The 49-year-old said non-functioning toilets and lack of running water have become part of their lives.
The toilets are constantly blocked and rivulets of sewage are now a common sight.
“I have lived in this place since 1988 and since that time, the problems have never been addressed,” she said.
“Our toilets have not been functioning for a very long time. We are using the bush system and the whole area is now a mess.”
The residents only get running water for a few days in a month and they doubt its quality after the area was hit by diarrhoea outbreaks several times.“We only have access to tap water for two days in a fortnight,” Kuruneta said.
“We used to have two boreholes but the pumps broke down because of the pressure from residents and as a result we now get our water from unprotected wells.”
Despite the shoddy service, the residents say they have been paying their water bills religiously.
Most of the residents stay in two-roomed houses, which are in a very poor state because of lack of maintenance. Overcrowding is also rife.
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Mujumba Chisturo (35) and his family share a five-roomed house with five other families.
The families also share a toilet, which is barely functional because of the water crisis.
“Although the rooms are very small the rentals we pay are exorbitant,” said Chisturo, a father of three.
“We pay US$25 per family which is very difficult to raise as most of us are not employed.”
The majority of the youths in the area survive on gold panning.
Kadoma municipality’s business development director Gear Hanyani, although acknowledging the water shortages in the area, said council was not aware that toilets were always blocked.
“We have all the equipment such as rods and we have a well-trained team on the ground,” he said.
“It’s only that we were not aware of the situation and we will definitely look into it so that we can fix the sewer system.”
Hanyani said the council was currently upgrading the water system in the area and was working with the French Red Cross and International Cooperation on the project.
He said they expected the water problem to be solved by the end of next month while council was looking for assistance to help upgrade the houses.
