Mabutweni residents’ neglect unforgivable

THE plight of Mabutweni residents in Bulawayo, which we highlighted in our Tuesday edition, typifies the suffering of many Zimbabweans in residential areas designed during the colonial era.

THE plight of Mabutweni residents in Bulawayo, which we highlighted in our Tuesday edition, typifies the suffering of many Zimbabweans in residential areas designed during the colonial era.

Mabutweni, affectionately known as Number 2, is easily one of the most forgotten suburbs in the city.

Johnson-Sibanda-shows-the-toilet-that-people-of-Mabutweni-residents-use
Johnson-Sibanda-shows-the-toilet-that-people-of-Mabutweni-residents-use

The infrastructure in the suburb lies desolate and almost derelict because of neglect by authorities.

It is an unforgivable injustice that 34 years after independence there are some people still living in such conditions. The number of people living in Mabutweni has actually ballooned since independence instead of going down. Residents are forced to share communal toilets, most of them malfunctioning, raising the spectre of a disease outbreak.

As far back as 2005, the government embarked on the infamous Operation Murambatsvina where over 700 000 people living in uninhabitable conditions were displaced on the understanding they would be provided with better accommodation.

Home Affairs deputy minister Ziyambi Ziyambi
Home Affairs deputy minister Ziyambi Ziyambi

The subsequent Operation Hlalani Kuhle was mired in corruption and the victims of the brutal clean-up operation were left stranded.

Most of the displaced people found themselves back in locations such as Mabutweni where they are now worse off than they were in 2005.

Early this year, Home Affairs deputy minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told the National Assembly on behalf of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing minister Ignatius Chombo that the government was embarking on an “urban renewal” programme in response to the decay in cities.

He specifically mentioned Mabutweni and Iminyela in Bulawayo after the legislator for the area asked what the government was doing about the deteriorating living standards in the suburbs.

However, with a few weeks before the end of the year there is nothing happening in the suburbs to show that the government is “renewing” the houses. The conditions continue to deteriorate and the threat of disease outbreaks looms large.

The government has to intervene and restore the dignity of the long suffering residents before the situation gets out of hand.