ActionAid International Southern Africa Partnership Programme (SAPP-Zimbabwe) 2.3.4 Victoria Falls Victoria Falls town is located near the famous Victoria Falls. This is a main tourist resort. The main activity that provides jobs to the residents of the town is tourism. In the 1990s this was the fastest growing industry in Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls is home to an estimated 9,652 households with a total population of 31,375. Victoria Falls has 11 administrative wards and of these 7 are high density suburbs. The mayor for Victoria Falls is from ZANU (PF). 2.3.5 Beitbridge Beitbridge is a border town located in the southern part of Zimbabwe. Beitbridge is the busiest border post in Zimbabwe, as this is the gateway to South Africa. Beitbridge town is home to 54,212 individuals. The main livelihood activities are associated with service provision for clearing agencies as well as civil servants. 2.3.6 Kariba Kariba town is situated next to Zimbabwe’s largest man made dam – Kariba. This is a prime tourist attraction. Furthermore, fishing companies are located in the area offering locals employment. Kariba is along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. 34,654 individuals reside in Kariba. The incumbent mayor for Kariba is from MDC. 2.4 Limitations of the survey The “Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order” survey has several limitations which must be considered when interpreting and using the results to judge the impact of the Operation. First and foremost, the time frame covering the survey is approximately 3 months after the first documented demolitions. Many changes may have taken place between the survey data collection, entry and report write-up. Thus there may be real changes taking place that will not be revealed by the household survey alone. For this reason it is important to also consider contextual information as well as qualitative information collected. Additional limitations are captured below were noted by the team: ✓ Survey coverage: Initially, ActionAid wanted to collect as much information possible from all residents of the affected areas in Zimbabwe, however, fuel, money, researcher safety and manpower were limiting. Therefore rural areas were not sampled. ✓ Comprehensive information: The information collected in the questionnaire is not comprehensive, due to the debate between coverage (numbers) and in-depth interview (detailed analysis), a compromise was therefore the one third sample. Additional information such as access to ART, HBC and health services were only covered in the other 5 surveyed areas except for Harare. However, data on mobility and migration were not captured. ✓ Access to holding camps: This survey did not take place in the holding camps and informal settlements an area that has a considerable number as well as those that are extremely vulnerable. Access to holding camps would have been denied, hence missing important information on the demographics. It is also in these where relief support has been largely centred. ✓ Delayed implementation of the survey: The late implementation of the survey, first demolition started on 18 May 2005, and this report is out exactly 90 days after the first demolition (time lapse). ✓ The time frame: Like all studies conducted over a short period of time the final product is a mere snapshot of the bigger picture. While every effort has been made to paint as accurate a picture as possible of the household impact of the Zimbabwe Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order National Survey Report 6

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