ENVIRONMENTAL Management Agency (Ema) Matabeleland South provincial director Decent Ndlovu has revealed that they will soon be using drones to monitor rampant illegal mining activities in the province.
In an interview with Southern Eye, Ndlovu said his office was seized with cases of rampant illegal gold mining, which were causing land degradation.
“The recent illegal mining activities are happening at Longville Farm near Matshetshe turn, popularly known as Mgqomo in Gwanda,” he said.
“The illegal miners are using devices such as detectors, which are not regularised. They do a lot of damage using that equipment.
“We have applied for a drone which we are expecting soon so that we will be able to assess and give an analysis of the mining activities in the province.”
Ndlovu said there were some areas in the province which were experiencing challenges such as Nugget Mine in Matobo and Vova area in Gwanda.
“The other areas that are experiencing challenges are Mzingwane and Insiza rivers, we do not have arresting powers but we report such activities to the police so as to get assistance in pushing the illegal miners out of the places,” he said.
He said no mining activity should take place before the issuance of an environment impact assessment certificate.
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Added Ndlovu: “We advise those doing mining activities to get permission to do so first in order to avoid land degradation.”
Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson Inspector Chiratidzo Dube said they had attended cases of illegal mining.
“We attend to such cases involving gold panning on a number of occasions and make arrests so that those found on the wrong side of the law are charged,” Dube said.
However, reports have indicated that illegal gold panning provides livelihoods to many rural residents due to high unemployment and poverty rates.
The activities also lead to severe environmental degradation and socioeconomic disruptions.
