Some women and children now travel 4km to Beardmore Primary School for water
Rutendo Chirume
Big extractive industry projects can improve the socio-economic status and public infrastructure in local communities but for the people of Nherere Village in Ward 11, the growth of Bikita Minerals has created challenges in accessing water for domestic use.
Since time immemorial, residents of Nherere village had relied on a protected well for their domestic water needs but last year, the lithium mining company fenced off the community well and dug a small weir for company use. Villagers are not allowed to fetch water from the weir.
Similarly, the company has also dug a wide and deep trench to bar villagers from the neighbouring Murape village from getting to a well at Nollen Farm, depriving over 300 people easier access to potable water.
“I grew up to know the well as our source of water until now when I have become a wife and a mother. My community had never had any issues with the previous mine owners who allowed us to use the water, but this changed under the new Chinese owners who took over in 2022,” said Esinathi Marunda of Nherere.
Marunda and other women now travel to Beardmore Primary School for borehole water, and this is far away from her home.
The struggle for water is especially bad for women and children who do much of the work fetching water for home use.
Besides, walking longer distances for water though secluded places increases the vulnerability of women and children to such dangers as sexual harassment and rape, according to the Bikita Residents and Ratepayers Association (BIRRA).
“Women and children suffer most since they are the once who take care of such chores at home. As we observe the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence, we feel the affected women need to be treated better,” said BIRRA’s Brilliant Mukaro.
Another villager who spoke on condition of anonymity said other women who had used the water to grow vegetables in their gardens were no longer able to do so.
Though Section 77 (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe states that every person has a right to safe, clean and potable water, the situation in Nherere village proves the power that powerful corporate entities have to take away that right.
Though Bikita Minerals spokesperson Collen Nikisi did not respond to requests for comment, it is understood that the mining company has made promises to drill a borehole for the affected community but this has not yet been fulfilled.
Ward 11 Councillor Lawrence Vhovha acknowledged the problem, adding that authorities including Bikita Rural District Council were working to resolve it.
“The water point belongs to Bikita Minerals and by fencing up the place, I would like to believe they were trying to take better care of it. It has not been public knowledge to villagers that the well was really not theirs as they had always had access prior to the Chinese,” said Vhovha.
He said he hoped the mining company would honour its pledge to drill a borehole for the community.
