A Chinese company hired by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) to close open pits left by artisanal miners in Umzingwane River reneged on the deal and was found carrying out riverbed mining.
As reported by <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/chinese-company-hired-to-undo-damage-by-illegal-miners-was-mining-at-night-official/">ZimLive</a>, EMA terminated the partnership with the company, Friends of the Environment, but it is unclear if anyone was prosecuted.
Tafadzwa Muguti, the secretary for presidential affairs and devolution, revealed how Friends of the Environment duped EMA during his visit to the catchment areas of major dams in Matabeleland South to witness the environmental damage caused by illegal mining.
By engaging in illegal activities, Friends of the Environment damaged a bridge at the confluence of the Umzingwane and Inyankuni rivers.
Officials say this contributed to poor inflows into major dams supplying Bulawayo with water. Said Muguti:
<blockquote>
We had a Chinese company here, Friends of the Environment, who partnered with EMA and the province later found out that by day they were closing the pits in the name of Friends of the Environment and by night they were mining. They destroyed a whole bridge while looking for gold.
</blockquote>
Rampant illegal mining is being blamed for the low water levels in dams supplying the City of Bulawayo, despite recent rainfall. Added Muguti:
<blockquote>
There was a cabinet directive which ordered all provinces to intensify the anti-alluvial mining campaign.
Now this is almost a 150-meter bridge which was destroyed completely in the name of mining. This is the Umzingwane River, it supplies water to Bulawayo and the collapse of this bridge is causing water challenges as the water has stopped flowing.
</blockquote>
Zimbabwe has experienced a surge in mining investment from Chinese companies, but Muguti acknowledges that “not everyone is here for the benefit of Zimbabwe.”

Pindula News

A Chinese company hired to fix environmental damage caused by illegal miners in Zimbabwe was caught mining for gold at night. They were supposed to close dangerous holes in the ground left by the miners. The company caused damage to a bridge which affected water supply to the city of Bulawayo. The partnership with the company was ended, but it is unclear if anyone was punished. The government is cracking down on illegal mining to protect the environment and water sources. Some Chinese companies are not helping Zimbabwe like they should.

Chinese Company Hired To Reverse Environmental Damage Destroys Bridge While Searching For Gold at Night

Bulawayo Mayor, Councillor David Coltart, said illegal gold mining activities are obstructing rainwater from flowing into Umzingwane Dam, worsening the city’s water challenges.
In his State of the City address at Nkulumane Hall in Ward 22 on Sunday, Coltart expressed his disappointment, saying despite the region receiving a lot of rainfall in recent weeks, the water levels in all of the city’s dams had only increased by 4%. He said:
<blockquote>
We have to sort out the water situation, we have a major problem with our dams with all the rain that we have had these last few months. Our dams since yesterday were still sitting at 28%. With all this rain our dams have only gone up by 4%.
Last Saturday I rode to Mzingwane Dam to go and see for myself what was happening. I was shocked because I rode 40km and I didn’t even see one stream flowing, not one after all that rain. Why? Illegal gold panning! They have dug up our rivers.
</blockquote>
Coltart also gave an update on the city’s plans to construct a dam that was proposed in the 1990s. He said:
<blockquote>
It is a huge problem, therefore, we have to deal with that but our dams are not sufficient. As council, we are now focused on building the Glass Block Dam.
In December I went to Morocco to the African Development Bank. We had a very constructive meeting to try and raise the US$99,9 million to build it up.
We are also planning to build a 32km pipeline from Glass to Ncema station. When we do that it is going to change the water situation, not overnight, but it’s going to take two years to build.
We all need to be patient. Gwayi-Shangani is fine, but it is long term and to build that 257km pipeline to Bulawayo needs a lot of money, it costs a very small amount to build Glass Block Dam.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Illegal gold mining is stopping rainwater from filling Umzingwane Dam, causing water shortages in Bulawayo. Despite a lot of rain, water levels in the city's dams only went up by 4%. The Mayor says illegal gold panning is blocking the flow of water into the dam. The city plans to build a new dam called Glass Block Dam to help with the water shortage. It will take two years to build the dam and a pipeline, but it will change the city's water situation. People need to be patient while the city works to fix the water problem.

