via Redcliff: 35,000 locals without water – NewZimbabwe 12/12/2015
THE Midlands town of Redcliff has gone without tape water for more than a week, leaving its 35,000 residents exposed to the risk of diseases such as cholera.
The small town, whose economy is based on the collapsed steelmaker Zisco, gets its water from the nearby Kwekwe.
Kwekwe however, cut off supplies due to non-payment of bills.
A Redcliff official said the council only collects about US$30,000 from residents and local businesses in revenue per month.
Kwekwe however bills its neighbour US$160,000 per month for water.
Some residents have since dug wells at their homes to mitigate the crisis which recurs annually.
“We have been without water for more than a week now,” Bennedict Moyo, a Redcliff resident, told NewZimbabwe.com on Saturday.
“The council has asked residents to contribute $10 each to pay off the debt to Kwekwe but may have failed to pay because they don’t have the money.”
Moyo added: “We are disappointed with Kwekwe city council.
“Kwekwe charges its residents 17 cents for water but charges Redcliff 85 cents for the same amount.
“It’s incredible because the water infrastructure in Kwekwe was built by Ziscosteel.
“Zisco funded construction of Sebakwa Dam (which supplies Kwekwe) and the pipeline which brings water to Kwekwe.”
The collapse of Ziscosteel, once the largest integrated steelworks in sub-Saharan Africa north of the Limpopo, has left Redcliff in a serious financial squeeze.
Residents, most of them employees of the company without salaries for years, are unable to pay for council services.
Government recently announced that it as firing all the remaining 1,200 workers after the collapse of a deal to sell the company to Essar Africa.
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