Zimbabwe : Harare Water Pollution Crisis a Looming Public Health Time Bomb

By Nevison Mpofu

HARARE — Harare’s failure to provide clean, safe and potable water is deepening a pollution crisis that residents’ groups warn could become a major public health and environmental disaster unless authorities move swiftly to address failing sewer systems, industrial effluent and weak enforcement of environmental laws.

Despite repeated efforts by the city authorities to address the capital’s water challenges, pollution of key water sources remains a serious concern. The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) says continued contamination violates residents’ constitutional rights to safe water and a clean environment.

Speaking to journalists at the organisation’s offices in Harare, CHRA Director Reuben Akili said public health was being heavily compromised by the continued contamination of water sources.

“Water pollution in Harare is largely driven by industrial non-compliance with environmental laws and the absence of pre-waste treatment facilities for industrial waste,” Akili said.

He also pointed to the deterioration and malfunction of Harare’s sewer infrastructure, warning that the collapse of critical systems was worsening pollution and compounding the capital’s long-running water crisis.

“There is massive deterioration and malfunction of sewer systems in Harare. This has worsened water pollution, a scenario looming over the city’s water challenges,” he said.

Akili accused some industries of continuing to violate environmental regulations by discharging effluent without adequate treatment. He said companies were failing to install and properly use pre-treatment facilities before releasing waste into municipal sewer systems, as required under Zimbabwe’s environmental laws.

“Industries continue to violate environmental regulations by failing to install pre-treatment facilities and utilise pre-treatment facilities before discharge of effluent into municipal sewer systems as required by the Environmental Management Act, Chapter 20:27, Section 59,” he said.

Beyond industrial non-compliance, Akili said Zimbabwe’s broader regulatory and institutional framework for controlling water pollution remained weakened by fragmented legislation, poor oversight and limited coordination among responsible authorities.

“There are critical gaps within Zimbabwe’s regulatory and institutional framework governing water pollution control. These include fragmented legislation, weak regulatory oversight, overlapping institutional mandates, limited stakeholder coordination and weak enforcement mechanisms,” he said.

According to Akili, the combined effect of these failures has undermined equitable, efficient and quality water delivery, leaving residents exposed to mounting environmental and public health risks.

He argued that although Zimbabwe has laws intended to control pollution, serious gaps remain in implementation and enforcement. Existing penalties, he said, often fail to reflect the scale of environmental damage caused by polluters.

“Despite the existence of legal provisions on pollution, there are still significant implementation and enforcement gaps. A case in point is that polluter permit fees and fines are often not commensurate with environmental damage caused,” Akili said.

He also questioned whether revenue collected through pollution-related penalties was being effectively channelled into environmental restoration, remediation and preventive measures.

“Revenue generated from these penalties is not effectively directed towards pollution remediation, environmental restoration and prevention measures,” he said.

Akili warned that the current system may, in practice, make pollution cheaper than compliance for some industries, weakening incentives to invest in proper waste-treatment infrastructure.

“In Zimbabwe, it is often cheaper for industries to pollute rather than comply with environmental water laws,” he said.

He further raised concern over discretionary powers granted to environmental officers in assessing penalties, arguing that the system could create inconsistencies, weaken deterrence and open room for abuse.

“Discretionary powers granted to environmental officers in assessing penalties create room for inconsistencies, weak deterrence and potential abuse. This leads to penalties that are disproportionate to levels of environmental harm caused,” Akili said.

The result, he warned, is a cycle in which industries can continue polluting while paying relatively small penalties that do little to force meaningful compliance.

“Consequently, industries continue polluting while simply paying nominal fees that fail to incentivise compliance,” he said.

For Harare residents already grappling with unreliable water supplies and deteriorating sanitation infrastructure, the warning is stark. Without stronger enforcement of environmental laws, rehabilitation of sewer systems, tougher action against industrial polluters and sustained investment in water infrastructure, the capital’s pollution crisis risks becoming an even greater threat to public health and the environment.