Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
GOLD panners have taken their illegal mining activities to Ekhaya Kip Keino Children’s Home in Makwe in Gwanda District where they have invaded the place in search for the precious mineral.
The illegal panners have also dug up a section along Lushongwe-Makwe-Bulawayo Road.
When a Chronicle news crew visited the area on Tuesday, there were over 100 gold panners conducting illegal mining activities at Ekhaya Kip Keino Children’s Home including along Lushongwe-Makwe-Bulawayo Road.
Due to the destruction, motorists are now forced to use alternative routes to avoid the road which is now impassable.
So daring are the gold panners that they have mounted a make shift ladder over Ekhaya Kip Keino Children’s Home’s perimeter fence and dug tunnels underneath it to gain access to the premises.
The facility, which started as an athletics training camp initiative, has become a haven for hundreds of orphaned children for the past 20 years.
Established in 2002, Ekhaya Kip Keino Children’s Home accommodates 55 children, some of whom attend school at Makwe Primary School, Makwe Secondary School and Collen Bawn High School.
Ekhaya Kip Keino Children’s Home co-founder, Mr Zibusiso Nyoni, said the lives of the children were now in danger.
“As Ekhaya Kip Keino Children’s Home, we has been greatly affected by illegal mining activities that are taking place at the centre. The lives of the children are at risk, and it’s very difficult to control these illegal gold panners since most of them are violent,” he said.
“Our fear is that if these illegal mining activities persist, we will no longer be able to sustain operations in that place. The home has to be a safe place for children coming from different backgrounds, but their safety has been compromised.”
Mr Nyoni said the gold panners were now getting access to the children’s room, a development likely to lead to rape cases.
“We are appealing to authorities to intervene and bring this menace to a stop. The perimeter fence at the home has already been damaged,” he said.
Matabeleland South Provincial Development Committee (PDC) set up a taskforce on illegal panning to deal with illegal gold panning activities in the province. The taskforce was formed following reports of illegal gold panning which were threatening the railway line just outside Gwanda Town.
The taskforce will also handle other illegal gold panning activities taking place in the province. It is being headed by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA).
EMA Matabeleland South provincial manager, Mr Decent Ndlovu said an investigation into the illegal mining activities in Makwe area has been launched.
“This recent development is alarming because a children’s home requires safety. These illegal gold panners are also seriously degrading the environment. As an agency we are going to apply the law and whoever will be apprehended has to be brought before the courts,” he said.
“As a taskforce on illegal mining we will be visiting the area to carry out an assessment and thorough inspection and come up with a plan to rehabilitate the affected area, especially the road which has been damaged.”
Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Loveness Mangena said they deployed their officers leading to the arrest 10 illegal gold panners.
“We arrested 10 illegal gold panners. They are in our custody assisting us with investigations. As police, we urge members of the public to desist from engaging in illegal mining activities,” she said.
Water points in Matabeleland South province have also become a hotspot for illegal mining activities, posing a huge threat to both humans and animals.
These illegal mining activities severely affect the environment as they lead to contamination of water bodies, siltation of rivers and dams, pollution of water and land and deforestation among other effects.
Panning on river banks is highly risky as the soil is heavily saturated with water and becoming weak resulting in it collapsing. —@DubeMatutu
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