Abstract
Extreme weather patterns have become an inconvenient reality in contemporary times and coping strategies reveal entrenched social inequalities. This article focuses on how extreme heat impacts different populations located in different socio-economic spaces in the border town of Beitbridge in Zimbabwe. The study is based on qualitative data drawn from key informant interviews, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in Beitbridge. The structural violence lens is used to analyse how social inequalities disproportionately affect exposure and adaptation to extreme heat among different residents in a single town. Findings reveal that structural factors including unequal income, water and energy distribution across different socio-economic spaces condition people's (in)ability to cope with extreme heat. The study further revealed a lack of significant attention to extreme heat at the institutional level. Therefore, the article proposes for earnest political will and policies to address extreme heat.
Introduction
Over the past years, global temperatures have continued to soar, raising concerns over the safety of the planet and the need to understand and adapt to climate change induced extreme heat (Hamstead, 2024; WMO, 2024). The urban heat island effect (whereby urban temperatures increase due to human activity) has been identified as the major cause of heatwaves in urban areas worldwide, which is concerning given the rapid urbanisation globally, including in Zimbabwe. As such, studies on extreme heat and its impact on societies, including on everyday lives, are increasing (Mishra, 2015; Pasquini et al., 2020; Russo et al., 2016). Much of the work focusses on the scientific aspect of heat whilst paying less attention to the social issues of heat including adaptation strategies (Iyakaremye et al., 2021; Iyakaremye et al., 2022; Nangombe et al., 2019; Vincent et al., 2013).
This study helps to fill this gap by analysing how urban inequalities disproportionately affect urban residents living in the same town, including their ability to cope with extreme heat. It demonstrates that some residents living in affluent suburbs are better positioned to adapt than those in the western, low-income suburbs. The study uses qualitative research conducted in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe, to understand residents’ subjective narratives of how extreme heat influences their everyday social practices. It contributes to the growing literature on extreme heat by focussing on extreme heat exposure and coping strategies employed by people located in different socio-economic urban spaces. Using the structural violence lens, the article further examines how spatial inequalities are grounded in (historically entrenched) social inequalities that accord different residents different adaptation strategies. Detailed focus is paid to unequal water access, cooling strategies, housing inequalities and livelihoods in the two neighbourhoods and to agencies employed by different residents to deal with extreme heat. The study recommends a structural approach to extreme heat adaptation.
The article is structured as follows: The next section situates the context of the study. This is followed by an overview of the theoretical analysis underpinning the study. A historicised background of spatial urban inequalities in Zimbabwe comes next, followed by the methodology section. Empirical findings and a discussion follow thereafter before the article's conclusion.
Understanding the Study Context
Extreme heat is considered an emerging natural hazard, yet documentation and recording of the phenomena can be traced to the beginning of the twentieth century (Hamstead, 2024; Khandekar et al., 2023, Martínez-Austria and Bandala, 2018). Conceptually, extreme heat is often used interchangeably with the term heat wave. The World Meteorological Organisation defines a heat wave as “a period of marked and unusually hot weather persisting for at least two consecutive days” (WMO 2023:5). Hayhoe et al. (2010: 69) submit that a heat wave “is characterised by at least 7 consecutive days with maximum daily temperatures greater than 32 °C (90 °F) and night-time minimum temperatures greater than 21 °C (70 °F), with daytime maximum temperatures over 38 °C (100 °F) and night-time temperatures that remained above 27 °C (80 °F) for at least two of those day”. This article adopts the Hayhoe et al., (2010) definition of extreme heat, given that the maximum daily temperatures in Beitbridge often exceed 32 °C during summertime (Mupangwa et al. 2011:1098).
Global increase in temperatures by 2.5 degrees Celsius since the preindustrial level has affected an estimated 1 billion people worldwide (WMO, 2024). The global temperature increases induced heat stress is felt more in tropical and subtropical low and middle -level income countries (Andrews, Le Quéré, Kjellstrom, Lemke and Haines, 2018), especially in Pakistan and central North Africa. Projections show that central and Southern Africa, southern America, south Asia and the Middle East are more likely to be affected as temperatures continue to increase (Andrews et al., 2018). The global North has not been spared from extreme heat either. Studies in the United States testify to realities of extreme heat particularly in the southern states (from California to Florida) (Zhang and Shindell, 2021). Unprecedented heat waves and record hot temperatures have also hit most parts of Europe. According to the European Union's Corpenicus Climate Change Service, the planet continues to record its hottest day since the beginning of 2024 including in Europe, Africa and Asia.
