Environmental activists have warned that Zimbabwe is facing an escalating environmental and public health crisis driven by unregulated mining, with some describing the situation as an “environmental Armageddon” that now poses a national security threat. The concerns were raised duringThis Morning on Asakhe, a programme that examined the depth of Zimbabwe’s environmental crisis. Speaking on the scale of environmental degradation, the Executive Director of the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG), Farai Maguwu, said the country’s mining boom had reached crisis levels, fuelled by economic collapse and the loss of formal employment.
“It has reached a crisis level. When you look at what is happening in Zimbabwe today regarding mining, it is like we have discovered minerals for the first time — everybody is getting into mining,” Maguwu said.“There are push factors where the economy has failed to take off, factories and industries have closed, and many people have lost formal employment. There is now a consensus that the only place where you can get rich quickly is mining.” Maguwu warned that governance in the mining sector had significantly weakened, allowing mining activities to spread into ecologically sensitive and protected areas.
“We have seen the weakening of governance to the extent that ecologically sensitive areas are no longer spared. Mountains are disappearing, and rivers are being destroyed, even though there is a policy banning mining in rivers, it is simply not being respected,” he said. He cited mining activities at UNESCO heritage sites and protected areas such as Mavuradona Wilderness, as well as destruction in areas including Shurugwi and Poterekwa Mountain.
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“What is even more worrying is that those who should be enforcing the law are now part of the syndicates destroying the environment,” Maguwu said. He added that in areas such as Penhalonga in Mutare, some police officers, soldiers, senior government officials and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives were allegedly involved in mining activities. “This has gone beyond being an environmental crisis, it has become a national security threat,” he said.
Maguwu further warned that mining was taking place beneath roads and residential areas, increasing the risk of disasters. “They are digging massive holes in mountains, creating underground dams. When these collapse, they will cause flash floods, and people will be washed away,” he said.
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