Through Francistown, the second city of Botswana, a mighty sand river used to meander laden white with sand, lined along its banks with lush green vegetation which would lay shadows along its channel in the afternoon. And there would be a fresh cool breeze. It was a place one could escape to from the scorching heat of the summer, and sometimes even be able to take a splash in its clean water when it flowed during the rainy season.

However, at some point in the years leading up to 2010, the river was hit with a wave of commercial-scale unregulated sand mining and it hasn’t been the same since. The sand deposit was finished off from the section of the river that runs through the city, leaving only the bottom dark mud substrate. Pollution from wastewater and other wastes added to the degradation. This has since reduced the aesthetic and recreational benefit that the river was able to give to people, and curtailed by a lot the economic benefit it used to offer as well.

Around the capital Gaborone, river sand has been depleted to the extent that in 2013, the Botswana Cabinet ordered for the ban of river sand mining in the area. In response, the construction sector shifted its focus to resources elsewhere. Now the capital city, situated in the extreme south-east of the country, consumes millions of cubic metres of sand annually from rivers in the central to the eastern region of the country. And so the demand for river sand and accelerated exploitation continues to spread like wildfire to engulf whatever resource might be remaining in the yet untouched distant areas of the country.

Most, if not all construction industries in the country still prefer materials from natural sources and river sand is a hot commodity. Sand miners in the country overlook the fact that river sand mining has damaging knock-on effects on other sectors of the economy, on the livelihoods of people living with the rivers, and on biodiversity and environmental sustainability in general. It is interesting to note that in 2002 river sand mining and its associated environmental impacts were not given much focus when a report on Environmental Issues and Management in Botswana was published by the Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA). Yes, as noted in the UNEP sand and Sustainability report of 2019, the infinite sand resources paradigm still prevailed and it is only now that the government is slowly waking up to the fact that, that mode of operation leads to extraction rates that exceed natural sand replenishment rates, and a hoard of undesirable and hard-to-manage economic and environmental consequences.

Another report that was written in the year 2017 made the statement that “River sand is...still abundant the central to the eastern region of the country”. But this statement won’t remain true for a long time because the onslaught of unsustainable, albeit licenced, sand harvesting along with illegal exploitation has been relentless. Policy response and development of regulating guidelines and their enforcement lag behind the incessantly accelerating demand, which is chased voraciously by profit-minded suppliers with little regard for long term economic and environmental sustainability, because they are still operating on the notion of infinite sand resources. Or that natural things are “free”.

Botswana desperately needs an integrated solution finding approach to its sand mining challenges. I think the government needs to help miners recognise the true value of river sand by at least helping entrepreneurs fund Environmental Impact Studies rather than waiving them when granting Mineral Permits, and ensuring that those who carry out unsustainable mining practices or illegal mining are always held accountable when found out. Constructive dialogue with industry players, communities as well as support for alternative construction techniques or products will also be instrumental in this process.