TellZim reporter
Barely a year after the gold rush that sparked an influx of fortune seekers in Wendedzo area of Masvingo North constituency, a local village head said the community is being haunted by the development as locals have joined in the panning activities, threatening infrastructure in the area.
Speaking during a tour of journalists organised by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) on April 28, local village head Saina Chinomwe said the area is in fear of a repeat of the rush which threatens the road network and a dam that serves the community.
Chinomwe said a likely rush is on the cards after a ‘self-proclaimed’ spirit medium told the local people of the presence of the precious mineral at another spot in the locality.
“A certain lady of the Madzibaba Apostolic sect claimed to have been shown the presence of gold near the dam in which she claims the belt goes underneath the road towards the water source. After her claims lots of local people rushed to the area with tools like picks and shovels for use there. As part the local leadership, I went there and enquired on the developments but after realising the violent nature of the people, I had to leave for safety,” said Chinomwe.
He also said the first gold rush left scars on the environment as well as relations within the community as the local people especially youth blamed the local leadership for failing them in benefiting from the resources.
“Pits are everywhere and we as locals do not even have plans on how to reclaim the damaged environment. The other challenge is that even when we fill up those pits, the panners would always dig and open them up in search of gold. When such developments take place, the local leadership is by-passed as we get no consultation and as a result people just invade our land without our blessing.
“Animals belonging to the local people are also under threat from the huge pits these artisanal miners dug. The young people in our communities blame us as leadership for failing to ensure they benefit from the available resources at the expense of people from afar. We once approached the local councillor to help find a solution to the degradation, but he is yet to bring back an answer and thus we call upon government to intervene and ensure the case is put to rest once and for all,” urged Chinomwe.
He however said the local people have declined offering labour towards land reclamation as they argue that they benefited nothing from the resource.
FaFlo Zim director Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa also bemoaned the damage inflicted on the land during the gold rush as they destroyed animal habitats while at the same time the pits create a breeding place for waterborne diseases.
“There are lots of insects whose habitat is soil and trees and thus the gold rush led to the destruction of their habitats. These pits also serve as breeding places for a number of waterborne diseases as vectors like mosquito breed in such places. Basically those are some of the negative effects of the gold rush,” said Nyamukondiwa.
He added that his organisation was in the process of mobilising resources towards reclaiming the damaged land.
“As an organisation we are on an initiative to cover all these pits and should funds permit, we would embark on it. We already have volunteers who wish to take it up on themselves to reclaim the land. We will try to get support to motivate local young people towards the work.
“There is also need for the community to cooperate towards such efforts and the need to embark on awareness campaigns to help deal with the ignorance that is in the community as far as dangers associated with panning are concerned. People need to understand the legal consequences of engaging in such activities like the mandatory prison terms on offenders,” he added.
Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Masvingo Environmental Education and Publicity officer Brian Makani said in 2021 joint operations comprising of law enforcement agents managed to arrest 55 people in 2021 and 10 so far this year.
“EMA working other law enforcement agents managed to arrest a total of 55 people here in 2021 and this year since January we arrested 10 who were given tickets and orders within Wendedzo area so they carry out rehabilitation on degraded land where they were illegally mining. The challenge is that most prospective miners would seek for licence and start operations without acquiring the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate,
“Last year when people were found carrying out illegal mining activities, quite a number of awareness campaigns were undertaken with the help of health personnel and Masvingo Rural District Council (RDC) where the local people were taken through a number of awareness lessons on the dangers of illegal mining which is not sustainable. The joint operation by security officers was deterrent enough to reduce the influx of gold panners and hence minimized the damage that could have been extensive,” said Makani.
