A group of 24 ladies working in the Tshandama Arts Centre, owned by the Mutale Municipality, said their lives are always in danger because they are troubled by snakes, as the municipality does not deploy cleaners at the property.

The women have stalls in the property where they ply their trades, ranging from weaving to artificial flower production.

They say the property is full of bushes and they have already killed more than seven snakes in a few months. A 1,5m snake was killed on Thursday last week.

The women are worried that they pay a monthly rent and in return, the municipality gives them a raw deal.

A visit to the premises found the angry women holding an informal meeting shortly after they had killed the big snake. They also claim that there is another big green snake, which has found its home in a tree on the premises.

One of the women, Tshilidzi Ravhuhali, said they are even afraid to move around the yard in fear of snake bites. She said the latest snake was found crawling towards one of the stalls.

“It was about to enter into one of the stalls when we noticed it. I cried for help until my counterparts came and assist me in killing the snake. Although it was aggressive, we used pieces of wood and stones until it lost its life. This place is no longer safe as we risk our lives on a daily basis. The municipality must do something before somebody dies of snake bite…”

Tshilidzi said they keep on killing snakes at the property and they blame the municipality for the whole problem.

“They need to deploy workers here to clean the yard. We believe that they will now do something as we have raised our problem with the media…”

The spokesperson of the Mutale Municipality, Thiathu Ravhura, promised to visit the women at site and discuss with them on how the problem could be solved. He said he would arrange with the technical staff of the municipality to cut the bushes on the site as a matter of urgency.