BULAWAYO - A total of 60 women from the African Methodist Episcopal Church ’s Women Missionary Society (WMS), mobilised themselves and embarked on a clean-up campaign, which saw them clean the EF Watson Clinic, situated in Bulawayo’s Mpopoma Township, in Ward 9. During the clean-up exercise, which ran for three hours on 25 February 2017, the women weeded out grass which had overgrown in the clinic’s yard as a result of incessant rains the country continues to receive. WMS South West Zimbabwe president, Mrs Josephine Ginya, who told the ZDDT News that a clean city is a winning city, attracting not only visitors, but investors as well, emphasised the need for residents to keep Bulawayo clean. South West Zimbabwe covers 20 Methodist church branches. “We came here upon realisation that we received a lot of rainfall this year and the grass has grown so tall,” said Mrs Ginya. “This is our health centre where smartness and cleanliness should be found. When patients come here, they should be treated in a clean place. We do not want a situation whereby patients’ lives are under threat from snakes coming out of the grass.” Mrs Ginya encouraged other churches to also go out do community service as well. “For people to know that we are the followers for Jesus Christ, let us go out and do the work just like what the Lord Jesus Christ did,” she explained. “A dirty place is not good because it becomes the breeding site for diseases. We encourage people to always clean places that they live in.” After the Mpopoma clean-up exercise, the Christian women headed for Entembeni Old People’s Home in Luveve where they donated 125kg gas, 60 kg mealie-meal, bath soaps and botSome of the stories in this issue tles of Vaseline to the elderly housed there. “We are following the scriptures which challenge us to go out there to all nations; Residents Flock to Attend Councillors’ Meeting—P15 people have to know Christ through us,” Mrs Ginya said. She added that they have been donating to the home every last Democracy is about People—P5 week of February for the past 10 years.
Children without birth certificates— a Cause for Concern—P16
ASAA Thrill Mahatshula North Residents— P12
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our children who were at Mandwandwe High School.” Mpofu said, resources permitting, it was the orphanage’s desire to also teach life skills to the children during weekends so that when they are weaned from the institution at 18, they go with something substantial to support their lives. Mpofu, who works with her colleague, Jane Moyo, as the institution’s treasurer, said they are both driven by the desire to work for their community. “Here we are not paid; this is community work,” she explained. Mpofu said for them to identify needy children, they would go to residents and ask residents chairpersons to help us with names of those in despair. She explained: “We would even go door to door and, what we discovered was that while some children were not orphans, they also had serious challenges and we ended up incorporating them into the programme as well.” BULAWAYO – In Sekusile, situated in Nkulumane 5, adjacent to the terminus and clinic, is Qinisani Day Care Orphanage, which has become a home to many orphaned and vulnerable children in Bulawayo. The day care centre is currently accommodating 90 children aged between 3 and 17 consisting of both boys and girls. ZDDT News recently caught-up with the orphanage’s director, Yona Mpofu, who explained in detail their work with orphans in the city. “As Qinisani, we look after orphans, helping them here and there, especially with a feeding scheme and sourcing clothes for them,” said Mpofu. “We also assist them in securing places of study at schools. They do not live here but they come here for food after going home after they dismiss from their schools. When they finish eating, we spend some time with them here.” Mpofu said they are seeking community volunteers who passed secondary and high school to come to the orphanage to assist the children with their homework and extra lessons during the weekends. Subjects taught include Mathematics, English and Science. Since the project started in 2001, a number of children have passed through Qinisani, which literally means “strengthen”, some of whom are now professionals and are able to stand on their own. Mpofu said they feed the children every day but, when food is in short supply they give them specific days on which to come. She said they also give orphans clothes whenever they receive donations. “There are some who have completed their high school and they are now at the universities,” explained Mpofu. “With regards to fees, most of these children are under the government’s donor funded Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) programme. However, in one particular year we got a donor who paid fees for the whole year for all
She said as their beneficiaries register grew bigger, they felt they could start the job, operating from her house. “We then applied for this piece of land, got it and also got a donor who built it for us. We built this place in 2011. Before we would have our activities at the community hall and our houses.” She said, for the past 16 years Qinisani has been in existence, the orphanage has received support from a number of stakeholders such as the National Aids Council, Department of Social Welfare, the corporate world and the donor community. On the challenges faced, Mpofu cited limited donor funding and appealed for assistance in bettering the lives of vulnerable members of society. “We do not always have enough food; there are no donors these days. The economy is not that good for people to support us. We wish that we have food always. We also need clothes to give to the children.” The determined Mpofu said they have many future plans for Qinisani Day Care Orphanage which include expanding the place into a vocational training centre. “We would want to expand this place and make it a vocational training centre so that when our children come out of here they go with life skills. This place is big and can accommodate bays for either sewing, carpentry and so forth.”