Africa is considered one of the most vulnerable weather and climate variable regions in the world (Iyakaremye et al., 2022; Iyakaremye et al., 2021). Extreme heat affects humans, the environment and development and puts African communities at great risk. Not only are weather and climate highly variable in the region, but Sub-Saharan Africa has also witnessed an increase in heat in the past two decades (Ceccherini et al., 2017), which has exacerbated vulnerability (Kunda et al., 2024). However, extreme heat is often seen as “normal” by African governments, and the general perception is that people have adapted to and can cope with it (Vincent et al., 2013). Resultantly, extreme heat has received inadequate attention, thriving as a silent killer (Amegah et al., 2016), with claims that Africa is already a hot continent used to justify the neglect of actual heat waves, associating them with normal conditions (Manyuchi et al. 2022). Therefore, there is a crucial need to engage with and learn from affected communities as an entry point to understanding complex extreme heat impacts in Africa. Literature and research around extreme heat in Africa are still relatively limited but are expected to expand as people seek tools for heat adaptation and mitigation (Nangombe et al., 2019). As long as global warming continues, extreme heat is expected to become frequent and intense (Iyakaremye et al., 2022).
The study is informed by the growing realisation that Zimbabwe is witnessing unprecedented temperature increases in urban and rural communities. Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries have been witnessing an increase in the annual temperatures of between 0.2°C and 0.5°C from the annual mean/max (Young et al., 2010). Some communities in Zimbabwe average around 37°C (98.6 Fahrenheit) to 40°C (104 Fahrenheit) during the summer season leading to hot summer days and extremely dry winters (Chanza and Gundu-Jakarasi, 2020; Ngwenya et al., 2018), but heat waves have incessantly hit many parts of Zimbabwe in the past decade (2014–2024) (Sverdlik et al., 2024). For instance, on Wednesday 4 December 2024, Zimbabwe reported the following temperatures: Beitbridge was the highest with 44°C, Chiredzi 43°C, Kanyemba 42°C, Lupane 40°C, Gwanda 40°C (The Herald 5 December 2024) compared to the annual average temperature of 32.28°C (Dissanayake et al., 2025). The old-aged (over 65 years), children (0–12 years), women, people of colour, those from low-income areas, urbanites and ethnic minorities are more exposed to extreme heat effects due to inequalities and livelihoods (Andrews et al., 2018). As people are compelled to live with this rising heat levels, social realities must be reconfigured in Zimbabwe. These reconfigurations and coping strategies call for nuanced analysis.
Theorising Extreme Heat: A Structural Violence Lens
The study uses the concept of structural violence to show how structurally entrenched urban inequalities disproportionately expose residents in low versus high-density areas to the impacts of extreme heat and shape their capacity to adapt to climate crisis. The concept was coined by Nowergian sociologist Johann Galtung in 1969 to account for social suffering endured by marginalised groups in the post-World War Two era. Structural violence explains how social structures such as law, spatial arrangements, politics and policies are systematically designed to benefit the elite while disenfranchising, marginalising and endangering the lives of subaltern populations (Bonds, 2016). Such structures often harm vulnerable communities such as women, ethnic and sexual minorities, children, the poor, the uneducated, the unemployed and the disabled. The more one falls into these categories, the more they are exposed to structural violence. The harm or violence is often latent as there is no single person who directly harms another. Instead, “the violence is built into the structure and shows up as unequal power and consequently as unequal life chances” (Galtung 1969: 171) that are conditioned by an uneven resource distribution and lack of power over resource distribution. The theory can be employed to explain the socio-economic divide between rich and poor (decolonised) countries, radical black consciousness movements in the United States, industrial unrest and student protest (Bonds, 2016; Galtung, 1969). Structural violence is different from physical violence that can be photographed. It is instead hidden and can be political, economic and cultural. It is deeply entrenched in social systems and social processes and place a greater strain on some people's quality of life than others, for instance through malnutrition or unemployment (Kent, 2010). The theory has been used to show how institutionalised marginalisation worsened the lives of women with disabilities during COVID-19 restrictions (Chadambuka et al., 2024), to explain the child mortality, morbidity and malnutrition (Kent, 2010), and to uncover climate change injustice (Bonds, 2016).
