ROUND huts line up along the dusty and run-down roads.
REPORT BY MUSA DUDE
Buildings at most of the shopping centres and schools show signs of ageing and neglect — peeling off paints, sagging roofs and huge cracks on walls.
Youths wander around the dilapidated shopping centres because they have nothing else to do to while up time, as the majority of them are unemployed.
Out of desperation, some of their colleagues crossed into neighbouring South Africa or Botswana in search of a better life.
This is Matabeleland North province, where underdevelopment and poverty have taken root among the people despite an abundance of natural resources in the province. Most of the households in the province survive only on one full meal per day.
Access to clear water is a struggle and villagers have to contend with sharing drinking water with wild animals.
One of the villagers, Peter Mudimba from Siachilaba in Binga, said villagers walk long distances looking for drinking water.
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“We don’t even have clean drinking water, let alone for our domestic animals. There is need to invest in water management so that villagers can engage in meaningful agriculture and improve food security,” said Mudimba. “Many villagers are struggling to farm because we don’t have irrigation systems.”
He said hunger had been exacerbated by the withdrawal of most of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that used to donate food items to the local communities.
“The majority of people have not harvested anything this year due to drought and to make matters worse, some NGOs that used to give us food stuffs have stopped and some children are malnourished,” he said.
The villagers complained that their lives were in danger from wild animals such as lions and elephants from nearby Hwange National Park.
Mudimba revealed that several children in the area were dropping out of school as their parents could not afford to pay for their school fees.
The villagers also bemoaned that the government was dishing out mining claims to the Chinese who were not doing anything to develop the area.
“We were hoping to also benefit from the Lupane gas but our hopes were scuttled after some foreigners were awarded the tender to exploit it,” said Isaac Moyo, another villager from Lupane.
The latest survey by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) put poverty levels in Matabeleland North at 82%, the highest of all provinces in the country.
Another survey by a research institute, Mass Public Opinion Institute (Mpoi), showed that 91% of people in Matabeleland North often or “always” go without food.
Chairperson of the Matabeleland North Women in Mining, Monica Mguni also said a lot of foreigners were visiting the area with the intention of venturing into mining while locals were being denied access.
“We always see foreign investors coming into the country to invest in mining. Why are the foreigners getting first preference ahead of the locals?” queried Mguni. CHIEF BEMOANS CLOSURE OF KAMATIVI MINE
Chief Dingane Nelukoba from Hwange said the province, located in geological region five, barely received any meaningful rainfall to enable sustainable agricultural production.
“We are in region five and we don’t get enough rainfall to carry out any agricultural activities and that’s why we are wallowing in poverty and asking for food donations,” he said.
The chief also complained that companies that were operating in the area were extracting mineral resources for the benefit of other provinces.
The province has coal, methane gas, gold, timber and wild animals which never benefit the locals, he said.
“What is disappointing is that most of the companies operating here are not ploughing back to the community,” fumed Chief Nelukoba.
He lamented the closure of Kamativi Tin Mine, which used to employ thousands of people, saying this has worsened the situation.