P.3 BULAWAYO – Members of staff at Entembeni Old People’s Home, which has been the venue for the five-week Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust (ZDDT) and Sally Foundationsupported value-addition cooking training, which ended on February 7 this year, said they will forever remember the two organisations for the help they rendered to the home during the course of the programme. The training, which aims at adding value to the trust’s various community gardens in the city, saw a total of 16 Community Action Team members drawn from Bulawayo’s Wards 15, 19, 21 and 27 undergo lectures and practical work to make products such as a variety of meals, tomato sauce, pickles, pickled beetroot and onion, sweet and sour cucumber pickle, fruit chutney, mixed pickles and many other related products. Whatever was prepared by the participants, was being left at the home for use by the residents who also indirectly benefited. Chelesani Tshuma, a nurse aide at the home, who could not hide her joy, told ZDDT The cook for the inmates at the home, Happy Ndlovu, thanked ZDDT and Sally Foundation as well as the trainers, Liz and Yvonne, for bringing the participants who helped them keep their home clean in the process, relieving her of some of her duties.
Women in action at Entembeni Old People’s Home. News they were excited about the cooking programme. “We are so happy about this programme because it has been helping us a lot, especially on Tuesdays (When the training takes place),” she said. “Whatever these ladies have been cooking during their lessons, they have been leaving it here for the elderly in the home.” She said the left over gas, which they have been leaving behind as well, has been helping them in their cooking. Tshuma added: “What we have realised is that these people are full of love. There are very few people who would want to come and do their cooking at a place where there are the oldies. There are so many places that they could have chosen but they chose Entembeni Old People’s Home.”
“I am the one who cooks for the oldies here in the kitchen and, since these ladies started coming here to do their cooking lessons, we have benefited a lot as an institution,” she said. “They have also been assisting with the cleaning of our home, especially in the kitchen. We always get a good rest every time they come here because they do all our household chores. Now that they are going, we will always
remember these people.” Meanwhile, in a letter last month, from the matron for the home, Jesca Matavire, she thanked ZDDT for the support the trust has been rendering the home. “May I take this opportunity to thank you. May God continue to bless your organisation,” said Matavire on behalf of the board and inmates at the home.
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Bulawayo - Gone are the days when leaders would just lead people as they please, as communities, which are increasingly enlightened with the coming and passing of each day, now demand that their elected representatives come back to report to the people during their leadership tenure. Reporting back to citizens is not only applicable to those on the highest echelons of power, but also to those leaders at the grassroots as well because that is where everything begins. Both development and democracy, which are intrinsically
linked, begin at local level and therefore, reporting back to the governed by those elected at community level, becomes something of paramount importance. This is where democracy is practised. Councillors, as leaders at local governance level, are under close scrutiny as they live in the areas they represent and are under pressure to listen to, and act on behalf of the people. The Bulawayo City Council (BCC), just like other local authorities, holds meetings every month at the Council Chambers where issues affecting residents of the city are deliberated while decisions of civic importance are also made. Cllr Gladys Masuku, Ward 10, is one of the first councillors to hit the ground running in 2017 by holding her first feed-back meeting with residents in her area. Masuku said, as a people’s representative, it is important for her to continuously go back to the community and give periodic updates on developmental issues. “As a councillor, I am there for the people and I have to come and hear their concerns and whatever I am able to address, I address it in those meetings,” she said. “However, what I am not able to immediately address, I take it to the relevant departments in Council.” Cllr Norman Hlabani, Ward 26, said as a mediator between residents and Council, it is important that he holds periodic meetings with people in his ward to appreciate their needs and also explain to them what they do not understand about operations of the local government. ‘’Feed-back meetings are very important because people have to be always informed about what is happening,” said Cllr Gideon Mangena, Ward 24. Mangena said, after every two months, he makes it a point that he meets with members of his community to update them on what is happening in Council.
