Taps in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, are running dry even though the city's main supply dams are more than 60% full, according to figures from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa). With more than half of Harare's three million inhabitants now experiencing water shortages, residents are resorting to desperate measures to find supplies.Carrying a large bucket to work has become a daily task for Tedious Marembo, employed as a cleaner at a block of government offices in the city. This building is never without water, because it houses three government ministries. So Marembo fills his bucket at work to provide water for his wife and two children who live in Kuwadzana, a poor suburb in the south-west of Harare. "My wife has to walk a long distance to get water at a church in my neighbourhood where a borehole was sunk, [and] she has to pay Z$50 000 for a bucket. The only way I can help her cope with household chores is to carry with me a 20-litre bucket to bring water from my workplace," he said.
At the official exchange rate, Z$50 000 is worth $200; at the black-market rate, however, it would only buy 36 US cents at the time of writing. On average, civil servants earn four million Zimbabwe dollars -– a little over $22 per month, at unofficial rates.