12 Jul 2015

Ruthless sourcing of natural resources such as sand is widespread in the country and threatens the livelihoods of people who depend on the rivers.

For villages in Kweneng District, sand mining is rampant especially in Mmankgodi, Kumakwane and Metsimotlhabe.

Located just 20 kilometres west of the capital city, Gaborone, Metsimotlhabe has witnessed a surge in illegal mining and residents say this not only happens at night, as some carry their activities during the day.

In an interview recently, the deputy kgosi of Metsimotlhabe, Mr Maganelo Mmipi was at pains as he chronicled how illegal sand mining was degrading Metsimotlhabe River.

He said while residents should be the ones jealously guarding their resources, they have now jumped ship and were involved in the illegal activities.

Some residents, he said, were in the habit of destroying the river and collaborating with sand miners to harvest sand and even show them where to dig in the river.

He accused residents of helping scavengers to illegally mine sand along the river.

This, Kgosi Mmipi said, was a cause for concern and has seen them engaging with police officials over the issue. He revealed that in their effort to curb the problem, bogosi in the village frequently deploy an operation merging with the police to combat such sand mining activities.

He said in most cases they caught miners red handed and were fined P1 000 which he said does not deter them from committing the offence.

In his view, he said such mining threatens to thwart the life of Metsimotlhabe River and that illegal sand mining does not only destroy the river, but poses a threat to villagers and animals as the unstable land could form caves. Ends