P.5 ZDDT Zone Meetings Have Enlightened
BULAWAYO – While for most Zimbabweans, especially those in positions of authority, the term “democracy” has political connotations, this not so with Councillor Rodney Jele of Bulawayo’s, Ward 22.Cllr Jele, whose area covers Nkulumane 5, told ZDDT News he has a different understanding of democracy. “Democracy is whereby people are free to air their different views,” he said. “This is important because, at the end of the day, the majority rules. Therefore the importance of democracy cannot be over emphasized.” He explained that leaders should not force people to do what they want, instead the former should serve the latter. “If there are different opinions obviously you have to go for the majority. I think that is my understanding of democracy,” said Cllr Jele. Cllr Jele, who said democracy was crucial at a local level, added that his understanding of the concept has enabled him to work well with the Community Action Team (CAT) members in Nkulumane 5. “Working with
CATs helps in the sense that the ward is big and it becomes a challenge for one person to fully cover it and, as a result, I would need other people to help me,” he elaborated. Cllr Jele said his interactions with ZDDT he has become a servant leader who now practises servant leadership. He explained: “A servant leader for a councillor, in my own interpretation, is a person who humbles himself or herself and always allows people to air their views. He is not to be the boss in the community but a servant of the people.”
Ward 22 Community Action Team member, Georginah Mafu, said ZDDT Zone Meetings have enlightened her on Council business. “There were so many things about council operations which I did not understand before, which I now understand,” she told ZDDT News. She cited the promotion of prepaid water meters, which she said Councillor Collet Ndhlovu, Ward 28, explained they were aimed at ensuring residents do not accumulate debt with the local authority.
P.6 ZDDT Field Team “With the feedlots we were working with the community also providing employment.” Mason, who said he would even spend the whole week in the countryside working with the communal farmers and villagers, added that some feedlots which they made, are now used as permanent cattle buying stations.
Bulawayo – Villagers in Matabeleland, most of them cattle farmers, whose lives have been positively touched and impacted upon by Bulawayo Abattoirs Group Engineer, Shane Mason, will undoubtedly forever remember that Good Samaritan.
He however, did not stop with the feedlots in rural Matabeleland, but went on to attend to other commu-
Mason’s mission in rural Matabeleland since 2013, has left rural dwellers more empowered than ever before. ZDDT News recently caught-up with Mason in his office at Kelvin Industrial Site to get first-hand information on the community work the engineer was involved in, in rural Matabeleland. “As a company (Bulawayo Abattoirs) we were helping farmers with the building of feedlots in the rural areas,” said Mason. He said it was through those feedlots that communal cattle farmers in Mangwe, Matobo and Tsholotsho districts, where they were working, managed to fatten and sold their cattle directly to them. “I have worked in the whole of the Mangwe District; I have worked in Tsholotsho,” said Mason, adding the areas covered included Ndolwane, Mabuledi, Sanzukwi, Brunapeg, Bango, Mayobodo, Ratanyana and Mphoengs, among others. He said they partnered the Mangwe Farmers Association in the feedlots project. “We have helped so many; if you look at each feedlot we had 20 to 30 members,” he said.
nity needs. Touched by the plight of women and children who fetch water using buckets, some having to travel long distances, Mason came with a solution for them. “We have noticed that a lot of people suffer with water in the communal areas and what we have done is to help them pump the water out of the rivers to water the gardens,” he explained. “In most of the areas that I worked in, I was showing them how to get the water out of the rivers. I would see people walking long distances, digging in the sand and so forth.” Mason said for him, working in the communal areas helped him identify people’s challenges which he ended up helping them fix. “As we were building feedlots, that’s when I saw those people suffering and then thought I should plough back,” said Mason. He added that he would also assist with the fixing of boreholes .
