their relatives in South Africa, which has taken more drastic steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 

"The situation could have been different if there was no social media or information from SABC and Botswana networks since there is poor local radio and TV reception here,” said Lobi Norman Tshuma, a Councillor in Mphoengs, Mangwe 

Tshuma believes that although information his villagers get from Botswana and South Africa is vital, locally-relevant information would make a huge difference in helping villagers adequately prepare to fight the pandemic. 

 “[Locals] also need relevant information about what is happening in our country. official information from the Ministry of Health or from other government departments would make a huge difference,” Tshuma added. 

As The Citizen Bulletin reported last week, the central government’s initial efforts to contain the coronavirus prevented  local authorities, especially in remote parts of the country including Matabeleland South, from taking proactive measures to inform local populations about the pandemic. 

ALSO READ: Matabeleland South Searches for a Mitigation Plan as Harare Dithers

Mpilo Central Hospital clinical director Dr. Solwayo Ngwenya recently bemoaned poor information dissemination on COVID -19 by the government authorities. Mpilo is a referral hospital for critically ill patients from Matabeleland South. 

“There is a massive lack of knowledge about the coronavirus,” Ngwenya tweeted. “I urge the @InfoMinZW @MoHCCZim to embark upon educating the whole nation including health workers on this on-coming virus (sic). If the virus appears tomorrow, I can foresee chaos, and mass deaths due to ignorance,” Ngwenya advised on March 19, a few days before the virus claimed its first victim in Zimbabwe. 

On Friday last week, Mnangagwa announced in haste, that the national  government will ensure that information is disseminated across the country but no deliberate effort to date has been made to engage vulnerable rural communities. Harare — the epicenter of the virus in Zimbabwe — remains the focus of public health outreach on COVID-19, as well as  the administrative center for the management of the outbreak.