The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Sunday News Reporter
DRIVING from Bulawayo to what is widely known as the mining town of Gwanda, the Matabeleland South provincial capital this news crew could not help but speculate on what to expect on this day-long expedition.
We were on our way to do a story about amacimbi, a local delicay. A lot was being said, most of which seemed more mythical than truthful. Some said they were literally crawling on the main road; some said students from Joshua Mqabuko Polytechnic were skipping lectures to be part of this new rush in town. On the down side there were also stories that one person suffered a fatal black mamba attack. All these stories dominated our 126-kilometre journey to the town of Gwanda usually punctuated by stories about gold panners and their clashes.
As we approached the last police roadblock before entering the town — about 10 kilometres from Gwanda — our fingers crossed, out of interest we asked a police officer about the new rush. She stared at us as if in shock, and she said, “You are looking for amacimbi? Look under your car right now,” she said. And there, to our surprise were the African delicacy, freely crawling on the main road. Not just one mopani worm — as it is known — but a crusade.
It became clear that the stories that we were told had an element of truth as it seemed the town was for sure the mining town but this time it had abandoned gold as people from all over the country were now “mining” the mopani worms. Through our short conversation with the female traffic police officer we established the various areas in the district where people had set up temporary camps just to catch this delicacy.
“You are not the first people to enquire where amacimbi are found but I must say you came late, if you had come here two weeks ago there were thousands of people from all over the country who had flocked into the district just to catch this delicacy, but still despite the numbers they (amacimbi) did not run out.
“Right now I am told there are still there but they (amacimbi) are now a bit small so people are hoping that it rains just once so that they grow in size. Despite this people are still coming in their numbers, we have even noted an increase in traffic in and out of the town, with people just coming to trade in amacimbi,” said the police officer.
As we turned into our first camp in Insindi Village which is just 10 kilometres from Gwanda town along the Bulawayo-Gwanda highway, we were greeted by people of all ages who were busy trading in the makeshift camp site.
Some were locals who had caught and prepared bags of the mopani worm ready to sell to others who came with either money or goods to purchase the delicacy. There were even children who were assisting their parents to catch the worms. Some who were seeing the live worms for the first time could be seen being taught how the worms are best cleaned to remove the inside dirt. So organised are the camps that they have even created a leadership structure to help maintain order and avoid clashes among themselves and with the police.
“I am the headman here and my job is to maintain order and also intervene in disputes between harvesters. We don’t want to be like gold panners who fight over resources and create war zones. Anyone is welcome to harvest the worms but they only have to follow the laid down rules,” said the “headman” who preferred to be identified as Sobhuku Vharazipi.
Some of the harvesters interviewed revealed that this was the first time they had got all these worms in the district in decades.
“My brother, these rains have brought hope for some of us who are not young enough to pan for gold. I have been here with my family for the past three weeks and I have raised over $500 just from this natural resource. To be frank I was born in 1966 and in my 51 years I have never seen such. Yes, we have these worms at times but not like this year, they have been bigger in size and they are quite a lot. We really thank the Lord because he has clearly looked down at us and gave us this wealth which I can equate to the Biblical Manna from Heaven,” said Mr Lot Dube.
A number of elderly people could not be left behind too as they also wanted to claim a fair share of the riches that befell them.
“These amacimbi are just too much, you cannot finish them at all. When I started picking them from the road I initially intended them for relish from my great-grandchildren but when I sold my first bucket for $20 I realised that this was easy money. What makes this year’s harvest different from previous years is that you don’t have to climb up the mopani trees, which is best done by much younger people, but we are picking them from the main road, which makes it quite easier,” said 77-year-old Gogo Judith Moyo.
A student from Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic, who was operating from a temporary camp that has been set up just out outside Collen Bawn said while his parents were not aware that he was taking part in this rush, he was not regretting his decision to temporarily abandon his studies to catch the worms as it was paying.
“This is easy money and it is not like I have permanently abandoned my studies. I come here whenever I am free and when my customers request more supplies. Besides I believe I am complementing my parents’ efforts because I no longer call them requesting for money as I have already turned into an entrepreneur.
“Of course the Polytechnic authorities would not want us to come here at the expense of our lessons but I will tell you that it is not only us, we have seen even some lecturers who have come and even bought from us, everyone is now in this trade and the nice part is that it is not illegal,” said the student who preferred anonymity.
Mr Mandla Nkomo from Bulawayo, who was at the campsite to buy the mopani worms from those who catch them, said while the selling price was still considerably low in Bulawayo, they were going to hold on to them and only resell after a month or two where they would be guaranteed of a more than 200 percent profit.
“We are buying for about $20 for a 20-litre bucket but I am positive that in a month or two when they run out here in Gwanda the price will skyrocket to between $40 and $60. In the past week I have managed to buy over 300 kilogrammes and I am in no hurry to sell them off back home. I am told that in Harare the price per bucket has already risen to $35,” said Mr Nkomo.
However, where many are gathered immorality never fails to creep in, as at all the camps visited by this news crew, used condoms and beer bottles littered the sites with the traders all confirming that this was the order of the day.
“This is a typical compound setup, everything happens here from beer drinking to prostitution. I tell you that prostitutes come here on a daily basis because they know that there is a lot of money that is circulating, some even charge per bucket of amacimbi just to entertain their clients.
“While for some of us who are Christians this is bad and we would not want our families to know what we go through here we have no choice at all because all we want is the money,” said a MaMoyo, who said she came all the way from Nkayi, Matabelealnd North to catch the worms both for subsistence and for sale.
