OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ... - IIED pubs

This is Zones G1-G6, B1-B3, S1-S6, IN and L of Area A (ZSG, 1984). The large Gwayi Sub-catchment
comprises over half of Matabeleland North Province, stretching from the Devil’s Gorge on the Zambezi River in
the north to the City of Bulawayo on the central watershed (Figure 3.2). The Gwayi River is perennial, as are its
major tributaries, the Shangani and Bembezi Rivers. The two major wetlands in the sub-catchment are the
central Shangani valley (Zone S4 and the eastern part of Zone S2 of Area A of ZSG (1984)) and the Dandari
Vlei at the head of the Lukosi River (southern Zone L of Area A; ZSG, (1984)).
3.25.1.2 Geology
See Figure 3.6 (ZGS, 1999). Karoo Supergroup rocks, covered by Kalahari Sands in many areas, underlie the
northern and central thirds of the sub-catchment. The Karoo System rocks are broken by the crystalline
Kamativi-Dete Inlier. The Archaean Zimbabwe Craton, comprising granitic terrain and the Bulawayo, Inyati and
Midlands Greenstone Belts, underlies the southern third of the sub-catchment.
3.25.1.3 Pedology, agriculture and land use
Soils in the sub-catchment can be divided into five groups:
• Kalahari Sands;
• Very shallow, gravelly soils derived from Upper Karoo sediments and basalts;
• Moderately deep sandy soils derived from Lower Karoo sediments;
• Shallow to moderately shallow clays and loams formed from Greenstone Belt rocks;
• Moderately shallow, coarse-grained sandy, kaolinitic soils derived from granites (DRSS, 1979).
The sub-catchment lies generally within Natural Region IV: fairly low rainfall of 450mm to 650mm per annum
(ZSG, 1997; Surveyor General and AGRITEX, 1998).
Land use is mainly Communal Lands in the northern and central areas and commercial and resettlement
farming in the south (ZSG, 1998). Farming is generally extensive to semi-extensive: livestock and a few
drought resistant crops. In parts of the southeast, irrigation allows the growing of more sensitive crops on the
commercial farms. There is some Parks & Wildlife Land and Forestry Commission Land42 in the northwest.
The major settlements are the Cities of Bulawayo in the far southeast and Gweru in the far east, Nkayi Village
and Lupane Town in the central area and Kamativi and Dete Villages in the north. The most densely populated
areas away from the cities are Lupane and Nkayi Communal lands in the central area and the Resettlement
Areas in Bubi and Umguza Districts (ZSG, 1998).
42 Hwange National Park, Deka Safari Area and Sikumi, Ngamo and Gwayi group Forest Lands
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