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This comes amid widespread concern that escalating illegal sand abstraction was threatening the livelihoods of people living in peri-urban areas.
Fierce debate over the issue dominated the full council meeting on Wednesday with some councillors, including the Deputy Mayor Councillor Amen Mpofu, proposing that the council legalises sand poaching for construction purposes.
Ward 10 Clr Prince Dube kindled the debate when he said council was still haunted by the death of Siphambaniso Ncube, a city council ranger who was brutally killed by sand poachers in Pumula East recently.
“We still mourn the sad death of our ranger who was killed by poachers. I think we need to allow people to get sand for a fee. Let us identify a place where residents can abstract sand for the construction of their houses. Abantwana benhlabathi bafuna inhlabathi and as council we cannot continue harassing them,” said Clr Dube.
Ward 15 Clr Israel Mabaleka condemned sand poaching and said legalising the practice would degrade the environment.
“It is unfortunate that the sand we have as a city cannot go beyond knee level. This means we will have gullies all over the place and that will destroy our environment. Remember the city has plans to expand as time goes on,” said Clr Mabaleka.
At that time Ward 6 Clr Jennifer Bent called on the councillors and directors to observe a minute of silence in memory of Ncube and they obliged.
Clr Bent, however, said council should be careful in how it handles the matter as it has implications on the future development of the city.
“If we allow people to abstract sand all over the city that poses danger to our children especially during the rainy season. We have heard enough reports of children who drown in some of the gullies. We cannot afford to have gullies everywhere. Council must identify a specific place for that purpose,” said Clr Bent.
“We also request residents to work with us on this issue because we are not getting enough information from them. They should play their role in this matter.”
At that time Clr Mpofu interjected and proposed that the local authority ventures into sand abstraction business.
“We are busy giving people stands to built houses but we are not telling them where to get the sand for construction purposes. In this case I think this is the opportunity to make money as council. Yimali ebanjwe ngumqando le. I propose that the finance committee considers this issue seriously,” said Clr Mpofu.
Ward 14 Clr Phinias Ndlovu shot down Clr Mpofu’s proposal, saying the move was going to cause confusion in the running of council.
“I agree but singazithwalisa nzima because these poachers are criminals and thieves. There are registered people who supply sand legally. If we allow poaching we will have gullies all over and that will backfire on us in future.
“Let us follow our master plan as council to develop the city in our 40km radius. I suggest that we arrest all the sand poachers and impound all their vehicles and lock them somewhere.”
The Mayor, Clr Thaba Moyo, said there was a need to conduct thorough consultations on how sand poaching could be addressed.
“The engineering and housing departments should look into this issue and provide policy guidelines on how we can deal with this problem,” said Clr Moyo.
Ward Three Clr Martin Khumalo also underscored the need for council to make research before coming with a decision.
“Before establishing a sand mine we need to know whether we have that resource in abundance. We may as well identify some entrepreneurs who can retail the sand. At the moment no one is supplying the city with sand and so let us do research on this matter,” said Clr Khumalo.
Villagers from Methodist, St Peters and Robert Sinyoka where most sand poaching is done, have repeatedly urged the council and police to intervene and stop sand poaching, which has caused dangerous gullies and tunnels in their areas.
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA)’s provincial manager for Matabeleland North, Mrs Chipo Zuze Mpofu, is on record saying illegal sand abstraction was posing a serious environmental hazard that threatens villagers’ water sources.
Online Reporter