The Sunday Mail
Harmony Agere recently in Shurugwi
Given its diminutive size, Shurugwi can be said to be a town that has seen more land degradation than it can take.
From hair-raising unclaimed mining pits, mercury-contaminated water bodies to brazen deforestation, the mining town’s natural ecosystems are seriously under threat.
And this is not to mention terrifying accounts of how illegal mine shafts collapse almost every week, burying battalions of miners commonly known here as Mashurugwi.
It is as if nothing worse can be inflicted on the little town.
But a new type of rummagers have arrived in the area and have subjected it to the most devastating assault yet.
“These are the chrome miners,” said Mr Ernest Sibanda who operates a small shop along the Shurugwi–Zvishavane highway.
“And they are digging into the highway and people’s homesteads.”
A survey of the area brought The Sunday Mail Society face-to-face with this chilling reality.
Pits going as deep as 10 metres and soil piles as equally high have emerged almost within a metre of the highway’s shoulders.
Water and rubbish have since started to collect in some of the pits.
Perhaps the most shocking reality is that the miners have in certain cases unashamedly dug into people’s homesteads, fields and pastures.
And unlike Mashurugwi, chrome miners are mechanised with excavators and front-end loaders, thereby leaving the area extremely ravaged.
The unplanned extraction of the mineral is threatening the million-dollar highway and people’s lives.
“Here in Shurugwi, pits are not a new thing. lt’s a mining town and we have sort of grown used to it,” said Mr Sibanda.
“But I have never seen anything like this, they are digging these huge pits and they are not filling them up.
“If you are driving along the highway and make any slight mistake then you end in one of those deep pits lining the road.
“Should the rains come in this situation, we may end up without a road at all.”
Mr Sibanda said locals also risk falling into the pits.
“Water is collecting in the pits so it is now attracting livestock. lt’s only a matter of time before some fall to their deaths. Children herding the cattle are also at risk.
“They bullied an old widow who stays close to the highway and dug into her yard. We have tried raising these issues but nothing serious is being done.”
Small-claim mining in Shurugwi has been on a sturdy rise over the years.
It recently surged sharply following the increase in chrome prices on the world market.
The culprits are said to be neatly closed rackets of Chinese nationals and local miners who claim to have been given the greenlight to mine on the highway’s shoulders.
Theories have emerged that some big wigs are well aware of the development but are reluctant to act on it.
However, Government has maintained that highway mining is illegal, adding that claim holders may be abusing their priviledges.
Midlands provincial mining director, Engineer Nelson Munyanduri, said Government is optimistic that a raft of measures will bring sanity to chrome mining activities in the province.
“All miners should have mining titles in the form of certificates, grants or tributes,” he said.
“Such titles prevent irresponsible mining as miners will be acquainted with mining laws and rehabilitation guidelines.
“All miners are required to practice responsible mining by reclaiming all the pits they would have left during their mining activities, before moving on to another area.
“Every miner should have an appointed manager who will help them practice responsible mining and help miners rehabilitate the area after they are done excavating. You cannot leave all those pits uncovered.”
Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Midlands provincial education and publicity officer, Mr Simon Musasiwa, said the agency is seized with the matter.
“We issued the miners with orders to rehabilitate the pits according to a Government directive.
“The orders are usually for 21 days to a month and we will be making a follow-up after the order lapses to check if the miners have complied. lf not then we will take legal action.”
The Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation recently convened a meeting to educate miners on mining safety and responsible mining practices.
In March, 64 miners were fined by EMA for environmental degradation.
Indications are that the illegal miners have taken advantage of the situation and are smuggling the mineral out of the country.
