AS Zimbabwean communities celebrate the new rainy season, described by weather authorities as normal to above-normal, the excitement continues to elude communities in Mberengwa that remain literally "dry" and "thirsty".
According to the Mberengwa climate summary, located at an elevation of 1 326,23 metres above sea level, the district has a subtropical steppe climate.
The district's yearly temperature is 24.28ºC (75.7ºF) and it is 1,55% higher than Zimbabwe's averages, while Mberengwa typically receives about 83,99 millimetres (3,31 inches) of precipitation and has 93,24 rainy days (25,55% of the time) annually.
The conditions indicate that most communities in the district continue to struggle when they need adequate water, with the situation worsening during dry seasons.
Sandawana Mines, a division of the Kuvimba Mining House (KMH), has launched a programme to drill solar-powered boreholes to quench the thirst of Mberengwa.
According to Sandawana Mines general manager Godwill Gambiza, the company spent US$475 000, part of it going into the rural community, with all three boreholes reaching a depth of 100 litres of guaranteed water.
Speaking during the commissioning of one of the three solar-powered Maringambizi community boreholes at Maringambizi Secondary School, villagers applauded the mine for coming to their rescue.
Sandawana plans to establish 16 solar-powered boreholes for the communities surrounding its area of operation with two boreholes already installed in Matanga village in ward 30 and at Cross in ward 29 both under Chief Mahlebadza's area.
Village head Matanga said villagers were walking long distances to fetch water and were unable to engage in commercial activities such as market gardening.
"For many years, we have been struggling to find water for our domestic activities, we are happy that Kuvimba Mining House, through Sandawana Mine, has come to our rescue," he said.
"We plan to start various projects, including market gardening, because over the years it was very difficult to do so since we did not have accessible water."
Maringambizi Secondary School headmaster Tauyanavo Chinyoka said the solar-powered borehole was a life-changing development for the school that could see them engaging in activities that needed water.
"We have not been doing agriculture, especially the practical aspect, but because of this development, we are going to transform our agriculture department by introducing several projects, such as horticulture and even animal aspects, because we now have plenty of water at the school," he said.
"Our agriculture department was defunct because we had insufficient water at the school. So, going forward, we are going to implement a number of these projects."
Chinyoka said though the school had a borehole, it was shallow and not yielding much water for the various projects they intended to undertake.
He said villages surrounding the school would benefit from the borehole at the school.
Form 3 learner, Marian Moyo, said the availability of water was expected to enhance their learning activities at the school, especially in agriculture and science subjects.
"The solarised borehole water will help us tremendously in our learning practices, especially in agriculture. We were not able to grow crops because of inadequate water sources," she said.
Sandawana Mine is also engaged in various corporate social investment projects, including road repair, that is, upgrading of the 60-kilometre gravel road between the mine and the main highway, which is almost 75% complete.
"We will continue to work on the remaining works, such as painting of schools, replacement of doors and door frames to comply with safety standards, and, if necessary, on emergency exits and water provision," mine manager Gambiza said.
He said Sandawana was also supporting the Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (Rida) to repair its road maintenance equipment, while providing fuel to facilitate continual road maintenance in the community.
"We are now mobilising road equipment to start work on the 63-kilometre section in fulfilment of the commitment made at the stakeholder meeting at Mberengwa offices on September 24," Gambiza said.
"Repairs to the Rida grader have now been completed. Last but not least, I urge you all to guard against malicious social media reports that seek to derail the social cohesion we enjoy and the achievements made today.
Meanwhile, KMH also revealed that the US$270 million lithium processing plant to be established at Sandawana is awaiting Cabinet approval before breaking ground in the first quarter of 2026.
KMH chief executive officer Trevor Barnard told a company strategy launch meeting recently that all build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreements with international investors have been finalised.
"Most important condition precedent is that we need this project to be approved by the Cabinet of Zimbabwe, and we are working very hard towards that together with all the different government agencies to get to that point so that this project is then approved and can move forward," he said.
"Once we have got that approval, the rest will all fall in place and we are hoping then that we can start construction early next year."
Once operational, the plant is projected to produce over 500 000 tonnes of lithium concentrate annually, a figure Barnard says the mine will exceed.
The development will tap into Sandawana's estimated 100 million tonnes of lithium ore, which ranks as the fifth-largest known lithium reserve in the world.
The project is also aligned with the government's beneficiation policy, with a planned second phase to produce lithium sulphate, a more value-added product essential for the electric vehicle battery supply chain.
Barnard outlined an aggressive timeline, targeting the start of construction within the next four to six months, pending approval, adding that earthworks would commence immediately and the plant would be commissioned either in the first or second quarter of 2027.
The project is structured as a BOT agreement, meaning international partners will finance, construct and initially operate the
facility.
After a period during which loans are repaid and local staff are trained, full ownership and operational control will transfer to KMH.