Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]
THE National University of Science and Technology (Nust) has enlisted the assistance of the police to help deter the influx of illegal gold miners who have invaded its main campus in Bulawayo.
The university has recently become a target for illegal gold panners, who are increasingly encroaching on residential areas in suburbs such as Killarney, resulting in extensive land degradation.
Last year, six Bulawayo men were arrested and brought before the courts for illegal gold panning activities on the Nust campus.
The panners were caught conducting illicit mining operations in pits located within the university grounds. The arrests followed a raid by the Zimbabwe Republic
Police (ZRP), which included officers from the canine unit who swooped on the site where dozens of illegal miners were digging for the precious mineral.
The majority of the miners fled but six were apprehended. They were each sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.
Despite strengthening its internal security systems, Nust security personnel continue to clash with persistent intruders, known colloquially as Omakorokoza, who have escalated their operations in recent months.
“The Nust campus was recently invaded by illegal artisanal miners from nearby Old Nic Mine and the Zimbabwe School of Mines area.
“To address the issue, the university sought the assistance of the ZRP in addition to reinforcing our internal security to intensify patrols around the campus,” said the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mqhele Dlodlo.
He was briefing the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Dr Frederick Shava, who visited the university last week and toured key projects on the campus.
Professor Dlodlo said although the university has applied for a special grant from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to legally undertake mining operations through its own company, the application has not yet been approved.
“We applied for a special grant, and the ministry referred the university to the Bulawayo City Council for a letter of consent.
“This was denied, but we will continue to seek the ministry’s intervention for special mining rights,” he said. Acting Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Nomalanga Msebele, confirmed that Nust has requested police intervention to rid its campus of illegal miners.
“The illegal miners usually operate at night to avoid detection by Nust’s internal security. At the university’s request, the police have been conducting regular raids to apprehend those involved in the illicit activities,” she said.
On the issue of illegal mining in suburbs such as Mqabuko Heights and Killarney, among others, Assistant Inspector Msebele urged members of the public to report such activities to the police.
“Information from the public regarding illegal mining operations in city suburbs is treated in strict confidence and greatly assists police in planning effective raids,” she said.
“Illegal mining causes extensive environmental damage and often attracts criminal elements hence police will continue raiding the affected areas.”
Gold panning has persisted for years despite repeated police efforts to clamp down on the widespread violence and environmental destruction associated with such operations.
At Mqabuko Heights, atop a hill that overlooks immaculately built homes, gold panners have wreaked havoc by digging deep pits and cutting down trees to use as timber in their illicit mining activities.
Concerned residents in the suburb say the panners invaded the hill roughly a year and a half ago and fear their property values will plummet as a result.
In Killarney suburb, in an area known locally as the “squatter camp,” gold panners armed with compressors, picks and shovels have been operating for years.
In the area between Mahatshula and Queens Park suburbs, under electricity pylons, there are heaps of rubble and trenches confirming panning activities.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation, Mr Wellington Takavarasha, mines must be located at least one kilometre away from residential areas, whether urban or rural.
“A blasting licence issued by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development clearly stipulates that any mining activity must be conducted at least one kilometre away from human settlements to ensure safety during blasting operations,” he said.
“Additionally, miners must obtain the consent of the community in which they wish to operate. In extreme cases, some communities are relocated to make way for mining developments.”
NUST now joins a growing list of Bulawayo suburbs suffering from severe land degradation due to rampant illegal gold mining—a destructive practice driven by gold panners who disregard both environmental regulations and legal mining requirements, engaging in both open-cast and, in extreme cases, shaft mining.