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Bulawayo – Young At Heart (YAH), a local drama group which partnered with the Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust (ZDDT), is involved in a behaviour change programme for the community at Bulawayo’s dumpsite, popularly known as Ngozi Mine. ZDDT’s news correspondent, Mandla Tshuma (MT), recently spoke with YAH Public Relations Officer, Nanzile Nyathi (NN), who briefly chatted about their partnership with the trust as well as the community work in which they are involved. Below are some of the excerpts from their conversation. MT: A good mor ning to you ma’am. As we begin our brief talk, may you kindly introduce yourself. NN: Good mor ning; thank you. Well, my name is Nanzile Nyathi. I am the Public Relations Officer for Young at Heart Foundation Trust. MT: Thank you for that, Nanzile. Can you tell me what YAH is all about. NN: At Young At Hear t we believe in catching them young. Young At Heart deals with inculcating the youth and the elderly with discipline and self-reliance skills in combating juvenile delinquency as well as in alleviating the spread of HIV and AIDS through sport and arts activities.
MT: Can you br iefly tell me about the community wor k that you are doing at Ngozi Mine.
NN: At Ngozi Mine we ar e impar ting skills and we ar e also trying to help the community there with certain issues that they have, especially that one of identity. I mean birth registration, national identity cards and so forth. Since there is also rampant gender-based violence, we also try to help the community come to peace. MT: Thank for taking your time talking to me.
Cllr C. Moyo said of servant leadership: “What is very fundamental is to hear the concerns of the residents and try to address them and I think basically that will keep us in office. The moment you are able to respond to their needs, to me, I think , that is leadership..”
P.8 Prepaid Water Meters Will Take Residents Out of Debt – Cllrs
“If we had introduced prepaid water meters, things would be right for the Council and for everyone in Bulawayo,” said Cllr Rafemoyo. “Prepaid water meters will help you to buy the amount of water which you can afford and helps you stay out of debt.” The greater part of the residents’ debt to the city is water related, according to the city fathers. The BCC this month suspended the tight water regime following inflows into the supply dams, although levels still remain critical. “By calling for the prepaid water meters, we are trying to save you from penalties levied on long overdue water bills,” said Cllr Ndhlovu. “We are trying to remove you out of debt and from hardships.”
Above : Cllr Collet Ndlovu str esses a point at a zone meeting
Bulawayo - Councillors for the city’s wards 20 and 28, Earnest Rafamoyo, and Collet Ndhlovu respectively, have encouraged Bulawayo residents to embrace the soon to be rolled out prepaid water meters saying the gadgets will take rate payers out of debt as they would only be paying for what they consume.
Bulawayo residents have, for the past three years, been resisting the local authority’s decision to install prepaid meters at their homes arguing access to water, which is a basic human right, should not be restricted. However, the government has since given municipalities, including the Bulawayo City Council (BCC), the go ahead with the exercise. Addressing Community Action Team (CAT) members during a
ZDDT Zone Four meeting in Nkulumane recently, Cllrs Rafamoyo and Ndhlovu said, installing prepaid water meters was the only way to ensure residents conserve water which remains a scarce resource in the city.