In this article, we use the structural violence lens to analyse how colonially entrenched racial inequalities have been transformed into postcolonial class inequalities that manifest in unequal patterns of unemployment, informality and urban poverty (Kamete 2020; Moyo 2023; Ndhlovu and Matai 2019; Patel 1988). These inequalities produce an uneven distribution of resources such as land, housing, income and water, which in turn, result in unequal heat adaptation and coping strategies in Beitbridge town's high and low-density areas. The uneven distribution of resources becomes a salient form of structural violence exerted on the marginalised urban population.
Spatial Inequality and Historical Structural Violence in Zimbabwean Urban Contexts
Like most countries in Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa, Zimbabwean urban spaces are racialised, ethnicised and largely divided by class. Urbanisation in Zimbabwe is traceable to precolonial civilisation and ancient cities such as the Great Zimbabwe and Khami ruins (Chigudu, 2020; Patel, 1988). Such structures were built with spatial distributions in mind as the soldiers and royals occupied the most prestigious parts of the territory. The colonial project was to define, more clearly, the racialised and class-based space demarcation, and urban areas were created chiefly as white spaces, with Africans coming later as workers and occupying locations with inferior infrastructure (Patel, 1988). White people occupied the sparsely populated and clean, 1 eastern, low-density parts of town, away from industry and other undesirable features (Chigudu, 2020). White spaces were also accompanied by prestigious infrastructure including affluent schools, shopping centres, aquatics, big residential spaces, gardens, and health care facilities, and they also received the best services in terms of water, sewage, refuse collection and energy (Patel, 1988). Next to them were Asian and mixed race (coloured) places, which were inferior to those of white people but better serviced and with superior infrastructure compared to those of Africans (Muzondidya, 2007). To the western side of the cities/towns and usually adjacent to industrial areas were African locations which were the poorest in terms of infrastructure and services including for education and health, and had much smaller individual residential area size (Patel, 1988). Structural violence against the poor in present day Zimbabwe is therefore historically rooted in the colonial system.
The postcolonial African government that came into power in 1980 inherited the colonial segregationist system, which has since been reproduced along ethnic, class and gender distinctions (Patel, 1988). The new government's deliberate deracialisation policy brought to an end the segregationist stance towards Africans in urban centres, and unrestricted movement of Africans since independence resulted in massive African rural-urban migration. With many white people leaving the country particularly after the Fast Track Land Reform Program, urban spatial inequalities have become more pronounced on class and income status (Chigudu, 2020). For instance, residential stands in high-density suburbs are generally limited to only 70 to 200m2, while in medium density suburbs residential stands cover between 300 and 500m2 with low density stands covering 800–2000m2 (Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing 2004). These spatial differences have considerable implications for heat adaptation and coping strategies. The current problems endemic in Zimbabwe's urban areas, particularly high density urban areas, are summarised by Munzwa and Wellington (2010:139) as ranging from municipal councils’ financial bankruptcy, which makes them unable to develop and maintain existing infrastructure; inefficiency in the transport system; environmental pollution and degradation; and failure to attract investment for job creation. All of these factors further impact heat coping strategies. This article considers how these various forms of structural violence affect the lives of the vulnerable poor within the context of extreme heat.
