Zimbabwe renews ban on riverbed mining to curb environmental degradation — why this won't change much

KINGSTONE ZIMUNYA

THE Zimbabwean government has renewed its ban on alluvial and riverbed mining in a bid to protect water sources.

This was announced by Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, in a post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday.

Alluvial mining has contributed to severe environmental degradation over the past few years, and Zimbabwe has moved to curb the practice. 

"The Cabinet noted that ever since its commencement in 2011 across the country's rural provinces, large-scale and mechanical alluvial mining or riverbed mining has resulted in water pollution, siltation, degradation of river channels, and disruption of riverine ecosystems," he said.

The government first announced the ban in 2020, and ratified the decree with Statutory Instrument 104 of 2021. Regardless, thousands of gold panners continue to scour the nation's riverbeds in search of the yellow metal. The Cabinet has directed that riverbed mining be banned with immediate effect, and is ramping up efforts to deter panners from continuing the destructive practice. 

Anxious Masuka, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, who also chairs the interministerial committee on mining and environment, said law enforcement agencies will be out in full force to enforce the ban.

"Although we have the legal underpinning to ensure that mining can take place in a legalized environment including alluvial mining, there is a class of illegal miners that go onto a river and begin to mine whether as artisanal or mechanical miners," Masuka said. 

"We want to ban alluvial mining and in banning it means we have to resource the ministries, the departments, and agencies that are mandated with ensuring enforcement of laws."

The minister also warned that deterrent penalties, including the forfeiture of mining equipment, will be imposed on offenders.

The move aims to protect Zimbabwe's rivers and ecosystems from the damaging effects of uncontrolled riverbed mining, which has led to water pollution, siltation, and disruption of natural habitats.

According to a 2021 survey carried out by the Environmental Management Agendy (EMA), an estimated 420 hectares of riverine ecosystem has been degraded through alluvial mining or riverbed mining in the country; and about 1 555 kilometres of river channels have been affected through water pollution and siltation.

The ban on this destructive practice is a welcome directive from government, but it overlooks the bigger picture . 

Gold mining remains a key contributor to Zimbabwe's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and foreign currency earnings, and a large portion of reported gold deliveries to Fidelity are from small-scale miners, many of whom source the yellow metal through riverbed mining.

Many of the small-scale miners resorted to riverbed mining as a means of last resort - considering the dearth of formal employment in the cities and the collapse of commercial farming in the rural areas. To them, mining is a game of survival not a pursuit of profit. 

This context makes it difficult for such a ban to be effective in reducing the practice. The best case scenario will be a neverending game of cat and mouse between enforcement authorities and miners. 

In conclusion, if alluvial mining has continued unabated four years after the initial ban was gazetted, can this 'renewal' finally curb the practice? One can only hope.