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The Herald, 27 September 2017 

AUTHORITIES in Zvishavane are battling sand poachers who are causing serious environmental degradation, with the criminals ignoring laid down procedures for legal extraction. 

The poachers evade arrest by working during the night and weekends when there is no-one monitoring their activities.

According to minutes from a meeting chaired by Runde Rural District Council Chairperson Councillor Norman Sibanda, the sand extractors applied to the Environmental Management Agency which turned down their proposals. 

“Sand poachers have now resorted to poaching sand at night and during weekends, to evade the council sand monitoring system, hence new strategies need to be adopted,” the council noted. The councillors said the sand abstraction had increased due to rising construction work in the district. 

An EMA report in June this year, noted Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007 for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Ecosystem Protection which stipulates that: “No person shall excavate, remove, possess or license the removal of clay or sand deposit for commercial purposes without a licence by the Environmental Management Agency.”  

The law further stipulates that anyone who contravenes the Statutory Instrument shall be liable to a fine not exceeding level 14 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or both. 

Despite the law, sand poaching continues to take its toll on the environment of Zvishavane. Delays in the processing of the sand mining applications and the finalisation of the Environment and Natural Resources Conservation by-laws have also worked to the poachers’ advantage, council noted.  

Council further states that: “Most of the miners of sand and clay do so from undesignated points and do not rehabilitate the land afterwards.”  

It said the abandoned sites were characterised by huge open pits, which were death traps to human beings and animals. 

“Limited livelihood options to the urban dwellers have worsened the country’s disposition to illegal sand mining”, said the councillors.  

“Sand mining is a direct cause of soil erosion as soil particles are loosened during extraction. There is massive deforestation, especially where brick moulding is practiced. Sand abstraction also threatens infrastructure such as roads.”  

The councillors concurred that sand poaching was destroying agricultural land and threatening livelihoods and food security. 

LESSONS FOR TODAY 

 As populations grow and rates of urbanisation increase, the demand for sand needed in construction also increases. These high levels of demand have often led to the use of unsustainable sand extraction processes and illegal sand mining. 

 The illegal mining of sand affects the environment with increases in land degradation.  

 Unregulated mining of large volumes of sand also leads to soil erosion. 

 Dunes and sandbanks act as barriers to flooding. When sand mining removes such barriers, areas near the sea or river become more prone to flooding. 

 Sand mining destroys the aesthetic beauty of plains and riverbanks, and also makes the ecological system in these areas unstable. If such plains and riverside areas are popular tourist destinations, then the tourism potential of such areas is lost.