Methodology and Study Site
This study was conducted in Beitbridge, a border town between Zimbabwe and South Africa. Beitbridge is located in South Western Zimbabwe, and it is one of Zimbabwe's hottest borderlands (see Fig. 1). Beitbridge town residential areas are divided into two main parts, low-density and high-density suburbs. From the map (Fig. 1), the left side of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway Road constitutes the high-density suburbs whilst the right side of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway Road mainly consists of the low-density suburbs. Beitbridge town is under Beitbridge district which constitutes the urban and the rural areas. The district has a total population of 94,000 comprising 44,358 men and 49,642 women (ZimStats, 2022). Beitbridge was purposively sampled because it is a borderland and also one of the most arid districts in Zimbabwe, characterised by low rainfall, longer dry seasons, and extreme hot temperatures. The district has been negatively impacted by climate change with the summer season becoming hotter and longer and winter warmer (Mupangwa et al. 2011). Extreme heat has become frequent in Beitbridge's Limpopo basin borderland (Matsa 2020). The temperature range (difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures) for Beitbridge increased from 1.4°C in the 1950s to 3.3°C in 2012 (Matsa and Dzawanda, 2019:7). Mean annual temperature for Beitbridge district is now between 25 and 27.5°C (Matsa and Dzawanda, 2019) with the average daily maximum temperatures varying from 30–34°C during summer to 22–26°C in winter (Mupangwa et al. 2011:1098). Climate variability has also resulted in seasonal changes with the month of February becoming colder compared to the traditional June and July cold spells that used to characterise weather patterns in Beitbridge and the rest of Zimbabwe. The months of July and June are now warmer (Matsa and Dzawanda, 2019). Resultantly, the soaring temperatures and worsening climatic conditions in Beitbrigde resulted in the district being re-classified from Natural Region V to Natural Region Vb in 2020 (Manatsa et al. 2020). 2
Map of Beitbridge, Zimbabwe.
Map description: The left side of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway Road constitutes the high-density suburbs whilst the right side of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway Road consists of the low-density suburbs.
The study adopted a qualitative methodology which captured the voices, perceptions, lived experiences and meanings attached to extreme heat. Data were collected using key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation. Twenty-six in-depth interviews (12 from the low-income high-density suburb and 14 from the high-income low-density suburb) were conducted with ordinary residents in the town. Data saturation was used to determine the number of participants interviewed. Two suburbs were targeted: Dulivhadzimu (representing high-density suburb) and Eastly (representing low-density suburbs). The Harare-Beitbridge Highway Road divides the two suburbs. The in-depth interviews elicited subjective narratives on experiencing extreme heat. Participation in the interviews was voluntary, and participants were purposively selected based on their residency (high or low density) in order to capture the different experiences in the different urban suburbs. The purposive sampling technique has limitations including the potential for bias and missing out on some information. Purposive samples have limited external validity because of poor generalizability. The sample does not adequately represent the diversity and variability of the larger population; therefore the results cannot be generalised to the wider/entire population but the (sub)population from which the sample was drawn.
Research questions that informed the data collection are available in the supplementary materials. We also conducted two key informant interviews with meteorological department and health department officials who were purposively sampled for their expert knowledge on heat related issues in their area of specialisation – meteorology and health, respectively. Focus group discussions were also adopted to understand how residents of Beitbridge perceive and experience extreme heat. The interactive nature of the focus group discussions engendered rich data as participants debated and guided each other on some of the issues. Two focus group discussions were conducted in a low density (with 8 women and 4 men) and a high-density suburb (with 6 women and 5 men). The study incorporated both men and women from low and high-density areas.
We also observed the ways of life of individuals working in heat-exposed spaces with few to no protective measures, exposed children playing and coming and going from school, housing setups, vegetation and environment, and water supply mainly from individual vendors. The observations reinforced some of the contributions forwarded by the participants during focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The fieldwork took place between August and October 2022. Data were analysed through thematic analysis, which involved interpreting words, events, activities and emotions as they are communicated by participants. Secondly, data was coded with an understanding of the context in which it was collected. Formal ethical clearance for the research was obtained from the Midlands State University, ethics clearance number SS/002/22.
Findings
Extreme Heat in Beitbridge
Most participants highlighted that extreme heat is a historical reality in Beitbridge with temperatures steadily increasing over the years although they also noted the 2021–2022 season had been characterised by a colder winter. The meteorological department also confirmed the rise in temperature. Although they did not have a definitive temperature for extreme heat, they noted that for Beitbridge district any temperature above 41 °C is considered extreme. The meteorological department official stated that: Mostly here temperatures usually exceed 40 °C in summer, and this is extreme. People find these temperatures as normal (John 2022). Here it is so hot that most of the time people think temperatures like 30 (°C) as hot but not that hot, and it appears like people are now used to high temperature (Chido 2022).
