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Patrick Chitumba
It reads like a movie script but this is a place where sex workers fear being raped, fear being robbed and fear contracting STI and or HIV and Aids on a daily basis but are literally glued here for the love of money at the expense of their lives and health.
It’s around 10 pm and the location is a makeshift or substandard bar with poor ventilation and lighting as an old generator appears to be the source of lighting in this poorly ventilated and overcrowded bar.
There is hardly enough air to breathe amid indications that many of the patrons, mainly small-scale miners suffer from tuberculosis.
Behind this notorious bar is a standing or waiting spot called “Check point” and scantily dressed sex workers lining waiting up and for what? To be inspected for the purposes of being hired for a short time or the whole night by prospective clients.
The clients are small-scale miners, who are mostly youths, who are allegedly knocking off Mazowe Mine owned by Metallon Corporation popularly known as Jumbo Mine anchors in search for gold, risking their lives and the safety of nearby homes.
The small-scale miners allegedly bribe security guards to gain access into the mining shafts for gold ore which after processing gives them money which they use for alcohol, drugs, food, clothes and of course hiring sex workers.
At the check point — a prospective client has all the “right” to examine his lady from head to toe and the process reminds the writer of slave trade where the Masters had every right to fondle the slaves’ breasts and private parts without her consent.
But here the sex workers are consenting all because of the need for money.
Among these sex workers is 17-year-old Marceline Madziya from Mbare, Harare who is among scores of sex workers who made the great trek to Jumbo Mine about three months ago after small-scale miners started getting more access into the once vibrant mine — attracting gold buyers, small to medium entrepreneurs who bring all sorts of things which include clothes, shoes, bags, blankets and groceries.
Mazowe Mine is one of the oldest mines in Zimbabwe, and exploration and development in this region dates back to 1890, with over 1,4 million ounces of gold produced to date. Mazowe Mine comprises two underground operations, Mazowe and the BSV sections. The mine has a total of 247 claims over 2 939 hectares of landholding.
Metallon Corporation has been forced to put its mines under care and maintenance because of the unsustainable costs of running them without proper compensation for its proceeds.
Here lies a mine where gold is available and laxity in security has made the mine popular with artisanal miners from all over the country as well as sex workers who are also coming from all over as well leading to “forced sexual intercourse” leading to the spread of STIs and HIV infections.
Jumbo Mine, according to National Aids Council (Nac) statistics is an STI, HIV and Aids hotspot as evidenced by a spike in STI cases — most of which are recurrent cases as the artisanal miners and sex workers don’t go to the clinic for medical assistance since the nearest one is about 20km away.
Marceline said after falling sick they just try to “manage” the conditions from medication they buy from street pharmacists which of course poses a great danger to their health.
But she says all they care about is getting the dollar now than thinking of the dangers that comes along with money driven sexual relationships — some which are done under duress as the clients refuse to put on condoms.
According to Marceline new comers are the ones who come to the check point because they are still yet to get a regular client.
“Every evening from around 10 pm we are at the check point parading ourselves to willing clients. They inspect us like we are produce at the vegetable market and we are molested in the process and all is to try to impress the client. This is where we get potential clients for a short time or the whole night. But since it will be too early we prefer short time clients so that we make more money. A short time client pays $15 bond cash or $25 EcoCash while for the whole night we charge between US$10 and US$15. So the target is that one gets about four short time clients before finally settling for a whole night client so as to maximise on business. This is because it’s not every day that these artisanal miners have cash and we take advantage,” she said.
However, Marceline says it’s not a walk in the park as from the check point to the cabins where they sleep — it’s another form of Hell.
The cabin, at most three by two metres, and the owners demand that it be used by five girls at a cost of $10 per head per night.
“If a client is impressed with your looks, body structure, your private parts, boobs or whatever it is after inspection — we then head to the cabin. There are several cabins dotted around Doxford shops — a stone throw away from Jumbo Mine,” she said.
Inside one of the cabins resembles Sodom and Gomorrah.
There are five makeshift beds made of blankets arranged in such a manner that they accommodate four to five sex workers and clients obviously on top or else a couple would invade another couple’s space. For the purposes of attempting to have some privacy — Zambia materials are hung from the roof but the couples can see each other and even have body contact as the space is just too small for the adult game.
Candles are banned to avoid fires in the cabins and the source of lighting is torches and cellphones, Marceline said.
“As you can see this is one of the cabins and it accommodates five sex workers per night at $10 per person. There is really no privacy in them and it’s like Sodom and Gomorrah. The cabin owners demand that we share a single cabin with no electricity or water,” she said.
She said the cabins resemble hell because once in there — the clients refuse to put on condoms.
Asked why they engage in unprotected sex with a person who refuses protection — Marceline said: “These clients will be holding knives and machetes. They don’t take no for an answer. Worse we don’t have a police station or base close by. Some take advantage of the fact that there is no electricity and remove the condom before they slide in.”
She said the cabins were also not safe as machete wielding small-scale miners time and again raid and rob the sex workers together with their clients.
“So some of us end up going into the bush but it’s not safe there as many have been raped there and life goes on for rapists as we have nowhere to report,” said Marceline.
Another sex worker who called herself Tamari — a mother of two also from Harare — urged the Ministry of Health and Child Care to just come and quarantine every woman and man at this mine and force STI and HIV testing and treatment.
“One of us here one way or the other has been treated for STIs. That is a fact we don’t deny. This is a hotspot for STI’s, and HIV and Aids. You find after spending four days under ground, the small-scale miner comes and demands sex without protection and without even washing his manhood. But what can we do when we want money?”
Online Reporter