Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
ON his way home at Selukwe Peak Farm in Shurugwi, 16-year-old Raymond Muyambo slipped on reddish mud and fell into a pit leading to his death.
Raymond, who had dropped out of school because his mother could not afford his school fees is said to have been herding his employer’s cattle.
His friends tried to get him out of the pit but it was all in vain because he was buried alive by sand and stones.
When help arrived, he had already died on Saturday at around 2PM.
His mother, Ms Nyembesi Mamvura still can’t believe that her only son is dead.
Ms Mamvura said she believed Raymond was going to grow up and provide for his three siblings who are all girls.
“The whole area was not at all secure,” said Ms Mamvura, whose fury is clear as she describes how gold mining pits in the district — which locals call “death traps” — have been left open and abandoned by mining companies, among other miners.
“My son could have been alive if the company had closed the pits, they are digging looking for gold. Besides people, we have lost a lot of livestock in those pits and it’s a sad development that is taking place,” she added.
Ms Mamvura said her son’s body was taken for post-mortem at a hospital in Bulawayo.
Raymond’s tragic death is one of many. The body count, say campaigners, is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of forgotten victims of the ruthless hunt for gold.
Zimbabwean law obliges anyone exploiting a mining site to close and restore it before departing. In practice, however, once miners finish digging up gold from pits of up to 100 metres deep, they simply move on to the next project.
Few — if any — mining pits are properly restored.
The community is crying foul over a mining company called ENR Resources — one of the three mining giants awarded a special alluvial mining grant in a pilot project in April this year, giving them powers to de-silt rivers and process extracted ore.
ENR is de-silting part of Mutevekwi River and has been accused of failing to reclaim the pits dug while doing alluvial gold mining.
Mutevekwi River feeds into Runde River, and the mining activities are now affecting activities downstream.
The company has maintained that its operations are above board amid the growing environmental hazard in the area.
ENR — CEO Mr Mahek Shah said he could not comment on the death of Raymond.
He said they are doing everything above board.
“We got a licence to do alluvial mining through processing silt that we get from the de-siltation exercise. We have great plans for the community where we want to build a dip tank, help in the building of classroom blocks as well as sink the community some boreholes,” said Mr Shah.
Midlands Provincial Mining Director Engineer Tariro Ndlovu confirmed the death of Raymond.
“I am receiving mixed explanations of the boys having been illegally mining and a boy having fallen into a pit while out looking for cattle. I’m not sure even if it’s within ENR Resources ground yet,” he said.
“Our mines inspectorate went there and the body has been taken by police and we are working on a complete report. It’s obviously a very sensitive issue and it’s very unfortunate we have lost a young life in such circumstances.”
A villager Mr Max Sibanda said communities in the mineral-rich Great Dyke which forms part of the Midlands Province are concerned about increasing environmental and infrastructure degradation in the region as companies leave open pits which are now death traps for humans and livestock.
He said while mining has been identified as a key sector for the attainment of National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) goals, the impact of some mining operations in Shurugwi has become a cause for concern.
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