The ManicaPost
Blessing Rwizi recently in CHIMANIMANI
Illegal gold panning and smuggling activities have intensified in Chimanimani along the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border areas, with most of the gold finding its way into Mozambique as the country loses out on potential revenue.A visit to Tarka Forest in Chimanimani on Tuesday revealed that illegal panners have virtually turned the once thriving timber estate into gullies. Both human and livestock are now at risk as the panners are also polluting their sources of water.
The panners are also playing a cat and mouse game with law enforcement agents, as they usually disappear into their hideouts every time they hear a sound of an approaching vehicle.
Although the topless and barefooted panners who had initially vanished when journalists and Environmental Management Agency officials arrived on a tour, those who later gathered courage to return, confirmed that they were smuggling gold into Mozambique.
They said local buyers were paying low prices, leaving them with no option, but to opt for the Mozambican market. They also argued that since they were not licensed, they were being shunned by the country’s sole gold buyer, Fidelity Printers.
One of the panners, Gibson Mahlangeni (40) from Biriiri area of Chimanimani, said they were aware that their activities were illegal, but the quest for survival had forced them to take up the risky panning activity.
“We are fully aware that what we are doing is illegal and has many dangers associated with it. That is why we run away from any vehicle that comes here because we always think it could be a police raid.
“More people from different parts of Zimbabwe are joining us in these illegal mining activities here in Chimanimani. It is a very risky activity and we have recorded several deaths. Some are maimed in the process of panning. This place has no police or anyone to control people, so in most cases when people fight, they end up killing each other. Life is tough and we don’t have any other source of income besides gold panning,” said Mahlangeni, who claimed to be a father of 10.
In a separate interview, another panner, Obedience Breakfast (26) who hails from Dzingire Village also in Chimanimani, said buyers in Zimbabwe were ripping them off as they were offering $30 per gram of gold instead of $60 being offered in Mozambique.
“Their low prices are forcing most of the panners to smuggle the mineral into Mozambique where there are much better prices. There is also readily available cash there in Mozambique than here in Zimbabwe. We would have loved to sell our gold to
Fidelity Printers, but we have no licences. This is an illegal thing,” said Breakfast.
EMA Manicaland provincial manager, Mr Kingstone Chitotombe, said there was need for a multi-stakeholder approach that requires local authorities like EMA, ZRP and the
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to chart the way forward and regulate the mining activities at Tarka Forest to curb smuggling of the precious mineral.
“We also need a thorough research to find the best solutions to the prevailing situation. Environmental safety control measures should be put in place since this rampant illegal gold panninghas reached unprecedented levels. Revenue and lives are being lost here.
“As EMA, we have already written to the law enforcement agencies and they are in the process of coming up with the best way forward,” said Mr Chitotombe.
