Battle for Happy Valley Mine rages

Valencia Ndhlovu, Sunday News Reporter
BLOODY fights continue at Happy Valley Mine in Fort Rixon, Matabeleland South province where illegal miners are allegedly deployed to disturb mining operations and attack whoever they find on the premises.

It has, however, emerged that the illegal miners are operating under an individual who is alleged to claim shares at the mine. A representative of the mine who spoke to Sunday News on condition of anonymity said this was not the first time the businessman has invaded the mine. He said  attacks at the mine have been going on for the past two years. The matter was reported to the police and the businessman and his alleged hired invaders are set to appear in court on 20 April.

“At least 35 people were arrested in 2021 after a man was killed in one of the gruesome attacks but the fighting has not stopped. The person claiming shares never shows up physically at the mine. As we speak his people are still at the mine as if everything is normal, yet they have no right to be there,” he said.

One of the men who works at the mine fled fearing for his life because of threats from illegal miners who have threatened to kill him as they believe he has been snitching on them and giving out information to the police.

Last month there was another invasion at Happy Valley Mine where 30 men, whose handlers could not be established, ambushed Dumo Moyo, a 23-year-old at the mine killing him and leaving his body with missing toes. The illegal miners were armed with machetes, axes, and knobkerries.  The illegal miners have allegedly been using mine explosives that do not belong to them and have taken equipment and gone underground without permission from the mine manager. They have settled at the mine in numbers and have stockpiled ore that they forcibly took from the mine.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident saying police were dealing with the matter.

“We are aware of the alleged invasion of Happy Valley by illegal miners and investigations are underway. Cases of violence involving artisanal and illegal miners are now a cause for concern and we are intensifying efforts to stop such cases,” he said.