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A total of 78 small scale miners operating from Mangwe’s Makorokoro area have been removed following a wrangle over claims.
Members of the mining group who spoke to Chronicle yesterday said they got the mining claims last year.
“The place was allocated to us for prospecting purposes after we were issued with prospecting licences by the Mining Commissioner. It was only this year that a group of miners from Matobo took over the area.
“The intruders told us that they were legally entitled to mine in the area. They were accompanied by the police who accused us of prospecting on a protected area and we were ordered to leave,” Mr Farai Ndlovu, a member of the group told Chronicle.
The councillor for Makorokoro, Clr Clement Majahana, said there was a lot of chaos in the area with local miners demanding their claims back.
“There is great confusion and disorder in the mining areas. Locals were issued with prospecting licences but they have been ordered to leave the mines and they are not happy about this.
“In this case it has not been clarified who has the legal right to mine in the area. Despite this locals have to be respected and they have to benefit from the resources within their area. As it is they are not benefiting from mining activities yet people from outside the district are,” said Clr Majahana.
Officials from the district’s local authority recently carried out an inspection of illegal mining activities in the area.
According to a report from Mangwe Rural District Council chief executive officer, Mr Nketha Mangoye Dlamini, illegal mining activities have taken up space for grazing land while illegal sale of gold and beer was rife in the area.
“A number of locals have been displaced from their mining areas which has brought a lot of tension. At the same time there is a lot of illegal and unprocedural mining in the area. A number of pits which were dug were left uncovered thereby posing a risk to animals and people.
“There is also a serious problem of illegal sale of beer and gold which is rife there as well as illegal sale of groceries which we have to stop,” said Mr Dlamini.
Mr Dlamini said the inspection by the local authority was part of its efforts in bringing illegal mining activities in the district to an end.
“Mining is a new concept in our district as minerals were recently discovered. Gold mining activities in five of our wards have attracted a number of people from Mangwe as well as outside.
“These activities have to be formalised and the inspection is the first step towards evacuating all illegal miners and stopping any other illegal activities in mining areas as we recently announced,” said Mr Dlamini.
He said the local authority was still compiling a register for legal and illegal miners in the area.
The local authority during a special full council meeting last month passed a resolution that it would flush out all illegal mining activities in the district.
An inspection revealed that land degradation in the area was high. Most mining sites do not have protective fencing and sanitary facilities and few miners have proper mining equipment.
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