The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has delivered a scathing indictment of the government’s handling of the country’s deepening water and sanitation crisis, warning that collapsing infrastructure, unchecked pollution and official inaction are exposing millions of Zimbabweans to disease, poverty and environmental disaster.
In a strongly worded Africa Day statement released on 25 May 2026, the rights organisation said the continued failure to guarantee access to clean water and proper sanitation amounted to a violation of fundamental constitutional rights, including the rights to health, life and human dignity.
ZLHR said Zimbabwe’s worsening public health emergencies were no longer isolated incidents but clear evidence of systemic neglect and policy failure.
The organisation pointed to recent cholera outbreaks in Zvishavane, persistent sewage spills contaminating Lake Chivero, prolonged water shortages in Bulawayo and dangerous mercury pollution at Lake Alexander near Mutare as symptoms of a country sliding deeper into a national water catastrophe.
According to ZLHR, mercury contamination in Lake Alexander has reached alarming levels, with recorded concentrations nearly 45 times above the nationally accepted safety limit, largely due to uncontrolled artisanal mining activities operating with little oversight.
The rights body warned that communities are being forced to consume unsafe water while authorities fail to enforce environmental protections or invest meaningfully in critical infrastructure.
“Access to safe and clean water is not a privilege but a constitutional right,” ZLHR said, adding that the state has a legal and moral obligation to protect citizens from preventable health hazards caused by contaminated water and failing sanitation systems.
The organisation accused authorities of failing to hold polluters accountable, particularly over the continued discharge of raw sewage into Lake Chivero, one of Harare’s main water sources.
ZLHR urged the government to immediately prosecute companies and local authorities responsible for polluting water bodies, halt the issuance of mining licences in sensitive catchment areas and prioritise investment in modern water treatment and sanitation systems.
The organisation also warned that women, children and vulnerable communities are bearing the brunt of the crisis, often travelling long distances to access unsafe water supplies while facing heightened health and economic risks.
Citing Section 77 of the Constitution, ZLHR stressed that every Zimbabwean has the right to safe, clean and potable water, and said the government cannot continue hiding behind resource constraints while basic services deteriorate.
“Protecting these rights is essential to building a peaceful, inclusive and prosperous Africa envisioned under Agenda 2063,” the organisation said.
ZLHR’s statement comes amid growing concern over deteriorating urban infrastructure, recurring disease outbreaks and rising environmental degradation across Zimbabwe, with critics increasingly blaming poor governance, weak regulation and years of underinvestment for the country’s mounting water crisis.
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