Watchdog petitions parliament to fight riverbed mining
Brenna Matendere
Harare—A Manicaland-based non-profit organisation, Centre for Research and Development (CRD), has petitioned parliament to force the executive to arrest riverbed mining in the province.
According to CRD, over 85 000 people in at least 10 wards of Manicaland province have been affected by alluvial gold mining taking place along Mutare River, for a long time a key source of livelihoods for the local communities.
The CRD is a Mutare-based civic society organisation which works with communities in the province to ensure acceptable natural resource governance, human rights protection and public accountability.
In the petition dated 2 December 2024 that was signed by the CRD director, James Mupfumi, and his partner, Jay Kasakara, the organisation wants parliament to ensure the rehabilitation of Mutare River, which has suffered extensive siltation, bed damage and pollution through illegal mining.
The centre is calling on the legislature to put pressure on the ministries of Environment and Mines, respectively, as well as the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) to ensure the river is rehabilitated and harmful mining activities halted, in accordance with the Environment Management Act.
“Petitioners beseech Parliament of Zimbabwe to…protect citizens and ensure the right to life, health and animal rights are promoted and upheld by mining companies by exercising their representative and oversight roles to summon mining companies and hold them accountable and ensure small-scale miners practise responsible mining,” reads the petition.
The CRD called on lawmakers to visit Mutare River, Odzi River and Chimanimani River in the same area “to fully comprehend the scale of destruction and ensure existing legal provisions on riverbed mining are strengthened and corrective measures are undertaken”.
The organisation called on Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR), an arm of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), to ensure transparent and accountable exploitation and sale of precious minerals.
“FGR should also ensure that the gold industry complies with the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act (Chapter 9:24), among other legal provisions that combat illicit financial outflows.”
The petitioners say they sourced contributions from residents—among them youths and women—in Penhalonga and adjacent areas in Mutasa South district in Manicaland.
The government in late November gazetted Statutory Instrument 188 of 2024 that effectively bans riverbed mining but, according to Mupfumi, more must be done.
“The new instrument that was gazetted on 29 November 2024 repeals restrictive provisions of S1 104 of 2021 that gave (the) responsible minister discretionary powers to allow riverbed mining.
“Section 3(1) of S1 (Statutory Instrument) 104 of 2021 has been subjected to abuse by political elites to undertake riverbed mining with impunity,” he said.
Mupfumi added that environmental violations have resulted in human and livestock deaths, destruction of property and the violation of community rights to clean and safe water owing to rampant pollution.
“The destruction of natural riverbeds and the creation of gullies have left communities vulnerable to flooding and disease outbreaks such as malaria, cholera and typhoid.
“Furthermore, mined rivers abandoned without rehabilitation have opened floodgates for alluvial panning and illegal gold processing plants that are contaminating the rivers with mercury and cyanide.
“Over 85 000 people from wards 12, 21 and 22 in Chimanimani District, wards 3, 5 and 31 in Mutare Rural District and wards 21, 23, 25 and 27 of Mutasa District have been directly affected by the destruction and contamination of water sources as a result of alluvial gold mining,” he said.
In August this year, CRD led a coalition of community-based organisations that raised alarm over the proliferation of gold mining cartels operating on the Mutare, Odzi and Chimanimani rivers.
In a joint statement, the coalition demanded government to curtail the powers of ministers who abused their offices to allow riverbed mining.
The Penhalonga community has also been consistently engaging relevant authorities over the crisis and that resulted in state security deploying operatives to curb riverbed mining.
Despite acute resistance and intimidation by political elites benefitting from the riverbed mining, the community won a High Court case against illegal mining operations on Mutare River.