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From Munyaradzi Doma in Zvishavane
ILLEGAL gold panning along Runde River is threatening its existence and urgent action must be taken to arrest the situation, Runde Rural District Council chief executive officer Mr Gorden Moyo has said.
He said there could be no Runde River to talk of in 10 years time if the situation is left unchecked.
The illegal gold panning is happening despite a ban on all alluvial mining by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA). Mr Moyo said artisanal mining played a critical role economically, but there was need to ensure order in the sector.
“Here in Zvishavane we have our major perennial rivers, which are Runde and Ngezi. People along those rivers engage in other major economic activities that are besides gold panning.
“We realised that with the rampant gold panning happening along those rivers there is a lot of environmental degradation that is taking place. You will see the open pits that are a risk to human and animal life. Over and above that, major water bodies are getting silted because of the illegal gold mining activities.
“In the next five or 10 years with the rate at which the rampant gold panning is taking place, there would be no Runde River to talk about. We will be having no Ngezi to talk about,” said Mr Moyo.
He advocated organised mining.
“We are not saying it should be totally done away with, but there should be organised mining along the rivers. There should be plans in place for reclamation and revitalisation of those areas that would have been mined,” said Mr Moyo.
He said council has since engaged organisations representing miners over the matter.
When The Herald visited Runde River, illegal panners were busy digging everywhere in search of gold.
EMA acting Midlands provincial manager Mr Oliver Kanengoni said illegal mining was now a serious problem.
“The problem of illegal mining is a big problem, especially in the Midlands Province. But on our side, the challenge with these guys is that most of them are migratory in nature. You will find them mining on one point where they find some deposits, the other day you will find them on another area. That is our biggest challenge in terms of monitoring and ensuring that they are controlled,” he said.
Mr Kanengoni said there was need for a stakeholders’ meeting on the matter.
“In terms of alluvial mining, it has been banned. It is not allowed to mine in a river bed or any distances within 200 metres,” he said.
Online Reporter