susceptible to perennial flooding. The communities have not relocated from the flood zones because they do not want to abandon ancestral origins/graves. A majority of them belong to the San community that do not build permanent structures with strong foundations, hence their vulenrability. The affected households who were obliged/forced to flee their homes or places of habitual residence constructed temporary/permanent structures a few metres from the destroyed shelters, thus remaining exposed to perennial floods. The worst hit areas included Butabubili, Gariya, Dzokotsi, Mtshina, Sandawana, Sasedza, Kalave in Ward eight and Mahlaba, Mapili, Mahlosi, Mbanyana, Matupula, Mbamba and Jimila in Ward six. Ward eight dominated by the San community was affected by flooding caused by the spilling Gariya Dam while in ward six flooding was impacted by two overflowing rivers, Gwayi and Zumbani. Pre-site visit engagements/preparations The ZHRC delegation made an official visit to the Minister of State for the Province of Matabeleland North, Honourable Cain Matema as part of its pre-site visit preparations. The objective of the meeting was largely to gather information about situation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) soon after the floods vis-a-vis their status quo and what measures the State and other stakeholders took to achieve sustainable solutions in respect of the IDPs. The Honourable Minister highlighted that the response had been over whelming as assistance to the affected people still continued to come almost after a year the floods occurred. He reiterated his delight with the response to the floods and the collaboration between the State and other stakeholders but he however highlighted that they should not be seen re-acting to floods but be pro-active. Further, the Honourable Minister informed the ZHRC delegation that the floods had destroyed houses and prevented children from attending school and that one life was lost due to the floods. Cattle were not affected. The dialogue between the ZHRC delegation and the Honourable Minister revealed that a regular and intelligible pattern had been observed that almost every 5 years Page 5 of 22