By Heather Buzuzi
MUTARE, 16 July 2025 – A tributary that winds from the mountains behind Queens Hall, past the Coca-Cola plant, and into the Sakubva River near Devonshire, is rapidly deteriorating its banks gutted by illegal gold panners who operate under the cover of darkness.
Once a vital water source and natural habitat, the stream is now choked with silt and polluted with chemicals. A recent visit by The Wasu Post found the area deserted but deeply scarred evidence of night-time raids by artisanal miners who leave behind destruction and fear.
“This place has become dangerous,” said a male resident from Yeovil, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The miners dig all night. When they don’t find gold, they break into our homes. Our children are scared to play outside. We live in fear.”
Mbuya Malunga, a long-time Sakubva OTS resident, confirmed the ongoing illegal activities, not just along the tributary but even in the Sakubva River itself. “Mining is happening everywhere now—even in Sakubva River. We see it. No one is stopping them,” she said.
The environmental damage mirrors that seen in other parts of Zimbabwe, such as Mzingwane District, where rampant illegal mining caused river siltation and reduced dam capacity, worsening water shortages in Bulawayo.
“This is a crisis in slow motion,” warned Lynne James, director of Mutare Rivers Initiative. “We raised the alarm last week, but by the time we acted, the miners had disappeared. These operations are 100% illegal, yet no one is enforcing the law. Rivers are being poisoned, and communities downstream are at risk.”
James added that the tributary, already struggling with industrial and sewage pollution, now faces the added burden of mining chemicals. “This river feeds into the Sakubva River. The contamination doesn’t stop here. It affects water used for gardens, livestock, and even small-scale irrigation. We are poisoning our future.”
Efforts to get a response from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) were fruitless. Mutare City Council, when contacted, said investigations into the matter were “still underway.”
Residents and environmental activists are now demanding urgent intervention: a crackdown on illegal mining, a ban on the use of mercury, and rehabilitation of affected riverbanks. Some have even called for the deployment of security forces to patrol vulnerable waterways.
But as night falls behind Queens Hall and the tributary slips back into darkness, the diggers are expected to return quietly continuing the destruction as authorities remain silent.