Harare mayor Jacob Mafume this week issued a stark warning that the capital is on the brink of a cholera outbreak unless urgent work begins to repair its collapsing sewer system, accusing regulators of stalling a critical investment deal needed to avert a public health crisis.
In an exclusive interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, Mafume said the city could not afford further delays as raw sewage continues to spill into residential areas, creating conditions for disease outbreaks.
“What we need to do is just to begin working. We don’t have time. People are suffering,” Mafume said. “With sewage, very soon we will have cholera and so forth.”
The warning laid bare the scale of infrastructure decay in Harare, where ageing sewer systems, chronic underinvestment and rapid urbanisation have combined to push basic services to breaking point.
Frequent pipe bursts and overflowing waste have become common across large parts of the city, contaminating water sources and exposing residents to serious health risks.
Zimbabwe has previously experienced devastating cholera outbreaks, most notably from 2008 to 2009, when thousands died in one of the region’s worst epidemics.
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Health experts said the current conditions — characterised by failing sanitation systems and unreliable access to clean water — are again aligning in a way that could trigger a similar emergency.
The Mayor said Harare was seeking to secure a public-private partnership (PPP) to rehabilitate and expand its sewer network, widely seen as the only viable option to mobilise the scale of funding required.
However, he accused the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida) of delaying the approval process, effectively holding up the project.
“You need another PPP for sewer. The challenge we are having is that Zida is delaying the processes,” Mafume said.
“But there is no alternative at the current moment but to have public-private partnerships.”
The remarks amounted to one of the clearest public criticisms, yet from a senior official of Zimbabwe’s investment approval framework, which has been designed to attract and facilitate private capital.
“For some reason, certain regulatory bodies that should be pro-investment become the very bottlenecks of investment,” Mafume said, in a pointed critique.
Zida was created to function as a one-stop investment facilitation agency, streamlining approvals and improving the ease of doing business.
However, investors and local authorities have increasingly raised concerns about bureaucratic delays, overlapping mandates and lengthy approval timelines.
In the case of Harare’s sewer system, delays carry immediate and tangible risks.
The city’s infrastructure is widely regarded as operating beyond capacity, with some treatment plants dating back decades and frequently breaking down.
Engineers warn that without major upgrades, system failures will intensify, increasing the likelihood of widespread contamination.
The proposed PPP is expected to bring in private capital and technical expertise to modernise facilities, expand treatment capacity and improve maintenance.
Across Africa, such partnerships have become a critical tool for financing infrastructure in countries where public resources are insufficient.
But structuring PPPs is inherently complex, involving negotiations over financing terms, risk allocation and long-term returns. These processes often require multiple layers of regulatory approval, a reality that Mafume argued is now costing the city valuable time.
“At some point, as a country, we need to decide that work has to be done,” he said.
The economic consequences of inaction extend beyond public health. Poor sanitation infrastructure raises operating costs for businesses, undermines productivity and deters investment in the capital.
For companies, unreliable water and waste services translate into higher costs and increased uncertainty. Prolonged delays risk reinforcing perceptions of policy inconsistency and administrative inertia, even as authorities seek to position the country as open for business.
Urban growth is compounding the challenge. Harare’s population has expanded rapidly in recent years, with informal settlements growing on the outskirts of the city, often without adequate sanitation.
This has placed additional strain on already overstretched systems, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.
Public health specialists warn that the convergence of failing infrastructure, high population density and contaminated water sources creates a dangerous environment for the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
Mafume’s warning therefore carries both immediate and longer-term implications.
On the provision of water, a parallel system is rapidly taking shape across Harare, as residents lose faith in council supplies and organise themselves into borehole syndicates — exposing the deepening collapse of the city’s public infrastructure.
Across high-density suburbs such as Kuwadzana, Glen View, Budiriro and Highfield, households are forming informal “borehole clubs” — groups of between 10 and 40 families pooling resources to drill wells. Zida did not respond to the Independernt's questions