by MANGALISO TSHUMA & NQOBANI MATHIBELA
BULAWAYO Executive Mayor David Coltart has raised alarm over the escalating impact of illegal gold mining along riverbanks feeding the city’s major dams, warning that unchecked activities are accelerating siltation, polluting water sources and deepening the city’s long-standing water crisis.
Coltart expressed concern that despite heavy rainfall across Matabeleland this season, Bulawayo’s key dams and reservoirs remain far from full, unlike those in other provinces that are already overflowing.
He attributed this anomaly largely to widespread illegal alluvial mining within river catchments supplying the city.
The mayor said the city’s water sources, including Insiza Mayfair, Inyankuni, Lower Ncema, Upper Ncema, Umzingwane and Mtshabezi dams, are being severely compromised by gold panners operating along riverbanks and within river channels.
“The bad news is that I witnessed illegal gold mining in virtually every tributary, and very few tributaries were actually flowing,” Coltart said.
“In all the pools in tributaries the water is exceptionally muddy, a sign of massive erosion upstream. After so much rain these tributaries should still have been flowing but they weren’t.”
Coltart said he made the observations while inspecting the Umzingwane River and its tributaries. While noting that Umzingwane itself was in flood and flowing strongly, he emphasised that the condition of its tributaries was deeply troubling.
“To explain the significance of this I need to emphasise that the catchment has had at least 600 millimetres of rain this season so far, and last week alone recorded over 100 millimetres,” he said. “Yet the bulk of the tributaries weren’t flowing. Despite all the rain, Umzingwane Dam as at 21 January is only 30.1 per cent full.”
He contrasted this with Mtshabezi Dam, which is currently full despite having a catchment area close to that of Umzingwane.
“The difference is that whereas Mtshabezi’s catchment is mainly in the north-eastern Matopos and has hardly any gold mining, Umzingwane’s catchment has been utterly devastated by illegal mining,” Coltart said.
Illegal mining on riverbanks strips vegetation, destabilises soil and causes excessive erosion. The resulting silt is carried downstream into dams and reservoirs, gradually reducing storage capacity.
When dams silt, their ability to hold water diminishes, cutting supplies to cities even in seasons of good rainfall.
Over time, siltation shortens the lifespan of dams, increases water treatment costs and raises the risk of severe shortages during drought years.
Coltart said the government’s 2024 ban on alluvial mining in river courses appears to be poorly enforced.
“Yesterday (Saturday) I saw numerous miners hard at it,” he said. “Nearly every tributary of the Umzingwane has evidence of mining taking place. There are large camps of illegal miners. Despite this, I didn’t see a single EMA (Environmental Management Agency) or ZRP (Zimbabwe Republic Police) patrol. These miners are continuing their illegal work with impunity.”
He warned that failure to act would have dire consequences for Bulawayo.
“The consequences for our city are devastating. Government needs to bring this existential threat to an end immediately, otherwise Bulawayo’s water crisis will continue, indeed worsen,” Coltart said.
Residents have echoed the mayor’s concerns. Mziwandile Ndlovu questioned the effectiveness of previous threats to deploy security forces, asking: “For years, the Umzingwane MP has been threatening to deploy the army to curb rampant gold panning. What came of that?”
Sydney Moyo called for an immediate halt to riverbank mining, while Luke Nyamangodo said: “The mayor is raising an alarm calling for an integrated approach to environmental degradation. A holistic response is needed sooner rather than later.”
Environmental experts stress that protecting river catchments through regular monitoring, enforcement of mining laws and adherence to recommended environmental practices is essential.
Without decisive action, continued siltation and pollution threaten Bulawayo’s water security, public health and economic stability.
