Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is fighting illegal gold mining, sand poaching and firewood theft, crimes that are not only degrading the environment, but also threatening the city’s already fragile water supplies.
Rampant illegal mining activities in the city and within the supply dams’ catchment areas, particularly around Umzingwane, have been blamed for massive land degradation and siltation of dams such as Ncema and Insiza. The start of winter and frequent power outages have further fuelled firewood poaching while uncontrolled sand poaching continues to scar peri-urban landscapes.
In just three months, from January to March, BCC conducted 281 surveillance patrols, targeting the supply dams’ catchment areas including Umzingwane, in an effort to curb illegal gold mining. Umzingwane is the main catchment area for the city’s supply dams.
According to recent council minutes, 83 patrols were carried out in April alone, resulting in the arrest of 12 illegal gold panners, who were handed over to the Esigodini magistrate’s court. A total of 45 tools, including three metal detectors, were seized and submitted as exhibits.
Metal detectors, commonly used by illegal panners to locate underground gold, are considered high-risk tools that accelerate land degradation by encouraging widespread digging once gold is detected, according to the Environmental Management Authority (EMA).
“The surveillance patrols were jointly conducted by Bulawayo City Council rangers and Esigodini police officers. Twelve illegal gold panners were arrested and handed over to the Esigodini magistrate’s court for prosecution, bringing the total number of arrests to 16 since the beginning of the year,” read the latest council minutes.
Bulawayo mayor Councillor David Coltart, has expressed concern over the scale of illegal mining activities, which he said had blocked streams and left deep gullies in the catchment zones. He noted that such environmental destruction is aggravating the city’s perennial water woes.
The council also observed illegal mining activity within residential suburbs such as Queenspark, Killarney and Mqabuko Heights, where raids resulted in the reduction of panning activity following 51 patrols in April.
Beyond illegal mining, sand poaching continues to be a worrying issue in Greater Bulawayo areas like St Peters located on the outskirts of the city. There, council rangers impounded five trucks, two wheelbarrows and over 100 tools used in sand theft operations.
During these raids, 37 tickets were issued for environmental and other by-law violations. Of these, 28 were paid, amounting to US$2 175, while nine tickets remain outstanding, valued at US$1 698.
The city’s environmental strain has been worsened by firewood poaching, particularly in suburbs like Emakhandeni, New Lobengula and parts of Luveve, where prolonged load shedding due to damaged infrastructure has forced residents to turn to firewood for cooking.
“Owing to load shedding, demand for firewood went up, resulting in increased cases of firewood poaching, which became a major challenge for the city. Five scotch carts and two wheelbarrows were impounded and the offenders were charged for contravening the city’s environmental by-laws,” reads part of the council minutes.
Meanwhile, BCC is grappling with another nuisance of stray donkeys wandering into suburbs close to peri-urban areas. However, council says its land inspectorate is struggling to respond due to transport challenges, as one of its key utility vehicles is still under repair.
“The lands inspectorate is highly incapacitated to clear the donkeys from the city’s environs due to transport challenges, considering that a BCC ranger utility truck was still under repairs,” said council.
