Gold panners, sand poachers invade Bulawayo leafy suburb
GOLD panners, sand and gravel poachers have descended on Bulawayo’s Mqabuko Heights suburb, a situation that might have serious effects on the environment.
The sprawling suburb developed by the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Nkomo’s family is located next to Burnside and is made up of several upmarket houses with most, however, still under construction. The suburb is located in a mountainous area with a lot of granite rocks which has seen unscrupulous individuals descending on the suburb, establishing illegal gravel and pit sand cartels, where they blast the rocks and also harvest pit sand in the area which they then sell to people in the city.
Gold panners have also discovered that the area is rich in gold and have dug deep trenches in search of the precious metal. A Sunday News crew that visited the area, posing as prospective pit sand buyers found that the suburb has now been turned into an illegal business haven. As one enters the suburb there is however, a huge sign warning people that sand and gravel abstraction in the suburb is illegal. The suburb is now littered with huge holes, which has led to people now referring to it as emagodini.
“Just bring your truck and we will dig the pit sand for you, it is not much of a hustle,” said one man who approached the news crew already carrying a pick and shovel.
The man who declined to reveal his identity appeared at ease with the illegal activity saying they also supplied gravel to anyone willing to pay them.
“My brother, as you see this area has a lot of granite rocks, we blast them so that we always have gravel ready for people who are doing building projects, we are fairly cheaper than your traditional gravel and pit sand suppliers,” he said.
The sand poacher was, however, reluctant to divulge details regarding the operations of gold panners.
Bulawayo City Council spokesperson, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said while the local authority was not aware of the illegal activities, they would be sending their teams to investigate the matter.
“The City of Bulawayo uses the Protection of Lands and Natural Resources by-laws which outlines the management of the environment in Bulawayo. Council also has a sound and functional policy on mining that does not allow for mining in residential areas.
“The city also attends to such activities in partnership with organisations such as Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Environmental Management Agency. Gold panners are handed over to the ZRP where prosecution is done under the Environmental Management Agency Act and the above mentioned by law. The City of Bulawayo also has designated fines that are levied against perpetrators,” said Mrs Mpofu.