Bulawayo Mayor Councillor David Coltart has urged residents not to panic about the current water situation, saying the local authority is devising strategies to ensure the availability of the precious liquid throughout the dry season.
On 24 February this year, the Bulawayo City Council advised residents of water supply interruptions and suspension of the 120-hour water shedding programme to all city areas except industry and the Central Business District.
In a statement, Bulawayo Town Clerk Christopher Dube said the move was in response to reduced raw water pumping to the city as a result of a fault which occurred at Ncema Pump Station.
Bulawayo City Council (BCC) Director of Engineering Services, Engineer Skhumbuzo Ncube, said the water situation has been worsening since 2018.
However, speaking during the stakeholder consultative meeting to unpack the local authority’s service delivery blueprint, which was launched by President Mnangagwa on 01 November 2023, Coltart said residents should not panic. Said Coltart (via CITE):
It is very important that our general public understand our strategy. Nyamandlovu is our strategy to get it up to full capacity and to protect it.
To do that, we need the police and possibly even the army. If we protect Nyamandlovu, that will help because that water comes into Magwegwe, and Magwegwe supplies the high-density suburbs.
He said the second strategy is the Mtshabezi Dam, which is over 70 per cent full and the lifeline of the city. Said Coltart:
We have a strategy where our engineers have devised a plan to protect that water and increase the flow from Mtshabezi.
It is the construction of a 2.5km bypass pipeline. It’s a small job, it can be done, and when it’s done, it will improve the water.
He said the other strategy is the rehabilitation of Insiza Dam, “We will, as a city, get through this crisis. We must not panic.”
