Vusumuzi Dube
Stakeholders have reacted with elation at the official start of the Vubachikwe Mine small-scale project which rolled into life on Friday November 8, signalling a significant stride, as the Gwanda-based gold mine, whose rest of the lease is on care and maintenance following an illegal strike, moves towards implementation of their greater restart project.
Of greater significance is that the start of the small-scale project came exactly two years to the day that the mine descended into chaos as hordes of marauding illegal strikers destroyed key infrastructure including the mine clinic, ambulance and social amenities that have left the general populace in limbo.
Commissioned by mine manager None Kananji, the small-scale project has created hope for all well-meaning workers.
“We have had a lot of people rally behind the start of the small-scale project and there is a general sense of optimism on the mining lease as you can imagine,” said Kananji in an interview on Friday.
“It has taken a lot to get here and as in every case where sabotage was behind the closure, there will always be a number of bad apples trying to derail progress but they have been shamed by the unity of purpose shown by those on essential services who are currently running the mine, as well as many others who are outside and rooting for them knowing that will mean opening up of new positions and opportunities and therefore more jobs for those currently on no work no pay at the mine,” he said.
Mine spokesperson Robert Mukondiwa reiterated Kananji’s optimism and his opinion regarding the state of the mine.
“There is a lot that has happened and certainly there are a handful of bad apples as the manager has said that were hoping for the worst. There is always a visitor with negative intentions wherever people want to do good but the idea is always to shame that visitor, dismiss them using action and focus on the prize. The prize according to our principal and certainly as we know as the responsible authorities on the ground is getting the mine back on its feet to pre-2022 levels and even better. After all, the inept management that drove us into the ground during that period has all but left and therefore victory in our implementation is a foregone conclusion,” said Mukondiwa.
The restart programme is expected to see the roping in, in steady doses, of fresh workers, offering a reprieve for workers on no work no pay ahead of a raft of agreements that are on the threshold of being finalised between the owner and workers.
The deals are meant to cushion the workers and give them some financial reprieve, as other legal challenges by Fawcetts Security, which Mukondiwa labelled as spurious, await conclusion.
The lawsuit is alleged to have derailed negotiations between workers through the NEC and management regarding unpaid backpay, which would have been concluded by now according to the proposed agreement put forward earlier this year.
“We are not deterred by other distractions and are clearly focussing on contributing yet again to the national dream of an upper-middle-class economy in Zimbabwe by 2030 as espoused by Government and clearly articulated by His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa and repeatedly so,” concluded Mukondiwa.
Bongani Ndlovu