Ex-Chiadzwa villagers stage demo
FORMER Chiadzwa villagers that were relocated to ARDA Transau yesterday staged a demonstration against a ZINWA official, whom they accused of squandering money paid for utility bills, leading to them being cut off from water supplies for weeks.
Hundreds of placard-waving residents called for the ouster of the official, Never Mashingaidze, from employment pending an audit into the money, which was paid for utility bills.
Mr Mashingaidze is alleged to have shut-down the water pumping plant, forcing about 576 relocated households to go for nearly two weeks without water.
But Mr Mashingaidze refuted the allegations.
Mr Mashingaidze told The Herald that the residents had arrears with ZESA, which had accrued to more than $13 000.
“There is no problem with ZINWA but the challenge is with ZESA, where there is a debt. The community owes ZESA some money and they are refusing to pay. I called them and tried to explain to them, but they are not listening,” he said.
Mr Donald Masvaure, who was relocated along with other residents in 2010, expressed anger over the way the ZINWA employee has been managing water in that area.
“We came here from Chiadzwa in 2010 and with the setup, which was here, we were not told that water was supposed to be paid for. People were promised a lot, but when we came here things changed. At one point we were told to pay water bills, but the instruction was never taken seriously.
“The challenge we have is that, a lot of people do not have stable sources of income. A lot of people cannot afford to pay $6 for water and $5 for electricity.
“In total, a family is required to pay $11 for water and electricity,” he said.
Mr Masvaure said officials from Zesa indicated to him upon calling themthat they never gave Mashingaidze any instructions to shut down the water pumping plant at Arda Transau.
He blamed Mashingaidze for “taking it upon himself” to shut-down the plant.
“I called one Mhlanga from ZESA and he indicated that they never instructed Mashingaidze to shut-down the plant.
“It means it is his own decision to shut-down the plant. People from ZESA told me that they will never cut power off, but would rather force people to pay bills,” he said.
Another resident, Henry Mawoneke, had no kind words for Mashingaidze, whom he accused of using their money to buy household property.
He said Mashingaidze could not allow their animals to drink water from the pump, saying that would constitute a punishable offence for the owner.
“Other residents who were relocated here like those in Marange, RERA and others have boreholes. When we came here and found tapped water we thought it was a bonus. We had deep wells where we came from and our animals used to drink from those deep wells all year long. We are a peasantry community and now doing gardening is a crime. You will be fined $20 if found with a garden with more than four beds. I do not understand how they expect us to survive here. We do not want to see Mashingaidze here again,” he said.
Mr Mashingaidze told The Herald that the residents had arrears with ZESA, which had accrued to more than $13 000.
“There is no problem with ZINWA, but the challenge is with ZESA, where there is a debt. The community owes ZESA some money and they are refusing to pay. I called them and tried to explain to them but they are not listening,” he said.
Teachers in the area expressed shock over the closure of water supplies at Arda Transau.
They said Mr Mashingaidze shut down the pump despite the school having paid water bills.
Arda Transau Primary School Development Committee vice chairperson Ms Patience Nhiwatiwa said they were being forced to travel for more than 10 kilometres to buy water for school teachers.
“The primary school paid $200 some few days ago and we were shocked to hear that water supplies had been cut off. There is no explanation as to why they decided to do that. We have school children who are writing examinations and we cannot afford to operate without water. The school is now forced to fork out $30 everyday to buy water for general usage by teachers at school.”