by NQOBANI MATHIBELA
GWANDA – THE government’s continued emphasis on sinking boreholes in arid Matabeleland South exposes a misplaced development priority that fails to address the province’s deep, structural water crisis.
This year alone, more than 150 boreholes were drilled or rehabilitated, yet communities argue that boreholes offer only temporary domestic relief and do nothing to unlock long term economic, agricultural, and industrial development.
Matabeleland South is chronically dry, making surface water storage through dams and large reservoirs not a luxury, but a necessity.
Boreholes provide drinking water, but they cannot support irrigation, sustain livestock at scale, power agro processing, or stimulate tourism.
As groundwater tables fall and boreholes dry up, the province remains trapped in poverty while vast development opportunities are lost.
The Rural Infrastructure Development Agency has announced that it improved access to safe water by drilling and rehabilitating boreholes across the province as part of the National Development Strategy One.
Addressing employees at a provincial awards ceremony, Rida officials cited projects such as the Halisupi water scheme in Gwanda and the Gonde–Matiwaza scheme in Matobo, alongside limited road rehabilitation works in Beitbridge, Esigodini, and Insiza. Additional borehole drilling, including at Fakanye Dam and Ntunungwe, is planned to continue.
Government leaders praised these interventions as transformative. However, residents on the ground see a widening gap between official narratives and lived reality.
Villagers argue that without major dams and reservoirs, Matabeleland South cannot escape recurring droughts, food shortages, and unemployment.
The construction of dams has historically been the backbone of sustainable development worldwide. Dams capture large volumes of water during rainy seasons and store it for use throughout the year.
This enables reliable irrigation, allowing farmers to move from subsistence to commercial agriculture. With irrigation comes value addition, agro industries, stable incomes, and stronger rural economies.
Boreholes, by contrast, serve households in isolation and cannot anchor an agricultural value chain.
Beyond farming, dams are powerful engines for tourism. Water bodies create opportunities for boating, cruising, fishing, and resort development.
Tourism generates jobs in hospitality, transport, crafts, and services, attracting both domestic and international visitors. Matabeleland South boasts scenic landscapes and wildlife, yet the absence of major reservoirs undermines its tourism potential.
Industrial and commercial sectors also depend on consistent bulk water supplies that only dams can provide. Manufacturing, mining, and energy projects require volumes far beyond what boreholes can deliver.
Without dams, investors look elsewhere, and the province remains marginalized.
Local residents have openly rejected the borehole centered approach. Community members say the region’s rich alluvial soils are wasted because government prioritizes short term political projects over lasting infrastructure.
They argue that dams would serve people, livestock, wildlife, irrigation schemes, industries, and future generations simultaneously.
Many residents view the borehole programme as election driven rather than development driven. They insist that leaders who truly understand Matabeleland South’s challenges would prioritize water reservoirs capable of transforming the entire provincial economy.
As climate change intensifies drought cycles, the need for large scale water storage becomes even more urgent.
Continuing to invest heavily in boreholes while neglecting dam construction is seen as a strategy that manages scarcity instead of defeating it.
For Matabeleland South to achieve food security, tourism growth, industrialization, and dignity, dams, not boreholes, must become the cornerstone of development planning.
Until policymakers realign priorities, communities will continue to endure hunger, unemployment, and dependency.
Strategic dam construction represents an investment in resilience, sovereignty, and prosperity. Boreholes may quench thirst today, but dams secure tomorrow, anchoring agriculture, tourism, industry, ecosystems, and regional growth on a scale worthy of Matabeleland South’s potential and aspirations for lasting development, equity, stability, opportunity, progress, prosperity, hope, and confidence.