Cllr Ndhlovu added that prepaid water meters will also promote a culture of saving among residents in the same way prepaid electricity meters have done. The city fathers however said, in the event of bereavement, any families disconnected as a result of non-payment of water bills, can still have a temporary reconnec-
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Ambassador McCourt being taken around the garden
Australian Ambassador Visits Sizinda Community Garden The Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Suzanne McCourt, who was in the company of two other officials, visited Sizinda Community Garden in Bulawayo’s Ward 21. The ZDDT garden project is a partnership involving Sally Foundation, GDG and DAP of Australia and the community members themselves. The purpose of the visit was for Ambassador McCourt to meet with the beneficiaries of the project and introduce Courtney Hoogen, DFAT Canberra and Director of Southern and Western Africa and Amanda Potter, DAP Committee Chair, Harare. In doing so, they gained an appreciation of how the project is impacting on their lives. Excited by the occasion, the beneficiaries thanked the ambassador and her Australian guests, for coming all the way from Harare to see what they are doing
on
the ground. The project benefiting mostly the elderly in the community, is the source of livelihood for residents at a time when most of the industries in Zimbabwe are either closed or faltering. Beneficiaries said that, through the garden, they are able to buy exercise books
Councillors Deriving Value from ZDDT/BCC Partnership Bulawayo – Councillor Charles Moyo, Ward 9, says Bulawayo councillors are deriving value from the partnership between the local authority and the Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust (ZDDT). “There is a lot of value in the interaction between BCC and ZDDT,” Cllr Moyo told the ZDDT News. “The other advantage is that ZDDT is not fighting councillors unlike other organisations that want to fight councillors. Cllr Moyo said where there is fighting there cannot be any development. “The approach, which is being adopted by ZDDT, is one of building; you know, improving service delivery which is very good for the residents,” he added.
for their school children as well as meet other family expenses, urging the donor community to continue supporting the self-help project.
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Cllr Tamani Moyo has been the councillor for Ward 15 since 2013. Ward 15 covers Luveve Township. ZDDT’s Field Correspondent, Mandla Tshuma (MT), in March this year met Cllr Moyo (TM) at the City Hall and discussed her leadership experiences, service delivery and some of her challenges among other things. Below is part of their dialogue. MT: Good afternoon councillor. May I kindly request that you introduce yourself as we begin our conversation. TM: Thank you. I am Cllr Tamani Moyo for Ward 15 in Luveve. MT: For how long have you been a councillor? TM: This is my fourth year as a councillor. I came into office in 2013. MT: As a community leader, what would you say you have learnt to date about leading people? TM: I have learnt so many things from the people. People always want you to do their will; to do what they themselves want and not to do what you want yourself. People also have this mind that when one is elected councillor, anytime even during the night should they want to see you, they should come and wake you up. They will expect you to get up and they would even say to you, ‘wake up because we voted for you.’ MT: In executing your duties, who do you work with because I know that leaders always have people who assist them? TM: The people that I work with in Ward 15 include Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association and Bulawayo United Residents Association. I also work with churches and other stakeholders. MT: Thank you councillor. Now looking at some of your achievements since you came into office in 2013, what would you say you have achieved to date? TM: One thing which I have done in Ward 15, which residents could remember me for, is that road – Huggins – which was impassable. Before I came into office, it was my wish to have that road fixed. I have since fixed the road; it is now good and residents are happy about that. The other thing is Luveve 5 stands. Some people were complaining that they could even die before having lived in their houses. We have since begun servicing those stands and the process is nearing completion. We were delayed by the rains, otherwise that should have been completed. MT: Thank you for that councillor. Moving on with our talk, now looking at the capacity building that you received from ZDDT together with other councillors, how is that helping you execute your duties? TM: Working with ZDDT is one thing which has helped us a lot. Looking especially at their workshops that we participated in, we were taught how to work with members of the public. Most of us did not know how to work with some organisations because there was always a conflict between an organisation and the councillor. The ZDDT workshops helped us a lot because we now have better relations with organisations. MT: Looking at challenges now, what challenges would you say you are facing in your ward. TM: I have challenges to do with children who do not have birth certificates. Parents