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Women pick amacimbi from the tarmac along the Gwanda-Beitbridge highway recently

Andile Tshuma, Chronicle Reporter
CHIEF Nyangazonke of Maphisa in Kezi, Matobo District has warned people who are descending on his area in search of amacimbi to stay away or risk being charged at his court for looting a resource that belongs to locals.

Speaking in a telephone interview, the chief said the mopani worm harvesters were also bathing and relieving themselves in or near rivers.

He said amacimbi are meant to augment locals’ food supply and to be sold to help communities pay for children’s school fees, among others.

“If there is anyone who is still in my area harvesting amacimbi and does not belong here, they should leave with immediate effect. If they cannot abide by our community rules, then they face arrest. Non-locals who are coming Nicodemously for our natural resource are not welcome. This is a natural resource that should be benefiting the community as a whole, especially in these tough economic times,” said the chief.

“Locals should harvest them in abundance and raise money for school fees, and for barter trade with other basic commodities. Most people in my community have serious challenges in paying fees and providing for their families. It is our gift from Mother Nature and locals should benefit. We never go to other areas for their gold or diamonds or whatever natural resource that they have, they should leave us alone with our food.”

The chief said the mopani worm harvesters were living in makeshift camps under squalid conditions that could prove to be a breeding ground for diseases.

“These people who have come to squat in our area are posing a major health risk to the community and livestock. They are defecating in the open, littering the bush with plastics and this is not good for our livestock. Our cattle now eat faeces and plastic and get sick and we have to foot the bills for veterinary treatment. They are bathing upstream in the rivers that we drink from,” he said.

Matobo District Administrator Mr Robert Muzezewa shared the chief’s sentiments.

He said the campers were cutting down trees indiscriminately, leading to massive deforestation in some parts of Matobo.

“People come to harvest worms and wild fruits and they don’t do it while considering conservation methods that the locals do. They just destroy and go because it is not their place. A lot of umnyi trees have been cut down by urbanites who do not consider that next year that tree would have borne more fruit.

They are also cutting down mopane trees for the worms that would be in higher branches; it’s just bad for the environment and is unfair to locals,” he said.

@andile_tshuma