The Sunday News
Kay Kaseke Sunday News Reporter
FARMERS dependent on Umguza River and water sources near the river have been ordered to stop producing vegetables while villagers’ boreholes next to the river have been sealed after a discovery that the water contains high levels of metals and other pollutants that can cause chronic illnesses, Sunday News can reveal.
Most of the produce from the farming area which includes cabbages, lettuce, carrots and tomatoes is sold in Bulawayo, raising serious fears that a number of people could possibly be suffering from chronic illnesses or could have died as a result of consuming contaminated vegetables. The farmers have since been advised to grow grains such as wheat, maize and sorghum.
The river water was condemned by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) as unsuitable for drinking, irrigation and agricultural purposes. The agency has also sealed a number of boreholes and wells near the river.
Liver failure and cancer have been reported to be the most possible chronic illnesses consumers of the vegetables from Umguza could be exposed to.
Livestock and wild animals have not been spared from the possible dangers, with some farmers reporting to have lost cattle and goats to the polluted water.
EMA’s Matabeleland North provincial manager Ms Chipo Zuze-Mpofu said the pollution of the river which has been going on for a number of decades, had led to health hazards which were confirmed by recent laboratory tests.
“Pollution of the river has been going on for years since pre-independence but now the situation is out of hand and we fear for the residents of the area especially for those that are close to the river as we don’t know yet what other chemicals are in the water,” she said.
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) Gwayi catchment manager Mr Fortune Musoni said the water from the river as well as boreholes close to the river were contaminated.
He said farmers close to the river who used the water for irrigation purposes were facing the most danger.
“They should find alternative means as the content of Chromium-6 in the water is too high as the stipulated milligram per litre is 0,05,” he said.
He said it would take between 90 and 100 years for the water to become clean naturally as there were no chemicals that could clean up metallic chemicals in the water.
He said the water had high levels of Faecal Coliform which is from raw sewage waste; Phosphorus, Zinc, Lead and Chromium-6 which is the most dangerous if the levels are too high.
“The river is highly polluted, all water comes from streams in Bulawayo where funeral parlour water and sewage water is discharged into Khami River. This is affecting Wards 2, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 18 in Umguza. Some villagers do not have boreholes and the water is not clean.
“Some of my cows have had deformed calves as a result of this water,” Member of the National Assembly for the area, Mrs Sikhanyisiwe Mpofu, who is also a farmer in the area, said.
Ms Caroline Gumbo, who lives near a well which was sealed by EMA, said: “The closure of the well has saved us as we would have eventually got sick.”
Villagers, who spoke to Sunday News, said ever since some of the boreholes were closed, they had to walk at least two kilometres to the nearest Zinwa borehole.
“We were drawing water directly from Umguza to water tomatoes and cabbages. The leaves of the cabbages would turn yellow and we were always wondering what we were doing wrong,” Mr Simon Phiri from Corncomb Farm said.
According to the EMA report, Khami River bridge near Thorn Valley Farm has the highest Chromium-6 with 0,17, Umguza river at the weir has 0,14, Spring Area well had 0,13, a Mr Ncube’s well had 0,15, Kloof Farm borehole 0,09 and Corn Comb Farm compound borehole that is used by 20 families had 0,09 of which the water is used for both irrigation and domestic purposes.
The chemical is said to be most present in carrots and sugar cane from the farms where tests were conducted.
The Provincial Minister of Matabeleland North, Cde Cain Mathema, said the pollution had escalated so much that it had become dangerous to consume vegetables that were being grown to sell to other provinces, especially Bulawayo.
He said the main polluters were the Bulawayo City Council and industries in the city. The raw sewage from city council is poured into Khami River that feeds Umguza River at a confluence in Mazayi.
“Khami River goes into Umguza and also is taken to Gwayi as the river flows, so the result will be that Mat North will not have any clean water and Gwayi is used to supply Bulawayo with water,” he said.
He added that according to the report it had become unsafe to consume vegetables and that people were being advised to grow grains as they do not store the chemicals.
“They grow tomatoes, carrots, cabbages, sugar cane and lettuce and the fear is that they keep water so they are contaminated as well and the results of consuming such vegetables are chronic and not acute,” he said.
Acute illnesses are those that will eventually resolve without any medical supervision while chronic illnesses are more serious illnesses that require medical supervision.
Cde Mathema said there had been minor reports of people having diarrhoea but feared that the situation would become worse if nothing was done.
“Most people also go fishing in that river and the fish there are contaminated which makes it even more worrisome. What are people in the area to eat considering that they are being told that they can only use the water to build but not for drinking and watering their vegetables,” he said.
He said a report compiled by the National University of Science and Technology Ecotoxicology Research Group, Department of Applied Biology and Biochemistry in 2009, showed that fish collected from Umguza Dam had high levels of metals as compared to fish collected from other dams.
“Metal levels were two to five times higher in muscles of two species of fish collected from Umguza Dam,” he said.
The Government dispatched a team of experts to Umguza on the outskirts of Bulawayo on 6 May to carry out a detailed study of water quality and the impact of the contaminated water on the agricultural activities and inhabitants within the Umguza area.
A recent EMA survey revealed that municipalities were the main culprits compromising the quality of drinking water across the country.
