Small-scale gold miners fear for their claims

Africa Moyo recently in Zvishavane
SMALL-SCALE miners in the Zvishavane, Mberengwa and some parts of Matabeleland are living in fear of losing their mines to alleged powerful individuals, who are believed to be working in cahoots with some unscrupulous officials in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.

Miners who own gold mines are the hardest hit by the development.

Chrome miners have not been spared the onslaught, although on a small-scale given the centrality and value of the mineral. Zvishavane-Mberengwa Miners’ Association (ZMMA) chairperson Thembinkosi Sibanda said last week that the situation was so bad that members were now refusing to share their production statistics since the start of the year.

Mr Sibanda said some small-scale miners lost their mines after producing huge quantities of gold.

“This year, we haven’t gathered production statistics because our members fear losing their mines. However, the figures are not looking good although we are definitely producing, with some miners producing just about 5kgs per month,” said Mr Sibanda. “However, like I said, getting exact statistics is difficult because there is a lady from Gwanda, Matabeleland South, one of our highest producers, who lost her mine to some people from Harare.”