Fear and anger as cholera strikes again in Zimbabwe

In just two weeks, the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has claimed at least 32 lives and more than 7,000 cases have been reported.
The government has declared a public health emergency in the capital Harare, the most affected area.
In Harare, public gatherings were banned, street vendors ordered to leave the streets and people were discouraged from shaking hands.
The rallies even forced the main opposition movement, the Movement for Democratic Change, to postpone a rally in which its leader Nelson Chamisa planned to declare himself the winner of the July 30 presidential election.
Cholera epidemics have frequently occurred in Zimbabwean cities where the supply of drinking water and sanitation is scarce.
But President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who succeeded long-time despot Robert Mugabe after a brief military takeover in November, pledged to tackle the current epidemic.
In his speech on the state of the nation to parliament on Tuesday, Mnangagwa said the government would do everything possible to fight "this medieval disease".
On Wednesday, he visited cholera treatment centers in Harare, where patients were being treated, while others were lying on stretchers in canvas and plastic wards.
The government has said at least $ 64 million is needed to control the epidemic.
Last week, the new finance minister, Mthuli Ncube, even launched a crowdfunding effort to raise funds, publish bank details on Twitter and appeal for donations.
Harare Mayor Herbert Gomba said the city is also taking steps to contain the outbreak.
"We are replacing the pipes. We disarmed boreholes that were no longer safe, "Gomba told reporters on Wednesday.
But he acknowledged that the city still provides less than a third of the city's water demand.
"We need new water sources and it takes $ 1 billion to deal with the water situation," he said.
Residents of affected areas have criticized the official response to the spread of infection transmitted by bacteria and affecting the small intestine.
"We live in fear. The authorities are not doing enough, "said 48-year-old Evans Ndoro, who was leaving a local clinic where he had taken his son to receive treatment for an alleged cholera case. .
"We have a cholera outbreak here and yet they offer nothing like disinfectants to protect people.
They invite people to use disinfectants and detergents – but how many of us can afford it?
And although Health Minister Obadiah Moyo has promised that landfills will be removed from the high-risk areas of Harare, residents are not impressed.
"There is a lot of waste that has been gone for months without being collected in most of the affected areas," said Ndoro. "The soil we are walking on is contaminated but the authorities do not seem to care."
Webster Nganunu, 29, said the epidemic had shown the government was failing its citizens.
"How can we have cholera in our time?", He said while queuing to fetch drinking water from an oil tanker in a suburban area. Harare, paid for by a local beverage company.
"We all live in fear. These are deaths that could have been avoided. Some people should be imprisoned for this.