Urban Inequalities and Extreme Heat Exposure and Adaptation
Housing Inequalities and Exposure to Extreme Heat
Our research revealed that individual exposure to extreme heat across the town invariably differs due to structural inequalities that accord residents different housing and social amenities. The structure and infrastructure of Beitbridge town play a critical role on how extreme heat affects individuals. As described earlier, Beitbridge is composed of high and low-density areas that reflect class differences, a pattern typical of urban areas in Zimbabwe. The planning was inherited from the colonial system that not only racialised access to resources, but also racially segregated urban spaces in favour of white people, although this social differentiation of urban spaces is now more defined by class.
To the western side of Beitbridge are low-income high-density areas where a majority of the town's poor reside. The high-density residential areas are characterised by small residential stands, with some covering only 150m2. The houses in those suburbs are small and built of relatively cheap materials with small windows which allow for poor ventilation. This area also has a higher population density. In some households, six members may share a single room, while in others multiple households may occupy a few rooms. Participants pointed out that rentals are generally expensive in Beitbridge compared to other towns and cities in Zimbabwe, with the cheapest rooms going for more than USD60/month. Beitbridge also receives migrants from other parts of the country who throng the town for work, further exerting pressure on accommodations. As one participant noted: Most people are here for green pastures, not luxury. They want to save, so they normally rent single rooms in order to save money, so you will find that people here are overcrowded and the rentals are too expensive (Mary 2022).
When temperatures soar, people struggle in those overcrowded rooms.
The small stands in low-income areas also leave residents with no space to plant trees around their homes. Consequently, they do not have much-needed tree shades in the event of extreme heat. They are forced to depend on shade from buildings, especially their houses. However, participants noted that shade from buildings is unsustainable as it is not always available throughout the day. In addition, building walls emit heat, and this makes them uncomfortable in the event of heat stress. Conversely, in the eastern part of the town are the affluent low-density suburbs where high-income earners reside. These areas have bigger residential stands (ranging from 500 to more than 2000m2) and bigger houses, which accord the low-density area residents favourable living conditions including in extreme heat contexts. The big stands also allow residents in the affluent suburbs to grow trees, flowers and vegetables. This vegetation is pivotal in providing fresh air and shade. In the event of extreme heat, households with trees are in a better position to adapt as they can use the trees as shade to shelter themselves from the scorching heat outdoors unlike those in the high-density suburbs.
Cooling Systems and Practices
Extreme heat inherently calls for cooling strategies. Electric fans were one of the common cooling strategies used by participants in the low-income areas. The border town's proximity to South Africa makes it easy for residents to buy fans and other commodities there at a cheaper price than other parts of Zimbabwe. However, residents particularly those in the high-density suburbs complained that the erratic availability of electricity made it difficult to use their fans since they did not have alternative sources of energy to power the fans. Only three participants indicated that they had access to air conditioners at their workplace and none reported having an air conditioner at home, suggesting air conditioners are out of reach for the majority in Beitbridge. Some pointed out that they only come across air conditioners in upmarket shops and in the houses of a few relatives and friends who reside in the affluent suburbs. As one participant noted, “[A] car air conditioner is the only type I know, not that found in homes and offices. I have never visited any friend or relative with one at home or at work who owns an air conditioner” (Sihle 2022).
Swimming is another cooling strategy used to cope with extreme heat in Beitbridge. However, those from low-income households do not have swimming pools. They are short of space to construct swimming pools, and the majority cannot afford them. There was, however, a privately owned swimming pool in the low-density suburbs, which resident including those from the high-density suburbs, could access for USD3 per day. The cost made the pool out of reach for the majority of Beitbridge residents who are the low-income. As one participant explained: Swimming pools are there but they are for rich people. You can't waste money on swimming when you struggle to put food on the table. If you give your child a whole USD3 just to play in water, they will still come home demanding food that you already do not have. So, it's wiser to save that money and buy them basic food (Tawanda 2022).
