THERE is rampant alluvial and riverbed mining allegedly disguised as dam scooping, Kwekwe's Zhombe area despite a government ban.
In August this year, the government announced a ban on alluvial and riverbed mining to curb environmental degradation.
The government first announced the ban in 2020, but the practice has continued unabated over the past years.
Cabinet said deterrent penalties will also be imposed on offenders, including forfeiture of mining equipment.
An investigation by Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA) has, however, exposed shocking environmental damage in Zhombe due to alluvial and riverbed mining.
The report is dated September 19.
It is titled: Illegal Alluvial Riverbed Mining Disguised as Dam Scooping: The Case of MaDollar Dams Riverbed Mining in Sessombi, Zhombe, Kwekwe.
"Regardless of the ban of alluvial or riverbed mining by the Cabinet on August 20 because of worsening pollution, siltation, and degradation, the case of MaDollar dams exposes parties that are working in the opposite direction against the cabinet decision," reads the report.
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"MaDollar dams have become a crime scene where some entities continue riverbed/alluvial mining under the guise of dam scooping.
“Regardless of alluvial or riverbed mining having been banned, Hardrock Mine, members of the syndicate became more innovative and proceeded under the guise of dam scooping when in actual fact, they continued river bed alluvial mining without impunity."
According to the anti-corruption watchdog, there are indications that the Zibagwe Rural District Council had authorised dam scooping activities.
"Farm owners who own the farms where MaDollar dams are situated were not consulted,” the report reads.
Indications are that the mine is purportedly the one responsible for giving legitimacy to illegal mining disguised as dam scooping.
According to ACT SA, eyebrows have been raised as law enforcement agencies have not arrested the culprits causing environmental degradation through their mining activities.
"The Zimbabwe Republic Police's role in this imbroglio is not merely a mere spectating presence, but a confounding enabler of illicit mining operations that, like a cancer, grew at the very foundations of national development," reads the report.
"The collusion between the police and these miners represents a brazen subversion of the institutions that were meant to uphold the rule of law, now sullied by the corrosive effects of corruption."
No comment could be obtained from Midlands police.
ACT SA recommended a thorough investigation on the matter.
