PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa and top government officials have been urged to stop rampant gold riverbed mining in Zibagwe (Kwekwe), Midlands province, where Hardrock Mine is conducting a desiltation exercise, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.
These mining activities are occurring despite a series of government directives aimed at prohibiting alluvial riverbed mining, which have been largely ignored, resulting in significant environmental degradation and loss of revenue due to gold smuggling.
Last month, the government reissued a ban on alluvial riverbed mining.
A report from the Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA), dated September 19, seen by the Independent, indicates that illegal gold mining persists, particularly at MaDollar dam in Sessombi, where Hardrock Mine was allowed to scoop silt.
The report highlights that these mining operations are taking place in plain sight of the police.
The report, as separate documents also gleaned by this publication show, is now a subject of investigation by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc), while the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) has also been requested to probe the matter.
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“Please find attached hereto a report produced by the Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA) following an investigation of illegal gold mining activities at MaDollar dams in Sessombi, Zhombe, Kwekwe,” the report, also copied to Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuka, reads in part.
“The illegal alluvial riverbed mining activities are being conducted under the guise of dam scooping with the full blessings (authorisation) of the Zibagwe Rural District Council.
“The activities being conducted are not only shocking and retrogressive but are attempts to reverse the gains made towards achieving national development goals.
“More revealing is a chasm between the enlightened words of President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, exalting the virtues of the dam in the service of economic development, and the disheartening realities on the ground, beset by greedy and short-sighted profiteers,” it further alleges.
Despite the government’s most recent ban of riverbed mining, the report by ACT-SA shows that the illegal activities continue unabated in Kwekwe and other parts across the country.
The report alleges that: “Regardless of the ban, three parties congregating at the dam under the guise of dam scooping are in actual fact, carrying out river bed or alluvial mining activities without impunity.
“More shocking is the fact that the illegal activities were authorised by Zibagwe Rural District Council (ZRDC) and the syndicate is getting protection from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), whose officers have been deployed at the dam with most of the officers also being accused of receiving bribes from artisanal miners to cause further damage to the dams”.
The extensive mining operations have led to the destruction of several dams, jeopardising agricultural activities dependent on these water sources.
The report warns that immediate action is needed to halt these destructive practices and restore ecological order.
“Whilst the smaller dam has been completely ruined, water is being drained through a recently dug canal from the main dam to a Chinese made Gold Wash Plant and other mining activities at the two dams,” the report alleges.
“To this end, the urgency of the situation demands swift and decisive action by the relevant authorities, empowered with the might of the law, to bring an end to this ecological transgression and restore order to the area.”
Recommendations from ACT-SA include investigating the ZRDC’s authorisation process for dam scooping and implementing strict measures to dismantle the mining syndicates.
The report further reads: “In keeping thereof, (we pass) the following recommendations: Investigation of the process used by Zibagwe Rural District Council to issue the dam scooping authorisation; immediate intervention to halt the destructive tide of illicit mining at MaDollar dams; confiscation and forfeiture of the equipment to the state and to victims in the spirit of decisive justice.
“Parties involved must be held accountable for their actions and forced to bear the costs of the rehabilitation efforts that will be required to restore MaDollar dams to their former glory.
“The parties responsible for the environmental travesty must be compelled to compensate affected farmers for their financial woes, emanating from the destroyed dams in order to deliver a measure of justice,” it further states.
The Independent also gleaned a letter from the rural district council, which gave Hardrock the green light to carry out dam scooping in MaDollar dam.
The letter, dated June 26 reads: “Following consultation made with the Environmental Management Authority (Ema) and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) you are hereby authorised to scoop MaDollar dam.
“The desiltation exercise should be compliant with environmental, Zibagwe Rural District Council, Zinwa laws, policies and regulations. You will be required to cart away the silt from the dam site and therefore correct equipment should be deployed.”
The letter was written by the local authority’s chief executive officer Farai Machaya and copied to Chief Gwesela.
Chief Gwesela, whose area of jurisdiction covers the Sessombe area that houses MaDollar dams, had not responded to the questions sent to him at the time of going to print.
Among other questions, the Independent wanted to establish the extent of riverbed mining and individuals behind it.
A representative at Hardrock Mine denied any wrongdoing when quizzed by the Independent.
“We are not doing any of that (riverbed mining),” he said this week.
The report calls for accountability, urging that those responsible for environmental damage must compensate affected farmers to restore justice.
As of now, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has not provided updates on its investigation into the matter.
Zacc communications manager Simiso Mlevu had not commented on the progress of its investigation into the matter at the time of going to print.