ALERT: Weekly update

This alert will be titled Harare Last Week’ and will be sent to you every week. Below is the first issue of the Harare Last Week; 13-19 July 2008′.

Water supply

Most residential suburbs spent the whole of last week without running water in their homes. Residents in Highfields, Glen Lorne, Glen View, Budiriro, Glen Norah, Ruwa, Hatfield, Masasa park, Highlands and Gunhill spent this week with erratic water supply. Meanwhile residents in Mabvuku and Tafara entered their 8th week without water.

CHRA reminds the Government that the unilateral decision to give ZINWA the mandate to manage water supply in Harare continues o put the lives of the residents in danger. ZINWA lacks enough technical capacity to manage the water supply, hence the deepening of the water crisis in Harare as well as in other towns and cities across the nation. CHRA therefore urges the relevant authorities to return the mandate to manage water supply to the city council. We remind the council to step up its efforts to regain the water supply management, and save lives.   

Electricity supply

Electricity supply this week was very erratic in most residential suburbs. Most suburbs were at the mercy of load shedding, getting electricity for not more than 3 hours per day. Please note that the length of the day for electricity usage is calculated from 0700hrs to 2000hrs. Areas hard hit include Highfields, Warren Park, Dzivarasekwa, Glen View, Glen Norah and Hatfield. Residents at Shingai court in the Avenues area went through their 3rd week without electricity. CHRA urges ZESA to put in place strategies that improve electricity supply or at least stick to their load shedding schedule.

Sewer and Waste Management

Sewage spillages characterize the face of most residential areas; especially the High density suburbs of Highfields, Mufakose, Warren Park, Glen Norah, Mabvuku, Tafara and Dzivarasekwa. In Mufakose and Mabvuku, raw sewage is filling up the road pot holes, while some residents have temporarily fled their homes, which have since been invaded by raw sewage! Refuse remains uncollected and pilling up in most of the suburbs that include Warren Park, Mbare, Mufakose, Mabvuku and Tafara. CHRA urges the council to urgently address this problem as it is a health risk. The Association runs a waste management programe that help address this problem, but this programe is on hold owing to the blanket ban on all NGOs and civic society field work.

Road maintenance

Most city roads are strewned with deep potholes. Such potholes are giving commuter operators and  motorists a nightmare on the roads. Roads like this are common mostly in the high density surbubs such as Highfields (Canaan Engineering), Mufakose, Kambuzuma and Mabvuku. This situation is set to deteriorate further given the fact that the rainy season is approaching. CHRA urges the council to prioritize road maintenance before the rainy season destroys those roads completely. Before the blanket ban on all civic society and NGO field operations, CHRA members used to carry out voluntary popular action campaigns, some of which would see residents in different wards teaming up to repair their own roads       

The bread basket

Cost of living for most residents in Harare, and indeed others across the nation continues to shoot up unabated. Prices of basic goods are increasing every day by an approximate percentage of 500%, while commuter fares are also increasing by 166% on a weekly basis. This week, commuter omnibuses were charging ZW$15 000 000 000 on Sarturday 13 July 2008, but this shot up to ZW$50 000 000 000 by Friday 18 July 2008.
The following table shows the cost of living for the past week; for an average family of six, living in Harare.

Minimum wage currently stands at zw$100 000 000 000. Given that, an average family of six people needed at least ZW$9 630 000 000 000 for their basic survival in the past week, it means that most residents cannot afford the cost of living as it stands now. In that regard, most residents have resorted to walking to and from work in an effort to beat transport costs. Children are also walking to school with most of them withdrawing, while others have been transferred to local sub standard schools. Residents are walking distances averaging 15 to 20 km from their homes to work and or schools. In an effort to beat the spiraling cost of food, an average of 4 per every 5 families are now living on a single substandard meal composed of very little sadza and boiled vegetables, prepared without cooking oil or any soup. At least 3 in every 4 School children interviewed this week spend the whole day on an empty stomach, and get a single meal of sadza and boiled vegetables in the evening.

Meanwhile food aid by NGOs remains suspended, while the little aid that comes from the state is accessible by ZANU PF supporters only. Residents who are opposition supporters or civic society activists are not given any aid from the state. A CHRA official attended a recent state food aid meeting held in Mufakose on Friday 18th of July, where residents were being forced to chant ZANU PF slogans as well as those that denounce the Movement for Democratic Change, at each 15 minute interval during the meeting.

The political atmosphere

Harare’s political environment, just like in most parts of the country remains very tense. Intimidation of opposition (or suspected opposition) and civic society activists continues unabated. NGO and civic society organizations (CSOs) field work remains banned in Harare as well as the rest of the country. However the state claims that NGOs whose focus is on nutritional supplementary and HIV/AIDS treatment are allowed to carry on with their field work. CHRA recorded four cases of death threats by ZANU PF militia upon residents suspected to be civic actors, this week alone. ZANU PF militia bases remain intact in areas like Kambuzuma, Sunningdale, Dzivarasekwa and Mabvuku. The militia vow that their primary business is to make sure that there is no any opposition parties activities that take place, as well as permanently dismantle the few remaining opposition parties structures in the wards’.

The militia is also raiding vendors of their food items, claiming that it is the duty of the masses to feed the revolutionaries’. In some cases, vendors at such market places like Mbare, are forced to pay food stuffs to the militia as trubute’ or else they loose their market stalks. CHRA recorded seven such incidences this week in Mbare. However, while opposition parties and civic society gatherings remain banned, ZANU PF continues with its public meetings and what they call victory celebrations. Residents report that they are being coerced to attend these gatherings. Information leaking from ZANU PF indicates that the state intends to maintain this suppressive and oppressive political environment as it considers the possibility of ordering fresh elections that will enable ZANU PF regain control of the Parliament; which is currently dominated by the opposition.

Conclusion

Most residents expressed their disappointment with the socio-political crisis that continues in the country. Their view is that ZANU PF is sacrificing their lives in its effort to cling onto power without the mandate of the people. Meanwhile CHRA continues to monitor and report on the situation on the ground, as one of our strategies of dealing with this crisis. CHRA warns the state that, while the residents have all along soldiered on to survive, the temperatures’ are getting high, and their patience is running out.