Chronicle Editor
Garikayi Chipfunde
ZIMBABWE is blessed with vast mineral deposits, chief of which is gold that many people are able to exploit.
The exploitation of the mineral resources earns the country foreign currency and also adds to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Many companies including some individuals have managed to turn around their fortunes and employ several people in the mining industry through regular or irregular operations.
This article does not intend to delve into quantitative analysis of how much value has been derived from the mining activities but to highlight what many people have turned a blind eye on – the precious life of the boy child as witnessed in artisanal mining.
If anyone could ask any artisanal miner, or those who call themselves “Mbingas” of this world or anyone who had amassed wealth through the exploitation, especially of gold in the country, they would testify to this.
The sight of a boy as young as 14 years at any artisanal mining site, not showing any signs of fear of what might happen to him in the midst of the mining jungle, clad in rags with a mining torch on the forehead armed with a hunter’s knife in his pocket, should worry any normal thinking person.
That’s the future generation that our communities are raising, a generation raised in violence, in illegal activities, so daring that even the security personnel doesn’t worry them.
Several of these poor, innocent children have witnessed a lot of violence and crime that characterise their trade.
A visit to one of the places with illegal mining activities around the country revealed that a good majority of these boy children are staring in the gaping jaws of death.
There is little reward worth their sweat and blood.
It may not be surprising to realise that the minors would be working for certain rich individuals who are not sensitive to the plight of the boy child.
They pay them peanuts for the dangerous places they work in bringing out the alluvial gold ore.
An issue of concern is that there will be no formal contract and in the event of an accident the boy child would not be compensated.
They can easily disown them once they fall into trouble.
It’s a situation of poverty that pushes children into desperate situations of accepting everything, which any responsible adult should help to alleviate instead of taking advantage of.
“I am 14 years old. I came here two weeks ago.
My desire is to raise school fees so that I go back to school and even to take care of my sick mother at home.
“Things are not easy and cheap here because I go underground even up to 25 metres. It’s difficult to find gold ore.
You have to be tactful because you need to avoid some dynamites which explode underground used by some people who will also be looking for gold. You have to crawl very fast going into other tunnels where it is safe to move.
“I am paid US$10 only for about 20 kilogrammes which is not enough to pay fees even to buy food while doing this tough work”, said the boy.
The serious challenge is that young boys are made to go underground in a mining shaft that had long been dumped by the original owners, without any assurance of safety, let alone proper mining protective clothing.
Poisonous snakes are also easy to find in dumped shafts which are prone to collapse because of unskilled workmanship as they would not have received training in underground mining leading to the destruction some structural support systems of the mining shafts.
They also face serious problems when they get their ore.
Some criminal minded adults usually rob them of the ore at knife point and also take cash that they might have on their person.
They are being victimised left right and centre, while some lose lives and cases go unreported.
These places are also characterised by drug abuse to which some of these young boys are initiated. Once they are initiated into drug abuse, they are turned into hardcore criminals.
There are serious violations of children’s rights in the process.
For instance the right to education is one that is easily violated as most school going teenagers struggle to raise money in order to afford and access education, which is further threatened by the conditions under which they work.
The right to health of the children is also violated as they are also exposed to very serious health hazards and risks.
It is also easy to establish that the right to life is violated as some of them are exposed to life threatening mining methods as well as robbery at knife-point by some criminals.
The International Convention on the rights of the Child Article 32 sub-Article 1 as read with Article 15 sub- Article 1 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) provides for the protection of the children from economic exploitation.
It goes further to prohibit involving the child in the performance of any work, work that is potentially hazardous and that interferes with the child’s education as well as harmful to the health, physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development of the child.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No. 20 of 2013 section 19 prohibits exposing children to work that is risky and not appropriate for their age.
The same section also calls for the protection of children from exploitative labour practices.
Those using their financial muscle to subject children to this type of slavery must be brought to book.
For any village there is a village head, even at these places there is a boss to which many pay homage to, who must be taken to task.
Those who establish mines must indicate a health and risk free or safety plan in place and environmental preservation methods after a thorough assessment of the foreseeable harmful consequences in the long run such as the possible collapses and the dangers it exposes to the community, human and animal lives among others.
A multi-sectoral approach is key to preserving environment.
Stakeholders should therefore continue to take positive interest to engage and mobilise support for the provision of safety in all functional and derelicted mining sites.
Safety of the people must take priority.
Training workshops are also necessary that are coordinated by Environmental Management Agency and the Department of Mines and Mining Development together with development partners on how to exploit resources whilst encouraging responsible behaviour to keep the environment safe for human and animal lives.
Miners must continue to be encouraged to utilise the services of Fidelity Printers and Refiners when selling their gold.
In all activities and steps that are taken, putting an end to abuse and exploitation of the boy child must take priority.
It must stop.
Online Reporter