Zimbabwe and South Africa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday, March 14, to combat water scarcity in Musina.
The agreement centers on supplying water from Beitbridge, a town in Zimbabwe, to Musina, a neighboring South African town. According to ZimLive, the MoU was formalized between Anxious Masuka, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development, and Senzo Mchunu, South Africa’s Minister of Water and Sanitation.
Under this MoU, around 15 million cubic meters of treated water per day will be transported from the Beitbridge water treatment works in Zimbabwe to Musina in South Africa via a 20-kilometer pipeline.
Musina, housing an estimated population of 132,000 spread across 192 villages, currently faces challenges with water scarcity, relying predominantly on borehole water.
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The South African Department of Water and Sanitation has expressed optimism that the agreement will substantially enhance Musina’s water supply.
The infusion of freshwater from Beitbridge WTW is anticipated to alleviate the water shortages experienced in Musina. Despite the Beitbridge Water Treatment Plant having the capability to produce 35 million cubic meters per annum (96 Ml/day), it is presently underutilized within Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa are all participants of the Limpopo Watercourse Commission, an entity established to oversee shared water resources among these four nations.