Civil Protection (Declaration of State of Disaster Emergency Riverine Ecosystems Rehabilitation) Notice, 2026

A state of disaster is declared throughout Zimbabwe to rehabilitate rivers degraded by legal and illegal alluvial gold mining. The named rivers are the Mazowe and Murowodzi in Mashonaland Central; the Mazowe and Save in Mashonaland East; the Angwa, Sanyati, Munyati and Mupfure in Mashonaland West; the Umzingwane and Insiza in Matabeleland South; the Manzimudaka, Mutebekwi, Sanyati and Mtshingwe in the Midlands; and the Mutare, Haroni and Nyamukwarara in Manicaland. More are being mapped by the Environmental Management Agency.

The commercially significant part is the mining carve-out. The prohibition on alluvial mining in SI 188 of 2024 does not apply to a company that is doing bona fide rehabilitation, has written authority from the Inter-Ministerial Committee, and encounters minerals that earlier alluvial mining deposited or exposed. Such a contractor may retain and dispose of those minerals as the lawful owner, needs no mining title or licence beyond a mineral recovery permit, and pays royalty on the value. Recovered minerals must be reported to the Ministry of Mines within seven days, and the Ministry may inspect to verify quantity and value.

One definition deserves attention. "Polluter company or successor to or clone of a polluter company" is defined to catch any company — or its successor, or a company sharing directors or shareholders — that since 2012 degraded a river by riverbed or alluvial gold mining and is now an approved contractor on that same river. The declaration defines the term and cross-refers to a section 9 headed "Special provisions for certain approved contractors", but no section bearing that heading appears in the notice; section 9 as printed deals with disbursements from the National Civil Protection Fund. What special treatment former polluters were to receive is therefore not stated in the instrument.

Governance runs through several tiers. An Inter-Ministerial Committee, jointly chaired by the Ministers responsible for environment and for water, calls for bids, approves contracts and hears grievances. A Working Party chaired by the Deputy Chief Secretary to Cabinet, including permanent secretaries and the Commissioner-General of Police, shortlists applicants through a National Clearing House. Provincial Committees chaired by Ministers of State enforce site-specific plans. The Agency supervises, keeps a public-facing register of contractors that records the value of minerals recovered, and can stop a contractor who breaches conditions or exceeds scope — appealable to the Inter-Ministerial Committee within thirty days, whose decision is final.

The operating rules on the ground are specific. No rehabilitation may take place from November to April, or in rivers in full spate. Processing plants, slimes dams and settling ponds may not be built within 500 metres of a river bank or the highest flood level, and no process water may be discharged into the river. Silt removal must not go deeper than the original riverbed. Upstream and downstream water quality must be monitored for total suspended solids, pH and heavy metals. On-site burial of waste is strictly prohibited. A contractor is cleared of environmental liability at a site only on written certification of compliance from the Agency and a quittance certificate from the Ministry of Mines.

An unsuccessful bidder may appeal a shortlisting or award decision to the Inter-Ministerial Committee within 28 days, on payment of the prescribed fee. The declaration takes effect on its promulgation; no calendar date is stated.