Capital lacks clean water, cholera kills hundreds in Zimbabwe

(CNN) -- Almost 12,000 people have contracted cholera since August in Zimbabwe, and the outbreak threatens to grow more dire -- and deadly -- because the nation can't pay for chemicals to treat water or for doctors to treat victims.

There was no running water Monday In Harare, the capital, according to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Residents there were digging shallow holes in their yards in hopes of finding water. In some cases, nearby holes served as latrines. Other residents were getting water from polluted rivers....

Unemployment in Zimbabwe is about 90 percent, and the official inflation rate is 231 million percent, though unofficial estimates suggest it's higher.

The economic turmoil is compounded by the nation's political tumult. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the most votes in March elections but dropped out of the subsequent runoff, citing violence against MDC supporters.

Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe of the ruling ZANU-PF signed a power-sharing deal in September, but it has failed to take effect as the MDC has refused to form a national unity government, accusing Mugabe of taking all the key ministries.

Last week, Carter called Zimbabwe "a basket case" and blamed the cholera outbreak and other turmoil in the nation on "the poisonous effects" of the Mugabe regime.

Also last week, a group of Harare residents, led by Arthur Taderera, filed a lawsuit against the Zimbabwe government, saying, "Due to their lack of diligence and constant supplies of clean water to my place of residence, diseases like cholera surfaced and people are dying."