A visit meant to assess water security south of the city turned into what Mayor David Coltart has described as a “horrifying” discovery of unchecked environmental destruction in the Umzingwane Dam catchment area.

The Mayor toured several sites in the Umzingwane river system, the catchment that feeds one of Bulawayo’s most critical water sources.

What he found left him deeply concerned for the city’s medium to long-term water supply, especially with El Niño conditions forecast for next year.

The Mayor did not mince his words in a post on facebook released after the tour, backed by photographs and Google Earth coordinates showing the scale of damage.

“Yesterday I visited a variety of sites south of @CityofBulawayo in the Umzingwane dam catchment area and I am horrified by the unchecked and rampant destruction of river systems and entire mountains in that area,” Mayor Coltart said.

Despite repeated government directives that riverbed mining and environmental destruction should cease, the Mayor says the situation is deteriorating, not improving.

“It is clear to me that despite Government stating that river bed and other environmental destruction should stop it is continuing, indeed it is escalating.

“As the attached photographs I took yesterday show, entire mountains are being destroyed, tributaries blocked with total impunity.”

The destruction is not merely cosmetic. Coltart warned that blocked tributaries and excavated riverbeds are crippling Bulawayo’s ability to capture rainwater, a direct threat to a city that has battled water shedding for years.

“This mining is wreaking havoc on our ability to capture rain water in our dams. With El Niño predicted next year I am deeply worried about our medium to long term water supply situation if this doesn’t stop now.”

What distressed the Mayor most was not only the gouged-out hillsides, but the human cost unfolding around them.

“Perhaps what was even more distressing are all the little children I saw clearly not in school and impoverished.

“Despite the vast amount of money being extracted from these mountains and rivers nothing is being done by these miners to uplift the local communities. There are no schools or clinics being built.”

He noted that whilst miners are extracting massive profits from gold at current global prices, none of that wealth is returning to the people living on that land.

“These miners are milking our Nation. With the gold price where it is they are generating massive profits but none of that wealth is being invested in local communities.”

Instead, the Mayor observed a pattern of social decay: shebeens multiplying near mining sites, young men drinking heavily, and basic infrastructure being destroyed.

“In addition I observed many young men who are clearly drinking heavily and frequenting shabeens which have sprung up in the vicinity of the mining. So it is clear that the moral fabric of these societies is being destroyed along with the utter destruction of the environment.”

Mayor Coltart also criticised the lack of rehabilitation once mining operations move on. Once gold deposits are exhausted, sites are abandoned with no effort to restore grazing land or safeguard future land use.

“It is equally clear that once particular areas have been mined out they are just left without any effort being made to rehabilitate the areas mined so that they can be used by local communities in future.

All that is happening is the destruction of roads, rivers, grazing areas and the local habitat.”

For a city that depends on Umzingwane and other dams for survival, that abandonment is a ticking time bomb. Siltation, blocked tributaries, and collapsed riverbanks reduce dam capacity every rainy season.

The Mayor is now calling on national authorities to intervene immediately. He says local government alone cannot halt the scale of destruction without support from law enforcement and environmental regulators.

“This is an absolute disgrace and we need urgent intervention by Government, the police and EMA.”

He urged residents in Umzingwane, Esigodini, and surrounding wards to remain vigilant and report illegal mining activity. The City of Bulawayo, he said, will continue to document the damage and push for accountability.

Coltart’s message was clear: the wealth beneath Bulawayo’s soil should benefit Bulawayo’s people, not destroy their future.

“All that is happening is the destruction of roads, rivers, grazing areas and the local habitat,a legacy no community should have to inherit.

Residents with information on illegal mining in the Umzingwane catchment are encouraged to contact the City of Bulawayo, EMA, or their local police station.

^{Picture Credit: David Coltart}