National

Conservationists help tackle poaching in Hwange

Published

3 years ago

September 16, 2022

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Hwange National Park, once a favourite hunting ground for poachers, has not lost an elephant to the illegal hunters for the past two years largely because of partnerships between the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) and non-governmental organisations.

In 2013, over 300 elephants were killed by poachers at the country’s largest game reserve as the menace reached its peak.

Poachers, who included villagers from rural outposts such as Tsholotsho and Hwange used cyanide to kill the elephants for their ivory.

One of the major organisations that have joined hands with Zimparks to protect the animals in Hwange is Bhejani Trust, which also operates at the Zambezi National Park and Kazuma Pan National Park in Matabeleland North.

Bhejane Trust director Trevor Lane said the last elephant poaching incident at the Hwange National Park was in 2020 and he attributed the of the anti-poaching activities to the partnerships between Zimparks and conservation groups.

“Efforts by (Zimparks) and what we do differently to promote conservation in the region has positively impacted on conservation of our wildlife, especially elephants which frequently strayed out of national parks into communal areas to search for food and water,” Lane said.

“As an organisation ours is to ensure that our wildlife has adequate water supply because generally where we operate natural water is drying up fast during the summer and the pressure of elephants all coming together.

“We are faced with a challenge of keeping up with the demand in order for us to keep them inside the parks.

“Every year we have managed to put in a few more water pumps. We are trying to put in more pumps into the back area of Robins Camp because while there’s natural water, there’s a good population of elephants.

“But once that dries up the elephants are all forced to go forward to the existing pumps, which adds to the pressure. Some end up straying outside, leading to human wildlife conflict situations, that’s why we want to add more from the existing 49 to drive them back into the park.”

The organisation pumps one million litres of water per day, which is consumed by approximately 16 000 elephants out of the 44 000 found in the Hwange National Park

Another fruitful partnership for Zimparks is with the international Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which recently set up a new ranger station in the Makona area of Hwange National Park to strengthen the fight against poachers.

IFAW said the ranger station will also help the communities living near the park, who have suffered from elephants and other large herbivores destroying their crops and predators killing their livestock.

“When complete, the camp will be home to 56 rangers and their families who will live and work there,” IFAW said in a statement.

“Comfortable housing, equipped with electricity and running water, is being built for junior rangers and senior staff, and a recreation centre is under construction.

The operations centre is already in use and set up with a landscape-wide VHF radio network—vital communications equipment that connects rangers and improves responses to incidents of poaching.”

IFAW said before the camp was constructed responses to poaching incidents and reaction to reports on problem animals were slow, with rangers being deployed from Hwange Main Camp, some 95 kilometres away and enduring a terrible road snaking through the sticky Kalahari sands.

Augustine Gomba, Zimparks’ wildlife cfficer based at Hwange Main Camp, said before the road was developed, driving to Makona was a nightmare.

“The sandy soils and the rugged nature of the road meant that on average the trip to Makona would take a grueling four hours at least,” Gomba said.

A key achievement of the IFAW-Zimparks agreement was the improvement of the road, cutting a journey that could take up to four hours down to less than two.

The park is nestled on the edge of the Kalahari Desert and is home to some of Africa’s most iconic species.

Being largely flat and dominated by scattered woodlands of teak trees, it was an easy target for poachers.

“The new ranger station will prevent poachers from entering Hwange National Park into the future, allowing the park’s elephants and other wildlife to continue to flourish,” IFAW said.

Zimparks struggles to fund conservation efforts due to poor funding. – The Standard

National

Zimbabwe moves to establish tough drug control agency amid rising substance abuse crisis

Published

6 days ago

October 22, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

As Zimbabwe battles a surge in drug and substance abuse, the government has tabled a new Bill in Parliament seeking to establish a powerful agency to coordinate enforcement, rehabilitation, and prevention programmes across the country.

The National Drug and Substance Abuse Control and Enforcement Agency Bill (H.B. 12, 2025) proposes the creation of a dedicated agency mandated to combat the supply and demand of illicit drugs, provide rehabilitation services, and strengthen coordination between law enforcement and social service institutions.

According to the explanatory memorandum of the Bill, the agency will operate under two main divisions — a Social Services Intervention Division to focus on prevention, treatment and community rehabilitation, and an Enforcement Division to target supply chains, trafficking networks, and related financial crimes.

The legislation describes drug abuse as “a grave internal national security threat” and “a public health crisis” that fuels organised crime, corruption and violence. It notes that drug profits have enabled criminal cartels to “purchase the instrumentalities of crime, including weapons,” and to corrupt both civilian and non-civilian public officials.

Under the new framework, the agency will have powers to:

Investigate and arrest individuals involved in drug trafficking and production;
Work jointly with the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, and Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe;
Establish checkpoints at ports of entry and exit to intercept harmful substances; and
Expand the legal definition of “harmful drugs” to include emerging synthetic substances, in consultation with the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe.