always come to me requesting that I assist them secure those birth certificates for their children. Some of these children are orphans, some are children born of parents who have since left for South Africa. You may find that some of those parents have not returned to Zimbabwe for the past 10 to 15 years having left their children without those important documents. Grandmothers who are the guardians of those children come to me for assistance. I assist them in the writing of affidavits. I also write some letters to be taken to school authorities so that even if the children do not have birth certificates are allowed to attend lessons. MT: Now looking at meetings that you sometimes hold with residents in your ward, I know that this past Saturday (11 March 2017) you were supposed to have a meeting but it had to be postponed. How important are such meetings as a leader? TM: Feed-back meetings that I normally hold with residents are very important. They help in the sense that when there are things that we are getting from the Chambers, we are supposed to go and present them before the people. This helps in ensuring that residents know what is happening in their city. If we do not hold such meetings, residents are bound to remain in dark as to what would be happening. Residents won’t even know whether or not there is water in the dams. There is also the issue of the three percent retention fund which residents need to be informed about. MT: Thank you so much councillor for your time.…
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I Have Learnt Many Things from ZDDT Training – CAT Member
Bulawayo – Bulawayo can develop into a better and selfsustaining urban centre only if residents of Zimbabwe’s second largest city have a sense of ownership of the city, a city father has said. Addressing Community Action Team (CAT) members at a recent ZDDT-facilitated Zone Five meeting, in Pumula, Councillor (Cllr) Ephraim Ncube, Ward 17, emphasized the need for residents to treat the city and its infrastructure as their own property. He said residents should desist from vandalising the city’s facilities as they do not belong to the City Council but to them. “The problem we have is that people do not have the sense of ownership of the city,” said Cllr Ncube. “Taking for example, when the government cancelled the residents’ debt to local authorities prior to the 2013 elections, people were so happy and since then they have just relaxed in terms of paying their rates waiting for another election with the hope of another debt cancellation.” Cllr Ncube said it was regrettable that while the council had tried to put shades at most bus stops, some residents had to remove them for their own use. He added that some residents were vandalising schools infrastructure as they view it as either government or local authority property, yet in actual fact it is their own property.
Bulawayo – Elizabeth Mutereko, a Ward 24 Community Action Team member, said she has learnt so many things from the Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust (ZDDT) training which she underwent, adding she is now a better resident and community leader compared to what she was prior to her interaction with the trust. She said, through ZDDT, she is able to demand service delivery from the city fathers, notwithstanding the financial constraints the Bulawayo City Council is grappling with at present. “Actually, I am now a better person than before because I know, as a resident, what am I supposed to do, what kind of an environment or place am I supposed to live in and how am I supposed to relate to other people in the community because it is not just about myself alone,” she elaborated.
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BULAWAYO – Amazing Stars Arts Academy (ASAA), a local drama group, on 8 February 2017 took their drama performance on climate change, keeping the environment clean and servant leadership to Mahatshula North suburb where they thrilled a crowd of residents who were begging for more. The performance, which ran for an hour at Sompisi Business Centre, attracted an audience of 85 residents from the suburb which falls under Ward 3. Of the people that witnessed the drama performance, the majority were youth with an overall gender split of 70 males and 15 females. The message conveyed by the drama group through humour and satire, was centred on the need for community leaders to be responsible and true servants of the people. ASAA also carried the message that residents have to adapt to climate change, keep the environment clean, and desist from dumping litter all over. People, who were part of the crowd that watched ASAA perform, said they were not only entertained, but received moral lessons on living in clean environments, with some adding that the drama group should also sensitize the Bulawayo City Council on spraying streams in their area which are the breeding sites for mosquitoes. “This drama, from the way I saw it, teaches us mostly on the proper disposal of used baby pumpers (Diapers),” said Kenias Muleya. “If you go around here, there are pumpers all over.”
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Judith, one of Entembeni cooking graduates
.Bulawayo - The ZDDT/
Sally Foundation valueaddition cooking programme has left a lasting impression on the participants who said they have learnt a lot.
