The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is seeking solutions to tackle illegal gold mining at the Khumalo borrow pit, a key site long used for the city’s road construction projects.
The move aims to balance public safety and environmental protection against the need for affordable service delivery.
According to the latest council minutes, the Acting Director of Works on September 11, 2025 reported that the Khumalo borrow pit has been the primary source of gravel for civil works, supplying material for road construction, water and sewer bedding in the Eastern Suburbs and Central Business District (CBD).
Decommissioning it would leave only the Richmond and Pumula borrow pits, significantly increasing haulage distances and costs.
“This change would significantly increase the gravel haul distance for works in the city centre and to the rest of the eastern suburbs, which was a major cost factor in road construction,” the minutes stated.
However, the Council says decommissioning the pit is necessary due to escalating illegal gold mining, which poses a safety risk to the community and causes environmental damage.
“The continued presence of these miners endangered lives and contributed to environmental degradation at and around the pit,” the minutes reported.
The local authority came up with three options for addressing the situation which includes backfilling the pit, installing barricade fences and heightening security in the pit.
BCC said while decommissioning and backfilling the borrow pit was necessary to eliminate this threat, this process would significantly increase the cost of road works in the Eastern suburbs and central business district (CBD) due to the longer haul distances.
“The Illegal gold miners had created tunnels, so backfilling would not stop these mining activities. Nevertheless, the costs related to roadworks and servicing stands in the eastern areas would rise considerably because of the increased haul distances,” read the minutes.
The Local Authority said to complete the backfilling of the pit within a reasonable time frame, such as six months, the estimated cost was over US$4 million (US$4 108 800).
“The source of the backfill material had been currently unknown. Therefore, the estimate provided was considered the absolute minimum, as it assumed that backfill materials would be sourced within a 5 km haul radius. It was highly unlikely that all needed materials could be obtained within this distance.”
BCC however said this solution is unlikely to be effective in halting illegal mining as they are accessing the pit through tunnels.
“The cost of backfilling was substantial and the backfilling of the pit would have a negative impact on service delivery. Moreover, this solution had been highly unlikely to effectively halt illegal mining, as miners were accessing the pit through tunnels. Consequently, this option had been discarded based on the cost-bene fit analysis,” read the council minutes.
BCC said the second option of installing a barricading fence around the pit may also be less effective, as gold panners often dismantle or bypass such barriers, rendering it useless.
“The perimeter of the borrow pit was estimated to be 1 350 meters. Installing a barricading fence to prevent illegal miners from entering the pit may not be effective, as gold panners often dismantle or bypass such barriers, rendering them useless. When there was gold present, even a wall can be breached, so this option was also discarded,” read the minutes.
In the final option of heightening security in and around the pit, BCC said it was advised, but the Council lacked the resources to effectively deter illegal miners.
“This option was not viable.”