Filthy And Dilapidated Public Toilets Expose Residents To Poor Health

Hwange villagers bemoan the state of their ablution facilities arguing that they are colonial and dehumanising. Image by The Explorer

BY LETHOKUHLE NKOMO | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | MAY 22, 2022

Villagers in Hwange are sitting on a health time bomb as most of their public toilets, shared by up to 20 households each, are in a bad shape and no longer fit for use—42years after Zimbabwe gained independence. But who is to blame — officials or villagers not willing to take the responsibility to clean their facilities?

HWANGE (The Citizen Bulletin) — It is exactly 5am, and Sarudzai Nyathi rushes to the nearest community sanitation facility in number 1 village, D section where residents also fetch water.

She only has two hours to fetch water before the taps run dry.

The area is commonly known as “emadamu” in the mining town.

Nyathi, now 40, has never experienced privacy when using an ablution facility in the mining town.

As many as 20 people have to share a community toilet and bathroom.

“I am now used to this life having lived in this area for over 30 years. But one thing I don’t like about these facilities is that they can be messy,” Nyathi says.

It is exactly 42years after Zimbabwe gained independence but some communities in Hwange still live in colonial-style setups.

Areas where people have to share sanitation facilities include 1 village, number 2, number 3 and Cinderella residential area previously reserved for low grade employees.

Greater Hwange Residents Trust Coordinator Fidelis Chima says the living conditions in those areas are dehumanising.

“The state of ablution facilities in the concession area of Hwange Colliery is colonial and dehumanising. The facilities are not conducive in this era.”
Fidelis Chima, Greater Hwange Residents Trust Coordinator

Chima cites Statutory Instrument 182 of 1995 Mining (Health and Sanitation) which outlaws public ablutions for mining accommodation.

“But it's different here where some of the ablution facilities are dysfunctional forcing residents to practice open defecation,” he notes.

He says the Constitution states that each family is entitled to piped water and a single tape for two rooms in single quarters.

“In places like number three village and number two village, more than 50 residents or more families share a single ablution facility because the majority of the ablutions are dysfunctional. This at the end of the day becomes a health hazard, especially in those areas where there are perennial water challenges.”
Fidelis Chima

Although the Hwange Colliery Company attempted to expand the A section and part of B section in Number 1 village through the establishment of inbuilt toilets, the majority of residents in the concession use common ablutions.

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Hwange Central Constituency MP Daniel Molokele says it did not make sense that communities in the town lived in such deplorable conditions yet they are residents of a natural resource rich area.

“As a community of Hwange we must do everything in our power to make sure that the common ablution use comes to an end. The public toilets are a colonial, racist concept, they are inhuman and degrading.”
Daniel Molokele, Hwange Central Constituency MP

“Each household in Hwange should have its bathroom and toilet system. I am very clear that this has to be phased out to create a better and well developed Hwange community.”

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