Zimpapers Logo

Marvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
BLANKET Mine management provoked the anger of legislators by failing to answer critical questions on their operations during a hearing at the mine just outside Gwanda yesterday. Members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy led by their chairman Cde Lovemore Matuke posed a number of questions which the company’s general manager Caxton Mangezi failed to answer.

Parliamentarians asked Mangezi how many claims the company owned but there was no joy as the company boss professed ignorance over the issue resulting in a clash with the MPs.

“I cannot say how much because they are quite many,” he said.
Although MPs continued to press for answers, Mangezi could not release the information they wanted but instead said they mined an area that covered about 6,000 hectares of land.

Lawmakers said Mangezi was not being truthful as it was impossible for the company to claim it was not aware of the number of claims in its possession.

The issue was raised following concerns from small scale miners that Blanket Mine owned most of the claims in Gwanda with some claims remaining untouched for many years.

Meanwhile, Mangezi was also put to task to reveal the shareholding structure of the company.
The parliamentarians heard that Caledonia Company had a 49 percent stake in the company while 51 percent had been ceded to locals as per requirements of the indigenisation and empowerment regulations.

Mangezi said 10 percent was owned by the Gwanda Community Share Ownership Trust, another 10 percent by the employee trust, 15 percent by Flemiro Company, which he said was a consortium of indigenous Zimbabweans and 16 percent by National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund.

But parliamentarians requested Mangezi to further explain who Flemiro was but he could not provide an answer, which again irked Parliamentarians.

“May I refer these questions to the board chairperson of Blanket Mine Nick Ncube,” said Mangezi.
Mabvuku MP James Maridadi fumed over the lack of clarity over the shareholding structure of the company that is said to be run by locals. He said Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, the former Minister of Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment and the current Minister Cde Francis Nhema, should clarify who Flemiro was and how NIEEF used the money it had been collecting from the gold mining company every year.

Committee’s chairperson Cde Matuke said the company would be asked to compile the statistics and information that it had failed to provide and submit it to Parliament.

“I think the Government should intervene because we have established that even the general manager could not say how much mining claims they are holding. What it means is that they are holding lots of claims for speculative purposes.

“We want Government to come up with a policy that will make the mining companies surrender some of the claims to small scale miners,” said Cde Matuke.

The committee also visited Jessie Mine and met with small scale miners, residents, councillors among others for a public hearing on issues surrounding mining.