Makorokoza threaten $206m Bulawayo-Harare highway

A 30-kilometre stretch from Kwekwe to Munyati River Bridge along the Kwekwe–Harare highway is under threat from illegal panners and registered mines whose operations are now approaching the shoulders of the road. So bad is illegal gold panning that the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has engaged other arms of the government like the ministries of Mines and Mining Development and Home Affairs to assist in bringing sanity to the mining operations there.

EMA officials said they need to rid the area of illegal panners who do not value the importance of the highway to the country's economy. At the same time EMA is advocating for changes in legislation to criminalise possession of gold detecting machines which illegal gold panners walk around carrying freely. The Harare-Bulawayo highway had its shoulders widened recently by a South African construction company, Group Five International (Group 5) and Zinara, an investment worth $206 million.

The Chronicle visited the area which is before Battlefields turn-off yesterday and saw badly damaged road infrastructure as miners, both registered and unregistered, are slowly encroaching into the highway from both sides. Panners are also threatening Zesa pylons as they are digging close to the power lines exposing members of the public and livestock to possible electrocution.

Between Kwekwe City and the 188 km peg along the Bulawayo-Harare highway, there are two mines namely Yellow Snake and Atlanta, which have attracted several registered and illegal gold mining activities.

The situation is worse near Chibhawabhawa Beer Hall, where the illegal operations are being conducted just about a metre away from the highway. They are also digging up sewage manholes where they deliberately destroy sewer pipes. It is a belief among panners that sewage attracts gold. EMA Midlands Provincial manager, Benson Basera, told The Chronicle yesterday that there was a need for a multi-sectoral approach to handling the matter.

"We've a road stretch of 30km between Kwekwe and Munyati River Bridge which is part of the road that was rehabilitated by Group 5 at a cost running into millions of dollars. The road is now under threat from mining activities," he said. Basera said the problem was that EMA was handicapped and could not bring order on its own. "We're calling on the police and the officials from the mining ministry to help fight these miners who are threatening the national asset. We try as EMA to have patrols but we need the police and mining experts to guide us in this quest to save our highway which is a link between the two major cities and other countries in the region," he said.

He said mining laws allowed mining activities to take place at least 25 metres from the shoulders of the road. Basera said: "Unfortunately, that rule isn't being followed. This is now making the multi-million dollar road rehabilitation project futile." He said mining close to the road also had structural effects on the road as the illegal panners use dynamite underground.

"They use dynamite and all sorts of things which in the long run affect the structure of the road. At the same time when we have a disaster on the road, there won't be any space to make a detour because of these pits. Some of the open pits are 15 metres deep and along the highway. "Near Kwekwe Queens Sports Club, the panners are panning underneath the Zesa pylons some of which can fall at any time," said Basera.

He said there was urgent need to criminalise the sale and possession of metal detectors which were being used by the illegal gold panners in search of the precious mineral.