Tsholotsho villagers appeal for more boreholes

WARD 1 villagers in Emkhonyeni, Tsholotsho, have appealed to non-governmental organisations to assist them to drill boreholes in their area to alleviate water woes they are facing. The villagers walk between 4km and 10km to access water in rivers which they share with wild animals.

This comes at a time when the statistics released by the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement ministry revealed that Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South provinces have the least number of boreholes compared to other parts of the country.

According to the statistics, Matabeleland North province has 4 870 boreholes, while Matabeleland South province has 5 572.

A villager, Smomo Sibanda, says wild animals and human beings are now competing for the few available water sources.

She says they don’t have a borehole in their ward, they rely on rivers and streams which they share with wild animals.

Sibanda says some of the animals kill each other in those water bodies, while others urinate in the rivers.

The villagers walk 10km to water sources. Their area is dry. It received good rains, but the soil does not hold water for long.

The community, working with Campfire, tried digging trenches to draw water from Elangeni (another ward), but the project was not completed due to lack of funds.

Another thing is that most of the water is salty due to the type of soil found in the area.

Chief Siphoso of Tsholotsho says women walk long distances to access water, adding that most of the pipes are eroded by the acid underground.

He says government has not yet assisted the community with borehole drilling.

Meanwhile, government has announced that it is in the process of drilling 44 600 boreholes countrywide (35 000 in villages and 9 600 in institutions).

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