Bulawayo – Graduates of the value-addition cooking programme, from Ward 21 at Sizinda Community Garden, have hit the ground running as they began training other community members just a day after they completed their own course at Entembeni Old People’s Home. The special five-week programme was a partnership between the Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust (ZDDT) and Sally Foundation and their partners, GDG, aimed at adding value to the trust’s various community gardens in the city. The first session, which began on December 15, 2016 and was being held every Tuesday, saw a total of 16 Community Action Team (CAT) members drawn from Wards 15, 19, 21 and 27 undergo intensive training. Ward 21 has been the first of the four wards to immediately pass on their newly found knowledge to other community members. On Wednesday, February 8, the women kick-started the programme with training on making jam in which a total of 25 women and one man participated. “ We said now that we have been taught, we must not be greedy and we ran with speed, came here, organised ladies and also extended invitations to men as well who could be interested,” said Judith Dube, one of the trainers.
“The trainees were so excited about this programme. Those who missed out on the first training have been phoning us making some enquiries, meaning to say
One such participant is Judith Dube of Ward 21 in Sizinda, who is fascinated by the drying of fruits and vegetables for future use.
“At 63 I did not know I could save some food stuffs without a fridge; I thought only the fridge could preserve food but, through this programme, which has been brought into Bulawayo, we now know that we can preserve food stuffs for even nine months outside the fridge,” she said. “There are some things like garlic which we considered useless unless one caught flu. We will now go and grow all these fruits and vegetables in our garden so we won’t have to go and buy from the market.”
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than Washington DC and all our residential areas are now clean,” said Cllr Rafamoyo. “However, we still have problems in the CBD which calls for more campaigns on refuse removal and keeping our city clean.” Before the economic decline, Bulawayo, once Southern Africa’s cleanest city, used to enforce strict by-laws on litter dumping which saw offenders paying heavy fines for their offences. Bulawayo - While most residential areas of Bulawayo are now relatively clean with the local authority removing refuse on a weekly basis, the same cannot be said of the Central Business District (CBD) which receives a daily influx of residents from all corners of the city and even beyond. The city fathers, who have always emphasized that residents have the responsibility to keep the City of Kings and Queens clean, have expressed concern over the littering of the CBD at a time when townships have done so much to restore their neighbourhoods. Addressing a Zone Four meeting recently, Councillor (Cllr) Earnest Rafamoyo, Ward 20, said while the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is impressed with the cleanliness of townships, there is still a need to educate residents to extend that cleanliness to the CBD by avoiding dumping litter in the streets.
“On waste removal, we are doing very well and even far much better
Cllr Gideon Mangena, Ward 24, said he was educating residents in his ward to keep the city clean but the challenge is that some people who litter the envi-
Bulawayo – Councillor Earnest Rafamoyo, Ward 20, said ZDDT Zone Meetings are empowering him as a community leader. “These meetings are very important because they open some of the corners which one might not have gotten to,” he said.
ronment are people from outside the city. He said by-laws on the littering of the environment are still in place. “However, the challenge is that much littering of the city happens at night making it difficult to bring perpetrators to book,” said Cllr Mangena. He added that it is important for the Council to collaborate with both police and Environmental Management Agency for the CBD to remain clean. Ward 26 Councillor, Norman Hlabani, said the city fathers have at times deployed clean-up teams into the CBD. “We know that the majority of the people who litter the city are vendors who come from townships,” explained Cllr Hlabani. Cllr Mlandu Ncube, Ward 1, which covers the CBD, called upon fellow councillors to help him clean the city by continuing to educate their residents on the importance of keeping the environment clean.
“For example, the CATs might be meeting residents in my absence and then they come and report those issues in those meetings and also sharing ideas on how we can best develop and best communicate with the community itself.” He added he had become a better councillor courtesy of ZDDT Zone Meetings which enable him to interact with CATs on a regular basis.