Unequal Access to Water-Bathing and Drinking
In the absence of swimming pools and other coping strategies, high-density participants explained that they resorted to bathing twice a day when faced with extreme heat. Bathing was a cheaper alternative to pools given their limited availability and high prices. Participants also noted that they would put water in small dishes for their young ones to play in and cool their bodies when it gets extremely hot. However, persistent water cuts in the low-income areas, especially during the hot season when water is needed the most, made it difficult to use this strategy. When water is in short supply, it is prioritised for drinking and cooking and bathing ceases to be a priority. To save water, some respondents stated that they bathe with the same water at least twice before disposing of it, usually by flushing toilets. Both high and low-density residents also mentioned that they drink lots of water as a coping mechanism for cooling their bodies in the face of extreme heat. As one participant explained, “[W]hen it's very hot we survive through drinking lots of water and we also make sure that children and babies drink water constantly” (Jackie 2022).
Participants noted that they preferred drinking council water to borehole water as the latter was salty and thus not ideal for drinking. Because tap water is unreliable, it is usually stored in bulk for future use especially for drinking. As with access to other services, access to water in Beitbridge is highly unequal. Quite often residents in the western high-density suburbs were left with no option but to drink borehole water. Our study revealed that water council water provision was more consistent in the low-density areas and more erratic in the high-density areas. As one key informant stressed, “If I downplay water challenges in Beitbridge, the high-density residents will be on my case” (Gerald, Ministry of Health official, key informant, Beitbridge, October 2022).
The reliance on borehole water is not sustainable as some boreholes dry up during the dry season. As well, most households do not own private boreholes, hence they are forced to buy the water. Those who owned boreholes noted that the government ‘punishes’ them for drilling boreholes through mandatory water tariffs (Dube 2022). This is despite the fact that residents are forced to drill the boreholes because of the local authority's failure to provide adequate water.
The uneven distribution of council water between low-density and high-density areas perpetuates structural inequalities that are already entrenched in the town. Due to the salty nature of borehole water and the unavailability of tap water, high-density residents resort to buying council water from the low-density residents who have a more consistent access to council water. Some participants alleged that some town council employees connive with some low density residents who own water bowsers by cutting water from the high density suburbs so that the high density residents are left with no choice but to buy from what some called the ‘water barons’ (Anesu 2022). A 20-litre bucket of water costs USD.10 cents, an exorbitant price for most high-density suburb residents who mentioned that they require more than five buckets a day. Thus, low-density areas residents capitalise on the water challenges faced by high-density residents. In addition, the challenge of water is gendered, as the fetching of water is mainly done by women. It becomes a burden for women as it increases their workload. One woman from Dulivhadzimu noted that “they have to fetch for water from far boreholes that at times will not be constantly having water” (Jane 2022). Such narratives underscore the gendered vulnerabilities induced by extreme heat in Beitbridge.
Livelihoods and Extreme Heat
The study also revealed that different livelihoods strategies practiced among low-income earners invariably exposed participants to extreme heat. The informal sector thrives in Beitbridge as it is the country's busiest border town. The majority of the residents are in the informal sector, working as vendors, taxi drivers, clearing agents, cross border traders, money changers, hawkers and human traffickers (facilitating sporadic crossing into South Africa), among other professions. Most, if not all of the informal workers and some formal workers work outdoors, thus exposing themselves to direct sunlight and extreme heat. Informal economic activities in Beitbridge highlight the impact of embedded structural violence on unemployed and low-income residents. As one of the hawkers stated, “For us vendors it is difficult. We have to face the sun going around with our stuff because there is no other option but during the festive season we also work at night at the border” (Mike 2022).
In addition, another participant noted, “I spend the whole day sitting here at the rank and it will be hot despite having umbrellas. The sun will be scorching as if you are not covered a bit” (Buhle 2022). The excerpts highlight how informal economic activities expose citizens of Beitbridge to extreme heat. Most of vendors, for instance, sell fruit in open spaces such as car parks, at the border, along major roads, at shopping centres, near schools and in the residential areas. These areas generally lack trees for shade, and the local council has also failed to construct stalls for the informal traders. Thus, informal traders are left on their own. Moreover, we observed that there is a shortage of sheds for the outdoor workers. In some cases, the sheds hinder business as customers are usually in transit and/or moving around the town. Participants pointed out that they chose to endure the heat rather than seeking the shelter of a shed as that would result in them losing customers. As one vendor highlighted, “You need to brave the heat in order to gain more customers” (Gamu 2022). Other interview respondents, including those with chronic illnesses, noted that they avoided working in direct sunlight, opting to work in the morning and in the evening. However, they indicated that avoiding work in the afternoon robbed them of a chance to make more money.
