Pollution and Poor Land-use Management as Causes of the Harare Water Crisis

Abstract

This article reviews Harare’s water crisis, highlighting two of the most significant causes of the water challenge: pollution of water supply dams and poor land-use management in the catchment area. Using field observations, interviews and secondary data, it also examines the nature of the challenges that exist in providing water to the City of Harare residents. Some of the major causes of Harare’s water shortages are revisited. It argues that although many scholars have already identified pollution as a major threat to Harare’s water supply, very little, if any, scholarly work links Harare’s water crisis to poor land-use management. Towards the end of the year 2019, the world was afflicted by the coronavirus (COVID-19). At the same time, housing and political activists were invading wetlands to establish unplanned housing settlements whilst planning authorities often exacerbated the problem by corruptly parcelling out fragile ecosystems for commercial and other urban developments. The wetland functions of these ecosystems have been destroyed in the process. The article concludes that different stakeholders in Harare are contributing towards worsening the already bad water situation.