The Social Services Division will lead prevention campaigns, develop demand-reduction programmes, and facilitate the creation of rehabilitation and detoxification centres nationwide. It will also introduce a monitoring system requiring schools, employers, and local authorities to adopt anti-drug awareness and intervention programmes within 90 days of the Act’s commencement.

Each province and district will host offices of the agency to decentralise services and ensure community-level engagement, while traditional leaders will help devise local prevention strategies.

The Bill further empowers the agency to employ prosecutors from the National Prosecuting Authority to handle drug-related cases, signalling a shift toward specialised prosecution of narcotics offences. It also introduces a new, stricter “standard scale of fines” and penalties for drug crimes — higher than those prescribed under existing criminal laws.

In a major development, the proposed law integrates the agency into Zimbabwe’s Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act, allowing it to pursue unexplained wealth orders and seize assets linked to drug cartels.

The Bill stresses rehabilitation and social reintegration as key pillars. It obliges the agency to support affected individuals through psychosocial counselling, vocational training, and community wellness programmes aimed at helping addicts rebuild their lives.

If passed, the National Drug and Substance Abuse Control and Enforcement Agency will replace fragmented anti-drug efforts currently scattered across ministries and law enforcement agencies, creating a central authority to drive national strategy and coordination.

Parliament is expected to debate the Bill in the coming weeks amid growing concern over youth addiction to crystal meth, cough syrups, and other illicit substances that have taken root in both urban and rural communities.

National

Hwange unit 8 breaks down, deepening Zimbabwe’s power supply challenges

Published

7 days ago

October 21, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY WANDILE TSHUMA

ZESA Holdings has announced that Hwange Unit 8 has been taken off the national grid following a technical fault, a development expected to worsen Zimbabwe’s persistent electricity shortages.

In a statement released on Monday, the power utility said the unit would be out of service for ten days while restoration work is carried out.

“Hwange Unit 8 has been taken off the grid due to a technical fault. The unit will be out of service for 10 days while restoration work is carried out,” ZESA said.

The company said Hwange Unit 7 remains operational, generating 335 megawatts (MW) to support system stability, while power generation at Kariba South Power Station has been ramped up with “careful management of water allocations” to compensate for the temporary shortfall.

ZESA apologized for the inconvenience and appealed for public understanding as engineers work to restore the unit.

Zimbabwe has faced recurring electricity supply challenges over the past two decades, driven by ageing infrastructure, limited generation capacity, and low water levels at Kariba Dam. While the commissioning of Hwange Units 7 and 8 in 2023 brought some relief, frequent breakdowns have continued to disrupt supply, forcing industries and households to endure prolonged load-shedding.

The latest fault at Hwange comes at a time when power demand is surging across the country, particularly during the hot season when air conditioning and irrigation systems increase pressure on the grid.

Energy experts say the outage highlights the need for greater investment in maintenance, renewable energy, and grid modernization to stabilize Zimbabwe’s power supply in the long term.

National

Tsholotsho to host national commemoration of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

Published

1 week ago

October 20, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Zimbabwe will on Thursday, this week, join the rest of the world in commemorating the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDR), with national events set to take place at Tshino Primary School in Ward 5, Tsholotsho District, along the Tsholotsho–Sipepa road.

The global day, observed annually, aims to promote a culture of disaster risk awareness and highlight efforts to reduce vulnerability and build resilience in communities.

Speaking to VicFallsLive, Civil Protection Unit Director Nathan Nkomo said this year’s commemoration holds special significance for Tsholotsho, a district that has long struggled with recurrent flooding.

“The whole issue is to reduce, not to increase the occurrence of disasters. And by commemorating, that’s where we share ideas with other people,” Nkomo said.

He noted that Tsholotsho’s selection as the national host was deliberate, following the successful relocation of families who were affected by flooding at the confluence of the Gwai and Shashani rivers.

“It’s not by accident that we are commemorating in Tsholotsho. We have built 305 houses for people who were affected in the Spepa area, and we will be celebrating in style because we have managed to relocate them,” he said.

“Now we no longer hear of people being flooded in Tsholotsho because of that relocation. So, we will be celebrating in style for Tshini and Sawudweni.”

The relocations, carried out under government’s disaster recovery and housing programs, have been hailed as a success story in proactive disaster risk management.

Looking ahead to the cyclone season, Nkomo said funding remains the major challenge in preparedness and response.

“We cannot preempt to say there are challenges yet, but historically, since we’ve dealt with COVID-19 and Cyclone Idai, the issue of funds has always been critical,” he said.

“This year, we are dealing with cyclones at a time when even our development partners have dwindling resources. So, funding will take centre stage in our deliberations, to see how best we can respond with the little we have. The whole idea, when you go to war, is not the question of numbers, but of strategy and how to win.”

The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is observed globally every October 13, but Zimbabwe’s national commemorations are being held later this year to align with local preparedness programs and community-based activities.