Some participants involved in cross-border trading, buying products in the nearby South African border town of Mussina, pointed out that crossing the border is always difficult for them because of exposure to high temperatures in the long border queues. Yet, even these queues are preferrable to the heat risks that border crossers without proper documentation face. The majority of cross border traders lack required documents, particularly, the traveller's passport because of the high passport fees charged by the Zimbabwean government. These people are forced to cross into South Africa (illegally) via the Limpopo river. They are often assisted by the human traffickers (known as Maguma-guma in the vernacular) who ply the river for fees. The trips involve walking through the forest for more than 20km in the scorching heat, and participants reported being constantly dehydrated and exhausted due to the long distances and heat exposure.
Lack of Institutional Response
The study revealed an apparent lack of institutional intervention to deal with extreme heat in Beitbridge, and Zimbabwe as a whole. Our key informants explained that Zimbabwe does not have a (clear) response plan to deal with extreme heat. Instead, the government prioritises floods and cyclones, despite the fact those very disasters are related to extreme heat. The interview with the meteorological department, for instance, revealed that Beitbridge often experiences flash floods in the month of November when the district records its highest temperatures. Most ministries lack the capacity and resources required to address climate change in general and extreme heat in particular. The meteorological official stated: Government must build more shades at the rank like they did at the border post […] this office we can only advise because we do not have resources, but if we had vehicles we could go out and preach the gospel of extreme heat. We need vehicles for transport, fuel, and other resources (John 2022). The government seems to be ok with us burning [being exposed to heat] each year. I think they have come to the conclusion that it's normal and ok for us to experience heat so much that they seem unmoved. Yet we struggle each time from August. In fact, no one has come here to talk about it. You [the research team] are the first to talk to us about this topic (Jerry 2022).
Discussion: Extreme Heat and Structural Violence in Beitbridge
The absence of a national plan to deal with extreme heat despite its negative impacts in Beitbridge and other parts of the country, highlights how the structural violence of Zimbabwean state institutions, which undermine the life chances of Zimbabwean citizens, especially the poor who find it difficult to help themselves in the absence of external assistance. As scholars argue, there is a need for collective intervention by the government and development practitioners to address climate change (Mubaya and Mafongoya, 2017; Chanza and Gundu-Jakarasi, 2020).
The lack of attention to extreme heat by authorities is not peculiar to Zimbabwe; it has also been observed in other countries as well (Martínez-Austria and Bandala, 2018). Yet, as participants suggested, there is an urgent need to address this challenge given that temperatures keep rising. Residents showed agency by adopting strategies like drinking water, using shade, and avoiding work in direct sunlight, among others. Nonetheless, the government ought to take a lead on raising awareness of the causes and effects of extreme heat, as well as adaptation strategies. Authorities’ failure to address the realities and effects of extreme heat on should be read as climate and environmental injustice and as a form of structural violence against the residents of Beitbridge. The government of Zimbabwe must replicate other countries’ initiatives for dealing with extreme heat, such as the cooling system introduced in the southwest of the United States of America where it is estimated that that 97% of all occupied housing units have air conditioning (American Housing Survey, 2019). Montreal's program for reducing heat-related mortality among aged persons provides another example of a heat action plan designed to help vulnerable or marginalised individuals working and residing in heat-prone areas (Benmarhnia et al., 2016). Opening a dialogue on the devastating effects of extreme heat can help raise awareness of extreme heat and pave the way for participatory adaptation strategies that are cognisant of the specific needs and capabilities of the vulnerable.
