Bulawayo mayor David Coltart has raised alarm over what he describes as “devastating and unchecked” illegal gold mining activities in the Umzingwane catchment, warning that the environmental destruction poses an existential threat to the city’s already fragile water security.
Coltart’s concerns follow a recent inspection ride from Bulawayo to the Umzingwane River, during which he observed the condition of the river and its tributaries after a season of heavy rainfall.
“The Umzingwane itself has been in flood and is still flowing strongly, which is good news,” Coltart said. “But the bad news is that virtually every tributary I inspected has been ravaged by illegal gold mining, and very few of them were flowing at all.”
He said pools in the tributaries were heavily discoloured and muddy, clear signs of severe upstream erosion caused by alluvial mining.
“What is deeply troubling is that after more than 600 millimetres of rain this season, and over 100 millimetres in the past week alone, these tributaries should still be flowing,” Coltart said. “The fact that they are not tells a very worrying story about the damage that has been done to the catchment.”
Despite the heavy rains, Umzingwane Dam stood at only 30.1 percent full as of January 21, a situation Coltart contrasted sharply with nearby Mshabezi Dam, which is now at 100 percent capacity.
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“The catchment areas of Umzingwane and Mshabezi are geographically very close,” he explained. “The critical difference is that Mshabezi’s catchment, largely in the north-eastern Matopos, has very little gold mining. Umzingwane’s catchment, on the other hand, has been utterly devastated by illegal mining.”
Coltart also expressed concern that illegal miners continue to operate openly despite a government ban on alluvial mining in river courses announced towards the end of 2024.
“Yesterday I saw numerous miners hard at work, large camps operating with impunity,” he said. “I did not see a single patrol by the Environmental Management Agency or the Zimbabwe Republic Police. The law is simply not being enforced.”
The mayor warned that the consequences for Bulawayo could be dire if urgent action is not taken.
“This is not an abstract environmental issue; it is a direct threat to the survival of our city,” Coltart said. “We are fortunate this year to have had good rains, which have put some water into our dams. In a drought year, with a destroyed catchment, there will be almost no inflow at all.”
He called on central government to act decisively to stop illegal mining in the Umzingwane catchment.
“Government must bring this existential threat to an end immediately,” Coltart said. “If this destruction continues, Bulawayo’s water crisis will not only persist but will worsen dramatically. The future of our city depends on protecting our water sources now.”