Dulivhadzimo: e melting pot of poverty,

For a passerby, Beitbridge looks captivating with ultramodern architecture, thanks to the ongoing modernisation of the Beitbridge Border Post being undertaken by the government, which is changing the face of the border town.

However, on the flipside lies Dulivhadzimo — the oldest and most populous suburb in the border town — a melting pot of poverty, HIV and gender-based violence.

Residents of this forsaken settlement have to cope with age old dilapidated ancient houses in an area which appears to have long gone outside the local authority’s radar as running water and burst sewer have become the order of the day.

In fact, Dulivhadzimo has over the years become synonymous with poverty, disease and crime.

Many families here live below the poverty datum line and are susceptible to infectious diseases such as TB, cholera, dysentery and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.

Beitbridge has become susceptible to recurrent cholera outbreaks over the years and according to Health ministry data, as of August 28, the district had recorded 323 suspected cases, 132 confirmed cases and three deaths this year.

The 2008 cholera outbreak in the country, which recorded 98 596 cases and 4 369 deaths had its highest attack rate in Beitbridge.

Experts said the outbreak was caused by widespread infection with the bacterium vibrio cholerae, which is spread through water contaminated with human waste of infected individuals.

According to data from the National Aids Council (NAC) the

HIV prevalence rate for Beitbridge is 11,67% while the incidence rate is 0.3%.

“We live here in Dulivhadzimo by the grace of God,” said a resident Clifford Bvindi.

“Our area faces a plethora of challenges, chief being erratic water supplies and sewer bursts.

“Sanitation and hygiene never liked this place.

“It’s a dog-eat-dog scenario in this suburb.”

Bvindi, who repairs radios and TVs at a backyard shop behind his lodgings, said most people in the area were out of employment and live in abject poverty.

The roads in the area are littered with potholes and rubbish.

When it rains, they turn into streams of mud and sewage, Bvindi said.

“Council is not helping either. The roads are poor, garbage is rarely collected and sewage flows have become the order of the day. It is hell living in this area,” he said.

Bvindi, who early this year contracted cholera, said four families were living at one house.

At several shopping centres and open spaces fish and meat are sold in the open even as uncollected rubbish litters the area and sewage flows everywhere.

“Meat and fish here are cheaper than in the butcheries and it’s affordable for most of us,” a resident Absalom Muleya.

“We can’t afford to buy meat in butcheries or even across the Limpopo (River) because there is no money.”

Muleya is out of employment and his frequent visits to South Africa to search for a job have yielded nothing.

“Beitbridge is not what many people think, it’s just a hot and drought-prone area which also translates to ‘drought’ in terms of job opportunities,” he said.

“I know no other area except Dulivhadzimo, I was born there and poverty is written all over the face of whoever resides there.”

A few houses away from Muleya lives 29-year-old Hezel, who shares a single room with three other female colleagues.

“We share a room the four of us and we are all sex workers,” she said.

“I came to Beitbridge in 2009 with the hope of finding a job so that I could take care of my family at our rural home in Shurugwi.

“However, there was no job and I ended up selling wares outside clubs and bars.

“Due to shortage of accommodation I ended up sharing rooms with friends.”

Hazel said poverty compelled her to join the oldest profession.

“It’s not that I wanted to be a sex worker in the first place, but I couldn’t get a decent job and selling my flesh was the only option,” she said.

“I stay with my eightmonth-old daughter and friends in a room, but at the lodgings there are four other families.”

Hazel’s life has not been a bed of roses as she is exposed to many trials and tribulations that make her chosen career path grim.

She is among hordes of sex workers who are most vulnerable to GBV and HIV infection in the country.

“It’s difficult being a sex worker, more so when you compete with these young girls coming from school,” Hazel said.

“Some men pick you from the club and take you to their place or yours and when you get there they refuse to pay and then at times that’s when beatings happen and you go and report to the police and they [police] say they are not part of sex workers issues.”

SOME men pick you from the club and take you to their place or yours and when you get there they refuse to pay and then at times that’s when beatings happen and you go and report to the police and they say they are not part of sex workers issues.