Death by Negligence: How Harare City Council Turned a Sewage Pool into a Mass Grave
ZimRights Press Statement on avoidable loss of life
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) issues this statement with grief, anger, and an unequivocal demand for accountability. Yesterday, the 8th of June 2026, three people were found dead in an open, muddy sewage pool in Budiriro 3, Harare. This a pool left uncovered and unguarded by City of Harare workers who had been working on a sewer line in the area known as KwaMiki.
Among the dead is a young girl who had reportedly disappeared the previous evening while walking to local shops. Also among the dead is an older man and a young man who sank into the pool while walking from the shops. When emergency services arrived and a rescue diver entered the pool in search of the young man, the diver instead retrieved one body, then another, and only on the third attempt the body of the young man, meaning that this death trap had been silently claiming lives even before the alarm was raised!
These were ordinary people going about the ordinary business of their lives. They were not warned. They were not protected. They were not considered. The City of Harare left an open sewage pool in a residential neighbourhood and walked away!
A PATTERN OF DEATH
This is not an isolated tragedy. It is the latest chapter in a long and bloody record of institutional negligence by the City of Harare. Two workers. Mr. Peter Mupinga and Mr. Steven Mangombe died on 31 August 2025 at the Firle Sewage Treatment Plant in Glenview after inhaling toxic gases, with testimonies confirming that workers routinely operate in dangerous conditions without any protective gear. Three more employees subsequently died at the Morton Jaffray Water Works near Norton after entering a decommissioned clarifier where toxic gases had built up, with one worker going in first and two colleagues following in a futile attempt to help. These incidents brought the total number of occupational fatalities in a single quarter to five. And now, three residents of Budiriro are dead because a council work site was left open, unmarked, and unattended in the middle of a community.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission has itself warned, at one point, that this reflects a troubling pattern of negligence and a concerning disregard for human dignity and life within municipal governance, and has affirmed that the right to life under Section 48 of Zimbabwe’s Constitution is the supreme right and must be protected. ZimRights stands firmly on that position, and adds that hollow investigations and performative condolences are no longer welcome!
A local authority that leaves open sewage pools in residential streets, sends workers into toxic confined spaces without PPE, and responds to death after death with investigations that produce no consequences, is not governing. It is gambling with human lives, and losing, every time!
ZIMRIGHTS HEREBY DEMANDS
- Immediate site inspection and remediation of all open trenches, manholes, and sewer excavation sites across Harare, with barricading, lighting, and hazard signage installed without delay. No council work site should be left open and unguarded in any residential area.
- An urgent and independent criminal investigation into the Budiriro deaths. The families of the young girl, the older man, and the young man who died this morning deserve not condolences, but justice. Those responsible for leaving that pool open must be identified and prosecuted.
- Full accountability for the deaths the three residents who died in Budiriro represent a body count that demands more than deliberation. It demands action.
- Full and transparent engagement with the bereaved families of all those who have lost their lives, both workers and residents, with just compensation processed without bureaucratic delay or obstruction.
ZimRights extends its deepest and most sincere condolences to every family that has suffered loss at the hands of this negligence. A young girl going to the shops. Young men walking home. Workers reporting for duty. None of them should have died. All of them deserved better from those entrusted to run this city!
The blood on City of Harare’s Hands demands accountability!
Issued by
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights)
Information Department
Website: www.zimrights.org.zw
