Illegal mining destroys Sabie River valley ecology
Untold damage to fern trees that are over 500 years old has been recorded, and the Spitskopspruit is in danger of irrevocable damage to its ecosystem.
Illegal miners are still operating in broad daylight outside town, as Simile township community leaders vow to continue vigilante action against the ongoing drain of municipal resources.
Despite successful sting operations by the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM), the police and private security companies in recent months, illegal mining continues unabated in the Sabie River, its feeding tributaries and behind Van Axe’s Estate.
Five-hundred-year-old tree ferns, now dead, dot the Spitskopspruit, 5km from Sabie. They are victims of illegal gold mining. The spruit is a tributary of the Sabie River and fears are being raised of irrevocable damage to the wetland ecosystem.
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Mounds of excavated soil, newly constructed wheelbarrow ramps, recently abandoned clothing and severe erosion of the stream’s banks are stark proof that TCLM and the police do not have illegal mining under control.
The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency’s Brian Morris said, “They are destroying the entire Spitskopspruit channel, which has become a processing bed for the extraction of gold.”
Closer to Sabie, illegal mining is ongoing at the gold mining site behind Van Axe’s Estate. On September 2, Lowvelder found seven large bags of ore at the entrance to one of the tunnels, ready for transportation down the now wrecked mountainside. On the day, no miners were present. More than a week later, on September 13, five zama zamas were present.
“We have been working all day and night for seven months. No one stops us,” one of them said.
Outraged Sabie and Simile township residents said the zama zamas are diverting municipal water and electricity services to their wooden hut workshops in Nkanini informal settlement next to Simile.
Simile township community leader Sbongakonke Nkosi has vowed local residents will not stop evicting the miners from their workshop shacks and disrupting their operations.
Morris, however, is not hopeful. “There is a growing disbelief that the police are willing or able to fulfill their mandate,” he said. Dr. Tatenda Dalu of the University of Mpumalanga said, “The fines or penalties for environmental pollution need to be substantial enough to deter would-be offenders and should be supported by efficient enforcement.
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