Questions are still being asked 10 years on about why a preventable disease keeps recurring. The answer is evident during a quick tour of the affected suburbs.
Dotted around Glen View, you hear and see gurgling streams of what looks like water. But the stench is a giveaway that this is in fact waste from burst and blocked sewage pipes.
Stagnant pools of sewage have been allowed to collect in front of homes. Children play nearby.
Health authorities say that blocked sewers left unattended have contaminated water supplies. Health Minister Obadiah Moyo blames the opposition-run city council for the crisis. He says the blocked pipes were reported months ago but never fixed.
New Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube lays out his plan September 9, 2018
Prioritising macroeconomic stability and building… September 7, 2018
“As the health ministry we will not allow the city to sit on the their laurels,” he told reporters after touring a health facility.
But the problem runs deeper.
For years, refuse collection has been erratic with mounds piling up around most of Harare. Tap water supplies have also been unpredictable.
It has forced citizens to dig their own shallow wells and boreholes. Many of these have since tested positive for cholera.
The water infrastructure has been left to decay for decades. Water pipes are cracked, rotting and need to be replaced.
As a stop-gap measure, the new finance minister Mthuli Ncube has created an emergency crowdfunding campaign to fight the disease.
Some hail it as an innovative model to help overcome Zimbabwe’s many challenges. Many others believe it is an admission of failure from a government which they say has misplaced priorities.
They point to the government’s reported budget of $20m (£15m) worth of loans earmarked for new luxury vehicles for ministers.
As the blame-shifting continues, cholera rages on challenging President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
It is one of his biggest crises since coming into power last November and the outbreak leaves a dent in his efforts to attract investors.
An international book fair has already been cancelled, while vendors are being moved from the streets in a politically sensitive and potentially volatile move.
The International Committee of the Red Cross describes the situation as incredibly complex. A double blow, as most of the areas affected had already been battling typhoid – another waterborne disease.
Fixing the water system will mean fixing the economy first, following years of economic decline under former President Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabwe spends more than 80% of its revenue on civil servants’ salaries, leaving little left for anything else.
The Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) estimates that the country needs to invest $26bn (£20bn) over a period of 10 years to upgrade its infrastructure.
This is money the country does not have, and it is unable to borrow it from the IMF or World Bank until it settles its arrears.
Already businesses and churches have stepped in to try and stem the crisis, by paying for water deliveries, buckets and water treatment tablets.
But without a long-term plan, financial investment and above all political will, this preventable disease will return again and again to claim more victims.
BBC