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The Coronavirus Pandemic Isn’t Creating New Problems for Mat’land — It’s Exacerbating Long-ignored Ones


BULAWAYO, The Citizen Bulletin, Sept. 12, 2020 (EDITORIAL)—The Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has not created new problems for Matabeleland but has intensified long existing ones— most of which our government has been ignoring. In this editorial, we speak against child labour in hazardous environments — the mines, an issue which has been happening in Matabeleland South for more than six years now.


Dear Mat’land Readers,

As many parts of the economy and our social spaces begin to gradually reopen, the public shouldn’t fall into complacency. This is not the end of the Phoenix. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is still with us. This is despite the fact that government authorities recently reported a drop in the number of people testing positive to COVID-19 in our country, gazetting relaxed restrictions to contain the health crisis.

 As the end of the pandemic looks nigh, its effects will stay with our communities for several months if not years. Already, in many parts of Matabeleland, communities are suffering existing challenges that have been exacerbated by the emergence of COVID-19. As we report in one of our stories; in Matobo, villagers’ fight against COVID-19 is hamstrung by water scarcity.

This is not a new problem. But certainly in the midst of the pandemic, the issue has degenerated into a bigger challenge as a result of the emergent need for clean water to frequently wash hands as advised by health experts. To make matters worse, authorities have failed to urgently address the problem as their focus shifts towards fighting the virus.

While the fight against COVID-19 is important, authorities must be reminded that our local communities were already bedeviled by a coterie of challenges before the onset of the pandemic. We therefore, urge the powers that be to urgently address these long-ignored challenges with the same vigor they are fighting COVID-19.

As local schools prepare to reopen, we hope that in some parts of the region where one of our stories surfaces reports of child labour in mines, those involved will set free the children so that they return to school—where they belong. We also urge authorities to take immediate action and bring culprits to account as it is against the law to engage minors in forced employment.

 As we strive to consistently bring you hard hitting hyperlocal stories from Matabeleland, we invite local community organizations and news outlets to partner with us. At The Citizen Bulletin, we believe that building a collaborative ecosystem is the holy grail for sustainable local news. By building a functional ecosystem together we can eliminate news deserts and serve our communities better with high-quality and high-impact journalism. By collaborating, we can do more together than we can do apart, and we become more efficient.

It is against this milieu that we recently hired an Audience Engagement Reporter to help us grow our audiences and build mutually beneficial community partnerships and collaborations. We want our work to have a lasting impact and for us, this approach is a panacea for becoming more effective.

If you would like to partner with us you can send a message via our WhatsApp line +263 71 863 6460. Alternatively, you can email our editorial team at   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We hope you will enjoy this edition and share widely with members of our communities who care about local news and find our stories helpful indriving public conversations on important community issues.

Yours sincerely,
The Editorial Team