A MAJOR crackdown looms to stop escalating illegal and unregulated mining activities in the Umzingwane catchment area in Matabeleland South province, amid growing environmental and community concerns.
The catchment area is not a mining zone because of its vicinity to the water catchment area, but is rich in gold deposits.
The intervention follows reports of rampant illegal mining blamed for environmental degradation, destruction of water sources and increased riverbed mining in parts of the province.
Over time, unregulated mining in critical catchment zones has been linked to sharply declining water levels in Bulawayo’s supply dams situated in Umzingwane.
The crisis, which has escalated across Umzingwane, Insiza and surrounding parts of the Matabeleland South, was laid bare during a high-level stakeholder meeting convened by Bulawayo mayor David Coltart in the city on Wednesday.
The meeting brought together Local Government minister Daniel Garwe, Defence deputy minister Levy Mayihlome, who is also Member of Parliament for Umzingwane constituency, engineers and traditional leaders.
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At the centre of concern is the six dams that supply water to Bulawayo: Insiza, Umzingwane, Upper Ncema, Lower Ncema, Inyankuni and Mtshabezi.
Engineers at the meeting warned that water levels across the dams remain critically low, with tributaries heavily silted, diverted or completely degraded by mining activities along riverbeds.
“BCC [Bulawayo City Council] is impacted by an existential threat to the community of Bulawayo,” Mayihlome said.
“In Mzingwane as well, we have a similar challenge for the community of 70 000 people, 35 000 of whom are directly impacted by the mining that is taking place because of communities or communal land.”
Coltart described the situation as an “existential threat” and warned that the damage being done to catchment areas can have long-term consequences for water security in the region.
Mayihlome highlighted the severe impact on local communities, estimating that around 70 000 people in the constituency are affected, with at least 35 000 directly impacted by mining activities.
He said communal grazing land, household gardens and vital water sources were destroyed or polluted, while sacred and cultural sites suffered permanent damage or erasure.
“They are sacred and sometimes cultural places that have been destroyed and desecrated completely.
“The kind of mining that is taking place is leaving really no resources for future generations; this is the challenge we’re facing as a community.”
Mayihlome stressed that dams under the Umzingwane catchment, which support both livestock and human populations, are under pressure as ecosystems collapse and water inflows diminish.
“The ecosystem is under threat in our communities,” he said.
Garwe raised concern over the use of hazardous chemicals such as cyanide in mining operations, warning that such pollutants are entering river systems and ultimately reaching dams supplying Bulawayo and surrounding districts.
“Matabeleland South is a livestock area; that is the major economic activity and those cattle are being threatened by drinking water contaminated with cyanide, and we’re not going to allow that to happen,” he said.
He announced that government is moving to tighten enforcement measures, including the invocation of statutory instruments to ban riverbed mining and restore order in affected areas.
He said law enforcement agencies, alongside the Mines and Mining Development ministry, would be directed to act decisively against illegal miners and operators failing to comply with environmental impact assessment requirements set by the Environmental Management Agency.
He further said a Cabinet committee on mining was given the responsibility to deal with such mining matters.
“We are mandated to protect the environment and also its inhabitants, and also to have people drink safe and clean water as provided by Vision 2030 aspirations.”