The Nyamugwapare River, once an important source of water for communities in Machipisa Village, is now flowing at only a fraction of what residents say they remember, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
For women living along its banks, the decline has brought practical consequences: gardening has become difficult, washing clothes is harder, and fishing, once a source of food and occasional income, has largely disappeared.
Residents associate the changes with mining activity in the area, where two lithium mining operations are currently operating in the village.
But while community members blame mining for the deterioration of the river, questions remain over the extent to which mining activities are contributing to the changes, and whether measures put in place by operators are adequately preventing mine waste and sediment from reaching the waterway.
‘We used to have water all year round’
“We used to have water all year round. Now the river has no water,” Ester Kapondoro told Mining Zimbabwe.
Kapondoro said the decline had disrupted activities that previously depended on the river.
“Gardening is difficult. Washing is now difficult. We are suffering,” she said.
For women in Machipisa, the river’s condition is more than an environmental concern. It affects household work and activities that once helped families produce food.
Another woman, who asked not to be identified, said the quality of the water had also become a concern.
“Laundry is now a nightmare because the water is dirty and leaves our clothes stained,” she said.
She also said fishing had become increasingly difficult.
“Fishing, which used to supplement our diets and provide a small income, is no longer possible. The fish are gone,” she said.
Mining and the river
The concerns come as mining activity expands in the village.
Benson Mine is among the operations working in the area, with mining activity taking place in close proximity to the Nyamugwapare River.
Mining Zimbabwe previously raised the issue of the river’s proximity to mining operations with Benson Mine Assistant Mine Manager Chengetai Zimhondi.
Zimhondi said engineering measures had been put in place to prevent material from the mining operation from reaching the river.
The mine’s position, therefore, is that its engineering controls are designed to keep mining material away from the waterway.
However, during a visit to the area, mining-related sand and stone material could be seen in and along sections of the Nyamugwapare River.
Video footage taken during the visit also shows the material in proximity to the river.
The observation does not, on its own, establish the source of the material or prove that it has caused contamination of the river. It does, however, raise questions about whether the measures described by the mine are working as intended.
Those questions are particularly important for communities that rely on the river for household and livelihood activities.
A burden that falls heavily on women
The deterioration of local water sources has a particularly significant impact on women because they often carry much of the responsibility for household water collection and domestic work.
Takaitei Bote, a communications representative for ActionAid Zimbabwe, said the impact of mining on women should not be treated as an issue affecting women alone.
“What affects women largely affects the community,” Bote said.
Her comments reflect a wider concern among civil society organisations that the social costs of mining are often felt most directly by communities whose livelihoods depend on land and natural resources.
In communities where water becomes scarce or difficult to access, women can face an increased burden as they try to maintain household activities while also finding alternative sources of water.
The unanswered questions
The condition of the Nyamugwapare raises questions that extend beyond the experiences of individual households:
If mining operations are located close to the river, what safeguards are in place to prevent sediment, waste rock, and other mining material from entering the waterway?
Are those safeguards being regularly inspected?
Where residents report changes in water quality and river flow, has independent water-quality testing been conducted to establish what is actually happening?
These questions are particularly important because visible material in a river does not by itself establish chemical contamination. Determining whether the water is contaminated — and identifying the source — requires proper environmental and water-quality assessment.
For residents, however, the concern is immediate.
They are already dealing with a river they say no longer provides what it once did.
Benson Mine asked to respond
Mining Zimbabwe approached Benson Mine for comment on the concerns raised by residents and the proximity of mining activities to the Nyamugwapare River.
The acting mine manager referred questions to the mine manager.
The mine’s earlier position, as communicated by Assistant Mine Manager Chengetai Zimhondi, was that engineering measures had been put in place to prevent mining material from reaching the river.
The company had not provided a further response to the specific concerns raised by residents by the time of publication.
A river caught between development and dependence
The Nyamugwapare is not simply a watercourse to the women of Machipisa Village.
It has been part of their daily lives — providing water for household activities, supporting gardens, and contributing to food security.
Now, residents are watching the river change as mining activity expands around them.
For Kapondoro and other women in the village, the question is not whether mining should take place.
It is whether mineral development can proceed without leaving communities to bear the environmental and social costs.
“We are suffering,” Kapondoro said.
For the women of Machipisa, the future of the Nyamugwapare is therefore inseparable from their own.
