The Sunday Mail
Shamiso Yikoniko – Extra Reporter
The story of mining and community concerns is the same everywhere: on the one hand miners bring employment and infrastructure, and on the other they also come with environmental and sustainability hazards.
The same goes for Mupanzure communal lands in Shurugwi, where the community says Zimasco and illegal miners have destroyed their roads, and left dangeours pits and shafts.
Shurugwi is located along the Great Dyke, a rich belt of chrome, platinum and gold among other minerals and metals.
Zimasco digs quite a lot on Zimbabwe’s economic spine, bringing both money and concerns.
Gogo Revai Simango says she has lost two of her loved ones to the pits and shafts left by miners.
“Last year, my husband was coming from a beer drink in the evening and on his way home, I guess he fell into one of the pits and died. The pits were dug by some company from South Africa, but they were tributaries to Zimasco,” she says tearfully.
Tributaries are small-scale miners sub-contracted by larger mining houses.
Gogo Simango says she did not receive any compensation for her loss: “After the death of my husband, Zimasco didn’t extend any help or compensation . . . I am now left all alone and I don’t have anyone to help me.”
After her husband’s death, Gogo Simango’s son died in a similar incident.
“My child . . . followed my husband in the same pits,” she cries.
Mr Taurai Maromo also has a story to tell.
“I came into this area in 1999 and I saw these pits being dug by a Zimasco sub-contractor called Madata and ever since then, no one has ever closed these pits,” he says.
“They would come with faulty bulldozers which would break down, and then they would say mechanical failure was the reason for not closing the pits.
“In Shurugwi, we have many cases of livestock falling into pits which are dug by illegal miners. They just leave these pits open and so the families in most wards are at risk and are complaining bitterly as a result of these illegal miners.”
Indiscriminate digging by artisanal miners has left deep pits and shafts which long gave up whatever gold and chrome they held.
Zimasco says it continously rehabilitates the centres of old operations.
“Before an accusation can be levelled, it is important to verify the owner of the pit before laying the blame on Zimasco.
“All Zimasco shafts in the Shurugwi area are protected by way of fencing, plugging of openings and posting of security personnel on active shafts 24 hours a day,” the company says.
“There are many open pits that belong to other organisations and these are in the same areas where Zimasco carries out its mining operations.
“However, it is also worth mentioning that locals are making requests to Zimasco not to close all the pits as these are drinking water sources for their livestock.”
Zimasco says one major problem it faces is that of theft of fences ringing its pits. It replaces the stolen fences, but these too are stolen. The firm says it has engaged the Environmental Management Authority to meet the communities’ concerns.
Mr Severino Kangara, an EMA officer based in Shurugwi, says the matter is intricate.
“The Zimasco issue is a bit complex. It has got quite a number of claims stretching from Lalapanzi to Mberengwa and most of these claims are tributaries but they don’t have machinery to cover all those open pits.
“Of course, the Zimasco issue is a complex one, but we don’t deal with tributaries, we deal with Zimasco because it is the one which submitted the environment management plan to us,” says Mr Kangara.
Mr Joraam Chimedza, the Shurugwi district administrator, refused to comment on the issue, which has taken on a human rights hue in recent months in the area. Sponsored by Oxfam, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission has been probing the effects of mining in Shurugwi.
They highlight the failure by mining companies to abide by their corporate social responsibilities, environmental degradation and the distress and human rights violation caused to communities.
Some community members speak of lack of ready access to clean water because rivers are heavily silted and polluted by deposits and chemicals from the mines.
Artisanal miners contribute immensely to siltation and pollution, mostly via their gold panning and use of mercury.
The ZHRC says environmental policies among Governmental agencies and departments are fragmented and this lack of co-ordination undermines regulation.
The commission recommends legislation of corporate social responsibility in accordance with international and regional frameworks, regulating and decriminalising operations of artisanal miners, training of small-scale miners to ensure their activities minimise environmental degradation and fair, and equitable compensation for communities disadvantaged by all the digging.
There are positives to the mining in Shurugwi. Unki Mine has built roads and a dam in ward 19, and it has started an irrigation scheme and also helped develop schools in the area. Todal mining has introduced a tillage system to help farmers. Mining has long been a pillar for economic development.
Leading in exports by contributing an average of 16,9 percent of GDP from 2009 to 2012, Government, miners, EMA and local authorities face a delicate balancing act in sustainably exploiting extraction of minerals.
