Online Reporter
Peter Matika, [email protected]
WHAT was once a vibrant open space where children played and neighbours gathered has been transformed into a place of grief and fear in Pumula North suburb, Bulawayo, following the tragic drowning of two 11-year-old girls in water-filled pits left behind by illegal sand poachers.
The girls, who had gone swimming with friends to escape the afternoon heat, never returned home.
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Nomalanga Msebele confirmed the incident, describing it as a case of sudden death by drowning.
“Police in Bulawayo confirm receiving a report in which two female juveniles drowned in a disused pit,” she said.
Insp Msebele said the incident occurred on Sunday at around 3PM. The girls were part of a group of children playing near several pits that had accumulated water following recent heavy rains.
About 30 minutes after they began swimming, a 15-year-old boy at a nearby pit heard frantic cries. Together with a friend, he rushed to the scene and managed to retrieve the lifeless bodies before alerting police.
Insp Msebele said the bodies were taken to a local mortuary for post-mortem examinations while investigations continue.
For residents, the tragedy has reopened a long-standing wound — the unchecked illegal sand mining that has scarred parts of the suburb and created what locals now grimly refer to as “pits of death”.
Ward 17 councillor, Clr Sikhululekile Moyo, said the incident had cast a dark cloud over the entire neighbourhood.
“We are devastated. These were innocent children with their whole future ahead of them, yet their lives were cut short by pits that should never have been left open,” she said.
Clr Moyo said the issue of illegal sand poaching and abandoned pits had been repeatedly raised at Bulawayo City Council meetings.
“We have called for the deployment of rangers to arrest sand poachers and for stronger co-ordination between the police, EMA and council. Enforcement cannot remain mere talk while lives are being lost,” she said.
Clr Moyo added that the penalties were failing to deter offenders.
“By-laws must be amended. As long as punishment remains light, these criminals will continue to endanger our children’s lives,” she said.
Residents expressed anger and frustration, blaming both sand poachers who profit while leaving devastation behind, and authorities whom they accuse of slow or ineffective action.
“These children were not naughty — they were just being children. We have complained about these pits for years. When it rains, they turn into mini dams and children are naturally drawn to water,” said one resident.
Another resident, Mr Lewis Sibanda, said the community felt powerless.
“We chase sand poachers away today, tomorrow they come back at night. Council fills one pit and two more appear. Now we are burying children,” he said.
Illegal sand mining has for years wreaked havoc in Bulawayo’s western suburbs, including Methodist Village, Pumula East, Old Pumula, Nkulumane and Pumula South.
Driven by rising demand for construction materials, poachers dig deep trenches and pits, often in broad daylight, extracting sand that is transported to fast-growing suburbs such as Cowdray Park, Emthunzini and Mbundane, where large housing developments are underway.
The environmental damage has been severe, leaving behind open craters that become deadly traps during the rainy season. The Meteorological Services Department has forecast a normal to above-normal rainfall season, further heightening the danger posed by these abandoned pits.
In parts of Pumula North and surrounding suburbs, the landscape is now scarred by scattered craters, some filled with water. Parents and community leaders fear for the safety of schoolchildren.
Bulawayo City Council has acknowledged the seriousness of the problem but admits enforcement remains a challenge due to limited resources.
A resident said the poachers were often individuals from nearby communities, who operated with little regard for the consequences of their actions. “They usually dig at night and sometimes during the day. We just watch them do their thing because when we approach them and tell them to stop, they shout and threaten us,” she said.
Bulawayo has numerous disused pits and quarries from past construction and brick-moulding activities, many of which remain unfenced. During the rainy season, these pits become deep pools with unstable, muddy edges that collapse without warning. Residents’ associations and civic leaders have called for the rehabilitation or fencing of such sites but progress has been slow due to resource constraints. The latest deaths have renewed those calls.
