State to fund funerals for Kangela mine victims

Conrad Mupesa-Mashonaland West Bureau

THE Government will release funding and assistance to the families of four miners who died last Friday following the collapse of a shaft at Kangela Mine, Chikuti, Mhangura constituency.

Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Marian Chombo, said as the norm with national disasters, the Government would avail assistance to the bereaved families. 

Before the mine calamity, the province also recorded a deadly accident at Bay Horse Mine in Chegutu East constituency in September, where over 10 artisanal miners died after a shaft caved in. 

The Government availed assistance to the families of six miners whose bodies were successfully retrieved from the underground shaft. 

“We are saddened by these developments. Recently, we lost over 10 miners at Bay Horse Mine in Chegutu and while we are still mourning the death of the youthful miners, the province has been plunged again into mourning following the Kangela Mine accident,” said Min Chombo.

She said modalities are in place to see how the families can be supported by the Government.

Makonde district development co-ordinator, Mr Benjamin Zivanai, who also heads the district Civil Protection Unit (CPU), said his team would assess the area today. 

Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the bodies of the four had successfully been retrieved.

“The ZRP confirms a mine incident which occurred at Kangela Mine, D Troop area, Chikuti, Murereka on 20 October 2023 in which four people were killed when a mine shaft they were working in collapsed.

“The bodies were retrieved from the shaft by villagers and were taken to Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital mortuary for post-mortems,” he said.

Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister, Dr Polite Kambamura, called on small-scale miners to adopt safe mining practices. 

He said the Government was worried about the increase in mine accidents that are being recorded in the small-scale mining sector. 

Mining experts have also noted with concern the poor mining practices of artisanal miners that include extracting ore from shaft pillars, operating without mine managers and using sub-standard equipment.