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Andile Tshuma, Chronicle Reporter
GOLD wars in Esigodini in Matabeleland South province have left entrepreneurial women in distress as they are being forced out of artisanal mining due to intense fighting in mining zones in the area.

Though police and traditional leaders have tried to intervene through holding consultative meetings and arrests, the wars continue unabated.

Since 2016, seven people are reported to have been killed during fighting over gold claims and several others have been injured. A number of people involved in these gold wars have been arrested as police battle to contain the volatile situation.

The women in mining are saying they are the worst victims of these wars as many of them have been forced out of their claims.

They say the mining has become life threatening as aggressive men who are ready to kill are invading their claims.

The women said each time they strike it rich, turf wars break out and in most cases they are forced out of the claims.

One of the women who has seen it all is Mrs Cecelia Mdlongwa, widowed, from Habane suburb in Esigodini.

Mrs Mdlongwa said she earns a living from artisanal mining, working with a group of four women at a claim near Umzingwane River bank.

She said everyday she plays cat and mouse with her male counterparts who do not want women to work in the mines.

“It is this curse of womanhood. We are poor, we fend for our families and we have no husbands and the only available resource in the area is the gold. Men however do not want to see us there. We are called names. They tell us to go and fetch firewood, water or cook instead of mining which they say is men’s job. We continue to go there but when fights erupt we are forced to dump our tools and seek safety,” said Mrs Mdlongwa.

She said after a few days they return to the claims but at times they find men already working on their claims and they threaten them with either rape or even death.

“Some of the men say they can only allow us to mine if we give in to their demands for sex,” said Mrs Mdlongwa.

Ms Sizwakele Nkatha, who works with Mrs Mdlongwa said she sired a child with one gold panner who moved to Filabusi, leaving her and her child stranded.

“All was well with us until he moved to the mines in Filabusi. I had to join other women and start mining. My child is now in Grade Two and I am paying fees from the money I make from mining. We face a problem from gold barons who want us to work for them and demand sexual favours for us to work from the banks of Umzingwane (river). It is such a shame because nobody owns this place but God,” said Ms Nkatha.

Most women artisanal miners are at subsistence level earning enough for their necessities but lack sufficient capital to move on and are unregistered due to technical hurdles one has to overcome in order to acquire a mining licence.

The women said reporting abuses to the police have not proved fruitful as the abusive ring leaders in the turf wars seem unfazed by the possibility of arrest.

“They tell us to go and report if we want, they don’t care. Sometimes they come and urinate on top of the soil we would be working on with our hands. They just expose their organs and urinate in our faces. We just need to be tough, but we are suffering,” said Ms Nkatha

Female artisanal miners such as Mrs Mdlongwa and Ms Nkatha have endured inhospitable conditions in the cut throat male dominated and fast expanding gold panning industry. They are experiencing a myriad of problems such as victimisation, violence, lack of skills worsened by lack of equipment.

Police in Matabeleland South are battling to contain the gold wars but what is however discouraging is that the peace after their intervention is often short-lived.

During a recent community outreach meeting, Matabeleland South police spokesperson Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele urged communities to live in harmony and to report any acts of violence and turf wars in mines. He called for an end to gangsterism which he blamed for most of the violence in Esigodini’s mining areas.

@andile_tshuma