The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has intensified efforts to enforce the government’s ban on alluvial mining in rivers, collaborating with the military and other agencies to curb environmental degradation.
The government initially banned riverbed mining in August, citing the damage it causes to water quality, river channels, and ecosystems.
However, at this year’s Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba—held under the theme “Energy Transition Minerals: Putting Communities First for Community Development”—participants expressed concerns over the lack of enforcement.
Cities like Bulawayo have seen severe impacts on water sources from alluvial mining, and EMA has launched enforcement measures across Zimbabwe’s eight provinces.
EMA’s Manager of Environmental Impact Assessments and Ecosystem Protection, Fanuel Kudakwashe Mangisi, stated that alluvial mining has long caused widespread environmental damage.
“The history of our country, we have had episodes of alluvial mining that date back to 2011 and alluvial mining is an economic activity that has been happening in almost eight of our rural provinces. Well back, it used to be on small scales until mechanized alluvial mining took place around 2012-2013, because of the nature of mining activities that are taking place of cause we have environmental problems that are associated with alluvial mining, issues to do with general land degradation as well as water pollution,” he said.
Mangisi said some of the miners process their mining ores and then sometime they discharge their processing water into the environment.
“There is also reports that there is also use of mercury to process the gold so this end up affecting our river systems down stream. In other instances there is even diversion of water Corses, they are some of the challenges that we have been facing as a result of alluvial mining, so like I have said, we have heard instances where alluvial mining was banned because of environmental challenges that I have talked about.”
He added, “In 2014, alluvial mining was banned under SI 92 OF 2014, the issue was to ban alluvial mining because of environmental challenges, but in 2018 alluvial mining was allowed under certain conditions where operations where to be done, like processing was suppose to be done like 500 meters away from the rivers, but we still experienced the same challenges of environmental degradation and water pollution where even the mining areas were not rehabilitated, some of the pits were left not rehabilitated and even the issues to do with water pollution were also realised.”
Mangisi said In 2021, there was promulgation of SI 104 of2021 that also banned alluvial mining, “alluvial mining was only suppose to be done after written authorization from the Minister responsible for Environment, during that same time, there was also a cabinet decision that was made to allow for piloting of alluvial mining.”
“There were three companies that were selected to do alluvial mining in terms of the pilot to see whether we are able to do proper alluvial mining, so one of the companies did the pilot project in Shurugwi, Muteregwi river and then the other one did in Mutare, but the experiences that we have even in the same pilot projects also indicated the same problems that we have heard before , that is to do with issues of land degradation, pollution of water courses.”
He said in the current situation, Cabinet made another decision in August to ban alluvial mining and what is currently happening is the enforcement of the cabinet ban with the assistance of military personnel.
“The enforcement is being done with the assistance of different stakeholders, Ministry of Mines, police, army, to ensure that we remove those who are doing alluvial mining in the river systems.”
“The idea behind that is to ensure that we allow the rivers to regenerate and to also ensure there is self purification, so as we speak right now, alluvial mining is banned and EMA is part of the Inter-ministerial and stakeholders who are implementing the cabinet ban on alluvial mining,” said Mangisi.
“This is being done in all the provinces. In one point, the Minister of Agriculture chaired a meeting with other Ministers and also the Provincial Affairs Ministers were also in attendance and it was then agreed that the Provincial Ministers with then co-ordinate the enforcement of the cabinet ban within their provinces, so this is currently happening in different provinces where the police are coordinating the enforcement of the cabinet ban on river bed,” he said.
