ByErnest K. Mando, Masvingo
Urbanisation has led to a rise in sand demand for construction subsequently witnessing the proliferation of illegal sand mining in many parts of the country. The sustainability of its extraction has however become worrisome as this is causing massive land degradation in sand endowed areas. With high unemployment rate and prevailing economic hardships in the country, sand has created a lucrative business opportunity for the community particularly youths, unfortunately with wanton destruction of the environment. On the other hand, registered mining companies such as Derbyshire Quarry that observe environmental management standards and operating procedures suffer competition and conflicting interests. In Harare south, one of the hotspots for sand poaching has witnessed serious socio-environmental conflicts with various stakeholders including private companies, residents and ZRP. In some cases, sand poachers dig in the land belonging to registered companies. One of the concerned Mine Managers from a company that cannot be named for official reasons said;
‘Illegal sand poachers dig in our stands and do not respect us; they can even destroy the road coming into our premises. When they sell their sand, their prices are very low as compared to ours as the private sector so that means we have competition. They only temporarily operate away from our vicinity when we raise an alarm over their operations but with time you see them coming back again’
A visit made by the writer in Harare south shows that some homesteads have been left outstanding typically on a hilly landscape due to land degradation around the homestead. Older persons and children cannot safely walk away from their yards as its all steep slopes around the homestead. Sand poachers are also digging into agriculture fields destroying crops and vegetables without the consent of owners. It is also alleged that in some cases they extend into grave yards. Open defecation is also an obvious consequence of these illegal sand mining activities as the areas where they operate do not have toilets, worse safe water for their consumption during their activities.
While ZRP and EMA are playing their part to curb this tragedy, there is much resistance from sand poachers as they only temporarily vacate the areas when police or EMA officials come, and continue to operate once they leave. On the other hand, efforts by private mining companies to get rid of these poachers are failing to fully curb the problem. Indeed, sand poaching has become a socio-environmental tragedy. Illegal sand miners blame national economic hardships for their operations as they acknowledge understanding of the environmental impacts of their operations. One of the sand poacher interviewed said (interpreted);
‘Yes we know that we are causing environmental degradation and also polluting the water used by community and Irvines but we have no option because our families survive by these activities. There are no jobs, industries have closed and now COVID-19 has shut down our alternative income generating activities elsewhere. There used to be very few poachers here but look there are so many of them now including women. This is our new industry’
The above statement is a clear testimony of defiance and a likelihood of even the worst corollary on the environment due to sand poaching if no immediate actions are taken to fortify current governance efforts. This article identifies the need for a multi-stakeholder engagement towards this tragedy beyond EMA and ZRP. The issue of land ownership needs further scrutiny, and where possible engage political actors and local authorities on land issues engage civil society organisations, private sector, NGOs and residents to strike a balance between societal needs and environmental sustainability.
