Villagers Demand Royalties Or Complete Ban Of Sand Mining

Hwange communities and leadership at loggerheads over David Quo Company for extracting river sand. Image by Unsplash

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | NOV 14, 2020

Sand extraction happening in Hwange communities has put villagers and leadership at loggerheads. Villagers say their environment is being destroyed while local authorities argue that this is misinformation — the environmental regulatory authority has said all is above board, for now the fight continues.

HWANGE (The Citizen Bulletin) — A Chinese owned company that supplies river sand for the Hwange thermal power station has been accused of causing massive land degradation in surrounding communities with fears of irreversible damage to the environment.

Gamba and Chilanga communities say the company is disrupting their way of life.

David Quo supplies the sand to another Chinese owned firm Sinohydro, which is behind the US$1.5 billion expansion of the Hwange thermal power station.

Simon Ndlovu, a community leader from Gamba village on the banks of Lukosi River, has told The Citizen Bulletin that the company has left a trail of destruction in the past two years they have been extracting sand.

“They have destroyed the access road that connects us to the main roads and they have not bothered to rehabilitate the damaged sites," Ndlovu says.

“The company has been extracting river sand in our village for the past two years and they left behind gullies while reeds that used to grow on the river bed are now virtually extinct.”

Mela Shoko, a villager from Chilanga, says David Quo started operating in their area about a fortnight ago and they were apprehensive about the aftermath of the massive sand extraction.

“They have been here for the past week or so and the destruction that they have caused here is too much,” Shoko says.

“We want them to develop our communities as they are also benefiting from our resources, but we don’t see that happening.”

Shoko, who earns a living through basketry, says she is now struggling to get reeds from Lukosi River for her craft.

“I survive on sewing baskets for resale using reeds that grow on wetlands but the area is now dry because of the sand extraction activities,” she says.

Greater Hwange Residents Association chairperson Fidelis Chima says they are worried about the Chinese firm's activities, which he says are not environmentally friendly.

“We are not objecting to the development activities, but we want it to be done in an environmentally friendly manner.”
Fidelis Chima, Greater Hwange Residents Association chairperson

According to Chimahe villagers there is no value in the river sand extraction which they fear will result in the river, which they rely on, being affected.

Ward 20 Councillor Bakani Kwidini echoes Chima's sentiments, and says locals are not benefiting from the sand extraction activities.

“Locals want the extraction to be done in a sustainable manner, and these companies need to give back to the community because Lukosi River is their major source of livelihoods.”

The company has reportedly moved to a new site as the previous site in Gamba village has been heavily damaged and depleted. Extracting sand involves digging deep down, posing risks for the community who use the river as a source of water for them and their livestock.  

“They are also destroying the flora and fauna along that river because it used to be a good source for reeds,” Kwidini adds.

Hwange Rural District Council chief executive officer Phindile Ncube, has however, reacted angrily to the complaints by community leaders, saying they are misinformed.

“I can’t respond to activists because l am not a politician.”
Phindile Ncube, HRDC CEO

“I don’t understand because when unit 7 and 8 (at the Hwange thermal power station) is complete, we are going to produce more and more electricity, so we don't need distractions.

“When people want donor funding they should say so instead of blowing things out of proportion.”

Ncube claims David Quo is extracting river sand from the Sinamatella area, which does not affect Gamba and Chilanga villages.

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“We are only using those areas as abstraction or extraction points. People have a tendency of sensationalising things that have nothing to do with development,” he fumed.

Chipo Zuze, the EMA manager in Matabeleland North, says the Chinese company is properly licensed and their activities are actually meant to protect Lukosi River.

Hwange Local Board Housing and Community Services Director Ananias Banda show Chipo Zuze and her provincial team areas affected by clay soil poaching. Image by Hwange Local Board

“Continued deposition of silt can greatly contribute to flooding during times of intense rains as the water channel would not be able to contain much water.”
Chipo Zuze, EMA manager

Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association legal officer Richard Ncube has indicated they are investigating the concerns raised by the Gamba and Chilanga communities.

“We are responding to the calls that we got directly from the residents themselves, and their representatives, but so far what we have gathered through our investigations will not be shared with the public,” Ncube says.

“In the event that we find out that they don’t have legal papers to be operating in those areas we will consider going to court, but in the event that they have them, we still have to look at other issues.”

Last month, pressure from Zela and other activists forced the government to ban coal mining activities by two Chinese companies inside the Hwange National Park.

Zimbabwe Zhongxin Mining group and Tongmao Coal Mining had been given grants to extract coal, a development activists said posed a threat to the biodiversity of Zimbabwe's largest game reserve.

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