13 Dec 2020

Parliament has deferred a motion by Mahalapye West MP Mr David Tshere requesting government to put a moratorium on all licenses for river sand mining along Mahalapye River and small rivers along the Mahalapye Sub-district.

Mr Tshere had also requested the government to facilitate that quarries in Lose and Palla road be opened to meet the sand demand for construction purposes in the district.

Responding to Mr Tshere’s demands the Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security Mr Lefoko Moagi said he did not agree with the immediate imposition of a moratorium on licensing of sand mining in the Mahalapye River systems.

He said the imposition of the moratorium on sand mining was a process which did not require any intervention from Parliament.

Mr Moagi said it involved the development of initiatives to the river and extensive consultations with all affected stakeholders and the communities.

“The above processes are still at an infancy stage. In the absence of operational quarries with suitable crushing equipment to manufacture sand at the required specifications it will be counterproductive to stop licensing of river sand mining as that will facilitate illegal mining which will put undue pressure on the law enforcement resources which are already stretched,” he said.

He said unsustainable sand mining caused damage to the environment and that river sand mining in particular caused degradation of the river systems and the surrounding environment.

“River sand mining impacts negatively on the other uses of the river such as water abstraction for agric use. It, therefore, follows that any action must involve extensive consultations with relevant stakeholders before a decision can be taken regarding placing a moratorium on licensing of river sand mining in Mahalapye sub-district,” he added.

He said in 2014 the ministry started a campaign to encourage the use of alternatives to river sand in construction.

Mr Moagi explained that manufactured sand and crusher dust from rock quarries had emerged as more sustainable alternatives to river sand in construction.

He said uptake of manufactured sand and crusher dust had been improving over the years especially in areas such as greater Gaborone as Batswana realised it performed just as river sand.

Mr Moagi said in areas such as Mahalapye Sub-district where people believed there was ample river sand, there was a reluctance to invest in operations which would produce manufactured sand.

He said before river sand mining could be stopped, it was crucial to ensure alternative to river sand mining were made available to the communities.

Minister Moagi said his ministry together with Botswana Geoscience Institute (BGI) undertook a project to identify rocks that were suitable to sand manufacturing.

He said in 2018 BGI completed a pre-feasibility study on rocks identified around Serowe/Palapye and Mahalapye areas and quarry sites had been identified in Palapye, Serowe, Tobela, Bonwapitse, Mokgware and Mahalapye.

“Over the years my ministry had licensed rock quarries in the Mahalapye Sub-district for commercial quarrying and construction projects. These are all held by citizens. ,” he said.

When debating the motion MP for Shoshong Mr Aubrey Lesaso said government’s facilitation of quarries in the south part of the country should also apply in the north.

He said big trucks along the Mahalapye river systems were harming the environment and that was proving costly to the government. He pleaded with the government to review licenses issued to those currently mining. He decried the negative degradation of the river and oil spillage that was contaminating grazing land.

Tati East MP Dr Douglas Letsholathebe pleaded with the mover of the motion to allow the minister to continue with consultation and appraise the house at a later stage.

Dr Letsholathebe said revoking licenses would lead to an influx of illegal operations in the area. He said the rehabilitation of the river would be done as soon as the quarries were in full operation.

Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation Dr Lemogang Kwape said it was important to establish proper ways of regulating the sand mining activities rather than shutting down licensed operations suddenly.

Dr Kwape who is MP for Kanye South said the challenge of illegal sand mining practices was a common occurrence even in his constituency and that called for prompt action. ENDS