The Sunday News
Simba Jemwa, Sunday News Correspondent
RESIDENTS in Bulawayo have called upon the city council to fence off “local dams”- disused pits- dotted around the city where some children have died after going to swim.
The residents said the heavy rains that have been pounding the city have resulted in some of the pits filling up and are now potential death traps for the children.
Residents of Entumbane, Emakhandeni, Pumula, Magwegwe North and Cowdray Park, told Sunday News they wanted the local municipality to fence off the “local dams”.
These pits are mostly found in Luveve, Pumula East, Mpopoma, Pelandaba West, Nkulumane, Cowdray Park, Matshobana and in Entumbane. While some of these death traps have been around for a long time, some have been created by sand poachers feeding the city’s demand for building materials.
Mr Mxolisi Ncube (48) of Entumbane said he constantly had to chase away kids swimming at one of the pits popularly known as “Enkwalini”.
“Danger is looming as the dam is open and full of water. It’s hot now and the kids come here to cool themselves off,” he said.
“I sometimes go to check that they’re not swimming. Many parents are at work during the week and come back very late.
“As residents, we are requesting that the municipality put up a fence before something bad happens. We don’t want to cry over something that could have been avoided.”
Ms Patricia Mabhena (53) said over the years children have drowned in the pit and it would make sense to restrict access.
“The hot temperatures drive the kids to go and swim at the dam. We are not always at home and our kids do as they please,” she said.
“For the safety of the kids, we are asking for a fence to be put up around the dam.”
There are similar “dams” in Cowdray Park where three boys died in separate drowning incidents last year.
At the time, an angry resident said: “The Bulawayo City Council and the Environmental Management Agency turned a blind eye to the open pits which have been there for a few years now. It’s clear negligence by the people who dug the pits, the local authority and EMA.”
A nine-year-old boy from Cowdray Park suburb died after he drowned in water that had pooled in a large pit left open by Bulawayo City Council workers.
Residents have regularly called on the BCC to act on all open pits collecting water this rainy season, adding that filling them up with soil was the only solution.
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