Lantana camara wreaks havoc in Mat South

At least 770 hectares of pastures in Matabeleland South Province have been invaded by a poisonous shrub - lantana camara - that is threatening the existence of livestock in the drought ravaged area.

Land owners can be compelled legally to destroy the shrub and a major eradication programme in the 1960s pushed back the threat for decades.

This comes amid reports that over 500 cattle have already succumbed to El Nino-induced drought in the province, threatening the livelihood of many villagers.

It is reported that the cattle died between October last year and January, while 588 240 are also at the risk of dying in the province due to the combination of drought and the effects of the aggressive shrub.

Lantana camara is a toxic much-branched, upright, arching or scrambling shrub that usually grows to between two and four meters tall and forms dense thickets that affect agriculture land and pastures.

It can occasionally grow like a vine (as a scandent shrub) due to its patterns of short branches and if there is support by other vegetation, in which case it can reach up to 15m in height.

In an interview recently, Environmental Management Agency (EMA) provincial spokesperson, Mrs Sithembokhuhle Moyo, said Umzingwane, Matobo, Insiza, Bulilima and Mangwe were the worst affected districts.

"The shrub is very harmful to livestock and also choking the growth of indigenous species. This type of shrub is originally from South America.

"Umzingwane district is the worst affected district in the province and we have started mobilising communities with the assistance of traditional leaders," she said.

Mrs Moyo said EMA was also supplying the communities with tools to cut the shrub manually in the worst affected areas.

She said they were also urging members of the community to cut the plant before it covered a lot of grazing land.

She said the plant was also spreading to the villagers' farming fields.

"We are continuously holding awareness campaigns to educate people of the effects of this weed/shrub and how best they can reduce or stop its rapid spread," she said.

Matabeleland South Provincial Administrator, Mr Mildard Khumalo, said though pastures had improved in the area, the rapid spreading of lantana camara remained a cause for concern.

"The plant has devastating effects to the existence of grazing lands especially now that we have been hit by perennial droughts.

"We are very hopeful that researches which are being conducted by the Chinhoyi and National Universities of Technology and EMA will come up with a solutions to the complete eradication of these plant," said Mr Khumalo.

He said there was also a need for Government to invest a lot of resources in addressing the spread of the invasive species.