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BULAWAYO - Councillor Gideon Mangena, Ward 24, registered a record attendance estimated at 900 residents at his feed-back meeting held on the 26th of March 2017 at Nketa Community Hall. Cllr Mangena said he had never had such an attendance at his meetings for the nearly a decade he has been a councillor. He attributed the historic turn out to the newly appointed hands-on Residents Development Committee which has hit the ground running. “This change has been brought about by the appointment of a new committee which I believe will work well with residents,” said Cllr Mangena. “This committee does not have any hidden agendas. It is now a month old and some weeks. The committee devised a new invitation strategy of taking meeting flyers (ZDDT) door-to-door and that seems to have worked. As you can see the hall filled-up and some people had to stand outside. We have never seen this happen in Ward 24.” He said if the new committee was to continue operating in that way there was no doubt that the ward would certainly develop. “I had to appoint this new committee upon realisation that my work with the old committee was not going anywhere,” explained Mangena. “Many times I would postpone my meetings because of an embarrassing attendance notwithstanding that I would have invited other stakeholders to come and address residents on certain issues. My somewhat successful meetings would at most attract between 50 and 80 residents.” Mangena said he has since organised an induction for the new committee next month in order to further capacitate it, adding a consultant has also been secured to conduct the exercise. “I want this committee to know its roles. I have realised that the old committee would always clash with me. Some of the committee members would at times want to do things that are supposed to be done by me as the councillor,” added Mangena. The meeting, also attended by the area’s legislator, Phelela Masuku, and Bulawayo City Council Assistant Director for Engineering Services, Engineer Mkhwananzi, discussed the politicisation of maize distribution, new school curriculum, roads, sewer system and the recruitment of community sweepers.
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Cllr Norman Hlabano, Ward 26, said some schools refer pupils without birth certificates to his office for assistance, adding he always writes for them confirmation letters to be taken to the RGO. He said they were also appealing to the government to roll-out the mobile registration exercise to cut on the expenses by the elderly who have to move to take children from one office to another. Cllr Gladys Masuku, Ward 10, said, in her area, there are now fewer children without birth certificates, adding she worked tirelessly with the community writing confirmation letters to the RGO. Councillors and CAT members at a Zone Meeting in Nkulumane Bulawayo - A birth certificate is an essential document that one should
“Many parents and guardians have been coming to inform me that they managed to get those birth certificates after I wrote those numerous letters,” said Cllr Masuku.
not struggle to obtain as it lays the foundation to the validity of the status of the individual, particularly for children as they grow up in the modern world. While it is almost impossible for one to progress in life without a birth certificate, there are still children in Bulawayo today who do not have such important documents, something which is a cause for concern for both parents and guardians. Zone Four Community Action Team (CAT) members recently told their councillors, during a Zimbabwe Development Democracy (ZDDT)facilitated meeting, some parents and guardians in the areas were having a torrid time getting the documents for their children. Zone Four covers Wards 20, 22 and 23, all in Nkulumane Township. The challenges faced by these children are not peculiar to it as they cut across other parts of the city. What complicates the issue is that some babies, born of Zimbabwean parents illegally working in neighbouring countries such as South Africa, are sent back home without proper documentation, to grandparents, most of whom are very old. CAT members said some incidents involve teenagers who give birth, go to South Africa and then leave behind babies with their grandmothers who then have to carry the burden of ensuring that they are documented with the Registrar General’s Office (RGO). This has resulted in a situation whereby some children go as far as grade 7 without proper documentation. Cllr Gideon Mangena, Ward 24, told ZDDT News he is always seized with the matter of children without birth certificates in his area. “The complicated issue of children without certificates is one of the issues I deal with almost on a daily basis,” said Cllr Mangena.
He said he was working with two community members in identifying undocumented children in order to assist them. “Once a list of 10 children has been complied, we then look for witnesses and then send them to the Registrar General’s Office (RGO) with my letter,” he said.
Published By Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust Stories & Photos By Mandla Tshuma Email: mandlajournalist@gmail.com Story contributions By ZDDT Field Officers Edited By Simon Spooner Projects Manager Angela Mason M & E Officer Gardner Ndhlovu Finance Officer Laura Buckley 10 Carlisle Street Belmont Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Tel: +263 9 61403 Email: news@zddt.org Website: www.zddt.org
See you again in July and, in the meantime, stay safe, be proud and………. khumbula abanye!!!!!!!!