Illegal Mining Obstructing Water Inflows To Umzingwane Dam, Says Coltart

The City of Bulawayo has officially decommissioned the Upper Ncema Dam due to critically low water levels.
In a recent notice to residents, the council announced that Upper Ncema is the second dam to be decommissioned since November 2023, following the decommissioning of UMzingwane Dam.
As of October 2, 2024, the water levels in Bulawayo’s dams were as follows: Insiza at 40.33%, Inyankuni at 18.07%, Lower Ncema at 21.46%, and Mtshabezi at 50.79%. UMzingwane, which has been decommissioned, recorded 2.14%, while Upper Ncema was at 2.03%. Said the council:
<blockquote>
The Upper Ncema Dam, a crucial Reservoir located on the same river as the Lower Ncema Dam, was intended to replenish the latter during the dry season. 
However, due to the ongoing drought, the dam gates had to be opened prematurely on August 28, 2024. 
Consequently, the Upper Ncema Dam has reached its non-operational level (dead-water level) and will be decommissioned effective October 3, 2024.
</blockquote>
The local authority has informed residents that the decommissioning of the Upper Ncema Dam will significantly worsen the City’s water supply challenges.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

The city of Bulawayo has stopped using Upper Ncema Dam because there is not enough water. This is the second dam to be closed in recent times. The other dams in Bulawayo are also low on water. Upper Ncema had to be closed early because of a drought. This will make the water shortage in Bulawayo even worse. This news will affect the people living in Bulawayo who may have less water available to them.

Bulawayo Water Crisis Deepens As Upper Ncema Dam Is Decommissioned

Bulawayo Mayor, Councillor David Coltart has painted a bleak picture of the water situation in the city, which recently suspended its 120-hour water rationing regime.
Coltart took pictures of the dry Umzingwane River upstream of Umzingwane Dam, one of Bulawayo’s supply dams on Wednesday morning. He wrote on X:
<blockquote>
The City of Bulawayo faces a major water crisis. Our dams are low and none of the rivers into them are flowing.
This morning I inspected the Umzingwane River upstream of the Umzingwane dam and these are the photos I took.
The river is bone dry – there aren’t even puddles. At this time of year, one would expect at least puddles.
</blockquote>
Coltart urged the Government to urgently declare Bulawayo as a water shortage area to enable the local authority to mobilise funds from third-party financials. He said:
<blockquote>
The government urgently needs to declare Bulawayo as a water shortage area and we need urgent financial assistance to take a variety of short-term remedial measures to mitigate the crisis.
These include getting the Nyamandhlovu aquifer pumps up to full capacity (and then protecting them from theft), constructing a diversionary pipeline on the Mtshabezi pipeline direct to the Umzingwane pump station, upgrading the Inyankuni dam pump station and duplicating the pipeline from Insiza dam to Ncema water purification works.
This needs to be done as a matter of extreme urgency. The BCC and local engineering companies can do all of this but we need urgent financial assistance to do so.
</blockquote>
The City of Bulawayo recently suspended the 120-hour water rationing programme to most of the city owing to reduced pumping capacity at the Ncema Dam plant where there are ongoing maintenance works.
The local authority introduced the 120-hour water-rationing schedule in December last year due to low levels of water in the city’s supply dams.
Before the introduction of the 120-hour water-shedding regime, the city was on a 72-hour water-rationing programme.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Bulawayo's Rivers "Bone Dry", Supply Dams Terribly Low - Mayor

The City of Bulawayo said it will decommission Umzingwane Dam this Friday due to critically low water levels.
The development will worsen the city’s water crisis as residents are currently enduring a 72-hour weekly water shedding programme.
In a statement on Friday, Bulawayo Town Clerk Christopher Dube said Umzingwane Dam is being decommissioned as water levels have receded to just 6.6 per cent. He said:
<blockquote>
The City of Bulawayo would like to advise residents, stakeholders and members of the public that Umzingwane Dam (volume-6.6 per cent) will be decommissioned on Friday 9th September 2022 due to low water levels. This will result in five out of six dams remaining operational.
… Due to the low levels of Umzingwane dam, the city has been unable to meet its daily demand which averages between 155megalitres ML per day.
The maximum available raw water supply is currently below 120 ML/per day. As a result of the gap between demand and supply of 35ML/per day, the city has been on a water-shedding regime, which has been progressively implemented from a 48-hour to a 72-hour schedule.
The City of Bulawayo wishes to apologise to its valued customers for the inconvenience caused.
</blockquote>
Dube also revealed that Upper Ncema Dam was also critically low at 7.6 per cent while Inyakuni Dam is 45 per cent full and Lower Ncema 47 per cent full.
He said the only dams with water levels above 50 per cent are Insiza Mayfair at 69 per cent and Mtshabezi Dam at 71 per cent.
Dube blamed climate change for low rainfall in the dams’ catchment areas which has resulted in reduced inflows. | <a href="https://www.chronicle.co.zw/bcc-decommissions-umzingwane-dam/">Chronicle</a>

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