Structural violence propagated through high unemployment rates and informality has become a norm in Zimbabwe (Magure, 2015; Rogerson, 2016; Kamete, 2020), forcing a majority of citizens, including those in Beitbridge to work outdoors in the informal sector. This economic system in turn exposes them to heat and its risks. The heat exposure caused by precarious livelihoods has also been observed in Zimbabwe by Ngwenya et al. (2018), who also recommend the need for shade cover. Authorities’ failure to address urban informality, employment shortages, and the need for protective working environments, such as shade for informal workers is the result of entrenched social inequalities that perpetuate structural violence against low-income citizens. The study also reviewed that the lack of travel documents due to poverty and alternative (safe) livelihoods is another form of structural violence that limits the options of the poor and, in the process, exposes them to extreme heat.
Structural violence is also shown in the manner in which some housing types, especially those occupied by the poor, tend to increase exposure to heat. The findings from Beitbridge align with the observation by Gabbe et al. (2023) and Stone et al. (2021) that the housing and structures available to low-income populations and general overcrowding expose individuals to urban heat, forcing people to adopt desperate measures such as sleeping in outdoors in dangerous conditions. As the present study also revealed, low-income areas have fewer trees, and they lack access to air conditioning. The apparent lack of institutional intervention in Beitbridge echoes Hamstead's (2024) findings on how residents of Buffalo, New York are affected by extreme heat and cold due to existing social inequalities. It is imperative that the Zimbabwean government, as well as other governments like that of New York, rethink urban planning such that low-income areas also become heat resilient.
The study also revealed that local authorities’ selective water provision violates residents’ right to clean and safe water. Prioritising the provision of water to high-income residents at the expense of low-income residential areas is a form of structural violence that perpetuates social inequalities between the better off and the poor. Beitbridge's low-income residents are forced to buy council water from the low-density residents when water should be provided to both areas. As the residents in the western suburbs struggle, those in the affluent eastern suburbs strive and sometimes profit from the desperation of the poor, for instance through selling council water to the western residents whose water provision is erratic. Thus low-density areas residents actually capitalise on the water challenges faced by high-density residents. More equal distribution would alleviate the heat burden on the poor. Most immediately, the government must drill more community boreholes in low-income areas like Dulivhadzimu; however, as noted above, longer-term the government needs to focus on providing regular access to high quality tap water and to accessible public pools for cooling. Lack of institutional intervention in these areas has left Beitbridge residents exposed to the debilitating impact of extreme heat.
Conclusion
Extreme heat in Beitbridge exposes deeply ingrained social inequalities. Different populations located in different socio-economic spaces are disproportionately exposed to extreme heat. Residents of higher income areas not only face fewer threats from extreme heat, but they also have more tools to adapt, including more access to shade, air-conditioning, and water. By contrast, residents of lower incomes areas face greater dangers because of their livelihoods, living conditions, and state neglect. Structural patterns including unequal income, urban land distribution, and water and energy distribution across different socio-economic spaces conditions people's (in)ability to cope with extreme heat. Structural violence as evidenced by unequal distribution of services between low and high-income residential areas in the town further exacerbates the already existing social inequalities. Thus, high-income earners (sometimes with the intervention of local authorities) tend to easily navigate their everyday life experiences within extreme heat whereas low-income households tend to struggle when navigating their daily practices within extreme heat. The study findings resonate with other studies in Zimbabwe that show how climate change disturbs livelihoods and the social lives of citizens (Bhatasara, 2017; Chanza and Gundu-Jakarasi, 2020).
The study suggests that governing institutions should reduce structural inequalities to allow urban citizens, particularly those living on the fringes, to cope with the impacts of extreme heat. The government needs to address income inequalities, increase the size of residential stands for the low-income sections of the urban areas so inhabitants can have more space for themselves, shade trees, or even swimming pools. In addition, the government needs to offer shade where people work and air conditioners for people working in the informal economy and outdoors. Other forms of institutional intervention to support communities affected by extreme heat are also possible. Finally, this article has demonstrated the need for more studies on how extreme heat impacts people's lives and how the risk of extreme heat can be utilised to prompt the adoption of new forms of climate-conscious urbanism.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank everyone who participated in this study.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Patience Chadambuka, upon reasonable request.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Ethical Approval and Informed Consent Statements
Participation in the interviews was voluntary and written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Formal clearance for the research was obtained from the Midlands State University, ethics clearance number SS/002/22.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the American Red Cross and the Global Disaster Preparedness Centre.
