Bulawayo — Zimbabwe’s second-largest city is on the brink of collapse as taps run dry, rubbish piles up, and desperate residents dig backyard wells and scoop water from burst pipes to survive. After weeks of mounting frustration, the city’s leadership has finally admitted that the crisis is spiralling out of control.
This week, Bulawayo Mayor Councillor David Coltart issued a rare public apology following two weeks of severe water shortages and uncollected garbage across the city. Speaking during a full council meeting on Wednesday, Coltart conceded that the municipality had failed its residents.
“Allow me to apologise to our residents who have had sporadic water while others have not had water for two to three weeks now. We must expedite our short- and medium-term water supply strategy,” he said.
But for many Bulawayo residents, the apology comes far too late.
In Luveve, taps have been dry for nearly two years, forcing residents to dig their own wells. Caroline Mlongoti noted that life has become a daily struggle for survival.
“It has come to a point where we must either dig wells or collapse. We are paying water bills for water that never comes,” she said.
Another resident, Anna Jongodi, said her household’s well was discovered by accident when her then five-year-old grandson began digging in the yard.
“He just dug and found water. We expanded the well and now the whole neighbourhood uses it,” she said.
In Magwegwe, residents queue at burst water mains, waiting for leaks to gush before council workers rush to close them.
“We wake up early to catch the water from the pipes. But thieves also come because they know we are desperate,” one resident said.
The situation is not new — and the consequences have already proven deadly. In 2020, Luveve recorded a severe diarrhoea outbreak that killed 13 people and infected nearly 2,000 others due to contamination from failing water infrastructure. Since then, suburbs such as Cowdray Park, Pumula, Mzilikazi and Tshabalala have suffered similar outbreaks.
Now, residents fear history is repeating itself.
Claude Phuti, spokesperson for the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association, warned that the city is “sitting on a health disaster,” blaming poor maintenance of ageing water and sewer systems.
Bulawayo United Residents Association (BURA) chairperson Winos Dube echoed those concerns, saying the situation had gone beyond inconvenience and should be declared a national disaster.
Meanwhile, the city’s garbage crisis continues to worsen.
Coltart said four newly acquired refuse compactors are now operational, and urged residents to remain patient as the city works to restore regular waste collection. He also revealed that the council is engaging Indian experts to help repair Bulawayo’s failing sewage system, saying their technology could offer a lasting solution.
For now, however, life in the city remains grim.
Bulawayo is thirsty. The taps are silent. Wells are rising in backyards, and rubbish is rotting on street corners.
