adminRichard Muponde Gwanda Correspondent
THE Ministry of Mines and Mining Development and the police have instituted investigations into the circumstances leading to the death of a Vumbachikwe miner on Monday.
Mugovewashe Kwashira (27) died after he slipped from a ladder he was using to enter the shaft, plunging 160 metres down at the mine in Gwanda District.
Vumbachikwe mine consultant, Mr Olaf Iversen, who was at the mine yesterday for investigations said an inspector from the Ministry and the police were seized with investigations.
“As the mine we have also done our investigations. So far the Mining Inspector and ZRP are on the ground doing their investigations. We are now waiting for their report. However, we have set up measures to avoid the recurrence of such an incident,” said Mr Iversen.
He denied that workers at the mine use conveyor cages to get down the shaft, saying they use ladders every day.
“The picture which was painted is that the ladder was vertical. That’s not the case, it’s an inclined one and workers use these ladders everyday to go down the shaft for mining.
“The conveyors are only used to carry stone not workers. I think this record should be put straight. However, we are saddened by the loss of a life in the line of duty,” he said.
Matabeleland South police spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele said police are still investigating the matter.
In 2014 another Vumbachikwe Mine worker died at work after he was crushed by a boulder weighing more than 1,000 kilogrammes.
The latest incident comes barely a year after a Jessie Mine employee, in the same district, was also crushed to death by a boulder.
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