Zimpapers Logo

Nduduzo Tshuma Senior Political Reporter
OWNERS of the mining claim in Inyathi where gold was discovered last month leading to a stampede are allegedly in breach of the law as they have failed to provide accommodation and ablution facilities for panners they have subcontracted to extract the mineral.Gold was reportedly discovered in the area on June 16 attracting thousands of people to the deposit. The fortune seekers have had to be dispersed by riot police in three raids.

The hundreds of remaining panners reportedly went into an arrangement with owners of the claim identified as Baron Dube and a Ncube that they would share the mineral.

However, some of the panners were said to be sleeping in the open after work while there were no toilets for them. Zimbabwe Miners Federation president Trynos Nkomo said the gold claim was duly registered and there was nothing wrong with hiring panners as long as they had agreements but the claim owners needed to abide by the environmental laws.

“I have heard about it (gold rush) and I would like to commend the owners for having registered their discovery with the organisation,” Nkomo said.

“Legally, it is not wrong for one to engage panners to mine in their area and agree to split in percentage because the type of gold mined is alluvial. It is in the form of nuggets and it can be mined by washing from soil with water.”

Nkomo said the holders of the claims should meet the demands of the environmental management laws.

“There should be toilets in the area and restoration of the soil after digging.  There should be no environmental degradation. If there are no toilets and houses and people sleep in the open then that is a total violation of the environmental law. There should be sleeping and toilet facilities for all those people involved in panning there,” said Nkomo.

He said taking gold detectors to people’s properties without permission was illegal.

“It is wrong to do that on someone’s land. It is where the police come in. We encourage owners of such land to report such matters to the police and they arrest such perpetrators,” said Nkomo.

“We encourage our members that they should channel all the gold they find in their activities to the proper channels, which in this case is Fidelity Printers.”

Dube and Ncube could not be located for comment.

Matabelalend North Provincial Minister of State Cde Cain Mathema said there was need to revisit the mining laws.

“Gold rushes happen everywhere. It is not only unique to Matabeleland North but happens in the whole country. We as Matabeleland North made proposals ahead of the Zanu-PF conference in 2012 that farmers who got land should also be given mining licences so that we double empower them,” he said.

Cde Mathema said the former white commercial farmers were angry at the land reform exercise not because they had lost farming land but because they knew of the minerals underground.

He said the mining laws drafted in Cecil John Rhodes’ era were meant to put mining ahead of any other land use activity.

“That is why you will hear of people camping at your backyard without notice and exploring for minerals because that law allows them to do so. We have seen it happening in Tsholotsho, Inyathi and other parts of the country,” said Cde Mathema.