Economic Impact of COVID-19 Fuels Unregularized Brick Moulding

Loss of jobs due to COVID-19 has resulted in an alarming increase of illegal brick moulders in Hwange district. Image by Hwange Local Board

by Rutendo Mapfumo

For a decade, brick moulding has been popular in Hwange. COVID-19 induced job losses in the hospitality and mining sectors have driven more people to become brick moulders, however they are not regularized and often steal raw material.

HWANGE, September 29, 2020. (The Citizen Bulletin) — IT is 5 o’clock in the morning in Empumalanga Township, the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) road which leads to ezitineni (brick moulding project) is already busy.

In old torn work suits and muddy safety shoes, young men rush to the not so thick Empumalanga bush which is between Phase 4 residential stands and Don Bosco Technical College.

They carry huge shovels and metal molds. Women on the other hand, with children on their backs, carry iced 5 litre water bottles which will be consumed later during the hot day. They all have a target to meet as the demand for bricks rises daily.

The economic impact of COVID-19 has resulted in an alarming increase of illegal brick moulders in Hwange district. They steal clay and slurry in a quest to mould bricks for sale.

An environmental management plan is required before one can mould bricks, many of them do not have one.

Hordes of Hwange district residents who were in the mining and tourism industry lost their jobs during the beginning of national induced lockdown in the fight against COVID-19.

Urgent Mudenda (24) is among the young men and women in Hwange who have turned to brick moulding business despite its illegality.

“I was working as an assistant operator at a Chinese mining company, but when the national lockdown started, we were told to stay home, with no salaries yet I have a family that I need to take care of.”
Urgent Mudenda, brick moulder

The national lockdown was put in place to control the pandemic both at workplace and at home.
 
Mudenda who joined the illegal brick moulding business in May was working for someone who was paying him USD$5 for moulding 1000 bricks and for neatly arranging the bricks to form an oven. He later graduated and managed to establish his pits where he is now an independent illegal brick molder.

“I have managed to establish my two pits somewhere next to Empumalanga sewer systems, I am using one pit where I source the slurry and clay for the bricks. In this pit I produce 10 000-20 000 bricks.”

“The second pit, I rent it out for USD$25, that way my business keeps moving forward,” Mudenda says.

Nokuthula Tshuma who was once a tour guide joined the brick moulding trade as she claims it is so far the only business she could start to get easy money.

Brick moulders produce thousands of bricks which are delivered all over the province, 10 000 bricks cost USD$350-400.

“COVID-19 crippled the tourism industry to the extent that I had to relocate to Hwange and join my other siblings who are into the bricks business.”

“It is not an easy job; it requires serious manual labour,” she says.

A report from the Hwange Local Board confirms that there has been an increase of illegal brick moulding during the national induced lockdown.

According to Dumisani Nsingo, the Hwange local board public relations officer, the activities are not new but have been worsened by the pandemic.

“This has been on-going for over a decade and is being perpetrated by some unscrupulous individuals involved in brick moulding. There has been an increasing number of people involved in clay soil poaching for the sole purpose of moulding bricks especially during the beginning of the lockdown,” he says.

The general Secretary of Zimbabwe Diamond Allied mineral workers Union, Justice Chinema confirms that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has caused job losses in mines.

“A number of people in the mining sector lost their jobs as most companies they worked for were on lockdown and some companies failed to comply with COVID-19 regulations,” says Chinema.

The President of the Employers Association for tours and safaris operators Clement Mukwasi also says most workers who are in the tourism industry had to go for unpaid leave during the lockdown.

According to the Matabeleland North Environmental Management Agency (EMA) provincial manager, Chipo Mpofu-Zuze, some of the offenders have been fined.

The rampant brick moulding has resulted in a serious environment degradation. Image by Greater Whage Residents

Meanwhile the Hwange Central Constituency Member of Parliament Daniel Molekele says the increase of the brick moulders is driven by poverty.
 
“We are aware that there are serious issues of poverty and in that context, we understand that many people who have been doing the illegal brick moulding have been forced by circumstances beyond their control,” says Molekele.

Molokele has encouraged the local government to negotiate with the brick moulders and identify a place where the brick moulding can be done in partnership with the local government.

“This is the form of employment that the residents have, let it be regularized, let it be done properly and legally because a lot of families need to sustain themselves through brick moulding.”

“We encourage our local residents to ensure that we have a sustainable environment when it comes to development,” he says.

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